Lu Ming

Page 306

At the beginning of June, Li Zicheng's troops suddenly appeared in Xiangcheng and set up camp outside Qianming Temple in the south of the city.

Although there were not many bandits who came to commit this crime, the people of Xiangcheng County were on alert as if they were facing a big enemy, and closed three city gates, leaving only one passerby, and sent multiple messengers to ask for help.

However, this is of no use.

The main force of Henan officers and soldiers was carrying out the squeeze strategy of besieging and suppressing Gao Yingxiang, and they had no time to deal with Li Zicheng, a small gang of hundreds of people.

The reason why the rogues are rogues is because their whereabouts are uncertain... God knows where Li Zicheng went to when the slow-moving officers and soldiers rushed over after coordinating.

So being small also has its benefits.At this stage, Li Zicheng's troops are actually very safe as long as they don't take the initiative to shoot at the officers and soldiers of the brigade.

This point, covering an area of ​​hundreds of acres, is also part of the interior of Qianming Temple, a famous scenic spot in later generations, and it is probably understood.

So since this group of murderers and arsonists camped outside the mountain gate, the abbot, who was deeply afraid of being "fired" one day, hurriedly sent the prison temple to negotiate with them.In the end, not only did they allocate part of the property of the side temple to the rogues, but they also lost rice, noodles and vegetable oil... It can be regarded as a contribution of the Bodhisattva to the great cause of fighting against the Ming Dynasty.

In other words, the boundary where the Chuangjun camped is a bit particular: south of Xiangcheng County, it is the head of the [-]-mile Funiu, so it is named Shoushan.

The Funiu Mountain system belongs to the eastern branch of the Qinling Mountains in Henan.

In other words, Chuangying is now backed by the Huaxia Dragon Vein, the end of the eastern section of the Qinling Mountains in a broad sense.

So, why did Li Zicheng's troops camp here?The answer is naturally the proposal of Chuangying's new military adviser, Zhou Yi.

Originally in history, Li Zicheng, the hero of this time period, had already started to follow Gao Yingxiang, the hero of the era, and went south and north...running from south to north, his footprints spread all over many provinces.

Here, there is already a divergence from the original history: Li Zicheng did not join Gao Yingxiang's brigade.

The reason is simple: from the moment Zhou Yi took office as a military adviser, the original strategy needed to be revised.After all, if you have to wait for Li Zicheng to develop naturally, then there is no need for Zhou Yi to come to Henan.

So everyone went to camp at the foot of the remote Funiu Mountain this time to unify their thinking and solve the problem of the future strategic line.

……

In the early morning of the second day after setting up camp, Tian Da went all the way through the gate guarded by his brothers, and crossed the threshold of Wei Tuo side hall... Wei Tuo hall is a temporary residence assigned to Zhou Junshi and his subordinates.

As soon as he entered the gate, Tian Da raised his head immediately.Sure enough, an "iron umbrella" shining with metallic luster had already opened its ribs and was placed on the corner of the eaves of Wei Tuo Hall.

In fact, since Zhou Yi took office as a military adviser, this iron umbrella, which looks the same as an ordinary oilcloth umbrella, has become a symbol of Zhou's military division's residence... As a contemporary disciple of the Iron Umbrella Sect, it is very logical to insert an umbrella at the front of the door one thing.

People in the camp naturally dare not talk too much about artifacts based on mystical theories... In fact, within a few days, this magic weapon exuding strong psychological hints was secretly supplemented by the soldiers of the camp, giving it It has many functions such as town house/exorcism/watching qi/reception/resisting catastrophe.

Swallowing hard, Tian Da adjusted his expression and entered the hall humbly.

Zhou Yi, who had changed into a crow blue Taoist robe, was sitting in the hall at the moment, chatting and laughing happily with three or four well-dressed men.Seeing this, Tian Da hurriedly cupped his hands: "Military division, general Chuang and several deputy masters have invitations."

Due to the small size of the team, except for Li Zicheng himself who is called Chuangjiang himself, several of his confidantes are only called "Vice Lord" in the camp.Zhou Yi, on the other hand, followed the routine in the commentary, and he was collectively referred to as "Military Advisor" or "Mr."

Seeing Tian Da's message, Zhou Yi immediately nodded in agreement: "Well, it's almost time, let's all go."

Afterwards, Zhou Yi greeted his subordinates and went to meet Li Zicheng together.

Not long after, Zhou Yi led people from the Wei Tuo Hall assigned to him to Li Zicheng's temporary residence - the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Hall.

Seeing Zhou Yi entering the hall, Li Zicheng, who was still wearing Fan Yangli and a short coarse robe, led seven or eight of his confidants to get up and say hello.

Here Zhou Yi cheerfully ordered the newcomers to salute General Chuang: "There is a happy event to report to the Lord."

As soon as the ceremony was over, Zhou Yi said a good thing with joy on his face: "Several juniors came here overnight and brought a letter; the head teacher has issued a decree a few days ago, ordering all the two thousand disciples from the outer sect to listen to it." I dispatch."

Li Zicheng also had a happy face when he heard the words: "In this way, Mr. has gained help, and I will also be honored, good thing! Good thing!"

At the "joining" ceremony of opening the incense altar, Li Zicheng and Zhou Yi had assigned work.

It is different from the monks who are used to showing off metaphysics with one mouth.Zhou Yizhi belonged to Li Zicheng's department, and he came to join the group with solid strength.

The display of strength reached its peak at the moment when the silver scale breastplate appeared.

In this situation, although the host and the guest did not say anything, they both knew that Zhou Yi could not simply be a "counselor" who received a salary. affairs of real power.

This is equivalent to a star actor bringing money into the group... Anyway, he also has the title of producer, a member of the leadership, and his right to speak is greatly increased.

Therefore, after thinking about it and even "talking" with Zhou Yi that day, Li Zicheng formally assigned the intelligence work that did not exist in the Chuangjun to Zhou Yi's jurisdiction.

For Li Zicheng at this stage, the so-called intelligence work is just a joke, it is purely a blank concept... A small team of rogues who are always running for their lives can't get enough to eat, and they are doing nonsense intelligence.

Therefore, entrusting the intelligence work to Zhou Yi not only reassured the new faction, but also did not harm the existing interests of the old brothers. This result was very much in line with Li Zicheng's wishes.

Zhou Yi is equally satisfied.His generation can't get information, or he doesn't understand the importance of the intelligence system at this stage, but he, Zhou Yi, understands it too well.

Backed by the General Intelligence Bureau, Zhou Yi will soon be able to establish an intelligence system in Li Zicheng's department from scratch.At that time, no one can oppose what he wants to promote.

And the dialogue just now is also a necessary cutscene before Zhou Yi officially performs his duties today.You know, in name, there is a teacher above his head.There is such a big cause and effect between Shimen and Li Zicheng, there must be a procedure where the head teacher nods...to renew the contract.

After meeting for a few words, the next thing is Zhou Yi's first official business appearance as the Chuangjun strategist and the person in charge of the intelligence system.

All the generals from Li Zicheng and below immediately sat down, and then waited with great interest for the military division to display their talents.After all, this time everyone changed the established route, gave up joining Gao Yingxiang's army, and came here to camp at the foot of Funiu Mountain, but it was all the proposal of this military adviser.

"Since the Taoist is on an errand to inquire about the news for the lord, today I will first talk about some internal and external news about the government."

The next moment, Zhou Yi didn't talk nonsense, coughed, and took out a few blank papers from his arms.

"First: On the [-]th of last month, the court decided that Hong Chengchou's jurisdiction was too extensive to take care of it, so Lu Xiang was promoted to prime minister for military affairs in Jiangbei, Henan, Shanshan, Sichuan and Lake."

"The following is the personal file of Lu Xiangsheng: Lu Xiangsheng, whose name is Jiandou, and whose name is Jiutai, is from Yixing County, Changzhou Prefecture, Nanzhili Province, a Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi..."

"Second: At the end of last month, there were Tartars attacking the border in Datong, and it is planned to transfer a part of Guanning Iron Cavalry back to Shanxi to garrison."

"Third: There is a vacancy in the prefect of Xunyang, and the Ministry of Officials is currently selecting officials to fill the vacancy. Wu Zheng, a member of the Ministry of Rites..."

As Zhou Yi's flat and slow reading continued, the expressions of everyone in the camp were constantly changing.

The first time they heard such high-level strategic information, at the beginning, everyone was fresh and surprised, and their expressions must have been complicated.Before this, Gein, the gang of rogues who broke into the camp, had no such awareness at all, thinking that it was necessary for their family to care about the world's major affairs.

That is, recently, with the release of Zhou Yi and his "Dragon Qi Theory", these people have vague psychological hints.

Of course, this may not include Comrade Li Zicheng who has great ambitions... Maybe he had a firm "lofty ideal" in his heart when he started the uprising.

And today, following Zhou Yi's reading aloud, everyone sitting here finally felt the power of the words "World Chess Game" in an instant.This sudden "upgrade" operation made everyone in the meeting Tao Taoran subconsciously pay attention to the content of the intelligence itself... After all, no one wants to reveal that they lack the ability to analyze and judge strategic intelligence.

However, this seriousness, later on, the facial expressions of everyone sitting here became more and more serious.

This is not only because most of what Zhou Yi read was important government information, but everyone also realized another key point: timeliness.

"Forget it, that's all for today."

After reading the last piece of information, Master Zhou put away the blank paper with a flat expression: "Most of them are related to the Rebel Army. The rest of the two Huaihe Rivers, Jiangsu and Zhejiang... the Taoist is lazy and doesn't read it today, right?"

As soon as Zhou Yi finished speaking, while Li Zicheng admired him, he cupped his hands and asked what everyone wanted to ask: "Sir, these military affairs are numerous and complicated, but the news came so fast!?"

"My lord, didn't you hear that the imperial military newspaper said that it was urgent for eight hundred miles?" Zhou Yi had known this question, his eyes were calm, and he said calmly: "The governor of Henan knows about this important court event, so the Taoist will naturally Got it...heh."

"I have accumulated experience in the Iron Umbrella Sect. Those two thousand disciples from the outer sect are not just for display. They have already spread all over the Ming Dynasty, with thick roots and luxuriant leaves... Even in temples and deep palaces, there are people who are connected."

Without waiting for Li Zicheng to continue to question, Zhou Yi looked around at the crowd, and then said to Li Zicheng with deep meaning: "It's not that the Taoist is bragging. It's just that the Lord wants to know which dishes the Emperor Chongzhen used this morning, and where he is tonight?" It is a trivial matter to stay overnight, and news will arrive in a few days."

After listening to Mr. Zhou's pretentious words, Li Zicheng couldn't help laughing after his heart agitated: "Mr. is a hero and a great strategy. He must be able to do righteous deeds with Zicheng. He is also the one who starts a business."

"The general's kindness is here, and I would like to follow the example of the pioneers." Zhou Yi also smiled when he heard the words, and then waved his hands to signal the first few "junior brothers": "Come, take the map of the country and the community, and let's discuss the future strategy."

Chapter 670 Sharing the great cause (seven)

A scroll-like long-axis map of mountains and rivers was laid flat on the elm altar table in the Bodhisattva Hall.

From left to right, from the Western Regions to the East China Sea, the long-axis pattern of the fairy wind bone shows the topography and landforms of the traditional Chinese Kyushu in detail.

Although the ink style used by the ancients is still used, the most critical accuracy of the map, and even the location ratio of rivers, roads and cities, are all copied from Google.

In the seventeenth century, this was unmistakably Zentraedi technology.

Finally, when the scroll slowly unfolded to the end, the five vertical ancient seal characters of "Jiangshan Sheji Tu" were revealed.

The whole picture scroll has a lofty conception, an antique flavor, and a flowing air, which has a sense of evil charm of Xiao Heyue getting off his bicycle.

Of course, in front of such an astonishing "ancient map", the inconspicuous "QZJS16330302W" printed code in the corner of the back of the scroll must have been noticed by no one... Made by the Technical Section of the General Intelligence Bureau on March 1633, 3, allowing outside use.

The circle of people around the long table is naturally the rebel faction headed by Li Zicheng.While sighing, they stretched out their calloused hands and gestured on the map, looking for the city they were familiar with.

"This picture is an important treasure of my teacher's school. It was made by the disciples of the school who collected gas from Kyushu for thousands of years. It is dedicated to the Lord today."

Daoist Zhou, who had a well-thought-out plan, presented the map at the same time, he also took out the "Measurement Ruler" which uses the traditional measurement unit, and then taught his generation how to use it.

"It's really precise, exactly!"

Before he could, Tian Jianxiu, who had just learned how to use the scale, found Shaanxi, which he was most familiar with, on the map, and then measured the road from Mizhi to Yulin.In the end, he excitedly expressed his opinion to everyone present: "With this picture, you can go anywhere in the world!"

No one doubts this statement.

Things like maps have been strategic materials controlled by the government since ancient times, and ordinary people have no access to this level of information.But for Li Zicheng, who is ambitious in the world, there is no more precious gift than this.

"I really got a lot of help from the Iron Umbrella Immortal Sect this time."

When Li Zicheng saw this situation, when his heart was swaying, he stroked the map with one hand, and made a heavy promise in his mouth: "If the real person in charge of teaching is not bad, I will really be able to take over the Zhu family's foundation in the future... On the day of enthronement, I will It is decided to pay homage to the real person in charge of the teaching as the national teacher, and Mr. Feng Zhou will lead the sects of the world!"

"Hahaha, since that's the case, my lord is more than willing to offer advice."

At this moment, Daoist Zhou, who seemed satisfied, finally began to preach the prepared strategic plan.

……

Regarding the future strategy of Li Zicheng's Ministry, there is no doubt that it must be implemented in "coordination" with the General Intelligence Bureau's overall strategy for the Ming Dynasty.

The so-called overall strategy against the Ming Dynasty now needs to be implemented in the content of Li Zicheng's department. In fact, it can be clearly stated in one sentence: accumulate strength as soon as possible, and strive to eliminate the main field forces of the Ming Dynasty in the Central Plains as soon as possible.

In real history, Li Zicheng started the "Southern Expedition and Northern War" this year, and inherited the title of "Chuangwang" next year until the collapse of the Ming Dynasty.

During this period, Li Zicheng's troops have been fighting in various places, and were beaten and scattered by officers and soldiers many times... However, relying on the endless refugees in the late Ming Dynasty, Li Xiaoqiang was able to make a quick comeback every time, full of blood.

This situation continued until the 14th year of Chongzhen six years later.

At that time, the fighting power between the Ming army and Li Zicheng's troops finally underwent a fundamental change—the quality of the Ming army dropped to a critical point due to the repeated entry of the Qing Dynasty and the financial collapse caused by natural disasters.After years of survival of the fittest, the peasant army has accumulated enough combat experience and supplies.

Quantitative change produces qualitative change.

In the end, six years later, Li Zicheng successively wiped out the field corps within the Ming Dynasty through five Central Plains wars in the Henan area, thus gaining the opportunity to go north to Beijing to win the throne.

In two years, the Ming Dynasty perished.

The purpose of the General Intelligence Bureau sending Zhou Yi into the camp this time is precisely to save Li Zicheng time: at least to save most of Li Zicheng's six years of wandering in the future.

The reason for fleeing is because of insufficient strength.Although the main force of the Ming army is slowly reducing its quality, it is still not something that the rogues can defeat head-on.

Therefore, Zhou Yi's first and most important strategy is to improve his strength: Tibetan soldiers.

The so-called "Tibetan soldiers" are actually a combination of a series of military and political projects.In the language of later generations, it is base + training + accumulation of military supplies.

In this strategy, Li Zicheng's department will establish a base from now on, secretly train and hoard a heavy cavalry regiment of no less than 3000 people.

Strength is everything.At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng's troops, who had [-] elite heavy cavalry, were completely reborn. In future decisive battles, they could accomplish their feats in one battle, directly destroy the main force of the Ming army, and shock the world.

Zhou Yi's strategy of hiding soldiers, to be honest, really went beyond the habitual thinking of Li Zicheng and others... Everyone has been a rogue with full proficiency since the uprising, and no one has imagined the situation Zhou Yi said.

One mouthful is three thousand heavy cavalry. If you think about it, you will know that you need a lot of resources to support it.The rogues never had enough to eat, so they never had that thought.

In addition, the so-called Tibetan soldiers actually included an important strategic change: Li Zicheng's troops would change from rogue bandits to de facto sitting bandits.

This point, everyone in the sitting heard it, and they were all confused: how can it be so easy to be a bandit.Hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers are now besieging the peasant army. Who would dare to sit in an isolated city and wait for death?

So shortly after Zhou Yi's voice fell, someone immediately raised a question: "I don't know where the soldier is going to hide, sir?"

"Hehe, good question!"

Zhou Yi, who had already deduced today's scene, knew that this question reached a key point: where is the base area established.

The next moment, Zhou Yi punched heavily on the map where they are now camping: the Funiu Mountains.

"Just like this Funiu Mountain, there are three thousand elite soldiers hidden. Once it is completed, the Lord will be invincible once he comes out of the mountain, and he will sweep the world in an instant."

"Funiu Mountain stretches for eight hundred miles, and there are many places where it is easy to defend Tibetan soldiers."

Zhou Yi knew that the key to this strategy was the logistical issue: "My lord knows that the Iron Umbrella Sect has been accumulated in Jingxiang for many years, and we have prepared a lot. Now we only need to open up the grain road from Wuchang to Nanyang, which is needed for military training. Three thousand collar armor, with 30 catties of military rations, can be transported here within half a year."

Hearing Zhou Yi boast so much, Li Zicheng was already mentally prepared, but he was still moved: "Sir, are you serious?"

"There is absolutely no lie. It is the iron armor hidden in the grain bag. Three thousand collars are not much more."

The "iron armor" mentioned by Zhou Yi was the second type of armor transported in grain trucks at that time.This kind of armor is simple in style, and it is an imitation armor ordered in batches by the General Intelligence Bureau in the factory. Its internal quality is high, and its appearance is the same as the standard armor equipped by the cavalry of the Ming Army.

As for the mountain pattern armor before, it was used for a few high-ranking generals, and it was impossible to equip it in large quantities.

... This is what people are talking about. If Li Zicheng and others look forward and backward again, they will not be revolutionaries with their heads pinned to their waistbands.

What's more, for a group of rogues, it is naturally a good thing to have a lair where they can attack, retreat and defend.Before, it was just that happiness came too suddenly, and I didn't react for a while.

So Mr. Zhou's strategy of hiding troops was initially approved.

Seeing the complex expressions of distrust mixed with anxiety among the people present, Zhou Yi understood.He knows what these rogues are thinking... It's nothing more than taking advantage of the advantages first, and taking every step counts.Let's talk about it one day when your bragging cowhide is broken and the food, fodder and armor are no longer available.