In August of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, the army in Nanyang suddenly changed its direction, changed its plan to attack Luoyang, and instead advanced to the inner countryside of Xichuan in Henan Province by means of Pingli, Xunyang and Shangzhou in Shaanxi.

It was not that the Chuang army changed the plan of the march on a whim, but that the Chuang army encountered some trouble in Nanyang.

In the research of later generations, they always like to divide the army into two extremes, and opponents often cite the records of the Ming and Qing dynasties, describing the army as evil, and scandalizing the peasant army as a butcher, so that there is a joke about killing 60,000 people in Sichuan.

Those who supported or sympathized with the peasant army regarded the Chuang army as the "People's Liberation Army of the late Ming Dynasty", believing that the army was strictly disciplined and did not commit any crimes in the autumn, as if the Yuejia army was alive, but the reality is that there are still many people in the late Ming Dynasty who have recorded a large number of reliable records of the looting and even massacre of the Chuang army.

In fact, as a feudal army, whether it is an official army or a peasant army, they are essentially different from the modern army, they fight, either for promotion and wealth, or for a bite to eat, and there is no noble reason, in the pre-modern era before the rise of nationalism, there is no big difference between Ming Shun and Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Although it must be admitted that because Li Zicheng personally attached great importance to military discipline, the military discipline of the army was second to none in the entire late Ming Dynasty, but Li Zicheng was not a saint, let alone a perfect man, he was a hero, and when choosing between the interests of the army and the people, he would not hesitate to choose the former.

Since the defeat of Ma Xiangzhen, the army has ushered in a large-scale expansion, and the expansion of the number of people has directly led to a shortage of food and salary, as well as a sharp decline in the quality of personnel, and the problem of military discipline, along with the shortage of food, has become more and more fatal.

Li Yan and Li Zijing had already used all their resources to supply the army's food, and then the situation in Nanyang was far more complicated than they thought, and the local officials colluded with the local Haoqiang to adopt attack tactics against the rebel army.

In order to stop the advance of the invading army, Nanyang even did not hesitate to clear the wilderness, burned down the fields, and left the invading army with a piece of white land.

In this situation, the nerves of the army seemed to have been tensed, and sure enough, after the following several raids to no avail, the invasion army broke out completely, Liu Zongmin and Liu Rukui divided their troops to launch an indiscriminate attack against the local recalcitrant gentry landlords, and carried out several massacres.

Since it is a massacre, it is inevitable to hurt the innocent, although on the stage at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the massacre is nothing new, but the massacre of the army gave Nanyang the opportunity to make a big fuss, and soon the heroes and powers in Nanyang have played the slogan of "defending Sangzi", and began to compete with the army.

In the annoying harassment of Nanyang, the army suffered heavy losses, and in the whole of June, more than 1,000 people were lost, and even Liu Zongmin was almost killed in an ambush.

This put Li Zicheng and others in a dilemma, and at this time, another news came that completely changed the marching plan of the breaking army.

As the governor of Henan, Li Xianfeng knows very well what the consequences of letting Li Zicheng enter Henan, this place will be lit with dry firewood, and now the peasant army known as "Yidou Valley" and "clay pot" in the territory has made him anxious, if Li Zicheng really kicks again, he may not know what it will become.

Therefore, Li Xianfeng also risked his life to keep Li Zicheng out of Henan.

Of course, Li Zicheng is not stupid enough to go to Li Xianfeng, his subordinates finally gathered this little bit of people, if the fight is over, then he can only find a big lynx to go back, Li Zicheng does not want such a situation to appear.

So at Gu Junen's suggestion, the Chuang army decided to attack the east and the west, spreading the news of continuing to go north, but in fact, it turned to Shaanxi and borrowed Shaanxi to penetrate Henan.

At the junction of Shaanxi and Huguang, Li Zicheng is too familiar, he was defeated by Hong Chengchou for two years here, and they all know the roads and paths in this place, and it is difficult for the Ming army to detect such a march.

It was indeed a good move for the army to turn away from the main force of the Ming army, but the core problem was not solved, that is, the contradiction between the growing number of the invading army and the amount of looted food was difficult to solve.

In fact, it is not impossible to solve this problem, that is, direct and indiscriminate plundering, and once again form a coercive trend, so that soon Li Zicheng can gather hundreds of thousands of troops like locusts.

However, after Li Yan's suggestion, Li Zicheng already didn't plan to do this, the court lost the hearts of the people, and he didn't accept the people's hearts, could it be that he could continue to live like the court? What's more, everyone knows what kind of combat effectiveness the coerced army has.

......

In the back camp, Li Yan, Gao Yigong and Li Jin were drinking and chatting.

To tell the truth, the rear camp does make Li Yan quite comfortable, during this time, he is in full swing in the back camp, and it is far more comfortable to talk about it in detail than when he joined the army, after all, although joining the army can affect decision-making, he has never had any power, and the prison is different, it is a real power.

Li Yan's performance in the back camp, Li Zicheng saw it in his eyes, and naturally he was indispensable for rewards, not long after Li Yan rectified the back camp, Li Zicheng gave him a sword and the right to torture and kill.

This power is not insignificant.

Of course, there is another advantage in the back camp, that is, you can walk around with Gao Yigong and Li Jinduo, after all, in the entire army, these two people get along with him, whether it is for safety or affection, he always has to greet each other with a smile.

In the military tent, the atmosphere was very harmonious, and Gao Yigong and others were pouring bitter water with Li Yan.

"Grandma's, this gang of landlords and old money, it's hard to deal with, you dare to believe it, his grandmother's courtyard actually hides a cannon! When a few of our brothers went up, the cannon came down, and seven or eight people were killed and wounded on the spot! Gao Yigong described his own difficulties vividly, and knocked on the desk from time to time.

Li Jin was calmer, he was the oldest, so he was more serious, and he just listened solemnly on the sidelines.

Li Yan listened to it with relish, and couldn't help but interject and ask: "Then, how should the landlord deal with it in the end?" ”

When Gao Yigong heard this, he said with a look of indignation: "I didn't deal with it!" When we rushed in, the dog's self-immolation came, and the whole granary was lit with it, and dozens of brothers died, but we didn't grab any food, and in a fit of anger, I slaughtered the entire yard! ”

"This thing is not done properly, the people in the courtyard are not all bad, and they are all killed, how can you let others not resist you?" Li Yan commented while holding up the pumpkin seeds.

It's not that he's cold-blooded, some things are not strange, and he is red-eyed on the battlefield, who cares about the two hundred and fifty eighty thousand? If you really want to be a virgin, I am afraid that my brother will cut you first.

"It's not a way to go on like this, along the way, these gentry have resisted more and more resolutely, if the army is defeated and the family hangs themselves, there are countless people, like this, our grain and grass are really unbearable" Li Jin was not as eloquent as Gao Yigong, but slowly expressed his opinion.

Li Yan nodded in agreement when he heard this: "What the management team said is that the situation in Henan is only worse, if these problems cannot be solved now, it will be really fatal to enter Henan." ”

"Who's to say it isn't? Those who were tenant servants actually followed us against us, saying that we were man-eating demon kings, and that they were really good people who had no retribution, and they deserved to be treated as pigs and dogs! Gao Yigong scolded and scolded.

Tenants are all peasants, peasants are limited, you give him a little benefit, they will not look at the long term, as long as the old man promises to exempt some taxes, these people are likely to carry a knife and break into the army to do it, this thing is very helpless but there is no way.

After all, the landlord can give real benefits, but the army as a rogue is not.

Wait, is it really not possible to break into the army?

Li Yan suddenly thought of something, and immediately said, "What is the reason why these people are rebelling against us? ”

Gao Yigong pursed his lips and said: "What else can I do for, for the land, for the property, for the sake of my life!" ”

Yes, if you want to rob other people's property, can others not mess with you? Can I not play with your life?

"Then why do the tenants and slaves oppose us?" Li Yan then asked.

"Hmm...... This one..... I think it's because those gentry have promised some benefits, these people are all this virtue, and a little benefit will be bought! Gao Yigong thought about it and scolded.

Li Yan suddenly laughed, folded his hands and said: "Yes, on the one hand, you cut off people's lives, but on the other hand, you don't give people a way to live, in such a situation, how can others not turn against you?" ”

Gao Yigong still didn't know why when he heard this, but Li Jin had already looked solemn and said, "What does the eunuch mean is to play the banner of 'Juntian Exemption'?" ”

Juntian is exempt from endowment, according to the idea of breaking into the camp, it is not fought for the time being, the reason is very simple, you don't even have a base area, whose field is Jun? Whose endowment is exempt?

This thing was the banner that Li Zicheng kept when he established the base in the future, so it has been shelved.

But Li Yan was suddenly open at the moment, who said that without a base, you can't be exempt from the land equally? Can't I first give the court all the land and exempt them from paying taxes?

Liukou, of course, we are Liukou, all the way to the land free of taxation, let the pursuing officers and soldiers think about what to do, if you abolish the field divided by the army, free of endowment, I am afraid that these farmers who have benefited will really want to play with you!

A peasant's life is land, I will give you land, it depends on you whether you can keep it or not!

After Li Yan thought it through, he immediately began to tell Gao Yigong and Li Jin, this plan is quite bold, if it is done well, I am afraid that it can not only solve the problem of breaking into the army, but also give the Ming Court a hard time.

The specific details naturally can't be so rough, Li Yan fully absorbed the practical experience of Li Jin and Gao Yigong, and went to consult Gu Junen's opinions, and finally wrote the widely controversial "Dividing the Field Proton Shu" in later generations

Divided field proton is a new set of proposals set up based on practical considerations after the exemption of Juntian, which is suitable for the development of the army at this stage.

This proposal looks at Li Zicheng's case, and this method is indeed quite novel and quite systematic set of strategic development plans.

Li Zicheng immediately made a decision and demanded that the whole army implement the plan in full accordance with the plan of dividing the field and protons.

In Li Yan's proposal, landowners will be divided into four levels: "poor peasants", "middle peasants", "rich peasants", and "wealthy gentry", and different response plans will be adopted for each of the four levels.

For the landless poor peasants, the army would expel the gentry and rich peasants who occupied the land, and then divide them according to the standard of seven acres per household, so as to win the hearts of the poor peasants with the largest number of people.

For the middle peasants who have land, but not much, the strategy of collecting more and reducing the compensation, of course, the excess and the reduced part of the army will come up with money to compensate, and the money will naturally come from the exterminated rich peasants and gentry, and for the less supplement, the middle peasants are required to provide part of the grain to the army to solve the military needs, as the price of making up the land.

As for the rich peasants, a completely different strategy was adopted, and the army would first ask the rich peasants to supply half of their household assets for the army's military needs, which was not a passive robbery, but an active contribution, and if they took the initiative to don't divide their land and plunder their property, it was equivalent to paying a protection fee.

For the gentry, it is even more strict, not to mention the half-monks, but also to take out a child of the family to join the army, so that the army can not divide its land and plunder its wealth, otherwise it is "destroy its family" and "divide its wealth".

Of course, imagining is beautiful and executing it is another matter, but now there is a general direction, and unlike the previous blind rush, the current army has begun to try to establish a stable source of logistics.

It was in Shangzhou that Li Zicheng first launched an attempt on the strategy of "dividing the field and proton", and the poor peasants naturally welcomed this policy very much, and worshiped Li Zicheng like a god, and everyone called "Li Gongzi lives me!" ”

And the middle peasants are generally welcome, and of course some of them are resentful because the fields are divided, but it does not become a climate.

The most fierce resistance was naturally the rich peasants and the gentry, but the army was backed by military strength, and after the leaders were wiped out, these rebellions were weakened.

Li Yan personally took people to various places to supervise the first field division work of the Chuang Army, in fact, it was not too complicated, anyway, the Chuang Army would not stay for a long time, and it was done casually according to the size, as for what happened in the future, it would not be much more controllable.

And the rich peasants and the gentry, Li Yan did not beat them to death with a stick, eliminated a few leaders, and supported a few obedient ones, and soon, the rich peasants and the gentry also reluctantly launched "cooperation" with the army

Money and food are easy to say, it's just a little blood, it's the proton that kills, but this problem, Li Yan doesn't give an inch, he must be proton, how can he make you die to be a "two-faced"?

So in desperation, this gang of rich peasants and gentry can be described as full of tricks, and they accept the number of righteous sons, and let the slaves in the family take the risk, anyway, the means are complete, Li Yan does not refuse to come, anyway, people are coming, afraid that you will not comply? Let's bet honestly on both sides, otherwise the army may not be liquidated if it loses?