Li Yan, who was in Kaifeng, received a pigeon letter from Zhou He, and after knowing that Yanling County was surrounded by Li Zicheng, he immediately gave an order to Qian Er of Taikang, asking him to immediately lead a rapid army to reinforce Yanling. And Wang Renfu, who was also in Taikang, was also ordered to leave the troops who stayed behind to guard the county seat of Taikang, and other troops also marched to Fugou to reinforce Yanling.

At the same time, he also asked Li Zhong to mobilize mobile troops and go to Tongxu to converge first. He also immediately prepared here, planning to take 20,000 troops south and fight a decisive battle with Li Zicheng.

His idea was very simple, since Li Zicheng's army was gathered in Yanling, then he would also concentrate his troops and have a decisive battle with Li Zicheng. Kaifeng can mobilize 20,000 troops, Li Zhong can concentrate 10,000 troops, plus the rapid troops and Wang Renfu's more than 6,000 people, he can concentrate nearly 40,000 troops.

40,000 versus 400,000, although it sounds like a huge disparity, but when fighting, the thieves are just tens of thousands of people to attack. In Armageddon, he had absolute confidence to defeat the thieves. Now he is worried that Li Zicheng will not dare to fight him, and the time and price paid for this war will be much greater.

However, he had just loaded his baggage overnight and was about to leave, but Liu Zeqing informed King Zhou and Gao Mingheng that he was going back to Shandong with his troops. Because the Hebei giant Yuan Shizhong led the team to plunder in Caozhou, he had already surrounded Dingtao County. And Liu Zeqing didn't hesitate at all, he didn't even ask Gao Mingheng for food, and directly led the troops out of the north gate to cross the Yellow River.

You don't need to ask to know that Liu Zeqing knew that Li Zicheng was going to attack Kaifeng in a big way, and he didn't want to stay here and wait to be surrounded, so he fled first. What's more, he also knows that it is basically impossible for any officers and soldiers to come to the rescue of Kaifeng for a period of time. So he used the excuse of Yuan Shizhong's offense to cross the Yellow River first.

And Hou Sui was also clever and followed Liu Zeqing away. After all, his own duty is to supervise the military affairs of Hebei and Shandong, and now Yuan Shizhong of Hebei has gone to Shandong to loot, which is something he can manage, so he also left Kaifeng, the place of death. As for the clansmen in Guide Mansion, I can only hope that Li Yan can really protect them.

The gentry and wealthy households, who had settled down due to the arrival of Liu Zeqing's troops, began to flee again. And when they saw that Li Yan's barracks were also preparing overnight, they fled faster. Many people followed Hou Sui, but Li Yan's men still strictly enforced the rules for leaving the city.

Those rich gentry don't care about these things outside their bodies, as soon as Liu Zeqing leaves, Li Yan's troops will be left in Kaifeng City. But now Li Yan is also preparing to send troops, and Kaifeng only has more than 10,000 garrison troops adapted from the original social soldiers. How does this reassure them? So there was a long queue out of the city at the north gate.

As for their food, it was handled by the family's nephews and housekeepers, so many people gathered in the barracks in the city, all of whom came to sell food. However, the amount of grain was too large, and the bribes Li Yan received in the case of reselling the grain in the treasury were not enough immediately, so he could only go to King Zhou to borrow some.

At this time, King Zhou also happened to summon him, and he was right.

"Son-in-law, I heard that you are also preparing to send troops? Where is this going? Kaifeng, aren't you going to guard? As soon as King Zhou saw Li Yan, he hurriedly asked, completely unaware that Li Yan seemed to be coming too fast.

Li Yan hugged his fists and said: "Don't worry, there are still more than 10,000 troops left in the city, which is enough to ensure the safety of Kaifeng." ”

"Where is 10,000 people?" King Zhou said anxiously: "Now that Liu Zeqing is leaving, Hou Sui is leaving, and even you are gone, won't Kaifeng be handed over to the thieves?" No, you can't go, you have to stay and guard Kaifeng! ”

Li Yan explained: "Lord Wang, I am leading the troops to fight the thieves. The main force of the thieves will fight with me, and the troops who are coming are also partial divisions, and the defending troops are fully capable of coping with it. ”

"No, no." King Zhou shook his head resolutely: "Your duty is to guard Kaifeng, if you want to fight the thief, just let Chen Yongfu go, you must stay in Kaifeng." ”

Li Yan had to continue to explain: "Now that the imperial court has no more reinforcements, if they are all trapped in the city, unless the thieves retreat by themselves, there is no need to attack, and the city can be captured when the grain and grass in the city are exhausted." At this time, I led the troops outside, and the thieves were under the fortified city, and it was bound to be easy to deal with with the internal and external attacks. Moreover, the last general went south this time, maybe he could repel the thieves in a battle, and he could save Kaifeng from military disasters. ”

King Zhou still disagreed, and persuaded: "The thieves are powerful, where is it so easy to deal with." You'd better stay in the city and be guarded. As for the reinforcements, this king will ask the court again. There is no in Henan, Beijing, Nanjing, Huguang, Sichuan, there will always be. Aren't you hoarding food? As long as you defend Kaifeng City, within a month or two, reinforcements will definitely come. ”

As soon as Li Yan heard about the grain, he immediately spoke: "Lord Wang, there are too many people selling grain now, and I don't have enough money on hand, can the prince lend some to the last general first?" After repelling the thieves, the last general will definitely return the full amount. ”

Seeing that Li Yan no longer insisted on leading troops to attack, King Zhou immediately agreed happily: "Our own family, don't be so polite." Just open your mouth as much as you want. ”

Li Yan thought for a moment, hugged his fists and said, "Then thank you to the prince." Borrow 100,000 taels first, if it's not enough, then borrow it from the prince. ”

King Zhou immediately instructed his personal eunuch: "Go to the silver treasury and prepare 200,000 taels of silver." ”

The big eunuch reminded in a low voice: "Lord Wang, the silver in the treasury is only 280,000 taels, and you have to propose the expenses for Zhang Guiren's birthday next month, and you can take out a maximum of 100,000 taels." ”

King Zhou whispered impatiently: "Just go and get it, and I'll talk about other things later." ”

The great eunuch bowed down at this time and said, "Huh." ”

Li Yan's goal was achieved, so he arched his hand and said: "Lord Wang, then the general will leave first, and send someone over to get the silver in a while." ”

"Okay, you prepare for the city defense, you don't have to worry about other things." King Zhou said with a smile. He is now a little complaining about the thieves, and he came over to surround Kaifeng like he had done a few times before, which was much better than going by slowly like now. It's only been a few days, and everyone is thinking about escaping Kaifeng.

And the great eunuch who had already left the main hall heard that Li Yan was going to send someone to fetch the silver, and he was unhappy in his heart, and snorted coldly in a low voice.

When Li Yan returned to the barracks, he received news that Qian Er's fast troops were in Fugou and had encountered more than 100,000 incoming thieves, and were now fighting fiercely with the thieves. And Li Zhong also sent a message that the order was too hasty, and he had to wait until tomorrow to open the pass. So he doesn't have to worry here, and he just waits for tomorrow to set off.

After waiting for a while, Sun Sifu came in and reported: "The silver has been retrieved from the palace, but it is only 180,000 taels. ”

Li Yan frowned and said, "What's the situation?" ”

The steward of the handover said that this was the rule. If it's not the money you want, you'll have to take at least half of it. Sun Sifu replied.

That was the problem of King Zhou's mansion, and it was not easy for him to go directly to the door. I had to skip this matter and ordered: "Well, you go and watch some, if our people have such a thing, arrest them immediately." ”

"Then, when the money is returned~" Sun Sifu reminded.

Li Yan said lightly: "Let's talk about it." ”

"Yes!"

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