All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 83 It's time to go south
"My lord, don't panic."

In the Prince Fu's mansion in Luoyang City, the smiling Li Guo held a knife in one hand and grabbed the robe of Prince Fu Zhu Changxun with the other hand. "It's normal to feel dizzy. It will be fine in a while."

"Mercy, spare my life~~~"

During the years he was enfeoffed in Luoyang, Prince Fu spent his days eating, drinking and having fun, and became fair, clean, fat and plump.

At this time, Li Guo dragged him to the ground, looking like a mountain of flesh.

"Li Guo." Li Zicheng, who was sitting in the main seat, said softly, "It's almost done. Don't waste time."

Li Guo thought of Zhao Lujiao who was chasing King Chuang like crazy. His face froze. He raised the short knife in his hand and cut off a piece of meat immediately.

Zhu Changxun screamed and shouted like a pig waiting to be slaughtered.

An old bandit came forward, chopped the meat into pieces and threw it into the pot, adding it to venison, vegetables and spices to make a side dish for the wine.

"Come on, Your Majesty." Li Guo held down Zhu Changxun, pried open his mouth and stuffed the food in. "Taste this Fu Lu Shou and see how it tastes."

How could Prince Fu eat anything? He could only cry and beg, howling in pain so loud that his voice was piercing.

"okay."

Li Zicheng, who was in a bad mood, waved his hand and said, "Drag him out and kill him."

Zhu Changxun's body weighed about 200 pounds. He was dragged out. Not long after, an old bandit came in and reported, "He's been killed."

"King Chuang."

Li Guo stepped forward to pour wine for Li Zicheng and said, "We finally conquered Luoyang City. How about taking a few days' rest?"

"We could have taken a break." Li Zicheng looked at the pot of Fu Lu Shou in front of him, feeling irritated. "It's all Zhu Changxun's fault. He had to spend money to recruit young men to defend the city, causing us to fight for three more days."

"Three days. I think Zhao Lujiao has turned back."

"King Chuang." Li Guo said to comfort them, "The Liao soldiers are also human beings. They need to eat and sleep. They have been chasing us for so long that even a body of iron can't stand it anymore."

"I was tricked into going to Xiangyang this time. I don't think I'll be back for half a month."

"Don't underestimate the enemy."

Li Zicheng was very steady, or perhaps he was frightened by Zhao Rujiao's pursuit.

"Those Liao soldiers are different from ordinary government troops. They are brave and aggressive and dare to fight. I heard that some regent in the capital has offered a bounty for me, so those government troops are chasing me like crazy. You can't stay here for long."

Li Guo trusted his uncle very much and immediately agreed, "Then listen to King Chuang. We will sweep the city for a day and leave tomorrow?"

Li Zicheng thought about it and said, "Yes."

The so-called city sweeping is not much different from a massacre.

The old bandits led the refugees along the streets and broke into the homes of the people in the city.

All the property and food were looted, all the beautiful women were carried away, and the old and weak men were all tied up with ropes and taken away as cannon fodder.

If anyone dares to resist, his entire family will be killed immediately as a deterrent!
For the unproductive bandits, this is their only option to obtain supplies and expand their strength.

One day is too short, so I can only do a rough cleaning.

However, the Prince Fu's palace had seized a lot of gold, silver and other valuables. They were loaded onto dozens of carts and transported to the old camp.

The next morning, Li Zicheng had already ridden out of Luoyang City.

"Prince Chuang." Li Guo, who had spent the whole night hugging Prince Fu's concubine, yawned and rode forward, "Where are you going?"

"King Zhao is in the south, so we can't go there."

"It's not possible to go back to Shaanxi in the west or cross the river to Shanxi in the north. That's the territory of the Prince Regent in the capital, and his troops are too powerful."

Shaking his head, Li Zicheng rode his horse eastward, "It can only go east."

"Or should we go to Kaifeng Prefecture?"

"No." When mentioning Kaifeng Prefecture, Li Zicheng was still frightened.

More than two months ago, he was almost blocked in Kaifeng Prefecture by Zhao Lujiao, and he really didn't dare to go there again.

"Let's go to Fengyang!" Li Zicheng, who was also being chased, swung his whip vigorously and said, "Let's dig up the ancestral graves of the Zhu family!"

"Okay, let's go to Fengyang!"

"King Chuang~~~" A scout came on horseback to report "King Zhao is coming~~~ He is already thirty miles away~~~"

The uncle and nephew were immediately shocked!
After looking at each other, they both waved their whips and shouted "Run!"

Zhao Lushi was very angry. He had fallen into Li Zicheng's trap and was tricked into taking Xiangyang.

After learning that Li Zicheng was actually going to attack Luoyang City, the angry Zhao Lushi hurried on his way and rushed back from Xiangyang.

A large number of cavalry wanted to hunt down Li Zicheng, but the roads were blocked by countless refugees and various carts carrying miscellaneous items.

By the time they finally got out, Li Zicheng had already disappeared with the old bandit on horseback.

"No wonder the Grand Commander thinks so highly of this man. He really has some ability."

"General!" Zhao Twelve rode over to report, "We found Prince Fu's body in the city, and also found Prince Fu's son. What should we do with him?"

"Oh?"

Zhao Rujiao Mosuo rubbed his chin and thought for a while, and he came up with an idea in a moment, "Find a coffin for Prince Fu to bury him, as for Prince Fu's son."

He raised his hand across his neck and gestured to Zhao Twelve, "Cut the grass at its roots!"

"Leader!"

Zhu Yousong, the prince of Prince Fu, managed to escape when Li Zicheng captured Luoyang in history.

After that, he fled all the way to Jiangnan. After Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself on Coal Hill, he was elected as the new emperor by officials in Nanjing, and became Emperor Hongguang.

Unfortunately, he was unlucky this time. Although he escaped from Li Zicheng's clutches, he was killed by Zhao Lujiao.

As for becoming an emperor, you can only look for an opportunity to be born into a good family in your next life.

In the past, Zhao Lujiao would definitely not dare to touch the Prince of Fu.

But it is different now. The Grand Commander has risen with the military men. From now on, the Ming Dynasty will be ruled by military men. Of course, the remnants of the previous dynasty, such as the Prince of Fu, must be eliminated.

It's just the right time to put the blame on Li Zicheng.

"Leave some people to guard Luoyang, and send a letter to Wu Xiang, urging him to send up food and fodder as soon as possible." Zhao Lujiao did not plan to rest, and personally led the elite cavalry to the east, "Let's continue to chase Li Zicheng!"

Capital city, Grand Marshal's Office.

The next news we received from Li Zicheng was that he had captured the extremely empty Zhongdu and dug up the ancestral tombs of the Zhu family.

If this happened to Zhu Youjian, he would definitely cry loudly and not eat for three days, and go to the Taimiao to apologize and say that he was an unfilial descendant.

Chen Ran didn't feel anything about this at all, as he was not a member of the Zhu family.

At most, he is the male best friend of Mr. Zhu’s wife.

Putting down the military newspaper in his hand, Chen Ran asked, "Where did Li Zicheng go again?"

"It is said that he went to Yangzhou."

"You're really good at running." After failing to catch Li Zicheng for so long, Chen Ran became more open-minded and said, "Run, run to the Atlantic Ocean if you can."

"Grand Commander." Zhu Laitong handed over another battle report. "Wu Xiang, the general commander of the Shanxi and Shaanxi supply troops, sent a military report."

"What did he say?"

"Complaining about General Zhao's erratic whereabouts, and constantly urging the army to provide food and fodder. Also said."

Zhu Laitong paused, and Chen Ran really looked over. "What else do you want to say?"

"It is also said that General Zhao led a large army to fight against the bandits, but he has not achieved any success yet. I am afraid he is trying to keep the bandits for his own benefit."

"Hey." Chen Ran's mood eased a little, and he also laughed, "The world is not at peace yet, and you're already starting to fight? Wu Xiang is not good at fighting, but he is really professional at these infighting."

"Write him a letter back." Chen Ran said casually, "Tell him to do the work of mobilizing, storing, and transporting the baggage. If anything goes wrong, watch out for his dog head!"

Ten days later, the autumn harvest gradually came to an end in various parts of the north.

The court no longer had any tax collectors, as they were abolished just like the postal stations in the past.

The task of collecting grain fell entirely on the military logistics department.

A large number of clerks and soldiers from the Logistics Department drove horse-drawn carriages to various villages and towns to collect no more than 30% of the grain according to the rules set by the Grand Commander.

At the same time, he spent money to buy the surplus grain from the people at a fair price.

The grain merchants who had close relations with the tax collectors were also gone, as most of them fell under the torture of tax collection.

Moreover, Chen Ran stipulated that the sale of grain should be under the control of the army, and anyone who bought or sold grain without authorization would be guilty.

Even if there were grain merchants who were not afraid of death and came to collect grain, the people would not dare to sell it to them.

Buying and selling are equally guilty.

It's hard to have a good life with enough food to eat, and no one wants to ruin it.

The Grand Commander always keeps his word.

The reason for such arrangement is that Chen Ran knows that large-scale and continuous natural disasters in the Chongzhen Dynasty are about to come.

Food, as the most important resource, must be in our own hands.

Moreover, the tax collectors of the Ming Dynasty could be described as brutal and cruel. They used various methods to cheat the people, such as using large and small measures, using the tip of the bucket to pour water and kick the bucket, using the color of the discount and the fire consumption, etc.

Exploitation at every level and profiteering at every step are all forcing the people to death.

The same is true for grain merchants.

The so-called "low grain prices hurt farmers" means that grain merchants cheat the people, collude with tax collectors and government offices to buy high and sell low, and use various means to defraud people.

Chen Ran was too lazy to distinguish whether there were good tax collectors or good grain merchants, so he simply kicked them all out.

Buy grain at a fair price, and you can do things with grain in your hands.

The people also had wealth in their hands that they could use to live.

Kick out the middlemen and connect directly with the people.

With enough food, Chen Ran prepared to send troops south.

Horrible and continuous natural disasters are about to come. He must wipe out those monsters as soon as possible and concentrate the power of the entire Ming Dynasty to deal with the natural disasters.

There are also arrangements before sending troops.

Zhang Shize, the prince of the Duke of England, served as a guard officer in charge of palace protection.

He is a sensible man. He knows that the puppets in the palace are still useful, so he will definitely put his heart into it.

It can also be considered as a control over eunuch Cao Deming.

Zhou Yanru, who had been stationed in Liao for a long time, also came back and took charge of the government together with Wen Tihen.

Shang Kexi was left to continue guarding Shaanxi, and Kong Youde and the two Caos were transferred back.

Wang De, who had already served him during the Jisi Rebellion, was left behind to guard the capital.

Liu Youfu was sent to take charge of logistics and provide military supplies of food and fodder.

arrangement
After making these arrangements, Chen Ran personally went into battle, leading an army of 35,000 men, more than 10,000 civilian laborers, thousands of students in training schools, etc., claiming to have an army of 200,000 men and marched southward.

There is actually only one route to the south, and that is along the Grand Canal.

After all, the logistical pressure of tens of thousands of troops is very high, and water transportation is the most suitable method of logistics transportation.

Apart from anything else, even hundreds of years later, the main mode of cargo transportation in the world is still water transportation.

Going south along the Grand Canal, all places along the way surrendered at the sight of it.

In some places, if the civil officials were unwilling to surrender, the military generals would take action to clear them out and take the initiative to open the city.

After all, compared to those short-sighted civil servants, the military men knew very well how terrifying a force tens of thousands of real combat soldiers were.

The journey was smooth and the vanguard of the army headed straight for Jinan Prefecture.

Chen Ran did not forget that Prince De of Jinan Prefecture had sent people to try to kidnap Emperor Chongzhen.

Now, he's here to settle the score.

(End of this chapter)