Li Zicheng heard that his rival Gao Jie died, he jumped up with excitement, he was too nervous a few days ago, everyone thought that Gao Jie's 400,000 army might enter Henan at any time, and the Shun army and the Datong army temporarily stopped hostility and jointly responded to the threat of the Ming army - Ma Jinzhong arrived at Xiangcheng with the main force of Bu Eight Towns, and the first town of the Chu army of Hu Dawei arrived in Yuncheng, Wang Guangen and Luo Dayong joined Liu Hongqi and other bandits to advance to Taikang, and the Shun army also moved the main force eastward after receiving the food and clothing quilts received by the Datong army, and the Datong cavalry of Linying formed a corner of the situation.

Finally, God had eyes and took Gao Jie's life, and the threat of the Ming army was lifted, but Li Zicheng was happy for two days, and the Datong army immediately turned around and continued to besiege the Shun army. The Shun army was cut off from supplies again, hungry and cold were unable to break through, the situation was getting worse and worse, and the world was changing, and the two old nests of Xiangyang and Nanyang were also in danger.

The war in Huguang was intermittent, Li Huai adopted the policy of blockade and encroachment on the Huguang Shun army step by step, Bai Wang was defeated repeatedly, and the food and salary were almost completely cut off, and after the autumn of last year, he sent troops to Hunan in a desperate gamble, and Changsha, Yueyang, and Changde were all taken captive by him. He Tengjiao, the military affairs of Huguang, Guangxi, and Guizhou, the governor of the Ming court, could not stop the rogues and had to ask Nanjing for help, but the Nanjing court ignored them, and instead demanded that the taxes be paid and increased as soon as possible. He Tengjiao was annoyed and ashamed, and led the army to suppress the chaotic people, Changsha was therefore empty, and the local gentry and the government had a long-standing grudge, so they took the opportunity to launch a revolution to occupy Changsha Mansion, and He Tengjiao mutinied on the way back to help, and fled to Guizhou in embarrassment. The Changsha Revolution was successful, and the fame from all over Hunan gathered in Changsha to reopen the parliament, decided to rejoin the Datong Federation, and asked Wuchang to send troops to rescue, Li Huai received the letter and immediately ordered Ji Jue to lead 10,000 militia into Hunan. The thieves were beaten everywhere and suffered continuous setbacks, and Jingzhou behind was attacked by the Datong Army's Ma Ke Department, the army was in turmoil, and retreated north in a hurry, and fled to Jingmen where internal strife occurred, Bai Wang was killed by the general Wang Tizhong, and then Wang Tizhong was killed by the general Wang Deren, Wang Deren was in power but was unable to save the defeat, so he simply led the troops to surrender to the Datong army that was following the pursuit - the main force of the Huguang Shun army was destroyed, and the pseudo-queen Gao was still struggling to support in Xiangyang City, but there was no food and salary inside, and there was no rescue troops outside, and it was only a matter of time before it was destroyed under the siege.

The war in Nanyang is very simple, the Datong army has not yet started, the former Shanxi general soldier, the current Datong Chamber of Commerce director Wang Zhong led the "Datong Chamber of Commerce to fight the thief army" is almost done - western Henan is full of self-reliant local heroes, including the garrison of the Shun army is also mostly a changed bandit, the local serious shortage of cloth, salt, war horses, weapons are in short supply, Datong Titang Division, Datong Chamber of Commerce to take the opportunity of supply to continue to penetrate, Henan people have long had the heart of Datong's ship, plus the "thief army" pioneer Li Jiyu is a local tyrant, The road is wide and familiar, with him in front of him to say hello, the powerful local bandits welcomed the Shanxi boss with both hands, and also brought their own weapons and rations to cheer up. Wang Zhong was invincible all the way to recruit the rebels, the team grew rapidly like a snowball, and there were more than 20,000 horses when they arrived in Nanyang, but most of them were rabble, and they could fight the elite veterans hired by the "thief army", these guys shot and beat the Shun army out of the city to fight and fled, and then squatted under the city and did not move - there is an old camp of the Shun army in Nanyang City, and the number of bandits must be a lot, and it is not cost-effective to use mercenaries to attack the city, Wang Zhong is reluctant to pay a large amount of pension, fortunately, it did not take a few days, You Renjun, the commander of the Shaanxi Soldiers and Horses Division, led 10,000 militiamen to arrive, and the two armies converged to surround Nanyang City.

Li Zicheng didn't know anything about the situation in Xiangyang and Nanyang, and was still worried about how to escape from the predicament, Niu Jinxing quietly reported that Tian Jianxiu and Wu Ruyi, who surrendered to Datong, had been back for several days, and had been hiding in Yuan Zongdi's camp to conspire with the generals - these two people were old brothers who came out of Mizhi, and they actually helped outsiders dig the foot of the wall, what was the meaning of the love for many years, Li Zicheng's heart was cold, and he lowered his head and went straight to Yuan Zongdi's camp.

Yuan Zongdi's big tent is so lively, the generals Li Guo, Yuan Zongdi, Liu Fangliang, Liu Xiyao, the mighty generals Xin Sizhong, Dang Shousu, Liu Rukui, Guoyi generals Tian Hu, Zhang Neng, Bai Minghe and other generals are there, as well as Song Qijiao, the secretary of the government of the government, Yu Shangyou, the secretary of the military government, Gong Yan, the secretary of the government of the household, Yang Yulin and several other ministers - Li Zicheng walked to the door and felt dizzy, and pulled Niu Jinxing to stop.

“…… Yansui lack of water, wind and sand, an acre of land can not grow dozens of catties of millet, can not feed how many people, in the autumn I went back to the rice fat to visit the home, many villagers have moved to the Hetao, the Western Regions to farm, the villagers who stayed at home planted corn, yam eggs, the extra land planted grass and sheep, Yulin has a woolen mill, wool can be valuable, now the villagers are not rich, but there is no problem with a full stomach, "Tian Jianxiu is wearing a red shirt and blue pants wool uniform, wearing three golden tiger head symbols on his chest, while talking, while opening a few boxes," I brought a hundred wool coats this time, this is Yulin goods, the weather will be cold for a month, everyone take it to protect against the cold. ”

Wu Ruyi was busy distributing tobacco to everyone, and then he also raised his head and said: "I have been in Datong for more than a year, I have figured out everything, and it is President Li who can really help the villagers live a good life. ”

There was silence in the big tent, everyone was thinking about a way out, Li Guo glanced at Song Qijiao and asked softly: "Song Shangshu, you are a scholar, you understand a lot of things, what do you say we should do?" ”

"The imperial court can't wait to kill us, and the eastern captives will enter the customs to fight for the world under the guise of avenging the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and they will not let us go, these two roads will not work, if Datong insists on not amnesty, we are afraid that we will be in a catastrophe," Song Qijiao was a little depressed, and couldn't help but complain, "I am doing well in my hometown of Qianzhou, you have to force me to join the gang, and the result is that it is difficult to return to the point that I have a home, and I am suffering by you!" ”

"President Li also wants to be amnesty, but the people of Shanxi still remember the old accounts, and you did a lot of evil in Beijing last year, and the Datong House just won't agree to the amnesty, unless you can make miraculous contributions to the people of the world to atone for your old sins." Tian Jianxiu lowered his head and said.

Yu Shangyou, the head of Huguang Shi, was also forced to get on the thief ship, and interjected with red circles: "Those who have achieved great things should build high walls, accumulate grain, and slowly become kings, and should not have tried to seize the world and build a new dynasty in the first place. ”

Liu Fangliang immediately took over the words: "Old Brother Liu said when he was alive that King Chuang was dizzy when he became the emperor, and after the Battle of Shanhaiguan, he became a coward again, and the Dashun Dynasty couldn't last a few days, what he said is right, can we, a group of coarse people who don't know a few big characters, sit in the world?" ”

The young and vigorous Tian Hu couldn't help but say: "That's it, the mother-in-law of the king's hometown stole people, and the later concubine Xing eloped with Gao Jie, Mrs. Gao has not had children for so many years, and she can't even give birth to a descendant and still wants to be the emperor!" Brother Li, why didn't you persuade him at the beginning. ”

"Tian Hu, you kid accumulates virtue when he speaks, and Lao Tzu has no descendants," Li Guo is Li Zicheng's nephew, a few years younger than Li Zicheng, but he also can't give birth to a boy and a half girl, the old Li family really can't produce an emperor, even if he wins the world, there will be civil strife in the future, Li Guo sighed and said, "I persuaded him, and I don't know why he listened to the words of Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance." ”

"You are bold, the emperor is here," Niu Jinxing couldn't help it, and rushed into the big tent angrily, everyone was startled, and at the same time got up to look at Li Zicheng by the door, Niu Jinxing was even more crazy, pointing at the youngest Tian Hu and shouting, "The emperor heard what you said just now, and saying such rebellious words is like a rebellion, and he is not happy to ask for guilt." ”

"Lao Tzu doesn't want to rebel, but it's not pleasing to the eye, people like you are also a white-faced traitor when they become prime ministers, believe it or not, Lao Tzu will kill you now." Tian Hu was stunned, and he was about to draw his knife as he spoke, but was hugged by his Shangguan Yuan Zong.

"Alright, don't make a fuss." Li Zicheng waved his hand with a pale face, after the battle of Shanhaiguan, the generals became more and more presumptuous, and it was common to embarrass him as an emperor in person, and now that it has reached this point, it is not easy to say more, just bear with it, he walked into the big tent and sat down, stared at Tian Jianxiu and Wu Ruyi for a while and said softly: "How are you doing over there?" We're all old brothers, so we should see each other when we come back. ”

"King Chuang, we don't want to see you, thanks to you, the three of us are very good, Lao Wu and I are now in the Henan Commander's Mansion to praise military affairs, Zhang Nai is young and has good martial arts, and he became a deputy battalion officer under the Eagle of the Sky." Tian Jianxiu replied with a blushing face.

Li Zicheng smiled slightly, and after a moment of silence, he said, "I want to meet with your Cloud Commander, is it feasible?" ”

"Commander Yun is still dealing with the Qing army in Xingyang, I'm afraid I won't be able to come for a while, the Sky Eagle is in Linying, he is our senior, some things are more appropriate to say to him." Tian Jianxiu thought for a while and replied.

"Okay, I'll meet the Sky Eagle." Li Zicheng nodded.

Two days later, Zhang Ding, the commander of the three towns of the Datong Army, entered the Shun army camp, Tian Jianxiu and Wu Ruyi walked in front to lead the way, and kept shouting "Brothers, the eagle master is coming", the camp suddenly became lively, and the soldiers of the Shun army rushed to greet them, Liu Fangliang and Tian Hu followed Zhang Ding when they were border soldiers in their early years, and they knelt on the ground and shouted to the master.

Zhang Ding's face was pale, he jumped off the horse and kicked Liu Fangliang and Tian Hu to the ground, and then shouted at Shunjun: "No profit cowardice, just be a thief, defeat all the way from Shanhaiguan to here, lose the face of the Yulin people, I look down on you, get aside." ”

"Master, we fought hard, but we couldn't beat the Manchurian soldiers, but it was a pity that many brothers died." Liu Fangliang was very aggrieved, covering his face and crying.

"The ancestors of Yulin have been soldiers guarding the border for generations, and there are still few people who have died of blood, and they must fight if they can't fight, but they can't be greedy for life and afraid of death, I ask you, Dongyu has crossed the Yellow River, are you still ready to run?" Zhang Ding's eyes were like torches, and he swept viciously towards the soldiers of the Shun army, Li Zicheng walked to greet him, and his face suddenly showed embarrassment when he heard this.

"I don't want to run away, master, if you say something, I'll fight with the Tartars here." Tian Hu gritted his teeth and shouted.

"Fight, whoever runs is cowardly!" The soldiers of the Shun army brandished swords and guns and shouted.

Li Zicheng waved his hand to drink the soldiers, and took Niu Jinxing and a group of Wenchen to invite Zhang Ding into the big tent, Tian Jianxiu made a look, and the four major battalion commanders of the Shun army, Li Guo, Yuan Zongdi, Liu Fangliang, and Liu Xiyao immediately followed him into the big tent, and Tian Hu and Zhang Neng and a group of generals accompanied Wu Ruyi to stay outside the tent.

"In the next long admiration of Zhang Shuai Huwei, today's meeting is really different ......from the ordinary," Niu Jinxing was interrupted by Zhang Ding's wave as soon as he spoke, so he had to go directly to the topic, "Datong Li Hanmin's martial arts are world-over, all the people admire, and it is natural for him to ascend the throne and call the emperor, I am willing to obey the will of heaven to cancel the national title, and King Shun retreated to Nanyang, Xiangyang, and Jingzhou as ministers, and served President Li of Datong as the emperor. ”

"You mean to let you go, and continue to call the king a side, and want to be beautiful," Zhang Ding couldn't help sneering, gently patted the table and sneered, "Zhang Xianzhong is dead, Sun Kewang is dead, the bullshit Daxi Kingdom is in ashes, does this Dashun Kingdom still want to exist alone?" You don't know yet, Jingzhou has been conquered by our army, Bai Wang died in internal strife, more than 70,000 people under his command surrendered, Xiangyang and Nanyang are about to be lost, where are you Li Zicheng going to be king? ”

"No, you can't gnaw Nanyang." Li Zicheng's heart trembled, Jingxiang's troops were weak, and it was possible to be defeated in the hands of the Datong army, but Nanyang's terrain was dangerous, there was plenty of grain and grass, and there was a strong general Gao Yigong to defend it, so it was not so easy to fall.

"The scorpion block has gone to Nanyang, and he knows what to do." Zhang Ding smiled faintly.

Tuoyangkun is old, and there are many relatives and friends in the Shun army, standing under the city and showing his face is enough to shake the defenders facing the predicament, and Nanyang City is in danger - Li Zicheng's face is like ashes, and his brain is hot and he stood up and shouted: "Although your Datong is strong, my Dashun is not weak, and you may not be able to win a battle to the death." ”

Zhang Ding smiled: "It's easy to beat you, didn't Donglu claim to avenge Emperor Chongzhen, give enough benefits, they will be willing to do it for us, you wait for death!" ”

"Shameless, using the power of the East to poison China, you are not afraid of the shame of the world?" Niu Jinxing jumped up and cursed.

"Dongyu is bad, you are not a good thing, when you are finished, we will deal with Dongyu again, and we can still be praised by the world, you are smart and nonsense, get out of here!" Zhang Ding's eyes widened angrily, and he raised his hand to smash the teacup out, so frightened that Niu Jinxing hurriedly hid in the distance.

Dashun Wenwu hung his head in frustration, and after a while, Yu Shangyou got up and asked: "There is no way to be clear, rise and fight, we create the rebellion of the Ming Dynasty, and it does not hinder the affairs of Datong, why are you working hard to force each other?" Can't we go home together? ”

"No, because you have done a lot of evil, don't think that you can wash your hands and not dry your hands but old accounts, God has its own justice, you must pay the price for evil deeds," Zhang Ding stood up, waved his hand outside the tent and said loudly, "If you want to change the evil and follow the good, you must take action, if you put the Dongyu into Henan, you must shed blood and drive them out, so that the people of the world can see with their own eyes that you are also a good man who stands up to the sky, only in this way can the Datong Council have a reason to amnesty you." ”

Li Guo stood up excitedly: "We are not afraid of the Dongyu, we will fight, but we are hungry and hungry, and the armaments in our hands are not enough, how can we fight this battle?" ”

Zhang Ding walked up to Li Guo, patted him on the shoulder and said: "As long as you dare to fight, food and ordnance will be provided by us, remember, you must rush to the front, not a single step back, and you must fight for the people of Yulin when you die." ”

"Fight, if you die, you will have the face to see your ancestors." Song Qijiao wiped a handful of tears and said.

"Anyway, there is no way to live, brothers, follow the Datong army and drive the Dongyu out." Yuan Zongdi shouted loudly.

"If you fight, you'd rather die in battle than steal your life." Liu Fangliang and Liu Xiyao shook their fists excitedly and roared.

"If you fight, you would rather die in battle than steal your life, and if you die, you have to fight for the people of Yulin." Wu Ruyi led the generals to rush into the big tent and respond loudly, and then surrounded Zhang Ding together.

The Dashun army was out of control-Li Zicheng shook his head with a wry smile, and quietly walked out of the big tent, and Niu Jinxing hurriedly followed behind him.

Xingyang, Luo Xiujin came again, and when he saw Yun Rong, he stretched out his hand: "Brother, my Qing army won a great victory and drove away the Ming army, you should take out the money and food you promised." ”

"Haven't you already taken the money and food away, oh, I'll make up the rest later, I promise to say what you say." Yun Rongpi replied with a smile.

"I know that you have to repay the debt, but it doesn't matter, Kaifeng Mansion and Guide Mansion are already in the hands of our army, so simply Runing Mansion will also belong to us, which is very fair!" Luo Xiujin laughed.

Yun Rong pretended to ponder for a while, shook his head and said: "It's not fair, as far as I know, the Ming army ran away by itself because of infighting, let you pick up a big bargain for nothing, so let's do it, you immediately retreat to the north of the Yellow River, and I will find a way to scrape together something for you, and this matter will be settled." ”

"You ask for food when we are, and we will send it away if we give a few of them, what if we don't return?"

"Then drive you away, believe it or not, I'll beat you up?"

"Fight, fight, who's afraid of whom!" Luo Xiujin smiled even brighter.

Two days later, the Qing army Wu Sangui and Zu Kefa marched south, Wang Guangen and Luo Da, who were stationed in Taikang, suffered a big defeat with ineffective resistance, Liu Hongqi and other bandits saw that the situation was not good, and surrendered to the Qing army, and Wang and Luo led the remnants to retreat to Runing. In the crisis of the war, Yun Rong immediately ordered the Datong Army and the Shun Army of Yuncheng and Linying to retreat west to Xiangcheng, and set up camp on the mountain to preset the battlefield.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Ma Guangyuan announced: Li Zicheng's wife Gao committed suicide in Xiangyang, the defenders surrendered the city, Nanyang's Gao Yigong Department persuaded him to change the banner anyway, Xiangyang and Nanyang were restored, and all departments of our army were rapidly reinforcing Xiangcheng, and in addition, the fifth cavalry town newly formed by the Dadu Governor's Mansion was led by Li Dingguo and Gaertu and was about to enter Henan - reinforcements from all walks of life were about to arrive, and the generals of the Datong Army were jubilant, and the generals of the Shun Army had no other way out except to work with the Datong Army, and they were completely dead.