Chapter 71 Section 24 "Daxi King"

It turned out that the "rogue thief" Zhang Xianzhong changed his course and planned to change from a "rogue thief" to a "founder of the country". In the fourteen years before he sent his troops to Sichuan, Zhang Xianzhong grew from an ordinary rebel to one of the two famous leaders of the uprising army in the late Ming Dynasty, from an illiterate to an outstanding military strategist who left an immortal reputation in the history of Chinese warfare.Before the 16th year of Chongzhen (1643 A.D.), his military strength and prestige had always been higher than that of Li Zicheng, and the court had always regarded him as the greatest enemy.

In the past ten years, Emperor Chongzhen repeatedly inspected important officials of the court, and with the power of the whole country, he was surrounded by soldiers.However, Zhang Xianzhong's troops became stronger as they fought, and swept across several provinces for a few years after Gucheng was restored and before entering Sichuan to fight, invincible and invincible. The name "Zhang Xianzhong" became the most terrifying three characters in the Ming Empire, and almost none of the important officials of the court ended well when they confronted him: either they were dismissed from office, or died on the battlefield, or were enraged Emperor Chongzhen killed him.

In fourteen years, he surrendered to the army three times and rebelled three times. The army hated him so much that they gritted their teeth.During the battles in the north and south of the river and up and down the river, he lurked in the deep mountains many times, was surrounded by heavy siege, and thought that his life would die there. Zhang Xianzhong, who loves turmoil and adventure, is inevitably tired of his wandering life like a whirlwind.Day after day of fighting and running, the youth of the "Eight Great Kings" was gradually consumed. In a blink of an eye, he was close to forty years old, and he didn't have much youthful arrogance to sway at will.When will such days come to an end?

What made him even more strongly stimulated was that Li Zicheng in the east had already founded a country and built a mansion, and he became king based on his territory, and his soldiers pointed directly at Beijing.Li Zicheng was originally a "thief" like himself, and has been willing to bow to him for a long time. "At the beginning, Zicheng had no great ambitions, so when he was slaughtered, the people defended the wall and refused to follow." However, after experiencing a major setback in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen (AD 1640), Li Zicheng learned from the painful experience and changed his strategy fundamentally. Then harass the common people, and specifically rob the big households to pay for food, and any food that cannot be taken away will be used to open warehouses to help the people.Moreover, instead of setting up a place and running away, it is necessary to send officials to set up a mansion, establish and expand its own base, and develop outward in a down-to-earth manner.

In just four years, Li Zicheng became the most advantageous candidate for the new "Son of Heaven" from an inconspicuous rogue, and became a figure destined to leave a famous name in history.Now, Zhang Xianzhong is afraid of Li Zicheng's military power, so he has no choice but to start offering "Dashun" Zhengshuo. Why should Li Zicheng be the "Lord of the People" instead of Zhang Xianzhong?Could it be that Zhang Xianzhong is not as good as Li Zicheng in any way? There are sufficient historical materials to prove Zhang Xianzhong's extraordinary appearance.He was very brave in battle, "the first to fight", and he would take risks every time he fought, and he went to the front line to command in person.In addition, his leadership skills are also outstanding.He is quite able to bear hardships and stand hard work, "he can't sleep at night, walks quietly in his armor, and patrols with a knife."A foreign missionary in the Great Western Army described it this way: "Zhang Xianzhong was very smart, shared joys and sorrows with the soldiers, talked freely, showed frankness, a lot of warmth, a generous attitude, and tasted food and drink with his subordinates."

The official history book says: "The thieves are so wise." According to Gu Luodong, a French missionary who had been with Zhang day and night, Zhang Wei was "profound in wisdom and excellent in decision-making", which made the two missionaries "secretly amazed". (Recorded in "Sacred Teachings Entering Sichuan") In terms of intelligence, courage, and bravery, Zhang Xianzhong is by no means inferior to Li Zicheng, the only difference is that he has no ambition.Reviewing his more than ten years of uprising career, Zhang Xianzhong once again deeply realized that his biggest shortcoming is lack of patience and lack of longevity.Irritable and strong personality, simple and rude style, only looking for immediate enjoyment, lack of long-term plans.Back then, he couldn't sit still in the school, and now he is the majestic "Eight Great Kings", but he still hasn't made much progress.

I can no longer indulge in fighting and killing like this all day long.When Li Zicheng became emperor, Zhang Xianzhong had no choice but to bow his head and proclaim himself a minister.Although he hadn't read any history books, he also knew that Li Zicheng would not treat his former competitor kindly. "It's not too late to make up for it." Before sending his troops to Sichuan, he had already made up his mind to "refine his sitting skills" and patiently establish a base. After entering Sichuan, Zhang Xianzhong deeply felt that it was right to choose to enter Sichuan.The soldiers in Sichuan were soft and crisp, and they broke through Chongqing all the way. According to Chengdu, they sent troops to sweep the prefectures, prefectures, counties and chieftains.Most of them watched the wind and went down, "states and counties are fighting to close the government treasury and should be falsely ordered."In just one year, except for Zunyi (which belonged to Sichuan at the time) and a few outlying chieftains, all of Sichuan was owned by Zhang Xianzhong.

For the first time in more than ten years, a large province is securely occupied, with no strong enemies before and no pursuers behind.It's so cool! It's time for "our old man" to taste the taste of "ruling the people". "Our old man" learns from Li Zicheng this time, and works steadily. After a few years, the world may not have the surname "Zhang"!Back then, wasn’t Zhu Yuanzhang, the great ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, born a beggar?Now, my former "catch-upman" and "frontier soldier" also wants to start a dynasty, and add him a "big western history" in the history books!

At this time, Li Zicheng was defeated by the Qing army and withdrew from Beijing.When the news came, Zhang Xianzhong was overjoyed.Now, the mountain above him is gone, and the world has fallen into chaos again. The original situation where the Zhang and Li families were fighting has become the Li, Qing, Nanming, and Zhang families. My chances have greatly increased, how can I not like it! Ever since Li Zicheng started the Dashun Dynasty, Zhang Xianzhong had no choice but to abide by the reign name of Yongchang, and the two families have always maintained a superficial harmony.Now, Zhang Xianzhong can finally feel proud.Hearing that Ma Ke of Li Zicheng's department had entered northern Sichuan, he was not polite, and personally led the army, defeated Ma Ke, and drove back to Shaanxi.This is the first time that Zhang Li's two armies have fought openly since the rise of the army.Zhang Xianzhong was very proud of this victory, and announced that Mianzhou, where the battle took place, would be renamed "Desheng State".

In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644 A.D.) on November 16th, Zhang Xianzhong officially opened his dynasty in Chengdu, and his country was named Daxi.Because in the past, he had been serving in the name of the Dashun Army, and it was not easy to get back for a while, so "Dashun" was used as the chronology, and it was changed to Yuan Dashun, and Zhang Xianzhong was called "Daxi King".