The team composed of more than 100 families was immense, including men, women, and children, a total of 50,000 or 60,000 people, and in order to save horsepower, many people pulled the horses according to Li Zicheng's requirements, and only allowed to get on the horses in case of emergency. There were a lot of famine farmers along the way, but because many people couldn't keep up with the main team, there were also many people who fell behind, and even after getting through the initial hunger, there were many who deserted. After all, since ancient times, except for Zhu Yuanzhang, no one has ever heard that the team of the people's rebellion can really win the world, especially after many old people have experienced the confrontation with the normal team of the border army in Shaanxi, Gansu and other places, they have begun to understand that not all the officers and soldiers are just in plundering the people as they see on weekdays, and they may be a group of war scum on the battlefield.

Among the tens of thousands of horses after Li Zicheng's army expanded, many of them fell behind or even deserted, and when the army went south to the Luochuan area, there were less than 9,000 people left in the 13,000-strong army at most.

In front of a mountain cliff, Li Zi's headquarters gathered together in addition to the thousands of people on guard duty on the periphery, and at least more than 100 deserters who had been arrested were pressed in front of the cliff.

"You ungrateful people! It was King Chuang who gave you a way to live, you are full of food and drink, maybe you also secretly buried a small fortune and wanted to leave when you have a way back? It's not that easy! Today, in front of everyone, I want to execute you who have no ambitions and only want to eat and drink! You all see it clearly! It's easy to join the party, but whoever is going to run away ... ”

Just when Li Guoyi was giving a stern lecture, Li Zicheng came over at this time: "It's going to rain, and the mother wants to get married, they don't want to go with the army, and they are people who have just joined the team for a short time, so let them go!" The officers and soldiers severely punished deserters, but I understood most of the deserters. You don't want to fight with our army, and when you get to the battlefield, you are likely to lag behind, so it's better to leave now... ”

Li Zicheng's remarks can make many people, including Li Guo, feel puzzled: There are indeed some rules in the army, and most officers and soldiers are quite dissatisfied on weekdays, but if they do not punish deserters, how can they restrain the army and maintain combat effectiveness? It's just that Li Zicheng's starting conditions at this time are far better than history, and his prestige in the army is quite high, and many cronies have not directly refuted face on such occasions.

But when the deliberations followed, many cronies were also a little dissatisfied.

"If we don't severely punish the deserters, I'm afraid we won't be able to reach Chang'an Mansion, and those who temporarily joined us will flee, leaving only the little capital we had when we started...

"Yes, deserters are not punished, even on the green forest road, there has never been such a rule...

The crowd chattered in the makeshift tent.

At this moment, Li Zicheng suddenly took out a booklet that was not too thin, looked at it and said to everyone: "Do you know what this is?" The people who came were all cronies, not those old masters who had joined here temporarily, so this king would announce such an important matter. This is the "Chongzhen Anthology". It is a military book that is not a military book sent by someone who came from the saint today, and some of the views in it are reasonable for the king, so I will tell you about it... ”

"The first principle is that the revolution must be voluntary, and you must understand that our army today is different from the official army that has the power to govern the world. For a long time to come, it is necessary to fight tough battles frequently and to fight arduous mobile battles, which requires a sufficient proportion of high-quality troops with firm will and high combat efficiency, gold. It is the so-called big waves and sand. Our army, including other units, was 50,000 men, women, and children, and there were horses that were not inferior to this number. In fact, it will be very difficult for such a huge contingent to further expand much in future mobile operations. If the scale of the troop is too large, this will bring many difficulties to organization and command, and greatly reduce efficiency. Those who join at any time are actually a big wave of sand, and those who are willing to follow us and are willing to fight hard and obey military discipline can bring us real strength... ”

"If we continue like this, I'm afraid we won't be able to reach the hinterland of the Central Plains, and our army will be wiped out in big waves. . . ." Some people began to think that this lord, who was still like a thing on weekdays, had some scholarly opinions.

At this time, Li Zicheng also solemnly added: "Some deserters are allowed. However, there are some deserters, even according to the "Chongzhen Anthology", they must be severely punished. For example, if you have been in the army for more than half a year or have started to rebel with us, we have invested a huge amount of money in deserters, and we must be severely punished. For example, defecting to the official army or collaborating with the enemy, this is not to say. Caught capital execution. There is also a type of escape called carrying a gun and carrying a weapon. Flee with the firearms, gunpowder, and even armor, bows and arrows that we have finally captured from the officers and soldiers, all of which must be divided by the heavy punishment of being buried alive. Those who flee in battle during the battle should also be severely punished according to the circumstances. At the same time, Big Wave Sweep is not only a team that is constantly eliminating, but also a team that can promote itself and replenish the sand. Wherever our army goes, if there is a shortage of personnel, we must expand our ranks as much as possible by taking the initiative to publicize it. Tell the people who are suffering all over the world that our army is a completely different team from the official army, a team of the poor. Idea: When expanding the army, you must salute first and then soldier. And: if you don't have any special skills, try to recruit younger soldiers. Young people are easy to listen to and accept our ideas. The cost of convincing a teenager or young man is quite different from convincing a middle-aged person. Only when there is a serious shortage of personnel in our army, and it is not ideal to take the initiative to publicize conscription, can we adopt some special methods... ”

After Li Zicheng said this, many people suddenly opened their mouths, thinking that this "Chongzhen Anthology" is indeed a bit of a doorway.

"What else does this "Chongzhen Anthology" say? There are no outsiders here, so the lord will continue to tell you about it... ”

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Okay, this king will continue to talk about it, there is really not much to hide in this." Because there are some things that the officers and soldiers may not be able to learn even if they are spoken. The second principle is called 'democratic centralism', which effectively combines the unity of soldiers and soldiers with the obedience of all actions to command. Soldiers' democracy, which is a very rare thing for the officers and soldiers, is actually not a new thing among the rebels. For example, the old leaders in the ranks of many outsiders are elected from the lower levels. However, this kind of grass-roots self-government and grass-roots workers' and peasants' main organizations can easily produce the drawbacks of disobedience to organizational discipline and imprison the flow of talent and the effective concentration of elites. This requires the whole team to establish a more effective organizational principle: to organize meetings regularly according to certain requirements, as long as it is something that is decided by the meeting at all levels. There must be authority above grassroots democracy ... ”

In this way, in Luochuan, the peasant army, which had not been in place for too long after its beginning, had quietly undergone qualitative changes before it had undergone many major tests.

(End of chapter)