The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

"Qixian, Li Yan..."

In the Chinese military tent, Chen Wang was shocked as he stared at the report about Henan Province in his hand.

The name Li Yan is not unfamiliar to him, and anyone who knows about the peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty will also be familiar with Li Yan.

Because this person is the mastermind of Li Zicheng's forces.

It was precisely because of Li Yan's presence and advice that Li Zicheng was able to quickly cheer up after his failure.

Li Zicheng used Li Yan's strategy to open warehouses to provide relief to the hungry people, respect the virtuous and courteous people, eliminate violence and show compassion for the people, prohibit soldiers from killing, and win people's hearts.

Hungry people from far and near came to pick up the food, and those who responded were like running water, day and night.

Li Zicheng and Henan mobilized millions of people, and then their momentum became unstoppable.

That ballad, which is famous all over the world and is well known to future generations, began to spread from that time on.

But now, the song to welcome King Chuang is not to welcome King Chuang, but to welcome "King Xin".

"The morning seeks promotion and the evening seeks harmony. It is difficult for poor people to survive these days."

"Open the door early to worship the King of Faith, and it will be a joy to discipline both young and old."

"Kill the cattle and sheep, prepare wine, and open the city gate to welcome King Xin. King Xin comes and refuses to pay for the food!"

King Xin is Li Yan himself.

Because of Chen Wang's influence, Li Zicheng was not in Shangluo Mountain at the junction of Shaanxi and Henan, but was hiding in Long'an Mansion in northern Sichuan. Naturally, he had no chance to enter Henan Province, and Li Zicheng naturally did not meet Li Yan. Opportunity.

However, Li Yan's imprisonment and Red Lady's robbery still happened.

Without Li Zicheng's presence, the direction of things has changed significantly.

Li Yan still changed his name to Li Yan. Because he had no chance to meet Li Zicheng, Li Yan now formed his own camp, proclaimed himself king, and called himself King Xin.

Chen Wang's expression was extremely solemn. This military report from Henan made the situation that had gradually become clear become confusing again.

Hu Zhili and Zhao Huailiang were sitting in the Chinese army tent.

Hu Zhili has been following Chen Wang since he first became General Manager, while Zhao Huailiang has been following Chen Wang since Chunhua.

For such a long time, Chen Wang has always been confident.

The two of them rarely saw an expression of uncertainty and fear on Chen Wang's face.

Even when King Qin went north and was about to face the Qing army, they had never seen such a solemn expression on Chen Wang's face.

"Zhili."

After Chen Wang pondered for a while, he turned to look at Hu Zhili, who was sitting at the bottom.

"After the Supervisory Office completed its deployment in Hanzhong and Yunyang, it shifted its main attention to Henan and paid close attention to all matters in Henan Prefecture, especially Li Yan."

Chen Wang did not shy away from Zhao Huailiang. In fact, up to now, both Zhao Huailiang and Tang Shiping were more or less aware of it.

And they were already trapped in it and couldn't extricate themselves, so they could only follow Chen Wang.

Many people following Chen Wang are in the same situation now, and no one takes the initiative to break this layer of window paper.

Hu Zhili looked slightly solemn. He was in charge of the Military Justice Department and the Supervision Office. He was responsible for all intelligence. Naturally, he also knew where the current direction of power was.

The order issued by Chen Wang now is nothing more than a choice to weaken their control over the surrounding areas and shift their focus to Henan, which is somewhat unusual.

Since Chen Wang gave the order, Hu Zhili naturally did not refute it. Although he was confused, he still complied.

However, after Hu Zhili responded to the order, he still chose to ask.

"Why does the town attach so much importance to Li Yan?"

In private, Hu Zhili and others called Chen Wang Brother Wang, but now that he was in the army and Zhao Huailiang was there, he naturally called him the general town.

This was Chen Wang's order, in order to prevent his generals, except Chen and Hu, from feeling alienated.

If one were to be in charge of a town and a government, only the children of the Chen and Hu clans would be more than enough.

But Chen Wangzhi is in the world, so it is naturally impossible for him to rely only on the power of two families.

Hu Zhili's problem is also Zhao Huailiang's problem.

Zhao Huailiang was originally the Qian Commander of the Liao Cavalry. Chen Wang used Chen Gong to command the Liao Cavalry. Zhao Huailiang was then sent by Chen Wang to take charge of the Fourth Infantry Qian Headquarters.

This time after King Qin, Chen Gong was promoted to a general because of his meritorious service and led a battalion alone. The headquarters of the First Cavalry Qian was naturally handed over to Zhao Huailiang by Chen Wang.

Zhao Huailiang has been following Chen Wang for four years since Chunhua. He can already be regarded as Chen Wang's direct descendant. Even his family members have been taken to live in the acropolis of Hanzhong Prefecture.

Chen Wang knew that his decision was contrary to his previous decision. It was normal for Hu Zhili to have such a problem.

But Chen Wang naturally couldn't answer, because Li Yan was the mastermind who helped Li Zicheng conquer the world in history.

"Qin soldiers entered Shaanxi, and soldiers and horses from various towns in southern Zhili and other places gathered in Ying and Huoshan Mountains. Henan Province is now at its most empty."

"Li Yan was defeated in Kaifeng Prefecture and suppressed the troops. Civil uprisings in various parts of Henan were boiling over. I am afraid that the sudden change will only happen overnight."

In the original history, after Li Zicheng was defeated, he led his troops into Henan and defeated Henan officers and soldiers. The civil uprising in Henan was out of control. Due to the lack of troops, bandits sprang up in various places, and many towns were broken up.

The Red Lady broke Qixian County at such a time, and it did not cause much sensation in Henan Province at that time. Henan was busy dealing with the threat of Li Zicheng at the time, and naturally had no time to take care of the affairs of a small county like Qixian County.

But now the civil uprising in Henan has been suppressed, and Li Zicheng did not enter Henan.

Most of the rogue bandits in Henan were wiped out by the Qin soldiers led by Zheng Chongjian, the governor of the three sides who entered Henan.

The Red Lady led the troops to conquer Qixian County, which was like thunder and thunder.

As soon as Li Xianfeng, the governor of Henan Province, received the news, he ordered the battalions in various towns in Henan Province to train for suppression.

Not long after the Qin soldiers left, thieves jumped out and stirred up a storm. If they couldn't be curbed immediately, I'm afraid more rogues would follow suit.

If war breaks out all over the country because of this, then Li Xianfeng, the entire governor of Henan, will come to an end.

Therefore, Li Xianfeng naturally spared no effort and sent troops from all walks of life to jointly suppress the Qixian peasant army.

But the result now is that the Qixian peasant army led by Li Yan was defeated by the eight thousand soldiers and horses.

Under the leadership of Li Yan, the Qixian Peasant Army became famous.

"Although Li Yan has temporarily defeated the invading troops organized by Henan Province, there are still many troops in Henan Province. They are only blocking the first wave. They should not be able to affect the overall situation, right?"

Zhao Huailiang frowned slightly, exchanged glances with Hu Zhili, and said thoughtfully.

Zhao Huailiang participated in many battles to suppress rogue bandits. He knew the strength and weakness of rogue bandits.

In the early stage of the civil revolution, the rogue bandits were weak, poorly equipped, and had low morale. They only relied on the strength of their numbers.

It took seven or eight years for the Shaanxi civil uprising to develop before it gradually formed its fighting capacity.

But until now, we have not been able to gain a firm foothold.

The Qixian Peasant Army led by Li Yan has just emerged. It needs armaments but no armament, morale but no morale, and no environment.

Now that he has been strangled by the Henan Prefecture, he is definitely in danger and will not last long.

The initial victory was nothing more than a fluke.

Chen Wang shook his head. Zhao Huailiang's thoughts were in line with the thoughts of most people today.

"Most people have the same thoughts as you."

"Because of this, I am certain that Henan will be in chaos..."

The deeper reason is still because of the tax increase memorial written by Yang Sichang.

The disaster in Henan was extremely serious this time. The imperial government's relief was weak, and it also increased taxes. It even imposed taxes on many disaster-stricken areas, which made the local area even more desolate.

No grain is harvested, but taxes and benefits are heavy.

The Ming court was naturally aware of the drought locusts in Henan, and Chongzhen indeed sent people down to provide relief.

But there are policies from above and policies from below.

During the Tianqi years, as an emperor, the edicts issued were still useful. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty still had certain powers in the local area.

However, in the early days of taking office, Chongzhen greatly weakened the power of factory guards because of his credulity in civilian officials. At the same time, he abolished many regulations that could affect the local area.

Coupled with the current corrupt officialdom.

This resulted in the fact that in areas with serious disasters, the imperial court had sent ministers to provide relief and exempted taxes, but many state and county officials still levied taxes and tried their best to plunder.

The Ming Dynasty was in financial difficulty, and there was not much gold and silver used for relief. Under layers of exploitation, even less could be distributed to actual sources.

The reason why Henan looks relatively stable and calm outside is now.

In fact, it was all because of the suppression of the powerful army.

Now, with the departure of Zheng Chongjian, the powerful suppressive army entered Shaanxi.

This time, Li Yan even defeated the vanguard army that went to suppress the enemy and established a firm foothold in Qixian County.

"The reason why I say this is because this civil uprising in Qixian County is completely different from the civil uprising in Shaanxi."

Chen Wang put down the document in his hand and turned to look at Hu Zhili and Zhao Huailiang.

"Although the Shaanxi civil uprising lasted for a long time and spread its poison to thousands of miles away, it will never be eradicated for a long time, because from the foundation, they are rogue bandits from beginning to end."

"The top priority for rogue bandits is to survive. They have no fixed abode and run around. They can abandon anything as long as they survive."

"They looted everywhere and did not produce anything. They burned and killed everywhere. They only focused on the present and did not care about the future."

"Even now, even though they have changed a lot, they are still the same. They are still rogue bandits in their essence. They only know how to fight, but they don't know anything else."

Chen Wang's voice was low, and his eyes fell back on the documents on the table.

"But Li Yan is different and Qixian is different. From the beginning, they were not rogues..."

"How can a rogue bandit shout the slogan 'equalize land and avoid taxes'?!"