Li Zicheng's life was very difficult, especially after more than 100,000 people gathered in Shangluo Mountain, where the land was barren and the people were poor, he finally felt even more unhappy.

First of all, the problem of eating for the 100,000 army, which at the beginning, Li Zicheng was rarely optimistic, because when he entered Shangluo, he laid a few fortresses and got a lot of food, according to the population consumption at that time, it can be maintained until the arrival of summer, as long as it is summer, then, he has nearly half a year of rest, with 100,000 troops, plus half a year of rest, the most important thing is that he got Lu Shi's training method, then, it was used in less than two months at the beginning of Woniu Mountain Xiaocheng, And then in Huluyu in just three months to achieve a strong army, then, with its own method, another half a year, then, what can I not do?

However, half a month later, Li Zicheng truly felt the infinite gap between ideals and reality, the truth of this eternal truth.

The same homeless people, the same equipment, but Li Zicheng has nearly 100,000 more followers than Lu Shi at the beginning, as a result, now? fell into a situation that Li Zicheng could never imagine.

First of all, it's food.

According to Lu Shi's method of military training, he practiced every day, but the result was not only not as good as food, but allowed the consumption of food to increase indefinitely, which really made Li Zicheng and others incomprehensible in the future.

Originally, as an old pole, everyone knew a truth, that is, all the people in the pole, in principle, included those big and small leaders, and everyone had a certain food quota.

First of all, it is necessary to ensure the rations of those soldiers, then the old people who can fill the ranks of soldiers, and finally the children and women, of course, the children still come first.

How much is the ration? According to the normal standard, the soldiers had two meals a day, one dry meal and one gruel, and then they were reduced in order until the women and children were able to live.

At that time, Li Zicheng was still relatively optimistic about such a standard, according to the reserves of several fortresses he had laid, after all, tens of thousands of stone of grain were there, and these supplies would definitely support the summer harvest.

So, in order to show that he was a rebel, and at the same time to appease the old and young in the camp, the most important thing was Mrs. Gao's repeated efforts, so Li Zicheng waved his hand and distributed food according to the new regulations that the soldiers were fed twice a day, and the old and weak women and children were given two meals of thick porridge a day.

Li Zicheng still remembers the scene at that time, this is the good treatment that these people have never had, at that time it was thunderous, looking at the outside of the big tent, black and oppressive, kneeling all over the ground. All of them are using their most sincere and heartfelt passion to thank King Dachuang for his benevolence. At that time, I also felt that I was really the savior of the poor in this world.

However, everything did not go as expected, but it had just passed a month, and before the first month, the situation was already quite serious.

First, the 40,000 soldiers who stepped up their training according to Lu Shi's training ** that they had secretly learned, under the condition of two full meals a day, were trained according to Lu Shi's reasoning, and they were tired one after another.

This result was indeed a big surprise to Li Zicheng.

Why, with the same pole, Lu Shi's pole can run ten miles every day, and then assassinate and line up until the sun sets, why can't mine?

Looking at the soldiers who had collapsed to the ground just after running two miles, and who could never get up no matter how many whips they had on their bodies, and who could no longer hold on to the pole even if they cut off dozens of heads a day, Li Zicheng and all his brothers were confused.

The same method, the same homeless base, why, can he, Lu Shi, let those poles train hard according to Lu Shi's words, but he can't?

Later, under the repeated questioning of the old subordinates who were not sticky to the mud before, and now a small leader who is under his hands, he learned the key - Lu Shi, three full meals a day, and there is meat at every meal.

This is the true meaning of Lu Shi's ability to train a strong army, and this true meaning has also been recognized by everyone, because, everyone knows that three meals a day, so that everyone can eat well and have the strength to train, but this truth is this truth, everyone understands, but in this Ming Dynasty, don't say it's a pole, even if the official army can't do it. As for the meat? That's the stuff of the official gentleman, it doesn't matter if you don't eat it, then it's free.

However, it is precisely the link that exempts meat eaters from seeing it as a superfluous move, so that Li Zicheng frowns and can't understand Lu Shi's achievements, because, a meal of meat, not only three meals of grains, but also no meat, originally a bowl of rice, but three bowls to make up for it, because of this, Li Zicheng's soldiers with the increase in training tasks, the amount of food is also getting bigger and bigger, and eating five bowls of rice at a meal has become Changtai, which aggravates the consumption of food.

And this kind of nutrition in later generations is something that Li Zicheng would never have thought of.

When everyone got this result, everyone looked at each other, and then took a deep breath together.

But three full meals, what kind of luxury is this? For these 40,000 soldiers, how much food do you need? Now, although the army had captured a lot of them, according to the various actions that Li Zicheng did to buy people's hearts, there is not much in stock, and if the soldiers are allowed to eat three times a day, how long can these stored grain last?

At that time, the old battalion, which has knives, guns and wooden sticks, and has already seen the battle, will mutiny, and what is even worse is that those old and weak women and children are the families of these soldiers, and if they really mutiny, they will not even have anyone to suppress them, so the plan to reduce the food supply of women and children in the old camp is the first to be rejected by those worried generals.

So what's the remaining solution? Increase the collection of grain.

Shangluo Mountain was originally a sparsely populated, barren and poor place, coupled with years of disasters and wars, the common people fled, died, and those left behind, no food and clothing, and prolonged their lives. He used various methods to collect food, not only to feed his troops through the harsh winter and the spring famine, but also to help the people in the mountain villages in this area, so that they would not starve to death and would not flee again.

Because everyone also knows that the reason why Lu Shi can have today's prosperity is because he has enveloped the people, so that the people can produce food, cloth, knives and guns, and all the things he wants for him in the unwitting bewitchment, therefore, the people of Shangluo Mountain are also what everyone needs to pay attention to and work hard to implement.

At that time, there were only three ways to collect grain: the first way was to send a large amount of silver to send reliable local people and his soldiers to pretend to be grain vendors, riding donkeys, and buying grain in the city and nearby counties. One donkey per person, two long pockets. Often, 10 to 20 donkeys travel in groups, not afraid of encountering sporadic bandits or small groups of villagers to stop and rob. This kind of small grain dealers in this kind of small grain dealers are found here and in the western part of Henan, commonly known as donkey sellers, so the government does not suspect it. Wang Changshun, the old groom of Zicheng, has returned, although he has hung two lotteries, they are not serious, and he was quickly cured of Shang Jiong. He had experience as a grain peddler and had assigned him to do the job. He was still very lively, loved to tell jokes, and the soldiers and civilians who were with him liked him.

The second way is to borrow grain from the rich families in the nearby cottages, and if they resist, kill them and make hundreds. At that time, because the government was unable to send troops to the mountain, the landlords were very afraid of this peasant army that had collapsed from Tongguan and did not dare not borrow it. However, it is common for people to intercede and borrow more to give less, and the third way is to send a few small teams of men and horses to the county one or two hundred miles away to collect grain. Find the bottom line in advance, find out the situation of the rich households in a certain cottage or village, send someone to deliver a letter at night, or put a few birds outside the village, shout for a while, light the firewood, and paste the letter on the door of the village when leaving. The letters have a traditional cliché that reads:

The rich man of XX Village learned that only because he was rich and unkind, and ten thousand people suffered

Hate, this army came to ask Er for tattooed silver xx taels, wheat xx stones, and miscellaneous grains

xx stone, to help the people. Except for three days, and within five days, the silver will be given

The grain was gathered and sent to the xx place for delivery. If you delay, you will definitely attack

Break the stockade, burn the houses, kill the people, and leave no chickens and dogs!

Some of the rich men resisted, and some of them interceded and sent the money and grain in the amount agreed upon by the other two parties. For the rich who refused to pay, the peasant army tried to collude with the inner line, break through the cottages, and punish them by murder, arson, and looting.

If there was no inner line, and the cottage was well defended, Li Zicheng would not send a letter asking for silver and food in order to avoid damaging his men and prestige.

Others moved to the cities or in fortified cottages, where they kept their fields and houses. The peasant army handed the letter to their tenants or neighbours, and if they resisted, set fire to their country houses.

The third method adopted by Li Zicheng's grain troops is the common method of local "poles", so at first the local rich people thought that they were "poles" from Shangzhou or Luonan County, and also called them Tukou, but later saw that their whereabouts were haunted, there were many horses, and there were few rapes of ** women, and they did not harass the poor people, and the rich people knew that this was Li Zicheng's scattered people, but they did not know for a long time that it was the grain troops sent by King Li Chuang.

Despite all the methods used to collect food, the life of the troops is still extremely difficult. After all, it is really too much consumption for more than 100,000 people to eat horse feeding, especially in the first month of entering Shangluo Mountain, when encountering a few days of wind and snow, Li Zicheng and his brothers finally only ate one meal a day. Although he has a lot of money, but because there is nowhere to buy, therefore, there are very few cotton clothes in this army, and there is a lack of bedding, most of the color numbers have not yet healed, and some food and cotton clothes take care of the color numbers first, so everyone is even more bitter.

"It can't go on like this." Li Zicheng warned himself countless times, and also warned the generals around him, "Open up the situation and get out of Shangluo Mountain, this is already a must for us to survive before the spring famine." ”