Li Dahu trembled. He suddenly felt that his doomsday had arrived. It was not that he did not want to surrender, but he had killed dozens of soldiers in the past and had formed a deadly feud with the imperial army. Therefore, the imperial army would not let him go so easily. Although Pang Gui also had a grudge against the imperial army, he still had a chance to perform meritorious deeds after surrendering. But after he surrendered, the bandits would be finished, and he would not have a chance to perform any meritorious deeds. There was no doubt that he would be executed by the imperial army.
"Chief Li, you are worried that the imperial army will not forgive you! You don't have to worry about that. Chief Li, you can lead your men to surrender, and you can avoid a disaster. This is considered a great merit. The merit will offset the fault, and you will not be punished. Besides, as long as Chief Li sincerely surrenders, there are still many chances for you to perform meritorious deeds. "
The leader in charge of persuading Li Dahu to surrender said.
Li Dahu was confused when he heard that. He quickly asked, "Chances for meritorious deeds? We still have a chance to perform meritorious deeds? We are the last ones to be surrounded by the imperial army. How can we still have a chance?"
"Chief Li, you are wrong. Although all the soldiers here have been eliminated, there are still many bandits in the mountains. With your understanding of these bandits, you must have a way to subdue them. In this way, you will be able to perform meritorious deeds. At least, the imperial army will not attack Chief Li. They will let Chief Li lead the way to eliminate the bandits. In my opinion, it will take at least eight to ten years to eliminate all the bandits in the mountains. Don't you think so?"
The leader of persuading Li Dahu to surrender said.
Obviously, this little guy was also scheming something. Perhaps all the bandits who surrendered had the idea of keeping bandits for themselves. They would help the imperial army to deal with the numerous bandits, but their results would not be good. In this way, they could continue to perform meritorious deeds.
When Li Dahu heard this, he immediately understood and said, "That makes sense. The mountains and rivers are dangerous. We have plenty of opportunities to make contributions. I agree to surrender."
After communicating for a while, Li Dahu officially led everyone to surrender to Ang Lee. This made Zhao Wufu, who was chasing after them, a little dissatisfied. After all, he also wanted this credit, but Li Dahu chose to surrender to Ang Lee. This made him very depressed. Zhao Wufu, who was in a bad mood, vented his anger on Pang Gui, who was next to him. He scolded Pang Gui until he could not raise his head.
Pang Gui also felt aggrieved. After all, this matter was not his responsibility. He also wanted to persuade Li Dahu to surrender. Unfortunately, Li Dahu ran directly to the south. He did not have the chance to persuade him to surrender. Naturally, he felt aggrieved. His mood was even worse when he did not succeed.
Li Dahu's four thousand men and horses all surrendered. There were no casualties on both sides. Other than the old bandits who were managed separately, the new bandits were all incorporated into the army. Now, these people had no other way to survive. If they were incorporated into the army, they would still have a bowl of rice to eat, so they would not go back to their old ways.
"Assistant Minister Li, congratulations! You have made another contribution. "
Zhao Wufu said with a smile, but his mood was not very good.
"What contribution? I don't need any contribution. Why don't I just put it on the Five Ministers' heads?"
Ang Lee said lightly.
Zhao Wufu waved his hand and said, "That won't do. The credit belongs to whoever it belongs to. I, Zhao Wufu, can't take other people's credit for nothing. The other group should have sent back the news. I don't know what the situation will be like."
Li An said, "Then let's make a guess. I'm guessing that the other group of troops will also surrender."
Zhao Wufu heard this and nodded, "This is indeed very likely. I think so too. However, who will they surrender to? Will it be my troops, or? "
Ang Lee said with a smile, "The Five Ministers are confused. The troops in the north and south of the other group are all your troops. My troops are all here. Not a single one is missing! Hahaha! "
"Oh, Assistant Minister Li actually made such an arrangement. It seems that the other group's credit must be mine. Hahaha!"
Zhao Wufu laughed happily.
He also did not expect Ang Lee to make such an arrangement. After thinking carefully, he realized that Ang Lee did not need the credit of suppressing the bandits here. There was no substantial loss in giving it to him. It could be considered a favor.
"Well, the news from the other group has come."
Ang Lee saw a soldier running quickly and shouting a great victory. He said with a smile.
"What, the blind man ran away? Our army lost more than two hundred people."
Zhao Wufu was slightly unhappy when he heard this. However, the losses were not very great. Moreover, most of the losses were from the new recruits, which were the captured bandits. Zhao Wufu was somewhat surprised that the other party did not surrender directly. In addition, the blind man, as the leader, actually ran away. This made him even angrier.
"So what if he ran away! Anyway, there are many poisonous snakes and fierce beasts in the forest. The blind man running in would only end up dead. This is actually a good thing. "
Ang Lee said.
According to the soldier's description, the blind man's group that escaped into the forest was less than two hundred people. Obviously, these guys were all old bandits. Even if they surrendered, the imperial court would not really use them. They were even worried that they would rebel and do evil again. Now, these guys were courting death. This was naturally the best thing to happen.
Zhao Wufu nodded and said, "Assistant Minister Li is right. If these leaders enter the forest, only death awaits them. This way, I won't have to worry about them. After all, these fellows have committed countless evil deeds. I can't even deal with all the evil fellows who have surrendered."
"Oh, how do you plan to deal with these guys? Are you going to kill them? "
Ang Lee asked with a smile.
Zhao Wufu shook his head and said, "At least not now. Keeping them alive can pacify the people. If we kill them rashly, those little bandits will be nervous and uneasy. It will be troublesome if they cause trouble. I think we can find an opportunity in the future to slowly get rid of them one by one. It's not a difficult thing."
Ang Lee smiled faintly. If you want to condemn someone, you can easily accuse them. Ang Lee understood this principle. In addition, even if these old bandits surrendered, they could bear it for a while and behave themselves, but after a long time, their old problems would be exposed one by one. Occasionally, they would make mistakes. Once they made mistakes, Zhao Wufu would naturally have a reason to kill them. The military law was ruthless. It was too easy to kill a general who made mistakes.
Of course, if there were bandits who could really change and completely turn over a new leaf, the imperial court would also accept them. This was equivalent to adding a good talent to the imperial court. Since ancient times, there had been such examples. However, the proportion of bandits who had done many evil things completely turning into good people was still very small. Most of the bandits who became good people were because they were driven into a corner and had gone astray. They were not bad at heart and could not be considered bad people.
"The southern rebel army has been completely wiped out. The next arrangements will be left to the five ministers. I'll go back first."
Ang Lee said.
Although the rebel army was easily wiped out, the chaos caused by the rebel army made the mess in the south even worse. Several major cities were almost destroyed. The people's lives were miserable. Not only were they in urgent need of food, but they also needed to station troops to deter the outlaws.
These things were enough for Zhao Wufu to deal with for a few months. He only brought 5,000 soldiers with him, but there were 20,000 captives. In order to maintain the stability of the south, these 20,000 captives were very important. They must be controlled well. As long as these 20,000 soldiers were completely converted into loyal and reliable troops, then the situation in the south could be very stable.
"Assistant Minister Li, don't worry. Leave the south to me. My 2,000 logistics troops are no longer needed. Take Assistant Minister Li with you!"
Zhao Wufu said.
He was worried that there were too few guards in Gui Chang City and that it would not be safe. Therefore, he sent two thousand men back. In any case, he had just formed twenty thousand new soldiers. Under the control of his trusted subordinates, he believed that these new soldiers would not rebel. However, the reinforcements had to arrive as soon as possible. Without sufficient provisions, the troops would collapse and the consequences would be unimaginable.
There were at least a dozen cities in the south. These cities had all been occupied by the bandits. After the bandits and the rebel army set out, a small number of bandits were left behind to guard these cities. Some had a few hundred bandits, while some had less than a hundred. However, it was enough to control the cities. However, now that Zhao Wufu's main forces were here, these bandits naturally could not resist. Under the persuasion of the bandits who surrendered, they all surrendered.
After recovering the last southern city, Zhao Wufu led his troops into the city. In addition to his trusted subordinates, the bandits who surrendered also entered the city. Of course, those who entered the city were the main core forces. Most of them were stationed outside the city.
"To be able to recover more than a dozen cities so smoothly, all of you have contributed greatly. Meritorious deeds must be rewarded. This official will not go back on his word."
Zhao Wufu looked at Pang Gui and the other bandits who surrendered and said seriously.
"We dare not. It's all thanks to the good fortune of the Five Ministers."
Pang Gui, Zhao Dahu, and the others said politely.
"General, the soldiers are tired. Why don't we have a celebratory banquet? It will also make the soldiers happy. "
Li Long suggested.
Hearing this, Zhao Wufu raised his eyebrows and nodded. "That makes sense. The soldiers have been tired for a month or two. It's time to celebrate. Come! Pass down my orders. Have a celebratory banquet. Bring out all the wine and meat. Let the soldiers have a good meal. "
After saying that, he immediately ordered one of his trusted subordinates to prepare.
"Assistant Minister Li, there is a three-story brothel in this city. It's the most suitable place for a celebratory banquet. Why don't we go to that brothel?"
Li Long suggested.
Zhao Wufu agreed. "Okay, then let's go to the brothel. Everyone, let's go together."
Pang Gui, Li Dahu, and the others were very happy when they heard this. How could they know that this was a vicious scheme that Ang Lee had devised for Zhao Wufu when Zhao Wufu and Ang Lee parted ways? The purpose was to kill these bandit leaders who might be a threat to them and permanently solve the problem.
In fact, there was nothing mysterious about this scheme. It was a famous scheme to kill a meritorious official. It had been cursed for thousands of years, but it could still be considered a good scheme. It was very suitable to deal with these bandits.
When Ang Lee told Zhao Wufu about this scheme, Zhao Wufu was very happy. He felt that it was a very good scheme. These bandit leaders would always be a scourge in his hands. The sooner he got rid of them, the sooner he could feel at ease. As for the previous promise, it was not important at all. He could just say that it was a suspicious fire. Who could say anything? Who could investigate it clearly?
This three-story wooden building could accommodate 300 people on each floor. It was a very large brothel. It used to be a famous local building. It was very lively and prosperous inside. However, due to hunger, this brothel eventually closed down. After all, there was no money or food. Who would have the time to drink and find a wife? So, naturally, it was left idle.
The number of bandits who surrendered was very large, but the real evil leaders were not many. There were only four to five hundred of them. These people were urgently needed by Zhao Wufu to get rid of. They were also the main targets of this fire.
"Come, change the name of this brothel. Call it the Celebration Brothel. Change it immediately. Prepare the wine and dishes quickly. Hurry up."
Zhao Wufu rode to the front of the brothel and gave the order.
Soon, the name of the brothel was changed to Celebration Brothel. Zhao Wufu personally led his core subordinates and hundreds of bandit leaders who surrendered into the brothel. The first floor was left empty. Everyone went to the second and third floor. There were more than 200 people on each floor. Among these people, most of them were the bandit leaders who surrendered. Zhao Wufu's trusted subordinates were less than 50. Zhao Wufu's explanation was very reasonable. It was these leaders who had made a lot of contributions. It was these leaders who persuaded the bandits in more than a dozen cities to surrender, allowing the imperial army to kill them without shedding blood. Naturally, these leaders would be greatly rewarded.
After a period of time, these bandit leaders were used to their positions. They did not doubt Zhao Wufu's politeness too much. Anyway, Zhao Wufu entered the Celebration Brothel with them. Everyone could drink and eat together. Wouldn't it be great?
After everyone took their seats, the wine and dishes were quickly served. For convenience, Zhao Wufu's subordinates and the bandit leaders were arranged in different rooms. Of course, there were some who were mixed together, but it was very rare.
When the wine was served, the bandit leaders were given hard liquor, while the generals under Zhao Wufu's command were given wine mixed with water. As such, it was not easy to get drunk when drinking.
In order to appease these bandit leaders, Zhao Wufu personally accompanied them. He addressed Pang Gui and Li Dahu as brothers and poured them bowl after bowl of wine, drinking with them as if they were very close friends. Those who didn't know would have thought that they had been good friends for many years.
"In the future, we brothers will rely on the Five Ministers to cultivate us. Everything depends on the Five Ministers."
Li Dahu said drunkenly.
Zhao Wufu nodded and said, "Brother, don't worry. As long as you follow us, you won't lose out. Come, come, come, don't talk nonsense. Let's drink. We won't go home until we're drunk."
"We won't go home until we're drunk. Let's drink together."
The bandit leaders' emotions were also stirred. They all picked up their bowls and drank and ate.
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