Li Yu even coaxed the Qing Dynasty to settle the Qing Dynasty, but the situation in Huguang changed drastically - the peace talks between Datong and the righteous army Jingmen were just a temporary truce, both sides understood this, Li Zicheng was a person who fought for the world, and he couldn't run the place, and he didn't have the patience to do it, so he sent Li Yu to Huguang, so he summoned his subordinates to discuss how to send troops, but everyone's opinions were varied.

The second and third leaders, Luo Rucai and Ma Shouying, complained crookedly, saying that the brothers had suffered for many years and should live a stable life for a few days, and at the same time saying that spring plowing was imminent, and they had to wait for the crops to be planted. In contrast, the literati got on the thief ship and had to fight for a future at the risk of their lives, shouting and shouting and killing even more than the generals - Niu Jinxing suggested taking Huguang as the foundation, and then marching to Nanzhili, following the example of Ming Taizu to occupy Nanjing, holding the world's taxes and competing for the imperial industry; Gu Junen believes that Jiangnan is the lifeblood of the country, and the imperial court will inevitably fight to the death, and it may be difficult to win with the current strength of the righteous army.

Li Zicheng was dizzy from the noise, but one thing is very clear, what Ming Taizu did, he should learn, and decided to take the righteous army eastward, first take Zhongxiang, and then take Wuchang, Huguang will enter Nanzhili, Ma Shouying will stay in Jingzhou if he is weak and sick - Li Zicheng felt that it was necessary to separate Luo Rucai and Ma Shouying.

In February, the rebels suddenly occupied Jingmen, the vanguard crossed the Han River to threaten Zhong Xiang, the news reached Wuchang, Huguang governor Song Yihe ran to the north of the Hanyang River, accusing Datong of raising bandits to respect themselves, so that today the thieves have made a comeback, since the peace treaty was signed by you, the thieves breached the contract and the three prefectures of Jiangbei should send troops to extinguish it. Zhou was stunned and pushed it, of course, the thieves should be severely punished for breach of contract, but now is not the time, the three prefectures in Jiangbei are spring ploughing, who is in charge of the rice when the war is wrong, you have to go yourself, Du Wenhuan simply persuaded Song Yihe to give up Chengtian Mansion, the thieves obviously used Zhong Xiang as a bait to attract the main force of the official army to fight a decisive battle, and went just to let the family catch it all.

Song Yihe returned to Wuchang angrily and hatefully, and jointly impeached the naturalized Hou for raising thieves for self-respect, disobedience and disobedience, and after this evil breath, the two of them brought the 10,000 people selected from the Huguang General Army to rush to Zhong Xiang - Zhong Xiang must have a trap, but there is a tomb there, unless they want to be stabbed by the emperor, they have to jump into the fire pit.

The battle of Zhongxiang was uneventful, the reinforcements of the Ming army arrived in Zhongxiang, and the main force of the thieves immediately crossed the Han River. Li Zhensheng and Qian Zhongxuan defended the Xianling Mausoleum, and the thieves repeatedly attacked and could not overcome it, so they simply set fire to the mausoleum, and the wooden fence to protect the mausoleum was burned out. Li Zhensheng and Qian Zhongxuan were unable to return to the sky, and led the family to fight until the end and were captured, Li Zicheng thought that Li Zhensheng was a fellow villager of Mizhi, and personally came forward to persuade him to surrender, but Li Zhensheng swore to die and refused to be a thief, and was killed together with Qian Zhongxuan.

Song Yihe had an extra heart, squatting in Zhongxiang City and never going out of the nest, seeing the fire in the northeast Xianling, he knew that the general trend had gone, and quietly ordered the family to prepare civilian clothes and clothes, and at night, the officials and soldiers in the city and the people opened the city to meet the thieves, and he took a few family members down the city and fled to Wuchang as if he was desperate - since the example of Yang Wenyue, there are more and more people who live in the center of the Ming Dynasty.

The thieves were divided into two routes along the Yangtze River and the Han River to kill Wuchang and Hanyang, and the Jiangbei Xingtai issued an order to suppress the thieves, denouncing the thieves for doing many evils and not repenting of their deaths, in a vain attempt to sabotage the spring ploughing and poisoning the people, and called on the people of Hanyang, De'an, and Huangzhou to pay close attention to spring ploughing and production, and at the same time resolutely repel the thieves and defend their new homeland with practical actions. The people of the three prefectures actively responded to the call, the reserve troops rushed to the barracks, the garrison soldiers guarded the localities, the old and weak women and children went to the fields to work, the craftsmen of the iron factory worked day and night to build military weapons, and the ships of the Jianghuai General Chamber of Commerce and the Huguang Chamber of Commerce were also equipped with guns and guns to guard along the river, and the three prefectures in Jiangbei were in an atmosphere of war.

The situation in Wuchang was very bad, the elite of the official army was completely lost in Zhongxiang, and the small number of old and weak soldiers left behind were unable to cope with the battle, Song Yihe fled back to Wuchang and encouraged the gentry to defend the city, but no one paid attention to him, and simply went into the governor's yamen and did not show up, and the Wuchang official palace was immediately paralyzed. The General Bureau of Joint Defense of Thieves is also a laughing stock, the Chu army that was created at the beginning was broken up after only two months because of the gentry slamming the door and the government making trouble, and the main force of the Jiangbei Army was transferred to Hanchuan to meet the thieves who came along the Han River, and was temporarily unable to rescue Wuchang. The officials and people of Wuchang can run away, and those who can't run are resigned to fate, and the officers and soldiers have no intention of defending the city, blocking the officers and asking for arrears, and the ruffians and hooligans take the opportunity to jump out to steal and rob, and the people of Wuchang are panicking, and it seems that it is only a matter of time before they fall, but some people are still not giving up and are still making the last struggle.

At night, the merchant ships cruising on the river seemed to notice the movement, and immediately opened fire bombardment, and several firecrackles and crackled, but found a false alarm, and soon stopped shooting. The officers and soldiers on Wuchang City were frightened, and the large and small cannons were fired indiscriminately, and then they scattered like a bombing nest, and Wuchang City suddenly boiled, and the people thought that the thieves had entered the city, and they rushed to flee for their lives, and the shouts and cries rang out.

"Revolution, Wuchang Revolution, Huguang Autonomy, folks, fight the Governor's Mansion and capture Song Yiniao alive!" Someone shouted in the dark, and the people were confused, but the rebels and ruffians understood, isn't it just a rebellion, and I'm embarrassed, someone immediately proposed to go to the Chu Palace, which has the most money in the palace.

There was a commotion in the city until midnight, and the revolution finally succeeded, some people occupied the general military palace, some people occupied the prefect's yamen, some people even ran to the prison to release a large group of prisoners, and the official treasury and the palace of the king of Chu were also looted. The attack on the governor's mansion was the most difficult, and it took a stick to break up the guards at the door, Song Yihe had nowhere to hide, and when he was dragged out under the bed, he was not convinced, pointing to his head and saying that he had already participated in the revolution - this guy actually shaved his Fengzhou head.

The movement on the other side of the river soon spread to Hanyang, Fan Erxi jumped up from the bed and went to find Jia Jingzong, scolding and shouting: "This must be the group of people from the Civic Party who are doing ghosts, how can we have a revolution like this, we Liberal Party, we can't let them eat alone, you are the head of Wuchang Titang, gather all the people you contact, bring weapons and cross the river with me immediately." ”

In the Huguang Governor's Mansion, the revolutionary leaders sat in the main hall with a sad face - last night, these young scholars led their comrades to take advantage of the chaos to take advantage of the chaos and easily capture the Huguang Governor and several senior officials alive with a bunch of wooden sticks and a few kitchen knives, and the revolution succeeded in a blink of an eye, but I don't know what to do next.

"Premier Wang only talked about why the revolution, but never talked about how to revolution, I have flipped through the "Northbound Record", and there is still no answer, Brother Yin, Jiangbei thinks we are a rabble, let us take care of ourselves, you have to find a way quickly." Someone said eagerly, holding a book in his hand - this "Northward Journey" written by Li Fugui has been circulated in the north and south of the river, and is considered to be a good word for describing the world of Datong, and is very respected by some young scholars.

"Yes, most of the people who are doing with us are rebels, ruffians, there are thousands of people, there will definitely be trouble if there is no lunch to eat, hey, I will do it as soon as my brain is hot, I didn't expect the revolution to eat, or, let's run, there are still people from our Civic Party in the countryside." Someone whispered an idea.

"Just thinking of grabbing power, forgetting about the closure of the official treasury, and then sending people to beg for big households, staying up until the night and not getting money and food, we will break up." The scholar sitting on the right seat hugged his head and replied - Yin Ruweng, He Fengsheng's protégé, is also a secret member of the Civic Party, Wang Fang went north to designate him as the party affairs senator of the Huguang Branch, and presided over the party affairs activities in Wuchang, the task is to wait for the opportunity to seize power, the thieves are approaching, Wuchang is in chaos, Yin Ruweng feels that the opportunity has come, and summons the comrades in the city, that is, more than 20 down-and-out scholars and more than 100 Jianghu people who have done the White Lotus Sect.

When sighing, the scholar who looked at the wind outside the door ran in to report that "someone from Jiangbei is coming", everyone was overjoyed, and hurriedly got up to greet him, but the other party had already entered the door, and the middle-aged man led by him sat down unceremoniously in the main seat, and slapped a short gun on the table with his hand, Jia Jingzong, a wealthy businessman in Wuchang, introduced that this is the rank of deputy general, the fifth-class Baturu, the governor of the Jiangbei Xingtai Branch of the Titang Division, and Fan Erxi, the secretary of the Central Committee of the Liberal Party.

"You are Yin Ruweng, look at what you are doing, how can the Civic Party cause chaos, forget it, you listen to me from now on." Fan Erxi glanced at Yin Ruweng and said with a big grin.

"However, we are a Civic Party, and the Liberal Party should not ......" Yin Ruweng was a little unconvinced.

", do you know that the leaders of the Liberal Party and the Civic Party are one family, I am the central secretary of the Liberal Party, and I am the boss here," Fan Erxi was unreasonable, and did not take this group of people in his eyes at all, waving his hand and shouting, "I heard that you have arrested the governor of Huguang, and you will bring people up immediately." ”

Song Yihe entered the lobby noisily, recognized Fan Erxi, a big spy who often haunted Li Yu's side, took off his hat and shouted loudly: "Lord Fan, Song is also going to revolution, you see, I have shaved my head." ”

"Lord Song, you are frightened, they are all young people who are ignorant, please withdraw them immediately, please forgive me if you are offended, you are highly respected, since you are willing to revolution, it is best for you to preside over the overall situation of Huguang." Fan Erxi stood up with a smile on his face and let Song Yihe take the main seat.

"Song has always respected the naturalized marquis, the revolution is certain, but can it be delayed for a while?" Song Yihe bargained when he saw the smiling face.

"Lord Song, the situation in Wuchang can't be delayed, if you don't come forward to do things, you have to return to Jiangbei immediately."

Song Yihe hesitated for a while before he said: "It's not a secret, Song's family is still in Wanping, and he has sent a family to settle down a few days ago. ”

"What's so difficult about this, Lord Song just has to do things with peace of mind, the affairs of my family are wrapped up in me, and I also have the identity of a brocade guard, even if a person enters the prison, he can be fished out." Fan Erxi smiled and threw a piece of the waist card of the brocade clothes and guards on the table.

After noon, Wuchang City was lively, and the streets and alleys were plastered with the proclamation of Song Yihe, the temporary ruling of the Huguang Revolutionary Government - revolutionaries, it is a great prosperity of "freedom", "equality", "benevolence", and good politics in the world, it is to get rid of harsh government, eliminate chaos, and the people are at peace in the world, today's court is full of traitors, blinded by the Holy Hearing, corrupt and incompetent, and indiscriminate and harsh government, the anger of the people has lost the popularity of the people, Huguang respects the Son of Heaven and does not follow the way, and implements autonomy from now on, and the quasi-gentry and the people open a council to elect officials, discuss taxes, and the government and the people govern the place together, and the original court is evil. For example, the excesses of taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and the three salaries will be dismissed......

Song Yihe also worked hard, and took a group of officials to the streets with gongs, where there were many people, they drilled there, opened their voices and shouted revolutionary slogans, Yin Ruweng and other revolutionary leaders also gave speeches everywhere, calling on the people of Wuchang to join the revolutionary army and take up arms to defend their homeland, but the people were confused, and most of them watched the excitement, and there were few responders.

"When the soldier is in charge of the meal, the first level of the thief will be rewarded with ten taels of silver, and if there is a kind, he will come to the revolution" - Jia Jingzong does not play false, and the conductor Ding carries two boxes of white flowers and silver to swagger through the market. This trick was the most effective, and immediately a large group of people followed, but most of them were deserters, ruffians and beggars, and interestingly, the children of the clans in the streets also wanted to join the revolution.

Chen Shishi, the chief treasurer of the Hanyang Iron Works, was a member of the Central Committee of the Civic Party, so he naturally wanted to pull comrades and specially sent people to send three ships of weapons, and the Wuchang Revolutionary Army gathered more than 3,000 people and was immediately dragged to the riverside to distribute weapons. Fan Erxi sternly warned this gang of rabble, go into battle and resign themselves to fate, blame their own bad lives when they die, the living ones are promoted and rich, and those who dare not obey military orders will be killed on the spot, these guys looked at the thugs with firearms behind Fan Erxi, and they were very honest and set up camp by the river, and in the evening, Ma Hutou led a battalion of the Jiangbei Army across the river, and the revolutionary army got reinforcements to have some morale - the Jiangbei Army concentrated in Hanchuan to meet the enemy of Hanshui, and also counted on the officers and troops to defend Wuchang for two days, and the Civic Party completely turned Wuchang into an empty city, The old man scolded for a day, but he also had to transfer troops to cheer up the Wuchang people.

The Jiangbei army only blocked the land invasion in Hanchuan, a large number of thieves snatched civilian ships and rushed through the blockade, and the thieves along the Yangtze River down the river to rendezvous, the next morning, there were countless chaotic ships on the river - the thieves finally came, Hanyang only Ma Xianglin a co-ordination, the troops were weak to defend the city, the old marshal simply ordered Hui Dengxiang to lead the militia to defend the city, the Jiangbei Army along the river to block the enemy's landing, the Jianghuai General Chamber of Commerce, the Huguang Chamber of Commerce of the fleet attacked at the same time, and strive to annihilate the enemy on the water.

The thieves arrived in the blink of an eye, but it caused a lot of laughter - there were few big thieves in the boat, but there were a large number of small sampans and bamboo rafts, and the people on the boat were still unstable, lying on the boat one by one, I had never seen such a water war, fighting these landlubbers! The Jianghuai Chamber of Commerce's fleet has collected a large number of pirates, and Shen Taro is one of the most arrogant, this guy bullies the novice unceremoniously, and rushes forward with his subordinate Japanese brothers, and the other ships immediately follow behind. The fleet knocked over the sampans and rafts countless times to the upper reaches, and then pulled up the sails and went down the river, hitting the thief ship with guns, crossbows and hand-thrown thunders.

There are many thieves and many ships, and wave after wave pounced, the Hanyang fleet concocted the same method, annihilating it wave after wave on the water, the northerners do not know the nature of the water, and they can't stand on the ship, where is the opponent of a group of pirates, they have been beaten to the point of sinking countless ships, floating corpses all over the river, almost unable to break the army, and there is no chance to land at all. The Jiangbei army on the shore relaxed, slowly and methodically assisted the battle with guns, the firearms of these years were really not powerful, the target did not hit a few, and there were many thieves who were frightened and fell into the water, but the attack momentum of the thieves was getting weaker and weaker.

Thousands of thief ships spread all over the river, the revolutionary army under Wuchang City was frightened, and involuntarily shrank back, Song Yihe was furious and personally killed several deserters, Fan Erxi borrowed a sentry from the sloppy side to suppress the formation, and the revolutionary army stopped the decline, trembling and shooting arrows indiscriminately. After fighting for a while, the revolutionary army was surprised to find that the thieves turned out to be a bunch of landlubbers, which was easy to do, and one guy had the audacity to behead a thief who fell into the water and rushed to the shore, and immediately received a reward of a piece of silver, and the morale of the whole army was greatly boosted, and the guns, bows and arrows were shot well, and many people also flocked to the shore to earn silver, and the thieves were washed ashore and beheaded whether they were dead or alive. There was also jubilation on the city wall, watching the lively men, women and children shouting and cheering, beating gongs, drums and basins loudly, and a group of deserters sneaked back and fired a few shots, which immediately won a lot of appreciation.

In the afternoon, the Yangtze River burst into wind and waves, the thieves fell into bad luck, the big ships and small boats capsized one after another, and there were countless people who fell into the water, and Wuchang City suddenly cheered, and countless people shouted "kill the thieves" and poured out of the city. Jia Jingzong immediately shouted out a new offer, "a first-class five taels of silver", five taels of silver is also a large amount, people rushed to the river, and saw that the thief was a knife whether he was dead or alive.

The Yangtze River water battle, the righteous army lost more than 10,000 soldiers, and withdrew the army that night - not to withdraw, the Jiangbei army built dozens of tall pillboxes along the Hanchuan River, set up artillery and guns, which could not be conquered at all, plus the three associations Jiangbei Army had a stable defense, and launched counterattacks from time to time, the righteous army had nothing to gain except for the loss of troops, Cao Ying and the fifth battalion of the revolution were unwilling to fight, and they left with their butts, and the camp had to retreat, and the Jiangbei Army could reinforce Hanyang and Wuchang with their hands free, and the righteous army had no hope of winning, Li Zicheng had to order the withdrawal of the army, The eastward expansion also came to naught.

The news of the Wuchang Revolution and the victory in the first battle quickly spread throughout the land of Jingchu, Song Yihe became a great hero who defended Wuchang, and got his wish to remove the word "temporary", and was supported by the Wuchang people as the ruling government of the Huguang Revolutionary Government, he immediately appointed Zhou Yi as the prime minister, Du Wenhuan as the commander of military affairs, Jia Jingzong as the governor of the Department of Industry and Commerce, and the four associations of the Jiangbei Army were also awarded the number of the Chu army. The Huguang gentry returned to Wuchang a step late, except for He Fengsheng, who got a praise painting for a vacant government office, the others got nothing, Song Yiniao was very sorry, the official position was full, so he had to invite them to participate in the election of councillors, and strive to enter the parliaments at all levels.