Although he returned to the wilderness and lost the shelter of the county city wall, Liu Heizi felt a lot more at ease. He would rather face the swords and guns of horse thieves than face the group of soldiers who are like the walking dead with vegetables in their faces. These people can't bear to kill, and if they don't kill, they will bring big trouble, and if they kill in the county, they will attract more people to rob, and if they rob everything, this trip to the northwest will be in vain.

Huang Dare said with a smile: "Fortunately, my brother reminded me to go to the head of these people. On the way, I grabbed a random military household, and found the home of a thousand households, and then the soldiers withdrew without blood. ”

Liu Heizi sighed: "Who would have thought that the county seat was more dangerous than the wild? It seems that the poison of the local area is more powerful than we imagined, you see these military households and people in Fengqiu County, no one is a ghost, no ghost is not a ghost, for the sake of property, etiquette, righteousness and shame are not wanted, and the extortion has become a robbery ......"

The guide interjected: "The Kaifeng area is not bad, whether it is extortion or robbery, it is only for money, and it is generally not fatal." When I got to northern Shaanxi, in order to survive, not to mention eating tree bark and Guanyin soil, it was common for people to eat people. ”

Huang Dare killed countless people, and shuddered when he heard this: "There are still people in the world who really eat people?" ”

"I'm hungry and I dare to eat anything. Usually the most eaten are women and children, their meat is tender, and they have no power to resist, they make the bones into firewood, the meat is removed and put in the pot, and after cooking, they are eaten, and they are generally called 'two-legged sheep'......"

Liu Heizi felt his stomach churning when he heard this, and he almost wanted to gause, so he hurriedly stopped the other party and said: "Okay, I know, don't say it again." ”

The convoy continued on its way. After learning the lesson of Fengqiu County, he slept in the open along the way, rarely entered the city, and encountered several other horse thieves, all of which were repelled cleanly. More than a month after departing from Shandong, Liu Heizi and others entered the territory of Shaanxi.

As the guide said, Shaanxi, as a place where the Liukou raised troops, is more miserable than Henan, which can be described as thousands of miles of red land, and starvation is everywhere. There are few people to be seen along the way, dead displaced people are everywhere, the fields are barren and weeds have grown, and sometimes you can't find a clean well for dozens of miles – full of dead bodies.

According to the Imperial Court Newspaper, at this time, Li Zicheng was active in the area of Weinan County, Xi'an Prefecture, and Ma Shouying, nicknamed Lao Huihui, were fighting against Hong Chengchou's encirclement and suppression. Liu Heizi and his entourage must find a way to reach Weinan and catch up with Li Zicheng.

On an early winter afternoon, the county seat of Weinan.

The city gate was opened, and the big banner of the word "Chuang" had been planted at the head of the city, and the soldiers of the Wandering People's Army with swords in their hands shuttled through the streets, and the corpses of officers and soldiers could be seen on the ground from time to time. Everywhere there were faint sounds of women sobbing and crying, mixed with smug laughter, and occasionally a disheveled woman ran out of the gate and was slashed to the ground by someone who caught up.

In the hall of the county government, Li Zicheng sat upright and discussed the next step with several henchmen.

The situation has changed a bit compared to the history that Xia Nan knew. Li Zicheng, who was originally going to be called King Chuang next year, in order to absorb the remnants of Gao Yingxiang and improve his status in the rebel armies from all walks of life, he had already declared that he would inherit his title of King Chuang when Gao Yingxiang was Ling Chi in the capital. Lao Huihui, who was once Gao Yingxiang's subordinate, also joined forces with Li Zicheng and returned to Shaanxi from Gansu to fight against officers and soldiers.

After capturing Weinan County, Li Zicheng's strength has increased, from the thousands of troops at the beginning of the division to about 20,000, but he is still in a weak position in the rebel armies from all walks of life, not to mention, there are 70,000 or 80,000 Lao Hui subordinates entrenched near Shangluo, far stronger than him.

A general in his early thirties stood up and said: "King Chuang, in my opinion, this place in Shaanxi is very poor, and Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting are pressing hard, so it is better to kill him back to Henan and make a fortune for him." ”

This person is Liu Zongmin, the first general under Li Zicheng, he is a native of Lantian, Shaanxi, born as a blacksmith, brave in battle, and has made many military exploits, which is deeply valued by Li Zicheng.

Liu Zongmin has a high reputation in the army, and his proposal was echoed by several people, who echoed it: "What Zong Min said is right, there is nothing to grab in Shaanxi, it is better to go to Henan to try our luck, and when the officers and soldiers turn around and come back, we will go to other places." ”

Li Zicheng thought so deeply and nodded. Since Yang Sichang, the new secretary of the Ministry of War, came to power, he put forward the strategy of "four squares and six corners, and ten sides of the net", trying to intercept and surround the mobile army of the people, and then break through each one. This strategy caused great trouble to Li Zicheng, who was not strong enough, and he could not escape the encirclement of officers and soldiers when he moved around Shaanxi, and the territory of his activities was seriously compressed.

"According to what Zong Min said, after resting in Weinan for a few days, I bypassed the Tongguan guarded by officers and soldiers from Shangluo, which was occupied by Lao Huihui, and went to Luoyang."

Everyone said: "King Chuang is wise! ”

At this time, the guards at the gate came in and reported: "King Yuchuang, our people have stopped a convoy, and the leader of the group has indicated that he wants to see you, saying that he is sending a great gift!" ”

Li Zicheng asked suspiciously: "Gifts?" Who's coming? ”

The guard hesitated to reply, "It seems to be ...... It's officers and soldiers. ”

Liu Zongmin took out his knife and shouted: "King Chuang, beware of fraud." How can officers and soldiers give us gifts? ”

Li Zicheng stretched out his hand and motioned for him to sit down, "Don't be impatient, bring someone up to ask for an understanding first." ”

The convoy was blocked outside the county seat, and Huang Dang and the soldiers of the special combat team vigilantly confronted the large crowd of displaced soldiers with guns in their arms. Several people came out of the city gate and cried out in a loud voice, "Whoever is the leader, come with me, for the king wants to see you." ”

Liu Heizi patted Huang Kang's shoulder and said, "Brother, I'm going, you take it easy, don't fight with them." ”

Huang Dang nodded: "You have to be careful." ”

Liu Heizi was led across the street, came to the county office, and calmly walked in under the malicious gaze of the soldiers of the Wandering People's Army at the gate.

When he arrived at the county hall, he saw a middle-aged man sitting in the middle, burly, with deep eye sockets, high eyebrow bones, and a hooked nose, it was estimated that he was the main man, so he saluted: "Liu Heizi, the envoy of Qionghai Town, has seen King Chuang!" ”

Li Zicheng asked quietly: "Qionghai Town? Is it the newly established border town in Guangdong, and the chief soldier's surname is Xia? ”

"Exactly."

With a "snap", Li Zicheng slapped the handrail heavily and scolded sharply: "Your master killed the former King Chuang, and he still dared to swagger to send him to death?" Say, what is your intention in coming to Shaanxi? ”

Liu Zongmin put the knife on Liu Heizi's neck and said loudly: "King Chuang, don't talk nonsense with him, Lao Tzu will cut off his dog's head now and pay tribute to Brother Gao!" ”

Everyone in the lobby stood up, stared at Liu Heizi, put their hands on the handle of the knife, and the atmosphere became tense.