Chen Xiang and more than 20 of his men, riding donkeys and mules pulling carts, abandoned carts, slipped out of the baggage camp at the first moment of the collapse of the Great Western Army, and fled in the direction of the Golden Bull Plank Road.

Chen Xiang hand-wrote two wax pill secret letters with charcoal on the back of the mule, and handed them to the two of them, and asked them to ride to Ma Xintian in Baoning Province and Wang Huan, who was still near Shehong, to inform them of the news of Zhang Xianzhong's defeat.

On the road leading to these two places, the Kuizhou Army scout team has set up a number of contact points, which can be relayed one station at a time, and it is very easy to travel 400 miles a day, and at the latest, Wang Huan and Ma Xintian will be able to see Chen Xiang's secret letter.

Chen Xiang slipped fast, and ran away before the brigade broke out to block the plank road, Zhang Xianzhong was not so fast, the army of more than 100,000 people was crowded on the road in a disorderly manner, and the Emperor Daxi was also blocked behind, if it wasn't for Wang Shangli desperately resisting, he withstood the pursuit of the Qing army with his life, and Haoge also had no intention of destroying Zhang Xianzhong more than 100,000 people in a battle, and after the victory, he did not chase after him ruthlessly, Zhang Xianzhong might have folded under the city of Nanzheng.

Mixed in the defeat of the mouthful, Zhang Xianzhong rushed into the Golden Bull Road, this road was a small road, no more than three feet wide, barely able to accommodate the unique wheelbarrow traffic in Sichuan, since the beginning of the Northern Expedition of Zhuge Wuhou of the Three Kingdoms, it has been continuously widened and reinforced, after a number of dynasties, now it is able to pass the two-wheeled vehicles pulled by livestock.

Along the way, he passed through Qipan Pass, Qingfeng Gorge, Mingyue Gorge and other dangerous passes, leaving part of the garrison troops, Zhang Xianzhong fled until Guangyuan before he stopped to catch his breath, counted the number of soldiers and horses, and he was so angry that he almost spurted out a mouthful of old blood.

A total of 100,000 troops, followed him all the way back only more than 40,000, more than half of the people are missing, what is even more distressing is that as the elite of the Western Army's elite combat camp, there are only less than 10,000 people left, in order to break off Zhang Xianzhong, Wang Shangli confessed most of them to Nanzheng City, and even Liu Wenxiu, the king of Funan, also died in the chaos. This is the reliance of following Zhang Xianzhong all the way from Huguang, Shaanxi to Sichuan, everyone is a precious asset, and he lost his life in vain.

When Zhang Xianzhong was shocked, he finally ushered in a good news, his righteous son, Li Dingguo, the king of Anxi, rushed over from Shehong with 10,000 soldiers and horses.

Li Dingguo can fight well, the soldiers he brought are all pawns, his arrival, let Zhang Xianzhong feel a little gratified, his four righteous sons, two have died, Sun Kewang also has bandages on his shoulders, many of the overseers under the tent are dying, there are few people who can be used, Li Dingguo came in time.

That night, outside Guangyuan City, Qiqu Mountain Puzhong Temple, Zhang Xianzhong's temporary palace.

This temple, is last year when Zhang Xianzhong passed by, accidentally entered the play, now there is a surname Zhang in the temple, and his grandfather's name is the same, immediately take it as an oracle, the temple expanded, as a family temple, a good celebration. At this time, it is here again, but it is a double world of joy and sorrow, and he is in a hurry.

Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo sat opposite each other in the side hall of the temple, and they were summoned to come and wait for Zhang Xianzhong to discuss the military.

Sun Kewang was half of his body, the white cloth at the arrow wound was dotted with red blood stains, and the two were relatively speechless, sitting on the futon, gloomily hanging their heads and thinking about their thoughts.

Li Dingguo was silent for a while, raised his head and asked softly, "Big brother, why did you lose so badly?" No matter how bad our Great Western Army is, it is also a hundred battles of heroes, and the generals are like clouds, why did it collapse in one battle? ”

Sun Kewang's face turned pale from blood loss, gritted his teeth and shook his head: "Before the battle, I also thought the same way as you, I expected that no matter how fierce the Tartar is, we are not bad, and the brave one of the two armies will win." I never thought that the Tartars would attack me with a shield cart, and the foot soldiers had multiple armor dead soldiers, which directly broke our front army, and the front army was defeated, the Chinese army was slightly chaotic, and the Tartar cavalry attacked on both wings, so the whole army was defeated and could no longer return to the sky. ”

Li Dingguo frowned, looked at Sun Kewang in disbelief, and saw that this majestic and invincible general on weekdays had a shameful face, a decadent face, and felt a little trance, is this really the Pingdong King who has been galloping on the battlefield for several years, calm and wise? How terrible is it for a tartar to fight him into a quail?

The side hall was quiet again, and the two closed their mouths, waiting for Zhang Xianzhong's arrival.

The temple in the night is quiet and lonely, and the hustle and bustle of the remnants of the defeated soldiers inside and outside Guangyuan City are far away, almost inaudible, only the wind blows through the mountains and fields, bringing up the sound of grass and trees in the courtyard.

In this tranquility, several screams sounded, accompanied by the cries of women and children, which appeared in the inner courtyard outside the side hall for a short time, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo both heard it at the same time, and were shocked, this is the emperor's palace, how can anyone scream? I couldn't help but stand up together, pulled out the long knife at my waist in my hand, and rushed out.

As soon as he broke out of the palace gate, he saw the guards of the courtyard kneeling on the ground, touching the ground with their heads, and they didn't dare to move, and from the inner courtyard door, a big man strode out, his hair was scattered, his eyebrows were angry, his sallow face was red because of excitement and annoyance, and he was holding a big knife in his hand, and the blade was dripping with blood, which was daunting to watch, but it was Zhang Xianzhong.

Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo were surprised, and hurriedly put the knife into the sheath, knelt on the ground and shouted long live, but their hearts were full of suspicions, they peeked at each other, looked at Zhang Xianzhong's expression, it seemed that he had just killed someone, this is the inner courtyard of the palace, and all the concubines and relatives lived, who did he kill?

Zhang Xianzhong ignored the guards kneeling on the ground, sat on the chair in the middle of the side hall with a big sword and golden horse, threw the knife that was still bleeding aside, glared at Sun Li and shouted: "What are you doing in a daze? Come and sit down! ”

The two of them trembled, did not dare to sit down, stood in front of the hall and stood respectfully, Sun Kewanggui was the prison army, and Zhang Xianzhong wanted to be closer, seeing that he grabbed a jar of tribute wine in the side hall and slapped open the mud and drank it, without the reserved bearing of being an emperor on weekdays, he felt even more strange in his heart, swallowed his saliva, and dared to ask: "Father, holding a bloody blade at night, I don't know what is going on?" ”

Zhang Xianzhong put the wine jar down, and said nonchalantly: "I killed the queen and concubine, the prince is young, and he cries timidly, and I also slash it!" ”

As soon as these words came out, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo were like thunderbolts, bluffing, and shouted at the same time: "What? ”

"Killed the queen and prince?"

Zhang Xianzhong frowned: "What's it called?" I killed it, what's wrong? ”

Li Dingguo's open mouth could barely be closed, and it took a long time before he stammered: "Father, father, this, why is this?" ”

Sun Kewang also trembled in despair: "Yes, father, why bother? ”

Zhang Xianzhong slammed the wine jar in his hand and smashed it on the ground, the fragrant wine flowed all over the ground, and the house was full of wine for a while.

He pressed his thighs with both hands, raised his head and chest, his head was full of teeth and claws, his eyes were red, like a lion about to eat people, and Sun Li and the others involuntarily took a step back.

"I am a hero, I dominate the world, the world is famous, now that I am defeated, I can't leave my young son, wife and concubine to be captured, and it will only increase the laughing stock, so I will kill him!"

Zhang Xianzhong's voice was like thunder, almost roaring: "You two are also my sons, you can expect to be old, and you will eventually be the sons of the world, and after a hundred years, you can expect to inherit everything from me." Your two brothers, support each other, and never turn against each other! ”

Sun Kewang trembled, his knees weakened, he fell to the ground, and said sadly with tears streaming down his face: "Father is in the prime of the Spring and Autumn Period, why do you say this? Victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers......"

Zhang Xianzhong waved his hand and interrupted: "Hugh is restless, and listen to me!" ”

"The Ming Dynasty was orthodox for three hundred years, and I fought with Li Zicheng for more than ten years, and I did not replace it, which shows that the will of heaven is clear, and the Zhu family in the Ming Dynasty may not be extinct. If you die, you will return to the light in a hurry, and there is no injustice. He said categorically: "The wild people of the Tartar Fang, who are not of my race, if you are greedy for wealth and glory, afraid of death and survival, and surrender the Tartars, I will not spare you under the Nine Springs!" ”

Zhang Xianzhong glared at him and asked, "Do you agree?" ”

Li Dingguo also knelt down, shed tears with Sun Kewang, kowtowed again and again, and responded loudly: "The son respectfully obeys the orders of his father!" ”

When Zhang Xianzhong heard the sound, he breathed a long sigh of relief, pushed the long hanging from his forehead back, and said in a rough voice: "Okay!" When business is done, go, find me a few more jars of wine, and drink with me! ”