He once heard Cao Yao say that when the news that he was proclaimed Khan reached the Snow Mountain, the three brothers Huo Luochi had the weird idea of letting him revive the Yuan Dynasty and become emperor.
Now this broom spirit is even more crazy. He actually sent people to go to Xi'an to have him be crowned emperor.
Liu Shizi thought to himself, if you are worried about me being scolded because of my defeat, you don't need to do such an abstract job.
But you asked me to make you emperor...it's hard to say.
If I make you the emperor, then what should I be, the supreme emperor?
Victory or defeat is a normal matter for a military man. It is not a big deal to have someone beat him half to death when there are no soldiers.
Even if we wanted to escape back to Shaanxi and make a comeback, we wouldn't come up with such an abstract job.
However, after his seizure, Liu Chengzong read the letter carefully, and his expression gradually became serious.
Zhang Yichuan was really not desperate after being defeated.
He is very prosperous.
He told in the letter that tens of thousands of his troops were scattered in Henan, and only a thousand of his best soldiers were stationed in Yingzhou.
Yingzhou is one of the eighteen counties in Fengyang Prefecture and is very poor.
So much so that Zhang Yichuan regretted running to Zhongdu. He planned to seize a city in Yingzhou, wrap up some strong men, skip Fengyang Mansion, and turn around to march to the south of the Yangtze River.
But he never expected that within less than ten days of his garrison in Yingzhou, poor people from Fengyang counties would travel more than a hundred miles to come to him and deliver books.
The book contains detailed information about each county in Fengyang Prefecture, recording in detail which family in the county is rich, where their family is, where there are no troops, and where troops are stationed, and invites them to lead troops to attack.
In order to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, the book left to him by the people of Fengyang asked Zhang Yichuan to march into Fengyang under the banner of 'Emperor of the Ancient Yuan True Dragon'.
It was agreed that on the day he marched into each county, soldiers and horses from all over the country would rise up together.
Zhang Yichuan is not a leader of the militia with no background. He carries the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Marshal's Office in Henan Province, so naturally he does not dare to raise such a banner without authorization.
Then a letter was sent to Xi'an, asking Liu Chengzong to be canonized.
Liu Chengzong said to himself that this broom spirit was lucky. As soon as he arrived at Fengyang Mansion, the local anti-Ming armed forces came to find him.
However, even though what Zhang Yichuan said was true, the situation still made Liu Shizi a little puzzled. How come Zhongdu in the Ming Dynasty was so enthusiastic that it sounded more enthusiastic than Shaanxi?
What's more, the title 'Gu Yuan Zhenlong Emperor' doesn't sound very serious.
Liu Chengzong had many doubts.
But our Marshal's Mansion still has talents.
As soon as the tired Wang Ziyong and Liu Liuliu arrived in Xi'an, they were called to the military government office by Liu Chengzong.
"This Ancient Yuan True Dragon that the Marshal was talking about..."
Wang Ziyong murmured to himself: "Most of the scriptures of the White Lotus Sect are named after the ancient Buddha, Hunyuan. This name is probably related to the White Lotus Sect."
"Commander, let me think about it carefully."
Wang Ziyong paced slowly in the hall with his hands behind his back, his head lowered and his brows furrowed.
Is it related to the White Lotus Sect?
Liu Shizi looked helpless. Although he was born as a scholar and had a deep cultural foundation, he still had a specialization in the art.
What he is most familiar with is the violent northern rebellion such as the Border Rebellion.
He turned a blind eye to the White Lotus Sect's southern rebellion, which tended to be cunning, and could only wait quietly for what was to come.
Fortunately, Wang Ziyong was very familiar with this thing. He quickly raised his head and applauded: "Commander, I remember, it's Zhao Guyuan!"
"This man's real name is Zhao Yiping, a native of Shanyin, Zhejiang. During the Wanli period, he was active in the Jianghuai area and wrote the "Guanzhen Jing". Later, he was hunted down by the government and changed his name to Gu Yuan. He was respected by believers as Gu Yuan Zhenren."
The Jianghuai area is the direction Zhang Yichuan is heading at this time.
2. The so-called guide book, in Liu Shizi's view, is a rumor that people should be beheaded according to the law. It is used to confuse the public and create prophecies, evil books and evil words.
I think the so-called Ancient Yuan True Dragon Emperor is related to Zhao Yiping.
Liu Shishi asked: "What happened next?"
"We have been preparing for several years. We made Tui back diagrams, formation diagrams, awarded generals, and general soldiers. Later, we changed our name to Zhao Ganzhu again. Less than a year after the actual uprising, we were taken to the West Market of Beijing and beheaded. However, these incense burning
Things like chanting sutras have long been spread along the canal."
"He's not the first, nor the last."
"Earlier than him were Zhao Quan of Yanbei, who went to Mongolia to join Anda; later than him were Xu Hongru of Shandong Wenxiang Sect, Caobang Luo Jiao, Huang Tiandao, Wenxiang Sect, etc., Ji Si's Change
When I was doing business in Tongzhou, they all asked me to work together once."
After Wang Ziyong explained the ins and outs of this ancient Yuan Zhenlong Emperor, he talked about Fengyang Mansion again.
"Fengyang Prefecture is a poor place. I have heard about it in Tongzhou. Although it is the capital of Zhongdu, the practice of begging has long existed among the people."
Liu Chengzong nodded slowly.
He thought that Fengyang Mansion could not be a good place.
If that place really had good weather every year, how could it starve Emperor Taizu into an orphan and have no way out?
The natural environment there is not very good to begin with, because of the Yellow River.
During this period, the Yellow River flowed southward for a long time, and the path it took later in Lijin, Shandong Province did not flow into the sea.
Instead, they went southeast from Kaifeng, seized various river channels north of the Huaihe River, and tried every means to enter the sea.
In the Ming Dynasty alone, it changed its course six times, each time flooding the coast into a marsh.
The river here runs from Kaifeng through Xuzhou to Huaiyin. If the water rises just a little bit, the canal will collapse.
This is also the reason why Huaiyin in ancient times was renamed Huai'an in the Ming Dynasty.
Huai'an, Huai'an, the Huai River had better be peaceful, otherwise it will flood the whole area.
With Wang Ziyong's explanation, Liu Chengzong had a clearer understanding of Zhang Yichuan's request to make him emperor.
This is not a funny request.
Instead, Zhang Yichuan entered Fengyang and quickly hit it off with the local Taoist sect in Fengyang. The two parties joined forces and used the name of Zhao Guyuan to unite believers and increase their power.
Once this issue is clarified, Liu Chengzong will no longer be confused about this matter.
Because in the final analysis, Zhang Yichuan did not just want to be the emperor, but used this method to achieve his goal.
In other words, Emperor Gu Yuan Zhenlong had extremely high "legitimacy" in Fengyang Mansion.
The so-called orthodoxy is actually the recognition of the target group.
At this time in Shaanxi, more than half of the people in Fuzhou and counties outside Xi'an Prefecture rebelled, and even more people had the experience of traveling to beg for food.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The Marshal's Mansion, the leader of the rebels, has considerable legitimacy in his activities and rule in Shaanxi.
Of course, the Ming army's activities here were quite legitimate.
The common people who had been bandits would not ambush the marshal's Tang soldiers on the road, or even join them; the guards in the gentry's homes would not fire cannons at the Ming soldiers, but would scramble to lead the way.
Because they should naturally appear here.
On the other hand, if a post-Jin army or a Mongolian army invaded Shaanxi, both the bandits and the guards would be armed to attack them head-on.
It has never been fought and defeated. It was dormant after being conquered for a short period of time, and it is definitely not recognized.
When someone raises the flag of the Ming Dynasty or the Marshal's Mansion, they will still respond in groups.
The same principle also applies to Zhang Yichuan, the chief military officer of Henan.
His march into Henan was not based on orthodoxy. No one in Henan recognized him, not even the Marshal's Mansion behind him. They were outsiders.
Desperate people joined him or were coerced by him for the purpose of speculation, but the opportunities they pursued were relatively inferior, just for a meal and rescue from the plague.
If someone integrates into this process, their living conditions change, they become rich or gain a better social status, or are awarded an official title, they will be accepted in their hearts.
It seems that the Marshal's Office has already ruled Shaanxi, and their Henan generals are quite regular, and they can also give people hope of a better life.
Then in Henan, there will be fewer people who oppose them and they will gain a little legitimacy.
In Fengyang Prefecture in southern Zhili, Zhang Yichuan has no legitimacy at all, and all the symbols on his body are negative numbers.
People know very little about the Marshal's Mansion, and what they hear more is that they are accustomed to their looting, evil deeds, rebellion, and massacres.
And the official position of "Puppet Commander-in-Chief" is still from Henan.
These identities will not help him in his work in Fengyang Mansion. Only by using Zhao Guyuan's name can the poor people of Fengyang Mansion quickly accept him.
People have grown up listening to the story of Gu Yuanzhen Zhao chasing Zhu, and are familiar with this title. Once someone raises this flag, all their dissatisfaction with the status quo will be projected onto this familiar flag, and they will be driven to join it.
Therefore, this matter is not something Liu Chengzong can decide at all.
Zhang Yichuan sent people back to deliver this message, not for him to be canonized as emperor.
But I don't want him to hear the news from other places and feel resentful in the future.
So tell him in advance. After all, your loyal subordinates have told you, so you can't slap me.
In fact, Liu Chengzong guessed that because of the speed of the troops, the banner of Emperor Gu Yuan Zhenlong should have been set up in Fengyang Mansion as early as the time Zhang Yichuan's envoys were on their way.
Whether he seals it or not doesn't really matter.
For Liu Chengzong, all that needs to be considered is the chain reaction caused by this incident.
He was thinking about the map of the Ming Dynasty that he had obtained from the Xi'an government office, when Liu Xiangyu and Yang Dingrui came hand in hand.
The two elders told him excitedly: "There are regulations for the establishment of title system, and the names of the twelve ranks of military honors have been compiled. The two ranks of Zhongwu Wei and Jianzhang Xiaowei are specially set up for the canonization of meritorious officials.
"
The Twelve Ranks of Martial Arts are the honorary titles of the Tang Dynasty, ranging from the first to the twelfth rank, and enjoy the treatment from the seventh rank to the second rank.
The requirements for obtaining martial arts medals are to achieve victory as a battlefield commander. According to the strength of the enemy and our own troops, the number of enemies killed and captured, different medals can be obtained.
The number of troops is divided into three levels: when the enemy is numerous and we are outnumbered, it is called entering the battle; when the troops are equal, it is called the middle formation; when we are outnumbered and the enemy is outnumbered, it is called the lower formation.
According to the proportion of the enemy's total strength killed and captured, it is also divided into three levels. If you kill 40%, it is called upper capture; if you kill 20%, it is called medium capture; if you capture 10%, it is called lower capture.
At the same time, according to the battlefield situation and the enemy's elite level, they can be divided into three levels. The hardest level is the first level, and the easiest is the third level.
Based on the level of the battle formation, the number of troops and the level of gains, you will be rewarded with honors.
If you get the first rank in battle, you can get five ranks of honors; the second rank, four ranks; the third rank, three ranks.
If you are in battle, you will be rewarded. If you are in battle, you will be rewarded first-class, fourth-level honors; second-class and third-class rewards are reduced in descending order.
If you go up to the formation, you will get something lower, if you are in the middle formation, you will get something, if you go down the formation, you will get something higher. The first rank will get three turns; the second and third rank will decrease in descending order.
That is to say, only by defeating the strong with the weak and killing more than 40% of the enemy can you obtain the fifth level of martial arts.
This is the most common reward for meritorious service. Of course, there are also special merits such as Tiao Dang, who rushes to defeat the enemy before the formation of the army, and vanguards who rush to capture the enemy's troops. Special merits such as beheading generals and capturing flags are also available.
different weights.
The Zhongwu Lieutenant and Jianzhang Xiaowei specially established by the old man were seniority honorary rewards specially established for veterans during the establishment of the king.
The former, as the first rank of military honors, will be generally awarded to veterans who have followed Liu Chengzong from the Lion Camp period to this day but failed to become generals, and will be given the official salary and treatment of the seventh rank.
The latter, as the fifth rank of martial arts, is awarded to the general deputy of the army. It is an honorary title and can also receive an extra salary from the fifth rank as a reward for supporting the king.
"Hey, are there many veterans like this in the army?"
Liu Chengzong had an inquiring look on his face and wondered: "The old people at the beginning, even if they become officers, are probably not many, right?"
In six years, he moved to the northwest and southwest, challenging powerful enemies from all directions, and fought almost every month. Among them, there were those who escaped, those who were injured, those who died in battle, and those who moved to other places.
I'm afraid there aren't many people with such seniority in the entire marshal's army.
"There are fifty-eight people who should be awarded the title of Zhongwu Lieutenant. There should be four more people, but they have not been found."
Liu Xiangyu was full of emotion when he mentioned this number: "One of them is a student taught by me. He may have left the army to do something else."
Yang Dingrui added: "There are more generals who should receive the title of feudal captain. There are 137 generals. This expenditure is less than 30,000 dan a year."
Liu Chengzong had no objection to this, nodded and said: "That's right, their support is much greater than a battalion, and it costs more than this to support a battalion."
After taking over Shaanxi, the Marshal's Mansion was still rich. The Xi'an Mansion's income from taxes and farming alone this year was more than 900,000 shi, which was enough to make Liu Shizi rich.
Liu Chengzong accepted the list of honorary officers brought by his father, placed it on the table without looking at it, but turned around and said: "Zhang Yichuan sent a letter and asked me to give him the imperial title of Gu Yuan Zhenlong so that he can operate in Fengyang Mansion.
"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Dingrui's eyes lit up: "What a good thing!"
"Good thing?"
Liu Xiangyu squinted his eyes: "What kind of good thing is this? Going to Fengyang Mansion to call yourself emperor? This title sounds unfair, not to mention how ridiculous it is for you to give him the title. If you spread the word to the world, people will only think that I am the generalissimo.
He is not a serious person and is a source of ridicule."
"No, sir, this is just an imperial title. It would be difficult to build a title system for the talent pool of the Marshal's Mansion. How can Zhang Yichuan have that ability?"
Liu Chengzong smiled and explained: "It's just that there was Zhao Guyuan there in the past who started trouble and used his name to act."
"Um……"
Liu Xiangyu pondered for a moment in silence, seeming to still feel that this matter was outrageous.
After a while, he asked Yang Dingrui: "Why do you say this is a good thing?"
"The Grand Duke's concern will lead to chaos. The marshal becomes the king. He is the hero who divides the feudal lords, unites people's hearts, and corrects the lords and subordinates of foreign vassals. It is no longer a last resort."
Yang Dingrui said, spreading his hands and saying: "Proclaiming a king and establishing a system is of no use to our country's facts. The Ming Dynasty will definitely mobilize troops to deploy on the front line of Shanxi, Henan, and there will be no more dangers in the east."
"Although we have moved to Xi'an now, we have no operations here and can only provide food and wages. However, soldiers, armor, equipment, horses, donkeys and mules all have to be transferred from Hexi, and cattle and sheep have to be transported from Oirat and Qinghai."
"Without a year and a half of hard work, the whole of Shaanxi would be really difficult to digest."
Yang Dingrui pushed up the tortoiseshell glasses on the bridge of his nose and looked at the map hanging behind Liu Chengzong: "Once the war begins, if we win quickly, the soldiers will advance to the north and south of the Yellow River, and thousands of miles of fertile wilderness will be clashed with our army. Where will the troops, horses, and equipment be replenished?"
“Where will the talent come from to govern the county?”
"Who will guard the land thousands of miles behind?"
"At that time, the frontline generals will be stationed everywhere, and the main army will be scattered in various places. If there is a setback, it will be too late to assemble troops and horses. With only a few untrustworthy generals and weak troops, it will be a question whether they can return to Shaanxi."
"If we don't win quickly, the great land of Henan will inevitably be disrupted by war, which is also not a good thing."
After Yang Dingrui finished asking this series of questions, he pointed to the southeast direction of the map and said: "Now that Zhang Yichuan wants to act in the imperial title and threatens the Ming Dynasty's ancestral mausoleum, the Ming court will mobilize large numbers of troops to encircle and suppress Fengyang."
"The commander-in-chief can write a letter, allowing him to use the title of Gu Yuan Zhenlong to do things conveniently. When the Ming Dynasty soldiers will form a siege, the commander-in-chief will build a title to sacrifice to heaven, send the troops out of Tongguan, break the siege from the northwest, and let Zhang Yichuan retreat to the north.
Shake a shot and join forces, waiting for the situation to change."
Yang Dingrui became more and more excited as he talked and clapped his hands and said: "Break through the encirclement to the south and march into Yingtian. Then our army will take advantage of the trend to capture Henan. Cross the river on the north road and enter the hinterland of Shanxi. The south road will push the front along the Yellow River to form a counter-encirclement against the official army..."
Liu Chengzong understood that Yang Dingrui’s focus was on rhythm.
With Zhang Yichuan acting under the imperial title in the southeast, attracting the main forces of the Ming court to encircle and suppress the army, even if the marshal's army is victorious, they will inevitably focus on the heavy military group in the south, and will not rush to the north of Zhili, causing the battle line to be too long.
Strategic collapse.
From this perspective, Zhang Yichuan acted in the imperial title at this time, which indeed attracted Liu Chengzong's firepower, causing the Ming court to focus on one thing and not the other.
But no one expected that there were more than two emperors at this moment.
The Minister of Liya ran quickly into the hall with an impatient expression. He held a letter in his hand and said as he walked: "Commander, the Monan Governor's Office urgently reports that the Later Jin Dynasty has consulted with the Mongolian tribes to request Huang Taiji to be honored. The Later Jin Dynasty has agreed to abolish the Jurchen Zhushenjiu.
He said that they collectively called Manchuria, arrogated the title of emperor, changed the Yuan Dynasty to Chongde, and designated the country as Baiqing Gulun."
Zhang Xianzhong raised his left finger high and pointed, with an expression as if he was mourning for his heir, and wailed: "This Yellow Tartar has a cruel heart, and he has robbed Daqing, the country's name where we started in Qinghai!"