"Are you trying to make everyone in the world laugh at Guan?"
Guan Sheng looked at the family heirloom sword with cold light in Yang Zhi's hand, without even raising his hand, and said coldly: "You are also from a famous family, how can you do such evil things?"
Yang Zhi withdrew his sword and sighed deeply: "To be honest, brother Guan, I used to be proud of my identity as a descendant of the Yang family, but now I am suffering from betrayal of the Song Dynasty. How can I meet my ancestors under the Nine Springs? If you kill me with a knife
Kill me and I will be free..."
Guan Sheng said solemnly: "If that's the case, why didn't you defend Yingtian Mansion? Even if you died in battle at that time, it was a vigorous and loyal death!"
Yang Zhi said sternly: "Because even if this is the case, my Yang family's famous name will be destroyed in one day. The prefect Jia Zheng was vicious and vicious. In order to escape the blame, he deliberately transferred the credit for his rebellion to me. If this matter happened
Exposed, how will the world view my Yang family?"
Guan Sheng understood the cause and effect and fell silent. After a while, he sighed, with a sympathetic sadness in his voice: "I understand..."
Yang Zhi's tone softened slightly: "I, Yang Zhi, am not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, and neither is Brother Guan. Waiting for death is a small thing for me, but insulting the reputation of our ancestors is a big deal. I believe Brother Guan thinks the same as me!"
Guan Sheng whispered: "That's it!"
Yang Zhi's tone rose again and became more powerful: "Since ancient times, it has been difficult to have both loyalty and filial piety, but it is not so difficult to have both. The reputation of our ancestors was earned by bravely killing enemies and protecting the family and country, but they saved Zhao with their blood.
In the Song Dynasty, there is now a foolish king at the top and treacherous ministers at the bottom. They are lenient on the outside and strict on the inside, and have been abandoned by the people!"
"Then Tao Miao, the prefect of Zhending Prefecture, was beaten to death by the common people. How will he be remembered in the history books? Brother Guan will next seize the people's food in Bianliang. Once a civil uprising is triggered, how will you be remembered in the history books? You are at least a foolish loyalist.
Harm the people!"
Guan Sheng closed his eyes and opened them again after a moment: "So, you want to instigate rebellion against me?"
Yang Zhi nodded heavily: "Since this is the case, others may not be able to understand Brother Guan and Brother Huyan, but I know it best, so it is up to me to take part in this matter!"
In the past, Guan Sheng would have reprimanded him sternly and decisively.
One of the key reasons why court generals like him in the original book went to Liangshan was that Song Jiang had promised to recruit people at the beginning. "He has been willing to surrender for a long time and has an awe-inspiring ambition to serve." These are not ordinary people.
A thief who knows the process of murder, arson and recruitment and has a lofty goal will join the gang.
Otherwise, if you really want to surrender to a group of pure thieves, even if you "Shang Yingxingkui, like each other" will not work, Guan Sheng's final ending is also very good, just by his surname, it is an invisible talisman.
But now the descendants of Guan Yunchang really hesitated, especially after hearing what Yang Zhi said next: "We should be loyal to the emperor and worry about the emperor, but Mencius, who is respected by the scholar-bureaucrats,
He said, 'Jie and Zhou lost the world and lost their people. Those who lost their people also lost their hearts'! To be loyal to the emperor and serve the country is not to be an unkind and unjust person. That is not loyalty and filial piety, it is just to gain a reputation!"
Guan Sheng's lips trembled, and he almost wanted to agree, but in the end he waved his hand: "Let me think about it! Let me think about it!"
"If Brother Guan is interested, after Kaicheng surrenders, he can go north to the outside of the Great Wall and fight with the foreign tribes instead of facing the same soldiers as in the past..."
Yang Zhi finished the last sentence Wu Yong told him and clasped his fists: "That's it for now, Yang takes leave!"
There was no movement in the house, Guan Sheng buried his head deeply, blending into the night.
Early the next morning, when he walked out of the house, the guards on his left and right were shocked when they saw him, because his haggard and embarrassed appearance did not look like the majestic general he used to be.
But what reassured them was that this man's eyes returned to their former perseverance, and his slightly hoarse voice sounded: "Let's go! We must stop other generals from seizing food!"
…
"What is Guan Sheng pretending to be? If we don't collect food now, aren't we going to destroy all our troops?"
"I think he cherishes his reputation for benevolence and righteousness. He doesn't care about the life and death of our subordinates. He is very different from the old lieutenant!"
A group of middle- and lower-level generals from the Western Army walked out of the camp angrily.
Zhe Laotaiwei is the honorific title given to Zhe Keshi in the military. It does not mean that Zhe Keshi actually became a Taiwei. At that time, the Western Army called Zhong Shiheng the same name as Lao Zhong Taiwei, but in fact Zhong Shiheng was nothing more than that throughout his life.
A seventh-grade official is far from being a real Taiwei, but the military respects him and calls him a Taiwei.
If Zhe Keshi had done the same thing, the superiors and subordinates in the army would definitely obey him and love the people. But if Guan Sheng did this, it would only arouse resentment among the superiors and subordinates and break up unhappy. This is the embodiment of prestige in the military.
Seeing that these generals' hatred for Guan Sheng reached an extreme, a voice suddenly sounded: "As I say, just surrender!"
The atmosphere suddenly became quiet. No one yelled loudly. Instead, the pace quickened. They came to the corner together and looked around carefully to make sure no one was eavesdropping. Then they looked over and said, "Chen Wu, what do you mean?"
The general who just spoke, Chen Wulang, said: "We are all brothers of life and death. To be honest with you, they have promised that as long as we surrender, we will not belong to the rural army, but will still form an independent army and provide food, grass and baggage for us to return to the northwest.
Guard the border and prevent Xixia from taking advantage of it!"
The generals were startled when they were ahead, and then they were surprised and happy, but they couldn't believe it: "Is there such a good thing? Will Yan Yun be so generous?"
Chen Wulang said: "It's not generous at all. It's obvious that they don't believe us, so they don't want us to stay in the camp. When we return to the northwest, we will also be responsible for wiping out the Gaotuo Mountains flowing east of the river and stabilizing the situation in Hedong and Shaanxi.
"
The generals heard the words and started talking: "What's the difficulty in pacifying these bandits?" "It's great to form an independent army, I don't want to lie low to those country soldiers!" "As expected of the rebel army occupying the fourth road,
The grain and grass reserves are abundant, this promise is generous!"
The Western Army has its own pride. Although the Xiang Army is now unstoppable, they do not think that they have really been overtaken from behind. They are only temporarily lagging behind due to exhaustion from long battles, unfair rewards and punishments, constraints from the imperial court, and insufficient logistics...
Therefore, the matter of surrender has actually been on every general's mind, and the most objectionable thing is to let them join the rural army and obey the command of the juniors.
Now that I can return to my hometown in the northwest and form an independent army, I am naturally overjoyed. After only a moment of discussion, we almost reached an agreement: "If this is the case, everyone is willing. Chen Wu, please contact me quickly!"
But at this moment, a general also said: "If we really go back to the northwest, what will happen to Old Lieutenant Zhe and General Zhong?"
As soon as these words came out, the joy on the faces of the generals froze. However, Chen Wulang had long been taught how to answer similar questions, so he quickly said: "Wrong, it is precisely because we have preserved our strength and returned to the northwest
, the imperial court does not dare to kill..."
Everyone suddenly said: "This is the reason, this is the reason, we should raise our troops and respect ourselves. Wasn't this the case in the pre-Tang Dynasty?"
They sounded very nostalgic for the fifth generation, but at the same time they no longer felt burdened.
Although the generals of the Western Army respect Zhe Ke Shi and Zhong Shi, if they say that they have completely sacrificed themselves for the two old generals, they have not reached that point. Now that they heard that there is a way to get the best of both worlds, they can't wait to open the city gates immediately to welcome the Xiangjun.
Enter Bianliang.
Some people even showed their fierceness and whispered: "Before that, how about we deal with Guan Sheng and Hu Yanzhuo first?"
Chen Wulang sneered: "Just wait and see, they may not necessarily be loyal to the imperial court. They might rush to surrender when the city gate is opened!"
…
"Brother Guan, you shouldn't forcefully suppress those Western generals..."
On the city wall of Bianliang, Hu Yanzhuo and Guan Sheng stood side by side, looking at the rural army camp in the distance, and whispered.
Guan Sheng said calmly: "No matter what, we have no military morale, and we can't defend Bianliang. Why do we need to harm those innocent people at this moment?"
Hu Yanzhuo opened his mouth. His words were obviously extremely pessimistic, but he couldn't find a reason to refute. He could only sigh: "That's true..."
Guan Sheng said: "Brother Huyan, you and I are close friends. I don't want to hide it from you. I am going to do something that will be embarrassing to the court!"
Hu Yanzhuo suddenly changed color and his eyes widened: "What are you going to do?"
Guan Sheng said solemnly: "Kaicheng surrenders!"
Hu Yanzhuo looked around. On the city wall, there were guards patrolling. As always, the other party said such shocking words, which made his scalp numb with shock: "Brother Guan, are you crazy?"
Guan Sheng shook his head: "Yang Zhi came to look for me last night..."
He narrated the causes and consequences of Yang Zhi's surrender to the enemy, exactly as he said, and finally concluded: "It doesn't matter to others, Yang Zhi's actions really awakened me. What we have in our hearts is not foolish loyalty.
You are a foolish king, but you are loyal to your integrity!"
"Since ancient times, integrity has been the orthodoxy. When distinguishing between Huayi and Huayi, life and death are small matters. Loss of integrity is big. It has nothing to do with civil and military affairs. This is the case!"
"Brother Huyan thinks that we, under the orders of the faint king, trapped loyal ministers, burdened the people, and died to serve the country when the city was destroyed. Are we being loyal and righteous, or are we losing integrity?"
When he said the last sentence, Guan Sheng turned around and stared over.
Hu Yanzhuo, who was stared at by those shining eyes, was so shocked and angry that he was speechless: "But... but..."
Guan Sheng said: "It's nothing but Lin Yiyong recovered Yanyun, retreated the Hu barbarians, made the Liao people bow their heads, and let all the people follow their direction. I, Guan Sheng, can't stand in front of such rebels for my own selfishness, and instead let Jinghu Fang Lana and others
The rebellious ministers and traitors will benefit!"
He finally said: "I have made up my mind. If Brother Huyan wants to kill me, a traitorous general, please do so!"
Watching Guan Sheng strode away without warning, Hu Yanzhuo clenched the double whips in his hands and finally leaned against the city wall slumped.
…
Two days later, Bianliang City was opened.
Led by Guan Sheng and Hu Yanzhuo, all the middle and lower-ranking generals of the Western Army, and even all the soldiers of the Western Army, presented the city and surrendered.