I

Zhu Shunshui soon came to take charge of the civil affairs in the Xihe area.

If the Datong Army can capture Shaanxi, Zhu Shunshui will be the governor of Shaanxi. He is Zhao Han's old friend. He defected when he marched to the south of the Yangtze River and worked his way up the ranks from county magistrate to county magistrate.

On the other side of Henan, Hu Mengtai was also waiting. When the Datong Army took Shanxi, he would immediately become Shanxi's chief envoy. This is Fei Yinghuan's cousin-in-law, and he is an old acquaintance with Zhao Han. He came to join him after he regained Guangdong.

"The farmers in Xihe are not very motivated, and the gentry and landlords are also resistant," said missionary officer Ding Ruzhen.

Zhu Shunshui sighed: "It seems that Li Zicheng has governed Shaanxi well." (The Xihe area is actually under the jurisdiction of Shanxi, but it was temporarily placed under the jurisdiction of Shaanxi during the war.)

The so-called good is compared with the Ming Dynasty.

Shaanxi has been suffering from military disasters and drought for more than ten years, and the people have suffered a lot. Li Zicheng asked them to cultivate the land without owners, and the taxes were not very heavy, so the farmers naturally supported him.

And when the Datong Army came, they divided the fields for farmers and reduced taxes for farmers. These were all things Li Zicheng had done.

The Datong Army wanted to divide the landowners' fields again, and the landowners were equally unhappy. But that was all, there was no fierce resistance. It is true that the population of Shanshan and Shaanxi has dropped sharply. No matter how much land the landlord has, without tenants to help cultivate it, he has no choice but to abandon it.

The policy of dividing land, which has always been effective, is difficult to achieve in the northwest.

This place is different from Henan and Shandong. Although both provinces have experienced wars, sharp population declines, and droughts for many years, the Datong Army ended the troubled times in the two provinces of Shandong and Henan, and all levels of society are grateful for this. In the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi, it was Li Zicheng who ended the troubled times, and the Datong Army was the invader who started the war.

Zhu Shunshui came to Xihe to establish a register to allocate fields, but he did not get the support of the people at all and was unable to gain a mass base here!

It is even difficult to establish grassroots farmers' associations, and farmers have no enthusiasm to join them.

"What can we bring to local farmers?" Zhu Shunshui asked.

Ding Ruzhen replied: "We brought war, and nothing else."

Zhu Shunshui was speechless.

Ding Ruzhen added: "In fact, if you pretend to be submissive to the court, the civilian officials and military generals will also exploit the people very seriously. Li Zicheng said that the grain tax will be halved in three years, but the civilian officials and military generals will collect many miscellaneous taxes, and will also levy the people to perform corvee service. We said right from the start that there would be no miscellaneous taxes or corvee, but the people didn’t believe it at all.”

Zhu Shunshui nodded and said: "I understand. Farmers in the south believe that they are exempted from corvee and miscellaneous taxes because they have actually divided their fields. Dividing the fields is the biggest benefit. With this benefit, other benefits are worthy of trust. And here For farmers, dividing their fields is not a real benefit to them, so they don’t believe in other benefits.”

"That's the truth." Ding Ruzhen said.

Zhu Shunshui said: "We must establish trust and let the people trust the court. There is still more than a month to harvest wheat. Tell all the farmers in Xihe that as long as the Datong Army is still there, they will not have to pay grain, no miscellaneous taxes, and no corvee this year. Waiting for them When the wheat comes into the warehouse, if we really don’t collect grain, the farmers will naturally believe it.”

"This is the only way." Ding Ruzhen sighed.

The Xihe area is currently occupied by the Datong Army. Officials are not yet fully in place, and the people do not obey the Datong court.

It was impossible to mobilize the masses. The Datong Army could only stand firm on its own and defeat the encircling enemy forces on its own.

Puzhou.

Liu Zhu was analyzing the situation. He pointed at the map and said: "Cao Bianjiao ran so fast. He even attacked Xi'an and defeated him. But this is of no use. He went deep alone and was of no help to the Tongguan battlefield."

Lin Ruzhao said: "It is also useful. Xi'an is the provincial capital after all. If this city is captured by our army, the civil and military forces of the Shaanxi puppet dynasty will definitely be panicked. Moreover, most of Shaanxi's grain must pass through Xi'an if it wants to be transported to Tongguan for supplies. That's it. Cao Bianjiao captured Xi'an, and the enemy's food supply at Tongguan couldn't be replenished much. That's a nail, which will definitely make the enemy's throat choke."

"In a month at most, Cao Bianjiao will be surrounded and trapped in Xi'an, unable to advance or retreat," Liu Zhu said. "Should he stick to Xi'an, or should he abandon Xi'an and go elsewhere?"

"It's better to hold on," Lin Ruzhao said. "A month later, our follow-up troops will arrive near Tongguan. By then, it will be another big war, and the enemy will not be able to devote many troops to attack Xi'an."

The Datong Army was trying to advance at Nan Sanxing in the Eighth Route of Taihang. Including the two divisions attacking Tongguan, no one knew where the breakthrough would be.

Now that Tongguan has achieved a breakthrough, the Datong Army in Henan will continue to follow.

Li Zicheng's Shanxi garrison and Hanzhong garrison will also be mobilized accordingly. By that time, both sides had more and more troops in Tongguan, and a decisive battle was brewing.

Even the Dashun troops from Yulin and Ningxia were rushing towards Tongguan and could no longer care about the Mongolia in Ordos.

Anyway, the Ordos tribe is not strong. At most, they can pass through the gap in the Great Wall, plunder and then go back.

…

Qinshui County.

Brothers Ren Jirong and Ren Guangrong are leading their troops to the Xihe area. Their mission is to recapture Yicheng from the Datong Army and garrison it.

After marching for a day in the Luliang Mountains and setting up camp in the evening, Ren Jirong quietly said to his elder brother: "Brother, are you going to lead troops to Xihe and join the Datong Army?"

"Who are you listening to?" Ren Guangrong asked angrily.

Ren Jirong said: "It has spread throughout the army. Just now, a soldier of mine came to ask if he could return to his hometown in Henan if he joined the Datong Army."

"Fart," Ren Guangrong said angrily, "There must be a spy in our army! Go and find out quickly, which bastard the rumor came from!"

Flies specialize in eggs with cracks. Although Xu Ying sent Xiao Zuo, he was not a fly, but he also understood this truth.

Brothers Ren Guangrong and Ren Jirong were originally low-level military officers in Henan.

The army they were in had been without pay for a long time and even had no food rations. A group of soldiers were hungry and forced to defend the city, so they simply turned against Li Zicheng.

The brothers fought with Li Zicheng for several years and remained loyal without any sign of betrayal.

However, most of the soldiers under their command were from Henan, which provided basis for spreading rumors.

Even the soldiers believed it and thought that the Lord General really wanted to take them back to their hometown.

The next day.

Ren Guangrong did not continue the march, but traced the source of the rumors on the spot.

As a result, nothing was found.

In desperation, we had to continue marching.

In the middle of the afternoon, a messenger suddenly caught up with him: "Two generals, stay behind! Cihou (Liu Fangliang) has ordered that the previous military order be cancelled. Please lead your troops back to Qinshui immediately. After joining forces in Qinshui, go to Xihe."

Ren Guangrong was dubious: "Is this really the order from Marquis Ci?"

The messenger handed over the document: "Please take a look at it, general."

The Ren brothers gathered together and read Liu Fangliang's military order. They couldn't help but look at each other in surprise.

In desperation, the two led their troops back.

at night.

Ren Jirong said: "Brother, it seems that rumors have spread widely, and Cihou has already doubted us."

Ren Guangrong said: "If you are upright, you are not afraid of the shadow. We are loyal to His Majesty."

"Brother, yellow mud falls off your crotch. It's either shit or shit!" Ren Jirong said anxiously, "Not to mention Cihou, even our own soldiers thought that the rumor was true. Among these five thousand people, more than three thousand were The fellows from Henan all want to go back to Henan, and they still have many family members in Henan!"

Ren Guangrong asked: "Do you really want to defect?"

Ren Jirong said: "Brother, this is a divorce plan, a conspiracy in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Believe it or not, when we return to Qinshui, as soon as Cihou arrives, we will be relieved of our military power. Cihou is also afraid, Hao Yaoqi is His Majesty’s confidant. Didn’t he lead his troops in rebellion last year? We are not from the old camp, we are officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty who joined us halfway!”

Ren Guangrong remained silent, unable to refute.

Ren Jirong advised: "Brother, let's use the trick and surrender. To be honest, our parents are staying in Henan, and I also want to go back and have a look. My father said in the letter that the Datong court was very good, and all the military households in the past were divided into fields. Now. My little sister is also married and has given birth to a big fat boy. Don’t you want to go back and see your nephew? "

In the past two years, Datong and Dashun had a good relationship, and officials from both sides communicated with their families from other places.

"But our wives and children are in Shanxi!" Ren Guangrong said.

Ren Jirong said: "Your Majesty is benevolent and righteous, we can promise that even if we join the Datong Army, we will not fight with the Dashun Army. We ask your Majesty and Cihou to treat our wives and children well."

Both brothers married in Shanxi. Their previous wives were lost when Li Zicheng fled.

Ren Guangrong thought about it and felt that he could not return to Qinshui. If he went back, he would definitely lose his military power and might even be imprisoned for interrogation. Even if he is acquitted afterwards, he and Liu Fangliang will still have a tense dispute. Liu Fangliang will feel confused. How can they reconcile in the future?

The next day, the two brothers screened the old soldiers from Henan and grouped all the fellow villagers from Henan together.

Then he called the messenger, and Ren Guangrong said: "Please go back and tell your majesty and Cihou that my two brothers have no intention of rebellion. But the enemy tried to alienate each other, and Cihou had doubts, so my brother did not dare to go back." Qinyang.”

"You...really want to rebel?" The messenger was shocked.

Ren Guangrong pointed to the soldiers and said: "These more than a thousand soldiers were recruited in Shanxi. The envoys can take them back to Cihou. We will bring more than three thousand Henan soldiers back to Henan. Don't worry, we will go straight back to Henan and never stay here." When fighting between Shanxi and Shaanxi, I will not wield a sword against my former comrades. Please be kind to my wife and children!"

More than 3,000 Henan soldiers have been fighting all year round, but they only took a break in the past two years.

There are few people in Shanxi, and there are also few women. Most of these Henan soldiers have not remarried. They really want to return home as soon as possible.

The two sides parted ways and did not fight. The Ren brothers led the Henan soldiers and left with some food.

A few days later, Liu Fangliang led the army to Qinshui. When he learned the news, he immediately regretted that he should not have ordered the Ren brothers to return to the army.

But if time goes back, Liu Fangliang will still do that, because if he is not afraid of ten thousand, he is afraid of the worst!

Not only that, many rumors spread one after another, and the generals in Henan were said to be surrendering to the enemy.

For a time, the soldiers from Henan were panicked.

Tian Hu even abandoned his troops and came to see Liu Fangliang alone: ​​"Cihou, I have no second thoughts. It's true that I am from Henan, but I have been fighting with your Majesty for many years. Is there ever a time when I didn't fight to the death?"

Liu Fangliang quickly comforted him: "General Tian, ​​don't say any more. These are all the Southern thieves' tricks to alienate you."

There are really not a few Henan generals in the Dashun Army, because Li Zicheng made a comeback in Henan.