After the envoys sent by the capital uncovered the case of the collusion between the King of Qin and the King of Han, the gentry and people of Shaanxi, who had fierce contradictions, were suddenly diverted. Not long after Cui Chengxiu arrived in Shaanxi, he and Yang He, the governor of Shaanxi, jointly issued a statement saying that they would listen to the opinions of the gentry and the representatives of the displaced people on the land issue that had caused contradictions between the gentry and the displaced people.

Cui Chengxiu also made a guarantee in the name of the imperial court, which would guarantee the legal land property rights of both parties. Yang He also issued a proclamation, announcing two things: one was to clear the farmland illegally occupied by the palace, but announced that the current harvest on these farms belonged to the growers;

The second is to announce that all the water conservancy facilities built in Shaanxi in the past two years belong to the state, and that no one is allowed to intercept the flow of water without authorization and collect fees privately, and that those who have illegally collected irrigation fees must surrender to the local government within 15 days and return all the illegal fees collected. The irrigation fees collected by the royal clan before will be refunded one by one.

The land near Xi'an, the King of Qin accounted for forty percent. The two announcements issued by Yang He almost solved some of the contradictions that the people in Shaanxi were most dissatisfied with. And some of the gentry and landlords relied on the clan relatives and clans fell into a rebellion case, which made them lose a lot of confidence. Eyeing the Guanzhong area and always looking for an opportunity to go south to the Guanzhong Wandering Army, some gentry and landlords also turned to support Yang He's reconciliation proposition.

Therefore, when Gao Yingxiang and other leaders of the displaced people supplemented and reorganized the army of the displaced people and prepared to go south to the Guanzhong area to obtain food reserves, they suddenly found that the people who had been urging them to go south and planned to receive them into Guanzhong had already left and disappeared one after another.

And the southward sentinel troops sent by Gao Yingxiang and Zijinliang were also blocked back by the regimental training recruited by the gentry. According to the report of these sentinels, not only did they not receive a response from the local people, but they were told by these people to the gentry regiment, which led to them being attacked by several times their own regimental training.

Fortunately, these regimental training were farmers who had never experienced war, and many of these sentinel troops were deserters from the army, so they were able to break through the encirclement of regimental training and escape back to the army. Although Zijin Liang and other leaders were still advocating going south, Gao Yingxiang knew that going south was a dead end, and he tried his best to persuade these companions.

But after listening to Gao Yingxiang's opinion, Zijin Liang jumped out against him and said: "If we don't go south to Guanzhong now, do we have other ways to live?" He Madman stationed troops in Baishui, Governor Yansui led the army to block our road to the north, and the Bird Governor of Shanxi sealed the Yellow River.

Tens of thousands of us have stayed in Chengcheng for so long, even if we collect the grain that is not yet fully ripe here, it will not last for half a month. Once the food is exhausted, the morale of the army will inevitably be greatly damaged, and when these homeless people scatter, even a few catchers can take us to ask for merit and reward.

Now our way out is to leave this Jedi and rush into the Guanzhong Plain to the south. The summer harvest is imminent, as long as you rush into the Guanzhong Plain, you will have enough food to feed the army, and you can also use the grain to recruit displaced people to join the army. As long as we have a sufficient number of troops, we can either go east to Henan or west to Gansu.

Henan has a large population and is the thoroughfare of nine provinces, and it is said that there were also rebel troops in Henan last year. If we can enter Henan, we can turn the Central Plains upside down. If it is not good, it can also go to the southern provinces through Henan. Although Gansu is barren, the mountains are undulating and the terrain is complicated, and if we can enter it, the officers and men will have no choice but to look at the mountains and stop.

Therefore, our only way to survive is to go south, and staying here is a dead end. ”

Gao Yingxiang suddenly said angrily: "Now that the gentry in Guanzhong are recruiting regiments to practice for self-protection, and Yang He is in the center to dispatch and command the armies in Xi'an, we are rushing south is equivalent to falling into the encirclement of the fortresses established by the gentry in various places. If we do not uproot these fortresses, we will be enemies both inside and outside; If we want to uproot these forts one by one, then we will die of exhaustion under these forts, and when the officers and soldiers hear the news, will we not become turtles in the urn? ”

Just when Zijin Liang and Gao Yingxiang were still arguing, Zhang Cunmeng, the leader of the rebel army on the other side, stood up and shouted: "Don't quarrel, in fact, we still have a way to go." ”

The leaders of the rebel army suddenly quieted down, turned their heads to look at the non-sticky mud, Zijin Liang immediately shouted anxiously: "Brother Zhang, if you have any good ideas, just say it earlier, now everyone is a boat person, do you still want to leave the big guy and walk on the single-plank bridge?" ”

Zhang Cunmeng got up and first greeted everyone in the room with his fists, then cleared his throat and said: "Brother Wang, don't laugh at me, I'm stupid myself, how can I come up with any good ideas." However, the spies I sent to Hedong to inquire about the news brought me a piece of news.

I wondered, since everyone can't think of a way now, it is better to ask everyone to consult and see if this is a way to live. ”

As he spoke, Zhang Cunmeng took out a well-preserved proclamation from his bosom, and he continued with it: "The spy I sent was arrested by the officers and soldiers after crossing the river, but the officers and soldiers did not do anything to him, but several officials interrogated him separately.

One of them was Lord Hong, the governor of Shanxi, and after asking a few words, Lord Hong decided to put the spy back, and asked him to bring this proclamation to me and others. ”

The proclamation was circulated in the hands of several leaders, and no one was willing to come out to offer ugliness, and finally someone became smart, got up and walked out of the room, and brought in an old boy who was the master of the righteous army from outside, and asked the old boy to read the contents of the proclamation to everyone.

The proclamation was written in the vernacular, so the leaders present understood as soon as they heard it, and the governor of Shanxi only said one thing in the proclamation, that is, to persuade them to surrender to him, and he was willing to place them in the same way as Wang Jiayin, Shen Yikui and other leaders of the rebel army who had previously surrendered to the imperial court.

Wang Jiayin, Shen Yikui brothers and other leaders of the Wandering Army who started in the early days were placed in the south to be officials after being recruited by Yang He. Although a small number of leaders were reluctant to leave their hometowns, most of the leaders of the Wandering Army happily went to the south to take up their posts.

Compared with the northwest region, which has a small disaster every three years and a major disaster in five years, the southern region where the legend is rich in food and people, is like heaven in the hearts of these rebel leaders. Hearing this proclamation to surrender them, some people's hearts immediately moved.

Gao Yingxiang saw that even Zijin Liang, who had never had a good impression of the government, also showed a hesitant look after listening to the proclamation, and he immediately got up and shouted angrily at everyone: "Are you guys blinded by lard? Can you believe what this government says? It is said that Wang Jiayin and Shen Yikui are officials in the south, and they can even eat and drink spicy food with their families. But who among you has ever seen them as they really are?

The so-called people leave their hometowns cheaply, things leave their hometowns expensive, go thousands of miles away to be a sesame petty official, their own background is not good, and there is no help from the township party, can the strong dragon still be able to suppress the snake with a low head. Even if you want to be recruited by the government, you must have an official position in your hometown. It is well said in this play, brocade clothes cannot travel at night, and wealth must return to their hometowns. ”

Gao Yingxiang's words resonated with everyone, and many people nodded yes. However, he didn't agree, he got up and retorted Gao Yingxiang and said: "What Brother Gao said is naturally what everyone wants, but now we are at a disadvantage, and the official army is at an advantage.

The longer it drags on, the less options we have. Today, I advise all brothers to bow to the government, but I don't really want everyone to be obedient to the people.

After accepting the government's recruitment, these officers and soldiers will naturally disperse. If everyone is not satisfied with the conditions of the government, then everyone will get together again. What we want now is to get past the current hurdle first. ”

Although the idea of non-sticky mud reversed most people's minds, Gao Yingxiang still said with some worry: "Even so, we have to pick a suitable object to talk about Zhao'an, we don't know how the governor of Shanxi is, but Yang He, the governor of Shaanxi, is generous and trustworthy, so it is better to send someone to Xi'an to find Yang He to talk about Zhao'an." ”

Zijin Liang finally stood up, interrupted Gao Yingxiang's words and said: "After Mr. Yang came to my Shaanxi, he did a lot of good things and saved many of my township parties in Shaanxi. Deceiving him will inevitably damage our reputation, and since everyone thinks it is a temporary measure, then why bother to go far. I agree with the idea of not sticking to the mud brothers, and don't hesitate to settle this matter today, and tell me whose ideas you support. ”

With Zijin Liang's final word, most of the leaders chose not to stick to the mud and decided to discuss the matter of Zhao'an with the governor of Shanxi. Gao Yingxiang saw that the general trend had gone, and he had to obey everyone's wishes.

The sentry who was released by Hong Chengchou went to Puzhou in the northeast with letters written by the leaders of the rebel army. Three days later, Hong Chengchou took 500 soldiers to camp by the Luoshui River in the west of Chengcheng, and invited the leaders of the exile army stationed in Chengcheng to come and have a dialogue.

Hong Chengchou's demeanor during the talks made the leaders of the Yigan Righteous Army very heartbroken, and he also won the trust of these leaders. The two sides talked for three whole days, and finally finalized the details of recruiting the army of displaced people.

So Hong Chengchou agreed with the leaders that in the early morning of May 25, the rebels would leave Chengcheng City and formally surrender to him. After finalizing the surrender ceremony, Hong Chengchou also happily said that he would give a banquet to the leader of the rebel army on the evening of the 24th.

For so many days, the leaders of the Wandering People's Army did not notice anything unusual in the camp of the official army, and Hong Chengchou only brought a few hundred people with him, and these leaders were wary of Hong Chengchou to the minimum. Thinking that they would have to be each other's subordinates for a period of time after they were recruited tomorrow, the leaders of all the leaders in the Wandering Army participated in the banquet that night, and in order to show their respect for Hong Chengchou, they only brought 500 soldiers to the banquet.

After three rounds of drinking, Hong Chengchou left the banquet under the pretext of changing clothes. Subsequently, the two generals He Renlong and Ai Wannian, who were ambushed nearby, each led their headquarters into the camp, and none of the paralyzed leaders of the exile army escaped, and most of the personal guards they carried were also slaughtered by the official army.

After packing up the camp, Hong Chengchou ordered He Renlong and Ai Wannian to launch an attack on Chengcheng overnight, and the completely defenseless exile army, coupled with the loss of the leaders who restrained the army, made tens of thousands of exile troops have no combat effectiveness, and the city was broken by thousands of officers and troops in less than an hour.

Hong Chengchou used fraudulent tactics and achieved a great victory with a very disparity in strength, but the poor military discipline of the two armies of He Renlong and Ai Wannian also caused Chengcheng to suffer a greater devastation than being captured by the exiled army. In the battle against Chengcheng, almost 20,000 soldiers and ordinary people of the Wandering Army were killed.

After determining the defeat of the exile army, divided into small groups of troops to flee out of the city in all directions, and there was no sign of recovery, Hong Chengchou did not hesitate to behead the captured 31 leaders, including Gao Yingxiang, Zijin Liang, and non-sticky mud, and the heads were also hung above the four gates of Chengcheng to deter the exiles. Such a thunderbolt suddenly quieted the area between Baishui and the Yellow River to the west.