On the sixth day of the eighth month, Sun Chuanting took Gao Jie, Niu Chenghu, Bai Guangen, Yang Chengzu and others, 100,000 troops, to Luoyang. し0。 In addition to the large number of men and horses, Sun Chuanting's troops also carried a large number of chariots.

At the same time, Sun Chuanting had already sent a partial division from Pingli to Xunyang, and together with Gao Doushu, he attacked from Xunyang and attacked Li Zicheng. He also sent an order to Zuo Liangyu in Chizhou, asking him to lead his troops eastward and work together to suppress the thief Yu Jianghan.

Li Yan also came to Luoyang to meet Sun Chuanting. And his surveillance troops are on standby more than ten miles away, and if there are rebels looting, they can also have time to pursue and suppress. If it is too close, it will arouse the suspicion of the officers and soldiers. Fortunately, Niu Chenghu and others had a friendship with him and worked hard to restrain the troops. And Yang Chengzu and other Luo Rucai's old subordinates also knew that Li Yan was powerful, and they didn't dare to make a mistake with Sun Chuanting's strict orders, so the military discipline of the official army was not bad.

"The closer you get to Luoyang, the easier the road will be. If it weren't for the good repair of your road, I would have to wait two more days to get here. Sun Chuanting was in a good mood, and said with a smile after seeing Li Yan.

Li Yan said modestly: "Manpower is limited, so we can only repair the roads around Fucheng first. Then he reminded: "Inspector, this car camp is not a good choice." There are many thieves' cavalry, and the chariot battalion is inconvenient to move, so I am afraid that I will suffer a loss. ”

Sun Chuanting glanced at the vehicle that could not be seen, and said confidently: "It is precisely because of the large number of thieves and cavalry that this governor specially supervised the construction of this train." Thick elm wood made of carriage, built-in Frankie cannon. In peacetime, soldiers' rations and clothing are placed inside, charging in front in wartime, and surround outside when camping, **** enemy cavalry. ”

At this time, Li Yan finally knew why Sun Chuanting would use more than 2,000 war horses to exchange food with him. It was originally intended to rely on this train, and the demand for cavalry would naturally decrease a lot.

"This word is a long snake formation, how long will it take for the superintendent to set up the formation? How much time can the thief's cavalry give the overseer? Li Yan reminded again.

Sun Chuanting waved his hand and said conceitedly: "This is a march, if it is in wartime, it will naturally march in formation." If you still have a loyal and patriotic heart, take your troops to the south with me to suppress the thieves, and don't confuse the army's hearts here! ”

Li Yan had no choice but to shut up and stop reminding. He is still in the period of training and expanding the army, and there are some gaps in the artillery, muskets, and crossbow arrows for the army, and he still has to work hard to produce and replenish them. The troops cannot form a strong combat force in the short term, so he will not provoke Li Zicheng at this time.

If Sun Chuanting can play normally, he may not be able to hit Li Zicheng hard, so he will have to send troops in person. This is also the reason why he reminded Sun Chuanting several times. However, Sun Chuanting didn't want to listen to his reminder, so he could only shut up.

Sun Chuanting stayed in Luoyang for a day, and then continued to the south with his troops. It's not that he doesn't want to rest, it's that the court is urging him to do so. Moreover, in order to supply military rations, the imperial court forced Pingyang Mansion (Linfen) to transport grain beans, and the people of Pingyang hanged themselves and threw water. Therefore, Sun Chuanting did not dare to delay his efforts, otherwise Shanxi would also make a civil change.

During this period, Gao Jie and Niu Chenghu came to see Li Yan. Zuo Xun and Zheng Jiadong stayed in Shaanxi to garrison, one of them came to visit the business customers, and the other was to make another transaction before going on the expedition, planning to select 400 war horses in the army and sell them to Li Yan.

"Now Doumi is often four or five taels of silver, what do you want so much silver for?" Although Li Yan agreed to the deal, he was still puzzled by their practice of amassing money.

Niu Chenghu said with a smile: "Don't you think there is more rain this year than in previous years?" God has been dry for more than ten years, no matter how angry you are, you should be angry. As soon as there is enough rain, the famine will soon pass, and the money will be worth a lot. ”

Li Yan nodded and agreed with Niu Chenghu's words. I have to say that they are really good at doing business. He said, "But I don't have that much money right now, and I will have to wait a little while before I can pay you." ”

Gao Jie immediately agreed: "No problem, you General Li, we can trust it." Just bring it with us when we return to the army, otherwise it will be a burden to fight with so much silver. ”

This is still the credibility he built after he detained Zuo Xian's family. Although he did not pay the money immediately, he settled the money in five days. Even if the person was detained, he still finished the deal, did not take the opportunity to snatch it, and his reputation was established at once.

In the days that followed, Sun Chuanting was on the road. Most of the roads from Luoyang to Nanyang have been repaired, and in Henan, there is basically no need to worry about being attacked by thieves, so the team marched for a long time, and it only took six days to reach Nanyang.

And every time Li Yan saw Sun Chuanting, he was in various county towns, so that he could be safer, so as not to be suddenly cut off by Sun Chuanting. However, as soon as he arrived in Nanyang, he received a notice that there was an urgent report in Kaifeng, so after saying goodbye to Sun Chuanting, Li Yan returned to Kaifeng with the guards.

He has reminded him that what will happen to Sun Chuanting's expedition this time depends on him.

At this time, the happiest are the soldiers, who have long complained about eating potatoes every day. Although it is much better than before to be able to fill their stomachs, they can't stand eating potatoes every day. Since leaving Tongguan, their meals have included noodles and rice porridge, which makes the soldiers happy, and they can finally eat a familiar meal that they have not tasted for a long time.

Sun Chuanting also knew that Li Yan deliberately left under the pretext of not wanting to send troops with him to fight the thief. However, Sun Chuanting did not expect Li Yan to send troops, so he did not keep him. As long as Li Yan can let the grain and salary from Shanxi be smoothly transported to his army, as for the thieves, the 100,000 troops he brought will do it.

He went from Luoyang to Nanyang, and on the way, he only saw that there were still some people around the county, and other places were also barren. The wolf howls at night made him finally remember that Henan had also been ravaged and looted by Li Zicheng, not the fertile fields and bustling markets he saw in Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng and other places.

At this time, he felt that it was not easy for Li Yan, who could renovate the ruined parts of Henan into the current state, resettle the displaced people, reclaim the barren land, exterminate the bandits, and provide him with grain and grass for the army for a month, which was really much more than others.

Originally, he planned to rest in Nanyang for a few days, and then go south to suppress thieves after the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, the imperial court still issued a decree asking him to go on the expedition as soon as possible, and not to work hard for his teachers. Sun Chuanting had no choice but to give each of the soldiers a tael of salaries, and without resting, he went south directly and headed for Xinye. That will be their starting position, and then they will have a decisive battle with Li Zicheng if they go south.

In the Huguang area, a big war is about to take place that will affect the survival of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, thousands of miles away in Liaodong, there was also a major event that could affect the Ming and Qing dynasties.

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