Li Yan, who was in Kaifeng, received a pigeon letter from Zhou He and learned that Yanling County was surrounded by Li Zicheng, immediately ordered Qian Er from Taikang to immediately lead the fast troops to reinforce Yanling. Wang Renfu, who was also in Taikang, was also ordered that in addition to leaving behind the troops guarding Taikang County, other troops also advanced to Fugou and went to reinforce Yanling.

At the same time, he asked Li Zhong to mobilize mobile troops and meet at Tongxu first. He also prepared immediately, intending to lead 20,000 troops south to fight Li Zicheng.

His idea was very simple. Since Li Zicheng's army was gathered in Yanling, he also concentrated his troops and had a decisive battle with Li Zicheng. Kaifeng could mobilize 20,000, Li Zhong could concentrate 10,000 troops. In addition to the rapid troops and Wang Renfu's more than 6,000 people, he could concentrate nearly 40,000 troops.

Forty thousand vs. 400,000. Although it sounds a huge difference, during the battle, the thieves only came to attack. In the final battle, he had absolute confidence to defeat the thieves. Now he was worried that Li Zicheng would not dare to fight him, so the duration of the war and the price he paid would be much greater.

However, he had just loaded the baggage and prepared to set off overnight, but Liu Zeqing informed King Zhou and Gao Mingheng that he would take his troops back to Shandong. Because the Hebei giant bandit Yuan Shizhong led his team to plunder Caozhou and had surrounded Dingtao County. Liu Zeqing did not hesitate at all, and did not even ask for food with Gao Mingheng, so he directly led his troops out of the north gate to cross the Yellow River.

Needless to ask, Liu Zeqing knew that Li Zicheng was going to attack Kaifeng in a large scale, so he didn't want to stay here and wait for the siege, so he fled first. What's more, he also knew that it was basically impossible for an official army to come to rescue Kaifeng within a period of time. So he used the excuse of Yuan Shizhong's invasion and crossed the Yellow River first.

Hou Xun was also clever and left with Liu Zeqing. After all, his job was to supervise the military affairs of Shandong, and now that Yuan Shizhong from Hebei has been robbed in Shandong, he can handle it, so he left Kaifeng, the dead land. As for the tribesmen in Guide Mansion, he can only hope that Li Yan can really protect them.

The gentry and wealthy families who had settled down due to Liu Zeqing's troops began to escape again. And when they saw Li Yan's barracks preparing overnight, they fled faster. Many people followed Hou Xun, but Li Yan's subordinates strictly implemented the regulations on leaving the city.

The rich gentry didn't care about these external things anymore. Once Liu Zeqing left, Li Yan's troops were left in Kaifeng City. But now Li Yan is also preparing to send troops, so Kaifeng only had more than 10,000 troops defending the city from the original social soldiers. How can they rest assured? So a long line of outbound troops lined up at the north gate.

As for their food, they were asked to deal with the family's nephews and housekeepers, so many people gathered in the city, all of whom were selling food. However, the amount of food was too large, and the bribes Li Yan received in the case of reselling grain in the treasury were not enough, so he had to borrow some from the King of Zhou.

At this time, the King of Zhou also happened to summon him, and he was just right.

"Son-in-law, I heard you are also preparing to send troops? Where are you going? Are you not going to guard Kaifeng?" As soon as the King of Zhou saw Li Yan, he asked quickly, without notice that Li Yan seemed to be coming too fast.

Li Yan clasped his fists and said, "Don't worry, Prince, there are more than 10,000 troops left in the city, which is enough to ensure the safety of Kaifeng."

"Where is ten thousand people enough?" King Zhou said anxiously: "Now Liu Zeqing is going to retreat, Hou Xun is going to leave, and even you are gone, then Kaifeng will be handed over to the thieves? No, you can't leave, you have to stay and defend Kaifeng!"

Li Yan explained: "Prince, I am leading the troops to fight the thieves. The main force of the thieves will fight against me, and the ones who come are also partial divisions. The defending troops can handle it."

"No, no." King Zhou shook his head firmly: "Your duty is to guard Kaifeng. If you want to attack the thieves, just let Chen Yongfu go. You must stay in Kaifeng."

Li Yan had to continue to explain: "Now there are no reinforcements in the court. If they are trapped in the city, unless the bandits retreat by themselves, they do not need to attack. They can seize the city when the food and grass are exhausted. At this time, I am leading the troops outside, and the bandits are stopped under the strong city, and they will be attacked inside and outside, which will inevitably be easy to deal with. Moreover, if the general goes south this time, he may be able to repel the bandits in one battle and prevent Kaifeng from being affected by military disasters."

The King of Zhou still disagreed and advised: "The thieves are so powerful that they are not so easy to deal with. You should stay in the city and be careful to guard them. As for reinforcements, I will ask the court again. There are no ones in Henan, Beijing, Nanjing, Huguang, and Sichuan. There are always some. Aren't you hoarding food? As long as you guard Kaifeng City, reinforcements will definitely come within one or two months."

When Li Yan heard about the food, he immediately spoke, "Prince, there are too many foods sold now. I don't have enough money on hand. Can the prince lend some to the generals first? After repelling the thief, the generals will definitely return them in full."

Seeing that Li Yan no longer insisted on leading troops to attack, King Zhou immediately agreed readily: "We are not so polite to our family. How much do you want, just speak."

Li Yan thought for a moment, clasped his fists and said, "Then I thank the prince. I will borrow 100,000 taels first. If it is not enough, I will borrow it with the prince."

The King of Zhou immediately ordered the eunuch in person: "Go to the silver treasury and prepare to pay 200,000 taels of silver."

The eunuch whispered: "Prince, Curry's money is only 280,000 taels, and he also has to propose the expense of spending the birthday of Concubine Zhang next month, and he can take up at most 100,000 taels."

The King of Zhou whispered impatiently: "Just get it, I'll talk about other things later."

The eunuch bowed at this time and said, "Here."

Li Yan's goal was achieved, so he bowed and said, "Prince, then I will say goodbye first and send someone to get the money later."

"Okay, you should prepare for the city defense well, don't worry about other things." King Zhou said with a smile. He was a little complaining about the thief now. He came over to surround Kaifeng like the previous few times, which was much better than the slow past he had now. In just a few days, they all wanted to escape from Feng.

The eunuch who had already left the hall, when he heard that Li Yan was going to send someone to bring the money, he felt unhappy and snorted coldly.

When Li Yan returned to the military camp, he received the news that Qian Er's rapid troops encountered more than 100,000 thieves coming in Fugu, and are now fighting fiercely with the thieves. Li Zhong also sent the news, and the order was too hasty and had to wait until tomorrow to set off. So he didn't have to worry here, and he just waited for another trip tomorrow.

After waiting for a while, Sun Sifu came in and reported: "The silver was retrieved from the royal palace, but it was only 180,000 taels."

Li Yan frowned and said, "What's the situation?"

"The manager of the handover said that this is the rule. If it weren't for the money you wanted, at least half of it would have to be drawn." Sun Sifu replied.

That was a problem with the Zhou royal palace, so he couldn't come to the door directly. He had to skip this matter and ordered: "Well, go and watch some. If our people are like this, arrest them immediately."

"Then, when I paid back the money," Sun Sifu reminded.

Li Yan said lightly: "Let's talk about it."
Chapter completed!