Early June.
Zhang Xianzhong's main force left Lu'an and began to move westward.
In fact, Zhang Xianzhong wanted to rest in Lu'an for a few more days. Previously, the army had been exhausted from traveling from Huguang to Jiangxi and then from Jiangxi to Nanzhili. In addition, the army was not used to the local climate, which led to a serious loss of personnel in the Dashi Army.
However, the scouts suddenly discovered that Lu Daqi was leading the main force southward from Huainan.
He was the man who defeated Li Zicheng.
Li Zicheng, who was stronger than him, was defeated, so Zhang Xianzhong didn't dare to confront him head-on.
So he had to change his plan temporarily and lead his troops westward to avoid the enemy's attack.
"Your Majesty, King of the Great West, thirty miles ahead is Gushi County of Runing Prefecture in Henan Province. After Li Zicheng's defeat in Fengyang, Gushi County was recaptured by Gao Jie. The spies in the city have reported that there are less than a thousand defenders in the city." While they were marching, a scout came to report.
Zhang Xianzhong asked from his horse: "Has the letter of persuasion to surrender been posted?"
Before attacking a city, both Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng would send troops to post surrender notices inside and outside the city, trying their best to defeat the enemy without fighting.
The scout clasped his hands and said, "In reply to the King of the Great West, the Vanguard Battalion has posted letters of persuasion for surrender inside and outside the city."
"Okay," Zhang Xianzhong waved his hand to let the scout leave, then looked at the military advisor Wang Zhaolin, intending to listen to his opinion.
Zhang Xianzhong had three military advisors, namely Pan Du'ao, Xu Yixian and Wang Zhaolin.
The first military advisor, Pan Du’ao, was good at training troops and charging into battle, and he would always charge to the front in every battle.
In the 13th year of Chongzhen, Pan Du'ao was captured. In the 14th year of Chongzhen, he was rescued and captured again. He was later executed by the government army in the Huangnigang area.
The second military advisor, Xu Yixian, was good at military tactics and making weapons, and was deeply trusted by Zhang Xianzhong. He was very ambitious and often called himself Zhuge Kongming, wanting to help Zhang Xianzhong conquer the world.
Unfortunately, he did not have the life of Kong Ming but got Kong Ming's disease. In August of the 16th year of Chongzhen, when attacking Yuezhou, Xu Yixian, the military advisor of the Great Western Region, the left prime minister and the minister of justice, unfortunately drowned.
The third military advisor is Wang Zhaolin.
He is good at prophecy and flattery.
Prophecy means divination.
Zhang Xianzhong was superstitious by nature, so he trusted charlatans like Wang Zhaolin very much.
Not only Zhang Xianzhong was superstitious, Li Zicheng was also superstitious.
Song Xiance, a military advisor under Li Zicheng, was also good at divination. The "Shaobing Song" was popular in the divination circle at that time. The "prophecy" of "stop when things go well" in particular made Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong believe it without a doubt.
(“遇顺则止” means that the Ming Dynasty was destroyed when it encountered the Shun Dynasty.)
So when Li Zicheng was choosing the name of the country, Song Xiance suggested naming it Dashun.
Zhang Xianzhong was weak and started late, so by the time he proclaimed himself emperor, the "Dashun" trademark had already been registered by Li Zicheng.
For this reason, Zhang Xianzhong had to name the country Dashi, but at the suggestion of Wang Zhaolin, the reign title was set as Dashun, and the copper coins issued were also called Dashun Tongbao.
The main focus is on a marginal approach.
The Manchus may have also heard the "Shaobing Song", so the word "Shun" was also included in Fulin's reign title.
In fact, those in power may not believe it, but they all have a mentality: it is better to believe it than not to believe it.
Facing Zhang Xianzhong's gaze, Wang Zhaolin said respectfully: "My dear father-in-law, I observed the celestial phenomena at night and I know that we will definitely be able to reach Gushi County without bloodshed."
Zhang Xianzhong was very happy. He rode his horse to Wang Zhaolin, patted him on the shoulder and said, "If it is true as the military advisor said, I will definitely reward you greatly."
"Thank you, father-in-law!" Wang Zhaolin first bowed deeply to Zhang Xianzhong while riding on his horse, then straightened his back and put on a proud attitude.
Zhang Xianzhong’s trust is the basis of his arrogance.
Zhang Xianzhong's gaze shifted away from Wang Zhaolin and finally fell on the missionaries An Wensi and Li Lisi.
An Wensi was Portuguese and Li Leisi was Italian, both of them were Jesuit missionaries.
Zhang Xianzhong was very interested in these two blond-haired, blue-eyed Westerners and promised to build them the largest church in the country and help them preach after he pacified the country.
An Wensi and Li Leisi decided to serve Zhang Xianzhong and work in the Daxi Imperial Observatory.
"What do you two think?" Zhang Xianzhong asked.
An Wensi said in a not-so-fluent accent: "The Great Western King is extremely brave, and this trip to Gushi County will surely be a success."
"It means immediate success!" Li Lisi corrected.
"You two are both right. There's no need to worry about it." Wang Zhaolin looked at the two of them with disdain and said mockingly.
"Yeah." With the guarantee of these three charlatans, Zhang Xianzhong felt a little relieved.
He raised his whip high, waved it, and shouted to the messenger beside him: "Pass the order to speed up the march. We must reach the outskirts of Gushi County before dark."
"Gee!" The whip hit the horse, and the warhorse neighed and rushed out.
At the end of the afternoon, a scout came to Zhang Xianzhong with a letter of surrender.
"Report, the magistrate of Gushi County ordered someone to deliver a letter of surrender, expressing willingness to submit to Daxi." After saying this, he raised the letter of surrender high above his head.
Zhang Xianzhong was too lazy to read it. He took the letter of surrender and handed it directly to Wang Zhaolin, saying, "Military Advisor, please help me see what is written in the letter of surrender."
"Yes, father-in-law." Wang Zhaolin took the letter of surrender respectfully, opened it and scanned it as quickly as possible.
It would have been better if he hadn't read it. After reading it, his face turned pale instantly.
Zhang Xianzhong noticed his abnormality and asked hurriedly: "What's wrong, military advisor? Isn't this a letter of surrender?"
"It's a surrender letter, but something seems wrong."
As he spoke, he unfolded the letter of surrender and read slowly: "Your servant Wu Yang (yang in the second tone) was born in Wujiang, grew up in Nanzhili, and served as an official in Henan. Now I hear that the Dashi army is approaching, I am deeply terrified and I kowtow..."
"I have long heard that General Li Dingguo of the Great Western Region is brave and good at fighting. He has been invincible in his conquests from north to south. I wish to become a clerk under General Li Dingguo. I hope the King of the Great Western Region and General Li Dingguo will help me."
......
After Wang Zhaolin finished reading the letter of surrender, Zhang Xianzhong just stood there in a daze.
What does this mean?
Is Li Dingguo so famous?
Wang Zhaolin was already very dissatisfied with Zhang Xianzhong's four adopted sons. Seeing Zhang Xianzhong in a daze, he immediately said, "Father-in-law, this...is not right."
"What's wrong?" Zhang Xianzhong asked knowingly.
"It seems that Li Dingguo's fame has surpassed that of my father-in-law. This is not good," Wang Zhaolin added fuel to the fire.
Zhang Xianzhong fell silent.
He suddenly felt something was wrong, because before this, those who surrendered were all surrendering to him, Zhang Xianzhong, and no one had ever taken the initiative to join Li Dingguo.
Is it true that Li Dingguo is more famous than himself?
No, definitely not.
Li Dingguo was just a general of Daxi, but he was the King of Daxi.
What's more, Li Dingguo is his adopted son, and his fame is definitely less than his.
etc!
Zhang Xianzhong suddenly realized something.
Gushi County Magistrate Wu Yang did this in order to alienate the relationship between him and Li Dingguo.
This was a counter-espionage plot by the Ming court.
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