Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 215 Finding Reinforcements
When Sha Dingzhou rebelled, it was a sight to behold at the beginning. Not to mention driving the Yunnan Tu Emperor Mu Tianbo like a bereaved dog, just getting the wealth of the Mu Mansion made him happy for several months.

According to history, the Mu family lived in Yunnan for a long time, and the palace was full of treasures.The Buddha's capstone, green arrowheads, cinnabar, fallen red, amber, horseshoes, and red gold were all packed in boxes. Each box weighed a hundred kilograms and was hidden in a high board with fifty boxes in the board storehouse. There were more than 250 treasures in total. His treasures were incalculable.Dingzhou was transported to Bendong for months and months.

This windfall was definitely something Sha Dingzhou could never imagine in his lifetime.As a result, his power increased greatly. Except for the Chuxiong area where Yang Weizhi protected Mu Tianbo, all other Yunnan forces bowed to Sha Dingzhou.

So Sha Dingzhou divided his army into 72 battalions, with every seven battalions forming one large battalion, and surrounded Chu Xiong layer by layer.They also built a fence around the city and dug a moat to prevent anyone from escaping.

Although Yang Weizhi tried his best to hold on, the small town could not withstand a long-term siege. After more than eighty days of siege, the city ran out of ammunition and food.
If in the original history, at the critical moment when Yang Weizhi could barely hold on, the arrival of the Daxi Peasant Army allowed Sha Dingzhou to escape back to his old nest, allowing Yang Weizhi to save the day.

Later, Li Dingguo went to destroy Sha Dingzhou, but the stalemate lasted for several months without victory.Sha Dingzhou thought that Li Dingguo had nothing to do with him, so he began to underestimate the enemy. As a result, he was surrounded by Li Dingguo's heavy troops and surrendered.

However, in this plane, when Chu Xiong was in danger, Dashun's army fled into Yungui, bringing with it the latest news.

The reason why Sha Dingzhou was so arrogant was because he thought that the Ming Dynasty was going to die and Mu Tianbo would have no backing.

Unexpectedly, the Dashun Army, which was said to be a million-strong army, was completely defeated by the imperial court. Only a remnant army of more than [-] people fled into Yunnan and Guizhou. This shocked the rebels and they had no intention of continuing. After besieging Chuxiong, we quickly withdraw our troops and flee back to our base.

The other chieftains, also on both ends of the spectrum, had changed their minds and wanted to jump to the situation.

But soon, people from the Dashun Army contacted Sha Dingzhou and told Sha Dingzhou that the current emperor would definitely not spare him. The only way for them to survive was to cooperate sincerely and defend the Yunnan-Guizhou Mountains despite the dangers.

Sha Dingzhou himself also knew that he would definitely fight to the death for killing Mu Tianbo's wife and robbing him of so much wealth passed down from his ancestors.So, at the suggestion of his military advisor and his wife's brother-in-law Tang Jingbin, he formed an alliance with the Dashun Army to fight against the imperial court.

The bandits have rich experience in rebellion, and the chieftain here in Shadingzhou is a local snake. The alliance between the two is considered a powerful combination, and the momentum is much greater.

However, as the imperial army began to attack Yunnan and Guizhou, the rebels' momentum was suppressed.The other chieftains originally thought of continuing to rebel, but at this time some of them stopped and hated Sha Dingzhou until they gritted their teeth, but there was nothing they could do.

Therefore, Li Zicheng proposed that a victory must be won in order to boost morale and boost the confidence of the wavering chieftains.

For them, there is absolutely no way out.Especially Li Zicheng, who already knew that the current emperor had pacified Zhang Xianzhong in Shu, and even Zhang Xianzhong's adopted sons joined the court to encircle and suppress them, knew that he would not be able to return to Shaanxi through Sichuan.

In this desperate situation, the coalition forces first pretended to be defeated. After retreating all the way, the imperial officers and soldiers were fooled and began to take credit. As a result, they won a great victory.

Needless to say, the coalition forces gained momentum, and Sha Dingzhou even exaggerated the results and publicized them widely, as if this victory was decisive.He also made threats and was ready to beat anyone who refused to obey.

And Li Zicheng understood the battle of people's hearts better. He exaggerated the policy of changing the imperial court to the locals and returning them to the locals, which would harm the fundamental interests of the chieftains. He said that everything the officials and soldiers of the imperial court had done was to change the locals and return to the locals. This made the leaders on both sides The chieftain no longer hesitated and stood firmly on the side of the coalition forces again, making the coalition forces in Yunnan once again become more powerful, as if Yunnan no longer belonged to the imperial court.

Therefore, while they were actively defending and even wanted to counterattack back to Guizhou, they were re-preparing to attack the headquarters of Mu Tianbo and Yang Weizhi on the Chuxiong side.

However, now that the Chuxiong area has been supplemented by grain and grass supplies from Sichuan, and even reinforcements, it will be very difficult for the coalition forces to conquer Chuxiong.

In fact, Li Zicheng had no intention of attacking Chu Xiong. The reason for this was just to create momentum.

Li Zicheng personally made an appointment with Sha Dingzhou to hold a high-level meeting of the core leaders.

At the meeting, he said seriously to Sha Dingzhou: "Although the previous victory boosted our morale, our strength is still not enough. We must increase our strength."

At first, Sha Dingzhou didn't take it seriously and said: "We have the right time, right place and right people, and now we have 20 troops, which is about twice the imperial army. How come we are not strong enough?"

But Li Zicheng quickly emphasized to him: "In the past, there were millions of powerful soldiers, occupying many provinces, and they could even attack the capital city. But even so, they were defeated by the imperial court. To be precise, they were defeated by today's In the hands of the emperor. Therefore, Gu can use his head as a guarantee to fight against the imperial court. Unless he defeats the current emperor, he cannot call it a victory! Gu estimates that the failure of the imperial army in this battle will definitely lead to the current emperor personally leading the army. This is a formidable enemy and must be Try your best to win!"

His experience gives his words sufficient authority.Compared to Li Zicheng, Sha Dingzhou is just a fledgling.

At this time, after hearing what Li Zicheng said, Sha Dingzhou and his close men became serious.

At Li Zicheng's reminder, Sha Dingzhou began to think about all the forces one by one, looking for possible allies.

On the Yunnan side, the chieftains who can join the coalition have already joined, and there are no potential allies left.

So, naturally, they looked beyond Yunnan.

In Guizhou, although the imperial officers and troops were pushed back to Zhenyuan, most of the area was already within the imperial court's sphere of influence and there were no powerful allies to be found.

However, in Guangxi, it is said that Zuo Liangyu is prospering and has raised more than [-] troops, still under the banner of Dashun Army.

Li Zicheng made a decision and wrote to Zuo Liangyu, asking Zuo Liangyu to leave Guangxi and attack Guangdong, Huguang or Jiangxi to disrupt the rear of the imperial army.The only ones left to find are the Annan and Toungoo dynasties on the border with Yunnan.

In fact, Sha Dingzhou actually envied Annan.After being brought under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, they rebelled, eventually forcing the Ming Dynasty to recognize Annan's independence.It would be best if he could force the Ming Kingdom to recognize him as the King of Yunnan.

After all, they were adjacent places. He was relatively familiar with the situation in Annan, so he introduced Li Zicheng: "A powerful official came out of Annan, and privately offered advice to the Ming Dynasty and asked for submission, so nominally Annan now belongs to the imperial court. But In fact, the territory is divided into two dynasties, the Mo family and the Li family. They attack each other. If the Li family is not weak and the Li family is strong, then the Mo family is the traitor of Annan and cannot help us. However, it is possible for the Li family, but It’s not very likely!”

When Li Zicheng heard this, he immediately suggested without thinking: "No matter how likely it is, even if it is only one in ten thousand, we have to try it. The conditions are arbitrary, and the most important thing is to get them to send troops. As long as Once we send out troops, we can no longer rely on them.”

When Sha Dingzhou's dog-headed military advisor heard this, his eyes could not help but gleaming, thinking to himself, is this the way a hero does things?Thinking about this, he was thoughtful.

Later, Sha Dingzhou introduced: "The rest is the Taungyu dynasty in the south. Now their king calls him King Long. He has not attacked Yunnan since he came to power. Their previous king was really ambitious. Bo Bo often makes war on Yunnan and seizes land!"

The implication is that even the Toungoo dynasty was not very willing to send troops.

Li Zicheng didn't care about this, and immediately suggested: "No matter what, just send envoys to lobby. You should know what they like and what they are afraid of. In short, you can use righteousness to understand them, move them with emotion, and coerce or induce them. The purpose is to enable them to participate in the war. If you kill the current emperor, Gu You will be sure to make a comeback and regain the world. By then, you will be the king of Yunnan. Whatever they want, as long as Gu You has it, there will be no problem!"

A blank promise is just a waste of money anyway, and he doesn't care.

Nowadays, Li Zicheng is thick-skinned enough. He can even kill Luo Rucai, who saved his life. If he annexes his troops, what can't he do?
It has to be said that when compared with Li Zicheng, Sha Dingzhou is like a country bumpkin who has not seen much of the world at all. He is either excited by Li Zicheng's words, or is frightened by Li Zicheng and despairs of the future, almost playing with the palm of his hand.

On the contrary, Sha Dingzhou's second wife, Wan Shi, who was originally famous, was not so easy to coax.

At this time, she saw that Sha Dingzhou was dumbfounded by Li Zicheng's words, so she said: "I am confused, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty has three heads and six arms, is he so powerful? He also said that as long as he kills him, Will the imperial court collapse?"

Li Zicheng didn't have any problem with women interrupting. He himself let his wife take care of the logistics.Not to mention, she knew that half of Sha Dingzhou's men belonged to this woman, so she did not dare to underestimate her, and immediately explained: "When we all attacked the capital city, it was only the current emperor who personally led the troops that turned him into a This is the current situation.”

After he finished speaking, he motioned to Liu Zongmin, the tall and powerful blacksmith and his first general, to give a detailed introduction.

Li Guo, who had experienced several battles with the Ming Emperor, died in the Battle of Dasheng Pass in Nanjing.

Liu Zongmin received the order and explained: "The current emperor is extremely powerful and holds an iron shield as high as a person..."

As he described, a man who looked like a god of war appeared in front of these toasts, making them all open their mouths in shock.

Is this still human?
After Liu Zongmin finished introducing the martial virtues of the current emperor, Li Zicheng asked his military advisor Song Xiance to introduce: "Actually, if you really want to talk about it, this is just the courage of an ordinary man, and it is not something to be afraid of. However, he is an emperor, so he can be so brave. Stimulate the morale of the army. The most important thing is that he is ruthless towards nobles and corrupt officials. It is common to confiscate homes. He has enough money and he can be good at punishment. His methods, coupled with his status as emperor, Only then did the army he led be invincible. In the battle of Nanjing Dashengguan, he fought with ten times the force, but he was also defeated. "

Regarding the current emperor's civil and military career, after being introduced by the people on Li Zicheng's side, the bumpkins on Sha Dingzhou couldn't help but look at each other.It was almost visible to the naked eye that they seemed to be frightened immediately.

The current emperor is far more powerful than they imagined!
Li Zicheng saw that something was wrong with the situation, and quickly encouraged them: "Of course, we didn't understand him before, after all, he has changed too much. Therefore, we were defeated by him in a row, but we also found out the true and false. As long as we target the current emperor, as long as he is a human being, we can kill him. And once he dies, the court will be nothing more than a puddle of mud, and the world will have it at your fingertips! "

Wan's face turned a little pale and asked: "What if the current emperor is killed by us and the prince suddenly becomes the same as the current emperor?"

When Li Zicheng heard this, he was speechless.

Speaking of which, I was really puzzled.

The current emperor is obviously a fool, so that 17 years after he ascended the throne, the world was in chaos, and even the graves of his ancestors were dug up.But why did he suddenly change into a different person when he was conquering the world? He was not only brave but also clever and employing people properly?
What exactly is going on?

If, as Wan Shi said, he killed the current emperor and the prince changed again, then he would be nothing in this life!
Could it be that God doesn't like me, so he doesn't want to win the world?
Seeing that the situation was not good, Song Xiance quickly spoke: "It has been 270-[-] years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. It is rare for dynasties to be so long. Natural and man-made disasters all indicate that the Ming Dynasty has exhausted its strength. The current emperor has changed. Likewise, it was just the return of the Ming Dynasty. How could it be blessed by God again? If so, why are natural disasters so prevalent? Therefore, it can be concluded that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty will definitely die in Yunnan and Guizhou, and the Ming Dynasty will also be replaced by the Dashun Kingdom. !”

Li Zicheng was originally a very determined person, but unfortunately the current emperor was too perverted, so he was hit hard.Now that Song Xiance said this, he immediately came back to his senses and regained his usual heroic spirit. He immediately nodded and said, "Of course!"

There is really nothing wrong with what Song Xiance said. If the Ming Dynasty had been blessed by God, there would not have been so many natural disasters!

The people here in Sha Dingzhou, after understanding what kind of enemy they were facing, also firmly believed that they could defeat the Ming Emperor or even kill him.

Therefore, while sending people to contact other places, they also discussed specific measures based on the current emperor's situation, in order to comply with the destiny and kill the current emperor.

Sure enough, a few months later, a report came from the front, indicating that the emperor had really arrived.

(End of this chapter)