They supervised the captives to dig pits and bury their bodies. The captives did not flee either, after all, there were three times their size of the army supervising them.

Since they are using captives to work, the general military and others are naturally willing to set high standards and strict requirements. Each pit is seven feet deep, and after two layers of corpses are placed, a layer of lime is laid, and then the pit is filled in and stepped on. They don't care whose field it is, whether anyone is cultivating it or not, and they can complete the task.

After they returned to Guide City, they were retrained by Li Yan. Although the training was very tiring and hard, the food provided was good and I don't know how much, which also made most of the soldiers willing to continue training.

In the past few days, Su Jing has been circling between the major families, explaining and communicating with these official gentry, and the ultimate goal is to make them not give up Li Yan. He had already sent a merit request to Kaifeng and the capital before this, so what he had to do now was to let those officials and gentry impeach Li Yan at the same time, but also report Li Yan's merits. In this way, you can give a good impression to the imperial court, at least you can make a meritorious service and redeem yourself, and keep your position first.

And Li Yan didn't care about those gentry at all, since he had already come, he would not leave easily. He deliberately forced away some officers and soldiers, just to let these officers and soldiers attack those big families, so that he could have enough reason to charge them protection money. However, what he didn't expect was that even after the start of the training, there were only less than 200 officers and soldiers, which seemed to be a little less.

But this is nothing, and in the name of resting, he also stopped the pursuit of the remnants of the thieves in the area east of Guide City. Instead, let Li Mu be responsible for starting to set up villages in the Ningling area of Suizhou, divide the fields, and recruit new soldiers.

Qian Er also came with troops and 2,000 recruits, but he did not go to Guide City, but stopped in Suizhou. Qian Er and Huang Desheng's troops began to expand first, and new officers at all levels were appointed according to the rewards for meritorious personnel approved by Li Yan.

These officers who were promoted and rewarded all gathered in Guide City, received Li Yan in the barracks, and received the letter of appointment issued by Li Yan himself, and then they could go to the army to take up their posts.

When Su Jing finally explained the influential wealthy families, he found that Li Yan had been staying in the city, and Yucheng County, Xiayi County, Yongcheng County and other places had repeatedly asked for reinforcements to go over to exterminate the local thieves.

"General Li," Su Jing summoned Li Yan to the mansion, frowned and asked, "Have you seen the report of the soldiers in Yucheng and other places?" When are you going to leave? ”

Li Yan said casually: "Not sure." ”

"What do you mean by not sure?!" Su Jing asked dissatisfiedly.

Li Yan explained: "There are not enough soldiers now, and it will take some time. ”

"You're letting the thieves recover!" Su Jing said loudly: "In this way, the battle you fought before is completely useless!" ”

Li Yan said helplessly: "The thieves have been hit hard, but the losses of my troops are not small, and they also need to rest and replenish." Now the forces in my hands can only defend the city, and they are powerless to attack. ”

"Where are all the original soldiers? Just let them defend the city, and you will take your men to the east to suppress the thieves!" If any county town is lost, neither of us can afford to bear the guilt! Su Jing didn't listen to Li Yan's explanation, and ordered directly.

Li Yan refused: "Not yet." Those soldiers need to be trained, and it is impossible to hunt down thieves until their training is over. ”

"Then you can only ask for more blessings for yourself!" Su Jing said bluntly: "If you can't satisfy those eunuchs, they will transfer you immediately!" ”

Li Yan sneered and said, "Let them be." When they are tired of tossing, they will know who can really exterminate the thieves and let them live in peace. ”

Su Jing asked helplessly, "How much time do you want?" "He is now an alliance with Li Yan, if Li Yan is transferred, then he will be sandwiched between the official army and the big clan, and become a rat in the bellows, angry at both ends.

Li Yan said with a smile: "Fuzun can rest assured, sharpen the knife and don't cut wood." When I'm ready, I'll be able to wipe out the thieves in no time. At that time, the imperial court will definitely add some burdens to the mansion, after all, those who can work harder. ”

"Those who can work harder?" Su Jing thought for a moment, and then said with a smile: "Well, this is a good statement." ”

Liaodong, outside Jinzhou.

The Qing army now surrounded Jinzhou and camped four or five miles away from Jinzhou City, with eight camps on each side. Outside the barracks were ditches and earthen walls, and ditches were dug before the two flags. The soldiers had to patrol outside the long trench to prevent Zu Dashou from sneaking up on him in Jinzhou City.

The Qing army mobilized the peasants of Yizhou City to participate in the excavation of the trench, and there was no shortage of tools and manpower, so Jinzhou City was quickly besieged. Zu Dashou could only watch from the top of the city as the ditches outside the city connected to each other, and besieged him, but there was no way at all.

It's not that he hasn't gone out of the city to fight, but the Qing army has long been prepared, and he will lose troops when he goes out, and it has no effect at all. So now he can only guard the city defense and defend Jinzhou City. Fortunately, in the first month, Wu Sangui took advantage of the Chinese New Year and when the Qing army's defense was lax, he brought in nearly 20,000 stone of grain to Jinzhou City, which gave him the bottom of his heart and was able to hold the city.

In the afternoon, the Qing army patrolled outside the long trench, and the Mongol soldiers in the outer city also patrolled along the trench. Both sides were the Uliangha Mongols, except that one side was loyal to the Ming court, while the other side surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. After the two sides met, they did not start a battle, but began to talk.

"Hey!" The Mongol leader in the trench shouted, "How long have you been here?" Why haven't I seen you before? ”

"Just here," replied the Mongol leader outside the trench, "I have just been sent by the Qing Emperor to help besiege you." See these ravines and camps? You can't get out. There are several large camps in the distance, and your reinforcements will not be able to enter! Surrender or starve to death. ”

The Mongol leader in the trench shouted with a smile: "How can we starve to death if we have enough food in the city for three years?" ”

The Mongol leader outside the trench laughed and said, "For the sake of my people, I remind you, needless to say, you have enough food to eat for three years, that is, enough to eat for four years, and you have nothing to eat in the fifth year, right?" This time, the Qing Emperor has issued a strict decree that Jinzhou must be defeated. ”

The face of the Mongol leader in the city changed, and the food in the city could be eaten until the end of the year at most, and he said that he could eat it for three years, but it was just a bluff. However, from the tone of the same clan who helped the Qing soldiers in the war, it was known that the Qing court might really be besieged for a long time this time.

He smiled and said, "Then you can continue the siege and see which of us falls first." May the Immortal Heaven bless you. ”

"May the Immortal Heaven bless you too." The Mongol leaders outside the trenches also politely blessed them.

After that, the two groups of Mongol soldiers continued to patrol along their respective routes, getting farther and farther apart.

The faces of the Mongol soldiers in the trenches were not good-looking, and they all knew that their fate seemed to be doomed, and it was up to them to choose whether to live or die.

...