In late May last year, the Ming court used the former household department Shangshu Hou Sui who was in prison as the supervisor, and gathered Zuo Liangyu, Yang Wenyue, Ding Qirui and other troops, known as 450,000 troops, to fight Li Zicheng in Zhuxian Town, near Kaifeng.

The two sides fought fiercely for five days in the battle of Zhuxian Town, and finally ended in a great defeat of the official army, Li Zicheng successively annihilated more than 100,000 enemies, captured more than 20,000 horses and countless military grain and grass.

The battle of Zhuxian Town is of great significance, according to the Governor Hou Sui, the battle was defeated, so that the world's "strong soldiers" are all owned by Li thieves, the elite of the rebels is abnormal, there is no strong city at all, the officers and soldiers only dare to ask where the rebels are going, and they dare not attack again.

No matter how many stinky farts Hou Sui's words contained, one thing is true: the disastrous defeat in this battle forced the officers and troops to shift from strategic offensive to strategic defense.

In September, Chongzhen forced Sun Chuanting to take the untrained Shaanxi army out of Tongguan to launch an attack on Li Zicheng, Li Zicheng in the east of Jiaxian County, and then defeated Sun Chuanting's Shaanxi army and the "Tuqi Canal" (that is, the landlord's army), so far, except for the Liaodong army, the Ming court no longer has an army to compete with Li Zicheng.

In December, Li Zicheng waved his army south, and Zuo Liangyu, who retreated from Zhuxian Town to Xiangyang, was defeated in a battle, and fled all the way to Wuchang, and later saw Li Zicheng go south to attack Yicheng, Guanghua and other cities, Zuo Liangyu did not even dare to stay in Wuchang, and retreated all the way to Jiujiang, Jiangxi to wait and see.

Li Zicheng, who occupied Xiangyang, claimed to have millions of soldiers, and when he looked around, there was no enemy who dared to attack, and he felt that it was time to be king.

As a result, in March this year, Li Zicheng became the "new king of Shun", set up an official system, and established a central and local political power organs;

The central government is divided into civilian and military positions, and the civilian positions are set up with officials such as Taishi, Shangxiangguo, Zuo Fu, and Zuo Bi, and six governments such as officials, households, rites, soldiers, criminals, and workers, and appoint officials such as Shilang, Langzhong, and Engaged;

There are three levels of prefecture, prefecture and county, with the government set up Yin, the prefecture as the pastor, and the county as the order, and local officials were appointed in six prefectures, 18 prefectures, and 67 counties in Henan, Huguang and other places.

Militarily, with the development of the situation and the increase in the number of soldiers, Li Zicheng set up five battalions, namely, the standard, the front, the rear, the left, the right, and the battalion, of which the standard battalion led 100 teams, and the other four battalions each led 30 teams.

The highest military position is the general of the leading troops, the general of the army, which is held by Tian Jianxiu and Liu Zongmin, and the chief general of each battalion is called the general, which is filled by Liu Fangliang, Liu Xiyao, Yuan Zongdi, Li Guo and others, in addition to General Guoyi, General Weiwu and other nine grades.

After all this was smoothed, the time had entered July of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, and an important meeting to determine the future strategic direction was held in the "Xinshun Wang" mansion as scheduled.

The burly and majestic Xinshun King Li Zicheng sat on the king's chair, and when he attacked the city, he was blinded in one left eye by Chen Yongfu, the deputy general of Kaifeng City, so he wore a black blindfold, which made him a little more arrogant, and looked more like a mountain king.

In the main hall, twenty or thirty civil and military officials gathered together and started a heated debate, which lasted for a long time, and slowly formed three different voices;

The faction led by Niu Jinxing, the left auxiliary, advocated waving troops to capture Hebei and directly capture the Beijing division.

The faction led by Yang Yongyu, a servant of the Li government, advocated occupying Jinling first and taking half of the south of the Yangtze River.

The faction led by Gu Junen, who was engaged in the military government, suggested taking Shaanxi first.

In the new dynasty and new atmosphere, Niu Jinxing wore a brand-new robe, walked out of class with a calm quartet and said: "King, there are clouds on the left: husband fight, courage also." A drum, and then decline, Fang Jin, hundreds of thousands of troops in the Ming court are lost, the Central Plains has no division to fight, and from the Central Plains to the Beijing division, there is no danger of mountains and rivers to last, and our army is newly victorious, morale is high, just a blow, straight to the Yellow Dragon, once the Beijing division is taken, go to its head, then the Ming court has spare limbs, and then it can be passed on to the decide. ”

As soon as Niu Jinxing finished speaking, Yang Yongyu, the servant of the courtesy government, immediately went out and said generously: "The king, it is probably not the best policy to take the Beijing division directly, the king has taken Xiangyang newly, and the foundation is just planted, and it is too hasty to rush to fight a decisive battle with the elite of the Ming court at this time;

Although the Ming court has no war division in the Central Plains, but there are still a large number of elite soldiers in the Beijing division and Liaodong, the so-called trapped beast is still fighting, we rush to attack its head, the Ming court will fight back desperately, and then I am afraid that even if we can win the Beijing division, we will also be greatly injured, and it is difficult to guarantee that others will not get the benefit of the fisherman,

The king, Jiangnan is rich, has not been damaged by war, and there is no strong army to defend it, as long as the king breaks Zuo Liangyu's 200,000 rabble, it is no longer difficult to go straight to Jiangnan;

The Ming court now supplies a corner of the south of the Yangtze River, as long as the king captures Jinling, the supply of the Beijing division will be cut off, and after the Jiangnan is stabilized, the king will wave his army to the north, and then the Beijing division will be self-defeating. ”

The military government is not to be outdone, this debate will be related to the future strategic direction of the Dashun Army, the stakes are very high, once whose plan is adopted, then the future status is naturally not the same, he immediately went out to argue: "Great King, Jinling is in the lower class, although it is not difficult to take it, but it is inevitable that this policy will be slow to determine the world;

Go straight to the Beijing Division, as Yang Shilang said, there are still tens of thousands of elite soldiers in the Ming Court, if you can't win, the king will retire? This policy is too hasty, and it is not a superior policy;

Look at Guanzhong again, the state of the king Sangzi is also, one hundred and two mountains and rivers, two-thirds of the world, Qin, Han, Sui and Tang are all prosperous in Guanzhong, all because of the more strong pawns in Guanzhong, enter the Central Plains, sweep the world, retreat can rely on the risk of the four stoppers to hold on, recuperate;

Therefore, it is advisable to take Guanzhong first, and then ignore the three sides, invest its troops, and then capture Shanxi, and then go to Beijing, and follow this, advance and retreat, and ensure that nothing is lost. ”

Although Li Zicheng is violent, he has an advantage, he is very good at listening to the opinions of his subordinates, and is rarely rigid and arbitrary.

He rarely interjected in the arguments in the palace, and after everyone had clarified their opinions, he thought about it carefully, thinking that Gu Junen's strategy neutralized Niu Jinxing's urgency and Yang Yongyu's slowness, and it was not unstable, plus he was from Shaanxi, and he also tended to make Shaanxi a foundation first.

He raised his right hand and pressed it lightly, stopping everyone in the hall from continuing to argue, and then said in a deep voice: "What Gu Cheng said is very much in line with the king's intentions, first take the pass in the middle of the attack, retreat and defend, without losing stability, this matter is so decided." ”

After Li Zicheng made a decision, all the civil and military cadres in the palace should be in unison, and there was no objection.

***

In Wuchang City, Zhang Xianzhong was waiting anxiously, after Zuo Liangyu's 200,000 troops forced to the Ezhou area, although he did not advance westward, but he was sandwiched between Zuo Liangyu and Li Zicheng, and it can be said that he could not sleep well.

Let's go directly to Sichuan, and I am afraid that Li Zicheng has no intention of going south, and he will lose the opportunity to capture half of the south of the river in vain;

If you go south to Huguang, I am afraid that Li Zicheng will also intend to take Jiangnan first, and then Li Zicheng's million-strong army will come with the momentum of thunder, and at that time, I am afraid that there will be no chance to enter Sichuan, and it will be swallowed up by Li Zicheng directly.

Xiangyang was not far from Wuchang, and on the third day after Li Zicheng made his decision, Zhang Xianzhong received accurate information.

After Zhang Xianzhong learned that Li Zicheng had decided to take Guanzhong first, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and immediately ordered Sun Kewang and others loudly: "Okay, great, pass on the order of the king, and the army will prepare immediately. ”

Sun Kewang and the four of them hugged their fists together, and then withdrew from the hall to prepare, and the heralds rushed to the states and counties to convey Zhang Xianzhong's orders, and for a while, Wuchang and the surrounding counties were in chaos;

It is not an easy task for the 200,000 army and their families to complete the preparations for pulling out the camp and moving to war within three days, not to mention that the 200,000 horses are not strictly counted as an army at all, but just a rabble that has just been pulled up.

But in any case, a few days later, 200,000 horses came out, and the huge momentum was 100,000 terrifying;

But seeing the flag on the river covering the sun, the yellow dust on the shore is full of sky, and the army of land and water stretches for nearly 100 miles, and the black pressure is like a dark cloud covering the ground.

Those small counties and towns don't want to resist, they are already frightened when they see this formation, where Zhang Xianzhong's army passes, it can be said that the momentum is like a bamboo, and the officials of the prefectures and counties either accompany the smiling face like a bitch, and open the city gate carelessly to welcome guests, or abandon the city and flee early;

The entire northern part of Huguang was full of crying, and the fleeing officials and civilians were congested on the way, panicking and not knowing where to go.