East Factory Governor

Chapter 375 Trilateral Situation
Once everything was done, Qin Shuhuai was ready to set off again, heading for the three sides.

The day before the departure, the old man hurried back to the main helm.

When he came back, he was here to pack up his belongings and prepare to move to the head of the White Lotus Sect in Tianjin, after all, he was going to take root there in the future.The second is to bid farewell to the brothers of Zhuquetang, and at the same time, discuss with Qiu Dali and others about the candidate for the new fragrance master of Zhuquetang, so that Qin Shuhuai can quickly approve it while Qin Shuhuai is in the gang.Thirdly, and most importantly, he brought the first batch of information compiled by Hua Shen.

It has only been half a month since Hua Shen became the envoy of the White Lotus Sect, and Qin Shuhuai is very curious about what information he can bring to him.

"Tell me, what information did you get?" Qin Shuhuai immediately asked excitedly.

The old Taoist took out a thick letter and put it on the table, and then began to say, "Guangzhu, Laohua mainly sorted out two aspects of information. One is about your going to the three sides."

"That's good, he has a heart. Only by knowing ourselves and the enemy can we win a hundred battles. If we had enough information when we went to Jiangnan last time, we wouldn't have to struggle for so long." Qin Shuhuai praised.

The old Taoist nodded and continued, "The White Lotus Sect has many believers in the Sanbian area, including ordinary people, bandits, and officers and soldiers. Laohua sent someone to secretly contact the believers in the Sanbian area the second day after he took office. A lot of information has been collected from the common people, bandits, and officers and soldiers, and it is summarized as follows."

The old man picked up a few pieces of paper, which was the focus of his picking.

Looking at the words on the top, he continued, "Nowadays, the bandits on the three sides mainly lie in Shanxi and Shaanxi. In Shaanxi, Zhang Xianzhong is the leader. He claims to be the Eight Great Kings. According to him, there are 20 troops under his command, and there are seventeen allied troops, with a total of about 20 horses. However, according to the internal statement of the White Lotus Sect, there are actually no [-]. His own direct soldiers The horses are only around [-] to [-], and the other [-]th Allied forces have [-] to [-] horses, totaling over [-]."

Qin Shuhuai pondered for a while, and said, "Zhang Xianzhong has so many soldiers now?"

He remembers Zhang Xianzhong in history, but he doesn't seem to have made such a big deal now.

The old Taoist said with certainty, "There shouldn't be a mistake, because the news was not told by one person, it was reported by many Bailian believers in Shanxi."

Qin Shuhuai nodded slightly, thinking that it seems that Zhang Xianzhong's development speed is one or two years faster than in history.

He asked again, "Shanxi has been suffering year after year, so where does this piece of loyalty money and food come from, and how does it support a hundred thousand soldiers and horses?"

The old Taoist said, "Among Zhang Xianzhong's subordinates, there is a man named Luo Rucai who is good at strategy and known as 'Cao Cao'. He offered advice to Zhang Xianzhong, asking him to treat salt merchants and grain merchants well and pay more attention to silver merchants. He cooperated with merchants, and Zhang Xianzhong protected their property and shops from the rogues, while they secretly sent him salt, grain, and even helped them purchase military equipment and other supplies. Instead, they exploited all merchants except salt and grain merchants. If they disobeyed them, they would be labeled as a profiteer, kill their entire family, and occupy their property. In this way, they guaranteed logistics on the one hand, and on the other hand had Once we leave Yinyuan, we can naturally gain a foothold in Shanxi."

"Luo Ru has some skills. What about Shaanxi?" Qin Shuhuai asked again.

"In Shaanxi, Gao Yingxiang is the main leader. Gao Yingxiang is even stronger than Zhang Xianzhong. He claims to have 30 mercenaries, and he has 28 alliances of princes, with a total force of 50. But in fact, it is estimated that there are only [-] direct descendants. Soldiers and horses, and another [-] allies attached to him. Gao Yingxiang claimed to be the king of Chuang, and he had many generals under him. The most famous one was Li Zicheng, who claimed to be a Chuang general. In addition, there were Liu Zhe, Huang Long, etc. It can be said that he Strength is the strongest."

"Where does his money come from?"

"Originally, he also relied on robbing houses. But after seeing Zhang Xianzhong's method works, he did the same. The disaster in Shaanxi is not as serious as Shaanxi, so his money and food are relatively abundant. Gao Yingxiang is more reasonable than Zhang Xianzhong. , the reputation is also better, he is not as bloodthirsty as Zhang Xianzhong, so he is more respected in the local area, and the people say that he has the appearance of an emperor."

Qin Shuhuai smiled slightly, and said, "Is there a saying that 'the King Chuang will not pay when he comes'?"

The old Taoist smiled and said, "There is such a saying. But it is what the common people say, and those rich businessmen don't think so. If he doesn't pay food to anyone, what will his 10,000+ army eat and drink?"

Qin Shuhuai paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered something, and said, "Didn't you say that there is a person named 'Monk Wang' on the three sides? It is said that this person has obtained the Emperor Scroll in the Three Treasures Secret Volume. How is he doing now?"

The old man smiled disdainfully, "This king's own use is the most funny thing. He just became famous half a year ago. He listened to a dog-headed military strategist and released the news that he won the emperor's scroll. The implication is that he can become an emperor and let all kinds of rogues People and horses came to attach themselves to him. But he didn't think about the reason for his crime. When the other bandits heard that he had an imperial scroll, they immediately turned around and beat him to snatch the imperial scroll. As a result, at the end of last year, he was defeated by Li Zicheng. He himself was captured. Afterwards, Li Zicheng asked him for an imperial scroll, and he said that there was no such thing as an imperial scroll, and he boasted it himself. Haha, do you think this person is stupid?"

Qin Shuhuai raised his eyelids slightly and said, "He was wiped out by Li Zicheng?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

Qin Shuhuai thought, if it was the Wang Ziyong that Li Zicheng wiped out last, then there might really be an imperial scroll.

Because Li Zicheng really called the emperor later, didn't he?
Li Zicheng was not as stupid as Wang Ziyong, even if he got the emperor scroll, he would not tell it.

The old Taoist flipped through a few pages, and then said, "By the way, there is another piece of important information. It is said that Zhang Xianzhong wants to join other rogues from the 34th Route to worship Gao Yingxiang as the leader of the alliance. At that time, these soldiers and horses will be collectively called the 36th Battalion. Gao Yingxiang is the leader of the 36th Battalion. This matter is currently in the discussion stage and has not yet been implemented, but it should be soon."

Qin Shuhuai thought to himself, in history, when Gao Yingxiang was the general leader of the 36th Battalion, he was in Chongzhen for four years.At that time, it was because Hong Chengchou took office as the governor of the three sides and began to vigorously suppress the bandits. The bandits from all walks of life could not survive the fight on their own, so they formed an alliance.

But now that Yang He is still serving as the governor, it seems that the life of the rebels in various places is quite easy, why do they have the idea of ​​forming an alliance all of a sudden?

If this pressure did not come from the Ming army, then it must have arisen within them.

If you can figure out the reason here, maybe there is a lot to do.

(End of this chapter)