Li Zicheng replaced some of the current main tasks of the Rite and Music Division, and then said with a smile: "Li Gongzi, on the thief ship of the Heavenly Mandate Army, if you want to be easy in the future, I'm afraid it's impossible, in addition to serving as the envoy of Rites and Music, for the time being, he is also the staff of the Governor of Pontus, and he must also pay attention to military and civil affairs, and make suggestions to the Governor of Pontus at any time!" ”

Li Xin hurriedly saluted and said, "Everything under his subordinates is subject to the Metropolitan Governor!" ”

Li Zicheng laughed, but he was thinking in his heart, this Li Xin, I'm afraid he won't be idle from now on.

Li Xin said: "Governor, where will the current Heavenly Mandate Army move?" ”

Li Zicheng smiled: "According to Li Gongzi, where should we move?" ”

Li Xin arched his hand and said solemnly: "Dadu Governor, Chen Liu is very close to Kaifeng, since Dadu Governor has no intention of attacking Kaifeng, he can't go north, there are Hu Dawei's chasing soldiers in the southeast direction, the best route is to go west," paused, and said: "There are not only the barriers of Funiu Mountain and Bear's Ear Mountain in the west, but also very close to the territory of the Heavenly Mandate Army in Hanshui and Danshui. ”

Li Zicheng bowed slightly, his idea was also to the west, only by returning to the territory of the Heavenly Mandate Army, the soldiers recruited along the way would have time to concentrate on training, and at that time a large number of soldiers could be recruited, even if the family followed, they could also be placed in Shangluo Mountain, and Shangzhou had stored a lot of coarse grain, at least to ensure that the people who followed him would not starve to death.

However, now it is still far away from Shangzhou, on the road, I don't know how many Ming troops are still chasing and intercepting, and there is Hu Dawei behind him, "Li Gongzi, this Hu Dawei is always following behind, you see, how do we get rid of his pursuit?" ”

Li Xindao: "Dare to ask the Metropolitan Governor, how many soldiers does Hu Dawei have?" ”

"The guerrillas we dispatched, as well as the people from the Han Qing Bureau, all said that Hu Dawei had more than 10,000 soldiers," Li Zicheng said: "The number of people in the Heavenly Mandate Army should be about the same!" ”

Li Xin was treated by a good doctor, not only his external injuries were much better, but his complexion also recovered a lot, he frowned and thought for a moment, and said: "Metropolitan Governor, there is a way for his subordinates to let Hu Dawei follow far behind and act as our guard!" ”

Li Zicheng was stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "Ao? What is the method of Li Gongzi? ”

Li Xin got up, approached Li Zicheng, and whispered a few words, Li Zicheng laughed, "Li Gongzi commanded the army, and he is indeed an immortal material......

Li Zicheng left Chenliu County, and the army marched all the way west, and along the way, Li Xin had already played a slogan: Juntian light endowment, disaster relief and people, no killing and no plundering! Because the people of the Central Plains do not know anything about Catholicism, they have not played the slogan of Catholicism for the time being, so as not to be used by the government and denounced as "heresy"!

Rushing to the territory of Weishi County, three hundred households of soldiers have been recruited along the way, and these soldiers have formed a separate army, not subordinate to the fourth battalion, but only from the fourth battalion some of the hundred households and general flag officers to take up posts, responsible for the training of these soldiers.

The army was mostly on the road, and the recruits were drilled at the occasional stop, and an hour before the camp was set up in the evening.

Li Zicheng did not expect the recruits to be able to enter the battle soon, but they received the salary, so they had to abide by the military discipline and military regulations of the Mandate of Heaven Army, plus sympathize with their hard march, this period of training, the physical strength is not large, mainly military discipline and military regulations, and the other is ideological education, the soldiers of the Mandate of Heaven Army must be loyal to the Mandate of Heaven Army Governor and the Metropolitan Governor Li Zicheng, and treat all the Han people well.

When the ideological work reaches a certain level, it is difficult to go further, and Li Zicheng promoted Catholicism among the recruits, which can be regarded as adding a layer of insurance to the ideological work of the recruits.

Catholicism is completely new to these Han people in the Central Plains, but there is a rare drought in Henan, and the people are struggling at the death line, but there is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it is already a great fortune to have a mouthful of food to survive, who cares about God and Buddha? If the Buddha had a spirit, why didn't he take care of his people?

It is the Mandate of Heaven Army, inheriting God's will and rescuing the people in Henan! Under the conscious guidance of the officers, Catholicism spread extremely smoothly among the recruits.

On this day, when he was marching, Li Xin turned his horse's head and came to Li Zicheng's side, "Governor, happy event, happy event!" ”

Li Zicheng laughed, looked at Li Xin's excited appearance, and deliberately teased: "Happy event? What's the happy event? It shouldn't be Li Gongzi's wife who gave birth to a baby, right? ”

"The Metropolitan Governor smiled," Li Xin smiled, and said in a low voice: "The Metropolitan Governor, it is a military situation, after the planning of the brothers, there is already our internal response in the Weishi County in front, and when the army arrives in Weishi County, someone will open the city gate for us and receive the army into the city......"

"Oh? Rites and Pleasures have produced results so quickly? Li Zicheng is overjoyed, if this development continues, wherever the army goes in the future, there will be no need to attack the city at all, and many casualties will be saved," Li Gongzi, is the message accurate? ”

"Exact and reliable," Li Xin's face was undisguised excitement and pride, "Among the soldiers guarding the city, there are also people involved in the response, there should be no problem, Dadu Governor, before dark today, we can reach the county seat!" ”

Li Zicheng reined in his war horse, jumped off the horse, opened the marching map he carried with him, found the location of the county seat of Weishi, frowned immediately, and waited for Li Xin to lean over, and said: "Gongzi Li, this Weishi County, we can't enter the city!" ”

"Why?" A hint of disappointment appeared on Li Xin's face, "The Grand Governor is worried that the soldiers in the city will recur?" You don't need to enter the city with the whole army, send a small army first, and then enter the city with a large army after you control the city gates......"

"I'm not worried about danger, fighting is never smooth sailing," Li Zicheng pointed to the marching map and said: "Weishi County is too close to Kaifeng, even if we enter the city, it is impossible to garrison for a long time, once we leave, the imperial court will take over Weishi County again, and it will inevitably purge the people who welcome us!" ”

"The Metropolitan Governor ......" Li Xin Zhiwu took a moment and said: "My subordinates understand that the Metropolitan Governor wants to preserve this force, and when we have the opportunity to occupy Weishi County in the future, let them play a role......

"Li Gongzi is right, since they support the Heavenly Mandate Army, they must let their strength continue to grow, and they must not make meaningless exposure," Li Zicheng stared at the faintly appearing Weishi County in front of him, and said: "Not only will we not enter the county seat, we will not harass the people, but we must also give the people some help, and the people will remember the Heavenly Mandate Army!" ”

"The subordinates understand," Li Xin took a deep look and said, "The mind and strategy of the Metropolitan Governor are far inferior to those of the subordinates!" ”

"Lile Division did a very good job, just this time, let Weishi County defect and welcome the Heavenly Mandate Army into the city," Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Weishi County was originally the first place to take the initiative to welcome the Heavenly Mandate Army into the city, but I didn't accept it, does Li Gongzi feel a little regretful?" ”

"No," Li Xin shook his head slowly, and said: "The matter of Weishi County is just an extremely inconspicuous stroke in the development of the Heavenly Mandate Army, and there will be many such opportunities in the future!" ”

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Finally, there is the first place to welcome us to settle in!" ”

Li Xin's eyes were always fixed on the marching map, and after listening to Li Zicheng's words, his heart didn't move, "Metropolitan Governor, the work of the Rite and Music Division ......"

"The work of the Rite and Music Division will continue as always, although we don't want land, but we don't want the people," Li Zicheng pointed on the map with his index finger and said, "This is Songshan Mountain and Kei Mountain, which constitute a natural barrier ......"

"The Metropolitan Governor said," Li Xinzhong moved, "We rely on Songshan and Jishan, are we going to occupy these places?" ”

"According to Li Gongzi, if we take these states and counties, can we garrison them for a long time?" Li Zicheng doesn't like to wander in his bones, this time he went around in Henan in a circle, he was really forced to rely on the mountains on the east and west sides to defend it, so it was necessary to break the city, otherwise, even if it was like Weishi County, there would be no need to enter the city.

Li Xin pointed on the marching map, especially the Songshan Mountain and Jishan Mountain in the east, as well as the Funiu Mountain, Bear's Ear Mountain, and Waifang Mountain in the west, sometimes frowning, sometimes showing a surprised smile on his face, and after a while, Fang said: "The subordinates understand the thoughts of the Metropolitan Governor, it is not enough to take Ruzhou, and Luoyang ...... in the north of Ruzhou."

Li Zichengyun was light and said: "It's not difficult to take it, the key is whether it can be stationed for a long time!" ”

"If you want to garrison for a long time, the only way is to expand the army on a large scale," Li Xin said: "There is no shortage of troops now, but a lot of money and food are needed......

"Henan has been in a big drought for two consecutive years, not to mention the ordinary people, even the government and gentry, I'm afraid life is not easy," Li Zicheng said with a smile: "If you want to get a lot of money and food, the rear of the Heavenly Mandate Army is obviously far away and can't quench your thirst!" ”

"Luoyang!" Li Xin suddenly raised his head, and saw Li Zicheng looking at him with a smile, he was stunned, and then understood, "It turns out that the Metropolitan Governor has already calculated ......"

"Hahaha...... Li Zicheng laughed, "It's very good that Li Gongzi can see the fighter plane in such a short time." ”

"Compared with the Dadu Governor's strategy, his subordinates are really far behind," Li Xin said with a sneer: "Dadu Governor, we can rush to Weishi County tonight......"

"Li Gongzi asked people in the city to tell the people in the city that we will not enter the city, let alone loot the people's property!"

"The subordinates understand," Li Xin's admiration for Li Zicheng went one layer further, "The subordinates told them that although the Heavenly Mandate Army would not enter the city, the policy of 'Juntian Light Endowment, Disaster Relief, and No Killing and Plundering' would not change ......"

…………………………………………

Hu Dawei was originally a Mongol, after surrendering to the Ming Dynasty, was awarded as a general, in the battle with the Liaodong Tartars, because of the combat courage to accumulate combat merits to become the general soldier, he looked down on the combat effectiveness of the Ming army, has always regarded himself very highly, unwilling to cooperate with others, this time the pursuit of Liukou, is led by him alone.

When Hu Dawei arrived in Zhecheng, Fang Zai found that Liukou had gone north to Qixian, and he was not shocked in his heart, Qixian was already close to Kaifeng, if he let Liukou enter Kaifeng, whether he took Kaifeng or not, he was unforgivable.

The army was hurriedly transferred along the north of Huiji, but the Liukou had already gone west, passing through Chenliu County, and entering the territory of Tongxu County.

But he was played like a monkey by the rogue, circling around the Shahe River and the Whirlpool River, and he couldn't help but be very indignant in his heart, while giving the order to march in a hurry, chasing the rookie's ass, and continuing to explore the rogue route.

When the Liukou went to Weishi County, Hu Dawei finally understood that the Liukou did not dare to attack the big city, after looting in Nanyang and Qixian, he obviously wanted to hide in Songshan and Jishan, and Liukou was good at crossing mountains, once they entered the deep mountains, it was too difficult to arrest them.

Hu Dawei was anxious in his heart, and he ran wildly all the way, even the short hair on his chin moved with the wind, but his subordinates were all infantrymen, no matter how hard he beat and scolded, the soldiers could not run the speed of the steppe cavalry.