Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 198 "Welcome King Xin, congratulate King Xin, King Xin comes and does not pay taxes"

“Who? Li Yan?”

Isn't it a coincidence that enemies meet on a narrow road? Why is he here?

No, I can't see him. Now that Li Yan has defected to Li Zicheng, it means that as soon as I show up, Li Zicheng will know that I am a vassal of the Ming Dynasty.

His "anti-king" banner would collapse in an instant.

The principle of "dividing land and exempting grain" became worthless.

Chongzhen swallowed hard and said calmly: "Since Li Zicheng wanted to join forces with me, why didn't he come instead of sending an unknown Li Yan?"

"Old Han, go meet him and find out his true strength."

"Yes, Prince Xin."

Old Han did not think much about it, because what "Prince Xin" said made sense. Since you, Li Zicheng, want to join forces, it must be a face-to-face meeting between the kings.

Even if it weren't Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin, Gao Guiying, Gao Yigong, and Tian Jianxiu, the backbones of Li Zicheng, who came, it would be fine.

They only sent an unknown Li Yan, which was obviously a test on the matter. It was normal that Prince Xin did not go to meet him.

He would never have imagined that Chongzhen didn't want to see this person simply because he had met the other party before and the two were very familiar with each other.

……

It was already noon at this time. Old Han received Li Yan and the two sides had a conversation.

But both sides are generals and are testing each other.

It seems to be very harmonious, but in fact there is not much progress.

Li Yan had anticipated this, and finally handed King Chuang's handwritten letter to Lao Han, and then left King Xin's residence, which was the county government office in Tongcheng.

Now Chongzhen's troops captured another city and also occupied Tongcheng.

Of the seven county towns in Wuchang Prefecture, only Wuchang City has not been captured. However, it is said that all the officials in Wuchang Prefecture have already fled.

"Is this the famous Wuchang Prefecture?" Li Shuangxi, the adopted son of King Chuang, asked in surprise on the street.

"Yes!" Li Yan looked at the streets of Wuchang Prefecture, feeling mixed emotions in his heart, "I didn't expect this place to be so prosperous?"

The city is densely populated, with heavy traffic, people coming and going, living and working in peace and contentment, and the trees are swaying in the sun. How can this look like a city that has experienced war?
He immediately found a merchant, ordered a bowl of noodles, and asked casually, "Shopkeeper, how is your business lately?"

"You look like an outsider."

Li Shuangxi asked puzzledly: "Is it because of our accent?"

"Not only that... Now everyone in Wuchang Prefecture knows that thanks to Prince Xin, business has been much better than before since he took over Wuchang Prefecture."

"More than a little better?" Li Yan was stunned for a moment. "In this chaotic time, how could business be better than before?"

"You don't know this. After Prince Xin came, he distributed land and grain, and the people had more money than before. Prince Xin's subordinates were unrestrained. Whenever they came to our store, they would give us cash."

"In cash?"

"Of course not. If anyone under Prince Xin dares not give the silver, he will be beheaded immediately if he is reported to Prince Xin's camp."

Li Yan froze in place, his tongue was frozen, and he couldn't speak for a long time. The shop owner looked at the customer and couldn't help but smile and shook his head, "You can't believe it, let alone you. Even we couldn't believe it at first, but now that the business is booming, you will understand!"

When Li Yan came to his senses again, he found that the shop owner had left. He said in a daze, "This guy is amazing!"

"What's the logic? The country is occupied by thieves, but they are shouting that the world is at peace." Li Shuangxi shook his head and said in confusion.

Instead, Li Yan remained silent.

At this moment, his eyes suddenly became a little blurry. Isn’t this the Holy Lord he imagined?
The common people have land and spare money, and in order to maintain their current lives, they are certainly willing to stand up and fight for "King Xin"... The common people on the street are enough to show that the benevolence of "King Xin" is more perfect than they imagined.

I have been pursuing him for so long, but I never expected that the "wise leader" would appear at this moment.

This feeling had only been vague to him before this moment, but at this moment, he finally realized what Niu Jinxing said: "Li Zicheng is not as smart as Gao Yingdeng, not as brave as Luo Rucai, not as cunning as Zhang Xianzhong, and not as good as Prince Xin in terms of principles."

However, things like wisdom, bravery, and cunning are not as important as principles and benevolence.

Because the first three are only necessary for officials and generals, but for the king, these are secondary.

"Uncle Li, Uncle Li...?"

Li Yan's thoughts were interrupted by Li Shuangxi, and then he looked at the other party, "What's wrong?"

"What is Uncle Li thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering what kind of person this 'Prince Xin' is. It's a pity that we came here but couldn't meet him."

"Yes, I am also extremely curious about this Prince Xin. What kind of person is he? He was able to win over hundreds of thousands of soldiers in just over two months, and even conquer Wuchang Prefecture. He is truly a god!"

Li Shuangxi just kept his head down and ate noodles. He hadn't eaten white noodles for a long time since he started the rebellion. When a bowl of hot noodles was served to him, he had no time to care about anything else.

He didn't notice Li Yan's flickering, hesitant eyes at all.

After finishing the noodles, Li Yan suddenly said, "Shuangxi, since we are in Wuchang Prefecture, don't rush back. Let's take a look around."

"Uncle Li, what are we waiting for? We have delivered the letter and met with Wuchang Prefecture. Prince Xin refused to see us. It is obvious that he thinks we are not important enough. Is there any need for us to continue waiting here?"

Li Yan shook his head. "You did see it, but let me ask you now, if you go back to Shangluo Mountain, can you be like Prince Xin and attract 50,000 soldiers in just two months, let alone 100,000?"

"This……"

"That's it. You are not sure, and neither am I, so I hope to stay here again and observe for a while." Li Yan continued righteously, "But in order not to worry King Chuang, Shuangxi, you should go back and tell King Chuang first."

After hesitating for a moment, Li Shuangxi finally nodded, "Okay, then I'll go back and tell King Chuang first."

"Liu Yuan, you are responsible for Uncle Li's safety."

"Don't worry, no one can touch Uncle Li unless I die."

After seeing Li Shuangxi off, Li Yan took a deep breath and looked at the last person left. "Liu Yuan, we may have to stay here for a few days. Let's find a hotel to stay first."

"King Chuang ordered us to come out. Everything is up to you."

"Eh? When we're out in the world, we're brothers. Everything we do is for the sake of our grand plan. If you have anything to discuss, come and discuss it. Let's go find a clean place to stay. We'll go to Niuji Restaurant for dinner tonight. I heard that the donkey meat there is the best."

"Thank you, Military Advisor."

The reason why Li Yan sent Li Shuangxi away was because Li Shuangxi was much more shrewd than this guy. Although this guy had followed Li Zicheng for a long time, he was actually dissatisfied with Li Zicheng's living in Shangluo Mountain.

Li Yan did all this because he didn't want to leave.

He didn't want to go back to King Chuang just like that, but wanted to take another look at King Xin. He wanted to really see what kind of person King Xin was.

"A good bird chooses the tree to roost in, and a good minister chooses the master to serve!"

The world is in strife,

Choosing a wise leader is far more important than strategies and efforts.

As he was walking across the street, there happened to be a person on the street who looked over here.

"Third Master, what are you looking at?"

The Third Master looked at Li Yan's back and asked, "Do you feel that person is familiar?"

"Oh?" The man looked at them and shook his head, saying, "I can't recognize them. Maybe they are other bandits we have seen before. Don't tell me, I have already met two acquaintances since I came to Wuchang Prefecture."

"Yes, now that Prince Xin is very powerful, many well-known figures in the martial arts world have come to join him." It was a team led by the third in command under Hong Niangzi.

Ever since she heard that Prince Xin was growing stronger in Huguang, Hong Niang thought about it and always felt that this person was familiar, so she sent the third in command to test the true strength of "Prince Xin".

……

At the same time, Ma Shouying was leading his men to the territory of Wuchang Prefecture.

They were actually the first to set out, but because they encountered government troops on the way, they took a detour for safety reasons, and ended up falling behind Li Yan and his group.

Entering Wuchang Prefecture, he found that the people's mental outlook was different. "Wuchang Prefecture is richer than our Yinghuo Mountain."

A young general following Ma Shouying couldn't help but sigh: "We are in Yinghuo Mountain, with few people and barren fields, and a shortage of food and grass. After a long time, it is inevitable that the morale of the army will be unstable. We should have moved south at the beginning, and we probably wouldn't be in such a situation now..."

Halfway through his words, he lowered his head and looked at Ma Shouying, not daring to continue.

Ma Shouying smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Just say what you want to say. There is nothing to hide. It was me who stopped them from developing towards the southeast."

"It's my fault, it's my fault!"

There were also fewer hungry people.

As rebels, they understand best the importance of relying on the hungry people if they want to grow stronger.

It can be said that whether the power can grow big enough depends entirely on the snowball effect of the hungry people.

As the three were talking, they heard someone exclaim, "Prince Xin's troops are coming, everyone make way!"

"Give it!"

All the people happily made way for the road in the middle, singing: "Welcome King Xin, congratulate King Xin, King Xin has come and does not require taxes, so please help by distributing land and grain!"

"Welcome King Xin, congratulate King Xin, King Xin has come and does not require taxes, so please help by distributing land and food..."

"Welcome King Xin, congratulate King Xin..."

The people lined the streets to welcome them, shouting and singing.

Ma Shouying and his two subordinates looked at each other.

The look of surprise in each other's eyes was clearly visible, showing the great waves in each other's hearts, "Has the title of Prince Xin actually reached such a level?"

The people welcomed "Prince Xin" with great joy. This scene was something Ma Shouying and his men had never dared to imagine.

Ma Shouying couldn't help but ask the people around him, "Fellow villagers, I want to ask, what are the troops of 'Prince Xin' doing?"

"See? Those are temples that specialize in loan sharking. Sun Kewang, who is under the command of Prince Xin, has destroyed them. Now they will divide the land among us."

"Temple?" Ma Shouying was puzzled. "I didn't expect that this temple was also filled with filth and dirt!"

"You don't know this, do you?" The villagers gnashed their teeth and cursed, "This monk is so hateful. The people in this area for dozens of miles all farm for him."

"Haven't you heard? Those with daughters plant watered land, those with good wives plant good land, those with bad wives plant bad land, and those without women reclaim wasteland, so that no tenant's daughter is willing to go there."

"Not only that, they also have the right of first night..."

In ancient times, monks were not that simple, but this can be seen from the many large-scale anti-Buddhist incidents in history.

Sun Kewang was indeed a capable man. He had a very clear grasp of the people's pain points. Corrupt officials, evil gentry... and monks all had large amounts of land, and the people hated them to the core.

After beating and killing corrupt officials, evil officials, and evil gentry, they finally turned their swords and guns on the monks in Wuchang Prefecture.

"Kill me!"

Sun Kewang waved his whip and arrows rained down into the temple, causing screams to ring out.

After two consecutive rounds, the resistance inside began to thin out.

Why did Sun Kewang point his sword at the monks? Because over the past hundred years, the temples had not only collected money from incense offerings, but had been constantly encroaching on the people's land. They bought golden Buddhas, trained martial monks, and colluded with the government.

During years of famine, they would lend money at high interest rates. If they couldn’t get the money back, they would take away your land or sell your women.

Their business was thriving, but the people were suffering. In order to protect their "business", they asked warrior monks to guard their homes.

This is why the monks in the temple are so powerful in stick skills.

Over hundreds of years, they already had wealth, land, tenants, and armed forces.

It has become an armed force that controls a certain area.

During the reign of Chongzhen, the dynasty declined and the court's control over the local areas weakened. Temples began to accelerate land annexation, making them more powerful than before.

In order to win over these temples, the government would grant them certain privileges, one of which was to allow them to enjoy the first night fist of their tenants...

"General Sun, this is the abbot of the temple!" Several soldiers pulled out a fat monk from under the altar in the temple.

"My lord, please forgive me. We know we are wrong."

The host couldn't help shaking all over, and the fat on his face trembled.

"Pah~" Sun Kewang spat at the fat monk who was kneeling on the ground and kowtowing, "Have you confessed the gold and silver treasures in the temple?"

"Already told."

Sun Kewang said nothing more, turned around and continued walking inside.

The subordinate immediately understood what Sun Kewang meant and shouted, "General Sun has given the order. Cut him down!"

"My lord, please spare me!"

The yellow soup flowed all over the floor, and the two soldiers were so angry that they threw the host aside, cursing, and drew their knives, chopping at his neck with a "puff" sound. "Damn, this kind of character can actually be a host."

"Puff puff~"

The fat monks in the remaining temples were also killed one by one.

Sun Kewang walked in and looked at the gold, silver and jewelry all over the ground. "We will divide it into eight parts according to the number of people, and give the rest to the king. In addition, we will register the land and distribute it to the tenants who originally cultivated the land."

"Yes!"

Just half an hour later, the gold, silver, treasures and other financial resources in the temple were divided up.

"哐哐哐~"

As the gong sounded, generals holding flags with the word "faith" on them walked outside the temple and posted the information on the distribution of land.

The people were immediately delighted. "We have land now. We have land now."

"We no longer have to offer tribute to these beasts. What a pity for my Xier..." An old man's eyes were filled with tears.

There are many people holding their heads in pain.

"No wonder, no wonder... I now understand why he was able to win over hundreds of thousands of people so quickly!" An old soldier in Ma Shouying's camp was so moved that his chest heaved. "In that case, we have come to the right place."

"If we join forces with 'Prince Xin', we will surely make a comeback." Ma Shouying's Adam's apple rolled, and his heart was filled with emotion.

What do they lack most now?
are people.

But for the "King of Faith" who is at the peak of his career, people are not a problem at all.

Ma Shouying jumped on his horse and said, "Work harder, we need to see Prince Xin as soon as possible."

(End of this chapter)