Finally, dozens of people caught on the river bank were already tied up. When they heard Zhou Kaihuang's order, the soldiers pulled these people out. For those prisoners who were dejected and dug holes just now, these people were not only familiar to them, but also their idols they envied in the past and their goal of struggle.

"You will fill them up in a while, which will be the last journey for your old chief." After all these people were pulled to the pit, Li Xinghan stepped forward to talk to the prisoners.

"It turns out that I'm not trying to cheat us." After hearing Li Xinghan's words, the prisoners who dug the pit immediately reacted. Many ordinary Qing soldiers who thought their lives were in danger had a sigh of gratitude, and some people said some gratitude to Li Xinghan who issued the order. The prisoners were smartly noticing Li Xinghan. Zhou Kaihuang's respectful expression to Deng Ming was secretly guessing Deng Ming's identity in his heart. These people who survived the disaster quickly expressed their gratitude, and their words were full of flattery for the merciful and magnanimous prince of the Han Dynasty.

Li Xinghan showed a look of pride on his face. He had been studying with Fuhou for many years and showed his skills in front of everyone today. Zhou Kaihuang secretly admired him and remembered Li Xinghan's good way to recover the morale of the army in his heart.

Unlike them, Deng Ming only felt absurd when he heard these praises. Those scarred faces were filled with fear and painful eyes, but they shouted some words of gratitude loudly in their mouths. Deng Ming sighed in his heart: "I remember there is a word called Stockholm syndrome, which means that some hostages are held hostages. After living under extreme fear for a period of time, they will regard the bandits who hold them as leaders, and sincerely provide advice for the robbers, and even

Treat the robbers as their benefactors and put the robbers’ interests above their own interests. It is said that this strange phenomenon is still very reasonable, and it originates from a biological instinct. Because people cannot live under fear and pressure forever, otherwise they will collapse. Therefore, when the status quo cannot be changed, the hostages will compensate for their good people and their saviors. They will be grateful to them for their cruelty and some non-evil deeds, thereby maintaining their own spiritual balance."

The people on the other side were all enemies of treason. Deng Ming felt that no matter what, the soldiers on the other side could not escape a treason. However, whether it was these ordinary soldiers or Tan Hong's personal guards, Deng Ming was unwilling to kill after they put down their weapons, and was determined to stick to his promise to hand them over to Wen Anzhi.

These dozens of Tan Hong's personal guards tied to the edge of the pit are much braver than the previous prisoners. Deng Ming noticed that although they were all pale, no one made a sad voice or begged for life. When a few people's eyes first came into contact with Deng Ming, the meaning flashed for a complicated moment, but they still took the initiative to avoid it, unwilling to let Deng Ming misunderstand that they were begging for a way to live. Deng Ming felt that there was indeed this meaning in it at the beginning.

But their commander Tan Hong said sadly - he was pulled to watch by the Ming army. Seeing that the Ming army was about to execute all his confidants, Tan Hong, as a marquis, actually cried: "I'm sorry to you!"

With the light of fire, Deng Ming saw the faces of the Ming soldiers around him full of revenge. Many heads of the Ming army defeated soldiers in Chongqing were hung on Tan Hong's camp wall. The Ming army took them down after entering the camp, preparing to let them see the Ming army kill these traitors with their own eyes before burying them. The Ming soldiers knew very well that if the entire army had not won the victory today, their heads would have been hung in line on the wall of the camp.

These hatred gazes shot at the prisoners and their happy smiles after seeing Tan Hong lose their composure made Deng Ming, who had originally planned to persuade him, hesitate for a while, but after thinking about it, he finally spoke and said to the officers around him: "Aren't we the one who promised to surrender to avoid death?"

"Your Highness... Mr. Deng is going to let these thieves go a long way?" Li Xinghan was a little surprised. He stared at Deng Ming blankly.

"If you rebel and surrender to the enemy, you will never escape the death penalty. Even Supervisor Wen will not let them go," Deng Ming explained: "Let's hand them over to Supervisor Wen."

"Since it's a death sentence, then we'll do it for Supervisor Wen, right?" Li Xinghan still believed that Deng Ming was a royal family member who was unwilling to reveal his identity. He would obey ordinary orders, but Deng Ming's current request was too far beyond Li Xinghan's expectations. He couldn't help but say his reasons: "You can save some food."

"First of all, there are only fifty people, and there is not much distance to Fengjie, so they cannot save much food; secondly, they put down their weapons to prevent death and injury. Is the lives of our brothers worth the food and their lives for a few days? It is also a fair deal." Seeing that the people around them open their mouths and make arguing, Deng Ming emphasized, "The most important thing is that we promised them, didn't we? We promised."

"Mr. Deng, we are not businessmen, why do we keep our promises? We are always cheating. How can we soldiers keep our promises?" This time it was Zhou Kaihuang who spoke.

Yes, businessmen and civilians need to keep their promises, but officers are also officials, so do those who are officials still need to keep their promises? Zhou Kaihuang opposed Deng Ming's approach. He thought Deng Ming's reason was ridiculous. Those who are officials, especially those who are officers, still keep their promises. Isn't that not doing their jobs? What they need is obviously strategy.

"But we promised them that if we must save food, we will release them."

Deng Ming insisted on his own point of view and took these prisoners to Wen'anzhi's camp before dealing with them. If the officers refused to be dragged down, they would release these people on the spot. He persuaded: "It's cold and cold, even if they let them go, they may not be able to survive. At least we did not kill prisoners. If they could survive, it would be good for us. They would definitely promote our faith everywhere and let the surrendered people have a way out. In the future, when the enemy is at a disadvantage, they will surrender and not fight to the end. Do you have to force the enemy to jump over the wall?"

In the eyes of Ming army officers, releasing prisoners is undoubtedly an incredible idea. Others are easy to say, how can Tan Hong's confidant be released?

Zhou Kaihuang was a misunderstanding, thinking that Deng Ming thought Tan Hong’s guards were good, and wanted to recruit a few. Zhou Kaihuang felt that this would not be successful, but if he didn’t try it, Deng Ming would probably not give up. So Zhou Kaihuang turned around and greeted the guys who were about to be buried, and advised them to abandon the darkness and turn to the light and serve Deng Ming.

As Zhou Kaihuang expected, no one agreed, and some people even suspected that this was a game of cat-catching rats. Tan Hong's guards had received favor from Tan Hong and were treated generously. They were best friends whom Tan Hong tried his best to win over. Even if these people surrendered, no one would dare to use them. They dare not say that the treatment could be as good as what Tan Hong gave them - even if they could give it, where would they place their original confidant?

Some people first coaxed the prisoners to beg for mercy, and then ridiculed them before they were executed. This is something that has not been seen before. If Tan Hong was not pardoned, these guards would not have a way to survive. Knowing this, they would not surrender.

Several people even responded fiercely to Zhou Kaihuang's words. For example, the two guards who were standing by Tan Hong's side from beginning to end today did not agree with Tan Hong's surrender. The surrender was out of obedience and wanted to increase some chances of survival for Tan Hong. If Tan Hong's strength was completely destroyed, then according to convention, they would not be pardoned, but if there were still a considerable number of people loyal to Tan Hong survive and the court wanted to use this power, they might consider pardoning Tan Hong - although the opportunity was small, it was a glimmer of hope.

These people were mentally prepared for being executed. After hearing the swearing surrender, they sneered disdainfully. One of them shouted loudly: "My life is given by the Marquis, and it was sold to the Marquis." As the man said, he jumped out of the team, jumped into a pit, lay in the pit and shouted: "Fill the soil."

With this person taking the lead, and a few guys who were devoted to Tan Hong followed him and jumped into the pit, laying at the bottom of the pit, shouting in unison: "Mr. Marquis, we will follow you in the next life!"

As an army stationed in Wanxian, Tan Wen's subordinates knew a lot about Tan Hong's troops. Someone immediately told Deng Ming and Zhou that the person who jumped into the pit was an orphan whose parents died in troubled times. He was raised by Tan Hong and fought with Tan Hong, working with Tan Hong, holding a position, and Tan Hong helped him find a wife to start a family and start a business. Such adopted sons rarely heard of rebellion, and they were loyal to their adoptive father and generals and obeyed their orders.

Zhou Kaihuang and Li Xinghan's situation are similar. Although they know their parents' origins, they have been taken care of by their respective bosses since childhood and are also the most trusted group of confidants. After hearing the introduction, Zhou Kaihuang gave a thumbs up and praised: "Heroic man! Come with wine, I want to invite these heroes who have jumped into the pit to drink a bowl."

Li Xinghan also agreed with Zhou's proposal to open up the land. Although he was an enemy, such loyal and righteous people still need to be commended. After a few words of praise, Li Xinghan turned around and looked at Deng Ming. The education Li Xinghan received since childhood was to cultivate this spirit of loyalty. In his opinion, Deng Ming would also praise this kind of loyalty - after all, no one likes traitors, right?

But there was no expression of praise on Deng Ming's face. After understanding the causes and consequences, Deng Ming felt an indescribable disgust for this behavior.

The first thing he thought of was Chen Gongbo, a big traitor. Chen Gongbo was far from as close to Wang Jingwei as Wang Jingwei was, but he claimed that he had received great favors from Wang Jingwei, so no matter what Wang Jingwei asked him to do, he would be loyal. For the sake of the personal relationship between the two, Chen Gongbo could betray the country and add his compatriots without guilt. This can only be one evaluation in the eyes of modern people, that is: scumbags!

"Pull them out of the pit." Deng Ming's tone became cold as he spoke again: "Don't toast these people, let alone give them food, but I still don't kill them. Since I promised to surround them, I will definitely spare me."

Deng Ming explained to the shocked Zhou Kaihuang that keeping his promise was to facilitate surrender in future wars, rather than having good intentions towards these prisoners of war - Deng Ming actually had it before, but now it has dispersed a lot. He could understand the way people of this era think, but it was difficult to agree with it.

"Since you all say I am a royal family, then I will just pretend to be the end!" Deng Ming thought so in his heart, explained the reasons clearly, and directly ordered without saying a word: "Take them all back and see, fill in these pits, and do not commit suicide without my order!"

After issuing the order, Deng Ming planned to leave. Seeing that Li Xinghan still had a look of dissatisfaction on his face, he suddenly had a thought and asked, "If the Marquis of Fu decided to betray the court like the Marquis of Xinjin and others, would you, Mr. Li Qian?"

This question stunned Li Xinghan and was speechless and could not answer it.

Tan Wen is Li Xinghan's benefactor and superior, and is the object of loyalty to Li Xinghan; and the court was a very vague image for Li Xinghan. As a soldier, it was obviously impossible to make him resist for a vague image and doubt the superiors who value both kindness and power. For Li Xinghan, everything Tan Wen said was right. He understood Tan Wen's orders and obeyed, and even obeyed if he didn't understand. In other words, he had to obey the orders first and then understand the orders.

"Fethical imperial system." Deng Ming sighed in his heart.

He suddenly realized that perhaps the same is true for the camp, and the Xiying camp, each person has a person whom he has loyalty, and then goes upwards and finally concentrates on the emperor. The moral concepts under the feudal system are completely different from civil society.

Deng Ming remembers that the great hero Yue Fei's idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor has been praised by all dynasties. Even if King Yue knew that the emperor was wrong, he would obey unconditionally. He knew that the emperor wanted to ruin the cause of the Northern Expedition, but he did not resist at all. In order to ensure that the emperor could fully implement the will, King Yue took away his son and confidant in the army when he was arrested, so that they would not have the opportunity to resist, and reduced their concerns and obstacles to the emperor, letting the emperor deal with him and destroy the Northern Expedition. As a result, Yue Fei and his son were killed together. This loyalty that was admired by the ancients only had one evaluation in civil society: foolish loyalty - it is the lack of a hero rather than a strength.

Deng Ming's previous good mood was mostly dissipated, and he walked back to his tent and thought silently: "I didn't think before that, when I came to this world, I understood how the May Fourth Movement profoundly changed our nation and country. When Shi Yousan was executed, no one thought that his subordinates were ungrateful, right? When the traitor Chen Gongbo was shot, there would be no Zhuangxing bar?"

After Deng Ming left, Zhou Kaihuang reluctantly ordered all the prisoners to be locked back. Although he did not agree with Deng Ming's order, Deng Ming's prestige is now so high and his status is above him. Zhou Kaihuang would not go against his wishes for such a few prisoners.

"You don't have any jokes!" After a moment, Zhou Kaihuang, who determined that Deng Ming was the third prince, started yelling again. He thought he had finally figured out Deng Ming's psychology.

That's right, Deng Ming is not an ordinary person, but a son of the royal family. Although he is not necessarily the orphan of Chongzhen, he also seems to be a vassal king. So he obviously has to follow some unique behavioral norms. Zhou Kaihuang has heard the word "Jun No Joke" from stories and dramas many times, and he linked this word with Deng Ming's persistence in his commitment.

"Ah! Not bad!" Li Xinghan also suddenly realized.

Although Deng Ming did not admit that he was the third prince, Zhou Kaihuang believed that he was, and sooner or later the truth would be revealed. If Deng Ming ruined his promise today, he would naturally be shamed. After understanding this, Zhou Kaihuang would no longer be worried about Deng Ming's orders - this is new evidence that Old Zhou was not talking nonsense at the dinner.

On the way to escape, Li Xinghan only thought about how to do everything possible to lead his brothers back to Wanxian. He had no time to consider his future prospects. Tonight's victory slightly reduced the heavy burden in his heart. Deng Ming's question just now touched Li Xinghan's heartstrings - he had been obeying Tan Wen unconditionally. Like everyone in this era, he chose a loyal partner, which needs to be close enough to allow him to accept orders and report; he needs to be higher than him so that he can convince him.

In the feudal monarchy, as long as he is a person who does not want to usurp the throne, he needs such a loyalty partner. Li Xinghan has now lost his loyalty partner. When Deng Ming asked him, Li Xinghan's heart immediately became empty and lost. This chain of loyalty is like a string tied to the kite, uploaded from the supreme heaven to the emperor and the court, and then passed down step by step. When people are on this chain, they seem to have found their place in the entire society. After losing it, Li Xinghan feels like duckweed in the water, abandoned by society.

This feeling is similar to unemployment in civil society. Unemployment means that society does not require a person's labor, so he feels that he is marginalized and has no value; in this feudal era, if no one needs Li Xinghan's allegiance, he will feel that he is marginalized, and he has indeed become a member of the marginalized group.

Not only did he need to find a new position, Li Xinghan's subordinates were unwilling to be a duck-ping. Li Xinghan must quickly find a loyal partner for himself and lock himself firmly on the chain of loyalty, so that he and his subordinates can feel at ease and feel their value in this world and the world again.

Unlike the busy Zhou Kaihuang or the helpless Li Xinghan, Zhao Tianba became even more worried when he heard this word. When he came out of the tent to watch the fun, Deng Ming had already left, just as Li Xinghan uttered the word "June has no jokes".

"If His Highness of King Jin has lost his merit of support, then King Jin will not be as steady as he has today in the court in the future, and the King of Jin will not be remembered for his merit of protecting the sky several times." Zhao Tianba was locked firmly on the loyalty chain of King Jin - Emperor Yongli, and those who broke into the camp were not. If he could support himself, Zhao Tianba, he felt that they would probably be optimistic.

Fortunately, Wen Anzhi from Fengjie was also a member of the Yongli court: "When Fengjie arrives, I must report this matter carefully to the supervisor. The third prince's covetousness for the throne has been completely unconcealed."
Chapter completed!