stubborn thief

Chapter 521 Recruiting Officials
After leaving the Gulang Gorge and entering the Zhuanglang River Valley, Liu Chengzong was a little absent-minded during the half-hour march.

When he was in Hehuang, he could still get first-hand residence newspapers from Gansu officials, but after the Gansu campaign began, this line was broken. There is no new information available.

In the earlier Gansu Dibao, there was basically no news about the rebels in the Central Plains, and at most there were a few movements of the tribes in Outer Mongolia. Therefore, the Marshal's Mansion had a great lag in the intelligence of the rebels in Shaanxi.

In his impression, Zhang Xianzhong and his gang should all be in Shanxi right now.

After occupying Ganzhou, the correspondence with his father Liu Xiangyu mentioned that there were [-] peasant troops gathered in the western part of the Qinling Mountains, but even so, Liu Shizi never thought that Zhang Xianzhong would appear here.

Liu Chengzong seriously thought about his relationship with the peasant army, and finally came to an embarrassing conclusion.

If they are far away, they are good friends on offense and defense. Even if they have never met, they are absolutely trustworthy; if they are close, Liu Chengzong is also a strong backing that can provide military support to others.

Only, in the environment where there is me in you and you in me, the relationship between the two parties will deteriorate sharply.

After all, times have changed, and the war has progressed to this stage. Hundreds of leaders died in the rebellion that sprang up in Shaanxi. To be inferior?
However, even though Liu Shizi had thought about the possibility of this situation, the characters he envisioned should be the older generation Gao Yingxiang, or the less powerful sweeping king Zhang Yichuan and the general Li Zicheng who had some intersections.

And Zhang Xianzhong is a character that Liu Chengzong never thought of.

"Appointment?"

This is why Zhang Xianzhong believed that Liu Chengzong would not attack him directly.

But even though he had already figured it out in his mind, Wei Qian'er led the battalion to go south in silence without saying hello, which still put a lot of pressure on Zhang Xianzhong.

Now, generals, look at me and I look at you, looking at a loss.

Because Zhang Xianzhong was not an independent leader at the beginning of his career, but a member of Wang Jiayin's team.

Zhang Xianzhong just wanted to throw a bowl, so how do you think Liu Chengzong's posture is planning to overturn the table?
Arrows cannot be wound, they must be released, and the mobilization of the army is the same. Now that the city is surrounded by more than 1 troops on three sides, and trenches have been dug, it means that Liu Chengzong put himself first.

They wondered: what we did can be big or small, and it is all from the Shaanxi Township Party. No matter how you say it, we won’t besiege the city and kill it directly, right?

Zhang Xianzhong was also confused by Liu Chengzong's silent operation of surrounding the city. He was not sure what Liu Chengzong meant. This seemed to have gone beyond the scope of intimidation and showing off.

With such a posture, if Zhang Xianzhong did not bow his head, Liu Chengzong would probably have no choice but to attack the city.

But Liu Chengzong's army is really different from the rebels.

If the emperor is Lao Tzu, I will definitely kill you in the end, so what's the point of having a good relationship with the dead?

Zhang Xianzhong has been fooled, I'm just playing with you, what's the matter with your sister-in-law?

Zhang Xianzhong has always been in this kind of way of getting along with the powerful leaders, because these leaders will not send troops to beat him immediately in order to show their tolerance.

Although there are many people in the Marshal's Mansion, no one in Zhuang Langwei's battlefield can hold [-] to [-] troops. At worst, I will run east, and I will have enough food and drink in the valley anyway.

Because the relationship is close enough, Zhang Xianzhong's men and horses come from different paths from other leaders. Others rely more or less on fellow villagers when they raise troubles. Zhang Xianzhong was born in Liushujian under the side wall. There are not many fellow countrymen in his army.

With the step up, Zhang Xianzhong cursed to save face, and then agreed to let Liu Tichun send someone to contact the Marshal Army.

Of course, this is all based on one premise. Zhang Xianzhong judged that because of the [-] rebels in Qinling, Liu Chengzong would have a strong tolerance and tolerance for him.

So he always thought that Liu Chengzong's Marshal's Mansion was the Marshal's Mansion of Marshal Hengtian.

Zhang Xianzhong is different from Liu Chengzong. From the very beginning, Liu Chengzong's family has established their own small stronghold in Yan'an Mansion. They need to store food and have places to spend. Building an army costs a lot and leaves little rewards for soldiers. Rarely loot the place.

Unexpectedly, the young man who had been very nervous suddenly grinned happily, shook his head and said, "I'm afraid, but General Zhang, my sister-in-law has given birth to a baby, a boy."

In fact, the elite forces of the various rebel armies during this period were the old Ming army, strong and weak, and they all knew what cards the opponent had in their hands. It depends on who has a strong organization, a stable military spirit, and a high strategy.

Fortunately, the long-term cohesion is still there, and the influence of the different military laws of the two armies has not been bridged. However, this also brought Zhang Xianzhong a huge sense of crisis-he cannot do without the army.

Everyone raised their heads to rebel, but there can only be one emperor in the world.

Lao Zhang is sober in the world, and he has long wanted to understand a problem. Daming's country seems to be dying. Don't look at the leaders of all walks of life.

The man didn't wear armor, he looked in his early twenties, and looked around with trepidation, which made him feel strange, why did Liu Chengzong send such a coward?
Not long after, Liu Tichun called people to open the city, saluted Zhang Xianzhong with a somewhat embarrassed expression, and reported: "Brother, this is the magistrate of Zhuanglang appointed by the Generalissimo. He is holding the letter of appointment given to us by the Generalissimo."

But Liu Tichun persuaded: "Brother, take it..."

Now that I know, it's fine if I don't go to Gulang Gorge to pay a visit, and I'm still talking nonsense about exempting tax for three years in Zhuanglang Valley.

Zhang Xianzhong knew that Liu Chengzong was unhappy.

At noon on the ninth day of July, Zhang Xianzhong, who was working in the yamen of the Zhuanglangwei City Office, heard a report from the Ministry that the vanguard of the marshal's army thirty miles away had moved, and no one was sent to inform the city that [-] troops marched south.

At the same time, the Tang cavalry team of the Marshal Army in the south of the Zhuanglang River Valley also began to shrink, and also led several cavalry into the camp west of the city, which made Zhang Xianzhong in the city confirm the location of Liu Chengzong.

Wei Qian'er got Liu Chengzong's order and walked very slowly. After three hours, he walked more than 20 miles. He slowly arrived at Sanli North of the city. trench.

To tell the truth, Zhang Xianzhong doesn't take Wang Jiayin seriously who stayed in Shanxi to fight against the Ming army, but Lao Zhang is uneducated, so Liu Chengzong attacked Gansu when he came here, and no one from the Hehuang army and civilians mentioned anything about the Qinghai Marshal's Mansion. .

He looked at the young man: "You boy, are you really not afraid of death in order to get the official position of the county magistrate?"

It is what I should do to let my generals and soldiers have a sense of participation in the process of cheating people, and to enhance internal cohesion while gaining benefits.

If the emperor is not Lao Tzu, then Lao Tzu is the dead man, if the dead ball is pulled down, what's the use of you stupid dicks?

Liu Chengzong felt that he had nothing to do with Zhang Xianzhong, but Zhang Xianzhong didn't think so, not to mention that the two brothers were soldiers, and Lao Zhang also went to Black Dragon Mountain to drink.

He is more like a master king than the official army. The experience of the rebel army made the marshal army good at mobile warfare, and after the establishment of the marshal's mansion, when the support force on the battlefield is no less than that of the official army, they are also accustomed to positional warfare.

But if you know it, you know it. For him, this section of steel wire is the only way for Xiying to station troops in Hehuang.

Exemption for three years actually didn't matter to Liu Chengzong, and the little tax and food could not afford his huge army at all. The food for the Marshal's Mansion was bought by internal trade after monopolizing the market.

Liu Shizi counted the time, and Zhang Xianzhong took down the Zhuanglang Acropolis at the time when Zhang Tianlin defeated Bai Guangen, which meant that he knew he was going south.

Of course, Wang Ziyu, Bai Wenxuan, Feng Shuangli, and the generals who have not been awarded the rank of general all look at Liu Tichun... They wonder why you, Liu Tichun, are the third-class Zhaoyi generals, and we are all Zhaoyong generals?
And what Zhang Xianzhong looked at was that young man. He thought that I was only two battalions of soldiers, and you appointed me four battalions of generals, but it was blind. In the army itself, he personally led a battalion and Liu Tichun led a battalion.

This meeting requires someone to approach, and the most suitable candidate in Xiying is Liu Tichun, who was born in Yan'an, surnamed Liu, and has a gentle personality.

A large number of mixed infantry and cavalry troops are advancing rapidly along the west bank of the Zhuanglang River, crossing the Zhuanglang Acropolis, making some repairs in the southwest of the Acropolis, and then crossing the river on horseback. Swimming at the end, the cavalry that soon crossed the river formed two shock formations, and the follow-up troops began to dig trenches directly along the river bank.

In the past, the West Camp was stable because although the soldiers held a lot of money, they had no shelter, so they could only follow Zhang Xianzhong to run westward. Now that they have arrived in Hehuang, many people's minds have changed.

It wasn't until this time that Zhang Xianzhong realized why the marching speed of Wei Qian'er's troops was so slow-Liu Chengzong's main force also arrived at Zhuanglang Acropolis in the evening.

Now, the generals of the four battalions, Bai Wenxuan was General General earlier, Feng Shuangli was General Qian, not to mention Wang Ziyu, he has always been his brother Wang Ziqi's deputy. General.

Before he finished speaking, the young man said: "My name is Feng Shilin. On the 24th of the first month of the seventh year of Chongzhen, Ming general Ding Shaoyin attacked Zhuanglang Weicheng. The cannon was killed, and the material officer Feng Shicong was burned by the fierce fire, and he died in the next city. The general sent me back to Dongguan to work with the three generals."

The messengers from the south and the north are all running to the camp in the west. Liu Chengzong must be there, but it is useless to know this. Across the river, even if you want to make a surprise attack, there is no chance... What's more, Zhang Xianzhong didn't intend to fight Liu Chengzong .

It's just that their first meeting left a bad impression on Liu Shizi.

A moment later, the camp in the west of the city caused a commotion, and several cavalry teams galloped across the river. Zhang Xianzhong was relieved when he saw that Liu Tichun was the leader, but when he looked at the young man on horseback behind Liu Tichun, he couldn't help but feel a little strange.

Let's just say that when four routes entered Jin Dynasty, when Qingjian was discussing affairs, Wang Jiayin, King of Hengtian, issued a golden seal of Marshal Hengtian to Liu Chengzong, who was seated fourth.

The most outrageous thing is that there are cannons on the back of the trench!

Liu Tichun, Zhang Xianzhong's sworn brother, has a gentle temperament. He saw that Zhang Xianzhong was held back by the situation, so he stepped forward and said, "Brother, I'll send someone to the north to make contact? There must be an explanation for war and peace, and we can't just be surrounded like this." .”

To be honest, Zhang Xianzhong's level of fighting is almost meaningless. He himself knows that it is almost meaningless, so he has been trying to learn.

Liu Chengzong's reaction was simple.

The marshal's army had a lot of tools and excellent earthwork. Zhang Xianzhong just ate a meal in the city and didn't pay attention for a while.

Zhang Xianzhong's hanging heart was relieved, and he wasn't too afraid of the real fight.

Although the time was different, after that, Zhang Xianzhong also received a silver seal from Wang Jiayin. After all, you are also the leader of other departments, and there are some emotional disputes, so you won't be hurt by dancing with knives and guns.

He felt in his heart that Liu Chengzong would not attack the city, so he should have frightened him, so he also frightened the soldiers.

But the soldiers can’t be full, of course there are generals, but there are many generals. For ordinary soldiers, if you can become a rich man in a safe place, who will hold your head and serve as a soldier for you?

He said: "It's broken. You must have made Liu Chengzong unhappy by robbing the horse. He is here to kill you. Let's all go to the city to defend Lao Tzu!"

The young man lacked momentum, and when he entered the city alone, he would stand among the generals in the West Camp, fighting with each other, but he still took out the silk cloth from his bosom, and read with an uncontrollable trembling voice: "Marshal Xuan ordered Zhang Xianzhong, commander of the West Brigade, second-class Dingguo general, Liu Tichun, third-class general Zhaoyi, general of the front camp of the West Brigade, third-class Zhaoyong general, Wang Ziyu, third-class general of the rear camp, Bai Wenxuan, third-class general Zhaoyong, general of the left camp; Battalion Counselor Feng Shuangli, the third and other Zhaoyong Generals, and all battalion commanders and above officers, immediately leave the city to see the Marshal."

In the north of the city, they had dug a three-mile-long moat connecting Zhuanglang River in the west and Qinglong Mountain in the east. What the Marshal built was not the camp moat, but the siege moat.

However, Zhang Xianzhong has never had a stronghold, so he can do whatever he wants, and he has never spent money on valuable supplies. He also knows that this army's clear rewards and punishments are the capital of his wandering in troubled times, so he rewards the soldiers extraordinarily generously.

Zhang Xianzhong on the city saw that he did not attack the city, and thought that Liu Chengzong did not have much courage. At dusk, smoke rose from the camps outside the city. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing more than to show off.

Although on the surface he was borrowing the donkey from the slope, in fact Zhang Xianzhong attached great importance to this matter, and the emissary he finally chose was his sworn brother Liu Tichun.

Zhang Xianzhong's army in Zhuanglangwei City also panicked. The generals of Xiying, Wang Ziqi, Liu Tichun and others gathered together urgently, with disbelief written all over their faces.

It's just that Zhang Xianzhong's preparations were all over. Liu Tichun led the guards through the ditch in the north of the city, and soon after entering Wei Qian'er's camp, Zhang Xianzhong saw the northern camp's troops running on the city wall, heading to the other side of the Zhuanglang River in the west of the city.

When he was young, he used to be a policeman in Yan'an Prefecture, but there were not many people from Fushi and Ansai in the army. His main force came from Wubao and Jiazhou in the north of the border between Shanxi and Shaanxi. They are frontier soldiers, while Jiazhou is dominated by clansmen surnamed Wang.

But the farmland in the Zhuanglang River Valley is exempt from expropriation. Zhang Xianzhong has the final say?

Therefore, showing disrespect or even challenging Liu Chengzong has two benefits for him. The first is to strengthen internal prestige, and the second is to bring tension to the army.

"Today I am sending a letter to the Generalissimo for the three generals. It is just the time that the Generalissimo is recruiting officers in the army. I have two letters of appointment in my hand. You will go out of the city to see each of them. They are all the brigade generals of the Generalissimo's Mansion. I It's just the first Grand Master of Qipin County in Zhuanglang County."

As Feng Shilin spoke, goosebumps arose on his cheeks before he grew a beard, and his trembling voice became more intense, but it seemed that he was no longer afraid, but rather excited. He swallowed, and continued with some difficulty. Said: "After a moment, no one is out of the city."

Feng Shilin licked his nervous and excited lips, raised his hand and pointed at Zhang Xianzhong and Liu Tichun impolitely one after another: "You are a bull head, you are a horse face, you are all day tours and night patrols, black and white impermanence, six thousand Yin soldiers will be buried with me , I am the Fourth Rank City God of Zhuanglang County!"

　good evening!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)