In the early years of Chongzhen, there was a great drought in the world, especially in Shanxi and Shaanxi.

According to the records of Shaanxi Tongzhi: from the second year of the Apocalypse to the second year of Chongzhen, there was a great drought and no rain for eight years: there was a great drought of rice fat, a thousand dollars of rice, and cannibalism.

And a local official in Shaanxi also said in a recital: Yan'an Mansion, the township of Chenxiang, has not rained for a year since last year (the first year of Chongzhen), and the grass and trees are scorched. * During the month, the people compete for the grass for food, and its taste is bitter and astringent, so as to prolong the immortality. By October, when the grass was exhausted, they would fight to peel the bark of the tree to satisfy their hunger and ask for help to die. At the end of the year, when the bark of the tree is exhausted, the stones in the mountains are dug to feed the stomach. The stone is cold and fishy, and if you eat less, you will be full, and within a few days, your stomach will be distended and fall to death. Some of the people were unwilling to eat stones and died, and they began to gather together as thieves, and one or two people who had a little accumulation were robbed, and looted without a trace.

It can be seen that the drought situation at that time was severe.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the arrears of the Ming Dynasty army were also very strict, and in Shaanxi alone, the arrears of wages in the first year of Chongzhen were 1.38 million taels. The soldiers had no food to eat, so they were still soldiers, so a large number of deserters were produced.

Most of the people's troops who rebelled in Shaanxi in the first year of Chongzhen had a military background, and Wang Jiayin, a fugitive from the Dingbian camp by the Great Wall, Zhang Xianzhong, a fugitive from Yansui, and Shen Yiyuan, a fugitive from Liaoyang, were all important leaders of the people's army at that time. And Li Zicheng is also a post soldier and a border army.

It is precisely because many of the leaders of the rebel army have military backgrounds that the popular uprising in Shaanxi at the end of the Ming Dynasty was more rapid, and the peasant rebel army was stronger in combat and more difficult to extinguish.

The development momentum of the peasant army was fierce, and Yue Hesheng, the governor of Yansui, and Hu Tingyan, the governor of Shaanxi, saw that the paper could not contain the fire, so they reported to the imperial court. Hu Tingyan and Yue Harmony shirked each other's responsibilities, and the Ministry of War was ordered to investigate, and Wu Huan, who was then the governor of Shaanxi Province, slapped fifty boards for each of them, and he said that "Hu Tingyan and Yue Harmony concealed and did not report each other, and passed the buck to each other, which was the main reason for the rapid deterioration of the guide." Just as the imperial court was preparing to investigate the responsibility, Wu Zhiwang, the governor of the three sides, and Yue Hesheng, the governor of Yansui, fell ill and died one after another, so Hu Tingyan was dismissed from office and punished. In order to calm the chaos, the imperial court appointed Yang He as the governor of the three sides, Zhang Mengjing as the governor of Yansui, and Liu Guangsheng as the governor of Shaanxi.

Thus, a period of appeasement as the main strategy arrived.

Yang He is known as a clear person, and his son is the later famous Yang Sichang. However, Yang He is a civilian official and has never known about military affairs.

When Emperor Chongzhen summoned Yang He, he asked Yang He what his good plan was for the situation in Shaanxi.

Yang He just said vaguely, "Be cautious and self-controlled, and compassionate about the dead." ”

In the face of Yang He's empty talk, Chongzhen greatly admired Yang He's incorruptible style, and insisted on appointing Yang He as the governor of the three sides despite Yang He's resignation.

And Yang He went up to Shu Chongzhen, "(thieves) are always because of the famine, and the people are not able to make a living." He also put forward the strategy of "appeasement first, supplemented by pursuit and suppression". This reflects Yang He's lack of confidence in military affairs.

However, with the efforts of Yang He, who was honest and honest, the policy of appeasement achieved some success, and almost all the rebel armies in Shaanxi accepted Zhao'an.

However, the famine was severe, and the appeased people's army did not have a proper way to settle them, so they were only disbanded on the spot, so the appeased people's army always surrendered and rebelled. And Yang He, who didn't know about military affairs, was not well deployed, and even, in the second year of Chongzhen, Wang Zuojiao led his troops to attack Hancheng, but Yang He had no troops to adjust, so he had to order Hong Chengchou's troops to break the siege.

Although Hong Chengchou is a civilian official, he knows the soldiers well and is also very brave. At that time, Hong Chengchou, who was still participating in politics, led the troops to fight, and there were only six or seven hundred soldiers in the family. However, Hong Chengchou still killed 300 peasant soldiers at a very small price, relieved the siege of Hancheng, and suddenly became famous, and his soldiers were regarded as Hong soldiers, and Hong Chengchou was soon promoted to the governor of Yansui.

Although Hong Chengchou was the main battle, Yang He, the governor of the three sides, still implemented the policy of 'focusing on pacification and supplementing with suppression'.

At first, Chongzhen also agreed with the principle of fu, and he replied to an article about the chaos in Shaanxi: "The hungry people are screaming from the local officials to the fu." Zhang Diyuan's reply to the matter of Like also said: "Fu Zi is a law, and it is natural to steal the people." ”

All these reflected the unanimous desire of the imperial court and outside the court to resolve the situation in Shaanxi with pacification.

In this way, the peasant army was given a chance to breathe, and at this time, Li Zicheng also made some names.

After the incident between Li Zicheng and Li Guo's uncle and nephew, he just joined Wang Zuohang's peasant army. Wang's team was divided into eight teams. The eight teams are: the first team of eye money, the second team of lights, the third team of Li Jinwang, the fourth team of scorpion blocks, the fifth team of Lao Zhang Fei, the sixth team of the king of troubled times, the seventh team does not collect at night, and the eighth team Li Zicheng, Li Zicheng is known as the general, the so-called eight teams are the prestigious old eight teams, which is an important foundation for Li Zicheng.

But soon, Wang Zuohang was recruited by the imperial court. So, Li Zicheng defected to Zhang Cunmeng, who was known as not sticking to the mud. As a result, Zhang Cunmeng's defeat in northern Shaanxi was also revealed.

So, Li Zicheng took Li Guo and Liu Zongmin and his party to Li Zicheng's uncle Gao Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang. Gao Yingxiang and other peasant armies in Shaanxi and Shanxi took the initiative to follow the call of Wang Jiayin, the leader of the famous peasant army, to act together

Now, the old eighth team is full of talents, Li Guo is known as a tiger because of his bravery, as well as Liu Zongmin, the brave and brave general whistle, Gao Jie, the brave and fierce Harrier Gao Jie, the fierce and ferocious Yuan Zongdi, the crazy and barbaric Hao Shaoqi, and the resolute and resolute Liu Fangliang, and the generous Tian Jianxiu and others.

Li Guo was happy in his heart, although he still failed to establish his own base, the team was growing little by little. At present, what Li Guo wants to do most is three points: first, a stable base area, second, the regularization of the army, and third, a clear political goal and program. But Li Guo is only a team under Li Zicheng now, and his strength is still not enough, so Li Guo once again talked about his thoughts to Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin and others.

However, Li Guo now understands how difficult it is to achieve a great cause according to his own ideas, because Li Zicheng and they are now thieves!

A thief means a robber who runs around, robbers who plunder here and there! I live a life of spending days and drinking every day, and I ignore everything else with the idea of living one day at a time and earning one day at a time. In the face of Li Guo's great plan to tell them, everyone almost laughed out of their big teeth! This also includes his uncle Li Zicheng.

What's more, Liu Zongmin, Liu Zongmin stroked the short beard on his face with his big hand, and said to Li Guo with a smile, "Make up for it, you say that the princes and princes will be equal, so I won't say anything." But you say, "Men and women are equal, how much more equal should they be?" Women always have to be flat to the bottom of the body, is it possible to be flat to the top of the head? ”

The burly Yuan Zongdi also looked at Li Guo with a smile, "Make up for it, you said that you once traveled to the future when you were in a coma, what is the future, isn't it tomorrow, could it be that you will eat today's meal tomorrow?" I don't think it's a crossing, what is a crossing? It's not a head piercing! ”

The crowd burst into laughter.

"However, there is some truth in what I said, kill less and win the hearts and minds of the people." Tian Jianxiu, who believes in Buddhism, has always agreed with Li Guo's statement.

Liu Zongmin turned to Tian Jianxiu, "Brother Tian, are you also confused?" Now that the army is in chaos, if you don't kill some people, how can you stand up! Where does our food, gold and silver come from? ”

"yes, make it up." Liu Fangliang also said: "Now that we are being intercepted by officials and troops everywhere, how can we establish a base area? ”

Li Zicheng looked at Li Guo with concern, "Li Guo, are you okay?" ”

Li was so angry that he almost fainted, flicked his sleeves, turned around and walked out, and there was laughter behind him. Grandma, I'm so stupid that I'm still telling you about the future! What do you love! Lao Tzu will never tell you this again, Li Guo thought angrily.