Regarding the arrival of the envoy Zheng Zhibao, Zuo Mengeng led the generals to put on a grand welcome posture. changed the smoky miasma when he entertained Xu Hua before, but the armor soldiers were brilliant and majestic.

Zuo Mengeng, as well as the generals, plan to surrender to Fang Yuan, Zheng Zhibao, who is also a general, is obviously their most intuitive reference, so Zuo Mengeng attaches great importance to this peace talks.

He first ceremoniously entertained Zheng Zhibao for three days, carefully selected three beauties to accompany him day and night, secretly bribed Zheng Zhibao with 5,000 taels of silver, and even volunteered to be a small and worship Zheng Zhibao as a big brother.

Zuo Mengeng's actions of making these beauties, silver, and worship the eldest brother are not extravagant in the hope of negotiating favorable conditions from Zheng Zhibao. Passers-by know that Zheng Zhibao can't be the master of this negotiation condition.

Zuo Menggeng's real abacus is that Ba Wangwang can take out some truth from Zheng Zhibao's mouth before the formal negotiations, what is the situation of those generals who surrendered to Fang Yuan, and whether they will be unloaded and killed. Only then can we decide what plan the Zuo family should adopt during the formal negotiations.

Zheng Zhilong accepted Zuo Mengeng's women and silver, and told the truth, "Young Marshal Zuo, Governor Fang has always been meritocrats, and he also treats generals equally. I am a demoted general, and I was promoted to the right squire of the military department; Gan Huigan, the commander who presided over the attack on Jiangxi, was also a general; Shi Lang, the admiral of the navy, is also a general. ”

"What is the difference between the Zuo family being a minister to the Ming court and the Jiangnan court? Governor Fang has never been treacherous and has treated a general harshly, so the young marshal Zuo can surrender with confidence, and he will be able to keep the glory and wealth of the Zuo family. Before my trip, Governor Fang also explained privately that if Young Marshal Zuo was willing to surrender and went to the Governor's Palace to meet Governor Fang, he could be appointed as the squire of the Ministry of Works. ”

Although the squire of the Ministry of Works is not an important military and political position in the Sixth Ministry, it is not a false position, but a real power in hand, and the surrender conditions that Fang Yuan gave to the Zuo family are really tempting.

Zuo Mengeng was very satisfied with this position arrangement, but the only thing to worry about was whether this was a bait thrown by Fang Yuan, and as soon as the Zuo family's father and son arrived at the Governor's Mansion, they would immediately turn their faces.

Zheng Zhibao saw that Zuo Mengeng was still a little hesitant, and took out his sister Zuo Nan's family letter from his arms, "Young Marshal Zuo can't trust me, he should always trust Sister Ling." ”

Zuo Mengeng took over the family letter, Zuo Nan told his father and brother in the family letter that he was now pregnant with Gan Hui's flesh and blood, and Gan Hui promised that as long as the Zuo family surrendered honestly, they would never be treated harshly. The Zuo family only needs to hand over the land, and the rest of the looted family property can be owned by the Zuo family. And in the letter to his family, he sternly warned that he must not resist again, otherwise, everything that the Zuo family has now will inevitably come to naught.

Whether it is his sister Zuo Nan or Zheng Zhibao, they all unanimously promise to Zuo Mengeng that they will inevitably make the Zuo family retain their existing glory and wealth.

Zuo Mengeng was still hesitant, but now he finally made up his mind and surrendered to Fang Yuan!

Because the two sides had already reached a tacit understanding, when it came to the formal peace talks, Zheng Zhibao also omitted politeness, went straight to the topic, and conveyed Fang Yuan's decree, that is, Jiangxi must surrender before the coronation ceremony of the Jiangnan Imperial Court. Zuo Liangyu and Zuo Mengeng father and son must go to Nanjing City in person to congratulate Fang Yuan, who was promoted to regent, and Zhu Cihuan, who was the prince of Jianguo.

Fang Yuan's condition was actually expected by the generals of the Left Army. Surrendering Fang Yuan is the real idea of most generals. However, the Left Army is a rogue alliance, Zheng Zhibao only negotiated the surrender conditions with Zuo Mengeng before, and the general Jin Shenghuan, the general Li Guoying, Wu Xueli, etc. have not yet been negotiated.

Zheng Zhibao took out the letter of appointment handed to him by Fang Yuan before leaving from his arms again, and announced in public, "If Jiangxi surrenders immediately, Zuo Liangyu, the governor of Jiangxi, will be promoted to the Marquis of Zhennan and the crown prince; His son Zuo Mengeng is Ning Nanbo, and he is also the right waiter of the Ministry of Industry; General Jin Shenghuan is the chief soldier of Jiangxi; Li Guoying, Wu Xueli, and the departments of the Ministry of War. The generals of the other battalions were transferred to the provincial guard posts for appointment. ”

The Left Army Alliance had at least two or three hundred thousand rogue bandits, and Fang Yuan still decided to adopt the Huairou method to lure them to surrender with their official titles and titles. Otherwise, as soon as the war starts, the whole of Jiangxi will inevitably be a river of blood.

In order to take over Jiangxi peacefully, Fang Yuan had already arranged a way back for Zuo Liangyu, Zuo Mengeng's father and son, and all important generals before leaving.

Zuo Liangyu was sick and could no longer hold a real position, so he gave him a marquis, a fictitious position of the prince Taibao from the first grade, and the official character can be said to be a very popular minister. Zuo Mengeng not only made him an earl, but also served in the Ministry of Industry, one of the six ministries. General Jin Shenghuan continued to stay in Jiangxi, and his status before surrender was the same. Li Guoying and Wu Xueli were transferred to the military department, which can be regarded as entering the system. There were other battalion generals, all of whom were transferred to the guard station and arranged a place to go.

Zuo Mengeng was the first to stand up in support and said, "Governor Fang has the sincerity to surrender, but I don't know what the generals think?" ”

Jin Shenghuan, the first fierce general of the Left Army, asked in a deep voice, "Dare to ask your envoy, can Governor Fang allow us to keep our own personal soldiers without reorganization?" ”

In this troubled era, the barrel of the gun is far more important than the barrel of the pen, and the retention of the pro-soldiers is a way back for the generals.

Jin Shenghuan's statement was immediately responded to by the generals, and they all said yes.

Zheng Zhibao said loudly, "As for the idea of the generals keeping their own soldiers, Governor Fang also has arrangements. Zuo Liangyu and Zuo Mengeng, serving in Nanjing City, can be allowed to retain 200 personal soldiers; Jin Shenghuan served as the chief soldier of Jiangxi, and he was allowed to retain 2,000 personal soldiers; Li Guoying and Wu Xueli served in the military department and could retain 100 personal soldiers. The remaining generals can keep fifty personal soldiers. The remaining sergeants of the Left Army were either dismissed or reorganized. ”

Fang Yuan limited the number of personal soldiers to the generals of the left army to be 100, of course, Jin Shenghuan, who was the chief soldier of Jiangxi, could slightly relax the restriction and limit the number of personal soldiers to 2,000.

The number of pro-soldiers demarcated by Fang Yuan was very small, and all the generals, including Jin Shenghuan, were dissatisfied, and Jin Shenghuan said unhappily, "There are many rogues and bandits in Jiangxi, how can only 2,000 people guard Jiangxi?!" ”

With Jin Shenghuan taking the lead, the other generals shouted one after another, demanding that the number of personal soldiers must be increased. There were a few grumpy generals who directly smashed the wine bowl on the ground and shouted, "Don't talk about it!" Go straight to war! ”

Before Zheng Zhibao came to negotiate, Fang Yuan had already drawn two red lines for him. First, Zuo Liangyu's father and son must come to Nanzhili for residential surveillance; First, the number of personal soldiers retained by the generals of the left army must be within the demarcated range, and there is no room for negotiation.

Zheng Zhibao looked around coldly, captured the thief and captured the king first, and it was Jin Shenghuan who took the lead in making trouble, so he said to Jin Shenghuan, "Commander Jin, of course it is not enough for the two thousand left troops to defend Jiangxi, and the 50,000 Xuanjia army of the governor of Jiangxi, Governor Gan, is enough to deter the rogues and bandits in Jiangxi." ”

Jin Shenghuan was stunned when he heard this, the threat in Zheng Zhibao's words was already known to passers-by, and Gan Hui's 50,000 Xuanjia army could attack Jiangxi at any time.

Zheng Zhibao said again, "If the generals don't want to talk now, then wait until the war starts, and then talk slowly." I would, however, caution that the conditions offered this time were for immediate surrender. If the two armies go to war, all the conditions of the day will be null and void. ”

"Governor Fang also said that he would never ask all the generals to surrender, and those who were willing to surrender were welcomed; Those who are unwilling to surrender can continue to resist and will not be forced. ”

He directly stated his attitude that if the generals did not surrender this time and surrendered after the war, it would be too late. even made a move to divide and conquer, dividing the generals of the left army.

The opinions of the generals including Jin Shenghuan were not unanimous, but now coupled with Zheng Zhibao's quiet sowing of discord, there were many gossips, and the scene was chaotic.

Zheng Zhibao made another move to retreat into advance, and said loudly, "It seems that the generals of the Left Army don't want to talk about it, I'll go back to Nanzhili first, and when you are willing to talk, I'll talk about it again!" ”

Zheng Zhibao left these words, turned around and walked outside the lobby.