"Military Advisor, it's New Year's Day, let's light some bonfires in the yard, so that we can have a prosperous next year."
In a tent somewhere deep in the mountains of Huguang Province, Zhang Xianzhong said to his military advisor Wang Zhaolin.
Wang Zhaolin looked up at the dense forest around him and said cautiously, "Father-in-law, don't light the fire. If a forest fire occurs, we won't have to wait for the Ming army to enter the mountains to put it out. We will burn it all ourselves."
Zhang Xianzhong then raised his head and looked.
The surrounding mountains are high and the forests are dense. Coupled with the dry weather recently, there is indeed a risk of causing a forest fire if a fire is lit rashly.
He sighed somewhat unwillingly, then waved his hand and said, "Then...then don't order anymore, come and eat!"
Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi came forward and took their seats.
There were chicken, duck, fish, meat and two jars of wine on the table, it was a very sumptuous meal.
Zhang Xianzhong raised his glass and looked into the distance: "Li Zicheng is dead. As the saying goes, when a man dies, his debts are settled. No matter what he did to me before, I have forgiven him. This first glass of wine is for him."
Everyone raised their glasses with a serious look on their faces and drank the wine in them.
"This second glass of wine is to toast the soldiers who died in the battle of Dashi." Zhang Xianzhong filled the glass with wine and drank it all again.
"The third glass of wine..." At this point, he was speechless.
Under Zhang Xianzhong's gaze, Wang Zhaolin said, "Father-in-law, I think this third glass of wine should be a toast to Daxi's future!"
"Good, well said!" Zhang Xianzhong excitedly picked up the wine glass and poured the wine in the glass into his throat.
After three cups of wine, Zhang Xianzhong suddenly felt a little lost.
He took two bites of food and sat in his chair, looking unhappy.
"What's wrong, father-in-law?" Wang Zhaolin came over with a wine glass.
"Ah," Zhang Xianzhong sighed, "What do you think will be the future of Dashi?"
"This..." Wang Zhaolin immediately shut his mouth.
There is no way to answer this question.
Zhang Xianzhong continued to sigh: "After the battle of Chengtianfu, our army suffered a disastrous defeat. Only less than 2,000 people fled into the mountains and forests. Later, hundreds of people fled one after another, leaving only more than 1,000 people."
"A few days ago, they gave them money to buy New Year's goods, but more than half of them ran away. Now we only have 400 people."
"You say... How can we fight against the Ming court with just these four hundred people?"
Wang Zhaolin remained silent, and so did Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi.
After a moment, Zhang Xianzhong smiled bitterly and shook his head: "It's New Year's Day, don't think about these trivial things, just drink some wine."
Under his leadership, several people started drinking happily.
After drinking for a while, Ai Nengqi was the first to give up. He held onto the table and begged for mercy: "No... I can't handle the alcohol, I can't handle the alcohol!"
Wang Zhaolin tried to persuade him: "It's okay, it's all homemade wine, it's not strong."
After drinking for a while, Liu Wenxiu also got drunk and said with a dazed look in his eyes: "No... I can't drink anymore. I really can't drink anymore."
"It's okay, it will be fine after the wind blows away." Wang Zhaolin has a great alcohol tolerance and continued to urge people to drink.
After an unknown amount of time, Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi were completely drunk.
They lay motionless under the table.
Wang Zhaolin looked down at them and said in a slightly mocking tone: "Why are you sleeping on the floor?"
Seeing that the two men were completely motionless, Wang Zhaolin ordered people to carry them away.
He and Zhang Xianzhong were the only ones left at the table.
Zhang Xianzhong was also a little drunk at this time. He raised his last glass of wine and said, "Military Advisor, let's stop here today. We can drink again another day."
"Okay," Wang Zhaolin accompanied him and finished the last glass of wine.
After the two chatted for a while, Wang Zhaolin suddenly said, "The increasing number of deserters is not the fault of my father-in-law. It is actually the negligence of Liu and Ai!"
"Why do you say that?" Zhang Xianzhong suddenly sobered up a bit.
"Take the example of going out to buy New Year's supplies ten days ago. As long as the soldiers don't have money, they will never run away. Liu and Ai gave the money to the soldiers to buy things to save trouble, but most of them ran away. In order not to expose our position, our army had to change positions again, which was really annoying during the New Year."
Zhang Xianzhong was silent for a while, "Military Advisor means that they..."
Wang Zhaolin shook his head: "Father-in-law, I have no other intentions, I am just speaking the truth."
"I understand." Zhang Xianzhong's eyes were deep.
The banquet ended quickly, and Wang Zhaolin stood up, said goodbye, and walked towards his own camp.
After arriving at the camp, he did not go back to rest immediately, but went to a tent guarded by soldiers.
After sending the soldiers away, Wang Zhaolin opened the tent door and walked in.
Zhao Yongnian, who was a doctor on the surface but a Jinyiwei in reality, was drinking and eating alone. When he saw Wang Zhaolin coming, he immediately stood up and said, "Zhao Yongnian greets the military advisor."
"You're welcome, sit down." Wang Zhaolin patted Zhao Yongnian on the shoulder.
After the two sat down, Wang Zhaolin whispered, "Do you want to leave here?"
"Leave here?" Zhao Yongnian blinked.
"Yes, leave here!" Wang Zhaolin repeated.
"Yes, of course I do. You've locked me up for more than a year, and I want to leave here all the time." Zhao Yongnian shed tears as he spoke.
Although he is a member of the Imperial Guard, he is also a human being.
As a human being, you will have emotions, including homesickness and missing your loved ones.
He couldn't wait to get out of here.
Looking at Zhao Yongnian's sincere expression, Wang Zhaolin smiled and said, "I have a way. Do you want to hear it?"
"Military Advisor, please speak."
"Write a letter to the Imperial Guards, saying that I am willing to surrender to the court and hand over Zhang Xianzhong, on the condition that the court pardons my crime and restores my reputation."
"Is that all?" Zhao Yongnian was very confused.
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