The ten-day deadline was coming quickly, and Li Yan had been paying attention to the news in Beijing these days, and found that although Li Zicheng's troops had been transferred out of the city, they had no intention of sending troops south. And he was rewarded, and there was no sign of increasing troops in Cangzhou, Dezhou and other places in person.

At this time, Li Mu's troops had just arrived in Binzhou, and he could only rejoice that Li Zicheng was not decisive enough. Communication between them could only be done by fast horses, and Li Mu was at the southernmost tip of Shandong, so the movement of troops seemed slow.

Li Mu still had five or six days to come over, but Li Yan didn't dare to die. If Li Zicheng came south to attack, he would definitely come to the nest, and Tianjin was also unstable and could not be used as a strong place to defend it. So he was ready to retreat, and the granary was ready with fire oil, ready to be lit at any moment. And the craftsmen who repaired the ships in the port were also taken care of and had to be taken away.

He had tried to persuade the sailors of the ships anchored in the harbor to sail to Laizhou, but the sailors did not agree. Although it is dangerous to run by sea, there is also a lot of money, these sailors can earn dozens of silver trucks on a trip to the sea, where would they give up such a good job to serve Li Yan

Li Zicheng did not send troops, which was also a last resort. His troops had always been in the city of Beijing, but since then, soldiers in the barracks have been infected with diseases and even died. At first, it was only a few a day, but then it became dozens of people a day, and the military medical officers were helpless. At this time, the officers below reported that there might be an epidemic in the barracks.

This also caused the outbreak of the epidemic in the barracks, and the spread was a large area. In Shangluo Mountain, they were attacked by the plague, and nearly thirty percent of the old brothers did not survive. So Li Zicheng immediately ordered to take measures and let all the barracks be stationed outside the city.

Only then did he notice that there were also people dying of the plague in the capital, and it had started since February, before he came. He didn't say a word, and directly wiped out all the imperial histories of the city patrol that he had appointed in his original position. At the same time, Liu Zongmin was ordered to be in charge of patrolling the whole city, and posted a list to find a doctor who could cure the plague.

And Wu Sangui's soldiers and horses have been stationed outside the city, but they have not been affected. However, now that Li Zicheng's descendants have been attacked by the plague, their combat effectiveness has been greatly reduced, and if Wu Sangui is allowed to attack Li Yan at this time, if the war is unfavorable, it will be a big trouble.

After all, Wu Sangui only had 30,000 horses, and they were 400,000 troops at the beginning, but they had to retreat after the attack was fruitless. If Wu Sangui is defeated, what should Beijing do or don't attack rashly, Li Yan should not dare to fight Beijing alone.

"How is the situation in the camp?" Li Zicheng asked dissatisfiedly in the Qianqing Palace.

He had been paying attention to the enthronement ceremony before, Liu Zongmin and others were busy chasing stolen goods from high-ranking officials, while Niu Jinxing was screening and selecting officials, and Song Xiance was busy asking Tang Ruowang for Western almanacs. They were busy with their own work, and no one noticed the epidemic in the capital, so he was very angry at this time.

Liu Zongmin replied: "It's still like that, a dozen or dozens of deaths every day." Those who were sick had been sent to the outer camp. ”

"No one has unveiled the list yet," Li Zicheng asked again.

Liu Zongmin hesitated for a moment before he said, "I heard that someone can cure it." ”

"Then what are you waiting for, please come over and treat it quickly," Li Zicheng frowned and said.

"Dead." Liu Zongmin said regretfully: "When I first entered the city, there was chaos, and some people said that they had been killed. But I asked the people, and they said it seemed like they were just picking up the knots. However, our sick soldiers do not have pimples on their bodies, so they may not be a disease at all, even if they are alive, it is useless. ”

Li Zicheng instructed: "We must do a good job of patrolling the whole city, burn the corpse in time and tell the old brothers, and we must also be careful." If you lose your life at this time, it will be too unworthy. ”

Liu Zongmin nodded. At this time, he felt that Li Zicheng was not bad, even if he became an emperor, he did not forget his old brothers.

"Transfer some troops from Zhending and Baoding to the future." Li Zicheng instructed: "At the beginning of this epidemic, I don't know how many brothers will be dragged down, and the garrison of the capital cannot be relaxed. ”

Liu Zongmin suggested: "Let's tune from Shanxi and Datong." In case Li Yan comes to attack, he can still resist for a while. ”

Li Zicheng shook his head and said, "It's too late, who knows how many soldiers will fall ill tomorrow." Li Yan has just occupied Shandong, and there should not be many soldiers left. Isn't there still Wu Sangui's troops here, just let them fight. But the capital must be under our control. ”

"Okay. After withstanding this epidemic, let's fight Li Yan again. Liu Zongmin nodded and said: "I have already asked the craftsman battalion to start making artillery trucks, and bring out the Hongyi cannons on the head of the city, which are no worse than Li Yan's cannons." ”

The opponent they can see now is only one Li Yan, and he has no defense against the Qing State outside the Guan. In their minds, they have no conflict with the Qing State, they replace the Ming Dynasty, and there is no dispute with the Qing State, anyway, they have no intention of wanting territory outside the Guan.

But they didn't pay attention to the Qing Kingdom, but the Qing Kingdom was watching this opportunity. When the Qing State knew that Li Zicheng was besieging Beijing, he immediately formulated a plan to enter the customs, intending to reap some benefits.

By the beginning of April, when the Qing finally learned that Chongzhen had committed suicide and that Li Zicheng had invaded Beijing, their goal became to compete with Li Zicheng for land north of the Yellow River. At the same time, the largest mobilization since the founding of the People's Republic of China began, gathering troops and preparing to enter the customs.

In addition to the strong enterprising spirit of the regent Dorgon and Zilharan, the change of the purpose of the war in the middle of this period was of course indispensable to the strong invitation of the Hanchens. Most of the Manchurian kings and banner owners just wanted to come in and pick up the cheap, after all, they went deep into the interior several times and besieged the capital, but they didn't defeat it. However, Li Zicheng entered Beijing City within a few days, and this kind of combat power also made them very jealous.

However, the Hanchen knew that as long as the relevant internal regime existed, even if it was replaced by Da Ming to Da Shun, they were all traitors, and they would all be nailed to the history books and be reviled by future generations. Therefore, only when the Qing State enters the Central Plains and wins the country, can they become heroes admired by everyone and heroes of the founding of the country.

Among them, Fan Wencheng, who had just been almost robbed of his wife by Duoduo, dragged his sick body back and offered a strategy of avenging Chongzhen, and suggested treating the people well and taking military discipline seriously, so that the people in the pass could forget the impression of the Qing army's cruelty and murder.

Hong Chengchou, on the other hand, suggested that the Qing soldiers enter the customs through the Central Association and the Western Association and go straight to Beijing. For Shanhaiguan, it is to send a force to contain the defenders first, and if the defenders come to the rescue of Beijing, they will be annihilated in the field. If the defenders do not move, they can attack inside and outside in the future and control Shanhaiguan in their hands. In the future, when entering and leaving the hinterland, the movement will be free, and as long as you conquer a few more times, the land north of the Yellow River will be able to be held in your hands sooner or later.

It was precisely because these suggestions were so operable that the Qing State completed the largest war mobilization, recruiting 100,000 troops to fight in the customs. In order to restore the territory of the Jin State and even enter the Central Plains.

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