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

It is located at the border of Huguang and Sichuan, and is in the remote suburbs of Shangxi Prefecture.

More than a dozen war horses were tied to trees in the wilderness. Most of them were so tired that foam was coming out of their mouths, but they were still trying hard to swallow the beans.

About a dozen steps away from where the horses were tied, a dozen men were sitting together. They were covered in blood and some were injured.

"King Chuang, is your injury serious? Otherwise, let me go to the city to find a doctor." Tian Jianxiu, who was dressed in armor, said.

He himself was hit by an arrow in the arm, but fortunately the wound was not deep and he was fine for the time being.

Li Zicheng was stabbed in the right leg. At this moment, he seemed to have lost his soul and ignored the wound on his right leg.

More than 70,000 brothers have been in Huguang for half a year, but now only these dozen people are alive. Li Zicheng feels heartbroken every time he thinks of it.

In yesterday's battle, his last 10,000 elite troops were wiped out. Many of those 10,000 men had followed him all the way from Shaanxi, and they were all friends who were willing to die for him.

"Scholar, do you think... have we taken the wrong road?" Li Zicheng asked Xiang Tian Jianxiu with a painful expression, and he was also asking everyone at the same time.

It was their orders that led to the current outcome. If they had not gone to Huguang, and had stayed in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan, they would never have been besieged.

But Li Zicheng's inquiry could not be just because of this. He had been in rebellion for ten years and had suffered many defeats, but this was the most disastrous defeat.

During these ten years, the imperial court tried to recruit him many times, and Li Zicheng had considered it. After all, if the imperial court recruited him, he would be an official of the imperial court, and the imperial court would naturally not sit idly by and watch his subordinates starve to death.

Doing so might make your life difficult and you might be looked down upon, but at least you're still alive.

Just like Zhang Xianzhong, he always looked down on Zhang Xianzhong before, but now at least Zhang Xianzhong's 40,000 subordinates are still alive.

Which is more important, dignity or life?

"King Chuang, we didn't take the wrong path, it was Yang Lianhua who was too shameless.

In order to defeat us, this man didn't care about the lives of the people. Although we also killed people, it was because we couldn't live, but what about him? For the sake of his official position, other people couldn't live.

We just had bad luck." Tian Jianxiu replied in a low voice.

He followed Li Zicheng when he just started the rebellion, and was considered one of Li Zicheng's most loyal descendants.

Yang Sichang collected grain on the spot in Huguang, Sichuan and other places, which was almost tantamount to robbery. This year was considered a good year for Huguang and Sichuan, but more people died this year.

"King Chuang, we brothers followed you and risked our lives. Even if I died, there would be nothing to complain about. Besides, we are all still alive. Why should you be so depressed?"

Hao Yaoqi shook the dirt out of his shoes and spat.

Apart from these two, generals such as Liu Zongmin and Li Guo did not speak. They were defeated miserably this time, and not everyone was as indifferent as the heartless Hao Yaoqi.

Liu Zongmin was also in a very low mood. He was swinging a sword at a tree, seemingly venting his emotions.

Li Guo took out a pot of wine and was about to take a sip when it was snatched away by Hao Yaoqi. He didn't even have time to curse. He had been fighting for a whole day and running for a whole night, and he was exhausted to the extreme.

Military advisor Niu Jinxing had already fallen asleep due to exhaustion. Tian Jianxiu originally wanted to wake him up to discuss countermeasures, but at this time a dwarf came in from outside.

The man was about thirty years old. He was wearing a bamboo hat so his face couldn't be seen clearly. He had a short and stocky build and was carrying a shoulder pole in his hand.

"I've been looking for you for a long time, and finally you are here." The man chuckled and took off his hat, revealing a thin and dark face.

Tian Jianxiu, Li Guo and others drew their swords instantly.

"You were sent by the imperial court to chase us, right? You are so arrogant! How dare you come here alone." Hao Yaoqi rushed over with a knife in his hand and was about to chop people.

The dwarf laughed and said:

"Wait, I'm not from the court. My name is Song Xiance, and I'm here to help you."

"You? Why?" Tian Jianxiu frowned when he heard that.

"Why do you need that? You've all been defeated and only these few people are left. Who normally would come to join you at this time?" Song Xiance said with a smile.

"Put away all your knives." Li Zicheng put away his hopeless thoughts and said to everyone.

"Where are you from? As you can see, we have just suffered a great defeat. Now it is impossible for us to accomplish anything." Li Zicheng glanced at Song Xiance and said, his words still full of disappointment.

"It doesn't matter where I come from, General Li, you are the King of Rebellion! How can you lose your fighting spirit just because of a temporary failure?"

Song Xiance was not polite either. He threw the stick in his hand aside and sat next to Li Zicheng.

"Oh, it has already come to this. The morale of the imperial court is high now, and they will certainly search for us everywhere. The world is so big that there is no place for us to stay."

"Hahaha! Let me tell you, the world is so big, there are so many places to go.

What about the government troops? Now, Sichuan, Huguang, Shandong, Henan and even Jiangxi are all suffering because of Yang Sichang's grain collection. These people have no way to appeal and are about to starve to death, especially in Sichuan.

Think about it, King Chuang, if someone could stand up and let them have food to eat, what would happen? "Song Xiance said earnestly.

A hint of coldness flashed in Li Zicheng's eyes. Just now, he had always suspected that Song Xiance had come with ill intentions. In fact, his hand had been on his sword, waiting for this man to reveal a flaw, and then he would kill him.

But Song Xiance's words exploded in Li Zicheng's mind like thunder.

Yes, the reason why people followed him when he started an uprising in Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places was not because he had outstanding talents, but because those people could not survive at that time.

This year, Sichuan and other places had a good harvest, and the people had food to eat. It was for this reason that Li Zicheng felt that he had no hope.

But Yang Sichang came to the rescue at this time. He had not thought of this before because the grain collection was only a month or two ago, and the real food crisis broke out right now!

"Sichuan has a complex terrain and there is not even a decent official road. Once King Chuang entered Sichuan, he was like a dragon soaring into the sea.

With your prestige, you only need to raise the banner and call for action. Why worry about no one responding? "

After Song Xiance finished speaking, Li Guoteng stood up from the ground.

"Uncle, I think this plan is feasible."

The despair is only because there is no hope, not because of defeat. They have been defeated too many times.

Li Zicheng also felt that there was hope. He nodded, and the dejection on his face quickly disappeared.

Song Xiance seemed to have anticipated everyone's reaction. After he finished speaking, he took the wine jug from Hao Yaoqi and took a sip of wine.

"But King Chuang, this is not the way to rebel. If King Chuang believes in me, we will have to find a different way to rebel in the future."

Song Xiance put away his smile and stared at Li Zicheng very seriously.

Li Zicheng knew that Song Xiance was waiting for his sincerity, so he replied:

"What do you think?"

He had been rebelling for more than ten years, and now someone suddenly appeared and wanted to teach him to rebel. If it were someone else, he would have been angry long ago, but Li Zicheng had a calm personality, and he wanted to see what this person would say.

"It's very simple. We need a program, or a slogan." Song Xiance picked up a branch from the ground and quickly started writing on the ground.

Tian Jianxiu lay down beside Song Xiance and read:

"Eat the King of Rebellion, drink the King of Rebellion, the King of Rebellion comes and doesn't pay taxes!"