Chen Yongfu led his troops south to pursue the thieves after dawn, and Zhengzhou City was naturally left to Li Yan. し。

Li Yan entered the city of Zhengzhou, where many houses were destroyed, some were demolished, and some were burned. There were no barracks in the city, so Chen Yongfu circled an area and let the soldiers choose a house to live in. The big families in the city either fled to Hebei or were killed by thieves, and the rest were ordinary people.

After Li Yan and the others entered the city, the people all came out. knelt on the ground along the street, not to welcome them, but to ask Li Yan for a stutter. Their rations were looted again by Chen Yongfu's troops last night, and many families had no food in stock, so they could only ask Li Yan, who had just entered the city, for food.

Li Yan can't give them food for nothing. He asked his subordinates to quickly allocate the land outside the city to these people, select young and strong men to serve as soldiers, and asked Kaifeng to immediately transport some seeds, so as to catch up with the sowing of winter wheat. Those who did not have young and strong families gathered in farms, planting winter wheat first, and alfalfa and beans later. Their horses have increased a lot, and they need more and more fodder.

Chen Yongfu naturally didn't dare to really pursue Li Zicheng, but when he arrived in Xinzheng, he didn't dare to move again, because Li Zicheng and the others stopped in Xuzhou. Since then, the two sides have maintained this state, but Li Guo withdrew his troops from Yanling and also withdrew to Xuzhou.

Five days later, Li Zhong sent Tian Jianxiu to Zhengzhou. This time there was no more talk, Tian Jianxiu came to tell Li Yan that they had agreed to Li Yan's request and agreed to give him the whole of Henan. However, this will take some time, please Li Yan not to push too much.

"There has to be a time," Li Yan said, "I can't wait for you all the time." ”

"Before the Chinese New Year, we will withdraw from Henan." Tamihide gave the answer.

Li Yan thought for a moment and said, "Before October 15, you will withdraw from Luoyang, Xuzhou, Yuncheng and other places. Before the 10th day of November, you withdrew from Runing, Xinyang, and other places. By the end of the year, you will all withdraw from Henan. ”

Tian Jianxiu agreed: "Okay, just do it according to General Li's opinion." ”

Li Yan reminded: "This is our last chance to cooperate, if you don't abide by the agreement again, then you can only be incompatible." ”

"General Li rest assured, those who don't want to leave Henan this time also know how powerful the general is, and there will be no one to hinder him." Tian Jianxiu smiled and reassured.

Within three days after Li Yan sent someone to send Tian Jianxiu away, the imperial court's holy decree also came down.

Hou Sui was directly dismissed from his post and will stay in prison. Originally, the emperor wanted him to command Zuo Liangyu, but Zuo Liangyu didn't buy Hou Sui's account at all, so there was no need for Hou Sui to be an overseer.

Li Yan, on the other hand, is more special. At the beginning, many people impeached Li Yan for being arrogant, not listening to dispatches, and withholding taxes. But at that time, the thieves were approaching Kaifeng, and Li Yan was needed to guard Kaifeng City, so they didn't deal with it. Now that Kaifeng City has been lifted, the emperor has also seen Li Yan's combat effectiveness, so he naturally wants to reuse it. However, coupled with the accusations made by the imperial historians against Li Yan before, this made Chongzhen feel a little conflicted.

Due to his meritorious service in defending the city, Li Yan was crowned as the prince and given a reward of 10,000 taels of silver. At the same time, he also sent a jade to Li Yan, officially confirming the marriage between Li Yan and the county lord of Anping, and Li Yan was officially a relative of the emperor. But with the reward came a prison eunuch.

Most of the previous eunuchs were withdrawn at the request of the civilian officials, and this time they were able to make an exception and send them out because of Li Yan's status as a guest of honor. The emperor sent a prison army to the people of the clan, and it can also be said that it was in the past. Moreover, Li Yan has no backstage in the court, so naturally no one will speak to him.

As for those who wooed Li Yan, there really isn't one now. Neither Donglin nor the eunuchs dared to have any interest in Li Yan. No matter which faction they were, they were all bureaucrats and gentry, and Li Yan's redistribution of land was unacceptable to both factions. If it weren't for the fact that Li Yan was needed to deal with the thieves now, they would have worked together to take down Li Yan a long time ago.

Although Li Yan was not happy, he still went out of the city to greet Niu Wenbing, the eunuch of the prison army.

"Oh, hey," Niu Wenbing saw Li Yan, bowed with a sharp voice and said, "This is Li Yibin, it's really dignified and extraordinary." Why do you come out, just send someone to guide the slave and maid. ”

Li Yan smiled and arched his hand: "Niu Jian Jun is polite, you are a messenger sent by His Majesty, so naturally you don't dare to slack off." ”

"Don't say that." Niu Wenbing said with a smile: "You are the guest of honor of the palace, and you are also the master of our minions." The emperor sent slaves and maids, not to spy on you, but to be a microphone between you and the emperor. If you have any difficulties and requirements, you don't need to go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and Soldiers, and the slave and maid will directly report to the emperor, and the emperor will naturally solve the problem for Li Yibin as appropriate. ”

Li Yan felt that this guy was very difficult to deal with. If you are arrogant, it is easy to say, find a chance to clean up and see if you can be honest. If only the greedy and lustful man could talk and satisfy him. But this smiling face greets each other, polite, and it's really hard to deal with.

Li Yan arched his hand to the north and said, "Then thank Your Majesty Longen." After that, he invited: "Niu Jian Jun, please enter the city." ”

"Honor first, please." Niu Wenbing was also polite.

The two gave in twice, and finally entered Zhengzhou City side by side.

The outside of the city looks good, the city is high and the pool is deep, and the city walls are very new. But when I entered the city, I saw broken bricks and rubble, and ruins everywhere. After entering Li Yan's residence, Niu Wenbing bowed his hand to Li Yan and said, "Yibin is really a tiger general." did not dispatch in Kaifeng, but led the troops to chase the thieves, which is really admirable. ”

"The Niu Jian Army has won the award," Li Yan said with a smile: "The thieves are powerful, and they have to be dealt with carefully." If you entrust your men with pursuit, a mistake in order may be the result of the annihilation of the entire army. Therefore, it is more appropriate for Niu Jian Jun to return to Kaifeng to sit in the town, and it is indeed more dangerous here. ”

Niu Wenbing said with a smile: "Yibin and other royal relatives can supervise the battle in front of the battle, I, who is a slave, where can I be greedy for life and afraid of death? Even if the slave and maid have great courage, they dare not disobey the holy order. ”

Li Yan had no choice but to set up a banquet and give Niu Wenbing and others a pick-up. Zhengzhou is broken, where is there anything to eat, but it is just the usual tofu, green vegetables and potatoes, and the big steamed buns are full. Niu Wenbing's entourage frowned and didn't move his chopsticks much, but Niu Wenbing didn't pick and choose, and he ate quite fragrantly.

For this kind of slippery character, Li Yan became more and more careful in his heart. At least until the thieves withdrew from Xuzhou and Runing, he didn't want to fall out with the imperial court, so he could only deal with it carefully.

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