Please ask me to be the emperor

"Do you want to surrender to me?" Zhang Shun looked at Xu Jiayin in front of him. His face did not show any emotion, but he secretly complained about his name.

"Yes, my commander-in-chief has 100,000 troops under his command, and he has won consecutive battles. He stretches across Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and no one in the Ming army can control him!" Xu Jiayin quickly saluted.

"Now I admire His Highness's reputation and want to serve as a general in His Highness's army!"

"You have such a sharp tongue, you can tell even the dead to live!" Zhang Shun shook his head and laughed after hearing this.

"This king raised his army from Mengjin and fought more than a hundred battles. What scenes have I not seen?"

"In my estimation, excluding the old, weak and those who cheer for us, Xu Du only has two to three thousand men."

"That's all, that's all. Since he is willing to vote for me, let's give him the post of commander-in-chief and give him a battalion of troops!"

"Thank you, Your Highness, thank you, Your Highness!" Xu Jiayin was surprised at first when he heard this, and then couldn't help but said with great joy.

In the Ming Dynasty, the position of Commander-in-Chief was already the highest level among military generals, so how could Xu Du ask for it?

The two agreed that Xu Jiayin did not dare to stay longer, so he quickly said goodbye to Zhang Shun and returned to Jinhua.

Zhang Shun didn't force him to stay, but before leaving, he couldn't help but ask: "Xu Jiayin, are you interested in doing business and buying and selling real estate?"

"Your Highness, where did you say that?" Xu Jiayin couldn't help but be stunned.

"Uh, just ask, just ask!" Zhang Shun chuckled, feeling relieved secretly.

"Your Highness!" Just as Zhang Shun was saying goodbye to Xu Jiayin, Gu Tinglin hurried over.

Zhang Shun quickly waved goodbye to Xu Jiayin, and then asked, "What's wrong?"

"Your Highness Qizou, Zheng Zhilong just came as an envoy and claimed that he would also submit to King Shun!" Gu Tinglin replied quickly.

"What?" Zhang Shun was stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect Zheng Zhilong to be so happy.

It turned out that although Xu was "eager to surrender", due to the lack of information, Xu Jiayin almost ran to Suzhou and walked a lot more miles.

As for Zheng Zhilong's envoy, due to Zheng Cai's intentional delay, although he knew Zhang Shun's location clearly, he wasted some time in vain.

After such a back and forth, the two sides happened to get together.

If Gu Tinglin hadn't intentionally stopped him, the two might have met face to face.

"Please, please come soon!" Zhang Shun couldn't help being overjoyed when he heard this and quickly ordered.

Not long after, a messenger came over and presented the surrender form.

It was said that Zheng Zhilong had a hundred thousand soldiers and horses, thousands of warships, and hundreds of officials, and he wanted to coerce King Lu to surrender to King Shun.

Zhang Shun opened his mouth to promise him the title of Duke, but unexpectedly, Lu Ziyue, the newly appointed magistrate of Ningbo, suddenly winked at him.

He couldn't help but feel something in his heart, so he smiled and said: "This is a big matter, let me think about it for a while before making any calculations!"

When the envoy retreated, Lu Ziyue hesitated for a moment and explained: "There are rumors that the Zheng brothers have been quite at odds in the past few years and may not be of the same mind. Your Highness, please think about it carefully."

"Of course, it's not necessarily a cover-up deliberately used by the three brothers."

"Oh?" Zhang Shun frowned when he heard this, and suddenly became a little hesitant.

If the two forces in Zhejiang, Zheng Zhilong and Xu Du, surrender together, then of course everything will be over.

If it is true as Lu Ziyue said, Zheng Zhilong cannot control the entire Zheng family's power, then this trip is extremely dangerous.

Why?

As the saying goes: At the end of a strong crossbow, the force cannot penetrate Lu's silk!

Don't look at the fact that Zhang Shun has won consecutive battles since he left Beijing. In fact, his main force is still in the capital and Liaodong, and the remaining troops are evenly distributed in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong and other places.

Today, the only troops closest to Zhang Shun are Hong Chengchou's tribe in Fengyang, Li Zicheng's tribe going to Anqing, and Xiao Qinhu's three troops stationed in Nanyang.

Each of these three armies has more than 10,000 troops, with a total of 50,000 horses. However, they cannot join together for the time being and cannot come to help him.

Therefore, in the entire Jiangnan area, apart from the more than a thousand personal guards under his command, the only forces that can be used are the two battalions of Wang Ding and Luo Shangwen.

However, with these two battalions, Wang Ding's battalion still needs to be separated to garrison Nanjing to intimidate Xiaoxiao.

Luo Shangwen's battalion was detached and stationed in the Jiangyin and Chongming areas to guard the mouth of the Yangtze River to prevent the Zheng Navy from entering the Yangtze River without any scruples.

As a result, it is clear that Zhang Shun's troops are stretched thin.

Of course, now that Liaodong is under attack, Zhang Shun will soon be able to mobilize his troops to go south, and then everything will be worry-free.

But now that things have come to a head, the two of them have asked to surrender. Should he agree or not?

Failure to do so will not only miss a good opportunity, but may also in vain arouse the enemy's resistance.

If you agree, you have to take the risk again.

Of course, Zhang Shun was not afraid of taking risks, but he was afraid of falling into Zheng Zhilong's tricks.

Now Zhang Shun is not afraid in Ningbo and Hangzhou. He and Luo Shangwen can communicate with each other from afar and support each other in case of changes.

However, if Zhang Shun were to leave Ningbo and go to Taizhou and Jinhua, and the Zheng navy captured Ningbo and cut off his return, I am afraid his fate would be similar to that of Li Zicheng who was beaten to death with a hoe in history.

what to do? Do you want to take this risk?

Zhang Shun pondered for a long time, looked at Wukong, and then at Gu Tinglin, and couldn't help but think.

He couldn't help but smile and said: "Ting Lin, I know you are a great talent, but staying by my side and acting as a clerk would be a derogation of your talent."

"The king intends to cultivate you, and together with your four-banner troops, I will lead you to recruit Xu Du and Zheng Zhilong to surrender. I wonder if you have the courage to go?"

"Ah? Thank you for your grace, your highness!" Gu Tinglin couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard this, and quickly thanked her loudly.

As the saying goes: "Please come to Lingyan Pavilion for a while, as if you are a scholar with ten thousand households!"

In the Ming Dynasty, there had always been a rule that "non-military merit cannot be granted a title of marquis". Therefore, besides reading poetry and books, Gu Tinglin also diligently practiced martial arts in order to one day go into battle to kill the enemy and be granted the title of marquis and worship the prime minister.

When he returned to society, he and his friends often danced with guns and sticks when they returned to the village. They were laughed at, but he remained unmoved.

Now that Zhang Shun has appointed him to lead the army, how can he not be happy?

Zhang Shun saw that he was very excited and was afraid that he would ruin the big thing, so he quickly told him: "If the other generation surrenders, you will accept it. If you refuse to surrender, you will come back immediately. Don't be reluctant to fight!"

Gu Tinglin quickly responded one by one, called for Guizhuang and others who came with him, and then led the 500 men and horses of the Four Flags all the way south towards Taizhou.

Three hundred miles from Ningbo to Taizhou, it took Gu Tinglin and his team two or three days to arrive outside Taizhou city.

However, when they just arrived in Taizhou, they discovered that a fierce battle was taking place outside Taizhou city.

Gu Tinglin quickly called the locals to ask, and then he found out that a few days ago, for some reason, the Zheng family had started an internal strife.

One party, headed by Zheng Zhilong, took King Lu and Meng Hua, the general in charge of Zhejiang, to defend the city.

The other side, led by Zheng Zhifeng, Zheng Zhibao and Zheng Cai, stormed Taizhou City, and the two sides fought inextricably for a while.

"Brother Gu, there is indeed internal strife in the Zheng family!" When his friend Guizhuang saw this, he couldn't help but said, "Now that Zheng Zhilong is alone, he will not last long."

"In my opinion, we should help him defend the city while sending people to Jinhua to recruit Xu Du and others. Only then can there be a glimmer of hope!"

"No, you can't!" Gu Tinglin frowned when he heard this, waved his hands and said, "That Xu has been cunning and repeated. He had no choice but to submit to His Highness in the first place."

"Now that we have heard about the internal strife in the Zheng family, how can we be willing to surrender easily now that the pressure is gone?"

"In my opinion, you should first enter the city to observe its reality and reality, and then make any calculations!"