Chapter 434: The fire and the son again

If you are good at attacking, you are good at fighting. If you are united, you will be invincible in the world.

This is the evaluation of Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai at that time. The King of Breaking Li Zicheng is good at siegeing cities, while Cao Cao and Luo Rucai are proficient in field battles. The combination of the advantages of the two is indeed invincible.

Of course, this is true in history without Li Meng's participation. Even in this time and space, after Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai joined forces, they only lost to Li Meng's Shandong troops on the Wo Shui side.

Such a combination is indeed invincible, but Li Zi became the King of Chuang and Luo Rucai was Cao Cao. Among the eight major camps in Henan, the two were compared with each other, without any subordinates. At the time of the Xingyang Conference, Cao Cao was one of the thirteen famous families, on par with the old Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang, and Li Zicheng was just a general of Chuang. The most taboo thing in the army is that military orders cannot be taken one place, and among the refugee coalition forces, the general direction and strategy must be decided by both sides, which always makes people feel quite awkward.

The rebel army has now become a giant of more than 800,000, while Cao Cao's army is only more than 100,000 now, but the quality of these more than 100,000 troops is very high.

Cao Cao Luo Rucai's troops were good at field battles because there were a large number of Shanxi and Shaanxi border soldiers in his troops. At the beginning, they were probably defeated and then gathered in the army. Later, because Luo Rucai's troops had a high composition of Shanxi and Shaanxi border soldiers, and later the Ming border soldiers also surrendered one after another.

Li Zicheng's backbone troops were disbanded several times, and later the team of the Eighteen Cavalry revived. His main force relied on the veterans of the Ming Dynasty. It took a lot of time for those refugees to train as soldiers who were well-founded in advance and retreat, brave and brave, and now they have no time to train. Everyone recruited the defeated Ming army surrendered troops into their subordinates, and put them into use after a little training.

It's also a joke. Whether the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were fighting against the Tartars or the refugees, they basically had no victory, and there were many battles that were defeated.

But after being recruited by the camp, he immediately became brave and brave, and restored his style to the border soldiers. As for the traitors who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, they were even more amazing. The originally useless soldiers and horses were actually invincible in the Ming Dynasty. I don’t know if the pig tail has a power bonus to enhance the magical effect of violence.

However, the actual situation is that the Ming army is like bandits, with no rules. The soldiers had no command when fighting, and they rushed forward and retreated in a mess. When they saw that the officials ran away first, they did not have the courage to fight.

The migrant army still has rules for managing these soldiers, completely in accordance with the military laws and regulations, and they should be as full as possible and not fight hungry. As for the Qing Tartars, in this era, the Qing Tartars had the most complete system of military merit promotion and the most cruel military laws, which naturally aroused the fighting spirit.

The problem now is that whoever absorbs the number of border soldiers in the land will have stronger combat power. However, most of the border soldiers who have been involved in the refugee army are taken over by Luo Rucai, which has led to Luo Rucai having fewer soldiers but getting stronger. Li Zicheng has more soldiers but has never had any strength growth.

Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng were side by side again, with one marshal and one magistrate on both sides. They could not command each other to be subordinate, so this contradiction naturally emerged.

That's all. As the power of the refugee army grew day by day, the territory was increasing, and the number of high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty who were originally incompatible also surrendered one after another. They really had a share of the world! If there was a share of the world, but there could only be one emperor in the world. Who would be the emperor? Then the subordinates of this person would rise with the flow and the chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. If others became emperors, then the benefits would be much smaller.

Li Zicheng had counselors and civil servants such as Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance, generals such as Liu Zongmin, Tian Jianxiu, and Liu Fangliang. Luo Rucai also had Xuan Gui as counselors, Thirteen Taibao as military generals, and Yang Chengzu also had the most brave military bravery in the coalition forces. Both sides had their own civil and military teams. These civil and military officials were unwilling to benefit from the other side. Usually, they also planned secretly and persuaded their lord not to believe the other side.

This is the contradictions that will inevitably arise after power has expanded to a certain extent, and the means of resolution are either the division of the consortium, or one party annexes the other party.

Both sides are hostile to each other, and various old grudges naturally arise...

After the battle in Zhuxian Town, the refugee coalition forces went to besiege Kaifeng. On that day, the Henan Governor Li Xianfeng sent dead soldiers to the refugee camp with letters. They were originally written to Luo Rucai, but they deliberately let Li Zicheng's subordinates arrest him and allocate the relationship between the two sides. In fact, this disagreement was very successful.

That night, Li Zicheng's troops were confronted by Luo Rucai's troops, and they almost broke up. If Li Zicheng had not considered the Shandong enemy being spied, he would have started fighting that day.

In fact, this letter was just a fuse. Before this, Li Zi, the King of Rebellion, became a cultivator, planned great things, treated people in a friendly manner, lived a hard life, and respected scholars. Luo Rucai reported that he had earned a day and a day, and he had earned a lot of money, and was arrogant, extravagant, and indulged in enjoyment.

If you want to enjoy it, you need a large number of gold and silver women. If the refugee army wants to have these, it must plunder wealthy families in a large scale. The King of Rebellion Li Zicheng has always been extremely strict in military disciplines of his subordinates. He wants to rely on this to win the hearts of the people. The huge policy gap will naturally conflict with each other.

The general who broke into the camp repeatedly advised Li Zicheng, saying that Luo Rucai and his subordinates had a good wine and meat, and they were indulging in enjoyment, which made many soldiers break into the camp envious and even wanted to switch to Cao Cao's camp.

Originally, the conflict between the two sides became increasingly deepened when it came to the absorption of border soldiers and officers and soldiers. Now there is such a thing that is even more jealous.

In this situation, after entering Xiangyang and stabilizing, Luo Rucai remained the same and his behavior was even more indulgent. This is also a wealthy place in the world, so the enjoyment of this is naturally magnified. But after Li Zicheng changed Xiangyang to Xiangjing, he was already trying to show his appearance to the people of the world.

When the Ming Dynasty embezzled and cheated, Dashun must be honest and self-disciplined. When the Ming Dynasty fights in all parties, Dashun must be united. When the Ming Dynasty declines, Dashun must strive for progress.

The camp, which was originally an enemy of the great clan and the high sect, changed its approach in Xiangjing. Li Zicheng and his senior officials took the initiative to get along with the scholars and civil servants in the city, but the camp's various reforms and artificiality were not as destructive as Luo Rucai's style of bandits. With Luo Rucai, the people in the world still regard the refugee army as bandits.

The Cao Cao army was originally an important supporter in the camp, but now it is an important obstacle to weakening the Dashun army and dragging them back.

There is such a conflict between the two sides, but Cao Cao's camp has strong combat power and now it only occupies the two provinces. If it is divided, it will definitely be more than worth the loss. Even the territory and situation captured in the early stage will be gone.

Before entering Xiangyang City, Li Zicheng planned to tolerate mercy, but the next day after entering Xiangyang, the master Niu Jinxing took a letter to Li Zicheng's handsome tent.

This letter is not a military and national event, nor is it a family letter, but a letter from Zuo Liangyu and Luo Rucai. Li Zicheng is quite familiar with what he said in the letter. What he said above is that if I, Zuo Liangyu, had a great enemy from Cao Cao, I could still live together.

If my Zuo Liangyu's troops were not here, I am afraid that King Chuang would deal with you Cao Cao. Cao Cao Luo Rucai was quite afraid of King Chuang, which is also well-known. After all, the troops and horses of the two sides are too different, and King Chuang's name is far greater than that of Cao Cao.

This letter is indeed ridiculous. When Zhang Xianzhong was besieged by Zuo Liangyu, he was facing a desperate situation. He relied on writing a letter to Zuo Liangyu, saying that if I was wiped out by General Zuo, with the style of the Ming army, he would inevitably hide all the birds and bows. As a result, Zuo Liangyu relaxed his defense line.

The following series of slackness led to Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng both escape from the encirclement. Now the feng shui has changed, and it has been changed to Zuo Liangyu to write this letter.

This letter may explain some things, such as why Luo Rucai insisted on stationing in Qinyang and Tang County for a few days. When attacking Fancheng, he also put the troops behind and let Li Zicheng's troops attack.

Niu Jinxing's literati thought more. He just talked about it directly. When Li Zicheng was trapped in Yufu Mountain, Zhang Xianzhong recruited her in Gucheng. When Luo Rucai was in Xingshan and Yuan'an, Yang Sichang, the Ming Dynasty's supervisor Yang Sichang sent someone to persuade Li Zicheng to surrender, but was scolded by Li Zicheng. Everyone knows that Luo Rucai's sixth battalion troops have been there and have been ambiguous in fighting or surrendering.

Until the situation was clear in the end, this was the only way to settle down to fight against the officers and soldiers. All these actions mean that he was a repetitive person, but not to mention that there were still people among the eighteen cavalry who were thinking about going to surrender to the officers and soldiers to seek a wealthy day to attract peace.

Niu Jinxing's letter was sent, and he was discussing it in the Marshal's Mansion. Who would have thought that Hao Yaoqi also sent someone to send a letter. This letter was actually a correspondence between Luo Rucai and Zuo Liangyu. If it were a forgery and false accusation, it would be impossible that so many people would seize the letter paper at the same time.

It is true that Zuo Liangyu may have followed the story of Henan Governor Li Xianfeng and came to write a letter to sow discord. However, now, there may be such a reason to sow discord and torture the Chuangying Camp and Cao Cao Camp.

After these two letters, the situation in Xiangjing still looked very calm, but the "Master of the Civil and Military Martial Arts and Martial Arts of Fengtian" and "General of the People's Wealth and Demons" once again started arguing in private discussions. Li Zicheng's future strategy was already determined, which was to use the land of Heluo as the basis to accumulate strength and plan for the world. However, Luo Rucai felt that his subordinates were 100,000 soldiers and the Ming Dynasty was vulnerable. Except for Shandong Province, they could go to the world.

This Huguang is a good place, and the Jiangnan land is said to be better. Cao Cao laughed at this private discussion, saying that there are many beautiful women in Jiangnan, and Lao Luo has not yet enjoyed the gentleness of the southern country. What is the meaning of staying in this Huguang and Henan land for a lifetime? Luo Ru has the courage, strategy, and a battle-friendly army, but he has no great ambitions.

The private discussion finally made Li Zicheng angry. The King of Chuang slammed the table and pointed at Luo Rucai and scolded him. He was really a drunkard and had no ambitions.

Both sides already have such a status. Of course, Luo Rucai couldn't tolerate being scolded by the King of Rebellion. He also slapped the table and cursed angrily, saying, "You and I are poor households in Shaanxi, and taking advantage of this chaos to take advantage of the situation. The current situation is already accumulating virtues in the eight generations. If you are looking forward to anything else, God will not agree."

Luo Rucai did not have any ambitions. He probably said this just now. Finally, Luo Rucai sneered and said, "So what about the drunkard and slutty man? Gao Jie has never led our family away." After saying this, Li Zicheng's face was as deep as water, but Li Shuangxi and the guards around him all pulled out the swords. The two Taibaos who Luo Rucai brought were not polite, and pulled out their weapons to start the fight.

Gao Jie was once a general under Li Zicheng, but he had an affair with Li Zicheng's wife Xing. He surrendered to the government army a few years ago, which led to a big defeat. Gao Jie is currently serving as deputy general in Shaanxi and has nearly 30,000 troops in his hand, which is also considered a powerful general in the government army.

He was cuckolded by his subordinates. He was still helpless at the same time. This was Li Zicheng's great shame and naturally he was unwilling to let someone mention it. Today, Luo Ru mentioned it. This is a despicable act that exposed the wrongs in person and was the most merciless despicable act.

In fact, the problem can be seen from the specifications of the private meeting between the two sides. Since Henan was alienated, the meeting between the two sides must not be in the camp of either side. The number of guards brought by them must be equal. Each time they meet, both sides have troops to mobilize, and they are wary of each other to this point.

Although the private discussion was tense, Li Zicheng stopped the fight between the two sides. Luo Rucai also made excuses to drink too much and made a mistake after drinking. This matter was revealed.

However, after the two sides dispersed, Luo Rucai began to mobilize his troops. He did not want to start a war immediately, but to separate the Cao Cao army's stationed area from the camp's stationed area to facilitate his own affairs.

Luo Rucai was indeed a person with no ambitions and was not wary of Li Zicheng. After he mobilized his troops, he clearly proposed to Li Zicheng that he wanted to lead his troops to Jiangxi area, develop on his own and serve as a supporter for each other. Luo Rucai proposed that there was indeed a precedent for this. For example, when Dashun was established, Zhang Xianzhong, the land of occupying Wuchang, sent people to congratulate him. Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong's envoy agreed that the two sides would assist each other and echo each other.

Since Zhang Xianzhong can do this, Luo Rucai thinks he can do this too. His current strength is not weaker than Zhang Xianzhong. Since Zhang Xianzhong can be unique, why can't he do it?

The request for him is equivalent to suddenly distributing a part of the most combative troops from the current Dashun. How could the King of Breaking Li Zicheng agree to Luo Rucai's request?

Cao Cao and Luo Ru had urged him several times but could not get any clear answers. He gradually became impatient and began to threaten that if there was no reply, he would lead his troops away.

Anyway, all the migrant army was dominating the world, and the battalions were in unison, sometimes allied, and sometimes doing their own things. It was also a common phenomenon of breaking up and getting together. Luo Rucai thought very simply. Since he couldn't get together now, he would just take his troops away.

During this period, Luo Rucai was still singing every night and drinking and drinking. His adviser Xuan Gui reported several times that he had secretly interacted with several Taibaos under his command, but he didn't take it seriously. The most severe way to deal with it was just to call someone to come and scold him.

Until that night, Li Zicheng came to the door with a gift, saying that since Brother Luo was leaving, Li could not force himself to stop him. This time he brought wine and meat. You and my brother would stop drunk and meet again.

The number of guards brought by the King of Chuang was still the same as usual. Under his adopted son Li Shuangxi, Luo Rucai's own mansion was far more than the number of guards in his home, so he had no worries. Luo Rucai directly invited someone in, saying that both sides were preparing to have a good time.

Both sides talked and laughed, entered the inner hall together, and then began to turn against each other. The servants in the room had just set up the banquet. Before both sides could sit down, Li Shuangxi had already pulled out his sword and slashed at Luo Rucai.

A guard who was following Luo Rucai reacted quickly and shouted loudly, pounced on him to block the knife for his lord, but he rushed out for only three steps and was stabbed into the back of his heart by a colleague behind him with a dagger. However, this loud shout still had a great effect.

Although Luo Rucai was addicted to alcohol and sex, he had been fighting on the battlefield for many years and had not left his name yet. Hearing the shouting, seeing the horrified expressions of the servants in front of him, he didn't care about anything for a moment and rolled forward. However, Li Shuangxi's knife just snatched a moment, and did not cause any serious injuries.

The battle between the inner hall and the entire General's Mansion was not as fierce as expected. After this shout, most of the loyal guards in Luo Rucai were killed by their companions. As for the remaining ones who were surrounded by the joint forces of their companions and the personal guards in the camp, they did not last long.

The dozen or so personal guards around Luo Rucai did not organize effective defenses and were soon killed by these elite guards who broke into the camp.

Luo Rucai, who covered his shoulder wound, looked at the inner hall with a peaceful body just now, and the ground was covered with corpses of his subordinates. The King of Chuang Li Zicheng and a group of generals looked at him with a heavy face. Beside the King of Chuang were the seventh and eighth Taibaos of his core subordinates, standing next to the King of Chuang were the seventh and eighth Taibaos of his thirteenth Taibaos.

But these two Taibaos were not reported to him by military advisor Xuan Gui. Luo Rucai only felt that his whole person was so angry that he seemed to explode. These Taibaos were like his father and son on weekdays. They were all because of their support and heavy use today, but today they turned against each other.

After shouting "Blind man, why should I kill me!!", this useless word, Luo Ru covered her shoulders and looked at the person in front of her coldly.

The Eighth Tae-poor did not dare to look at his eyes, and shrank backwards. Instead, the Seventh Tae-poor mustered up the courage to speak:

"Prince Cao, our brothers have finally come to this day. They are unwilling to be bandits and robbers wandering everywhere. They all want to follow the Prince of Breaking to earn the wealth..."

Li Shuangxi had already dropped the single sword in his hand. Cao Cao was extremely brave and was not sure to win the battle head-on. However, in this situation, there was no need to fight alone. A soldier next to him handed over a musket. This was loading ammunition and hung on the fuse.

Li Shuangxi sneered and raised the musket. It was no longer convenient to aim at the action. Luo Rucai pulled the trigger. With a loud bang, they did not control the firearms often. This shot was not accurate. Luo Rucai made a dodge but could not dodge. He was shot in the leg and staggered a few steps.

But Cao Cao really had a brave spirit. He didn't fall, but stood up with a sword, stared at the front with a hatred, and roared in a low voice, endured the pain:

"You are a blind man, killing brothers. If you are hit by the sky, you will not die well. You are the only one who sent a letter to him. You are still thinking of becoming an emperor. If you are cut into pieces, you will be cut into pieces..."

The King of Rebellion Li Zicheng looked at Luo Rucai who was almost crazy there. He had no expression on his face. He just shook his head slowly and did not delay in this hall. He turned around and went out. The leader of the personal guard Li Shuangxi picked up another Park knife in his hand and shouted:

"Chuo Cao!!!"

The soldiers in the hall, whether they were Li Zicheng's personal guards or Luo Rucai's guards who had just turned against him, picked up their weapons and rushed towards Luo Rucai.

That night, in Xiangyang City, everyone did not dare to go out. The shouts of killing began to happen in the evening and continued until the second half of the night. I don’t know what happened.

However, the scale of the battle in the city was smaller than those people expected. The camp had already communicated with Luo Rucai's generals. After Li Zicheng personally went to the General's Mansion to kill Luo Rucai, most of the turmoils everywhere were just to eliminate the small groups of people who were unwilling to surrender to the kingdom.

The real trouble was outside the city. Although Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion, and his civil and military officials, did a lot of preparatory work, after all, he was led by Luo Rucai's subordinate troops for many years and was loyal to Cao Cao. The chaos in the city at night, although the situation soon returned to peace.

But the city was in chaos. In the early morning, the news was still spread from the city. The various military camps of Cao Cao in the south and east of Xiangyang City were in a big uproar. The officers and soldiers of Luo Rucai's battalions came out of the camp, lined up to be on guard, preparing to fight to the death with Li Zicheng.

But the crazy soldiers below did not mean that the generals above would be like this. At such a high position, what they thought and considered was no longer so simple.

In addition, some time ago, all kinds of people from the camp came to the door to say that they had made various promises. Cao Cao, the leader, is dead, and the King of Rebellion Li Zicheng has such a good situation. Whether to be loyal to the end or choose a tree to live in it really needs to be considered.

Cao Cao camp outside the city was in a big uproar, but Li Zicheng in the city responded quickly and took the envoy who had stamped the seal and sealed the documents from the city to rush to the camps.

The generals in charge of the troops in various places were given that the King of Rebellion Li Zicheng would not randomly mobilize the commanders and subordinates of the various armies of Cao Cao's camp. The original people were still managing the original camp and made a guarantee that after Luo Rucai died, except for the military advisor Xuan Gui, who had the main conflict between the two sides, the rest would not be killed in vain.

After making this guarantee, the generals who had long defected to the King of Rebellion Li Zicheng acted as a guarantee, and the riots that began in the early morning gradually became quiet at night.

Especially after the rebellion king Li Zicheng killed military advisor Xuan Gui outside the city, he also set up a mourning hall for Luo Rucai to pay tribute, and took Luo Rucai's son as his adopted son. He transferred elite troops from Luo Rucai from outside the city into the city to serve as garrison for himself. These actions made the morale of Cao Cao camp outside the city more stable.

There is only one exception, that is, Yang Chengzu, one of the Thirteen Taishang Guards, who is known as the most brave in the coalition. He was stationed on the north bank of the Han River with his troops to guard Fancheng. This man was also the most powerful general under Li Zicheng, but the news of Luo Rucai's murder spread to the north bank.

Yang Chengzu's first reaction was to order his soldiers to prepare for the camp to fight. He also sent an envoy to Xiangyang to encourage Luo Rucai's original subordinates to join forces to avenge Cao Cao. In the evening, the news from Xiangyang came back, and Yang Chengzu knew that it was impossible to do anything.

After killing the envoy sent by Li Zicheng to persuade the surrender, Yang Chengzu led more than 20,000 troops under his command along the old road from Qinyang to Huguang in that day and headed north.

At the end of May of the 16th year of Chongzhen, Xiangyang Huo Gang, Luo Rucai and his conspiracy Xuan Gui were beheaded. The general under his command led his army to flee north. There were only 3,000 fires in the city, and the rest of the Cao Cao camp were annexed by Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion. At this point, only Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion, was the main one in the Dashun army, and nearly one million troops were integrated.
To be continued...