Shipin Dalizheng

Rong Zhan presented Xuanlong, and Rong Tang sat upright on the city gate tower, slowly plucking the strings of the zither and singing "Exploring the Qingshui River".

"Peach leaves covered the sky,

The autumn insects are buzzing loudly.

My beloved brother whom I think about day and night,

He came to me.

One more update...

Second update..."

The voice was clear and clean, and every word of the lyrics was understandable, but it turned the thousands of troops on and off the city into charcoal.

Is this an obscene song that can be sung in public?

Zheng Changning was quite close and heard every word clearly. His face flushed red as he pointed his silver spear at the top of the city wall. "Shut up, pervert..."

There was silence behind me. I turned my head and saw that the soldiers were listening with great interest.

Because Zheng Changning interrupted, Rong Tang stopped singing. Someone in the city couldn't help but ask, "Hey, what happened to the third and fourth watches?"

Rong Tang said slowly, "Since you don't like it, then change it."

Zheng Changning was filled with endless disappointment, but please don’t, we love to hear it!

Zheng Changning felt both embarrassed and annoyed. "How shameless! Singing such obscene songs in public? Do you think this is a brothel?"

"Oh, General Zheng even knows what songs are being sung in the building. It seems like we're kindred spirits!"

Zheng Changning, enraged, drew his bow and shot an arrow, aiming it straight at Rong Tang's face. His arrow was fast, but Old Wen's hand was even faster. He caught it with his bare hands and flung it back.

This arrow carried the force of wind and thunder, and Zheng Changning was scared to death. Just when he thought his life was over, the arrow only hit half a foot in front of the horse and sank into the ground.

Zheng Changning immediately broke out in a cold sweat and retreated more than ten feet. This distance was out of range for his own arrows, but he had a hunch that he would not be able to defeat the old man at all.

Rong Tang tutted his words, "Look at you, you want to talk things over nicely, but you just come up and want to fight and kill? You should give me some time to think, right? Tell me, what's the benefit of me opening the city gates? What rank can I get? Can I get a replacement prime minister? You won't even give me anything, so how can I trust you to put the lives of the people in this city in your hands?"

He chattered on for a long time, and just when Zheng Changning was about to lose his patience, another group of people arrived.

Sima Zhi, exhausted, arrived with 5,000 vanguards and found that Zheng Changning had been in a standoff for a long time. For some unknown reason, the two sides were only exchanging words and not fighting.

He was already furious. They were inexplicably harassed along the way, which made them arrive half a day late. They thought that the western route had already taken the imperial city, but this was the result.

He was so happy that his teeth were exposed. "General Zheng, can you do it? If not, stand back and watch me open the city gate. You all hide well and don't get blood on your faces."

Zheng Changning said unhappily, "If you can do it, go ahead."

Sima Zhi rode forward to the place where Zheng Changning had stood before. He looked up and saw a blurry figure in earl's clothes on the city gate tower. He held a foot-long stick in both hands and put it against his eyes, also looking at him.

He cleared his throat and said, "Hey..."

A long knife was thrown from above with terrifying force. It pierced into the horse's front hoof half a foot away at the moment Sima Zhi's hair grew cold. The horse was so frightened that it stood up and ran away, leaving him behind.

Sima Zhi fell on his butt, causing the entire Western Route Army to laugh at him.

Sima Zhi turned over and jumped up, tearing off a letter from the knife. The words on it made his eyes widen.

"Fourth uncle, how are you?"

Sima Zhi looked up again and saw the person above waving at him. Not to mention anything else, even this Tang sword was something that no one else in the world possessed.

He wanted to scream, but he covered his mouth and walked towards the city gate as Rong Tang waved him. His personal soldiers shouted, "General, be careful!"

One by one, they rode their horses to guard him, and when they reached the city gate, the imperial city gate opened without any warning, contrary to everyone's expectations.

On the city gate tower, Li De recorded this scene with a completely expressionless face. "On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, Sima Zhihu, the vanguard of the Dai Viet Nan Army's eastern route, opened the south gate of the Nanyue Imperial City and accepted the surrender of the Southern Emperor. From then on, Dai Viet was unified and its national fortune would last for thousands of years."

For many years to come, Zheng Changning hated Rong Tang's partiality and "given" this opportunity to go down in history to Sima Zhi instead of him.

He scolded, "Don't we have any friendship? Why did you stop me and wait for him to come?"

Rong Tang only said, "He is my wife's uncle."

Zheng Changning was left speechless.

Sima Zhi, as the first military general of the Pingnan Army to enter the Nanyue Imperial City, accepted the surrender letter from the Southern Emperor and a pile of surrender letters signed by officials on behalf of Emperor Xuanning with a confused look on his face. He took over the military and political power safely and securely without bloodshed.

It was impossible for the two armies with a total of 100,000 troops to remain motionless. Moreover, there was not even any grass left in this area that had been hit by a locust plague. If they stayed there, they would only starve to death.

Just three days after Rong Tang shamelessly asked them for military rations again and again, he left 10,000 people to maintain order and continued the southern expedition after being unable to bear it any longer.

Sima Zhi now had a telescope in his eyes. Standing on the city gate tower, he watched the army leave and sighed deeply, "Nephew-in-law, having you in our Sima family is like having God's help!"

With this achievement, he will surely be promoted when he returns. Even if he is not promoted, his name will surely be recorded in history, and he will have no regrets even in his death.

Rong Tang wiped the knife with a cloth. "Actually, I chose you after careful consideration. It's not just because we're close. The people in this imperial city are unstable. A single mistake could lead to widespread bloodshed. I don't trust Wang Biao, so I can only choose to trust you."

Sima Zhi knew exactly what he was worried about and pulled out a handful of letters of accusation from his pocket. "These are all accusations against you. They cover all sorts of crimes, practically breaking most of the laws of Vietnam. If you believe them all, you'll be dead. But these people certainly don't realize we're uncle and nephew."

He laughed so hard that his tongue trembled. Rong Tang smiled slightly, "I also have a petition here, Sir Sima, take a look."

Sima Zhi raised an eyebrow as a timid figure from the corner stepped forward and bowed, handing over a list. "These people have instigated the young master to rebel and ascend the throne, changing the dynasty. Please investigate thoroughly, sir."

The feminine voice made Sima Zhi's eyebrows jump, "Who is this?"

Cao Daban trembled and said, "I am the companion of the late emperor."

Sima Zhi looked at Rong Tang, who spread his hands and said, "I didn't bribe him. He was there when those people instigated me."

Cao Daban said, "After the death of the late emperor, these people had their own ulterior motives. They actually wanted to incite the young master to rebel, and then when the Northern Dynasty army arrived, they would betray him and let him take all the blame. Then they could make merit, surrender, and gain a good reputation."

Sima Zhi cursed, "His heart is worthy of death."

Rong Tang smiled, "Take your time, there's no rush."

Sima Zhi laughed heartily. "That's right. Fourth Uncle still has to wait here for the people sent from the capital to take over. He has plenty of time to deal with them. What about you? When are you leaving?"

In theory, Rong Tang's mission had been completed at this point. Whether it was the imperial city or the refugees, he could just hand over and leave.

"We have to resettle the refugees first before we can leave. I will try to leave in the twelfth month and be home before the New Year."

"What about him?" Sima Zhi nodded at Cao Daban. "In my opinion, if you can't bring yourself to kill him, just give him some silver and let him escape. Keeping him around will only bring trouble."

Cao Daban trembled even more violently.

"Don't scare him, he's actually not a bad person."

"I'm not saying he's bad, and I believe in your judgment, but his identity is too special. He's the Southern Emperor's confidant. If he stays by your side, it will give many people reasons to attack you."

"I need someone to attack me."

His answer left Sima Zhi at a loss.

"I need a bad reputation so that I can become a minister full of flaws and weaknesses and gain the utmost trust from His Majesty."