On the ninth day of the first lunar month, 20,000 people went to the southwest along the Luohe River, and on the way to the west, only one Lushi County was still in the hands of the imperial court.

Li Ji was a little dissatisfied, and when he saw him off, he said: "Metropolitan Governor, Lushi County is just a county seat, and it has almost been surrounded by the territory of the Heavenly Mandate Army into an isolated island, how dare you have Metropolitan Governor Lao personally go out?" ”

"This time the troops are not only to take Lushi County and open the road to Shangzhou, but also to escort the people to the west to appease the people of Yidou Gubu, so the Governor of Pontus must go in person!" In Li Zicheng's heart, there is still an important person in mind.

"That subordinate ......"

"General Li, you are stationed in Yongning, and the burden on your body is not light," Li Zicheng said: "Let Sun Shiying finish the training of the two hundred city defense troops as soon as possible, and take over the defense of Yongning City, once the Heavenly Mandate Army takes Lushi County, your troops can approach the direction of Luoyang, but don't push it too hard, wait for the independent regiment and the second regiment to complete the deployment, and then join the siege." ”

"Subordinates obey!"

"Also, the eight thousand households of Fang Deng's department are also a force to be reckoned with," Li Zicheng paused, and Fang said: "When you go east, take them with you, and when you attack Luoyang, you may be able to use them!" ”

Li Ji was stunned for a moment, then nodded, "My subordinates understand!" After a pause, he said: "Dadudu, our food is running out, and it is less than 20,000 stones!" ”

Less than 20,000 stone of grain left? Li Zicheng was taken aback, the first regiment plus his own personal soldiers, close to 7,000 soldiers, plus 8,000 households in the Fang Deng department, a total of more than 15,000 people, only two months of military rations!

Although the Wan'an Wangfu received a lot of food, it dismissed 90,000 people from the Yidougu Department, and most of the grain was given to them, and the military food was in short supply.

He pondered for a moment and said, "General Li controls all the military rations, and two months should be enough to take Luoyang, right?" ”

Li Ji didn't say much, just nodded silently.

Li Zicheng left Yongning County, with the army in front, the grain and grass and the people followed, and marched all the way to the southwest along the north bank of Luoshui.

Traveling to Gaomen Pass, because the Luoshui coast is already showing a cliff structure, the army is difficult to pass, so it turns to the west, to the time of Du Guan, it is already due north of Lu's county, at this time, Lu's county is already a turtle in the urn, completely surrounded by the territory of the Mandate of Heaven Army and the Mandate of Heaven.

Thirty or forty miles away, it is an official road, but in half a day, the former army has arrived in Lu's county, He Xiaomi was surprised to find that the north city gate was not closed, "Governor, we have such a big movement, haven't we found it in the city?" ”

"If you don't find us, the people in the city will be blind," Li Zicheng muttered in his heart: "They won't treat the people who follow them as an army, and then be stupid, right?" ”

"It must be like this," He Xiaomifang came to his senses and said busily: "Governor, no matter what the reason, since the city gate is wide open, his subordinates will bring the sergeants into the city...... Could it be that the city still dares to act as an empty city? ”

Li Zicheng was still hesitating, and suddenly looked up and found a group of people coming out of the city, and the one in front was actually dressed in an official mansion and wearing an official hat, "Are they going to go out of the city to fight?" "The boss in my heart is strange, since the Mandate of Heaven Army entered Henan, it has gone through the county, except for Hu Dawei, the Ming army has always shrunk in the city, is Lushi County a soldier with enough food?

"No," He Xiaoxiao said, "The people who go out of the city are all officials, and there are no officers and soldiers behind them......"

Li Zicheng stared for a moment, and suddenly laughed, He Xiaomi was puzzled, "Why is the Metropolitan Governor laughing?" ”

"Xiaomi, don't you understand?" Li Zicheng pointed his hand forward, "Xiaomi, you take a soldier from a hundred households, come forward and take a look." ”

He Xiaomi seemed to understand, and hurriedly picked up a hundred soldiers and walked towards the group of officials, as expected, the officials saw He Xiaomi, and knelt on the ground one by one, "The good man spares his life, the official and others have opened the city gate, and Lushi County is waiting for the good man!" ”

It's really kneeling! He Xiaoxiao couldn't say what it was like in his heart, the officials knelt down to greet him, but he saved the siege time and casualties, but he couldn't be happy, this group of officials in Lushi County was not an opponent at all.

He Xiaomi didn't pay attention to the officials, walked directly past them, quickly seized the north city gate, and let the soldiers set up a defensive formation, waiting for the metropolitan governor to enter the city.

This He Xiaomi, I want to say hello to others! Li Zicheng secretly blamed, seeing that the soldiers had planted the Kyushu military flag on the city, knowing that there was no ambush in the city, he took the main force to meet him, let the kneeling officials get up, and asked while walking towards the city: "How is the city now, are the people at ease?" How many defenders are there in the city, and where are they now? ”

The leading magistrate said in his heart, with you rogues, how good can the people be...... Hey, no, the Mandate of Heaven Army arrived in Yongning County, distributed food and land to the people, and the message reached Lushi County, and the people rushed to tell each other, as if they were expecting the Mandate of Heaven Army to come to Lushi County earlier......

He sighed secretly and said, "There are only a hundred soldiers in the city, but they are not at the head of the city, but in the barracks...... As for the people, when they heard that the good man was coming, they were as happy as the official, and if it wasn't for the official blocking him, they were worried about affecting the good man to enter the city, and they would probably have blocked the city gate......"

"Oh, why?" Li Zicheng thought for a while, listening to his tone, the people welcomed the Mandate of Heaven Army very much, if the officials wanted to defend the city, the people would secretly open the city gates, could it be that they regarded the accompanying people as soldiers, intimidated by the threat of the Mandate of Heaven Army?

"Back to the good man, the people heard that when the good man was in Yongning County, he distributed disaster relief food to the local people and distributed land ......"

I see, a certain number of people from the Han Qing Bureau are operating in secret!

Li Zicheng felt for the first time, what is the meaning of falling from the wind!

However, what happened in Yongning County will not be widely spread in Lushi County so quickly, unless the people of the Han Qing Bureau spread information inside and outside the city, fortunately, the Han Qing Bureau was established in the first place, and it was worth spending some money and food.

"The Mandate of Heaven army has entered the city, you immediately send people to follow us to the barracks, as long as the soldiers surrender, you will be counted as a great merit!"

The county magistrate is overjoyed, the soldiers have been staying in the barracks, and they have no intention of defending the city at all, this is for nothing, he led the way in front of the head, and he was about to take the soldiers of the Heavenly Mandate Army to take over the barracks, but was stopped by Li Zicheng, "Wait, is there a person named Niu Jinxing in Lushi County?" ”

"Bull Venus?" The magistrate thought for a moment, and seemed to have some impressions, "It seems that he is a person from Baofeng County, who was later dismissed for his crimes, and now he ...... Now it seems that he is on an errand in the barracks......"

"Barracks?" Li Zicheng said: "Take me to see!" ”

In the barracks of Lushi County, the officials of the hundred households are at a loss, and it is definitely unrealistic to rely on them to defend the city, and besides, the food and equipment are insufficient, and the soldiers have no desperate mind at all.

Thousands of cavalry of the Mandate of Heaven came to the barracks, all the soldiers were very nervous, and they were notoriously murderous, and in order to protect themselves, the soldiers gathered together, and when necessary, they sacrificed their lives to fight, which may not be able to deter the rogues.

Zhixian walked in the front, not Xiao Li Zicheng ordered, he entered the barracks alone, found the hundred household officials, whispered a few words, the hundred household officials were very surprised, a miscellaneous soldier, why was he favored by the rogue, is he a rogue person?

If it weren't for the Heavenly Mandate Army surrounding the barracks, he would have asked in person, but unfortunately, now is not the time, the Heavenly Mandate Army is waiting for someone to ...... He summoned a personal guard and asked him to bring Niu Jinxing over and hand it over to the magistrate to bring back.

Li Zicheng looked at Niu Jinxing who came over opposite, in addition to being dressed in rags and having a filthy face, the skin on his face also looked dark and rough, how could he look like a half-hearted person? If it weren't for Li Xin's introduction to him, he would have thought he was a little old man over fifty.

Niu Jinxing's back was a little rickety, and he came to Li Zicheng behind the side of the magistrate, his face was blank, Li Zicheng nodded at him, and he didn't speak, but just ordered the hundred household officials to restrain the soldiers under him, and not to take advantage of the chaos to disturb the people, from now on, the Mandate of Heaven Army will take over the city defense and military camp of Lushi County, and all soldiers must stay in the barracks and accept the reorganization of the Mandate of Heaven Army.

Li Zicheng took Niu Jinxing to the second hall of the county government, and summoned Niu Jinxing alone in a quiet small hall arranged by the magistrate.

"Mr. is a lifter from Baofeng County, right? Why is it so messy now? ”

"That's all in the past, the identity of the villain...... It has long been ......" Niu Jinxing had a bitter face, but he met Li Zicheng's gaze, "How does the Metropolitan Governor know about the villain?" ”

"Haha," Li Zicheng laughed and let Niu Jinxing sit down opposite, "Mr. has heard a little about the matter of the Governor of Pontus, and Mr. has suffered a lot in Lushi County over the years, right?" ”

"It's all the harm of the king...... The villain has a home and is difficult to return to ......"

In Niu Venus's mind, the scene of being framed at that time suddenly appeared, "...... Resist tax arrears, forcibly occupy 18 women, and go to the status of people to raise their identities, and assign Lushi County to be an errand ......"

Thinking of the shame of that day, the corners of Niu Jinxing's mouth twitched involuntarily, he was originally a lifter, he liked to read some books such as Qimen and the Art of War to entertain himself, and set up a museum in the city on weekdays to teach apprentices, plus dozens of acres of land in Pibei, but he also lived a life of abundant food and clothing, and he didn't think about recruiting anyone to provoke anyone.

Because he inadvertently offended people, he was listed as a crime and sent to Lushi County, a poor mountainous area......

Li Zicheng knew that what he said just now might have hit Niu Jinxing's sore spot, looking at his gaze, there was a deep hatred in the resentment, it was an unforgettable hatred, and it was endless!

"Sir, have you ever heard of the Mandate of Heaven?"

"In the past few days, I have heard about it in the city, and it has been rumored in the city that wherever the Mandate of Heaven Army goes, it not only provides disaster relief to the people, but also distributes land to the people......" Niu Jinxing collected hatred, and his eyes fell on Li Zicheng, "Since the Metropolitan Governor is the commander of the Mandate of Heaven Army, why is he wearing the armor of the Ming Army?" ”