Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Judging from the deployment of defenses in Hanzhong Prefecture and the appearance of the soldiers, the troops stationed in Hanzhong must be Sun Chuanting's most elite Qin soldiers.

And Sun Chuanting was personally in charge of the command. Even if his 50,000 troops were trained day and night, it would be impossible for them to capture Hanzhong Prefecture in a short period of time.

The Donglin Party in Jiangnan have been urging him to leave Sichuan and attack Hanzhong recently, and have also sent him a lot of money, food and military equipment, seemingly wanting to help him achieve his great cause.

But Li Zicheng never really believed that those people just wanted to use him to share the court's military strength.

If he really attacks Hanzhong now, it would be fine if he could take it, but if he fails, Sun Chuanting will never let him go easily.

If that time really came, with Sun Chuanting's pursuit in front and Zhang Xianzhong behind him, it would be more likely that he would send troops to annex him.

He and Zhang Xianzhong had fought a fierce battle in Fengyang before. It would not be said that they were incompatible, but there had been almost no cooperation and support between the two sides.

Not only that, Zhang Xianzhong always relied on his large number of soldiers and generals, and often sent his generals to plunder the villages and towns under his rule at the border between the two forces.

Li Zicheng wrote several letters specifically for this purpose, hoping that Zhang Xianzhong would take the overall situation into consideration and restrain his subordinates in the face of the common enemy, the imperial court, so as not to start a war.

But Zhang Xianzhong just said that it was his subordinates who acted recklessly and he had punished them, but the border looting did not stop.

After all, Li Zicheng had worked with Zhang Xianzhong before, and he looked down on him.

Zhang Xianzhong had a capricious and violent personality, and his moods were unpredictable. He would kill people indiscriminately at any time. Now that he is trapped in Sichuan, it is said that he has become even more violent.

Since Li Zicheng had only eighteen people following him when he entered Sichuan, even though he quickly recruited soldiers with the help of Song Xiance, he only occupied five prefectures and one guard in Sichuan, namely Kuizhou, Shunqing, Baoning, Long'an and Songpan.

The troops of Zhang Xianzhong and Cao Cao, with more than 50,000 men, quickly occupied ten prefectures and three guards in Sichuan, including Chengdu Prefecture, as well as the Sichuan Xingdu Division and several Xuanwei Divisions, Xuanfu Divisions, and Zhaotao Divisions.

Under pressure from Zhang Xianzhong, Cao Cao became Zhang Xianzhong's vassal.

Li Zicheng was not willing to fight with Zhang Xianzhong. He relied on the five governments and one guard, and the planning of Song Xiance and Niu Jinxing to work hard in his own five governments and one guard.

In the ten years before this, although Li Zicheng once had an army of 100,000, he had never truly ruled anywhere.

They all fled and became displaced under the pursuit of the imperial court.

After Song Xiance joined the gang, he often ridiculed him, saying that he only knew how to destroy and not build. Now Li Zicheng deeply agrees with him.

Without a base, they will always be like a tree without roots.

The five prefectures and one guard in Sichuan were the base that Li Zicheng set for himself.

Not only did he stop looting in the prefectures and counties under his rule, he also sent his troops to various places to hunt and kill wild boars and other birds and beasts to prevent these animals from harming the fertile farmland.

He believed that his attitude toward the people under his rule had surpassed that of the Ming Dynasty. The people in various states and prefectures no longer disliked him, and taxes were collected on time.

Everything is developing in a good direction.

He would never, because of the instigation of the Donglin Party, waste the fruits of his hard work on attacking Hanzhong. Even though Hanzhong had to be attacked sooner or later, it would definitely not be now.

"King Chuang is wise, but that damn Sun Chuanting is too good at deploying defenses. We don't have any chance at all." Song Xiance muttered.

“But Jiangnan can’t stop asking for money and food, and they don’t know whether we will fight them or not.

Let's just say that the fighting is fierce and it's a critical moment, so let them send more money and food as soon as possible." Niu Jinxing took over the conversation.

Behind them, Liu Zongmin and Hao Yaoqi's eyes lit up, thinking that the military advisor was indeed very smart.

"Also, according to the newly announced national policy of the imperial court, the Donglin Party rebelled because the imperial court wanted to kill them and take their land.

I have been thinking about this for several days.

King Chuang, I think the court's approach is good. Look at the places under our rule. Although we can collect taxes, nearly half of them actually fall into the hands of local gentry and landlords."

Song Xiance thought for a while and said.

"Song the Shorty, do you mean that we should also divide the land?" Hao Yaoqi asked.

After they moved in here, although they killed many members of the Ming royal family and some disobedient gentry and landlords, they still left most of them behind in light of previous lessons.

"Why not? Take back all the land and distribute it to the people. Not only will they have more harvests, but we will also have more food. Those gentry and landlords are just parasites caught in the middle!

The Donglin in Jiangnan dared to resist because they were separated from us by the great river, but here we only have five prefectures and one guard, so if those guys dare to cause trouble, we can put them down in an instant."

A ruthless look appeared on Song Xiance's face.

During the entire conversation, Li Zicheng did not speak a word, as he was a man of few words.

But his mind never stopped thinking.

"Let's do it." Li Zicheng said in a deep voice.

As long as it could give him more money and food without harming the people, Li Zicheng would do it.

"After this chaos, once the imperial court can recover, there will be no more soil for rebellion outside Sichuan.

We must find a way to feed more troops. In addition, we must speed up the construction of fortresses in Baoning Prefecture to prevent Sun Chuanting from entering Sichuan.

We can't get out, and Sun Chuanting can't get in either.

Liu Zongmin, I'll leave this matter to you." Li Zicheng ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Liu Zongmin accepted the order happily.

"But five prefectures and one guard are still too few, Prince Chuang, that Zhang Xianzhong has repeatedly allowed his subordinates to plunder our border areas.

Now that his army is attacking Shiqu, I think the rear must be empty, should we take advantage of the opportunity..." Niu Jinxing hesitated to speak, but his words were self-evident.

"If we engage in an internal fight, wouldn't that be exactly what the court wants?" Li Zicheng did not comment.

"But King Chuang, if you only rely on these five prefectures and one county, how many troops can you support at best?

Zhang Xianzhong acted recklessly under their rule, and their people had long been complaining.

Prince Chuang, even if we don't take action, do you think Zhang Xianzhong will remain indifferent if we are defeated in Hanzhong?"

Everyone knew that Zhang Xianzhong definitely had the intention of annexing them.

"We will take advantage of his unpreparedness and seize only a few counties in Tongchuan Prefecture and Chengdu Prefecture. If he wants to take them back, we can use it as an excuse to rob us.

In short, we will not clash with him, and if he really dares to attack us, we are not afraid of him."

Li Zicheng was silent, and it was obvious that he was also moved.

"King Chuang, we also think it is feasible." Hao Yaoqi also advised.

Liu Zongmin, Li Guo and others also nodded one after another. They had tolerated Zhang Xianzhong for a long time.

"Only Tongchuan Prefecture, as well as Zhangming, Mianzhou, and Anxian in Chengdu Prefecture will be seized.

Liu Zongmin, I leave this matter to you. I will give you 20,000 soldiers."

Li Zicheng finally made up his mind.

……