Li Yan is very self-aware, knowing that although the troops in his hands are three times that of Sun Chuanting, his combat power is far inferior, and if he stubbornly defends Ruzhou, he is afraid that he will be defeated by Sun Chuanting sooner or later. At that time, I am afraid that I can only retreat to the vast mountains and hold on in the mountains. The mountainous area is too barren, the people are scarce, and it is not so easy to think about it again, and sooner or later there is only one way to ruin.

Therefore, taking advantage of the fact that Sun Chuanting's army was blocked to the east of Ruzhou, Li Yan led the main force of 50,000 to the south and entered the territory of Nanyang Mansion through Luyang Pass, and this was his second attack on Nanyang.

The previous attack on Nanyang Mansion was fought until outside Nanyang City, because Tang King Zhu Yujian stood up and defended it, and seeing that he could not break through Nanyang City, Li Yan retreated and returned to Ruzhou. And this time to attack Nanyang again, it can be said that it is familiar with the way. In order to march quickly, Li Yan's army did not even bring much food and baggage, it can be said that the light cavalry was reduced, and the march of sixty miles in one day was killed in Nanzhao County.

In the face of the large-scale attack of the Red Turban Army, the officials and gentry of Nanzhao County decisively surrendered the city.

After obtaining food supplies from Nanzhao County, Li Yan led his troops south again, along the valley of the Weihe River, marching sixty miles a day, and it took only two days to reach the outside of Nanyang City.

The red turban thieves attacked again, and the news soon spread throughout Nanyang Mansion. Zhu Yujian, the king of Tang, climbed the city tower again, led the soldiers and civilians of the city to defend the city, and at the same time sent people to Xiangcheng to send a letter to the governor Sun Chuanting, asking Sun Chuanting to lead his troops to save Nanyang. Because the defenders in Nanyang City plus the guards of Tang Wangfu, there are only more than 10,000 people, and they are not the opponents of the red turban thieves at all.

After Li Yan led his troops to Nanyang, he was not in a hurry to attack the city, but divided his troops and plundered, and successively captured Zhenping, Neixiang, and Tang County. Although the new army has no combat effectiveness at all, it looks like it is powerful.

Some people say that these gentry are not stupid? Knowing that Sun Chuanting led the Praetorian Guards to encircle and suppress him, how could he choose this time to defect to Li Yan?

As everyone knows, these gentry have no choice, because Sun Chuanting has just divided the land in Xuzhou and other places, slandered many gentry and thieves, and then forcibly took away the fields of these gentry landlords and distributed them to the landless poor peasants. Many gentry in Yuzhou, Xuzhou, and Xinzheng were unwilling to be taken away, and made a move of resistance, Xu Mu, a gentry from Xuzhou, was a scholar in Nanjing, and his grade was higher than that of Sun Chuanting, and he personally found Sun Chuanting's camp, pointed at Sun Chuanting's nose and scolded, scolding him for robbing people's property as a robber.

In the past, whether they were governors or political envoys, they generally respected them, after all, these people were deeply connected in the court, and offending one person would cause a large number of people, so there was no need to provoke them. In the eyes of many gentry, Sun Chuanting should have given face to the former Nanjing officials. However, the result was that Xu Mu was arrested by Sun Chuanting in the name of insulting important officials of the court, and was directly tied to the flagpole for a day and a night. In the winter, Xu Mu was over sixty years old, and he couldn't hold it at all, and when Sun Chuanting ordered his release the next day, people were already frozen......

When the news came out, there was an uproar in the entire southwest of Henan, and the gentry insulted Sun Chuanting for being vicious. However, the gentry in Xuzhou and other places no longer dared to disobey Sun Chuanting's military orders, so they could only honestly cooperate with the division of land and watch their fields being taken away. Many gentry and landlords in Xuzhou, Xinzheng and other places were dissatisfied with Sun Chuanting, but they had no choice, so they chose to go south with their families and fled to Nanyang.

And the experience of the gentry in Xuzhou and other places also made the gentry and landlords of Nanyang feel sad about the death of rabbits and foxes, and they all knew that once Sun Chuanting led his troops into Nanyang, he would definitely not be able to escape.

Although Li Yanbu was a rebellious red turban thief, as long as he was willing to donate money and food, he was very kind to the gentry and would not take everyone's land. On the contrary, Sun Chuanting's department is a real official army, an army of the imperial court, but it has done the trick of robbing the gentry's fields! In the end, who is the official army and who is the thief, it is really a big joke in the world!

In the face of interests, there is nothing to say, and it is understandable that the Nanyang gentry chose to take refuge in Li Yan.

We all know that the system of the Ming Dynasty is that the imperial power does not go to the countryside, and the imperial court can only control the county seat, and the vast countryside is controlled by the gentry. In addition, in the Chongzhen period, the land annexation was already very serious, basically most of the fields were gentry's, and most of the people were tenants or serfs of the gentry. The tenant serfs had to cultivate the fields of the gentry in order to survive, and naturally obeyed the words of the gentry. Many peasants have farmed for the gentry and landlords for generations, and even only know the landlords and the imperial court.

The gentry chose to join the Red Turban Army, bringing Li Yan not only money and food, but also a large number of people, a gentry who defected to the Red Turban Army, would bring hundreds or even thousands of people, which made Li Yan's strength expand rapidly, so it could grow to nearly 100,000 people in less than half a month.

Nanyang is a big mansion, the population of the entire Nanyang Mansion is more than one million, if Li Yan is given enough time, more than 100,000 people can be summoned in Nanyang Mansion alone, and he is still a real young man!

Seeing more and more red turban troops outside the city, Nanyang City, Tang King Zhu Yujian was worried.

"The widow really doesn't understand, why so many people choose to be thieves!" Zhu Yujian sighed.

"Because it's very simple, they are more afraid of the emperor than the thief." Hao Wenyan, the prefect of Nanyang, who was accompanying him, sighed.

Hao Wenyan is a native of Wuxi, Suzhou Prefecture, Wanli 34 years of the top three with the Jinshi origin, the Hao family is also a big family in Wuxi, with more than 2,000 acres of land, as well as several silk reeling workshops, just last month, the news came from Wuxi, the family of the field was divided by the emperor, hundreds of slaves were forcibly released, as for the silk reeling workshop, it is estimated that it is difficult to keep.

So although Hao Wenyan is a high-ranking official of the Ming Prefecture and a senior official of the fourth grade, in his heart, he has long been desperate for the court and the emperor.

Zhu Yujian's face was ugly, and he naturally understood what Hao Wenyan meant. But as the king of the Ming Dynasty, other people can choose thieves to surrender and rebel against thieves, but he can't, so he can only live and die with Nanyang City.

"Lord Wang, Fuzun, the thieves sent a messenger to the city." Suddenly, the soldiers defending the city came to report.

"It must be that the anti-thief Li Yan sent someone to disturb the hearts of our army, and he shot him directly!" Zhu Yujian ordered in a cold voice.

"Slow down." Hao Wenyan hurriedly stopped, "The so-called two armies are not fighting, you might as well let him enter the city and listen to what the thief Li Yan has to say." ”

"What is there to hear." Zhu Yujian shook his head, but he still ordered to put down the hanging basket and hang the anti-thief messenger to the city.

Although he is the king of Tang, the master of this Nanyang City. But according to the Ming system, he has no power, and only the Tang Palace. Although Hao Wenyan is only the prefect of the fourth grade, according to the tradition of the Ming Dynasty, the entire army of Nanyang City must be at his disposal, and Hao Wenyan still has the power to supervise the Tang Palace. It's just that Hao Wenyan is humble, so he will ask Zhu Yujian's opinion.

The envoy of the Red Turban Army was quickly hung at the head of the city, but he was a man of short stature and a lewd face, dressed as a Taoist priest.

"Song Xiance, the deputy military division under the command of Li Gongzi of the Red Turban Army, has seen King Tang and Hao Fuzun!" This short Taoist priest had very poisonous eyes, and he recognized the identities of Zhu Yujian and Hao Wenyan from his clothes at a glance.

"What did the traitor Li Yan send you to do?" Zhu Yu asked himself.

Song Xiance looked at the surrounding soldiers guarding the city, and said with a smile: "Lord Wang, I'm afraid this is not the place to talk about things. ”

"If you have something to say, you don't have to hide it!" Zhu Yujian said impatiently.

Hao Wenyan hurriedly smiled and played a round game: "The prince doesn't have to be anxious, many things are really not suitable for others to know, otherwise let's go back to the palace?" ”

Hao Wenyan's face Zhu Yujian still had to give, was silent for a while, and nodded: "Then go back to the palace." ”

Judging by the situation, the red turban thieves will not attack the city immediately, and Zhu Yujian does not need to stay in the city all the time.

Zhu Yujian rode a horse, Hao Wenyan sat in a sedan chair, and returned to the Tang Palace, surrounded by dozens of palace guards, and sat in the palace hall for a while, and the obscene Taoist Song Xiance was brought in.

"Say, what did the traitor Li Yan do when you let you into the city?" Zhu Yujian sat up straight, staring at Song Xiance with blazing eyes.

"Please also ask the prince to step back from the left and right." Looking at the palace soldiers guarding on both sides of the palace, Song Xiance said.

"Say it, or get out of the city!" Zhu Yujian said impatiently. He is surrounded by palace guards, who have belonged to the Tang Wangfu for generations, and are his real henchmen, so there is nothing to hide.

Seeing that Zhu Yujian insisted on not holding his back, Song Xiance sighed slightly, but did not insist anymore, but his next sentence shocked everyone in the entire hall.

"Back to the prince, my son-in-law asked me to go into the city and tell the prince that he is willing to lead the army to surrender to the prince." Song Xiance said lightly.

"What?" Zhu Yujian stood up from his seat suddenly, looking very shocked.

Hao Wenyan also had a shocked expression on his face, but he was quite calm.

"Are you here to entertain this king?" The next moment, Zhu Yujian was angry and felt insulted. The thief Li Yan led tens of thousands of troops to attack Nanyang City for the second time, and the gentry and people in the surrounding counties followed the thieves one after another, and now the number of traitors outside the city is at least 100,000, but at this time he sent people to say that he wanted to surrender himself, isn't this a joke? How can it be!

"How dare the poor Dao entertain the prince, what he said is true." Song Xiance said with a relaxed expression.

"Then if Li Yan really had the intention of surrendering to the imperial court, why didn't he directly surrender to Inspector Sun, but instead led the army into Nanyang?" Zhu Yujian sneered. He is not a fool, he is just a vassal king who can't even get out of Nanyang City, what qualifications does he have to make the thief surrender to him?

"Li Gongzi said that he just wants to surrender to you, the prince, and doesn't want to surrender to Sun Chuanting." Song Xiance smiled.

"Does it make a difference?" Zhu Yujian sneered.

"Of course, there is a difference, if you surrender Sun Chuanting, the army will be disbanded, and the high-level of the Red Turban Army will also be disposed of, and if you surrender to the prince, you may be able to be a founding hero." Song Xiance said.

"What founding hero? What a fart you fart! Zhu Yujian couldn't help it and scolded.

"Of course, there are conditions for Li Gongzi to surrender to the prince, to support the prince, support the prince, you lead the army to the north to Jingjing, and wait until you replace Chongzhen as the emperor to take charge of the entire Ming Dynasty, will we soon become the founding heroes?" Song Xiance said with a smile.

"Nonsense! Come on, take this guy down to this king, push it out and cut it down! Zhu Yujian was furious, pointed at Song Xiance and said angrily.

"The prince is angry, angry!" Hao Wenyan hurriedly stood up, blocked the palace guards who were about to take people, and then said to Zhu Yujian, "Lord Wang, you might as well let him finish his words, it's not too late to kill!" ”

"What is there to hear about such a great rebellion?" Zhu Yujian said angrily.

"It's okay to listen, it's okay to listen." Hao Wenyan said continuously, and then turned to look at Song Xiance, "You thief and Taoist priest, if you dare to talk nonsense and play tricks again, this mansion will ask the prince to cut you with a thousand knives!" ”

Song Xiance was also taken aback, and didn't dare to provoke Zhu Yujian anymore, and said honestly: "The prince is angry, and the poor road has no intention of angering the prince." really put yourself in the shoes of the prince.

Lord Wang, you should know that Emperor Chongzhen is now cutting the feudal domain, first there is King Fu, who was falsely accused of rebellion and imprisoned in Fengyang Mansion, and the wealth of the fields belonging to King Fu's Mansion was all copied into the palace, and then there are two feudal domains of King Lu of Shandong, all of which were abolished and confiscated land. Tang Wangfu has existed in Nanyang Mansion for more than 200 years, almost half of the fields in the entire Nanyang Mansion belong to Tang Wangfu, the wealth of Tang Wangfu is known all over the world, the so-called guilt, Emperor Chongzhen will let go of Tang Wangfu, will you let go of the prince? ”

Zhu Yujian sneered: "The Tang Wangfu is a member of the clan, so naturally we have to think about the Ming Dynasty, as long as Your Majesty is interested, this king will give all the fields in the palace, and will never rebel!" ”

Song Xiance shook his head: "The prince is too naïve to think about it, do you really think that it will be okay to donate the field?" Chongzhen will let you go? King Fu has not been accused of rebellion without any crimes, can you escape King Tang? I'm afraid that your fate will not be much better than that of King Fu.

You might as well tell the prince that you have seen the poor road today and brought the poor road into the palace, just this reason is enough for the brocade guards to come to the door to take people! ”

"Say, keep talking!" Zhu Yujian calmed down instead.

"Chongzhen has no way, regards the gentry and people of the world as dogs, he is mean and greedy, and he does not remember the old favor for the sake of wealth, what qualifications do these people have to continue to be emperors?

It is reported that Zhu Yousong, the son of King Fu, has fled to Jiangxi, and the Jiangxi rebels and Jiangxi governor Yuan Chonghuan and other officials and troops converged to jointly support Zhu Yousong as the prisoner, and Yuan Chonghuan led an army of 200,000 and was attacking the city of Nanjing. Emperor Chongzhen is now patrolling south to Zhenjiang, and in the face of such a situation, he is silent, as long as Yuan Chonghuan captures Nanjing, he will inevitably lead the army to Jiangdong, and whether Chongzhen can return to Beijing alive is still two words.

Lord Wang, you are also the bloodline of Taizu, the king of the Ming Dynasty, although the bloodline wheel order is not as close as Zhu Yousong, the son of King Fu, but you are still qualified to be the emperor. My son Li said that as long as the prince agrees, he is willing to bring 100,000 red turban troops to support the prince as the prison and help the prince to conquer the country! ”