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

Chapter 362 We just want to survive, what did we do wrong?

As a peasant army leader, Li Zicheng had witnessed the tragedy of cannibalism!
That horrific scene is still deeply imprinted in Li Zicheng's mind!
After all, before that, "exchanging children to eat" was just an idiom that Li Zicheng occasionally encountered in historical records.

When Li Zicheng saw that scene, he felt his worldview almost collapsed, and his heart was filled with anger and disgust.

He couldn't accept those people, believing their behavior violated human ethics and morality.

So he directly ordered all those people to be beheaded, and strictly stipulated that such a thing must never happen again in the army, and anyone who violated this rule would be executed immediately!
Since then, Li Zicheng has never seen such a thing happen again.

Because he initially treated the people who followed him in the rebellion relatively well. Even when food was scarce, he would do his best to give them a bowl of thin porridge so that they could survive.

But Li Zicheng never expected that such a thing would happen again in his army today!
The cold wind howled like a sharp blade through the towering mountains of the Qinling Mountains, swirling up the broken stones and fallen leaves on the ground, making a series of sharp and mournful sounds.

The withered yellow grass trembled in the strong wind, as if telling the story of the cruel tragedy that had just unfolded here last night.

"Lead the way!"

Suddenly, at that moment, Li Zicheng roared, his voice echoing through the air like thunder, filled with boundless anger and majesty.

His face turned bright red, veins bulged on his forehead, and his eyes were wide open as if they were about to spit fire.

It was clear that Li Zicheng was truly enraged at this moment!

Upon hearing this sudden roar, the peasant army general standing nearby trembled with fear.

But they dared not delay for a moment and hurriedly and cautiously led the way.

As luck would have it, Zhang Xianzhong was staying in the tent next to Li Zicheng's, and because the noise was so loud, he overheard the whole story.

Zhang Xianzhong had a bad feeling and quickly put on his coat before following them.

The group hurried towards the scene.

Before long, the group arrived at a place tightly surrounded by a circle of veteran soldiers.

These veteran soldiers, each with a solemn expression, stood there like iron towers, surrounding the people inside.

However, they all wore complicated expressions, and some even looked unwell, as if they had just vomited.

Clearly, they also cannot accept this kind of thing.

As Li Zicheng strode through the crowd and stepped into the surrounded area, a pungent smell immediately hit him, causing him to frown.

In the middle of this circle of veteran soldiers, seven or eight disaster victims were kneeling there with terrified expressions. Their bodies were trembling, their clothes were tattered and covered with dirt and blood, their hair was disheveled and hanging over their shoulders, and their eyes were filled with fear and despair.

Not far from them, something suddenly appeared in front of Li Zicheng.

When Li Zicheng actually saw this scene, he instantly felt a chill run through his body, as if a coldness rushed from the soles of his feet to his head.

When he looked at the peasant army again, he saw a faint green light flashing in their eyes, a green light like that of a hungry wolf, full of greed and ferocity.

Li Zicheng even felt that these people could no longer be considered human.
Upon seeing Li Zicheng arrive, these people were so frightened that they dared not speak, only lowering their heads and trembling even more violently.

Li Zicheng closed his eyes, trying to suppress the anger in his heart, but the anger was like a volcanic eruption, how could it be suppressed?
The next second, Li Zicheng suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes burning with what seemed like raging fire, and then he angrily rebuked:
"You damned bastards, how could you do this? Didn't I already order that you be given two bowls of thin porridge every day?"

"Even if you're not getting enough to eat, at least you can still live, right? Why do you have to do such beastly things?"

Upon hearing this, one of the peasant soldiers slowly raised his head and looked at Li Zicheng.

His face was covered in dirt, his lips were chapped, and there was some blood at the corner of his mouth.

Then he suddenly grinned, a smile that was more like a grimace, and said:
"King Li Zicheng, if it were possible, who would be willing to do this? We are not beasts!"

"But you can ask other people, have we really been able to drink two bowls of thin porridge every day these days?"

"For the past three days, the porridge has been so thin that there hasn't been a single grain of rice in it. The so-called porridge is just water, without any rice!"

"We've eaten the tree roots, we've eaten the tree bark, but we still want to eat more!"

"We just want to survive! What did we do wrong?"

His voice was hoarse and weak, but filled with helplessness and despair.

Upon hearing this, Li Zicheng looked utterly incredulous, as if he couldn't believe his ears.

He then looked at Zhang Xianzhong beside him with a surprised expression.

In order to demonstrate his trust in Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng entrusted him with the management of grain supplies.

According to the standards he set before, even thin porridge shouldn't be without a single grain of rice!

At this moment, Zhang Xianzhong stood aside, his face pale and his eyes revealing a hint of panic.

Noticing Li Zicheng's gaze, Zhang Xianzhong was somewhat frightened, but he knew some things couldn't be said in front of everyone, so he quickly leaned closer and whispered in Li Zicheng's ear:

"Your Majesty, there are other secrets to this matter. I will inform you privately."

Upon hearing this, Li Zicheng was still somewhat angry, but he knew that this was not the time to lose his temper. He needed to hear what Zhang Xianzhong's hidden story was before making a decision.

He didn't say anything after that, he just nodded.

Immediately afterwards, the two arrived at a relatively flat area.

The area is surrounded by low hills, so the cold wind is relatively less.

The next second, Li Zicheng asked in a deep voice:
"Tell me, what exactly is going on? Didn't I say that even the most ordinary peasant soldiers should be given two ounces of grain per person per day? Why is there no rice in their porridge?"

"Without rice, can this still be called porridge?"

Li Zicheng's voice was deep and serious, carrying an unquestionable tone.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xianzhong smiled wryly and said:

“King Chuang, if possible, I would like to cook porridge for them according to your standards, but we really don’t have much food left.”

"We have encountered various difficulties and obstacles on our march, resulting in huge food losses. If we continue to follow your standards, we will run out of ammunition and food in at most a month!"

"If we can reach Hanzhong smoothly in a month, that would be great, but what if we can't reach Hanzhong?"

"Wouldn't everyone starve to death in the Qinling Mountains?"

"In order to prevent everyone from starving to death, I have no other choice but to do this."

"And starting today, the rations for the veteran soldiers will also be reduced, otherwise we may not be able to leave the Qinling Mountains alive!"

As Zhang Xianzhong spoke, his face was filled with helplessness and bitterness. Li Zicheng, on the other hand, fell into a long silence.

Although he knew the army was running out of food, he never imagined it would be this serious!
After calming down a bit, Li Zicheng's tone softened, and he began to speak:

"Now that things have come to this, is there any way to alleviate the current situation even slightly?"

Zhang Xianzhong sighed and said:
"What else can we do now? We can only try to reduce the number of mouths to feed. There's a small county town a hundred miles ahead where we can replenish our supplies and the army can rest for a while."

"However, that county town is not large and resources are limited, so we can't have too high hopes."

Although the Qinling Mountains were sparsely populated in ancient times, there were actually quite a few prefectures and counties within them.

For example, Shangluo, Zhashui, Shanyang, and Fengxian, all located in the Qinling Mountains, are like this.

Even before that, Li Zicheng's army had rested in Shangluo for more than half a month.

Fortunately, Sun Chuanting had already sent someone to Shangluo to inform them of Li Zicheng's possible arrival, so the magistrate of Shangluo led the people to flee into the mountains early in the morning.

Although they endured hardships and slept outdoors along the way, they fortunately escaped a calamity.

However, some things that couldn't be taken away or that weren't destroyed in time were still looted by Li Zicheng. But there was nothing that could be done about it, because in chaotic times, survival was the most important thing.

Nothing else matters!
Getting back to the point, Li Zicheng understood that Zhang Xianzhong wanted him to order the abandonment of a portion of the peasant army, reducing the number of people to feed, so that the main force could reach the next place where supplies could be replenished smoothly.

Until we successfully reach Sichuan!

He looked at the distant, undulating mountain range, his heart filled with contradictions and struggles!

He knew that doing so would lose him many hearts, but if he didn't do it, the entire army might face the danger of running out of ammunition and food!
After hesitating for a moment, Li Zicheng finally nodded.

"Just do as you say."

His voice was low, carrying a hint of helplessness and determination.

"Then what about those people?"

As Zhang Xianzhong spoke, his eyes suddenly glanced at the few peasant soldiers.

Li Zicheng had always deeply abhorred these people, believing that such behavior was a sinful act that violated human ethics and morality and was unforgivable!

But at this point, he just couldn't bring himself to hate them!

Finally, Li Zicheng waved his hand and said:
"Forget it, let them fend for themselves."

Zhang Xianzhong didn't speak, but simply nodded, his eyes revealing a complex emotion.

Not long after, another riot broke out among Li Zicheng's troops.

Those who were old and frail, or had frostbite on their hands and feet, or were sick or injured, were all driven aside by Li Zicheng.

There were about 20,000 people, all of them pale-faced, their eyes filled with despair and helplessness.

Having followed Li Zicheng for so long, they naturally knew that Li Zicheng intended to abandon them!
If they were still in Henan, they would have been hoping that Li Zicheng would abandon them so that they could go to Tongguan and surrender to the imperial court.

But this is the Qinling Mountains, and if they are abandoned, they will only be waiting to die!

Therefore, they pleaded with Li Zicheng not to abandon them.

"General, please don't abandon me!"

A young man struggled to his feet, ignoring his frostbitten, festering feet, and clutched the hem of the general's coat as he delivered the order, tears streaming down his face.

"I can still fight. Once I recover from my injuries, I will definitely fight for you!"

Another middle-aged man, thin and bony, also broke down in tears.

"General, I have an elderly mother and children waiting for me to return. What will happen to them if I die here? Please have mercy and don't abandon me!"

Some peasant soldiers, too weak to speak from hunger, could only look at their commander with eyes full of despair and pleading.

However, this was Li Zicheng's order, so what could these generals dare to say?

In the end, they left only enough food for these people to eat for one meal, and then followed the main force ahead without looking back.

Anyone who tried to catch up with them was mercilessly hacked to death!

After several people died, no one dared to do it again!

They could only watch Li Zicheng's army leave, weeping bitterly, until they completely disappeared from sight.
Before long, the despair in the hearts of this group reached its peak. No one knows who made the first move, but everyone started looting the remaining food!

After all, at this time, being able to grab more food means being able to survive for a few more days!
In an instant, a mere 20,000 people were caught in a chaotic battle!
Everyone was desperately fighting for food.

A violent conflict began to unfold in the once quiet Qinling Mountains, with shouts of killing, cries, and curses intertwined, creating a scene resembling a living hell!
Before long, when the Ming army that was following behind and responsible for harassing the peasant army arrived, they found that the place had already become a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood!
Countless corpses lay on the ground, their blood staining the earth red, and the blood quickly congealed in the cold wind.

Even the corpses were frozen solid, lying there stiffly with expressions of terror and pain on their faces.

Fewer than three thousand people are still barely clinging to life!

Some of the victors of this chaos were also enjoying their spoils on the sidelines.

They wolfed down the food they had managed to steal, their faces showing a greedy and satisfied expression, as if they had forgotten everything around them.

The bloody and bizarre scene stunned the arriving Ming soldiers.

Because at this very moment, the mountains and fields were filled with frozen corpses, a truly gruesome scene!
Just then, someone finally saw the Ming army arrive!
However, these surviving peasant soldiers did not panic at all; on the contrary, they became visibly excited as if they had grasped a lifeline.

Immediately afterwards, they rushed forward.

This sudden turn of events startled the Ming army, who initially thought the peasant army was about to launch an attack!

The leading Ming soldier even raised his flintlock musket, ready to fire!

Conflict is imminent!
But before they could pull the trigger, shouts rang out.

"General, we surrender! We surrender! Li Zicheng has abandoned us. We are willing to surrender to the imperial court. Please accept us."

"We're not rebelling anymore! We surrender!"

"Don't kill us, we've come to surrender!"

(PS: This chapter was banned because it was too violent and gory. What you see now is the revised version; the original was even more violent and gory. I've now become more cautious and dare not write anything too violent or gory anymore.)
(End of this chapter)