Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 484 Dissatisfaction
Li Zicheng was in need of people at that time, and Tian Jianxiu took the initiative to join him. Naturally, he would not refuse. Moreover, the two were fellow villagers. As the saying goes, when fellow villagers meet, they will shed tears.

Li Zicheng fell in love with this man at first sight and agreed immediately. He asked Tian Jianxiu to work with him and promised that as long as his brothers with a stutter would never go hungry, he, as the boss, would not treat his brothers unfairly.

Tian Jianxiu was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately bowed down and called him "big brother".

At this time, the other man became anxious and spoke in Shaanxi dialect, shouting that he also wanted to fight with Li Zicheng, eat meat and drink wine together, and make a share of the wealth.

Seeing that the man was honest and simple, and spoke with a local accent, Li Zicheng smiled and asked him where he came from and why he was imprisoned.

The man told Li Zicheng that he was from Yan'an, his surname was Hao and his given name was Yongzhong. He was skilled in martial arts, but because he loved to fight for justice he accidentally injured someone and was thrown into jail by the county magistrate.

Li Zicheng broke into the county government office, took over the county jail and released the prisoners. After hearing what Li Zicheng said, Hao Yongzhong's blood boiled and he felt that this was what a real man should do. He planned to meet Li Zicheng immediately. Moreover, he and Tian Jianxiu had a good relationship in prison. After discussing it, the two decided not to leave with the others and insisted on meeting Li Zicheng.

After hearing what Hao Yongzhong said, Li Zicheng laughed. He was in need of people right now. It didn't matter if he hired one or two people. Besides, they were both from the same hometown. Li Zicheng agreed to Hao Yongzhong's request and took him and Tian Jianxiu in. Then he asked Li Guo to take them downstairs to clean up and change into clean clothes. Then they would work with him.

After taking Jin County, Li Zicheng did not stay in the city for long, because he knew very well what he had done.

The commander Wang Guo was killed, and the magistrate of Jin County and other officials were killed by these chaotic troops. In addition, the wealthy families in the county also suffered countless casualties, and the city was almost looted. Such a big event could not be concealed, and the news would spread quickly. When the local guards and even the border troops came to their senses and led their troops to attack, it would be difficult for Li Zicheng to escape.

What's more, Wang Guo was a lieutenant general of the border army, and they were all border troops going to the king's defense. The death of the commander in the mutiny was no small matter. When the news reached the general Yang Zhaoji, Yang Zhaoji would surely send troops to quell the rebellion. Li Zicheng knew his own limitations. With less than a thousand men under his command, how could he possibly fight against the regular army? Not to mention the brave and combative border troops.

That night Li Zicheng led his men out of Jin County, taking the looted food and gold and silver, and fled eastward without looking back.

To the east is the border of Shaanxi. Li Zicheng, Wen Xinghu and Li Guo are all from Shaanxi. Even Tian Jianxiu and Hao Yongzhong, who were just accepted, are also from Shaanxi. People have a mentality that when something happens outside, the first thought is to run back to their hometown, because hometown has a natural sense of security for people. Moreover, Li Zicheng led people to do such a big thing, so the first thought after leaving Jin County is to go back to his hometown to avoid the limelight.

Li Zicheng's guess was correct. Not long after they left Jin County, the news of the mutiny quickly spread. When the local government learned that Jin County was occupied by the rebel army, Wang Guo, the leader of the army to defend the king, was killed, and the magistrate of Jin County and all the county officials were killed, they were shocked.

Jin County is not far from Lanzhou, and the first to react was Lanzhou. The Lanzhou Guards quickly dispatched troops to quell the rebellion and at the same time sent the news to Yang Zhaoji, the general of Gansu, overnight.

Two days later, the soldiers of Lanzhou Guard arrived at Jin County. At that time, there was still a group of rebel troops left in Jin County. These rebel troops had no leader, and in addition, they had been living a life of luxury in the past few days since they took over Jin County. Not only did they burn, kill and loot in the city, they also did many shameful things.

These people didn't think about their retreat at all, and they were in a state of enjoying themselves. When Li Zicheng left, they didn't come to their senses, and they were just looking for fun. When the guards arrived, they came to their senses. They were so frightened that they had no fighting spirit. They all fled. The guards, under the command of the officers, directly attacked them. In just one hour, this chaotic army was completely defeated. Except for a small number of people who escaped by chance, most of them were killed.

After suppressing the Jinxian Rebellion, the guards swept the area and captured several deserters who were hiding among the people without knowing the direction. When Yang Zhaoji personally led the border troops to the area, the rebellion was completely suppressed. More than a thousand rebels were captured and killed. The rest could not be hunted down for a while, especially Li Zicheng, the commander who killed Wang Guo.

After spending some time to appease the locals, Yang Zhaoji sent troops to continue to search for the rebels nearby, especially to find the whereabouts of Li Zicheng. At the same time, Yang Zhaoji submitted a memorial to the capital, detailing the mutiny, and while apologizing to the court, he also told the court that because of the mutiny, he could not send troops to defend the king. In the next few days, some of the rebels who had fled the people were captured one after another, but Li Zicheng's whereabouts were still not found. In desperation, he could only issue a sea arrest warrant to inform the prefectures and cities to continue to capture Li Zicheng and others.

At this time, Li Zicheng had already led his brothers to run from Jin County to Dingxi day and night. In order to avoid being discovered by local authorities, Li Zicheng did not take the official road at all. He only walked on small roads or sparsely populated areas. His target was still his hometown in Shaanxi. In any case, he would first run to Shaanxi and then make plans.

Li Zicheng killed his superiors in Jin County and started a rebellion. The Gansu Qinwang Army was disbanded before it even left Gansu because of this mutiny.

In the capital, the Ming army and Huang Taiji's Eight Banners were still fighting. In the first clash between the two armies, Yuan Chonghuan set up a formation to lure the Eight Banners soldiers, but was defeated by the enemy instead. He was almost killed on the spot. Then he hastily fired in a panic, but not only did he not cause any casualties to the Eight Banners, but he accidentally hit Man Gui, killing nearly a hundred friendly soldiers, and even Man Gui was injured by his own artillery.

After this battle, the morale of the Ming army plummeted, and they became even more afraid of the Eight Banners. Although Emperor Chongzhen later summoned Yuan Chonghuan and Man Gui into the city, and commended Man Gui while also reprimanding Yuan Chonghuan, Yuan Chonghuan did not follow Emperor Chongzhen's order to lead his troops to attack the Eight Banners after returning to the city, but instead took a standard defensive stance.

It was not that Yuan Chonghuan did not want to fight, but that he did not dare to fight. As the commander-in-chief of Ji-Liao, Yuan Chonghuan had fought against the Eight Banners for many years and was very clear about how strong the Jiannu were. Although the Guanning Army he brought with him were all elite, in addition to his troops, there were also friendly troops from Xuanda, which were not less in number than the Eight Banners, and even had an advantage.

But Yuan Chonghuan knew clearly that war was not just about numbers. If victory could be achieved by numbers, then the war in Liaodong would not have remained unresolved until today. The Jiannu were extremely powerful in field battles. In addition, the Eight Banners soldiers of the Jiannu and the Mongols who came with them were all cavalry. If he relied solely on the troops in his hands for defense, there would be absolutely no problem. However, he had no chance of winning a field battle against the enemy.

Yuan Chonghuan was well aware of the problems of the Ming army, and he understood the power comparison between the two sides even better. The reason why he did not take the initiative to attack was because of this consideration. Once the Guanning Army and the Xuanda Army were defeated again outside the capital, the capital would be in danger. Without the protection of these two troops, the gates of the capital would inevitably be wide open, and the Jiannu cavalry could attack the capital directly without any scruples. How would Yuan Chonghuan explain to Emperor Chongzhen then?
From this point of view, Yuan Chonghuan was seeking stability. He knew very well that Huang Taiji would never stay in the capital for long. As long as he could defend the capital and did not give Huang Taiji any opportunity, then when he could not break through the capital, Huang Taiji would inevitably retreat.

Don't forget that Huang Taiji and his Eight Banners soldiers are now in the heart of the Ming Dynasty, which is not Liaodong, let alone the Mongolian grasslands. Although Huang Taiji made a feint and took advantage of the Ming army's unpreparedness to attack the capital in one breath, the Ming Dynasty still has the initiative, and the garrisons of local prefectures and guards are all there, not to mention that the court has long issued an order to defend the king, and the border troops from all over the country, including the nine borders, are rushing towards the capital overnight. Once the troops of various units arrive, Yuan Chonghuan will have enough power to compete with the Eight Banners.

By that time, Huang Taiji would have to retreat. If he did not retreat, the Ming army would just send a part of the army to set up an interception on the line from Jizhou to Zunhua to block the gap, directly cutting off Huang Taiji's retreat to the grassland, and then Huang Taiji and his Eight Banners would be in danger.

Fighting in the heart of the Ming Dynasty, no matter how good the Eight Banners soldiers were, it would be useless. What was there to fear for a rootless duckweed? If Huang Taiji did not retreat, Yuan Chonghuan was fully confident that he could keep Huang Taiji and his Eight Banners in the Ming Dynasty. As for Huang Taiji, he was not stupid either. He certainly understood this point. Therefore, since the official start of the war, the Eight Banners did not attack the capital with all their strength, but only confronted the Ming army. Small-scale wars have always occurred, but large-scale battles have never occurred except for the last time.

At the moment, Yuan Chonghuan was waiting for the troops from various places to come to support the emperor, while Huang Taiji was seizing the opportunity to plunder the heartland of the Ming Dynasty and try to get more benefits before running away. If the confrontation continued like this, after a few days, as long as the troops from various places arrived one after another and the strength of the Ming army continued to increase, Huang Taiji would have to run away, otherwise he would not be able to run away.

From a tactical point of view, Yuan Chonghuan's approach cannot be said to be wrong, because he believes this method is the most appropriate and can minimize the losses of the Ming army.

Isn't it the best way to win the battle without fighting and force Huang Taiji to retreat? But there are two big problems with this. The first problem is that it is equivalent to giving up the defense of other places in the capital. Because of the looting of the Eight Banners, the people in various places suffered. Countless people's homes were destroyed, food and property were taken away, and even people were directly abducted by the Eight Banners.

These common people, including officials from some small counties, watched helplessly as the fierce and cruel Eight Banners soldiers passed by like the wind, leaving behind a mess, while their own army could not even be seen in shadow. The common people who had luckily escaped the enemy cried bitterly, and they hated Yuan Chonghuan, who had a large army but kept his troops idle and allowed the Eight Banners to plunder.

As for the second question, it was Emperor Chongzhen's idea. Emperor Chongzhen hoped that Yuan Chonghuan could quickly repel Huang Taiji's army and resolve the crisis in the capital. However, after waiting for a long time, Yuan Chonghuan outside the city did not take the initiative to fight as he intended, but kept avoiding the battle, which made Emperor Chongzhen angry with Yuan Chonghuan.

(End of this chapter)