I

Anqing.

Zhang Xianzhong has more than 100,000 troops and has been besieging the city for half a month.

Can't beat it.

There were only three thousand defenders in Anqing, but they were united and even the common people came to help, fearing that they would be looted after the city was broken.

Zhang Xianzhong's cavalry were all scattered out, and the sentinels extended for twenty miles. If officers and soldiers come to rescue Anqing, if the reinforcements are small, they will take the initiative to annihilate them. If there are many reinforcements, they will run away.

To this day, Zhang Xianzhong does not want to go to Sichuan.

Zhang Xianzhong had great ambitions and always wanted to cross the Yangtze River. With Nanjing as the base, sitting on the elite land of Jiangnan, it can rule at least half of the world!

Historically, Zhang Xianzhong rushed into Sichuan purely at the instigation of his counselor Wang Zhaoling. Later, Zhang Xianzhong wanted to leave Sichuan with his entire army, occupy the northwest and conquer the world. Wang Zhaoling also sowed discord, saying that once Zhang Xianzhong left, the troops remaining in Sichuan would definitely rebel and become independent.

Zhang Xianzhong's large-scale killings in Sichuan were also caused by Wang Zhaoling.

Of course, there are definitely not as many killings as the history books say.

Although the author of "Shu Bi" made various accusations against Zhang Xianzhong, he also made a pertinent account: "(Zhang Xianzhong) has great ambitions since he defeated Wuchang and did not kill very much."

…

The peasant army advanced step by step and arrived at the moat in an instant. The officers and soldiers on the city began shooting arrows.

Suddenly, someone in the city shouted: "Pirate ship!"

On Zhang Xianzhong's side, there were also sentries and cavalry running quickly: "The officers and soldiers of the navy are coming, the officers and soldiers of the navy are coming!"

The peasant army that was attacking the city was immediately recalled by Ming Jin.

Both the offensive and defensive sides, inside and outside the city, were all frightened by the fleet on the river.

The Jiangxi Navy, which has expanded to 4,000 men, already has hundreds of large and small warships. In addition to daily training, he assists the transshipment envoys in transporting official money and grain within Jiangxi.

At this moment, ten large ships with a capacity of 400 tons and thirty medium-sized ships with a capacity of 200 tons came from upstream.

Zhang Xianzhong personally rode to the riverside and murmured to himself: "The officers, soldiers and navy are not so majestic. They seem to be the flag of the Zhao thieves in Jiangxi."

"Lame General" Bai Wenxuan followed and asked in confusion: "Zhao Thief is going to attack Jiangnan?"

"I'm afraid we really have to fight." Zhang Xianzhong was a little frustrated.

Such a majestic naval fleet was enough to cut through the natural dangers of the Yangtze River. Zhang Xianzhong had no chance of crossing the river and occupying Nanjing.

"Fuck you!"

Zhang Xianzhong cursed: "Send an order to all the ministries, stop attacking Anqing, and immediately send the whole army north to help that bastard Li Zicheng!"

Since the Zhao thieves in Jiangxi are preparing to attack Jiangnan, they also have a powerful navy. Zhang Xianzhong also gave Anqing a hard time. This poor place was easily besieged by officers and soldiers, so it was better to go north to Henan to help Li Zicheng.

Of course, helping is fake, but disrupting the arrangements of officers and soldiers is real.

He pretended to be going to Henan, mobilized officers and soldiers from all walks of life to pursue and intercept him, then found an opening to immediately move westward, jumped out of the encirclement and returned to Huguang (Hubei).

Seeing Zhang Xianzhong suddenly withdrawing his troops, the defenders in the city were so frightened that they did not dare to lead their troops to fight out.

Even after Zhang Xianzhong left for several days, the Anqing defenders did not dare to move for fear of being killed by the bandits - Zhang Xianzhong often did this!

After marching thirty miles, they began to set up camp.

Zhang Xianzhong convened the generals to discuss matters. In addition to Bai Wenxuan and these generals, Siyi descendants Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi were all present.

"The King Zhao of Jiangxi may be able to conquer the south of the Yangtze River this year," Zhang Xianzhong said to the generals. "We don't want to attack the north of the Yangtze River. Even if we take down both the Huaihe River and the Huaihe River, we will only stay here to serve as a shield for the man named Zhao."

"Father," Sun Kewang took out a copy of "Datong Collection", "The child found this at a landlord's house."

Zhang Xianzhong knew a few words, but as for his cultural level, he was probably about the same as a Mengtong boy who had been in school for half a year. He glanced at the title of the book and asked, "The book from Shanxi?"

Sun Kewang said: "Father, this is the Datong of the world, not the Datong of Shanxi."

"That book by King Zhao Tian?" Zhang Xianzhong asked.

"Yes," Sun Kewang said, "I have consulted Master, and I have understood the meaning of the first chapter."

Zhang Xianzhong smiled and said, "Tell me, what kind of articles did Zhao write?"

Sun Kewang said: "The world is unified, which means that the world belongs to everyone, not to any family or surname. We must choose people with good moral character and ability as officials, and we must also be trustworthy..."

"That's well said. People named Zhao are knowledgeable." Zhang Xianzhong nodded in approval.

Sun Kewang continued: "Everyone should be close to each other, treat other people's relatives as their own relatives, and treat other people's sons as their own sons. Some people will die when they are old, young people can find a living, and children can live and grow up. Widowers , widows, and cripples, all have people to support them. Men can marry their mothers-in-law, and women can marry their husbands... Scholars do not play tricks, people do not engage in thieves, and there is no need to close the door at night."

After Zhang Xianzhong listened, he was silent for a long time.

"Alas," Zhang Xianzhong sighed, "who wouldn't want to live such a good life? I can't even dream of it. What else was written later?"

Sun Kewang said: "The child doesn't know much about reading. He can only understand half of what he reads. He hasn't asked the master for advice yet."

"Call Master here." Zhang Xianzhong said.

Sun Kewang said: "On the way to withdraw the army today, the master wanted to escape, but was killed by the child."

Zhang Xianzhong warned: "Please invite another one tomorrow."

Zhang Xianzhong was in Gucheng last year and listened to "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu for several months. Although he still didn't understand many of the contents, he still felt that he benefited a lot.

It's a pity that the master who explained "Sun Tzu's Art of War" actually ran away when the troops were transferred.

After another day of marching, Zhang Xianzhong not only invited his master, but also obtained a copy of "Records of Female Generals of Datong".

Because of the illustrations, Zhang Xianzhong was very interested, so he asked his master to talk about female generals first.

This book can be read as a story. After listening to it, Zhang Xianzhong clapped his hands and praised: "The surname Zhao is interesting, there are so many Sun Erniang and Hu Sanniang in the army." He then said to the generals, "Women also have abilities, and they can choose strong women. If you join the army, you may be able to produce a few Sun Erniangs and Hu Sanniangs."

"Yes!" the generals responded.

In fact, these generals all had wild imaginations. They had seen the illustrations in the book and focused more on beauty.

As for selecting strong women to join the army?

When Zhang Xianzhong was at his lowest, his generals killed his wife one after another to express his ambition!

The Master again spoke of "The Theory of Gesture" with trepidation, but Zhang Xianzhong didn't take it seriously at first. But in the next few days, he listened to "The Theory of Land Dividing", "The Theory of Slave Release", and "The Theory of Family, Country and World", and was immediately convinced by Zhao Han's theory of rebellion.

Another day passed, Zhang Xianzhong summoned the generals and said: "I decided to go to Yunyang, lay down a piece of territory, and learn from the man named Zhao. First allocate the land to the soldiers, then to the common people, and divide the land among the slaves of the rich families. Let them all go.”

Li Dingguo said: "Father, we wholeheartedly support the division of land between the soldiers and the common people. But as soon as the officers and soldiers come, we have to run away. Isn't the division of land in vain?"

Zhang Xianzhong thought for a long time: "Try it first."

After a long while, Zhang Xianzhong said again: "Jiangxi Zhao Tianwang has a great reputation, and he seems to have some real abilities. When we lead the officers and soldiers by the nose, we will jump out and run to the southwest when we reach the border of Henan. When we get to Huangmei County, we will send people to follow Liaison with the surname Zhao. We are all rebels. Let’s see if we can help each other and fight against the officers and soldiers together.”

…

However, Xu Fengcai, Xu Nianzu, Liu Rushi and others also encountered the Jiangxi Navy fleet halfway.

Standing on the deck, Xu Nianzu said confusedly: "We're going to attack Jiangnan now?"

"Brother, look at both sides of the ship." Xu Fengcai pointed at the warships and said.

Xu Nianzu took a look and found that there were huge trees tied with ropes on both sides of each ship, and the huge trees were tied up and floating on the water.

"Why are there so many pieces of wood being transported?" Xu Nianzu wondered. "Is it to make siege equipment?"

Xu Fengcai said: "Building siege equipment would not use such huge wood."

Li Fenglai came over and said, "That's Quercus japonica, used to build ships. Last year, all prefectures and counties in Jiangxi posted notices prohibiting the cutting of Quercus japonica. If there are two or three people hugging Quercus japonica, report it to the government as soon as possible. If the situation is true, report it to the government. Those who do will be rewarded with one tael of silver."

"Is this going to... Guangdong?" Xu Nianzu asked in surprise.

"It should be to Guangdong." Li Fenglai said.

After arriving in Nanjing, the Jiangxi Navy fleet actually docked at the dock and refused to leave.

Nanjing officials were shocked. Zhang Guowei, the Minister of War in Nanjing, immediately ordered the city to be defended and ordered officials to prepare supplies to defend the city.

A sword-carrying warrior suddenly appeared in the city and he went straight to pay his respects.

"You still dare to show up in the city and beheaded in public!" Zhang Guowei was furious.

A soldier carrying a sword said: "Zhang Bingbu, please don't be angry. I am showing up now because I have something to say to the Bingbu."

Zhang Guowei sneered: "Can you persuade me to become a thief?"

The sword-carrying scholar said: "No. King Zhao knew that there was a famine in the south. Although Jiangxi did not have much grain left, it would be able to harvest summer grain in another month. Therefore, King Zhao ordered grain to be purchased in Jiangxi, shipped a lot of it, and sold it at a low price. Provide disaster relief to the Nanjing government. Please ask Zhang Bingbu to send people on board to inspect the grain and ensure that the price of grain is much lower than the market price. We do not sell it directly to merchants in the south of the Yangtze River because we are afraid that these merchants will hoard and gather in strange places."

Zhang Guowei was silent for a moment. He didn't believe that Zhao Thief was so kind, but it seemed that there was no need to cheat.

By the way, it must be an invitation to win the hearts of the people!

Zhang Guowei sent more than 20 people to hang baskets out of the city to inspect the goods. Half a day later, these people came back and reported: "Except for the sailors, there are no soldiers hidden on the ship. Some of the ships are filled with food, and some of the ships are filled with porcelain."

Are you really here to sell food?

For a time, officials from the six departments in Nanjing stood on the tower and started talking.

Most officials suggested buying grain because rice prices in South Zhili are too expensive this year. Famine has occurred in many villages. The price of rice in Nanjing city has risen to 1.5 taels of silver per stone. If it continues, it must break through 2 taels of silver per stone.

Gu Gao, Chen Zhenhui, Wu Yingji, Huang Zongxi and other scholars who were restored to commune, and there were dozens of them, came together to the city wall, and collectively bowed their hands: "If Jiangxi is really willing to sell grain at a fair price, please ask the Ministry of War to consider it for the people. "

Immediately afterwards, the people in Nanjing heard that food shipments from Jiangxi were coming, and they also came to inquire about the situation.

Zhang Guowei was inexplicably frightened. If he stopped him from buying food, he was afraid that the people in the city would rebel.

But among the six departments in Nanjing, the Minister of War is the boss. Once he buys grain from the rebels, he will definitely be guilty of collaborating with the enemy and treason!

This is putting him on the fire. No matter what he does, it is wrong, and he is not a human being inside and out.

Even if the grain is bought, how will it be distributed?

Honorable men are like sharks, they must come smelling the smell of blood. If the grain is not sold to the nobles, these nobles will definitely cause trouble; if the grain is sold to the nobles, public resentment will inevitably boil.

Zhang Guowei is going crazy!