In fact, if we look at the past, every time after conquering various cities, Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, would often lead the generals and soldiers around him, waving the flowered sword and riding the black dragon horse amidst the shouts of killing.
, and together with his siege troops, they rushed directly into the city gate.
Although he occasionally entered the city once or twice after winning a victory, it was relatively casual at that time, and after he entered the city, almost none of the people in the city knew about it.
However, today is different. This is the first time since the uprising that he has taken the initiative to change the way he enters the city. His purpose is to let the people in Luoyang City see the "kingly" spirit and spirit of "serving heaven and advocating righteousness".
His military appearance.
To this end, he specially selected 300 strong soldiers from the central military camp that guarded the temple of Zhou Gong. They were all mounted on tall horses. They were all neatly armored. In addition to waist knives, bows and arrows, each man also had a white wax pole and a red sword.
Tasseled spear.
Before the Chuang King Li Zicheng entered Henan, his Chuang army fought on the rugged roads in the mountains almost all year round. It was inconvenient for them to carry long weapons, so they mostly used knives, swords, bows, crossbows, etc. as their main combat weapons.
What people often call "quick horse and light sword".
However, since he led the army into Henan, the geographical environment and military situation of the battle have undergone great changes, so a large number of spears, big sticks, etc. have appeared in various branches of the Chuang army.
Now Li Zicheng took a detour from Zhougong Temple to the south gate of Luoyang and entered the city. At the front of the team were three hundred cavalrymen holding spears, riding four abreast.
Chuang King Li Zicheng took Niu Jinxing, the chief civil servant under his command, as well as military advisor Song Xiance, Confucian general Li Yan and others in the middle. Behind them were a large group of armored soldiers and generals following on horseback.
The soldiers held the barrels of the spears in their hands. The spearheads were all of the same length. The soldiers rode on their horses, held the reins in their left hands, and held the spears in their right hands. The tails of the spears were firmly inserted into the bird's wing ring of the stirrup on the right, with the barrels pointing upward.
It stands upright, so under the deep winter sunshine, it really looks like a forest of spears, undulating as the horses walk.
The scarlet tassel on the sharpened spear head, as well as the silver spear following Chuang King Li Zicheng, the white-maned banner with the word "Chuang" and the red umbrella with silver relief, were also particularly dazzling in the sun.
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As early as Sishi, there were Chuang troops in Luoyang City beating gongs and shouting loudly, asking the people in the city to go to the south gate of Luoyang to welcome King Chuang into the city.
However, it was not until the main force of the intruders entered the city and began to maintain order that the killings and looting in the city gradually subsided, and many brave people dared to go out and watch what was going on.
Many of the people in the city had been bullied by officials and gentry before, and they already hated the palace, the government, and the gentry. They regarded King Chuang as their savior.
But most of the people in the city just wanted to watch the excitement. They were curious and eager to see what the famous King Li Chuang was like earlier!
Due to the large number of people in the city, there were too many people crowded outside Nanguan, and there was almost no place to stay, so many people gathered in groups, helping the old and young until they walked to the bank of Luo River to wait to welcome King Chuang.
At about three quarters later, many people waiting on both sides of the Luo River screamed in surprise.
"Look, it's coming... it's coming!"
"Yes...it's King Chuang...he's here..."
People watched the banner with the word "Chuang" approaching gradually, and they all knelt on the ground in unison. Everyone raised their heads and watched the cavalry in front of King Chuang's banner riding past.
Just as the three hundred cavalrymen with guns rode past them, the more daring ones knelt on the ground and whispered to them:
"Which one is Prince Chuang? Which one is... Why didn't I see the one wearing the yellow dragon robe..."
Someone on the ground next to him whispered back: "Prince Chuang hasn't even reached the throne yet, why is he wearing a yellow dragon robe..."
"Then there should be a yellow dragon umbrella... to protect Prince Chuang from the cold... there should be a golden melon, an axe, a stirrup facing the sky... and so on..."
"Shh! Don't say anything...it's coming...it's coming...it's here..."
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Liu Zongmin, Yuan Zongdi, and Li Guo, the generals of Li Zicheng's army, all waited for them outside Nanguan. They stepped forward and rode into the city with Li Zicheng and others.
Surrounded by many generals, King Chuang passed through Nanguan and saw that all the shops along the street were open for business. There were incense tables in front of the doors, with various dried fruits, hot tea and hot rice porridge on them.
On the door of each house was the word "Shun" written on yellow paper, or the word "Shun Min" was written on it, and most of the people kneeling by the road to greet him also had the word "Shun" written on their hats.
The word "shun".
In the past two or three years, Li Zicheng has also had some thoughts. He sometimes wondered if he could seize the Ming Dynasty in the future and establish a new dynasty by himself, what country name would he use?
At this very moment today, the words "Da Shun Chao" suddenly flashed into his mind!
At the same time, he even thought of the idiom "Ying Tianshunren", but without a chance to think about it, he had already rode his horse to the south gate of Luoyang.
Li Zicheng looked up and saw that the city wall was very high, the towers were towering, and there was a bluestone plaque above the city gate with the three characters "Changxia Gate" engraved on it.
He had just seen these three characters clearly when the black horse under his crotch had already carried him into the city gate!
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Everyone's attention was focused on the Chuang King Li Zichen himself, as well as the generals and soldiers of the Chuang Army who were accompanying him into the city. No one noticed a young man wearing a ragged felt hat and a shabby cotton-padded jacket who was flexing his hands.
In his sleeves, he seemed to be counting something with his fingers.
Others around him were watching the invading army, muttering something, but it was covered up by the noisy voices and the neighing of the horses, so outsiders could not hear anything.
They also stood up together with the common people, squeezed in the crowd, and followed Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang. Finally, they stopped in front of the patrol office. Bao Jiqiang looked around and said to several people: "Go to the corner of the street."
Squatting over there, you go back to Zhang's house and report what you just saw to Master Tong. Let's go, let's go to the tea shop over there to hear what's new."
As they spoke, they separated. Bao Jiqiang had just taken a few steps when he saw a familiar figure passing by at the corner of the street. He nudged the brother next to him with his elbow and said softly: "You go
Keep an eye on the tea shop, let’s do something!”
After Bao Jiqiang finished speaking, he turned to the other side of the street and ducked into an alley on the side of the street. The person who was wandering around was hidden in the shadow of the courtyard wall and disappeared.