Li Yan continued to practice the action of reloading in the next few days, breaking down the action into individual steps, and only after it was finally determined, did he write it down one by one.

Li Zhong came to Li Yan and reported: "Liu Yuanbin took Jingying to cross the Yellow River from Guide to Guide, and the Yellow River at this time took the southern road and had already arrived outside the city of Guide. ”

"Okay, got it." Li Yan nodded and said: "Let Huang Desheng be careful and be on guard, don't let the thieves get close to the iron mine, and give the officials and soldiers an excuse." Also, ask him to report in time, and give him a carriage to transport the three carrier pigeons. ”

From the iron mine to Qixian, it takes half a day to send the letter by fast horse. If you use carrier pigeons, you can arrive in an hour at most. However, only three carrier pigeons have been trained, and more needs to be trained before they can be used, so there is no one sent to raise carrier pigeons from the iron mine for the time being. When there are enough people here, they can send people to raise carrier pigeons everywhere. In the future, the area of control is larger, and timely communication is very important.

"Okay," Li Zhong nodded in agreement. After that, he reminded: "Report to Li Xianfeng that we have thieves here to make trouble, is it risky?" Now that Jingying has entered Henan, if Kaifeng sends someone over, we will be passive. ”

Li Yan explained: "Now only Chen Yongfu's army is staying in Kaifeng, and the other soldiers are outside to suppress thieves, they can't send troops here even if they want to." By the time they have pacified the thieves in other places and can free up their troops, we have already driven the thieves away here. Second brother rest assured, there should be no problem. ”

Li Zhong said again, "Why are you so interested in firecrackers? Artillery is indeed a sharp weapon, but the operation of the gun is complicated, and it is difficult to make, but the range is longer than that of the crossbow arrow, but the firing speed is slower. And there are about 20% of the dumb fire, compared to the crossbow arrow, there is no advantage at all. ”

Li Yan thought for a while, what Li Zhong said was indeed reasonable, but it was not entirely correct. So he explained: "First of all, the range is long, and the handcuffs are for cavalry, which is much simpler than the training of bows and arrows. If you have a long fire gun, you should be able to pierce heavy armor in sixty steps. Moreover, with the same stacked shooting as a crossbow arrow, the rate of fire is not a problem. The key is power, if you shoot an arrow with a crossbow arrow, maybe the enemy can still fight, but if you are shot by a firebolt, at least you will lose your combat effectiveness. ”

"Do you want to replace all the current crossbowmen with firebolts?" Li Zhong frowned and asked.

Li Yan nodded and said, "That's what I think at the moment. But the second brother can rest assured, he won't let the crossbowman change his outfit all at once. I'll let the recruits practice first, and then I'll change to the veterans to practice. ”

"You have to do the soldier's job well," Li Zhong reminded, "that firebolt is not ordinary than the operation of crossbow arrows. ”

Li Yan said with a wry smile: "You can't push all these things to me alone, everyone has to guide them." We still have time, and it will take a while for the long fire to come out, and we will subtly influence the soldiers. If there is really resistance, then they can only adjust their positions. ”

Li Zhong said: "You can decide for yourself." Don't step too fast, otherwise it will be difficult to clean up if there is trouble. ”

"Thank you second brother for reminding me, I'll pay attention." Li Yan thanked.

Outside the county seat of Lushan County.

Li Zicheng led his troops to besiege the county seat. The four gates of the county town were closed, and the officers and soldiers at the head of the city were on guard, and the officers and gentry were patrolling the divisions at the head of the city, for fear that the soldiers would slack off and let the thieves attack.

"Brothers in the city!" Li Zicheng selected more than a dozen soldiers, and shouted loudly outside the range of various weapons at the head of the city: "Who are you defending the city for?" Have you received your rations? Will your family be fed and clothed? The officials are in big fish and meat, but you can only drink porridge! Don't you feel aggrieved? ”

The soldiers at the head of the city listened quietly at first, and then began to whisper to each other.

"Don't talk to each other!" The officer shouted loudly.

But the soldiers complained to each other, and the officers began to whip them, but they were deterred by the angry eyes of the soldiers.

Li Zicheng looked at the city from a distance and asked Gao Yigong, "Yigong, how many of our people have entered?" ”

"Sixty-three." Gao Yigong replied: "As long as we start fighting here, they will come to the west gate to attack and open the city gate from the inside." ”

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "Yes, let's start then." While the sky is still bright, take down the county seat early. ”

Gao Yigong immediately commanded: "Beat the drum!" Besiege! ”

The drums of "dong" and "dong" sounded, and then starting from the west gate, the troops in all four directions began to attack the county seat of Lushan one after another. They shouted, carried the trench bridge, carried the long ladder, and rushed towards the county seat.

The soldiers at the head of the city, under the command of the officers and the overseers, slowly fired cannons and arrows outside the city.

The thieves outside the city continued to rush over with a shout as if they were not afraid of death. The thieves' feathered arrows also began to fall from the sky, and the soldiers who had lost the confidence to resist were hiding behind the battlements without showing their heads, and the officers did not dare to brave the rain of arrows to urge.

"Oh no, the thieves are in town! The thieves are coming! ”

Suddenly, there were soldiers shouting in panic on the city walls. After that, they saw a dozen strong men with shields and broadswords go up to the city wall, and cut down the officers and soldiers when they see them. The only reaction of the stunned officers and soldiers was to flee and stay away from these desperate thieves.

"The city is broken! The thieves have entered the city! ”

"Run! The city is broken! ”

The chaos on the walls continued, but there was a howl of terror at the gates below.

With a loud bang, the drawbridge was lowered, and the thieves outside the city all gathered at the west gate and soon rushed into the city. Some rushed up the walls, while others continued to rush towards the city.

By night, there was no resistance in the entire Lushan county. Not only did Li Zicheng's subordinates enter the city, but also the subordinates of Yidou Valley, who had been watching from a distance five miles away, also entered the city.

Li Zicheng pointed to the piles of grain in the granary of the county and said, "See, the grain here is ours!" ”

"Leader Li is really a hero, and he took down the county seat in one day. I'm in a bucket of valley service! Yidougu knelt down on one knee as he spoke, hugged his fists and said: "In the future, I, Yidougu, and my brothers, will all follow Leader Li!" As long as Leader Li gives an order, we will never say anything! ”

"I'll never say anything!" The leaders behind Itoya also knelt down and shouted loudly.

Li Zicheng waved his hand and ordered, "Get up." They are all their own brothers, and they will share blessings and difficulties in the future! The big guy follows me Li Zicheng, eats and drinks spicy food together, and is happy! ”

"Follow Leader Li, share the blessings and difficulties!" All the people in the vicinity of the county treasury shouted loudly.

Li Zicheng smiled with satisfaction. Then he commanded: "Disperse, open the prison and release the people." Find someone to lead the way and go to the house of the dog officials! Take back what they stole from us! ”

"Grab it back!" One by one, his men let out a roar of rage in their chests, and the whole county trembled.