Chapter Eighty-Four: The Rise of the Rogues

July of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Shanxi, Taiyuan

The land was full of sink, black smoke curled up, corpses were strewn across the streets, and rivers of blood flowed.

It has been three days and three nights since this city was breached by the Shaanxi Liumin Army.

The last resistance of the remnants of the imperial court officers and soldiers in Taiyuan City has long been crushed one by one by the red-eyed exile army, but between the streets and alleys of Taiyuan, there is still no peace - killing, looting, raping, arson, and pulling strong ding...... All kinds of war atrocities are being staged in all corners of the city, but the inhabitants of the city can only huddle in their houses in anxiety, waiting for the verdict of fate in infinite trepidation.

Fortunately, most of the atrocities committed after the fall of the city did not befall the poor people who could not squeeze any oil and water. When they finally mustered up the courage to peek out through the crack in the door, they only saw with a little excitement and panic that a group of rogues with eager faces were crowding into the Jin Palace, the governor's yamen, the chief soldier's yamen, the prefect's yamen, and the deep mansion compound with extremely luxurious and carved beams everywhere. Soldiers kept moving large and small cages and all kinds of belongings from these places, loaded them onto carts, horses, mules, and camels, and transported them out of the city in an endless stream.

At the same time, there was a small group of soldiers of the leader of the rogue who were more clearly and neatly dressed and neat, passing through the empty street, and a big man with a loud voice was in front of him, knocking on the gong in his hand, and shouting loudly to break through the king Gao Yingxiang's An Min Xiaoxiao - so far, after being repeatedly hit hard by the governor of the three sides, Hong Chengchou, was forced to flee from Shaanxi, the Northwest Wandering People's Army, which was once in an embarrassing situation, finally won a battle of great significance.

——Due to the earth's entry into the Xiaoice Age and global climate disorder, throughout the late Ming Dynasty, northern Shaanxi has been prone to frequent droughts and floods, grain harvests have been out of harvest for many years, coupled with the greed and corruption of officials and the stinginess of the imperial court, leading the people of northern Shaanxi to change one after another, and finally end up with the Ming Empire.

How severe were the natural disasters in northern Shaanxi at that time? As early as the Wanli period, there were 25 years of famine in Shaanxi in 48 years, and in the era of Apocalypse and Chongzhen, it was almost every year that there was a famine, and it was endless, and the good years without famine became a rare thing.

In the Wanli year, taking advantage of the gap between the disaster year and the disaster year, the common people may still be able to take a breath in front of them, and when the year after the apocalypse is a famine, they can't catch their breath if they want to. Such a continuous series of super natural disasters, but also encountered the fierce competition between the courts, the chaos of the flies like the Chongzhen Dynasty, it is like adding fuel to the fire - in the first year of Chongzhen, when the civil uprising in northern Shaanxi began, the central court to purge the eunuchs was in full swing. Emperor Chongzhen was suspicious by nature, and the Donglin Party added fuel to the fire, implicating himself in the process of dealing with the Wei Zhongxian group.

This purge campaign lasted for more than two years, putting everyone in danger, no one was concerned about political affairs, and the chaos in the northwest dragged on more and more severely, and finally added mutiny to the popular uprising -- due to the long-term arrears of military salaries and rations, as well as the personnel earthquake of the Donglin Party to sweep away the remnants of the eunuch party, the border troops in Guyuan, Lintao, and Yansui mutinied one after another, and a large number of Shaanxi soldiers broke away from the army in groups of three or five. Then, these deserters with military experience returned to their hometowns one after another to pull up the team, each occupied a poor township, and fell into the grass, and soon showed a spark of fire.

In the face of the rapidly erosive situation in the northwest, the Ming court finally began to react, first sent people to appease, trying to peacefully solve the Shaanxi problem, and the Shaanxi refugees were initially obedient and appeased - although these Guanzhong men occasionally have a good fight on weekdays, but they are not evil people, but the drought has been repeated for many years, and it is difficult to have half a harvest in the fields, and the landlords and officials still have to urge rents and taxes. The crowd had no food, so they had to follow the instinct of survival and attack everywhere in order to survive. Now that the court has come to appease them, it seems that they have a way to live, and the hungry people naturally put down their weapons and are ready to be good citizens again.

But the problem is that the stingy Beijing court simply can't come up with enough money and food to deal with the aftermath, and there is no food to provide disaster relief, and the natural disaster shows no signs of slowing down at all.

At the same time, because of Yuan Chonghuan's opening of the door and thieves, the defense line of the Great Wall collapsed and the Beijing division was besieged. In order to deal with the long drive of the Houjin army, the imperial court issued the order of the king of Qinwang in the world in a panic, and forcibly transferred tens of thousands of elite northwest border troops from Shanxi and Shaanxi to Beijing.

As a result, countless hungry people and thieves who had "surrendered" took the opportunity to raise their banners to rebel again, and small groups of thieves either openly or covertly cut between the mountains and ravines, and once the officials and troops came to suppress them, they would flow in all directions, like mercury leaking into the ground, and it was difficult to find a trace. Because Shaanxi had no grain to grab, a large group of thieves began to cross the Yellow River and enter Shanxi. Then they continued to infiltrate Henan, Beizhili, and even Shandong, while avoiding head-to-head confrontation with the official army, and at the same time launching a movement war to avoid the real and make up for the false.

At this point, the strategy of appeasement could no longer be carried out, and the imperial court switched to the strategy of suppression and killing, suppressing civil unrest everywhere. At this time, the exile army was still very weak, and the organization was even more scattered, and the officers and troops could easily defeat these rabble, and the battle was one-sided. However, due to the wide distribution, large number and mobility of the exile army, these victories of the officers and troops did not solve the problem. The defeat of any battle or any army of displaced people will not hinder the overall situation and will not change the deteriorating situation of the war. The ensuing abolition of the post station incident and a new round of mutiny in the border army caused a large number of unemployed postmen (such as Li Zicheng) and border deserters to join the ranks of the Liukou, further expanding the ranks of the Northwest Liumin Army.

But after all, the Ming Dynasty had big trees and deep roots, and it was not something that could be brought down lightly. The new trilateral governor Hong Chengchou ruled the army with iron and blood, slaughtered the hungry people with extreme cruelty, and finally reversed the chaos in Shaanxi for a time - this person is a complete pragmatist, ruthless and black-hearted, and has a common language with Genghis Khan. Kill everyone and the world will be fine!

In the first half of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Hong Chengchou won the battle of Hequ, killed Wang Jiayin, the leader of the Northern Shaanxi Liukou Alliance, and then gradually cleaned up the rest of the wandering army in northern Shaanxi.

As a result, while the "banditry trouble" in Shaanxi gradually subsided, the situation in Shanxi became more and more chaotic. By the spring of the fifth year of Chongzhen, at least 200,000 liukou were active between Luliang Mountain and Taihang Mountain, and many prefectures and counties in Shanxi, Henan, and Beizhili provinces were all disturbed.

However, at this time, the Beijing court was busy dealing with the Battle of the Daling River in western Liaoxi, as well as the Tartar division that broke through the pass and went south again, and then had to deal with the Dengzhou Rebellion and the Wenxiangjiao Uprising in Shandong...... Most of these troops are gone, and the defense of Shanxi has become extremely empty.

As a result, dozens of Shaanxi Liukou, who gathered in remote mountainous areas in Shanxi, gathered together to form an alliance to discuss the next offensive direction, but the result was that they did not give in to each other, and finally only divided their troops into two ways and launched a big operation. One of the routes, led by Wang Ziyong, the new leader of the alliance after Wang Jiayin's death, went south from Luliang Mountain to Henan, recruited the victims of the Yellow Flood Area to strengthen the momentum, and prepared to sweep the Central Plains in one go. On the other hand, the Liukou group elected Gao Yingxiang, who called himself "King Chuang", as its leader, and prepared to do everything possible to storm the provincial capital Taiyuan and seize a large amount of food and materials hoarded in the city.

On the other hand, Xu Dingchen, the governor of Shanxi at that time, was much worse than Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides, and in general he was a parallel commodity who claimed to be a genius in the art of war - in order to pacify the Liukou, he tried his best to pull some soldiers and horses from Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia, and there were three soldiers alone, but he didn't consider how these troops who were not subordinate to each other cooperated, and he didn't prepare logistics supplies, as if these officers and soldiers from other provinces could fight a war just by drinking the northwest wind.

What's worse is that because he had read several military books, and like Comrade Li De, who was later sent by the Soviet Union to the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army as an adviser, he liked to sit in the yamen of the governor of Shaanxi thousands of miles away, arranging troops against the ancient maps full of errors, transferring troops around all day long, and commanding them in a mess.

The most fatal thing is that at this time, the defenders of Taiyuan mutinied due to unpaid wages, and then internal strife broke out, killing people from inside the city to outside the city. Gao Yingxiang led 50,000 rogues to suddenly kill, and the chaotic official army suddenly collapsed......

On the eighth day of the seventh month of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Shaanxi Liukou broke through Taiyuan, Xu Dingchen, the governor of Shanxi, committed suicide by hanging the beam, and Zhu Qiugui, the king of Jin, was killed on the way to flee with his family.

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Accompanied by the cheers of a crowd of minions, Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang, as usual, wore a green cloth arrow coat, a gray cloak, a half-worn white felt hat that northern farmers like to wear, rode a black barge horse, and slowly walked into Taiyuan City under the escort of dozens of old battalion soldiers wearing armor.

In July of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Gao Yingxiang, the so-called king of the king, was far from being good, and was often chased and killed by the official army so that there was no way to enter the ground, and there was no stable cottage, and he drilled the ravine all day long to fight, and often had to personally rush to the front, so naturally he couldn't pay attention to what to eat, wear, and pomp, let alone Zhang Luo's guard of honor - so that when he entered the city, many people in the city didn't know it at all.

Of course, Gao Yingxiang would not care about this kind of false work at the moment, but devoted all his thoughts to the loot captured in Taiyuan City.

Although some wealthy gentry landlords took advantage of the chaos before and after the city was broken to escape with gold and silver, Gao Yingxiang had already arranged cavalry patrols outside the city, and as a result, the men of these rich families gave their lives and women became playthings. The gold, silver and jewelry are equivalent to a good bag, and they are given to King Chuang as military funds.

And the harvest in the city is even more considerable, in the period after the breakthrough of Taiyuan, there are teams of cavalry will be in the Jin Palace, the governor's yamen, the prefect's yamen and other officials, the gentry of the house copy out of the money and grain transported to Taiyuan outside the city, according to rough statistics, just one food, can let 100,000 people eat for a year! As for the seized silver, it was as much as more than 6 million taels, in addition to 300,000 taels of gold, and countless copper coins - in China at the end of the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the Jiangnan gentry and wealthy merchant group who took the Donglin Party as the spokesperson and relied on maritime trade to make their fortune, there was also a Jin merchant group that made a fortune by border trade, although the political influence was slightly inferior, but the financial resources could be almost equal. Of course, the core base camp of the Jin merchants is not in Taiyuan, but as the provincial capital of Shanxi, the Jin merchants from all walks of life have a lot of silver deposits in Taiyuan, which is all cheaper than the Shaanxi Liumin Army.

Then, the silk and satin, agate coral, antique calligraphy and painting, rare books, out-of-print inscriptions, ancient tripods, jade jade, porcelain and lacquerware collected by the gentry of various large families are not known how much, but unfortunately it is not easy to realize in the troubled times, and I am afraid that it will not be sold at a high price. But even if it is only the harvest of grain and cash, it has already made Gao Yingxiang and others, who have been poor and hungry for many years, so happy that they are about to find the north for a while.

“…… Wowha! This time the cubs are really hairy! The haules are full of gold and silver...... I just don't know if I have arranged a few beautiful little ladies from the official eunuchs and gentlemen to relieve my fatigue, and it must be with fine skin and tender meat, so that it feels comfortable to touch......"

Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang, thought so proudly, and rode his horse towards the most luxurious trophy in Taiyuan this time, the Jin Palace. This has become a big tent of the Chinese army that broke into the camp, and the leaders of all walks of life are gathering inside, taking this opportunity to enjoy the glory and wealth of the prince.

Before entering the palace, Gao Yingxiang saw that on the square outside the palace gate, two bonfires were lit, and from time to time, the soldiers who broke into the camp used spears to pick up the flying paper into the fire, and the paper was immediately rolled and swallowed by the tongue of fire, and turned into a group of flying black butterflies in a blink of an eye. There were many poor people watching on the side, and from time to time they let out thunderous shouts and applause, and many of them even burst into tears while applauding.

Seeing that King Chuang seemed to be a little puzzled, Li Zicheng, who was accompanying him, hurriedly explained that this was to burn down the Jin Wangfu and the landlords and gentry's land account books, usury contracts, slave sales contracts, etc., to remove the heavy burden on the people, so as to do the right thing for heaven and enjoy with the people......

However, this is true, it is just to make the common people happy and cool for a while, and when the official army recovers Taiyuan, the gentry landlords want to exploit the small people, and there is no need for any contract at all - as long as those wealthy families say that you are a slave of his family, you will become a slave; If you say that your land belongs to his, you can confiscate it directly; Say that you owe him money, you have to pay it back, as for whether you have actually borrowed money, whether you have an IOU, it is not a matter at all...... This world has never been reasonable, and there was no contract spirit in the Chinese at that time......

Therefore, Gao Yingxiang nodded and agreed, and then turned his head and entered the Jin Palace, along the way there are countless pavilions, carved beams and paintings, as far as the eye can see, there is a group of splendor, poor and extravagant, so that Gao Yingxiang, a rural bun, is amazed.

However, at this time, this originally solemn, noble and decent place was made into a miasma by the leaders of the peasant army from all walks of life - although the total number of war horses owned by the peasant army in Shaanxi was not too much, but the family soldiers of the leaders of the various rogue leaders were all riding horses, and even had two horses and three horses. So after a swarm of bees squeezed into the Jin Palace, the stables in the palace could not be put down at all, and could only be placed everywhere in the courtyard and hall, making more horses than people in the yard, and these horses were not tethered, and they were free to gnaw on the flower beds and trees...... There were even horses wandering into the lobby and watching with curiosity as the rogue soldiers smashed plaques, couplets, and bogu shelves, and lit fires on the bluestone floor tiles to roast meat and drink.

In this regard, Gao Yingxiang was a little dissatisfied, "...... Look, look, what does this look like? Raising horses in the lobby, cooking in the second hall, and using the garden as a pasture? And a fire in the house! Aren't you afraid that a fire will burn down the entire house? You give me an order to go down, tell the leaders to restrain their subordinates, don't make a mess here, look, there is horse manure everywhere, we have to rest here for a few days, look at this situation, I'm afraid that tomorrow there will be no people! ”

A big man with a ghost-headed knife next to him said yes, turned around and hurried away. And "Breaking General" Li Zicheng continued to follow Gao Yingxiang and muttered casually, "...... King Chuang, you see, there are many pavilions and pavilions in this place, just to build a house, plus the furnishings inside, the money spent will require hundreds of small people to go bankrupt. How much silver should be spent on such a palace alone? How much human power should be wasted? How many people should be ruined? How many artisans and folk husbands died of exhaustion? I heard that their old Zhu family still has dozens of palaces in the whole world, and this Jin palace is not the most luxurious, if this money and grain are used to help the victims, we will not come out to be thieves, if it is used for military salaries, it will be difficult for us to enter this Taiyuan City......"

“…… So they are too stupid, they have looted so much people's fat and ointment, causing a lot of complaints, and in the end it is still cheaper for us! ”

Gao Yingxiang smiled and dismounted in front of a hanging flower gate, "...... This place is really nice, but unfortunately I have to leave after a few days! ”

“…… King Chuang, are we going to leave Taiyuan soon? It's rare for brothers to come to such a fancy world......" Li Zicheng's brows furrowed.

“…… If you don't go, you can't go! Hong Chengchou, the butcher, has already led tens of thousands of Qin troops from Xi'an out of the customs, and slowly pressed over from the west and south! Two days ago, I just sent Cao Wenzhao, a killer, to beat the leader of the Wang League (Wang Ziyong, who is known as "Zijin Liang") under Luoyang City, and beat him so miserably......"

Gao Yingxiang sighed, "...... However, this time it will not shrink into the poor ravine! We're ready to play big! ”

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Walking further from the Hanging Flower Gate, there is the back house of the Jin Palace, which has a tall water pavilion built on the lotus pond, which is beautifully decorated and extraordinarily luxurious. At this time, it is the summer when the lotus flowers are in full bloom, and the so-called lotus flowers are different from the sun, which is particularly pleasing to the eye.

More than a dozen leaders of the peasant army are sitting in this luxurious water pavilion, holding the delicate concubines and singers who were snatched from the Jin Palace, and all kinds of wine and delicacies are placed in front of them. In addition, there were several musicians, dancers, and entertainers who were captured in the palace, forced to smile under the threat of knives, played music and danced for them, and performed juggling......

Listening to the clear voices of the singers of the palace, and looking at the property accounts sent by the old camp accounts from the palaces, official offices, government treasury, and official gentry's homes, the leaders smiled one by one, and their eyes narrowed into a thread...... Seeing King Gao Yingxiang coming in, everyone hurriedly dropped the wine glass and the beauty, hurriedly got up and gave him a seat, and ordered the maid to come over and pour wine and dishes, looking happy. However, when they learned from Gao Yingxiang's mouth that the famous trilateral governor Hong Chengchou was about to lead the Qin army from Shaanxi to kill, their faces changed.

“…… Alas, it seems that this Taiyuan City will not be able to stay for a few days! One of the leaders took a sip of wine in frustration, "...... Then we have to drill the ravine......"

“…… No, although Taiyuan can't stay in this place, but since we have seen the world, why don't we just make a big vote and go to the east to go outside Beijing? The realm under the feet of the Son of Heaven can be obtained by the Jurchens of Liaodong, how can we, the men of Kansai, not go? ”

Gao Yingxiang said confidently, "...... Are you brothers willing to work with me to create a peaceful world for the people of the world?! ”

——In the early July of the fifth year of Chongzhen, the governor of the three sides, Hong Chengchou, sent an edict to wave 40,000 troops out of Tongguan, defeated 100,000 people under the city of Luoyang, and built a capital view to deter the hungry people, and then crossed the river north into Shanxi, collected the remnants of the official army in Shanxi Province, and prepared to recover the provincial capital Taiyuan.

When Gao Yingxiang, the king of Taiyuan, heard the news, he immediately quickly transferred the heavy treasures, and opened the grain that could not be taken away to relieve the people. And Wang Ziyong also led the remnants to get rid of the pursuit of the Qin army, and fled from Henan to Beizhili, and united with the local Wenxiang disciples to raise an army. All of a sudden, as far north as Xuanfu, south as the Daimyo, and half of the northern Zhili political secretary were all in an emergency.

At this point, the fortune of the Beijing division was cut off, Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi were in chaos, and they were already embattled, and the government and the opposition were even more panicked......