My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 230 I, Zuo Liangyu, am the most loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty!
And once they arrived at a new place, Zhang Xianzhong would once again gather tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of peasant soldiers!

There was no other way. At that time, the north was full of disaster victims who could not afford to eat. If they were given something to eat, they would join the peasant army.

This resulted in Zuo Liangyu being unable to do anything to Zhang Xianzhong and he could only follow closely behind him and jump out from time to time to stab him.

In fact, in the early years, Zuo Liangyu had countless opportunities to kill Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng!

At that time, Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng had not yet fully developed and were no match for Zuo Liangyu at all.

Zuo Liangyu could even beat Zhang Xianzhong like a dog, and even captured Zhang Xianzhong's wives, concubines and children!

As for why they were not killed at that time, it was naturally because they were harboring the enemy for their own benefit!
Of course, Zuo Liangyu didn't want to do this at the beginning. After all, if he could be a loyal minister and a good general, who the hell would want to be a traitor who is despised by everyone!
There are actually many reasons why he changed.

One is to preserve one's own strength.

As we all know, the political and military situation at the end of the Ming Dynasty was extremely complicated, and no one knew what situation would be waiting for them next.

You might be fine today, but tomorrow an imperial edict will suddenly come down and you will end up with your head and body separated.

Zuo Liangyu had seen many such things and was afraid that this would be his fate, so he began to keep the enemy at bay.

He knew very well that the army was the foundation of his survival. If he put all his efforts into suppressing the bandits, although he might achieve temporary success, his own army would also suffer heavy losses.

By then, the bandits might be wiped out, and his tenure as an official would have come to an end. After all, Chongzhen was a very mean and ungrateful person at that time, and Zuo Liangyu did not believe that he would treat his meritorious officials well.

By nurturing the enemy to protect his own interests, Zuo Liangyu could demonstrate to the imperial court and Chongzhen the importance of his army's existence, thereby obtaining more resources and support to preserve and expand his own strength.

Secondly, the imperial court at that time was so poor that it could not provide enough military pay and food.

For example, Zuo Liangyu had 50,000 men under his command, and logically he should have received military pay and food for 50,000 of them. However, Chongzhen only gave Zuo Liangyu 50% at most each time, and most of the time only 30%.

And they would default on payments from time to time!

Take last year for example!
Just this 30% of the military pay and food supplies have been in arrears for a whole fucking half a year!
Half a year!
If Zuo Liangyu had not had some prestige in the army and had not looted a lot of supplies, his army might have mutinied long ago!

Secondly, although war will bring huge consumption, it also contains economic benefits.

Through fighting with the peasant army, Zuo Liangyu controlled some strategic locations and transportation routes, which enabled him to levy taxes, collect commercial taxes, etc., and obtain substantial economic income.

Due to various reasons, Zuo Liangyu often did not give his all when fighting against the peasant army, but instead held back, which led to the current situation.

But of course, that's all in the past.
Now Zuo Liangyu really wants to completely wipe out Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng.

There was no way. Zuo Liangyu was still frightened by the previous trip to Beijing. The young prince seemed to know everything. He revealed Zuo Liangyu's inner thoughts in one sentence, and then used threats and inducements.

Zuo Liangyu was immediately convinced!
Of course, at the most critical moment, the Ming Dynasty had not yet reached a point of no return, and Zuo Liangyu did not dare to have any bad intentions, otherwise he would not even go to Beijing.

With the great victory in the Battle of Songjin, Zuo Liangyu no longer dared to have any small thoughts.

After all, even if he doesn't consider himself, he has to consider his son!
Zuo Liangyu has not forgotten that his son is still a hostage in the capital!

If he dares to have any evil thoughts again, his son will definitely die!
You have to know that he only has this one son, and he probably won't be able to have other sons in the future, so Zuo Liangyu has already become a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty!

At the same time, there is a wide river less than thirty miles away from Xinyang City. The river water is shimmering under the scorching sun and has not dried up due to the drought.

At this moment, Zuo Liangyu's army was resting here.

Smoke rose from the riverside as soldiers were cooking. Some were fetching water, some were making fires, and the scene was bustling with activity everywhere.

Zuo Liangyu originally had an army of about 80,000, but this included about 60,000 peasant soldiers.

These peasant armies were incorporated after Zuo Liangyu defeated Zhang Jianzhong.

However, Sun Chuanting felt that the combat effectiveness of these peasant armies was too poor, so he detained them all.

Then some of them were sent to Liaodong in accordance with the court's policy of immigration and border defense, and some stayed in Shaanxi and joined Sun Chuanting's army.

Zuo Liangyu was really reluctant at that time, because although these people were all peasant soldiers, they had experienced several battles and had some combat effectiveness. Unexpectedly, they were wiped out by Sun Chuanting.

But he had no choice but to do so, because he could see that Sun Chuanting was now a favorite of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and he could not afford to offend him.

Besides, Sun Chuanting is still his superior, what dares he say?
This resulted in his current army having only about 20,000 men.

Although the number is smaller, they are all elite soldiers and generals, and there are 5,000 cavalrymen, and the armor rate of the entire army is at least more than half.

Perhaps because the people who robbed him felt a little guilty, Sun Chuanting generously allocated him enough military pay and food, and even paid off the debt he had previously owed.

This has led to these 20,000 people now being full of fighting spirit, which is by no means comparable to the previous Ming army!

After all, the Ming army that does not have enough food and does not receive military pay and the Ming army that has enough food and receives full military pay are two completely different armies!

What is there to say?

The Ming army is not satisfied with its pay, but it is invincible if it is fully paid!
In contrast, although Li Dingguo and his men brought 50,000 soldiers, 40,000 of them were newly recruited farmers. These people wore tattered clothes and had simple weapons in their hands. Only about 10,000 of them were actually capable of fighting.

Moreover, the armor rate of these 10,000 people is less than 20%.

With such a huge gap, if the two sides fought, Li Dingguo's side would probably be defeated in an instant.

The few spies who were observing the situation not far away naturally understood this and were inevitably frightened for a moment.

But then they crouched down cautiously and quickly evacuated the place.

After finding the place where the horses were hidden before, he immediately returned to where Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu were, ready to tell Li Dingguo everything about the situation here.

However, what these spies did not know was that just as they got up to leave, a group of figures suddenly moved in the forest not far away, and then several people who looked like soldiers stood up.

It was obvious that Zuo Liangyu had long been wary that Zhang Zizhong would send people to inquire about the news, so every time he rested, Zuo Liangyu would send scouts to hide around and keep vigilant at all times.

Moreover, Zuo Liangyu was, after all, a regular military officer. When it came to marching and fighting, he was more capable than the young Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu.

A moment later, by the river.

Because the weather was hot, Zuo Liangyu took off his shirt and soaked in the river water, stirring the water into ripples.

There is no other way. The weather is too hot and this is the only way to cool down.

Zuo Liangyu scooped up some river water and poured it over himself, then looked at the scout next to him and asked:
"Did Zhang Xianzhong really send someone here?"

The scout quickly replied:

"Your Excellency, it is indeed true. I saw clearly just now that there were three of them, lying not far away. They just left!"

The scout said this and pointed in a direction.

Zuo Liangyu looked up, then said with a disdainful smile:
"Zhang Xianzhong is truly outrageous. He actually sent people to gather information about us. What are they planning? A surprise attack?"

The scout didn't say anything, but just found it a little funny.

Suddenly at this moment, the sound of horse hooves was heard not far away, and it quickly came closer and closer, and finally stopped beside Zuo Liangyu.

Zuo Liangyu took a look and his expression changed slightly, because three of the people who came were scouts he sent out, but he did not know the other two.

But it looks like they are garrisons somewhere.

When these people came before Zuo Liangyu, Zuo Liangyu's scout was the first to speak:

"Reporting to the general, I encountered this officer while gathering information. They claimed to be from Xinyang City."

"It was said that Zhang Xianzhong wanted to attack Xinyang, and they came to rescue under the orders of Lord Wang Qiaonian. I brought them back!"

Immediately afterwards, the two officers and soldiers also hurriedly saluted Zuo Liangyu.

"My humble position is Chen Si, and this is Zhao Wu. Nice to meet you, sir."

"We are indeed from Xinyang City. We have the command arrow and the token as proof. We hope that General Zuo will rescue Xinyang City."

As Chen Si spoke, he hurriedly took out Wang Qiaonian's command arrow and his own badge.

Seeing this, Zuo Liangyu walked out of the river, shook off the water on his hands, and then took the command arrow and badge and looked at them.

After confirming everything was correct, Zuo Liangyu asked:

"How far is this place from Xinyang City?"

Chen Si replied respectfully:
"To answer your Excellency, it's only thirty miles away!"

Thirty miles?

When Zuo Liangyu heard this, he nodded thoughtfully.

Thirty miles is not too far, and it will only take about an hour to get there.

And he had to go to the rescue no matter what, otherwise if Zhang Xianzhong really broke through Xinyang City, he would be in trouble.

Thinking of this, Zuo Liangyu prepared to order the army to rescue Xinyang City after dinner.

But before he could utter these words, the sound of horse hooves suddenly came from not far away, and at the same time a voice was heard.

"Report! Bandits have been spotted ten miles away! They are approaching our army!"

As the sound rang out, the officers and soldiers around quickly put down their bowls and chopsticks, and some even grabbed the big knife beside them without even having time to swallow the food in their mouths.

Zuo Liangyu frowned instantly, he was a little confused about what was going on.

Isn’t Zhang Xianzhong attacking Xinyang City?

Then what about those bandits ten miles away?

Could it be that Li Zicheng has arrived?

impossible!

Wasn't Li Zicheng in Tongguan? Why did he suddenly come to Xinyang?

Just as Saradama was daydreaming, the scout had already arrived in front of him.

Zuo Liangyu didn't wait for the scout to salute, and hurriedly asked:
"Have you found out who exactly is coming? And how many are there?"

The scout took the water handed to him and took a big sip before saying:
"In reply to your Excellency, the troops coming are Zhang Xianzhong's. They seem to be led by Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu. As for the number of people, I estimate that it is no less than 50,000!" Zuo Liangyu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.

Fortunately, it was not Li Zicheng who came. If it was Li Zicheng, the battle would have been impossible to fight, because Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong had a total of more than 700,000 troops, while he himself had only 20,000.

Twenty thousand against seven hundred thousand, it's really impossible to win.

But if it’s only 50,000, then there’s no problem!

He also roughly guessed why Zhang Xianzhong sent these 50,000 people. It was simply to delay him and prevent him from rescuing Xinyang City.

Even if nothing unexpected happens, the scouts who came to inquire about the news were also sent by Li Dingguo and his men.
Li Dingguo, Li Dingguo
After repeating this name twice in his mind, Zuo Liangyu suddenly remembered something. When he left the capital, Zhu Cilang also mentioned this name.

He also said that if possible, it would be best to capture this person alive and send him to the capital.

Although Zuo Liangyu didn't know why the prince was interested in a traitor, he still took this matter to heart.

It is obvious that Zhu Cilang is also very interested in Li Dingguo and wants to persuade Li Dingguo to surrender.

After all, he is a national hero, and it would be great if we could persuade him to surrender.

But of course, Zhu Cilang was not an idiot. He did not ask Zuo Liangyu to capture Li Dingguo alive, but asked him to capture him alive as much as possible without affecting the battle situation.

This means that it would be best to capture them alive, but if it is not possible, then it doesn't matter.

After all, Li Dingguo is just a traitor now!
He only grew into a national hero after the demise of the Ming Dynasty and the Jiannu invasion of the Central Plains!
However, with the arrival of Zhu Cilang, this kind of thing is unlikely to happen.
At the same time, Zuo Liangyu quickly summoned his generals to discuss a solution.

Soon, everyone gathered at the river. Because of the river, it didn't seem so hot here.

Zuo Liangyu sat upright on a rock, scanning his generals with a sharp gaze before speaking:

"Listen up, everyone! Zhang Xianzhong is attacking Xinyang City, and Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu are leading 50,000 troops only ten miles away. They seem to want to stop us from rescuing Xinyang."

"We have to make a decision quickly!"

"We must protect Xinyang City no matter what!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the tent exploded.

Deputy General Wang Meng frowned and spoke first:
"General, in my opinion, we should just march straight to Xinyang City and ignore these 50,000 peasant soldiers."

"These 50,000 peasant soldiers are just a mob. They are nothing to be feared. Why waste time on them?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lieutenant General Gao Hu shook his head and retorted:

"Absolutely not! Although these 50,000 men are not very strong, if we go to rescue Xinyang, they will take the opportunity to turn back and attack us from both sides together with Zhang Xianzhong. We will be attacked from both sides!"

"What should we do then?"

For a moment, everyone was arguing with each other, their faces red.

Zuo Liangyu listened quietly to their discussion and did not express any opinions.

After a moment, he slowly stood up, first stretched out his hand to stop everyone's quarrel, and then said in a deep voice:
"Gao Hu is right. Although these 50,000 people are a mob, we can't just ignore them."

"If they turn back and encircle Zhang Xianzhong halfway through our rescue of Xinyang, we will be in danger. Therefore, we must first defeat these 50,000 troops and then rescue Xinyang City."

"This way, we can ensure that nothing goes wrong!"

After hearing this, those who opposed it had nothing more to say.

The military order was quickly passed down, and after hearing the order, the soldiers instantly sped up their eating.

They ate voraciously, stuffing rice, pickles, and pancakes into their mouths, and then just gulped down a few sips of water, and that was it.

Some people even choked and rolled their eyes because they ate too fast.

After hurriedly finishing their meal, everyone began to prepare for war without stopping.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the army was ready and marched towards Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu in a mighty force.

On the other side, several scouts had also arrived in front of Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu.

Then he recounted in detail what he had seen and heard.

Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu listened quietly, their faces calm, as if all this was within their expectations.

However, the hearts of the two were surging like the waves of the sea.

Because they knew that it was not an easy task to hold back Zuo Liangyu's 20,000 troops.

Most of the peasant armies under their command joined them just to make a living. They basically have no combat effectiveness and can only play well in a favorable situation.

But if you are playing in a disadvantageous situation, it’s hard to say!
Maybe by then, before the war even starts, these people will scatter like birds and beasts.

Finally, Li Dingguo was the first to break the silence:

"We can't fight this battle head-on. If we do, we will definitely not be their opponent."

"Since we can't fight head-on, we can only find a way to divert Zuo Liangyu's army elsewhere so as not to delay father's plan."

Liu Wenxiu nodded in agreement, then sighed and said with a wry smile:
"But how easy is that? Zuo Liangyu has fought on the battlefield for many years and is considered our old rival. How could he not be aware of our military strength?"

"The difference between fifty thousand and two hundred thousand is obvious. How could he be fooled so easily?"

After hearing this, Li Dingguo frowned even deeper. After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said:
"At this point, there's no other way. If nothing works, I can only fight him head-on."

"In short, we must not affect Father's plan in any way."

Liu Wenxiu remained silent, which was considered as his tacit agreement with Li Dingguo's approach.

A moment later, Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu's army advanced again.

The sun was high in the sky, the ground was scorching hot, and the soldiers' footsteps raised clouds of dust.

As the two sides gradually approached, the distance between them was less than five miles.

At the same time, the scouts of both sides discovered the traces of the other army.

On Zuo Liangyu's side, the scout calmly and quickly reported the news to Zuo Liangyu.

The scouts on Li Dingguo's side were in a panic and almost couldn't hold the reins.

There is no way, this is the gap between regular army and ragtag army.

After receiving the news, Zuo Liangyu's army remained calm.

These battle-hardened officers and soldiers had already heard about this from Zuo Liangyu. At this moment, they had contemptuous smiles on their faces and did not take the 50,000 peasant soldiers seriously at all.

On the other hand, Li Dingguo caused a commotion.

The peasant soldiers were whispering to each other, their faces full of fear.

After all, they had heard that even with 200,000 men, Zhang Xianzhong could not defeat Zuo Liangyu. Now asking them with 50,000 men to fight Zuo Liangyu, isn't that courting death?

Faced with this situation, Li Dingguo rode his horse back and forth in the team, trying his best to appease these peasant soldiers.

But at this moment, Li Dingguo felt mixed emotions.

He also didn't want to use these peasant soldiers as cannon fodder, but at this time, he had not yet formed a national consciousness. In his heart, Zhang Xianzhong's orders were everything.

Even if these peasant soldiers were to be used as cannon fodder, they had to complete the task assigned by Zhang Xianzhong.

Afterwards, Li Dingguo asked the people from the old camp to act as the supervisory team, standing behind the team and monitoring everyone's movements at all times.

When the two armies were facing each other from a distance, Li Dingguo suddenly ordered the army to turn around and rush to the other side.

Seeing that they did not have to clash with the government soldiers, the peasant soldiers were overjoyed and ran desperately to the other side.

Li Dingguo kept a close eye on the movements of Zuo Liangyu's army and prayed silently in his heart that as long as Zuo Liangyu's army followed them, the plan would be successful.

However, reality soon disappointed him.

Although Zuo Liangyu had never been to school and was illiterate, he had been in the army for many years and had developed a pair of sharp eyes. How could he not see the trick?
What's more, he had already known that Zhang Xianzhong was attacking Xinyang City, so it was even more impossible for him to fall into this trap.

Therefore, Zuo Liangyu's army had no intention of turning around and continued to head straight for Xinyang City.

Seeing that his army had all turned in another direction and Zuo Liangyu's army had no intention of catching up, Li Dingguo knew that this method would not work.

Zuo Liangyu had obviously seen through their plan.

In other words, Zuo Liangyu already knew that Zhang Xianzhong was attacking Xinyang City, so he chose to ignore them and wanted to go directly to Xinyang.

At this moment, Liu Wenxiu came riding up and said anxiously:

"What should I do? Zuo Liangyu doesn't seem to be fooled."

Li Dingguo sighed and said helplessly:
"At this point, what else can we do? We can only fight him."

Immediately, Li Dingguo issued another order.

Immediately afterwards, the supervision team quickly stepped forward, waving whips, driving back the peasant soldiers running in the front, forcing them to change direction and target Zuo Liangyu's army.

This time, the peasant army was not going to stand for it.

They could have escaped without the officers and soldiers chasing them, but now they are forced to engage in a head-on confrontation with the officers and soldiers.

They were wearing tattered clothes and holding only various farm tools in their hands. Wasn't it just courting death to go to fight with that group of fully armed soldiers?
At that moment, several peasant soldiers tried to escape desperately.

The supervising team did not hesitate at all, they drew their swords and hacked them to death.

Suddenly blood splattered everywhere and several bodies fell to the ground.

This scene happened so quickly that the remaining people were stunned in an instant.

Not
Why is there murder now?

(End of this chapter)