Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

The troops of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai marched for thousands of miles in Sichuan, conquering more than a dozen counties and counties, and the team grew stronger day by day.Yang Sichang frightened and tried his best to mobilize troops and generals to chase and intercept him, and finally he lost his troops and lost his generals.

This situation was caused by Yang Sichang's personal subjective reasons in addition to many objective factors, the so-called general trend.Aoyong, the Fuzhi king of Yunyang, once commented on Yang Sichang and said: "Sichang used troops for many years, but he was unable to "squeeze" the bandits. An outline is easy, but everything is difficult with the heart. What's more, the situation of thieves is changing rapidly. Today, thousands of miles away, the opportunity to conquer is all done by Sichang alone. I have heard it repeatedly... I think that in order to control the generals of Sichang, everyone does not need to give them the opportunity, but only needs to check whether the opportunity is correct, stick to the essentials, eliminate the tediousness, and make decisions in order to win. Why delay the time, teacher Mi rate?"

Wang Aoyong's comments on Yang Sichang are fair and insightful.In terms of self-righteousness and self-righteousness, Yang Sichang did have many similarities with Emperor Chongzhen.He was indeed particularly smart and capable among the officials at the end of the Ming Dynasty, but this kind of smart and capable was also an important reason for thousands of miles of fighting, scheduling failures, discord among generals, and lack of morale in the army.

However, Emperor Chongzhen always liked those courtiers who were internally consistent with him in some aspects, and it was rare for him to trust Yang Sichang to the point. Yang Sichang continued to go his own way.Yang Sichang also refused to listen to other people's opinions, and still cared about everything.To the spring of the 14th year of Chongzhen.The war situation has finally reached the point where it can be handled.

Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai's entry into Sichuan completely disrupted the deployment of the Ming army to encircle and suppress the peasant army.And at this time.Because a large number of Ming troops were transferred to Liaodong to fight, the official army in the Central Plains was already stretched. However, the situation of the Central Plains encircling and suppressing the peasant army was completely reversed by the Zhang and Luo coalition forces.Therefore, the last joint battle between Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai achieved extremely brilliant results, and also gave strong support to the peasant armies on other fronts.

At this time, taking advantage of the shrinking front of the Runing Army.The Fifth Gezuo Battalion also moved and hid in the Dabie Mountains.And when they saw that there was no Ming army around them that could threaten them, they were about to make a move.

And just as Yang Sichang was following Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai to march thousands of miles in Sichuan, another peasant army suddenly appeared in Henan after being silent for more than two years.That is Li Zicheng's troops.

Li Zicheng's tribe has been lurking in the mountainous areas on the borders of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Hubei since the beginning of the 11th year of Chongzhen. The Ming Dynasty court generally believed that this group of farmers had been completely wiped out, and news of Li Zicheng's death was also circulating in the court and the public.But in the winter of the 13th year of Chongzhen.Li Zicheng's troops miraculously reappeared, galloping past Xichuan and Neixiang in southwest Henan.

The appearance of Li Zicheng immediately demonstrated his great appeal. The bandits from all over the country finally had a backbone, and together with a large number of refugees, they threw themselves into Li Zicheng's peasant army. [

When he first arrived in Henan, Li Zicheng's team was no more than a thousand people.In less than half a month, there were already over ten thousand people.In early January, it reached tens of thousands.In December of this year, Li Zicheng broke through Lushan, Jiaxian, Yiyang (now Ruyang), Yiyang, Yongning (now Luoning) and other counties, turning the entire eastern Henan region upside down.

The Ming court was completely caught off guard by Li Zicheng's appearance.The eastern part of Henan is also where the Ming army's defenses are most empty.Even the Runing Army was totally caught off guard by Li Zicheng's appearance.

At this time, the Runing Army followed Wu Shigong's plan.After Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai returned to Huguang, they planned to take advantage of their echoes with the Gezuo Fifth Battalion to launch a large-scale defeat and pursuit battle in order to obtain a large amount of land and population.

Therefore, the Runing Army has also concentrated its forces in Junzhou, Nanyang, and the southern area of ​​Runing, and is ready to find the right time to send troops.Unexpectedly, the main force of the Runing Army was in the south, but Li Zicheng suddenly appeared in the north. The peasant army spread towards its own control area.

As a result, the Ru Ning Army had no ability to attack on the northern front in a short time, and Yan Jing, the magistrate of Ruzhou, abandoned the city without hesitation after hearing that the Ru Ning Army had withdrawn the personnel from Tuntianzhuangzi in Ruzhou. He fled to Runing with his family.

But at this time, no one cares about Yan Jing's crime of abandoning the city.On the [-]th of the first lunar month, tens of thousands of Li Zicheng's troops began to besiege Luoyang, an important town in eastern Henan.Luoyang is not only the ancient capital of the past dynasties, gathering the essence of the Central Plains, but also a military hub that controls the two directions of Guanzhong and Xiang and Yun. It has an extremely important position politically, militarily and economically.

More importantly, Luoyang is also the residence of Zhu Changxun, the king of the Ming clan.And this Zhu Changxun is the son of Emperor Wanli and Concubine Zheng. Emperor Wanli had a quarrel with the courtiers in order to change him to be the prince. Bao Baozi has a huge property, including [-] hectares of land alone, in addition to a large amount of annual income from salt tax and commercial tax.

This king of fortune is known as the richest man in the world, and he is the closest to today's branch.He is Emperor Chongzhen's direct uncle and the eldest of the direct uncles, so he has the most honorable status among dozens of clan princes.With such a prince living in the city, Luoyang's political significance is even more extraordinary.

But the defense of Luoyang City is almost a joke.Luoyang General Soldier Wang Shaoyu is quite well-known among the leading generals in Henan, but this reputation is not because of his ability to march and set up positions, but because of his ability to withhold military pay.Others deduct [-]% of the money, while he deducts [-]% of it, and then [-]% is given to the soldiers.The remaining [-]% was given to the soldiers in Luoyang City, so this Wang Shaoyu had a nickname "Wang Bacheng", which was gradually omitted, and the word "cheng" was removed, and it became "Wang Bacheng".

Because of the lack of food and pay for his troops, the lack of morale in the army, and the fact that Wang Shaoyu has no ability other than greed and despicability, no matter how much the various governors mobilize Henan soldiers and horses, they will not be able to get him. This bad reputation has also become an umbrella.Unexpectedly, Li Zicheng had already attacked the city of Luoyang.

However, the soldiers in Luoyang city mutinied several times because the commander-in-chief Wang Shaoyu withheld their salaries, which actually became a great disaster in Luoyang city.Therefore, in this time of crisis, the prefect of Luoyang and other city officials are really worried about the payment of salaries.

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