"If you want to get away with it, you can only take advantage of the time in the past few days before my petition is sent and His Majesty's reply is returned, and the city of Yi'an will be conquered and meritorious service will be made."

He Rong was still thinking about how to reduce his guilt, when suddenly a cough sounded beside him.

He woke up suddenly, glanced sideways at Zhu Xianyi, who was covering his mouth and pretending to cough at this time, and said to Cao Tai and the others: "You guys get up, you don't have to kneel." ”

"Subordinate General Xie, Prince Xie." Cao Tai saluted again and stood up.

"Cao Tai, in this landing battle, although you have a slight omission, you can generally handle it properly, the merits outweigh the demerits, and this general should give you a credit." He Rong's face softened slightly, his eyes rolled, and he said.

"His subordinates lost nearly 20,000 soldiers, how dare they take credit?" Cao Tai heard this and immediately said.

"It's all my miscommand, not your fault." He Rong smiled bitterly: "It's too careless, it's really careless, I thought that a little Annan was captured, so he didn't make any arrangements and instructed such a big defeat, I should write to His Majesty to ask for guilt." ”

Although He Rong said these words for another purpose, he was also sincere. He was really careless before, he didn't take Annan seriously at all, what he thought about before the war was how to evaluate the credit after winning the war, and the arrangement of deployment was also half-hearted, and he didn't think much about it.

He also knew that although Yun Xi admired Confucius's saying that 'deeds do not care about the heart,' when punishing officials, he would also infer whether he was unintentional or intentional based on all the actions of the officials. Yun Xi once mentioned to his close ministers that all officials who make mistakes will be divided into three categories, one is those who can be seen at a glance to make mistakes intentionally or carelessly, and they will be punished heavily; The first category is that it can be basically determined that an unintentional mistake or lack of ability led to a mistake, and the sentence is light; The last category, which is difficult to determine, has the highest proportion of judgments that are neither serious nor light. And He Rong's culpability this time is negligent at a glance, and it belongs to the scope of serious punishment.

"General He, we are also guilty. We also despise the Annan people too much, thinking that as soon as the great tomorrow soldiers arrive, they will definitely be able to subdue Annan, and they will look at the wind wherever they pass. If General He is guilty, we are also guilty. Cao Tai said.

The generals standing on the side also said: "General He, we also despise the Annan people very much, and we are also guilty,......

He Rong waited for their words, but said: "You don't have to talk like this, I am the deputy general of the Left Army, and the 190,000 troops of the Left Army and the Army are all in my hands, is this your responsibility?" ”

"General, this is not true,......。 We should jointly write a letter to Your Majesty with the general, asking Your Majesty to punish him. "A general immediately rushed to the road, why Rong exculpatory. Everyone also emphasized once again that they were also at fault and asked for a joint letter.

He Rong's tone was a little relaxed, and he said a few more words, and finally agreed to sign a joint letter with them.

Immediately, He Rong took out a pen and paper and personally wrote an excerpt to report the situation of the battle, and asked for guilt. Although He Rong is literate, his writing is not very good, and some generals persuade He Rong to let his staff draft it, and finally review it; But He Rong insisted on drafting it himself.

Half an hour later, the draft of the guilt and report was completed, and after reading it, everyone had no objection, and then copied it again, signed the names of everyone, and sent a small boat to Haikang Port overnight.

He Rong breathed a sigh of relief: the matter of mitigating the guilt has been done to the extreme, and it is no longer possible to think about it, and now it is time to seriously deal with the aftermath of this time.

At the same time, he glanced at Zhu Xianhui gratefully: If 1 had opened his mouth to refute his words just now, he would have nothing to do.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said to Cao Tai: "Commander Cao, in the face of the attack of the Annamite people, you commanded calmly, dealt with it properly, and saved many troops, and your merits outweighed your faults. ”

"The governor wrote down: Cao Tai, the general of the Left Army of the Annan Expeditionary Army, recorded his merits once." He instructed the governor who was with him.

"General," Cao Tai seemed to have something to say.

"Cao Tai, I can see your performance when I stand on the boat, so I don't need to shirk." Seeing that he still had something to say, He Rong glared and said, "Why, if you don't obey the military order, you can't do it?" Although I may not be able to continue to serve as the deputy general of the left army after His Majesty's reply, I am still here. ”

"Yes, General." Cao Tai could only bow down and say.

"Lu Xian was seriously injured, but his guilt cannot be erased because of serious injuries. The governor wrote: Lu Xian, a general of the Left Army of the Annan Expeditionary Army, was deposed from his post as a general for improper command. The rest will be disposed of by me and reported to His Majesty for His Majesty's decision. He Rong said again.

Next, He Rong commented on the commanders and commanders of the barbarian soldiers who went out this time one by one, and these people were basically innocent and meritless. He also specially appeased the commanders of the barbarian soldiers, promised a high pension, and ordered on the spot to give them some items that were intended to reward the meritorious men after the victory, and finally appeased them.

Finally, He Rong looked at me. He Rong said excitedly: "I'm here to do something, thanks to you this time." "The Fusang army fought hard this time, not only eliminated more than 2,000 Annam soldiers, but also bought time for the three Han guards to gather.

"The governor plans to play a fold: He Rong, the deputy general of the left army of the Chen Annan expeditionary army, and the commander of the Fusang army and the commander of the right guard of the government army, I will also command the Fusang army to fight hard with the Annan soldiers, and kill nearly 3,000 Annan soldiers at the cost of the total annihilation of the whole army, covering the retreat of the army, and making great contributions. His Majesty is hereby asked His Majesty to crown me as a hereditary commander to reward him for his merits. If the soldiers of Fusang under his command have relatives, His Majesty should also give them a bereavement and confer them with hereditary or official positions. ”

"General He, I just did what I should have done, and I didn't dare to be a general like this; However, the soldiers of the Fuso Army also ask the general to report to His Majesty for mercy. "I'll say it right away.

"You don't have to shirk, although you are a foreigner, but the Ming Dynasty has always been inclusive and inclusive, Your Majesty has always treated you equally, you have made such a great contribution, Your Majesty will definitely not hesitate to reward." He Rong thought that I was also worried about my foreign identity, and at the same time shirked it according to the practice of officialdom, so he said this.

"General, it's not that my subordinates are worried about their foreign identity, but they really don't think that they have such merits. It was all the soldiers of the Fusang Army who fought hard to make such a contribution, and their subordinates only accounted for an extremely small part of it, and they did not dare to take credit. Just ask the general to report to His Majesty, and allow the relatives of the soldiers under his command to be taken from Fusang to Daming, and ask Your Majesty to give them mercy. "I came and said very sincerely.

"Of course Your Majesty will agree. Since they died fighting for the Ming Dynasty, His Majesty will never care. He Rong patted his chest and agreed according to Yun Xi's previous practice.

"General Xie." I bowed down and thanked me.

He Rong said a few more words to him, suddenly thought of something, and asked: "I'm here to do something, do you want to return to Haikang here, or continue to stay in the left army?" "The Fusang army is almost completely wiped out, and it is impossible for He Rong to hand over another army to him, and it doesn't make much sense for him to continue to stay here.

"General, I beg to stay here." My eyes flashed with bloodthirsty light and said, "I will personally cut down the general who commanded the Annan army, and ask the general to complete it." ”

He Rong is also a person who has walked through the sea of corpses and blood, but when he saw me just now, he couldn't help but be moved. He settled down before he said: "Since I have come to do something like this, then I will temporarily appoint you as the commander of the Elephant Guard, and the remaining Fusang Army will also be incorporated into the Elephant Guard." ”

"General Xie is complete." I came and bowed down to thank you.

He Rong also replied to me, and gave a few more instructions to the governor, and after turning his head, his face immediately changed, and he said loudly: "The people of Annamam have defeated our army so much, and have killed countless soldiers, how can I give up with them!" The generals think, how will our army continue this battle? ”

After seeing the great victory of Annan's army and the crushing defeat of his army, He Rong immediately felt two feelings in his heart, one was worried about his future, and the other was resentment towards the Annan people.

I don't know if he was resentful simply because he lost the battle and lost face, or because he was angry because he thought that these people were all his own soldiers were killed, or because he was resentful because he had aroused a little sense of nation-state in his heart after listening to Yun Xi's speech a few days ago, or both.

In any case, He Rong is now very resentful of the Annan people, and just now in order to hold his future as much as possible, he gave priority to Yun Xi to ask for guilt, and now, it is time to discuss how to take revenge on the Annan people.

"Yes, General, our army must not give up with the Annanites and must immediately fight the Annanites again and defeat the Annanes. As His Majesty said, let them sacrifice their lives for the country. "I am also the first to respond to He Rong.

All those who could understand Chinese and participated in the two battles just now became excited. On the battlefield, they watched their friends, robes, and relatives die under the butcher's knife of the Annamite people, how could they not hate the Annamite people? Among them, the mahout guards originally came to Annan to take revenge, but they hated and revenge, and at this time they were even more resentful of the Annan people.

"But general, it's not appropriate to use swords and soldiers." Did you participate in the battle just now, and the person who could still keep his sanity said: "General, our army has three disadvantages." At this time, our army was defeated by the Annanites in one game, and the morale was not high, on the other hand, the morale of the Annanites was high, which was not favorable. ”

"Second, our army is adrift at sea at this time, and if we want to fight the Annanites, we must land, and most of the Annanites will have some ambush, which is not good."

"Three, if we land in other places, our army has no one to answer, we are not familiar with the place, and we have no plan in advance, I am afraid that it will not be easy to fight, and these three are not good. With these three disadvantages, it is better for our army not to rush into battle. ”

This person was afraid that He Rong would rush his head with enthusiasm for a while, and hurriedly said: "General He, if you lose another battle, Your Majesty is afraid that you will ......" He didn't explain it, but he believed that He Rong understood what he meant.

He Rong suddenly calmed down. If he loses the battle again, I am afraid that he may not be able to save his head; Even if you can keep your head, your future is completely over. He hesitated.

Seeing this, I was also anxious and said loudly: "General He, how can you listen to this person's words. Now tens of thousands of soldiers are extremely resentful of the Annan people, if the general does not immediately avenge his revenge, won't it chill the military hearts of these soldiers? ”

"I'm here, you're just a commanding acquaintance, or have you just been appointed by the general, and the general doesn't speak, what qualifications do you have to speak here?" The man who spoke just now said.

I was furious when I heard this, my eyes turned red again, and I drew my katana from my waist like a bloodthirsty beast.

The general named Liu De, who had just spoken, was suddenly a little frightened, and shouted loudly: "What, you still want to hurt me?" "He is now in his forties, and there is no certainty that he will escape my knife; And I've just had a lot of my comrades die in battle, so I may not be able to keep my senses.

Cao Tai immediately grabbed my hand and said, "Don't be impulsive! ”

He Rong also shouted: "I'm coming, do you want to make a mistake?" At the same time, He Rong's guards drew their swords from their waists, and some of them showed their crossbows and aimed them at me.

I came panting for breath for a long time before I put the knife in my hand back into the scabbard and glared at Liu De.

According to the rules, in fact, I should also ask Liu De for guilt. But He Rong looked at the atmosphere at the scene and decided to skip the matter.