Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 719 Giving Li Zicheng a cheat code

A few days later, at the main tent of the rebel army.

"What? The troops in Henan are depleted, and you want me to attack Luoyang?"

Li Zicheng listened to Liu Heizi's words with a mixture of belief and doubt.

Luoyang was one of the most important military strongholds in Henan. For the rebel army, capturing Luoyang was crucial, both economically and politically, and it would solidify Li Zicheng's confidence in his quest for supremacy. In another timeline, after his defeat, Li Zicheng was reduced to only 17 horsemen and retreated to the Shangluo Mountains. After several years of hiding, he regrouped and rose again, the turning point from weakness to strength being the Battle of Luoyang. Following this battle, Li Zicheng won a series of victories, moving from Henan to Shaanxi, establishing the Great Shun regime, and beginning his path to overthrow the Ming Dynasty. Liu Ye's motivation for pushing Li Zicheng to attack Luoyang was to replicate his success in this other timeline and accelerate his march on the capital.

According to historical inertia, Li Zicheng wouldn't have attacked a fortified city like Luoyang at this juncture. After all, with his current strength, conquering such a large city would have been far too difficult. In the original historical accounts, he had already accumulated enough strength to attack Luoyang in the thirteenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign (1640), four years later. However, Xia Tiannan didn't have the patience to wait that long. He wanted to give Li Zicheng a cheat code, accelerating the historical progress so that he could accomplish in one or two years what would normally take ten years.

Liu Heizi, serving as the liaison for the Qionghai Army, was stationed with the rebel forces. He was responsible for coordinating the transactions of refugees and arms between the two armies and had become familiar with many of the rebel generals, so he spoke with less restraint. This time, Liu Ye's instructions came from Lingao, instructing him to do everything possible to persuade Li Zicheng to attack Luoyang.

After receiving instructions, Liu Heizi began this arduous task. Through his interactions with Li Zicheng, he learned that while Li Zicheng was ambitious, he had one advantage: he was open to advice and good at listening to others. From an adversarial perspective, this was also a weakness—he was easily swayed by others' opinions. By making good use of this, persuading this bandit leader to accept the Qionghai Army's proposal wouldn't be too difficult.

"Chuang Wang Mingjian: My general has close ties with several high-ranking officials in the court, so he received the news early on: the newly appointed Minister of War, Yang Sichang, is very wary of my Qionghai Town. He has transferred most of the officers and soldiers from Beizhili and Henan to the area around Beijing, stationing them in Baoding Prefecture, Tianjin Wei, and Yongping Prefecture to protect the capital. At present, the troops in Henan are weak, which is the perfect opportunity for Chuang Wang to make his move."

Li Zicheng was somewhat tempted by this and asked, "Then why attack Luoyang? Why not Kaifeng?"

Liu Heizi patiently persuaded him: "Chuang Wang, you've been in Henan for a while now. You must know which city, Kaifeng or Luoyang, is easier to attack and which offers greater benefits. General Chen Yongfu of Kaifeng is renowned for his military prowess, and Governor Gao Mingheng is shrewd and capable, making them difficult to conquer. Luoyang, on the other hand, lacks a renowned general and has a wealthy and powerful figure like Prince Fu within its walls. If we can capture it, the gold, silver, and provisions we gain will be equivalent to those of three to five ordinary cities. The choice is obvious!"

Upon hearing the words "Prince Fu," Li Zicheng's eyes lit up.

Everyone knows that Zhu Changxun, the Prince of Fu, was favored by the Wanli Emperor because of his mother, Consort Zheng. He was once a potential heir apparent, but this was abandoned due to strong opposition from ministers for violating ancestral rules. After being enfeoffed as the Prince of Fu, the Wanli Emperor, feeling guilty that his son couldn't become the crown prince, granted him over 20,000 hectares of land and 1,300 salt deposits at Consort Zheng's request. Various miscellaneous taxes along the Yangtze River from Yangzhou to Taiping in Anhui, as well as a portion of the profits from Sichuan salt wells, were allocated to the Prince of Fu's residence—essentially giving him half the wealth of the Ming Dynasty. When he arrived in Luoyang to assume his fiefdom, the convoy carrying countless gold and silver treasures stretched for over 100 li (approximately 50 kilometers), a truly breathtaking sight. If Luoyang could be captured and the wealth of the Prince of Fu's residence seized, the gains would indeed be greater than conquering three or five cities, greatly benefiting the growth of the rebel army.

Liu Heizi continued, "Our general also said that if the rebel leader is willing to attack Luoyang, he's willing to offer a generous gift to assist in the siege—before we surrendered, we used these very things to bombard Guangzhou, forcing the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi to sign a treaty under duress." This generous gift was mortars. In this timeline, 10-inch siege mortars are an unsolvable bug; combined with the swarming, locust-like army of refugees, taking Luoyang in a short time wouldn't be difficult.

Li Zicheng's breathing quickened. Although he didn't understand what this mysterious gift was, judging from the tone, it was an extremely powerful cannon. The other party was so confident that it would be of great help in the siege, which would further reduce the difficulty of taking Luoyang. He felt as if the treasure of the Prince of Fu's mansion was beckoning to him.

He paced back and forth, then stopped after a moment and said to Liu Heizi, "I've listened to everything you said, but let me think about it some more."

Liu Heizi knew the other party was interested, but he wasn't in a hurry to get an answer, so he got up and took his leave.

After Liu Heizi left, Li Zicheng summoned all his generals and told them the whole conversation. Then he asked, "Brothers, what do you think? Should we attack Luoyang or not?"

Liu Zongmin was the first to step forward and said loudly, "The news that the Henan troops have been transferred to the capital should be true, which means Luoyang's military strength must be weak. Regardless of what this Liu fellow's intentions are, we will have real benefits from taking Luoyang. Putting aside everything else, the Prince of Fu's mansion alone is enough for us to make a fortune. I heard that the old man's mansion is more luxurious than the imperial palace, and his wealth is more than the national treasury. If we don't fleece such a fat sheep, who else should we fleece?"

Gao Yigong also said, "King Chuang, if we can really capture a major city like Luoyang and become famous in one battle, we will have made a name for ourselves. Cao Cao and the Eight Great Kings will all be overshadowed by us. We will be the leader of the righteous army in the world. At that time, we will have money and food, and all the righteous armies will be loyal to us. That prophecy may very well come true."

Everyone knew in their hearts that the so-called prophecy referred to "the eighteen sons, who will rule the divine weapon." The thought of having the chance to command all the heroes under heaven, and even ascend to the throne, ignited a burning passion in everyone's hearts. If the rebel leader became emperor, they would all be meritorious officials who had helped him rise to power, and a lifetime of wealth and glory would be theirs.

The crowd shouted, "King Chuang, let's do it! Take Luoyang, and we'll eat meat in big chunks, drink wine in big bowls, and divide gold by the scales!"

"Chuang Wang, let's fight our way into the capital, dethrone the emperor, and sit on the throne, then we can share this magnificent empire!"

Seeing everyone's support, Li Zicheng smiled, waved his hand, and said generously, "Good, then let's go attack Luoyang, break into the Prince of Fu's mansion, and share the gold and silver treasures with everyone!"