On November 17, in the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi Province, in a relatively flat area, thatched huts were lined up, war horses neighed, and there were even the cries of chickens, sheep, cows, pigs and other poultry, which was like a paradise, and the atmosphere in the village was quiet and peaceful.

This is the hiding place of Li Zicheng and others, where they went after attacking Chaoyi City. As the winter sun rises, it is not difficult to find that there are more men and fewer women in this village, and compared with men, there are fewer women, never more than 100 people.

At this moment, Li Zicheng, Li Changmao, Xu Xiake and others walked on the dirt road in the countryside, walking. Seeing the return of groups of three or five of his subordinates, carrying the prey in their hands, Li Zicheng asked without looking back after greeting them: "Ma Xin, is there any news from Mr. Song?" ”

Needless to say, everyone also knows who Mr. Song is, it is Song Yingxing, who is committed to promoting new crops in Shaanxi.

As soon as Li Zicheng's words fell, Ma Xin immediately took two steps forward, walked side by side, and lagged behind a little, before he replied: "Report to the boss, Mr. Song has already sent the news." Regarding the gunpowder thing you mentioned, he can make it. However, Shaanxi lacked some raw materials for gunpowder, and it could not be made in large quantities now. ”

"Oh. What raw materials are missing? Li Zicheng asked without looking back.

"Hmm... Boss, according to Mr. Song, the main components of gunpowder are sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal. As for the latter two, they are easy to find in Shaanxi. Especially saltpeter, some time ago, Mr. Xu provided a cave rich in saltpeter, and Mr. Song already had a large amount of saltpeter stockpiled there. And sulfur can only be secretly purchased from some county pharmacies. Therefore, the most scarce thing at the moment is sulfur, which is difficult to obtain in large quantities. ”

As soon as Ma Xin finished speaking, Xu Xiake stood up and said as he walked: "Boss, according to the discoveries of the old man who traveled the world and investigated the geography of mountains and rivers, he has never found a place with sulfur in the northwest and other places. The places rich in sulfur are mainly concentrated in the Central Plains, Jiangnan, Southeast and Yunnan-Guizhou and other places, if you want to purchase a large amount of sulfur, you can only go to Jiangnan and other places. ”

Li Zicheng's pace paused, then continued to walk, frowned slightly, and said lightly: "If you want to purchase a large amount of sulfur, how can it be so easy?" ”

As if he had guessed what Li Zicheng was thinking, Li Changmao echoed: "Yes, the imperial court has very strict control over sulfur and other things, and it is difficult for ordinary people to buy them in large quantities. The only way we can obtain sulfur is to buy it from a pharmacy, and in the name of curing diseases or brewing realgar wine, we can't buy sulfur in large quantities. ”

At this time, the grumpy Liu Fangliang said with a grin: "The sulfur I bought from the pharmacy is just a little bit, what is the use?" It's not enough for Mr. Song's test, let alone for war~! ”

Hearing this, Li Zicheng's brows furrowed again, and then he stretched, and instead of continuing to entangle on the topic of sulfur, he suddenly asked: "Hey, by the way, Ma Xin, what's wrong with the old village chief's cultivation of chili peppers?" Although the climate is not yet in time, there should be some production, right? ”

Suddenly changing the topic, everyone was slightly stunned, and did not react immediately, but Ma Xin replied honestly: "Boss, Mr. Song said that the northwest is not as good as Yunnan and other places, and if you want to plant peppers, you can only wait until the summer of the next year." Therefore, the old village chief did not plant, but only planted wheat and other crops. ”

Li Zicheng patted his forehead suddenly, and said secretly: "It seems that I am still too ambitious, too eager to develop a new secret firearm." ”

In order to hide his embarrassment, ignoring the need to plant chili peppers according to the season, he just wanted to change the topic again, but he saw Tian Jianxiu running from a distance, blinking, and said urgently: "Boss, inquire clearly, the Tartars of Liaodong have crossed Jizhou, and they will attack the capital in the next two days." ”

In an instant, everyone's attention returned to Li Zicheng's body again, they really didn't understand, at this moment, it was difficult to protect themselves, and in the face of Yang He's encirclement and suppression, how could the boss still have so much idle mind to take care of the affairs of the capital? Especially after Jin entered the customs and showed great interest.

Li Zicheng smiled, laughing from the bottom of his heart, looking so relaxed and happy, others thought the boss was crazy. Without waiting for others to react, Li Zicheng waved his hand and said very heroically: "Tian Jianxiu, Liu Fangliang, Ma Xin, Xu Xiake, you are ready to prepare, pack up, let's go to Jiangnan for two days and have a good show!" ”

Everyone was stunned again, and they didn't understand what Li Zicheng was making trouble again? Thinking is unrestrained, doing things strangely, a hammer in the west, and a mallet in the east, which makes everyone confused, and they can't react at all, let alone understand Li Zicheng's intentions?

"Haoler~! Boss, I'm going to clean up! Liu Fangliang took the lead in cheering, and was a mess with excitement, like a suffocated foal can finally get out of the circle.

At this moment, although everyone couldn't figure out Li Zicheng's intentions, they knew the danger of this decision. Except for Liu Fangliang, who could still be happy, everyone else was full of sorrow, Tian Jianxiu persuaded first: "Boss, go to the land of Jiangnan, you still think about it, think about it again?" After all, if you want to cross a panicked place like Henan, it is easy to travel a long distance, and it is easy for unpredictable things to happen, which is too dangerous. ”

"Yes, uncle~! If there is really anything important, if you have to go to Jiangnan to do it, let your nephew go, you still need to preside over it here~! Li Guo also reacted, realized the danger, and immediately persuaded him.

"Yes, Boss, if there's anything, you can leave it to us!" Others chimed in and discouraged him.

Li Zicheng was stunned, a little surprised, he didn't expect that everyone's resistance was so great, and then listened carefully to the persuasion in the words, and then understood. knew that if he couldn't give a reason and couldn't convince everyone, this group of subordinates would never let him go to Jiangnan.

Therefore, Li Zicheng groaned slightly, smiled faintly, and explained heartily: "Brothers, you are too worried, how can there be so danger on the road? ”

After a pause, and then seeing that everyone was still insisting, Li Zicheng had to patiently continue to explain: "Going to Jiangnan, along the way, the biggest danger encountered is the officials and soldiers of the imperial court. Now at this time, the garrisons from all over the Ming Dynasty have rushed to the capital to carry out the king of Qin, how can they still care about us anti-thieves? ”

"Not to mention other places, Shaanxi, which is the most troublesome, that is, the area where we are located, five or six out of ten of the Ming troops have been transferred to the capital, how can there be troops to encircle and suppress us. If Yang He and Hong Chengchou were desperate for suppression and encirclement, the city would be empty on the day the troops were dispatched, and before we were suppressed, the city would have been captured by other rebels. ”

"So, you can rest assured, I won't be in danger on the way to Jiangnan. What's more, I didn't go alone, I also brought a lot of brothers, everyone still has guys in their hands, all of them are good hands. If you encounter other rebels, who threatens whom, and what must be? ”

Everyone nodded frequently when they heard it, unable to refute it, especially Li Zicheng's stubbornness, which made everyone understand that the boss was going to Jiangnan, and no one could stop him?

At this time, Li Changmao stood up and said in a deep voice: "Boss, you can go, but the time can't be too long, only three or four months at most." After all, those Tartars of Houjin can't besiege the capital for a long time, and there will always be a day when they leave. Once the Houjin army withdraws, Shaanxi will definitely become tense again, and the brothers cannot do without your command. ”

With the soul of a modern person and having seen some exaggerated information about the Ming Dynasty, how could Li Zicheng not know this truth, nodded affirmatively, and happily agreed: "Don't worry, Mr. Li, I won't go to Jiangnan for too long, and I will come back in three or two months." ”

Immediately afterwards, Li Zicheng waved his big hand and said very heroically: "After that, you choose some brothers with good skills, and everyone is matched with good horses, as much as possible to be the kind of good horses that travel thousands of miles a day, or six hundred or eight hundred miles!" After all, we have such a long way to go to Jiangnan, and the time is so tight. ”

Beijing City, outside the Guangqu Gate.

The war horses neighed, the flags were unfurled, the drums were beating in unison, and the ten thousand horses galloped forward, carrying the momentum of stepping through the mountains and rivers, roaring, the speed turned from fast to slow, Shen Fu rode on horseback, and immediately greeted him.

The 20,000 Guanning cavalry galloping from the southeast stopped, Yuan Chonghuan rode a horse and stood proudly, at the forefront, Zu Dashou and He Kegang were on the left, and on the other side was Wang Chengyin, who was riding a horse.

At this time, Shen Fu had already come over on horseback, and before he could get closer, he smiled flatteringly and said in a loud voice: "Inspector Yuan, you are finally here." If you don't come, we people are really not sure to guard the Guangqu Gate~! ”