Chengdu, the original Shu Palace, has become Zhang Xianzhong's Daxi Palace.

Half an hour ago, Zhang Xianzhong had just met with Niu Jinxing, the prime minister of Dashun, in the Golden Palace, and also knew the intention of Niu Jinxing, Zhang Xianzhong did not dare to slack off, and urgently summoned the left prime minister Wang Zhaolin, the right prime minister Yan Xi, Shangshu Wang Guolin, Jiang Dingzhen, Gong Wanjing, Pingdong Wang Sun Kewang, Funan King Liu Wenxiu, Anxi King Li Dingguo, Dingbei King Ai Nengqi and other civil and military henchmen into the palace to discuss.

When everyone arrived, Zhang Xianzhong said in a deep voice: "Li Zicheng sent Niu Jinxing to ask us for help, saying that Wang Puqin led 100,000 central troops to attack Yan'an Mansion, and also said that if the Great Western Army can help the Great Shun Army repel the attack of the Central Army, Li Zicheng is willing to give up the entire Shaanxi except Xi'an Mansion and Yan'an Mansion to the Great Western Kingdom, everyone said, what should I do about this?" ”

Compared with Li Zicheng's Great Shun Kingdom, Zhang Xianzhong's Great Western Kingdom is much stronger and more stable.

It should be particularly emphasized that Zhang Xianzhong is not the demon king who slaughtered Sichuan, in fact, Zhang Xianzhong has never slaughtered innocent people on a large scale, and it was Jiannu He Luohui who really slaughtered nearly 10 million people in Sichuan to less than 500,000 people! In order to whitewash the exploits of Jiannu, Zhang Tingshu and other minions used the trick of transferring flowers and trees, and poured the sewage from Tuchuan on Zhang Xianzhong.

Since the suppression of the counterattack of the old Ming Dynasty officials and troops in Shuzhong, Zhang Xianzhong promulgated a series of policies to resume production and reduce taxes, the situation in Shuzhong was quickly stabilized, the people's lives were stable, and Shuzhong was rich, and the money, grain, and silver copied from the palace of the king of Shu were enough for the expenses of the Western Army for several years.

Unlike the Dashun Army, which was short of food and fell apart, the Great Western Army was well-fed and well-trained.

There are 200,000 elite troops in Daxiguo, divided into 120 battalions, Sun Kewang commands 20 battalions, Li Dingguo commands 16 battalions, Liu Wenxiu commands 14 battalions, Ai Nengqi commands 10 battalions, Zhang Xianzhong himself leads 60 battalions, and sets up the Governor's Mansion of the five armies in the front and back, the left, the center and the right, to command the army of these 60 battalions.

Zuo Prime Minister Wang Zhaolin pondered for a moment and took the lead in saying: "Long live, the minister thought that he should send troops, but it was not to save Dashun. ”

Zhang Xianzhong said: "How do you say this? ”

Wang Zhaolin said: "The current Dashun army is no longer the Dashun army of two years ago, two years ago, the Dashun army had millions of troops and swept through the five northern provinces, but the current Dashun army is only tens of thousands of remnants of the defeated generals, and the army is scattered, the soldiers have no fighting spirit, coupled with the lack of food and salary, the veterans in the army have almost fled, such an army is not worth saving us at all." ”

Zhang Xianzhong said: "Then why do you still have to send troops? ”

Wang Zhaolin said: "In order to annex Shaanxi and expand the strategic space of the Great Western Kingdom. ”

Zhang Xianzhong said: "Oh? ”

Wang Zhaolin said: "At present, there is only a corner of Sichuan in our great western country, and there is very little room for strategic detour, if the Central Army launches an attack from the three directions of Shaanxi, Huguang, and Yunnan at the same time, it will inevitably not be able to cope with it, and if Shaanxi is occupied, the space for strategic detour and buffer will be greatly expanded. ”

"Well, that makes sense." Zhang Xianzhong nodded, and asked others again, "What about you, what do you think of what Prime Minister Zuo said?" ”

Everyone echoed one after another, but Li Dingguo was silent.

The Great Western Army rarely fought with the Central Army, although the great reputation of the Central Army has spread all over the world, but it is rumored that this thing is not as impressive as personal experience after all, but Li Dingguo is an exception, in the Great Western Army, only Li Dingguo has had a direct confrontation with the Central Army, and knows the strength of the Central Army.

The strength of the Central Army is beyond imagination, the battle of holding Xiangyang left a deep impression on Li Dingguo, such a dense musket salvo is the flesh and blood of the Great Western Army can not resist at all, this time Wang Puqin led 100,000 Central Army to attack Shaanxi, the purpose is not just for Shaanxi Province, after the capture of Shaanxi, I am afraid that I will march into Sichuan.

Therefore, Li Dingguo thought that what the Great Western Army should consider was not to send troops to Shaanxi, but to strengthen the defense lines of Badong and Hanzhong, and use natural dangers to keep the Central Army out of the country, and if according to Wang Zhaolin's opinion, the elite of the Great Western Army was exhausted and marched into Shaanxi to fight a decisive battle with the Central Army, in Li Dingguo's view, it would be simply self-defeating!

Zhang Xianzhong looked at Li Dingguo and asked in a harmonious voice: "Dingguo, what do you think?" ”

Zhang Xianzhong does not like women, although he married a lot of wives and concubines but never gave birth to a boy and a half girl, so it is not surprising that the emperor of the Great Western Kingdom has to be inherited by one of the four righteous sons, originally Sun Kewang was the best candidate for the prince, but unfortunately the previous expedition to Huguang, Sun Kewang saw death and did not save him, and was almost beheaded by Zhang Xianzhong, or the left and right prime minister Sanshangshu begged hard to save his surname, but the status in Zhang Xianzhong's heart is not as good as before.

Zhang Xianzhong personally asked Li Dingguo's opinion, and in the eyes of everyone, he was already regarded as a prince.

Li Dingguo sighed and said euphemistically: "Father, the strength of the Central Army is beyond imagination, the power of its musket battalion's intensive shooting is by no means able to withstand the flesh and blood, in the battle of Xiangyang in the past, the three thousand elite soldiers of the sons and daughters were defending the fortified city, and the Central Army was shooting in line from a distance of 100 steps. ”

Zhang Xianzhong frowned and said, "That's what you mean......"

Li Dingguo said categorically: "Our army must not rush out of Sichuan!" ”

Zuo Prime Minister Wang Zhaolin and Sun Kewang were extremely close, and retorted at the time: "Has the Second Highness ever thought that if this opportunity is missed, it will not appear again in the future." ”

Li Dingguo said: "If our army is defended according to natural dangers, or if we can keep the central army out of the country, if we go out of Sichuan to fight a decisive battle with the central army, I am afraid it will be ......."

Zhang Xianzhong said awe-inspiringly: "What are you afraid of? ”

Li Dingguo said gloomily: "I'm afraid that there will be more luck than luck." ”

Zhang Xianzhong was silent, but Sun Kewang sneered: "How bad is the evil? Could it be that in the second brother's heart, my Great Western Army is such a vulnerable native chicken? ”

Ai Nengqi, the king of Dingbei, who was in cahoots with Sun Kewang, also sneered: "Yes, the second brother exaggerates the strength of the Central Army so much, but he doesn't know what his intentions are? Oh yes, the younger brother remembered that the second brother had 3,000 elites under his command at the beginning, and he defended the fortified city of Xiangyang, and the eldest brother's army of 80,000 was close at hand, and the fighter plane was so advantageous, but the second brother actually failed to hold Xiangyang, which is really unbelievable......"

After all, Li Dingguo is also a young man, so he said angrily at the moment: "Fourth brother, what do you mean by this? ”

Ai Nengqi snorted and said coldly: "Everyone understands what I mean." ”

Ai Nengqi's meaning couldn't be more obvious, that is, Li Dingguo deliberately exaggerated the combat effectiveness of the Central Army, just to find an excuse to abandon Xiangyang at the beginning, how could Li Dingguo stand this anger, and said angrily at that time: "Fourth, you mean that I deliberately exaggerated the combat effectiveness of the Central Army?" ”

Ai Nengqi said coldly: "Isn't it? When we moved to Huguang and Nanzhi, our Great Western Army didn't fight with the Ming army's musket team, although the Central Army and the Ming Army had different names, they all used muskets, the same muskets, the Ming Army's musket team was vulnerable, and the Central Army could still fly into the sky? Who believes that you did not exaggerate the strength of the Central Army and deliberately excused yourself? ”

"Exaggerating the strength of the Central Army?" Li Dingguo retorted and said, "More than 200,000 Dashun troops and 100,000 Daxi troops stormed Qingtong Pass for several months, but Qingtong Pass was only guarded by a mixed battalion of less than 5,000 people in the Central Military Region, how can this be said?" The Central Army is not powerful, and it can hold off hundreds of thousands of troops for a few months with less than 5,000 people!? ”

"This, this ......"

Sun Kewang retorted: "The defeat of Qingtong Pass is not at all because of how powerful Zhao Xin's mixed battalion is, but because the wolf ambition of the Dashun army and the refusal to go all out, which does not mean anything. ”

"And then?" Li Dingguo said, "Later, the Central Army dared to counterattack on the whole line with less than 50,000 troops, and the more than 200,000 Dashun troops and your 80,000 elite soldiers were defeated on the whole line, and the Dashun Army was wiped out, and the army under the command of the eldest brother was almost wiped out, how can you say this?" ”

Sun Kewang said: "This ......"

"That's enough." Zhang Xianzhong said loudly, "Don't quarrel, after all, I and Li Zicheng have been friends for decades, when I was in trouble, Li Zicheng also helped me, although I also helped him once, but this favor is not so easy to pay off, so this time I decided to send troops." ”

Li Dingguo hurriedly said: "Father, you can't send troops." ”

"I don't need to say more." Zhang Xianzhong Huo Ran raised his hand to stop Li Dingguo, and said loudly, "This time, I am determined to drive the expedition in person." ”

"Huh?" Li Dingguo became more and more anxious, "My father wants to drive the expedition in person, absolutely not!" ”

The rest of the left prime minister Wang Zhaolin, the right prime minister Yan Xi and others also dissuaded: "Long live, no." ”

"You Aiqing don't need to persuade again." Zhang Xianzhong said solemnly, "This time to send troops, it is expected that Nengqi will lead the 30 battalions of soldiers and horses of the headquarters to follow me personally, and after I go on the expedition, I will be the regent of the country, and the affairs of the middle of the country will be decided by the country!" This time to send troops to Shaanxi, if you win, everything will be fine, if you lose...... The two prime ministers knew what to do. ”

Wang Zhaolin's expression was miserable, but Yan Xi bowed his head gloomily, Zhang Xianzhong deliberately took Sun Kewang and Ai Nengqi to go out together, the intention could not be more obvious, that is, to clear the obstacles for Li Dingguo's ascension, because Liu Wenxiu and Li Dingguo have been friendly since childhood, and they are Li Dingguo's strong supporters and followers, so it is logical for Li Dingguo to succeed to the throne.

Sun Kewang said unwillingly: "Father, it is enough to send troops to Shaanxi and go to the sons, why do you need to drive the expedition in person?" ”

"Needless to say." Zhang Xianzhong said categorically, "This matter is decided." ”

After that, Zhang Xianzhong brushed his sleeves away, and soon, the tall and sturdy figure disappeared outside the hall, at this moment, no one knew what this hero thought in his heart?

In fact, it is difficult for anyone to understand the complicated feelings between Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng, both of whom are from the bottom, and they are both leaders of the rebel army of the Xingyang Conference, and they cherish each other, but they have never stopped fighting openly and secretly, and they have been trying to suppress each other's limelight......

The struggle between the two has even extended to the founding of the country and the year name, Li Zicheng just ascended the throne in Yanjing and called the emperor, Zhang Xianzhong immediately followed the throne in Chengdu to claim the emperor, Li Zicheng founded the country of Dashun, Zhang Xianzhong founded the country of Daxi, Li Zicheng changed the Yuan Yongchang, Zhang Xianzhong-for-tat changed the Yuan Dashun, this kind of struggle can even be said to have been integrated into the bones of the two.

So much so that some wild history legends say that Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are actually in love with the same surname, and they also take the trouble to give an example of Zhang Xianzhong, who is a generation of heroes but doesn't like women very much, and he also likes to kill beautiful women indiscriminately, which is completely different from the surname of ordinary heroes who like beauty and are obsessed with beauty, and it sounds like that.

Zhang Xianzhong chose to personally lead the troops on the expedition this time, completely because he had a premonition that this might be Li Zicheng's last journey, so Zhang Xianzhong wanted to help Li Zicheng, and he wanted to prove to Li Zicheng that Lao Tzu was a little bit stronger than you......

■■■

Suide, the central army camp Wang Pu Xing.

Since crossing the Yellow River, the march of the Central Army has slowed down, and it only marches forward fifty miles a day before setting up camp, so it has walked for several days from the crossing of the Yellow River to Suide!

It was not that the Central Army could not speed up its march, let alone act cautiously for fear of being ambushed by the Great Western Army.

The Central Army's deliberate slowing down of the march was completely deliberate; first, it was to exert strong pressure on the Great Western Army in order to achieve the strategic goal of subjugating the army without a fight; second, it was to lure the snake out of the hole, to lure out the Great Western Army in Sichuan, and to lead it to the Shaanxi battlefield to be wiped out, so as to clear the way for the Central Army to enter Sichuan in the future.

There were only Wang Pu and Liu Ru in the tent, and the two were studying the route and timing of entering Sichuan in front of the map.

When the battle comes to this, there is no suspense about recovering Shaanxi, the only thing that needs to be considered is how to recover Sichuan? After all, the strength of the Great Western Army in Sichuan still exists, and it does not fight much with the Central Army, and it is not psychologically disadvantageous in the face of the Central Army's troops, coupled with the natural dangers in eastern and northern Sichuan, it is really not easy to recover Sichuan without bloodshed.

Liu Ru blinked her beautiful eyes and asked in a coquettish voice: "Lord Wang, do you think Zhang Xianzhong will send troops to Shaanxi?" ”

Wang Pu pondered for a moment and said: "Zhang Xianzhong should know the truth of cold lips and cold teeth, but it is difficult to say whether Zhang Xianzhong will send troops." ”

Liu said: "Is the prince worried about Li Dingguo stirring up the situation? ”

"yes." Wang Pu nodded and said in a condensed voice, "Although I didn't personally participate in the Battle of Huguang last year, judging from the actual battle, Li Dingguo's strategic thinking and tactical thinking are very extraordinary!" In addition, Li Dingguo had a direct confrontation with the Central Army, and he knew the strength of the Central Army, so he should know that the Great Western Army going out of Sichuan could only be a dead end. ”

Liu said: "Although Li Dingguo is powerful, he is still young after all, and Zhang Xianzhong may not listen to him." ”

"I hope so." Wang Pu said, "I hope Zhang Xianzhong won't listen to Li Dingguo, otherwise it will take some effort to recover Sichuan." ”

"Lord Wang, if you are a sister, good news."

In the light footsteps, intelligence secretary Liu Qingyan walked into the tent with a spring breeze.

Wang Pu withdrew his gaze from the map and asked happily, "Scratch your hooves, what's the good news?" ”

Liu Qingyan said: "According to reliable information, Zhang Xianzhong has already led the army out of Sichuan. ”

"Oh?" Liu Ru exchanged glances with Wang Pu, and asked in a coquettish voice, "How many troops did Zhang Xianzhong bring?" ”

"Not much." Liu Qingyan said, "It seems that the main force of the Great Western Army is still in Sichuan, and Zhang Xianzhong only brought 50,000 horses. ”

"What about Li Dingguo?" Wang Pu asked, "Did you go out of Sichuan with Zhang Xianzhong?" ”

"Nope." Liu Qingyan shook his head and responded, "Li Dingguo was entrusted by Zhang Xianzhong with the important task of supervising the country and stayed in Sichuan. ”

"Really?"

Wang Pu frowned when he heard this.

"One more thing." Liu Qingyan said, "Li Zicheng's general Liu Zongmin sent someone to deliver a letter. ”

"Liu Zongmin?" Wang Pu said coldly, "Do you want to surrender the city?" ”

"Hmm." Liu Qingyan hummed lightly and said, "However, Liu Zongmin also put forward two harsh conditions in the letter, one is that he must be made the governor of Shaanxi, and the other is that the Dashun Army will join the Central Army after its reorganization, accept the weapons and equipment of the Central Army in a unified manner, and enjoy the treatment of the Central Army, and Shaanxi Province will no longer have another commander, and the Central Army under his command will still be under his command." ”

"Hmph." Wang Pu sneered, "The general of the defeated army also dares to speak bravely? With the defeat of the 350,000 remnants in Xi'an City, Liu Zongmin dared to put forward such an unjust idea, which is really ridiculous. ”

"This Liu Zongmin is really ......" Liu Ru also shook his head and chuckled, "It's just a delusion to be the governor of Shaanxi, and I actually want to even be the governor of Shaanxi, and I still dream of reorganizing the Dashun Army into the Central Army, uniformly replacing the weapons and equipment of the Central Army, and then enjoying the same treatment as the Central Army, I really don't know what to say about him." ”

"Just an idiot who doesn't know the times." Wang Pu said coldly, "Reply to the letter, let him wait to be flayed alive." ”

"Lord Wang." Liu Qingyan said in a charming voice, "Why don't you give the snake committee a false account and settle accounts with him after Shaanxi is recovered?" ”

"No need." Wang Pu shook his hand and said, "I can't do anything with this kind of idiot, let him spend the last half a month in fear and suffering." ”

■■■

Xi'an, Liu Zongmin's Mansion.

Tian Jianxiu visited overnight, and Liu Zongmin introduced it into the secret room.

After Liu Zongmin retreated, Tian Jianxiu asked in a low voice, "Brother Liu, have you contacted that side?" ”

Liu Zongmin's face was flushed with a hint of bitterness, and he nodded: "It's connected." ”

Tian Jianxiu hurriedly said: "What do you say over there?" ”

"Well, don't mention it." Liu Zongmin shook his head and sighed, "The talks collapsed, maybe our conditions are too harsh." ”

"Ah, the talk collapsed?" Tian Jianxiu's face turned pale when he heard this, and he said hurriedly, "Then did they say it...... That, what will happen to us in the future? ”

Liu Zongmin's face suddenly became extremely embarrassed, and he said in a low voice: "It's the same as Wu Sangui." ”

"Huh!?" Tian Jianxiu was taken aback when he heard this, and hissed, "Same as Wu Sangui?" ”

Liu Zongmin said: "There is nothing to say now, I can only give up my surname to fight with the Central Army, even if I know that I am dead, I have to fight to the death." ”

"The fish is dead?" Tian Jianxiu smiled bitterly, "It's certain that the fish will die, but the net may not break." ”

Liu Zongmin said: "Then what do you say?" ”

"It's better to run away." Tian Jianxiu said gloomily, "Taking advantage of the fact that the Central Army is still hundreds of miles away from Xi'an, let's lead the army to Hamiwei, where the mountains and rivers are far away, and it is impossible for the Central Army to chase after it in the past few years." ”

(To be continued)