Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 349: The Path of the Loyalty Camp (Part )

After the banquet, Du Yinxi and Meng Jun talked alone.

Du Yinxi stared at Meng Jun, which made Meng Jun feel uncomfortable. Then Meng Jun smiled and said, "Why are you looking at me like that, Lord?"

Du Yinxi sighed upon hearing this, and then said: "I am trying to see if the king is a great leader!"

After saying this, without waiting for Meng Jun to respond, Du Yinxi continued, "I was born in the 29th year of Wanli, the 10th year of Chongzhen. I was a Jinshi, and have served successively as the Director of Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, the Beixin Banknote Customs Branch, the Changsha Prefect, the Huangzhou Military Preparations Commissioner, the Huguang Censor, the Chief Censor, the Huguang Governor, the Minister of the Ministry of War, and now the Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion (cabinet) and the Minister of War. I have reached the highest level of respect for civil officials."

Meng Jun listened carefully to Du Yinxi's words and did not interrupt him. He only heard Du Yinxi's tone, which was somewhat sad, saying, "I know that thousands of generations are just a way to comfort people. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the fortunes of dynasties have lasted no more than three hundred years. The Ming Dynasty is now a sick tree with roots and no medicine can cure it. Your Majesty has the will to be independent, and no one can blame you."

Meng Jun was silent for a while. Did he have the desire to be independent? When did it start? Perhaps it was after defeating Bolo, or perhaps it was after conquering Jinling. Although he had never explicitly said to anyone that he was the supreme ruler, it seemed that he was pushed to the center of power in this ancient empire step by step by an invisible hand. Now, Meng Jun asked himself, maybe he really had no way out. Even if he didn't leave, he would be pushed forward by countless people. Moving forward might lead to failure, but retreating would definitely lead to a bottomless abyss.

Seeing Meng Jun was silent, Du Yinxi smiled and said, "Your Majesty, although you are a prince, you have no experience in officialdom. If it were someone else, even if there were no one else present, they would have to say that they had no such intention."

Meng Jun heard this and responded, "I am upright and disdainful of petty tricks, but in fact, as for the future, only heaven knows how things will turn out."

Du Yinxi nodded, hummed, and sighed: "I am afraid that I will not be able to see what will happen in the future. I have been an official for many years and I believe that I have done my best to govern the people. However, there is only one thing that I am afraid I have to entrust to the king."

"The elders can speak frankly"

"In the first year of Longwu, I rode alone into Shunying and recruited 300,000 Shun soldiers in one fell swoop, changing the name to Zhongzhengying. This is the proudest thing in my life. It's a pity that I am old and incompetent and was defeated by Lekedehun. Tian Jianxiu, Zhang Nai, Li You, Wu Ruyi and others were forced to surrender and died in poverty. Now my health has been getting worse day by day. I beg the king to accept Zhongzhengying. All the generals are the sons of the country and are determined to fight against the Qing Dynasty. I hope the king can treat them well."

After Du Yinxi finished speaking, he stood up and bowed to Meng Jun, and Meng Jun quickly helped Du Yinxi up and said, "You are too kind, Lord."

Du Yinxi was in Kuidong, and although the source of information was a little delayed, the news from the Kunming court was not cut off. In fact, the Yongli court had been completely controlled by Sun Kewang and was like a puppet. The emperor was weak, the prime minister was corrupt, and the court had almost no policies. Even so, there were still disputes every day, which made Du Yinxi disheartened.

Even though Du Yinxi was extremely disappointed with the court and the emperor, he never thought of changing his allegiance. Once a Ming official, always a Ming official. There are many spineless scholars, but there are also some who have truly read the books of sages into their bones.

Some people say that Confucianism is corrupt, but what crime did Confucius, who lived two thousand years ago, commit against us today? The books of sages talk about principles of being a human being, and they are not wrong even after a thousand years. The only ones who are wrong are those who use Confucianism to pursue their own selfish desires. Just like a thousand years ago, two plus three equals six, will two plus three equal nine a thousand years later?

Du Yinxi didn't care about personal matters, but he couldn't let go of the more than 100,000 loyal camp soldiers in Kuidong.

After the two men sat down, Du Yinxi said, "In the land of Kuidong, the soldiers have suffered a lot. I don't think the generals will object to my joining the king. After I have dealt with this matter for the king, I can choose a place to end my life!"

Meng Jun shook his head and said, "We have won the battle and both sides have temporarily stopped fighting, but the areas under our rule are plagued by problems. The bad policies accumulated over hundreds of years in the Ming Dynasty are hard to change. In the past, when our army was weak and our generals were few, we were afraid that a hasty change would lead to civil strife. But now our military strength is still sufficient and our territory is vast. I want to make changes, but I always feel constrained. You have been an official for many years and are mature and prudent. How can I retire so easily?"

Du Yinxi waved his hand, indicating that Meng Jun was worrying too much: "The Qing court was able to implement such a strict hair-shaving order. No matter what new policy the king implements, it can be implemented. There is no need to worry."

After finishing his words, Du Yinxi said hesitantly, "But state affairs can be slowed down rather than rushed. As the saying goes, governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. You must not rush things. There is hardly a bad policy in the government. But once it is implemented, these policies, which were originally good, eventually become evil policies that harm the people."

………………

After leaving the big tent, Meng Jun personally escorted Du Yinxi to the camp gate. Outside the Zhou military camp, a group of people immediately came forward and surrounded Du Yinxi.

Du Yinxi looked back at Meng Jun, and he felt a sudden sense of relief in his heart.

After returning to the Loyal Camp, Du Yinxi did not stop for a moment and summoned the generals from various units. He stated his decision to surrender to the Zhou army and said that if anyone was unwilling to surrender, he would never force them to stay, whether they went south to join Li Dingguo or Sun Kewang, or remained stationed in Kuidong.

Liu Tichun could not have imagined that this elder Du would one day betray the Ming Dynasty. Although Meng Jun had not declared himself independent on the surface, he had never heard an order from the court.

Hao Yongzhong, Liu Tichun, Yuan Zongde, Li Laiheng, Wang Guangxing, Tan Wen, Tan Yi, the three Tan Hong brothers, Ma Tengyun, Ta Tianbao, Dang Shousu, He Zhen and other generals of all sizes had different reactions to Du Yinxi's words.

Most people had no objection to surrendering to Meng Jun. Since the Dashun was just a dream and had come to nothing, surrendering to the Zhou was more acceptable than surrendering to the Ming. After all, they had been fighting with the government soldiers for many years. As for surrendering to Sun Kewang, it was not impossible, but because of the hatred between Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, there was still some barrier in the hearts of the remnants of the Shun army for surrendering to the Western Army.