Chapter 27: Can't Help But Rebel! Author: Ming Yue ?? txt ?? Traditional Chinese

  Rupture!

  The blood of the slain had not yet been wiped clean when Zhu Di issued his own declaration, and the scene fell into a terrible silence.

  The soldiers knew that they were about to go into battle and had to put their lives on the line. The relatives of the King of Yan knew that their fate would change, either rising from nobility to imperial relatives or falling to prisoners awaiting execution. In any case, changing the status quo, especially a not-so-bad one, is always hard for people to accept.

  After all, everyone is human and has their own considerations. Something like a rebellion is really not worth celebrating, especially before it's successful. Even someone as righteous and eloquent as Zhu Di himself should be feeling uneasy at heart. But there was one person who was truly over the moon with excitement.

  This man is Dao Yan. For him, this is the best opportunity. He is already sixty-four years old and has paid everything for waiting for this opportunity! In his life, there was no youthful spirit, no indulgence in music and dance, only a hard life experience and daily bitter reading under the solitary lamp.

  He has a wealth of talent, but his official career is not smooth, he has the heart to govern the world, but no one knows. After hiding and tolerating for so many years, if he doesn't make his move now, when will he?

  It's all over, it's all over! With so many people accompanying me, I won't be lonely on the road to the Yellow Springs either!

  If you don't attain ultimate bliss, you'll fall into hell, and this life will have been in vain!

  Zhang Yi and Xie Gui were killed, but their guards were still waiting outside the door. The soldiers saw that people did not return, and the first problem they thought of was not what danger the two were in, but their own belly problems.

  After all, soldiers are also human beings, holding knives and following you to fight for their lives, so you should take care of their food. However, it's clear that the two brothers today don't have a sense of justice. The royal mansion is naturally good food and drink, but they leave their brothers outside in the wind. As time went on, the sky also darkened, and waiting any longer would not get them overtime pay, so everyone went home, those who entertained did entertainment, and dispersed one after another.

  But there is no wall that cannot be blown through by the wind, and soon the news of Zhang and Xie being killed by the King of Yan spread like wildfire. The leader was killed, this was unbearable, so many soldiers took up their weapons and went back to surround the palace, but although they had a large number of people, they did not have a commander to lead them, and individual soldiers, although brave, were quickly defeated.

  The arrow has left the bow and cannot return; since we have started, let's see it through to the end!

  Zhu Di immediately issued the second order, seize Beiping!

  General Zhang Yu led the army to attack the nine gates of Beiping at night. At this time, the soldiers at the nine gates were completely unresponsive and did not put up fierce resistance, and Zhu Di took control of the nine gates without much effort.

  At that time, as long as the city gate was controlled, the entire city was basically under control. The idiom "shut the door and beat the dog" is not unreasonable. Emperor Jianwen spent countless thoughts and dispatched countless generals to control Beiping City, which was completely occupied by Prince Yan Zhu Di in just three days.

  The city's generals and soldiers fled in a hurry. Even General Song Zhong, who was outside the city, heard the news and immediately retreated with 30,000 troops to Huai.

  Zhu Di finally seized the city of Beiping, this city which was once the capital of the Yuan Dynasty is now in Zhu Di's hands, he will start his own hegemony here!

  Give me a reason to rebel

  Zhu Dian had been preparing for this day for a long time, with soldiers' weapons and food being more than sufficient, but he still lacked one thing - the reason to rebel.

  Does rebellion need a reason? Yes, it is very necessary. In the activity of rebellion, the reason seems to be unimportant, but in fact, the reason is not necessarily necessary, but also necessary.

  It was even more so for Zhu Di, who was a vassal king and not a poor farmer. The target of his rebellion was an emperor recognized by law. From whatever perspective, he was in the wrong. So finding a reason was really necessary, even if it couldn't deceive others, at least it could deceive himself.

  Then Zhu Di and Dao Yan began to find their basis from the vast Ming legal regulations, which is a bit like lawyers flipping through legal texts in court today, looking for legal loopholes. Their efforts paid off, they finally found a loophole in the legal rules and scored a beautiful goal.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was not entirely unaware that his sons might one day rebel against their own sons, so he established a very complex set of regulations to restrain the princes. However, in order to prevent so-called treacherous ministers from causing chaos, he also stipulated that the princes could raise troops to defend the capital in times of crisis. This is known as "When there are no upright ministers at court and evil exists within, the princes should train their troops and await orders; the emperor will secretly command the princes to lead the garrison troops to quell the rebellion."

  But there is a crucial point in this regulation, that is, the need for Tianzi's secret edict. In the eyes of Zhu Di and Dao Yan, this problem was not difficult to solve, they fully played their own dark academic skills, ignored this point, and openly declared that there were treacherous officials in the court, wanting to send troops to "pacify the chaos" and clear the emperor's side.

  What's even more unbelievable is that they actually wrote this absurd theory into a memorial and openly presented it to the imperial court, asking for someone to be punished, with an air of righteous indignation. This is like a street thug hitting someone in the face and then excitedly asking where the perpetrator went, while claiming to uphold justice for them.

  The proposal and development of the "Jingnan" theory fully demonstrates that Zhu Di has already mastered an important principle in the rules of power struggle:

  If you like someone else's thing, just take it over, defense lawyers can always find a way.

  Frederick II

  Ominous premonition

  Now that everything is ready, let's do what we have to do. However, China has always been a country of etiquette, and even for something like rebellion, there needs to be some sort of ceremony. The leader should speak first, summarizing the purpose and great significance of this rebellion, as well as introducing specific methods of execution and issues such as compensation and solatium. Then others will supplement with their own speeches, the soldiers will applaud in understanding, after which the meeting will disperse and the battle will begin.

  Zhu Di's rebellion was no exception. A month before he killed Zhang and Xie, he had already gathered some of his men to hold a secret oath-taking ceremony. However, an unexpected event occurred during that activity, which gave Zhu Di a bad premonition.

  It was on June 7 that he gathered a group of people who participated in the rebellion to explain the plan and boost morale. But just as he was speaking enthusiastically, a strong wind and rain suddenly struck, and the tiles on the roof were blown off one after another. The crowd's faces turned pale instantly.

  This was really not a good omen, and at that time people would not look for reasons in the quality of the house or the weather. Originally, they were discussing things that could not be seen by others, and suddenly this happened, wasn't it God opposing their rebellion?

  Zhu Dian was also flustered, just when he was getting to the exciting part of his speech, heaven suddenly intervened and disrupted the proceedings. The incident happened so suddenly that he too was stunned into silence. At this critical moment, Da Yan's words proved effective, as he loudly declared: "When the true dragon flies in the sky, it is bound to be accompanied by wind and rain. Now that the tiles have fallen to the ground, it is a sign of great auspiciousness!"

  After a round of feudal superstition propaganda, the falling tile became iron evidence that heaven supported Zhu Di. It seems that heaven is indeed an easy-going person, always acting according to people's wishes, and the so-called words of doing justice on behalf of heaven are really not trustworthy.

  The little soldiers are easy to fool, they don't have much culture, haven't seen the sky or the emperor, whatever their superiors say they believe. But Zhu Di is different, he's very clear about what this so-called "emperor" and "son of heaven" really is, all that nonsense about heavenly will and stars descending from heaven is just something people make up to fool others and comfort themselves. When it comes down to it, you can only rely on yourself.

  He had more than once compared himself to the current emperor, and from a military or political point of view, he was far superior to that little kid. Moreover, he had absolute confidence in his own army, and the troops in the capital were pampered and had not experienced war for a long time, naturally they could not compare with the tiger-like warriors under his command.

  But after all, the one in the capital is the real emperor, and he himself is just a vassal king. To ascend to that throne, there is still a long way to go, full of danger and uncertainty.

  Zhu Di's premonition was not wrong, he is about to embark on an extremely arduous path, as a prince, he must go through the trials of war and bloodshed, to seize his own destiny. And the enemies he will encounter are not just incompetent people like Huang Zicheng, but also many formidable opponents waiting for him, and he will soon taste the bitterness of their hands.

  No need to consider it anymore, even if the road ahead is treacherous, it's still better than waiting for death!

  Rise up! Zhu Yunwen, yield your throne to me!

  Song Zhong's response

  Song Zhong was a man with an inauspicious name and mediocre military talent, originally not an important figure in the layout of Jianwen Emperor, but things took a drastic turn, pushing him to the forefront.

  The Southern Army troops near Beiping all rushed to Huailai, where Song Zhong was stationed. The situation was chaotic, but at the critical moment, Song Zhong showed remarkable courage. In a short period of time, he accommodated and arranged many soldiers and reorganized them into units. However, the panic among the soldiers was something he could not quell. At times, anger is the best way to calm down panic. To quickly restore the combat effectiveness of his troops, Song Zhong decided to tell a lie. He may have told many lies in his life, but this one turned out to be quite clumsy.

  Song Zhong sent someone to spread rumors that the families of soldiers in Beiping were all killed by Prince Yan, and the soldiers were indeed stirred up, preparing to fight to the death. Only then did Song Zhong feel at ease and prepare for battle with Prince Yan.

  But when the Yan king's army really launched an attack, something unexpected happened. The enemy soldiers at the forefront did not rush up to fight, but instead shouted loudly, shouting similar words to those said today at airport train station exits when picking people up, and for a time, the voices of fathers, sons, brothers, uncles, and cousins rose and fell.

  When Zhu Di learned of Song Zhong's lie, he deliberately arranged for the relatives of these soldiers to lead the charge, in order to undermine Song Zhong's morale. This move was very effective, and Song Zhong's soldiers suddenly felt deceived, and they fled in droves. Song Zhong had no choice but to take the field himself, but the situation was already irretrievable. The result of the battle was that Song Zhong's entire army was defeated, and he himself was captured alive.

  Zhu Di once tried to persuade Song Zhong to surrender, but was sternly refused by him and eventually killed. Although Song Zhong's talent was not high, he had the courage of a decisive battle, rather die than yield, and lived up to the word "loyal" in his name.

  News of the defeat soon reached the imperial court, and Jianwen Emperor was shocked and dismayed. He finally realized that what he had been afraid of all along had happened after all, and now only swords could speak.

  The Only Candidate

  The evil consequences of Zhu Yuanzhang's slaughter of his meritorious officials finally appeared, and when Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen looked around, he was surprised to find that it was difficult to find a real fighter to deal with Zhu Di.

  Only Geng Bingwen is left.

  Geng Bingwen was a fellow townsman of Zhu Yuanzhang, had gone through hundreds of battles, and had rich experience on the battlefield. He was trusted by Zhu Yuanzhang and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Changxing, a first-class meritorious official after the war. It is obvious that Zhu Yuanzhang killed countless meritorious officials back then but spared him alone, precisely for today's change.

  Zhu Yunwen's consideration was correct, at that time the only candidate could only be Geng Bingwen, but he also made a mistake, he seemed to have not carefully thought about a question, why did his grandfather insist on leaving Geng Bingwen behind?

  During the Hongwu period, famous generals were as numerous as clouds. Geng Bingwen was a good general, but not particularly outstanding. In an era where there were countless excellent generals, those who were stronger than him were too many to count, and those who were more low-key were also numerous. Zhu Yuanzhang killed so many founding ministers, yet he spared Geng Bingwen. What made this man stand out?

  The secret is actually hidden in his title, Geng Bingwen was granted the title of Marquis of Changxing because he had been stationed in Changxing for ten years to resist Zhang Shicheng's attack, and the city was as solid as gold soup, never being breached, greatly constraining Zhang Shicheng's forces.

  Every general has his own strengths and weaknesses, and Geng Bingwen's strength is defense. In retrospect, you can't help but admire Zhu Yuanzhang's astuteness. He killed Lan Yu and Wang Bi, who were good at attacking, but spared Geng Bingwen, who was good at defending. Even if Geng Bingwen had ulterior motives in the future, he wouldn't be able to stir up much trouble. And if there were external enemies invading, Geng Bingwen could still be put to use.

  However, the task assigned to Zhu Yunwen was to attack, and the object of the attack was Zhu Di, who had been mixed with famous generals since childhood and was well-versed in military strategy. His military talent was in no way inferior to that of the first-rate generals of the Hongwu era, and coincidentally, his strong point was attacking.

  Geng Bingwen accepted the mission, and a battle of spear and shield was about to begin.

  Zhu Yunwen was well aware that his uncle Zhu Di had come to play with his life this time, and he couldn't afford to be careless. Therefore, he handed over the command of the 300,000-strong army to Geng Bingwen, hoping that he would wipe out the rebel army in one fell swoop. To show his importance to this matter, he also personally sent off Geng Bingwen on his expedition, and it was during this farewell ceremony that Zhu Yunwen did the most foolish thing in his life.

  At the same time as he handed over the army to Geng Bingwen, he said with a heavy heart: "Please don't let me bear the guilt of killing my uncle."

  Although he has done many foolish things in his life, I think this is the most foolish thing.

  It's like taking a knife to fight with others, hurting the target and then stopping, sending the other party to the hospital, and continuing to fight after he is discharged from the hospital. Although Zhu Yunwen learned many things from Zhu Yuanzhang, he did not understand one key rule, which was also Zhu Yuanzhang's lifelong creed.

  Either don't do it, or do it thoroughly.

  Geng Bingwen, who received Zhu Yunwen's order, was also confused. In a battle, the opponent's commander-in-chief should not be harmed, what kind of reason is this? But he still set out with confusion. The fate that awaits him will be perilous and uncertain.

  In August, Geng Bingwen led the army to arrive in Zhending. He dispatched Xu Kai to garrison Hejian, Pan Zhong to garrison Mozhou, and Yang Song as the vanguard to advance to Xiong County. After the main force gathered, they would launch an attack. It can be seen that Geng Bingwen was indeed experienced and knowledgeable. He deeply understood that when fighting deep in enemy territory, one should be steady and cautious. The triangular formation he set up fully demonstrated his rich combat experience and solid geometric foundation.

  Everything is ready, only waiting for Zhu Di.

  Zhang Yu's Wild Words

  Zhu Bi understood Geng Bingwen better than his nephew, and he knew that this old general was not simple. He couldn't afford to underestimate him. So before the battle, he sent his first general Zhang Yu to scout out the enemy situation. However, after scouting out the enemy situation, Zhang Yu gave him an unexpected reply.

  Young Zhang Yu seemed to have no regard for his elders, telling Zhu Di that the enemy's discipline was lax, Pan Zhong and Yang Song were both unwise, Geng Bingwen was just an old guy, defeating them and opening up the road to the south would be easy as turning over one's hand.

  In our experience, those who boast before the war often have no good ending, but sometimes, those who boast have sufficient capital.

  Zhang Yu had this capital, and he spoke these words after careful analysis and research. Zhu Di also agreed with his view, and he personally led the troops to arrive at Lousang, preparing to launch his first wave of attack.

  Zhu Di's attack target was Xiong County, where Yang Song was stationed. He also chose a perfect time for this attack - the Mid-Autumn Festival night.

  Mid-Autumn Night of Seizing the City

  Zhu Di chose to start the attack on Mid-Autumn Festival night after careful consideration. Soldiers are also human, and even in battle, they want to celebrate holidays and think of their families, fathers, mothers, wives, and children. But for those soldiers from Xiong County, their thoughts will end here.

  Zhu Dian's soldiers did not celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, they took advantage of the dark night to quietly climb up the city wall. At this time, the soldiers inside the city were all drunk and had no defense at all. Suddenly seeing these uninvited guests, they were shocked, of course, they would never mistake them for Chang'e or Wu Gang. So General Yang Song sent someone to ask Pan Zhong for help on one hand, and organized the soldiers to fight back on the other hand. Yang Song knew that his army was in a precarious situation, if Pan Zhong could come to their aid in time, they would definitely be able to repel the enemy.

  Unfortunately, due to being outnumbered, Yang Song himself and his troops were all killed in battle, and he did not live to see the arrival of reinforcements.

  Where is the reinforcement?

  The Fate of Reinforcements

  Pan Zhong indeed received Yang Song's call for help, and he immediately realized that the battle had begun and the situation was urgent. If Yang Song's Xiong County fell, he would also be finished, so he personally led his cavalry to raid Xiong County.

  Speed up! Yang Song, you must hold on, reinforcements are arriving soon!

  His speed was indeed not slow, and he soon arrived at a stone bridge called Yuanyang Bridge. At this time, Pan Zhong naturally didn't have the mind to care about what place this was, but as he had been here before, if he looked carefully again, he would find that there were many more aquatic plants under the bridge.

  Just as Pan Zhong and his troops rushed across the bridge, cannons suddenly fired from all directions. The aquatic plants under the bridge disappeared, countless soldiers emerged, occupying the bridge, cutting off Pan's retreat route. A large number of Yan army appeared on both sides of the road and in front, launching a fierce attack on Pan Zhong. Pan was unable to advance or retreat, surrounded by the enemy and beaten severely, his entire army annihilated in an instant. He himself was captured alive. It seemed that he had not yet recovered from the shock when he was caught.

  Zhu Dian is not a simple-minded person, he saw through Geng Bingwen's formation and understood that the danger of dividing the army lay in their mutual support and response. As long as Xiong County was in trouble, Pan Zhong would definitely come to rescue and attack from both inside and outside. But Geng Bingwen did not expect Zhu Dian to act so quickly, using a lightning-fast war to create a time difference, solving Yang Song and then setting up an ambush on the road where reinforcements must pass. One arrow, two eagles, is really extremely fierce.

  Zhu Di's banner opened to victory, but he also understood that the real decisive battle and test were still ahead. Soon after, he would face Geng Bingwen himself and his 300,000-strong army. That was the real test.

  Fighter plane

  When Zhu Di was planning his next move, a man came to his camp. His name was Zhang Bao, and he was one of Geng Bingwen's generals. This man did not pretend to surrender, but instead provided important intelligence to Zhu Di: the Ming army was currently dispersed, with only over 100,000 troops present on both sides of the Hutuo River, rather than the expected 300,000. If they could be defeated separately, a great victory would be won.

  Upon hearing the news, everyone was delighted and also believed that taking advantage of the enemy's scattered forces to launch an attack could lead to victory, and they should advance immediately. However, Zhu Di's reaction was far beyond what people had expected.

  He did not attack the scattered Ming army as Zhang Bao said, but instead arranged for Zhang Bao to return to the camp and tell Geng Bingwen that his main force had approached, letting Geng Bingwen make preparations.

  This is another move that makes people puzzled and incomprehensible. Is Zhu Di dissatisfied with too few enemies?

  That's right, he is just afraid that the enemy is too few and too scattered. His real plan is to let Geng Bingwen get the news and unite the troops, and then fight a decisive battle with himself! In his view, it is not easy to defeat the enemy who is divided into two groups, and he may be attacked from both front and back, so it's better to gather them together and wipe them out.

  From this plan, Zhu Di had extremely strong confidence in his own command ability. In his view, Geng Bingwen's army was not to be feared, and all he needed was a face-to-face decisive battle!

  Geng Bingwen's helplessness

  Geng Bingwen indeed did as Zhu Di had expected, merging his troops into one place and waiting for Zhu Di's arrival. Whether Zhang Bao was a spy or not, this was his only choice.

  For Geng Bingwen, who is over 60 years old, it's really not a pleasant thing to have to fight again when he's almost at the age of retirement. When he learned that his carefully laid out formation was breached and Yang and Pan were dealt with by Zhu Di like chopping vegetables, he couldn't help but be amazed by the military ability of this 40-year-old genius general. He is a man who has seen the world, having been accompanied by the shadows of Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Li Wenzhong and others for many years, their unstoppable offensives and unpredictable judgment abilities leaving a deep impression on him. At that time, he could only do what he could under the light of these people. With the passing of these people, he had also complacently thought that there were not many people in the world who could fight and knew how to fight.

  But now he finally fully realizes that he is facing a terrible enemy, an enemy who is very good at fighting and very difficult to deal with.

  His specialty was not attacking, but Zhu Di's army kept pressing him, he had no way out and could only merge his troops to wait for the opponent's attack. This is a kind of shame for a general who led 300,000 troops. Whether it's life or death, there must be a result, Zhu Di, come on!

  Li Jinglong's Sorrow

  Zhu Bi was worried in his own camp, and Geng Bingwen was indeed an old fox who knew he couldn't fight for long, so he defended himself without coming out. This move made Zhu Bi extremely anxious but unable to do anything about it.

  Time is not important to Geng Bingwen, he can spend his days drinking tea and watering flowers to pass the time, but for Zhu Di, time is more precious than gold. Because Zhu Di is a rebel. Rebels, in a sense, can be classified as counterfeit products, which may still have a market in chaotic times, but now it's a peaceful world, there aren't many people dissatisfied with the government, and it's not easy to find troublemakers. What if one day these people don't want to rebel anymore and become good citizens, leaving him alone as a commander without an army? That would be terrible.

  This problem must be solved as soon as possible.

  Just then his intelligence personnel informed him that Geng Bingwen had been replaced by Li Jinglong as commander.

  Zhu Dian couldn't believe his ears, and he jumped up to deliver a passionate speech. If this speech were to be given a name, it could be called "On Li Jinglong being a military moron and the inevitability of his failure".

  The speech has five points, which are not listed here, but in short, the conclusion is that Li Jinglong will definitely lose!

  A commander has just taken office and hasn't even fought a battle yet, but somehow manages to make the opposing commander dance with joy!

  Alas! Li Jinglong, I truly feel sorry for you!

  No matter how incompetent Li Jinglong was in Zhu Di's eyes, he still had an army of 500,000. Zhu Di could look down on Li Jinglong, but he couldn't look down on those soldiers. After a brief moment of excitement, he fell into deep thought again.

  With the current military strength, if we insist on fighting hard, the chances of winning are not great. The enemy's logistical supply capabilities far surpass our own, and exhausting them is not an ideal method either. Only by accumulating power to give the enemy a fatal blow can we fundamentally solve the problem.

  But their own strength was not enough, although the soldiers were strong in combat, they were not many in number, and they also had to send people to defend the large base areas near Beiping, and they couldn't just find those ordinary people who hadn't received any training to fight. But what other forces could be relied on now?

  It's just him now, and it can only be guaranteed to win with his help, there is no other way!

  But this matter must be carefully planned and executed in person, because others cannot deal with that person. However, with a great enemy at hand, Li Jinglong is still an idiot, as long as he knows he's leading troops outside, he will definitely come to attack Beiping. Can Beiping withstand the attack of 500,000 troops?

  Can't afford to care about so much anymore! Staying here is also bad luck, anyway I've already staked everything, might as well gamble on it!

  Zhu Di entrusted the task of defending Beiping to his eldest son, Zhu Gaizhi, and solemnly told him: "I entrust the city to you, you must hold on to it. When my great army returns, that will be the day of complete victory!"

  Although Zhu Gaogui had a disability, it was the first time he saw his father speak to him in such a serious tone. He vaguely felt that a severe test was about to come.

  Zhu Gaojie's feeling was not wrong, this battle would not only decide Zhu Di's fate but also affect his own future life.

  Target! Ning Wang!

  Zhu Di had always been highly discerning, and among the many princes, he only looked up to a handful of people, with Ning Wang being one of them. At that time, someone evaluated the various princes, saying "Yan Wang is good at fighting, while Ning Wang is good at plotting". The fact that Yan Wang, who was so cunning, still had the reputation of Ning Wang being good at plotting, shows just how formidable this person really was.

  In Zhu Di's view, the most formidable thing about Ning Wang was the special armed forces under his command - Duo Yan San Wei. This was a team that Zhu Di dreamed of getting, and it was also the strongest military force at that time. However, these troops had been explicitly placed under Ning Wang's command, and there was only one way to get involved: to deal with Ning Wang first.

  In this struggle to eliminate the princes, Ning Wang was also not spared. The Jianwen Emperor did not trust his able and warlike uncle. At the same time as he took action against the Prince of Yan, he also turned his hand against the Prince of Ning, who clearly lacked Zhu Di's spirit of resistance. Although he was unwilling to submit, he had no intention of rebelling. However, in his heart there were indeed complex feelings of sadness and regret.

  Zhu Di took advantage of this and led his army to the territory of the Ning Wang, arousing the vigilance of the Ning Wang. Although he was currently in a difficult situation, he still did not want to become a rebel. He ordered his army to be prepared, and if there were any unexpected events, let this good-at-war Yan Wang receive some lessons.

  But Zhu Di's actions shocked him, and the king brother deployed his troops outside the city and entered the city alone. The Ning Wang only met with him after that. As soon as they met, Zhu Di put on a bitter and resentful look, denouncing the persecution of Jianwen Emperor against him, and said that he had nowhere to go, so he came to find his brother as an intermediary to beg for mercy from the court, and also took the opportunity to eat and drink here.

  King Ning finally understood Zhu Di's intention, and he readily agreed to Zhu Di's request. In his view, this man who was always known as the strongest among the vassal kings was just a softie, and had already prepared to surrender halfway through the campaign to pacify the disturbance. The letter would naturally be written, but whether the imperial court would pardon him was none of his business.

  At this time, Zhu Di carefully put forward another request. Since his subordinates were all outside the city, it was very inconvenient. Could he allow some of his officials to enter the city to arrange relevant matters? Of course, a large number of troops would not be allowed into the city.

  Ning Wang was initially hesitant, but after receiving the guarantee that the troops would not enter the city, he also agreed. He believed that a group of unarmed people could not stir up a huge wave.

  Zhu Di strictly followed the rules and did not send a large army into the city, but the people he sent into the city were armed with another powerful weapon - money.

  Zhu Dian stayed on Ning Wang's turf, spending his days eating and drinking with Ning Wang, chatting about nothing in particular. Unexpectedly, he didn't try to persuade Ning Wang to join his own team or make any excessive demands. Such a guest was naturally welcome by Ning Wang, but that was enough, Ning Wang constantly reminded himself that the person in front of him was after all a rebel, and it would be better to send him off politely as soon as possible.

  But before he could express this, Zhu Di himself took the initiative to bring it up. He said that he had been staying here for too long and hoped to return. The Ning Wang was overjoyed, finally this plague god is going to leave. He was very happy and expressed his intention to see him off personally.

  The farewell ceremony was held in the suburbs, and whether it was true or false, there were naturally some reluctant goodbyes. The Ning King also felt a little guilty at this time, and regretfully said to Zhu Di: "Unfortunately, I couldn't help my brother with anything."

  Zhu Di smiled and pulled Ning Wang over, saying: "In that case, let's go to Jingnan together, brother."

  This is no longer a polite remark. The Duke of Ning immediately spoke seriously: "If you need anything, just say it directly. Don't joke about the Jingnan affair."

  Zhu Di looked into his eyes and shook his head seriously, "I really need you, not only do I need you, but also your Duo Yan San Wei and everything of yours, come with me."

  King Ning finally understood Zhu Di's purpose, but he would not easily admit defeat. "Do you think you can do whatever you want in my territory?"

  "I understand," Zhu Di smiled again, "that's why I had you come out to the suburbs to see me off."

  At the sound of Zhu Di's order, the ambush troops that had been deployed earlier all rushed out together, controlling the situation. The Ning Wang also wanted to take action, but found that his subordinates were no longer listening to him. It turned out that those greedy leaders of the three guards had already been bribed by people sent into the city by Zhu Di and had become his men. In an instant, Zhu Di changed from a guest to a host, except for General Zhu Jian who fought hard and died in battle, everyone else had already laid down their arms.

  People are really unreliable, Ning Wang, who was known for his good intentions, was held hostage by another cunning person and set foot on the road to Jingnan. His depressed mood is understandable, but in this environment, he can only succumb, and his attitude also made Zhu Di very satisfied, finally settling him and his descendants in Jiangxi, which can be considered a good ending for him.

  Of course, Zhu Di would never have thought that a hundred years later, the descendants of this Ning Wang would also follow in his footsteps and create a rebellion against his own descendants. This truly fulfilled the famous saying:

  What comes out will eventually return.