When Hou Sui arrived in Baoding, the letter said that he was generous, but there was a sending, and he would never give up. And he said that he would immediately go north with an army of 300,000, willing to exterminate the thieves under his command.

Hou Sui smiled bitterly, not to mention 300,000 troops, even 30,000 soldiers, he couldn't afford to supply grain and grass. And now that Kaifeng is in no danger, he doesn't want to be aggressive anymore. The key is to fight against the thieves, the official army has almost no victories recently, whether it is defeated by the thieves or escaped alone, the result will not be good. So he also took the opportunity to reply to Zuo Liangyu and asked him not to use it.

However, Hou Sui also had to explain to the emperor, and reported Zuo Liangyu's situation to the emperor, and asked for Li Yan's troops to be put under his command. When he returned to his hometown, he saw Li Yan's generals and knew that it was a strong army. And he also knew that there was food in Guide Mansion, but it was all intercepted by Li Yan to raise soldiers. So if he wants to get Li Yan into his name, he can always get some merits to decorate the façade.

But the result was disappointing, and as soon as his recital was issued, he received a report from the imperial court. Li Yan thwarted the thieves under Kaifeng City, kept Kaifeng from losing, was promoted to chief military officer, and was responsible for the defense of Kaifeng. And Chen Yongfu was also named the prince for his merits, and he specialized in chasing down the thieves in Henan. Now that both of them have been sent, it is unlikely that they will give him another command.

And he also got the news that the impeachment of Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the Ministry of War, was now brewing in the capital, so he couldn't take care of other things. Even if King Zhou wanted to recruit Li Yan, a military general, as the county lord's guest of honor, he was only opposed by the ministers in the court, and the firepower of the imperial historians was all fired at Chen Xinjia, vowing to bring down this traitor and thief.

Sun Chuanting in Shaanxi also had no sense of urgency to march into Henan. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he began to intensify the training of the newly recruited army. He assigned He Renlong's soldiers and horses to other generals in Shaanxi, and only then did he pacify the generals.

During the three years that he was in prison, the military tun in Shaanxi was taken away by the official gentry. The imperial court did not pay him, and he had just been released from prison when he was in Beijing, so he did not understand the situation, and said that 5,000 soldiers and horses could quell the thieves. Now he has neither well-trained soldiers nor sufficient food and equipment, so he is now very difficult.

He now has to train soldiers, raise food, and straighten out equipment, so he is glad that Kaifeng can be guarded, and can give him some time to do these things. Although the imperial court still asked him to send troops to Henan, since Kaifeng is not in danger for the time being, and King Zhou is not in danger, he can delay it for a while.

Kaifeng, Zhou Wangfu.

King Zhou pointed to the notice sent by Chen Yongfu and asked Li Yan expressionlessly: "How do you explain what agreement you have?"

There was also the same notice in front of Li Yan, which read: General Li Yan, I have given up Zhongmu as promised, please accept it. The payment was made by the civil and military general of the Fengtian Advocate Battalion, Li Zicheng.

This was sent back after Chen Yongfu left Kaifeng and easily recovered Zhongmu, Zhengzhou and other places. Li Jiyu didn't dare to fight against Chen Yongfu, and after looting these states and counties, he returned to his lair with money and food, but Chen Yongfu was cheaper.

And Li Yan here is to start a whole screening of social soldiers and people who have returned to the civilian camp, these people are not qualified to be regular troops, but they have already gone through the war and have had some training, so it should be suitable to be used as a garrison force. But even the garrison, those with all kinds of vices, those with chivalrous temperament, those who are frail, and so on, cannot stay in the ranks. And not all of these citizens are willing to serve as soldiers, so screening is still very necessary.

Li Yan smiled and said, "You don't need to explain this. It's just a thief's counter-plot, the prince won't believe it."

King Zhou looked at Li Yan and didn't notice any abnormal reactions. But he said, "It's a little strange. The thieves had a million troops, and they could defeat the hundreds of thousands of reinforcements of the imperial court within a few days, but they stayed in Zhuxian Town and did not come to attack Kaifeng. And it retreated to the south, which is really strange. ”

"Lord Wang," Li Yan explained with a smile: "Kaifeng is so big, even if there are really millions of thieves, they will be put into battle in batches when they come." They fought with the last general, and they knew how powerful the last general was. And they are also the leaders of their own battalions, and if they want to maintain their ** nature, no one wants to let his subordinates suffer heavy losses. It should be these reasons that made them not make up their minds to attack the seal. ”

King Zhou still looked at Li Yan suspiciously.

Li Yan added: "Also, although the thieves defeated the officers and soldiers who came to help, after all, the officers and troops have more than 100,000 horses, and they will also have some casualties. After that, it takes time to collect the captives, distribute the spoils, and get the captives to join their ranks to increase their strength. ”

"Then why don't they attack Guide Mansion," King Zhou asked again.

Li Yan shook his head and said, "I don't know." However, before they came north to besiege Henan, they came to attack Guide Province, and were repelled by the last general's troops. ”

King Zhou thought about it, there was indeed such a report. He smiled and said, "Well, I remembered. I think they know that the virtuous son-in-law is powerful, and they don't want to touch the tiger whiskers of the virtuous son-in-law again. ”

Li Yan also said with a smile: "Maybe, if Chitose wants to know the reason, the next time he catches Li Chuang, the prince will ask in person." ”

King Zhou smiled and nodded. But then he smiled and said solemnly: "But now I believe that you are useless, you must be high governor, and Yan Inspector will believe you according to them." ”

Li Yan said indifferently: "As long as the prince trusts the last general, the last general doesn't care whether others trust it or not." ”

King Zhou looked at Li Yan and didn't know whether to laugh or reprimand. Although he was a prince, he had no ambitions. The first generation of Zhou Wangtong was the son of Taizu, and he also had an attempt to win the title, but he was suppressed by Chengzu several times, cut his title, moved his fiefdom, and shoveled the dragon qi. After such a toss again and again, his ancestor lost his temper, but began to calm down and start learning. So their branch has always been relatively peaceful, just thinking about blessings and peace.

King Zhou picked up the teacup and drank tea, and after a long while, he spoke: "The first thing you have to be loyal to is the imperial court, and then the royal palace." I will vouch for you in this matter. In the future, you will fight to kill the thieves, pacify the thieves, and prove your loyalty to the court and to the world. ”

Li Yan clenched his fists and said, "The last general has written it down." ”

King Zhou nodded and asked Li Yan to go about his business. After Li Yan left, the prince came out from behind the screen and asked worriedly: "Father, if he really has a connection with the thieves, what would it be?"

"He is the guest of honor of the palace, even if he really wants to rebel, what can he do with his own Yue family," King Zhou said calmly.

Shizi said: "However, Wu Niang is a concubine, and she was sent to the door, I'm afraid it doesn't have that much weight."

"It's not weight, it's fame." King Zhou still said lightly: "Filial piety is ahead, whoever dares to take a step beyond the thunder pool No matter what he asks, reputation is the most important thing." As long as he has the power to protect himself, Kaifeng will not be in danger. ”

The prince said helplessly: "I hope so." ”

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