The twenty-second year of Qianlong's reign
May, 30th.
In the early morning, when the sky is bright.
Ma'anshan defends two miles away
At this time, rebel soldiers who had fled from the Qing army's garrison came here to gather.
It's not that these rebels wouldn't take advantage of the Qing army's lack of time to escape and return home. It's just that this is a plain area, and there are wandering cavalry everywhere patrolling to inquire about the enemy's situation.
Whether it's the bandit suppression army or the Qing army. For deserters like them, they are all potential dangers. If they fail, they will be killed.
So traveling in groups is the best thing for these rebels. No matter what, they can take care of each other.
Therefore, under the leadership of thoughtful people, except for a few who chose to flee the battlefield and a few who chose to stay in the Qing army, most of them came to the foot of Ma'an Mountain to assemble and ask for surrender from the bandit-suppressing army.
It is not that no one among them has ever thought about establishing their own business, but due to the turmoil last night, they ran out of military rations. Without military rations, there would naturally be no way to unite the team.
Moreover, these rebels carried out a crazy attack on the Eight Banners soldiers stationed in the Qing army's camp last night. Even if they did not establish their own business, they would be held accountable by the Qing army. If they continued to establish their own business, there would be no turning back.
The most important thing is that among the rebels, the ultimate goal of most people is to surrender and suppress the bandits, so naturally no one dares to talk about establishing their own business.
After all, they also see the combat effectiveness of the bandit suppressing army. Only under the protection of the bandit suppressing army can they feel safe.
As the sun rises, we look at the Qing troops gathering at the foot of the mountain to suppress the bandits. The anti-bandit troops on Ma'an Mountain always felt that something was wrong, so they sent out sentries to investigate.
"In front of you, what's going on with you? Why are you gathering in front of our army's position? Tell me quickly, otherwise don't blame our army for being rude to you." The sentry cavalry of the bandit suppression army asked loudly in front of the arriving Qing army soldiers. .
"No, go to the army. Please go to the army and inform the superiors that we are here to surrender." At this time, someone among the assembled rebels stood up and said to the sentinels of the bandit suppressing army who came to explore the enemy's situation.
"You came here to surrender? You didn't come here to entertain us, did you? Didn't you look like you were ready to fight us to the death yesterday?" The bandit-suppressing army sentry cavalry asked doubtfully.
"Soldier, as you know, we are soldiers and we eat. Whether we fight or not depends on the sentence above. When the military order is issued, you can't do it even if you don't fight. But now, the Manchus don't regard us Green Camp as human beings. We I thought, if this is the case, why do we still fight against the bandit suppressors for the sake of the Manchus? Aren't we and the bandit suppressors both Han?" the man continued to answer.
"Well, that's right. We are all Han Chinese, and we are brothers. It's best if we don't fight." After hearing this, the sentinel cavalry of the bandit suppression army nodded in response.
"In this case, I will go back and report the situation to the superiors! You all stay here and don't move around, lest the superiors misunderstand you."
"Okay, okay...then let's thank the soldiers first." The man among the soldiers said respectfully.
…
Ma'anshan
Command post camp commander's office
At this moment, Zhang Rui, who had just gotten up, heard a burst of rapid footsteps before he could wake up.
Later, Zhang Rui heard a report from Liu Shitou, the commander of the guards.
"Report, King of Han. Li De, the commander of the Sharp Sword Army, and Wang Kaiyuan, the chief of staff, are outside the camp asking for an audience."
"Let them in!" Zhang Rui rubbed his eyes and then patted his cheek.
Since it was too late last night to correct the memorial documents, Zhang Rui is still half-awake and a little out of sorts.
"yes…"
"You two, please..."
At this time, outside the tent door, Li De and Wang Kaiyuan slowly walked in and bowed in front of Zhang Rui and said: "Weak minister Li De (Wang Kaiyuan), I pay my respects to His Highness the King of Han. May the King of Han live long live, long live..."
"You two dears, please come to your senses. I wonder why you two dears want to see me?" Zhang Rui asked doubtfully.
"King Han, there are a large number of green camps of the Qing army gathering at the foot of the mountain. They say they want to surrender to our army. Please give your signal, King Han..." After Li De straightened up, he spoke first.
"Oh? There's still this matter? Mr. Wang, what do you think of this matter?" After Li De said this, Zhang Rui didn't seem to understand what was going on.
"Back to King Han, last night my staff received information from Mr. Hong of the special forces that they conducted a night attack on the Qing army's camp last night. There seemed to be movement in the Qing army's camp after being attacked by Mr. Hong at night. I guess This matter has something to do with them," Wang Kaiyuan said.
"Shitou, send someone over to invite Mr. Hong." Zhang Rui turned to Liu Shitou who was standing aside and said.
"Yes, King Han."
After saying that, Liu Shitou withdrew from the camp and ordered people to go find Officer Hong Xi.
Soon, Officer Hong Xi followed the guards sent by Liu Shitou to Zhang Rui's tent.
"The humble minister Hong Xiguan pays homage to His Highness the King of Han. Long live the King of Han..."
"Master Hong is a man of your own accord, so there is no need to be polite." Zhang Rui raised his hand and said.
"I thank His Highness the King of Han." Hong Xiguan bowed again and straightened up.
Regarding Zhang Rui, Hong Xiguan always had an inexplicable feeling. There are rumors that Hong Xiguan actually belongs to the Zhu family. However, only Hong Xiguan himself understands.
Ever since Hong Xi became an official, he has been committed to resisting the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty. However, although he has been working hard, he has had little effect.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Rui, a young man who looks so young, has single-handedly conquered such a large territory. What's more important is that he can still be neither arrogant nor impatient and behave like a wise king, which is even more rare.
Although Zhang Rui did not rebel against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, Hong Xiguan felt a little regretful. Even later, Hong Xiguan himself admitted that as long as he could fight against the Qing Dynasty, it would be fine, and it would not matter if he failed to regain the Ming Dynasty. But when it was revealed that Zhang Rui was the grandson of the Zhu family, Hong Xiguan felt that this was no different from resisting the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, Hong Xiguan tried his best to assist Zhang Rui. Similarly, Zhang Rui has never disappointed Hong Xiguan.
"Master Hong?" Zhang Rui asked, looking at the somewhat absent-minded Hong Xiguan.
"Ah, King Han, I'm so rude." Hong Xiguan immediately came to his senses and apologized.
"It's okay, Mr. Hong, thank you for your hard work." After all, Zhang Rui just heard Wang Kaiyuan say that Hong Xiguan led people to sneak attack the Qing army's camp last night. So Zhang Rui naturally thought that his mental state was not the same as his own and he just hadn't recovered.
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