Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 779 Stubborn

"Your Highness, fortunately we have fulfilled our orders. Most of the bandit army has been defeated."

"Eighty-three soldiers of the Forbidden Army died in the battle, and 817 foreign slave soldiers were killed. The rest have been surrounded by our army, and no one can escape!" Zhang Yuhui reported next to Zhu Di.

Zhu Di, who was sitting upright on the horse, nodded and signaled Zhang Yu to continue cleaning the battlefield, then turned to look at Tang Shengzong, who was guarded by several soldiers and had an earthy face: "The Marquis of Ji'an has been captured, what do you want the Marquis of Yan'an to do? Continue. Are you stubbornly resisting?"

Since the last time Zhu Su was beheaded by Timur, which caused chaos and almost ruined a major event, Zhu Su had already been prepared for such tactics to suddenly attack his general. Therefore, I have discussed with Zhu Di early on. If anything happens to me and Zhu Di, Zhu Di will continue to coordinate the overall situation. I must not let these thousands of foreign slave soldiers break out of the encirclement and cause harm to the capital city, the heart of the Ming Dynasty.

So Zhu Di led his Shenji Battalion soldiers and quietly went to the west to prepare for the attack. The result was just right. Tang Shengzong and Lu Zhongheng who were waiting to break out of the encirclement collided head-on.

Under the concentrated fire of Shenji camp's fire cannons, Tang Shengzong and Lu Zhongheng, who had never seen the power of firearms and still led their troops in the old way, were instantly defeated and their troops were defeated like a mountain.

The war was over completely before even a stick of incense was burned.

Tang Shengzong looked at Lu Zhongheng, who was trapped under the horse and was rescuing himself, and then at the few personal guards around him. His face turned blue and white. After hesitating for a long time, he finally threw away the steel knife in his hand and said: "That's it, the winner is the king and the loser is the enemy. Now that you have won, what else is there to say?"

"Unexpectedly, our two heroic lives were defeated by a younger generation today, and our wisdom was lost..."

"Hero?" Zhu Di looked troubled, but his tone was as cold as ice. "If your father, the emperor, and your mother had not rescued you and recognized you as adopted sons, you and I would have never known where your bones would be buried in an unknown grave along with those countless refugees in the late Yuan Dynasty."

"Now he is arrogant and domineering, repaying kindness with hatred. I don't know what kind of hero he is."

"You..." Tang Shengzong's face changed, and the wolf-like imperial army pounced on him, tying him up tightly.

"Take him to the capital," Zhu Di said. "There is no need to talk to this king."

"Go and explain everything to your elder brother and father."

When he heard Lao Zhu's name, Tang Shengzong's face turned pale, and he swallowed back the curses he had prepared.

……

"Brother, Tang and Lu are both in that palace. They have been escorted back by you."

In the main hall of the Punishment Department, after Zhu Biao learned that Zhu Su, Zhu Di and others had successfully captured Tang Shengzong Lu Zhongheng, he had already led the officials to wait in the Punishment Department in advance. Seeing Zhu Biao's worried face, Zhu Su knew what he was thinking, and then said: "Thousands of slaves have been captured and guarded by the Forbidden Army, and no fish that slipped through the net escaped by chance... I won't do anything for it." It’s a disaster for the countryside, brother, just rest in peace.”

"That's good." Zhu Biao breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the news. "Brother, I never expected that these two people would be outside the city, nor would I expect that they would dare to resist... Huh? Second brother, what's wrong with you? Are you injured?"

"It's not that damn Lu Zhongheng who dares to plot against me... He's like a dog. I have to break his two dog legs to eliminate the hatred in my heart..."

Zhu Ping accidentally sprained his foot when he fell off the horse. Now when he walks, he inevitably has a slight limp, and the muscles on his face are throbbing in pain. However, due to the timely rescue, it was actually nothing serious, it was just a pain. Zhu Su saw that it was funny and reminded him in a low voice: "Second brother, if you don't have to fight me, isn't Lu Zhongheng's leg already broken?"

Zhu Xi was stunned for a moment, then his face turned red: "Isn't there another one? Not only that one, I want to break his middle leg as well!"

"Second brother!" Seeing Zhu Fang's vulgar language, Zhu Biao glared at Zhu Feng with feigned anger. Zhu Xi was immediately submissive and did not dare to say anything. Zhu Biao turned his attention to Zhu Su and Zhu Di: "It's just a way of making a living. Although it's against the rules, it's not like they were allowed to assassinate the prince... What's the reason?"

"Perhaps, what I thought before was too simple." Zhu Su said. "I thought that just mobilizing troops and horses would be enough to bluff Lu and Tang, so they didn't dare to act rashly."

"But that is under the premise that the slave trade is regarded as a profitable business for the Lu and Tang families. If it is just for money, it is not worth taking the risk."

"But what if... this business is where their family fortune lies?"

"Family wealth?" Zhu Biao frowned. "Yeah." Zhu Su nodded. "They are unwilling to hand over these slaves, and would rather risk the world's disapproval and take a dangerous blow... On the one hand, they are greedy and do not want to give up their years of hard work. On the other hand... are they still thinking about the future? These people are wealthy enough to take people out to Nanyang or Fengmingzhou to expand territory by boat?"

"Open up new territory?" Zhu Biao frowned even more tightly. These two people gave up military power in the past and chose glory and wealth. Now, could it be that after enjoying enough, he suddenly changed his temper and prepared to serve the country with all his loyalty?

This seems...not impossible.

As the Prince of the Supervisory State, Zhu Biao naturally knows that the Marquis of Ji'an and the Marquis of Yan'an have become worse and worse in recent years, and their status in the court has become increasingly marginalized. Even among the martial arts, they are often reduced to The laughing stock is considered to be a representative of lack of progress and short-sightedness.

The two of them are arrogant and domineering, have high self-esteem, and they are both shameless people. How can I stand up to such criticism? There is nothing wrong with trying to save face.

However, the imperial court had taken away their military power, and they had no soldiers. If they wanted to make a career, they could only focus on those prisoners in northern Xinjiang who were good at fighting.

As long as a certain amount of captive slaves are raised, a group of soldiers will naturally be formed. Then you can start a career.

Of course, if Ming Dynasty treated them so poorly, then this "career" must not be done for Ming Dynasty, but for themselves.

"..." Zhu Biao looked solemn. This could be regarded as a major rebellion that could shock both the government and the opposition. In the past, the founding warriors gathered private soldiers with the intention of going abroad. If this cannot be handled properly, it will undoubtedly be a huge blow to the prestige of the Ming Dynasty.

"...That's all, let's wait until my brother interrogates these two people." Zhu Biao said.

However, it is not known whether Tang and Lu had already prepared a confession on the road, or they felt that they were too guilty to give it a try. Now that Zhu Biao was interrogating him in person, they actually shouted in unison in the lobby of the Ministry of Punishment that they were wronged. The two insisted that the slaves outside the village were involved in an ordinary slave trading business. It was because the slaves were frightened when they saw someone coming with a large number of soldiers that they bombed the camp and attacked.

"Nonsense!" Zhu Xiang was so angry at the shamelessness of these two people. "They are just slaves for trading? If so, why do they all carry knives?"

"Also, many people have witnessed the two of you assassinating me! How can we explain this?"

"They were originally going to be sold to the merchants in Nanyang and Fengmingzhou to guard their homes and guard their homes against barbarians... Isn't it normal to practice martial arts with a knife on your body? As for assassinating His Highness... His Highness's body Wasn't the injury caused by falling from the horse? How about assassination?" Lu Zhongheng said.

"The situation was chaotic... even my horse was frightened. He accidentally fell off the horse and was hit by the horse and injured his leg. Could it be that I was also assassinated?"

"Prince Mingjian, the two of us were His Majesty's adopted sons. If we put it into perspective, we are still His Majesty's adopted brothers... How could we do such a thing that would harm the Ming Dynasty?"

"Shameless! Shameless!" Zhu Ming trembled with anger and looked at Zhu Biao, who was sitting at the top with a gloomy expression. "Brother, hit me, hit me hard!"

"I don't believe it anymore. These two thieves who cannot be beaten today confess!"

"The two of us are the heroes who founded the Ming Dynasty. Does His Highness the Crown Prince want to treat the heroes lightly and beat them into submission?" Lu Zhongheng's voice suddenly became sharp. Seeing Zhu Biao's gloomy expression, he chuckled. "I am injured now. Even if I have to go to trial, I should wait until I recover from my injured leg."

"Who dares to hit me before I recover? Who dares to hit me?"

Lu Zhongheng, with an arrogant face and messy hair, actually shouted to everyone in the hall. After all, he was a powerful general who participated in the founding of the country. Everyone was frightened by his appearance, and no one said anything for a long time.

"Hmph, if no one dares to fight, why don't you call the imperial doctor to treat my leg injury..." A proud smile appeared at the corner of Lu Zhongheng's mouth.

"Who said no one dares to fight? We dare!"

Suddenly, a roar that seemed to come from above the nine heavens came from outside the hall.

(End of this chapter)