The front foot had just returned from Weiyuan Fort, and before Zhu Guoqiang could discuss with his staff the conditions for Huang Taiji's release, Liu Hanyi hurriedly reported it.

"Your Majesty, something big has happened. Luoyang has been captured by rogue bandits, and King Fu of Fu Domain has been ordered to be killed by the leader of the bandits, Li Zicheng..."

Hearing this, Zhu Guoqiang's heart "thumped" and his expression changed slightly.

What's coming has finally come!

Li Zicheng captured Luoyang. From then on, he began to corrupt the Central Plains. Four years later, he even went straight to the capital!

This is how the Ming Dynasty lost its world.

For quite a while, Zhu Guoqiang stood blankly in front of the main entrance of the General's Mansion...

…

Two bloody heads were hanging on the top of Luoyang City. One head belonged to Lu Weiqi, the former Minister of War of Nanjing. He was killed in Zhougong Temple because he refused to surrender to the bandits, and the other head belonged to Zhu Changxun, the king of Fu. In terms of seniority, he was Chongzhen.

uncle.

Kill the minister first, then the prince.

But now, two heads are hanging on the top of the city, their bloody heads swaying with the cold wind.

Occasionally, someone would look up towards the top of the city, and an old farmer with a gray beard would sigh in a low voice.

"Oh, on this execution ground, only common people have been killed since ancient times. I don't know how many lives have been lost. Now, the ministers and princes are being killed. The world is really going to be in chaos!"

A middle-aged man next to him reminded softly.

"Keep your voice down, don't yell, let them listen, they will be beheaded..."

As soon as he finished speaking, a young hungry man with a swollen face interrupted:

"Kill well, kill all these corrupt officials, and then the world will be pure!"

"That's right, everyone said it was a good time for King Chuang to come. As soon as King Chuang came, he turned the world upside down: yesterday he killed Lu Shangshu, today he killed King Fu. They only kill officials, not common people. This is called doing justice for heaven!"

"To do justice for heaven, it's not like there are no good officials or good kings in this world. The De Fan in Shandong is just..."

Before the person next to him finished his argument, a person next to him couldn't bear to hold him back and said:

"Are you thinking about it to death? It's not the imperial court who is sitting in Luoyang City now..."

It is true that the person sitting in Luoyang City is not the imperial court, but Li Zicheng who came out from Shangluo Mountain. At this time, he is no longer as depressed as he was at the beginning of last year. These years, that is, this year, he has been living happily!

Six days have passed since he broke into Luoyang. During these six days, he did not live in Prince Fu's Mansion in Luoyang City, but in Duke Zhou's Temple. Even the maids in Prince Fu's Mansion were rewarded to his subordinates.

At least for now, Li Zicheng, who is in the process of starting his own business, does have some potential to become a big player.

On this day, after washing up, Li Zicheng sat down to have breakfast in the temple. While eating, he asked the short military advisor in front of him.

"Military advisor, now that we have captured Luoyang, what should we do next?"

Speaking of which, it was a coincidence that Song Xiance became Li Zicheng's military advisor. He had been traveling around for a long time and divined good and bad luck for others. A few months ago, he encountered rogue bandits and was "tied" into Li Zicheng's army. Since then, he has served as a strategist for Li Zicheng.

He was very intelligent in making suggestions and was deeply respected by Li Zicheng. He would always seek advice from him before any battle. Within a few months, he was worshiped as his military advisor.

Even this city of Luoyang was conquered by Song Xiance's plan. Faced with King Chuang's inquiry:

"After Luoyang City was destroyed, there were many places and things to be searched. There were so many things to be searched in Prince Fu's Mansion alone! Once things were messed up, a lot of gold, silver, jewelry and other valuable things would fall into private hands, and food would also be lost.

Throw them around as you like. There are many refugees inside and outside Luoyang now. King Chuang might as well distribute relief grains and ask them to spread prophecies at the same time."

Li Zicheng asked:

"What prophecies are being spread?"

"King Chuang, a few days ago, I observed the celestial phenomena and calculated that the Ming Dynasty's "national destiny is about to end." Now the world is waiting for the British Lord, so King Chuang must establish his prestige as soon as possible, and refugees are moving around, so he might as well use the word of mouth of the refugees to

The prophecy spread..."

After thinking about it, Song Xiance said.

""Eighteen sons, the main artifact", with this prophecy, the people will naturally be willing to follow King Chuang in the future."

When Li Zicheng heard this, his face immediately showed joy.

"The military strategist's clever plan."

Who is the eighteenth child? Of course it is Li Zicheng’s “Li”. Li Chuangwang’s Li!

The common people are ignorant. Listening to such prophecies, they will naturally think that "the destiny is with Li". By then, there will be no need to worry about the failure of the great cause. With a happy face, Li Zicheng asked again.

"Military advisor, everyone was talking about this matter yesterday, but you rarely said anything. What do you think of everyone's opinions?"

After taking Luoyang, everyone under his command, whether it was Li Zicheng or Liu Zongmin, was a little confused. After all, this was the largest city they had conquered. Moreover, Luoyang was still the ancient capital! So yesterday there were people talking about the past and the present.

, let’s talk eloquently, starting with the principle of seizing Wan and Luo to capture the Central Plains, and seizing the Central Plains to fight for the world, then talking about establishing a name, and finally talking about the time to invite the king to build his capital in Luoyang and become the king. The time is ripe and cannot be missed.

It was particularly emphasized that the people of Heluo are very supportive and should not let down the high hopes of the fathers and the common people.

What he said made sense and was very touching. Naturally, everyone agreed with this. However, some generals advocated rushing to capture Nanyang and connect the Wan and Luo areas into one area, so as to be ready to fight against Yang Sichang and other coming forces.

Lu Ming's army fought in Zhongzhou, and after winning a few more big victories, they discussed the matter of establishing the capital in Luoyang and becoming the king. However, some people advocated that we should take advantage of the victory and enter Tongguan from the west, break through Xi'an, and use Guanzhong as the basis to establish Xi'an as the capital.

When the latter opinion was put forward, many people immediately agreed and added reasons. This is because the people who attended the meeting yesterday, except Song Xiance, were all from Shaanxi.

, now that they are "developed", they should naturally return to their hometown to enjoy themselves.

Of course, as Shaanxi people, they also know that Xi'an is an ancient capital. The old people have said since childhood that "Guanzhong is a beautiful place", so this place is naturally the most suitable for building a capital. But what is certain is that they have followed Li Zicheng for many years.

People, they are dedicated to protecting King Chuang and conquering the country, and they all hope that King Chuang will become king and emperor as soon as possible.

In fact, Li Zicheng also wanted to be king and emperor.

As a laid-off civil servant at a post station, he never thought that one day he would be able to lead troops and conquer a big city like Luoyang. If he were to become king and emperor again, it would be like smoke rising from his ancestral graves.

But even though he thought deeply, he didn't say anything. He kept silent, observing, and observing everyone's attitudes. In the end, Song Xiance's attitude puzzled him the most.

Yesterday, Song Xiance remained silent from the morning discussion to the evening. What was he thinking? So after thinking about it all night, Li Zicheng ordered someone to invite him over to have breakfast with him.

Song Xiance replied:

"Although there were many opinions yesterday, they were all out of loyalty to King Chuang. I didn't speak much at the meeting because I couldn't help but think about the nine words Zhu Sheng said to Zhu Hongwu."

Li Zicheng asked:

"Who is Zhu Sheng?"

Song Xiance said:

"Zhu Sheng was a Confucian scholar in Huizhou. He was very knowledgeable. After Zhu Hongwu captured Huizhou, he invited him to inquire about the big plan. Zhu Sheng answered in nine words. Later, Zhu Hongwu followed these nine words and did what he did in the past three decades of the Ming Dynasty.

A century-old empire!"

"Which nine words?"

"Build the wall high, accumulate food widely, and become king slowly."

"Um?"

"The meaning of these nine words is: we must first consolidate our territory, gain a foothold on our territory, and appease the people, so that we can have enough food and soldiers. The purpose of slowly becoming king is to avoid becoming the target of public criticism. Back then, Zhu Hongwu relied on

These nine words take over the world."

Li Zicheng nodded slightly while thinking, and then smiled.

"I understand what the military advisor means!"

While laughing, Li Zicheng said.

"Let's create military advisors now, just like Zhu Hongwu did back then to seize the world from his descendants."

After saying that, he sighed again.

"Hey, Zhu Hongwu was a good emperor. If all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were like him and thought about the people, how could they rebel against the old Zhu family?"

"What King Chuang said is true. We have reached this point because corrupt officials are rampant, and also because Zhu Ming is close to being powerful and should give up the world."

"Uh-huh,"

After nodding in agreement, Li Zicheng asked again.
Chapter completed!