"No one wants to be a slave to the subjugation of the country. If they can understand the truth and distinguish the pros and cons, they might be tempted!"
"It's just..." Xiang Yang paused and said worriedly: "The Lin brothers still have at most 100,000 troops in their hands."
"Moreover, we are short of food and clothing. We have to rely on the help from Ming Shuozhou to survive the winter. I guess I won't feel better now."
"Even if we form an alliance with them, it will probably be a drop in the bucket against the Ming Dynasty's tiger and wolf troops, and it will be useless!"
"That's true..." The pro-military leader sighed: "But now... they are the only ones who can be our allies."
"Other than that, we really don't have any other foreign aid."
"But...actually, I have another idea. I don't know what the young master thinks."
Seeing the expression of the pro-military leader, Xiang Yang suddenly became interested and hurriedly asked: "What do you think? Tell me quickly."
"Yes! Young Master!" The leader agreed and said slowly: "Actually... we may not necessarily start a war in Nan Yanxi."
"Doesn't he want to dominate the world? Well, we can regard him as our master and admit that we are vassals of the Ming Dynasty."
"In this way, we can save our lives and territory, and at the same time, the Ming Dynasty can dominate the world without using weapons."
"We can have a good negotiation with Nan Yanxi and grant us the land of the two states in the north and make us a king."
"From now on, we will pay tribute every year and become ministers every year. We will look up to him as the leader of the Ming Dynasty and regard ourselves as ministers of the Ming Dynasty."
"But within this fiefdom... it must be managed by us. We have the final say."
"This is what my subordinates think. He has been fighting in the Ming Dynasty for many years, and the country is so huge. There may be civil strife in the future."
"As long as we keep a little bit of territory, we can lie dormant and wait for the opportunity. As the saying goes, the green hills are still there, so we don't have to worry about running out of firewood."
"Sit back and settle for compromises..." Listening to the deputy general's words, Xiang Yang sighed heavily: "Now, it seems there is no other good way."
"At this time, I will make a decision after discussing with my father!"
"The top priority now is to cross the Qinglian Mountains as soon as possible to join my father!"
"The biggest obstacle before us is that Nan Yanxi's reinforcements may hit us head-on."
After Xiang Yang finished speaking, he looked around, and then said to the leader of the pro-army group beside him: "After today's great defeat, the soldiers who escaped with us are already frightened and cannot bear to fight."
"In that case, I think it's better to let them lead Nan Yanxi's reinforcements and Nangong Wenjian's pursuers away, so that we can get out of the mountains safely."
As soon as these words were spoken, the few soldiers who were following behind him suddenly felt cold.
These soldiers who followed him to break out were all the soldiers most loyal to his Xiang family.
Otherwise, I would not have followed him in retreat from Tanzhou, then headed north from Minzhou, wandering in this uninhabited mountain range for many days, and finally risked my life to follow him to break out here.
Now that the entire army is defeated, Xiang Yang actually wants to sell them for his own safety.
When Xiang Yang said these words, all the soldiers, including the leader, suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.
However, although it was not a pleasant experience, they also understood that in this situation, if they were surrounded by Nan Yanxi's reinforcements from the north, they would definitely not be able to escape.
Now, everyone is just guessing that Nan Yanxi will definitely send troops, but they don't know how many people will come from the north.
But no matter how many enemy troops came, Xiang Yang's soldiers who rushed out after him were only two or three thousand at most, and they were all frightened and had no strength to fight.
Thinking about it carefully, it seems that their only role is to lure the pursuers away.
After calming down a little, the leader of the soldiers came over and asked: "What the young master said makes sense... So what should we do?"
Xiang Yang pondered for a moment, then raised his head and ordered: "Let's do this... I'd better work hard, brothers, go for a run around and convey the general's orders to the armies scattered around."
"Tell them that according to reliable intelligence, the Ming army will intercept them in the northwest. In order to avoid them, I ordered the army to break out in the northeast."
"And tell them that there are many poisonous insects and ferocious beasts in the mountains and forests, so they must gather together and evacuate in an orderly manner. There is no need to panic. There is our army outside the mountains and forests waiting to respond."
After finishing speaking, Xiang Yang paused and said to the leader: "I guess there are many people in the Ming army who are good at tracking. If two to three thousand people go northeast together, they will definitely leave a lot of traces."
"And there are only a dozen of us. If we head northwest, we will definitely make it out without any danger."
"When we get to a place with people, let's find some clothes worn by ordinary people, slip out of the Ming army's encirclement without anyone noticing, and join our father as soon as possible."
After hearing this, all the soldiers agreed, and the leader gave detailed instructions to everyone before sending them all away.
Tell them to convey this message to as many people as possible and come back on time to gather in two hours.
Everyone agreed and ran into the jungle.
...
Tens of miles away to the north, 10,000 troops led by Nan Yanxi were forming up on the other side of a river, preparing to face the enemy.
Others might find it difficult to walk in this airtight primeval forest, but not Nan Yanxi.
When he was in the Qinglian Mountains, he learned Huo Tianying's self-created ability to talk to animals.
The uninhabited land that stretches out from the Qinglian Mountains, where there are many birds and animals, makes him feel as if he has clairvoyance and ears.
Almost all of Xiang Yang's actions are controlled by Nan Yanxi... There is also Xiang Yang's wishful thinking just now.
"What? This guy... is really cunning, selling his own brothers for a little bit!"
When Nan Yanxi told this news, Li Shuwan, who had come with him, immediately sneered: "Husband, we can't let him run away."
"Why?" Nan Yanxi smiled faintly and looked at Li Shuwan.
"Because he ran away like a dragon entering the sea or a tiger entering the mountains... Didn't you just say that... a little bird told you that he was going to run to the north."
After finishing speaking, he still muttered: "I don't know if it's true or not... This is the first time in this world that I've heard that people can talk to animals."
"However, we must not let go of such a good opportunity... If we kill him, the world will be at peace!"
Listening to the little girl's simple words, Nan Yanxi smiled warmly, stretched out her hand to touch the little head, and said gently: "Why will the world be at peace if you kill him?"
Li Shuwan blinked: "Because...if he dies, no one will resist us?"
"Silly girl...that's not necessarily the case...!"