Yue Zhongqi was stunned, and then she immediately understood the smile on the corner of Zhu Yicheng's mouth.

"The Emperor..."

Zhu Yicheng nodded slightly and smiled, "General Yue wouldn't think that I would abandon you, a famous general, right? If that's the case, wouldn't it be a pity?"

Yue Zhongqi looked at Zhu Yicheng blankly, her body trembled slightly, but her eyes became brighter. Before coming to Beijing, Yue Zhongqi had already made plans to sit on the bench in the capital. Although he had made contributions to the battlefield in the Central Plains, judging from Yue Zhongqi's actions at that time, it was actually not a timely help, but an icing on the cake.

As an excellent general, Yue Zhongqi clearly analyzed the situation in the Central Plains before he decided to surrender to the Ming Dynasty. In his opinion, the power balance between the Qing army and the Ming army had completely changed. Although the Ming army, which occupied the right time and place, had fewer total troops than the Qing army, was stronger. It lacked logistics and low morale, and the failure of the Qing army, which fought on their own, was destined.

Even if Yue Zhongqi had the amazing talent, he would not be able to lead the Qing army on the road to victory. Moreover, Yue Zhongqi had offended Prince Cheng and others at that time because of the Battle of Jiangbei, and was in an extremely embarrassing situation.

In addition, after fighting with the Ming army many times before, Yue Zhongqi's troops killed many rebels and Ming army, especially the battle in Tangzhuang, which almost reversed the situation in Jiangbei. In this case, Yue Zhongqi threw himself into Ming. Even if the Ming Dynasty showed his magnanimity, what if he still gave him a high position and a generous salary? Do you dare to let him continue to take charge of the heavy army?

This is the embarrassment of surrendering generals. Yue Zhongqi had already prepared for this. But what he never expected was that Zhu Yicheng actually told himself in person that Yue Zhongqi still had the right to command the troops, and even continued to hand over the Jiangbei army to him, which made Yue Zhongqi feel mixed emotions.

"I thank the Emperor for his kindness..." This time, Yue Zhongqi kowtowed to Zhu Yicheng sincerely, and said, "The Emperor's demeanor makes me admire him, and I am even more grateful, but I beg the Emperor to take back Cheng's order."

"Oh, why is this?"

Yue Zhongqi hesitated and expressed his concerns, which was nothing more than that he was a surrendered general. In addition, he had been serving the Qing Dynasty in Sichuan, Jiangbei and other battlefields, and had a lot of blood from the rebels and Ming troops. Although he had abandoned the darkness and turned to the light, his status was awkward. In this case, it might not be appropriate for Zhu Yicheng to value him so much. For the sake of the Ming court and the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Yue Zhongqi felt that it would be more appropriate for him to hold a false position.

When Zhu Yicheng heard Yue Zhongqi's words, he burst into laughter. Zhu Yicheng didn't care about these things at all. Since his revival of the Ming Dynasty, he has always used talents only and never considered his background.

Let’s not talk about anything else, just talk about surrendered generals. Are there few surrendered generals in the Ming army? In addition to Dong Dashan, Wang Dong, and Ma Gongcheng, who initially followed Zhu Yicheng, there were more surrendered generals among the generals holding heavy troops. What’s more, Liao Huanzhi, the current chief military minister, was also a county magistrate of the Qing Dynasty, and now he is not in the position of the Ming Dynasty or his ministers?

What Yue Zhongqi was concerned about was that he led troops to kill many rebels and Ming troops from the Qing Dynasty, and Zhu Yicheng didn't care. After all, they were their own masters at that time, and either you killed me or I killed you on the battlefield. What's more, Yue Zhongqi's brilliant achievements at the time proved that he was a rare military genius? If Yue Zhongqi was a mediocre person in the Qing Dynasty, how could Zhu Yicheng value him? Not to mention giving him such rights.

When he called Yue Zhongqi to Nanjing to meet the saint, Zhu Yicheng wanted to see the famous General Yue with his own eyes, and to comfort Yue Zhongqi. As expected, Yue Zhongqi was cautious in nature. When he met the saint, he was grateful and uneasy when he learned that the Ming court would continue to use it. This strengthened Zhu Yicheng's determination to use him.

Although there are many famous generals in the Ming Dynasty nowadays, there are very few generals who can stand alone and have strategic vision. For example, Zhu Yigui, Yang Xu and even Lin Jianzhang, as executors, they have no problem with each other. However, the generals are different. The generals only need to consider the outcome of the battle, while the generals have to look at the world. Yue Zhongqi is the latter. How could Zhu Yicheng let such a talent be wasted?

When he learned that Zhu Yicheng's words were not temptations, but were really trying to make great use of himself, the last trace of suspicion in Yue Zhongqi's heart was completely eliminated, and replaced by the gratitude of a scholar who died for his confidant.

At this moment, he truly understood what his father said to him before his death, and even more so why the Ming Dynasty, which had long been destroyed in the hands of Zhu Yicheng for nearly a hundred years, revived in the hands of Zhu Yicheng and began to revive in a new attitude.

If you are like this, how can the world be unfair?

The convinced Yue Zhongqi once again thanked Shengxiang. When he got up, Zhu Yicheng smiled and asked him to sit down and continued to chat.

This time, Yue Zhongqi stayed in the palace for half a day, and even at noon, it was the meal that Zhu Yicheng kept him with the emperor in the palace. Such treatment and such a long time were extremely rare in the Ming Dynasty, which was enough to show Zhu Yicheng's attention to Yue Zhongqi.

The king and his ministers said a lot, and Zhu Yicheng even asked with great enthusiasm how Yue Zhongqi pacified Sichuan. He was also very interested in how Yue Zhongqi planned the battle between Tangzhuang in Jiangbei at that time. Yue Zhongqi did not hide this and explained it carefully in front of the emperor. In order to be more intuitive, Zhu Yicheng also asked someone to take the map and spread it in the side hall, so that he could face the map explanation, and sat aside and listen with relish.

Before Yue Zhongqi left in the end, Zhu Yicheng told Yue Zhongqi to stay in the capital for a while. After all, he had just joined the Ming army and was not very familiar with the situation of the Ming army. Moreover, the rules of the Ming army now mean that any officer of a certain level needs to enter a special military academy for a period of study, and then join the General Staff for some days before he can be officially appointed.

Although Yue Zhongqi is a famous general in the world, the way of war in the Ming Dynasty has changed from the beginning. With the continuous development of hot weapons, the Ming army's training, command methods, or overall tactics are very different from before.
Chapter completed!