In order to avoid being surrounded by the Ming army, Zhang Xianzhong decided to go west to Fang County and first meet with Luo Rucai and other troops. On 23 May, Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army arrived in Fang County, and Luo Rucai, Bai Gui, and Hei Yunxiang immediately responded and jointly besieged the county seat of Fang County from 24 May. Hao Jingchun, the magistrate of the county, and others resisted stubbornly, and on the 28th, the city had no power to parry, and Ming Yunyangwei commanded Zhang Sanxi to open the north gate and surrender, and the peasant army occupied Fang County, and Hao Jingchun of the magistrate was executed.

At this time, Li Zicheng, the long-silent king of Chuang, also regrouped from the hidden Shang Mountain, and entered Henan through the Yun and Jun regions of Hubei. Although his strength was still small at this time, he finally came back to life.

On May 19, the twelfth year of Chongzhen, outside the city of Xiangyang.

"Kunshan! The net worth of the Governor is yours. At this time, Xiong Wencan had completely put down his body and bowed down to ask Zuo Liangyudao.

"Don't panic, Inspector! is a clown who jumps off the beam, and the last general will be caught. But the superintendent should also step up and take the main force of the officers and troops to respond. The hour has come, and the last general will set out first. Zuo Liangyu also immediately knelt down and saluted.

"Please! Come on! ”

When the news of Zhang Xianzhong's rebellion in Gucheng reached the capital, the imperial court was shocked. Emperor Chongzhen immediately severely reprimanded Xiong Wencan for his helplessness and ordered him to make meritorious contributions. And Xiong Wencan also seemed to have a premonition that a catastrophe was coming, so he hurriedly sent the chief military officer Zuo Liangyu to lead the army to suppress it, hoping to win the crime by luck.

At this time, Zuo Liangyu's department was the most effective unit under Xiong Wencan. Although Xiong Wencan's food supply was very stingy with other Ming troops, he was always inclined to Zuo Liangyu's department. Because Xiong Wencan also knows that it is better to have a capable army by his side.

So taking advantage of the period when the peasant army was recuperating and recuperating, Zuo Liangyu was also expanding the army on a large scale. At this time, the troops under his direct and indirect command had reached more than 46,000 troops. And the troops directly under Zuo Liangyu exceeded 25,000 people.

However, it was also because the expansion of the army was too fierce, Zuo Liangyu scattered his troops very widely. Let them all collect on the spot, that is, rob the people on the spot. Therefore, when the news of Zhang Xianzhong's rebellion reached Xiangyang, Zuo Liangyu was able to gather only 12,000 people in a hurry.

According to Zuo Liangyu's original idea, of course, he wanted to gather his troops before he went to encircle and suppress the peasant army. But Xiong Wencan couldn't wait, because he was afraid that if he delayed, the whole situation would be out of control.

Now the situation is somewhat clear: Zhang Xianzhong has rebelled again, and after capturing Gucheng, they turned to Luo Rucai and other troops in Fang County, and wanted to attack Fang County in conjunction with Luo Rucai's troops. But in addition to the two largest peasant armies, there are also "appeased" Wang Guangen and Wang Guoning in the Junzhou area. There were more than 20,000 peasant troops in five battalions, including Hui Dengxiang, Chang Guoan, and Yang Youxian.

If the more than 20,000 peasant troops in Junzhou were to uncover the rod again, it would really be a war all over the place, and it would be difficult to clean it up. Therefore, Xiong Wencan wanted Zuo Liangyu to extinguish Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai's anti-peasant army as quickly as possible, deter the peasant army living in Junzhou, and prevent them from echoing. In order to curb the peasant army's revolt at the first time, the situation has further expanded. Create a good condition for the encirclement and suppression of the main force of the Ming army on all sides.

So Xiong Wencan began to grind softly and hard, and Zuo Liangyu must come to a "soldier and god speed". zuihou after offering a series of favorable conditions. Zuo Liangyu finally agreed to take the 12,000 men and horses around him to the expedition first.

After Zuo Liangyu was transferred to the interior, he had been fighting on the front line against the peasant army. And so far, there are many victories and few losses, and he has repeatedly made military exploits, and after the death of Cao Wenzhao, he has faintly become the first general to suppress bandits in the eyes of the imperial court.

Over here. Wu Shigong, of course, was ignored. Because the relationship between Wu Shigong and Emperor Chongzhen and local officials is very bad, the imperial court has a disregard for Wu Shigong's military exploits. Therefore, it led to no propaganda and no reward for the Runing Army. In the late Ming Dynasty, when the dissemination of information was very closed, of course, people in the government and the opposition did not know much about the situation of the Runing Army.

Therefore, Zuo Liangyu's military talent should be affirmed. But he has other advantages. For example, he had a lot of means to make other Ming generals willing to obey Zuo Liangyu's command. Of course, the method he commanded was basically to make a fortune and connive at his subordinates to loot places. Therefore, Zuo Liangyu's subordinates were satisfied, and the local people suffered.

In addition, Zuo Liangyu is also very righteous. For example, Hou Sui was the first person to promote him from bias to general, so he always had great respect for Hou Sui. Two years ago, Hou Sui was dismissed and arrested and imprisoned when he was appointed as the head of the household department, although Zuo Liangyu did not intercede with Wu Shigong at that time, but Zuo Liangyu still maintained a close relationship with the Hou family, and when he marched to Hou Sui's hometown of Guidefu, he also made an exception not to rob and harass.

Therefore, when Xiong Wencan begged Zuo Liangyu to send troops, Zuo Liangyu did not drag his feet and immediately sent troops. Since Xiong Wencan's supply of food and salary is inclined to Zuo Liangyu, Zuo Liangyu will contribute to Xiong Wencan. In this regard, Zuo Liangyu still has clear grievances.

Of course, Zuo Liangyu is also confident with more than 10,000 people. Since Chongzhen was promoted to the commander of the army in the sixth year of Chongzhen, Zuo Liangyu, who was only thirty-two years old at the time, his subordinates have also increased from the original 2,000 men and horses to more than 10,000 people.

In the past few years of conquest, there were dozens of commanders in various towns who fought against the peasant army in the Central Plains and Northwest at that time, but most of them did nothing, or were killed in defeat on the battlefield, or were dismissed and punished by the imperial court.

Zuo Liangyu himself is also brave and healthy, although he is illiterate, he is very scheming, and he is also very able to unite his soldiers. The salaries of the imperial court were always insufficient, so he plundered everywhere, which was also introduced above. Anyway, the people everywhere and even the squires hated and feared the Left Army. At that time, the folk slogan said, "A thief is like a comb, and a soldier is like a grate." "The place where Zuo Liangyujun passed was really like combing his hair with a grate, and he robbed the place cleanly. In particular, he also knows how to preserve his strength, and when he encounters an enemy who is too tough, he will stay away, and refuse to carry out the orders of his superiors, but the governor, Fuhe and the court have no way to deal with him.

Therefore, after six or seven years of suppression, he has gathered a group of strong generals, often acting on his own, and in fact has begun to gradually become a warlord. Unlike Wu Shigong, Wu Shigong's Runing Army was a warlord without the support of the imperial court, while Zuo Liangyu was a warlord with the support of the imperial court.

So in this case, Zuo Liangyu was a little proud, and he didn't know that Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and other peasant armies had recovered and strengthened their strength through rest, so he thought that it was enough for him to bring more than 10,000 people. (To be continued......)