Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 350: The Way Forward of the Loyalty Camp (Part )

The generals looked at Du Yinxi who was sitting quietly. There was silence for a while. Everyone turned their eyes to Liu Tichun. Although each unit had its own faction, Liu Tichun was still the nominal leader of the Loyal Camp.

After a while, in front of everyone, Liu Tichun coughed lightly and stepped forward and said, "Lord, have you discussed with King Zhou in detail about food, garrisons, military system, and other matters?"

Du Yinxi shook his head and said, "I was personally ordered by His Majesty Shaozong (Longwu) to lead the Loyalty Camp. I am powerless, but fortunately I have met you generals who have treated me with great courtesy. Now the army of King Zhou is at its peak, and the generals will follow him and will not be wronged. As for the specific matters, we have not discussed them in detail yet. You can discuss them, and then I will make another trip."

When the crowd heard this, they began to talk a lot. Some said that they needed a rich city as their base, while others said that military and political affairs should be decided by the two armies. Some wanted military pay, some wanted food and fodder, and some wanted armor and weapons. There were so many different opinions that Liu Tichun felt dizzy after listening to them.

Liu Tichun shouted, "What are you arguing about!" Then he pointed at the three brothers of the Tan family one by one and cursed, "You are the only ones who want a prosperous city. Do you want King Zhou to give Nanjing to you? And you, Ma Tengyun, are talking about military and political affairs and the two armies discussing this nonsense. Don't even say it. Forget about King Zhou. I can't stand it. The method of asking for a sky-high price and paying it back on the ground won't work. Be more direct and put forward some conditions that can be achieved!"

At this time, Du Yinxi smiled and said to Liu Tichun: "Erhu, don't be angry, the generals are doing this for everyone's good." After that, Du Yinxi changed the subject and said to everyone: "But Erhu's words make sense. Now King Zhou is in power in the south and has plenty of money and food, while we are trapped in a place where food and money are scarce. If we ask for too much, I'm afraid it will be difficult to achieve."

After hearing what Du Yinxi said, Hao Yongzhong nodded and said, "If you ask me, there is no need to beg for anything. The Zhou army is organized into towns, and each town has 10,000 people. We can discuss with the King of Zhou and give us the troops of several towns, eliminate the weak and keep the strong. We will eat the food of the King of Zhou and work for him!"

Wang Guangxing shook his head and said unhappily, "Hao Yaoqi, you are too useless. You should at least ask His Royal Highness the King of Zhou for some armor, weapons, and artillery. It would be best if His Royal Highness the King of Zhou recognized our titles and gave us money and food according to our titles."

"Yes, yes. With more than a dozen of us combined, we have an army of at least 100,000. We are definitely worthy of King Zhou's attention!"

The meeting had been arguing for most of the day, and everyone was a little tired. At this time, Li Laiheng, who had been silent all the time, suddenly spoke up and said, "I heard that Zheng Siwei surrendered to King Zhou, and King Zhou gladly accepted him."

As soon as these words came out, Liu Tichun secretly thought that this was not good. At that time, Lin Shiqi hinted that Zheng Siwei would go to the river to feed the fish, but asked him to keep it secret. In this situation now, how could he appease the generals?

Liu Tichun immediately said: "If you want to surrender, then surrender. This traitor will be punished by heaven in the future. No, he will be punished by water in the future!"

Yuan Zongdi was a little confused and asked, "What do you mean?"

Liu Tichun didn't reply, but had a confident look on his face.

He Zhen on the side said nonchalantly: "It's not difficult to kill this thief. He is not in Jingzhou City now. I have at least three ways to kill him!"

Seeing everyone looking at him, He Zhen was very proud and said confidently: "First, we can directly ask King Zhou to kill Zheng Siwei on the grounds that a hundred thousand troops have surrendered. One hundred thousand people in exchange for one person, is there a problem? Second, we don't ask King Zhou for help, but do it ourselves. Zheng Siwei can't stay in the army all his life, there will always be a time when he is alone. As the old saying goes, you can only be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against... thieves for a thousand days?" When he said the latter, He Zhen suddenly felt like something was wrong.

However, under Wang Guangxing's questioning, He Zhen did not think about it and continued, "Third, Zheng Siwei has his own guards in the city. We can bribe him, poison him, and kill him."

Upon hearing this, Wang Guangxing praised: "Well, Lao He is indeed a talented person who has heard of private schools. I think all three suggestions are good!"

He Zhen was a little flattered by the praises from everyone, but at this moment, Du Yinxi poured a bucket of cold water on her and said to He Zhen: "First of all, King Zhou will never agree to General He's words!"

Everyone was puzzled, and Du Yinxi explained to them helplessly: "Let's not talk about the big principles. To put it simply, Zheng Siwei surrendered to Zhou and is now a man of His Majesty the King of Zhou. As a superior, how can you harm your subordinates to please others?"

He Zhen argued: "How can we be considered others? Aren't we preparing to surrender?"

"Even if you have already surrendered, King Zhou will not take sides, and most importantly..." At this point, Du Yinxi looked around at the generals and said earnestly, "To put it nicely, this behavior is domineering and disrespectful to the emperor. To put it bluntly, it is threatening the king, and the heart is damnable!"

Seeing that He Zhen was somewhat unconvinced, Du Yinxi continued, "Second and third options may work, but he must not die in King Zhou's camp. No matter how Zheng Siwei dies, if he dies in King Zhou's camp, King Zhou will surely be furious. In that case, the consequences will be unpredictable!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Tichun had an idea. Elder Du had been in officialdom for so many years, he must be more accurate than himself in seeing such things. What if Lin Shiqi did it and capsized the boat and drowned Zheng Siwei?

Thinking of this, Liu Tichun became a little anxious and secretly decided in his heart that he would go find Lin Shiqi after the meeting and ask him to take some time off.

Although Liu Tichun hated Zheng Siwei, he had to prioritize things. He could always find a way to deal with a surrendered general without any soldiers in the future. But if he offended King Zhou, he would be punished by a small shoe and no one could bear it.

Regardless of Liu Tichun's thoughts, after listening to Du Yinxi's words, He Zhen frowned and asked, "Is Zheng Siwei immortal? This bastard killed Defense Envoy Meng and killed so many of our brothers. Now he wants to go to Nanjing to enjoy the world of pleasure and become a rich man?"

Hao Yongzhong replied: "The elder didn't mean that we can't kill him. What he said is that we can kill him, but we can't kill him in King Zhou's camp. And don't kill him so quickly. Wait for some time before killing him!"

Hearing this, Du Yinxi did not comment, but just laughed. Then he dismissed everyone, had lunch, and took a nap before leisurely heading towards Zhou camp.

It was not until nightfall that Du Yinxi returned to the Loyal Camp.

Du Yinxi sat in the military tent, watching the candlelight swaying in the breeze, as if he was reflecting the thoughts of the generals in the Loyalty Camp.

Du Yinxi recalled the conversation with Meng Jun. At that time, Du Yinxi did not tell all the generals what they wanted. He just asked King Zhou, "How will King Zhou treat the 100,000 troops who have surrendered?"

Meng Jun said: "I would like to give the four garrisons of the Loyalty Camp the military title, eliminate the weak and retain the strong, and provide all the food, wages and supplies. However, the organization of the army will all be based on the Zhou army system, and the grassroots officers must be rotated."

At that time, Du Yinxi gently advised: "This may affect morale and combat effectiveness."

Meng Jun said: "The Tartars have fled north, and there have been no major, fierce, or bloody battles in the south."