Although Mangultai already had the idea of surrendering to the Ming Dynasty, he still felt dizzy upon hearing these words.
"You all think that old bastard Daishan is trying to trick us?"
The group nodded quickly.
"Banner Master, isn't this obvious?"
"Don't forget, it was he who used tricks to lure you to Guangning!"
"Now he's pulling other tricks, isn't that perfectly normal?"
Upon hearing this, the others all nodded in agreement.
"Dai Shan is indeed capable of doing such a thing!"
"Hauge is so stupid, how come he can't see what Daishan is thinking?"
They didn't know what had happened in Goryeo and thought that Hauge had also been fooled by Daishan, which was why he hadn't brought troops to help.
"Alright, what's the point of saying all this now?" Mangultai clapped his hands, signaling the others to shut up.
"The most urgent question is, what should we do?"
He straightened up and looked down at the crowd.
"You all tell me what you think."
Seeing that Mangultai was unwilling to speak his mind directly at this point.
Those few who guessed his thoughts were all furious inside.
"Our flag chief is so shameless."
But they still spoke up, saying, "Lord Banner Master, at this point, we have no choice but to... we have no choice but to surrender!"
Mangultai was overjoyed, but said angrily, "Huh? Is this all the advice you can give?"
The group remained silent as they continued:
"Your Majesty, this is the only way we can do it!"
"That Daishan is clearly trying to make us his scapegoats."
"Since he's so heartless, why should we be loyal to him?"
Mangultai wished he could just nod.
But he still asked, "If we surrender, how will we explain it to the Khan?"
Seeing that Mangultai is acting like a prostitute, he still wants to maintain a virtuous image.
Everyone was speechless.
After a long while, one of the men finally stood up.
"Before the old Khan raised his army, wasn't he also a Dragon and Tiger General of the Ming Dynasty?"
"The old Khan rebelled against the Ming Dynasty because... because the Ming Dynasty had treacherous officials, so the old Khan wanted to purge the court of corrupt officials."
"Now that all the treacherous officials of the Ming Dynasty are dead, it's like... what was it called again? Right, a wise ruler and virtuous ministers, with righteous officials filling the court."
"Then it would be perfectly reasonable for us to return to the Ming Dynasty!"
In their desperation, these people actually came up with a clever solution.
Although this explanation is full of flaws, Mangultai at this point simply wanted a way out.
He nodded quickly and said, "What you said is quite right."
"Then let's send someone to discuss this with the Ming army."
"Although we are going to surrender, we can't just open the gates of the city right away."
"We have to get something in return before we talk about anything else."
Mangultai paused for a moment before continuing, "These past few days, when the Ming army was attacking the city, I heard them shouting about dividing up the land."
"It's most likely that the Ming Dynasty court gave the Beijing Garrison some kind of benefit."
"Since we have surrendered, the Ming Dynasty should give us some rewards."
Not long after, a hanging basket was lowered into the city of Guangning.
Mangultai's envoy climbed out of the basket and went directly to the Ming army camp.
Li Ruolian was waiting for Qin Liangyu's reply.
But before a reply arrived, news came that Mangultai was going to surrender.
"What? This can't be fake news, can it?!"
Li Ruolian was overjoyed.
He's been under a lot of pressure these past few days.
Thousands of Jurchens were dying in the city every day, and the losses of the Jingying garrison outside the city were even greater.
More than three thousand people die every day.
If it were the Jurchen Plain Blue Banner in the city, they would be determined to fight to the very end.
Even if Guangning is captured, more than 30,000 people from the Beijing garrison will die.
They won't have any fighting capacity in the short term.
At this moment, Li Zicheng spoke up.
He looked at the soldier and asked seriously, "Is this news true?"
"Could this be a delaying tactic by the Jurchens?"
"There have been many similar cases in history."
"The defending troops were about to be overwhelmed, so they used the pretext of surrender to stop the attack on the city, giving them a chance to catch their breath."
"By the time the troops outside realized something was wrong, the defending army had already regrouped."
The soldier immediately shook his head.
"Sir, you're asking me about this? I don't know either."
Li Zicheng nodded and said, "Then bring me that Jurchen envoy. I want to question him myself."
After the soldiers left, Li Zicheng turned back to Li Ruolian and asked, "General Li, it would be wonderful if Mangultai really surrendered."
"By then, we will not only have recovered Guangning, but we will also have the strength to attack Shengjing."
Li Ruolian was taken aback for a moment.
"Li Zicheng, weren't your words just now questioning the sincerity of the Jurchens? Why are you saying these things?"
Li Zicheng laughed and said, "I do indeed have doubts about the Jurchens."
"But who can say for sure what will happen on the battlefield?"
He pointed in the direction of the cannon.
"Perhaps it's the Jurchens inside the city who feel immense pressure even before we've fired the cannons, and that they'll have no chance of survival once we do. That's why they've mentally collapsed?"
As the two were talking, the Jurchen envoy finally came over.
Upon seeing the two, he immediately bowed to the ground and began speaking fluent Mandarin.
"This humble servant greets the two esteemed gentlemen."
Li Ruolian frowned and asked, "Who are you?"
The man quickly replied, "I am originally from Liaodong. A few years ago, when the Later Jin swept through Liaodong, I was captured by them before I could escape."
"In the end, they became slaves of the Eight Banners!"
As the man spoke, he suddenly started to cry.
"Fortunately, the heavenly army has fought its way back to Liaodong!"
Li Ruolian was immediately moved upon hearing this.
He raised his hand to make the person stand up.
However, Li Zicheng snorted coldly.
"You really are a despicable person!"
Before the man could speak, Li Ruolian became unhappy.
"Li Zicheng, how could you say such a thing about him?"
Li Zicheng sneered, "General Li, you are unaware of this."
"Didn't he notice that he kept referring to the Later Jin dynasty when he spoke?"
"Do you really think people who are loyal to our Great Ming would refer to the Jurchens as such?"
As he spoke, he walked up to the man, a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes.
“I have heard that Nurhaci almost exterminated ordinary people of the Ming Dynasty.”
"But for those scholars, they are treated relatively well; there is always a way for them to survive."
"Have you already sided with the Jurchens and become their accomplice?"
“I’m telling you, if you tell the truth, I’ll spare your life.”
"But if you're lying... heh heh, do you know how Wei Zhongxian died?"
The man was startled and instinctively asked, "How did you die?"
Li Zicheng chuckled coldly, "He was skinned alive!"
The man trembled all over and immediately kowtowed.
While kowtowing, he revealed all his secrets.
He was indeed treated as a slave by the Jurchens and sent to the Plain Blue Banner as a bondservant.
However, Mangultai saw that he had read some books and could write, so he kept him by his side as a clerk.
That's why we sent him as an envoy to discuss surrender.
Li Zicheng didn't care about this person's background.
He had just scared him to figure out what Mangultai was thinking.
He frowned and said, "So, the Jurchens really want to surrender?"
The man was still kowtowing, blood was already flowing from his head, but he didn't dare to stop.
He was terrified that he might accidentally anger Li Zicheng and be dragged out and executed by slow slicing.
"My lord, I dare not lie. The banner chief... ptooey, ptooey, it is Mangultai."
“Mangurtai really wants to surrender.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com