Chapter 677: Li Rubing surrenders

On the ninth day of the eighth month of the year, Yue Fei and Li Siye accepted the surrender letter from the veteran Zhao State General Chen Ping under the city of the eldest son of Shangdang County, and incorporated the 70,000 Zhao army under Chen Ping. Afterwards, Li Siye left the Yulin Guard to guard Shangdang County, and led the remaining troops north to Jinyang City.

On August 13, in the tenth year of Tiantong, in the Wei County, Deng Jun camp, and in the central tent, the Jinwu Guard General Deng Qiang cursed and said, "It's unreasonable. We are fighting with Li Rubing here, but we didn't expect that in the end, the boys Wudangwei took the lead. The troops entered Jinyang City and forced the Zhao king and ministers to surrender. The destruction of Zhao Tou was so confused that Wudangwei took it away."

"King Guiyang, don't do this. No matter how you say that Deng Zhong is also your nephew. If he has made such a great contribution, you should be happy." Zhang Liao, the general of Shence Guard, said with a smile.

"I didn't say I was unhappy, but I was a little unwilling to accept it. We fought with hundreds of thousands of Zhao troops in Wei County, and in the end we got the advantage of that boy Deng Zhong. Alas..." Deng Qiang sighed and said.

In fact, Deng Qiang was very happy that Deng Zhong had achieved such achievements. In recent years, talents among the royal family have not been accepted, especially in the army. He and Deng Ai are old. After fighting the battle to destroy Zhao, they may have to retreat. Among the younger generation, except Deng Zhong, the general without the Weiwei, everyone else is not worthy of use. Now that Deng Zhong has achieved the merit of destroying the country, it is no problem to carry the banner of the royal family in the army in the future, how could Deng Qiang be unhappy? It was just that he was a little unwilling to accept it.

"Okay!" At this time, Xue Rengui, who was sitting in the main seat, said: "Now Wudangwei has taken down Jinyang City, and the destruction of Zhaotou is already theirs. No matter how unwilling we are, it is useless. Let's think about how to solve Li Rubing. Your Majesty has an order. Li Rubing is one of the few famous generals in the world. If possible, try to persuade Li Rubing to surrender as much as possible. Moreover, with Li Rubing here, we can better stabilize the situation in Hebei."

After the Lang Meng Incident, Li Rubing became the general of Zhao State. With the support of Emperor Wen of Zhao, Li Rubing's prestige in Zhao State was very high. Although it could not be compared with Zhao Xin, the former Zhao State war god, it was much stronger than Zhang Chuan back then. If Li Rubing could surrender, the entire Zhao army in Hebei would have given up resisting.

"General, if Li Rubing can surrender, it will certainly be a good thing, but Li Rubing is very arrogant. Although he has the imperial edict of the regent of the Zhao State, it is not so easy to surrender." Murong Ke said with a frown.

"This is natural. Li Rubing, a famous general in the world, has his own pride. Although Zhao State has been destroyed in name, it is not so easy to make him accept his fate." Xue Rengui nodded and said.

Putting his heart in mind, Xue Rengui is now at the same height as Li Rubing. If he were himself, he would not have surrendered so easily. If he was defeated, he would have accepted it, but surrendered without fighting, which means it is difficult to accept anything.

"General, why don't you let your subordinates go and persuade Li Rubing?" At this time, Sun Wuji, the commander of the Lingser Guard, stepped out and volunteered to persuade Li Rubing to surrender.

"Military Secretary Changsun, are you sure to convince Li Rubing?" Xue Rengui asked.

Changsun Wuji shook his head and said, "Go back to the general, to be honest, his subordinates are not very sure, but although his subordinates are not very sure to convince Li Rubing, it is still okay to convince his generals. Now that Zhao State has been destroyed, the Zhao army has lost its loyalty, and morale is at a low point. Moreover, most of the Zhao general's family is in Jinyang City. Now Jinyang City is in our army's hands, and their families are also in our army. As the saying goes, the country and the world are gone, and they will naturally consider their own families. In the face of such a choice, Li Rubing cannot control it."

When Xue Rengui and others heard this, they all nodded repeatedly. Changsun Wuji's words made sense. After all, not everyone is a saint. If Jinyang City was not captured by Deng's army, they might continue to fight with Deng's army. However, now the king and minister of Zhao have taken the initiative to open the city to surrender, and they have no reason to die for Zhao's country.

"Military Changsun's words are reasonable. Since that's the case, I'll trouble Mr. Changsun to go to Li Rubing's camp in person, move them to the generals of the Zhao army with emotion and explain them with reason." Xue Rengui said.

"Here!" Changsun Wuji replied.

At the same time, in the Zhao army camp not far away, Li Rubing took the imperial edict sent by Empress Dowager Meng and said nothing for a long time. He did not expect that the Zhao State, which he had been loyal to for a lifetime, would be gone. How long has it been since the Deng army led his troops north? It was only five months, in just five months, the Zhao State, which had a land of Hebei and hundreds of thousands of troops, was gone, which was shorter than Qin State. At least Qin State had lasted for almost two years, while Zhao State, which was stronger than Qin State, only persisted for five months.

"General, the Queen Mother's Decree, ordered us to surrender to the Deng army. What should we do now?" Since the news of the surrender of Jinyang City came, the Zhao army was full of different hearts and everyone had their own ideas, but Li Rubing had never expressed his opinion. Now that the regent's decree has come, it is time to make a decision. As Li Rubing's confidant general, Le Ting took the initiative to ask Li Rubing about his plans.

Li Rubing looked around and looked at the generals under his command. He knew that the surrender of Jinyang City had caused them to lose the morale of continuing to fight with Deng's army. In fact, they cannot blame them. It's not that they don't want to fight, but that Zhao State is gone. Who are they fighting for?

"What do you think?" Li Rubing asked back. Li Rubing didn't want to surrender in his heart, but now that Zhao State is gone, he also has to consider the people under his command. This is a major event that concerns his fortune and life. Even if Li Rubing, as the chief general of the army, cannot make decisions for them at will.

"The last general listens to the general. We will do whatever we say!" Le Ting firmly supports Li Rubing, and Le Ting does not want to surrender. After all, too many people in their Le family died at the hands of Deng Jun. He had a bloody hatred between Le Ting and Deng State.

But Le Ting thinks this way, which does not mean that everyone thinks this way. Except Le Ting, although others do not speak, the expressions in their eyes are all hope that Li Rubing can follow the times and not make unnecessary struggles.

Seeing this, Li Rubing sighed deeply. At this time, the guards came in to report: "Report to the General, the envoy of Deng's army is asking for a visit outside the camp!"

Deng Jun’s people came, it was so fast. Li Rubing nodded and said, “Let him come in!”

"Here!" the guard responded.

After a while, Changsun Wuji, led by the guards, entered the central army's tent. Seeing Li Rubing in the main seat, Changsun Wuji bowed and said, "The strategist of the Da Deng Military Affairs Department, Sun Wuji, the commander of the Lingser Guard, met General Li!"

"Military General Changsun is exempt from gifts!" Li Rubing said, "I wonder what Mr. Changsun came today?"

After dealing with the Deng army for so many years, Li Rubing also has a certain understanding of the military system of Deng State. There are a total of twenty guards in Deng State, which are under the control of the General Governor's Office. However, in each guard, there is a military advisor. This military advisor is the second-ranked figure in the army, and it is not controlled by the General Governor's Office and is under the control of the Military Affairs Office.

Changsun Wuji said, "I believe General Li and all the generals already know about Jinyang. The imperial edict of the regent of Zhao State has also been in General Li's hands. I'm here today to ask General Li what he thought?"

Li Rubing said expressionlessly: "Military Secretary Changsun, you should know that the general is away and the military orders are not accepted. Although the regent orders the general to surrender, the general can also refuse to listen."

Changsun Wuji smiled and said, "This is naturally. General Li is a general of Zhao State, holding heavy troops, and with General Li's prestige, if General Li insists on fighting against our army, there must be quite a few soldiers from all over Zhao State responding, but I would like to ask General Li, what is the meaning of doing this?"

Upon hearing this, Li Rubing was silent. This is the problem. It is easy for Li Rubing to continue fighting, but the question is, what is the point of continuing fighting? Zhao State is gone, who are they fighting for?

Seeing this, Changsun Wuji continued, "The king and ministers of Zhao have already asked me to surrender. The royal court officials of Zhao are all on the way to Luoyang. They take a step back and say, even if General Li can lead his army out of the siege, what will happen in the future? Could it be that General Li wants to proclaim himself king?"

"All nonsense!" Li Rubing said angrily: "I am loyal to Da Zhao, how could he be such a person?"

"Haha!" Changsun Wuji smiled and said, "Of course I know that General Li is not such a person, so I volunteered to General Xue, just to hope that General Li can listen carefully and be a hero. Even if General Li doesn't think about himself, he still has to think about his soldiers. Their families are all in Jinyang City!"

Boom! As soon as Changsun Wuji said this, everyone present was shocked. Changsun Wuji was threatening them!

"Changsun Wuji, are you threatening us? You have to know what this is? Believe it or not, I will not let you get out of this big tent!" Le Ting shouted loudly.

Faced with Le Ting's threat, Changsun Wuji said disdainfully: "Of course I believe it, but there is one thing I believe more firmly, that is, if I can't leave the camp of your army today, then the families of generals in Jinyang City will go to the underworld with me, Changsun Wuji!"

"I dare to speak out loud, I will kill you now!" Le Ting was furious, pulled out the sword from his waist, and was about to chop at Changsun Wuji. Seeing Le Ting's actions, a group of Zhao army generals hurriedly stopped Le Ting and persuaded: "General Le, don't be impulsive!"

"Okay!" Li Rubing stopped Le Ting and then said to Changsun Wuji: "Military Secretary Changsun, this matter is very important. I need to consider it. You should go back first. Within three days, I will give you an answer."

Changsun Wuji said: "Okay, since General Li has said that, then we will wait for General Li for three days. In three days, I hope General Li can make a wise choice and say goodbye first!"

After Changsun Wuji left, Li Rubing said to everyone: "Le Ting stays, everyone else will go down first!"

After everyone left, Li Rubing asked Le Ting: "Le Ting, what should you do if you think I will do?"

Le Ting lowered his head and said without saying a word. Li Rubing smiled and said, "I know, you don't want to surrender, so why are you the general? But now it's not the turn of me to say that. The families of the soldiers in the army are all in the hands of Deng Jun. Even if I am the general, I can't influence their thoughts. Moreover, from their eyes just now, I can see that they don't want to fight."

"General!" Le Ting raised his head and was about to say something, but was stopped by Li Rubing.

Li Rubing said, "Le Ting, I know that too many people in your Le family have died at the hands of Deng's army. You have a deep blood hatred with Deng State, but what I want to say is that people must look forward, and Zhao has already died. Even if you are unwilling to accept it, what can you do? The unification of Deng State has been achieved, and even if we resist stubbornly, it will be futile in the end."

"General, General, I understand. Please rest assured. General I know the right position. If nothing happens, I will surrender first!" Le Ting understood that Li Rubing had decided to surrender in his heart. Since that was the case, he would not say anything anymore.

Looking at Le Ting's back as he left, Li Rubing murmured: "Le Ting, don't blame me. I am helpless. I can't let tens of thousands of soldiers stain the battlefield for you, and I am also for your own good!"

After Changsun Wuji returned to the Deng Army camp, he reported Li Rubing's intention to Xue Rengui. When he learned that it would take three days for Li Rubing, Xue Rengui didn't say anything, but asked: "Military General Changsun, do you think Li Rubing will surrender?"

Changsun Wuji nodded and said, "Yes, my subordinates can see that Li Rubing has been shaken, and the generals of the Zhao army do not want to continue to fight. Even if Li Rubing does not want to surrender, those generals of the Zhao army will force Li Rubing to surrender."

"That's good!" Upon hearing this, Xue Rengui breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. Since that's the case, I will give Li Rubing three days to see you again in three days!"

That night, the Zhao army camp was brightly lit in the central tent. Li Rubing couldn't sleep all night, sitting in the tent, looking at the sword in his hand. This was what Zhao Xin gave to him when he led his army to attack and destroy the remnant Yan and collected the four counties of Liaodong. At that time, Zhao State was so powerful and so arrogant. Unexpectedly, in less than thirty years, Zhao State came to an end. Even though Li Rubing was unwilling to accept it, he could do nothing.

"General Zhao, the late emperor, Li Rubing is sorry to you, Da Zhao, I didn't defend it. Today, for the future of more than 100,000 soldiers in the army, I have to do something to shame my ancestors. Please forgive me. Li Rubing will definitely apologize to you in person in the future!" Li Rubing murmured.

Three days later, that is, the tenth year of Tiantong, on August 16, Xue Rengui led a large army to outside the Zhao army camp. At this time, the gate of the Zhao army camp was closed, which made Deng army generals frown.

"General, does this Li Rubing still want to resist stubbornly?" Murong Ke asked.

According to the original plan, they came to surrender today, but judging from Zhao's posture, it seemed that there was no sign of surrender at all.

Xue Rengui also frowned and said, "I don't know either, but I think that Li Rubing is a smart person and will not be unable to see the situation clearly. Besides, even if Li Rubing wants to fight, the generals under his command may not be willing to fight with him. Wait a minute!"

"But when will you have to wait?" Murong Ke asked.

"One hour, if Li Rubing refuses to surrender after one hour, then we will attack the Zhao army camp!" Xue Rengui said.

At this time, Li Rubing and a group of Zhao army generals were all concentrated in the central army's tent. General Pei Sheng couldn't help asking: "General, Xue Rengui has led his army outside our army's camp. When will we wait?"

Li Rubing looked at the expressions of everyone and realized that they could not help it. So he sighed and said, "Send the order, the entire army will follow the general out of the camp and ask for surrender to Deng's army!"

"Here!" everyone responded.

An hour later, Xue Rengui was already impatient before he saw Li Rubing come out. He was about to order an attack, and the camp gate slowly opened.

Li Rubing led a group of Zhao army generals and walked out on foot. When he was twenty steps away from Deng's army, Li Rubing held the surrender letter in his hand and bowed and said loudly: "According to the imperial edict of the regent, Li Rubing led 120,000 soldiers in the army to surrender to your army, and ask your army to accept it!"

Upon hearing this, the generals of Deng Jun finally breathed a sigh of relief and finally had a happy ending.

Xue Rengui led a group of generals of Deng’s army to fall off the horse, walked to Li Rubing, helped Li Rubing up, and said, "General Li was able to think about the soldiers and understand the righteousness. I am very happy. General Deng’s general, Duke of the British, attacked Zhao’s Marshal Xue Rengui, on behalf of our dynasty, accept the surrender letter of your army!

After taking the surrender letter from Li Rubing's hand, Xue Rengui raised it high and shouted loudly: "Soldiers, the war is over, we can go home!"

"Long live! Long live!" Hearing this, both Deng and Zhao army cheered in unison. As the saying goes, the general died in hundreds of battles, the hero returned for ten years, and went to the battlefield. No one knew whether he could come back alive. No one liked to fight, but he had to fight. Now it was finally over. It was the best result to be able to go home and reunite with his family.

On August 16, in the tenth year of Tiantong, Xue Rengui surrendered Li Rubing, and the last Zhao army in Hebei Province gave up resistance.

After acquiring the army under Li Rubing, Xue Rengui ordered Murong Ke to lead the army to send them to Li Yang to take care of them. He took Li Rubing and other Zhao generals to Jinyang City. Although Li Rubing had surrendered, it did not mean that the entire Zhao State had surrendered. Therefore, Xue Rengui had to go to Jinyang City to preside over the overall situation. In addition, he also needed to use Li Rubing to conquer various Zhao troops in the northern border.
Chapter completed!