In order to completely eliminate the enemies in and outside Nanjing, the Wu army spent more than two days to clear the remnants of the enemy in the city, capture the Taiping soldiers hidden in the people, and hunt down the Taiping officers and soldiers who fled into the Purple Mountain in the north - by the way, they also collected the gold, silver, treasures, antiques and cultural relics looted by the Taiping army in various parts of the Jiangnan for more than ten years, confiscated the people's fat and ointment accumulated by the major leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and ate happily.

In the case that Hong Xiuquan was dead, Li Xiucheng was captured and Meng Shiyong had taken the initiative to surrender, some of the Taiping soldiers not only refused to lay down their arms and surrender, but insisted on relying on the streets and alleys to fight with the Wu army to the end, and some people directly shouted the slogan of 'not leaving half a piece of rags for the demon soldiers to enjoy', preferring to burn the property and materials they protected rather than let the greed of the Wu soldiers succeed. During this period, Ji Qingyuan, a major general of the Taiping Army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, was killed in battle, and Li Xiucheng's godson Li Rongfa was nowhere to be found, not knowing whether he died in the sea of fire that can be seen everywhere, or hid in the people.

Many of the officers and men of the Wu Army fell at the last moment before complete victory, and many of the officers and men of the Taiping Army first ran out of bullets after being heavily surrounded, and then set themselves on fire to death, and among them were the Taiping Army in Nanjing, which was the most brainwashed by the cult, and the Taiping Army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which had not been in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom for a long time. What is even more inconceivable is that in a short period of more than two days, there were three 1,000-strong prisoner riots in the Wu army's prisoner of war camp, and there were more than 20 small-scale riots and escapes, forcing the Wu army officers and men to brutally slaughter nearly 2,000 Taiping soldiers who had laid down their arms and surrendered.

Considering that the war to recover the southeast in the future is likely to be dominated by Huairou, Wu Chaoyue also attached great importance to these situations, and spent a lot of effort to investigate the reasons why the Taiping army was so stubborn, and why the Taiping prisoners of war would rebel again after laying down their arms. The results of the investigation made Wu Chaoyue feel troublesome, the reason is that the Taiping army was indeed very seriously brainwashed by the cult, and believed that he could go to heaven after dying in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom; The second is all kinds of national hatred and family hatred, many Taiping soldiers want to avenge their relatives who died in battle, so they insist on fighting with Wu Jun to the end.

The third is rumors, among the Taiping prisoners of war, there are constant rumors that the Wu army will massacre the prisoners of war sooner or later, causing the Taiping prisoners of war to riot and flee in order to survive, and the source of such rumors is not only from the Taiping prisoners of war who have been seriously brainwashed by the cult, but also many of the Taiping prisoners of war are unwilling to believe in the Wu army's promise not to kill the prisoners, and create rumors in fear.

"Trouble, these headless fools have long hair, and it won't be easy to put down their weapons. Why don't these fools think about it, there are still so many lands and cities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian that are controlled by other longhairs, is Lao Tzu crazy or stupid to do the massacre of prisoners of war? Do you want to recruit other long-haired armies in the future? ”

Rubbing his aching temples, Wu Chaoyue was full of swearing, without the demeanor and demeanor of the King of Nan in Daqing Town, fortunately, several Wu Jun civil and military forces present were already familiar with Wu Chaoyue's morality, and it was not surprising that he was not surprised by this. Nodding in agreement, Dai Wenjie also suggested: "King Zhennan, we should have dealt with the prisoners of war earlier, first, we need to stabilize people's hearts now, and second, tens of thousands of prisoners of war are locked up in prisoner of war camps, and food consumption is also a big problem." ”

"King Zhennan, let's do it according to the old rules." Zhou Wenxian also suggested: "The old and weak will be sent some dry food and travel expenses, and some of the young and strong will be screened and incorporated, and the rest will be sent to the construction site and mine to do hard labor for a few years, so that the hearts of the long-haired prisoners of war can be stabilized." ”

"Of course we have to do it as soon as possible." Wu Chaoyue nodded, frowned again and said: "But this time is a little different, I want to collect more long-haired elite soldiers, arm them, and use them to fight the remaining long-haired rebels, the rebels in the north, and the Ryukyu Kingdom that we promised to help them fight Fusang, these prisoners of war can also come in handy." ”

"This thing is easy to do, among the young and strong long-haired prisoners of war, as long as the old thieves of Liangguang are singled out, the rest can be incorporated as they want." Dai Wenjie said without thinking about it: "As for those notoriously stubborn old thieves in Guangzhou, they will either be sent to do hard labor, or they will be sold overseas to work as laborers, which will not violate our promise, but can also completely eliminate hidden dangers." ”

Assigned to do hard labor and sold overseas as Chinese laborers, has always been the only way for Wu Jun to treat the veterans of the Taiping Army and Guangzhou, Wu Chaoyue, who is already very aware of the stubbornness of the Taiping Army veterans, of course nodded again, but Wu Chaoyue's expression was still a little worried, after thinking for a long time, Wu Chaoyue suddenly said: "I want to reuse Li Xiucheng, let him take these newly recruited prisoners of war to fight again, and help us fight the remaining long hair, the rebels in the north, and the overseas Japanese devils, what do you think?" ”

"This ...... is too risky, isn't it?" Dai Wenjie, Zhang Dejian, Zhou Wenxian and others exclaimed together, and they all said: "King Zhennan, is this too risky? Li Xiucheng, the big long-haired man, was forced to surrender after being surrounded by us, and his prestige in the long-haired army is so high, let him lead the newly recruited long-haired troops to continue to fight, isn't it equivalent to letting the tiger return to the mountain and give him a chance to make a comeback? As long as he has a slight disagreement, our previous efforts on the battlefield in Jiangning will soon be wasted? ”

"But if Li Xiucheng can be used by me with all his heart, then not only can we immediately add an elite team, but the next southeast war will also be much easier." Wu Chaoyue said lightly: "To recover the lost territory in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian, we can at least fight hundreds of battles, save at least one year's time, and sacrifice countless soldiers." ”

"That's a good thing, but how can we confirm that Li Xiucheng is desperate for us?" Dai Wenjie asked: "If Li Xiucheng has different ambitions, he can pretend to surrender to us, first deceive the military power to restore his freedom, and then not only can he escape back to Jiangsu and Zhejiang with the army at any time, but maybe he will suddenly stab us in the back to avenge his loyal Hong Xiuquan." ”

Wu Chaoyue stopped talking, because this is also what Wu Chaoyue is most worried about now, and after thinking about it for a long time, Wu Chaoyue asked, "How is Li Xiucheng's family now?" ”

"It's all very good, according to your orders from King Zhennan, the captured Li Xiucheng's family will all be treated kindly and temporarily locked up in our Yuhuatai camp." Zhou Wenxian replied: "Li Xiucheng's wife wanted to commit suicide by hanging herself before she was arrested, but she was also rescued by us, and a Lang Zhong was specially arranged to take care of her. ”

"Arrange people to send them to reunite with Li Xiucheng." Wu Chaoyue instructed: "Tomorrow at noon, bring Li Xiucheng to have lunch with me, I want to meet him, find out his thoughts, and then make a decision." ”

Zhou Wenxian sang a promise, and carefully reminded: "King Zhennan, you must prevent Li Xiucheng from being inconsistent and deceiving you to trust." ”

"Of course." Wu Chaoyue rubbed his slender fingers and said: "For Li Xiucheng, I really want to reuse it, but I will never take risks, and I will not let the blood of our soldiers be shed in vain." ”

…………

In fact, when the soldiers of the Wu army just sent Li Xiucheng's family to Li Xiucheng's side and reunited Li Xiucheng's family, Li Xiucheng was surprised by Wu Chaoyue's kindness to his family, and soon understood that Wu Chaoyue was showing favor to himself, and wanted to use his identity and prestige to recruit the Taiping army in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Suzhou and Hangzhou. Would you rather die than be a traitor?

Then naturally, Li Xiucheng, who had read a lot of books over the years, soon moved the idea of following the example of Li Zicheng to surrender first and then rebel, and once fantasized about how to escape from the cage and go to the rear of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to make a comeback and avenge Hong Xiuquan and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. - This is also human nature, and it's really no wonder that Li Xiucheng is really there.

And then, the next morning, when Wu Chaoyue sent someone to invite Li Xiucheng to have lunch with him, Li Xiucheng immediately understood that Wu Chaoyue was going to come to the real thing, although he had not made any decisions, but for the sake of Wu Chaoyue's kindness to his elderly mother, wife and children, Li Xiucheng did not hold his head high and categorically refused Wu Chaoyue's kind invitation, and after a little calculation, he followed the soldiers of Wu Jun to the Chinese army camp of Wu Jun, and for the first time in his life, he saw the legendary Wu Chaoyue, and finally verified the truth of a rumor with his own eyes- As is the case with oral tradition, Wu Chaoyue is indeed dry and thin, and his appearance is mediocre and not very good-looking.

To Li Xiucheng's surprise, Wu Chaoyue, who was also seeing him for the first time, was actually meeting some special guests—several ordinary people near Nanjing, small landlords belonging to the squire class, ordinary people who farmed and cultivated land, ordinary merchants, craftsmen and craftsmen, and urban poor people who drove cars and sold coolies. After meeting with Li Xiucheng, Wu Chaoyue was not in a hurry to talk to Li Xiucheng, mainly talking to these ordinary people, asking them about their living conditions and the impact of the war.

I don't know that Li Xiu's achievements brought by the soldiers of the Wu army are the number two people in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and a few flattered ordinary people are all answering questions, and they are just crying to Wu Chaoyue about the various hardships imposed on them by the Taiping army, such as excessive taxes, excessive labor, forced conscription, cruel criminal laws, indiscriminate killing of innocents, and trampling on customs, and so on, and frankly admits that the brutal rule of the Taiping army is no different from that of the Manchu court, where corrupt officials are rampant, and there are even many places where they are not as good as that. Wu Chaoyue sighed continuously after hearing this, and suddenly announced that he would exempt Jiangning Mansion, which had suffered from the war, for two years, in exchange for the gratitude of several people, kowtowing and thanking.

Or after letting the soldiers lead a few people down to eat, Wu Chaoyue turned to Li Xiucheng, first had a polite conversation with Li Xiucheng, ordered people to serve wine and food, invited Li Xiucheng to the table, and suddenly said to Li Xiucheng: "I heard that the situation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang under your rule is better, but in some places I heard that it is more serious than Jiangning, in Zhuji County, Zhejiang, your direct subordinate Yu Tianan Li Fei conscripted troops in order to collect taxes, and directly forced the people of Zhuji to rebel, forcing them to gather people in Baocun in Zhuji to revolt, In order to quell the rebellion, your subordinate Zhou Wenjia surrounded Baocun to cut off the water source, slaughtered people with thirst, and killed tens of thousands of ordinary people in one go. ”

"What does the king of Zhennan mean is that he wants to kill sinners and avenge the people of Bao Village?" Li Xiucheng asked vigilantly.

"Of course not." Wu Chaoyue said calmly: "I want to give you a chance to make meritorious atonements, let you repay the debts to the innocent people on behalf of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, end the war in the southeast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang as soon as possible, let them suffer less from the war, and enjoy peace again as soon as possible." ”

"And then? Change the king of Zhennan, you go to collect taxes, conscription and food? Li Xiucheng asked mockingly.

"What kind of life the common people live under my rule, I think you should know very well." Wu Chaoyue smiled and said, "King Zhong, if you are still an ordinary person, still an ordinary person who lives by burning charcoal, would you like to live in the controlled territory of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, or would you like to live under my rule?" ”

Li Xiucheng stopped talking, Wu Chaoyue waited for a long time and didn't see Li Xiucheng answer, so he smiled again and asked, "Why don't you speak?" King Chung, please touch your conscience and say, is it your people under the rule of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom who are doing well, or the people under my rule who are doing well? ”

Li Xiucheng hesitated for a moment before he said, "Yes, as far as I know, the people under your rule are indeed better off than the people under our Heavenly Kingdom, and they are more than a little better. ”

After speaking, Li Xiucheng said unconvinced: "But I can guarantee that in the area of Suzhou that I directly govern, the life of the common people is no worse than that of the people under your rule, and some places are definitely better than the people under your rule." ”

"But you can only let the people in Suzhou live well, but I let the people of Huguang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Henan, and Shanxi, most of China live and work in peace and contentment." Wu Chaoyue smiled and said, "Do you know why?" is also a son who loves the people, why are you not as good as me? ”

"Why?" Li Xiucheng asked rhetorically.

"Because in your Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, you are the only loyal king, there are too many other jackals, tigers and leopards, and you still have a layer of constraints on your head, and you can't completely let go of anything."

Wu Chaoyue replied solemnly, and said: "I am luckier than you, now I have no restrictions on my head, and there is a more perfect system than your Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to manage jackals, tigers and leopards, so that they dare not be too reckless to exploit and poison the people, so although there are many jackals, tigers and leopards among my subordinate officials, I can still do better than you." You don't have these two advantages of mine, so under your rule, the jackals are in charge, the tigers and leopards are rampant, and the people are suffering. ”

Li Xiucheng stopped talking again, Wu Chaoyue waited for a while, and then stared at Li Xiucheng and said: "King Zhong, help me, and also help a group of innocent people in the southeast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, use your influence in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to help me end the war as soon as possible, let me train those jackals, tigers and leopards under your rule for you, and also let you let go of your benevolent government in Suzhou on a larger territory, and realize the peaceful and prosperous world that you claim that no one in the world is full of warmth." Chungwang, how's it going? Can you help me with this? ”

Li Xiucheng hung his head and didn't speak, the muscles on his face twitched slightly, Wu Chaoyue didn't rush to urge, just raised his glass and smiled: "It's okay, King Zhong, don't worry, you can think about it and answer me." Come, let's have a toast first. ”

Next, Wu Chaoyue didn't mention a word about persuasion, and just talked to Li Xiucheng about his family life during the banquet, asking some about Li Xiucheng's youth before joining the Taiping Army, and frankly admitted that he was also born in a wealthy family because of Li Xiucheng's good life, otherwise maybe he might rise up under the brutal rule of the Manchu court, and fight with the Qing army to the end like Li Xiucheng. Li Xiucheng said very little, and he didn't answer a single sentence when he asked three questions, but he was indeed listening to Wu Chaoyue's story.

In the end, after eating, when Wu Chaoyue arranged for someone to send Li Xiucheng back to reunite with his family, Li Xiucheng suddenly opened his mouth and asked Wu Chaoyue: "King Zhennan, what do you want sinners to help you?" ”

Li Xiucheng's question was too sudden, Wu Chaoyue was stunned at first, and then said with a smile: "I want to ask King Zhong to go to Jiuhuanzhou first, and persuade the Heavenly Army there to surrender, Hong Xiuquan is dead, Jiangning City has also been taken by me, and they are surrounded by rivers and have no way out, so it should be possible to choose to surrender." As far as I know, there are still more than 30,000 people on Jiuhuzhou, so if you can persuade them to lay down their arms and surrender, it will be equivalent to saving more than 30,000 lives. ”

"Okay, I'll go." Li Xiucheng nodded and said: "There are two armies in Jiuhuan Continent, Fu Zhenggang and Liang Fengchao, Liang Fengchao, I dare not guarantee, Fu Zhenggang is my direct general, I am sure that I can persuade him to lay down his arms and surrender." ”

"Then it's hard work to be loyal to the king." Wu Chaoyue smiled and said: "Please prepare as soon as possible, I will also have someone arrange a ship for you, and send you to contact Fu Zhenggang's army first, so that you can be safer." ”

Li Xiucheng agreed, and said that he did not have to make any preparations, he could set off at any time, Wu Chaoyue was overjoyed, and hurriedly arranged the boat, and asked the staff to write a letter of persuasion to persuade Fu Zhenggang and Liang Fengchao to lead the army to lay down their arms and surrender, and then personally sent Li Xiucheng out of the Chinese army camp, and asked the sailor to send a ship to send Li Xiucheng to Jiuhuanzhou to carry out the task of persuading him to surrender. And for Wu Chaoyue's decision, no one in Wu Jun's civil and military forces objected - anyway, Jiuhuanzhou is surrounded by water, and Li Xiucheng can't run away if he wants to.

More than two hours later, when the Wu army boat sent Li Xiucheng to Jiuhuanzhou and sent it to the defense area of Li Xiucheng's general Fu Zhenggang, although Li Xiucheng soon saw Fu Zhenggang, his direct subordinate general who had been surrounded on Jiuhuanzhou for many days, he said as soon as they met: "Beyond the little demon wants to recruit me, I pretended to agree, and came to persuade you and Liang Fengchao to lead the army to surrender on his behalf, and I am ready to take this opportunity to help you escape from Jiuhuanzhou, and take you back to Suzhou and Hangzhou to make a comeback." ”

Speaking of this, Li Xiucheng paused for a moment, and then ordered: "Send someone to contact Liang Fengchao immediately, invite him over, and we will discuss what to do together." ”