After Li Mu repelled the raiding cavalry of the thieves, he informed Li Yan in the camp, and then continued to advance with his troops, and asked the cavalry to guard the enemy five miles in front.

And Li Yan has also completed the interrogation of several captives here, and under the service of a whip dipped in salt water, several small leaders have told the truth. Li Yan knew that this attack was the coalition of Li Jiyu and Liu Zongmin, and Li Jiyu had not yet joined Li Zicheng's command, so the two sides were in a cooperative relationship.

After receiving Li Mou's notice, he sent a baggage team to clean up the battlefield. Li Mou had already said about the thief's tactic of abandoning his heavy treasures, and Li Yan was also prepared for it. His unit stipulated that the troops on combat duty during the war should not collect any trophies under any circumstances, but should wait for other units that did not have a combat mission to collect them.

In addition, in order to prevent soldiers from hiding money, prosecutors are also encouraged. As long as the report is verified, then the whistleblower will be rewarded with half of the items in his possession. Those who violated the rules and concealed war money were punished according to the amount of money they had hidden, ranging from whipping, to military sticks, to hard labor, and even to beheading.

However, the soldiers must not be allowed to gain nothing, otherwise the soldiers will not have the enthusiasm to fight. After the battle is over, Li Yan will take 30% of the spoils as a reward and distribute them to each unit. In addition to the opportunity for promotion, there will also be rewards for outstanding performance, and soldiers can choose whether to ask for money or other goods.

Of course, for the period of material scarcity, silver money was not very attractive to soldiers, and they chose more food, cloth, oil and salt and other daily necessities. Not only does it allow the soldiers to have a small amount of land and food, but it also gives them fair rewards and promotion opportunities, so the soldiers maintain a good enthusiasm for combat.

At this time, Li Mu led his troops to guard three miles away, and the baggage troops quickly collected the materials left by the thieves and the defeated officers and soldiers. Of course, the corpses and wounded of those thieves and officers and soldiers will also be examined, and they will not let go of the collection of any materials, after all, if they can seize more, they will be able to get more.

Those Chen Yongfu's subordinates found a lot of gold and silver, but the thieves had no money on them. Li Zicheng and the others are all old bandits, so they naturally know that they can't let their subordinates have too much money, otherwise there will be few people left under them.

After more than an hour of searching, Li Yan's baggage troops finished cleaning up the battlefield and the prisoners were collected. After that, Li Mou withdrew with his troops, and then Bai Shixiong's cavalry quickly withdrew and returned to the camp to rest.

The civil officials who watched the battle at the head of the city were very nervous after seeing Chen Yongfu's troops being pursued, so they rushed back to supervise the battle according to their respective areas. Only King Zhou and Chen Yongfu were left to watch the entire battle in the south.

"Humph!" King Zhou flicked his sleeves and said dissatisfiedly: "Chen Qing, your team makes Gu very uneasy!" ”

Chen Yongfu hurriedly lowered his head and clenched his fists, and said, "Please forgive the prince." The minister must train the team well and make Kaifeng business solid! ”

The king of Zhou did not say anything more, and left the city surrounded by the guards and went back to the palace.

After King Zhou walked for a while, Chen Decai came to Chen Yongfu's side and said in a low voice: "Father, this time I lost more than 800 cavalry, and more than 1,000 foot soldiers. Also, Li Yan detained a lot of us and war horses, are you going to come back? ”

Chen Yongfu turned around and suddenly kicked Chen De out of the chest, kicking Chen De back several steps before he stood firm. Of course, his feet are measured, after all, he is his son, and it would not be good if he kicked it badly.

"Idiot!" Chen Yongfu roared angrily: "Go out to pursue, but let the family beat you, do you still have the face to come back?!" ”

Chen De said helplessly: "It's the thief drama that is so good, their people are so flustered, who would have thought that it was a fraud." Also, if General Zhang's men could line up to block it, I wouldn't have suffered such a big loss. ”

Chen Yongfu glared at his son for a long time before waving his hand, and said hatefully: "You go back and reflect on it!" Train well! If there is a bad pool, it will not be spared! ”

Chen De clenched his fists: "Yes, the child knows." After he got off the city wall and left his father's sight, he complained to his soldiers: "Li Yan is an outlier!" He is invincible every day, but it makes us lose face! ”

"That's what the Major General said!" His own soldiers also chimed in: "Look at their cowhide coaxing heads, as if they are the only officers and soldiers." Before, they were just village soldiers, but now they are arrogant! ”

Another soldier said, "They're outside the city, don't they have to rely on us?" If we let go here, some of them will suffer! ”

Chen De listened to this suddenly, but he only smiled slightly, and did not talk about this topic again.

In the evening, Li Yan also cleaned up here. The ditch that had been filled by the thieves had also been dug again by the captives. The battlefield was cleaned, and not only did he collect the baggage, horses, and treasures left behind by the thieves, but he also brought back those horses that had been killed or wounded. At this time, the fireheads in each battalion were burning the fire and cutting the meat, preparing to cook the broth.

The captured thieves are easy to say, just keep them to work, but Chen Yongfu's subordinates are not easy to handle. Li Yan originally wanted to send them back to the city directly, but many soldiers were reluctant to leave and wanted to stay under his command to serve.

As a soldier, who wouldn't want to follow an invincible army? Not only is your heart high, but the chances of winning a battle are always higher than losing a battle.

However, if these speculators stay, it will have a negative impact on the combat effectiveness and atmosphere of the entire unit. And Li Yan couldn't refuse, after all, what he wanted was not just Kaifeng, and he couldn't make these people feel cold. So he did nothing and let the men stay. He knew that Chen Yongfu would not give away his subordinates.

Sure enough, the broth here hadn't been cooked yet, so Chen Yongfu sent someone over. After these people got Li Yan's permission, they entered the barracks and asked Li Yan for their soldiers.

At this time, Li Yan asked those Chen Yongfu's subordinates to gather, but he did not release them immediately, but said to the officers who came to ask for soldiers in front of everyone: "Don't worry, wait until you have eaten before leaving." ”

"Adjutant General Li," the officer who came to ask for it clasped his fists and said, "My commander has an order, and these soldiers must be escorted back immediately." ”

Li Yan said dissatisfiedly: "You can register all these soldiers, and then go back to resume your life!" After dinner, I'll send them back to the city one by one! They are warriors fighting thieves, not convicted deserters! Don't you even give time for a meal?! ”

The officer looked at the anger in the eyes of the soldiers, and took into account Li Yan's attitude, although he was unhappy, he had no choice but to agree. Anyway, write down all these people, and when they go back to the barracks, they can rub them as much as they want.

After those officers and soldiers left, Chen Yongfu's subordinates all thanked Li Yan loudly. They all knew that it was not that Li Yan didn't take them in, but that their superiors didn't let them go. Li Yan was able to withstand the pressure and keep them to eat a meal of broth, which could be regarded as giving them enough face, and they only had gratitude and helplessness in their hearts.

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