Chapter 257 Empathy
Even after the capture of Yuanjiang County, Yue Fei and Zhang Jun still did not relax. They had just discussed this issue, so they knew better than anyone that it was too easy to capture such a small southern county and it was not worth mentioning. The key was not to let the two bandit leaders escape.
Once they escape and dive into Dongting Lake, this matter will be over.
But soon, a piece of news came that excited Yue Fei, Zhang Jun, all the government army generals, and even the surrendered generals.
"Does Prime Minister Zhong intend to lead his children and the pseudo-Chu officials to surrender?" Zhang Jun, who had already revealed his identity and sat in the main seat on the slope outside the city, was greatly encouraged. "Hurry up and tell him that as long as he surrenders properly and then pacifies the water forts, cities, and islanders in Hunan for the court, I will guarantee his descendants as the current privy envoy!"
The messenger did not dare to delay and went again in a hurry. Although there were some confusions about the sudden appearance of the so-called Privy Envoy and the request for a written guarantee from Yue Fei, etc., the overall situation was at stake. Therefore, after several exchanges, the good news was finally confirmed: Zhong Xiang was about to surrender.
Everyone was encouraged. This was truly encouraging, because Zhong Xiang's surrender was great news for everyone present.
For high-ranking officials of the empire such as Zhang Jun and Yue Fei, this meant that the stability of the Dongting Lake area after the chaos had reached a new level. At least no one could easily cause chaos from the perspective of Shintoism and witchcraft. For the government troops, although their military merits would be slightly reduced, it also meant that they would no longer have to continue fighting in the face of the possible spring floods, and the rest of the Xiangjiang River basin in Hunan would most likely be conquered by a single order. And for the surrendered local fishermen, lake dwellers, and water bandits, it meant that they would not have to pay any moral price for their surrender.
However, in the end, Bi Jin, as Yue Fei's close lieutenant, went to arrest people and hurried into the city, but did not turn back easily. Not only that, just a little after Bi Jin entered the city, the city, which had originally calmed down, was suddenly disturbed by noise, as if something had happened, which made many people, especially the newly surrendered locals, panic.
However, the noise and disturbance soon disappeared, probably because it was suppressed by the troops in the front of the imperial camp. Not long after, everyone saw countless soldiers carrying dozens of captives wearing strange clothes but obviously inlaid with gold and jade, and they completely relaxed.
"What's going on?" Wang Gui saw Bi Jin approaching to report first, and immediately frowned and asked from afar.
Bi Jin did not dare to neglect it, and leaned forward to report carefully: "Yang Yao refused to surrender and kidnapped one of Zhong Xiang's sons. He tried to escape and has been captured, but the incident happened suddenly. The imperial guards who followed him broke his legs in order to stabilize the situation. Now it is a bit embarrassing..."
Wang Gui turned around to look at Yue Fei, and Yue Fei turned around to look at Zhang Jun... After hearing this news, Yue Pengju knew that the mission to the south was almost over, so he was naturally happy to let the Privy Envoy take over.
Zhang Jun was only slightly startled, then he raised his hand and said, "No problem, bring them all together. Why bother about being respectable now? It's just a matter of surrender or not. If he doesn't surrender, we can deal with him right in front of us."
From Yue Fei onwards, everyone nodded in unison, this was indeed the truth.
Therefore, Bi Jin went to the rear to fetch the person, while Zhang Jun also negotiated with Zhong Xiang's family in front of him.
It is said that Prime Minister Zhong was already middle-aged. After his military defeat, he had lost all his heroic spirit. When he saw Zhang Jun, he just cried and first took off the clothes and hat of the fake King of Chu and presented the seal to him. Then he promised to help the Privy Envoy to surrender the remaining strongholds in the Xiangshui River Basin in Hunan... Things went so smoothly that everyone was a little bored.
"I see that you are so honest and value your children's lives more than your own. You are just like an ordinary rich man. Why do you want to rebel?" After reiterating that he would definitely save the other party's children, seeing that the other party seemed relieved, Zhang Jun couldn't help but feel curious.
"My husband, you don't know. I really have no choice. It's not that I want to rebel, but I'm forced to rebel." After the ropes were removed and the clothes were stripped off, Zhong Xiang was sure that his children could survive. Thinking of his own death, he burst into tears and raised his sleeves to cover his old face. "Our Zhong family has been doing community business in Dongting Lake for generations, relying on the name of the Great Sage. We collect grains and collect money in good years, and give out grains and money in bad years. We collect grains and collect money in prosperous years, and give out grains and money in poor years... For several generations, this community business has been very good, but after Jingkang, the court asked for too much, especially last year's tax increase, which was imposed on the whole of Jingxiang. Jingxiang was in poverty, and our community had no income at all. We were about to go bankrupt, and those people forced us to do something wrong... My husband, I really didn't mean it..."
Besides, Zhang Deyuan certainly knew that Prime Minister Zhong was pretending to be timid and there were many concealments in his words.
Apart from other things, this man's rebellion was always accompanied by some witchcraft and lewd worship, and also by the ambition of the Queen of Jingkang. At that time, this guy began to expand his association and train his troops in Dongting Lake by force, and also began to spread rumors about the gods and ghosts of the King of Chu... However, after Emperor Zhao escaped from Huaishang, he sat down in Nanyang, and then the news that Fan Qiong was buried alive in Xiangyang somewhat reduced the ambition of this half-baked rebel, and then he became trembling with fear.
However, some things are really hard to undo. Since Zhong Xiang crossed the red line after the Jingkang Incident, even if he does not rebel and the court is stable, he will have to deal with this Monkey King.
This is the fundamental reason why Zhong Xiang rebelled.
Then, the society’s business went bankrupt and they had to turn against it.
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