Li Zicheng left quite suddenly, and the officials and soldiers of the imperial court did not expect it.

By the time dawn and found out that something was wrong, the elite of Li Zicheng's department had already gone away.

"Guogong, most of Li Zicheng's men are still here. The elite main force left, I'm afraid there is some conspiracy? Zhou Yuji, who lost Li Zicheng and returned in vain, immediately reminded Zhang Mingwei after learning of the situation.

When Bai Guangen heard this, he also said with some doubts: "Could it be that the officials and soldiers are fighting with other thieves somewhere, so they are going to the rescue?" ”

"Or is it just to lure us into pursuit, and then lay an ambush against us along the way?" Wu Sangui also guessed.

“……”

Many other generals also spoke, but no one was sure. In this regard, Zhang Mingwei also didn't know Li Zicheng's intentions, after all, this situation could not be borrowed from history.

When many generals were speculating, Liu Jin suddenly broke into the Chinese military tent and eagerly told Zhang Mingwei: "Master, Li Zicheng's camp is in chaos now, and many thieves have come out and surrendered!" ”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Mingwei was taken aback and said, "Could it be that Li Zicheng really abandoned so many troops?" ”

After speaking, he led his generals out of the camp to inspect.

Sure enough, I saw Li Zicheng's camp, as if water was spilling out of a plate, and the soldiers inside broke out of the camp from all directions.

Some ran directly to the side of the official army, while others ran to other places, in short, in all directions.

The imperial cavalry, which had been dispersed before, surrounded from all directions. The thieves who escaped from the camp all knelt down and surrendered when they saw the officers and soldiers coming, no matter which direction they were in.

Looking at this scene, everyone knows that Li Zicheng has abandoned them all.

However, the specific situation is not known yet, so it is impossible to know why Li Zicheng would do this?

If Li Zicheng was frightened in the last battle, so he fled in a hurry, Zhang Mingwei did not believe this.

Li Zicheng has been fighting for so many years, and there are still about 30,000 cavalry in his hand, and there are as many as 50,000 elite infantry troops. With such a strong force, he still has the strength to fight with himself.

Thinking so, Zhang Mingwei not only sent out the night to investigate the surroundings, but also sent his generals to Li Zicheng's camp to understand the situation while collecting the thieves.

At this time, one thing is very clear, the battle of Kaifeng is over.

By noon, one piece of news came together, and Zhang Mingwei finally understood why Li Zicheng abandoned so many troops and slipped away, because he had no food and grass.

There are nearly more than 200,000 people, although compared to his elite subordinates, it is indeed much worse. However, these 200,000 or so people are not old and weak women and children, but farmers who don't know how to do military affairs, which can be regarded as cannon fodder.

If conditions permit, so many people can be counted, and Li Zicheng may not abandon them.

Now it's okay, these people have to be supported by Zhang Mingwei.

In this regard, Zhang Mingwei is indeed a headache. This Li Zicheng's people plus Luo Rucai's people have more than 400,000 people. And the headquarters of the imperial court's official army, even if you add Yuan Shizhong's troops and the thief troops that were later recruited, it is only more than 50,000 points.

Although the grain and grass were constantly being transported before the war, the time was not long, and a lot of them were distributed to Kaifeng City. In addition, the war lasted for about a month, and the food in Zhang Mingwei's current hands was not enough to support the food problem of so many people.

Therefore, in the face of the request of many generals to take the opportunity to beat the water dogs and send troops to pursue Li Zicheng's department, Zhang Mingwei shook his head and said: "The most important thing now is the post-war resettlement. Throw it directly to Kaifeng Mansion, you don't have that ability, and there will be chaos. ”

Hearing this, the generals fell silent.

This is also the angle they are in, for these generals, they only need to suppress thieves. With so many captives, it is a military merit to report directly to the top. As for the rest, they won't bother.

As the coach Zhang Mingwei, he must consider the problem of these prisoners.

At this time, hearing Zhang Mingwei say this, in addition to regretting that they could not take the opportunity to beat the water dogs, they had no choice but to obey the military order.

Fortunately, Zhang Mingwei had enough power in his hands, so he immediately ordered to issue orders to the surrounding towns, asking them to collect grain and grass from the local squires in accordance with the wartime, and quickly transport the grain to Kaifeng. If there is any disobedience, the local officials and local squires will all be severely punished.

After issuing this order, Zhang Mingwei prepared to go to Kaifeng Mansion.

However, before he could get up, the court came to the holy decree. It was Zhang Mingwei who conveyed the will, and he was familiar with the eunuch Wang Erbiao.

Wang Erbiao, who was in the dust, said with a smile as soon as he saw Zhang Mingwei: "Congratulations to the Duke of the Kingdom, congratulations to the Duke of the Kingdom, recruit Luo Rucai's department, and Kaifeng victory is in sight!" ”

Hearing this, Zhu Yujiao on the side said with a smile: "Then Li Zicheng was also defeated, and the 200,000 or so horses who left him ran away!" ”

As soon as he heard this, Wang Erbiao came back to his senses, immediately saw Her Royal Highness the princess, and then said with great joy: "Long live if you know this good news, you will not be happy!" ”

When Zhang Mingwei heard this, he just smiled and said: "If the emperor has something, pass on the will as soon as possible!" ”

When Wang Erbiao heard this, he hurriedly agreed, and got down to business first.

Emperor Chongzhen's decree was mainly a response to the previous Kaifeng good news.

Zhang Mingwei's military exploits reported in the good news, and the list of generals who asked for rewards, Emperor Chongzhen approved them all.

It is worth mentioning that the five former commanders, that is, Wu Sangui, Bai Guangen, Tang Tong, Ma Ke, and Li Fuming, were all promoted to deputy generals, which is commonly known as deputy commanders, and they are half a step away from their original position as chief soldiers.

In addition, Emperor Chongzhen also said that the King of Zhou had decided on overseas affairs, and all the fields under the name of the original King Zhou were collected by the imperial court and handled by the Duke of Xingguo.

This matter was actually requested by Zhang Mingwei to Emperor Chongzhen. And Emperor Chongzhen's request for Zhang Mingwei was naturally absolutely agreed. It was precisely because of Zhang Mingwei's request that Emperor Chongzhen negotiated everything with King Zhou in such a short period of time.

How the various details, there must be a negotiation process. Emperor Chongzhen didn't say it, and Zhang Mingwei could think of it. But he didn't care about these details.

This will could not have come at a more timely time. Zhang Mingwei was very happy when he heard this, so he asked Wang Erbiao to go to Kaifeng City with him. In this way, you can not only rest in the city, but also ask Wang Erbiao for more news from the Jingshi side when you are on the road.

However, before they could leave the camp, they saw the blue sky and the horse galloping towards them. Before the person approached, the anxious mood had already been transmitted.

Seeing his appearance, many generals were not worried but happy, could it be that Li Zicheng killed him again? They liked it the most.

"Master, it's not good!" Lan Tianbao rolled the saddle and fell off his horse, and said angrily: "There is a plague in the camp of Li Zicheng's department!" ”

As soon as he heard this, it was like a thunderbolt on everyone's heads.

Even these generals who lead the troops, who are not afraid of the sky and the earth, suddenly change color.

Zhang Mingwei actually knew that at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the four major killers of the population were military disasters, droughts, locust plagues and plagues.

Among them, the plague is the most terrifying. According to historical records, once a plague occurs, often an area is wiped out. There is even a rumor that the fall of the Ming Dynasty was actually the death of the plague.

In the 17th year of Chongzhen, there happened to be a plague in Beijing, and most of the soldiers defending the city were recruited, so it was equivalent to an undefended city, so it was calmly captured by Li Zicheng.

It is said that Li Zicheng's subordinates were also infected with the plague at this time, but there was an incubation period and did not break out immediately. Immediately after Wu Sangui sacrificed Shanhaiguan, just in the midst of a stone battle, the plague passed the incubation period and broke out on a large scale, so that Li Zicheng's troops, after that, faced the offensive of Jianyu, had no power to fight back.

Now, if Li Zicheng's plague in the army is really a plague, then Zhang Mingwei has no way, and he has no rule of law for this disease.

Therefore, after hearing Lan Tianbao's message, he hurriedly asked, "What kind of plague is it?" What are the symptoms? ”

"Back to the master, it's the wind cold!" Lan Tianbao replied with panic, "When I inspected Li Zicheng's camp, I found a lot of dead bodies, and there were many people lying there, coughing, runny nose, and afraid of cold, so I knew that the situation was not good, so I immediately rushed to report it." ”

Hearing this, Wang Erbiao, who was next to Zhang Mingwei, was startled and hurriedly hid to the side. At this time, the other generals also came back to their senses, and one by one they were obviously a little far away from the blue sky.

And Lan Tianbao also came back to his senses, and was immediately shocked, and hurriedly retreated, and said in a panic: "Master, I forgot, damn it, I really damn it......"

At this moment, the calmest person in the Chinese military tent is still Zhang Mingwei, as long as it is not the plague, he is actually not afraid. In fact, even if it was the plague, he was not afraid. Because he is physically traveling, he has received many vaccines on his body, including the plague.

I only heard Zhang Mingwei say to him: "It's just a cold wind, it's not a big deal, don't be so alarmed!" ”

Wind chill is a common disease for future generations, even if you don't go to the hospital, you can buy some medicine and eat by yourself.

However, for people in this era, wind chill is really not a minor illness. The son of Emperor Qianlong of the Manchu Qing Dynasty died of cold. It can be seen that wind chill was incurable in ancient times.

Therefore, when these people in the Chinese military tent saw that Zhang Mingwei was the most calm, they all showed admiration.

The prince is not afraid of danger, which is really embarrassing for those of them who are soldiers.

If you really want to talk about it, among the people present, whose life is as valuable as the country's wealth? The prince is not afraid, so what else is there to be afraid of?

Not to mention, Zhang Mingwei's performance, as soon as he calmed the audience, things would be easier to handle. Otherwise, if they all panic, it will be difficult to control. And this, in fact, is what Li Zicheng and they are looking forward to the most.