Chapter 360: The Death-Relief Medal Boosts Morale

"I've told you! You're not very kind! Why can't you tell me in advance?" Zhao Xiaofei said.

"It's not that we don't want to say it, but we need to see what our young boss thinks! Now that it's brought up, I'll say it straight. Since we can't change the Ming Dynasty, we want to be crowned kings overseas!" Wanshan said.

"Sure! But we said before that we have three goals in the Ming Dynasty: to preserve half of Jiangnan, to eliminate the bandits and restore the capital, and finally to wipe out the Jianlu and unify the country! We have now completed one and a half of the three goals, and once the relationship between you and me is completed, we will be even. I will ask for the decree to confer the title of king on the three of you overseas, and you can go wherever you want!" said Zhao Xiaofei.

"Good! A gentleman's word is as good as gold!" Wanshan said, stretching out his right hand.

Zhao Xiaofei also extended his right hand and high-fived Wanshan and Zhou Shuai simultaneously. Zhao Xiaokun said, "Now that we've talked about it, let's not waste any more time. How long will it take to capture Xi'an?"

"Seven days!" said Zhou Shuai.

"I want to kill that bastard Li Zicheng alive!" said Zhao Xiaofei.

"Ten days!" Wanshan said.

"Okay, the entire army, get ready to attack the city tomorrow!" Zhao Xiaokun ordered.

After a while, Zhao Xiaokun asked, "Why does Li Zicheng want to be alive? It will increase the casualties!"

"First, as Chongzhen's son-in-law, I must capture him and avenge him at the hands of that old crooked scholar in Jingshan. Second, as Kunxing and Zhaoren's husband, this is what I should do! They married me, but I can't let them avenge their father with their own hands. I can't explain this!" Zhao Xiaofei said.

"It seems that you really fall in love with Kunxing and Zhaoren!" Zhao Xiaokun said with a wry smile.

"Yes, I love Kunxing the most. As for Zhaoren? I can only say that I like him, not that I love him." Zhao Xiaofei said.

"What a pity, Jiang Xiaomei gave you the jade pendant, but she has nothing. No love, no wealth, and no sincerity from you!" said Zhao Xiaokun.

"Brother, Xiaomei and I are not destined to be together! Besides, even if I give her a large sum of money now, will she be fine?" Zhao Xiaofei's eyes looked a little depressed.

"Brother doesn't mean to blame you, I just hope you can spend more time to see her. The last time I came back with you, Xiaomei was almost crazy! If things don't work out, bring her here. Maybe she will feel better if she changes the environment." Zhao Xiaokun said.

"I'll go see her after Li Zicheng is defeated. If Aunt Jiang allows, I'll consider bringing her here." Zhao Xiaofei said these words with great pain. Jiang Xiaomei's matter was the deepest wound in his heart. If she could recover, Zhao Xiaofei would be able to get rid of the self-blame. However, this matter still had to be kept secret from Kunxing and Zhaoren.

Zhao Xiaokun patted his brother's shoulder and said, "I've been too talkative today. Hurry up, let's go out and prepare to motivate the soldiers!"

Zhao Xiaofei nodded and left the central military tent with his elder brother.

Today, in order to motivate the soldiers and prepare to capture Li Zicheng alive, they can be said to have invested a lot of money.

On the stage, dozens of strong men carried boxes one after another. The boxes looked very heavy, and when they were placed on the stage, they could press the wooden board into a slight arc.

The soldiers below were talking about it, and no one knew what the two coaches were going to do today.

Soldier A said, "A box this heavy must be silver! It seems this battle in Xi'an is the last one. The prince and the admiral have invested a lot of money!"

Soldier B said, "Isn't that right? I just don't know how much money I can get from catching Li Zicheng. If it's a lot, I can go home and buy a few acres of land and get married."

Soldier A said, "You wish! Do you have the guts to do that? Is Li Zicheng that easy to capture?"

Soldier B said: "That's not certain, what if I get lucky?"

Soldier A said, "Even if there's a chance, you'll have a hard time on your own. How can you catch him without help? According to the instructor, we need teamwork to have any hope."

At this moment, five more soldiers came up with five trays covered with red cloth.

After everything was ready, Zhao Xiaokun and Zhao Xiaofei took the stage at the same time. Zhao Xiaofei took the microphone and said, "Soldiers, today is a great day! With the exception of Shanhaiguan, the entire country has basically returned to the Ming Dynasty. You have created a miracle! You have saved the Ming Dynasty! The world has been in chaos for too long. It is time to restore peace! Soldiers, you have followed me from north to south, from east to west, and fought all over the place. It is time to rest, but we cannot rest. There is only one city left. Work hard to capture Xi'an and bring peace to the world!"

Zhao Xiaofei then drew his sword and pointed it at the sky. The soldiers below also raised their weapons and shouted, "Conquer Xi'an and the world will be at peace!"

Conquer Xi'an and the world will be at peace!

Conquer Xi'an and the world will be at peace!

The voices of the soldiers rose higher and higher, resounding through the sky.

After the soldiers quieted down, Zhao Xiaofei continued, "Soldiers, today, in addition to rewarding the three armies, I will also announce a reward. This is, whoever captures Li Zicheng alive will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins and a golden medal of immunity from death! Except for the ten unforgivable crimes, three generations of your family can use this golden medal to petition the government for a life-saving grace!"

Having said that, Zhao Xiaokun on the side signaled the strongmen to open the box first, and inside were rows of neatly stacked gold bricks.

The golden treasure within the box dazzled the soldiers' eyes. Just as they were glancing at the gold, Zhao Xiaokun signaled for the soldiers to lift the red cloth from the tray. The death-free medal on the tray was made of pure gold, gleaming brighter than ordinary gold. The characters "free from death" were engraved in brilliant gold, gleaming in the sunlight.

"Capture Li Zicheng alive, reward him with a thousand gold coins, and spare the lives of three generations!" Zhao Xiaokun shouted loudly.

The soldiers below saw the 999-carat gold medals of immunity from death, and their eyes lit up. That's immunity for three generations! A reward of a thousand gold coins, something he couldn't spend in several lifetimes! Although he wasn't awarded a title, having these medals of immunity from death was no less than a title. Even the county magistrate would kowtow to him!

But these soldiers haven't read history books. When Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, how many certificates of immunity from death did he issue? Who escaped death? Zhu Yuanzhang killed them all!

Zhao Xiaofei didn't care whether these death-free medals would be useful in the future; they were enough to boost morale. Besides, as the saying goes, if you don't seek death, you won't die. As long as they kept their death-free medals and didn't cause any trouble, they would be fine.

These soldiers carried gold and held up the golden medal of immunity from death and showed it to the three armies while shouting: Capture Li Zicheng alive and you will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins, and three generations of your family will be spared from death!

This sentence struck the heart of each of them like a drum, arousing the bloodiness, utilitarianism, and animality in each of them.

On the city wall, Li Zicheng looked down with a telescope. Putting down the telescope, Li Zicheng issued an order: "Propagate my decree! Whoever can kill Zhao Xiaofei will be crowned the King of One Word and One Shoulder, and be given the title of Nine Thousand Years Old!"

After hearing this, the people below thought to themselves: "Nine thousand years old? Your whole family is nine thousand years old!"