After Li Zicheng retreated to the north, only Tian Jianxiu was left to garrison Hanyang Mansion, and the confrontation with Fang Yuan continued across the river. Due to the disadvantage of the naval division, Tian Jianxiu also gave up the defense of the river bank and withdrew all 10,000 garrisons into Hanyang Mansion.

Wuchang Mansion, and even Huangzhou Mansion further east, fell into Fang Yuan's pocket.

When Fang Yuan was hesitating whether to continue to march to expand the results of the battle and swallow Hanyang Mansion on the other side of the river, the urgent military situation of Nanzhili came, and Sun Chuanting really moved, attacking Suqian all the way, and going all the way south to Shanyang County, the seat of Huai'an Mansion.

Nanzhili's military situation was like fire, and Fang Yuan had no choice but to go back to the division to rescue, and had to give up the idea of expanding the results of the battle.

But before leaving, it was a headache who Wuchang Mansion would hand over to garrison.

In terms of candidates, of course, Li Yan and his wife, who have been guarding Wuchang Mansion for one or two years, are the most suitable, but since Li Yan was replaced, they have not come to the barracks to meet Fang Yuan. Just hiding in his own military camp and staying at home. He neither personally surrendered to Fang Yuan, nor did he resist with troops, and played a soft confrontation with Fang Yuan.

Li Yan and his wife are only nominally surrendering at the moment, and it is difficult to predict whether there will be another change if Fang Yuan's Xuanjia Army withdraws.

If Li Yan and his wife are not left and taken away together, they must appoint another general to be stationed, after all, the Yangtze River is opposite, and Tian Jianxiu of Hanyang Mansion is not a vegetarian, as long as the defense of Wuchang Mansion is weak, he may cross the river at any time.

Both Shi Lang and Zhang Ying had to return to their division to participate in the Nanzhili War, and they could not stay in Wuchang Mansion for a long time. If you leave a thousand-level general, I am afraid that you will not be able to control the field of Wuchang Mansion. Once the army crosses the river, it will not be able to hold Wuchang City, and the sacrifice of troops will be in vain.

Fang Yuan thought about it, but decided to go and see Li Yan again in person and persuade him to surrender sincerely.

Fang Yuan, under the escort of Zhang Ying and the special operations army, directly entered Li Yan's barracks. Because Li Yan and the Red Lady had already surrendered nominally, the sergeants in the barracks did not dare to stop Fang Yuan's actions, so they could only let Fang Yuan in.

Li Yan and the Red Lady met Fang Yuan in the military tent.

Fang Yuan's gaze fell on the two of them, the red lady looked indifferent, anyway, in her opinion, Fang Yuan was far easier to talk and closer than Li Zicheng. Anyway, both of them are working for others, of course they will choose Fang Yuan, who is more kind and does not have much of a shelf.

But Li Yan's face was gloomy, and he didn't want to communicate more with Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan laughed, sat on the military case with a big grin, looked at Li Yan and said without words, "Li Gongzi, we don't know each other if we don't fight." This time I calculated you, and you calculated me, we are even, and we don't owe each other! ”

Li Yanqiang smiled, but didn't answer, just responded in a low voice.

The red lady hurriedly played the round and said, "Fang Yuan, you calculated that we were the first, and you also razed Wuchang Port to the ground, and blew up the north of Wuchang City into ruins. At least 8,000 people in Wuchang City are homeless, this account is uneven, you still owe us, you owe the people of Wuchang. ”

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "Okay, since I owe you and your wife, there are also the people of Wuchang. I will order Li Gongzi and the Red Lady to stay in Wuchang, exempt Wuchang Mansion from taxes for two years, and add 500,000 taels of silver for your couple to rebuild Wuchang. ”

Fang Yuan's conditions were very relaxed, not only did he appoint the two of them to their original positions again, exempted Wuchang from paying taxes, and was even willing to allocate more funds to rebuild Wuchang City and Wuchang Port.

Li Yan was slightly stunned when he heard this, in this troubled era, every time a warlord from all over the country conquered a place, he didn't want to loot the local silver, and women were already considered an army with strict military discipline. For example, Fang Yuan, who not only did not loot, but even allocated money to rebuild, was the first time he had encountered it.

He looked up at Fang Yuan and said, "Regent, you left us in Wuchang Mansion and rebuilt the silver, don't you worry that we will turn against the water and join forces with King Chuang again?" ”

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "Li Gongzi has the style of a countryman, if he answers me today, he will not regret it again, heh!" ”

He looked at Li Yan and said in a low voice, "Gongzi Li, the purpose of my trip is just to break the idea of breaking into the king's eastern crusade first, and then I will continue to return to the division to fight with Sun Chuanting." Wuchang Mansion, I am fortunate to have it, but it is also the will of God. ”

"If Li Gongzi is willing to submit, that is the best. If you don't want to submit, it's also a good thing to block the route of the king's crusade for me. Li Gongzi can think about it again these days, and our door is open for Li Gongzi and his wife at any time. ”

Fang Yuan easily gave up the idea of asking Li Yan and his wife to surrender, and he also had his own plans. Although Wuchang City is occupied at the moment, Wuchang Mansion will not produce any economic benefits in the short term, and it is better to temporarily return it to Li Yan and his wife for care than to send heavy troops to forcibly garrison it.

After this battle, Li Yan and his wife completely broke with Li Zicheng. Unless Li Zicheng forcibly captured Wuchang Mansion, it would be impossible for him to bypass the defense line of Wuchang Mansion and come to the East again. Leaving Li Yan and his wife to guard in Wuchang Mansion, they not only sold face to Li Yan, but also stabilized the defense of the Xuanjia Army on the western front, so they could confront Sun Chuanting without distraction.

When Li Yan and his wife surrendered, Fang Yuan was not in a hurry, and when he destroyed the imperial court in the capital, and then marched westward to unify the world, it was impossible for Li Yan and his wife not to surrender.

As for the silver that was allocated, it could be regarded as enveloping the hearts of Li Yan and his wife, and by the way, they would buy a people's heart in Wuchang Mansion. Originally, the cabinet also planned to spend some silver to make Li Zicheng withdraw from the army, but this amount of silver was spent on Li Yan and his wife, which was obviously better than directly giving Li Zicheng and beating the dog with meat buns.

Li Yan and the red lady glanced at each other, Fang Yuan was far superior to Li Zicheng in terms of bearing and mind, and was very different from those duplicitous officials in the imperial court. At present, he is talking to them and his wife, and this value makes Li Yan quite moved.

The red lady is a straightforward character, before she personally went to Fang Yuan's military camp to move the rescuers, and also promised that Fang Yuan would surrender as long as he rescued Li Yan.

She looked at Li Yan and sighed deeply, "Husband, let's come down!" ”

Li Yan's eyes stared at Fang Yuan, his eyes flickering. After a long time, he finally knelt on the ground and bowed to Fang Yuan, "Regent, Li Yan is willing to surrender!" ”

Fang Yuan was overjoyed to see that he had really surrendered, and hurriedly stepped forward to help him up, laughing and saying, "Okay, good, since Gongzi Li is willing to surrender, I will make Gongzi Li the governor of Huguang and have full authority to run Huguang." Whether it is against foreign troops or military and political affairs within the jurisdiction, you can cut it first and then play it! ”

Fang Yuan named Li Yan as the governor of Huguang, just to set him up against Li Zicheng, the governor of Huguang canonized by the imperial court. Li Yan was given great power in Huguang, just because he wanted him not to be satisfied with a corner of Wuchang and Huangzhou, but to continue to expand his territory in Huguang, gradually erode Li Zicheng's territory, and expand the scope of his rule in Huguang.

Fang Yuan thought about it, just because Li Yan and his wife's personal soldiers were guarding Wuchang, the confrontation with Li Zicheng's army was still too weak, and he still had to send more assistance, "I will leave Li Gongzi fifty warships to control the Yangtze River to prevent changes in Xiangyang, Jingzhou, and Hanyang; and allocated 800,000 taels of silver to Li Gongzi for military expenses. ”

Li Yan saw that he was really a suspicious person, if he said that the governor of Huguang was just a vacant position, it could be regarded as an empty promise. The 50 warships left behind and the 800,000 taels of silver allocated were real aid. And he didn't worry at all that Li Yan swallowed these warships, and after the silver, he would turn back to Li Zicheng and then turn against the water.

The virtuous monarchs and masters of the past and present are nothing more than that!

Li Yan was really convinced at this time, and once again rushed to Fang Yuan, "Since the regent entrusted me with a heavy responsibility, I will repay him with all my heart." ”