When Zhong Jinwei heard this, he turned around, looked at Li Dingguo and said, "How do you want me to deal with it?"
Li Dingguo was surprised when Zhong Jinwei asked him for his opinion. But he immediately said: "Let my adoptive father be your bodyguard like us. He is very capable."
Li Dingguo is still a child after all, and he speaks with a childish tone.
Zhong Jinwei thought for a while but shook his head and said, "No, I have other plans. But don't worry, I won't execute him."
After finishing speaking, Zhong Jinwei stopped talking, turned around, and entered the camp with his horse under his belly.
He rushed back to the camp to deal with the leaders of the peasant army, including Zhang Xianzhong.
Not long after, the leaders of the peasant army were escorted into Zhong Jinwei's temporary tent.
On both sides of the tent stood guards in Jinyi with embroidered spring swords, holding the handles of the swords majestically.
Zhong Jinwei was sitting on his seat, and in front of his seat stood Gu Baichuan and other Dongchang servants in an "eight" shape.
Behind Zhong Jinwei's seat were Zhong Jinwei's own sword-carrying followers, namely Li Laosi and others.
When the leaders of the peasant army were escorted in, their hands were tied for safety reasons, but they were not cut behind their backs.
When these people saw the situation in the tent, they knew in their hearts that they were afraid that their fate would be announced.
When they were on the road in the morning, after talking with Zhong Jinwei, they already had a good impression of the Zhongxing Marquis. Therefore, they cooperated in the tent and stood quietly, waiting for the Zhongxing Marquis' approval.
Zhong Jinwei glanced at them and then said: "I know that you became bandits out of necessity. But the court has its own laws, and we cannot not hold you accountable just because of extenuating circumstances."
The leaders of the peasant army were aware of their fate, but they knew that Zhong Jinwei was a good official and did not want to embarrass him.
Wang Jiayin was the eldest among them. He took the lead and said: "Master Hou, we have embarked on this road, and we naturally know what the end will be. You don't have to be embarrassed. You can decide whatever you want."
Zhao Sheng, the lamplighter, also nodded in agreement and said, "That's right, we accept whatever the verdict is. I hope to meet a good official like the Marquis early in the next life, so that we won't go down this road."
The others nodded one after another. They really didn't want to rebel, and Lian Dengzi's words expressed their feelings.
This attitude of the leaders of the peasant army surprised Zhong Jinwei. He could see that, as he expected, they hated the corrupt officials who forced them to go to Liangshan.
Zhong Jinwei pondered for a moment, then said with a smile: "I haven't even mentioned your punishment yet, why are you so pessimistic?"
Several leaders lowered their heads, including Zhang Xianzhong. When they heard Zhong Jinwei's words, they all raised their heads and looked at Zhong Jinwei as if they heard a heavenly sound.
Who wants to die if there is hope to live?
Zhang Xianzhong, in particular, was overjoyed when he heard Zhong Jinwei's words. He was just a minor leader. Judging from Zhongxing Hou's tone, if all the big leaders in front of him could survive, then he would definitely be immortal as well.
"What I mean is that you are exiled thieves for a reason and extenuating circumstances. The law is nothing more than human kindness. But after all, you are the leader of the bandits. You can avoid the death penalty but cannot escape the crime of living. I plan to sentence you to exile." Zhong Jinwei
Speak slowly, watching their expressions as you speak.
After Zhong Jinwei confirmed that they would not have to die, it was an unexpected surprise. Their faces were filled with joy.
The leaders of the peasant army looked at each other, and it was Wang Jiayin who took the lead. He knelt down and said in unison: "Thank you Marquis Zhongxing for not killing."
Zhong Jinwei was a little speechless. He hadn't even said where they were going to be exiled, but they were already so excited. At first, seeing how they were going to die one by one, I thought they were not afraid of death.
"Don't thank me yet, I haven't even said where to exile you." Zhong Jinwei leaned forward a little and said to them.
"That's where the Marquis said he would be exiled. I can't thank you enough for the grace of being alive." This time it was Gao Yingxiang who spoke first.
Zhong Jinwei waved his hand to stop others who wanted to speak, and then said: "I am going to exile you to Dongjiang Town in Liaodong."
There was a sudden silence in the tent. The leaders of the peasant army looked at each other, wondering what the difference between this and death was.
Gu Baichuan looked at their faces and knew that they were afraid, and felt a little contemptuous in his heart, so he loudly said: "A bunch of cowards, Zhongxing Marquis led 800 people to keep 8000 captives in the pass, and even captured the slave chief Aixinjueluo alive -
Amin, Jianlu has nothing to be afraid of!"
The leaders of the peasant army did not actually know how powerful the Jianlu were, but the imperial army was always beaten to a pulp by the Jianlu, while the local army of the imperial court was able to beat them to a pulp. This comparison showed that the Jianlu were powerful.
Another point is that Shaanxi is located in the hinterland. When the rumors about how powerful the Jianqiu people came to them, they were exaggerated several times. When the mainland troops were transferred to the northeast to fight against the Jianqiu people, they were frightened because of the rumors and even some people were present.
A deserter.
Now when they heard that the fair-faced Marquis in front of them could achieve such great results against Jianlu, while they admired Zhong Jinwei, they also reduced their fear of Jianlu.
Liu Guoneng stood up first and said loudly to Zhong Jinwei: "Instead of being beheaded with a single sword, it is better to fight to the death on the battlefield in Liaodong, and it will not be a wasted trip to this world. Lord Marquis, the sinners are willing to go there without any regrets."
Zhang Xianzhong was born in the frontier army. As Li Dingguo said, he was very capable and not too afraid of building captives, so he stood up the second time and expressed his willingness to go.
Seeing this, the other leaders also stood up and expressed their willingness to go. In fact, they had no choice. Since Zhongxing Hou had already mentioned the place of exile, he would not give them a choice. Therefore, it is better to be single and appear brave.
.
Zhong Jinwei nodded and said: "Okay, not bad."
After praising him, he continued: "The person who captured Aixinjueluo Amin alive was Lu Xiangsheng, the prefect of Daming Prefecture. He has now been promoted to the governor of Denglai, and has jurisdiction over Dongjiang Town. I will edit a copy of the book, and you can help him
The subordinates will not be treated differently. As long as they can perform meritorious service, they will be promoted equally. Killing more Tatars for the Ming Dynasty can be regarded as atonement for your sins and your meritorious service will lead to a bright future. And in Dongjiang Town, you can also use your expertise in guerrilla warfare in the past two years.
.”
Zhong Jinwei's words made these peasant army leaders happy again. If according to what Zhongxing Hou said, they were actually taken care of. If they worked hard in Dongjiang Town and killed the enemy with heart, they might even be able to wear official clothes. Zhongxing Hou
This is a bright future for them! The leaders of the peasant army suddenly changed from the status of bandits to the status of officers and soldiers, and they were all beaming with joy.
Zhong Jinwei sat up straight, leaned on the back of his chair, waved to them and said: "You go down first, and I will send you to Dongjiang Town when the arrangements are made. I hope you can all make great achievements and live up to my expectations."
"Thank you so much, Lord Marquis, I will definitely live up to your expectations." Wang Jiayin and all the leaders of the peasant army knelt down again, kowtowing to Zhong Jinwei as he spoke.
After they finished saluting, the guard at the door lifted the curtain and asked them to return to the place of detention.
Just when Zhang Xianzhong wanted to go out, he was stopped by Zhong Jinwei. Under the strange eyes of other leaders, Zhang Xianzhong was also wondering why Marquis Zhongxing stopped him.
When only Zhang Xianzhong, the leader of the peasant army, was left in the big tent, Zhong Jinwei said, "I have a request that I need you to agree to."
Zhong Jinwei gave him a way out, and Zhang Xianzhong was very grateful, so he replied: "The Lord Marquis has a destiny, and the guilty people must obey it."
"Let your four adopted sons restore their original surnames."
Zhang Xianzhong was stunned by Zhong Jinwei's request. No matter how he thought about it, he never expected that Zhongxing Hou would make such a request.
It took him a while to come back to his senses. He couldn't understand Zhong Jinwei's intention, so he asked: "Master Hou, what are you doing?"
"Because the glory originally belonged to their original surnames."
Zhong Jinwei's words made Zhang Xianzhong confused even more. He felt that what Zhong Xinghou said was so profound.
Zhong Jinwei's guards were also puzzled by his words and a little baffled.
Zhang Xianzhong couldn't understand the reason, but from Zhong Jinwei's words, he guessed that Zhong Jinwei had found his four godsons.
He remembered Zhong Jinwei's worry about Li Dingguo at the Yellow River crossing, and knew that there must be a reason for Zhongxing Hou to make such a request, so he nodded in agreement.
Seeing that Zhang Xianzhong agreed, Zhong Jinwei asked a Jin Yiwei to take Zhang Xianzhong to see the four little guys and explain the situation to them.
After Zhang Xianzhong went out, Xie Dong, a member of Qianhu of Jinyi Guard, turned around and asked Zhong Jinwei: "Master Marquis, is it useful to let these bandits kill Jianlu?"
Zhong Jinwei smiled and said: "They can become the leaders of the bandits, so of course they have their abilities. No matter what, as long as they kill Jianlu, it will always be good for the court. Isn't it?"
Xie Dong thought the same thing and was about to speak when suddenly a soldier came in from the door and reported: "Reporting to the Marquis, the dust is flying from the southwest and it seems that a large army is coming."