The battle is nearing its end; there's really not much left to fight. That's how large-scale operations are—once a rout begins, it's very difficult to recover.
Since the other party didn't have such a strong will, the rest was very simple.
Only then did Lü Tu pull Jiang Lingfeng out. Jiang Lingfeng had seen the whole process clearly from behind, and now his eyes were bloodshot with hatred.
But when he stood before Lü Tu, all his unspoken words turned into a deep, sorrowful sigh: "Why did you do this? You could have incorporated all these soldiers into your army."
Lu Tu slapped him across the face on the spot: "You old bastard, you really have no intention of killing me! Since you don't want to talk, then don't talk. Men, take him away and lock him in the Dragon City Death Row!"
"Yes, sir!"
Jiang Lingfeng's gaze toward Lü Tu held no despair or sorrow, but rather a hint of admiration.
Both men knew perfectly well what Lü Tu wanted Jiang Lingfeng to do by bringing him to the front: to have Jiang Lingfeng help persuade the Shence Army, who were about to surrender, to surrender.
It wasn't that Lu Tu couldn't persuade them to surrender, since these soldiers had already given up all resistance. Rather, if Jiang Lingfeng stepped forward, the legitimacy would be stronger, and all the blame would fall on Jiang Lingfeng alone.
Jiang Lingfeng's words were undoubtedly a rejection of Lü Tu's request. It wasn't just a simple rejection; he was trying to block Lü Tu's subsequent plans to recruit people.
After all, these soldiers knew that Lü Tu had a chance to spare them, but Lü Tu still killed half of them. Even after surrendering, these soldiers still harbored resentment towards Lü Tu.
Fortunately, Lü Tu acted early, and Jiang Lingfeng's voice was not loud, so not many Shence Army soldiers heard it; otherwise, Lü Tu would have had to change his tactics.
Even though killing surrendered soldiers has been considered unlucky since ancient times, Lü Tu still had to take action and kill them.
At this moment, Jiang Lingfeng suddenly stopped in his tracks: "My dear son-in-law, if you want me to help you, I can, but you have to promise me one thing!"
His voice was loud, which made many people understand the relationship between the two of them, and they all looked at Jiang Lingfeng with strange eyes.
Especially considering the generals under Lü Tu, if Jiang Lingfeng was Lü Tu's father-in-law, why would Lü Tu rebel against him?
Lu Tu, however, didn't buy it at all: "You have no right to negotiate with me. I promised Wan Yu that I would entrust your life to her to end herself."
Jiang Lingfeng suddenly smiled bitterly and said, "I, Jiang Lingfeng, have done good and bad things in my life, but I have found that I have no children who are truly honest with me. Only Wanyu is genuine and never tries to please me. I am comforted that she was able to marry you."
"Get the hell out of here!" Lu Tu couldn't help but curse angrily. "Where the hell were you all this time? Now you want to play the sympathy card? It's too late. I told you you have no right to say such things! I can get things done without you!"
Jiang Lingfeng smiled incredulously: "I don't believe it. We'll see."
He was quickly taken away, and Lü Tu then looked at the Shence Army and asked, "Are you willing to surrender?"
"We are willing to pledge our loyalty to General Lü!"
Lu Tu was too lazy to say anything more, and waved his hand, saying, "Everyone will be demoted to military slaves, starting from the very bottom!"
"Yes, sir!" The crowd was already thankful when they heard that Lu Tu had only demoted them to military slaves and would not kill them.
After all, Lu Tu had left a deep psychological scar on them, and most importantly, they had overheard Jiang Lingfeng's conversation with Lu Tu.
Therefore, they believed that this was just a conflict between the father-in-law and son-in-law. They thought that once the conflict between Jiang Lingfeng and Lü Tu was resolved, they would be released. The most important thing was that it was better to live a miserable life than to die. As long as they were alive, everything was fine.
Nie Yun led his men up and seized all the armor and weapons of the remaining nearly 50,000 Shence Army soldiers. They then escorted them all away and headed towards the central army camp.
At this moment, Lü Tu turned to face all his soldiers and shouted loudly, "Brothers, we've won!"
"Victory!" The 250,000-strong army present erupted in a thunderous cheer that shook the heavens and the earth. All the previous gloom and despair vanished in an instant.
Then Lu Tu waved his hand and said, "After cleaning up the battlefield, we will return to the city today to reward the three armies!"
"Thank you, General Lü!"
This time, they not only captured 50,000 military slaves and a large amount of standard weapons and equipment, but also seized a large amount of gold and silver treasures from the Shence Army.
These things were from all the caravans they robbed along the way. Why not take them? Anyway, Jiang Lingfeng would be the villain, and Lu Tu would just pick up the scraps. It was quite a haul.
Upon returning to Dragon City, he had Jiang Lingfeng brought to him. Jiang Lingfeng had already changed into prison clothes, and there were some bloodstains on his legs, indicating that he had been harassed by his subordinates. Lu Tu didn't care about any of this; they were enemies to begin with, so what if they were father-in-law and son-in-law?
"Kneel down!" Sun Meng shouted.
Jiang Lingfeng looked at Lü Tu with an arrogant expression: "Ask him if he dares to kneel before me."
Upon hearing this, Sun Meng was about to kick him in the back of the knee, but Lu Tu waved his hand and gestured, "You wait outside first, I'll talk to him for a while."
Jiang Lingfeng stood there staring at Lü Tu for a long time: "I didn't realize, my dear son-in-law, that your ambition is even greater than mine. I only want to be made a king and a prime minister, while you want the whole world! You really are my good son-in-law, we really are kindred spirits."
Lu Tu smiled disdainfully: "Don't flatter yourself. I am able to stand here today because I have a clear conscience about everything I have done. I am not like a treacherous and despicable person like you."
Jiang Lingfeng did not try to deny it and frankly admitted, "Yes, I did do it. Your assessment of me is very accurate."
"You shameless old man, you're really thick-skinned, almost as thick-skinned as me."
"Hehe, we're all the same. All things are born between heaven and earth. If you don't fight for them, are you going to rely on God to give them to you? My dear son-in-law, you know that's impossible. So, in the end, we're the same kind of people, the kind who won't give up until we achieve our goals."
Lu Tu was too lazy to waste any more words on him: "Write a letter to the emperor."
"Write what?"
Lu Tu gave a wicked smile: "Do I need to teach you what to write? Have you been wasting your decades in the court?"
Jiang Lingfeng looked at him in disbelief: "You've already taken Longcheng, but don't you think you've taken too big a step? I can write a letter to the emperor saying that nothing happened here and that the credit for defeating the Red Turban Army goes to you, but you have to let me go!"
Lu Tu shook his head: "The autumn harvest is over, and I don't have that much time to waste. What's the point of wanting Longcheng? I want you to write a memorial to the emperor, asking him to hand over the six border towns and Longcheng to me for administration!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Lingfeng gasped: "You want to be the King of the Northern Territory?"
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