Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng have been living a miserable life since they wandered to the Dabie Mountain area!

Although it includes more than 20 counties in northeast Hubei, southeast Henan and western Anhui, it is still very vast.

But the land here is barren, the people themselves do not have much rations, and the rebels can't grab much food.

The people enthusiastically participated in the rebel army, although it was said that "following the rebel army, I was hungry twice in three days", but there was a stutter.

At first, Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng were quite happy.

Since Hong Chengchou withdrew his troops, they had no obstacles in Dabie Mountain, and a large number of people joined the rebel army, and the team of the two expanded a lot.

Zhang Xianzhong's department has expanded to more than 20,000 people, and Li Zicheng has taken over the title of "King Chuang" and collected some of Gao Yingxiang's remnants, growing to 30,000 people.

But soon the two of them were not happy, and the gentry and landlords in Gwangju, Mall, Gusi and other places where they were entrenched had been killed.

But I didn't find much food, this place is really a little poor, not to mention that compared with Fengyang Nanzhili, it is not as good as my hometown in northern Shaanxi.

It is no wonder that the masses in this place have a good foundation, and they are all people who do not have enough to eat, and those who stutter dare to rebel.

And the most important thing is that it is now the autumn harvest season, if they don't hurry up and go out to grab a wave, it will be difficult to survive this winter if they stay in Dabie Mountain.

In desperation, Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng could only part ways and began to leave the core area of Dabie Mountain and develop to the surrounding wealthier areas.

I heard that the main force of the army was fighting a decisive battle against the Haikou in Denglai, and they had to seize the opportunity to develop.

Zhang Xianzhong is very cunning, although the rebel army in Henan has a certain mass base, but it is not a wealthy area.

Huguang is known as the "granary of the world", with a lot of grain.

So he deliberately ceded Henan, the traditional base of the rebel army, to Li Zicheng, while he went to Huguang to open up a new world.

After all, when the Xingyang Conference was held, it was said that Zhang Xianzhong would go south to Huguang, and Li Zicheng didn't have much to say.

Zhang Xianzhong can see that as long as the thousands of people in the old camp are there, the others can be abandoned.

With food, he was able to pull out a lot of men and horses in an instant.

When Zhang Xianzhong was in Shaanxi, he accepted Sun Kewang, Liu Wenxiu, Li Dingguo, and Ai Nengqi as his sons.

Several people also changed their surnames to Zhang with their father-in-law Zhang Xianzhong.

However, a few people are still young and can only stay in Zhang Xianzhong's youth camp.

Most of this juvenile camp are the sons and nephews or orphans of the old camp in northern Shaanxi, and the old camp followed Zhang Xianzhong from birth to death, and the juvenile camp is equivalent to a reserve camp of the old camp.

Don't underestimate these youth battalions, they are not eating and drinking in the army.

Rather, it is responsible for the investigation of intelligence.

Before Zhang Xianzhong attacked the city, it was these young battalions that infiltrated the enemy city, spreading rumors, seeking information, and sometimes even assassinating.

The juvenile battalion all called Zhang Kewang and the four "major generals".

Zhang Kewang is fifteen years old this year, and he himself is anxious to contribute to his father-in-law Zhang Xianzhong.

So Zhang Xianzhong arranged him into the pioneer camp, and the youth camp was handed over to the younger Zhang Wenxiu and Zhang Dingguo to lead.

Zhang Kewang really lived up to expectations, leading 3,000 pioneer battalions to break through the Loess Pass, Hutou Pass, and Yinshan Pass, and directly killed Dabie Mountain.

Zhang Kewang's heroic performance was recognized by many generals of the Righteous Army.

Zhang Xianzhong also said happily: "My son is very brave, and he is really a tiger father without a dog!" ”

So he named Zhang Kewang as the general of Zhengdong and commanded the vanguard battalion.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty was levying "Liao Salary" and "Training Salary", which caused public resentment everywhere, and Zhang Xianzhong's righteous army continued to play the slogan of "Regardless of whether you are high or low, you will be free of grain".

In contrast, the people soon joined the rebels.

On the eighth day of October in the third year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong led the army out of Dabie Mountain and conquered Macheng, which shook Huguang.

Although Zhang Xianzhong is good at killing, he still listened to the suggestion of the original light path!

There is no future in being a pure rogue.

The rebels under his command not only propagated the slogan of "no distinction between high and low, free grain for all fields", but also began to pay attention to encompassing some poor scholars.

There were also many clerks in his battalion, who were responsible for the distribution of materials and the management of accounts of the rebels.

However, Zhang Xianzhong himself did not like scholars, and he was extremely suspicious, so there were no literati in his rebel army who could be his staff.

He also only used these literati to do propaganda for himself.

But the appearance of one man changed all that.

A person named Zhang Jiao presented Zhang Xianzhong with "Dividing the Fields", which simply means issuing a field deed to the righteous army and those who participated in the righteous army.

As the heads of the gentry fell to the ground, their grain and silver fell into Zhang Xianzhong's pocket.

The fields in their hands naturally became Zhang Xianzhong's means to win people's hearts.

However, the "Dividing Fields" of the Righteous Army is very particular, and the adult men in the family will only divide the fields to their parents when they join the Righteous Army.

If the fields are divided and the grain is not distributed, most people will not survive at all to replant the grain next year, and eventually follow the rebels.

If you join the rebels yourself, then you will also be given a share of the land.

Zhang Xianzhong's subordinates have documents to open the land deed for you and stamp Zhang Xianzhong's big seal.

It doesn't matter if the people are gone, as long as the rebels come back in the future, you will still have these fields with this title deed.

Therefore, these rebels are all dreaming, which is equivalent to Zhang Xianzhong giving them a "blank check" in advance, as long as he succeeds in the future, these "blank checks" can be cashed.

To be precise, this is not completely empty, after all, the rebels did hand over the land to you, although there is a risk of being taken away after the rebels leave, but as long as the rebels fight back, these are yours.

This is equivalent to dividends in advance, as long as the rebellion is successful, everyone in the rebels has shares.

In this way, the land that the rebels could not take away was turned into a land deed and taken away.

For the soldiers of the righteous army who have military merits, Zhang Xianzhong also issued them a field deed, as long as they follow him Zhang Xianzhong, these can be fulfilled in the future.

I have to say that this trick is really powerful.

Zhang Xianzhong "fought local tyrants and divided the fields" in Macheng, and soon expanded his army to more than 100,000 people.

And now the rebels have also begun to screen, the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled do not want to.

For these people who were screened and eliminated by the righteous army, as long as there is more land, Zhang Xianzhong will also give them some.

This is also an encouragement to their heart-to-heart rebels!

In this way, the next time Zhang Xianzhong fights back, these people will become the internal response of the righteous army.

These land deeds will definitely be pressed at the bottom of the box, looking forward to Zhang Xianzhong's reign in the world in the future, so that they can be cashed.

Zhang Jiao also naturally became Zhang Xianzhong's adviser.

There is no way, Zhang Xianzhong's murderous intent is too heavy, if he really lets him harm Huguang and Sichuan, then Li Xianzhong will want to cry without tears in the future.

That's why Li Xianzhong came up with this "Dividing the Field" and let Zhang Jiao appear by Zhang Xianzhong's side.

Zhang Xianzhong's murder is one thing, but in fact, this is also a strategy of his.

On the one hand, he really doesn't have so much food to feed idlers, and on the other hand, the people of the Ming Dynasty have a very heavy homesickness complex.

Li Xianzhong offered generous conditions in Liaodong and moved the people to Liaodong with their families, but there were not many people who were willing to go.

Where did Zhang Xianzhong get this condition?

Therefore, he can only adopt primitive and barbaric methods, by killing people, destroying their homes, and forcing these people to follow him.

In addition, this can also destroy the tax revenue of the imperial court, which both strengthens itself and weakens the imperial court.

But now with Zhang Jiao's "Dividing the Fields", then only the role of Liwei is left in his killing.

There is no need to kill people every day.

After all, with the big killer weapon of "Dividing the Fields", the people are looking forward to him Zhang Xianzhong coming to the world as soon as possible, and there is no need for him to kill the people who support him.

Another benefit of "Dividing the Fields" is that it has saved a lot of readers.

After all, dividing the land and issuing the land deed is also a heavy job, and it is not something that can be done by a few people.

Moreover, the land deed released must also be registered, in case Zhang Xianzhong really reigns in the world in the future, these fields must be cashed.

Even Zhang Kewang thinks that Zhang Jiao's "Dividing the Field" is definitely a weapon for his future father-in-law Zhang Xianzhong to reign in the world.

Zhang Jiaozhi's talent is no less than Xiao He of Han!

And the rebels who were assigned to the land deed were like chicken blood, attacking the city and plundering the land all the way, and winning successive battles.

The army conquered Luotian, Xinzhou, and Huangzhou all the way.

Xiong Wencan, the newly appointed governor of Huguang, hurriedly sent troops to support Huangzhou.

I have to say that Chongzhen's order to train new armies in various countries and localities is still effective, and now Wuchang Mansion has quickly gathered tens of thousands of troops.

Because the rebels almost killed the gentry, although the people supported them, the gentry everywhere regarded Zhang Xianzhong as a beast.

In the regimental training from all over the country, the villagers came to Huangzhou to help in the war.

Those landlords and old fortunes also fled to Huangzhou Mansion and Wuchang City with their families.

When Zhang Xianzhong comes, they are about to be exterminated, what do they care about the local complex?

The rebels' attack on Huangzhou City was not smooth.

Zhang Dingguo also said: "Father, there are many troops in Huangzhou City, and there are more than 20,000 officials, soldiers and townships in various places; Moreover, those gentry even transported grain to Huangzhou, and even if we besieged Huangzhou, their food was more abundant than ours. ”

Zhang Kewang also said: "Not only the soldiers and horses of Huangzhou, but also the reinforcements of Wuchang City are about to arrive in Huangzhou." The child thinks we should adjust our goals. ”

Zhang Xianzhong, known as the "Yellow Tiger", has always been cunning in war.

He ordered Zhang Kewang to lead more than 10,000 people to feint an attack on Huangzhou, and he himself led the main force to secretly march westward to De'an Mansion.

Sure enough, the attention of the officers and troops was all on the front line of Huangzhou, and the troops of De'an Mansion were empty.

On the first day of November, Zhang Xianzhong conquered Xiaogan, invaded the territory of De'an, and captured the envoy sent by Xiong Wencan, the governor of Huguang, to Xiangyang to transfer troops.

At this time, the main force of the official army was in Huangzhou, and the troops of De'an Mansion were empty.

On the fifth day of the first month, Zhang Xianzhong raised 120,000 troops to conquer Anlu, the capital of De'an.

Since the "Chuzhou War", the rebels once again conquered Fucheng, which also greatly increased the confidence of the rebels!

After the occupation of Anlu, the rebel army received a large amount of supplies.

Zhang Xianzhong started to "kill the gentry and divide the land" here, which was supported by a large number of people.

The rebels did what they said, and they really distributed the fields and official fields of the gentry and rich men to the people.

And with the help of the people, the gentry's private collection of silver and grain had nowhere to hide.

Under Zhang Jiao's persuasion, Zhang Xianzhong also began to change, not only did he kill ordinary people, but also took out a small part of the grain to put grain for the people, and began to buy people's hearts!

Three days later, Sun Kewang's vanguard battalion also came to Anlu, but it was followed by 20,000 officers and troops who pursued him.

Zhang Xianzhong asked Sun Kewang to lead 30,000 horses to hold on to Anlu, and the official army attacked for more than ten days, with three or four thousand casualties, but there was nothing to do about Anlu City!

The gentry and officials of the Ming Dynasty in the center of the city had already met with the Lord of Yama, and the people in the city had more or less been given the land deeds or grain issued by Zhang Xianzhong.

Naturally, they were helping the rebels defend the city.

At this time, Zhang Xianzhong led the main force north and conquered Suizhou.

After the conquest of Suizhou, the entire De'an Mansion was basically under the control of the rebels.

Of course, this is not Zhang Xianzhong's main purpose, the capture of Suizhou is just to open up the channel.

His real target is Xiangyang.

Huguang was called Jingzhou in ancient times, but anyone who has read "Three Kingdoms" knows that in order to control the land of Jingbei, there are three places that are crucial.

One is naturally the capital Wuchang, while the other two places are Xiangyang Tongjiangling.

If Zhang Xianzhong wants to make a difference in Hubei, then he must win one of these three places in order to gain a foothold.

Wuchang had a large number of troops, and it was difficult for him to conquer for a while.

Gangneung's position was too central, and he didn't have a sailor, so it was difficult to hold on.

On the one hand, the Jianghan Plain under the jurisdiction of Xiangyang is an important grain producing area, which can provide enough food for the rebel army.

In addition, Xiangyang is also a passage connecting Shaanxi and Henan, and after occupying here, it can open up a passage to multiple provinces.

Li Zicheng is also very good in Henan, and after taking Xiangyang, he can echo Li Zicheng from afar, and the momentum is even greater.

The most important thing is that he captured the envoy sent by Xiong Wencan to Xiangyang to transfer troops before, and this transfer document is true.

Zhang Xianzhong successfully lured out the 8,000 defenders of Xiangyang City, and successfully ambushed them, and then let his rebels blend in with the defeated army and fled back to Xiangyang City.

That night, the rebel soldiers who had infiltrated Xiangyang set fire to several places in the city, and the people of the city woke up from their sleep to find that the flames were raging everywhere, and the whole city was in chaos.

In the midst of the chaos, the uprising seized the city gates and let in the rebels outside the city.

The brigade arrived, and it was too late for the officers and soldiers to resist. After the rebel army entered the city, they went straight to the Xiangwang Mansion and captured Zhu Yiming, the king of Xiang, alive.

The next day, Zhang Xianzhong killed Zhu Yiming, the king of Xiang, on the spot in front of the people of the city, according to Zhang Jiao's strategy.

And he opened the treasury of the Xiangwang Mansion and distributed some grain to the hungry people in the city.

This set off the climax of the "Dividing Fields", because Zhu Yiming, the king of Xiang, had more than 10,000 hectares of land in Xiangyang and other prefectures, that is, millions of acres.

In addition to the property of other gentry and wealthy merchants in Xiangyang City, Zhang Xianzhong can be said to have made a lot of money.

There were millions of taels of gold and silver alone, and more than 70 million stones of grain were stolen, which was enough for the righteous army to survive this winter.

After many officials and soldiers got the land deed of King Xiang, they directly turned into righteous soldiers.

There are even many people who directly let Zhang Xianzhong be the emperor.

Zhang Xianzhong said modestly: "I currently only have the land of Xiangyang and De'an, have you ever seen the Son of Heaven who only has the land of the two mansions?" ”

Everyone also understood that the eight kings didn't want to be emperors, but they thought the territory was too small.

It's not easy to fight for turf.

On December 18, Zhang Xianzhong's general Zhao Wushuang conquered Yunyang Mansion west of Xiangyang.

And "Cao Cao" Luo Rucai, who had fled from the desert after being beaten by Chen Qiyu, also led more than 1,000 troops from Hanzhong to vote.

After seeing the old brother coming, Zhang Xianzhong was naturally very happy.

Luo Rucai heard about Zhang Jiao's "Dividing the Fields" and sighed: "This is really a sharp weapon, the brothers of the righteous army only regarded these fields as useless things that could not be taken away." Why didn't anyone think that although the fields could not be taken away, the land deeds could indeed be taken away, and in the future, when our rebels fought back, these land deeds could not be counted! ”

After finishing speaking, he knelt on the ground and said, "The last general, Luo Rucai, implore Your Majesty to give him land!" ”

I have to say that this Luo Rucai deserves the name of "Cao Cao", and Zhang Xianzhong, who was shot by this horse, is a comfortable one.

So Zhang Xianzhong gave Luo Rucai and his soldiers 10,000 acres of fertile land outside Xiangyang City.

Zhang Xianzhong naturally couldn't do a loss-making deal, and his 10,000 mu of land was given to Luo Rucai and his soldiers.

These fields are exchanged for the allegiance of more than 1,000 elites.

On the first day of the first month of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong was proclaimed emperor in Xiangyang, Huguang, with the country name Daxi and the year name Dashun.

Feng Zhangjiao was the prime minister of the left, and Luo Rucai was the Marquis of Yiyang guarding Yiyang in the south of Xiangyang.

As for his four righteous sons, they were named Zhendong Hou, Zhennan Hou, Zhenxi Hou, and Zhenbei Hou.

Other leaders from all walks of life also received rewards, and the people of Sanfu were exempted from paying taxes in the first year of Dashun.

The people of Xiangyang and other three prefectures got the land deed of Daxi and were exempted from taxes, so they were naturally happy and convinced, and even many surrounding people ran to Zhang Xianzhong's territory.

And the elite under the command of Emperor Zhang Xianzhong of Daxi has reached 250,000 people!

Zhang Xianzhong's rumors in Huguang have risen, and Li Zicheng is naturally not idle in Henan.

After he separated from Zhang Xianzhong, he went all the way to Xinyang Prefecture.

At this time, most of the soldiers and horses in the provincial capitals of Henan were transferred to Shandong, and Xinyang had less than 2,000 defenders, so in the face of Li Zicheng's 30,000 righteous army, it was naturally helpless.

The rebels conquered Xinyang City in just one day.

Since Zhang Xianzhong has already presented Zhang Jiao's "Dividing Fields", the light path is naturally not far behind.

Although they were all ideas that Li Xianzhong came up with, in order to avoid arousing suspicion, Chongguangdao changed the name to "Juntian Ce", and its core content is still the same.

It is to issue a land deed, write a blank check, issue the original shares to the righteous army, and cash it out when Li Zicheng becomes the emperor.

Soon the gentry in Xinyang also began to be unlucky, and Li Zicheng also started to divide the fields here.

The "Juntian Ce" of the righteous army soon spread all over the land of Henan.

Henan was originally swept by the rebels, and the name of King Chuang is still very good.

Soon, Li Zicheng controlled most of Runing Mansion.

When Li Zicheng led the army from Xinyang to the north of Runing Fucheng, suddenly there was a person dressed as a scholar on the side of the road.

I only heard him sing loudly: "Seeking ascension in the morning, seeking harmony in the evening, it is difficult for the poor to survive recently." Open the door early to worship the king, and the discipline is happy for everyone big and small. Slaughtered cattle and sheep, prepared wine syrup, opened the gate of the city to meet the king, and the king came and did not pay for the grain. Eat his mother, her mother, and eat not enough to break the king. If you don't pay for it, you don't pay for food, and everyone has a happy life. ”

Everyone was amazed when they heard this.

In particular, the sentence "Kill cattle and sheep, prepare wine and pulp, open the city gate to welcome the king, and the king will not pay for food when he comes", which is very suitable as a slogan for the righteous army.

After all, the common people have no culture, and "Juntian free grain" and the like are not as catchy as this kind of vernacular.

Soon Li Zicheng called the book over.

The scholar said: "Xiaosheng Li Yan is a native of Qi County, Kaifeng Prefecture, Henan, and he is a person in the year of the Apocalypse. ”

"My father, Li Jingbai, is the governor of Shandong and the secretary of the military department, but because of his friendship with Wei Zhongxian, he was cut to the people in the first year of Chongzhen!"

"Xiao Sheng is here to defect to King Chuang this time!"

Li Zicheng's current generals include Liu Zongmin, Li Guo, Gao Jie and others, but there are no literati to take refuge, only some shows are used as documents.

Although the military advisor Chongguangdao is resourceful, he is an out-and-out peasant in northern Shaanxi.

Of course, the ancestors of the people were the generals of the Great Song Dynasty, and they were proficient in the art of war.

Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, said: "Since Brother Li Yan is a child of the gentry, and he is a nobleman, he must have a lot of assets in his family? ”

Li Yan said: "My Li family is one of the most wealthy families in Qi County, and under the policy of the righteous army, it is among the must-kill!" ”

"Li doesn't hide it, the reason why I took refuge in King Chuang is because of "Juntian Ce", I don't know which master this is from?"

Chongguang Dao smiled bitterly in his heart, this is naturally from the hands of the master of Liao Guogong, but at present, he only has shameless pretence.

So Li Zicheng introduced the light path to Li Yan.

Li Yan gave a salute and said: "Although Xiaosheng is from the family of the official eunuch, I have also practiced martial arts since I was a child, and I am a gentleman who knows all six arts, and I often use my family wealth to help the township and make friends on the rivers and lakes." I myself am actually an advocate of Juntian, and I am willing to persuade my father to use his family property to fund the king to achieve a great cause. ”

Li Yan has a bold personality and is very angry with Li Zicheng and others.

At Li Yan's suggestion, the rebels changed their previous policy of killing all gentry, and if they were willing to join the rebels and donate a large amount of their property, they could also accept them.

Li Zicheng's rebel army also grew like a snowball under the stimulation of "Jun Tiance".

In just three months, it has occupied two prefectures and one prefecture, Runing, Nanyang, and Ruzhou, and invaded Henan Province.

Due to the tyrannical expropriation of the imperial court, the people could not survive for a long time, so they followed King Chuang to rebel.

The rebel army under Li Zicheng also grew to 300,000 people.

At this time, the news came that Zhang Xianzhong was proclaimed emperor in Xiangyang.

And Zhang Xianzhong intended to let Li Zicheng become emperor with him.

So Li Zicheng asked everyone's opinions.

Liu Zongmin and Li Guo are naturally advocating that Li Zicheng be called emperor, and he Zhang Xianzhong is called emperor, and Li Zicheng should naturally be called emperor.

However, Li Yan's fellow Guangdao objected.

The reason for the opposition is that although the rebels are numerous, they have no roots.

Zhang Xianzhong still has a Xiangyang that can be used as his foundation, but at present, Runing and Nanyang of the righteous army are not suitable.

At least take Luoyang or Xi'an, and then consider becoming emperor.

Li Yan's objection was more practical, and he asked: "Did the imperial court first conquer the Great Western Emperor Zhang Xianzhong or the king Li Zicheng?" ”

"If King Chuang is also called the emperor, then our territory is in the north of Zhang Xianzhong, and the imperial court will naturally concentrate its forces to destroy us first, and then go south to eliminate Zhang Xianzhong. Although King Chuang was called the emperor, he was actually used as a shield by Zhang Xianzhong. ”

So Li Zicheng decided not to be the emperor first, and continued to use the name of King Chuang.

And concentrate his forces to the north, occupy Henan Mansion, and capture Luoyang and Xi'an!

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(End of chapter)