On the eighth day of the fifth month of the second year of Yongchang in China (1644 AD), Li Zicheng led nearly 100,000 horse infantry soldiers of the second battalion, the fourth battalion and the fifth battalion to personally conquer Nanjing.

In order to cooperate with the southern expedition of the army, the main force of the Chengtian battalion stationed in Wuchang gradually moved eastward to contain and deter the Zuo Liangyu army in Jiangxi.

Since the fourth and fifth battalions were already stationed near Xuzhou and confronted the puppet Ming "Four Towns of Jiangbei", when Li Zicheng left Beijing, in addition to his own soldiers, there was only the second battalion of Li Guobu's department.

Going south from Beijing, Li Zicheng didn't have much pressure, and he surveyed the official roads along the way.

The army marched to the Gunzhou Mansion, and the Li Ji Division of the Fourth Battalion and the Zhou Bin Division of the Fifth Battalion, who had arrived in advance, had already sent men to present the military deployment sketch of the Puppet Ming in Jiangbei and asked Li Zicheng for battle.

Li Zicheng opened this sketch, looked at it carefully, and memorized the military deployment of the pseudo-Ming by heart.

The Puppet Ming was in the four towns of Jiangbei, Xingping Bo Gaojie guarded Xuzhou, Sizhou and Fengyang, Dongping Bo Liu Zeqing defended Huai'an and Yangzhou, Guangchang Bo Liu Liangzuo guarded Luzhou and Shouzhou, and the Marquis Huang Degong guarded Chuzhou and Hezhou, which was the last barrier of the Puppet Ming in Jiangbei.

Perhaps the puppet Ming took a fancy to the ancestral mausoleum of Fengyang, the central capital, or the puppet Ming court felt that the east was close to the sea and the threat was smaller, and in the direction of Huai'an and Yangzhou, there was only Liu Zeqing's department, and the west actually deployed Gao Jie, Liu Liangzuo, and Huang Degong.

The sketch is too concise, there is no specific number of troops, and there is no character of each commander, it is difficult to make corresponding strategic deployments, however, the puppet Ming concentrated heavy forces on the western front, so let the fourth battalion with a large number of people attack the western front, and only the fifth battalion of four regiments attacked Huai'an from the eastern front.

Li Zicheng specially asked Wu Sangui and Yin Xianmin, who were with the army, to send orders to the east and west fronts, and after the order, they did not have to come back, so they reorganized and surrendered troops in the army.

Li Guo's second battalion did not participate in the battle, he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, but when he entered the boundary of Nanzhili, there were rivers and lakes everywhere, and the advantage of the cavalry could not be fully utilized.

Li Zicheng was not in a hurry, but went south along the official road, and there were more puppet Ming troops on the western front, so he turned west from Hanzhuang and went to Xuzhou.

Just after crossing the Jing Mountain, a message came from the front: Zhao Lie's Division, the 1st Division of the 4th Battalion, had defeated Gao Jie's adjutant Hu Maozhen, occupied Xuzhou, and captured a large number of enemy soldiers......

Li Zicheng laughed, "Gao Jie is the most important reliance of the pseudo-Ming, and it doesn't seem to be very good, it's only been a few days, and he lost the important town of Xuzhou, haha......"

Li Guo was impatient, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, as soon as Xuzhou is broken, the passage to the south has been opened, and it is just right to play the role of cavalry......"

"Double happiness doesn't need to worry, the war is still early," Li Zicheng said: "The four towns of Jiangbei in the Pseudo-Ming Dynasty, plus the Zuo Liangyu Department and the Shi Kefa Department around Nanjing, there are no less than a million people, which are millions of pigs, and they can't be killed for a while." ”

"Your Majesty, what are we going to do now?" Li Guo was still unwilling, and said, "Do you just run away behind the fourth battalion?" ”

"Runaway?" Li Zicheng said with a smile: "The fourth battalion has only completed the conquest, how to appease the people and make these places the territory of Huaxia, there are still many things to do, and sooner or later, the Heavenly Mandate Army will enter Jiangnan, and we must also prepare for the unification of China." ”

"Your Majesty, what should I do to prepare?" Li Guo thought that the opportunity had come, and hurriedly said, "What is the minister going to do now?" ”

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "You don't have to do anything now, you can enter the city first to appease the people." ”

The army drove all the way and arrived in Xuzhou just before dark.

He Jin and Yin Xianmin were already waiting outside the city, and when they saw a familiar figure, they hurriedly bowed to the ground, "Minister He Jin, Minister Yin Xianmin, knock to see the emperor!"

"Let's get flat!" Li Zicheng's eyes swept in front of the crowd, but he didn't see Li Ji and Liu Zongmin, and frowned slightly: "What about Li Ji and Liu Zongmin, they are not in the city?" ”

He Jin got up and said: "Back to the emperor, General Li and General Liu led the main force south early yesterday morning, and I am afraid that they have reached the area of Fuliji and Suzhou at this moment." ”

"Suzhou? It should be Liu Zongmin's idea, or is it urgent," Li Zicheng paused, and then said: "He Aiqing, how is the city now, are the people at ease?" ”

He Jin's face showed a trace of excitement, and he hurriedly said: "The emperor can rest assured, the order in the city has returned to normal, and the people have long been looking forward to the puppet army getting out...... It's just that the brothers didn't dare to ask for ......"

"Oh?" Li Zicheng said with a smile: "The Ming Dynasty has perished, and the generals of the puppet Ming regime dare to harm the people if they don't accept the lesson?" If they really cared about the people, the people wouldn't want them to leave Xuzhou sooner, right? ”

"As far as the minister knows, the four towns of the Puppet Ming Dynasty are nominally controlled by the Puppet Ming court, but in fact they are fighting their own battles," He Jin said in a low voice: "According to the officers who surrendered to the army, their military salaries are all self-raised, and they are all showdowns with the people and big households, and the people are miserable......

Li Zicheng bowed slightly, rode into the city, climbed to the top of the city, looked left and right, and said with a smile: "Xuzhou is a famous city in the Han Dynasty, the walls are strong and thick, if the army and the people are united, how can they be broken through by the Mandate of Heaven in just a few days?" The puppet regime, the days are over!"

He Jin was overjoyed at first, and then a trace of gloom appeared on his face, and said: "It's a pity, when the city was broken, more than 10,000 soldiers broke through and fled......

"I can escape the first day of junior high school, but I can't escape the fifteenth," Li Zicheng changed his words and said lightly: "How many hypocritical troops have been captured?" ”

"Back to the emperor, more than 10,000 soldiers have been captured!"

Li Zicheng pondered in his heart, if there were 10,000 captured soldiers, the number of casualties should not be less than thousands, and among the 10,000 soldiers who broke through, thousands would flee, and the soldiers of Gao Jie's department may have consumed a small half.

He turned around, glanced at Yin Xianmin behind him, and said, "How about the surrender now, are they willing to submit to Huaxia?" ”

Yin Xianmin lowered his head slightly, and said: "Back to the emperor, I heard that the Heavenly Mandate Army has never been short of food and salary, and they are all willing to surrender, and many people are still very active, temporarily training in the camp, and the villain has selected six thousand soldiers from them, and they are training alone!"

Li Zicheng thought for a moment and decided to carry out the original plan, saying: "The selected soldiers will be reorganized into a regiment, and General Yin will temporarily serve as the commander of the regiment." ”

"Thank you for your kindness!" Yin Xianmin was originally the commander-in-chief of Changsha in the Ming Dynasty, but after returning to the Heavenly Mandate Army, he has not been appointed, and this time he became the head of the Heavenly Mandate Army, and finally had a specific position, although the official position is not high, but he is very happy in his heart.

"As for the other thousands of soldiers, they must be forced to retire," Li Zicheng continued: "Tell them that those who are willing to go to Liaodong will be given a settling-in allowance of ten taels of silver per person, and they can bring their families with them, and when they arrive in Liaodong, the local government will give each ding 30 mu of arable land for free," after a pause, he added: "I also want to tell them that those who go to Liaodong first can give priority to the fertile land." ”

In Liaoning Province now, there are only two prefectures of Ningyuan and Jinzhou, including women, but with a population of 700,000, and there is a large amount of barren land in the two prefectures.

In this way, the transportation from Jingshi can be reduced, and the consumption on the way, which is equivalent to double the tax.

The most important thing is that it is difficult for the third battalion to hold on to a piece of wasteland, the more populous the local area will be, not only the soldiers of the third battalion will not feel lonely, but the future Liaoning Province will also soon prosper.

Although Yin Xianmin didn't understand Li Zicheng's intentions, but the emperor's words, that is, the holy decree, he only had the part to carry it out, he bowed slightly, and said: "Weichen obeys the decree!"

Li Zicheng stayed at the state government in Xuzhou that night.

After dinner, he unfolded the map of the march, watched alone, and found that Xuzhou was a Zhili Prefecture, equivalent to a "prefecture", but the land area was relatively small.

After thinking for a moment, he had an idea in his heart, so he put away the march map and lay down on the bed, perhaps because of the fatigue of the march, and after a while, he snored like thunder......

After dawn, Li Zicheng summoned Yin Xianmin again and asked him about the situation in the city, and learned that the original Zhizhou had disappeared in the war, and it was also possible that he had broken through with the army.

This is also good, there are a large number of officials waiting to be appointed in the Beijing Division, he went south this time, brought many officials with the army, and reappointed the governor of Xuzhou, together with the magistrates of Xiao County, Pei County, Feng County, and Dangshan County, and the four counties of Xiao County, Pei County, Feng County, and Dangshan County, were also placed in place, so that the local government could operate first.

The officials came from Beijing and already had a certain understanding of the laws of Huaxia, and Li Zicheng was not at ease, so he asked Lu Yang, the commander of the pro-corps, to gather them together and study the laws in detail for a day.

Li Zicheng himself changed his disguise, changed into the robes of Zhusheng, took He Xiaomi and a few personal soldiers, and went to the market for a walk, and saw that the market was open as before, and the people's faces were as usual, so he was relieved.

In the hearts of the people, there is no concept of the state at all, and they cannot be blamed, from the emperor and the high-ranking officials in the court, to the local officials at all levels, when did they not regard them as untouchables?

The emperor and the high-ranking officials of the court, the people may not see each other in their lives, and the local officials who deal with the people are the most humble officials in the country's bureaucracy, but in the eyes of the people, they are "parent officials", and since ancient times, "the people do not fight with the officials", which shows what kind of opposition the officials and the people are?

In times of peace, you may not feel it, but when the country is in danger of survival, the people who have no sense of national identity often betray the country and the nation and become the so-called "traitors".

If there is no right, what is the obligation?

Just like the Han people under the command of the Liaodong Tartars, no one wants to become slaves of foreign races, but the Ming gave up on them, and they never expected the Ming to rescue them, such people, can they be counted on to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty? Expect them to rebel against the Tartars with their blood and lives?

Walking around the market, although the people were smiling, Li Zicheng felt more and more that it was urgent to promote new education, break the policy of ignoring the people, and let the people truly become the masters of the country.

Maybe the awakening of the people will weaken part of the imperial power, but the people will eventually wake up, the Han nation without awakening, which dynasty change, the royal family is cut off from grandchildren, but after the awakening of China, the life of Emperor Puyi of Xuantong was left unprecedentedly......

"Li Zicheng" has come to this era, and he must assume his own responsibility!