After listening to Li Chengliang's confession, Zhao Hao began to understand his thought process.

As mentioned earlier, Li Chengliang is two years older than Qi Jiguang and is already 65 years old this year.

In this era when the average age of men is less than 50, a 65-year-old man is like an octogenarian in his 70s or 80s in later generations. His mentality is already uncontrollably old.

What ambitions? What chastity and dignity? They are all forgotten as life reaches its end.

Why bother? Just be comfortable.

However, the life spans of different people are not comparable, and Lao Li doesn’t know if he can live to be ninety…

If he had known that he still had twenty-five years to live, he might not have knelt so easily.

But Li Chengliang didn't know, so in the face of the huge disparity in strength between the two sides, he simply chose to surrender.

In fact, in another time and space, Li Chengliang also retired after being criticized in the 19th year of Wanli.

However, his successor Li Rusong died unexpectedly in battle. As a last resort, he returned to the army at the age of 76. But by then, Li Chengliang was already too old and no longer ambitious. He only hoped to rely on his former prestige and his long-term friendship with Nurhaci to keep Liaodong from getting in trouble.

For this reason, he gave up the Kuandian Liubao, which he proposed to build in the early years of the Wanli period and had "growing in population and had reached more than 64,000 households", on the grounds that "the place was isolated and difficult to defend".

Liubao is located west of the Yalu River, adjacent to the Jianzhou Jurchens. It is a frontier for defense against the Jurchens and has a very important strategic position. However, Li Chengliang moved more than 60,000 households of the people to the interior, using a large army to drive away the people who were homesick, just to survive for a while. Who cares who will rule Liaodong after his death?

Zhao Hao today is a hundred times more powerful than Nurhaci later on. He could have retreated to the Jiannu, so it was not difficult to understand why he had to kneel down and surrender to Zhao Hao, who crushed him in all aspects.

As for the saying that he is favored by the emperor and is loyal to the emperor and loves the Ming Dynasty? When have you ever seen a warlord loyal to the emperor and patriotic? If he is loyal to the emperor and patriotic, he is not a warlord...

~~

No matter what, Li Chengliang's voluntary surrender is a good thing.

And it’s a buy one get one free deal, so now I don’t have to worry about Li Rusong’s problem.

Thinking of this, Zhao Hao showed the most sincere smile, stepped forward to help Li Chengliang up, and laughed loudly: "Taibao is really a wise man! It is really a blessing for China! Well, let's not talk in secret in front of others. Today I will have a heart-to-heart talk with you!"

"This is exactly what I want." Li Chengliang's attitude became more respectful.

"Don't mention the word 'subject' again," Zhao Hao waved his hand and said decisively, "I have absolutely no intention of usurping the throne!"

"Yes, I am confused. How can I say such things?" Li Chengliang nodded quickly.

"Haha, you misunderstood." Zhao Hao smiled and didn't explain. You can't just tell someone as soon as you meet him that you want to end the monarch-subject system and build a new world without imperial power, right?

Li Chengliang is not a cutting-edge thinker like He Xinyin, Yan Shannong, and Xu Wei. How could he understand Zhao Hao's shocking theory so quickly? He must be regarded as a psychopath...

But warlords understand warlords best. To be frank, what Li Chengliang did in Liaodong was no different from what Zhao Hao did overseas.

Zhao Hao opened up 18 overseas provinces and carried out a century of immigration. Li Chengliang also expanded the borders of the Ming Dynasty by nearly a thousand miles, built forts, and recruited refugees to farm. It was just that the scale and starting point of each of them were different, but there was no qualitative difference.

So Zhao Hao knew exactly what words to use to impress Li Chengliang.

"I know that Grand Tutor Li has worked hard outside the Great Wall. For more than 20 years, he has defeated powerful tyrants and suppressed the barbarians from all sides. Not only has Liaodong become a solid line of defense, but he has also expanded the country's territory by nearly a thousand miles!" He looked at Li Chengliang emotionally and said, "I know that Grand Tutor has worked hard, not for his own selfish interests; just like me, he is working to prevent the barbarians from attacking China again and to bring eternal peace to China!"

"Oh my..." Li Chengliang didn't expect Zhao Hao to give him such a high evaluation, and every word he said hit a sore spot. He was so excited that his nose was sore and his eyes were red. "It's true that we are still as close as ever, and we are still as close as ever! I didn't expect that my parents gave me life, and my lord knows me best! Today, Li finally heard fair words!"

"It's a pity that those censors are always suspicious, thinking that we soldiers will rebel if we have military power. As soon as the situation is slightly peaceful, they can't wait to kill us." As he said this, he took the initiative to reflect:

"In order to protect myself, I have also used some not-so-glorious means. For example, I deliberately did not wipe out all the bandits, and I also supported Nurhaci, who could not only help me to eliminate the barbarians, but also cooperate with me in critical moments."

He pointed to the sky and swore, "But heaven and earth can bear witness, my lord, I am only trying to protect myself, and I have no intention of disobeying you!"

At least during this period of time, Li Chengliang said this without being afraid of being struck by lightning.

When historians of later generations studied the credibility of Li Chengliang's military achievements before and after, they basically used the tenth year of Wanli as the dividing line.

It is generally believed that the records before the 10th year of Wanli's reign are credible, but those after the 10th year of Wanli's reign are not credible.

Why?

Because before the tenth year of Wanli, he worked under Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng. These two top leaders were familiar with border affairs, and they could review the names and facts, reward meritorious service and punish crimes. They could encourage civil and military commanders and use them! Under their command, Li Chengliang dared not play tricks at all, and could only do what he said.

Especially under Zhang Juzheng's performance evaluation system, who would dare to cheat?

Moreover, Li Chengliang was at the peak of his powers during this period. He had great skills and bravery, and the cavalry under his command were unstoppable. He was also wholeheartedly devoted to making achievements and gained a lot, so it was natural for him to have many merits.

But after the tenth year of Wanli, the situation changed drastically.

First, the Grand Tutor Zhang, who appreciated and valued him, died, and was soon criticized and denounced. His entire family was almost wiped out, and even his grave was almost dug up by Wanli.

Moreover, Qi Jiguang, who was known as the twin pillars of the north, was also implicated by Zhang Juzheng and ended up with a miserable and bleak old age.

How big of a heart must Li Chengliang have to be to not feel grief over the death of a rabbit? Moreover, Old Li was not a rough man. He was a proper Tieling scholar, very thoughtful, and had read a lot of books.

Moreover, he was old and could no longer lift a sword or ride a horse. After his eldest son Li Rusong was transferred to Shanxi, the entire Li family army declined severely. He could no longer take on tough tasks like before, and instead, he was always causing trouble for him.

Therefore, after the tenth year of Wanli, his mind shifted from building achievements to how to protect himself.

In addition, although the bigwigs in the cabinet are not bad in ability, they must learn from Zhang Juzheng's lesson and dare not avoid praise and criticism and take on tasks. They are all wholeheartedly trying to smooth things over and pretend to be good people with kind faces. They are also "warm and warm to the generals on the border, rewarding them for their merits and not punishing them for their crimes."

Under the combined influence of subjective and objective factors, it is not surprising that "surrendering prisoners and celebrating victory is seen every year, while the destruction of the army and the killing of generals are kept secret and not reported", and even the killing of innocent people to claim credit is not uncommon.

In this era, Zhang Juzheng lived until the 15th year of the Wanli reign, so Li Chengliang and his gang had not yet done so much harm. It can be said that his merits and demerits were 70:30, at least in Li's own opinion, he was certainly loyal enough to be seen by the sun and the moon.

I don't know who it is, but he just surrendered when he said so...

But now Zhao Hao wanted to subdue Li Chengliang, so of course he couldn't bring up anything irrelevant. Naturally, he only said something nice:

"I absolutely believe in you, old man. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come all the way to see you. Those things that are done out of necessity are certainly wrong, but a great hero with flaws is still a great hero. A perfect fly is still just a fly. I would like to call you a great hero!"

Unfortunately, Li Chengliang didn't understand the otaku's joke and was still so moved that he said:

"It is said that a gentleman will die for his confidant! I will die for you without regrets!"

"You will live a long life!" Zhao Hao held his hand and laughed, "How about we join hands and build a great world for the Chinese people?"

"As a family of Li, how dare we not fight to the death for you, young master?" Li Chengliang nodded heavily.

"But what I mean by the world is not just the two capitals and thirteen provinces." Zhao Hao smiled and waved his hand. The secretary presented another map. It was different from the one he showed Qi Jiguang. This was a world map.

Zhao Hao pointed to where the two were and said, "We are here. The bean-sized area to the north is Liaoxi and Liaodong."

Li Chengliang had actually seen a world map. Even Nurhaci knew to collect books from the Ming Dynasty. He was a scholar, and he had basically read all the books published by the Jiangnan Group.

He even tried every means to find and read many materials issued within the group. As a man of both literary and martial talents, he knew best how profound Zhao Hao's knowledge was, not to mention that Zhao Hao had also made great achievements.

In Li Chengliang's view, Zhao Hao was more like a saint than Wang Wuyang, so he joined him without any psychological barriers.

But Old Li was very smart. He was still very cooperative and said with a shocked look on his face: "I never thought that these two thousand miles of Liaoshen are just a drop in the ocean, so insignificant!"

"That's right, so don't keep your eyes on this spot." Zhao Hao pointed at Nurgandusi and said:

"Our territory once reached Vladivostok and Sakhalin Island!"

As he spoke, he pointed his finger sharply westward and said, "In the past, Genghis Khan's army swept across this vast area, all the way to Europe! This entire area, all the way south to India, is the territory of their descendants."

"The ancestors of the Tartars were still very powerful." Li Chengliang had fought the Mongols all his life, so naturally he would not be proud of Genghis Khan's achievements.

"I am not trying to praise Genghis Khan, I just want to make two points. First, if the Tartars can do it, we can do it too, and we can do it better than them!" Zhao Hao waved his hand and said domineeringly:

"Second, here..."

He pointed his finger in the direction of Moscow and said, "There is a country called Rus that was founded by the Slavs. Three hundred years ago, it was conquered by Genghis Khan's grandson Batu, who established the Golden Horde."

"112 years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, that is, in the 16th year of Chenghua, the Slavs defeated the Mongols and gained independence. After decades of reform and growth, they gained an overwhelming advantage over the Tatars. They headed eastward and began to conquer the Mongols in reverse!"

"In the 31st year of Jiajing, they conquered the Khanate of Kazan!"

"In the 35th year of Jiajing, they conquered the Kingdom of Astrakhan! From then on, they controlled the Volga River Basin and crossed the Ural Mountains into Asia!"

Zhao Hao pointed his finger eastward and said in a deep voice:

"In the ninth year of the Wanli reign, they conquered the huge Siberian Khanate. From then on, they headed eastward without any powerful enemies blocking their way. They could reach the west coast of the Pacific Ocean!"

"In the 14th year of the Wanli reign, they had already built their first castle, the Qiumen Castle, near the mouth of the Tula River. They began to conquer the East. If we don't do something, they will be at Heilongjiang in a few decades at most!"