"Lu Qing, let me tell you, nothing will happen to the north, and Nanjing will not be lost!"
After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang said with a domineering look.
Lu Zhenfei had previously been impressed by Zhu Yuanzhang's momentum and thought he was a hero with great strategies, so he resigned and confessed, but he did not understand the reason.
Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words at this moment, he said with some confusion: "Your Majesty, Guo Sheng has been on a roll with great momentum. He has already gathered 20,000 people in just two days. If he captures Huai'an, his military power will be even greater."
"And the Nanjing soldiers have been at ease for many years and are not good at fighting. In addition, there are rebel generals presenting themselves to the city. I am afraid that many ministers have secretly surrendered. Why does your Majesty think that Nanjing will not be lost?"
Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, looked at Zhang Huang and said, "Zhang Qing, what do you think of this matter?"
Zhang Huangyan bowed and said: "The general thought at first was the same as Master Lu. However, when Master Ma said that the southern grain had been robbed and His Majesty became suspicious, the general felt that the previous method was too reckless."
"Because if the rebels left by Guo Sheng are to contain us, then it is impossible for him to not be wary of us chasing him."
"You must know that although we have gathered eight thousand cavalry, our combat power is not strong. If we encounter the mysterious army from before, we may be able to fight head-on. But if they attack secretly, we will be destroyed. danger."
"Once we are defeated, the rebels in Shandong will definitely take advantage of the situation. Let alone encircle and suppress Guo Sheng, I am afraid that Shandong will not be owned by your majesty, so the last general will boldly say that Lord Lu's strategy is wrong."
After he said that, he looked at Lu Zhenfei a little apologetically.
After listening to Zhang Huangyan's story, Lu Zhenfei understood the danger, and a look of panic appeared on his face. 33
Then he said with some worry: "Master Zhang, if we don't pursue Guo Sheng according to your words, how will the crisis in Jiangnan be solved?"
Zhang Huang said: "Lord Lu, Jiangnan is actually not as dangerous as we thought. It was only because Guo Sheng had conquered two cities before that we were frightened when we first heard about it. We unintentionally exaggerated the impact of this incident, so we thought that Nanjing was dangerous. Danger."
"You must know that Guo Sheng is still more than 500 miles away from Nanjing, and Huai'an has already deployed defenses. With the experience of the previous two cities, it will not be easy for Guo Sheng to capture Huai'an."
"Taking a step back, even if Huai'an is lost, Huai'an is still more than 400 miles away from Nanjing. In addition, the waterways in the south of the Yangtze River are not conducive to cavalry galloping. Guo Sheng's troops are all northern soldiers who are not good at water warfare, so he wants to fight Nanjing is simply impossible!”
When Lu Zhenfei heard this, he shook his head and said: "Master Zhang, you are wrong in what you said. You must know that Guo Sheng did not conquer Pizhou and Suqian, but someone secretly dedicated the city. This is the key to this battle."
"Since we can't uncover the person behind this now, we can only resolve this crisis by encircling Guo Sheng and cutting off the other party's minions."
Zhang Huangyan shook his head and said: "Master Lu, you are worrying too much. You must know that Guo Sheng's sudden increase in troops is caused by rebels scattered in Henan, Shandong and other places, and then some refugees in the north."
"But Jiangnan has always been peaceful. When he goes deep into Jiangnan, the new troops will be limited. It is estimated that there will only be 30,000 people at most. Even if all the officials along the way offer sacrifices to the city, how will he have so many troops to defend the city."
"If he doesn't defend the city and his way back is cut off, he will be a trapped beast. Most of his men are new soldiers. When this happens, we only need to put a little pressure on them and they will mutiny, so there is no need to worry about it. .”
"As long as Guo Sheng loses, the people behind the scenes will be unable to do anything even if they have extraordinary means. That's why the last general said that Jiangnan is not dangerous."
Lu Zhenfei didn't know how to fight, but when he saw that Zhang Huangyan spoke clearly and eloquently, he felt relieved and apologized to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty, I am short-sighted and almost missed your Majesty's important event. Please punish me!"
Seeing that Lu Zhenfei's face was sincere and not hypocritical, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded secretly in his heart, but still said with a cold face: "Lu Qing, it's good that you can correct your mistakes after you know them, but the state has national laws and the family has family rules. Since we have opened If you kill Chrysostom, I can only give you posthumous glory!"
When Lu Zhenfei heard this, he remembered that Zhu Yuanzhang had told him to be an "understanding ghost" before, and his body couldn't help but tremble.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Huangyan wanted to plead for mercy, but saw that Zhu Yuanzhang still looked angry and remained silent.
He didn't speak, not because he was afraid of offending Zhu Yuanzhang.
In fact, he found that after Lu Zhenfei told the reason, Zhu Yuanzhang's murderous intention had subsided. He knew that if anyone interceded at this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang would get off the ground.
It's just that he didn't dare to confirm whether Zhu Yuanzhang's preferred intercessor was him.
Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to test Lu Zhenfei's loyalty again by bringing up old matters again, so he did not speak rashly, but just stared at Lu Zhenfei silently.
Lu Zhenfei was silent for a while, and said in a low and firm voice: "I know my crime and am willing to be punished. I only hope that your majesty will keep my loyalty. Xu Chen will be buried outside Pizhou City so that I can see the day when the Ming Dynasty prospers!"
Although Lu Zhenfei's body was trembling slightly when he said this, the words he said were clear and clear, without any hesitation or fear.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he pretended to sigh helplessly, and then glanced at Zhang Huangyan.
Zhang Huangyan saw Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes and knew that the other party was asking him to plead for mercy, so he immediately said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Lu is loyal, please forgive him once!"
Zhu Yuanzhang said helplessly: "Zhang Qing, it's not that we don't want to spare him, it's just that as the emperor, if we don't keep our word, how can we face the people of the world."
Zhang Huang said: "Your Majesty, loyal ministers are hard to come by. Please be more generous and allow Mr. Lu to take the blame and make meritorious service..."
"Master Zhang, don't make things difficult for Your Majesty. As long as Ming Dynasty can prosper, I will be happy even if I die!"
Lu Zhenfei loudly interrupted Zhang Huangyan's words and kowtowed to die.
Hearing this, Zhang Huangyan changed his expression and said, "Master Lu, why are you so confused? What's so difficult about dying? What's difficult is living."
"The world is in chaos now. You don't want to serve the imperial court, but you want to die. It would be easy for you to die, but your majesty is charged with killing a loyal minister because of it. Is this what a loyal minister did?"
"If your death causes your friends to misunderstand Your Majesty, or even turn against him, and ultimately lose their lives in vain, is that considered righteous?"
"You only wanted to die happily, but you failed to live up to your parents' upbringing and expectations for you. If you can't make a name for them, is it considered filial piety?"
...
Lu Zhenfei valued Confucian loyalty and filial piety the most. At this moment, Zhang Huangyan snatched him away. He was shocked and hurriedly kowtowed to plead guilty and said: "Your Majesty, I deserve to die, but I can't die now. Please allow me to make meritorious service for my crime!"
Seeing that the heat had come, Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice: "Okay, since Zhang Qing is interceding for you, we will make an exception and allow you to cut off your hair and take the place of head!"
"But you have to remember, if you can't get away with it and make meritorious deeds, we will punish you for all your crimes!"
When Lu Zhenfei heard this, he kowtowed repeatedly to thank him.
After Zhu Yuanzhang signaled him to stand up, he said in a deep voice: "However, death penalty can be avoided, but living crime is difficult to forgive. The thirty army must have no less than thirty soldiers. Do you accept it?"
Lu Zhenfei kowtowed and said, "Your majesty is wise, I am sincerely convinced!"
Zhu Yuanzhang winked at Li Wu, who immediately took Lu Zhenfei away.
"Zhang Qing, do you have a way to deal with it?"
After Lu Zhenfei left, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly spoke to Zhang Huang without any end.
Zhang Huangyan was stunned for a moment, then bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Guo Sheng obviously doesn't get along with the people behind him. The general will think that his move is just a bluff and wants to lure us south."
"As long as we don't pursue him, I believe it won't be long before he turns back!"
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "What if he has a death wish?"
When Zhang Huangyan heard this, a look of panic flashed across his face.
Some people died, but not completely...
