On the evening of the eleventh day when the dreamers entered the dream of the Dongzhou forces, that is, the sixth day after the coalition army entered the Tail City Plain, they were finally able to enter the tail city.

Li Wei still couldn't believe the rebels' voluntary surrender, so Sima Fuqiang did not force him, and simply let the Lizhou army continue to stay in the camp, and only took the Eastern Navy to receive Weicheng, so as not to get entangled at the time.

Compared with Li Wei's cowering, the Eastern Navy firmly believed in the words of the dreamer, and saw the mountain of rebel weapons outside the south gate of the tail city, so he did not hesitate to follow the dream man into the tail city.

In fact, they have nothing to worry about, as long as the gate of the tail city is opened, even if Du Ziteng dares to brush up on any conspiracy, the Eastern Navy is sure to break the trick and smash the other party's conspiracy.

But obviously these are all too worried, Du Ziteng obviously will not use his future and surname to play this kind of trick. He also knew that as long as the gates of Tail City were opened, with the low morale of the rebels now, it would be impossible to stop the other party. So instead of focusing on lingering, it's better to plan for the future.

As for Sima Fuqiang and Zhang Wei, they are full of confidence in Huang Zhi's "social" skills, although the first two persuasions were a little unfavorable, but although the third persuasion was a little tortuous, Li Erhu still lived up to expectations, and even performed better than expected, so that Huang Zhi almost didn't have to say anything to agree with Du Ziteng about the surrender.

At this time, Li Erhu took the lead with a spring breeze on his face, and went straight to the city gate, and was waiting for the Eastern Navy to come and receive Du Ziteng in the tail city. When he gave his former boss a bear hug, which suddenly brought the relationship between the two armies closer, Huang Zhi couldn't help but wonder if this straight-hearted guy was also an aboriginal outlier with "social" ability.

After Du Ziteng and Li Erhu embraced, he walked over to the man in his dream and presented his sword with both hands, which was also the most critical step in surrender, representing a symbol of his official surrender of military power.

Huang Zhi took the sword from the other party's hand, looked at Du Ziteng's tiger eyes with some tears, and couldn't help but have another view of this rebel general, "Emphasizing love and righteousness, knowing current affairs, and knowing advance and retreat, this is a talent." I hope he doesn't get too tainted with the ruffians of the rebels. ”

After receiving the sword, Huang Zhi handed it over to Sima Fuqiang beside him according to the process that had been privately agreed upon by the three stinkers in advance.

The captain of the East China Sea took the sword, which had followed Du Ziteng for many years, and stroked it gently. Immediately, he stopped Du Ziteng, who was already about to turn back, solemnly handed back the saber, and said, "You are not defeated, but joined our Eastern Navy, so we can't accept your saber." Make good use of it and continue to benefit the people of Lebanon! ”

Du Ziteng took back his sword from Sima Fuqiang's hand, he could no longer control his emotions, and two lines of hot tears flowed uncontrollably. He didn't say much, because no words could express what he felt at the moment, he just silently followed everyone behind him and stepped into the south gate of the end city.

As a demoted general, and a rebel general wanted by the Dongzhou Imperial Court, unless he is a traitor to seek glory, there is basically no possibility of being pardoned. Although Lord Shixin promised to save his life, he never thought that he would still be able to maintain his dignity.

The next thing is to exchange defenses, count and hand over supplies, and stay busy until the evening to temporarily stop the road. As Li Wei said at the beginning, this city really hoarded a large amount of wealth, grain and grass looted by the rebels in the past two years, enough for the Eastern Navy to expand its army to 10,000 people and maintain it for a year. If you add the East China Sea Territory's own taxes, the East China Sea can be expanded to 20,000 people without causing too much burden to the people in the territory.

Looking at so many supplies, the curious baby Xiaofeng of the East China Sea team has a problem again. "If the rebels have so much wealth, why do you say that they are desperate to maintain 20,000 soldiers and horses? 20,000 soldiers and horses is actually not much. ”

Sima Fuqiang was in a good mood at this time, so after just giving him a blank look, he began to answer for his other teammates who also had this question, "There are a total of eighty-one counties in Kyushu in the entire territory of the Dongzhou forces, if each county has 20,000 troops, then there are 1.62 million soldiers and horses in the whole country. ”

"Is 1,620,000 troops a lot? In the Battle of Chibi, Cao Ying sent millions of troops, and Qin Fujian was also a million army before the Battle of Weishui. Xiaofeng argued.

"You can't refer to battles on the scale of the Battle of Chibi and the Battle of Weishui, in fact, most of the battles in ancient times were usually only a few thousand to tens of thousands of people. Moreover, the actual strength of the three sides in the Battle of Chibi combined was only 250,000, of which Cao's army also included a large number of baggage soldiers who were temporarily recruited to transport grain and grass materials. ”

Regarding this problem, Huang Zhi also studied a little, "Yes, the standing forces of Wei, Shu, and Wu add up to less than one million. And such a small place in Weixian County has to raise 20,000 soldiers and horses, which is indeed beyond the burden of the people. ”

Liu Yuanzhi on the side couldn't help but interject when he heard this, "Three years ago, the population of Weixian County was about 100,000, and after years of fighting after the rebel uprising, before Weidongguan was captured, the population had shrunk to less than 50,000. Basically, three people raise two soldiers, and the burden on the people is too heavy! Therefore, after Weidongguan was occupied by you, a large number of refugees from Weixian County flowed into the East China Sea in order to avoid excessive taxes. ”

Huang Zhi pinched his fingers and calculated, "As of the Second Battle of Weidongguan, the number of refugees flowing into the East China Sea from Weixian County has reached 15,000. In this way, not counting the strength of the rebels, the population of Weixian at this time is only about 15,000 people, which is not as good as the East China Sea. With such a small population, even if we don't send troops to Tail City, the rebels will completely lose the opportunity to make a comeback. ”

Du Ziteng was also listening quietly, as a senior general of the rebel army, he had always been free from the suffering of the people, and he only looked at the resources in the hands of the rebels.

At this moment, it seems that this army has indeed decayed in a short period of time, and is moving towards the abyss of no return step by step, and the strong intervention of the Eastern Navy has only accelerated the speed of their destruction.

Looking at Liu Yuanzhi, Du Ziteng was once again annoyed by the rebels' rat eyes. If this person had realized the importance of this person's surname earlier, perhaps the rebels would not have come to this point.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion, "There are few capable people in the righteous army, and when it comes to it, it is just this article and one martial art, all of which have been caught by your army, and it is difficult for the Eastern Navy to become strong if it is not strong." ”

"Oh? One article and one martial arts, what General Du said should be Liu Yuanzhi and Li Erhu, right? Huang Zhi didn't expect Du Ziteng to speak so highly of these two.

"yes, it's these two." Du Ziteng sighed, "The rebel army was formerly a bandit, with poor military discipline and low quality, but it's a pity that the two tigers are brave and brave, but there are no good soldiers to bring." Liu Yuanzhi is even more condescending, because he is jealous and is idle in Weinancang, and his ambitions are nowhere to be displayed. It is really a blessing for the two of them to join the Eastern Navy, which is more suitable for their development. ”

"Hehe, pass the prize, pass the prize!" Huang Zhi arched his hand towards him, and the topic changed, "What about General Du himself?" Can the Eastern Navy tolerate you, the great god? ”

"Great God ......" Du Ziteng smiled awkwardly, "Du is a defeated general under the Eastern Navy at the moment, and it is a great luck to be able to be a pawn of the Eastern Navy without giving up." ”

Huang Zhi looked at his eyes, although the rebel boss of Weixian County said so, he couldn't hide the loneliness in his eyes, obviously the "pawn" was not from his heart, he could only say it on his lips.

No matter how downtrodden Du Ziteng is at the moment, he is a member of the rebel army after all, and he once had 4,000 soldiers and horses under his command, which is much more than the current Eastern Navy. Huang Zhi can persuade his people, but he may not be able to subdue his heart.

The temple of the Eastern Navy is still very small, and it is not easy to accommodate this big Buddha, no matter what position he is entrusted with, he can't help but feel lost. You can't let him be in charge of the Eastern Navy, above the people in your dreams, then you really invited a big Buddha to offer. In the final analysis, the most he can be given by the Eastern Navy is the commander of a battalion of troops with the same status as Wu Qiang and others.

Thinking of this, Huang Zhi decided to test Du Ziteng's heart, "General Du, we plan to return Wanghui City to you, and you can take your soldiers and horses back to take charge of the city." ”

Du Ziteng's eyes lit up when he heard this, but this little spark was immediately extinguished, and he shook his head dejectedly, "Thank you Lord Shixin for your kindness!" Du did not dare to take on this big responsibility. ”

"Oh? What is General Du's plan? Seeing that Du Ziteng was still relatively rational and was not carried away by this sudden temptation, Huang Zhi was very satisfied.

"Today, I heard Erhu's scolding, and Du Mou was much more sober." patted Li Erhu on the shoulder beside him, and then said, "Aren't there two ways for the Eastern Navy to treat prisoners of war, let these brothers choose for themselves." If they are willing to disarm and return to the field, I hope you will arrange a good home for them. If they are willing to continue to serve as soldiers, they should also be re-screened and trained according to the standards of the Eastern Navy. As for Du, I will follow your arrangements and dare not have any complaints. ”

"In that case, General Du will go back to Dongguan with us first." Huang Zhi didn't plan to arrange a position for the other party so soon for the time being, because Du Ziteng's heart had not yet settled down.

At this moment, Du Ziteng can keep saying that he is willing to obey all arrangements, but if he is really stuffed to the grassroots level to become a petty officer, I am afraid that it will not take a few days to make him complain and even resentful. People's hearts are like this, once the sea is difficult to water, it is not easy to make a once brilliant person willing to live in the future.

The night passed in a blink of an eye, and Li Wei watched the camp of the coalition army all night, and saw that the rebels were indeed sincere in surrendering, and he came to the south gate with the army of the state capital early the next morning.

At this moment, the men and horses guarding the city had already been replaced by people from the Eastern Navy, and someone immediately went to report the matter to Sima Fuqiang and others.

Sima Fuqiang hesitated for a moment, then turned his head to ask Huang Zhi and Zhang Wei's opinions, "Let him in now, okay?" ”

Zhang Wei shook his head, but he didn't object to this matter, but expressed his love for this kind of thing, "Don't ask me about this, let's listen to Shixin's opinion." ”

Huang Zhi thought for a moment, "Let him in, why not." ”

"But we haven't packed up our things yet, aren't you afraid that he will regret it?" Sima Fuqiang is worried about this, "Now that Weicheng has been taken, he now has the confidence, relying on his identity as an official of the state capital, I am afraid that he will want to take a share of the wealth of the rebels." ”

"That's for sure." Huang Zhi has no objection to this, but he is still confident that he can deal with Li Wei, "But are we so easy to bully?" As long as he brought Du Ziteng with him, he wouldn't dare to open this mouth for anything. ”

Sima Fuqiang came to his senses, nodded, and asked people to open the door and let the state army come in. However, he himself took a group of dream people from the East China Sea team and Du Ziteng, Li Erhu, and Liu Yuanzhi, the generals of Weixian County, to sit in the Weicheng official office, and did not greet them.

Li Wei walked into the official office with a high spirit, and he had already regained the arrogance he had before the defeat. Seeing that the people in the dream did not greet each other, but still occupied the official office of the tail city, he was a little angry.

As soon as Li Wei wanted to speak, Huang Zhi spoke first, "General Li, I'm sorry, according to the agreement, this tail city should be handed over to you from now on." But there are still as many as 1,500 rebels in this city to be appeased, so I am afraid that we will have to borrow your place for two days before we leave the city with them. Do you think it's okay? ”

Only then did Li Wei realize that it was not only the dreamer who was present, but the rebel general Du Ziteng was also sitting there loudly, and most of the arrogance in his heart immediately dissipated.

Li Wei is not as good as the Eastern Navy in the war, but it does not mean that he can't scheming, and in a blink of an eye, he immediately understood Huang Zhi's fearlessness. That's right, at this time, he must not offend the Eastern Navy, otherwise he will really die without a place to be buried.

At this moment, there are only 1,000 people in the tail city from the state capital, while the main force of the Eastern Navy plus the newly collected rebel army has a full 3,000 troops. If you turn your face with them here, the dream man will dare to do Li Wei in this city, and he will not have to take responsibility, he can push the rebels clean afterwards, and then monopolize all the materials and credits, and he can also claim to the outside world that Li Wei was killed in the attack on Weicheng, and their Eastern Navy helped Li Wei take revenge.

Thinking of this, Li Wei broke out in a cold sweat, it seems that he still came early, and he entered the tail city without waiting for the Eastern Navy to leave with the rebels, and he was simply sent to the door. Originally, he was going to find some excuse to let the Eastern Navy leave some of his belongings, but he didn't dare to mention anything at this time.

"Oh, this, there are so many troops in the city now, I'm afraid the barracks are not enough to live in. Why don't I go back to the camp with my men? Li Wei was like a turtle with a shrunken head for a moment, and it was like quitting the city.

How could Huang Zhi accept it, since Li Wei had already taken the initiative to enter the city, he couldn't help it. "Oh, what did General Li say. This city is already the general's city, and we are the ones who want to move out, but the rebels have too many supplies to sort it out for a while. Therefore, the army from the state capital should live in the barracks in the city, so you don't have to shirk this. In fact, there are still a lot of barracks in the city, but they are a little scattered, please ask the general to be wronged, and I will let Liu Changshi arrange it for you later. As for you, the general, just live with us in the official office. ”

"This gentleman is so ruthless! Not only did they scatter my forces and put them under siege by the Eastern Navy and the rebels, but they also wanted to put my people under house arrest in the official office! Your! Li Wei scolded in his heart, but on the surface, he had to accompany the smiling face, "Oh, Li is used to eating and sleeping with his subordinates, so he won't live in this official office for the time being." ”

Huang Zhi no longer talked to him, and waved his hand to let Liu Yuanzhi take Li Wei away.

Li Erhu, Xiaofeng and the others were confused, they didn't know which play Huang Zhi and Li Wei were singing, seeing that both sides were speaking so politely, but the tone revealed a gloomy feeling, and they always felt that there was some conspiracy in it.

But Du Ziteng's eyes lit up from the sidelines, and he found that this gentleman's ability to scheming was really superb, and more importantly, the Eastern Navy was really not the same as the Lizhou Army. In this way, he is a little more interested in the Eastern Navy, otherwise if he wants to be a lackey of the official army, he will have to suffocate to death.

Sima Fuqiang also understood, and couldn't help but give him a thumbs up, "You can do it!" Let that kid suffer a dumb loss! ”

The key is that Huang Zhi did not have a single threatening word from beginning to end, every sentence was so high-sounding, if Li Wei still had a chance to sit back on his throne in the future, it would be completely impossible to turn over the old accounts for today's affairs.

Two days later, the supplies in Weicheng were finally sorted out, all the carriages and horses were loaded, and all the troops were transported back to the East China Sea Territory, whether it was used to help refugees or as military expenses for the Eastern Navy, that was not something that Li Wei could manage.

This Dingyuan general who left the state capital could only sit in an empty city, but it was a great feat, but he needed to think of a reasonable explanation for it, so as to explain to Lord Lizhou why he, the great hero who captured the tail city, did not capture a single soldier, nor did he capture even a little grain and grass.

Looking at the distant backs of the Eastern Navy and the rebels they had subdued, Li Wei gritted his teeth on the tower of the South Gate.

The army walked dozens of miles away, and Du Ziteng, who had been sullen, suddenly broke away from his team, rode a horse to the man in his dream, and arched his hand to everyone, but he looked unspeakable.

"Just say what's going on." Huang Zhi had long seen that there were still many cruxes in his heart that needed to be solved one by one.

"Du has a reluctant request, and I ask you for your approval." Du Ziteng knelt on one knee and looked very solemn. Although Du has been in Wei County for the past two years, he has never really understood the land he lives in. If the adults are unified, Du hopes to take a look around before going to the East China Sea to truly understand the current situation of Wei County and the suffering of the people. ”

Sima Fuqiang was still thinking about whether to agree to his request, but Huang Zhi opened his mouth, "Go!" I agreed. ”

Hearing this, Du Ziteng looked at Huang Zhi gratefully, but looked at Sima Fuqiang with some hesitation.

"Since Shixin agrees, you can go!" Although he still did not understand Huang Zhi's intentions, Sima Fuqiang did not intend to overturn his decision in public, which was related to Huang Zhi's prestige.

Du Ziteng once again bowed his hand to everyone, "Du promises that after such a circle, he will return to Weidongguan to report and serve all of you!" ”

Then he turned and mounted his horse, and walked away.

"Just let him go? Shixin, aren't you afraid that he will pull up a team again to oppose us? The first one who couldn't help but speak was still Xiaofeng.

"No, he doesn't have the ability to pull up another team." Huang Zhi looked at Du Ziteng's distant back and shook his head, "Although I can't be sure that he will definitely come back, I can be sure that when he appears in front of us again, we will be able to truly get his allegiance, and we can really get a general who has returned to his roots!" ”

"It seems that you have already arranged a place for him in the Eastern Navy, am I right?" Sima Fuqiang finally understood Huang Zhi's good intentions.

"Let's go, it's been a long time since I've been back to Donghai Town, let's go!" Huang Zhi waved his hand.

(To be continued)