The new army all the way out of Pei County, Feng County through Dangshan into the territory of Henan Guide Mansion, a into Henan, the scene immediately turned, compared with the stability and prosperity of Xuzhou boundary, Henan is uninhabited in many places, all over the barren, most of the people have fled to Huguang and Jianghuai and other places, some simply went west to the righteous army, only some of the old and weak people are also dressed in tatters, skinny, fortunately there has not been a defeat in the army, indicating that the war in the west has not affected Kaifeng for the time being.

On the fifteenth day of the first month, the new army finally arrived in Kaifeng, the people in the city have not been affected by the war, it is still a piece of stability, in the end it is an important town in the Central Plains, the ancient capital of several dynasties, the degree of prosperity is no less than the implementation of the new policy for several years of Xuzhou, the scale is still excessive.

The people of Kaifeng City are also full of curiosity about this new army, which is obviously different from the old Ming army inside and out, and they have pointed at it, these soldiers are wearing new military uniforms, and they look cold and domineering on the surface, and they can't get close. But after entering the city, there were neat queues and steps, and the eyes did not squint, showing that this army had strict discipline and high spirit. There are also some knowledgeable people and literati who praise it.

On the second floor of a restaurant on the street, two scribes were sitting by the window, apparently cooking wine. A white-shirted scribe about thirty years old on the left looked at the new army that was passing along the street downstairs for a while, and said with a smile: "Brother Qiankun, what do you think of this new army?" ”

"A new word is enough." Another scribe said solemnly.

"Yes, I heard that this Zhu Hao is only twenty-four or five years old, but he can create such a mighty division in just a few years, I really don't know how he did it."

"Kairu, if you want to know, just ask him yourself." The scribe known as Qiankun quipped.

"Brother Qiankun, don't provoke me, the younger brother is looking for a chance to visit this young governor."

"Your brother is a great talent, didn't he say back then that he would never go down the mountain if he didn't meet Mingjun? How did you move your mortal heart? You must know that this Zhu Hao is not qualified to sit in the world. ”

"Don't hide it from my brother, the younger brother is indeed a little tempted, I also heard about Xuzhou, and I went there once some time ago, it is really impressive, and the younger brother is ashamed of Zhu Hao's talent."

"Indeed, this Zhu Hao's talent is difficult for ordinary people to achieve, but because of this, it is difficult for him to sit in a big position if he can achieve great things."

"Forget it, don't talk about this, do you think this Zhu Hao is a bit big? Riding a high-headed horse through the streets, aren't you afraid of someone assassinating you? The scribe said suddenly.

He didn't say this loudly, but he was still heard by a veiled woman at the next table, and her body trembled slightly.

Another scribe glanced at the woman intentionally or unintentionally and said, "Hmph, do you think this Zhu Hao is the person who is entrusted to the great, you look at these soldiers under him, I'm afraid that the army of the whole Ming Dynasty is not an opponent combined, you don't have to guard against him?" I've already seen a few figures with firearms on the roof of the opposite house, and I'm afraid there are some of his people in this restaurant who are staring at us. I dare to assert that whoever dares to act rashly will be shot into a honeycomb in no time! ”

The woman next door seemed to listen intently to the words of the two men, and her clenched fists gradually loosened.

This time when Zhu Hao entered the city, he only brought a regiment of troops and a few personal guards to the governor's yamen, and Gao Mingheng, the governor of Henan, had long been looking forward to it, leading a group of Henan officials to wait at the yamen.

Gao Mingheng is in his forties, he is step by step to the governor with seniority, it is said that the governor is one level older than the governor, even if Zhu Hao is not the governor of Henan, Gao Mingheng should also go out of the city to meet him, but he does not think of this twenty-year-old governor, he always feels that Zhu Hao is just luck, so he did not plan to greet him with the courtesy of the next official.

Zhu Hao saw it in his eyes, and he didn't care, the two of them met the courtesy, and entered the inner hall of the yamen to talk, and there was also Kaifeng guard general Chen Yongfu, about forty years old, looking like a standard military general.

"Master Hou has worked hard from afar, and the official has prepared a little wine to wash the dust for Master Hou." Gao Mingheng wants to fulfill the friendship of the landlord.

"Don't be busy, Lord Gao, Ben Shuai wants to know the current garrison situation of Kaifeng City immediately." Zhu Hao waved his hand.

"Yes, Master Hou is really an official model when he is concerned about business! General Chen, you report the garrison of Kaifeng. Gao Mingheng saw that Zhu Hao didn't answer, and he was a little embarrassed.

"Returning to the two adults, there are currently 20,000 soldiers and horses in Kaifeng City, and there are also many garrisons in Zhongmu, Xuanwu, Chenliu and other places, with a total of no less than 30,000 people, Kaifeng is an important town in the Central Plains, and these troops are a little stretched, so it is all up to the two adults to deal with." Chen Yongfu said respectfully, most of which was said to Zhu Hao.

At first, Chen Yongfu was still unimpressed with the new army, how could the 20,000 soldiers and horses brought by you Zhu Hao stop Li Zicheng's 70,000 army? But since seeing the appearance of the new army, he changed his mind, he is a military general, leading troops all the year round, and he can see that the combat effectiveness of the new army is by no means comparable to ordinary people, maybe he can really hold Kaifeng, but he is a little dissatisfied with Gao Mingheng's score.

"Hmm. Although the number of troops is small, but with my new army, it is still considerable, in this way, I will leave two regiments to help you defend the city, and I will take other troops out of the city, looking for an opportunity to annihilate the living force of the thieves, what do you think? Zhu Hao thought for a while.

"If Li Zicheng really breaks Luoyang, according to the development speed of the thieves, I am afraid that there will be more than 100,000 by the time of Kaifeng, can Master Hou be sure?" Gao Mingheng didn't have that much confidence, after all, the peasant army's military strength was there.

"This doesn't matter, as long as the two of you stick to Kaifeng, I have my own way to get rid of Li Zicheng." Zhu Hao said lightly.

"Since this is the case, then the official will first wish the Hou Ye a victory." Gao Mingheng couldn't persuade Zhu Hao, so he had to go with him.

After having a dinner at the governor's yamen, Zhu Hao returned to the barracks overnight and convened a meeting of the generals.

A huge map hung in the center of the big tent, and Zhu Hao pointed to the map and the sand table and began the pre-war deployment.

"Qishan, you first talk about Li Zicheng's troop deployment."

"It's the marshal, the peasant army has deployed about 50,000 troops around Luoyang, and it seems that it is going all out. In addition, Yongning, Mianchi, Yiyang and other cities in western Henan have some troops, and there are more than 10,000 soldiers and horses near Ruzhou, and the main force is in Zhenping, commanded by Gu Ying. Du Qishan still has a gloomy emphasis.

"Well, the situation is not bad enough to get out of hand. The 1st Division sent 1st Regiment and 2nd Regiment to garrison Kaifeng, the 3rd Regiment crossed the Yellow River north, and went directly to Mengxian through Yangwu and Huaiqing, and waited for an opportunity to read the Yellow River from Mengxian County, captured Mengjin, and the 4th Regiment went westward, occupied the Tiger Prison Pass before Li Zicheng arrived, and blocked the attack layer by layer, except for the 3rd Regiment, the rest of the troops were not equipped with heavy artillery. The cavalry brigade went from Xinzheng to Dengfeng to the south of Luoyang, and cooperated with the three regiments to capture Luoyang. Hu Jianye's army went against the current to support Meng Jin. The Fourth Division, as the main force, is facing Li Zicheng, and I am ready to station the main force in Zhongmu, what do you think? ”

"Sir, although I don't know what your intentions are for this arrangement, I have to say what I think." Luo Yunqu was the first to speak this time.

"Just say."

"You always taught us to raise thieves and respect themselves, but I think your deployment seems to be to wipe out Li Zicheng's dumplings, is that right?"

"Yes, this formation is clearly for Li Zicheng's life, handsome, is there anything greasy in it?" Zhao Yuansheng was also a little puzzled.

"Hehe, your analysis is good, but you just didn't guess what I thought in my heart, Dingguo, tell me?" Zhu Hao said with a smile.

"I don't dare to jump to conclusions, but the arrangement of the big marshal seems to focus on Luoyang City, not Li Zicheng! However, once Luoyang City is destroyed, it doesn't seem to make much sense for us to risk casualties to recover it. Li Dingguo frowned and thought for a long time, and said uncertainly.

"What Dingguo said is very close, but my purpose is not in Luoyang City itself, but in Mengjin!" Zhu Hao saw that everyone was still confused, and continued: "If there are no outsiders here, I won't play dumb riddles with you, why didn't I say it before because there are too many people and can't ruin my plan, and besides, my thoughts are a little disgraceful, so I'm embarrassed to say it." Now, just a few of you, I'll have to tell you sooner or later. In fact, my ultimate goal is not Li Zicheng, nor Luoyang City, but the treasures in the city! ”

"Treasure?" A few people stared at each other, not knowing why.

"Yes, before Li Zicheng conquered Luoyang, this treasure was invisible, once Luoyang became the territory of the peasant army, then the door of this treasure would be open to us!" Zhu Hao said meaningfully.

"Ah, I see, Dashuai is really calculating!" Li Dingguo shouted.

"What did you kid understand, surprised?" Zhao Yuansheng was puzzled.

"It's normal that a few brothers don't understand, but the younger brother has done the rebels, I can't understand the matter here, the big marshal refers to the Fuwang Mansion!" Li Dingguo said with a smile.

"Fu Wang?"

"Yes, you think, King Fu is the emperor's uncle, the beloved son of Emperor Wanli, he has been a vassal for decades, and his family property is absolutely rich and rivals the country, if the country is stable, no one will dare to fight his idea, but what if King Fufu changes his surname to Li?"

"yes, why didn't I think of that? Shine on the thieves... Oh is not the consistent style of the peasant army, after the capture of Luoyang, it will be looted, King Fu's Mansion bears the brunt, King Fu not only has no head, but hundreds of millions of family properties will also become the military resources of the peasant army. When the time comes, let's snatch these things, and it will be the new army, and no one else can say anything! Good plan, I think. Zhao Yuansheng also patted his thigh and shouted.

"Dashuai, how much money does this blessed king have?" Luo Yunqu also said happily, of course, the more money, the better.

"There is no specific data on this, I roughly estimated that the income of Fuwangfu over the years plus the farm house shops, it is estimated that there are tens of millions in total." Zhu Hao thought for a while.

"Hiss!" Several people gasped at the same time, they didn't need to say it in their lives, and they had never even heard of such a big data!

Therefore, the ultimate goal of beating Li Zicheng this time is to justifiably snatch this huge wealth from him. And the key to this battle is Mengjin, here is an important crossing of the Yellow River, I believe that with Li Yan's wisdom will never not be fortified here, so there will be a battle here, once Mengjin is taken by us, the wealth obtained from Luoyang can be transported down the Yellow River and directly to Jining, which is the reason why I sent ships to me, so Mengjin must be defended for me. ”