Li Zicheng did not withdraw his troops, but monitored Zhang Xianzhong's troops along the Taiping Mountain and Mufu Mountain between Huguang and Jiangxi, and although he did not meet with Zhang Xianzhong, he gave Zhang Xianzhong 50,000 stone of grain.

The independent battalion Yang Chengen and Li Rugui were attacking Huangzhou Mansion and its subordinate prefectures and counties, because the civil and military forces in Huangzhou City were almost empty, only the deputy envoy Fan Weicheng and Wei commander Guo Yizhong remained, and Yang Chengen was almost an empty city.

Niu Jinxing rushed to Huangzhou, set up Fan Weicheng as the prefect of Huangzhou, Zhusheng Yi Daoxian as the president of the Huangzhou Court, and Guo Yizhong as the president of the Supervision Yuan, so that the Yamen of the Huangzhou Prefect could quickly operate and implement the "Land Law" of the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Office locally.

The five counties of Qishui, Luotian, Macheng, Huangpo and Huang'an under the Huangzhou Prefecture are also descending from the wind.

Subsequently, Gao Ligong and Li Ji were respectively arraigned: Chengtianying took the eastern part of Yuezhou Prefecture, Yuezhou Governor Zhou Nan retained his post, with Li Qiande as the president of the court and Pingye as the president of the supervision, abolished Baling County, and Putianlin as Linxiang County, Ouyang Xianyu as Huarong County, and Lai Shiliang as Pingjiang County;

The fourth battalion took Changsha, the prefect blocked Yinxi to stay in office, and pushed the official Cai Daoxian to become the president of the court, and Zhao Mo Mo Keji was the president of the supervision; Yang Kai of Xiangyin Zhi County and Lai Wanyao of Liling Zhi County remained in office respectively;

In Changsha Fucheng, the fourth battalion also captured Wang Jukui, the new governor of Huguang, Wang Yangji, the governor of Chengtian, Liu Xizuo, the governor of Huguang, and the chief military officers Yin Xianmin and He Yide.

In Changsha City, there is a Ji Wangfu, which has been passed down to the ninth generation, and there are many disciples in the clan, Li Ji arrested Zhu Ci, the king of Ji? , Wang brother Zhu Cixuan and other 18 disciples of the clan, confiscated 300,000 stones, 480,000 taels of silver.

Li Zicheng looked at these two pieces of information and smiled from ear to ear, he was not happy for the money and grain of the Jiwang Mansion, but for the officials of the prefectures and counties.

A large number of officials remained in office, indicating that they began to accept the Mandate of Heaven, and the orthodox status established by the Ming court for hundreds of years was gradually disintegrated in the minds of the officials and gentry.

The reason for all this is because of the great strength of the Heavenly Mandate Army!

In mid-April, the fourth battalion captured in Changsha the new governor of Huguang, Wang Jukui, the governor of Chengtian, Liu Xizuo, the governor of Huguang, Yin Xianmin, He Yide, and others, the chief military officers, were escorted to Qizhou, where Li Zicheng was stationed, and King Ji and other children of the clan were all beheaded in Changsha in public.

Li Zicheng considered that the Huguang Provincial Government lacked a director of supervision, so he sent Liu Xizuo to Wuchang to take up the post of director of supervision, while Wang Jukui, Wang Yangji, Yin Xianmin, He Yide and other civil and military officials temporarily stayed by his side to serve as staff members, and were not given new posts.

Immediately, the navy sent back a message that it had successfully taken Yanzhou in the west of Yuezhou and the three counties of Anxiang, Shimen, and Cili to which it belonged, so that the entire Yuezhou Mansion had been included in the territory of the Heavenly Mandate Army.

The first battalion of Liu Yunshui's department also summoned Changde Mansion west of Dongting Lake and the three counties of Taoyuan, Longyang, and Yuanjiang to which it belonged, with Professor Jiang Daoheng as the prefect of Changde.

Although Zhu Cizhao, the Rong King of Changde Mansion, was not as wealthy as King Ji in Changsha City, he also found tens of thousands of stone grain and 120,000 taels of silver, which was by no means comparable to ordinary families.

There is a force of bandits in Changde Mansion, the leader is called Gan Mingyang, intimidated by the strong threat of the Mandate of Heaven Army, he took the initiative to submit to the Mandate of Heaven Army, Gan Mingyang was appointed as the president of the Changde Court, and his subordinate rogues either supplemented the Mandate of Heaven Army, or disbanded and returned to the field.

In addition to the temporary retreat of the naval army to the boundary of Jingzhou, the first battalion, the fourth battalion, and the independent battalion all continued to attack Chenzhou, Baoqing, Hengzhou, Yongzhou and other prefectures to the south.

However, Li Xinbu, an independent battalion attacking Yunyang Mansion, sent a message that the advance was blocked.

Baokang, Fangxian, Zhushan, Zhuxi, Shangjin, and Yunxi under the jurisdiction of Yunyang Mansion have all been breached, and Wanweitan and other counties have established official offices under the leadership of the Mandate of Heaven, and the people have begun to distribute land and live a new life, but Yunyang Mansion has not been able to attack for a long time.

The cavalry of the second battalion of the Heavenly Mandate Army, Li Guobu, the independent battalion, and Zhang Lingbu of the second regiment of the Qingtian battalion had already surrounded Yunyang, but the governor Wang Yongzuo, the prefect Xu Qiyuan, and the general soldier Wang Guangen stubbornly held on to the city.

Li Xin only conveyed the information of the battlefield in time, and did not mean to ask for help.

Li Zicheng doesn't care very much, in the face of the general trend, how can a lonely city stop it? It's nothing more than the length of time! To the extent that the army is pressurized, it mainly depends on the forces of both sides and the supply of logistics, and the role of the officer is already very limited, at most it is to use personal prestige to gather soldiers and make fewer mistakes.

Li Xin is already an excellent commander, and Li Zicheng is not worried.

But Wang Guangen, the guard general in the city, as well as Wang Yongzuo, the governor of the imperial history, and Xu Qiyuan, the prefect, aroused his interest, and in the face of absolute strength, he could still adhere to his beliefs, such a character is worthy of respect!

Li Zicheng sent a message to Li Xin, informing the civil and military forces in the city of the current situation in Huguang and even the whole country, and trying to persuade them to surrender, and in addition, if possible, try to save the lives of Wang Yongzuo, Xu Qiyuan, Wang Guangen and other civil and military personnel in the city.

The war in Huangzhou Mansion has long ended, and the 50,000 Heavenly Mandate Army is still stationed in Huangzhou, and has not returned to Wuchang, Li Zicheng doesn't know what the reason is, he just has a feeling that although Zhang Xianzhong has gone south, there will be a war in Huangzhou.

…………………………………………………………………………

Zuo Liangyu's 200,000 army marched east along the river, advancing by land and water, and wantonly plundering the property of the gentry and the people along the way, as food and salary for the army.

Finding out that the Mandate of Heaven Army did not go east out of Huguang to pursue, Zuo Liangyu had the courage to let the soldiers out, without the looting of the soldiers, he had no food to support these soldiers at all, in troubled times, soldiers were the greatest guarantee.

The soldiers on the left caused countless bloody cases from Jiujiang on the Yangtze River to Anqingduan, and Zuo Liangyu not only did not restrain the soldiers, but also demanded that the soldiers hand over the looted property as military rations for the whole army.

At this time, Li Banghua, the imperial historian of Zuodu and the servant of the ministry, was inspecting in the south, and when he returned to Beijing, he passed by Hukou and heard that Zuo Liangyu's hundreds of thousands of soldiers claimed that they were short of pay and wanted to go to Nanjing to carry the treasury silver, and the large and small ships covered the river to the east.

Li Banghua was taken aback, the gentry and people on both sides of the Yangtze River, in order to avoid Zuo Liangyu's military disaster, even had to move several times a day, and the military discipline of Zuo Liangyu's department can be seen from this.

If Zuo Liangyu's army is allowed to enter Nanjing, it will not be to ask for food, but to enter the city to rob, and if it goes further, it will gather in the city to rebel......

Li Banghua's inspection work has ended, and he is about to return to Beijing to resume his life, besides, Zuo Liangyu's matter has nothing to do with him.

But he knows very well that the quiet land in the Central Plains is only the corner of the southeast region, and if the southeast wants to make chaos again, the entire Ming Dynasty will be completely exhausted, and the collapse is not far away.

He sighed: As a minister, how can I bear to see a rupture within the imperial court, but stand by and watch from the outside, leaving this place that is not going to happen soon? ”

Li Banghua stopped, and immediately wrote a sternly worded letter to Zuo Liangyu, moving with affection and knowing the benefits, warning Zuo Liangyu to strictly control his subordinates, lead the troops back to the camp, and not allow him to cross Anqing a step, and at the same time promised him to help solve the problem of military pay as soon as possible.

Zuo Liangyu plundered along the river, and had to go to Nanjing to ask for food, originally because the army really had no food, since Li Banghua was willing to solve the salary, so he temporarily restrained the soldiers, not allowed to go out of the camp to loot, and at the same time replied to Li Banghua, the tone was respectful, just like a primary school student saw the teacher, after the letter was sent, he waited for Li Banghua's message with peace of mind.

Li Banghua, in the capacity of inspecting the imperial history, allocated 150,000 taels of silver from the silver treasury of Jiujiang, and sent it to Anqing as the military salary of the left department, and transferred only 50,000 taels of silver from the Anqing treasury, personally took the silver to the left labor army, and had an open and honest conversation with Zuo Liangyu.

Zuo Liangyu was grateful, and in front of Li Banghua, he said that he would restrain military discipline in the future, kill thieves to serve the country, and never forget the grace of Lord Li to send charcoal in the snow.

Li Banghua stayed in Anqing for a day, while Zuo Liangyu led the army to leave Anqing and slowly went to Jiujiang, preparing to expel Huguang's Mandate of Heaven army.

The war of the Mandate of Heaven in Huguang was basically over, but Li Zicheng was still stationed in Qizhou.

Zuo Liangyu is not afraid of Zhang Xianzhong, he is most afraid of Li Zicheng's Heavenly Mandate Army, the Heavenly Mandate Army has endless firearms, and the soldiers are not afraid of death......

But when he was in Anqing, in front of Li Banghua and the soldiers, he publicly stated that he wanted to "kill thieves and make meritorious contributions", and he couldn't help but be pretentious.

Zuo Liangyu stationed heavy troops in Jiujiang on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and slept in the camp every day on the grounds of his old age and infirmity, but he sent Fang Guoan to lead 7,000 soldiers to cross the Yangtze River by boat and go to Qizhou to quell the rebellion.

Although Fang Guoan was unwilling, he did not dare to disobey Zuo Liangyu's military order, so he landed in Xinkouzhen on the other side of the Jiujiang River by boat.

Since Zuo Liangyu's troops went up the river, they were targeted by the rangers of the Mandate of Heaven Army, and as soon as Fang Guoan landed, he was attacked head-on by the Mandate of Heaven Army, mountain artillery, rifles, etc., all kinds of elite firearms.

The Fengtian battalion cut off the retreat along the river again, the Ming army was either killed or wounded, suffered heavy losses, and could only flee by seizing the road, 7,000 soldiers, with Fang Guoan crossing the river and returning to Jiujiang, less than 2,000.

Zuo Liangyu scolded Fang Guoan, but thinking that the Heavenly Mandate Army was on the opposite bank of the Jiangbei, he gave Fang Guoan another 20,000 soldiers and asked him to camp near the river to prevent the Heavenly Mandate Army from crossing the river.

Although many additional rangers were sent along the river, Zuo Liangyu was still not at ease, so he gathered large and small warships, divided them into several teams, and took turns to patrol the Yangtze River, day and night.

Li Zicheng happened to get the information that the Tartars were withdrawing from Shandong with a large number of people and property, and he was in a bad mood, and when he saw Zuo Liangyu's naval army arranged in the river, he couldn't help but sneer: "Zuo Liangyu wants to stop the Heavenly Mandate Army from crossing the river with these rotten ships?" It's overwhelming! ”

He Xiaomi also gritted his teeth and said, "Metropolitan Governor, do you want to mobilize our naval army?" ”

Li Zicheng said coldly: "Xiaomi, inform Zhou Kun to transfer the five Chongqing-class warships, I want Zuo Liangyu to see, what is a real naval army!" ”