In the Iron Buddha Village on Tashan Mountain, ten miles northwest of Mi County, Zhang Cheng stood alone on the high platform in front of the thousand-foot pagoda, looking at the nearly a thousand bandits and hungry people kneeling below.
"Everyone, stand up!"
Zhang Cheng suddenly shouted loudly, and all the bandits and hungry people in the audience were shocked. They got up in a hurry and looked at him tiredly with their big, dull eyes.
He saw that everyone had a weak body. Even the horse thieves and foot thieves had pale faces, no sparkle, and were trembling in the howling cold wind.
Zhang Cheng couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness in his heart. We were both people of the Ming Dynasty and a Han clan, but they were in such hardship. It seemed that he still had a long way to go if he wanted to save the people of the world and wipe out the demons!
He thought about this and said loudly: "Today, Li Ji met a man who came out of the stronghold alone and begged me to be willing to sacrifice my life to save you. It is indeed rare. I also appreciate his kindness to you, and you should not kill him."
forget.
Although Li Jiyu led you to commit rebellion and gain the title, it was forgivable and was not deliberately planned. Now he has a heart of repentance and is more willing to serve the imperial court. It is also the time for the imperial court to employ people.
As the saying goes, God also has the virtue of good life, and Zuo Qiu Ming once said, "Who has no faults? If you can correct your faults, there is no great good."
I, the commander-in-chief, declare here today that I am pardoning Dengfeng Li Jiyu from the crime of causing rebellion. From now on, you will be under my command. All of you will be exempted from the crime of causing rebellion and will not be held accountable.
Later, the sergeants under my command will bring you meat porridge. After you are full, you can go on your own and will not stop you. However, you must behave yourself in the future. If you do something wrong again, I will never tolerate it!
"
Li Jiyu knelt down on the ground and was the first to thank him loudly: "Li Jiyu thanks Marshal Zhang for not killing him. From now on, he will follow him to the death, lead his horse and hold the reins for him, no matter how he drives him, he will die without regrets!"
Ji Zhiying didn't react until then, and hurriedly bowed her head and said loudly: "Ji Zhiying is willing to follow the commander-in-chief, go through fire and water, and swear loyalty to the death."
The thieves and the hungry people Wuyang Wuyang under the high platform all thanked and expressed their loyalty.
But Zhang Cheng said loudly: "Listen carefully, although you are pardoned for causing rebellion today, I am not recruiting you to be my subordinate.
In my army, the most important thing is military rules and regulations. Merits must be rewarded and demerits must be punished. This is one of them. In our army, if there is a battle, there will be no retreat. Those who are timid will not survive. This is the second one. Only young people will be accepted.
To build a good family, do not be cunning, rogue, rogue, or scoundrel. These are the three reasons.
I hope you will think about yourself, lest the military laws are ruthless and you die before you go into battle!"
Everyone in the audience fell silent for a while after hearing this, and they all looked at each other.
At this time, Zhang Cheng said to Li Jiyu and others: "Li Jiyu, Ji Zhiying, please get up and bring some strong people with me to get food, so that you can have a good meal first."
Li Jiyu and Ji Zhiying hurriedly stood up and loudly received the order, greeted more than ten relatively strong people, and followed Zhang Cheng to the village gate.
The rest of the people were still kneeling on the ground watching them walk towards the village gate, gradually moving away until they were out of sight, but still did not dare to get up.
…………
Outside Tiefo Village, Lin Fangping and others were all worried about Zhang Cheng. Although it seemed that Li Jiyu came to surrender sincerely, there were actually nearly a thousand thieves inside the village.
Who can guarantee that there won’t be any surprises?
However, Zhang Cheng's military orders have always been strict, and no one dared to disobey them. Everyone was gearing up, and those who were scratching their heads were worried about Zhang Cheng, when they heard Su Laohu suddenly say: "Commander, come out!"
They "cracked..." and all of them rushed forward to greet Zhang Cheng. They gathered around Zhang Cheng and looked around. Zhang Cheng laughed and said, "Look at me, I'm so flustered."
"Hahaha……"
Everyone laughed when they heard this.
Zhang Cheng said again: "Lin Fangping, take out the hundreds of small pots, grains, and bacon that have been prepared, and carry them back to the brothers to fill their stomachs quickly."
Lin Fangping responded and went to make arrangements, but here Li Jiyu knelt down and worshiped again: "Commander, Li Jiyu knows that he has sinned deeply, and he is willing to stay with the commander as a pawn. I hope the commander will not take it too seriously!"
Zhang Cheng said with a smile: "You have the talent of a general. You have commanded tens of thousands of troops before, but now you are willing to be a pawn in front of this commander. Isn't it a disgrace to your talents?"
Li Jiyu's big face turned red instantly, and he said: "Li Jiyu begs the commander to show mercy."
He had no choice but to go out of the stronghold to ask for surrender, but he was not willing to do so. He just thought that everyone would die in vain, so he was willing to sacrifice one person's life in exchange for a way for everyone to live.
But Zhang Cheng treated him politely, not only pardoning the crimes of the thieves, but also pardoning him, and even went into the stronghold alone to meet everyone. How could he not be impressed by such a big heart and courage?
Zhang Cheng said to Li Jiyu: "The Dengfeng Rebellion started because of you. There are still tens of thousands of hungry people there. Now that there is no government control, there will be even greater chaos at any time.
Now, you are under my command. You should return to Dengfeng first, stabilize the situation, select young men with clean wealth, register them, organize them into an army, pass through Mi County, Zhengzhou, pass Sunjia Ferry, and then pass Weihui
, Zhangde two prefectures, passing through the capital, walking through Zijingguan and entering Xuanfu for training.
If the rest of the people are willing to settle down and work in Xuan Town, I can also send troops to protect you and accompany the young men you have chosen. Along the way, there will be people arranged by me to help you with grain supplies."
Li Jiyu quickly knelt down to thank him and said: "Li Jiyu kindly asks the commander-in-chief to send a general to Dengfeng to take charge of the overall situation!"
"Ha ha……"
Zhang Cheng laughed, and after a moment, he said again: "Are you not trusting me, or are you afraid that I am not trusting you?"
Li Jiyu didn't know how to answer for a moment, so he was stunned on the spot, looking at a loss.
Zhang Cheng added: "As the saying goes, 'Don't trust those who employ them, and do not trust those who doubt'. Now that I have taken you under my command, I will trust you. Furthermore, my army will go to Luoyang to fight with the intruders."
In a fierce battle, it is not appropriate to divide our troops at this critical moment."
He added: "Li Jiyu, I dare to use you, and I trust you. You don't have to worry. After returning to Dengfeng this time, I will follow the instructions of my commander to purge his troops, those cunning bandits, and the army."
Ruffians, don’t leave any scoundrels alone.”
"Yes, Commander, please rest assured!"
…………
On the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen's reign in the Ming Dynasty, there was a town called Kangzhuang on the banks of the Luoshui River, ten miles west of Fugong County, Henan Province. This place was less than a hundred miles away from Luoyang, the capital city of Henan Province.
However, the world is in chaos and famines occur one after another. There are not many people left in Kangzhuang Town. Most of them go out to visit relatives and friends, or go begging in all directions. Most of the people left behind are older people.
Today, a torrent of iron armor rolled into Kangzhuang Town. In addition to nearly 10,000 capable soldiers, there were also thousands of horses and numerous carriages.
The army set up a camp along the Luo River outside Kangzhuang Town. The Chinese army's tent was located in Kangzhuang Town. In the evening, dozens of strong horses galloped into the Kangzhuang Town camp, and then there was news in the camp
Yelled one after another.
"Urgent report from Luoyang...Urgent report from Luoyang..."