Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong successively proclaimed the king in Xiangyang and Wuchang, which greatly shocked the Ming court, and Chongzhen hurriedly issued an order to set up a special governor in Jiangxi, Huguang, Yingtian (Nanjing) and Anqing, and the governor was stationed in Jiujiang, and Lu Daqi, the right attendant of the military department, served as the governor.

Zuo Liangyu first looted in the Jiujiang area in the name of raising salaries, and then said that he was sick and did not enter, all because there was Li Zicheng in Xiangyang and Zhang Xianzhong in Wuchang, Zhang Xianzhong had 200,000 troops, and Li Zicheng was known as one million.

Although Zhang Xianzhong's 200,000 army was just recruited after the capture of Wuchang, his soldiers under Zuo Liangyu were not much better, and his 200,000 army was also driven into the army when he was in Xiangyang, and it was just pulled up.

Although he looted all the way from Xiangyang and practiced some ruthlessness, strictly speaking, he was not an army, and could only be regarded as a group of habitual bandits. Zuo Liangyu, who was afraid, then complained of illness in Jiujiang.

Lu Daqi, the newly baked governor of the four provinces, had to personally go to Zuo Liangyu's bed to comfort him, and it is unknown how Lu Daqi comforted Zuo Liangyu, whether it was chrysanthemums or silver, but after the consolation, Zuo Liangyu sent troops to Wuchang.

On the other hand, after Zhang Xianzhong took Wuchang, he threw Zhu Huakui, the king of Chu, into a pot and boiled it, and then proclaimed himself the king of Daxi, set up six departments and five armies to supervise the palace, and appointed local officials. Changed Wuchang to Tianzhufu, Jiangxia said Shangjiang County, and opened a department to recruit talents, on the surface of the scenery is incomparable.

In fact, Zhang Xianzhong was not happy, he called the king Li Zicheng sent someone to congratulate: "The old return has been surrendered, Cao, Ge, and Zuo are all dead, and you are good." ”

Where is this Daohe, it is clearly a naked threat: Among the leaders of the rebel army who conquered Luzhou with you Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui has already surrendered, Cao Cao, Ge Liyan, Zuo Jinwang and others are dead, and now it is your turn Zhang Xianzhong.

Although Zhang Xianzhong also pulled up 200,000 horses, the blind man ate rice balls, and he knew in his heart that his 200,000 people were still digging in the field with hoes yesterday. There is no comparison with Li Zicheng's veterans who have been fighting for several years.

Li Zicheng of Xiangyang wanted to swallow him in one bite, Zuo Liangyu of Jiujiang also wanted to bite him, and Zhang Xianzhong, who was attacked on both sides, was in an irritable mood and was throwing a cup in the palace of the king of Chu.

He was thirty-seven years old today, with a long and thin body and a slightly yellow face, a beard more than a foot long, and a strong and fruitful man, especially a pair of inverted eight-figure eyebrows, which made him look majestic, with a rough and wild taste.

His rather peculiar appearance also saved his life, when he was in the army in Yansui Town, because of the violation of the law should be beheaded, the main general Chen Hongfan is to see his strange appearance, for him to intercede with the chief military officer Wang Wei, Zhang Xianzhong to avoid a death, and then beat a hundred military sticks to drive away from the army.

In addition to the military advisor Xu Yixian, there are four generals in the hall, namely Pingdong General Sun Kewang, Funan General Liu Wenxiu, Anxi General Li Dingguo, and Dingbei General Ai Nengqi, all four of whom are in their twenties.

Sun Kewang looked arrogant and ambitious.

Liu Wenxiu is similar, judging from his expression, this person may be a little stubborn.

Li Dingguo is more special, majestic with a hint of bookishness, known for his generosity in the army, he defected to Zhang Xianzhong at the age of ten, and was known for his bravery in the face of the enemy, but he also likes to read the art of war and history books, in Zhang Xianzhong's rebel army full of anger, he can be said to be an outlier.

Ai Nengqi is the most sturdy of the four, with a bearded face, a tiger's back, a murderous spirit, always taking the lead in battle, daring to die and fighting, and extremely brave.

These four people are the most effective generals under Zhang Xianzhong, in order to better attract them, Zhang Xianzhong called the queen, and then accepted the four of them together as righteous sons and changed their surname to Zhang.

After the cup fell, Zhang Xianzhong sat down on the tiger skin chair with a golden knife and asked in a deep voice: "You all tell me, what should we do next?" ”

Sun Kewang's personality is the most similar to Zhang Xianzhong, and he is usually the most loved by Zhang Xianzhong, he came out first and hugged his fists and said: "Father-in-law, our territory is connected to Li Zicheng, if we go all out to fight with Zuo Liangyu, Li Zicheng is very likely to go down the Han River and reap the benefits of the fisherman, so I have to guard against it." ”

Liu Wenxiu said: "I suggest that my father-in-law take Sichuan in the west, Sichuan is the country of abundance, self-contained, why not learn from Liu Bei, take Sichuan first, after the operation is good, go north out of Hanzhong can take Guanzhong, down the river can be overlooked Jinghu, advance can be attacked, retreat can be defended, it is really a foolproof strategy." ”

Li Dingguo then stood up and said: "Father-in-law, our men and horses have just been recruited, not in time for training, Zuo Liangyu's 200,000 troops came, Xishui, Dazhi, Yangxin and other places have been lost, and the officials sent fled and rebelled, so it can be seen that our time in Wuchang is too short, and the people's hearts have not yet been attached. Looking around, Huguang is rich, and the defense is empty, we might as well wave our army to the south, first take Huguang, and then attack Jiangxi, so that we are expected to collect half of the south of the Yangtze River. ”

Zhang Xianzhong nodded and asked Aine Nengqi: "Nengqi, what do you think?" ”

"Back to my father, I agree with going south to Huguang, as the saying goes, persimmons choose soft pinching, Huguang is empty, why should we give up the near to seek far into Sichuan, first take Huguang, and then attack Sichuan is not too late."

Zhang Xianzhong Zuihou asked the military advisor Xu Yixian: "Why does the military advisor think so?" ”

Xu Yixian shook the feather fan and replied: "From a humble point of view, Zuo Liangyu is not afraid, the king's territory has been connected with Xiangyang, Zuo Liangyu was afraid of Li Zicheng, let's not go, he will never dare to really attack Wuchang, under the pressure of Chongzhen, Zuo Liangyu will dare to make a show in Xishui, Dazhi, and Yangxin at most, and perfunctory Chongzhen." ”

Zuo Liangyu's offensive has indeed slowed down slightly in the past two days, and Zhang Xianzhong breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Military advisor, please continue." ”

"As for whether to take Huguang first, or take Sichuan in the west, we have to calculate Li Zicheng's next move, if Li Zicheng intends to take the Beijing division directly, we can first take Huguang, Jiangxi, and then sit on the entire Jiangnan, so that we can not only form a mutual response, which is conducive to our current war, but also conducive to the future draw of the river and rule. Or Li Zicheng plans to take Jiangnan first, and then go north to Beijing, we will immediately face the situation of two tigers competing for Huguang in the south, which is very unfavorable to us, so if Li Zicheng intends to map Jiangnan first, we will take Sichuan in the west as the best policy. ”

Xu Yixian is a scholar, and has always compared himself to Zhuge Liang, and since following Zhang Xianzhong, Zhang Xianzhong often asked him to explain the art of war, which is very respectful.

Of course, this is a superficial phenomenon, Zhang Xianzhong was born recklessly, and he has an instinctive rejection of scholars, from the fact that he called the queen to accept Sun Kewang as his righteous son and was named the general of the four towns, and Xu Yixian is still a military advisor, it is not difficult to find some clues.

But Xu Yixian's words Zhang Xianzhong felt that it was indeed reasonable, Li Zicheng was powerful, and now he was entrenched in Xiangyang, if Li Zicheng planned to take Jiangnan first, it would be unwise to compete with Li Zicheng by himself, it would be better to avoid his edge for the time being, and take Sichuan in the west and sit on the big side.

But if Li Zicheng takes Yanjing in the north and enters Sichuan in the west, he will lose the best opportunity to seize Jiangnan. Therefore, Li Zicheng's next move is the key.

"The military advisor is reasonable, and immediately sent to inquire about Li Zicheng's movements, and when there is a result, we will decide to stop."

It is not difficult to find out Li Zicheng's movements, the rebels from all walks of life are often you have me, I have you, and many of Li Zicheng's subordinates have a close relationship with Zhang Xianzhong, such as Luo Rucai, who is now second only to Li Zicheng;

At the beginning, Li Zicheng wanted to kill Zhang Xianzhong, or Luo Rucai saved Zhang Xianzhong's life and gave him 500 horses, Zhang Xianzhong could make a comeback soon, with these relationships, it is not difficult to inquire about Li Zicheng's next move, and Wuchang is very close to Xiangyang, and it will not take a few days to go back and forth.

***

On the school field of Huichang Qianhu, Qin Mu was shirtless, with a few blue and purple bruises on his back, his shoulders were red and swollen, he and Xiang Liancheng were in a group, Huo Sheng was in a group with another hundred households Hou Chang, each carrying a piece of wood weighing more than 100 catties and standing on the white lime line, the sun was blazing in the sky, everyone was sweating, and their clothes and pants were wet.

A gong sounded, two groups of people carried the giant tree and rushed to the finish line at the same time, the school field was surrounded by soldiers, one by one shouting excitedly, cheering for Qin Mu and them, the scorching sun was not as high as everyone's enthusiasm, and the shouts cut through the sky.

Huo Sheng and Hou Chang were both big men with five big and three thick, Qin Mu was inferior to them in terms of strength, and they were quickly thrown off more than two feet after starting.

Huo Sheng ran and didn't forget to tease Qin Mu: "My lord, you take it easy, don't worry, we will wait for you at the finish line." ”

Qin Mu ignored it, gritted his teeth and accelerated towards Liancheng, under the scorching sun, even if he stood empty-handed, he would sweat profusely, not to mention that Qin Mu and they had to carry nearly two hundred catties of wood to run, and several of their pants were as if they had just been fished out of the water, wet and sticking to their bodies, and even the shape of the eggs was faintly visible.

The shouts of the soldiers around him became louder and louder, and most of them cheered for Qin Mu, all of them shouted hoarsely, and the strength consumed was only a little less than that of Qin Mu, Huo Sheng saw that Qin Mu and the two of them had caught up a lot, and they also began to speed up in a hurry, but Hou Chang behind him failed to coordinate the reduction in time and was staggered.

The onlookers suddenly made an uproar, and one by one they gloated and screamed:

"Yo ho."

"Pour, pour, pour."

"Alas, it hasn't fallen yet, it's going to fall quickly."

"Hahaha"

Amidst the screams of thousands of soldiers, Huo Sheng realized his mistake and hurriedly slowed down.

However, it was good that he didn't slow down, this slowdown, Hou Chang, who had just quickened his pace to keep up, was disrupted again, and suddenly fell to the sky.

Qin Mu and Xiang Liancheng's muffled voices accelerated, and they overtook Huo Sheng's annoyed scolding, and the voices cheering for Qin Mu around them were even higher and higher, and they booed Huo Sheng and the others.

When Hou Chang got up, Qin Mu and Xiang Liancheng were less than two zhang away from the finish line, Hou Chang and Huo Sheng were anxious and chased after each other, but they only ran a few steps, and because of poor coordination, the two of them squeezed and fell into a dog to eat, and the giant wood on their shoulders rolled out five or six zhang away, but it was still Zhou Guan's soldiers who stopped it, and the giant wood stopped.

In the warm cheers, Qin Mu and Xiang Liancheng both rushed across the finish line, the wood on their shoulders was thrown, Qin Mu stepped on the giant tree, although he was panting like a cow, he didn't forget to turn around and look around, as if looking for someone, "Huo Sheng, where did you go, didn't you say that you were waiting for the official at the finish line?" ”

The onlookers all let out a loud voice when they heard this, some exaggerated and even sat on the ground with laughter, just got up, and Huo Sheng, who had not had time to erase the soil on his face, did not wipe the soil now, keep it, just to block the red tide on his face.

Qin Mu made a gesture and said loudly after everyone calmed down: "In terms of strength, Huo Sheng and the two are indeed stronger than the two officials, and if they lose, they will lose without coordinating the rhythm, this truth seems simple, but it is the easiest mistake to make in marching and fighting." Song Shenzong attacked Xia on the fifth route, and the overall strength of the Song army was much stronger than that of Western Xia, but because the five-way army was not well coordinated, it was finally defeated. There are many examples of such battles, as small as two people fighting, and it is not surprising that if you can coordinate and cover each other, you can defeat an enemy who is stronger than you. Okay, think more about yourself, and everyone keep practicing, keep practicing. ”

With Qin Mu taking the lead, thousands of soldiers were enthusiastic, in groups of two and two, carrying giant trees and running, the yellow dust was rolling on the school field, and the shouts were shocking. Listening to this bloody roar, seeing that a strong army was expected to take shape, Qin Mu felt that the fatigue on his body had been reduced a lot.

At this time, Liu Meng approached him and reported: "My lord, Xu Yingjie has brought more than 20 craftsmen to see your lordship." ”

"Oh, good, good."

Qin Mu hurriedly returned to the big tent, put on his clothes and rushed to the county office, before he had an agreement with Xu Yingjie, let him help find skilled craftsmen from all parties such as smelting and casting, in order to build his own military logistics system, now that Xu Yingjie finally found someone, he was naturally anxious to meet.