My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 327 Is Li Zicheng up to something again?

Seeing the King of Qin so angry, the steward of the palace was so frightened that he didn't dare to breathe, fearing that the King's anger would affect him.

The servants who were serving him were all kneeling on the ground, and the entire study was filled with a repressive and tense atmosphere.

But not long after, the King of Qin suddenly calmed down again.

He immediately regretted it, realizing that he had been a bit too impulsive.

After all, Sun Chuanting said in his letter that if he didn't provide food, he would have to send all 100,000 people to Xi'an Prefecture to be fed!

If it really comes to that, then it will truly cost him his life!

You should know that the total population of Xi’an Prefecture is less than 200,000. If another 100,000 people came, it would be chaos.

The streets will be crowded with these ragged, hungry people, public security will be in chaos, and social order will be severely disrupted.

Petty theft and brawls will definitely be rampant. At that time, he himself will be driven crazy by these people, and may even be "swallowed alive".

It hasn't been that long since the Prince of Fu was cooked into a "Feast of Fortune and Prosperity"!

The King of Qin certainly didn't want to wake up one day to find himself transformed into 'Qin Luyan'!
No, we absolutely cannot let these 100,000 people come to Xi'an!
Thinking of this, the King of Qin could only suppress his anger and then instructed the steward beside him:
"Go and get some silver from the treasury and buy up a large amount of grain on the market. But this time, don't buy rice or flour. Buy whatever is cheap. Buy everything that is edible, the cheaper the better, and the more the better."

"Also, collect some cotton and medicine for treating external injuries. If Xi'an Prefecture doesn't have enough, go to Xianyang or even further away."

The King of Qin's voice was deep and powerful, yet it also revealed a sense of helplessness, because he was completely forced to do this by Sun Chuanting!

This guy has completely found his weakness!

His eyes revealed a hint of weariness, as if he was overwhelmed by this sudden event.

After receiving the order, the butler hurriedly went to make preparations.

However, he was also filled with worry, wondering if he could gather enough food in a short time.

Returning our attention to Tongguan, Sun Chuanting had been busy these past few days, writing several letters and sending them to provinces surrounding Henan to request grain from those areas.

To prevent local officials from refusing to lend the money, Sun Chuanting specially copied a copy of Emperor Chongzhen's previous imperial edict and sent it over.

He also solemnly declared that this was an order from the imperial court, an imperial decree from His Majesty. If anyone dared not lend him grain, he would petition His Majesty, and the blame would fall on them for any number of people who starved to death.

Although this also carries a threatening connotation, there's nothing that can be done about it.

After all, the lives of 100,000 people now depend on this grain.

Some people may wonder, wasn't Sun Chuanting the Governor-General of the Three Border Regions? Didn't he have direct control over all military and political affairs in the three provinces and consult with anyone?
In other words, Sun Chuanting didn't need to consult with anyone at all when transferring grain from neighboring provinces; he could simply issue the order directly!

Indeed, this was the case. As the Governor-General of the Three Border Regions, Sun Chuanting did have the right to freely allocate grain from the three provinces.

However, it should be noted that the provinces surrounding Henan are not limited to the three provinces under Sun Chuanting's jurisdiction; there are other provinces as well. Sun Chuanting could not manage these other places, so he could only use the method of "borrowing".

However, with Emperor Chongzhen's imperial edict in hand, Sun Chuanting believed that borrowing grain should not be a major problem.

After all, these local officials dared not openly disobey the imperial court's orders, otherwise they would lose their official positions.

In addition, Sun Chuanting also stated in the letter that he had requested assistance from the imperial court and that the grain would be returned once it arrived.

Indeed, that was the case. As early as yesterday, Sun Chuanting wrote a secret letter, roughly describing the current situation in Shaanxi, and then had it sent directly to the capital by express courier.

In his letter, he described in detail the predicament he was facing and hoped that the court could provide support as soon as possible.

Just as Sun Chuanting was filled with worry and contemplating the various complex situations he might face in the future, a series of hurried footsteps approached from afar like war drums.

Immediately afterwards, a soldier rushed in, looking flustered:

"Sir, something terrible has happened! The bandits have made another move!"

what?
Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting felt a buzzing in his head, as if a heavy hammer had struck him hard, and his head was about to explode.

He never expected that, after the previous incident, Li Zicheng would actually cause trouble again.

Although surprised, Sun Chuanting quickly composed himself and hurriedly climbed the city wall.

On the city wall, the cold wind was biting, like a knife cutting into his face, making his clothes flutter. Sun Chuanting solemnly took the binoculars handed to him by a military officer, then pressed them tightly against his eyes and began to observe carefully.

Through the binoculars, he indeed discovered something was amiss.

Li Zicheng's camp was now in complete chaos, like an ant colony being stirred up by an invisible hand, spreading outwards.

A portion of the peasant army, numbering approximately 30,000, was slowly moving towards Tongguan!
what's the situation?
Sun Chuanting was a little confused. His eyes widened, and he was filled with bewilderment, unable to understand what Li Zicheng was trying to do.

Because it looks like Li Zicheng's army suddenly collapsed and everyone was running for their lives?

But Sun Chuanting knew that this was impossible, because there was no movement at all in the core area of ​​Li Zicheng's camp!

However, not long after, another strange event occurred!

The army located in the core area of ​​Li Zicheng's camp finally began to move, and then marched south in a mighty procession.

The scene was spectacular yet terrifying.

Why has Li Zicheng's army moved? What is he planning to do?

Just then, a military officer nearby couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Clearly, they were also completely shocked by this scene.

Luo Rucai, who was standing to the side, first carefully examined the object through binoculars, and then a look of surprise appeared on his face.

But he quickly realized something, and then said somewhat urgently:
"Oh no! Li Zicheng is about to enter Sichuan!"

Although the sound wasn't loud, it was like a bombshell, causing a stir in everyone's hearts.

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting was instantly stunned, then looked at Luo Rucai with disbelief, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief, as if Luo Rucai's words were an absurd joke. After all, traveling from Henan to Sichuan involved crossing countless mountains and rivers, and was at least a thousand miles away.

Furthermore, it is currently winter, and the mountain roads will be even more difficult to travel after the heavy snow closes the mountains. It may take three months to reach the destination. Has Li Zicheng gone mad to make such a decision?
Seeing the astonished looks on everyone's faces, Luo Ru quickly explained:
"My lord, you may not know this, but Li Zicheng and I discussed something before, which was where we should go next if we really couldn't stay in Henan."

"At that time, I discussed it with Li Zicheng and finally felt that Sichuan was more suitable."

"The main reason is that Sichuan is easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as Li Zicheng can enter Sichuan smoothly, he can use Sichuan as a base to start developing. At that time, even if the court wants to take action against him, it will probably be too far away to do so."

"However, at the time, Li Zicheng felt that Sichuan was too far away, and in addition, he had always wanted to go to Shaanxi, so the matter was put on hold."

"I just never expected that Li Zicheng would actually be entering Sichuan now!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting and others nodded thoughtfully, agreeing with Luo Rucai's viewpoint.

Because what Luo Rucai said makes a lot of sense.

After all, Sichuan has been known since ancient times for being easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is surrounded by mountains and has a strategic location, making it like a natural fortress.

No matter where the attack takes place, it will face numerous difficulties.

Moreover, Sichuan is rich in resources and has a large population. Once Li Zicheng occupies this place, it will be like a dragon entering the sea or a tiger returning to the mountain. It will be much more difficult to deal with him again.

At this point, some people might ask, "When Li Zicheng's army began to move south, it didn't necessarily mean they were going to Sichuan. Couldn't they have gone to Hubei or Anhui and then directly attacked Nanjing?"

After all, compared to Sichuan, Nanjing, as the secondary capital of the Ming Dynasty, was clearly more valuable!
Moreover, as long as Nanjing is captured, half of the Ming Dynasty will be destroyed. Wouldn't that be more conducive to the development of the peasant army?
While it may seem that way on the surface, it is actually impossible!

First, Li Zicheng's power base was always in the Northwest, and his core members were mostly northerners who lacked knowledge of the Jiangnan region.

Secondly, Li Zicheng's team was ultimately a bunch of reckless brutes who severely underestimated the economic value of the Jiangnan region.

They failed to recognize the decisive role of the wealth and resources of Jiangnan in the survival of the regime.

Furthermore, the situation in the north and south was very different at the end of the Ming Dynasty. The north was plagued by natural disasters and man-made calamities, and the people were starving. That's why Li Zicheng was able to raise an army of hundreds of thousands of people with just a call to arms.

The south was relatively stable, and even if there were occasional natural disasters or man-made calamities, the people's lives were not so bad that they would not be able to survive. Therefore, even if Li Zicheng went to the south, the people there would not be willing to rebel with him.

In conclusion, Li Zicheng never intended to go to the south; he only wanted to develop in the north.

The scene returns to Tongguan.

After figuring out what Li Zicheng was about to do, the generals at Tongguan breathed a sigh of relief.

In their view, their mission was simply to defend Tongguan, and now that Li Zicheng had withdrawn, Tongguan was safe. In other words, they had accomplished their mission. How could they not be happy?

On the contrary, Sun Chuanting looked worried, because he knew that if Li Zicheng were allowed to enter Sichuan, Li Zicheng would completely occupy Sichuan, and things would only become more complicated.

He could almost see Li Zicheng establishing himself in Sichuan, his power growing ever stronger, and him becoming a rival to the imperial court.

Furthermore, Sichuan no longer has any decent army. The most capable White Spear Soldiers have been transferred to the capital and Xuanfu, which means that Sichuan simply does not have any decent army to resist Li Zicheng!

Thinking of this, Sun Chuanting frowned more and more, his eyes filled with worry.

After a moment, Sun Chuanting suddenly spoke:

"Pass down the order: send men to monitor the thief's every move at all times, and report back immediately if anything happens!"

"Furthermore, send someone to immediately notify the provinces surrounding Henan, instructing them to immediately dispatch troops to pursue Li Zicheng. Also, send someone to Sichuan to deliver a message, telling them to stop Li Zicheng from entering Sichuan!"

Upon hearing this, everyone instantly dropped their previous expressions of relief and hurriedly replied:

"As ordered!"

They then accepted the order and left.

At this point, some people might ask, why didn't Sun Chuanting send someone to stop Li Zicheng at this time?

After all, it's a bit unreasonable for him to just watch Li Zicheng lead his army into Sichuan and do nothing.

But in reality, Sun Chuanting couldn't do that!
Firstly, there are simply too many peasant soldiers who have surrendered in Tongguan City, numbering as many as 120,000.

Although these surrendered peasant soldiers had submitted to the imperial court, Sun Chuanting knew in his heart that they were like time bombs, ready to explode at any moment.

Therefore, he had to send troops to keep an eye on them and prevent them from rebelling again.

This means that Sun Chuanting can only mobilize a small number of troops, at most only twenty or thirty thousand.

These 20,000 to 30,000 men were pitifully few compared to Li Zicheng's army of over 400,000. If a real battle broke out, they might be wiped out in a single encounter.

What if Li Zicheng launches a counterattack and Tongguan is lost?
Therefore, Sun Chuanting dared not take such a risk.

Furthermore, for reasons unknown, Li Zicheng's army suddenly dispersed over 100,000 peasant soldiers when it set off.

About 30,000 of these peasant troops were heading towards Tongguan, while the other 70,000 spread out in all directions, seriously hindering the Ming army's operations.

And this was actually the "great gift" that Li Zicheng had previously given to Sun Chuanting!

Li Zicheng knew that at this time, if he wanted to enter Sichuan from Tongguan, carrying only two months' worth of rations would definitely not be enough. At that time, hundreds of thousands of troops might starve to death in the mountains.

Therefore, he must prepare enough food for more than three months!

But they only have enough food for two months, how can they turn it into three months?

The answer is simple: reduce the number of people eating!

Therefore, Li Zicheng made up his mind to reduce the size of his peasant army!
Li Zicheng dispersed approximately 150,000 old, weak, sick, and disabled people this time, leaving only about 300,000 young and strong men to follow him into Sichuan, which led to the current situation.

This approach has two advantages: firstly, it saves food and ensures that the 300,000 people can enter Sichuan smoothly.

Secondly, it can delay the Ming army's actions, rendering them powerless to stop him from entering Sichuan!
It must be said that Li Zicheng did indeed achieve his goal!
At the same time, after giving brief instructions to the garrison commander, Sun Chuanting immediately returned to his study, picked up his pen and wrote another secret letter, which he then had sent to the capital by express courier.

After all, Li Zicheng's entry into Sichuan was no small matter, and the imperial court had to be notified immediately so that it could make a decision as soon as possible!
(End of this chapter)