Two miles north of Gangneung City, 6,000 people stood in formation.

When the army was withdrawn, the people who withdrew to the north, except for some of the food and grass, all the rest came back to clean the battlefield.

The weapons thrown away by the Chu army were all picked up, and the armor of the Chu army's corpse was also stripped off, but the clothes on the corpse were still there. One corpse after another, neatly lined up outside the city, waiting for Zhong Xiang to send someone to receive it.

The moat is also full of corpses, and some have even floated into the Yangtze River, so there is nothing I can do to help this, so I have to catch it by myself on Zhong Xiang's side.

Zhong Xiang stood at the head of the city, watched the people move the corpses, and only said to the generals around him for a long time: "You take the soldiers and the people, go out from the east and west gates, and when the enemy leaves, move the corpses back to the city." The corpses in the moat have also been salvaged, and I want to surpass the souls of the soldiers who died in battle, so that they can go to the Great Bright Kingdom cleanly. ”

The transcendence of the dead is an important ritual in Manichaeism.

Because the doctrine says that human beings are the children of the devil, and Mingzun is the one who came to the earth to save souls.

Manichaeism was greatly influenced by Zoroastrianism, and it stands to reason that it could neither be buried nor cremated. But religion always has to follow the customs, and the Chinese population is numerous, so how can they have many empty lands and high mountains to carry out sky burials?

With so many corpses in front of him, they must be burned, otherwise the plague is very likely to break out.

The military Chinese officer named Cheng Hu came again, and brought the body of Xia Cheng, the Eastern Holy Gong, and said to the general in charge of moving the body: "Our army is a benevolent and righteous army, and it will not abuse prisoners, and even the corpses of enemies will not be insulted." The deceased is great, and today I am here to send back the body of the Eastern Saint Father of your country! ”

Although the generals of the Chu army hated Zhu Ming to the core, they could only clench their fists when they encountered this kind of thing: "Thank you!" ”

Cheng Hu also said: "Please tell the emperor of your country that the generalissimo wants to talk to him, and I am solely responsible for the negotiation." ”

Not long after, Cheng Hu was invited into the city.

Zhong Xiang was no longer as imposing as before the war, and asked, "What else is there to talk about?" ”

Cheng Hu said: "I'm afraid there aren't many people left in your army, 10,000 or 20,000?" Even if 30,000 people can escape back, how many soldiers will be left? It may not be too late to remove their armor when they flee, but most of their weapons will be thrown away. I know that there is no shortage of warriors in the Chu army, and they all have the determination to defend to the end. Can you really hold on? The generalissimo is kind-hearted and can't bear to see more casualties, so please let go of Gangneung yourself, but you are not allowed to take the people in Gangneung City! ”

Population is what Zhu Ming wants.

If Zhong Xiang is in a hurry, I am afraid that he will drive the people in the city to defend the city, and even if Jiangling is defeated, the population will wither.

In fact, the Chu army that participated in the battle before already had three or four thousand people, and they were recruited residents in Jiangling City.

Zhong Xiang still had doubts, he was afraid that Jiangling would be gone, and Zhu Ming would lead his troops across the river.

Cheng Hu said: "The two sides can make an oath to sign a contract, Your Excellency swears by the Manichaean gods, and the Generalissimo swears by the gods with three feet above his head, and the two sides agree not to fight again within three years. How is it? ”

"How would he keep his promise?" Zhong Xiang sneered.

Cheng Hu said: "After Mo talked about the army, it was before the army, and the generalissimo never broke his promise. To put it mildly, the Chu army is not qualified enough to let the generalissimo break his promise, and even this battle did not move seriously. The 300,000 soldiers of our army have not yet come to Sichuan. ”

"The one who keeps his promise will kill my son's war horse during the negotiations?" Zhong Xiang asked.

Cheng Hu smiled: "It's just killing a beast, and it doesn't hurt anyone." ”

Zhong Xiang actually just wanted to go down the stairs, and he couldn't go down anymore: "Let's say, what other unreasonable demands does the surname Zhu have." ”

Cheng Hu Lion opened his mouth: "Changyang, Yidu, Songzi, Ezhou (Wuchang), Wuchang (Ezhou), these five cities must be ceded to me." ”

"Don't think!"

Zhong Xiang was furious: "Zhu Ming'er, you deceived me too much. If you want to fight, I won't agree even if I die here! ”

Cheng Hu said: "Your Excellency is defeated, you have to come up with something to make a truce. If you do not agree with this proposal, please also give us an explanation. ”

Zhong Xiang said: "Only to Gangneung and Zhijiang." ”

Cheng Hu shook his head: "Our army in Zhijiang has already been defeated, and Jiangling has also come to the city. These two cities were originally our army's, and Your Excellency is too insincere. Your Excellency really wants to fight again, and our army will accompany you to the end. I know that Your Excellency still has a large army in Jinghu, but the 300,000 army in Sichuan is not an ornament! ”

"An army of 300,000 people, I'm afraid I can only coax children." Of course, Zhong Xiang didn't believe it.

Cheng Hu said: "Jinghu Road is vast and sparsely populated, and Your Excellency can have more than 100,000 troops. Sichuan is densely populated, why can't it have 300,000 troops? The regular soldiers who are fighting now are similar to the forbidden army of the Great Song Dynasty. We also have tens of thousands of patrol soldiers, similar to the box army of the Great Song Dynasty. There are also countless peasant soldiers, who practice in addition to farming, similar to the township soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty, with a number of more than 200,000. ”

With such an analysis, Zhong Xiang actually believed that there were 800,000 points in Sichuan, maybe there were really 300,000 troops in Sichuan.

Cheng Hu continued: "The barbarians in southern Sichuan are in turmoil, and the Dali country also comes to harass them, and they have to guard against the officers and soldiers going south, and the generalissimo really doesn't want to fight with your country anymore. Why don't the two sides shake hands and make peace, our army will go all out to deal with Nanban and Dali, and then go north to attack Shaanxi and Henan. Your country will make every effort to take the entire territory of Jinghu Road, and you can attack Jiangxi to the east and Guangxi to the south. Both you and I are rebels, and the Great Song Dynasty has not yet perished, how can we kill each other? ”

Of course, Zhong Xiang wanted to expand to the east and south, but Zhu Ming was north of the Yangtze River, and he divided his troops to defend the city along the river.

Cheng Hu proposed: "It's better to send envoys from both sides to be guests in the cities along the river." The garrison of each riverside city should not exceed 1,000, so that each other can rest assured and mobilize more troops to fight officers and soldiers. After the truce, the two sides resumed contact and could do business on each other's territory. ”

This proposal made Zhong Xiang extremely excited.

If he didn't deploy heavy troops along the river, he would be able to take a large number of elites south, and he would definitely be able to take down a few silver mines in the south. The industry and commerce of Jinghu Road are underdeveloped, and after occupying a large number of silver mines, you can also use the silver to buy materials from Zhu Ming.

Thinking about it, Zhong Xiang said: "Only give Yidu and Changyang two cities, and the rest of the cities don't think." ”

"Then give me some more money and food." Cheng Hu said.

"Don't give it!" Zhong Xiang refused.

Cheng Hu had already completed his task, but he still pretended to say: "I want to go back and ask the generalissimo and reply tomorrow." ”

Zhong Xiang shouted: "Send off!" ”

……

Zhu Ming said: "I have a detailed work on Jinghu Road, although it is not easy to send back news, but I can still send back a few secret letters. The state of Chu used a legal altar similar to a club to replace the township baojia. But those country altar owners are slowly becoming new squires. Moreover, the trade of merchants who fled abroad was almost stagnant, and many cities needed to organize people to transport grain supplies. Do you still think Zhong Xiang can make things happen? ”

Ying Xuan sighed: "Some of his practices are indeed debatable. ”

"My meticulous work can only explore the countryside and cities, and I don't know much about the magnates of the Chu State," Zhu Ming asked, "Can you tell me what those magnates think?" ”

Ying Xuan said: "Although the Holy Princes, Holy Kings, and Holy Princes also began to enjoy it, they did not do too much. If you put them in the Great Song Dynasty, they are all Qing officials. Even the emperor of Chu did not accept a few more concubines, dressed better, ate better, and built the palace without wanton ruin. ”

Zhu Ming smiled: "That's because the goods they grabbed haven't been used up yet, right?" What do those Chu magnates think of Manichaeism? ”

Ying Xuan said: "Few of the people who responded to the army believed in Manichaeism. ”

This is very similar to the Fang La uprising, there are always some heroes who responded to the uprising and were willing to obey Fang La as the co-leader, but they did not believe in Manichaeism at all.

It's just that Zhu Ming helped withstand the officers and soldiers, and Zhong Xiang had enough time and energy to integrate forces in the early days of the uprising, and his control over the responders far exceeded that of Fang La.

Zhu Ming inquired about the situation in detail and learned more information from Yingxuan.

Perhaps because the time was still short, although Zhong Xiang and his generals began to enjoy themselves, compared with the leaders of the peasant armies of previous dynasties, they are now very able to stick to their original intentions.

There is no big problem in the upper echelons of the Chu State, and the really bad ones are the middle and lower echelons!

In particular, the newly occupied territory this year can be described as a mixture of fish and dragons, and countless speculators have joined, and it is impossible to distinguish at all.

The Southern Shenggong of Chu led troops to fight Guiyang Prison and asked Hengzhou officials to recruit troops and transport grain to participate in the war. As a result, the war really started, and the soldiers brought by those opportunists were paddling and fishing the whole time, and they were crushed at the touch of the face of the officers and soldiers, and only the headquarters of the Southern Holy Princes were willing to fight.

……

A few days later, the peace treaty was signed.

Yidu and Changyang, two small cities close to Yiling, were willing to be sold to Zhu Ming by the state of Chu, and recognized Jiangling and Zhijiang as Zhu Ming's territory.

It's not a cession, it's a sale, and Zhong Xiang also wants to save face.

Yidu is worth 3,000 yuan and 1,000 stone of grain; Changyang is worth 2,000 yuan and 800 stones. Although it is equivalent to picking up for nothing, money and food must be given, and Zhong Xiang promised not to take away too many people (craftsmen he will roll away).

Gangneung doesn't have to give money, but the soldiers and craftsmen from Gangneung, Zhong Xiang also have to take it away.

The two sides sent envoys to each other, and they lived in the cities along the river, and kept an eye on the situation of their respective garrisons, each city, including the suburbs, and the garrison should not exceed 2,000 people.

Non-governmental trade will be fully resumed and exchanges will be exchanged.

The peace period is three years.

This war cost Zhu Ming a lot of money and food, but he took the four cities of Jiangling, Zhijiang, Changyang, and Yidu, three of which were strategically important.

At the same time, it will avoid falling into a long-term war, and win stable development time for Xiangyang and Nanyang Mansions.

The Sanzhi area around Honghu Lake is no longer threatened by the south, and officials can also be dispatched to govern and end the anarchy there.

Although Zhong Xiang suffered heavy losses, he also gained valuable development time, which allowed him to mobilize a large army to attack the city and conquer the city. As long as his main force moves south, the remaining states and counties on Jinghu Road should be able to occupy all of them within a year.

Yingxuan, who returned to Zhu Ming, did not marry a wife and have children, and there was only one old mother in the family, and Zhong Xiang promised to send it quietly.

On the side of the Great Song Dynasty, when they learned that Zhu Ming and Zhong Xiang were at war, the monarchs and ministers were elated about it. Who knew that the battle would be over after the battle, and they planned to come over next year to clean up the mess.

The rebel armies of Shandong were almost wiped out by the imperial court, and Tong Guan's victorious army made outstanding achievements.

However, in the mountainous areas of Shandong, a large number of remnants of the peasant army were hidden.

The Hebei peasant army was also beaten by the Western Army, but tens of thousands of peasant troops drilled into Taihang Mountain.

(End of chapter)