Ming Zuo

Chapter 825: New Customers Buying Arms

The death of Cao Wenzhao dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Ming army, and made Hong Chengchou's forces more stretched.

Facing the overwhelming peasant army on the land of Shaanxi, Hong Chengchou felt powerless.

He can even stick to several big cities such as Xi'an and Hanzhong, but he is helpless against the peasant army in the wild.

Ironically, it was natural disasters that helped him at this time.

In the summer of the eighth year of Chongzhen, there was a severe drought in Shaanxi.There are thousands of miles in the red land, and there is no harvest.

Wherever the peasant army went, there was no grain of grain to be found.

Rebellion is to have a meal.

How can you rebel now that you can't even eat enough?

"What does Chuang Jiang say?"

After finally resting for a period of time, Gao Yingxiang, who had just recovered from the loss, was faced with food problems and decided to ask Li Zicheng for help.

"General Chuang said that his food and grass will also be exhausted, and he doesn't know where to go."

The messenger brought back bad news.

Gao Yingxiang frowned tightly, staring at the yellow and bald world, he couldn't help muttering to himself.

"The world has changed, and people's hearts have changed."

He didn't think Li Zicheng had no food.

After all, compared with him, Li Zicheng has lived a very stable life recently, and his ability to fight has been visibly enhanced by the naked eye.

It's hard to tell how many things Li Zicheng stole, probably hid them all.

This own nephew has now met with him.

But Gao Yingxiang has nothing to do, because his current strength is not much stronger than Li Zicheng.

Especially after Li Zicheng killed Cao Wenzhao, Gao Yingxiang judged that Li Zicheng's troops might already be the strongest among the rebels.

If food is not available, the morale of the army will be weakened, and they will fall to death.

After much deliberation, Gao Yingxiang wrote to the other leaders to discuss returning to Henan.

His proposal was echoed by Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui, One Word King, Chuang Tian Wang and others.

The ministries negotiated well, without further delay, they all set off east out of Tongguan and returned to Henan.

Hong Chengchou saw the actions of the various ministries of the rebel army, but there was nothing he could do.I could only write an urgent memorial and report it to the court.

Knowing that the front has reached such a point, Chongzhen is extremely helpless and does not know what to do.

He was anxious, so Wang Chengen followed suit.

Sitting in the prison of ceremonies, holding Hong Chengchou's memorandum in his hand, Wang Chengen had a splitting headache.

"Old ancestor, in my opinion, why not appoint another capable general to be in charge of suppressing bandits in the Central Plains? In this way, Hong Bingxian is in charge of Shaanxi, and the new chief officer is in charge of Central Plains. Each performs its duties and cooperates with each other to ensure that nothing will go wrong. .”

Huang Ping was already very tall, and his features became more and more delicate, making him lovable.

Now in the inner court, who doesn't know the name of Eunuch Huang?
He is Wang Chengen's capable adopted son, and he is deeply loved.Although he didn't hold any official position, even senior officials treated him courteously when they saw him.

Huang Ping followed Wang Chengen's side all day long, helping to sort out the documents of the supervisor of ceremonies, and Hong Chengchou's memorial was naturally seen.

On weekdays, he just does things silently and doesn't say a word, so as not to overstep.

Seeing Wang Chengen's frowning and filial piety today, he couldn't help but swear.

Although his words were light, they all entered Wang Chengen's ears.

The big eunuch's eyes lit up, and the spring breeze was blowing on his face.Looking at Huang Pingping again, I like it even more.

After thinking about it, he casually took off the jade pendant from his belt and threw it at Huang Ping.

"You little bastard, if you ask me anything on weekdays, you are like a gourd. I can't imagine opening your mouth, and it's like this. From now on, if you dare to pretend to be deaf and dumb, let's see if our family will take care of you?"

Huang Ping hurriedly took the jade pendant, showing a foolish smile.

"The old ancestor is wise and wise, and no one refuses to accept it. How can a child be brave? The child does not feel sorry for the old ancestor because he does not think about eating and drinking, and is afraid of breaking his body."

Wang Chengen had already got up and got off the kang, while letting Huang Ping help him put on his shoes, he sighed with emotion.

"As slaves, we should be able to share the worries of the emperor, even if we die. What does it matter if we don't eat or drink tea?"

Wang Chengen did not dare to delay.Hurry to find Chongzhen.After talking about this method, Chongzhen was also very happy.

"I really didn't expect the little eunuch next to my companion to be so knowledgeable. It's a pity that there is no one in the civil and military courts who can share my worries."

Seeing Chongzhen praise Huang Ping, Wang Chengen was also happy for him.

"That child has always been smart and has good eyesight, and he doesn't rely on the power of the slave to bully the good. If the emperor has orders, the slave will let him serve in front of the imperial court?"

Chongzhen was quite moved.

"Let him come to see me."

Huang Ping was standing outside the hall, when he got the summons, he quickly walked in with small steps, and knelt obediently.

"Big companion recommended you to me, are you willing?"

"My lord, my slaves don't want to."

Huang Ping's unexpected answer surprised Chongzhen, and Wang Chengen's expression changed even more.

"Bastard, we are slaves to serve the emperor. If you dare to be rebellious, the old slave will kill you first."

While reprimanding, Wang Chengen was heartbroken.

He also didn't understand why Huang Ping was so smart in the past, why he is so messed up today?
Having got a good idea, Chongzhen was in a good mood.

"Tell me, why don't you want to?"

It was obvious that Huang Ping was trembling with fright, and obviously he also knew that what he said was asking for his own death.

But then a look of resoluteness flashed across his face, and he explained the reason.

"In the whole world, if you want to talk about serving the emperor, the old ancestor... the old ancestor said the second, no one dared to say the first. But the old ancestor is old and not in good health. The servant girl... I saw it last night. He was coughing all the time. The maidservant was thinking...just thinking about serving the old ancestor well, so that the old ancestor can take good care of himself, so that he can serve the emperor better."

Wang Chengen stood there dumbfounded, his old eyes filled with muddy tears.

Chongzhen was also agitated.

"In the past, other slaves tried every means to join me, for fear that I would not look down on him. It's rare that this baby has a pure heart, and it's a blessing for my companion!"

Wang Chengen quickly wiped away tears and bent down deeply.

"It's all thanks to Your Majesty Hong En, old slave... old slave..."

Wang Chengen, who had not changed color before Mount Tai collapsed, lost his composure in front of the emperor for the first time.

The imperial edict was issued quickly, and Lu Xiangsheng, governor of Huguang, became the second celebrity in Chongzhen after Chen Qiyu.

The prime ministers of Zhili, Henan, Shandong, Sichuan, and Huguang are military affairs. Although Shandong is in name only, the names of the prime ministers of the five provinces are still very scary.

In order for Lu Xiangsheng to pacify the Northwest Rebel Army as soon as possible, Chongzhen also dispatched Zu Dabi, Zu Dale, and Li Chongzhen to lead the Guanning Army thousands of miles to help.

This made Lu Xiangsheng's troops extremely strong.

He finally had the confidence to wipe out the northwestern rebels who had returned to Henan.

Not only that, but he also got a secret letter from Hong Chengchou.

[If you want to strengthen the army, you must first focus on weapons; if you want to focus on weapons, you should ask Shandong. 】

After listening to Hong Chengchou's messenger's detailed explanation, Lu Xiangsheng's heart was full of turmoil, and he knew his bitterness.

"I never imagined that the imperial court would be reduced to such a level. Pingbei rogues demanded Shandong rebels. Press the gourd and pick up the scoop, when will we stop?"

Despite this, Lu Xiangsheng was not stubborn.

He took out the one hundred thousand taels of silver that he had saved with great difficulty, handed it over to his staff, and quietly went to Huai'an.

(End of this chapter)