Zheng Zhilong was horrified: "Who are you? What do you want to do?"
The messenger smiled and said, "It doesn't matter who I am or what I want to do. What matters is what you want."
Zheng Zhilong was very surprised: "What do I want?"
"right."
"I want to live."
"Survive? Haha! Lord Zheng funded the Jian Nu and started a rebellion. If he could survive with that, then everyone in the Ming Dynasty would rebel!"
Zheng Zhilong said angrily: "Since you won't let me live, then what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to help Zheng Chenggong."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Why have you worked so hard all your life? Isn't it to pave the way for your son and the entire clan? Zheng Chenggong is now a great warrior with a promising future. But you are resisting stubbornly and becoming an enemy of the imperial court. Aren't you bringing trouble to him?"
"My Lord Zheng, do you really want to ruin your son's bright future?"
This sentence directly hit Zheng Zhilong's heart.
He asked with a dark face: "Who are you?"
"Northern Pacification Division!"
Zheng Zhilong suddenly realized: "So you are His Majesty's man! His Majesty wants me to die. Only when I die will the threat be completely eliminated."
The messenger neither confirmed nor denied it.
Zheng Zhilong smiled bitterly and asked: "It seems that Shen Shouyue's performance today was instructed by His Majesty."
“I don’t know.”
"May I have your name?"
"My name doesn't matter."
Zheng Zhilong asked: "Aren't you afraid of being killed by me?"
"Whether you kill me or not, I will die after this is over."
Zheng Zhilong asked again: "You make death sound so easy, are you really not afraid of death?"
"Of course I'm afraid of death, but the higher-ups gave me a huge sum of money, more than I could ever earn in ten lifetimes, so death isn't scary at all!"
After a long silence, Zheng Zhilong asked, "What should I do?"
The messenger replied: "There are two options before you, Lord Zheng."
"One is to continue to resist stubbornly and oppose the imperial court, which will eventually bring disaster to Zheng Chenggong and even the entire clan."
"As for the second option... Lord Zheng should know it clearly."
Zheng Zhilong certainly knew that the second option was death.
Chongzhen was forcing him to commit suicide!
Zheng Zhilong asked: "Your Majesty, it is understandable that you want me dead, but isn't he afraid that Zheng Chenggong will turn against the court after he knows the truth?"
"The person you need to worry about is not His Majesty, but you!"
Zheng Zhilong was shocked and understood the meaning of this sentence.
If Zheng Chenggong dared to become an enemy of the imperial court, he would be besieged by the Ming army.
At that time, it would not only be Zheng Chenggong who would suffer, but also the entire Zheng clan.
So even if he committed suicide, he could not let Zheng Chenggong know that it was Chongzhen who forced him to death.
Zheng Zhilong suddenly felt powerless.
He was powerless to resist Chongzhen and the imperial court, nor was he able to resist his own fate.
The four words "killing people and destroying their hearts" seemed to be engraved in his mind.
For the sake of his son and the entire clan, Zheng Zhilong began to consider whether to die.
After a while, he raised his head and said slowly: "I can't die!"
The messenger asked, "Why?"
Zheng Zhilong explained: "If I hang myself, when the news spreads, people all over the world will think that Zheng Chenggong forced me to death, which will make him bear the infamy of patricide for the rest of his life."
"Also...how can you guarantee that His Majesty will reuse Zheng Chenggong after my death? Or even give him a title?"
The messenger smiled and said, "Zheng Zhilong, why don't you understand? You have no choice in this matter! But to dispel your doubts, I can promise you one thing."
"What's up?"
"The imperial decree of His Majesty's pardon for you has been sent to the front line. As long as you promise to commit suicide after surrendering, you will see the decree tomorrow."
Zheng Zhilong was stunned: "Are you serious?"
"If it's false, God will strike you with lightning!"
Zheng Zhilong thought for a long time, and finally whispered: "Give me two days to think about this matter! If I surrender in two days, it means I will fulfill my promise and commit suicide. If you don't surrender, just pretend I never said this!"
"Okay!" The other party bowed deeply and left.
It was already late at night and Zheng Zhilong couldn't sleep all night.
......
At dawn the next day.
Li Dingguo led the cavalry to the ferry upstream of the Luoyang River.
To prevent them from crossing the river.
Shi Fu deployed 5,000 soldiers and horses near the ferry and built a large number of roadblocks.
I thought it was as solid as a rock.
But when they saw the endless military force on the other side, everyone was stunned.
"Am I seeing things? Why are there so many people everywhere on the other side of the river?"
"You read that right. The scouts said that the main force of the Ming army numbered about 60,000 to 70,000!"
"Sixty or seventy thousand? We only have five thousand people. How can we fight?"
"That's what I mean. If you can't win, just surrender!"
Before the two armies engaged in battle, the morale of Zheng's army began to waver.
At Li Dingguo's order, the army began to cross the river.
The cavalry in front used ropes with hooks to remove the roadblocks, and then rode across the almost dry river.
When you are halfway through the journey.
The front row of cavalry drew their bows and fired the first round of arrows at Shi Fu's army.
A rain of arrows rose into the air and suddenly fell down.
The armor rate of Zheng’s army was not high.
Soldiers with armor are fine, as they can use the armor to withstand the rain of arrows.
The unarmored soldiers were quickly injured and let out shrill screams.
The army began to waver.
Before all the arrows had fallen, the Ming cavalry had already rushed forward.
The cavalry was in a commanding position.
Use a soft bow and long arrow to shoot at the target from five steps away.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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