Han ride

Chapter 348
Shi Yuanzhi nodded his head, but was surprised in his heart.Li Xin is only in his early twenties, when he was young and energetic, and now he is a hero with a heavy army in his hands. According to reason, it is understandable to have some aggressive ideas or actions, but Shi Yuan has been following Li Xin for so long time, he is rarely seen making mistakes.Even going south to the Central Plains alone was a huge mistake, but the facts have proved that Li Xin's going south to the Central Plains not only did not bring him any harm, but also made his reputation soar, spreading throughout the Central Plains Now there are some benevolent people in the Central Plains, who doesn't appreciate Li Xin's benevolence and righteousness, although he offended many gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, but the food and grass he asked for came, but there are countless people living in Shandong. , which brought him a lot of benefits.These are things that the old fox Shi Yuanzhi didn't foresee.

"Could this be the son of heaven, the destiny of heaven?" Shi Yuanzhi sometimes asked himself like this.He originally followed Li Xin just to see how far a person like Li Xin could go, but now he never imagined that it would become such a large scale.I'm afraid this can not only be explained by being a hero made by the times.

Li Xin didn't know what Shi Yuanzhi was thinking, and even if he knew, he would just laugh it off. In his opinion, although Pidao had a certain effect on him, Houjin was hard to destroy. Li Xin is not arrogant either, he is invincible. Facing the army of Hou Jin, who is good at fighting, Li Xin is not ready yet. Hou Jin can be defeated again and again, but he Li Xin can't. People will oppose him, so he must find a way to occupy the Central Plains, even a city is good.To do this, at this stage, Chongzhen cannot be stimulated, but only by laying a solid foundation.Since you want Phi Island, Chongzhen will give it to you.According to Li Xin's guess, this idiot like Wu Xiang would definitely not be able to defend Phi Island, and in the end it was Zu Dashou's Jinzhou City that was unlucky.

When sitting and watching the sky, when Li Zicheng becomes big, occupies half of Shaanxi, and threatens Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen will definitely let him send troops.Before that, what Li Xin had to do was to unify the grassland.Let himself be the lord of the grassland, and the backyard is stable, so that he can deal with other enemies.

Ten days later, the sun filled the grassland, the temperature on the grassland rose, and the ice and snow gradually melted. All kinds of animals appeared on the grassland after hibernation. At this time, it was a good time to send troops.The prairie that had been peaceful for dozens of days just now ushered in another bloody storm.

In the Liuli Palace, Li Xin worshiped Jiang Yi as the chief of the west march, leading 1 troops to attack the west; he also worshiped Yang Xiong as the chief of the north march, leading [-] troops, and marched into Chahar to wipe out the remnants of Tuxietu Khan However, Li Xin himself led an army of [-], falsely claiming that [-] elites were marching eastward. Song Xiance and Sun Yuanhua followed the army. power.He also ordered people to pass on the book to Pidao, and asked Zhao Guang to lead Pidao's remaining troops of about [-] people to escort Pidao's family members and people to the grassland.

At the same time that Li Xin raised his troops, Huang Taiji was in Shengjing, under the slogan of supporting the Horqin tribe, he personally led 8 people out of Shengjing and killed Horqin.It's just that the grassland, which had been quiet for dozens of days, ushered in another bloodbath.Of course, among them, Li Xin's momentum was the most powerful, and his troops were divided into three groups, sweeping everything around him.

However, everyone knows that Li Xin is trying to snatch the forces left behind by Lin Danhan. In the face of Li Xin's attack, all the surrounding forces rarely get involved. Even Huang Taiji, who has a deep hatred for Li Xin, did not seek Li Xin's troubles, let alone other people.

Of course, there are quite a few people who took advantage of the fire to rob.Emperor Chongzhen, who was far away in the capital, received the news from the grassland very quickly this time. Although he was very unhappy that Li Xin had started to sweep the grassland without reporting, he had nothing to do.He envied Li Xin very much, so he had high hopes for Liaodong. He immediately ordered the cabinet to issue a decree to Zu Dashou, let Zu Dashou act accordingly, and see if he could capture Dalinghe City, or attack Jiannu to gain more victory.

"Mr. Fan, do you want me to stay in Shengjing because you want to monitor Li Xin, or is it impossible for the army to attack Li Xin? Although the opportunity to snatch food from the tiger's mouth is good, Li Xin is not an ordinary tiger. !" Inside the Phoenix Tower in Shengjing, a middle-aged man in a dragon robe looked at Fan Wencheng with a smile. If this person is not Huang Taiji and who it is, I am afraid no one knows. There is no such thing as Huang Taiji who attacked the Horqin Grassland with great fanfare. Instead of leaving Shengjing, he stayed in Shengjing.

"Li Xin is a fierce tiger, but a tiger only has four claws." Fan Wencheng sneered, "His four claws have been released now, so he doesn't have any other energy. This time, the humble minister let the emperor stay." , mainly because there are important things to do.”

"What is more important than conquering Horqin?" Huang Taiji was very surprised. He was persuaded by Fan Wencheng on the eve of the expedition, because he trusted Fan Wencheng so much that he made such a decision.

"Phi Dao." Fan Wencheng said proudly, "The emperor should focus on Pi Dao."

"Phi Island?" Huang Taiji was surprised, and finally said: "Is a Phi Island without Li Xin important? Can this Phi Island really play a role in containing our army?"

"Your Majesty, do you remember the last time I said that we need to find someone in the Ming Dynasty to help us deliver the news?" Fan Wencheng smiled and took out a stack of lists from his arms, and said, "Your Majesty, my minister asked the 24 Yamen The people who searched for the list of many ministers in the Ming Dynasty found that many people met the requirements, but in Liaodong, the most suitable person is this person named Wu Xiang."

"Wu Xiang?" Huang Taiji frowned, apparently he had no impression of Wu Xiang.

"Your majesty, you may not have much impression of this Wu Xiang, but you may still remember his son. When the emperor's army attacked Jinzhou and Wu Xiang was trapped, there was a young man who led hundreds of family members into the battle. The emperor also once I have praised this person, and this person is Wu Sangui, the son of Wu Xiang." Fan Wencheng remembered strongly and said: "Wu Sangui is also extraordinary. When Chongzhen's son first came to the throne, Wei Zhongxian was still a eunuch holding a pen and controlling the inner court. Emperor Chongzhen was afraid of being harmed by Wei Zhongxian. , so Wu Sangui was recruited to go to Beijing to escort him. This person is now a guerrilla general in Shanhaiguan, and Zu Dashou and others intend to support this person as the general of Shanhaiguan, and prepare to hold the Shanhaiguan pass in their hands."

"Shanhaiguan." Huang Taiji's eyes lit up. Shanhaiguan is the place he longs for. The reason why the Ming Dynasty established Beijing as its capital was of course due to political considerations, and Beijing has the danger of Yanshan Mountain, and the solidity of the Great Wall is also an important reason. Among them, Shanhaiguan is the most important pass. If Shanhaiguan can be captured, Beijing will be in its hands.

"Sir, do you want to lure Wu Xiang to surrender first, then use Wu Xiang to control Wu Sangui, and finally Shanhaiguan?" Huang Taiji immediately saw Fan Wencheng's calculation.

"That's right, no matter what, the father and son will not surrender in a short time, but as long as time passes and there are changes in the Ming Dynasty, then maybe." Fan Wencheng said softly: "This Wu The father and son of the Wu family have grievances with Li Xin, and one day when the traitor Li Xin herds horses in the Central Plains, it will be the time when the Wu family father and son take refuge in me, Da Jin."

"This matter can be done, even if it takes a little longer, it doesn't matter." Huang Taiji is also a person with great foresight. He immediately saw the problem, nodded, and said: "In that case, I will go Capture Phi Island first."

"No, the emperor didn't ask you to capture Phi Island, but to capture Lushunkou." Fan Wencheng hurriedly stopped him: "In order to take over the power that Li Xin left behind on Phi Island, Wu Xiang sent most of the army to guard Phi Island. , the current Lushunkou camp is short of major generals, the first thing the emperor has to do is to capture Lushunkou, defeat Wu Xiang, and let Wu Xiang lose his troops, so that we can get closer to Wu Xiang."

Fan Wencheng put Wu Xiang in it.Sure enough, the next day, Huang Taiji personally led an army of 2 Zhenghuang Banners, and took advantage of Wu Xiang's unpreparedness to attack Lushunkou. This general who was good at escaping was no exception this time. After passing Lushunkou, Phi Island is truly lonely overseas.

Wu Xiang, who lost Lushunkou, did not disappoint Fan Wencheng. After returning to Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen dismissed Wu Xiang and asked him to retire in the capital, but his son Wu Sangui was still reused in Shanhaiguan.

In April of the sixth year of Chongzhen, Li Xin led an army to sweep across the entire eastern grassland. Wherever the army was going, no one dared to contend with it, and they all surrendered to Li Xin. On April [-], with Zhao Guang and others Meet at the Laoha River.So far, Li Xin's mission to conquer the East is over.

Of course, when Li Xin and Zhao Guang joined forces, there was also bad news. Dorgon led an army to raid Horqin's tooth tent and formally annexed the Horqin tribe. Wu Keshan and others surrendered to Dorgon. After the tribe's surrender, Hou Jin's strength soared, and only Li Xin and Huang Taiji were left fighting for hegemony on the entire grassland.

In the Central Plains, the rebels were still in full swing, and Emperor Chongzhen was miserable. In addition to the disasters in Yan'an, Pingliang, Qingyang and other places, Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to reduce the "Liao pay" of the three places. Taking advantage of the fire and robbing also had to give up because of the problem of food and payment.Of course, there is also something that comforted Emperor Chongzhen, that is, Deng Qi, the general of the Sichuan army he sent, shot and killed the famous leader of the rebel army Zijin Liang, which made the official army famous, which can be regarded as a little comfort to Chongzhen!

However, it is a pity that Emperor Chongzhen was not happy for a long time. After Deng Qi killed Zijin Liang, these rebels had no choice but to retreat to Lin County, Henan Province. People separated by a letter from Chang Yuchun often claim to be Chang Yuchun's number two, but unfortunately, he is only the second, not himself, and does not have the aura of the protagonist. When chasing the rebel army, he was ambushed and lost. They used the banner of this Yang Yuchun to lure and kill other officers and soldiers. In the end, even Deng Qi was defeated, and there were only a hundred or so soldiers around. and flee.In June, Chieftain Ma Fengyi led an army, which was also defeated by the rebel army. For a while, the Henan rebel army was very powerful and arrogant, and the peasants who had lost their land also joined the rebel army one after another. The situation in Henan suddenly became serious. tensed up.

"I heard that His Majesty the Emperor has dispatched supervisors to the various generals?" In the Liuli Palace, Li Xin had disheveled hair early in the morning and was wearing a Daoist uniform. He was sitting cross-legged on the kang, opposite him, saying Sitting there are Shi Yuanzhi, Song Xiance, Zhang Cai, Zhang Chun and Sun Yuanhua, all of whom are his team members.

"Isn't it?" Shi Yuanzhi nodded, and said, "Cao Wenzhao, Zhang Yingchang, Zuo Liangyu, and Deng Qi all sent eunuchs there. Once these eunuchs come out, these generals are probably in danger. "

"The imperial court is in a hurry." Zhang Cai said in a low voice.His words were complicated, as were Zhang Chun and Sun Yuanhua on one side. These three were all betrayed from Chongzhen's subordinates. Although there were unavoidable factors, they still had feelings for the court.It is obviously impossible for them to completely turn their hearts to Li Xin and regard the court as an enemy in a short period of time.

"Well, I'm in a hurry." Li Xin called out another copy from a lot of information, handed it to Zhang Cai and others, and said, "Recently, someone in the imperial court suggested to urge all the provinces' taxes (taxes that have not been paid or evaded) over the years. Seven million taels of silver. Emperor Chongzhen approved it, and it was completed within a time limit." Li Xin spoke with great ease.

"So many?" Zhang Cai and the others had never heard of this information. After hearing the news suddenly, they were shocked, and only heard him say: "The amount is huge, and it needs to be completed within a month. This is almost impossible." matter."

"What's even more ridiculous is that at this time, Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru were fighting quite fiercely. Almost all the civil servants in the court were swept in, and Emperor Chongzhen was also burned to death!" Shi Yuan couldn't help but Shake your head.

"Internal troubles and external troubles, in this case, we should help each other in times of trouble, but the imperial court is divided into two factions, fighting for a little power. No wonder such an imperial court can govern the world like this." Song Xiance gloated.Now he has gained a firm foothold within Li Xin, and his voice has gradually become louder.

"After Lushunkou fell, who did the imperial court send to guard?" Li Xin suddenly thought of something, and asked Shi Yuan directly, Zhang Cai and the others pricked up their ears.Li Xin didn't ask about this on purpose, he must have other ideas.

"A man named Shen Shikui became the acting commander-in-chief." Shi Yuan glanced at everyone and said softly.

"Do you have any information about this person?" Li Xin asked again.

"This person's daughter used to be Mao Wenlong's concubine. This person is murderous, greedy for money, extremely arrogant, rampant on Pidao, and none of the generals can rule him." Shi Yuanzhi read according to the information.

"The imperial court actually let such a person become the general soldier of Pidao?" Li Xin said with some surprise.It is a bad thing for a general to be arrogant. Such a person is fine as a general who charges into the battle, but if he becomes the leader of an army, something will happen sooner or later, especially for those who rely on nepotism.

"Isn't it? It's probably because he has been in Pidao for a long time, so the court let him be the chief soldier." Song Xiance sneered: "This person is the chief soldier, and Pidao will not be used by the court since then. Jinzhou The pressure has also increased a lot.”

"It's a pity, it's a pity." Li Xin shook his head, feeling a little bit of regret.

"Master Hou, our army has just occupied a large amount of territory, from Ruoshui in the west, Horqin in the north, and Daxing'anling in the east. This vast area still needs to be digested, so it's better not to cause trouble." Zhang Cai listened to Li Xin's tone , thought he was looking for a place to attack the opponent again, so he said quickly.

"Of course I know this." Li Xin nodded, and said, "During this period, it's better to recuperate. The soldiers have worked hard for nearly half a year. If they continue to fight, I'm afraid they won't be able to accept it." Li Xin nodded. Nodding, he naturally knew that the string of war must be tightened, but he can't always attack, especially Li Xin has been in the grassland for so many years and spent every year in war.Although supported by the seven great families, the bodies of the soldiers are not made of iron. If the fight continues, sooner or later there will be a collapse, and Li Xin will also be on the verge of military violence.At a certain time, internal politics and resumption of production play a big role in laying a solid foundation, and now Li Xin can just use this time to lay a solid foundation.

It is said that the Peasant Army is powerful, but in fact, how many people really make things happen? They are all rogues fighting, and if they attack one place, they will destroy one place. Without any bases, they are like duckweed without roots. They can't achieve great things. As long as the imperial court wipes them out slowly, one step at a time, these people will be forced to have no way out. Naturally It is a pity that Emperor Chongzhen or his court did not have such insight at all. With a hammer in the east and an ax in the west, the court's million-dollar army was led by the nose by these rebels, and the court's post-war policy changed a lot. , the people under the pressure of taxation couldn't bear it, so the war was raging, and when one gourd was pressed, the other rose up again, which made the army exhausted and the generals miserable.However, Emperor Chongzhen was still impatient. He had just lost a battle here, and Emperor Chongzhen became angry. , How can we win the battle?

Li Xin was not Chongzhen, nor was he a bandit like Li Zicheng, so he naturally understood this truth. On June [-]th of the sixth year of Chongzhen, Li Xin issued an order in Liuli Palace to send the old and weak to the Hetao area to reclaim wasteland.Plant crops such as wheat, and strive to achieve food self-sufficiency within the Yanhuang Army.

(End of this chapter)