The seventh day of the third month of the third year of Jianwen, Texas.

Sheng Yong, who led an army of 200,000 to Texas, finally recovered the entire territory of Texas after spending two months, but before he had time to rejoice for too long, a will sent by the imperial court made him fall into deep confusion.

In the camp outside Texas City, he held this clear decree, confused, and looked at the generals around him: "Your Majesty... What is the meaning? ”

The last sentence of the Ming Decree is the sentence that Zhu Yunwen said when he sent Geng Bingwen out of Jinling: I hope the general will encourage... Don't let me bear the name of killing my uncle.

Now most of the generals in the southern army were promoted by Sheng Yong in the past six months, after all, he himself is half a clay leg, so he has to build his own team, fighting is not a joke, and it will be funny if the command does not turn when the time comes, it is necessary for a commander to cultivate cronies in the army, not to mention that Sheng Yong feels that these generals who have followed him all the way since the Battle of Jinan are no worse than the previous court generals.

But this raises a very serious problem -- that is, the political understanding of these people is not much better.

I think that when Geng Bingwen and Li Jinglong heard Zhu Yunwen's words, they instantly understood, knowing that His Majesty wanted to be both a and a memorial arch, and wanted to send Zhu Di back to the West, but also didn't want the charge of killing his uncle to fall on his head, so he hinted slightly, hoping that Geng Bingwen and Li Jinglong would work harder, and don't make any drama about capturing Zhu Di alive and sending him to Jinling to ask for the crime.

But Sheng Yong doesn't understand this, if he had Geng Bingwen's understanding of old fritters, or Li Jinglong's sense of smell that he had polished in Jinling for many years, he wouldn't have been able to even lead an army under Li Jinglong. In the past six months, he has not even had time to return to Jinling.

And it's the eve of the big war ... You must know that Zhu Di went south with all his belongings this time, and in just a few months, he made up more than 100,000 troops, and now he has crossed the Baigou River and is advancing towards Dezhou, if it weren't for Zhu Di's aggressiveness, Sheng Yong didn't have to rush to recover Texas before the battle, so as to form a corner with the real Wu Jie and Guo Ying to stop Zhu Di from going south.

With the current situation, a big war is inevitable, and the imperial court has passed a decree at this time, and it is still necessary to announce the clear decree of the world, saying that there is no special meaning Sheng Yong does not believe it, but the problem is... What exactly does His Majesty want him to do?

In addition to retalking the old saying, Zhu Di, who was originally a thief but claimed to be a martyr, was counted down, and the only thing that Sheng Yong couldn't figure out was this last sentence, but on the battlefield, where is the reason not to hurt the enemy commander? Your Majesty doesn't want to be in the name of killing your uncle, but Zhu Di on the opposite side is so happy, and he must fight a decisive battle...

There was a dead silence in the big tent, and the dozen or so generals who followed Sheng Yong from the bottom were all at a loss, and finally a usually clever general broke the silence with a voice: "General, is Your Majesty... Want us to capture King Yan alive? ”

As soon as the words fell, someone immediately stood up and retorted: "Are you crazy? King Yan rushed up to catch you? This is a confrontation between the two armies! In the chaos of the army, the sword and arrow have no eyes, who can guarantee that they will be captured alive? ”

"But the will is so clear... Could it be that His Majesty has compassion? ”

"After all, it's still an uncle and nephew..."

"Then why didn't you see the war before, why didn't Your Majesty order to capture King Yan alive?"

"I'm afraid that Your Majesty also thinks that King Yan is at the end of his rope? If he can defeat King Yan this time, what chance does he have? ”

"It's also..."

For a while, there was a lot of discussion among the generals, but the tone was biased towards His Majesty's soft-heartedness, otherwise why would such a will be passed down at this time?

God is pitiful, when Zhu Yuanzhang chose Zhu Yunwen to inherit the unification, it was because he took a fancy to his benevolent and filial piety, although Lao Zhu may have selectively forgotten the truth that people will change when they grow up, but Zhu Yunwen himself knows that in order to maintain this character, some things must be done.

Isn't it? A clear decree was issued, announcing to the world, although it is not right for you Zhu Laosi to rebel, but I miss family affection very much, even if you rebel, I can't bear to let you die on the spot, so I made such a decree to let the front-line army spare your life... What? None of the front-line soldiers paid attention to hacking Zhu Di to death? That's a pity, I originally only planned to give Sheng Yong a duke, so let's make a marquis as a punishment.

Are you kidding?! The Duke of the Ming Dynasty has not been sealed since the founding of the country, even if Sheng Yong kills Zhu Di, he can't reach that position, and if there is a marquis, he will steal the fun, and show punishment?

This is Zhu Yunwen's thoughts, anyway, if you want to do a good job in your own personality, the pot will be carried by you Sheng Yong, anyway, you are indispensable for you, and when the time comes, I will also miss you for some scolding.

But Sheng Yong can't understand all this, not only does he not understand, but the mud-legged generals under him are also virtuous, Zhu Yunwen's will is clearly written, where do they want to get that layer?

After hesitating for a long time, although Sheng Yong still couldn't figure out why His Majesty would do such a thing as taking off his pants and farting, but the will is the will, just do it, he put down the edict, frowned and said: "Biography... Order, the whole army, if you meet Zhu Di, the king of Yan, can only be captured alive, not ... Swords and axes are added to the body. ”

"General!"

"Dashuai!"

Several generals couldn't help but be shocked when they heard that Sheng Yong was going to give such a ridiculous military order, but seeing Sheng Yong's resolute attitude, they could only grit their teeth and admit it, and went back to the camp to pass the military order.

Not long after, this absurd military order spread among the southern sergeants...

……

"Hey, have you heard, the big marshal ordered, saying that you can't touch a single hair of King Yan."

"You just know? This is the emperor's will! I'll just say, after all, it's an uncle and nephew, where can I really die and live? Maybe this battle will become a confession when it is fought. ”

"No, so many people died before..."

"What are dead people, do you think, Yan Rebellion... Phew, after all, Prince Yan is the emperor's own uncle, if he asks for surrender one day, don't you want to go back to be the prince? Those of us who are small soldiers, if we offend the prince, is it a dead end? You, learn to be smarter, don't always think about making meritorious contributions, this merit must also be enjoyed by life. ”

"It's true..."

Under the cold night wind, two non-commissioned officers huddled in the military tent were whispering about the military order handed down today, and this kind of discussion was being staged in every corner of the Southern Army camp.

The values of this era determine that the soldiers are very understanding of His Majesty's will of the emperor, after all, it is an uncle and nephew, although the sword and the soldiers meet each other, it is a contradiction between the enemy and me, but if one day the two decide not to fight, come to a meeting to recognize relatives, and then a reconciliation, and transform it into a contradiction among the people, it will be very bad.

At that time, Zhu Di may still be able to continue to be the prince, and when he has nothing to do, he recalls the difficulty of fighting in the army, and remembers that on a certain day, a certain year, a certain month, and a certain person cut himself or shot an arrow in a certain battle, although Zhu Di may not be happy in his career at that time, but it is still easy to make the whole small soldier.

This is still the situation of Zhu Di's survival, if Zhu Di dies on the battlefield, it will be even worse, this may have been a great credit before, but now His Majesty has made such a will, and it is clear that he has compassion for his own uncle, if this is a soldier who does not open his eyes on the battlefield and stabs Zhu Di with a knife, not to mention that he can't get the credit, and he may be cut off by His Majesty afterwards, after all, no matter how great the credit is worth the family affection of others?

In just one day, this military order caused a strong response in the barracks, and I don't know how many soldiers who were originally sharpening their knives and preparing to make meritorious contributions suddenly became frosted eggplants, and they made up their minds to stay away from Zhu Di's handsome banner on the battlefield.

This is the consequence of this will, and it is also Zhu Yunwen's stupidity, he did not consider whether the people below could understand his meaning, let alone the possible impact of this will, you must know that the most powerful part of this order is not the so-called not to harm Zhu Di himself, but countless generals and soldiers of the Southern Army saw the possibility of reconciliation between His Majesty the Emperor and King Yan in this will.

Imagine that the original enemy may one day even become his own master, who would dare to do it? So no one wants to do such a thankless thing as killing Zhu Di.

If Geng Bingwen and Li Jinglong saw this scene here, they were afraid that they would really be laughed to death by Sheng Yong.

However, this is also the sad place of a general who has climbed up from the bottom, he has no close civil officials in Jinling who can ask for credit for him, and there is no relationship between the generals and disciples all over the army, Xu Huizu went to Daying to see his face, and Li Jinglong's straw bag in the court also waved the flag and shouted for him, but what about himself? If he hadn't defended Jinan with Tie Xuan, what qualifications would he have to stand here and have a decisive battle with Zhu Di commanding two armies?

At this time, Sheng Yong didn't know that after all the dust settled, the first sentence of the later "History of the Ming Dynasty, the Biography of Sheng Yong" was: Sheng Yong, I don't know who it is.

How funny! How ridiculous!

No one in the court is like this, no one protects him if something happens, no one praises him for his meritorious service, and the people in Jinling City may think that he is a famous general, when he is the hope of the Ming Dynasty, but among the hundreds of officials in the court, which one really regards him as the mainstay? If he loses, he will be a sinner through the ages, and if he wins, no one will think that he saved Daming.

So what's the point of not understanding that will? He Sheng Yong has been walking on thin ice every day for half a year, so instead of speculating about His Majesty's intentions, it is better to follow the will, and then think carefully about how to fight the battle in front of him.

Sheng Yong's square face was full of sadness, he may not be a smart person like Tie Xuan, but he understood at least one thing.

He doesn't have the qualifications to be cranky about to fight Zhu Di, he can't guarantee that he can win, but at least he has to ensure that he...

No mistakes can be made.