Hua Bushi coughed lightly and said, "Shuai Gao is recruiting troops this time with absolutely no intention of coercion. If General Zhang is unwilling to accept it, that's okay. He just needs to hand over all the property looted in the past few days, and then he can lead his army to leave." Huaiqing."
He smiled slightly and added: "If General Zhang leaves Huaiqing at this time, Zhang Yingchang, who is stationed in Hanoi County sixty miles away, may lead troops to pursue him. However, with the bravery and skill of the 'Eight Kings' and his soldiers, he can defeat him." There is no need to be afraid.”
When Zhang Xianzhong heard this, his dark face became even more gloomy. Being recruited by Gao Yingxiang, this "Eight King" was naturally unwilling to do so, but with his seven or eight thousand people, once he left Huaiqing, he would become Zhang Yingchang, who is alone and watching eagerly on the side, will not let go, and his subordinates are all infantry. They can't run fast even if they want to. No matter how brave and skillful they are, they can't defeat the officers and soldiers who are more than twice the number and well-equipped. He will definitely suffer a big loss. Besides, Zhang Xianzhong has robbed a lot of gold and silver in the city in the past few days. Now he has to hand over all of them, which is really hard to bear.
Zhang Xianzhong has always been cunning and good at strategy, but now he realized that Shi Xiao had grasped the key point. This seemingly unspectacular young man who appeared out of nowhere was actually a powerful figure, and he actually took his All escape routes have been calculated, and I can't help but give in even if I don't want to.
In his hesitation, his eyes rolled around, and his gaze passed over Gao Yingxiang's face, but his heart suddenly moved.[
Zhang Xianzhong knew the "Chuang King" Gao Yingxiang very well and knew that he was indecisive and lacked great talents and strategies. Otherwise, he would have been the commander-in-chief of the Thirty-sixth Battalion at the "Justice Conference" held in Liaozhou, Jin Dynasty that day, and he would not have It was only at the last moment of the attack on Huaiqing City that Wang Ziyong was overthrown. This strategy of recruiting rebels from all walks of life was definitely not Gao Yingxiang's idea, but was probably the idea of Li Zicheng and Shi Xiao!
Zhang Xianzhong is also good at observing faces. At this time, he saw Gao Yingxiang sitting in the middle of the main table. Although he was smiling, there was a vague look of hesitation in his eyes.
While his mind was spinning, Zhang Xianzhong already had an idea. He stood up, walked to the hall, and said loudly to Gao Yingxiang: "What General Li Chuang and Shi Canjun said just now is not entirely true, but if you want me to accept the recruitment, you still have to do it." There are two things that I need to ask Marshal Gao to explain clearly first!"
Zhang Xianzhong said: "The first thing is that Marshal Gao should tell us what are our next plans after recruiting so many troops? You must know that when we capture Huaiqing City, we will definitely scare the emperor in Beijing. I was shocked. Now not only Zhang Yingchang's 20,000 troops were stationed in Hanoi, but also Zhang Zongheng's 40,000 officers and soldiers in southern Henan, and 70,000 soldiers from Hong Chengchou in Jin Dynasty were also heading towards Huaiqing. Maybe there would be more troops from the imperial court. If we send more troops to encircle and suppress us, at least 140,000 to 50,000 officers and soldiers will come to kill us. Should our current 30,000 troops defend the city, or abandon the city and flee?"
Gao Yingxiang frowned and said: "Well, I haven't decided yet. I will make a decision based on the situation at that time."
Zhang Xianzhong laughed "haha" and said: "You are the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. How can you not think clearly about such a big matter first? When the officers and soldiers are killed and don't know how to deal with it, won't we all be fools?"
"General Zhang is wrong!" It was Hua Bushi who answered.
He walked a few steps, came to the table, and said: "The way to use the army is to adapt to changes. How can everything be predicted in advance? It is true that the official army has more than 100,000 people, but Zhang Yingchang did not dare to garrison in Hanoi To act rashly, Zhang Zongheng is still in southern Henan and has not yet made any move to advance north. Hong Chengchou is far away in Shanxi. Even if the three armies are to join forces to attack Huaiqing, it will be at least half a month later. In these days, Marshal Gao will be able to make detailed plans and find a way to deal with it."
Zhang Xianzhong said: "It's true that it will take them ten days and a half to get here, but how long will it take? Even if Marshal Gao doesn't have specific arrangements now, he should at least come up with some general response strategies. Otherwise, we How can we all rest assured that all our brothers will be under the command of the commander-in-chief?"
With the 30,000 to 40,000 rebels currently in Huaiqing City, it is indeed difficult to deal with the more than 100,000 officers and soldiers who are about to be killed. Zhang Xianzhong's words revealed the worries of the rebel leaders in the hall. At that moment, several people Echoed loudly.
If the alliance status of the Thirty-sixth Battalion was before, once the officers and soldiers attacked and could not defeat the enemy, everyone would just disperse and go their own way. The anti-justice army had already obtained enough food and grass in Huaiqing City. , various people may flee or hide, or escape into the mountains and forests, and they can always hang out for a while. But now if they accept the recruitment, everyone will become Gao Yingxiang's subordinates, and what he plans to do will really affect all the rebels in the city. fate.
Gao Yingxiang sat at the table and was silent for a while. Li Zicheng had already spoken: "With the more than 30,000 brothers in Huaiqing City, their strength is far from that of the official army, so it is not easy to defend the city. But since There is still time, we can recruit other rebel teams. As far as Hongji knows, there are dozens of rebels in Henan, no less than 30,000 to 40,000 people, and there are even more brothers in Jin and Shaanxi. As long as we gather together With enough men and horses, even if this city is temporarily abandoned, other cities can be captured. Are you still worried about having no place to live?"
These words were very inspiring, and most of the rebel leaders nodded in agreement.
However, Zhang Xianzhong's expression remained unchanged and he said: "So, King Gao Chuang is planning to recruit other rebel teams? To fight head-on with 150,000 official troops, the rebel army must have at least 100,000 troops. The above is enough. I wonder if Marshal Gao has ever calculated how much food and grass they have to eat every day even if these many people are gathered, how much money they need to spend to build weapons and armor, and how much military pay they have to pay. ?And where will Gao Dashuai get this much money?"
After hearing Zhang Xianzhong's words, Gao Yingxiang's expression really changed.
For one hundred thousand troops, one month's military pay alone costs hundreds of thousands of silver, and the requirements for food, grass and armaments are at least double the military pay, which adds up to a considerable amount!
In fact, this kind of expenditure seems astonishing, but it is not surprising at all. Furthermore, we know that the Ming Dynasty currently spends no more than one to twenty million taels of silver on military every year. This is still the result of continuous arrears of military pay and reduction of troops. In the heyday of the Ming Dynasty, The military expenditure was at least twice that of today. If the rebels wanted to fight against the imperial officers and soldiers, a few million taels of silver would not be a high figure.
However, in Gao Yingxiang's eyes, this is really an unimaginable astronomical figure! What Hua Bushi told him before was to use the 300,000 taels of silver obtained from the treasury of Huaiqing City to recruit more than 30,000 people in the city. Horse, but I didn’t expect that the subsequent expenses would be so terrible![
In fact, Gao Yingxiang felt a little sad to spend the three hundred thousand taels of silver. Just because if he only had the seven or eight thousand men under his command, these silver taels would be enough to last for a long time, and although there were fewer people, it would be more flexible to fight guerrilla warfare. There are so many ways to recruit. The rebels were carrying a huge burden, and they would definitely become the biggest thorn in the side of the Ming Dynasty. They were destined to be constantly surrounded and hunted down by the main force of the official army, but there was no way out.
Thinking of this, the hesitation in Gao Yingxiang's eyes increased even more.
Li Zicheng also saw the difference in Gao Yingxiang's expression and said: "The commander-in-chief has to worry about military pay and food and grass. Our expenses are not a problem now. When it is really not enough, it will not be too late to find a way! But we Only by recruiting people from all walks of life as soon as possible and truly gathering everyone's strength can we avoid being defeated by the official army one by one, and can we hope to confront the official army!"
Gao Yingxiang was just a businessman before joining the rebel army, and this is the difference between a businessman and a tyrant. Businessmen are good at calculating gains and losses, and often do things that are not profitable, but their vision is not far-sighted enough. Therefore, what Gao Yingxiang thinks about is mostly the current seven The interests of eight thousand subordinates, and the number of victory or defeat in a moment.
But the hero could see the general trend of the world and understood that if he did not recruit all the rebels, he would eventually be unable to fight against the Ming Dynasty's official army. As for the cost of military pay, equipment, food and grass, in Li Zicheng's eyes, it was just a trivial matter, and he should never give up his great cause for these reasons. .
Zhang Xianzhong said: "King Gao Chuang, it is said that people who worry about the long-term must worry about the near future. In fact, if he is incorporated, Xianzhong will no longer have to worry about the military pay and food of his brothers in the future, and why not? I propose this Many of the questions are actually for the sake of the commander-in-chief. Now the brothers in the rebel army call Li Chuang the "Top King". Although it is just a joke, King Gao Chuang still thinks clearly about important matters like this and makes decisions for himself. Well, don’t make a decision just by listening to a few words of clever advice from others, or you’ll end up in an unmanageable situation!”
After entering Huaiqing City, there were indeed rumors among the rebels that Li Zicheng was nicknamed "Tai Shang Wang", saying that he had great achievements and was stronger than King Chuang. Now Zhang Xianzhong said it in front of Gao Yingxiang, saying that he It was intended to sow discord, but Li Zicheng could bear it, but the rough man Hao Yaoqi couldn't bear it anymore. He slammed the table and shouted: "Zhang Xianzhong, what are you talking about! If you dare to talk nonsense again, don't blame Hao. The uncle told you to look good!"
Zhang Xianzhong was cunning and cunning. Seeing Gao Yingxiang's expression, he knew that he had persuaded him, but he was not angry at Hao Yaoqi's shouting. He only sneered and said: "I didn't give you the nickname 'Tai Shang Wang'" Yes, others can shout it, but I can’t say it?”
Hao Yaoqi was about to yell again, but Li Zicheng quickly reached out to stop him.
Gao Yingxiang coughed lightly and said, "There are some soldiers in the army who are nicknamed randomly. It's not a big deal. You don't need to take it to heart. Well, the matter of recruiting troops has already been settled by General Zhang and the other three leaders. No one agrees, so I think it’s better to put it aside for the time being and allow for further discussion in the future.”
As soon as these words came out, Li Zicheng became a little anxious and said: "King Chuang, we cannot delay the recruitment. How can we delay it until later? Today we must..."