Li Zicheng made a name for himself in Henan, and then conquered Jiaxian and Yiyang (Ruyang) one after another. Therefore, more and more bandits and thieves in western Henan also took refuge under Li Zicheng's command, allowing him to gather more than 50,000 horses in a short period of time, so that he could continue to attack the city and plunder the land.

And Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan is also overwhelming. In fact, it was not that Zhang Xianzhong's troops suddenly became brave, but that the army in Sichuan withheld food and ammunition materials, and the soldiers had no fighting spirit and no will, so they could not stop Zhang Xianzhong's attack at all.

Zhang Xianzhong successively broke Shifang and Hanzhou (Guanghan), and then passed through Mianzhu, Jintang, Jianzhou, and Ziyang, and entered Anyue and Lezhi.

Yang Sichang let Meng Ruhu and Zhang Yingyuan lead their troops to chase Zhang Xianzhong in the back, but the local army in Sichuan was not strong, so that Zhang Xianzhong could always break through the interception and continue to escape. Because the pursuit was too hard, the soldiers were full of complaints, so that there were rumors such as "you want to kill my left town, run and kill my fierce town". Obviously, the soldiers missed Zuo Liangyu who always stood still, and they were extremely dissatisfied with the fierce tiger who forced them to pursue.

After entering December, Zhang Xianzhong broke through Longchang County, Luzhou, Nanxi County, Rong County, Renshou County, and then arrived in Chengdu. That is to say, since Zhang Xianzhong entered Sichuan from Huguang, they have gone around in a big circle from north to south and from south to north. And the Ming army also followed Zhang Xianzhong and they marched thousands of miles in Sichuan and returned to the original point.

Beijing, Mandarin Palace.

Emperor Chongzhen summoned Chen Xinjia.

After Chen Xinjia knelt down and saluted, Chongzhen asked, "Chen Qing's family, how is the situation in Liaodong?" ”

At this time, the situation in Henan and Sichuan had not yet been reported, so Chongzhen was still more concerned about the situation in Liaodong. Even if the newspaper came up, Chongzhen would think that the thief was just a disease of scabies.

He has already decreed that some of the hardest-hit prefectures and counties will be exempted from taxes, and he has also taken out 20,000 domestic funds to help the victims of the disaster in Hebei, Shandong, and Henan. At the same time, he also sent the Jingying Forbidden Brigade to Henan to suppress the thieves, and the thieves' rebellion should be settled soon. As long as the Qing soldiers in Liaodong are defeated, and after a while, the natural disasters will pass, and then the Ming Dynasty will be prosperous from now on.

Chen Xinjia replied: "Your Majesty, recently, our army and the Qing soldiers have attacked each other, but they are all small groups of men and horses. The Qing soldiers wanted to besiege Jinzhou, but Zu Da Shouli refused, and the Qing soldiers could only be stationed on the periphery of Jinzhou to harass them, and were not allowed to approach. ”

"What countermeasures does Hong Chengchou have?" Chongzhen asked.

Chen Xinjia replied: "Governor Hong has already sent troops to the two cities of Songshan and Xingshan, thinking that Jinzhou should respond. However, the troops were insufficient, so they could only hold on to the city, and did not dare to rashly fight the enemy. ”

Emperor Chongzhen frowned and said, "Have the officers and soldiers to be recruited have been decided?" ”

"Your Majesty, it's decided." Chen Xinjia said: "They are the department of Yang Guozhu, the general soldier of Xuanfu, the department of Wang Pu, the general soldier of Datong, the department of Tang Tong, the general army of Jizhen, and the department of the Yulin General Army, with a total of more than 70,000 officers and soldiers, 40,000 horses, and 10,000 mules. ”

Chongzhen pondered in his heart for a while, and then nodded: "In this way, together with the existing strength in Liaodong, there are more than 100,000 troops, which is more than twice the Qing army, so there should be some chance of victory." How is the grain and grass prepared? ”

"100,000 loads of grain and 50,000 bunches of pasture have been transported. After the ice melts and snows next year, we can set sail from Tianjin and continue to transport the grain and grass hoarded there to Liaodong by sea. This batch of grain and grass is enough to support the army for more than a year, please rest assured. Chen Xinjia reported.

"Then send a letter to these chief officers and let them prepare." Chongzhen commanded.

Chen Xinjia arched his hand and said: "The minister will give them an order immediately." ”

Chongzhen reminded: "I want to remind Hong Chengchou that he must be cautious, and take advantage of this opportunity to completely defeat Jiannu!" Relieve my worries about the north, and restore the peace of eternity. ”

"Obey."

Henan, Guide City, prefect Yamen.

"Fuzun." Wang Shixiu, the official of Guide Mansion, said: "Then Liu Yuanbin is too disagreeable! They follow the thieves, they don't fight the thieves, they specialize in looting, like the thieves' rear team. The only difference with thieves is that they only steal food and goods and do not burn houses. In the past ten days, tens of thousands of displaced people have been created, and our city can no longer accommodate it. ”

Su Jing said helplessly: "This mansion is helpless." Liu Neishi is a close minister, and he brought the Beijing Forbidden Brigade, and he said that it was the mansion, even Governor Li couldn't dispatch it. And people are here to help us exterminate the thieves, who made our soldiers incompetent? Only dare to stand at the head of the city to guard, and dare not go out of the city to suppress thieves, what a humiliation for yourself! ”

"Then you can't let Liu Yuanbin continue to do evil!" Wang Shixiu said loudly.

Su Jing thought for a while and asked, "What are the movements of the Hou Mansion, Ye Mansion, and Shen Mansion in the city?" ”

"There's not much to be done yet." Wang Shixiu replied.

Su Jing waved his hand and said: "This Liu Yuanbin was invited by these families, and they also have a lot of land outside the city, so they won't pay attention to it when they come to loot." It's better for them to worry about it, there is nothing they can do about it. ”

"Fuzun," Wang Shixiu arched his hand and said, "Haven't you heard about Suizhou?" ”

"Suizhou?" Su Jing thought for a moment and said, "You mean that Li Yan defeated the thieves in Suizhou?" ”

"yes, that's it." Wang Shixiu nodded and said, "Can you let Li Yan bring troops over to help exterminate the thieves?" ”

Su Jing thought of his temptation to Li Yan when he had just received the appointment from Gao Sheng, Li Yan's meaning was very clear, it was okay to help, but it couldn't be in vain. Li Yan didn't want money and goods, he wanted an official position, and Su Jing couldn't give it.

He shook his head and said, "It's hard. He went to Suizhou to suppress bandits, that is, Suizhou is adjacent to Qi County, and the Suizhou thieves become bigger, which also has an impact on Qi County. But let's go to Germany, I'm afraid he won't come. Besides, there is no name for him. ”

Wang Shixiu frowned and thought for a while, and asked, "Does Fuzun mean that Li Yan wants a name?" Want an official position? ”

Su Jing nodded and said, "This Li Yan has a lot of thoughts. But he is definitely capable, and the soldiers he has trained are more than enough to deal with thieves. It is also with his help that I was able to resettle the people in Qixian County and resume production. But when I regrouped my troops here, you saw that none of them could hold up the wall. All of them are guts rats with no ambitions! ”

Wang Shixiu sighed: "Alas~ It's a pity that General Gao Yuanheng Gao died." If I had gone out with him that time, it probably wouldn't have happened. ”

"Forget it, let's wait and see." Su Jing said helplessly: "We can't interfere with such things." As long as we keep this Guide Mansion and don't lose it, we will be worthy of Your Majesty's kindness. ”