"You want to surrender?" In the morning, the young Seventh Taibao Ji Zeng looked at the equally young Liting City messenger in front of him, sitting still, only slightly holding his forehead and frowning.
"Yes." The young messenger, Han Erlang himself, bowed respectfully.
"I don't believe you." Ji Zeng was silent for a moment, then suddenly withdrew his hand and said with a smile. "If you want to surrender, you should have surrendered the night before yesterday... I asked, is that Shi Huaiming your old commander? It would be most comfortable for you to surrender him, but in the end you killed him, and today you come to find me to surrender , must be a fake surrender! You kid, you came to my camp with only a decent cultivation level, you thought you were brave and wanted to make a career, but in the end you just came to die! Take it!"
"General Ji, I'm not used to talking big words. Please tell me a few honest words. It won't be too late to deal with it." Hearing the rustling of beetle leaves around him, Han Erlang lowered his head and leaned forward without moving, but he hurriedly spoke. "Firstly, we actually almost surrendered the night before yesterday, but we just wanted to give it a try, but failed to surrender; secondly, we did not expect the night attack to be so successful, blowing up the camp and defeating General Shi; thirdly, We killed someone last night, but it was not General Shi, but a scapegoat. We took the opportunity to announce that we don’t know the whereabouts of General Shi. He may be dead, or he may have escaped..."
At the end of the sentence, the soldiers on both sides had already grabbed Han Erlang and dragged him outside, but Han Erlang, who was speaking faster and faster, still tried hard to keep his words clear and orderly.
"I believe this." When Ji Zeng heard this, he was stunned on the spot, then laughed again, then waved his hand to let the guard return to his position, and let Han Erlang go. "Go on."
This was the truth. He immediately felt that these sentences should be true and completely consistent with his understanding of the battlefield and situation.
"Fourth, when we were discussing the surrender last night, there was indeed a big dispute, and some people indeed suggested a false surrender. But just like the night before yesterday when we finally decided to launch a night attack, we finally decided to surrender last night." Han Erlang breathed a sigh of relief, and his speaking speed returned to normal.
Ji Zeng smiled and narrowed his eyes, then suddenly interrupted and asked: "I guess you agree with the surrender?"
"Don't hide anything from the general." Han Erlang replied seriously. "According to the rules of the gang, my status is low. I can only sit in and listen to what they say. I am not qualified to participate in the discussion..."
"A person like you is not even a village commander?" This answer obviously exceeded Ji Zeng's expectations.
"This cannot be hidden from anyone. Everyone in the city knows that I am not one of the six village chiefs, but the deputy under Chief Huang." Han Erlang lowered his head and smiled bitterly.
"Why?"
"Actually, this is also the fifth thing I want to say next..." Han Erlang's tone was obviously low. "Fifth, I was originally a country man in this county, but when Cao Shancheng was the king of Cao Mansion, I was promoted to the deputy captain of the county, and stayed with him until he died in the end. It is probably for this reason that I can't do it. Is he the village chief? I don’t know the details."
Ji Zeng calmed down slightly: "I see... Cao Shancheng, Lord Cao Mansion, single-handedly maintained the overall situation of Hebei. I am in Jing'antai, so I know it well... What is your name?"
"I am from a humble background. I am a farmer in Qinghe. When I was underage, I applied to work as a grain porter. I am only called Han Er."
"With such a background and being promoted to deputy captain, no wonder you remember Cao Shancheng." Ji Zeng suddenly realized.
"I am an ordinary person who may not achieve much in this life. It is more likely that he will go with the flow and go against his will for the sake of his wealth and life, but no matter what, he will not forget the death of Cao Fujun in the next moment." As he said that, Han Erlang suddenly raised his head.
Ji Zeng, who was originally in a daze, met the other person's gaze and was obviously stunned for a moment, but when he saw that the other person's eyes were clear and not even flickering, he nodded slowly, and then simply said: "Yes, well said! Take a seat! "
Han Erlang no longer refused, just sat down on the stool that had been brought, put his hands on his knees, and then continued to speak in the Chinese army tent: "There is another one. Huang Tuen Chief has just been promoted to leader because of his achievements the night before. He is worried that once he surrenders as a leader, he will be remembered by the Deposed Dragon Gang and will not be able to escape the knife. In addition, he is a native of Hebei, so he wants to lead his headquarters to leave early."
Ji Zeng did not comment, but asked: "What do you think?"
"I think it's okay." Han Erlang blurted out. "Not only this matter is OK, but also the guarantees they want, the residence they want, the official positions they want, and the fact that only a thousand people are allowed to enter the city. That is, the seventh, eighth, and ninth are all OK for the time being. promise……"
"Do you trust them so much?" Ji Zeng asked sideways.
"It's not that you believe them or not, but that since you are an envoy, you must speak clearly. This is a basic principle." Han Erlang answered seriously.
"Okay!" Ji Zeng nodded immediately. "I heard everything you said clearly, and I probably understand what you mean. Can you think about it from my side now, and should you agree to them?"
"You should agree."
"Why?"
"Because they don't have many practitioners, their soldiers and horses are actually weak, and their only reliance is the city wall. From General Ji's point of view, the biggest problem is the city wall, and the biggest reliance is actually cultivation, so as long as you enter the city, you can Soldiers versus soldiers, and then General Ji personally suppresses the leaders, then he can control the situation and deal with it!" Han Erlang said sincerely. "Of course, General Ji must also consider the success and failure of this city under the overall situation, but this is not something I can know."
"We don't care about the overall situation. We only talk about the military affairs of this city. I know what you mean. As long as I enter the city, as long as I bring some troops into the city to ensure that the city's defense is effective, then it doesn't matter what I want to do with the personnel in the city." Ji Zeng couldn't help but laugh. "Yes and no?"
"Yes." Han Erlang responded simply. "That's what it means... Once they enter the city, their wealth and life, including mine, will all be in the hands of General Ji... Even if someone wants to betray the enemy or surrender, they will have to fight tooth and nail."
Ji Zeng finally stood up and walked around with his hands behind his hands. After walking a few times, he asked, "Then I agree to everything?"
"What I'm saying is that you can agree to them all, but you don't have to agree to them all." Han Erlang seemed to want to laugh, but he was used to keeping a straight face, so he had a weird expression for a moment. "Why not pick a few conditions that are not critical, refuse to agree, and then in turn raise a few conditions that are not critical either?"
Ji Zeng woke up and nodded repeatedly: "So, how far are those people going?"
"None of them. That's because I'm stupid. I've never been a messenger before and I was afraid of saying the wrong thing, so I got a document and summarized it myself before coming." Han Erlang said one thing. "Otherwise I don't know what to say."
"Okay! Okay!" Ji Zeng put his hands behind his head and laughed. "Han Erlang, how about you arrange this?! Go and tell them the other three or four things. If it comes to pass, I recommend you to be the captain of Qinghe!"
Han Erlang did not thank him or even get up. Instead, he sat in the open space in the middle of the tent and asked: "General Ji, can you be the captain of Qinghe for a long time? Can the imperial army completely destroy the Deposed Dragon Gang and control Hebei?"
Ji Zeng was stunned for a moment, then raised his head and laughed dryly: "I was confused... To promise this in front of someone like you who understands the local situation... As you think, even if this victory is a big victory, the army will inevitably be defeated. If you evacuate to other places, Hebei will still be in chaos for a while, and that's it for other places. There will indeed be many remnants of the deposed dragon thief here in Qinghe. You, a surrendered person who has come back repeatedly, will really become the guardian of Qinghe. It is estimated that it will be difficult for the general. We can only rely on Cui to hold on for a while, and then count on Li Ding or Xue Changxiong to control the situation early."
Han Erlang listened carefully and said nothing.
Ji Zeng thought for a moment and spoke again: "That's good. If you don't want to stay in Qinghe, come back to Dongdu with me."
After hearing this, Han Erlang was still not surprised, but continued to ask: "Can I fight back to Qinghe when I return to the east?"
"I think it's okay." Ji Zeng said seriously with a smile. "Even if the Deposed Dragon Gang is not defeated this time, we can still fight back to Qinghe... because the overall situation of the world lies in the west, in Guanlong and Liangdu, where the essence of the world is... Hebei cannot compete."
Han Erlang nodded slowly, but his expression was obviously still doubtful.
"If you still have any questions, feel free to ask." Ji Zeng sat back in his seat, looking very kind, only attracting side glances from the soldiers and clerks on both sides.
They all saw that Ji Zeng, the Seventh Taibao, had been persuaded by this messenger and was interested in talents.
Even the more or less mature people among them knew that the reason why Ji Zeng behaved like this towards a small figure from Hebei was essentially because he knew that he had become a traitor and felt ashamed... The rest of them could not be considered traitors. But as Cao Lin's seventh guardian and an upright adopted son, Ji Zeng was a traitor, and he knew it.
Therefore, for more than half a month, although the behavior of the Seventh Taibao was strange, it was also traceable. On the one hand, he was anxious and hurried to show his loyalty, and he did the hard work of fighting and working faster than anyone else. They are all interested in him, because he is afraid that he will lose his place after surrendering; on the other hand, he is actually closed off in private, and has no words to speak to many of his former subordinates and confidants.
Because these old people were all met when he was working as the Seventh Taibao, and they all had a past under the shadow of Cao Lin.
At this time, the Seventh Taibao discovered an interesting talent after an incident that he least wanted to touch, which seemed to make him very comfortable.
Of course, everyone still puzzled why the Seven Taibao suddenly trusted this person. Even if there was no big problem in surrendering this time, it still seemed abrupt to peel off the layer of paper easily and move from the matter to the human level. some.
But they won't ask, because no one wants to discuss such a sensitive topic with a person who has the power of life and death over them but hates escaping from them to the point of appearing moody.
"Actually, I just don't understand one thing." Han Erlang responded slowly. "General Ji, it stands to reason that Chief Zhang of the Deposed Dragon Gang is a smart man, right?"
"Of course he is!" The Seventh Taibao lowered his head and smiled. "This man is one of the smartest people in the world... Is Zhang Shizhao talking nonsense? Not to mention his current foundation!"
"Such a smart man, doesn't he know that Hebei can't beat Kansai and Liangdu? Why did he come to Hebei again?" Han Erlang's words were sincere and his expression was sincere.
Ji Zeng looked at the other person's expression and nodded slowly. He could see that the person in front of him was really curious and puzzled. At the very least, he really wanted to find the answer. As a core member of Jing'an Taiwan, he was one of the few. People who know the answer:
"Because although he is smart, he is also a fool! A fool! He actually believes what he said on Red Mountain!"
Han Erlang suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly, obviously finding the last answer.
Not to mention how determined Han Erlang was to go back to the city to make arrangements to preside over the surrender. On the other hand, Liu Heifu crossed the river to Henan last night, and then rushed westward overnight, but passed through Dongjun last night. When he was thinking about it, he did not go directly to Aoshancang, Luokou, Xingyang. Instead, he thought about it and found the nearest home of the leader of the Deposed Dragon Gang, which was the manor of Ding Shengying's family to rest for a while. The soldiers were in Aoshancang, and only my mother and wife were at home.
Of course, since she heard that the leader of the Deposed Dragon Gang was staying at home, Ding Shengying's mother, Mrs. Ding, opened the door in person at night to welcome her.
After eating and drinking, he slept for two more hours. In the morning, when Han Erlang went to ask for surrender in Hebei, Liu Heifu was full again, but he was not in a hurry to set off. Instead, he took advantage of the situation and asked:
"Old madam, are there any rumors here in Henan recently?"
"Which rumors are there? Among the people or among the military?" Mrs. Ding was puzzled for a moment and asked in surprise from the main seat in the hall. "How can Chief Liu ask an old woman like me?"
"I'm asking about the rumors in the family. I wonder if Leader Ding said anything to the old lady..." Liu Heifu said with a bitter smile. "To be fair to the old lady, I came from Hebei to find Li Longtou to ask for reinforcements, but I was really afraid that Henan would lose his loyalty after the chief was surrounded, so I didn't dare to move forward... I didn't know that Chief Ding was leading Aoshan in front. Do you have any messages to send?"
Mrs. Ding was stunned for a long time, and then asked slowly: "You mean, my son and others are going to abandon Chief Zhang, Wei Longtou, Wang Wulang and others in Hebei and become disloyal and unjust people?"
As soon as these words came out, Liu Heifu, who took the initiative to find trouble and test, was a little confused... What is loyalty?
