Five years after Chongzhen, the disaster in the northwest and the Central Plains was even worse.

In the past six years, more than half of the people have died in the areas of Shaanxi and Chengcheng counties. Local newspapers, the people compete to eat the fluffy grass in the mountain, after the fluffy grass is eaten, the bark is peeled and eaten, and after the bark is eaten, they can only eat Guanyin soil, and they die of bloating after the most sloppy. There are locust droughts, cannibalism, all the grass and trees, the cobs rise together, and there is a great famine in the north and south...... The dead abandon the child, and the river is blocked.

Lu Weiqi, the former secretary of the military department who lives in Henan, also wrote to the imperial court: "Over the past few years, the ministers and townships have no years and no hardships, no months and no hardships, and no days and no hardships. Gengwu (Chongzhen three years) drought; Xin Wei Dry; There was a great drought in Renshen. There is no grass in the wild, and ten rooms are empty. …… There are no barking dogs in the village, and they are still knocking on the door of the conscription; The trees have cries, and they are sprinkled with the blood of the whip. Huang'ai Chidi, the countryside is a few people; White bones and green phosphorus, night after night like hearing ghosts crying. If you want the poor not to become thieves, you will not be able to get them." The drought has led to locust plagues, which have exacerbated the situation.

Jingshi, Chongzhen heard that the catastrophe was like this, and the palace cried.

It is rumored that this scene is a sign of the end times

Lushunkou, after reading the latest newspaper sent by Dengzhou, Dayong looked at the sea and sighed long.

After Haoge succeeded to the throne, he changed the seventh year of Tiancong to the first year of Chongde, and did not plan to abandon Shenyang, but reorganized the civil engineering to prepare to rebuild Shenyang City. In addition, the spies sent to Shenyang also found out that Haoge was preparing to ascend the throne and become emperor, and heard that even the country name had been chosen. Wu Heyin whispered the information sent back by the spies from Shenyang.

Dayong didn't reply after hearing this: "But Daqing? ”

"How does the marshal know the way?" Wu Heyin was taken aback, he had just received the information that Haoge wanted to change Houjin to the Qing Dynasty, how could the handsome prophet say it? Could it be that there is another secret spy besides the Military Intelligence Department?

Shi Dayong didn't answer Wu Heyin's question, just stood there in a daze and looked across the sea.

The water was calm, and the waves glowed golden, which was very uncomfortable for the eyes.

Wu Heyin didn't dare to disturb Shi Dayong, and stood there cautiously, wondering what Shi Dayong was thinking when he looked at the sea.

After a long time, Da Yongfang retracted his gaze from afar, turned to look at Wu Heyin: "Has the imperial court sent someone again?" ”

Wu Heyin hurriedly said: "The person has already arrived in Dengzhou, and I heard that the person who came this time is the celebrant and the celebrant is much higher than the previous ones. ”

"It doesn't matter who he comes, tell Li Dashan to drag it first."

"Dashuai, the envoy of the Son of Heaven has come a few times, and the court has been suspicious of the Dashuai's delay in meeting him, but some people say that Dashuai has no king and no father, and I heard that the Son of Heaven has also said that he "Wu Heyin hesitated and didn't dare to say.

"What?"

"The Son of Heaven said that he looked at the wrong person"

"The Son of Heaven is still young, he can't see through many things, and he can't understand it, it's not that I Shi Dayong doesn't want to enter Beijing, it's really alas" Dayong sighed again, he didn't want to go to Beijing to report his success, but he was afraid that he would never come back, because he had done too many things that were criticized.

Seeing Dayong like this, Wu Heyin persuaded: "It's not a matter if the handsome man drags on so much and doesn't enter Beijing, although Lu Yao knows the horsepower and sees the hearts of the people for a long time, but the three of them can't be unguarded against becoming tigers." Since ancient times, there have been countless cases of loyal ministers and good generals being harmed by the court. ”

"It's not a day or two to say that I'm brave and domineering, and it's not a day or two that I have a backbone in the back of my head, I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of?"

Wu Heyin hurriedly said: "The little ones are just afraid that the reputation of the big handsome will be damaged, but the others are not afraid." ”

"By the way, Mrs. Hong really died of illness?" Dayong talked about something else.

"I heard that I began to bleed from the nose outside the mouth, and I came back to help for thousands of miles, and when I saw the tragic situation in Shenyang City, I was so angry that I couldn't afford to get sick, and I died after a few days." Regarding the cause of Hong Tai's death, the spies of the Military Intelligence Department have also found out more or less.

"It turned out that he died of blood loss." Dayong smiled, Hong Tai seemed to have died of excessive blood loss in the original history, and it was pure nonsense for Dorgon to kill his brother. How many days can a person who has to shed a large basin of blood every day live?

Dayong suddenly asked Wu Heyin: "The imperial court must have known the news of the death of Lu Dao Hongtai, what do you think the imperial court will think of this matter?" ”

"Naturally, I'm happy," Wu Heyin was saying, but Dayong's eyes didn't seem right, so he shut up.

"I heard that the old Nu Hachi died at the hands of Yuan Chonghuan?" Dayong said this meaningfully.

"The old slave Ning Yuan can't stand up to scrutiny when he is hit by the artillery, how can anyone fight again after being artillery, not to mention that he died after a few months, and the little one thought that this matter was mostly Yuan Chonghuan putting gold on his face." How the old slave died, Wu Heyin's low-level pen paste style naturally has no way of knowing, but he knows that the old slave went to fight Mongolia after Ning Yuan came back, so he didn't believe in the legend that Yuan Chonghuan killed the old slave at all.

Dayong said: "What is true, how is false, and when it is true and false, it is also true." The things in this world are afraid of people's mouths. ”

"What do you mean?" Wu Heyin was confused, and he didn't know what Lu Dao Shi Dayong meant.

"It's been two months since your military intelligence department was established, and the mission of this military intelligence department is not as simple as probing military intelligence, and sometimes, you also have to engage in propaganda. It is important to know that human mouths can also kill, and sometimes they are better than thousands of troops. ”

"Propaganda?" Wu Heyin heard this term for the first time, and was confused, "What is propaganda?" ”

"It's to make the world believe everything that comes out of our mouths."

"Xiao I understand, Da Shuai means to attribute Hong Tai's death to our name?"

"Clever, right now I just want the world to believe that Mrs. Hong died at my hands! Not only the people of the world must believe, but the Son of Heaven must also believe! ”

"But Hong Tai's death was not concealed, how can it be attributed to the great commander?"

"Dongyu said that Hong Tai died of illness, could it be that Hong Tai really died of illness? Is what the enemy says more worthy of the people's belief than what we say? ”

"What did the little Zhilu Dao do, please rest assured, the small one will definitely make the world believe that Mrs. Hong died at the hands of the big handsome!"

"Very good, do it well, Ben Shuai will not treat you badly."

"By the way, Dashuai, I heard that Chen Qiyu, the governor of the five provinces, wants to encircle the thieves, and the officers and soldiers from all walks of life have mobilized more than 100,000 people, which is quite powerful, if it succeeds, the Ming Dynasty is really peaceful."

"Taiping?" Dayong shook his head, "Chen Qiyu won't succeed." ”

Shaanxi, after Chen Qiyu became the governor, more than 20 battles of all sizes, all battles were won, but the thieves were more and more suppressed, seeing the thieves fleeing in all directions, Chen Qiyu summoned his governors and general soldiers to meet in Xi'an, and mobilized 150,000 troops from Shaanxi, Hubei, and Henan after the meeting, intending to encircle the thieves and decide on a war.

Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang, heard that Chen Qiyu, the governor of the five provinces, was mobilizing hundreds of thousands of troops from all walks of life to surround him, and he knew that the people of Lu Dao were outnumbered and did not dare to fight hard, so he summoned the eight kings Zhang Xianzhong, Scorpion Block, Zhang Miaoshou, Li Zicheng and others to discuss how to break through.

Li Zicheng has made great achievements in the past two years, crossed the Yellow River in the south, he led the army to break through the pond, and subdued Gu Junen's troops, although there are not many people, but Gu Junen was born a talent, quite strategic, Li Zicheng fell in love at first sight, thought that he was a military advisor, and participated in the secret.

After receiving the king's warrant, Li Zicheng and Gu Junen went to the conference, but before they entered the conference hall, they heard that there was already a commotion inside.

It turned out that Zhang Xianzhong, the eighth king, advocated entering Sichuan at the meeting, while Scorpion Block, Zhang Miaoshou and others clamored to hide in Shangluo to avoid the officers and soldiers.

Although Li Zicheng has risen in the past two years, he still has no status in the 36th battalion, and when he saw the leaders arguing, he quietly came in and sat aside to listen.

After more than half an hour, Gao Yingxiang saw Zhang Xianzhong and their quarrels endlessly, inconclusive, and felt depressed, got up and shouted: "Everyone is bothering here, but the officials and soldiers don't wait for us, and if we continue to quarrel like this, what will we do." After speaking, he looked at Li Zicheng and asked, "Why are you silent?" Belch! The Confucian scholar next to you hasn't asked for a high name. ”

Gao Yingxiang saw that Gu Junen was in his thirties, dressed in Confucian clothes, with a sparse long beard floating under his chin, and his demeanor was quite elegant.

Li Zicheng pulled Gu Junen and said, "This is my new military advisor Gu Junen, who has entered the county school. I've seen King Chuang! ”

Gao Yingxiang didn't wait for Gu Jun'en to give a gift, and hurriedly said: "We have all gone to school, so let's make a move!" ”

Gu Junen insisted on refusing, and said: "Since ancient times, respect and humility have been orderly, and there should be no chaos. "Kneel down and bow.

Zhang Xianzhong smiled when he saw it on the side: "You two old talents who are sour and rotten, the knife is going to be on the neck, and you are so blind!" ”

Gu Junen made a gesture and saluted everyone before responding: "The eight kings are not bad, are they useless scholars!" However, after listening to everyone's words, the students thought it was impossible. The Eight Kings said that they entered the river, but it was actually inappropriate. ”

A Xiucai who had just joined the gang dared to question himself, Zhang Xianzhong suddenly became angry, opened his eyes, glared at Gu Junen and said, "What's wrong?" You give me a head, I can't say that I want you to look good! ”

Gu Junen was not frightened by Zhang Xianzhong, but after glancing at everyone, he said: "We are in Yunyang, extending in all directions, and there are many ways out. To the northeast, you can pass through Xichuan and Neixiang in Henan, to the northwest you can pass Pingli, Xing'an, Xunyang, Shanyang in Shaanxi, to the southwest you can pass Dachang and other places in Sichuan, to the south you can pass Jingmen, Yuan'an and Yiling in Huguang, and to the southeast you can go straight to Xiangyang from Hanshui. At present, Chen Qiyu has heavy troops in the west, northwest, northeast, and southeast, but he is only open in the southwest, what does he want to do? ”

Without waiting for everyone to answer, he continued to look at himself: "He intends to drive us into Sichuan. Yes, Sichuan has been the land of abundance since ancient times, but don't forget the difficulty of Shu Road, it is difficult to go to the blue sky, the Sichuan soldiers are in danger of defending, Chen Qiyu sent elite soldiers to chase and kill, we are back to the enemy, it is really dangerous. Even if we desperately fight into Sichuan, where the mountains are full of miasma, our ancestors live in the north, and the water and soil are not adapted, so it will take a few years, and we will fend for ourselves without the encirclement and suppression of the official army. ”

"What a vicious trick!" Everyone was shocked when they heard this, Gao Yingxiang was even more awe-inspired, he was originally inclined to Zhang Xianzhong's plan to enter Sichuan, but now it seems that it is a good poisonous plan!

Zhang Xianzhong is also a smart person, and he immediately understood what Chen Qiyu meant by leaving a hole in the southwest, and rubbed a pair of big hands and said hurriedly: "Then, where is it good?" ”

Gu Junen's eyes burned and said: "There is only one way to go back to Shaanxi." ”

The scorpion block was puzzled: "There is a practice in the northwest to intercept state affairs, how can you get by?" ”

"Soldiers, sophistry is ......"

Gu Junen thought that most of the people in front of him were rough men who couldn't read big characters, so he hurriedly changed his words: "I don't know much about state affairs, he must think that we will not return to Shaanxi, and secondly, he has Hong Chengchou behind him, although he has a heavy army, he must be careless." Besides, the mountains in the northwest are continuous, how can he cover everything without the slightest mistake? We were taken by surprise and attacked unprepared, and when the officers and soldiers understood, we had escaped from the encirclement and killed the horse gun in Shaanxi. ”

Gao Yingxiang said worriedly: "That Hong Chengchou is extremely good at using soldiers, and he should not be underestimated, you must have never dealt with him, so I don't know much." ”

Li Zicheng said: "Hong Chengchou has just been demoted, and he is feeling uncomfortable!" may not be willing to die. When we arrived in Shaanxi, we were familiar with both people and land, and we went into the ravine to circle with the officials and soldiers, and no matter how many of them were, they couldn't help us! ”

Gao Yingxiang looked around, saw that everyone no longer objected, and said: "The soldiers are lonely, and it is easy for the officers and soldiers to break through." Let's work together, tear a hole in the northwest, and go back to Shaanxi. ”