Liu Xiu looked at Liu Penzi and asked, "Are you Liu Penzi?"
In front of Liu Xiu, Liu Penzi almost trembled into a ball, his face was pale, his lips were blue, and he couldn't even speak a complete sentence. Liu Gong leaned over and said: "Report to your Majesty, this is the brother of the guilty minister, Liu
Basin."
Liu Xiu snorted and said with a smile: "Speaking of which, you have been the emperor for almost two years."
Liu Penzi proclaimed himself emperor in the third year of Gengshi (25 AD). Now it is the 3rd year of Jianwu (27 AD).
After listening to Liu Xiu's words, Liu Penzi was even more frightened, hesitating and speechless. Liu Gong kowtowed forward and said seriously: "Being promoted as emperor is not Liu Penzi's original intention. Please don't express your anger."
To him."
Liu Penzi nodded like garlic, with snot and tears flowing down his face. He choked and said: "It was all...it was all at the beginning...they forced me to be the emperor. I...I don't want to be the emperor..."
While speaking, he also raised his finger and pointed at Fan Chong, Xu Xuan and others. But Fan Chong looked over and was so frightened that Liu Penzi immediately put down his hands, lowered his head, and kept shaking.
Seeing this, Liu Xiu sighed secretly. He knew very well how Liu Penzi became the emperor. He had heard a little about what kind of life Liu Penzi had lived in the Red Eyebrow Army in the past two years.
Speaking of which, Liu Penzi was also a pitiful person. Liu Xiu really couldn't get angry with him, and he couldn't even feel the slightest resentment towards him.
He asked: "Liu Penzi, if I let you go, how will you live in the future?"
Liu Penzi didn't even think about it, and blurted out: "Your Majesty, the common people can go home to herd cattle!" He went home and continued to be his cowherd boy.
In the past, he and his eldest brother were coerced by the Red Eyebrow Army, so they joined the Red Eyebrow Army in a daze. Later, the Red Eyebrow Army asked them, Liu clan members, to draw lots, and he became the emperor in a daze.
.
Liu Xiu murmured: "I want to go home and herd cattle..." This is too unambitious. After all, you have been an emperor. Liu Xiu pondered for a moment, nodded, and said:
"When I return to Beijing, I will give you an official position."
Liu Penzi blinked and looked at Liu Xiu in confusion. Give him an official position? If he doesn't know anything, what kind of official can he be? When he was in a daze, Liu Gong secretly poked him and whispered.
: "Why don't you thank me quickly!"
He finally came to his senses, kowtowed three times to Liu Xiu, and said loudly: "The common people thank Your Majesty for your kindness!"
"Haha!" Liu Xiu was amused by him, waved to him and said, "Please get up!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Although Liu Penzi is also an emperor, calling Liu Xiu "Your Majesty" is quite smooth.
Then, Liu Xiu turned his eyes and looked at Fan Chong, Xu Xuan and others. Liu Xiu's eyes were not very sharp, but when they were swept away by his gaze, Fan Chong and others all trembled and lowered their heads in unison.
, dare not look Liu Xiu in the face.
Liu Xiu looked around and asked slowly: "Where is Mo Yan?"
Fan Chong, Xu Xuan, Xie Lu, and Feng An, the main leaders of the Red Eyebrow Army, are not the people Liu Xiu wants to see the most. What he wants to see the most now is Mo Yan, who wants to kill him and has sent assassins to kill him again and again.
Strong enemy.
Everyone looked at each other in shock, but no one answered. Xu Xuan cleared his throat and said, "Your Majesty, Mo Yan is missing."
"What?" Liu Xiu raised his eyebrows, missing?
Xu Xuan lowered his head, looked at his toes, and said cautiously: "After the battle between the two armies, we never saw Mo Yan again."
Liu Xiu blinked and asked word by word: "You mean, Mo Yan may have died among the rebels on the battlefield?"
"There is...it is possible."
Liu Xiu chuckled and asked, "Do you believe this possibility?"
"The guilty minister doesn't believe it."
"oh?"
"Not only did Mo Yan disappear, but even his men disappeared. According to the sinner's inference, Mo Yan saw that Chimei's situation was over, so he took his men and fled secretly. As for where they specifically fled to
, the guilty minister really doesn’t know.”
Liu Xiu looked at Xu Xuan intently. After a while, he looked away and said quietly: "I believe what you say."
Xu Xuan subconsciously raised his eyes and looked at Liu Xiu. Seeing that the latter's bright eyes were staring at him, he quickly lowered his head and said in a low voice: "For an ungrateful villain like Mo Yan, I am a sinner."
It’s also very shameful. If I know Mo Yan’s whereabouts, I will definitely tell His Majesty the truth.”
Liu Xiu stopped talking about Mo Yan. He changed the topic and asked: "If I spare you from waiting to die, how will you live your life after waiting?"
He asked the same question to Fan Chong, Xu Xuan and others. Fan Chong immediately said: "I am willing to serve your majesty in front of and behind the horse, and do the work of a dog and a horse!"
When Liu Xiu heard this, he was happy and said slowly: "Our army has many generals, and there is no shortage of men." Liu Xiu looked down on these generals of the Red Eyebrow Army from the bottom of his heart. In his eyes, these were a group of mediocre people, and they were not worth it.
Worth a use.
His words could be described as merciless. Fan Chong blushed and hesitated.
Liu Xiu happily glanced at Fan Chong, Xu Xuan and others, and said: "From now on, you can settle in Luoyang. I will give each of you a hundred acres of fertile land so that you can have enough food and clothing. How good is that?"
Fan Chong, Xie Lu, Feng An, and Yang Yin's faces looked uglier than the last.
In the Red Eyebrow Army, they were all generals who commanded thousands of troops. In the Imperial Court, they were censors and ministers, but they surrendered to Liu Xiu and could only work as farmers?
Seeing that everyone was silent and with gloomy faces, Xu Xuan was afraid that they would get angry and argue with Liu Xiu. Xu Xuan was the first to kneel down and kowtow and said loudly: "I thank you for not killing me! I thank you for your kindness."
!”
Liu Xiu nodded with satisfaction, then looked at Fan Chong and others with a smile.
Under Liu Xiu's glance, Fan Chong, Xie Lu, Feng An, and Yang Yin clenched their fists, gritted their teeth, knelt down one after another, kowtowed forward, and said, "Thank you for not killing me!"
"Very good." Liu Xiu said, "Since you and others have no objections, then let's let this be settled!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Liu Xiu was extremely merciful to the surrendered Red Eyebrow Army and did not kill anyone indiscriminately. He did not even kill Liu Penzi, the founding emperor who was fighting against him, and he also promised to give them to him after he returned to Beijing.
His official position.
I have to say that Liu Xiu's mind is indeed broad enough.
After Liu Penzi, Liu Gong, Fan Chong and others all exited the Chinese military tent, Geng Yan turned to Liu Xiu and said: "Your Majesty, when I look at Fan Chong and others, they are all superficially surrendering and showing mercy to Your Majesty outside the law. Not only are they not
Although I am grateful, I still have a lot of dissatisfaction. From the perspective of a humble minister, I should eradicate it now and avoid future troubles forever."
Wu Han very much agreed with Geng Yan's opinion. He snorted coldly and said: "The defeated general should be put to death! Your Majesty is so generous that you spared the lives of the thieves, but the thieves are still resentful. You are really a shameless person. Your Majesty
, I think what Bo Zhao said is very good!"
Deng Yu then said: "The Red Eyebrow Army is in the four states of Qing, Xu, Yan and Henan. It has a high prestige and still has many supporters. If Your Majesty can treat the Red Eyebrow surrendered troops and generals kindly, in Qing, Xu, Yan and Henan, the Red Eyebrow Army will
, the four places in Yan and Henan will definitely be able to win the hearts and minds of the people, so that our soldiers can take the lead and take the initiative in the battle against Liu Yong!"
His words won Liu Xiu's heart. The latter nodded and said, "Zhong Hua's words make sense!"
Geng Yan said: "What I am worried about is that the remnants of the red eyebrows may change in the future."
Liu Xiu smiled and said in a brisk tone: "Then completely give up their thoughts of changing in the future."
The next day, Liu Xiu personally went to receive the surrender of the Red Eyebrow Army. More than 100,000 Red Eyebrow Army surrendered, and the scale should not be underestimated. Carloads of weapons were pulled out from the Red Eyebrow Army camp, and hundreds of carts were transported.
Transport light.
While the Red Eyebrow Army was disarming, the unarmed Red Eyebrow soldiers were also taken out of the camp in batches.
Fan Chong, Xu Xuan, Xie Lu, Feng An and other generals of the Red Eyebrow Army came to Liu Xiu and told him in detail which army, which unit and which song the soldiers and horses belonged to.
When all the 100,000 red-browed troops left the camp, Liu Xiu raised his eyes and looked around. There were so many people that he couldn't see the edge at a glance. The scale of the 100,000 troops was overwhelming.
Liu Xiu did not let his soldiers take these surrendered troops to the Han army camp, but led them to Luoshui. Luoshui is on the edge of Yiyang, not far from Yiyang.
One hundred thousand red eyebrow troops were brought to the shore of Luoshui by the Han army soldiers. At the same time, the Han army soldiers formed an array opposite the red eyebrow surrender army.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The dull sound of drums sounded rhythmically. The soldiers of the Red Eyebrow Army present were all shocked, wondering what the Han army was going to do.
Fan Chong and others turned pale. Could it be that Liu Xiu really wanted to go back on his promise and kill all his 100,000 soldiers in Luoshui?
Feng'an was trembling, looking around in panic, and stammered: "Liu Xiu...what does Liu Xiu want to do? He...he doesn't want to kill us, right?"
Fan Chong's face also turned extremely pale. He turned to look at Xu Xuan angrily and asked, "Xu Xuan, didn't you say that Liu Xiu always keeps his promises and will not do anything contrary to his promise?"
At this time, Xu Xuan was also confused. He had already surrendered, so why did Liu Xiu kill everyone? This makes no sense! How could Liu Xiu be so vicious in his actions?
"Haha!" Xie Lu suddenly grinned, looking up to the sky and sighing: "I have been fighting all my life, but I didn't expect that I would end up like this in the end. What a coward! The most cowardless person in the world is none other than me, right?
Ha ha……"
Seeing Xie Lu who seemed to be going crazy, people felt sad from the bottom of their hearts. Some generals and soldiers couldn't help crying.
At this moment, the sound of carriage bells came. People subconsciously looked up and saw carriages one after another, loaded with weapons surrendered by the Red Eyebrow Army, slowly walking over.
The endless carriage convoy finally stopped in front of the soldiers of the Red Eyebrow Army.
People stared at the carriage blankly, looking at the weapons loaded on the carriage, and they all looked like they wanted to step forward, but did not dare to.
This situation made Fan Chong, Xu Xuan and others dumbfounded. They didn't understand what the Han army wanted to do. If they wanted to kill them, why did they transport the weapons they handed over?
Just when everyone was filled with questions, Liu Xiu rode a horse, surrounded by generals Deng Yu, Wu Han, and Geng Yan, and arrived in front of generals Fan Chong and Xu Xuan.
Seeing Liu Xiu coming in person, everyone was shocked. For a moment, they didn't know whether to kneel down and salute, or to take a defensive posture.
Liu Xiu rode his horse and came to the crowd. He pulled the reins and stopped the horse.
He sat on his horse, looked down at everyone, and said: "I know that you are dissatisfied and complaining about my arrangements. Now, I will give you a chance, a chance to turn defeat into victory!"
As he spoke, he raised his whip, pointed at the carriage convoy not far away, and said: "The weapons you surrendered are all here. Now, you can take up your weapons and meet with my great Han soldiers again on the shore of Luoshui.
Let’s fight with real swords and guns, let’s see who will win between you and me!”