Daming kill

Chapter 161 Li Pingzheng Confused

Gao Lei talked about Li Ping. Li Ping was actually not far away from her, only about 150 miles away, on the edge of Shenhu Lake in Mianyang Prefecture, which is close to Hanchuan County.

Mianyang Prefecture is directly under the administration of Chengtian Mansion, which is equivalent to a county. It is the easternmost part of Chengtian Mansion, and beyond is the boundary of Hanyang Mansion.

However, Gao Lei and Li Ping might not meet each other in a short time.

Because Li Ping had already stopped and no longer went east.

Shenhu Lake is located in the north of the Han River, 70 miles long from east to west, and nearly 20 miles wide from north to south. The water area is very vast, and it is only a few miles away from the nearest point of Han River.

The reason why Li Ping ran to the north of the Han River was to avoid Li Zicheng.

The main force led by Li Zicheng captured Jingmen Prefecture after several days of fierce fighting on December 100, and reached Jiangling County (now Jingzhou District, Jingzhou City), about [-] kilometers south of Zhongxiang, on December [-]. .

Since Jiangling surrendered Kaesong without resisting, many escaped and the news spread quickly.

But Li Ping got the news a little too late because he stayed in the hard village in Changhu for two more days, which made him sad.

When he found that his army was too close to Li Zicheng's army, Li Ping, who was worried about being cheated and bitten, had to do everything possible to cross the Han River north to ensure safety.

Jiangling is too close to the Han River, the straight-line distance is only 50 kilometers.

However, after Li Ping crossed the Han River in the north and hurried along the river for a few days, he chose to stop and watch temporarily.

Li Zicheng's main force, who occupied Jingzhou Prefecture, did not continue to go south or east, but went north to besiege Zhongxiang, the prefecture city of Chengtianfu.

Li Zicheng needs to do it himself.

In this way, there is no need for Li Ping to run away in a hurry.

Moreover, he is a little confused now.

Li Ping knew that Zuo Liangyu's army was in Hanyang and Wuchang, but he didn't want his army to return to that demon army prematurely. His mind was shaken violently because of the experience during this period.

Moreover, he couldn't figure out Zuo Liangyu's attitude towards himself who left Xiangyang without authorization from his army.

Although Li Ping could have many reasons, and they were even sufficient, he still didn't want to take any risks.

Li Zicheng turned around and besieged Chengtianfu City, which gave him the opportunity and time to rethink the situation.

Although Li Ping knew in his heart that Zhong Xiang's fall was only a matter of time, and there would be no surprises.

However, Chengtianfu City can be regarded as the political center of Ming Dynasty. It has not only the defenders who seem to be determined to fight, but also the rescue troops urgently dispatched from other provinces. some.

What Li Ping had to wait and see and wait for was nothing more than changes in the upper echelons of Ming Dynasty.

The war here should not only be a matter of Huguang Province, the emperor and courtiers could not ignore it, and Zuo Liangyu's abandonment of the mausoleum of Chongzhen's pro-grandfather was not an insignificant matter.

As long as Zhongxiang's war can drag on for a few months like Kaifeng, the emperor and courtiers should reach out no matter how far away they are.

Li Ping didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing for him to continue to fall back into Zuo Liangyu's arms.

He is a great man who can turn the clouds to see the sun, but Li Ping knows that he is not.

He felt that looking at the changes in the battle situation from the boundary of Mianyang Prefecture or from the boundary of Chengtian Mansion might be more beneficial in all aspects, at least there would be more choices.

So when Gao Lei lost control and lost his temper, Li Ping was chatting with a wealthy businessman, and he needed more information.

In order to obtain information, Li Ping intercepted many people fleeing along the river after crossing the river, and this wealthy businessman was one of them.He escaped from Zhongxiang, and he just escaped, and he also looks like a well-informed person.

Although Li Ping intercepted them, Li Ping's easily identifiable army with strict military discipline made most of these people let go of their fear and vigilance quickly, and some even refused to leave after being informed of the news. Instead, they want to travel with Li Ping to seek safety, such as this wealthy businessman.

However, after chatting with the wealthy businessman, Li Ping's heart became even more confused, and many information that he was very confused and did not believe were further confirmed.

After the peasant army conquered Yicheng, they quickly pointed to Chengtianfu.

There was a sudden turmoil in the prefectural capital of Chengtian Prefecture, the grass and trees were full of soldiers, and the morale of the army and the people were seriously unstable.There were many deserters among the local officers, soldiers and government offices because they were afraid of losing their lives, and many civilians even defected to the bandit army.

However, under the presidency of Song Yihe, the deposed governor of Huguang (who continued to preside over the work before his successor arrived), and Xiao Han, the magistrate of Zhongxiang County who had been promoted but decided to stay loyal, the peasant army's initial attack was met with a firm and effective counterattack.

Song Yihe was dismissed because of Zhang Xianzhong's capture of Xiangyang, and the successor has not been dismissed for such a long time, which shows that the speed of news transmission and personnel exchanges was slow at that time, and it also shows that Song Yihe was still very responsible.

And Xiao Han, the magistrate of Zhongxiang County, even forced his family of 32, including the two youngest sons, to commit suicide at the most difficult moment when the city was almost destroyed.

All the other big men in the city are also determined to fight.

But with the arrival of Li Zicheng, the situation collapsed again.

As soon as Li Zicheng's vanguard troops crossed the river, a man named Shen Shihong wrote a slogan on the city wall, "Welcome the Master Wang", and a man named Zhao Huzi opened Xiguan privately to welcome the peasant army.

Although these actions have been effectively suppressed, those who are interested also understand that Chengtian Mansion is really unable to hold on.

What Li Ping didn't understand was that Song Yihe and Xiao Han's official voices were said to be very good. When Zuo Liangyu's army crossed the border, they also resolutely refused to let him enter the city.

In other words, Zhongxiang is different from Xiangyang.

But why is the public opinion still like this?

"Little people always have to obey the servants and pay the food! Then the life of the little people has been a bit difficult these years. However, Li Thief is bewitching and preaching that he will not pay the food or accept the job, and the little people will not be able to distinguish what is true. False, naturally some people will believe it.”

This is the point of view of the rich.

But Li Ping felt that things were not that simple.

The experience of beating bandits gave him more and a new understanding of the sharp social antagonisms in Daming at this time.

All the way he passed were plains, but there were still so many bandits.The social contradictions in Ming Dynasty have accumulated to a terrible level.

After the rich businessman left, Li Ping couldn't help but chatted casually with Ma Yong, who had been with him all the time, and Zhou Wen, the new head of the training department.

Zhou Wen's transfer to the post of head of the newly formed training unit in the Staff Office was one of Li Ping's major personnel adjustments, and it was also his reflection on the heavy casualties in the battle at Changhu.

It is imperative to strengthen the construction of institutions, and the institutions can no longer just be his megaphone.

The division of labor in agencies needs to be further specialized in order to cope with the low level of general knowledge and knowledge of personnel. The original method of directly setting up staff in various agencies to run small agencies is still unworkable.

To this end, the staff office alone has set up three units for training, military affairs and communications.

A large number of people with the most outstanding talents were transferred to enrich the institutions.

Du Sanjiang, who spoke very well at the first post-war summary and served as the platoon leader for four consecutive years, was transferred to Zhou Wen's subordinate as the training staff officer, and his former deputy commander of the fifth company of the soldiers, Qian Dongzi, was appointed as the chief of the military affairs department...

However, it was a bit risky for Li Ping to appoint Zhou Wen who was born as a scholar. He was not sure whether he could get hold of this person.

Generally speaking, famous scholars like Zhou Wen are too easily loyal to the government.

But Zhou Wen's biggest advantage lies in his cultural literacy, and this is what the staff office lacks most at the moment.

"I heard from Company Commander Han Jiu that the dissent among the people in Henan is more serious than that in Huguang. There are many mountains there, and there are naturally bandits who have formed their own strongholds, and they are all big bandits. The situation in Chengtianfu City is not surprising. There have been many disasters these years, but the imperial court is still raising taxes, and the common people are completely unbearable. This is not something that any official can solve."

Zhou Wen didn't evade this question, nor did he show foolish loyalty.

Although he had only been in close contact for a few days, Li Ping was very surprised by Zhou Wen. He felt that he had underestimated this person before.

At the same time, he also gained some new understanding of the scholars of Ming Dynasty.

"That's right! The common people are already suffering. But the shortage and food are not only not light, but they are getting heavier, and it is difficult to be a good official." Ma Yong is also very emotional.

Ma Yong actually has more say.

The situation in Shaanxi is definitely more terrifying than any other region, otherwise there would not be so many giant bandits.

However, limited by the level of knowledge, Ma Yong's ability to analyze and summarize is not very good.

"From the interrogation of Luo Rucai's troops who were captured in Yangpitan, it can be seen that the bandit army, especially Li Zicheng's tribe, has changed their plundering style since last year, and has begun to attach importance to production and military discipline, and has proposed many very tempting Promises are often fulfilled.

This is completely different from the general behavior of the bandits that the chief of staff saw when he was trapped in the bandit camp.

On the other hand, on our side, in order to suppress the bandits and deal with the northern captives, the government exploited the people more and more, and the military discipline of the government and the army was generally corrupted. Coupled with the continuous natural disasters, most of the ordinary people were extremely difficult to survive.

It is not surprising that people's hearts have changed after two comparisons! "

Zhou Wen made a further elaboration on this issue. Obviously, he did a lot of investigation and homework in the past few days, and he did not avoid many sensitive issues.

Li Ping glanced at Zhou Wen in great surprise, feeling an indescribable feeling in his heart.

What Zhou Wen said just now, he had thought about it a long time ago, but it was basically his own thinking.

Now, he finally has someone to communicate with in depth.

The power of knowledge really makes a difference!
However, Li Ping still wanted to see how far Zhou Wen had thought.

So he went on to ask: "What do you think makes the bandits different?"

"It's scholars. The joining of scholars is changing the ambitions of the bandit army. The bandit chiefs are no longer satisfied with just looting. And this is the most troublesome thing." Zhou Wen didn't hesitate about this question.

Ma Yong was stunned for a moment, and asked puzzledly, "Why do you say that?"

Zhou Wen saw that Li Ping didn't show any surprise at all, it was just an expression of you continuing to speak, and after a short pause, he said:
"I heard that Zhu Jinxing, a member of the Baofeng family, has been highly valued since he joined the bandit army last year, and that's when the whole change of the Bandit Division began.

It is said that the practice of "scattering the looted property to the hungry people" and "when the army arrives, the people will give it another year" is also proposed by him, as well as the words like "killing a person is like killing my father, and adulterating a person is like adulterating my mother". proposed and advocated by him.

Then the thieves not only accepted everything, but also carried it out seriously. This is an act to fight for the world.It shows that his ambition is no longer a thief.

We've all seen it.The bandits quickly swept across Henan, and their numbers increased dramatically. "

Li Ping was shocked!

Although he was mentally prepared, this Zhou Wen once again exceeded his expectations.

This is high-level thinking.

In fact, what Zhou Wen said was absolutely not false.Regarding the changes in Li Zicheng's military discipline, Niu Jinxing once said: "In the early days of Li Zicheng, he burned and plundered, and his ministers joined the army. He enjoined benevolence and righteousness, and what the teacher did, the city will be as good as it is."

However, Ma Yong didn't seem to be aware of this, and he was still confused about some details.

He continued to ask: "But the intruders killed Xiangyin King Zhu Yan's family in Jingzhou, and the tyrannical nature has not changed. And according to people who escaped from Jingzhou, the military discipline of the bandit army is good and bad, it is not bragging That way you don't kill anyone."

Zhou Wen didn't answer immediately this time, but contemplated, probably because he hasn't thought about this question yet.

Seeing that Zhou Wen was stuck, Li Ping decided to answer this question.

He said: "It takes a process for a group of people who are used to eating to become vegetarians, and it will definitely be a long process.

Although the bandit army still has many problems, we cannot avoid the fact that their military discipline level is much higher than that of the official army, and it is still improving.This is good for the common people, but not good for the imperial court. "

Zhou Wen nodded seriously after hearing this, and quickly continued: "What the officer said makes sense. And I think the biggest problem with the bandit army now is that the minds of its various ministries have not yet been fully unified.

Except for Li Zicheng's army, the other ministries are still quite serious as before. At least we know that Luo Rucai's army is still going on a day of drinking and drinking.But as Li Zicheng's reputation grows, his binding force on other armies will also become stronger and stronger.

Once one day, they reach a comprehensive agreement, it will be a real big trouble. "

……

At night, Li Ping lay alone in the tent and suffered from insomnia again.

The conversation with Zhou Wen during the day made his mental activities more intense. The prosperity of the Peasant Army and the decay of the Ming Dynasty made him even more confused about the future.

This is a reality that he has never seriously examined before, and Zhou Wen has strengthened his understanding of this reality.

For the first time, Li Pingsheng had the idea of ​​wanting to join the Peasant Army.

He saw hope there.

He thought that although he was not a man of great talent and plan, but with the known history, he could prevent the peasant army from making many fatal mistakes.

Maybe his joining will make the ending of the Peasant Army different, and maybe the future of China will be different too.

Notes:

Note 1:

The Shenhu Lake in the Ming Dynasty and the Shenhu Lake in Wuhan today are two different things.

In the Ming Dynasty, Shenhu Lake straddled today's Tianmen City and Hanchuan City in Hubei Province and belonged to Mianyang Prefecture.Mianyang Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty included a large amount of land north of the Han River. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the land was divided into rivers and governed. The land of Mianyang (now Xiantao City) north of the Han River was divided between Tianmen and Hanchuan.

Today's Shenhu Lake does not exist as a lake, but in 1958 the lake area was still about 18 mu.

Later, under the influence of ultra-left thought, from the winter of 1966 to the spring of 1971, Shenhu Lake was reclaimed for land reclamation and a large number of active-duty troops, militia troops and migrant workers were mobilized to fight. Finally, Shenhu Lake disappeared as a lake and became the largest in Hubei. Army Farm.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were many large and small lakes along the Hanshui River and the Yangtze River, but most of them disappeared with the changes of the times.

The data about Shenhu Lake in this article is based on the records in the "Outline of Waterways" written by Qi Zhaonan in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, and no further research has been made forward.

Note 2:

Niu Jinxing first joined the Peasant Army in the winter of the 13th year of Chongzhen, but soon he sneaked back to his hometown Baofeng to rescue his friend who was in prison.At the beginning of the 14th year of Chongzhen, the peasant army defeated Baofeng, and Niu Jinxing returned to vote for Li Zicheng.

(End of this chapter)