Tiantang Splendid

Split Zheng's
The heavy rain poured down, and the city wall that was blown down by gunpowder looked like the teeth of a giant beast. Messy bricks and stones were piled up in all directions, and the corpses of soldiers almost filled the place, and extended from here to the city. The blood was diluted by the rain and flowed everywhere.

The defenders who had put down their weapons stood in the city dumbly, looking at the tragic scene in front of them, their hearts were already filled with fear, and the rows of heavily armored infantry outside the city were like countless prehistoric giant beasts, although they were quiet and orderly, But at any time, it will jump up and choose someone to devour.

Enduring the wounds and pains on his body, Zheng Rentai walked step by step from the barracks. All the soldiers he saw along the way looked sad and lost their minds. It was obvious that their courage and morale were exhausted. He couldn't help but shook his head and sighed inwardly. One sound.

He is a veteran of hundreds of battles, he has been on the battlefield for half his life, so he naturally knows that such an army is difficult to win a war no matter what.

After all, unlike the sixteen guards in Suwei Pass, and the hundreds of warriors who have fought against foreign tribes in various places in the frontier for years, these private troops guarding Xingyang City have never really set foot on the battlefield, and have never seen life and death. It's nothing more than a sheep in wolf's clothing running rampant in the countryside on weekdays, but now it's a match against a real pack of wolves, and naturally it will collapse at the first touch...

Fortunately, he had already experienced a big defeat in the Battle of Banzhu, but he still hoped that such an army could gain some initiative for him, he was simply delusional.

At this point, all small thoughts were gone, and all the ministries were strictly ordered to stay where they were and not to move, and then took several Zheng clan elders who had already arrived, wearing coir raincoats, and walked out through the gap in the collapsed city wall.

The sky was dark, the clouds were billowing, and the rain continued unabated.

With his eyes narrowed under the bamboo hat, Zheng Rentai looked at the tens of thousands of troops waiting in full force and remained motionless. In his heart, his assessment of the combat effectiveness of the navy was improved again and again, especially not only in water battles, but also in land battles. Such strength and sharpness made him more and more shocked and apprehensive... If he had known this before, why would he have made such a fuss, and ended up in a situation where he lost all face?
"Ugh!"

A clan elder on the left sighed, and said quietly: "During the Guanlong mutiny, Donggong Liu led his own strength to resist the onslaught of the enemy more than ten times stronger, laying the foundation for the victory of the Youtunwei's surprise army in rushing into Jinguangmen. The foundation; now this navy is not only invincible at sea, but also invincible in land warfare...With these two armies, one east, one west, one inside and one outside, no matter how you look at it, there is no possibility for King Jin to achieve anything. Before we were attached to the Shandong family It’s okay to have to recruit private soldiers to support Tongguan, but the previous battle of Banzhu and the defeat of Xingyang this time, Rentai, you are a little impatient.”

"Rentai" is originally Zheng Rentai's character, and the name is "Zheng Guang", which is lined with...

As soon as this person finished speaking, another person interjected: "Who said it wasn't? The entire Shandong family recruited private soldiers to support Tongguan. Even if King Jin was defeated in the end, it would not be easy for His Majesty to pursue it. After all, the law does not blame the public, but this time Trying to block the navy, I am afraid that it will be difficult to explain afterwards, someone must be responsible for this, so as to dispel the anger of His Majesty and Fang Jundao, otherwise the whole family will be implicated."

Zheng Rentai frowned.

A person on his right hand was dissatisfied and said: "The matter has come to this, what's the use of saying these words? When Rentai led the army to defend Banzhu, you all agreed with it, and you thought that you could use this to make a great achievement for King Jin." As for the military exploits, now that we have lost, we have to think about how to keep the family, instead of being sarcastic here."

Zheng Rentai suppressed his anger tightly and remained silent.

The core of family inheritance lies in the set of rules of "Zongzhen Inheritance" that has been passed down for thousands of years. In short, it is the "Eldest Son Inheritance System". .

But the world is impermanent, and there is no rule that can be consistent and eternal.

Whenever there is troubled times, no matter how powerful the family is, they will go up and down in the chaos, rise and fall, or establish a branch, or use the eldest generation as the descendant. Everything is just for the continuation and inheritance of the family.

For example, at this moment, once the King of Jin is defeated, the Zheng family of Xingyang is bound to suffer thunderous suppression from the emperor and the court, even more so than other Shandong families, and the family inheritance is at stake.Under such circumstances, it is the most important thing for someone to stand up and bear all the responsibilities, and to be able to remove the entire family.

And he, Zheng Rentai, is naturally the best candidate to bear the responsibility.

He, Zheng Rentai, is responsible and will be punished. Regardless of his life or death, it will be difficult for him to continue to control the blood heir of the Zheng family temple in Xingyang, and the inheritance will naturally fall to the rest of the descendants...

Before the real thing came, his family had already begun to fight for power and profit, and even threw him, the patriarch who led the Zheng family of Xingyang to another glory, to appease the anger of the emperor and Fang Jundao.

I have spent half my life working hard for my family, going through life and death, and ended up in such a fate...

Suddenly, the heavily armored infantry in front of them moved slowly, and the middle part spread out to both sides, revealing a passage. A line of cavalry came galloping from far to near. Blocking and retracting, it became more and more deafening, even covering the sound of the rain.

All of a sudden, this group of cavalry came swiftly amidst the wind and rain, and when they reached Zheng Rentai and his party, they suddenly reined in the reins, raised their horses' front hooves, and let out a "Herod" neigh. .

Zheng Rentai raised his head slightly, his eyes under the bamboo hat passed through the rain curtain and intertwined with the leading general on the opposite side, the man was riding on the horse with the rein in his hand, looking down at him from a high position, his face under the hood was as cold as iron , See no appeasement.

After a pause, Zheng Rentai took a deep breath, knelt in the muddy water on one knee, and said loudly: "Xingyang Zheng Rentai, I have met General Liu!"

All the clan elders around him didn't dare to trust them, they looked at the back of Zheng Rentai kneeling on the ground with complicated eyes, they all bowed to the ground, and said in unison: "I have seen General Liu!"

Liu Rengui sat on the back of his horse, with his upper body straight, standing still in the wind and rain.

Behind him, thousands of soldiers and horses were waiting in formation, with high morale, like a rock.

For a while, there was only the sound of rain between heaven and earth.

Zheng Rentai's heart trembled, and his heart sank slowly. Could it be that Liu Rengui really had the heart to annex Xingyang and cut off the Zheng family...

After a while, he heard a "plop", and someone jumped off the horse and knelt on the ground. It was the voice of his eldest son Zheng Xuanguo: "The Zheng family of Xingyang is loyal to the Tang Dynasty and has absolutely no rebellious heart! The reason why my father Blocking the navy, some members of the Gai Yin tribe were bought by rebels to deceive my father, and I ask General Liu to see clearly and allow the Zheng family of Xingyang to be loyal to His Majesty!"

Hearing this voice, Zheng Rentai, who was gradually despairing, felt relieved and filled with relief...

But behind him, the elders of the Zheng clan who tried to push Zheng Rentai to bear the wrath of the new emperor all had a "thump" in their hearts, secretly thinking something was wrong.

The responsibility must be borne by someone, if it is not Zheng Rentai, it may be them.Originally, maybe Zheng Rentai would still think about the love of the blood of the same family to protect them, but just now they ran against Zheng Rentai openly and secretly, wanting Zheng Rentai to take the initiative to stand up and take the place of the dead ghost, but they don't know how Zheng Rentai will retaliate against them...

After a while, Liu Rengui jumped off the horse, took two steps forward, held Zheng Rentai's shoulders with both hands, and lifted him up vigorously, with a sincere tone: "The Duke of the county is such a gift, how will you bear it in the end? You are Zhenguan Xunchen, I have made great contributions to the country, so hurry up, please hurry up!"

Zheng Rentai took advantage of his strength to get up, with a look of shame on his face: "I mistrusted the villain's words, so that I made a mistake, which caused the land of Shandong to suffer from military disasters, and there were no young and strong in Xingyang. Trust in the late emperor, let alone face the present majesty."

The elders of the Zheng clan behind him became more and more panic-stricken.

Sure enough, Liu Rengui said with emotion: "What did the Duke say? The so-called knowledge of mistakes can be corrected, and there is nothing good about it. Today, His Majesty's benevolent reputation resounds throughout the universe, and he respects and worships the Duke, not to mention that the Zheng family of Xingyang is attached to the Shandong family this time. In fact, he was deceived by traitors, so how could he add crimes to the county magistrate? It’s just that the military and state affairs have their own regulations. I also ask the county magistrate to point out who are disloyal, unrighteous, dependent and rebellious, and they will be arrested one by one in the end. Watch and listen, and restore the Duke's innocence!"

All the elders of the Zheng clan were trembling, but they could not speak out to beg for mercy.

As they said before, now that the city of Xingyang is broken, someone must take responsibility for the various actions of the Zheng family in Xingyang, either Zheng Rentai or the rest of the direct branches of the Zheng family.Now that the navy has accepted Zheng Rentai's surrender, the person who will take responsibility must choose one of them.

Even if they can face Zheng Rentai's cynicism, wind knife and frost sword to persecute them, they share the same goal with Zheng Rentai, which is the inheritance of the Zheng family in Xingyang.

Some people die for family inheritance, some people live for family inheritance.

If you can't give an explanation to the navy and the new emperor, how can the Zheng family in Xingyang have any chance of life?

So now they can only wait silently for the judgment of fate, and see who Zheng Rentai chooses to bear this responsibility...

Zheng Rentai was silent for a while, and then he let out a long sigh.

He thought a little deeper than the clan elders behind him. The real intention of Liu Rengui's move was not only to ask someone to take responsibility and appease the Zheng family, but also to use this to destroy each of the Zheng family's houses one by one and severely damage the foundation of the Zheng family in Xingyang. power.

Now there are three families in the direct branch of the Zheng family in Xingyang, and one of them has to take responsibility and be completely exterminated. Although the other family is alive, how can it not be jealous and resentful towards him, the eldest branch of the family?
The Zheng family in Xingyang, which had already been severely injured, could survive after this incident, but it was also injured, and it may be difficult to recover within a hundred years.

It's been completely dismantled...

This Liu Rengui... is strategizing and ruthless, he is definitely not someone in the pool.

The bitterness in my heart was unbearable, so I had to smile wryly and said: "We will discuss this matter later, and I also invite General Liu to lead his subordinates into the city to take over the defense, so I can also prepare a banquet to clean up the dust for the general."

(End of this chapter)