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

Chapter 525: King of Chuang
Li Zicheng and his men stayed in the Buzhimud team and became a captain.

However, compared with other rebel leaders, Li Zicheng had a clear mind. He knew that although he had joined Buzhanni, he was not an old man who had followed Buzhanni in the rebellion, and the two sides did not have much friendship. Although Buzhanni gave him the position of captain since they were both rebels, it was good enough, but it was impossible for him to be reused.

The current surrender is only temporary, Li Zicheng knows that he can't stay under Bu Zan Ni for long. This situation is also normal. After the uprising, the team is pulled up by the leader. When the team grows bigger, other small groups of rebels will naturally come to surrender, so as to keep warm together.

From this point of view, the internal structure of the rebel army is very complicated. Usually, except for his original group, the leaders who joined later are relatively independent. The same is true for Buzhanni's team. Buzhanni has twelve outposts and sixty-four forts under his command, nearly half of which are rebels who later defected to him.

Even among the rebels who had joined him, some had conflicts with Buzhanni after a long time, and some of them just left the team because of the unhappiness. It was common for people to come and go in the rebel army, and the rebel army now has always been committed to the principle of "freedom to come and go". Therefore, Li Zicheng, who served as a captain under Buzhanni, had no intention of doing it for a long time from the beginning. To put it bluntly, Li Zicheng just planned to do this first so that he could have a place to stay and then slowly look for opportunities.

In a flash, more than a month passed, and on this day, Li Zicheng was training with his brothers.

After all, Li Zicheng had worked in the system, first as a postman, and later as a low-ranking officer in the frontier army. It was for this reason that Li Zicheng paid more attention to these things than other rebel leaders. He was not like those rebel leaders who came from refugees, who had a group of rabble in their hands, who only knew how to drink and have fun every day, and who lived a life of drinking and getting drunk today without considering tomorrow's thoughts.

Since he started a rebellion, Li Zicheng still had some aspirations. He wanted to make a name for himself even if he was just rebelling. The more than 200 brothers in his hands were the basis for his survival. These people were different from the refugees who gathered together. If he wanted to stand out, he would not be able to do so without a team that was strong and capable of fighting.

"Uncle!" Li Guo came hurriedly and saw Li Zicheng leading his brothers in training. He did not continue speaking, but just greeted him and gave him a look, then stood aside.

Li Zicheng ignored him and continued to let his brothers practice. After an incense stick of time, the practice was completed. Then Li Zicheng handed the team to Tian Jianxiu and others and left first.

After returning to his residence from the playground, Li Zicheng picked up a sweat towel and wiped his face. At this time, Li Guo also followed in.

When they got inside, Li Guo lowered his voice and said to Li Zicheng with a little excitement: "I have found out clearly that the King of Rebellion is my uncle!"

"Really?" Li Zicheng paused in wiping and turned to ask.

"It's absolutely true!" Li Guo said seriously.

Li Zicheng threw away the towel in his hand and asked Li Guo about the details of the news. Li Guo did not beat around the bush and directly told him the news he had heard in the past few days. After hearing what Li Guo said, Li Zicheng couldn't help but smile.

"Good! Good!" Li Zicheng patted his thigh and laughed, "I didn't expect my uncle to be so powerful. The rumors are true! This is great news!"

"Yes, little uncle, I never thought that this famous King of Rebellion is actually my uncle. In this case, why don't we go directly to my uncle? Once we go to my uncle's place, we will definitely be given important positions because of our relationship with him. Why should we suffer under the hands of my uncle?"

Li Zicheng nodded, his face still full of joy. He had never thought that his uncle was actually the famous King Chuang. He was his own uncle! If he joined his uncle, it would be a hundred times better than following someone who didn't get involved in the mud. Even a fool would know what he would choose.

Soon after Li Zicheng surrendered to Buzhanni, he learned about the situation of the rebel forces in various parts of Shaanxi from Buzhanni's subordinates. Compared with Wang Zhijue, Buzhanni was much more informed, mainly because Buzhanni was famous and had a high status in the rebel forces. In addition, Buzhanni often led his troops to fight guerrilla warfare and roamed around Shaanxi. He had more contact with other rebel forces and was naturally more informed.

After killing Wen Juren and escaping with Wen Xinghu, Li Guo and others, Li Zicheng and his men went to the Gansu Border Army, where they spent some time and became low-ranking officers. Later, they were brought by Lieutenant General Wang Guo to serve the emperor, but before they had gone too far, a mutiny broke out in the army.

In order to protect himself, Li Zicheng took the lead in killing General Wang Guo, who had done him a favor, and then formed a team to plunder the county town. He then led his men from Gansu to Shaanxi before the government troops surrounded him.

Not long after running into Shaanxi, he met Wang Zhijue. Everyone knows what happened afterwards. He first became the fourth in command of Wang Zhijue. Later, Wang Zhijue surrendered. Li Zicheng took his brothers and left Wang Zhijue for Mizhi, and then surrendered to the current Buzhanni.

Because of this experience, although Li Zicheng had returned to Shaanxi for nearly half a year, he did not know much about the situation in Shaanxi. Moreover, there were many people rebelling in Shaanxi. There were dozens of bandit leaders alone, and there were even more large and small teams.

When he came under Buzhanni, Li Zicheng soon heard about some well-known rebel leaders from other people. Among them, the most famous and prestigious one was naturally Wang Jiayin. In addition to Wang Jiayin, there were also Wang Ziyi, known as Zijinliang, Zhang Xianzhong, known as the Eight Great Kings, and Gao Yingxiang, the King of Chuang, whose fame was second only to Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyi and was on par with Zhang Xianzhong.

When Li Zicheng heard the name Gao Yingxiang, King of Rebellion, he was stunned. He was very familiar with this name because his uncle was named Gao Yingxiang.

However, Li Zicheng was not sure whether this King Gao Yingxiang was his uncle. After all, he had been away from his hometown for many years and had not been in contact with his uncle for many years. The two sides had long lost contact, and there were many people with the same name and surname in the world. Without seeing the person, Li Zicheng was not completely sure.

However, the appearance of the name Gao Yingxiang made Li Zicheng feel like he had grown grass in his heart. If Gao Yingxiang was really his uncle, it would be a great thing for Li Zicheng. It is said that Gao Yingxiang's team is not small, and its strength is also better than Buzhanni. Now he is just a captain under Buzhanni. If Gao Yingxiang is his uncle, he will definitely be valued, and it will be much better than being on Buzhanni's side. In this way, Li Zicheng soon had an idea, but first he had to make sure whether Gao Yingxiang was his uncle. For this reason, Li Zicheng remained calm and privately found Li Guo to talk about this matter, because Li Guo was his nephew and the person Li Zicheng trusted the most, and from his own perspective, Gao Yingxiang was also Li Guo's uncle, and it was most appropriate to let Li Guo handle this matter.

Li Guo was also very happy after hearing Li Zicheng's plan. He naturally understood what benefits would come if Gao Yingxiang was confirmed to be his uncle. Li Guo immediately patted his chest and assured Li Zicheng that he would immediately investigate the matter himself and thoroughly find out whether Gao Yingxiang was their elder.

Li Guo spent some time asking several people who had seen Gao Yingxiang. After judging from their description of Gao Yingxiang's appearance, his hometown and background, he finally confirmed that this King Chuang was the Gao Yingxiang they knew.

"Uncle, why don't we gather our brothers and join us now?" Li Guo, who was as excited as Li Zicheng, couldn't help but ask.

“No rush…”

"What? Are you still planning to work under Buzhanni? Working under Buzhanni is no better than working under your uncle." Li Guo asked with his eyes wide open.

"Haha, of course not." Li Zicheng smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Of course we have to leave, but we are new here, and if you leave without saying goodbye after such a short time, it will ruin our reputation. Besides, although Bu Zun Ni is not a big deal, he has taken us in, and he has done us a favor. It would be inappropriate to just leave without any reason."

"How do you say there is no reason? Why don't we just tell Buzhanni that we are going to join King Chuang? Isn't the relationship between you, me and my uncle the best reason?"

"You, don't you think about what kind of person Bu Zhanni is? It would be fine if he didn't know about our relationship with my uncle, but once he knew about such a relationship, do you think Bu Zhanni would let us go easily? He is a shrewd man. It is better for him to keep us than to let us go." Seeing that Li Guo didn't understand, Li Zicheng pointed out the key point. After listening, Li Guo thought about it and figured out the meaning of Li Zicheng's words.

"This... is possible, but if I don't leave, how can I go to my uncle?"

"Haha, this is not difficult." Li Zicheng stretched out his hand and waved towards Li Guo. Li Guo put his ear close to him. Li Zicheng whispered a few words in his ear. Listening to Li Zicheng's words, Li Guo's eyes gradually brightened up, and finally he smiled and nodded in agreement.

"This is a good idea. Let's follow my uncle's idea."

"Well, go down and prepare. By the way, don't leak any information about your uncle, and don't tell Lao Wen about it for now."

"Are you worried about Brother Wen...?"

"Old Wen is trustworthy, but this is no small matter. The fewer people who know about it, the more certain we will be. So, just do it according to my wishes. It won't be too late to tell them when it's done."

Li Guo nodded immediately and then left in a hurry.

After Li Guo left, Li Zicheng looked much more relaxed, and his face was more smiling. God has been very kind to him. Although he has encountered many crises and things over the years, he has always had the help of noble people, so that he can get through it safely.

It was the same now. When he was desperate, Wang Zhijue took him in, and now he had Buzhanni as his backer. And now he learned that the famous King Gao Yingxiang was actually his uncle. It was like a pillow falling on his face just as he was falling asleep.

Could it be that he was destined to be the one? Was he favored by the heavens? Thinking of this, Li Zicheng could not help but feel a surge of pride in his heart. He was already looking forward to what would happen when he got to Gao Yingxiang's place. Needless to say, with the relationship between Gao Yingxiang and himself, he would definitely be valued after he got there.

Not long after, the opportunity finally came. Buzhanni, who had been entrenched near Mizhi for more than a month, planned to attack Mizhi County. As the war started, Buzhanni led his troops to Mizhi, and Li Zicheng, as one of his troops, naturally followed the army.

Bu Zhanni had long been salivating over Mizhi County. He had been plotting to take over the county for a long time and was determined to win it.

Upon learning that Buzhanni was leading troops to attack, the officers and soldiers of Mizhi County hurriedly closed the city gates and strictly guarded the city, and at the same time sent people to ask for help from the provincial government. Buzhanni did not attack the city immediately when he arrived in Mizhi County. Instead, he led his men to sweep the villages and towns outside the city and captured thousands of civilians to attack the city. After the battle started, Buzhanni attacked many times but suffered heavy casualties and failed to capture the city. He was unable to break through Mizhi. A few days later, as several reinforcements of officers and soldiers arrived one after another, Buzhanni saw that the situation was not right and ordered a retreat. This time, the attack on Mizhi was a failure, and his troops returned without success.

And just when Buzhanni was retreating, Li Zicheng, who had been well prepared, took his men and directly left Buzhanni's team, bypassed Mizhi and headed directly north. Taking this opportunity, Li Zicheng and others abandoned Buzhanni and joined Gao Yingxiang.

It was not until they had walked dozens of miles that Li Zicheng called his brothers together to explain the situation. When they learned that Li Zicheng was going to join Gao Yingxiang and had such a relationship with this King Chuang, everyone was overjoyed and no one refused, because everyone knew that since there was such a good thing, why bother to work under Bu Zhanni? Once he went to King Chuang's side, he would definitely have a better future.

(End of this chapter)