1

The ancient road is ten thousand horses, and the red flag is rolling in the wind and clouds.

The officers and men of the three armies are in a hurry, and the strong men must strive for merit and fame.

Tang Hai and the 17 brothers led an army of 50,000 as the front army to attack Baofeng, and Li Zicheng led an army of 150,000 people from all walks of life to follow. There are still fifty miles away from Baofeng, and the Malay report is that the county seat of Baofeng is lost, and the official army is approaching Jiaxian. Tang Hai was shocked and was eager to rush to help Jiaxian, but suddenly hesitated again.

Duan Qidao: "Jiaxian County is small and difficult to defend, and before our army arrives, the city has long been broken." Ala Tai also said: "Yes, not only will you not be able to save Jiaxian, but you will be attacked by the enemy and be passive." Tang Haidao: "What the two generals said is extremely true, I intend to attack Ruzhou and intercept the official army and retreat to Qin-Shaanxi, how about it?" Duan Qi said: "In this way, the official and military grain roads will be cut off by me, and there will be chaos." ”

Tang Hai ordered Jin Zizi to send someone to report the changes in the military situation to Li Zicheng, and ordered Xiaolong, Ala Tai, Siren, Lin Yuan, Qiuguang, and Lu Qi to rush to Ruzhou with 5,000 light cavalry, and he and the generals led an army of 45,000 people to follow.

The army walked for two days and rushed to the city of Ruzhou, and Ala Tai and others came to report: "Our army has besieged the city for a day, and the defenders in the city refuse to fight, because they do not know the reality of the enemy army, and do not dare to attack. ”

Si Ren said: "Now that the army has arrived, why not attack quickly." ”

Ye Yang also said: "Yes, we have an army of 50,000, and it is easy to attack this small city. ”

Tang Hai was silent, and Duan Qi said: "The front army is only 5,000, and the enemy defending the city does not even go out of the city to meet the battle, either there are very few defenders in the city, or the enemy army is deceitful." ”

Tang Haidao: "Ruzhou is the only way for Sun Chuanting to return to Luoyang and Xi'an, and it is also an important place for grain roads, and there must be heavy troops in the city." I guess that the enemy is not afraid to fight, but waiting for the opportunity, perhaps, Sun Chuanting has already explained that the defenders in the city can only defend to the death, and are not allowed to fight. ”

Allah said, "How is that good? ”

Tang Haidao: "I besieged Ruzhou, attracted Sun Chuanting to rescue, dispersed his troops, and the king happened to break the enemy in Jiaxian." Then he ordered: "Qiuguang, Lu Qi, Wang Feng, and Wang Yu listen to the order: Each of the four of you will take 30 light horsemen and lurk in various places in the southeast direction for 30 to 50 miles. The four of them took the order and left. Tang Hai also ordered: "Wolf Ba and Zhang Chuan took 2,000 sergeants to dig dozens of pits at 20 miles from the official roads and trails in the east of Ruzhou City, and every two kangs were one mile apart, and each one was five feet deep and one zhang wide, so that the officers and soldiers could not carry too much weight on their horses and artillery. ”

The news of Tang Hai's army marching towards Ruzhou has already been reported to Sun Chuanting in Jiaxian County, Sun Chuanting was shocked: "Li Zicheng's army from all walks of life invaded Baofeng and Jiaxian, and I am not afraid, but if Tang Hairu occupies Ruzhou, I have no way to retreat, the grain road is not passable, and I will die without a place to be buried." ”

Bai Guangen said: "My lord, the last general is willing to lead the troops back to save Ruzhou." ”

Gao Jie said: "Ruzhou is in danger, our army is resting, and the adults should personally come back to rescue them." ”

Sun Chuanting said: "What General Gao said is extremely true. Immediately summoned the generals to listen to the order, and said: "General Bai led an army of 70,000 and defended Jiaxian County for five days under the banner of his own official, so that the thieves thought that his official was still in the army and contained Li Zicheng's main force." This officer and General Gao each led 10,000 light horses, I took the trail, General Gao took the official road, and Tang Hai was caught off guard. After the official and General Gao exterminated Tang Hai, the first in the world, they would come back to fight the thieves. ”

The generals took their own orders and left, and Gao Jie said worriedly: "My lord, there are 50,000 thieves in Tanghai, how can our 20,000 cavalry go to save Ruzhou?" ”

Sun Chuanting said: "Ruzhou City is said to have only 5,000 defenders, but there are 30,000. Although Tang Hai had 50,000 horses, his firearms were far inferior to those of the official army, and besides, he thought that I was fighting against the thieves in Jiaxian, and he would not have expected that I would personally return to help, and then we would be able to win a complete victory with the defenders in the city. ”

Gao Jie was overjoyed and said: "It turns out that the adults have already planned. ”

After Gao Jie left, Sun Chuanting ordered 10,000 troops to quietly go out of the city at night and rushed to Ruzhou along the trail, and Gao Jie also led 10,000 troops to advance along the official road. After walking less than 100 miles, suddenly the spies in front came to report: the official road five miles away from the small road was destroyed, and there were at least more than ten deep ditches, which could be crossed by people and difficult for horses, and General Gao was blocked on the road and moved slowly. Sun Chuanting was shocked and said secretly: "I thought that the thief Tang Hai was born in the rivers and lakes and didn't know the art of war, but I didn't expect him to guess that I would send troops to rescue him, so he made preparations in advance." Fortunately, I took the trail, and with my 10,000 horses, I was enough to flank Tang Hai. ”

Sun Chuanting urged the horse to hurry up, and after walking less than three miles, the sergeant in front of him panicked and said: "There are also countless big potholes on the path, and it is difficult for people and horses to walk. ”

Sun Chuanting said worriedly: "Our army is in danger! ”

Pang Yudao, the deputy general next to him: "Isn't it just that the action is slow, and the sergeant is quickly ordered to repair it, but it is a big deal to delay it for a day or two, why are you so sad." ”

Sun Chuanting said: "When we came, Baofeng and Jiaxian had not yet been surrounded, and when we rushed back within three days, we were still able to break the thieves in one fell swoop, and if we delayed for a few more days, we were trapped outside the city of Ruzhou, and General Bai was trapped in Baofeng and Jiaxian, and the army was divided and contained, and it would be destroyed." ”

Pang Yu was shocked: "Then, how is it good?" ”

Sun Chuanting said: "Quickly order General Gao to repair the tunnel, we also quickly move closer to him, and then order General Bai to abandon Jiaxian and Baofeng, lead the army to retreat west to Ruzhou, and attack Tang Hai with us, as long as we defeat Tang Hai in Ruzhou, Li Zicheng's army will follow, and we are not afraid of him." ”

Sun Chuanting ordered to move closer to the official road, and after meeting with Gao Jie, he ordered the sergeants to cut down trees on the spot, build bridges and pave roads on more than ten large pits, and send spies to investigate the movements of the Tang Hai army.

After the bridge was completed, Sun Chuanting put the army in the open place, and learned that Tang Hai surrounded Ruzhou and set up an ambush to block the reinforcements, so he did not dare to enter lightly, so he had to put 20,000 horses in the open and wait for Bai Guangen to lead the army to come. Unexpectedly, after waiting for a day, the next day he reported to Malay: "Soon after General Bai left the city, Li Zicheng led the troops to follow closely, the train battalion was afraid of the enemy, and the sergeants broke up first. Another Tanma reported: "Tang Hai led an army of 30,000 to kill from Ruzhou, and our army was attacked on both sides." ”

Sun Chuanting was shocked and scolded angrily: "Tang Hai is coming, why don't the 30,000 elite soldiers in Ruzhou City pursue it?" Cowardice, cowardice. Pang Yu said: "The general forgot, you once instructed the defenders in the city, Ruzhou is the throat of the place, unless you see you leading the army to come, otherwise, under any circumstance, do not go out of the city to meet the enemy." ”

Sun Chuanting was remorseful, and when he saw that the general trend had gone, he had to say: "The army will follow me out of the encirclement and return to Tongguan to defend it." ”

2

Sun Chuanting sent the herald to report that Bai Guangen led the troops to retreat to Tongguan, and he and Gao Jie led the people to the west to kill, and were repeatedly harassed and killed by the righteous army along the way, and lost troops along the way, and only came to the east gate of Tongguan with more than 1,000 people seven days later. The guard general Gao Ruli welcomed Sun Chuanting and Gao Jie into the city, and within a day, Bai Guangen also fled back with more than 3,000 people.

The generals exchanged information about the battle, and because they were exhausted, they agreed to discuss the strategy of retreating from the enemy on the second day. After eating, everyone went back to their rooms to rest, and the only grandson Chuanting was physically and mentally haggard, unable to sleep, and paced back and forth in the Shuai Mansion. Suddenly, the Malay report that Ruzhou has been broken by thieves, Tang Hai's generals Hong Shi'an, Lin Yuan, Ye Yang, and Jin Zi led an army of 5,000 to Tongguan City, and Tang Hai's army of more than 50,000 people camped ten miles west of Tongguan City, and after Lin Yangyang, the king of the world, led an army of 10,000 to go around Tongguan City along the mountain cliff, Li Guo led an army of 30,000 to detour to the south of Tongguan City, and Li Zicheng's army of 70,000 set off from Luoyang and arrived at Lingbao.

Sun Chuanting was shocked, and hurriedly ordered the sergeant to quickly recruit Bai Guangen, Gao Jie, and Gao Ruli to come to discuss. Not long after, the sergeant came to report that the three generals, Bai Guangen, Gao Jie, and Gao Ruli, heard that the thieves were besieging the city, and they fled for their lives, but they were nowhere to be found. Sun Chuanting looked up to the sky and sighed, and complained: "The imperial court uses such a greedy person who is afraid of life and death as a general, and the officials and soldiers are undefeated? ”

Sun Chuanting knew that Tongguan was only 8,000 guards, although it was known as strong, but it was difficult to hold on, and only the defenders of Xi'an could be preserved, so he wrote a letter to Zhu Cunshu, the king of Qin, Feng Shikong, the governor of Shaanxi, Huang Jiong, the governor of Shaanxi, and Wu Congyi, the magistrate of Chang'an, and ordered Wang Genzi of Qianzong to gallop to Xi'an as a messenger.

Wang Genzi saw Wu County's order, handed over the letter, and said: "Tongguan is in danger, Lord Sun is anxious to wait for the four adults to reply." Wu Congyi said: "Wait a minute, since Lord Shangshu is sending a letter to the four of us, please allow me to discuss with Lord Feng, Lord Huang and King Qin before making a plan." ”

Wu Congyi didn't dare to slack off, and ordered the head to urgently find Huang Jiong, and asked Huang Jiong to go to the governor's mansion to discuss matters, and together with Wang Genzi, he brought two entourages to the governor's mansion to meet Feng Shikong, and after a while, Huang Jiong also hurried over. Wu Congyi took out Sun Chuanting's letter and handed it to the two of them: "Lord Sun's army defeated Jiaxian, and has now returned to Tongguan, but more than 100,000 thieves are chasing, Tongguan is in danger, Lord Sun ordered us to send troops to help, and ordered us to raise 5,000 sets of cotton clothes to send Tongguan for soldiers to keep out the cold." ”

Feng Shikong said: "The Xi'an soldiers were taken away by Lord Shangshu himself, and now that the army is defeated, he still wants soldiers, where can we send troops to him?" Could it be that the only 5,000 old and weak soldiers in the city were sent to him? ”

Wu Congyi said: "I can let the King of Qin pay for the production of cotton clothes, and then send a military salary of 100,000 taels to the Tongguan sergeant to encourage morale." Tongguan city is strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack, as long as the city is united, 8,000 soldiers can resist January, when the Central Plains reinforcements come to the rescue, the victory or defeat is not known. ”

Huang Jiong sneered: "Wu County Order, it's not that you don't know King Qin, this person is mean and stingy, how can he be willing to pay this 100,000 taels of silver?" ”

Wu Congyi said: "Tongguan is lost, Xi'an will be in danger, such a simple truth, how can King Qin not know?" ”

Feng Shikong asked Wang Genzi about the military situation in Tongguan, Wang Genzi answered one by one, Feng Shikong said: "The five thousand remnants of the soldiers in Xi'an City can't move, so let's go to the King of Qin and ask the King of Qin to fund the labor army and rush to make cotton clothes, so as to hold Tongguan." ”

Feng Shikong, Huang Jiong, Wu Congyi, and Wang Genzi came to the palace of the king of Qin, and Zhu Cunshu, the king of Qin, was teasing the birds, and when he saw the four of them coming, he asked: "Ladies and gentlemen, why are you so free today?" ”

Feng Shikong said: "King Qin, this is Lord Sun's messenger, Tongguan is in danger, Lord Sun sent a letter to King Qin, Xiaguan, Lord Huang and Wu County, let the four of us send troops to make cotton clothes, and assist Lord Sun in guarding Tongguan." ”

King Qin took the letter handed by Feng Shikong, took a cursory look at it and returned the letter, and said, "The three adults can do just this matter, and this king fully agrees." ”

Feng Shikong said: "The intention of the three of us is to ask the King of Qin to contribute to the labor army to boost morale, and raise another 5,000 sets of cotton clothes to send to the soldiers to keep out the cold." ”

King Qin's face was full of surprise, and he asked strangely, "Let me give out the silver taels?" ”

Feng Shikong said: "That's exactly what the three of us mean. Huang Jiong also said: "At this time of survival, money is like dung." "Wu Congyi is a small official, and he doesn't dare to speak.

The king of Qin was furious and said: "The court is incompetent, and the traitors are rampant, so that my land is wasted countless times, there is nowhere to collect rent, and the whole palace is going to run out of food. ”

Feng Shikong, Huang Jiong, and Wu Congyi were furious when they saw King Qin, although they felt that his words were incredible, but they were helpless, but Wang Genzi was a martial artist, and there were countless battles, and the people who came over after nine deaths had no scruples, and said coldly: "King Fu and King Xiang have learned from the past, and King Qin must not forget." ”

King Qin was furious and shouted: "Who are you, dare to threaten me, come here, drag it out and behead it." ”

A group of family members pounced on Wang Genzi like wolves and tigers, and Feng Shikong and the others hurriedly stopped and said, "This is the messenger of Lord Shangshu Sun of the Ministry of War, how can you get it?" ”

Although the King of Qin was angry, he was also afraid of Sun Chuanting, and Feng Shikong, Huang Jiong, and Wu Congyi tried their best to stop them, so they had to say: "Spare you for the time being, if you dare to commit it again, you will not be spared." ”

The four of them withdrew from the palace, and Feng Shikong said to the messenger: "You go back quickly and tell Lord Sun, we will do our best to raise soldiers, horses, food, and clothing to help." Wang Genzi was helpless, so he had to fly back to Sun Chuanting.

Sun Chuanting heard what was going on, knew that there was no hope for rescue, and looked up to the sky and sighed: "The princes all eat meat, and they are their confidants; The eunuch knows the chaff dog and dolphin, and by his ears and eyes, the emperor, you use people like this, and the Ming Dynasty will not die? ”

3

The north wind was fierce and chilling, and the sergeants were thinly clothed, only shivering from the cold. Outside the city, the rebels stormed the city, the officers and soldiers could not hold it, the city gate collapsed with a bang, and the rebels swarmed in. The officials and soldiers in the city couldn't resist it, so they had to scatter and hide in the city, hiding in the homes of the people.

The messenger flew to report to Sun Chuanting, Sun Chuanting gathered more than 800 people, and then put on armor and swords, and the prancing horse shouted: "All the troops follow me to kill the thief!" Then he took the lead and galloped towards the rebels, and the officers and soldiers hidden in the houses in the alleys heard that the military department Shangshu personally charged into battle, and they all fought bravely.

Sun Chuanting saw a handsome flag with the word "Tang" in the melee, and knew that it was the Tang Hai beetle, so he shouted: "Kill the world's first thief, and the reward will be 10,000 gold." Sun Chuanting abandoned the other rebels and went straight to Tang Hai to kill. Tang Hai originally thought that the rebels who attacked the city had completely controlled Tongguan, so he and Xiaolong and other eighteen people entered the city with more than 1,000 people to check, but he never thought that thousands of officers and soldiers would be killed suddenly, and exclaimed: "Sun Chuanting is really a general." Xiaolong said: "The general is not surprised. After saying that, the dancing knife was chopped, Ye Yang shouted: "The master hasn't killed it yet, it's just in time." Si Ren laughed and rushed over, and Ala Tai, Shi'an, Lin Yuan, Wolf Ba, Tang Xi, Liu Jia, Qiu Guang, Zhang Chuan, Lu Qi, Wang Feng, Wang Yu, Jin Zi and others all led the righteous army to fight and fight.

Tang Hai, Duan Qi, and Shan Yong led more than 100 righteous troops to withdraw from the city, but unexpectedly, hundreds of officers and soldiers chased after them, and the three of them also drew their swords and slashed and killed. For a time, tens of thousands of people fought flesh and blood in Tongguan City, the fire was sky-high, the streets and alleys were flooded with red pulp, corpses were all over the ground, and Tongguan City was full of remnant horses, broken hands, swords, and heads......

The fire is mad, and the strong man is busy killing.

The two armies fought for two or three hours, Sun Chuanting was exhausted, and he rode on his horse and looked at it, but he saw Xiaolong, Ala Tai, Siren, Ye Yang, Shi'an, Tang Xi, Lin Yuan, Wolf Ba, Liujia, Zhang Chuan, Lu Qi, Wang Feng, Wang Yu, Qiu Guang, Jin Zi, etc. were still bravely slashing, and his soldiers were chopped into flesh and blood one by one, wailing for a while! Sun Chuanting's heart was like a knife, and he looked up to the sky and sighed again: "Your Majesty, open your eyes and take a look, the minister has done his best!" The minister is martyred today, worthy of the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty! After saying that, the prancing horse fought again, and was jumped by Shi'an and chopped off the horse with a knife head-on.

Wang Genzi dropped his weapon, lay on Sun Chuanting's corpse and wept bitterly, all the officers and soldiers saw that the main general was killed, they all scattered and fled, and were chased and killed by Ala Tai and others.

Si Ren saw that the official army was dead, and was about to put the sword into the sheath, when he suddenly heard the cry, and when he looked back, there were still people lying on Sun Chuanting's corpse and crying bitterly, waving his sword to kill, Shi'an stopped and said: "This loyal man cannot be killed." Jin Zi said: "It's okay not to kill, take it to see the general, and the general will send it down." ”

Everyone picked up Wang Genzi to see Tang Hai, and talked about this person's corpse crying bitterly, Tang Hai asked: "Although Sun Chuanting has a strategy, he is loyal and treacherous, serving the mediocre master, and he is innocent of death, why are you crying?" ”

Wang Genzi said: "My family is loyal, superior in martial arts, really a hero, and admired by villains, so I cried bitterly." ”

Tang Haidao: "Your family has been defeated today, why do you still say that you are a big hero?" ”

Wang Genzi told Tang Hai about Bai Guangen and others fleeing, King Qin was short-sighted, and Sun Chuanting sighed and died one by one, and said: "Lord Sun is well-planned and fulfills his duties, even if the sky does not fulfill his wishes and fails, he is still a great hero." ”

Tang Hai said to the generals: "Sun Chuanting died with three sighs, which is emotional. Then he said to Wang Genzi, "I will give you fifty taels of silver, and you will bury Lord Sun, and go home for the people." ”

Wang Genzi bowed: "Thank you, general." ”

Tang Hai ordered the generals to go to the Tongguan Marshal's Mansion to discuss matters, and suddenly found that there was one person missing, and asked, "What about Ye Yang?" Everyone looked left and right, but there was no trace of Ye Yang. Tang Hai was shocked, hurriedly looked around, and said, "Look for it quickly." The generals and hundreds of sergeants were looking for each other in the city, but there was no one to be seen, and everyone had a faint sense of foreboding.

Tang Hai was even more anxious, with tears in his eyes, and said mournfully: "Search for the body." Everyone received the order, and identified them one by one from the corpses all over the street, and there was still no trace of Ye Yang after half an hour.

Tang Hai was almost desperate, sitting on the ground and speechless, all the generals came to advise, Tang Hai said with a crying voice: "Brother Ye Yang is no longer alive, what is the meaning of my life!" After everyone comforted, Tang Hai asked, "The whole city has been searched?" Jin Zi said: "The corpses of the dead soldiers on both sides of the city have been searched. Tang Haiqiang shook his spirits, struggled to get up and said, "The brothers will go to the Shuai's Mansion first. ”

When he came to the Shuai Mansion, there were already four sergeants guarding the gate, and Duan Qi asked, "Are there any officers and soldiers who have surrendered in the Shuai Mansion?" The sergeant guarding the door said: "No, when we seized the Shuaifu, there was no one inside, and then twenty or thirty remnants of the defeated army were chased and killed by General Ye Yang and fled, the four of us couldn't resist, they forcibly broke through the gate and hid in, we wanted to follow General Ye Yang to kill in, but the general didn't let him, saying that he was enough alone, and ordered the four of us to guard the gate." ”

Everyone was shocked, and Tang Hai hurriedly said, "Quick, go in and look for it." ”

The generals rushed in with their knives and came to the hall of the Shuai Mansion, but they saw twenty or thirty corpses lying horizontally, but there was no Ye Yang figure. Tang Haidao: "Search everywhere, you must find the fourth brother." Everyone looked around, and suddenly heard Jin Zi shouting, "Brother Ye Yang." Everyone rushed over and saw Jin Zi standing at the door of a small wooden building in surprise, and Ye Yang was lying among the more than ten corpses in the house, his clothes were cut to shreds, and his body was covered in blood.

Tang Hai came to Ye Yang and looked at it in a daze, his expression was dull, but he burst into tears......

Everyone was grieving, and when they heard the gold, they said happily: "Brother Ye Yang has woken up." ”

Everyone looked again, only to see Ye Yang yawn, open his eyes, and say in a daze: "Hey, what are you doing here." When the generals heard this, they all laughed. Tang Hai scolded: "We are desperate to kill the enemy, why are you sleeping here?" Ye Yang said: "You kill the enemy, I am not idle, I saw many officers and soldiers running into the Shuaifu, so I followed the killing, after the killing, I was really tired, I couldn't help but fall here for a nap." The generals laughed.

4

After capturing Tongguan and resting for a day, in the early morning of Yueri, the army set off to Xi'an again, and when it came to the outside of the city, Li Zicheng ordered the generals to besiege the city, and spread the inside of the city and said:

In order to suppress the soldiers and secure the civil society: the Ming Dynasty was unkind, favored eunuchs, heavy ministers, greedy taxes, and heavy punishments. The dynasty is sluggish, the emperor is greedy, the Rixin division brigade, looting the people's property, raping ** women, sucking the marrow and peeling off the skin, trapping the people in fire and water. Ben Shuai 10 years of farming, good-natured, eager to prosper the teacher of benevolence and righteousness, saving the people. Today, Luoyang and Tongguan will come to Xi'an in person, and send a card to inform the people: the people should not panic, and they will be safe. If there are people in each battalion under the command of this commander who are good at killing good people, the whole team will be beheaded. Ermin has a person who welcomes my king and teacher with a long voice, and he will be reused immediately and strive for glory. Gou is stupid and stubborn, and the enemy is my heavenly master, after breaking the city, the jade is difficult to distinguish. This one!

At this time, there were only 5,000 remnants in the city of Xi'an, and the king ordered him to besiege for three days, and if he did not surrender, he would attack the city again. Unexpectedly, as soon as the military order was issued, he saw that the city gate was wide open, Li Zicheng was overjoyed, and saw a group of officers and soldiers going out of the city, and bowed to the leader: "The defeated army is a thousand general kings, Genzi feels the kindness of the king and General Tang Hai, and opens the city gate to welcome the king and the generals." ”

Li Zicheng said: "What kind of kindness does General Tang Hai have with you?" ”

Wang Genzi said: "The villain is the military department of Shangshu Sun under the thousand general, Tongguan battle, Sun Daren died, General Tang not only gave silver to bury, but also authorized the villain to go home for the people, the villain is now grateful for the kindness of the righteous army, especially entered the city in advance, persuaded the city guards to abandon the secret to welcome the king. ”

Li Zicheng was overjoyed, and then waved his army into the city, the officers and soldiers in the city, the people greeted each other, the governor Feng Shikong, Huang Jiong, and Wu Congyi, the magistrate of the county, learned of the mutiny, and threw themselves into the well and died in despair. Zhu Cunshu, the king of Qin, Lu Zhiqi, the political envoy, the Song Qijiao, and Gong Yan, the secretary of the Ministry of Song, surrendered, and Li Zicheng was appeased and adopted for his own use.

Li Zicheng saw that Xi'an surrendered without a fight, and he was relieved, and ordered to open a warehouse to release grain, appease the people, and rest the three armies.

Seeing that the march was going well, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Li Yan and others jointly persuaded Li Zicheng to conform to the will of the people, proclaim himself emperor in Xi'an, and levy the Quartet with Xi'an as the center. Tang Hai admonished: "Although Xi'an is fixed, Shaanxi and Ning are not peaceful, the king should first sweep the northwest border, and then Xu Tujing can win the world." Li Zicheng weighed again and again and decided to adopt Tang Hai's strategy, first attack the towns of Gansu and Shaanxi, unify the northwest, and stabilize Xi'an, and then discuss the matter of becoming the emperor. Immediately ordered: Li Guo led an army of 30,000 to attack Yan'an, Tian Jianxiu led an army of 30,000 to conquer Hanzhong, Liu Zongmin led an army of 50,000 to attack Guyuan, Tang Hai led an army of 50,000 to suppress Ningxia, Li Shuangxi led an army of 20,000 to surround Yulin, Liu Fangliang led an army of 35,000 to attack Ganzhou, Li Yan, Yuan Zongdi, Dang Shousu, and He Zhen led an army of 80,000 troops to Qingyang, and mobile to respond to the armies of all roads.

Tang Hai led the army to the expedition, and along the way, Wang Yu said to Lu Qi in private: "It's really strange that you say that the king is also very strange, everyone asked him to be the emperor, this is a great thing, he is not moved." ”

When Wang Feng heard this, he smiled and said: "You don't understand this, the king is eloquent, and he intends to stabilize the foundation of the northwest first and then become the emperor." ”

Tang Xi said: "The king resigned, but he was looking forward to being the emperor in his heart." ”

Qiuguang said: "I guess he stayed in Xi'an by himself to plan to be the emperor." ”

Tang Haidao: "The brothers should not guess, the king cares about the world and focuses on saving the people, how can he be greedy for wealth and nobility?" ”

Seeing Tang Hai speak, everyone stopped talking, and Du Yeyang said: "The king is not greedy for wealth? Jokes, he ordered his generals to go everywhere, seize big households, suppress bureaucrats, and rob people of how much gold and silver? ”

Tang Haidao: "These big households and bureaucrats don't do farming, where do they get the gold and silver?" Isn't it all obtained by looting the people, but the king exempted the people from paying taxes, and collected these ill-gotten gains into public ownership to fund the army's salary, why not? Have you ever seen a king have three wives and four concubines? Seeing that the king is like an official and a soldier? See the king's wife, Mrs. Gao, wearing gold and silver? ”

Ye Yang opened his mouth and stammered: "That's not true." ”

Tang Haidao: "King Chuang is a rare sage in the world, brothers should not be suspicious. ”

5

The army marched for several days to Ningxia, and the generals fought bravely, attacked the city, and the officers and soldiers were defeated and retreated. The chief military officer of Ningxia in the Ming Dynasty Fu Min was brave and good at fighting, quite strategic, and convened the generals to discuss: "Tang Hai came from afar, only forty or fifty thousand soldiers and horses, even if he can take a few cities from me, he will not be able to defend for a long time, I only need to clear the wilderness, and he will retreat without a fight after a month." General Zhou Zi said: "You can move all the people and grain, grass, cattle, horses, and livestock within a hundred miles around Yinchuan into the city. The official Fu Min said happily: "General Zhou's proposal is very good, and General Lao Zhou will handle this matter." Zhou Zibai said: "The last general will obey the order." ”

After Zhou Zi left, the official Fumin ordered the deputy general Liu Yong to say: "You lead 10,000 soldiers and horses out of the city tomorrow and camp in a dangerous place in Helan Mountain, and the Tang Hai army besieges the city, you only need to blask and disturb his mind, and there is no need to go down the mountain to fight with him." Tang Hai is so many, dividing troops to attack you and I will inevitably have insufficient troops, if we concentrate our forces to attack one of you and me, and I am worried that he will be attacked by the enemy on his back, I expect that he will retreat after a month. Liu Yong was overjoyed and was happy to die.

Tang Hai led the army to capture Wuzhong and Lingwu, and when he was thinking about how to seize Yinchuan, he suddenly had to report to the official Fumin that he was in the clear field within a hundred miles around Yinchuan, and said happily: "It is easy to take Yinchuan." ”

Five days later, Tang Hai's army marched to Jingui Town, and Jin Zi said: "It is reported that Liu Yong, the deputy general of the Guanfumin faction, led 10,000 elite soldiers to be stationed in Helan Mountain, and Yinchuan City is a horn. Duan Qi said: "He wants us to not be able to attack the city with all our might." Ala Tai said with a smile: "We can allocate 5,000 soldiers and horses to camp in Jinshan Town, as long as we can block Liu Yong's 10,000 elite soldiers for three or five days, we can capture Yinchuan." ”

Tang Hai immediately ordered Liu Jia and Wolf Ba to lead 5,000 men and horses to camp in Jinshan Town, in order to prevent Liu Yong's 10,000 elite soldiers from going down the mountain to rescue, and he led a large army to surround Yinchuan City.

Coming to the city, Xiaolong said worriedly: "Yinchuan City has thick walls, the officials and the people are veterans who are good at fighting, and the defenders in the city have 30,000 troops, and the troops are comparable to mine. ”

Ala Tai said: "The officers and soldiers are now frightened birds, but our army is full of morale, please order the siege of the city immediately, and the final general will guarantee that within three or five days, the officials and the people will be captured and presented to the marshal." ”

Shan Yong, Ye Yang, Si Ren and others all asked for battle, Tang Hai said with a smile: "Don't worry, I have sent 40,000 elite soldiers into the city, after they have news, our army will attack in one fell swoop, why take Yinchuan City in three or five days, one hour is enough." ”

Everyone was shocked, and Duduan Qi smiled and said nothing.

Ye Yang said: "We only have a total of 50,000 people, where do you still have 40,000 elite soldiers, and the marshal also told jokes." ”

Tang Hai ordered: "All the generals will go back to their headquarters to prepare for battle, as long as they hear the sound of drums in the tent, they will immediately start attacking the city, and there must be no delay." ”

Although everyone didn't know the reason, the marshal's military order was like this, so they had to return to the camp to dispatch.

Tang Hai and Duan Qi stood outside the camp tent and watched Yinchuan City from afar, and half an hour later, they suddenly saw four rockets in the city rising into the sky, Tang Hai was overjoyed, and ordered: "Beat the drum to attack the city!" ”

At one time, the drums rumbled, and more than ten people from Xiaolong, Ala Tai, and Shan Yong heard the sound of the drums in the handsome tent, and at the same time ordered the siege of the city, and more than 40,000 people rushed to the city with a shout. The officers and soldiers in Yinchuan City could resist for a while, but after half an hour, the defenders of the city suffered countless casualties, and there were no new soldiers to replenish, so they were easily climbed by the rebels.

It turned out that after Tang Hai learned that the officials and the people were strong and cleared, he ordered Lu Qi, Qiu Guang, Wang Feng, and Wang Yu to spend a lot of money to buy 500 cattle and sheep and enter the city from the four gates of Yinchuan respectively. After the four of them entered the city, they locked the cattle and sheep in a rented house and raised them, and after the siege of the Tang Hai army, the four of them got together and agreed on a time, and at the same time released the cattle and sheep, making the streets messy, and it was difficult for people and horses to pass. After that, the four of them shot rockets outside the city, and the army outside got the signal to beat the drum to attack the city, the defenders of the city were only 3,000, and the 20,000 or 30,000 officers and soldiers in the city wanted to go to reinforcements, but they were blocked by the cattle and sheep on the streets, and they had to watch the officers and soldiers defending the city fall one by one.

When a small number of elite officers and soldiers tried their best to separate the herds of cattle and sheep and rushed to the city to help the battle, there were already one or two thousand righteous troops on the city, and after some fighting, the righteous army controlled the city, and then opened the city gate, and more than 40,000 troops rushed into the city.

Seeing that the general trend had gone, the official Fumin took Zhou Zi and dozens of cronies to submit a letter of invitation to surrender. Tang Hai took the letter, picked up the official and said: "The old general abandons the darkness and turns to the light, and Tang Hai can't ask for it." He also ordered him to recruit Liu Yong and other local guards, and the entire territory of Ningxia was surrendered to Tang Hai.

6

Tang Hai conquered all the way, and received tens of thousands of recruits, and after leading the army and division, all the armies also returned triumphantly, and Li Zicheng saw that the northwest land was all owned by the righteous army, and his heart was happy.

The generals replied and persuaded to advance, the king Li Zicheng postponed again and again, agreed to the public's will, but only called the king, not the emperor, in the first day of the first month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, officially founded the country and called the king, changed Xi'an to Chang'an, set as the capital, the country name Dashun, the year name Yongchang, respect the party Li Jixian as the ancestor, and his wife Gao as the queen. The name of the ancestors, the sea, jade, light, Ming, seal, acceptance, self, business, loyalty, and cross are not allowed. Bai Niu Jinxing is a scholar of Tianyou Pavilion, Song Qijiao is a scholar of government affairs, Lu Zhiqi is a secretary of household politics, Gong Yan is a scholar of etiquette, and Zhang Lanran is a secretary of military government. Liu Zongmin was named Ruhou, Tian Jianxiu was Zehou, Gu Ying was Qi Hou, Liu Fangliang was Cihou, Li Shuangxi was Yihou, Yuan Zongdi was Mianhou, Liu Guochang was Huaihou, Liu Shijun was Yue Hou, Song Xiance was appointed as the military, Tang Hai, Li Yan, Li Guo, and Liu Fangliang were appointed generals, and amnesty was granted to the world.

On this day, Li Zicheng, the king of Dashun, convened the ministers in the Imperial Palace, and the Tianyou Pavilion University scholar Niu Jinxing played: "King Qiyu, I am newly established, the world is happy, the civil and military warriors are looking forward to the twilight, and the people of Li are competing to vote. ”

Li Zicheng, the king of Dashun, was overjoyed and said, "Quasi-play." ”

Military Song Xiance said: "The number of Ming Qi has been exhausted, the minds of the Central Plains people have changed, my soldiers are strong and strong, such as the sun and the moon, when we take advantage of the situation to conquer the Central Plains, crusade against the faint king, and dominate the world." ”

General Li Yan said: "I am a new dynasty, the foundation is not yet stable, Qin, Henan, Gansu, Ning land urgently need to recruit talents to consolidate the territory, and Hebei, Shandong, Wuyue, Lingnan, Yunnan and Guizhou are vast, even if our army overthrows the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop, there is not enough civil and military talents to govern the huge China." In the opinion of the ministers, Mo Ruo carefully manages the land, recruits talents, and then marches out of Qinchuan after the foundation is solid, and takes the world in one fell swoop. ”

General Tang Hai said: "What General Li Yan said is extremely true. And the East is greedy, like a jackal, although the Ming Dynasty is a ruined wall, it can still shelter from the wind and rain to prevent the jackal, if long live this broken wall to knock down, the jackal came over the wall, and I Dashun added a strong enemy. ”

Liu Zongmin said: "The two generals are too worried, the Ming Dynasty building will fall, when will you not take it at this time?" As for the eastern captives, they are barbarians and barbarian states, so why be afraid? King, you will enjoy your happiness in Chang'an, and the minister Liu Zongmin led the army to drive directly to Gyeonggi, and captured Chongzhen's child alive and came back to bring you tea and pour water. ”

King Dashun laughed and said: "Lonely, tell the world, open a branch to take scholars, with the theme of 'Dingding Chang'an Fu', recruit five hundred talents, each of them will be awarded large and small official positions, and govern Chang'an and provinces, provinces, prefectures, prefectures and counties for Lonely." The lonely relatives led the army, and the ministers fought together with the remnants of the Ming Dynasty, and dominated the world. ”