Beijing, Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Chongzhen watched the chapter while waiting for Zhang Guowei, the new secretary of the military department. He finally beheaded Chen Xinjia, because Chen Xinjia did not admit his guilt and insisted that peace with the Qing court was done on orders, not in private.

He knew from the beginning that the courtiers would inevitably oppose it, so he repeatedly instructed Chen Xinjia to act carefully, and in order to clear up the involvement, he still let Chen Xinjia deal with it with full authority. But Chen Xinjia was so negligent and unwilling to bear this charge, which made him very disappointed. What else can he expect Chen Xinjia to do The elite of the border army outside the pass has lost most of it, and the thieves in the Central Plains have become more and more intense, just using this head of the military department to give an explanation to the subjects of the world.

But it's not all bad news, at least Kaifeng has been defended, and more than 40,000 thieves have been killed, which has greatly damaged the vitality of the thieves. So now the official army is marching all the way to regain the lost territory. The thieves, on the other hand, are constantly retreating and have retreated to the Runing area. He had already issued a holy decree to Li Yan and Chen Yongfu to continue to pursue and suppress the thieves, and strive to eliminate the thieves in Henan.

"Check it out" After Zhang Guowei came in again and saluted, Chongzhen asked without raising his head.

Zhang Guowei replied: "Back to Your Majesty, Li Yan's staff is 4,500 people, which is the number of soldiers when he was promoted to Guide Mansion guerrillas. Later, he was promoted to deputy general and chief soldier due to merit, but the number of troops was not determined. ”

"Four thousand five hundred, but he already has tens of thousands of troops under his command now." Chongzhen approved a few words in the chapter, and then said: "Not only that, but the armor is sharp." Artillery, in particular, is no less powerful than Hongyi cannons, with dozens of pieces. Can the military department know?"

"I don't know."

"The government and the yamen, none of them have been reported," Chongzhen asked again.

Zhang Guowei replied: "The minister has been a foreign official for a long time, and I don't know what it is. Now is the time to employ people, no matter what means Li Yan uses to train elite soldiers, it is better not to act lightly before exterminating the thieves. ”

"I'm afraid that he is the next He Renlong" Chongzhen said loudly: "Now it is a system of its own, changing the military system without authorization, and privately manufacturing weapons. If I hadn't sent an inner prison, I wouldn't have known what was going on."

Zhang Guowei suggested: "The general soldier Chen Yongfu is sharp, defeating the thieves again and again and recovering the lost territory. You can add grace and Chen Yongfu and let him guard against Li Yan. ”

"Hmph" Chongzhen snorted coldly: "Chen Yongfu is just useless, if he can deal with the thieves, he doesn't have to let Li Yan rescue Kaifeng several times." ”

Zhang Guowei asked embarrassedly: "Then what does Your Majesty mean~"

Chongzhen said helplessly: "Now I am also embarrassed." After that, he asked: "The generals under Li Yan's command can be appointed by the Ministry of War."

Wang Guowei thought for a moment and replied: "Except for Li Yan, it seems that none of the others have been appointed by the Ministry of War. ”

Chongzhen nodded and ordered, "Here's a list, you take it." In accordance with the military rank above, they are given the corresponding appointments. ”

"This~" Zhang Guowei said cautiously: "In case he arouses Li Yan's disgust and makes drastic moves, there is no general in Henan who can stop him." ”

Chongzhen frowned, knowing that he was in a hurry. Now that He Renlong has been killed, Sun Chuanting can still control it. But Zuo Liangyu was a rat trap there, and the court did not dare to punish him severely, so that Zuo Liangyu became more and more self-respecting. If there is one more Li Yan who has good combat power, then the imperial court will really be in danger.

"How is the situation over there Sun Chuanting," Chongzhen suddenly asked.

Zhang Guowei thought for a while before replying: "I suffered heavy losses in Henan before, and now I am resting in Shaanxi to recruit and train new soldiers. However, there is a shortage of food and salary, so please ask the court to help. ”

"Let him figure out how to raise his own money." Chongzhen said a little angrily: "Aren't the tens of thousands of troops under Li Yan's command all strong and strong, and there are constant disasters, and there is no silver here in the imperial court." ”

Zhang Guowei did not speak. This is also no way, the imperial court is now not even able to pay the salaries of the officials, where can it give Sun Chuanting Zhou Ji Although Zhang Xianzhong's troops were unable to support themselves after the departure of the fifth battalion of the revolutionary left, they were defeated by Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo, but the strength still exists, and now they are besieging Tongcheng, or they must continue to encircle and suppress. And only Ningyuan and other places are left in Liaoxi, and fortresses are being built to strengthen defense, and a lot of money is also used, and the imperial court is really difficult.

Chongzhen suddenly ordered: "Let Sun Chuanting step up his military training and strive to exterminate the thieves within the year."

"I'm afraid it's a little hard." Zhang Guowei reminded.

"That also let him step up his training and exterminate the thieves as soon as possible, when he left Beijing, he said that he only needed 5,000 elite soldiers, but now he has tens of thousands of troops, and he is still defeated in the hands of the thieves, how can I allow him to open his mouth," Chongzhen reprimanded sternly, as if Zhang Guowei in front of him had become Sun Chuanting.

He saw Zhang Guowei bowing his head and not speaking, so he waved his hand and said, "Zhang Qing's family go back." Supervise the generals and make every effort to suppress the thieves. ”

"Obey."

Henan, Xuzhou.

An old man stood in front of Li Yan and said angrily: "The 538 acres of land outside Zhengzhou City belong to my family, how can you privately distribute it to those displaced people?"

Li Yan was watching the five hundred captives at this time, and the people were rebuilding the city wall of Xuzhou. This old man was a big family in Zhengzhou, surnamed Huang, and fled to the north bank of the Yellow River in May. Chen Yongfu did not come back when he was stationed in Zhengzhou, but now he heard that the official army had recovered Xuzhou and Luoyang, and it was much safer, so he returned with his family. But when he got home, not only was the house destroyed, but even the fields outside the city were planted by others, so he immediately took the title deed and came to find Li Yan's theory that his land had been divided.

It's not that he doesn't want to sue, but all the officials in Zhengzhou were martyred, and the yamen was burned to the ground, so he had nowhere to sue even if he wanted to. So I had to come directly to Li Yan.

"Just give you a hundred and thirty acres elsewhere." Li Yan said casually.

The old man said excitedly: "I have a land deed of more than 500 acres, why only give 130 acres, even if you change it, I won't promise me to ask for my family's 538 acres of land."

Li Yan said lightly: "Your land deed is only a red deed of one hundred and thirty acres. I don't recognize Bai Qi. Now that the seeds have been planted there, I can't give them back to you. Set aside a hundred and thirty acres for you a little outside, and then compensate you thirty acres. ”

"You, you're robbing the people's property," the old man pointed at Li Yan and scolded. Seeing that Li Yan did not have the slightest room for accommodation, he actually wanted to beat Li Yan with a cane. But he was subdued by Li Yan's personal soldiers.

"Send the old man out." Li Yan still commanded lightly. There are really not many things like this, and those big families are not willing to flee with their families, so after the city is broken, it is basically slaughtered, and the fields and other things naturally become borderless land. But since he found it with the title deed, he also has to give a fair treatment.

"I'm going to Kaifeng to sue you, I'm going to the capital to sue the emperor," the old man still shouted loudly when he was carried away, full of energy, and it seemed that he was really in good health.

Niu Wenbing, on the other hand, was from a distance, watching all this with a sneer. In a few days, this matter will appear on the emperor's desk and become another crime against Li Yan.

...