Seeing that His Highness King Yan's face was dark, all the generals in the tent except Li Yuan were silent. Zhu Bosong's mind was spinning, and then he mustered up the courage to hold his hands and said: "What Your Highness said is absolutely true. This time the Song family is holding Zhennan hostage." The army is in chaos, and our officers and men have acted in a disobedient manner, and we are indeed responsible for the unshirkable responsibility! The laws of the imperial court are binding, and if we are guilty, we must admit our punishment!
I just have the courage to ask Your Highness to say a few kind words in front of His Majesty for our loyal and good soldiers! You are a bloodline of the Tian family, and our Zhennan Army is a heroic army of the Tang Dynasty. I dare not swear allegiance to you! The officers and soldiers are all looking forward to seeing His Highness. At this moment, the priority is to stabilize the morale of the army, and we also ask His Highness to send someone to take over the army as soon as possible..."
As soon as he said this, Li Hongji felt as if he had been stabbed by a needle in the back of his neck. He suddenly raised his head and stared at Zhu Bosong who was bending over to salute. He seemed to be thinking about something, but his face was obviously a little better and no longer as before. Raw and cold. Li Yuan also nodded secretly at the side. This boy from the Zhu family is really smart. These important words obviously made Li Hongji happy.
Before Zhu Bosong could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw that Li Hongji's brows had relaxed a lot, and he said in a deep voice: "I don't insist on holding you accountable for your crimes, but I just want to discuss the matter. You are indeed worthy of capturing the rebels and controlling the rebels, but this time The next time the Song Dynasty collaborated with outsiders to cause chaos, it caused great harm to our country. Even the city of Jinling was reduced to a mess. Even if you have meritorious service, how can you hide it as a big mistake?
Moreover, the situation is tense now. It is normal for me to be suspicious based on just a few words from you. That’s all. Since the Grand Marshal just mentioned you, Zhu Jiazhongliang, I will give you a chance to prove yourself. "
Zhu Bosong quickly bowed his head and said: "Your Highness, please give me your instructions!"
Li Hongji shook his head and said: "There is no other word, just two words 'loyalty'. I will send an envoy to accompany you back to the camp later. At noon tomorrow, all your troops will disarm and abandon their weapons and line up at the entrance of the valley on the east side of the camp to greet you. I will go with the Grand Marshal to handle some matters. You should know that at the mouth of the valley, where the Jiang Kai brothers were ambushed by Marshal Li and their entire army was wiped out...
But you don’t have to worry. Since you have sworn that the Zhennan Army is loyal, then this matter is a touchstone. It can not only see whether the Zhennan Army is truly loyal now, but also let me see the palms of your Zhu family and his son. The power of the army. "
Zhu Bosong was in a daze, and for a moment he couldn't figure out what the majestic Prince Yan in front of him wanted. However, he didn't expect to receive the army in such an extreme way. What if the imperial court had murderous intentions? Okay... Even though I forced myself not to think too much, some horrific scenes of the heroes dying tragically in the valley after thousands of arrows were fired flashed through my mind.
Seeing a trace of hesitation in Zhu Bosong's eyes, Li Yuan said earnestly: "General Zhu, His Highness is helping you! Since the rebellion of your Zhennan Army, drastic changes have occurred in the DPRK, important ministers have been imprisoned, and the people have suffered. It can be said that the current situation is very serious, and Regardless of merits and demerits, how many people don't even have the chance to prove their loyalty, and the traitorous comrades and the meritorious ministers can only be separated by a thought!
Naturally, you don't have to think too much. Since you can correct the chaos in time, the court will definitely not make things difficult for you. It's just to eliminate some worries. This time, His Highness was ordered to face danger, and on behalf of His Majesty, he personally led an army of 200,000 people here. If our entire army attacks at this moment, we can still suppress this rebellion, and your Zhennan Army will be wiped out in an instant!
You should thank His Highness for your kindness. For the sake of your loyal family, Zhu, I have shown you a clear path. You must grasp it well! The Tang Dynasty still needs loyal ministers and good generals like you, the Zhu family, and your son to continue serving the country! "
Zhu Bosong suddenly broke into a cold sweat all over his body, and for a moment, the blood rushed to his mind. All worries and strategies were thrown out of the sky, and he blurted out: "Thank you, Generalissimo, for the tip! I will go back to the camp to report to my father later." Commander, let the entire army disarm and abandon their weapons and march to the mouth of the valley to line up to prove the loyalty of our Zhennan Army officers to Your Majesty!"
Li Hongji laughed and said: "As expected, he is a man from the Zhu family, a warm-blooded man, and brave enough to take on responsibilities. Don't worry, when we successfully take over the army tomorrow, I will jointly write a report with Marshal Li and return to the capital. It's time for my father to have a good sleep." I'm awake. I will also report the deeds of your father and son and the sons under my command impartially."
Zhu Bosong excitedly raised his hands and said, "Thank you so much, Your Highness! We will never let Your Highness down!"
Li Hongji chuckled, blinked slightly at Li Yuan on the side, then stood up and said: "General Zhu, since you said this, I am relieved. Okay, you can go back and deliver the order! I, sir, will Go back to your tent and rest so that you can receive the army tomorrow! Farewell."
Li Yuan led all the generals to stand up and clasp their fists, watching Li Hongji leave the tent with a smile on his face. Zhu Bosong did not dare to neglect. He exited the tent and was led by the military officer to meet up with the messenger sent by King Yan. Then everyone mounted their horses and hurriedly left the camp...
The lights in the Zhennan Army camp were also brightly lit. Since Zhu Lingyun was still on the couch and had not woken up, Zhu Bosong had no choice but to summon Lin Renzhao and the two of them discussed first.
Unexpectedly, just after Zhu Bosong finished describing the situation, Lin Renzhao frowned and said: "We surrendered at the mouth of the valley? Marshal, don't you know the dangers involved? How did brothers Tian Wenfeng and Jiang Kai and those thousands of fine cavalry die in the previous episode?" Don’t you know? Alas, the imperial court doesn’t have any trust in me!”
Zhu Bosong replied helplessly: "Now that we have become a rebel army, how can we trust us? Apart from this method, how can we find a second way now?"
Lin Renzhao sighed: "Perhaps it is just as His Highness King Yan said, just to prove our loyalty, but if this order is passed to the whole army, do you know the consequences? The Song family has deep roots in the Zhennan Army, how many The general actually has evil intentions, but he is forced by the current situation and dare not reveal them! Let’s not talk about what happened after arriving at the mouth of the valley. If someone in the army takes advantage of this order to mutiny, we will be the biggest sinners!"
Zhu Bosong said with some displeasure: "According to what Marshal Lin said, what should we do? His Royal Highness King Yan has sent an envoy to deliver an order, asking us to surrender at noon tomorrow. Could it be that if we disobey the order, we will end up with a traitor?" Is it because of the infamy? Of course I also know that this order has many risks, but you tell me what to do? My father is ill now, and you are the deputy commander, so I hope you can give me an idea."
Lin Renzhao frowned and said nothing. If he had an idea, why would he talk so much?
"You don't have any idea, so we can only follow the order. In my opinion, the current situation is very serious, and it is normal for the court to be suspicious. If you really want to kill me, just like Marshal Li Yuan." As he said, why bother with this? He can just send out all his troops at this moment, so they can get more first-level military exploits." Zhu Bosong sighed.
Lin Renzhao shook his head and said: "What Li Yuan said is quite reasonable. Regardless of the fact that the military strength of the imperial court is much higher than that of our army, our army has no chance of winning based on his leadership ability alone. Alas, most of our 60,000 soldiers now At most, half of the disabled soldiers and horses can barely fight. If we fight head-on, we really have no ability to resist! Alas, but we shouldn't do such a risky thing and put the safety of our brothers at risk... ..”
"You, are you still thinking about fighting the Forbidden Army?!"
Zhu Bosong's expression suddenly changed, and then he sneered and said: "Marshal Lin is such a murderous man. According to you, my father and son of the Zhu family are people who are greedy for life and afraid of death, and they have no regard for the lives of their brothers! That's all, you don't want to, I won’t force you. You don’t have to go there tomorrow and you can rest in the camp. I can ask His Highness to tell you that you are unwell and you can recuperate with my father.”
Lin Renzhao suppressed his anger and frowned: "Why did Bo Song say this? Don't you know how much I respect your father? I didn't mean that! How could I dare to rebel against the imperial court? It's just about the safety of the entire army, so I have to think carefully... ..”
Zhu Bosong paused for a moment and said in a deep voice: "You know what Commander Lin means. Well, I won't bother you with this matter. I will convene the generals later to discuss the matter of leading the army to surrender tomorrow. Just rest and recuperate in the camp, and I won’t see you off anymore!”
Lin Renzhao opened his mouth and saw Zhu Bosong turned his back and ignored him for a long time. Finally he sighed, took out the seal entrusted by Zhu Lingyun from his armor and put it gently on the case, then strode out of the tent.
