"Zicheng went to Jiugong Mountain, the thieves lost their owners, and they had nowhere to go, so they sent the envoys to surrender." -- "Records of the Eternal Calendar"

A.D. 1645, that is, the second year of Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty, the first year of Hongguang of the Southern Ming Dynasty, the first year of Longwu, the second year of Zhang Xianzhong of the Daxi Dynasty, and the second year of Li Zicheng Yongchang of the Dashun Dynasty. At the beginning of the summer of that year, under the pursuit of the Manchu general Azig, Li Zicheng died unexpectedly on Jiugong Mountain, and the Dashun Dynasty was overthrown.

After Azig returned to the dynasty victoriously, the remnants of the Dashun army on the East Road gradually gathered in the Pingjiang area of eastern Hunan Province, led by Yuan Zongdi, Tian Jianxiu, Liu Fangliang, Liu Tichun, Hao Shaoqi, Wang Jincai and others, and Li Zicheng's empress Gao Shi who acted with the army.

As the remnants continued to gather, the number of the Dashun army on the East Road reached more than 100,000, but because the dragons were leaderless, this army became a plate of scattered sand.

Yuan Zongdi, Tian Jianxiu and Liu Fangliang were originally all commanders of one side, and at this time there were only thousands of soldiers under them, and they were ordinary generals with no longer prestige, while Yuan Zongdi's old subordinates Liu Tichun, generals Hao Shaoqi, and Wang Jincai all had tens of thousands of horses.

The so-called Dashun Dynasty is a thing of the past, the Dashun Army has lost its unified command system and has become an ordinary peasant rebel army, and the generals still use the name of the Dashun Dynasty, but in fact it is a loose alliance of their own affairs.

This peasant army suffered a heavy defeat, lost its leader and base area, and was in a very difficult situation, so it was forced to find another way out, entered Hunan and prepared to submit to He Tengjiao, but fought a battle with the Ming army on the way.

Because of the unknown information, He Tengjiao thought that they were just an ordinary group of bandits and bandits, and sent 2,000 officers and soldiers to sweep them, but they were easily defeated by the peasant army in Liuyang. He Tengjiao woke up like a dream, only to know that the other party was the original Dashun army, panicked and had to "infantile city for the death plan", ready to commit suicide after the city was broken, with a full name.

Unexpectedly, after the peasant army won the battle, it took the initiative to retreat, and sent an envoy to He Tengjiao to ask for submission, He Tengjiao was overjoyed, and immediately agreed to come down and recruit this peasant army.

If the two sides can cooperate sincerely, they can take advantage of the weakness of the Qing army and march north to recover Wuchang Mansion and other places, completely reversing the situation in Huguang.

However, He Tengjiao has no interest in recovering lost territory, and is more keen on infighting and power tricks.

This peasant army had more than 100,000 people, and He Tengjiao felt that it was difficult to control, so he used the so-called tricks of power and tactics, holding one hand and fighting with the other, to provoke and divide the peasant army.

He Tengjiao accepted them as cronies, but suppressed Tian Jianxiu, Yuan Zongdi and others, and never arranged official positions, cut off their salaries and food, and forced them to leave Hunan on various charges......

……

Liuyang, Hunan, Yuan Zongdi's camp, Zhongjun Hall.

In the hall of the Central Army, several senior generals of the peasant army were arguing fiercely.

"Yongzhong (Hao Shaoqi's name Hao Yongzhong), are you really not going with us?" Yuan Zongdi's face was ugly.

Hao Shaoqi offended King Chuang back then and was not reused, and he had been a general under his command for many years, for the sake of the old brother, Yuan Zongdi had always taken good care of him, but he didn't expect that he was now stiff and had to part ways with everyone.

"Don't go, you have to surrender the Tartars, I Hao Shaoqi will never shave my head!"

"Am I willing to shave my head? Isn't that what Zehou (Tian Mixiu) meant! Yuan Zongdi was a little anxious.

After the remnants of the Dashun army entered Huguang, Tong Yanghe sent envoys to surrender several times, but everyone was unwilling to surrender to Tatar and went south to submit to He Tengjiao. Unexpectedly, He Tengjiao made things difficult in every way, and the peasant army could not get along in Hunan, so some people planned to surrender to the Qing army.

"Yongzhong, everyone is reluctant to shave their heads, but listening to the meaning of the Tartar envoy, this matter may not be negotiable." Tian Jianxiu came out to play a round: "Since ancient times, it is common for the defeated soldiers to win, since our Dashun has been defeated, there is nothing embarrassing to surrender, this world must be occupied by the Tartars, instead of surrendering to the Ming army, it is better to return to the Manchu Qing as soon as possible......"

Tian Jianxiu, a general under Li Zicheng, a general under the command of Zhu Yingquan, Ze Hou.

He is Li Zicheng's old brother, a member of the so-called old eighth team, with a generous personality and is deeply loved by the soldiers. But success is also Xiao He, defeat is also Xiao He, and his generous personality is both an advantage and a disadvantage, in other words, Tian Jianxiu is soft-hearted, soft-eared, and sometimes not strong in principle.

When the Manchus attacked Shaanxi, Li Zicheng abandoned Xi'an, ordered Tian Jianxiu to break off and burn the granary so as not to be used by the enemy. However, Tian Jianxiu took pity on the people in the city, did not carry out Li Zicheng's order, but just opened the granary and let the people move it, but the Qing army came too quickly, quickly occupied the granary, and seized a large amount of grain.

The Azig army drove straight in, and the logistics supply was a little unable to keep up, and this batch of grain was like charcoal in the snow for him, and then he chased after him non-stop, biting the Dashun army to the death, eight battles and eight victories, and the first battle of Jiujiang forced Li Zicheng to death......

After entering Hunan, Tian Jianxiu was a "pro-Manchu" in the peasant army, and he did not like Tartars, but considered problems in a different way.

Surrendering and standing in line is also a political game, if he bets on the losing side, he will definitely be unlucky in the future, or even broken bones, so he is more inclined to surrender to the Qing army.

"No, no!" Liu Tichun has another different opinion: "As long as you surrender to the Tartars, you will have to shave your head sooner or later, and it is better to fight back to northern Shaanxi and die in your hometown." ”

Of course, it is good to fight back to Shaanxi, but it is easier said than done, and not many people echo it.

Liu Fangliang cleared his throat: "According to me, we should play a trick on the Tartars, and when we arrive in Hubei, we will take a boat to Jingzhou and find the Marquis!" (Li Guo)"

These words immediately aroused a chorus of approval, and if you can meet Li Guo, of course, it is the most haode result.

"Yongzhong, let's go with us!" Yuan Zongdi persuaded again: "Our brothers have lived and died together for more than ten years, is it just like this?" ”

"If it weren't for the brotherhood, I wouldn't be here today. Look at Wang Jincai, he doesn't show up at all! Hao Shaoqi stiffened his neck and pushed back, and in turn persuaded everyone: "It's not so easy to go to Jingzhou, let's stay in Hunan, as long as I Hao Shaoqi still has a bite to eat, I won't let everyone go hungry." ”

Unlike other departments of the peasant army, Hao Shaoqi and Wang Jincai were both the targets of He Tengjiao's wooing, asking for money for money, grain for food, and two of them were promoted.

Hao Shaoqi's current identity is the chief officer of He Tengjiao's standard battalion, and he was crowned Nan Anbo, and he had all the glory and wealth overnight, and he was unwilling to leave Hunan when he was killed, but he remembered the old feelings, and these days he often helped Yuan Zongdi and others.

"Yongzhong's kindness has been understood." Tian Jianxiu shook his head: "Hey, we always eat white rice at your place, it's not a matter after all." ”

Although Hao Shaoqi will not attack the old brother, everyone is instinctively a little wary, afraid that he will be eaten by him. Besides, even if Hao Shaoqi can receive some food and salary, He Tengjiao will continue to make things difficult, and sooner or later he will not be able to get along.

Go, you must go, you really can't do it, you have to break up!

It's just that without Hao Shaoqi and Wang Jincai, the strength of this peasant army has been greatly reduced, and it is difficult to protect itself, so it will either surrender to the Manchus with all its heart, or it will have to try to join forces with Li Guo.

"You all said you want to leave, what does the Queen Mother mean?" Hao Shaoqi suddenly asked, the queen mother in his mouth is Li Zicheng's queen Gao.

"The Queen Mother still remembers the great enmity of the first emperor (Li Zicheng) and is unwilling to surrender to the Tartars." Tian Jianxiu's expression was a little embarrassed.

Although Li Zicheng died in Jiugong Mountain, the real enemy of life and death was the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

However, whether it was to join forces with Li Guo, or to return to his hometown in northern Shaanxi, or to continue to stay in Hunan, there were all kinds of difficulties, and surrendering to the Manchus may be the only way out......

At this moment, a military academy hurriedly walked in and saluted Yuan Zongdi.

"Report! A group of Ming troops came from outside the camp gate, claiming to be the Chongyang garrison Wang Kefan, and asked to see the general (Yuan Zongdi)! ”

"Oh? ...... from Chongyang" Yuan Zongdi hadn't finished speaking, but Hao Shaoqi jumped up.

"What? Wang Kefan dares to come here? I'll check it out! ”

Without waiting for everyone to speak, he Tengtengteng rushed out of the Zhongjun Hall, only to hear a commotion and shouting outside, he seemed to have gathered his own soldiers, and went to the camp gate.

"What's going on?" Tian Jianxiu was stunned.

"Not good! Hao Shaoqi wants to merge with Wang Kefan! Yuan Zongdi finally reacted and immediately stood up: "This surnamed Wang has a relationship with me, and the person is not bad, I'll take a look." ”