Li Zicheng asked Li Ji to lead his troops to the mountains to conquer the Liukou of the Yidou Valley Division, and the soldiers who stayed in Yongning City, as well as his own soldiers, were celebrating the New Yuan in the city.

Almost half of the hungry people in Yongning City were worried about food, so how could they have the heart to celebrate the new yuan? However, after the Mandate of Heaven Army took Yongning City, not only did it not plunder the people and gentry in the city, but also distributed relief food to the hungry, which no one could have imagined.

But it just happened!

Although the relief grain distributed by each household is only ten catties, it is far from enough to support the summer grain until it matures, but it can survive the new dollar, and how to live tomorrow, the people don't know, so let's talk about it after the new yuan first.

In Yongning City, with the sound of firecrackers in the New Year, there was joy everywhere, mostly grateful to the Mandate of Heaven Army, no matter who occupied Yongning City, as long as they cared about their lives, they would welcome it!

The soldiers of Sun Shiying's two hundred households had just been trained for two days, but the soldiers were all locals, and Li Zicheng was given a three-day holiday.

Li Zicheng is not worried that these soldiers will flee and not return, there is food and salary, only fools will never return, even if the soldiers do not want to go back to the barracks, their families will drive them back, and the city does not know who instigated them, saying that the soldiers are well paid, many people took advantage of Xinyuan's leisure period to come to the barracks of the Mandate of Heaven to inquire when the Mandate of Heaven Army will recruit another batch of soldiers in Yongning City......

Li Zicheng has no plan to expand the army for the time being, Yongning City is just a county seat, the population is not much, if a large number of soldiers are recruited, it will affect the cultivation of the people, the expansion of the army is necessary, but not now, not in Yongning City!

The disappointment of the young man who was eager to join the Mandate of Heaven Army was quickly diluted by the atmosphere of Xinyuan:

Wu Dalie, the magistrate of the county, posted a notice in the city that in order to let all the people have land to cultivate and will be self-sufficient, the Mandate of Heaven has confiscated the land of all large households, and from the fifth day of the first lunar month, Yongning County will re-issue the land.

All the men, young and old, were given ten acres of land, which were highly productive fields close to the water source, very drought-tolerant, and after the cold of spring, they could be ploughed and sown, and anyone who lacked seeds could borrow them from the government!

At the end of the notice, Wu Dalie told the people that this was only a temporary distribution of land, and that when the drought had completely passed, the land would be redistributed, and then there would be more land available for cultivation, and the people would get more land!

Yongning County, boiling for a while, for the people, the land is their life# root, even more important than food, the food is gone, but the land can grow crops for generations, as long as the land is left for future generations, the children and grandchildren will not starve......

The excitement inside the city, like the tide, soon spread outside the city, and unlike the people inside the city, the people outside the city are completely dependent on the cultivated land, and only the real cultivated land can make their hearts feel at ease.

The people were not only grateful to the Mandate of Heaven, but also to the Buddha for the manifestation of the Mandate of Heaven for sending them the Mandate of Heaven, and if the Mandate of Heaven had come to Yongning earlier, they would have suffered less......

But well-informed people told them privately that it was not the Buddha who appeared, and the Buddha had long since known where he had gone, and it was God who cared for the people of Yongning County, and it was God who brought the Mandate of Heaven Army to Yongning!

The people had never heard of God, but God had brought in the Manifest Destiny Army, which brought them tangible benefits...... If it weren't for the Mandate of Heaven Army coming to Yongning, many people would probably not be able to survive the new yuan......

Inside and outside the city of Yongning, the people began to chase God, but unfortunately, only the soldiers of the Mandate of Heaven army knew where God was, fortunately it was Xinyuan now, and they were all on vacation.

The soldiers of the Mandate of Heaven took advantage of the time of the new yuan to begin to preach outside the city, and the name of God spread from inside the city to outside the city, quickly replacing all other great gods, spreading and deifying in the hearts of the people......

On the second day of the first lunar month, the sky was gloomy, the cold wind was angry, and the temperature plummeted, almost extinguishing the frenzy in the hearts of the people.

I don't know what time it was, it snowed in the sky, and after Li Zicheng got up in the morning, the snow outside the courtyard was already an inch or two thick, and the snowflakes were still drifting, and it didn't look like it was going to stop at all.

He Xiaomi sleeved his hands and stomped on the snow for a while, and only then did he have a feeling on his heels, "This thief God, during the New Yuan period, it will not let people stop!" ”

"Haha," Li Zicheng grabbed a handful of snow and wiped it on his face, "I think the snow came at the right time, he's a baby!" ”

"Ah......" He Xiaomi's eyes widened, but he was puzzled.

Li Zicheng kneaded the snow marks on his face, and rubbed them with his hands, "Xiaomi, do you know what is most lacking in Henan now?" ”

"There is a great drought in Henan, and the most scarce nature is ...... water" He Mi suddenly understood, "The metropolitan governor is saying that heavy snow can bring rain, and Henan will not be drought?" ”

"I can't predict whether there will be drought in Henan," Li Zicheng took the face towel handed over by his own soldiers, wiped the residue on his face, and said: "But with the snow water, once the drought will be reduced, the land that can be cultivated will also increase, I hope that this snow will fall for a few more days and bring more precipitation!" ”

"The subordinates understood," He Xiaomi was also secretly happy, but then he frowned, "Dadu Governor, with the wind and snow, the mountains will be even colder, right?" The first regiment is ...... in the mountains"

Li Zicheng nodded and said: "On such a snowy day, I'm afraid it will freeze, Xiaomi, give an order to the first regiment, let them withdraw temporarily, and wait for the snowy day to pass, and then go to the mountains to conquer ......."

At this moment, a pro-soldier ran over, "Governor, the first regiment has sent a message!" ”

"Could it be that Li Ji knows that the heavy snow is closing the mountain, and he is asking for the withdrawal of troops?" Li Zicheng took the message, unfolded it, and the smile on his face gradually faded and was replaced by a special dignified.

Even He Xiaomi saw the changes on the face of the Metropolitan Governor, and his heart sank unconsciously, "The Metropolitan Governor ......"

Li Zicheng folded the message and put it in his arms, "Xiaomi, have breakfast first, maybe we have to be busy......"

At breakfast, Li Zicheng had already typed the draft, and as soon as the breakfast bowl was lost, he picked up the brush and wrote a long letter, which was immediately sent to Li Ji.

Under the snow yin and yang, it began to dance like goose feathers, and it looked like a heavy snowfall, but in less than two hours, it turned momentum, and the goose feathers were sandwiched with snow hail, like the last tear, even this snow hail would not crackle for too long.

Just when everyone thinks that it is about to clear, snowflakes will appear in people's field of vision, this snow day is the prelude to a cold, obviously the nostrils are itchy and crispy, but you can't sneeze, when you have completely given up hope, but suddenly typed, unknowingly.

The old farmer with wind and frost engraved on his forehead sighed, he hadn't seen such a fairy weather for many years, and he didn't know what moths were going to come out of......

It was not until the fourth day of the first month that the weather officially cleared, a round of sunshine, hanging on the branches early, red glow and white snow, pink and jade, Yongning City is like a layer of faint halo.

Li Zicheng went out of the courtyard and saw that the snow on the ground was only three or five inches thick, and judging from the amount of precipitation, it was not even moderate snow, and he felt a little sorry in his heart.

On this day, Li Ji led the army back to Yongning City, the sky was snowing, the mountains were very cold, the roads were covered with snow, and it was difficult for the army to pass.

In fact, although Yidougu is a rogue, but the number is large, the momentum is huge, and it is one step earlier than the Heavenly Mandate Army into the mountainous area of western Henan, the Heavenly Mandate Army wants to clear the people of Yidougu, I am afraid it will take a long time, Li Zicheng sent the main force to clear the people of Yidougu, mainly deterrence, hoping to seek peace by war, and finally achieve strategic balance.

If Yidougu knew the actual combat effectiveness of the Mandate of Heaven Army, maybe the two sides could reach a peace agreement, and the well water would not violate the river water, that would be the best outcome, as long as the people of Yidougu did not invade the territory of the Mandate of Heaven Army, Li Zicheng would not fight with the Mandate of Heaven for the time being, and the strongest opponent of the Mandate of Heaven Army was still the imperial court.

Li Zicheng immediately summoned Li Ji, who was at the forefront of the battle, and knew the strength and combat effectiveness of the Itogu Department best, and tried to understand Itogu from all possible angles, so as to be prepared.

Li Ji first reported the casualties of the first regiment, but he was not optimistic about the combat effectiveness of the Yidou Valley Division, which may have a lot of people, but the combat effectiveness was not even as good as that of the Ming army, and it was a completely untrained outcast.

Li Zicheng is still not at ease, the five thousand households of the first regiment are all equipped with rifles and mountain artillery, and the Yidougu incident is not long ago, it is impossible to have a large number of firearms, and the two sides are probably not comparable.

The combat effectiveness of an army cannot completely depend on equipment, but should pay more attention to the quality of its people and the determination to dare to die......

Li Ji suddenly said: "Governor Dadu, Yidougu once sent people to ask for a meeting, hoping to cooperate with the Heavenly Mandate Army, but his subordinates did not give a clear reply, but just asked the envoy to go back and tell Yidougu that if there is sincerity in cooperation, you can send someone to Yongning City to negotiate!" ”

"Talk?" Li Zicheng really didn't expect that Yidougu would take the initiative to ask to cooperate with the Heavenly Mandate Army, it is not impossible to cooperate, but it must be dominated by me, with the current strength and status of the Heavenly Mandate Army, it is not equal to Yidougu at all, "When did this happen?" ”

Li Ji said casually: "Two days before the Governor of Dadu recalled us!" ”

Li Zicheng secretly rejoiced in his heart, "In other words, there has already been a battle between the two sides, and the people of Yidougu have already seen the rifles and mountain cannons of the Heavenly Mandate Army?" ”

Yidougu may have snare a large number of hungry people, but the combat effectiveness of the army could not go up, so they could only rely on the deep mountains and occasionally come out to plunder, but they could not attack the prefecture and county, and it was difficult to get a large number of supplies, and now it was a cold winter, and there was a lack of food in the mountains, so there was no need to encircle and suppress, and they could not stand the cold and hunger.

The hungry people risked killing their heads and followed Yidougu, originally to survive, but if they were still starving, after a long time, people's hearts would be scattered, and the team would no longer exist.

Except for Lushi County, the Heavenly Mandate Army has occupied all the prefectures and counties near western Henan, and it is even more impossible for Yidougu to enter the city to get a large amount of supplies, unless it fights to the death with the Heavenly Mandate Army!

After Itogu knew the combat effectiveness of the Mandate of Heaven Army, he took the initiative to ask for cooperation, which was a good choice, but I don't know how big his appetite is......

Before dusk, the envoy sent by Yidougu rushed to Yongning City, Li Zicheng didn't know how sincere Yidougu was, at least he was eager to cooperate with the Heavenly Mandate Army.

Li Zicheng did not let the envoy wait, and immediately secretly summoned the envoy in the Wan'an Palace, even He Xiaomi was not at the scene, no one knew the content of the meeting, after dark, the Yongning City Gate had been closed, but Li Zicheng asked his own soldiers to escort the envoy out of the city.