weaving

News from all sides was gradually transmitted back to Xincheng Yongning Earl's headquarters...

Both Zhang Guangda and Li Jiyu achieved good results, which was a good start. Especially on Li Jiyu's side, with the cooperation of Liu Jinhai, he succeeded in cheating Li Yan, which was great news.

And everything in Kaifeng City is going according to plan...

First, Lady Ji Xuanzhu led 500 female soldiers from the Right Battalion of the Women's Army, escorted Huimei and 200 female soldiers from the Xiaochuang Battalion, and entered the Kaifeng City together.

Zhang Guangzhi, the adopted son of the Earl of Yongning, was ordered to lead fifty personal soldiers and enter Kaifeng City with the Earl's wife. He was responsible for the outer security of the residence of the Earl's wife Ji Xuanzhu and Huimei. Zhang Guangzhi was also responsible for showing up in public outside. After all, it was not easy for the Earl's wife to always attend meetings outside and frequently receive officials and generals in Kaifeng City.

Secondly, King Zhou not only gave 100,000 taels of silver to reward the troops, he also sent the royal attendant Cao Kun to bring the royal family member Zhu Zhicang and 500 royal guards to Xincheng to help in the battle.

Finally, all the officials in Kaifeng city actively cooperated with the Earl of Yongning. Kaifeng Prefecture's governor Su Zhuang, prosecutor Huang Shu, Xiangfu county magistrate Wang Xie and others came to the front line in person to serve. They were responsible for digging trenches outside the three large camps in Xincheng, Beiliangfen and Xincang respectively. This is the greatest support that the officials of Kaifeng can currently give to the front line.

However, the best news was brought back by Chen De...

Cao Cao's Luo Rucai did not explicitly reject the Yongning Earl's invitation. Although Luo Rucai himself did not say anything, his military advisor Ji Gui had already made it very clear to Liu Yuchi that Luo Rucai wanted to be granted a title of nobility, lead an army alone, and even control a place alone!

Chen Zhong looked at the secret letter in Yongning's hand and muttered, "How dare Cao the thief ask for a price!"

"Hmph..." Earl Yongning raised the corner of his mouth slightly and let out a sneer, but did not say much.

Instead, Hu Yiwen said, "Luo Rucai just thinks he is a rare commodity, so he stayed in Guide Mansion and waited to see what price he would get."

After he finished speaking, he looked towards his mentor Sun Shixiang, as if he was expecting him to affirm his words, as if he was even superior to Earl Yongning.

Sun Shixiang naturally saw all his little moves, but he remained calm. After a moment's silence, he spoke: "According to rumors, when Luo Rucai was still working with the bandits, he had already secretly communicated with the commander Ding Qirui and the Phoenix Commander Zhu Dadian. It seems that he wanted to leave a way out for himself."

"So... Cao thief is truly surrendering?" Chen Zhong asked a soul-searching question.

At this time, the chief governor He Biao also spoke up, which was rare: "Luo Rucai is quite smart. He knows that resisting to the end will only lead to his death."

"but……"

He Biao suddenly changed the subject: "If Luo Rucai surrenders this time and then rebels again, he must never be forgiven!"

"This is for sure."

Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng first affirmed He Biao's words, and then continued: "The rebellion in the Central Plains cannot be quelled in one or two years. Now Li Zicheng alone has already destroyed the Central Plains like this.

Moreover, between Henan and Anhui, there was a bandit named Xian and the Five Gezuo who were wreaking havoc in the Yinghuo Mountain area. Although Zhu Dadian, Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo and other generals were in charge of the encirclement and suppression, they were still at a disadvantage and had to patch up loopholes everywhere. There was no hope of wiping out the bandits.

If Luo Rucai can truly accept the surrender, he can be allowed to lead his troops to garrison in Guide Prefecture. Even if he is unwilling to take the initiative to attack his former brothers, he will not tolerate his former brothers destroying his own rice bowl! "

Yongning Earl continued, "When that time comes, even if Luo Rucai still remembers the old friendship, his officers may not agree." "Does Earl mean... to let Luo Rucai stay in Guide Prefecture permanently?"

Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng looked at Chen Zhong, who was full of doubts, and nodded.

Sun Shixiang stroked his beard and smiled, "I'm afraid that Luo Rucai is still evil and will repeat his old tricks like last time and stage another Yunyang Incident. My Lord must be on guard against this!"

Yongning Earl shook his head and smiled slightly, but Hu Yiwen beside him interjected, "Why not transfer Luo Rucai to garrison in the south of the capital, or to the three prefectures of Huai, Wei, and Zhang to the north of the Yellow River? This way, Luo Rucai's channels for colluding with Xian thieves and Ge Zuo Wu thieves will be cut off, and there will be no need to worry that he will not be obedient to you, Earl!"

"Hahaha……"

After a burst of wild laughter, Earl Yongning said very proudly: "In this case... wouldn't this earl be inferior to me?"

He stood up suddenly from the tiger-skin chair and said loudly: "If you use it, don't doubt it. If you doubt it, don't use it!"

"My Lord, that's what you said, but Luo Rucai has done it before. Who can guarantee that he will really accept it this time?"

Sun Shixiang took a step forward and continued, "In my opinion, even if we leave Luo Rucai to guard Guide Prefecture, we should send a general to look after him. Only in this way can we feel at ease!"

After hearing what his mentor said, Hu was slightly stunned and looked as if he wanted to say something but hesitated. However, he just stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, and ultimately did not say what he was thinking.

"Although Mr. Sun's method can provide some insurance for Luo Rucai, it will let Luo Rucai know that our commander-in-chief does not completely trust him. Will this stimulate his suspicion and eventually lead him to surrender again and rebel, and side with the traitor?" Chen Zhong expressed his doubts.

After listening to Chen Zhong's words, Hu Yiwen nodded solemnly, expressing his deep agreement, because these were exactly what he wanted to say but didn't say out loud.

Sun Shixiang also turned to look at Chen Zhong. He was speechless about the doubts in his heart. After sighing, he said softly: "Then we can only wait and see, and hope in our hearts that Luo Rucai is sincere!"

Seeing that they had almost finished their discussion, Earl Yongning smiled and said, "I am recruiting Luo Rucai not as a delaying tactic, but out of my sincerity. Although this is because he still has a trace of conscience and wants to abandon the dark and join the light and serve the country, it is also due to the current situation in the world.

From a broad perspective, there is the Li thief in the Central Plains, the Xian thief and the five Ge Zuo thieves in Henan and Anhui. These three gangs are the biggest thieves in the world today. But in fact, there are thieves everywhere in the five provinces surrounding the Central Plains, such as Zhang Ding, Han Jiadi, Liu Hongqi, Shen Wandeng, Liu Xuan, Li Hao, Zhang Yang, Han Huamei and many other local bandits in Henan Province. They each occupy one side and have become a country within a country.

Even if we defeat Li, Xian, Ge and the other five thieves, even if we kill them all, as long as we cannot capture them all, if one big thief escapes, they will be able to gather tens of thousands of thieves again within a few months.

With only tens of thousands of troops of our Yongyi Army, after months and years of traveling between several provinces, we will inevitably become exhausted. If we fail to win a battle, we will face a catastrophic disaster.

Looking back at the rise of bandits at the end of the Tianqi period, how many loyal officials and brave generals have ended up like this? Take Liaodong's General Cao's uncle, General Cao Wenzhao, for example. He fought many victories chasing bandits, but in the end he was surrounded and died on the battlefield. "

After hearing these words, everyone in the general's tent fell into silence, waiting for the next words from Earl Yongning. (End of this chapter)