The Qing army temporarily retreated, but the previous battle did not cause it to suffer heavy losses, once the Qing army learned of the reality of Li Yan's reinforcements, they would press here, which was agreed by all the generals of the Dashun army. Therefore, on the night of the same day, Liu Zongmin and a group of generals made the decision to retreat to Luochuan.

At this time in Shaanxi, the total strength of the Shun army reached an astonishing 500,000. But behind this number, there is a great deal of moisture. But in terms of supply, the Dashun army, whose territory has shrunk dramatically, cannot afford such a huge consumption. Of the 500,000 troops, He Jin and Bai Wang's soldiers and horses accounted for 100,000, He Jin moved closer to Xi'an to assist Li Zicheng in defending the city, while Bai Wang, who came from Huguang, went straight to Tongguan to defend against Duoduo's Southern Route Army.

Among the rest of the soldiers and horses, most of them are the soldiers of the former Ming official army and the displaced people gathered from all directions, the combat power of these troops can be imagined, the former Ming official army defected one after another, the displaced soldiers and horses can not fight for a long time, once there is no food or occupy an unfavorable position, they will scatter and flee. Therefore, the main force of the Shun army in Shaanxi is around 200,000, which is actually about the same as the strength of the Qing army.

In the face of the menacing Qing army, although Li Yan temporarily forced back the two armies of Duoduo and Azig, these temporary victories were far from enough to change the course of the entire war.

On the fifth day of the fifth month of May, Liu Zongmin's troops retreated to Luochuan to hold on. Li Yan also came to Luochuan with the army, these days, he has never been a counselor of the military aircraft, and he has nothing to do, but he is detached from the world, and he doesn't seem to be worried about his future.

But Shen Ce can't take it lightly, without military power, Niu Jinxing and Liu Zongmin will kill Li Yan and then quickly. At present, the power of the Shandong Military Intelligence Department in the north is shrinking sharply, although several urgent documents have been issued to the Henan Qianhu Office to which it belongs, but in a hurry, the nearest Henan side can arrange rescue matters in time. How to respond is still unknown.

But what should come will come after all, on the sixth day of the fifth month, that is, on the night of the second day after arriving in Luochuan. Liu Zongmin suddenly ordered the whole city to be on guard, and at midnight, a large number of soldiers surrounded Li Yan's residence.

The noisy sound of horses' hooves and shouts soon fell silent, and the lantern torches illuminated the entire small courtyard where Li Yan lived as bright as day.

Just when the soldiers and horses were besieged. Li Yan had already ordered his own soldiers to open the door of the courtyard, and he also calculated that Niu Jinxing and Liu Zongmin would make a fuss about their tactical strategies and plant a crime of disobedience to the order on their own. But in any case, the war situation in Shaanxi was stabilized because of himself, Li Yan did not believe that Li Zicheng could not see this, let alone believe that Li Zicheng would follow Emperor Chongzhen, and he would never repeat the mistakes of Yuan Chonghuan back then.

Yuan Zongdi and Tian Jianxiu did not come, and they fought side by side with Li Yan for many years, and they also had many contacts in private. They were really unwilling to come to the door to arrest Li Yan in person, so the two of them took leave of absence from Niu Jinxing and stayed out of the matter. Niu Jinxing was also happy to involve the two of them in this matter, so he readily agreed.

Only Li Guo, because his identity is Li Zicheng's righteous son, so when Li Yan is arrested in the name of the Son of Heaven Yongchang, he must be present. Therefore, under the persecution of Niu Jinxing and Liu Zongmin, he also had to come here.

The light of the fire reflected the swords of the snow. Niu Jinxing, Liu Zongmin and the others entered Li Yan's residence in a murderous manner.

Just in front of the main hall, Li Yan was dressed in civilian clothes, but he had been waiting for a while. Seeing Niu Jinxing and Liu Zongmin coming together, he couldn't help but smile easily.

"The criminal minister Li Yan ......!" Niu Venus took out the secret decree and announced it in the court. Li Yan waved his hand, "Prime Minister." There is no need to read the will anymore, it is nothing more than to send Yan to Beijing, there is no need to bother to speak, a qiē justice is at ease in the hearts of the people, and I have seen His Majesty. Iwazi will explain! ”

Niu Jinxing was stunned for a moment, then laughed cruelly, put away the secret will, but took out another will. "I'm sorry, General, things have changed again, today at noon, I just received another will from His Majesty: Li Yan, the general of the camp after the investigation, privately colluded with the remnants of the former Ming Dynasty, intending to rebel, and immediately arrested and brought to justice, without interrogation, beheaded on the spot, to set an example!"

"Ahh All of a sudden, except for Liu Zongmin and Niu Jinxing, everyone exclaimed, but Li Guo broke out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Prime Minister Rongyu, the general has contributed to the Sheji Imperial Court, although it is ......, this, although he has made a small mistake, but the crime is not to death, not to mention that he has followed His Majesty for many years, and he will never have anything to do with the remnants of the former Ming Dynasty, or according to the previous will, he will be sent to the capital master and dealt with in front of His Majesty!" ”

Niu Jinxing sneered, "General Li, are you questioning His Majesty's will?" As he spoke, he handed the secret decree to Li Guo, who hurriedly read it, but he couldn't say a word in shock.

Li Yan never expected that what he was waiting for would be such a result, he was full of grief and indignation for a while, and laughed angrily, "Niu Jinxing, if you deceived Your Majesty and framed me Li Yan, aren't you afraid of retribution in the future?" ”

Niu Jinxing replied coldly: "A qiē is the will of His Majesty, how can I Niu Someone's virtue and ability, and I can influence His Majesty's opinion!" ”

Liu Zongmin shouted categorically: "There is His Majesty's will, why don't you take down the traitor Li Yan quickly!" ”

But the soldiers around him looked at each other, Li Yan's prestige in the army was quite high, and he was sympathetic to the soldiers, so he was particularly respected in the Dashun army.

Liu Zongmin shouted, but no one around responded, so he couldn't help but be furious, and immediately pulled out his saber, "Why, you still want to resist the decree!" ”

The soldiers had no choice but to shrink their swords and guns and force them forward.

At this time, Shen Ce led a group of personal guards to tightly guard Li Yan in the middle, "Niu Jinxing's gossip confuses the crowd and blinds the saints, it must be an edict to arrest Zhongliang!" ”

Shen Ce grabbed Li Yan's arm, "General, I have already sent a letter to General Yang Fan, he must be on the way to Luochuan, the general has a very high prestige in the army, as long as he raises his arms, he will definitely be able to gather soldiers and go out of the city." As long as we get out of the city, General Yang Fu and they will definitely be able to come to support ...... in time! ”

Li Yan laughed miserably, and pushed away Shen Ce's support, "Your Majesty wants me Li Yan to die, and now what are you going to do out of the city!" I, Li Yan, boast of being a scholar of the world, I thought that I could vote for the master, be able to support Huaxia, and inspire my Han people, but I didn't expect that in the end it would be such an ending! ”

"Back then, in Qi County, His Majesty saved my Li Yanmanmen's life, and today, I, Li Yan, will return this life to His Majesty!"

Li Yan suddenly drew his sword and shouted at Niu Jinxing: "Niu Jinxing, if you still have a little conscience, please tell Your Majesty, I, Li Yan, am loyal to him, and I don't work hard for Your Majesty to do it myself, and this will end myself, but my family members in the Beijing Division, please raise his noble hand and let him live!" ”

After saying that, the horizontal sword was about to wipe away from his neck. Shen Ce was taken aback, but Li Yan's skills were very fast, and it was too late to rescue him.

Niu Jinxing was overjoyed, a pair of eyes firmly stared at Li Yan's actions, his heart pounding, almost jumping out of his chest.

But with a sound of bowstring, Li Yan's sword fell to the ground, and a thin crossbow arrow pierced his right wrist.

Sudden changes, the heart has been raised to the throat of the bull Venus almost fell headlong, righteous search for this crossbow arrow shooter, but the neck is felt a refreshing coolness, looking down, almost scattered.

A bright steel knife blade slammed into his neck.

In the midst of a burst of exclamations around, Niu Jinxing slowly turned his head to look at it tremblingly, but it was the red-faced righteous son Li Chihu who had been following Li Guo.

"Where is the Red Tiger Battalion?" Li Chihu's voice was loud, and before the words fell, more than 100 soldiers behind Niu Jinxing and Liu Zongmin had already ripped off the yellow robes draped on their bodies, revealing a black power suit.

"Red Tiger! What are you doing! "One night was mutated in a row, and at this time, when I saw my righteous son holding Niu Venus hostage, I almost fainted to the ground for a while.

Li Chihu ignored Li Guo's questioning, but stared at Niu Jinxing tightly, but there was a hint of banter in his voice, "Prime Minister, please give the order and let everyone around you put down their weapons!" ”

Niu Jinxing didn't dare to speak, for fear that as soon as he opened his mouth, the blade would cut his neck, and he waved his hand in a hurry, and the shocked Liu Zongmin and the others had to obey the order to put down the blade.

At this time, dozens of black shadows jumped out of the back hall and the wing room, and a person led by him came straight to Li Yan's side and bowed, "The general is not strange, in a hurry, he has to shoot crossbow arrows, I hope forgive me!" ”

At this time, Shen Ce had already ripped off his clothes, hurriedly wrapped Li Yan's wounds, and saw the man in black who walked out of the back hall, but he was inexplicably surprised, "Brother! ”

The man in black waved his hand and nodded at Li Chihu, who slowly walked over to this side holding Niu Jinxing hostage. A group of Red Tiger Battalion's men surrounded the crowd.

Li Yan saw the man in black, but he felt a little familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it, so he could only nod politely.

The man in black said in a low voice: "General, Yang Fan's soldiers and horses have arrived outside the city, let's go out of the city to make peace with him, and there will be changes later!" ”

The dumbfounded Li Yan could only nod, and now that he couldn't make any more choices, he could only follow Shen Ce and the others out of the city in a daze.

The man in black said loudly to Liu Zongming: "It's very simple, get out of the way, let me wait to get out of the city, and I will release Prime Minister Niu!" ”

Liu Zongmin wanted to have a seizure, but Niu Jinxing was in their hands to make him a rat trap, if Niu Jinxing went wrong, Li Zicheng would never give up. Therefore, he could only wave his hand with a calm face and order his soldiers to get out of the way.

Outside the courtyard, when Li Chihu's men pretended to be Li Guo's personal guards, they brought a lot of war horses, and at this time they snatched the mounts of Liu Zongmin and others, and everyone turned over and galloped towards the south gate of Luochuan County.

Li Yan, who was sitting on horseback, slowly calmed down at this time, looking at the back of the man in black not far in front of him, but suddenly remembered a figure in his mind.

"It's you!" (To be continued......)