"Wrong, we are going to fight the Mongols!" Zhang Rong said seriously.

"The Mongols south of the desert surrendered to the Jiannu a long time ago. They helped the Jiannu invade the pass and plunder many times. Your Majesty hates them to the core. The elite troops under your command are all cavalry, which can just play to their strengths on the grassland."

"I have finished what I want to say. General Li, please think about it seriously. But I have to remind you that the cities within a hundred miles are heavily guarded. It will be difficult for you to obtain supplies by attacking and plundering the cities."

"The only way is to plunder the people's stored food, and then continue the fight for the people of the world as you said."

After saying these words, Zhang Rong said no more, but sat on the ground and started drinking porridge.

When he was drinking the third bowl of porridge, Li Dingguo spoke up, "If we cooperate with the court, how much monthly salary can we get?"

Zhang Rong was overjoyed.

Li Dingguo's question showed that he was beginning to waver.

"Since we are fighting the Mongols, we will pay them according to the border army's standards. The monthly salary for infantry is 1.6 taels, and the monthly salary for cavalry is 1.8 taels. The war horses will be given 15 catties of grass and 3 liters of beans every day. If all of this is converted into silver, the cavalry will get 2.8 taels of silver per month."

"In a year, the infantrymen earn less than twenty taels, and the cavalrymen earn less than thirty-four taels."

"If you perform well, you can get a raise and enjoy the same salary as the Guanning Army."

"Where are the generals?" Li Dingguo asked.

"I'll give you the rank of a second-rank general. You have the final say over the positions of your subordinates. The salaries of generals will increase gradually. When you reach a certain level, someone will come to you to propose marriage."

After hearing this, Li Dingguo was a little disappointed.

He was the General of Anxi within the Dashi Army, ranking above the general.

Now, he was only given the position of general, which was far from what he expected.

Zhang Rong knew the dilemma in Li Dingguo's heart, so he stood up and said, "General Li has not done anything, so Your Majesty cannot reward him with anything. If you reward him hastily, it will make other Ming army generals dissatisfied."

"I hope the General can understand."

Chongzhen only gave Li Dingguo the title of general, and no other rewards.

Li Dingguo was born a bandit. If he was rewarded if he surrendered, it would be unfair to those Ming army soldiers who fought bravely.

Li Dingguo was silent for a long time: "I can't make the final decision on this matter by myself. I have to let my brothers make the decision together."

"General, please do as you please." Zhang Rong stood up and left the open space, found a pile of straw and lay down on it.

Li Dingguo was unwilling to surrender in his heart, but the reality was that.

He has no more food.

Either starve to death or steal food.

Who has food?

Common people have it, and so do gentry and landlords.

But the gentry and landlords were all hiding in the city, and his 5,000 cavalry were not good at attacking cities, so they would suffer huge losses even if they succeeded.

It won’t take too long. In two or three months, all the elite troops of his Tianwei Camp will be killed in battle.

He has to find a way to survive for his brothers!

Li Dingguo stood up and ordered his main generals to gather together.

These people had already gotten wind of the situation.

Especially Gao Wengui, he had even imagined the scene of himself being knighted in his mind.

"Everyone, this man is from the East Factory," Li Dingguo pointed at Zhang Rong lying on the straw, "He came here with Chongzhen's order to discuss cooperation."

To put it nicely, it is cooperation, but in fact it is surrender.

Everyone knew this, so no one pointed it out.

Afterwards, Li Dingguo repeated Zhang Rong's conditions.

After hearing this, Gao Wengui instantly lost his energy and spirit.

His previous imagination was too rich, which caused him to suffer a great psychological gap.

"After leaving Daxi, Tianwei Camp is no longer mine alone. I summoned you here to discuss this matter."

The generals had different opinions.

Some were willing to cooperate. After all, the ultimate goal of their rebellion was to become the official army of the new court.

To put it bluntly, no one wants to be a bandit for life.

I didn’t have the chance to serve in the government before, but now I have the chance and I don’t want to lose it.

Some are unwilling to cooperate.

After becoming a government soldier, you will be restricted in every way and one day you might be convicted for a trivial matter.

What's more, the incident between Liu Zeqing and Zuo Liangyu happened not long ago, and they have great concerns.

The rest of the people neither agreed nor disagreed, and acted as if anything was fine with them.

After discussing for half an hour, they still couldn't come to any conclusion.

Li Dingguo sighed helplessly. Things were more complicated than he had imagined.

He stood up and walked to Zhang Rong.

Zhang Rong had fallen asleep long ago.

He was very tired after running around for days and was now sleeping soundly in a pile of straw.

The deafening snoring kept the mosquitoes away.

"Hey, wake up!" Li Dingguo patted Zhang Rong on the shoulder.

"Have you thought it through?" Zhang Rong asked while lying in the straw pile.

"This is a matter of great importance. I need to give it some time to think about it. How about I give you news in ten days or half a month?"

"No problem." Zhang Rong answered simply.

"Well..." Li Dingguo was a little embarrassed, "I'm running out of food and grass. Can you lend me half a month's worth of food and grass?"

Zhang Rong's eyes widened. "Let's put aside whether the cooperation is successful or not. You have eaten a lot of food from the court. The porridge in this pot... is made with rice from the court, right?"

Li Dingguo's face turned red. "Since we are talking about cooperation, we must be sincere. What's wrong with eating some of your food? The five thousand soldiers under my command are all elite. If we cooperate with the Ming Dynasty, ten times the food is worth it."

"Indeed!" Zhang Rong nodded. "Food and grass can be provided, but they must be transported from Xiaogan."

"Well...thank you very much." Li Dingguo clasped his fists and bowed to Zhang Rong.

Zhang Rong sighed, mounted his horse, left the Tianwei Camp and returned to Xiaogan.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!