After half a cup of tea, Hua Bushi came to a side hall behind the Yamen lobby and met the commander of the 36th Battalion of the Rebel Army, King Chuang Gao Yingxiang.
Hua Bushi had heard the name of King Gao Chuang for a long time, and when he saw him, he was about forty years old, of medium build, wearing a moon-white satin brocade robe, with a white face and long beard, and a kind appearance, even quite handsome.
He has a somewhat sophisticated and smooth appearance. In terms of appearance, Gao Yingxiang looks more like a businessman than the leader of a rebel army who leads soldiers and horses to kill officials and rebel, and fights in the north and south.
Hua Bushi heard someone say that Gao Yingxiang was born in a prosperous family. His ancestors were all businessmen, and he himself had been in business. It was only because the government forced the people to rebel and the times created people that he became the leader of the rebel army.
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Li Zicheng introduced Gao Yingxiang, Hua Bushi was about to bow and salute, but Gao Yingxiang quickly stepped forward, supported him, and said with a smile on his face: "We are all from our own family, Master Hua doesn't need to be polite! Hong!"
Ji has mentioned Master Hua to me more than once a long time ago, and also told the story about the "Evil Dog Gate" selling weapons to our rebels. Master Hua played the most important role in the attack on Huaiqing City. Speaking of which, I have to thank you very much.
You are!"
Hua Bushi said: "King Chuang said that Hua Bushi is not worthy of it. Selling weapons is something that is beneficial to both of our families. I only had some ideas to attack Huaiqing City. How can I afford it?"
What credit?"[
Gao Yingxiang said: "No matter what, it is true that Master Hua will be of great help to our rebels! Come on, sit down and talk first!"
He was extremely enthusiastic and took Hua Bushi's hand to a chair nearby and asked the young master to sit down on the chair.
After the three of them were seated, Li Zicheng said: "Commander, my brother Hua has already said that he intends to join the rebel army and will join us!"
Gao Yingxiang said happily: "Are you serious about this? This is great!"
Hua Bushi said: "Xiao Ke does have such thoughts. However, Hua Bushi is the head of a sect after all. There are hundreds of disciples under his sect, but he cannot ignore them all. Therefore, Xiao Ke must have some skills to join the rebel army.
Conditions, please don’t take offense to King Gao Chuang!”
Gao Yingxiang said: "Brother Hua just put forward any conditions. As long as I can do it, I will never give up!"
Hua Bushi coughed slightly and said: "If the rebel army is truly a capable force and can fight against the Ming Dynasty's officers and soldiers, it is expected to create a beautiful world. Hua Bushi should lead the 'Evil Dog Sect' to surrender.
Absolutely two-hearted. Otherwise, after joining the rebel army, he will be in danger and be hunted down and surrounded by the army every day. There is no hope at all. Even if Hua Bushi wants to surrender, he must consider the many disciples of his sect and cannot ruin their future.
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Hua Bushi is the young leader of a sect. The "Evil Dog Sect" now has branches in Hunan, Guangdong and Fujian. Its reputation and power are not what it used to be. There are many disciples and family property under the sect. According to common sense,
Li Zicheng and Gao Yingxiang had already expected that he would join the rebel army. But when they heard that the young master actually proposed such a condition, neither of them expected it.
Although the rebel armies in various regions are now powerful, they are still far from strong enough to compete with the imperial army. If not for this, the tens of thousands of soldiers of the Thirty-sixth Battalion would not have been driven from Jin to Henan.
Gao Yingxiang sat on the chair and was silent for a while.
Li Zicheng said: "We killed officials in rebellion in order to one day conquer the world and seize the throne of the Ming Dynasty emperor! In these years of fighting with the officers and soldiers, although we have lost and won, and each is good at winning, but
However, our brothers in the rebel army are also fighting more and more, and the more we fight, the stronger we are, but I don’t know what kind of army can be regarded as a powerful army in the eyes of Brother Hua?"
Hua Bushi said: "I believe that the so-called powerful division must have at least 50,000 troops, fight bravely, have strict discipline, and be led by wise commanders and generals who are good at fighting. Only such an elite division can be used today.
Only in these troubled times can we achieve great things and carve out a piece of the world!"
Gao Yingxiang said: "Although the thirty-sixth battalion of rebels in Huaiqing City does not number 50,000, there are still 30,000 or 40,000, including many elite soldiers. Gao does not dare to claim to be a wise commander, but the generals in the army are good at fighting.
There are quite a few, such as Hongji."
Hua Bushi said: "The so-called elite soldiers, the most important thing is to follow orders and prohibitions, and have strict military discipline. It is true that there are thirty or forty thousand rebels in Huaiqing City now, but please forgive Hua Bushi for bluntly saying that they are just a group of rabble with no discipline.
Not only is it far from the elite, but the army is also very reluctant, as evidenced by the fact that the commander-in-chief passed down by King Gao Chuang obeyed."
After hearing this, Gao Yingxiang's face darkened and he became a little unhappy.
Li Zicheng said: "Although this is true, an elite division cannot be trained in three to five days. The men and horses of the thirty-sixth battalion were temporarily assembled from various rebel armies in Shanxi and Henan, and their combat strength varied.
Qi, discipline will inevitably be a little worse, brother Hua should be aware of this!"
When Li Zicheng spoke, he glanced at Hua Bushi, with a hint of complaint in his eyes. Hua Bushi clearly knew that the situation of the 36th Battalion of Rebels could not be changed in a short time, but he
But he put forward such an impossible condition before joining the rebel army. Isn't it intentional to prevent Gao Yingxiang from coming to Taiwan?
Li Zicheng and Hua Bushi can be regarded as sworn brothers. They have known each other for some time and have a deep friendship, even if it is a bit embarrassing. However, Gao Yingxiang just met the young master for the first time today. Li Zicheng had just introduced him, and Hua Bushi did this
This would inevitably make King Gao Chuang feel grudged.
Hua Bushi didn't seem to notice Li Zicheng's eyes at all, and said: "The Thirty-sixth Battalion of Rebels are not originally from the same family, and Hua Bushi knows that. Although the rebels have captured Huaiqing City, they can only count it as a lucky victory.
Now Zhang Zongheng, the Ming and Xuan governor of southern Henan, and Hong Chengchou, the trilateral governor of Jin, will arrive in the near future. How can tens of thousands of troops put together temporarily by then be able to defend the city? From this point of view,
The future of the Thirty Gate Battalion Rebel Army is really not optimistic."[
This is simply a matter of which pot is left untouched. Gao Yingxiang's face was already a bit livid. If it weren't for Li Zicheng's sake, he would have immediately ordered someone to drive out the big crow Hua Bushi.
Seeing Li Zicheng and Gao Yingxiang both frowning, Hua Bushi suddenly smiled and said: "But there is a way for the 36th Battalion of Rebels to truly become an army. Even if they cannot become elites for a while, they can at least improve them.
The combat power is enough to fight against the army's troops, and there may be a chance to defend Huaiqing. I wonder if King Gao Chuang is willing to listen?"
When Li Zicheng said this, his eyes lit up. He knew that Hua Bushi was very clever and resourceful. Since he said this, he must have a good plan.
Gao Yingxiang was a little skeptical and said solemnly: "Brother Hua has a good plan, so I should be all ears."
Hua Bushi said: "There are currently thirty to forty thousand rebels and horses, which is quite a lot in terms of military strength alone. But now most of the soldiers and horses are scattered like a pile of sand. Each family has its own interests and plans, so it is
If orders and prohibitions cannot be implemented, it will be difficult to unify command and control when fighting, and it is impossible to truly gather strength to fight against the officers and soldiers, but is this the truth?"
This sentence actually gets to the crux of the problem that the rebel army cannot form an army now. The Thirty-sixth Battalion is an alliance of many rebel armies. Each group of rebels is relatively independent and only obeys the command of their respective leaders, but the leaders of each rebel army are inevitably
He had his own little calculation. Just like when he attacked Huaiqing that day, Zhang Xianzhong, who was responsible for blocking the official reinforcements, wanted to save his own troops and refused to fight against the official troops, which made the plan to attack the city almost fail.
Gao Yingxiang nodded slightly, and Li Zicheng said loudly: "Brother Hua is so right, that's what it is! But how can we unify the interests of all the people? Has Brother Hua thought of a good way?"
Hua Bushi said: "These more than 30,000 people belong to different families. It is difficult to unify their interests. If they all become one, the interests will be the same. In fact, the method I am thinking of is also very simple, which is to integrate all the people from all walks of life.
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"Recruit?" Li Zicheng was surprised, "The thirty-sixth battalion is now composed of more than ten people. It is not easy to recruit them. How could the leaders of the various rebel armies agree to hand over their soldiers to us for recruitment?"
Hua Bushi said: "I have a plan to accomplish this, but it will have to pay some price. According to Hua Bushi's knowledge, there are at least three to four hundred thousand in silver in the treasury of Huaiqing City.
, King Gao Chuang occupied the government office, and he must have obtained these deposits of silver. As long as these silver coins are used as a price, all the rebels and horses in the city can be recruited for King Chuang's use."
Huaiqing City is the richest commercial capital in northern Henan. Its prosperity is no less than that of big cities such as Luoyang and Kaifeng. The amount of silver in the treasury of the Yamen is definitely not small. Three to four hundred thousand taels is actually Hua Bushi's rather conservative estimate.
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Gao Yingxiang frowned and said: "The day before yesterday, we stormed the prefect's Yamen and indeed found more than 300,000 taels of silver, which was originally intended to be used to purchase weapons and armaments."
Hua Bushi said: "That's enough. We will use these three hundred thousand taels to integrate all the rebels in Huaiqing City under the command of King Chuang. I have already thought of the specific method!"
There was still hesitation on Gao Yingxiang's face, but Li Zicheng clapped his hands and said: "If we can recruit 300,000 to 40,000 rebels and make them truly useful to us, spending 300,000 taels of silver is really a good deal! Brother Hua, hurry up.
Tell me what you think of so that King Gao Chuang and Hong Ji can listen!"
Hua Bushi sat in the commander's mansion for two full hours, talking with Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng in the hall. It was not until Xu hour was approaching that the three of them came out together.
When they went out, Gao Yingxiang and Hua Bushi looked as usual, but Li Zicheng was full of joy and high spirits, as if he had found a treasure.