Li Zicheng asked Li to pay more attention to the Ming army in Shaanxi, especially the direction of Dasanguan, even if the Ming army does not go out of the pass, he must always be vigilant, in case the Ming army threatens Guguan in the west, the Heavenly Mandate army in the direction of Hanzhong can also make a response from the south.

He also sent a message to the Governor of the Mandate of Heaven, asking Liang Wencheng to buy a large amount of coarse grain at a low price and transport it to Xing'an County, the quantity is not limited, the more the better.

Leaving Hanzhong Mansion to the east, passing through Chenggu, Xixiang, Shiquan, Hanyin four counties in turn, Zhongnan Mountain in the north of the Qinling Mountains, Daba Mountain in the south, stretching out the remaining veins from time to time, the road was forced to change direction, Li Zicheng continued to pass through on both sides of the Han River, crossed the Han River several times, and only arrived at Xing'an County.

Xing'an County is the geographical core of the upper reaches of the Han River, originally called Xing'an, just a guard station, after the Mandate of Heaven Army came to Hanzhong, only to establish a county here, Song Wen's seventh battalion was stationed in Xing'an County.

Song Wen had already greeted Li Zicheng outside Xing'an City, "Metropolitan Governor! ”

"No need to be polite," Li Zicheng waved his hand and asked Song Wen to get up, "From Xing'an County to the east, what is the path?" ”

After Song Wen got up, he hurriedly said: "From Xing'an County to the east, there is an official road in the southeast and due east directions, and the road in the southeast direction is the Shangyong of the Three Kingdoms era, which needs to cross the extremely high Wudang Mountain or Shennongjia, and then enter Huguang; To the northeast, along the Han River to the east, you can enter Huguang or north into Henan. ”

"Oh?" Li Zicheng immediately took a fancy to this path along the Han River, and he came to Xing'an this time to prepare to enter Henan, "Go, enter the city first!" ”

"Yes, Grand Duke!" Song Wen led Li Zicheng into the city and into his camp.

Li Zicheng did not delay at all, and immediately asked Song Wen to put out the map of the army, pointed on the map, pondered for a moment, and said: "Shangluo Mountain, this is the intersection of Shaanxi, Sichuan, Huguang, and Henan provinces, and it is also a deep mountainous area, which is suitable for our activities. ”

Song Wenqi said: "The governor of the capital said that he wants to send troops and troops to go deep into Shangluo Mountain?" ”

Li Zicheng nodded slightly, "I'm going to Henan, but Li Ji is still in Sichuan, so I have to set up a camp in Shangluo Mountain first, and it's best to store some grain." ”

Song Wen was puzzled, "Grain? The Governor ......"

Li Zicheng explained his plan in detail, and then said: "Huguang is a good place, if it weren't for the heavy troops deployed by the imperial court in Huguang, and the main force of the rogue Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, I would like to go to Huguang to have a look!" ”

Song Wen pondered, hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Metropolitan Governor, it is extremely risky to go to Shangluo Mountain, it is better to let your subordinates go down, the Metropolitan Governor is in charge of the overall situation in Xing'an County......"

Li Zicheng picked up the tea cup, took a sip, and then slowly reassured, "Although Shangluo Mountain is the territory of the imperial court, the people of Shaanxi have long been disappointed in the imperial court, and it is in the depths of the Qinling Mountains, there is no danger, General Song don't worry, your seventh battalion must guard the Hanshui channel, and when necessary, take over the Heavenly Mandate Army of Shangluo Mountain." ”

"The subordinates understand, and the subordinates must take care of it at all times," Song Wen knew that he couldn't convince the Dadu Governor, pondered for a moment, and said: "Dadu Governor, there is something unknown ...... the subordinates."

Li Zicheng said: "Say, what's the matter?" ”

"The subordinates are firmly guarding the front line of the Han River, if the Ming army dares to come, the subordinates will naturally not be ambiguous," Song Wen said: "If the Liukou escapes along the Han River, or wants to enter the Sichuan to avoid the Ming army, what should the subordinates do?" ”

Li Zicheng also has a bit of a headache, it stands to reason that the basic goals of the Liukou and the Mandate of Heaven Army are the same, they are both against the imperial court and against the Ming Army, but there is an essential difference between the Mandate of Heaven Army and the Rogues.

The goal of the Mandate of Heaven Army is to lie in the world, so it has always treated the people well, so that the people "have food, clothing, housing, and land", which is not only a propaganda slogan, but also a real military law.

And Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and other rogues are just for their own survival, or enjoyment, it is said that Luo Rucai has more than 100 beautiful wives and concubines, all of whom are like flowers and jade, which is the reason why Luo Rucai likes to be a thief. Robbing the rich and helping the poor, doing the right thing for heaven is just a slogan, if the Ming army does not encircle and suppress him, he will definitely not use any corrupt officials and corrupt officials, unless it is for looting.

When they first started the army, they may have been for the poor people in the vicinity, but over the years, after holding power and property in their hands, their mentality has already changed.

Time will make people transform, even if he has always adhered to his ideals!

If he cooperated with these figures, or let them join the Mandate of Heaven Army, Li Zicheng really didn't know what the consequences would be.

The current Heavenly Mandate Army no longer needs to hide in the shadows of others, if with the help of the Ming army, these rogues will be wiped out, or their strength will be weakened......

"They are dog-eat-dog, leave them alone, if the Liukou asks you for help, or wants to clear the customs, you will delay as much as possible on the grounds of asking the Governor of the Mandate of Heaven, the Liukou is chased by the Ming army, and he definitely can't afford to delay!"

"Subordinates understood!"

Li Zicheng set up camp in Xing'an that night to rest, and considering that his own soldiers were all cavalry, he asked Song Wen to allocate a soldier from a thousand households to go to Shangluo Mountain.

After dawn, Li Zicheng ate early and late, Song Wen came to see him off, and temporarily allocated to Li Zicheng's thousand households, which had already prepared a trip and was led by a thousand households named Lu Dazhi.

"Metropolitan Governor, it's hard work in Shangluo Mountain, if you need anything, just send someone to say it, and your subordinates will definitely send someone over as soon as possible."

Li Zicheng nodded, "We are now carrying three months' worth of grain, which should be able to support until next spring, but Henan had a great drought last year, and there were many hungry people, so I asked Wencheng to transport some coarse grain from Lanzhou, and when I have a stable foothold in Shangluo Mountain, you will transport it over." ”

Song Wendao: "The Metropolitan Governor wants to relieve the hungry people in Henan? ”

"There are tens of millions of hungry people in Henan, I just have the heart to save it, how can I save it?" Li Zicheng smiled wryly, "These grains are temporarily stored in Shangluo Mountain, and when Li Ji comes, I will send troops to Henan to attract the attention of the imperial court to the Central Plains, and if possible, save some people who are willing to follow us!" ”

Li Zicheng said goodbye to Song Wen, first traveled dozens of miles along the Han River, passed Xunyang County, and then turned north, crossed the Jia River, and there were already many mountains in front of him, and asked the guide, knowing that it was already the edge of Shangluo Mountain.

Walking through a section of the upward mountain road, you can often see some valleys, the terrain of the valley is relatively flat, there are water sources, there are farmland cultivated by the people, but the volume of the valley is not large, each valley, can only be regarded as a small village.

In the evening of that day, Li Zicheng went to a village, saw that it was getting late, and set up camp outside the village.

The soldiers were setting up tents, and Li Zicheng saw that it was still early, so he took He Mi and three personal soldiers on foot to go around the village, wanting to understand the psychological situation of the people and their attitudes towards the court and the rogues.

As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the village, he saw an old man and a middle-aged man carrying a hoe home, so he asked He Xiaomi to go up and investigate.

He Xiaomi tidied up the armor on his body, and walked quickly towards the two, "Old man, old man, wait a minute!" ”

The two looked back, and saw that it was a general in armor, his face suddenly changed color, and when he saw Li Zicheng and others behind He Xiaomi, they suddenly trembled, and the middle-aged man stood in place in a daze, the old man hurriedly took his hand, and the two turned around and hurriedly ran towards the village.

He Xiaomi scratched his sideburns and returned stupidly, "The Governor of Dadu ......"

Li Zicheng waved his hand, "I've seen it all!" "But there was a muttering in my heart, what's wrong with the people, do you think we are the Ming army?

The infantry of the Mandate of Heaven Army are all brown and green camouflage uniforms, but the cavalry is not equipped with Xining rifles, and is still wearing armor, and it is also the armor of the Ming army.

Li Zicheng's personal soldiers, although they are all cavalry and equipped with rifles, they are ready for all kinds of battles at any time, and they are used as both cavalry and infantry, so they are also wearing the Ming army's Mingguang armor.

This is the first time that the Heavenly Mandate Army has come to Shangluo Mountain, and the people here should have never heard of the Heavenly Mandate Army, and it is very likely that it was a misunderstanding.

The Mandate of Heaven Army will also be stationed in Shangluo Mountain for a few months, and it will definitely have to deal with the people, if the people misunderstand the Mandate of Heaven Army......

The two people had already walked away, and their figures had disappeared into the village, and they were long gone.

Li Zicheng thought for a while, and then said, "Let's go, go to the village and have a look!" ”

He Xiaomi was not at ease, "The Metropolitan Governor, the people here may not know the Heavenly Mandate Army, and judging by their attitude, it seems that they are not very friendly......"

"We are about to set up camp in Shangluo Mountain, and we will inevitably have to interact with the people nearby, they don't know us, so we have to seize the opportunity to let them know." Li Zicheng did not stop and continued to walk towards the village.

Entering the entrance of the village, I swept my eyes, the village is not big, there are about 20 households, all of them are earthen walls and thatched houses, the thatched houses are extremely scattered, most of them seem extremely old, there are cracks of different sizes on the walls, I don't know whether the people are lazy, or have no time to repair.

When I entered the village just now, I could still see a small number of people walking outside, and at this time the people had closed the door, so they should be eating at home.

Li Zicheng walked in front of a six-room conjoined house and asked He Xiaomi to knock on the door, and after knocking for a long time, no one answered inside.

Isn't this family at home? Li Zicheng asked He Xiaomi to change households and went to knock on the door, but the result was still the same, there was no answer from the people inside.

He Xiaomi was so anxious that his head was sweating, so he had to walk back, "Governor, maybe there is no one at home......"

Li Zicheng pointed to a thatched hut on the left and said, "There must be someone in this family, I saw someone walk in just now." ”

He Xiaomi had to walk over and peek in from the window, but he didn't see the lights, and he couldn't help frowning, but the order of the Metropolitan Governor ...... He walked to the door and knocked on it with his hand, but there was silence inside, and he was afraid that the people inside would not hear it, so he knocked the wooden door, but no one answered.

Li Zicheng stepped forward, looked left and right, there was no movement everywhere, then walked to the door, and said softly: "Is there anyone at home?" We are soldiers of the past, and we want to beg for hot water to drink......"

There was still no sound in the house.

Li Zicheng also frowned, raised his voice twice, and said: "We are not bad people, if we were bad people, these two broken doors would have been kicked out a long time ago......"

There was a low voice in the house, and after a while, an old woman's voice came out: "There is no one at home, the military master should go to another house!" ”