The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

Chapter 166: Zhang Xianzhong, a layman with more money, settled the country and restored his surname
Later records about Zhang Xianzhong's character are confusing and often contradictory.

When Zhang Xianzhong was young, he had a strong temperament, was unruly, and liked to fight against injustice, and he almost lost his life because of this.

When he became the leader of the bandits, the "Eight Kings", the Ming and Qing officials' somewhat objective evaluation of him was: cunning and courageous, suspicious and irritable, fierce and cruel, and unrestrained.

There are also legends among the people that Zhang Xianzhong upheld justice for the people and dealt with corrupt officials, evil gentry and bullies.

When Zhang Xianzhong became King of Daxi, his rule encountered various setbacks, and when he found that his desire to separate Sichuan could not be realized, he became extremely bloodthirsty.

Although Zhang Xianzhong appears in the novels of the late Ming Dynasty that Liu Sheng has read, he cannot be sure of his character.

The only thing that is certain is: this man is smart and cunning and difficult to deal with.

However, Liu Sheng originally intended to have Zhang Xianzhong stationed outside Xiangyang City for a period of time - before the Wei troops transferred the money and grain confiscated from Xiangyang City, if a large number of Ming troops came to attack Xiangyang, with Zhang Xianzhong as the flank, even if he did not take action, the Ming army would There will also be scruples, and the troops will be divided to deal with it, which will greatly reduce the pressure on the army.

Therefore, after listening to Zhang Xianzhong's words, Liu Sheng smiled and nodded, "Since the Eight Kings are willing to station outside the city, of course I have to express it.

However, our troops did not seize much grain in the city, and they still need to feed the 10,000+ soldiers and civilians in the city, so we can only distribute [-] shi of grain to your troops first. "

Only ten thousand shi of food?

Zhang Xianzhong wanted to get angry after hearing this.

Although he deceived Liu Sheng and said that the nearly 4 people were 6 or [-], it was true that he wanted to cooperate with Liu Sheng to defeat the Ming army.

Ten thousand shi of food is only enough to feed his existing troops for half a month, or 20 days at most.

He also wants to continue recruiting troops and build weapons and equipment troops in Xiangyang.

How can this little food be enough?

Just as he was about to change his expression, he heard Liu Sheng continue: "However, I do have a food-related gift for the Eight Kings."

"what gift?"

"The eight kings should know that Prince Xiang's Mansion has many palaces outside the city, most of which have hoarded a lot of money and food.

I have copied the relevant accounts from Prince Xiang's Mansion. The Eight Kings can take them and attack and copy them according to the diagram.

Even if they only confiscated Wangzhuang near Xiangyang City, they could probably get tens of thousands of stones of grain, 10,000+ taels of silver, and many other supplies. "

Although the main purpose of what Zhang Dingguo said at the top of the city was to persuade Liu Sheng not to fire artillery and focus on Zhang Xianzhong, it was indeed a good point.

Although Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai broke through the Ming army's blockade with a great victory in Kaixian County, Sichuan, they jumped out of Sichuan and entered Huguang.

However, the Ming army that was responsible for encircling and suppressing Zhang, Luo and other bandits did not suffer much losses. It is estimated that there are still more than [-] people.

Even if Yang Sichang and others were questioned by Emperor Chongzhen for the fall of Xiangyang, they would not be immediately taken to Beijing - it would take at least a month or two from the time Emperor Chongzhen received the news to the time when he issued an imperial edict and sent people over.

In the meantime, even if Yang Sichang gave up treatment, it was impossible for all the Ming Dynasty civil servants and military generals to give up treatment and do nothing.

There will definitely be Ming troops coming to recapture Xiangyang in order to make meritorious deeds, or to take advantage of the opportunity to rise to power.

This can be known from the historical fact that after Zhang Xianzhong captured Xiangyang, he abandoned Xiangyang and headed north as soon as he reunited with Luo Rucai.

Liu Sheng came to Xiangyang with only 5000 to [-] people. If he wanted to transport the money, grain and other materials confiscated from Xiangyang City, he would need to recruit a large number of brave men and civilian men.

As for the Wangzhuang of Prince Xiang's Mansion outside the city and even further away, there is simply no force or time to attack and capture them one by one.

Rather than staying to benefit those in charge of Wangzhuang or the local government of the Ming Dynasty, it would be better to let Zhang Xianzhong copy it.

Historically, Zhang Xianzhong gained weight in Xiangyang, and then he quickly started to lose weight again.

Even so, when Zhang Xianzhong tried to capture Nanyang Mansion, he still suffered a setback.

Later, he tried to capture Runing Mansion, but was defeated first by Zuo Liangyu in Xinyang, and then by Wang Yuncheng, a general of Zuo Liangyu's tribe in Shangcheng. He was injured both times and was forced to seek refuge with Li Zicheng.

As a result, he was almost annexed by Li Zicheng. With the help of Luo Rucai, he left Henan and traveled eastward to Anhui in later generations.

After reuniting with the five regiments of Gezuo who were huddled in the Dabie Mountains, their momentum slightly increased, and then they invaded Luzhou Prefecture, trained the navy, and threatened Nanjing.

Nanjing hurriedly mobilized Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo to attack Zhang Xianzhong and the Fifth Division of Ge Zuo, but they were defeated.

However, when Zhang Xianzhong really wanted to conquer Nanjing and even go to Jiangnan, he was defeated by Liu Liangzuo's troops.

Judging from these achievements, the combat effectiveness of Zhang Xianzhong and other peasant troops as well as Zuo Liangyu, Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo and other official troops were very confusing, rising and falling.

But real war is like this, and the results are affected by many factors - powerful generals may drift, be cheated by pig teammates, and be constrained by the court; generals who are not powerful may also encounter good opportunities to win.

It is definitely not like some war games, where the combat power of each unit has a constant value, and the one with the highest combat power always wins.

Liu Sheng was born in the special forces of later generations, so he naturally understood this.

Therefore, even if Zhang Xianzhong did not ask for money or food, Liu Sheng would give him Wangzhuang, a piece of meat that requires time and troops to eat.

Only in this way can Zhang Xianzhong play the role of attracting the attention of the Ming army and distracting the pressure on the army.

Zhang Xianzhong was surprised when he heard Liu Sheng's words.

After being a rogue for these years, he naturally knew how wealthy the feudal king's village was.

The problem is that Wangzhuang is a village, and you have to find them one by one before you can capture them.

If there are relevant accounts, the addresses of each Wangzhuang must be marked. It will indeed be much easier to attack according to the map.

He then smiled and said: "Then we, Lao Zhang, are not welcome!"

Liu Sheng said: "Eight Kings, don't be too busy thanking me. I didn't give you Wangzhuang's accounts for nothing - I also want to ask the Eight Kings for a small favor."

"I wonder what you're busy with?" Zhang Xianzhong asked with slightly squinted eyes.

Liu Sheng said: "It has been less than a year since I started the army, and I really lack capable generals. I met Brother Dingguo that day and felt like we were old friends at the first sight.

I hope that the Eight Great Kings will cut off their love and let Brother Dingguo switch to Kuaibu and give me a try. "

Zhang Xianzhong turned cold after hearing this, "He is our Lao Zhang's adopted son, the most promising one among the four adopted sons!"

This sentence sounded inexplicably familiar to Liu Sheng, and he couldn't help but test it: "Do we need more money?" Zhang Xianzhong frowned and said, "Of course we need more money! At least 30 taels of silver, plus three thousand weapons!"

"It's boring for the eight kings and lions to open their mouths. You know, Zhang Dingguo is already in my hands. I will give you at most 10 taels of silver and a thousand weapons."

"Two hundred thousand taels of silver and two thousand weapons!" Zhang Xianzhong said, "I will also give you Dingguo's wife, children and personal followers!"

Liu Sheng smiled, "I want Zhang Dingguo, and I also want his wife, children, and personal companions.

In addition, if you didn't mention the Eight Kings, I would have forgotten that the wives, children and several military advisors of the Eight Kings are also imprisoned in Xiangyang City Prison, right? "

Hearing this, Zhang Xianzhong couldn't figure out whether it was him who reminded Liu Sheng, or whether Liu Sheng knew about it and was so angry that he wanted to kill someone.

Not to mention his wife and children, those military advisors (scholars), especially Lao Pan (Pan Duao), were quite useful to him.

Thinking of this, Zhang Xianzhong had no choice but to give in and gritted his teeth: "10 taels of silver and two thousand weapons cannot be less."

From this, Liu Sheng guessed that although Zhang Xianzhong's men were large, most of them were new recruits and lacked weapons.

So he smiled and said: "Okay, I will follow the Eight Great Kings. But the Eight Great Kings have to write a letter to Zhang Dingguo to explain clearly and ask him to change his surname back to Li."

Hearing this, Zhang Xianzhong became suspicious and couldn't help asking: "Did Dingguo tell you that his original surname was Li?"

Liu Sheng smiled and said nothing.

This made Zhang Xianzhong even more suspicious.

He remembered that Li Dingguo was originally a scholar's child, and he already knew a lot of words when he was adopted by him at the age of ten.

Although he followed him to fight in several provinces, he would read the books he collected whenever he had spare time. When he was in Gucheng, he even hired a gentleman to teach Confucian classics.

In addition, he often advised him to kill less and be kind to the people.

Just be kind to the people.

In this shitty world, so many people have turned into monsters, and they all deserve to be killed!

If Lao Zhang doesn't work hard and kill more, how can he bring peace to the world? !

As Li Dingguo gets older, the conflict with him on the issue of murder becomes deeper.

Thinking of this, Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but think: How did Liu Sheng know that my wife, children, and military advisor were all in Xiangyang City Prison?

Could it be that it was also what Dingguo said?
Suspicion is hard to eliminate.

Zhang Xianzhong felt that it might be a good thing to give Li Dingguo as a gift.

For one thing, Li Dingguo now vaguely intends to compete with Sun Kewang in the army.

Li Dingguo had many advantages, but Sun Kewang was several years older and had long been Zhang Xianzhong's assistant. He had more connections in the military than Li Dingguo and had higher prestige than Li Dingguo. Li Dingguo was not someone he could compete with.

Secondly, since Li Dingguo had objections to his repeated killings and stayed by his side, conflicts would break out sooner or later, and the father and son might turn against each other.

Thirdly, if Li Dingguo still has his adoptive father in his heart and stays with Liu Shengjun, he may still be able to use him in the future.

Thinking of this, the coldness and murderous intent that had just appeared in Zhang Xianzhong's eyes disappeared again, and he said: "After returning to the camp, I, Lao Zhang, will send the letter, Dingguo's wife, children, and personal followers.

I also hope that Marshal Liu can keep his word and send 10 shi of grain, [-] taels of silver, and [-] weapons to my camp as soon as possible! "

Liu Sheng smiled and said, "Eight Kings, don't worry, I, Liu Sheng, have always been trustworthy!"

After saying that, the two of them clasped their fists and left.

Liu Sheng was quite satisfied with the meeting with Zhang Xianzhong, and he was even more satisfied with the final deal.

If he just keeps Li Dingguo by force, it would be difficult to win Li Dingguo's heart.

But now Zhang Xianzhong sold Li Dingguo and asked him to change his surname back to Li, which was equivalent to breaking away from the relationship between adoptive father and son. He didn't even need to accept Li Dingguo's affection, so he naturally returned to the Wei tribe and Liu Sheng.

This is much safer to use than forcing someone to lock a man.

Returning to Xiangyang City, Liu Sheng gave instructions on preparing the supplies for the transaction, then went to the west city gate tower and told Li Dingguo the truth about the transaction.

After hearing this, Li Dingguo's eyes widened and he said in disbelief: "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How could my father sell it..."

As soon as the word "sell" came out of his mouth, Li Dingguo burst into tears and couldn't speak any more.

Although rationally he could understand Zhang Xianzhong's choice, emotionally, Zhang Xianzhong's move deeply hurt his heart!
He followed Zhang Xianzhong when he was ten years old, and has been with Zhang Xianzhong from the beginning of his career to today, more than ten years ago!
He didn't know whether Zhang Xianzhong really regarded him as his son; but he had really regarded Zhang Xianzhong as his father before!

Now that his father sold him to someone else, how could he not feel heartbroken? !

Liu Sheng patted Li Dingguo on the shoulder and said: "The Eight Kings also have their difficulties... I really need brother Dingguo's help here.

In addition, this is not a separation of life and death. Brother Dingguo may have a chance to meet the Eight Kings in the future, so don't worry too much. "

Liu Sheng's consolation had no obvious effect, and Li Dingguo was still heartbroken.

It wasn't until Zhang Xianzhong sent someone to send his wife, children, more than a hundred personal followers, and a personal letter that he cheered up a little.

I don’t know what Zhang Xianzhong’s purpose was. This letter did not have an envelope.

The content of the letter is also simple.

When the people below forwarded it, Liu Sheng did not shy away from Li Dingguo and read it in person - the letter was nominally for Li Dingguo, but in fact it was a letter of guarantee written by Zhang Xianzhong to Liu Sheng. He had no reason not to read it.

He glanced at it and handed it to Li Dingguo silently.

　Second more.

　　Historically, in the 14th year of Chongzhen, it can even be said that before the battle of Zhuxian Town, the Ming army had a considerable advantage.

　　In addition, Zuo Liangyu's combat effectiveness is really not low. Many times, he deliberately conserves his strength and deceives his teammates.

　　Good night~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)