Li Yan is quite idle in Beijing, and occasionally goes to the imperial city to wander around.

The officials in the capital all went south to Nanjing one after another, and only those minor officials remained. Li Yan also happened to use these officials to do things, and temporarily promoted a few to be the chief officials, which can be regarded as an investigation. Anyway, there aren't many things in the capital now, as long as the lawsuits and public security are handled.

As soon as the Qing army retreated, he also sent people to start recruiting and training soldiers in various passes, as long as they reported the information in a timely and accurate manner, and did not need to worry about the rest. Jiang Xiang and others from Datong Xuanfu did not come to attack Nankou, but developed southward, seemingly wanting to occupy Shanxi. Li Yan was naturally happy to see them making trouble for Li Zicheng, so he watched the excitement on the sidelines.

Wu Sangui and others in the east are still negotiating with Li Yan here. Li Yan doesn't even have a plan to ascend the throne and become an emperor here, how high can he give them an official title? However, the Qing army did retreat, and they alone did not have the confidence to hold it.

The key is that Yongping is not all outsiders, and those local indigenous people are looking forward to Li Yan coming over to give them land. Although the local gentry and landlords did not welcome Li Yan very much, they were also unhappy that Wu Sangui had stationed troops here for a long time. When Li Yan came, their land rent would have to be reduced, and their income would be less, but Wu Sangui was here, and they had been asked to provide money and grain to supply the army, and both sides were losses.

Li Yan asked, "How many war horses are there here in Beijing?" ”

Sun Sifu replied: "There are 5,614 war horses, other mules, and more than 4,200 donkeys. ”

Li Yan nodded with satisfaction, the Qing army was still arrogant, even if he was killed a lot of war horses and livestock, he also captured so many war horses. These are mostly the war horses of the Han cavalry, and the casualties of those Manchurian cavalry are really not much.

"Then send a letter to Henan, and let them send all the cavalry trained by the letter. The training is almost the same, and the horses can train faster. Li Yan commanded with a smile.

"Got it."

Li Yan added: "Inform Blacksmith Zhou and ask him to increase the production of cavalry equipment." Our cavalry can be thousands more at once, and we can't do it without equipment. And to get armor for horses, we must also hold on, it must be light and hard, we are not heavy armored cavalry, let them pay attention. ”

"Okay, it's a lowly note." Sun Sifu agreed.

After waiting for a while, Hou Jiantai came in and reported: "Dashuai, Wu Sangui's envoy is here." ”

Li Yan said casually: "Well, I know." You go and give this letter to the returning baggage team, and ask them to take it back and hand it over to the county lord. And then let him in. ”

"Humble duty understands." Hou Jiantai took Li Yan's letter and went out quickly, to catch up with the baggage team that was about to leave in time.

Li Yan is inconvenient to go back now. The forces of all parties are staggered here, and it is still the most convenient for him to be here, at least he can make timely and accurate decisions. So naturally, I couldn't see my newborn daughter, so I could only write letters to my family. However, he didn't want to occupy the already tense delivery horse, so he asked the baggage team to bring it back.

After waiting for two quarters of an hour, She Yiyuan was taken to see Li Yan.

"Shanhaiwei raised people She Yiyuan, and I have seen Generalissimo Anping." She Yiyuan bowed and bowed. Because of his fame, he did not kneel.

Originally, Li Yan didn't care too much about kneeling, so he didn't say anything. asked directly: "If Wu Sangui has any ideas, just say it directly, don't beat around the bush." ”

She Yiyuan is not too strange, anyway, the two sides are now in the confrontation stage, and there is no need to be tactful. So he arched his hand and said: "Ping Xibo wants to ask the generalissimo, since the emperor has been buried and Li Zicheng has also withdrawn from Beijing, why is the generalissimo unwilling to return the crown prince?" ”

Li Yan said with a smile: "If Wu Sangui is really loyal to the Ming Dynasty and the first emperor, then he should immediately go west and attack Li Zicheng in Shanxi, instead of nesting in Yongping Mansion." ”

Li Yan saw that She Yiyuan wanted to speak, so he didn't give him a chance to speak, and continued: "No need to make excuses, as long as his troops follow the route I specified, my troops will not stop him." Not only did I not stop him, but I also supplemented him with some grain and grass every month, so that he could go all out to attack Li Zicheng, avenge the emperor, and regain the crown prince as soon as possible. ”

She Yiyuan was so blocked that he couldn't speak, and looked at Li Yan in a daze.

Li Yan continued: "By the way, when he surrendered to Li Zicheng, I will treat it as if it never happened, so he doesn't have to care." ”

She Yiyuan didn't say anything now. Wu Sangui, Tang Tong, and Gao Di all surrendered to Li Zicheng, and now it is really a loss to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty.

But he had come to deliver the message, and there was something to be said. He arched his hand and said: "What Ping Xibo means is that he hopes that the generalissimo can allow him to let the Guan Ning soldiers continue to guard Shanhaiguan and Yongping Mansion." As long as the generalissimo allows it, Guan Ningbing will strictly guard the line of Shanhaiguan and prevent the Qing army from taking advantage of it. ”

"If there's anything else, let's just say it together." Li Yan knew that there were other conditions, so he simply ordered.

She Yiyuan said: "Please ask the generalissimo to allocate 600,000 stone of grain and 1.5 million taels of silver every year." and allowed the food tax of Yongpyeong Province to be used for military purposes. ”

Li Yan sneered and said, "You go back and tell Wu Sangui that this request is too high, and I can't agree." Let them discuss it again and come up with a condition that I can accept. Although negotiation is about bargaining, you can't just say that it is a sky-high price, or how can you negotiate? ”

She Yiyuan nodded, indicating understanding. After that, he asked, "When is the Generalissimo ready to go further?" ”

Li Yan was stunned for a moment and asked, "What do you mean by this?" ”

"What do students mean, when will the generalissimo ascend the throne and become emperor?" She Yiyuan explained: "Zhili, Shandong, and Henan are all owned by the generalissimo. The foundation of the generalissimo's hegemony has been completed, why not ascend the throne as soon as possible and become the emperor? The affairs of the world are only in the hearts of the people. If the scholars return to their hearts, the people will return to their hearts, and then the world will be available. ”

Li Yan sneered in his heart, these scholars only think about getting to the top of the imperial examination and becoming officials. But he didn't want to use these nerds with different practices, so he didn't care about She Yiyuan's advice.

And the current situation is actually the most dangerous for him. He was surrounded by Li Zicheng, the Qing court, and Nanjing. When he ascended the throne and became emperor at this time, didn't he let these three families unite against him? Although Nanming was restrained by Zhang Xianzhong and would not have much strength to come to the Northern Expedition, Henan as his base must not be lost. So in the short term, he has no intention of becoming emperor.

He said with a smile: "Sheju people don't have to worry, I will make the best use of those who can do things." The imperial examination or something, don't think about it for the time being. On the occasion of the Ding Revolution, only talents are moved, and those superficial articles are not done. ”

She Yiyuan pondered for a moment and arched his hand: "The student has been taught." Then the student took his leave. ”

"Don't be in such a hurry, take a look around the city first and enjoy the style of the imperial capital." Li Yan casually persuaded.

She Yiyuan knew that this was Li Yan's delaying plan, but he didn't want to give up this opportunity to show favor to Li Yan, and he also left himself an extra way back. So he bowed down and hugged his fists and accepted Li Yan's suggestion.

...