Along the way, the generals tried their best to befriend Chen Qiyu and his subordinates. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

After recovering his vitality, one night, Li Zicheng gave an order, and the peasant armies from all walks of life re-raised the banner of righteousness, and then, broke through Yongshou, Lingtai and other seven counties, and joined the peasant army from Luoyang, and the prestige shook the entire Guanzhong.

The miraculous escape from Che Gang Gorge enhanced Li Zicheng's prestige and increased his popularity.

In the winter of the seventh year of Chongzhen (1634), the 72nd battalion of King Gao Yingxiang and others moved to HN all the way to cover the sky with flags, and the war horses neighed, mighty and magnificent.

When the news reached Jingshi, the court was shaken.

Zhu Youzhen accepted the suggestion of Zhang Fengyi, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and others, urgently dispatched 72,000 soldiers and horses from various places, collected 930,000 taels, and handed them over to Hong Chengchou for unified command and deployment, so that he could quickly lead his troops out of the customs, command all roads and towns, and order him to calm down the situation within six months.

Hong Chengchou dispatched troops non-stop, and began to deploy the siege of the righteous army from the first month of the eighth year of Chongzhen (1635). In the face of the powerful offensive of the Ming army, the peasant army retreated to the area of Luoyang.

In order to find a way out, Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui, Luo Rucai, Ge Liyan, Zuo Jinwang, and other generals of the 72nd battalion of the people's army held a meeting in Xingyang to discuss measures to relieve the siege. At the meeting, Li Zicheng's operational plan of "dividing troops into orientation and attacking on four fronts" was adopted by everyone, and then the peasant army began to act separately.

In the early morning of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the peasant army entered Fengyang City, killed Zhang Guoxiang, who was left behind in the central capital, and beheaded the prefect Yan Ronghuo.

He rushed to the imperial tomb and Longxing Temple, dug up the ancestral tomb of the Ming royal family, burned down the "Huangjue Temple" where Zhu Yuanzhang once became a monk, and killed more than 60 eunuchs.

Li Zicheng was very proud in his heart, both of these things were his masterminds, especially the latter one, which was his proud work.

"Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai elected themselves as the king of Chuang, although they have some ill intentions, and they have the intention of attracting the attention of the court and the official army, but I don't care, with the military power and orders of the king in hand, with our Lao Li's ability, I am afraid that I will not be able to fight a new world, and when the time comes, I am afraid that it will be too late for both of you to regret it."

Thinking of this, his heart blossomed.

He forced his joy, glanced around at the people in the room with a flat face, and saw that everyone was eagerly looking at him, he looked at the military advisor Gu Junen carefully, and saw that he was nodding lightly, so he didn't have any worries anymore.

Everyone is looking forward to it, and Li Zicheng himself wants to be the king of Chuang, he feels that with his own ability, the rebel army under his leadership will definitely develop and grow stronger than the era of Gao Yingxiang.

He stood up, bowed down to everyone, and said: "Thanks to the love of all brothers, since the achievement of the temporary generation of the big brother Gao to carry the banner of the king, in the future, everyone will work together, live and die together, advance and retreat together, fight hard, and create a new world that belongs to our righteous army." ”

Seeing that Li Zicheng finally agreed to be the king, Liu Zongmin was very happy.

Li Zicheng's status will rise, and his Liu Zongmin's status will also rise, and in the future, in the rebel armies of the Ming Dynasty, he Liu Zongmin is also a well-known figure, and he is no longer an ordinary rebel officer.

Thinking of this, Liu Zongmin said loudly: "Brothers, hurry up and meet King Chuang." As he spoke, he took the lead and knelt down and said in a loud voice: "My subordinates have seen King Chuang." ”

"My subordinates have seen King Chuang." Tian Jianxiu and other generals knelt down and shouted.

Seeing this, Liu Guoneng, Guotian Hui Dengxiang, and some of the original Gao Yingxiang's generals looked at each other, and also knelt down and shouted: "I've seen King Chuang." ”

Hearing that they did not claim to be subordinates, Li Zicheng felt a little unhappy in his heart, but he was not easy to attack, but said with a smile: "Brothers are too polite, why should the family be like this, get up." ”

"King Xie Chuang." Liu Zongmin said and stood up, and the others also stood up.

Glancing at Liu Zongmin with satisfaction, Li Zicheng smiled and said: "Brother Zongmin, we are all brothers, we can't be like this in the future." You did this and made the other brothers laugh. As he spoke, he looked at the people who broke into the sky and passed through the sky.

Liu Guoneng and Hui Dengxiang, who broke into the sky, were not stupid, Liu Guoneng hurriedly smiled and said: "Brother Li, in the future, you will be the king of Chuang, and you will be the leader of the war, and you should bow down." ”

"Yes, Brother Guoneng is right." Whiden said to each other.

Li Zicheng was overjoyed when he heard this, and said with a smile: "The two brothers are really people who know the general situation, I, Li Zicheng, like this kind of character, and when I have a bright future in the future, I will not forget everyone." ”

"King Xie Chuang." Everyone bowed down and replied in unison.

Zhao Guohua covered the people to Zhuozhou, walked on the road for three more days, and finally at noon on the fourth day, came to Zhuozhou, the lookout soldiers on the city tower lookout Diao Dou saw countless people in the distance, knew that the volunteer brigade was back, and hurriedly reported loudly to Li Xianyu, who was resting in the city tower: "Report to the garrison, Captain Zhao They are back, and they have brought back a lot of people, a large area of black pressure, I am afraid that there are not tens of thousands of people." ”

"Really?" Li Xian said, ran out in surprise, walked to the battlement, built a pergola and looked into the distance, sure enough, hundreds of people were slowly walking towards the city wall under the escort of thousands of cavalry.

At this time, Liu Youtian and several cavalry Pegasus ran over and said loudly: "I am Liu Youtian of the Volunteer Brigade, on the order of our captain, please Lord Fan and Lord Li to organize the people to prepare hot water, steamed buns and Langzhong, and the rescued people of the brigade will enter the city immediately." With that, Pegasus went back.

Hearing this, Li Xian hurriedly asked Fan to go in and prepare, and soon, the city began to act, a cauldron on the roadside of the north gate and the east gate, everyone carried water, burned the fire, and noodles, a busy scene.

Wu Fu had lunch, took a nap in the pavilion, and talked with a few attachés about what he had seen and heard in Zhuozhou in the past few days, and then walked outside the pavilion, and just walked out of the gate not far away, he saw the busy scene of the people, so he walked over curiously and asked, "What are you doing here?" Why are so many people carrying water, burning fires, and making noodles? ”

Several busy people glanced at him, saw him in soft scarves and long clothes, and a few entourages by his side, and knew that he was not an ordinary person, so a middle-aged man said respectfully: "This gentleman Rongyu, we are boiling water and steaming steamed buns for the people who were rescued by the volunteer brigade." ”

"The Volunteer Brigade is back?" Wu Fu asked in surprise.

Glancing at him suspiciously, the middle-aged man said, "Not yet, but they have already arrived outside the city and will soon enter the city." ”

"Let's go. Let's take a look. With that, Wu Fu walked to the city gate with a few attachés.

Looking at the city wall that was getting closer and closer, Zhao Guohua said to Niu Huan: "Finally came back safely." ”

In order to give a devastating blow to the pursuing Qing army, he was ready to use an automatic rifle and grenade strike mode against the Qing army, and he didn't want to hide the secret weapon of the grenade.

Fan Jin and Li Xian took a large number of entourages to meet Zhao Guohua outside the city, and when they saw the two of them from afar, Zhao Guohua hurriedly said: "Folks, everyone take a rest on the spot, I will come when I go." After speaking, let Niu Huan go to break the order in turn, and then he, on horseback, ran over, jumped off the horse at the gate of the city, and said with a smile: "The two adults Lao greeted me personally, and Zhao was ashamed." ”

"The hero returned triumphantly, and we went out of the city to greet him, as it should be! You're welcome! Fan Jin stroked his beard and said with a smile.

Li Xian looked at the people who came over like a long dragon, and praised with a smile: "Brother Zhao, these people have been saved from the fate of being enslaved and killed because of you, you have done a great thing." ”

"This is what we should do, the Ming soldiers should protect the people of the Ming Dynasty, but unfortunately our strength is limited, and we only rescued these." Zhao Guohua said with a sigh.

At this time, Lu Qing walked over, glanced at the tens of thousands of people, and said to Zhao Guohua: "Captain, so many people have entered the city, how to settle them?" It's better to build a shed outside the city and place it on the spot. ”

Lu Qing did not go out this time, as a left-behind person, he led more than a dozen team members to stay in the city to guard some military supplies of the Volunteer Brigade.

"It's only temporary, wait a few days, and if the Tartars haven't chased after you, let's talk about it." Zhao Guohua said.

Lu Qing asked, "Where are so many people living in the city?" ”

Glancing at Fan Jin and Li Xian, Zhao Guohua smiled and said, "This matter is going to trouble the two adults." ”

"If you say anything, I will not shirk what I can do." Li Xian said affectionately

Fan Jin also smiled politely and said, "Captain Zhao, you say, I will do my best." ”

The two of them are now convinced of Zhao Guohua, and his personality and the strength of the Volunteer Brigade have made the two of them have deep friendships, so they are so enthusiastic.

Seeing that the two of them were very cooperative, Zhao Guohua nodded: "That's the case, among these people, some have families, some have no families, there are men and women in those who have no families, I plan to place those with families in Zhuozhou people to live temporarily, and single women to live in the barracks, so that they are divided, there are not too many single men, these people set up tents in the open space in the city, and there are people from outside Zhuozhou who are placed at home, each family compensates two cents of silver every day, and the soldiers go to the city wall to sleep in tents for a few days to overcome, I don't know how the two of you feel? ”

Listening to this resettlement plan, Fan Jin and Li Xian glanced at each other, nodded, and Li Xian said: "No problem, it's just a few days, I think the soldiers will not object, besides, with Lao Tzu taking the lead, who dares not to follow." ”

"Captain Zhao, your resettlement plan is really good, but the cost of eating and drinking for so many people is not a small amount, how do you plan to solve it?" Fan Jin asked.