The Great Rebel at the End of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 111 The Vanguard

As for joining Li Wanqing? Zhou Lun had no such idea whatsoever.

Li Wanqing is now considered to be on the side of the imperial court, having obtained a formal official position and military rank.

His troops are no longer stationed at the original Gushan Fortress. Apart from leaving some men behind, the main force has gone to Shenmu.

Moreover, with the changing situation, the circumstances in Shaanxi have undergone tremendous changes.

Like Gao Yingxiang, the brothers Shen Yiyuan and Shen Yikui broke off relations with Yang He, the governor of the three border regions. After the loss of Qingyang, Yang He's life became very difficult.

In Zhou Lun's view, although the problem in Shaanxi is not entirely Yang He's fault.

To be honest, although Yang He's actions after becoming the Governor-General of the Three Borders were somewhat inadequate and his ideas were too idealistic, in essence, his response was not a major problem.

After all, Yang He didn't have many soldiers or enough money and supplies, so it was normal for him to adopt a strategy of dividing and winning over the powerful rebel army.

If he had a strong enough army with sufficient fighting power, and enough money and supplies as a backing, not to mention Gao Yingxiang's side, he might actually be able to win over the Shen Yiyuan brothers.

Unfortunately, he didn't. Apart from offering a small amount of benefits, he made empty promises. Since the benefits he offered were insufficient, others didn't take him seriously.

Moreover, due to the upheaval in the capital, the newly arrived troops were transferred to defend the emperor before they could even begin to suppress the rebels. As a result, who would take this governor of the three border regions seriously?

Besides, others might not know, but surely Zhou Lun knew? As long as Emperor Chongzhen was on the throne, surrendering to the court was tantamount to courting death.

It was difficult to get along with the rebels, and it was equally difficult to get along with the imperial court.

Compared to Gao Yingxiang, Emperor Chongzhen was a complete liability. What could he possibly achieve under his command? Even Yang He and Zhou Lun were certain that he would not have a good end. Given Chongzhen's personality, this governor-general of the three border regions might be in trouble after the siege of the capital was lifted.

So, after much deliberation, even though Gao Yingxiang was gradually becoming less favored, Zhou Lun had no choice but to remain in the rebel army. Furthermore, Gao Guiying was also a problem; she was already quite pregnant, and her first child was due to be born soon.

Once they break away from Gao Yingxiang's forces and fight independently amidst hardship and displacement, how can they possibly care about her? As for leaving her here, wouldn't that make her a hostage in Gao Yingxiang's hands? What difference would that make from leaving her here?

"I have my own ideas about this matter." Zhou Lun gently patted Gao Guiying's hand and smiled.

Gao Guiying glanced at him with a complicated expression, then nodded slightly: "My lord, I won't say anything more. I, Zhou Gao, am a member of your Zhou family in life and in death. Whatever you decide to do, I will follow you!"

Feeling the unwavering determination in his wife's eyes, Zhou Lun was deeply moved. Such a wife was truly rare! What did he do to deserve such a virtuous wife? Instantly, a surge of confidence welled up within him, and he smiled with contentment.

What happened next was pretty much what Zhou Lun had predicted.

A few days later, the warhorses he had purchased arrived.

Of course, most of the warhorses that arrived belonged to Gao Yingxiang. When Gao Yingxiang learned that Zhou Lun had also acquired dozens of warhorses in an attempt to build a cavalry, he did indeed have designs on those horses.

However, he soon learned that Zhou Lun had directly given command of the cavalry to Gao Yigong, so he gave up the idea of ​​seizing it.

Regardless, Gao Yigong was, after all, his nephew. Now that the cavalry was in his hands, it seemed Zhou Lun was aware of his own limitations and was using this method to ease tensions. Since Zhou Lun was so sensible and had kept a low profile these days, and since there had been no news of him having any private dealings with Li Wanqing after his defection, Gao Yingxiang relaxed his vigilance towards him considerably.

Gao Yigong was immediately appointed as the cavalry commander. Although this cavalry force was much smaller than the one under Gao Yingxiang's command, cavalry was still cavalry. With Zhou Lun's full support, he became one of Zhou Lun's main generals, greatly elevating his status. Although he was not yet leading an independent army, he was now a well-known figure in the rebel army.

Leaving aside Gao Yigong, let's just talk about Li Zicheng's side.

With the help of Zhou Lun's five hundred elite soldiers and Gao Yingxiang's care, his strength expanded rapidly upon arrival. In the blink of an eye, he had nearly two thousand men, transforming from a deserter into one of the leaders of the rebel army.

Li Zicheng, whose ego had suddenly swelled, was riding high on his success and became completely arrogant. Especially after spending some time with the rebel army and noticing Gao Yingxiang's ambivalent attitude towards Zhou Lun, he keenly sensed that his opportunity had arrived.

Gao Yingxiang had no son, which was a shortcoming for him as the leader of the rebel army.

This problem has become even more apparent now that the army has expanded further after entering Shanxi, with more troops and a larger territory.

Among the rebel armies, Gao Yingxiang's strength was second only to Wang Jiayin, and he was the vice leader at the initial alliance meeting, making him arguably the only one who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Wang Jiayin. Moreover, Li Zicheng's judgment was sound. Although Wang Jiayin was causing a great stir in Shaanxi and currently controlled a larger territory and more troops, Gao Yingxiang's side clearly had a brighter future in terms of development prospects.

Years of drought had brought the people of Shaanxi to the brink of starvation. What good was it for Wang Jiayin to occupy such a vast territory and command such a large population? Without food, the more people there were, the harder it was to survive. Moreover, with a large territory, the power of his subordinate leaders swelled, and each had their own ideas and plans. In terms of control, Gao Yingxiang's forces were far superior to Wang Jiayin's, who, despite his seemingly powerful, disorganized group.

As the commander of the rebel army and the top leader of the entire army, Gao Yingxiang's lack of a son became a major problem.

They were engaged in a rebellion, and regardless of success or failure, the risks were considerable. The battlefield is unpredictable; if anything unexpected happened and Gao Yingxiang died in battle, this rebel army would suddenly lose its core leader and would certainly fall apart.

If he had a son, that son would naturally be the young leader of the group. With an heir, even if something happened to him, his subordinates would support his son, and the rebel army could continue to unite and find a way to start over.

As Gao Yingxiang's nephew, Li Zicheng initially had no such intention. After all, he was just a nephew.

It's worth noting that Gao Guiying and Gao Yigong, the cousins, are Gao Yingxiang's niece and nephew, and they all share the surname Gao.

In this world, people of the same clan and surname always take precedence. Gao Yingxiang, who has no son, should logically regard his only nephew, Gao Yigong, as his successor. In any case, it is not his turn to be a nephew from another clan.

But it wasn't long before he understood Gao Yingxiang's attitude towards Zhou Lun, and he also figured out why Gao Yingxiang had said those things to Zhou Lun when they first met, and why Zhou Lun had voluntarily assigned him five hundred elite soldiers. After gathering information from various sources and learning about Li Wanqing's situation, Li Zicheng's heart began to stir with ambition.

If everything goes as he expects, then Gao Yingxiang would absolutely not groom Gao Yigong as his successor. In fact, because of Zhou Lun, even if the uncle and nephew maintain a close relationship on the surface, there will be no shortage of hidden suspicion. In this way, the possibility of Gao Yigong, the nephew, becoming Gao Yingxiang's successor is completely eliminated. If he settles for second best, wouldn't that mean that he, as the nephew, becomes the only candidate?

If one can seize this opportunity to establish oneself as Gao Yingxiang's successor within the rebel army and solidify this identity, then one will have the potential to rise to prominence in the future should Gao Yingxiang succeed.

This kind of situation has happened before in history. Wasn't it the same with Chai Rong of the Later Zhou Dynasty? If necessary, he could just take Gao Yingxiang's surname or even change his name to Gao Zicheng! This was nothing to Li Zicheng.

With this in mind, Li Zicheng couldn't help but start probing.

After gaining the support of five hundred elite soldiers and Gao Yingxiang, he formed his own army and secretly began to build up his status and position.

He claimed that his troops were the direct personal troops under Gao Yingxiang, the "King of Rebels," and he also gave himself the so-called "General of Rebels" title by claiming that he was Gao Yingxiang's nephew.

I must say, that was a brilliant move.

The names given by the rebels were either chosen by themselves or by others, and they were basically chosen to be as impressive as possible.

For example, Wang Jiayin's "Hengtian Yizi Wang" (横天一字王), Li Wanqing's "Shetatian" (射塌天) and Zhou Lun's "Jingpotian" (惊破天), and Zhao Sheng's "Diandengzi" (点灯子) were exceptions, as they were bandit names given to him by officials falsely accused of being Huang Chao's officials. In addition, there were names like "Buzhanni" (不沾泥), "Huntianwang" (混天王), and "Heisha Shen" (黑煞神), and even Gao Yingxiang's "Chuangwang" (闯王) was deliberately given with the character "Chuang" (闯) followed by "Wang" (王) to show off his power.

But now that Li Zicheng calls himself "the vanguard general," the meaning is different.

Gao Yingxiang was the "King of Rebels," while he was the "General of Rebels." The difference between the two is just one character: "King" is above "General," and both are preceded by the character "Rebel." Anyone who hears this would immediately think that the King of Rebels and the General of Rebels are one and the same.

This is exactly what Li Zicheng wanted—to create this illusion and directly link him to Gao Yingxiang.

From now on, whenever Gao Yingxiang, the "King of Rebels," is mentioned, people will think of his general Li Zicheng, or vice versa.

Moreover, this bandit nickname not only linked him with Gao Yingxiang, but also revealed his loyalty to Gao Yingxiang and his willingness to be his confidant.

Furthermore, it was also a test of everyone, including Gao Yingxiang himself. As long as this bandit title was accepted by everyone, even if Gao Yingxiang did not explicitly state that Li Zicheng was the successor in the future, over time, this rumor would gradually take root in people's hearts and become a fact that was not true.