Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 250: Desire to Kill

After Meng Hong left, Jin Shenghuan's anger did not subside. He looked around, scanned the subordinates around him, and said angrily: "If you hadn't been at a disadvantage on the battlefield, how could I have ended up like this and suffered such humiliation!"

Upon hearing this, the generals just bowed their heads and said nothing. Some of them showed dissatisfaction, but no one dared to openly anger Jin Shenghuan. Seeing this, Wang Deren could only bite the bullet, step forward, and whispered: "General, victory and defeat are common in the military. Today's defeat is not the fault of one person. We are willing to work together with you."

Jin Shenghuan's anger subsided a little after hearing Wang Deren's words. Wang Deren said cautiously, "General, why don't I go find out about Meng Hong's background and see if I can bribe him."

Jin Shenghuan sneered upon hearing this and said, "An old man like this dares to come here, he must be fearless, how can he be someone who can be bribed?"

Wang Deren hurriedly said: "General, this man is not afraid of death, but he may not dislike treasures. If he does not love treasures, he must love beauties!"

At this time, Zhang Yingwei also agreed, "Yes, this person always has a hobby. In my opinion, this kind of scholar must like famous calligraphy and paintings. Our treasury has a lot of these things. Pick some and send them over."

Jin Shenghuan waved his hands irritably and said, "Deren, you can do whatever you want. I don't want to see this old man again!" Then Jin Shenghuan stood up and left.

The few people left looked at each other, as if they had a tacit understanding, but said nothing. They just continued to discuss what to give to Meng Hong and how to "bribe" this person.

As night fell, the guard captain Zhou Guangyuan came to Meng Hong's post house and said nervously, "Master Meng, there are many people watching us around the post house! A lot!"

Zhou Guangyuan was afraid that Meng Hong didn't understand, so he deepened his tone and repeated it. Meng Hong smiled and comforted him, "Don't worry. If Jin Shenghuan wanted to kill me, why would he send so many people to monitor me closely?"

Zhou Guangyuan nodded, not quite understanding, and was about to leave. At this time, the guard at the door ran in, saluted to Meng Hong and Zhou Guangyuan, and said, "Sir Meng, captain, several carriages have arrived outside the posthouse. The leader said it was Wang Deren. He said he wanted to discuss important matters with Sir Meng."

Meng Hong nodded and said, "Please ask him to come in." Just as he finished speaking, Meng Hong changed his words and said, "No, I will go and welcome him myself!"

Wang Deren was a little uneasy at this time. He could survive safely in this chaotic world only by relying on his ability to judge the situation. If it weren't for the Tartars' low-brow attitude, he really would not have planned to rebel against the Qing Dynasty.

Thinking back to the time when he couldn't even afford to eat and was about to starve to death, he gritted his teeth and joined his fellow villager Li Zicheng. They were both from Mizhi, Shaanxi. Wang Deren did a pretty good job in Li Zicheng's army and was even nicknamed Wang Zamao. Thinking back to the time when he had been fighting with Li Zicheng since the early years of Chongzhen, it was no exaggeration to say that he was a veteran general.

After Li Zicheng was killed in Jiugong Mountain, he went to seek refuge with Jin Shenghuan who was in Nanchang at the time. He thought it would be good to be a marquis in the Qing Dynasty together with Jin Shenghuan. However, the Qing Dynasty looked down upon him. In anger, Jin Shenghuan, under the advice of Wang Deren, raised an army to rebel against the Qing Dynasty. Everything went smoothly afterwards. The Qing army was unable to move south and had no time to take care of Jiangxi.

Wang Deren originally thought that he could accomplish great things with Jin Shenghuan, but he never expected that Jin Shenghuan was a mere show-off, good-looking but useless. The army of more than 200,000 was defeated in one day. Until now, there were many generals who had ulterior motives. Although Wang Deren had this intention, he still wanted to know how King Zhou would treat his own commander.

At the gate of the posthouse, Meng Hong personally came out to greet Wang Deren. Wang Deren hurriedly bowed and saluted. The two of them treated each other with respect. Meng Hong pointed at the carriage behind him and asked in confusion: "General Wang, what do you mean by this?"

"Mr. Meng, this is just a small gift from my Marshal. It's nothing to mention, nothing to mention!" Wang Deren smiled naively and complimented Meng Hong.

At this time, the soldiers who were monitoring and protecting the surroundings saw Wang Deren and the envoy of King Zhou talking happily. They were all puzzled and thought to themselves, "Could it be that the commander-in-chief wants to surrender? He doesn't want to fight anymore?"

The two entered the inn and sat opposite each other. There was no one else here, so Meng Hong asked directly, "General Wang came here so late at night. I wonder if he came here on the orders of Jin Shenghuan? Or was it General Wang's intention?"

Wang Deren smiled faintly and said, "The posthouse is surrounded by the personal soldiers of the generals, so why would I come here privately?"

"Oh, today in the hall, General Jin intended to chop off my head, but after just a few hours, General Jin changed his mind!" Meng Hong leaned back in his chair and said softly.

Wang Deren did not respond to this question, but said seriously: "Mr. Meng, I cannot stay for long, and I will not chat with you. I just want to know, if we surrender, how will the King of Zhou treat us? And how will he treat the Marshal?"

Hearing this, Meng Hong put away his smile, straightened up, stroked his beard, and said seriously: "If General Wang surrenders, my king will treat him well. For the rest of the generals who are willing to surrender with their troops, we will select the best troops, provide food and military supplies, and treat them equally. If Jin Shenghuan surrenders, my king can guarantee his safety!"

Wang Deren frowned and said dully, "The commander still has more than 100,000 troops and occupies Jiangxi. With such a strong army, he surrendered with all his troops. Why is the King of Zhou treating him so harshly?"

"Jin Shenghuan killed many people and burned military supplies. The generals in the army hated him deeply. Now although Jin Shenghuan has a large number of soldiers, the morale of the army is low. When the General Zhengnan arrived, the soldiers in Shangrao city killed his general and surrendered. This shows that once the army arrives at the city of Nanchang, the alliance under the city may not treat Jin Shenghuan as well as it does now. What's more, my king is willing to pardon Jin Shenghuan and let him live out his life in wealth and honor. This is already a great favor!" Meng Hong said in a deep voice.

"Okay, I got it. Please have rest, Mr. Meng." After hearing this, Wang Deren stood up, bowed to Meng Hong, then turned and left.

After leaving the posthouse, Wang Deren rushed to the Nanchang government office without stopping to meet Jin Shenghuan. When he saw Jin Shenghuan, Wang Deren was stunned to see that Jin Shenghuan looked happy and excited.

Wang Deren hurriedly bowed and said, "Marshal, I'm back."

"Well, Deren is back. What does that old man have to say?" Jin Shenghuan asked with a smile.

Wang Deren hesitated for a moment, but decided to tell the truth: "... Marshal, Meng Hong was sent by Meng Jun to persuade us to surrender. Meng Hong told you that if you surrender, you can live a life of wealth and peace without worries!"

"Hmph!" Jin Shenghuan laughed in anger, then said: "This old man is a piece of rotten wood. He doesn't even know how to deceive me when he tries to persuade me to surrender. Do I need rich people? Gold, silver and treasures, do I need these things?"

Wang Deren didn't know what to say when he heard that. Just when the atmosphere was a little dull, Jin Shengheng spoke again: "Don't worry, Deren. I have received Li Shuai's letter. Li Shuai's army has begun to rush north to rescue Nanchang. Nanchang City is impregnable!"

After Jin Shenghuan finished speaking, he saw Wang Deren's surprised expression and said ruthlessly, "Send the soldiers to surround the posthouse and cut that old man into pieces to vent my hatred!"

Wang Deren was shocked and hurriedly advised: "Marshal, why do you have to do this? He is just an old man. Killing him is useless and will ruin your reputation and anger Meng Jun. Marshal, think twice!"

Jin Shenghuan shook his head and said firmly: "At this point, all the generals in the army are wavering. Killing the envoy Meng Jun will make sure that the generals will have no second thoughts. This is a desperate move, and we must work together!"