On 11 September, Liu Yan led the battalions of the New Army into Henan, and the army marched all the way west from Changyuan County to the west, and it took only two days to reach Fengqiu County, north of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Fengqiu County was the land of Fengfu in ancient times, the Western Han Dynasty placed Fengqiu County, the city is located on the north bank of the Yellow River, and Kaifeng City faces each other across the Yellow River.

The battalions of the New Army were stationed a few miles south of the county seat, and Liu Yan took Miao Shao, Xun Jingyun, and a banner guard into Fengqiu County, ready to ask the county magistrate for some money and grain.

But when Liu Yan and the others rode into the city, they were all dumbfounded.

The streets in Fengqiu County were quiet, the houses everywhere were dilapidated, and apart from the occasional wild dog, there was not a single living thing to be seen.

The two wild dogs in the distance were lowering their heads, baring their teeth at Liu Yan and the others, and let out a whining roar.

Miao Shao frowned slightly when he saw this, and said: "My lord, those wild dogs have all eaten people, and the dogs' eyes are already blood-red, it seems that the situation in Fengqiu County is not good!" ”

Liu Yan nodded, looked around, not only could not see a single figure in the city, but even near the south gate where everyone passed, there were no defenders and officials, and the whole city was like a ghost town.

"Deputy Department Xun, you take a team of soldiers to take a look around to see if you can find the treasury or a shop, but if there is none, go back to the camp first."

"Yes."

Xun Jingyun beckoned a team of guards, then took the first step and rode his horse towards the city.

Then Liu Yan and Miao Shao and other generals rode towards the county government in the city, and a moment later, a dilapidated county government appeared in front of everyone, not only the plaque was incomplete, but even the door of the county government was wide open, and a door panel had fallen to the ground.

Liu Yan frowned, and without saying a word, he rode his horse directly into the county office, Miao Shao and other soldiers hurriedly rode their horses to follow, and everyone came all the way to the backyard.

It was also silent in the county office, and there was not a single living person in sight, until everyone reached the backyard, and they saw a thin man with a withered face, who was laboriously chopping wood in front of a house where the doors and windows had been torn down. The man's clothes were so dirty that they couldn't be seen as they were, they were tattered, and one of his sleeves was missing.

Liu Yan and the others rode in, and the man had obviously heard the movement, but he didn't look up, still chopping firewood and working.

Liu Yan asked, "Who are you, do you know where the magistrate of Fengqiu County is?" ”

"Zhixian?"

The man stopped, gasped, sat on the ground dejectedly, picked up his clothes with a wry smile, took off a seal from his belt, threw it on the ground, and said, "I am the magistrate of Fengqiu." ”

"You?"

The man struggled to stand up, clenched his fists and said, "In Xia Shang Wenyuan, Fengqiu Zhi County." ”

Liu Yan turned over and dismounted, picked up the seal on the ground, and sure enough, it was the county seal of Fengqiu County, and asked: "What happened to Fengqiu County, where did everyone go?" ”

"Haha!"

Shang Wenyuan suddenly burst out laughing, and then suddenly roared hoarsely: "People? Where are there still people! ”

Miao Shao was worried about fraud, so he stood in front of Liu Yan, and the rest of the guards also rode horses to search everywhere to prevent an ambush.

Liu Yan signaled that Miao Shao was okay, and then looked at the emotional Shang Wenyuan, only to see Shang Wenyuan yelling: "Half a month ago, the rogue soldiers and horses raided Fengqiu County, and the three hundred soldiers and fifty officials in the poor county all died in battle, and the people in the city were also killed and wounded. ”

"Those rogues who suffered a thousand knives took away all the surviving people, and the money, food, and materials in the city were also looted. In just two days, I Fengqiu County 12,700 households, more than 40,800 people, except for the tens of thousands of people who were killed, the rest all became prisoners of the army of thieves, life and death do not know! ”

After speaking, Shang Wenyuan sat on the ground without strength, obviously not eating for a long time, and was already very weak at this time.

Liu Yan looked at Shang Wenyuan, who was sitting on the ground and crying, and felt very uncomfortable. If what Shang Wenyuan said was true, those people who were taken away by the thieves were destined to become cannon fodder for the thieves' army, and now it is estimated that many people have been driven by the thieves and died on the way to attack Kaifeng City.

"There are also many women, who are tied up by those inhuman thieves, and all of them are hung at the gate of the city, saying that this can offset the luck of the court and make the court fall faster, which is simply stupid and crazy!"

"It is really ...... that countless children, because they could not charge into battle for the army of thieves and had no use, were gathered by those thieves and killed in the pit in the north of the city."

Speaking of this, Shang Wenyuan couldn't say any more, and crawled on the ground and cried bitterly.

Liu Yan was silent for a while, then glanced at Miao Shao, Miao Shao directly called two guards to explain, and the two guards rode away directly.

Liu Yan then asked, "Then how did you survive, and where did the rest of the officials of the county government go?" ”

"Me?"

Shang Wenyuan sobbed and said: "I took the county government to guard outside the treasury, wanting to die for the country, but when the thieves rushed into the city, they set fire and killed people everywhere, I don't know others, the county Cheng and Zhang Baihu were killed in front of me, I was also knocked unconscious, and when I woke up, the city had fallen." ”

"Haha, it's ridiculous that I read poetry and books, but after waking up, I was timid, I found a cellar to hide, and I only dared to look out from the gap in the cellar mouth, I don't have the courage to repay the country with death, I don't deserve to be a parent official!"

Liu Yan sighed, Fengqiu County is located north of the Yellow River, and it has been poisoned by the army of thieves, and the situation in the rest of Henan is estimated to be no better.

"It seems that the idea of obtaining supplies in Henan is unrealistic, and it can only rely on seizures and supplies from the imperial court."

Liu Yan thought in his heart, and then asked, "Then what are your plans?" ”

Shang Wenyuan pointed to a small pile of firewood not far away and said, "When I finish chopping firewood, I will use these to set a fire." I should have died a long time ago, and now I have figured it out, to live in this world, that is, to be in the Netherworld, it is better to die a hundred! ”

Liu Yan was noncommittal, just staring at Shang Wenyuan and thinking about something.

"Where is the general? Now there are armies of thieves everywhere in Henan, what are you doing here? ”

"My name is Liu Yan, the chief military officer of Qinglai Town, and I was ordered to rush to the aid of Kaifeng Mansion."

"Liu Yan?"

"Liu Yan!"

Shang Wenyuan jumped up suddenly, maybe his body was too weak in the past few days, and he stumbled and almost fell and ate: "Your name is Liu Yan!" ”

Liu Yan raised his eyebrows, a little unhappy in his heart, and said, "Do you recognize me?" ”

Shang Wenyuan's eyes, which were still dim just now, flashed with hope at this time, and said: "I have heard about the general's feats in the battles of Julu and Jinan, and the prestige of the new army in Qinglai Town has long been like thunder, but didn't the general lead his troops in Liaodong?" How did you get to Henan! ”

"As soon as the imperial court issued an order, the town came."

"Haha!"

Shang Wenyuan laughed: "It's ridiculous that Li Zicheng, I thought that the great cause was imminent, who would have thought, the new army in Qinglai Town has arrived, and the time when he Li Zicheng is defeated is just around the corner!" ”

Liu Yan looked at Shang Wenyuan, who couldn't stop laughing, and said, "So, aren't you going to die?" ”

"Not dead!"

Shang Wenyuan grabbed Liu Yan's hand and said excitedly: "I'm sure Liu Zongbing will accept me, I can write and plan for Liu Zongbing, it doesn't matter if I don't look down on me, laundry and cleaning, or even doing coolies, I just want to follow the general and witness the scene of Li Zicheng's demise with my own eyes!" ”

Liu Yan didn't agree, just pulled his hand out and said, "Shang Wenyuan? I really want to hear it, you are a jinshi of the previous dynasty, and you were a member of the Ministry of Rites before, you can say that the starting point is very high, but you are not good at stammering, and because you reported the boss's greed to the department in office, you were demoted to Henan, right? ”

Shang Wenyuan looked at Liu Yan in surprise and said, "The general actually knows that I, an unknown junior? ”

It's not that Liu Yan has a strong memory, it's just that on the way south, Wu Guojin, who was born in Jinyiwei, had already done his homework in advance, gathered the situation of the chief officials of the counties along the way, and reported to Liu Yanyu alone, so Liu Yan still had an impression.

"This town naturally knows that in today's world, officials like you are rare."

At this moment, two guards rushed back, and one of them reported: "Lord Qiyu, my subordinates found a backfilled soil pit outside a deserted house in the north of the city, and after excavation, it was full of children and many ......."

Shang Wenyuan howled and cried again when he heard this, Liu Yan also looked gloomy, and the hatred for the thief in his heart was even closer.

The mainstream of later generations believed that Li Zicheng was the leader of the peasant rebel army, led countless oppressed peasant armies to resist the tyranny of the Ming Dynasty, dealt a heavy blow to the decadent rule of the ruling class, and so on.

But what's really going on?

Li Zicheng led not a rebel army, but an army of thieves. Wherever they passed, there was no liberation, nor did they establish a new order, but brought endless killing, hundreds of people were coerced and driven to the battlefield, becoming the souls of the dead on the battlefield, and countless originally rich and happy cities were burned and bulldozed, becoming a paradise for wild dogs and wild wolves.

The Liukou army led by Li Zicheng did deal a heavy blow to the rule of the Ming Dynasty, but as a price, it also made the Ming lose the ability to resist the invasion of the Manchu Dynasty, and indirectly became an accomplice of the Manchu invasion of China.

It can be said that after the Jiashen national disaster, China sank for three hundred years, and Li Zicheng and Wu Sangui can be said to be the number one sinners!

However, these facts will not be written or mentioned in the history books of later generations.

At this time, Liu Yan looked at Shang Wenyuan and asked, "Are you willing to follow me?" ”

"Yes!"

Shang Wenyuan gritted his teeth and said angrily: "As long as I can kill the rogue, I want to be a cow and a horse, and I admit it!" ”

Liu Yan thought for a while and said: "You are the rank of magistrate, according to the law of the imperial court, now that Fengqiu County has fallen and been looted, you are the body of sin, first seek an envoy in the shogunate of this town, and atone for your sins." ”

"Thank you, sir!"

Subsequently, Liu Yan appointed Shang Wenyuan as the secretary of the Department of Government Affairs, responsible for the coordination of specific government affairs of the General Military Office, and was counted as a subordinate of Wang Weizhen, Minister of Political Affairs.

When Liu Yan, Miao Shao, Shang Wenyuan and others left the city and returned to the camp outside the city, Shang Wenyuan cried again, and when he saw such a mighty and majestic soldier and horse of the new army, he cried loudly: "If the imperial court had sent the new army earlier, how could the situation in Henan be so corrupted!" ”

Entering the camp of the guards, Xun Jingyun had already come back first, naturally he returned empty-handed, without any gain.

Liu Yan summoned the generals, introduced everyone to Shang Wenyuan, and then announced that the army would go south early tomorrow morning to Chenqiao Town, on the north bank of the Yellow River, and prepare to cross the river to the south and go to Kaifeng Fucheng.

At noon the next day, Chenqiao Town.

Chenqiao Town was originally a ferry, and later more and more pedestrians and goods crossed the Yellow River from here, and it slowly formed a town, and even the imperial court set up an inspection department here, stationed in a hundred households.

However, at this time, Chenqiao Town has been occupied by a team of thieves and horses, and a yellow banner of the army is fluttering at the ferry, which is the soldiers and horses of the rear camp of the army.

"General Manager, we've been here for a few days, when can we change the guard?"

According to the military system of the army of thieves, from top to bottom, there are generals Quan, generals, Guo Yi, mighty generals, captains, brigade commanders, department generals, and sentinel generals.

There are about a few dozen soldiers led by the general sentry and about 100 to 300 people in the general department, and the strength of each battalion is different, and there is a great deal of arbitrariness.

Under the command of the head of the department stationed here in Chenqiao Town, there are about 170 people.

At this time, there was no one else in Chenqiao Town except for these intruding soldiers, who had obviously been ransacked.

Hearing the sentinel's inquiry, the general manager said angrily: "How the hell do I know, I still want to follow General Gao to have a good time, do you think I want to ...... here?"

Before he finished speaking, the general manager stood up suddenly, only to see an army of iron cavalry appear in the north, and the banner was the battle flag of the sun and moon Jintao of the Ming Dynasty.

"Officers and soldiers!"

As soon as the words fell, the iron cavalry of hundreds of people rushed to the front, and then several earth-shattering thunderbolts were thrown in, and with a bang, the horses and roadblocks blocking the road into Chenqiao Town were blown to pieces.

Then the iron cavalry soldiers of the brigade rushed into Chenqiao Town, and the surrounding thief soldiers flashed to the side in panic, for fear of being scattered and knocked down by the iron cavalry army.

The commander of the right part of the cavalry battalion led the army, so that Lu Yuan rode his horse to the front, looked at the rogue soldiers gathered in the town, and shouted: "Kill me, not a single one will be left!" ”

Some people died, but not completely......