It turned out that when Li Guo was heading north to base the enemy, the situation in Shanxi had undergone tremendous changes.

In addition to the siege of Taiyuan, Kong Youde led the army to take Huaiqing directly, and the Azig army that arrived later besieged Huaiqing.

It was only at this time that Li Zicheng suddenly realized that there was a huge hole in his armament.

This matter has to start with Li Zicheng's retreat to Chang'an.

It is said that Li Zicheng did not take a good breath when he learned that Datong was lost and his friend Zhang Tianlin was killed.

He calmly judged the situation and realized that the Liaodong Army would definitely attack Shanxi.

We know more clearly that only by holding Shanxi can we hold Shaanxi.

As a result, the following deployment was made:

Taiyuan Jiedu made Han Wenquan sit in Jinzhong, Liu Fangliang led the army into Zezhou, Liu Zhong led the army to guard Lu'an Mansion, and Chen Yongfu, who guarded Taiyuan, together with Chen Yongfu, formed the Shanxi defense line.

But among these people, except for Liu Fangliang, who has strength, the rest feel weaker.

Therefore, Li Zicheng ordered Yuan Zongdi to enter Linfen from Henan to the north, that is, Pingyang Mansion.

Let Liu Rukui guard the Hui Mansion to ensure the southeast defense line of Shanxi.

In other words, Li Zicheng's entire defensive line was arranged in favor of the southern region of Shanxi.

But he didn't expect five things.

The first thing, the two troops closest to Taiyuan and the most threatening, Hong Chengchou did not fight Datong, but went around the distance to dig out the heart of the black tiger and directly took rice fat.

Yue Zhen simply made a feint.

This took Li Zicheng by surprise.

The second thing is that Taiyuan can't actually be defended, and the Sixth Army besieges it but does not attack, but it is only speeding up Li Zicheng's miscalculation, thinking that Taiyuan Mansion can hold it for a long time.

The third thing is that Yang Chengying did not intend to storm Shanxi at all, but marched along the Yellow River from the south to outflank the Dashun army.

These three things come from the outside and will gradually appear in front of Li Zicheng over time.

The second and third things are still unknown to Li Zicheng.

The latter two things are inside Dashun.

First, due to the increasingly cruel policy of handcuffing and salary of the Shun army, as long as there were no soldiers to defend the place, there was a gentry rebellion, which intensified.

Angry, Li Zicheng ordered the gentry from Henan and Shanxi to move to Shaanxi that month, just as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did when he moved the wealthy clan.

Li Zicheng's political immaturity was shown in this matter.

First of all, a class of people is not united, and if they are united, the Ming Dynasty will not die. Li Zicheng offended all the light and completely cut off the hope of reconciliation.

Second, Li Zicheng had just restored the old system, and the feudal order of collecting money and grain and apportioning forced labor according to normal taxes was followed.

Who keeps them running at the grassroots level? Not yet which gentry.

If the gentry are moved away, and there are no large number of officials to enrich the place, how can taxes be collected.

The second thing is that the Dashun army has no source of handcuffs and salaries, and in order to raise soldiers, it must collect taxes, and in places where there is no governance and a large number of poor people, they have to pay money and grain, and they also have to pay for conscription.

Including but not limited to catching carvings and plucking hairs for the Dashun army to prepare for making bows and arrows; Surrender cloth to the Dashun army, assign tasks to build armor, and so on.

In this way, the original popular support has gradually been lost.

It was also in that month that Yang Chengying showed the benefits of accumulation.

The officials appointed to the state capitals and counties all have a sound yamen system. In addition, some local officials (local snakes) were given an assistant, that is, an internship opportunity.

Let them all see the hope of promotion, coupled with the strict military appearance and the inspection department composed of a large number of veterans, most of them are obedient and obedient.

From the imperial court to the local government, the land inspection is regarded as the top priority. The people who were allocated land and registered were also given winter rations per capita.

Tax exemption for three years for major disasters, two years for minor disasters, and one year for non-disaster disasters.

Although there were a few diehards, they were also suppressed one after another, and then thrown into the plantations and mines to work.

Pieces of front-line and internal news were written as notes and placed on Yang Chengying's desk.

Yang Chengying glanced at it casually and stopped looking.

After Yang Chengying finished reading all the recitals, Fan Wencheng asked, "Your Highness, are you tired?"

"I'm not tired." Yang Chengying said with a smile, "These people are nothing, they have no Ming army, and they have no army to take refuge into. Is there any other way out than to pinch your nose and admit it?"

Fan Wencheng laughed and said, "Since you still have the energy, Jiang Yuanheng came back from the south, would you like to meet?"

"See! I have to see him." Yang Chengying came to the spirit.

Because the four towns in Jiangbei were cut off from the road, the sea boat ride was very slow, causing Jiang Yuanheng to take more than a month to come back from the south.

After a while, Jiang Yuanheng walked into the Wenhua Palace.

"How's it going?" Yang Chengying asked.

"It didn't go well. Shi Kefa, the secretary of the military department who temporarily presided over the defense of Nanjing, thinks that you are a chaotic minister and a thief, and refuses to cooperate with you."

Jiang Yuanheng replied very directly.

Yang Chengying couldn't cry or laugh: "Forget it, if you don't cooperate, you won't cooperate, I guess they will still support King Fu, and I will have an excuse to go south."

"My subordinates feel that they are not in a hurry to send troops south. Although the four towns in Jiangbei and You Shilu are all waste, they are still in no hurry to go south."

"Why?"

"When the minister left Nanjing, he walked around and saw the so-called Jiangnan genius, who only knew how to spend all day drinking, drinking and having fun. The general soldiers of the towns in Jiangbei committed crimes and had no military discipline. and inquired about what the blessed king had done, and it was even more unbearable."

"Oh."

"King Fu fled in all directions, but he did not forget to recruit prostitutes on the river boat, singing and dancing. And passing through the countryside, the people all have vegetables. This so-called 'swallow bird is in the hall, I don't know that the building will be burned.'"

"It seems that Jiangnan, I don't need to worry about it. As long as you deal with Li Zicheng and those rebellious warriors, you can deal with it wholeheartedly."

"Exactly."

"Jiang Yuanheng, you did a good job on this trip. I think so, you will study in the ministry for the time being, and then you will be promoted in the future."

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your kindness."

Jiang Yuanheng got up and shook deeply.

Newcomers who do things under Yang Chengying basically have to follow a principle, from the bottom up.

Those who are talented are promoted by leaps and bounds, and those who are almost talented are slowly promoted.

So Jiang Yuanheng doesn't worry about these things.

was chatting, and suddenly heard that the guards were coming to report that the Hongguang Imperial Court sent someone to give Yang Chengying.

Yang Chengying motioned to Fan Wencheng and Jiang Yuanheng not to move, and then ordered someone to call in the envoy of the Hongguang Imperial Court.

The envoy was surprised to see Yang Chengying in the main position, and immediately took out the holy decree:

"Ji Liao Jing is slight, and Yang Cheng, the king of Zhou, should accept the order."

Yang Cheng should not move.

The messenger shouted again.

Yang Chengying still sat still.

"Lord Yang!" The messenger was a little angry.

Yang Chengying smiled: "Messenger, you just said, 'Emperor, which emperor may I ask?'

"Emperor Hongguang, of course!" The messenger replied.

"Excuse me, who is Emperor Hongguang?"

"Today's saint is the grandson of Emperor Shenzong, His Royal Highness King Fu."

"Excuse me, where is the prince? Why don't you support the crown prince?"

"The prince can't be found, and the country can't be without a king for a day, so the ministers of Nanjing support King Fu to inherit the throne, you take the order."

"What's your name, please?"

"Zuo Maodi!"

"Oh, you just stay with me, and as for the holy decree, let your people return as they are."

"You...... I am an envoy of the Son of Heaven, and how can I be detained by you."

"I don't detain you, I still want you to benefit the people of the world!"

Hearing this, Zuo Maodi was dumbfounded.