Li Zicheng was riding on his horse, pointing the steel knife in his hand forward and shouting:
"Brothers, capture Huaiqing Mansion.
We can open our bellies and eat white flour steamed buns.
When you enter the city without sealing your sword, you will find all kinds of gold, silver, treasures and women."
He led the old battalion troops, drove away the newly trapped refugees, and launched another wave of attacks on Huaiqing Mansion.
These refugees who were attacking the city had no armor, and they didn’t even have steel knives in their hands.
They raised their wooden spears and attacked the city wall.
The main purpose is to consume the defenders' defensive equipment.
The army has surrounded the city, the Hongyi cannons on the city have been silenced, and the rolling logs and stones are almost exhausted.
The refugees launched wave after wave of charges, but each time they were unable to scale the city wall.
Li Zicheng watched as these refugees were constantly being beaten to death by the Ming army defending the city with rolling logs, rocks and other defensive equipment.
However, they achieved very great results.
The wooden and stone rolls that were dense at first have become sparse, and there are not many wooden and stone rollings left to defend the city.
The refugees who attacked the city also suffered many casualties.
But he didn't feel bad at all. There were too many refugees.
Send troops to go around the area. If you see young people of suitable age, they will be directly captured into the team. Usually you only need to pay a little food.
These refugees, after experiencing several wars, if they survive, they will become veterans of the camp.
They can enjoy more benefits from the invading army, and they don't have to be used as consumables to attack the city.
Gao Yingxiang came over with his soldiers and asked Li Zicheng: "How long will it take before we can capture Huaiqing?"
There may be the Ming Dynasty vassal king Zheng Wang Zhu Zaisi in the city.
I have heard people say that every one of the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rich.
Even though Prince Zheng's Mansion is not famous, compared with ordinary gentry, it is also a wealthy person.
Only by taking the supplies from Huaiqing City can we develop and grow.
There is not much military ration left now.
I'll give you two more days to see if you can capture this city."
Li Zicheng clasped his fists and said respectfully: "King Chuang, you don't need to give me two days. I will definitely capture this city before the sun goes down."
"Then I'll wait for your good news. Let's enter the Henan region. This decision is really the right one.
The elite officers and soldiers in the Henan area were drained away by the Ming Dynasty.
There are only some old, weak, sick and disabled people left, and there is no way to defend the city. The Ming court did this, which helped us a lot.
I dare say that in Henan, there is no Ming army that can resist us. The vast land of Henan is free for us to roam.
We must seize this opportunity and develop and grow as soon as possible.
If the war between the Ming army and Suhe is delayed for a long time, we will still have a chance to completely occupy Henan."
They were in northern Shaanxi, but they were driven away to Shanxi by Hong Chengchou like dogs.
The battle in Shanxi was also very frustrating, and they did not dare to collide with the Ming army.
Coming to Henan, this is like a dragon entering the sea.
In Henan now, there is no Ming army that can stop their attack.
Li Zicheng saw that the defensive equipment at the top of Huaiqing City was almost gone.
He immediately ordered the old battalion soldiers to join the siege team immediately.
He has a special old battalion force.
They were carrying huge iron boxes, which contained the gunpowder he had finally collected.
Li Zicheng loved to hear people tell him about Suhe's newspapers.
Many of his tactics were learned from Su He.
He couldn't do many things. There was really no way around it. Compared to Su He, they were still too poor.
Gunpowder is also very susceptible to moisture and failure. Even if it contains the same amount of powder, it will not live up to what was boasted in the Suhe newspaper.
Li Zicheng believed that Su He and the others were exaggerating to demonstrate their military power in disguise.
But he tried his best to reproduce the tactics that could be achieved in the newspapers.
This method has been proven in actual combat and is effective. Anyone who doesn't use it is a fool.
The old camp joined the siege team, and the pressure on the Ming army suddenly increased.
Li Zicheng saw the soldiers from the old camp and attacked the city according to the established plan.
He didn't have to keep staring and saw that Gao Yingxiang hadn't left yet.
He asked Gao Yingxiang: "King Chuang, do you think Suhe can withstand the four-pronged encirclement and suppression by the Ming army?"
Gao Yingxiang said carelessly: "I think Suhe cannot be stopped, and Sichuan and Hanzhong will definitely be conquered.
The Ming Dynasty almost sent out all the troops to encircle and suppress Suhe.
He has only been developing for a few years, and his background is simply not enough.
But I think Su He is very resilient. It would be almost impossible for the Ming Dynasty to destroy him in one battle.
I believe in Su He's ability to make a comeback.
As long as he doesn't want to stick to Hanzhong and go around in circles with the Ming army.
Leading the army into the mountains, there is still no problem in surviving.
This kind of offensive in the Ming Dynasty could not last for a few years.
Su He's ability is there, and there is definitely the possibility of rising again.
We would also like to thank Su He, if he hadn’t attracted all the energy of the Ming court, we wouldn’t have been able to fight so easily.”
Gao Yingxiang sincerely hoped in his heart that Su He would persist longer.
They are too weak now. If the Ming court focuses its attention on them again, it will not be able to stop them with their current strength.
Wait until they develop enough to confront the Ming Dynasty.
The best time for Su He is to be wiped out by the Ming army, otherwise the two of them will have a conflict sooner or later. After all, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain.
A loud booming sound attracted the attention of Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng.
They saw that most of the city wall had collapsed.
Li Zicheng said happily: "Su He's tactics are really effective.
From now on, as long as I have enough gunpowder, I won't be afraid of a city no matter how strong it is.
King Chuang, I will clean up the remaining Ming army forces in the city."
Li Zicheng directly led the soldiers around him and rushed into the city. He went straight to Prince Zheng's Mansion.
Chuangjun has been eating sorghum rice for half a month.
After breaking the city, they can eat white flour steamed buns for a while.
He also let his cronies control the granary, treasury, government offices and other places in the city.
Li Zicheng saw that his army was killing the Ming troops defending the city.
The old battalion sergeants rushed into the homes of the gentry, while the new soldiers could only rush into the homes of ordinary people.
Soon the whole city remembered the sounds of men begging for mercy, screams and women crying.
He didn't care about this matter. The military was usually under too much pressure.
It's better to let them vent their anger than to vent their anger on him.
The Chuang Army does not have such stinky rules as military discipline. As long as the soldiers obey his orders, they are good soldiers.
"Stop it. Whose subordinates are you? Why haven't I seen you before?"
Li Zicheng saw a man dressed as a rebel army loading a large amount of grain on a rice shop, preparing to take it away in a carriage.
He could remember every sentry officer in the Intruder Army, but there was definitely no one like these.
"Hello, sir, we are Zhang Xianzhong's troops, and we are friendly forces to you.
We also contributed our efforts to siege the city, and this is what we deserve."
Li Zicheng's expression changed and he said: "Get out of here, we fought hard to conquer this city.
Everything belongs to us.
For others, you are not allowed to touch a single grain.
Tell Zhang Xianzhong that if he dares to touch the things that I, Li Zicheng, have conquered, I will lead my troops to crush his camp."
Li Zicheng directly turned his back and refused to admit his fault. If this city is captured, they will be able to develop and grow.
Huaiqing Mansion is already a heavily guarded city in Henan. If the Chuang army can defeat Huaiqing, they won't have to worry about other cities.
He wouldn't have to cooperate with other rebels.
On their way into Henan from Shanxi, their army had already annexed several small-scale rebel armies.
He held a Hongmen Banquet to entertain Luo Rucai, Zhang Xianzhong and other leaders of the rebel army.
Li Zicheng has heard of the Hua Ben novel, and he will never learn from Overlord.
I'm going to break the cup and kill all these people.
He swallowed up the team of these people, plus the original team.
Li Zicheng controlled more men and horses than his uncle Gao Yingxiang's direct lineage.
It's just that Zhang Xianzhong and others were too naughty and didn't come to the Hongmen Banquet.
But their strength is far behind that of Chuangjun.
…………………………
Zhang Xianzhong saw his men coming back with a depressed look.
He clenched his fists and said nothing. The immediate success or failure was not important.
But being treated like a dog by the intruders and others is insulting.
Whoever makes the existing forces inferior to others can only swallow their anger.
Zhang Xianzhong believed that his ability was definitely no worse than those of Chuang Jun.
He just started late and did not catch up with the good time for expansion.
He must seize the opportunity and do his best to expand his power while Henan is in decline.
Otherwise, Li Zicheng, the insurgent force alone, would dare to set up a Hongmen Banquet to annex them.
Li Zicheng's thoughts are so obvious that anyone can see that he has bad intentions.
Zhang Xianzhong contacted Luo Rucai and other smaller rebel forces.
They cooperated and led the army directly south.
Looking for opportunities to strengthen themselves, if they can capture a few big cities, they will have no worries about developing their power.
By walking along the way, they can recruit many refugees.
Capture several small cities along the way and obtain a large amount of supplies, which can also support your soldiers.
Luoyang will definitely be targeted by the invading army. Henan Prefecture is the richest prefecture in Henan.
Luoyang also had King Fu Zhu Changxun, who was the richest vassal king in the Ming Dynasty.
Chuang Jun will definitely not let Luoyang go.
Zhang Xianzhong's goal was Nanyang, where the Tang Dynasty's palace was located, and the palace should also be very wealthy.
Nanyang is located at the southern end of Henan, very far from Chuangjun.
Further south from Nanyang is Huguang, which is fighting hard against Su He and the others.
If he takes this opportunity to attack Huguang.
He can also develop his own power.
Now they don't have enough troops, so they can only have a chance to take over Nanyang by cooperating with Luo Rucai and other rebels.
…………………………
Li Zicheng kicked open the door of Prince Zheng's Mansion.
He led his own soldiers and began to rush into Prince Zheng's palace and arrest everyone in the palace.
In Prince Zheng's Mansion, in addition to the same sounds as outside, there is also an additional sound of whipping.
The soldiers quickly came to Li Zicheng's side.
"Sir, everyone in Prince Zheng's residence has been captured by us.
Prince Zheng and Zhu Zaixi, a fat pig, still wanted to escape, but we blocked him right away.
We have not enjoyed the concubines and princesses in the palace, leaving this to the adults and King Chuang.
The housekeeper of the palace and Prince Zheng's uncles and sons were not honest at first about the silver hidden in their homes.
We served with severe punishments and killed many people, but we also know where the money and food of Prince Zheng's palace are kept."
Li Zicheng patted the soldier on the shoulder and said: "You have no intention anymore, take me immediately to the place where the silver and grain are stored.
King Zheng's concubines and princess were left to King Chuang for his enjoyment.
Nothing else is important. Only with money and food can we recruit more soldiers and horses."
Li Zicheng sent someone to inform King Chuang Gao Yingxiang to come and take over the palace of Prince Zheng. He went to check the situation of the granary.
…………………………
Gao Yingxiang walked out of Prince Zheng's palace and saw Li Zicheng standing outside the door waiting for a long time.
He was quite satisfied with Li Zicheng's attitude. His nephew knew how to advance and retreat, and he was not arrogant or impetuous when leading a large army.
"How was the interrogation of King Zheng and Zhu Zaisi?"
Li Zicheng replied with a smile: "King Chuang, my soldiers hate these Ming vassal kings so much.
In a moment of excitement, they cooked King Zheng.
This man is so fat that he cooks a big pot and everyone drinks a bowl of soup."
"It's cooked well. Each of the Ming vassal kings should be killed."
Gao Yingxiang also hated the Ming Dynasty deeply, and also hated these Ming vassal kings.
He agreed with Li Zicheng's approach and did not punish him.
Li Zicheng said: "King Chuang, these Ming vassal kings are so rich.
Prince Zheng's Mansion had five cellars of silver piled up.
There is also a lot of salt and ironware here.
There was countless grain, and the granary in Prince Zheng's palace was twice as big as the official granary.
The granary in Prince Zheng's Mansion was filled with grain.
In the government's granary, rats can starve to death."
After Li Zicheng finished speaking, he took Chuang Wang to take a look at the silver cellar and granary.
Gao Yingxiang saw signs of movement in the silver cellar and granary.
Just when he was about to ask, Li Zicheng said directly: "King Chuang, the servants of Prince Zheng's palace and the prince's guards saw the city fell, and they robbed a lot of money and food.
We searched all over the city and never failed to catch these people."
Gao Yingxiang glanced at Li Zicheng and did not delve into the situation.
He said excitedly: "With these supplies, we no longer have to worry.
The size of the army can be expanded to more than 100,000 people.
We have an army of 100,000 at our disposal, and no Ming army here in Henan can resist us."
The invading army held the city for three days, and then Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng led their troops southward.
The Chuang army were all poor farmers. When they saw kitchen knives and iron pots, they thought they were good things.
He grabbed the kitchen knife and iron pot directly.
The gentry's home was even searched by multiple intruders, and not even a single copper plate was taken away.
The invading army attacked the city and captured the territory along the way, holding the local people hostage.
The scale gradually expanded, and when it was not far from Luoyang, the size of the army had reached 200,000.
…………………………
Zhu Changxun looked at his cronies and was preparing to leave with his son Zhu Yousong.
"An army of 200,000 thieves is preparing to attack Luoyang City.
I have spent one hundred thousand taels of silver to recruit people to defend the city, but Luoyang may not be able to defend it.
From Song, you go directly to the capital. Emperor Chongzhen wants to leave a reputation for filial piety.
He could never watch his uncle being killed by rebels and do nothing on his part.
I went to the capital this time to avoid this crisis.
As a blessed king, I have no way to leave my fiefdom without authorization.
You are just Prince Fu, and you went to the capital to ask for help. The court will not punish you.
You don't have to worry about anything in the capital, I've already taken care of everything."
Zhu Changxun watched the prince being taken away, and he sighed.
Now that the Ming Dynasty is in turmoil, the risks for him, the blessed king, are extremely high.
King Rui and King Shu were killed by thieves in yellow clothes, and King Zheng was cooked by thieves.
If these things had not happened, given his nature, he would have received at most one thousand taels of silver.
But he was really shocked by the fate of these three princes.
If the money is gone, as long as he is still the King of Fortune, he can earn it back in just a few years.
If life is gone, then everything is gone.
The tragic situation in Huaiqing Mansion has spread to Luoyang.
He only hoped that the people of Luoyang would fight tooth and nail to stop the intruders for the sake of their own wealth and life.
In order to defend Luoyang, Zhu Changxun also used his connections to buy a large number of Hongyi cannons.
These Hongyi cannons are the latest batch made by Sun Yuanhua.
It was originally going to be transported to the Huguang front line and used to attack the yellow-clad thieves.
He spent a lot of money to buy all the more than 20 Hongyi cannons and set them up at the top of Luoyang City.
He also bought all the gunpowder and cannonballs to be shipped to Huguang.
Not only cannonballs, but the civilian officials also sell artillery, and the prices are very high.
…………………………
Li Zicheng looked at Luoyang City, which they had been attacking for a month and still could not defeat.
Since they entered Henan, they can declare victory as long as they attack any city by rushing to the city wall.
The defenders of Luoyang City were too strong. He sent troops from the old battalion to climb the city wall many times, but they were all driven down by the Luoyang defenders.
"The Luoyang defenders are too strange, not like the Ming army's style at all."
Li Zicheng kept muttering in his heart. He came to Henan and visited more than a dozen cities, but he never saw any city like Luoyang.
Gao Yingxiang came over and asked Li Zicheng: "How are the casualties of the army? How many days are left before we can capture Luoyang?"
We cannot delay here for too long.
The elite Ming troops in Henan have been wiped out, and there are still a large number of Ming troops in North Zhili."
Li Zicheng said distressedly: "In the past month, we have only attacked Luoyang, and we have suffered more than 20,000 casualties.
There are more than twenty red cannons at the top of Luoyang City.
These cannons fired very accurately and had huge reserves of gunpowder and shells.
We finally filled up the moat and had the soldiers prepare to blow up the city wall with siege mines.
The Hongyi cannon suddenly opened fire, directly destroying all the siege mines.
We can only use the traditional siege method and let the new soldiers consume the shells of the Hongyi cannon first.
We have been attacking for a month, and as long as the Hongyi cannons run out of shells, I will definitely be able to reach the top of Luoyang City."
…………………………
Huangjimen Grand Court Meeting.
Cifu Wen Tiren of the Ming Dynasty immediately walked out of the queue.
"Reporting to your Majesty, I, Wen Tiren, impeach Zhou Yanru, the chief minister of the dynasty.
The Holy One assigned him to take charge of the work of encircling and suppressing the thieves in yellow.
But he only knew how to drink wine and visit brothels in Wuchang Mansion.
As a result, there was no unified coordination among the nearly one million troops, and they fought independently.
As a result, they were defeated one by one by the thieves in yellow, and a million-strong army was lost.
Now it is no longer possible to lay siege to the yellow thief.
Zhou Yanru ordered all soldiers and horses in Henan to surround and suppress the yellow-clothed thieves.
As a result, the bandits who were traveling in Shanxi ran out of Shanxi and wreaked havoc in Henan.
The Huaiqing Mansion was captured by the rebels and the bandits, and King Zheng Zhu Zaixi was boiled alive by the bandits.
King Fu Zhu Changxun dispersed his family wealth and asked the prefect of Henan Prefecture to direct the battle.
A small town in Luoyang has been fending off intruders for half a month.
King Zhu Yujian of the Tang Dynasty personally recruited 6,000 troops and mounted the Nanyang City Wall to defend the city.
The bandits Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and others who besieged Nanyang were unable to capture the city for a long time.
The gap in strength between them and the bandits is too great. Please send reinforcements as soon as possible.
The army encircling and suppressing the yellow-robed thieves, Sun Chengzong and Hong Chengchou of the Northern Route Army were both captured by the yellow-robed thieves, and only 5,000 Guan Ning's troops fled to Datong.
Hou Xun's troops of the East Route Army, Baigan soldiers and Chen Hongfan's troops of the Henan general army made slow progress.
The South Route Army did not play any role and was directly defeated by the thieves in yellow.
Now that the thieves in yellow have occupied Yunnan and are attacking Guizhou, we cannot allow the thieves in yellow to escape to Guangdong and Guangxi.
Problems have arisen again in Liaodong, and the Houjin cavalry frequently appears on the front line, and it is very likely that they will launch a war against us again."
When Wen Tiren said this, he mainly achieved three purposes.
The main purpose was to overthrow Zhou Yanru and make him the first assistant.
This time, several Ming armies were defeated. As the nominal supreme commander, Zhou Yanru must take responsibility.
Wen Tiren knew that Zhou Yanru was very smart this time and knew that he was not good at military affairs, so he did not interfere with several armies and allowed those who knew military skills to fight freely.
The victory of the Ming army was due to his contribution; the defeat of the Ming army must be his fault.
The second purpose is to help the emperor share his worries.
A few days ago, Zhu Yousong, the crown prince of Prince Fu, came to the capital to ask for help, and things made a big fuss.
He put all the blame on Zhou Yanru, and Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to step down.
The third purpose is to take advantage of this opportunity to let Emperor Chongzhen end his battle with the thieves in yellow.
He is about to be promoted to chief assistant, and he cannot bear this huge blame.
Emperor Chongzhen looked at the civil and military officials, and found that none of these officials was a pillar.
Xu Guangqi, a cabinet minister, contracted smallpox and died last month.
This time he used all the chips of Ming Dynasty, but he still failed to wipe out the thieves in yellow.
There will never be another Xu Guangqi in the future to help him raise military spending.
Emperor Chongzhen looked at the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty. He was extremely unwilling to accept this defeat, but he could only accept the result.
"The thieves in yellow have become more powerful and the Ming Dynasty has become unstable. This is my fault.
King Rui, King Shu, and King Zheng were killed one after another. The Ming Dynasty could not even guarantee the safety of the clan. This is my fault.
I will issue an edict to punish you."
As soon as Emperor Chongzhen said these words, the civil and military officials in the court immediately knelt down.
They shouted: "I will die."
The emperor will never make mistakes, and even if he makes a mistake, he will never admit it.
Historically, the emperors who issued edicts of sin against oneself, except for a few emperors such as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, were all the last emperors.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also issued the edict of sinners when the government reached a critical moment.
Now that Emperor Chongzhen admitted that he was wrong and issued an imperial edict, this shows that the situation has reached a very critical moment.
No one in the civil and military circles of the dynasty could share the emperor's worries, and they were all filled with fear.
I wonder if the capricious Emperor Chongzhen will deal with people like them.
"All my dear friends, please be safe! We, the monarchs and ministers, will try to find a way to get through this difficult time."
Emperor Chongzhen said weakly.
Despite the efforts of the whole country, the thieves in yellow were not eradicated, which was a huge blow to him.
He quickly recovered and issued multiple orders in succession.
"The chief assistant Zhou Yanru was dismissed, and the Jin Yiwei arrested him and brought him to Beijing, where he was handed over to the Three Laws Division for questioning."
"Wen Tiren was promoted to chief minister of the cabinet to rectify the mess."
"Removing Wang Zunde from the position of Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Xiong Wencan promoted him to Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and became the censor of the right capital."
"The governor of Henan, Chen Biqian, was dismissed, Lu Xiang was promoted to the governor of Henan, and he was appointed censor of Qiandu.
Lead 20,000 Tianxiong troops to attack the Henan bandits and rescue King Fu and King Tang."
"The situation in Nanyang has eased, and the Jinyi Guards have escorted Emperor Zhu Yujian of the Tang Dynasty to Fengyang to keep watch."
"A decree is issued to inform Hou Xun and Chen Hongfan to withdraw their troops.
Hou Xun rectified Huguang and prevented yellow-robed thieves and other bandits from entering Huguang.
Chen Hongfan went to Lu Xiangsheng's tent to obey orders to exterminate the bandits in Henan."
Wen Tiren, the capital of the cabinet, listened to Emperor Chongzhen's will.
He immediately took his cabinet ministers with him to carry out Emperor Chongzhen's will.
He could guess all the wishes of Emperor Chongzhen.
Lu Xiangsheng was a figure who rose to prominence during the Hou Jin siege of the capital.
At that time, he recruited 10,000 Tianxiong troops and came to the capital to serve the king, and was favored by Emperor Chongzhen.
The thief in yellow showed the power of firearms, making everyone realize that firearms will be the protagonist of war from now on.
Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army was the first army in the Ming Dynasty to be fully equipped with firearms.
This is the only elite group near Henan. They are trained to adapt to firearms.
This Tianxiong army did not participate in the war to encircle and suppress the yellow-robed thieves.
Tang Wang Zhu Yujian, that was a taboo.
Prince Fu Zhu Changxun just paid for the prefect of Henan Prefecture to lead the troops.
King Zhu Yujian of the Tang Dynasty personally recruited troops and horses. He was a vassal king. What did he want to do?
The vassal king bullied men, dominated women, and embezzled land.
Even selling private salt and smuggling in sea trade.
These emperors could tolerate it, but the only thing they couldn't tolerate was that the vassal king recruited troops and wanted to control the military.