Li Yan walked on the street with his troops, and the people on the road, both men and women, were not the slightest surprised, they had seen more soldiers these days. The Lewen Yamen issued an order, a man does not go to the city, immediately beheaded, that is not a joke, the first few days, but a lot of arrests, people are afraid. In addition, the government said that Li Chuang was injured last time he opened the seal, so he came to slaughter the city this time, which made the people participate in the battle to defend the city.

When they came to the palace, Li Yan asked Feng Cheng to wait outside with his troops, and he only took Sun Sifu and Liang Zhenfang in. The three of them were taken by Cao Chengfeng of the palace and went straight to the side hall of the palace. Along the way, Li Yan saw carved beams and paintings, yellow tiles and vermilion paint, and was not affected by the siege of thieves in the slightest.

Before entering the side hall, all three were asked to hand over their weapons and were searched to make sure that no dangerous things were brought in.

After Li Yan entered, he was asked to sit down, serve tea, and let him wait first. Li Yan was not polite, he sat down and picked up the snacks on the coffee table to pad his stomach first, and signaled Sun Sifu and Liang Zhenfang not to be polite. They rushed all the way from Chenliu, and they hadn't eaten lunch yet, so they were naturally hungry.

While they were eating, Gao Mingheng was also brought in. King Zhou is still very measured, even in wartime, he is not willing to leave behind the handle of privately summoning military generals, and invited Gao Mingheng, the governor.

Li Yan took a sip of tea, sent the snack in his mouth down, and hugged his fists to salute: "The last general has seen Futai." ”

Gao Mingheng had a profound impression of Li Yan, nodded and said, "Sit down, you're welcome." You came in time yesterday, otherwise Kaifeng would be in danger. ”

Li Yan hugged his fists and said: "Futai is praised." ”

Gao Mingheng sat down and said with a smile: "No need to be formal. When I saw you in Qixian that day, I knew that you must be extraordinary, but I didn't expect that after only one year, I would accumulate merit and be banned as a guerrilla. The court has a fierce general like you, which is really a blessing for the court and the people. ”

"Thank you to Futai for your support." Li Yan hugged his fists and thanked him.

"Chitose arrived" suddenly a sharp voice sounded, so that every corner of the hall could be heard clearly.

Gao Mingheng also stood up and bowed to King Zhou, who came out of the back hall, and saluted with his fists. Li Yan was the same, but he didn't kneel, just clasped his fists and bowed.

"Greetings to Chitose."

King Zhou sat down and did not let them be exempted, but remained silent and did not speak. He was quite happy to see this Li Yan with outstanding combat power. But as soon as he came out, he saw four people bending down and clasping their fists in salute. Gao Mingheng doesn't matter, he is a Wenqu star, the governor of Henan, and he doesn't kneel. However, Li Yan, the general, and Li Yan's two personal soldiers also stood and did not kneel, which made him very dissatisfied.

He was waiting, waiting for Li Yan to kneel. But after waiting for a while, Li Yan and the three of them did not react. However, Gao Mingheng raised his head and wanted to see what the situation of King Zhou was.

"No courtesy." King Zhou had no choice but to give a reluctant order. Now is the time to employ people, and he doesn't want to have more complications. But if you give it to sit down, you will be exempted, after all, it is the emperor and noble, and this bit of prestige must be maintained.

"I don't know what Chitose is about letting the minister come," Gao Mingheng asked first.

King Zhou said with a smile: "I called Gao Qing to come because I wanted to discuss with Gao Qing how to transfer General Li's troops to assist in guarding Kaifeng Although the thieves retreated, the thieves moved quickly, came and went suddenly, and they couldn't be prevented." As a precaution, the king wanted General Li's team to also come to help defend Kaifeng, to ensure the safety of hundreds of thousands of people, and let the thieves cut off the north-south connection. ”

Gao Mingheng nodded and said, "What Chitose said is very true, and the minister fully agrees. ”

They all automatically ignored Ding Qirui, who was the governor, and now Ding Qirui only had a few hundred standard battalions around him, which really had no weight. Moreover, Zuo Liangyu, He Renlong, Niu Chenghu and other generals did not listen to his dispatch very much, so they didn't want Ding Qirui to meddle in Henan's affairs.

"General Li, how many men and horses are there under his command now" The prince of Zhou asked Li Yan at the signal of King Zhou.

Li Yan hugged his fists and said: "The four hundred guards of the last general have not eaten lunch yet, please ask the palace to help prepare the meal." ”

King Zhou nodded with a tense face, and the prince said, "Don't worry, it's already arranged." General Li is asked to tell me the truth. ”

"The last general will command 20,000 tigers." Li Yan said less.

In the hearts of King Zhou and Gao Mingheng, it was subtracted by thirty percent for him. But they are still quite satisfied, there are more than 10,000 soldiers, which is already a lot. Even Chen Yongfu, the chief military officer, has only more than 20,000 under his command, and there are only seven or eight thousand that can be used in Kaifeng City. They all knew the strength of Li Yan's troops, so they were quite satisfied with the force of more than 10,000 people.

Shizi ordered: "Then ask General Li to let the troops camp in the west and south of the city, and guard against thieves attacking the city again." ”

"The last general's subordinates have been fighting for days and days, exhausted, and short of food." Li Yan said solemnly.

Shizi said impatiently: "I have prepared a thousand stone of food for you, and other bows and crossbows and ammunition are all being prepared. In addition, each person was also rewarded with three taels of silver, and General Li did not have to worry. ”

"Please send the food and bounty to the last general's barracks first to boost morale." Li Yan immediately pleaded.

King Zhou nodded, and the prince immediately ordered to go down and let the subordinates handle it immediately.

"Please General Li go back and command the soldiers as soon as possible and take strict precautions." The prince commanded again.

Li Yan waited for a while before clenching his fists and saying, "Lord Wang, Futai." The last general could leave 3,000 men to help defend Kaifeng, but the rest of the troops were to be taken away. It is the duty of the last general to guard the Uthu Mansion, and the last general has an unshirkable responsibility. And if all the troops are concentrated in Kaifeng, the thieves will besiege again in the future, and the defense will still be difficult. However, the last general led the troops to fight guerrilla on the outside line, and he was more able to cooperate with the defenders in the city to fight against the thieves besieging the city. ”

"Three thousand is too little," King Zhou finally spoke: "Keep five thousand." ”

Li Yan clenched his fists and said confidently: "A thousand years old, three thousand is enough." The combat power under my command, presumably Chitose also knows, can completely withstand the attack of the thieves. ”

"Then how many troops do you plan to leave on the outer line," King Zhou asked with a frown.

Li Yan replied: "10,000 soldiers." However, in terms of food and salary, it is necessary to ask the prince and Futai to help more, so that the soldiers can have the strength to fight. In case thieves besiege Kaifeng again, please allocate a month of use to keep it safe. ”

King Zhou said dissatisfiedly: "Add another 500 stone to the grain, a total of 1,500 stone, and more food can only be asked for by the military department." ”

Li Yan was a little disappointed, hugged his fists and said, "Lord Xie, then the general will retire." ”

King Zhou raised his hand and asked Li Yan to retreat, and Gao Mingheng quickly left.

Shizi frowned and said: "Father, this Li Yan is also an insatiable person, and he is unruly, so he may not be a good candidate." ”

King Zhou nodded and said slowly, "Then let's take a look again." ”

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