Li Yan's character and knowledge determine that he is far-sighted in doing things, after joining the team of the red lady, the first thing Li Yan did was to divorce his wife, although he had a good relationship with the Tang family, there was no contradiction, but his identity has completely changed, from a meritorious person, to a rogue, the gap is huge, in this case, as a Qixian scholar family from the Tang family, it is impossible to follow the encounter to be implicated, and the Tang family is impossible to bear the charge of colluding with the rogue.

After solving all the things at home, Li Yan devoted himself to the ranks of the rebels, and he set a lot of rules for the rebels, including not allowing them to rob the people, etc., and for those gentry, he was ruthless in attacking.

In this case, the army under the command of Li Yan has been supported by the people, and has grown rapidly, and in a short period of time, the reputation of the Red Lady and Li Yan has been widely spread in Henan, and even many people think that between Li Yan and the Red Lady, it is husband and wife, in fact, this is just a misinformation, after Li Yan divorced his wife, with guilt for the Tang family, it is impossible to start a family in a short period of time.

In this respect, Li Yan is very calm and realistic.

The second thing Li Yan did was to determine the direction of the development direction of the righteous army in the future, he refuted the idea that the righteous army wanted to attack the Fengfu, thinking that the righteous army did not have such strength for the time being, and that attacking the Fengfu was to bring about its own destruction. in order to develop in the future.

Li Yan's decision can be described as wise and correct, not to mention Li Yan and the Red Lady, even Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, who are not ordinary, do not dare to attack the Fengfu for the time being. After all, Kaifeng is the provincial capital of Henan, and it is heavily guarded, and attacking such a place will definitely cost a huge price, and it will alarm the imperial court.

The third decision Li Yan made was to formulate many rules, the most clear of which were the rules in two aspects. First, it is forbidden to plunder and harass the people, and second, the money and grain seized in each battle are uniformly disposed of, and those who have meritorious service are rewarded and those who retreat are severely punished. Of course, Li Yan has formulated many other disciplinary requirements.

Although Li Yan is a man, he has liked military knowledge since he was a child, and he can be described as both civil and military, but he has not used it for so many years, and now that he has a place to play, he is naturally pouring out of his pocket.

The army under the command of the Red Lady, under Li Yan's rectification, has a new feeling. The combat effectiveness has also been gradually enhanced.

In September, the weather is getting cooler.

The collection of taxes in various parts of Henan has already suffered a heavy blow. Not only Li Yan and the Red Lady led the army to attack everywhere, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong and others also began to launch attacks of varying scales in various parts of Henan. It's all a terrible thing, and you have to know these taxes that are levied. It was prepared to build Dalinghe City.

The army under the command of Li Yan and the Red Lady has about 20,000 people. The strength is very huge, and Li Yan has made strict requirements, which has also enhanced the combat effectiveness of the army.

However, the army under the command of Li Yan and the Red Lady still has a fatal problem.

This is related to Li Yan and the Red Lady herself.

First of all, Li Yan, no matter what, he was born as a scholar, although he used to like to read military books, and he also absorbed a lot of knowledge, but suddenly commanding the army to fight, many places are still unfamiliar, and his book is too angry, for the various systems that have been formulated, too much attention, requiring everyone to follow the implementation, this is very difficult.

The composition of the righteous army is very special, to put it mildly, those who can come out in the righteous army, a large part of them are former scoundrels and gangsters, they are invested in the righteous army, originally wanted to be able to make a handful of money, today there is wine and now drunk, will not think about long-term development at all, and the real desperate peasants, are generally honest, it is impossible to get ahead, want to completely transform such an army, on the one hand, through many fierce battles, on the other hand, is to formulate some systems that are in line with reality, It's a pity that Li Yan can't understand the truth, he was originally a scholar with a reputation for fame, and his own quality is very good, so when he looks at the officers and sergeants of the Righteous Army, he treats others with himself, which leads to a deviation in understanding.

It can be said that the relevant systems formulated by Li Yan can greatly enhance the combat effectiveness and cohesion of the army, but it is only after the army has fought many fierce battles that a cohesive force is formed, and such a system can be truly implemented.

Therefore, Li Yan's transformation of the rebel army cannot be regarded as very successful, and the main reason for the growth of the rebel army under his command is because of the prestige that Li Yan has accumulated in the past, so that more desperate people are willing to defect.

As for the red lady, the limitations are even greater, in the past, it has always been to go south and north to sell art, and the interaction between others completely relies on the righteousness of the rivers and lakes, this kind of righteousness of the rivers and lakes, inevitably brought to the army, has some negative effects, such as for those close to them, they can tolerate their mistakes, and for those who are disgusted, try their best to suppress them.

Military knowledge, the red lady is even more lacking, this aspect is not something that can be made up in a short period of time.

Therefore, although there are rumors about Li Yan and the Red Lady in various parts of Henan, the army under his command has not won many battles, and basically has not been able to attack any cities.

In mid-September, Li Yan and the Red Lady led a large army into Ruzhou.

Their original intention was to enter the territory of Nanyang Mansion through Ruzhou, which was close to Huguang and Shaanxi, and Li Yan's plan was to enter Huguang, which was rich in grain, and if they could win several battles, they would be able to supply the grain and grass of the righteous army to the greatest extent.

Li Yan and the Red Lady would not have thought that they would actually fight in Baofeng, which belongs to Ruzhou.

And this battle has a great impact on them.

The battle for the assault on Baofeng began on 20 September.

This is a decision made by Li Yan, after his army entered Baofeng, Li Yan obtained a lot of information, which was the information detected by the people sent before, dressed up as businessmen, etc., the situation in Baofeng and Qi County is somewhat similar, the county commander does not care about the life and death of the people, forcibly levies taxes, resulting in boiling public resentment, the antagonism between the government and the people is very serious, and the people imprisoned in the county government are more than Qi County.

After learning of these circumstances, Li Yan quickly made a decision to attack Baofeng County, as long as Baofeng County can be taken, the grain and grass of the righteous army will be greatly supplied, so that after entering Nanyang Mansion, he will be able to make sufficient planning and decide the next move.

The grain and grass of the righteous army are still a little nervous, with the increase in the number of people, the daily consumption is huge, and the thing that Li Yan and the Red Lady think about the most is the problem of grain and grass.

For a period of time, because of the shortage of food and grass, Li Yan could not restrain the sergeants under his command, and could only watch the sergeants go to the homes of ordinary people to loot.

It was precisely considering the lack of grain and grass, as well as some excessive measures made by the sergeant because of the lack of grain and grass, that made Li Yan feel nervous, and he had to take Baofeng County.

After the battle began, Li Yan personally issued an order that the officers and sergeants who were the first to attack the county town could be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver, which made the morale of the army unprecedentedly high.

Attacking the county seat is not as easy as it says, when the red lady captured the county seat of Qixian County, she paid a heavy price, losing nearly two-thirds of the rebel army, and this time the situation was slightly better.

The battle to attack Baofeng County lasted for two days and two nights, and Li Yan adopted the method of wheel warfare, launching an attack day and night, so that the officers and soldiers stationed in the city could not get the slightest rest.

Li Yan's losses were still not small, and more than 3,000 people fell outside the county forever.

On September 22, the rebels captured the county seat of Baofeng.

After entering the county seat, the first thing Li Yan did was to enter the county government to search for the newspaper, he needed to understand the relevant situation through the imperial court's newspaper, see what the overall situation in Henan was, and see what countermeasures the imperial court had.

When the rebels entered the city, they did nothing more than three things, the first thing was to collect money and food, the second thing was to open the armory storehouse, and the third thing was to open the prison cell.

To Li Yan's surprise, he actually found Niu Jinxing of the same year in Baofeng's cell.

Niu Jinxing is also a person who raised the Henan Township Test in the seventh year of the Apocalypse, and is familiar with Li Yan, but why did Niu Jinxing also enter the prison, after detailed inquiry, Li Yan learned that Niu Jinxing was falsely accused by the other party of resisting the policy of collecting taxes because of conflicts with relatives in the family, as well as robbing people's daughters and other crimes, and was also arrested and put in prison by the county government, and was also stripped of his reputation and waiting for exile.

Niu Jinxing got out of prison and joined the army without hesitation.

This can be described as a strong alliance, you must know that the Liukou rebellion for many years, there are almost no scholars in the army, let alone meritorious scholars, even the most powerful Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong and others, there are not a few talents under their command, and it is impossible to raise people, this time Li Yan and Niu Jinxing are united, both of them are seven years of the Apocalypse, and their knowledge is not ordinary, and the alliance between them has a huge impact in Henan.

The imperial court will not pay special attention to such an impact, and the governor of Henan is not particularly concerned, but Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong and others must have noticed it.

The rise of Li Yan and Niu Venus indicates that something major will definitely happen in Henan Province. (To be continued)