Ding Qirui fled to Runing Mansion and joined Yang Wenyue, and soon received a decree from the imperial court: he had been removed from the post of Inspector of Pingqi and replaced by Hou Sui.

Yang Wenyue accompanied him to receive the holy decree, glanced at Ding Qirui, and couldn't help but feel sour in his heart. Ding Qirui is a superintendent-level figure, Zhu Xianzhen was defeated, and he said that he would be exempted, and the court was so ruthless......

Ding Qirui sent off the eunuch who passed the decree, but he looked up to the sky and laughed.

Yang Wenyue was puzzled, "Inspector Ding was dismissed from the post of Inspector of Ping Thief, but how could he laugh?" ”

Ding Qirui couldn't close his mouth, "Yang Du is upset about the old man? ”

Yang Wenyue frowned and said, "Isn't Inspector Ding a little disappointed?" ”

"It's no longer the Inspector, Governor Yang must not scold the old man anymore," Ding Qirui's face didn't show any sadness, "This time Zhu Xianzhen was defeated, even the Sword of Heaven and the official seal of the Inspector were lost, the court did not put the old man in prison, the old man is already grateful, what is the disappointment?" ”

In my heart, I thought that I finally stepped down from the position of "Thief Supervisor", and Hou Sui, who took over, and you Yang Supervisor, just wait to cry, Kaifeng is surrounded by the Mandate of Heaven Army, do you have a way to break the siege?

Yang Wenyue said: "But the imperial court ...... At least we have to make arrangements for our old age, isn't that ......?"

Ding Qirui arched his hand to Yang Wenyue, "Thank you Yang Dou for your care, the old man thinks it's very good, the unofficial is light, the old man is just spending his old age in peace, hey, I haven't seen my well-behaved grandson for many years......"

"What an unofficial and light!" Yang Wenyue thought that he would have to fight for the imperial court, and he didn't know how it would end in the future, so he was stunned and speechless for a while.

"Yang Du must not be affected by old decay," Ding Qirui arched his hand again, "In his position, he must be loyal to the court!" ”

Yang Wenyue thought that he was already old, and he would continue to fight against the Heavenly Mandate Army...... The key is that he really didn't have a way to eradicate the Heavenly Mandate Army, but he was a little envious of Ding Qirui, who was unofficial and light, and was silent for a moment, and finally said, "Lord Ding, where are you going?" ”

"The old man traveled all over the world that day," Ding Qirui sighed and said, "The old man wants to go home and enjoy his old age in peace, but ...... The old hometown is in Yongcheng County, Guide Prefecture, but unfortunately it is now occupied by thieves, so I can only find another place...... "I arched my hand to Yang Wenyue, which was regarded as a farewell, and I went to pack up my clothes softly.

Yang Wenyue was speechless, thinking that his hometown of Nanchong County, Shunqing Prefecture, Sichuan Province was also occupied by thieves, and his heart was full of sadness, but he just arched his hand to Ding Qirui, but he couldn't say a word!

………………………………………………………………

Outside Kaifeng City, in addition to supervising the training of various battalions and regiments, Li Zicheng was waiting for reinforcements from the imperial court, but there was no news of reinforcements.

In mid-June, someone from the Han Qing Bureau told him that Hou Sui replaced Ding Qirui as the "Commander of the Thieves" as the Zuo Shilang of the Military Department, and the governor of several provinces.

It's a pity that this Hou Sui, I don't know if he has no troops in his hands, or there is no way to break the siege of Kaifeng, he actually hid in Yangwu County, north of the Yellow River, and refused to cross the river.

Li Zicheng sneered unconsciously, could it be that there are really no reinforcements in the imperial court? Or did the imperial court abandon Kaifeng?

When he besieged Kaifeng, he didn't plan to attack the city, "encircling the point to send reinforcements, consuming the Ming army" is the goal, if there is no reinforcement from the imperial court, the Mandate of Heaven Army 80,000 troops, and 40,000 or 50,000 young people, stay outside the city every day to consume food in vain, so go on, is there any point?

happened to receive a summons from Fu Ruwei, the prefect of Runing Mansion, that the remnants of Yang Wenyue and Hu Dawei were attacking Runing Mansion, and Li Zicheng was ready to withdraw from the siege and return to the army.

Before withdrawing the army, Li Zicheng summoned Li Xin, Niu Jinxing, and Song Xiance, among the three, Niu Jinxing has the most overall situation, Li Xin has the most military talent, and Song Xiance can often see the problem in a unique way, if the three of them have no way, then they can only withdraw the army.

Niu Jinxing listened to Li Zicheng's opinion, laughed, and said, "Shouldn't the Metropolitan Governor open the city?" ”

"Kaifeng City?" Li Zicheng's heart moved, but he still shook his head, "The Heavenly Mandate Army has always paid no attention to the gains and losses of one city and one place, if a large number of soldiers are killed or wounded, even if they can take this fortified city, it seems that the gains outweigh the losses!" ”

Niu Jinxing said with a smile: "Governor, what if you don't have to fight hard with the Ming army in the city? Or are we not going to fight at all? ”

"Mr. Niu means that the people who rely on the Han Qing Bureau in the city?" Li Zicheng shook his head, "Although there are people from the Han Qing Bureau in the city, the number is too small, and the Ming army in the city is under the organization of Gao Mingheng, and they are hating the same enemy, and the people of the Han Qing Bureau are afraid that it will be difficult to take a chance." ”

Niu Jinxing said with a smile: "Governor Dadu, my subordinates will tell you a story that happened in the city, just the day before yesterday, a grain merchant named Li Yuchun was publicly beheaded by Huang Shu, the official guarding Caomen!" ”

"The grain merchant was beheaded by Huang Shu?" Li Zicheng faintly felt that he had caught something, "Mr. Niu is saying that the grain merchants in the city are driving up the price of grain?" ”

"The Governor of the Metropolitan is right," Niu Jinxing said with a smile: "As far as his subordinates know, the price of grain in Kaifeng City, at the end of April, one tael of silver could buy four buckets of wheat, and by the beginning of June, it had doubled, and one tael of silver could only buy two buckets of wheat, and now, the price of grain has risen further......"

"Profiteers raise prices, they should be killed!" Although Li Zicheng was an enemy of the Ming army in the city, he still hated the harm to the people, "However, this is just the illegal behavior of the merchants, and it doesn't mean anything." ”

Li Xin was afraid that the Metropolitan Governor would withdraw his troops, so he hurriedly said: "Metropolitan Governor, since the grain merchants have raised the price of grain, it means that the grain in the city is already insufficient. ”

"Not enough food? No way? Li Zicheng said: "It's only been more than a month, and there is a shortage of food in the city?" ”

Song Xiance has been squinting his eyes, and suddenly said: "Most of the governors don't know, Kaifeng is a very developed commercial city, and the people in the city mainly rely on buying grain to live. ”

"The people have no food?" Li Zicheng muttered: "The people have no grain in their hands, it does not mean that the grain store has no grain, nor does it mean that the government has no grain, Kaifeng has been attacked by us twice in a row, won't the government store grain?" ”

Niu Jinxing stroked his long beard and said: "Metropolitan Governor, in Kaifeng City, there has not been much food!" ”

Li Xin also said: "Governor, since there is a matter of raising grain prices in the city, the food shortage is not far away, as long as we wait patiently for a while, there may be opportunities." ”

"Dadu Governor, Kaifeng is the core of the Central Plains," Niu Jinxing is really unwilling to give up the encirclement of Kaifeng, such a good opportunity, the imperial court's reinforcements are gone, perhaps the imperial court has given up Kaifeng, "If Kaifeng is taken, as the capital of Henan, the whole of Henan, it is ours, Kaifeng's significance to the Heavenly Mandate Army, the blow to the prestige of the imperial court, is far from being comparable to Luoyang." ”

Li Zicheng also knows the importance of Kaifeng, although Luoyang is a historical ancient city, but since the Tang Dynasty, Luoyang has lost the position of the central city, and it is close to the deep mountains of western Henan, transportation, economy, population, influence, etc., far inferior to Kaifeng.

Kaifeng is the core of Henan, and even the entire Central Plains, once the Heavenly Mandate Army occupies Kaifeng, Shi Lin, who originally had a negative view of the Heavenly Mandate Army, is very likely to change his original opinion, and the orthodox status of the imperial court will also be shaken in their hearts.

Truth is only within the range of artillery, strength is everything!

If it is attacked, the Mandate of Heaven Army may not be able to take Kaifeng, but he has the experience of attacking Kaifeng twice, Li Zicheng is unwilling to sacrifice soldiers in vain, Kaifeng is already in his own mouth, and sooner or later it will belong to the Mandate of Heaven Army.

Now that the opportunity is in front of you, do you need to trap the Ming army in the dead city?

With the nature of the Ming army, they will definitely plunder the people and pass on their hunger to the people......

Li Xin saw that Li Zicheng was silent, as if he knew his thoughts, he, like Li Zicheng, was also unwilling to let hundreds of thousands of people in the city starve for the sake of an Kaifeng city...... However, Kaifeng City has been besieged three times, the opportunity is really rare, if the Ming army in the city eases up, and even the imperial court sends rescuers, it will be difficult to take Kaifeng again.

What to do?

Li Xin's eyes flickered, such a trade-off was the most difficult thing for him!

Niu Jinxing has joined the Heavenly Mandate Army for almost two years, and from the military regulations and military laws of the Heavenly Mandate Army, you can find Li Zicheng's thoughts, but the eldest husband has done something and has not done anything, during the war, casualties are inevitable, "Dadu Governor, once the siege is withdrawn today, Kaifeng will be taken in the future, and I am afraid that there will be more dead and injured brothers!" ”

Li Zicheng swept the three of them with a cold gaze, "That's what you all mean?" ”

Li Xin was still hesitating, so he lowered his head and didn't speak, but Song Xiance raised his head, which means that the big husband should act informally!

Li Zicheng's heart moved, pondered for a moment, and said: "I'll give you a month, and after a month, if you can't take Kaifeng, I'll consider withdrawing the siege!" ”

"Governor, I'm afraid one month is not enough," Niu Jinxing said: "Even if there is a shortage of food in the city, one day's grain can be evenly made for two days, and it can support a month......"

Li Zicheng thinks about it, in the face of hunger, the elasticity of the belly is far beyond the thinking of human beings, and now there is only a price increase in food prices in the city, and there is no hunger yet, and a month's time is indeed far from enough.

However, where can you go when you evacuate Kaifeng? The remnants of Yang Wenyue do not need the 80,000 army of the Mandate of Heaven Army at all, if they can take Kaifeng in one fell swoop, the war in Henan is very likely to end, and the Mandate of Heaven Army can open up the next battlefield......

It has been almost three years since the Mandate of Heaven Army came to Henan......

Li Zicheng pondered for a long time, and finally said: "If the siege continues, we must retreat, the military camp is at least twenty miles away from the city gates, and in addition, the Han Qing Bureau is closely concerned about the food situation in the city!" ”

"Governor, why are we retreating?"

"If the people in the city are short of food, we can let them go out of the city freely," Li Zicheng said: "When necessary, we must guide the people out of the city, let the quartermaster prepare more food, and once the people go out of the city, we must provide food!" ”

Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance all nodded yes, but Li Xin looked at Li Zicheng with a lot of strange eyes, in the current situation, this may be the best result, not only can trap the Ming army in the city, but also try to ensure that the people are not starved to death!

Li Zicheng doesn't know the final result, the people in the city will go hungry, it is inevitable, I hope that the disappointed people will not be too much......

Since the troops were not withdrawn for the time being, Li Zicheng and the three of them agreed that Liu Yunshui personally led the cavalry of the first battalion and the first regiment to reinforce Runing, at least to drive Yang Wenyue's troops out of the border of Henan.

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