The boatmen were reluctant to go any further.First, the canal ahead is seriously silted, and large ships are prone to running aground.Second, they are also afraid of encountering Li Zicheng's army, as long as they do, they will basically die.Helplessly, Song Xiance had to settle the wages with them and send them the painting boat he bought in Xianghe to pay them.You must know that the value of this painting boat is much higher than the wages they earned this trip.The boatmen tied the boat to the back of the canopy with ropes and went off happily.A group of people got off the boat and walked into the museum pottery.Song Xiance said to Wang Shuo: "From here on, we have to ride horses, I don't know if the general may ride a horse now" Wang Shuo didn't answer him, but looked at the mess and dead corpses all over the city.On the streets, many houses are still burning and smoking.In the corners, at intersections, on small paths, there were the corpses of people lying everywhere, all of whom were beheaded from behind when they fled in panic.Wang Shuo turned around and said to Song Xiance and Li Yan: "I originally thought that the generals recruited by King Chuang, like Lu Wenbin and others, would do this tragedy of slaughtering the city.Unexpectedly, Li Zicheng's own army did the same" Li Yan sighed and said: "It is estimated that Yuan Zongdi has no food and salary, and he has made a living by robbery all the way."
Wang Shuo said loudly: "Even if there is no food, even if you starve to death, you can't do this, you are all raised by your parents, they are all your own compatriots, how to do it" Song Xiance slowly walked to Wang Shuo and said: "Since the prosperity of King Chuang, wherever he goes, he will wrap the people in the army and roll away.Women and children in the middle, men on the periphery, and cavalry on the periphery.Everywhere they passed, they were looted.If the people do not follow him, they will not be left behind, and there will be no food to eat, and no way to live.It is not an exaggeration for the Ming court to say that he is a rogue.Later, under our strong persuasion, after Xiangyang became king, the army was separated from the women and children.Over the years, internal and external troubles have caused the reserves of the imperial court to be emptied.The army lacked food and grass and could only be sustained by plunder.The general will send troops in the future, and he should give priority to grain and grass, otherwise, he will inevitably make the mistake of the king. ”Wang Shuo nodded and said, "This is nature."
Then he said, "I originally planned to return to the northwest and try to cooperate with Li Zicheng, and first work together to drive the Manchus out of the Central Plains."
Looking at it now, there is no difference between Li Zicheng and the Manchus. ”Song Xiance asked: "So, what is the general's next step" Wang Shuo said: "All the way to Ningxia, all the way from Fuqiang to Shaanxi, first destroy Li Zicheng, and then he in the province will harm the people" Song Xiance said: "I am not talking to King Chuang, but I think that the general's method is inappropriate."
At present, the Manchu Qing Dynasty is about to go south, and it is difficult to make peace with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and it will inevitably go all out to fight with the Manchu Qing Dynasty.At this time, the general sent troops to destroy the king of Chuang, and the king must have suffered from the enemy on his back and was difficult to support.However, the general did this tantamount to doing the Manchus a favor.In my opinion, it is better to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and when the two families decide the winner, we will send troops again and destroy them all.What did the general think" Song Xiance said was much better than Wang Shuo's idea, but Wang Shuo just couldn't bear Li Zicheng to harm his compatriots.He was embarrassed to insist on his opinion, so he asked Li Yandao: "Li Gongzi, what do you think" Li Yan said: "The Manchus are a foreign race, and they have not been civilized, they are barbaric and cruel, and they regard me Li Shu as a grass."
Yan felt that the general's initial idea was more appropriate, first cooperate with King Chuang, expel the Tartars, restore China, and then, depending on the opportunity.We and King Chuang, after all, are compatriots, we can sit down and discuss, even if we disagree, we have to use knives and guns, it is also a fight between our own families, and it has nothing to do with foreign races. ”Three people and three opinions, this matter can only be heard by going back to what Liang Min and Wang Ping say.The injury on Wang Shuo's back has been healed, but his arm pulls the muscles on his back hard, but it still doesn't work.It is no problem to let people help them get on the horse and walk slowly on horseback.All that's left is which way to go back.Wang Shuo can't go quickly, let alone fight, the best thing is to bypass the enemy and go back safely.Now, the Manchu Qing Dynasty and Dashun are all enemies, and the Ming army cannot be regarded as friends, and it is best not to run into anyone's army.The west of the pavilion is Handan, at this time it is estimated that it has been occupied by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and the southwest is Kaifeng, and the first part of Yuan Zong of Dashun is going there.Now it seems that the only safer route is to go south.However, how to go south is not familiar to everyone.Or Lu Xiaoyu has been to many places, she said, from here to the south, should be able to meet the Yellow River, let's cross the Yellow River, far around Kaifeng, should not be able to meet the Shun army.After Kaifeng, go southwest to Xuchang or then south to Wancheng, enter the mountains from these places, and go northwest to Luoyang.When you arrive in Luoyang, you will enter the Shangluo Mountains further west.It's easy to enter Shangluo, and many of them have followed King Chuang to fight in that area, so they all know the way.By Shangluo, bypassing Tongguan and entering Qinling, it is not far from home.So everyone decided to rest in Guantao for one night, and then go south at dawn the next day.It was the height of summer, and the great plains were full of greenery, but there was not a single figure to be seen.It was supposed to be a large field with crops, but it was weeds.In some places, the weeds are as tall as a person, and even people walking in them on horseback can be completely covered, and only in the gaps of the weeds, you can occasionally see the vague appearance of the original earth.The vast North China Plain, the main area where the Chinese people live and reproduce, should be densely populated, crops all over the field, and animals singing each other.What you see is the same as the primeval grassland, as if time has gone back to the Stone Age.The grass is deep and high, and as long as a man walks by, it will leave a trace.Moreover, from the traces left behind, it is easy to discern how many people in the past.This made it easier for Wang Shuo and them to avoid the army and walk.Look at the sun to discern the direction, only all the way to the south.When they found that the grass had been trampled by people and horses, they avoided it and walked in the other direction.Looking at these devastated scenes, Wang Shuo couldn't help but think of Song Xiance telling him when he was in the pavilion that when considering military action, he must first consider grain and grass.It seems that Song Xiance has known about these situations for a long time, and he may be the same as Li Yan, he has long been dissatisfied with Li Zicheng, but he doesn't want Li Zicheng to fail like this, and he is still trying his best to save the situation.It was not until he arrived in Beijing that Li Zicheng continued to engage in his practice of torturing officials and wealthy households and robbing the common people, that he completely gave up on this peasant leader.Yes, the land of the Central Plains is desolate everywhere, no matter which army enters here, whether it is Li Zicheng, the Ming army, or the Manchu Qing Dynasty, there is no food, and they can only rely on looting to make a living.If you do not have sufficient food and grass to send troops in the future, no matter how much you emphasize military discipline, you will not be able to avoid following the old road of plundering by other armies.Hungry soldiers, with weapons in their hands, could not have gone to loot and wait to starve to death.How to go out from the northwest and how to restore the vitality of this desolate Central Plains: