Hu Hongxiu was extremely helpless and could only explain briefly: "Defense, let me ask you two more questions. Monk Zongyin was not pardoned, but did he surrender to the Jin Dynasty? Was his subordinates not pardoned by the imperial decree? And now it is raining so hard, but the emperor insisted on mobilizing troops at this time. Is the emperor crazy, or are the many soldiers and generals around the emperor all fools?"
"You mean..." Xin Xingzong was silent for a moment, then spoke with some difficulty. "The monk Zongyin must be a weakling. We can promise him subordinates and lure him to surrender. And there must be a big change in Xiangyang City?"
"What else?" Hu Hongxiu was extremely disappointed when he saw that Da Xin had obviously figured it out but was still hesitant, and Xiao Xin was still confused, so he treated them coldly.
However, what kind of person is Xin Xingzong? He is a general of the Western Army who rose from Tong Guan's side. It is hard to say anything else, but at least he is a first-class observer of people's expressions. Seeing Hu Hongxiu's face turn bad, he also sighed:
"Mr. Hu, I must understand what you mean. I also know that what you said is very good, but although we brothers are not at the end of our rope, we are also in danger... Let me ask you a few questions, and then make a decision, how about that?"
"Please tell me about defense." Although Hu Hongxiu was puzzled, he was still frank.
"First of all, Master Hu, you have been in our camp for a year. Everyone knows that you regard the Jingkang incident as a shame in your life and you dare not forget it for a moment. However, if you want to do something, you must have a position first." Xin Xingzong sighed as he paced in the military quarters with his hands behind his back. "And you are a student of the Imperial College, you have a wide range of friends, and you have experience in the battlefield. Your father-in-law, Wang Shuzhan, is the Minister of the Ministry of Rites. Your brother-in-law and close friend, Wang Ruohai, was recently selected as a close attendant to the emperor. Your sister-in-law is the daughter-in-law of the emperor's uncle Zhao Shi?, who was the emperor's uncle who supported the emperor in Nanjing... In other words, if you want a position, you can always jump to it, but a few months ago, you came back with us from the southeast, and saw so many people around you rising up, why didn't you move at all?"
Hu Hongxiu suddenly laughed again: "Another question, I must want to ask, why did you suddenly jump out like a frog today when you didn't move before? And since you are out, there is a shortage of people everywhere, so why don't I go to my own Taishan, but come to the army to look for two downtrodden generals?"
"Exactly!"
"Then I'll speak frankly." Hu Hongxiu sighed. "Chen Dong and I were close friends at the Imperial College. Although I heard that the government had exiled Huang Qianshan and tarnished Chen Dong's reputation in the southeast, I still felt resentful. I hated Wang Boyan for not demoting him, but I also doubted whether the government had really changed its ways... I couldn't get over this knot in my heart, so how could I be willing to seek an official position?"
"I see." Xin Xingzong suddenly realized. "Yes, you are all influential figures in the Imperial College of Jingkang Middle School, how could you not know each other? I actually never thought of it."
"Don't you think that it's hard to bring back the dead?" Hu Hongxiu sighed. "Also, these days, from Bagong Mountain to Caizhou, and then to Nanyang, although I still feel resentful towards Wang Boyan, I see that the central government has somewhat recovered, and the government seems to be really doing something, not just fooling us like they did in Nanjing. Although I feel uneasy, I still want to come out and test it out."
"Who isn't like this? After going to the southeast, the official seems to have become a different person. Everyone is suspicious of him..." Xin Xingzong could understand it.
"As for why I have some thoughts now, but why I look for you two instead of my Taishan, I have nothing to hide..." Hu Hongxiu laughed bitterly. "First, my brother-in-law Wang Ruohai must be a close friend of the Imperial College in the past, and also a partner of Chen Dong, Ouyang Che, etc., but in the past few months, he has been jumping up and down, trying to please you gentlemen in order to get an official position, and even followed Wang Boyan's path. I feel disgusted with them!"
“…”
"Secondly, of course, Fan Qiong and I had a relationship in Tokyo. I wanted to kill him that day, but I was powerless and cowardly. I could only cry and walk out of the city holding the notice of disbanding the city defense. This is one of the greatest regrets in my life!"
"We met on that day." Xin Yongzong at the side couldn't help but interrupt.
When Hu Hongxiu reached this point, he was obviously thinking of the past events in Tokyo, but he didn't pay any attention to the "Four Xins". He was just filled with resentment, which was evident in his words. He paused for a long time before calming down. Then he sat there and continued to speak sternly, pausing every word:
"Third, since the Jingkang Incident, after experiencing the siege, I have determined that if I want to pacify the world, I must put soldiers first! And if there is a chance to restore the two rivers, welcome back the two saints, and avenge the previous humiliation, I, Hu Hong Xiuning, would rather be a centurion than a servant! A mere official position, with its distinction between civil and military, means nothing in front of the millions of people in the two rivers?!"
Xin Xingzong stared at the leather belt on the other person's cuffs in silence for a long time. He ignored the difference in status and bowed to him: "If that's the case, I will entrust my younger brother to Master Hu this time!"
Hu Hongxiu knew that there was a difference of several dozen steps between the two sides, and he failed to dodge in time... However, just as he stood up, a drum sound came from afar through the rain, which startled the two of them and made them solemn.
Without a doubt, this was the Emperor Zhao who made people "suspicious" but couldn't help but want to jump out to take a look, beating the drum to gather the generals in the central army.
PS: I got confused in order to make up the big and small defense plot... Only Xin Xingzong is qualified to be the Defense Envoy, all the others, including Wang De, are not qualified... The main reason is that when I started writing, I actually confused the Defense Envoy of Yao County with the fifty-third rank of military officer as two different things, but in fact they are highly related... I apologize to everyone, and I have corrected it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
