Li Zicheng and Li Xin converged in Runing Mansion and joined forces to take Runing Mansion, in fact, there was no battle at all, Yang Wenyue's troops were stagnant, and there were only more than 1,000 Ming troops in Runing City, and in the face of tens of thousands of Heavenly Mandate troops, they surrendered directly.

According to Liu Zongmin's original temperament, he couldn't wait to arrest the military attaches of more than 1,000 households in the city one by one, skinning and cramping.

Habit becomes nature.

There have been many such things, and Liu Zong has not been surprised, but he only assisted Li Ji and captured the soldiers and civil and military officials in the city.

Li Zicheng smiled secretly, the officials of Runing City, in order to protect themselves, they came down when they heard the wind!

I don't know if they will return to the imperial court after the Mandate of Heaven army leaves.

In order to survive, the officials danced a swing dance between the Heavenly Mandate Army and the Ming Army, which is not a bad thing, and in the face of war, they took the initiative to surrender, at least the city suffered the least losses!

Henan was already a poor place for the people, and if the war was limited to between the armies, the losses suffered by the people could be reduced.

The city is not the most important thing, the key is that the people who account for the vast majority of the population, as long as the people's hearts are towards the Mandate of Heaven army, this long-distance march will not be in vain.

Li Zicheng kept all the civil officials in the city, and then gathered them together and handed them over to the people of the Civil Department, although the civil deputy envoys Wang Yinchang and Li Wan stayed in Luoyang, but Song Xiance was by his side.

Song Xiance joined the Mandate of Heaven Army and was temporarily appointed as a civil deputy envoy, Li Zicheng was going to take a test, if Song Xiance's ability and loyalty were as good as his mouth, it would be possible to serve as a civil envoy in the future.

It is good to have civil officials, as long as they gradually sort out a set of methods for resettling the people and dealing with the surrendered officials, and expand their territory in the future, they don't have to worry about these things themselves.

The surrendered troops in the city will be handed over to the Military Affairs Division, and Niu Jinxing will conduct training in accordance with the military discipline of the Heavenly Mandate Army, which will not take too long, but the surrendered soldiers must be familiar with the military discipline and military regulations of the Heavenly Mandate Army.

The number of surrendered troops was too small, Li Zicheng did not include them in the regular army of the Mandate of Heaven, and after screening, he recruited some young men from among the people and formed a thousand households as the city defense soldiers of Runing Mansion.

Since Yang Wenyue was stationed in Xihua County, Li Zicheng left Li Xin's independent battalion in Runing Prefecture, and he led Li Ji's fourth battalion south to collect the entire prefecture and county to which Runing Prefecture belonged.

In the southern part of Runing Prefecture, because it is separated from Huguang by Tongbai Mountain and Dabie Mountain, there are many passes, Li Zicheng organized the local garrison into 4,000 households, close to the establishment of a regiment, and Yang Chenhu, the capital of the Ming army, who surrendered, served as the head of the regiment and led the rank of guerrilla general.

Although this regiment is stationed in Runing Mansion, it is directly under the Song Ministry of Culture and Culture, and is organized as the fourth regiment, plus the thousand households in Ruyang Mansion, which happens to be the full strength of a regiment.

The Fourth Regiment was stationed in Xinyang Prefecture to guard the official road in Huguang, and in addition to training in accordance with the way of the Mandate of Heaven Army, it was to guard this official road and the various passes near the left of the official road.

In Li Zicheng's heart, he already has the intention of officially incorporating it into Runing Mansion, which is adjacent to Nanyang Mansion, and there will be no difficulties in management.

The Runing Mansion was included in the territory of the Mandate of Heaven Army, the entire Henan, the south of the Yellow River, the imperial court almost only left Kaifeng Mansion, and when the Kaifeng Mansion was attacked in the future, it was the trend of encirclement.

However, the terrain of Henan is very open, there are many traffic arteries, except for the south and Huguang between Tongbai Mountain and Dabie Mountain, there are no obvious passes in all directions, and the defense width is too large, and it is impossible to have enough troops to garrison.

Let's focus on civil affairs!

Militarily, it cannot be garrisoned, but the people's hearts can be collected, as long as the people's hearts are obtained, even if the Heavenly Mandate Army temporarily withdraws, when they turn back in the future, they will still be a territory.

Li Zicheng became the popular support in the southern part of Runing Province, and stationed in Xinyang Prefecture for a period of time, plus the independent battalion of Li Xinbu in the north, Ruzhou was temporarily firmly controlled by the Mandate of Heaven Army.

At this time, the summer grain has been harvested, the people have grain in their hands, and there is no need for the Mandate of Heaven Army to provide disaster relief, and the prefectures and counties newly appointed by Li Zicheng are all levied according to the light tax of 15 taxes and one tax, and in places where the drought is serious, the taxes will be reduced, or even completely exempted, and the people have rarely ushered in a real harvest.

In the blink of an eye, it was July, and the heat was even hotter than the height of summer.

Li Zicheng left Xinyang Prefecture with the fourth battalion of Li Jibu's department and entered the boundary of Nanyang Prefecture along the northern foot of Tongbai Mountain.

As soon as the army arrived in Tang County, a ranger rushed back from the front, came to the Chinese army, turned over and dismounted, and knelt down in front of Li Zicheng, "Governor Dadu, in the direction of Huguang, there is a team of more than 100,000 people, and it is rushing along the blocked water in the direction of Tang County!" ”

"More than 100,000?" Li Zicheng immediately thought of Zuo Liangyu, the Ming army in Huguang, only Zuo Liangyu had such a big hand, "Is it Zuo Liangyu's department?" ”

"It shouldn't be," Ranger said: "Judging from the banner they played, it is very likely to be the 'Cao Cao' Luo Rucai Department, and there are many old and weak women and children in the team!" ”

"Luo Rucai?" Li Zicheng frowned, he stayed in Huguang well, what were you doing in Henan?

"Back to the Metropolitan Governor, we don't dare to get too close, but it is preliminarily determined that it is Luo Rucai's department."

"How far are they?" Li Zicheng had a calm face, but he was thinking about it in his heart.

"It's about a day's journey, no accident, you should be able to reach Tang County before noon tomorrow!"

Li Zicheng asked the rangers to inquire about Luo Rucai's information again, and came to report at any time, and the army set up a large camp in Tang County.

The soldiers were camping, and in order to escape the heat, many soldiers set up big tents in the shade of trees, and Li Zicheng found a big tree and sat alone on a rock in the shadow of the tree.

Luo Rucai went north to the Central Plains, and now I don't know why, but some kind of change must have happened.

There are many mountains in Huguang, suitable for hiding traces, and there is enough farmland to produce food, which is the paradise of Liukou, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai have been "hiding and seeking" with the Ming army in Huguang.

Luo Rucai left Huguang and went north to the Central Plains, and the conditions would be much more difficult.

There was a serious drought in Henan, food was very scarce, and the plain terrain was dominant, unless Luo Rucai's army and the Heavenly Mandate Army had the ability to fight in the field with the Ming army, otherwise, coming to Henan would be a dead end.

Why did Luo Rucai leave Huguang, Li Zicheng had no time to think, and there would be no information for the time being, the key was what impact it would have on the Heavenly Mandate Army after entering Henan.

Whether it is Nanyang Mansion, Runing Mansion, or the mountains in western Henan, like Bear's Ears Mountain and Funiu Mountain, they are now the territory of the Heavenly Mandate Army, do you want to share it with Luo Rucai?

When Luo Rucai came to Henan, he would inevitably compete with the Mandate of Heaven Army for territory......

The Mandate of Heaven Army is not afraid of the Ming Army, the two sides are enemies on the surface, and they have already torn their faces.

But the Mandate of Heaven Army and rogues like Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai are not natural allies.

Although Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai opposed the imperial court and had been fighting with the Ming army to surrender, whether they had the ultimate goal of overthrowing the Ming imperial court, or even whether they had the ultimate goal, Li Zicheng did not know.

The Mandate of Heaven army protects the territory and the people, not only keeps the land peaceful and peaceful, but also takes the survival needs of the people as the highest goal, and has been integrated into the blood of officials and soldiers, and the rogues such as Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai have never treated the people well, and the more bankrupt the people, the more soldiers they will have.

The essence is different, and it is determined that it is difficult for the Mandate of Heaven to cooperate with the Liukou!

Li Zicheng was reluctant to encounter the rogue, and the key was that he did not find the commanding heights of morality.

The Mandate of Heaven Army is to overthrow the Ming Dynasty and build China as its own responsibility, and sooner or later it will have to face various rogues.

What should come will always come!

"Is the Metropolitan Governor thinking about Luo Rucai?" Niu Jinxing quietly came to Li Zicheng's side and sat down on the other side of the shade.

Li Zicheng's heart moved, yes, there is a temporary governor's mansion in Henan, and Li Xin, Niu Jinxing, and Song Xiance are by his side.

No matter what title they hold, they are essentially advisors to the Provisional Governor's Office, so why not ask them if they have a problem? I'm not fighting alone!

Li Zicheng nodded slightly, and said, "According to Mr., Luo Rucai went north to Henan, what impact did it have on the Heavenly Mandate Army?" ”

"The pros and cons are half," Niu Jinxing said: "In the heart of the Grand Governor, he must already have an idea!" ”

This old slippery head!

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "If you listen to it, Mr. will tell me your opinion!" ”

Niu Jinxing said slowly: "Luo Rucai has always been good friends with Zhang Xianzhong, the two of them are in Huguang, and they often jointly attack Zuo Liangyu, Luo Rucai suddenly went to Huguang, it is definitely not to open up the territory, it is very likely to have a conflict with Zhang Xianzhong!" ”

"Sir, are you saying that Luo Ru was forced away by Zhang Xianzhong?" Li Zicheng said in his heart, so that it makes sense.

Niu Jinxing said lightly: "Maybe!" ”

Li Zicheng originally didn't care why Luo Rucai came to Henan, but after Niu Jinxing's pointing, he realized that these messages were very important, and if Luo Rucai and Zhang Xianzhong disagreed, and were forced to leave Huguang, when they were cornered, it would be most beneficial to the Heavenly Mandate Army.

Luo Rucai has already offended Zhang Xianzhong, and was chased by the Ming army, as long as he is not a fool, he will definitely not offend the Mandate of Heaven Army again!

"Sir, are you saying that we can make the most of the contradictions between the two?"

"Luo Rucai is known as 'Cao Cao', and he has always been more cunning," Niu Jinxing said: "Because he is more cunning, he can see the overall situation clearly, and when he comes to Henan, he may seek cooperation from the Heavenly Mandate Army." ”

Li Zicheng does not intend to cooperate with Luo Rucai, the fundamental concepts and goals are different, it is difficult to establish real mutual trust, and there is no basic trust, so how can we talk about cooperation?

He stroked his chin, leaned against the big tree behind him, and said, "Luo Rucai went north to Henan, does he have the strength to confront the Ming army?" ”

"I'm afraid this is very difficult, with his current situation in Huguang, he can only drill the ravine for the time being," Niu Jinxing said: "It is precisely because he cannot independently fight against the Ming army that he has to cooperate with the Heavenly Mandate Army." ”

"What if I don't agree to work with him?" Li Zicheng was reluctant to create a good situation in Henan, "Once Luo Rucai enters Henan, where will he settle down?" ”

"This is also where his subordinates are worried," Niu Jinxing picked up a small pebble from the ground and threw it into the distance, "Luo Rucai came to Henan, it is bound to disrupt the plan of the Mandate of Heaven Army, south of the Yellow River, except for Kaifeng Mansion, it is basically the territory of the Mandate of Heaven Army, does Luo Rucai dare to blatantly stay in Kaifeng Mansion?" ”