"If you want to get away with it, you can only take advantage of my apology and send it to you. In the few days before your Majesty's approval comes back, you can conquer Yi'an City and make meritorious deeds."
He Rong was still thinking about how to reduce his guilt when suddenly there was a cough beside him.
He suddenly woke up, glanced sideways at Zhu Xianyao, who was covering his mouth and pretending to cough, and said to Cao Tai and others: "Get up, there is no need to kneel."
"My subordinates would like to thank the general and the prince." Cao Tai saluted again and stood up.
"Cao Tai, although you made some mistakes in this landing battle, you generally handled it properly. The merits outweighed the faults. I will give you a credit." He Rong's face softened slightly and he rolled his eyes as he said.
"My subordinates lost nearly 20,000 troops, how dare you take the credit?" Cao Tai said immediately after hearing this.
"This is all my fault in command, not your fault." He Rong smiled bitterly and said: "It's too careless. It's really too careless. I thought that a little Annan was easy to catch, so I didn't plan carefully and instigated such a big defeat. I will be punished.
I apologize to Your Majesty."
Although He Rong said these words for other purposes, they were also true. He was too careless before and did not take Annan seriously at all. Before the war, he only thought about how to assess the credit after winning, and he was half-hearted in arranging and deploying.
How to think.
He also knew that although Yunxi admired Confucius' saying that "one's deeds do not matter, one's heart does not matter", but when punishing an official, he would also judge based on all the official's behavior whether he made an honest mistake or did it deliberately. Yunxi once and
A trusted minister once mentioned that he would divide all officials who make mistakes into three categories. One category is those who can tell at a glance that they made intentional or careless mistakes, and the seriousness of them; the other category is those who can basically determine that the mistakes were caused by unintentional mistakes or lack of ability.
yes, a light sentence; the last category is difficult to determine, and has the highest proportion of cases, neither serious nor light. And He Rong's guilt this time is clearly negligent and falls within the scope of serious punishment.
"General He, we are also guilty. We also underestimated the Annan people too much. We thought that as soon as the soldiers of tomorrow arrived, they would be able to conquer Annan and watch the wind wherever they passed. If General He is guilty, we are also guilty."
Cao Tai said.
The generals standing aside also said: "General He, we also despise the Annan people very much, and we are also guilty..."
He Rong was waiting for their words, but he said: "You don't have to talk like this. I am the deputy general of the Zuo Army. The 190,000 troops of the Zuo Army, both land and water, are all under my control. Is this your crime?"
"General, what you said is wrong... I will jointly submit a letter to Your Majesty with the General, requesting His Majesty to punish you." A staff general immediately said, He Rong excused himself. Everyone also emphasized again that they were also wrong and requested to jointly submit a letter.
He Rong's tone was a little relaxed, he said a few more words, and finally agreed to sign a joint letter with them.
He Rong then took out a pen and paper and personally wrote a report on the battle and an apology. Although He Rong was literate, his writing skills were not very good. Some military generals persuaded He Rong to let his staff draft it and then review it at the end; but He Rong
Insist on drafting it yourself.
Half an hour later, the apology and report forms were drafted. After reading them, everyone had no objections. They copied them again, signed their names, and sent a boat to Haikang Port overnight.
He Rong breathed a sigh of relief: We have gone to the extreme to reduce the guilt and can no longer think about it. Now it is time to deal with the aftermath of this incident seriously.
At the same time, he glanced at Zhu Xianyao gratefully: If he had just opened his mouth to refute his words, there would be nothing he could do.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said to Cao Tai: "Commander Cao, in the face of the Annan attack, you commanded calmly and responded appropriately. You saved many troops. Your merits outweigh your faults."
"The governor writes down: Cao Tai, the general of the left army of the Annan Expeditionary Army, will be credited once." He ordered the governor who was accompanying the army.
"General," Cao Tai seemed to have something to say.
"Cao Tai, I can see your performance even when I'm on the boat. There's no need to shirk it." Seeing that he still had something to say, He Rong glared and said, "What, why don't you obey the military order? Although after your majesty's approval came back, I
I may not be able to continue to serve as the deputy general of the Left Army, but I still am."
"Yes, General." Cao Tai could only bow and say.
"Lu Xian was seriously injured, but his guilt cannot be wiped out just because of the serious injury. The governor wrote down: Lu Xian, the general of the left army of the Annan Expeditionary Army, mismanaged his command, and his position as general is abolished. The rest of the disposition will be left to your Majesty after I report it to you.
Decide." He Rong said again.
Next, He Rong made comments one by one on the commanders of the expedition and the commanders of the barbarian soldiers. These people were basically innocent and had no merit. He also specifically appeased the commanders of the barbarian soldiers and promised a high
They were given compensation and ordered on the spot to give them some items that were planned to be rewarded to the meritorious ministers after the battle was won, which finally calmed them down.
Finally, He Rong looked at me. He Rong said excitedly: "I'm here to do something, and it's thanks to you this time." The Fusang Army fought hard this time, not only wiping out more than 2,000 Annan soldiers, but also returning three Han people to the army.
The gathering of the garrison bought time. If the Fuso Army was defeated at the first contact like other barbarian troops, and the Han garrison fought with the Annan elite before the assembly was completed, it would be good to be able to escape half of them.
"The governor is preparing a memorial: He Rong, the deputy general of the left army of the Annan Expeditionary Army, paid homage to the Fusang Army. The right guard of the government army commanded the Qian Shi. I came to command the Fusang Army and fought hard with the Annan soldiers, killing them at the cost of nearly annihilating the entire army.
Annan's nearly three thousand soldiers covered the retreat of the army and made a great contribution. I would like to ask your majesty to grant me the title of hereditary commander as a reward for his service. If the Fusang soldiers under his command have relatives, your majesty should also take good care of them and grant them to the world.
position or official position.”
"General He, I just did what I should do. I don't dare to be a general and report such a report. However, for the soldiers of the Fusang Army, I would like the general to report to your majesty for your mercy." I said immediately when I came.
"You don't have to shirk it. Although you are a foreigner, the Ming Dynasty has always been open to all rivers and inclusive. His Majesty has always treated you equally. You have made such great contributions, and your Majesty will never be stingy with rewards." He Rong thought that I was also worried about his foreigner status. At the same time,
According to the official practice, I shied away, so I said this.
"General, I'm not worried about my foreign status, but I really don't think I have such merits. It was all the soldiers of the Fuso Army who fought hard to achieve such merits, and my subordinates only accounted for a very small part of it.
, I dare not take credit. I just ask the general to report to your majesty and allow me to bring the relatives of the soldiers under my command from Fusang to Ming Dynasty, and please your majesty to take good care of them." I said very sincerely.
"Of course your Majesty will agree. Since they fought and died for the Ming Dynasty, your Majesty will never ignore them." He Rong followed Yunxi's past practices and agreed.
"Thank you, General." I bowed and thanked him.
He Rong said a few more words to him, then suddenly thought of something and asked, "I'm here to do something for you. Are you going to return to Haikang or stay with the Zuo Army?" The Fusang Army was almost completely wiped out.
It is impossible for He Rong to hand over another army to him, and it makes little sense for him to continue to stay here.
"General, I request to stay here." I said with bloodthirsty eyes flashing: "I want to personally behead the general who commanded the Annan army, and I ask the general to do it."
He Rong was also a person who had walked through the mountain of corpses and the sea of blood, but he couldn't help but be fascinated by the look in my eyes just now. He calmed down before saying: "Since I came here because I wanted to do this, then I will
For the time being, you are appointed as the commander of the Elephant Guard, and the remaining Fuso troops under my command will also be incorporated into the Elephant Guard."
"Thank you, General." I came and bowed again to express my thanks.
He Rong greeted me and gave a few instructions to the governor. He turned around and immediately changed his face and said loudly: "The Annan people defeated our army so greatly and killed countless soldiers. How can I let them go? Generals
How do you think our army will fight this battle?"
After seeing the great victory of Annan's army and the disastrous defeat of his army, He Rong immediately had two emotions in his heart. One was worry about his own future, and the other was resentment towards the Annan people.
I don’t know if he was just angry because he lost the battle and lost face, or because he was angry thinking that these people were his soldiers who were killed, or because listening to Yunxi’s speech a few days ago aroused a little emotion in his heart.
resent a little sense of nation-state, or both.
No matter what, He Rong is now very angry with the Annan people. Just now, in order to hold on to his own future as much as possible, he first apologized to Yunxi. Now, it is time to discuss how to retaliate against the Annan people.
"Yes, general, our army must not give up with the Annan people. We must immediately fight the Annan people again and defeat the Annan people. Just like your majesty said, let them sacrifice their lives for the country." I was the first to respond to He Rong.
All those who could understand Chinese and participated in the two battles were excited. On the battlefield, they saw their friends, Paoze, and relatives dying under the butcher's knife of the Annan people. How could they not hate the Annan people? Among them
The people who trained the elephant guards originally came to Annan to take revenge, but they took revenge on each other and became even more resentful towards the Annan people.
"But general, it is not appropriate to use swordsmanship." Someone who has participated in the battle just now and can still maintain his sense said: "General, our army has three disadvantages. Our army was defeated by the Annan people at this time, and our morale is not high.
, on the other hand, the Annan people are very popular, so this is disadvantageous."
"Secondly, our army is drifting on the sea at this time. If we want to fight with the Annan people, we must land, and the Annan people will most likely have an ambush. This is disadvantageous."
"Third, if we land in another place and our army has no one to respond, we are not familiar with the place, and we have no plan beforehand, I am afraid that the battle will not be easy. These three disadvantages are. With these three disadvantages, our army should not rush into battle."
This man was afraid that He Rong's blood would rush to his head, so he hurriedly said: "General He, if there is another defeat, Your Majesty will probably..." He did not explain clearly, but he believed that He Rong understood what he meant.
He Rong immediately calmed down. If he lost the battle again, he might not be able to save his head; even if he could save his head, his future would be completely over. He suddenly hesitated.
Seeing this situation, I was very anxious and said loudly: "General He, how can you listen to this man? Now tens of thousands of soldiers are extremely angry towards the Annan people. If the general does not take revenge immediately, won't it chill the morale of these soldiers?"
"
"I'm here. You are just a fellow commander, just appointed by the general. If the general doesn't say anything, what qualifications do you have to speak here?" said the person who just spoke.
I was very angry when I heard this, my eyes turned red again, and I drew my katana from my waist, like a bloodthirsty beast.
The general named Liu De who had just spoken was suddenly frightened and shouted: "Why, are you still hurting me?" He is now in his forties and has no confidence in escaping my sword; and I
Lai Ye has just lost many of his comrades in battle, so he may not be able to maintain his sanity.
Cao Tai immediately took my hand and said, "Don't be impulsive!"
He Rong also shouted: "I'm here, are you going to offend me?" At the same time, He Rong's guards drew their swords from their waists one after another, and some showed their crossbows, aiming at me.
I was panting heavily for a long time before I put the knife in my hand back into the scabbard and stared at Liu De.
According to the rules, I should actually apologize to Liu De. But seeing the atmosphere at the scene, He Rong decided to skip the matter.