nanming man

Chapter 168 Seeking Xiangyang
Being in Henan, Brother Gao's attention is mainly on the north.

On the historical stage in the late Ming Dynasty, although Zhang Xianzhong was also a figure who left a strong mark, overall, his influence was still less than that of Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng determined the direction of history in the late Ming Dynasty, while Zhang Xianzhong's position on the entire stage was obviously much worse.

This is not to say that Zhang Xianzhong is not as good as Li Zicheng, but that Zhang Xianzhong's luck is not as good as Li Zicheng's, and he did not go in the right direction.

If he entered Henan first, perhaps it was not Li Zicheng who entered Beijing, but Zhang Xianzhong.

It's just that he didn't choose the right timing and strategy. The gentry in the area where he was active was powerful and the social structure was relatively stable, so his momentum was not as great as Li Zicheng's.

Not long ago, after he was defeated by Huang Degong, there was no news. Gao Yihuan, who was planning a trip to Shandong recently, even forgot about Zhang Xianzhong who was defeated by Huang Degong.

"What's going on?" Hearing that it wasn't Ru Ning's problem, Gao Yihuan calmed down, sat back on his seat, and stretched out his hand to let Li Hu not be polite, "Come on, tell me slowly."

"Uncle, it's like this." Li Hu hurriedly replied: "The uncle sent a letter from Nanyang, saying that Zhang Xianzhong was plotting Wuchang, which might cause changes in the situation in Huguang, so I asked you to prepare early. After Zhao Duwei received the letter, Then let me send it to Uncle quickly."

Gao Yihuan was a little uncomfortable calling a rough man in his 30s uncle. He moved his buttocks on the seat and asked, "Where's the old man's letter?"

Li Hu came to his senses, quickly took out a letter from his pocket, and handed it over.

Gao Yihuan opened the letter and read it. After a while, he understood the general situation of Huguang and the old man's intentions.

At the end of last year, Huang Degong defeated Zhang Xianzhong in Qianshan. When he was about to take advantage of the victory and pursue him, the Qing army suddenly entered the pass.

At that time, Beijing issued an edict to King Qin of the World, Huang Degong and several other officers and soldiers could only go north to Xuzhou, leaving only a small number of troops to continue chasing Zhang Xianzhong.

An old thief like Zhang Xianzhong, even if the officers and soldiers go all out, they may not be able to wipe him out. Now that most of the troops have been taken away, the result can be imagined.

The entry of the Qing army this time not only helped Li Zicheng win the Central Plains War, but also helped Zhang Xianzhong.

Huang Degong and other departments were transferred away, which gave Zhang Xianzhong a chance to grow again.

He led the remnant soldiers into Huguang, joined forces with the Zuoge Remnants active in Mount Huoying and the Qihuang area, and attracted many Huguang militiamen, who immediately revived.

Zhang Xianzhong took advantage of the opportunity of the official army serving the king and the lack of troops, attacked the city and plundered the land, distributed food to the people, quickly recovered his strength, and became stronger than before.

In just half a year, Zhang Xianzhong had another 20 people, and the army approached Wuchang.

At this time, there are some differences with the historical situation.

Historically, when Zhang Xianzhong took Wuchang, Li Zicheng had already taken Xiangyang and defeated the Ming army in Huguang. Huguang was under the attack of two major thieves.

After Zuo Liangyu was defeated by Li Zicheng in Xiangyang, he fled to Wuchang. He couldn't ask for food from Chu Fan, so he plundered Wuchang in a fit of anger, and then sold Wuchang to Zhang Xianzhong.

It didn't take much effort for Zhang Xianzhong to take Wuchang.

At this time, because Li Zicheng did not go south to Xiangyang, Huguang had several Ming troops besides Zuo Liangyu.

For example, Ma Xianglin, the son of Qin Liangyu who was supposed to have died in Xiangyang in the 15th year of Chongzhen, is now in Huguang.

The Ming army in Huguang still has some strength, and it is not to the point of collapse.

However, Wuchang City was not ransacked by Zuo Liangyu, and the officials and residents in the city were still alive, so Zhang Xianzhong was unable to capture Wuchang quickly.

At the beginning of the year, Gao Yihuan had provided money and food for Gao Zurong's activities. A few months ago, Li Yan finally sent Gao Zurong to Nanyang as the county magistrate.

Soon after Gao Zurong arrived in Nanyang, he received some news.

Some of them came from the south, and some were asked by Li Yan to inquire.

When he learned that Zhang Xianzhong was approaching Wuchang, the Ming army that had gathered in Xiangyang to guard against the Shun army divided up to defend Wuchang and resist Zhang Xianzhong, so he knew the opportunity had come.

He found out that Xiangyang was empty of troops, and Li Yan seemed to want to take Xiangyang, so he quickly notified Gao Yihuan.

Gao Yihuan understood what Gao Zurong meant, which was to take advantage of the changing situation in Huguang to take Xiangyang first.

After reading the letter, Gao Yihuan couldn't help thinking for a while, this is indeed an opportunity.

Although his men and horses were not trained enough and he was relatively inexperienced, but Zuo Liangyu from Xiangyang was even more introverted than him.

Those rogue bandits in the late Ming Dynasty, as well as Zuo Liangyu, pulled out more than [-] horses in a very short period of time, and the combat power of the army drawn up in such a short period of time can be imagined.

Although Gao Yihuan's people are not yet elite, it shouldn't be a big problem to beat these mobs.

If he went to fight, he might not have a chance to win Xiangyang.

Occupying the southern part of Yuzhou, and then going south to capture Xiangyang, was the strategy that Brother Gao had set up earlier, so after reading the letter, he was immediately tempted.

Gao Yihuan made up his mind, but couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

This old ship of the Ming Dynasty was already leaking everywhere, Li Zicheng didn't stop it, and the Qing army outside the pass didn't stop it, and now Zhang Xianzhong is expanding in Huguang, making anyone's scalp numb looking at the situation in the Ming Dynasty.

Even if Daming is handed over to him, it is estimated that there is no way to recover.Only by abandoning the north and retreating to the south of the Yangtze River may the pattern of the Northern and Southern Dynasties be formed. It is estimated that it is impossible to suppress the bandits internally and defend the barbarians externally.

Gao Yihuan pondered for a while, and then he said to Li Hu: "Li Hu, I'll edit a book, and you take it back to Zhao Daxian and Lu Yifang, let Zhao Daxian strengthen the training of soldiers, and then tell Lu Yifang that once the winter wheat is harvested, first put the upper Half a year's land tax will be collected~"

It was already June of the 16th year of Chongzhen, and the Qing army entered the pass at the end of April of the 17th year of Chongzhen.

If history continues to evolve on the original track, Gao Yihuan will have less than a year left.

A year later, if his wings are not strong enough to fan the wind and waves, and not enough to reverse the general trend of history, the situation where he shaves his hair and makes it easy for him to obey, and those who do not follow will be beheaded will still appear.

At that time, the whole world will become the hunting ground of the Eight Banners, and the fertile fields and thousands of miles of Han soil will become the manors of the Bannermen.

The Han people will be enslaved for hundreds of years, and the backbone of the entire Han people will be completely broken in Yangzhou, Jiading, Jiangyin, and in massacres.

Although Gao Yihuan knows that he is expanding too fast now, his foundation is not stable, and he is easy to follow in Li Zicheng's footsteps, but he still hopes to become stronger and bigger before the critical node comes.

Immediately, Gao Yihuan found a pen and ink, wrote a letter, and asked Zhao Daxian and Lu Yifang to prepare for the battle.

So that when Gao Yihuan returns to Ru Ning, the men and horses on the trip to Shandong can rest and recuperate, while the men and horses in Runing can start the journey immediately.

After writing the letter, Gao Yihuan asked Li Hu to return immediately, and then called his personal guards and said: "Go, let the scouts pay close attention to the situation on the east bank. If there is anything, please come and inform me immediately~"

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(End of this chapter)