After the General Hanyang died in battle, the yamen of Zhongxiang's mansion was soon captured by the Ming army. The prefect and the county magistrate were killed. The Wuchang soldiers who fled to the east of the city were desperate and most of them surrendered to the Ming army.

In the entire battle, only a few people were able to escape outside the city wall. Because Yuan Zongdi deployed a very tight defense line in the south of the city, there were very few Qing soldiers who successfully escaped from the Ming army's encirclement. It is said that only two Qing soldiers ran extremely fast, and they happened to break through the siege in a location where the Ming army did not arrange horses. The Ming army infantry chased after them desperately, but they could not catch these two scyches.

After Liu Tichun broke through the government office, he met with everyone successfully. Because of his serious mistake in judging the situation of Zhong Xiang and Qing army, the gap crisis lasted for an hour. After learning about the dangers experienced by the gap, Liu Tichun was so angry that he wanted to kick the General Hanyang. He scolded loudly: "This guy has almost 6,000 soldiers in his hands. Why do he block the city gate with so many people? Why don't he go out of the city to camp?"

Deng Ming comforted him, "It's good that this is the case. If the Tartars were stationed outside the city, we wouldn't dare to blow up the city walls if we didn't beat them back. It would probably take ten days and half a month to defeat them? If they didn't block the city gate, they wouldn't be taken away by us in just over two hours."

Since the capture of Yunyang, the military strength of Liu Tichun and others has expanded rapidly, and there have been a lot of confiscations along the way. When they arrived in front of Zhongxiang City, the armored soldiers of the four generals of Kuidong had increased from 6,000 when they went to battle to more than 8,000. After Zhongxiang's battle, the armored soldiers of the Ming army had reached nearly 14,000.

Of course, Hao Yaoqi, who received the most total amount of supplies, sent the most troops this time; but in terms of the increase in strength, no one can compare with Yuan Zongdi. Before the war, everyone said that he would give Yuan Zongdi a little more, but now he has two thousand pairs of armor and weapons. Almost all the auxiliary soldiers brought from Dachang have become armored soldiers, and now the main force of auxiliary soldiers who transport supplies are the prisoners and the temporary recruitment of the people.

Zhongxiang seized a large number of Wuchang Army equipment, and the quality of these armors and weapons was better than before. As before, Deng Ming did not participate in the division of equipment and captives.

Because Deng Ming agreed not to kill the prisoners, Liu Tichun and others did not intend to make it difficult for Deng Ming. They divided the remaining hundreds of soldiers in the personal military camp into four parts, each of which took one part, and brought it back to their respective troops to monitor.

After being seized in large numbers, Yuan Zongdi's strength almost returned to before the Battle of Chongqing. He is in a good mood now, so he explained the captive policy of this era to Deng Ming.

"If the admiral wants to attack Wuchang, these personal soldiers and Wuchang soldiers are very useful," as Deng Ming called himself the admiral of Jiangnan for a long time, the titles of his personal guards and Kuidong generals gradually changed. Yuan Zongdi said: "If the admiral does not intend to take Wuchang, then these personal soldiers are a burden to the army."

The Qing army's armored soldiers captured in Yunyang and other places have been carefully identified. Any bachelor who has no family does have some strength or other outstanding features. The generals of Kuidong may use them as combat soldiers; while those generals of Kuidong who have families and wives and young will take away their armor and organize these prisoners into the squad and use them as auxiliary soldiers.

Even the auxiliary soldiers who transport supplies were divided into reliable and unreliable. Those Qing soldiers and prisoners who had families and had never left their birthplace were the most unreliable. These people would neither move forward willingly when the Ming army attacked, nor would they follow them back to the Kuidong base when the Ming army retreated. They just wanted to stay near their hometown. Only when the Ming army was determined to occupy Yunyang, Xiangyang and other places for a long time, would they not have to worry too much about these people being abandoned.

As for the large number of Wuchang soldiers captured this time, some of them were old subordinates who followed the Hanyang General to fight south and north. These people were the most dangerous in the eyes of the generals of Kuidong and were absolutely untrustworthy, but most of them were killed in battle. There were also some elite soldiers selected from various parts of Hubei. As long as they had not settled in Wuchang, they could be used. The generals of Kuidong knew that such people were generally to earn military merits and did not care about going away from home. These prisoners were soon divided by Liu Tichun and others, and many of them were incorporated into the ranks of war soldiers. The remaining soldiers with families in Wuchang were more troublesome. If they continued to attack Wuchang, these soldiers might fight bravely to capture their families, but if the Ming army retreated, they would definitely run away.

"Although the admiral promised not to kill the prisoners, there were not many people. If they surrounded them, there would be no trouble if they killed them." Yuan Zongdi felt that Deng Ming had agreed to the Hanyang General's agreement too quickly. Most of the surviving officers of these personal soldiers were old subordinates who had been with the general for many years. The personal soldiers were usually treated well. They basically had families in Wuchang. According to the standards of the generals of Kuidong, these hundreds of people were the most dangerous group. The best way to deal with them was not accepted at the beginning.

"They are all Han men. If the Tartars want to kill them, we will also kill them?" Deng Ming shook his head at Yuan Zongdi.

"The admiral felt that they were Han families, and they didn't think so. They all shave their heads willingly." Yuan Zongdi proposed a compromise: "Just continue to attack Wuchang, and we will make this noise in the army, so that the Wuchang soldiers will follow us wholeheartedly."

In addition to the personal military camp, there were more than 1,700 Wuchang soldiers who were burdened by their families. When Yuan Zongdi suggested that he would let these Wuchang soldiers take the lead along the way, so that the Wuchang soldiers could consume the Qing army in Hubei and not violate the promise of not killing prisoners.

Deng Ming knew that Yuan Zongdi's suggestion was the concept of this era. The Qing court also did the same. For example, after Wu Sangui captured Guizhou, he selected more than 30,000 prisoners of the Ming army from Yunnan and formed a cannon fodder force to take the lead. After capturing Kunming, he planned to let the surrendered army of Xiying be the vanguard to pursue Li Dingguo.

Deng Ming believed that accepting surrender is to let the enemy put down his weapons and stop resisting, rather than forcing the other party to be a traitor. Captives and traitors should be two completely different concepts; however, in this era, it seems that surrender and rebellion are similar concepts. Captives who refuse to rebel will be regarded as refusing to surrender, and there is no psychological burden for the winner to execute them.

Before the Battle of Zhongxiang, the generals of Kuidong might still have the will to continue to march towards Wuchang, because they won repeatedly, which made the generals of Kuidong long for more spoils. However, after the Battle of Zhongxiang, the generals of Kuidong no longer had much desire to continue attacking. They hoped to return to the base and digest the fruits of victory they had harvested.

For example, Yuan Zongdi, although he had a large number of auxiliary soldiers who were covered with the captured armor, these people still needed to be trained to become useful combat soldiers. Before going to war, the generals of Kuidong planned to transport some people back to their bases. Now the Ming army has seized a large area of ​​land, and the population in these places is too large to move them all. The army from all over the Anlu Prefecture was concentrated in Zhongxiang and was wiped out by the Ming army. Now there are no Qing troops in Anlu Prefecture and Xiangyang Prefecture. The Ming army can collect this year's grain tax from the people, which also requires a large number of manpower to transport it back to Kuidong.

In addition to economic considerations, there are also military concerns.

Although the number of Ming army soldiers increased sharply, since most of them had just transformed from auxiliary soldiers to combat soldiers, the actual military strength was far less amazing than it seemed. There were many areas where the Ming army needed to defend, Yunyang, Gucheng, Xiangyang and other places needed to be guarded against the Qing army to retake it, otherwise the traffic of the Han River would be cut off, and the Ming army's work to transport materials and population would become more difficult. The army would have to go on a rugged land route to return to the Kuidong base.

Although it has not been made public, the Kuidong generals have formed a consensus, that it is time to slow down, first control the territory it has occupied, collect autumn grain, and transport the population. If more Kuidong Ming troops come out, then you can discuss the battle against Wuchang, but the most important thing at the moment is defense rather than continuing to attack.

After listening to Yuan Zongdi's explanation, Deng Ming ignored it and went to Liu Tichun to ask about his opinion on the Wuchang soldiers.

As Deng Ming expected, Liu Tichun believed that Yuan Zongdi's plan was very good and very feasible.

Liu Tichun felt that the Ming army could create momentum first, threatening to take Wuchang, then take Jiangxi and Nanjing, and then let the captured Wuchang soldiers attack the city on the road to the south. If the city was captured, the captures inside would be in vain for the Ming army. When the Ming army began to retreat, these Wuchang soldiers would definitely flee in large numbers. After they returned, they would still be Qing soldiers. It would be better to consume them as soon as possible.

"If they really have a smooth journey and fight to the city of Wuchang, we will lead our troops to supervise the battle and let them continue to attack the city of Wuchang. It is naturally the best to fight. If they can't fight, they will be killed on the charge of fear of being unable to move forward. If the Qing soldiers kill each other, no one can say that the admiral killed the prisoners."

Liu Tichun believed that Wuchang would definitely not be able to defeat Wuchang with more than 1,700 Wuchang soldiers, but it would be good to consume these prisoners. If some losses were caused to the Qing army, it would be an additional gain. Especially those prisoners from the personal military camps should be used to form suicide squads and let them attack the city at the Ant Attachment. They should not only keep food every day, but also be scattered in the army to send people to monitor carefully to prevent them from causing trouble.

"What if they are let go?" Deng Ming tentatively put forward his thoughts: "Let them go back and promote the benevolence and righteousness of our army. In the future, more people will surrender when the two armies confront each other."

"Our army is very kind and righteous. Besides, it is enough to have Zhong Xiang promote it for us." Liu Tichun shook his head disapprovingly and said, "Didn't we kill all the prisoners of Xiangyang Prefecture and Anlu Prefecture? We also helped them move their families with small families. We would not force them to go with us. The benevolence and righteousness of our army will soon become famous all over the world."

Compared with the Qing army, the camps did give preferential treatment to prisoners, but their preferential treatment was for the government soldiers, county soldiers, and prisoners like the county soldiers, especially those of the personal military camps, were not within the scope of preferential treatment.

Deng Ming no longer talked about this with Liu Tichun. As for what opinions Hao Yaoqi and He Zhen would have, he knew it without asking. As soon as the battle of Zhongxiang ended, He Zhen hurriedly confiscated all the weapons and equipment of the Wuchang soldiers. He distributed them to He Zhen some of the prisoners in his personal military camp, and asked him to be responsible for surveillance. It is said that he sent to do the heaviest and most dangerous work; and Hao Yaoqi was even more straightforward, and he suggested that Deng Ming not care about any promises and cheat these dangerous elements quickly, in order to save worries.

More than 500,000 taels of silver were seized in Anlu Mansion. Deng Ming had never asked for any spoils before, but this time he stood up and said that he should have one. The generals of Kuidong had no reason to refuse. First, Deng Ming took out the method to explode the city wall; secondly, he was the commander of the first army, at least nominal; again, the general of Hanyang was blocked by Deng Ming; finally, this battle showed that it was important for Deng Ming to control a unit, and he needed more than a dozen personal guards.

Deng Ming announced that he would ask for one-fifth of the silver, which is 100,000 taels. Part of this silver would be used to reward the officers and soldiers of the upcoming troops, while most of them were entrusted to Yuan Zongdi to transport it back to Wen'anzhi, Fengjie.

"Leave all the Wuchang soldiers with family to me." Deng Ming said to the four generals. As for the other prisoners, he doesn't need them at the moment.

"What does the admiral want these wolf cubs for?" Hao Yaoqi hurriedly dissuaded: "No matter how convincing the admiral is, these wolf cubs are not well-equipped."

"I don't plan to raise them, but I just want to exercise my ability to set up camps and arrange troops. They are all veterans, so it's more convenient to do it." Deng Ming explained.

The generals were still worried about Deng Ming's safety, and Liu Tichun emphasized that this action to attract people's hearts was extremely risky, but it had little effect.

"Of course I won't live in the surrendered army. I also know that they may cause trouble when they gather together, so each of you will lend me a hundred elite soldiers first so that I can watch them."

The generals could not resist Deng Ming, so they handed over all the Wuchang soldiers to him. Although just one day passed, Hao Yaoqi and He Zhen had killed several soldiers from the personal barracks. While handing over these dangerous prisoners to Deng Ming, they each sent a hundred fully armed soldiers to strengthen security work.

Through interrogation of the prisoners, the Ming army knew that Wuchang was extremely empty now. Even if the Qing army in Huangzhou Prefecture and other places gathered in Wuchang, Hu Quancai could not gather a field force that could pose a major threat to the Ming army. Therefore, everyone hurriedly dispersed to various counties to control the entire Anlu Prefecture, seized the time to collect materials and recruit warriors.

Only Deng Ming stayed honestly in Zhongxiang City, and trained the troops for two consecutive days. It was very beneficial to lead a more experienced army. The military discipline of these soldiers was much better than that of ordinary miscellaneous troops. Deng Ming quickly added a lot of knowledge to deploy troops under the guidance of Zhao Tianba and others.

Hao Yaoqi and He Zhen were neither in Zhongxiang at this time. Deng Ming built a simple ladder in the south of the city, took his army under the ladder, and then walked up to give Wuchang military training.

Before starting the speech, Deng Ming ordered a tael of silver to be given to each Wuchang soldier.

After receiving the money, these Wuchang soldiers cheered loudly to Deng Ming according to the previous military practices, swearing to come from the water and go from the fire. However, Deng Ming did not believe it at all. They had gained too many benefits from the Hanyang General in the past.

"This is not military pay," Deng Ming knew that these people were misunderstandings, thinking that he planned to form them into an army. After climbing the stairs, Deng Ming said to nearly 2,000 Wuchang soldiers in front of him: "This is the severance payment I have sent to you."

The audience suddenly felt an uproar, and the Ming army responsible for controlling the surrendered prisoners was as surprised as the Wuchang soldiers.

"I have no territory and no taxes. When I asked you to come two days ago, I did think about keeping you soldiers, but after these two days of careful consideration, I found that I could not afford so many troops. Instead of waiting for you to mutiny when you can't pay, it would be better to sever now."

Deng Ming pointed to the south: "One tael of silver per person is enough for you to use on the way home. Before you leave the military camp, I just want to make a vow: On the way home, you have to pay for whatever you take a boat or eat. You are not allowed to burn, kill, loot, or bully the people along the way."

The Wuchang soldiers were all skeptical, not sure if Deng Ming was playing a cat-catching mouse game. Some people concluded that this was a tactic of hard-get, and who would definitely be dragged to behead if they walked out. Although they were thinking about Wuchang's family, most people kept waiting and watching for the time being, hoping that others would come forward to test the depth of the water. Some people simply shouted that they didn't plan to go back to Wuchang at all, and even if they abandoned their wives and children, they would follow Deng Ming to conquer the world.

Hearing this obviously insincere statement, Deng Ming laughed: "Okay, even if you plan to break the family, at least go home and report peace first. Now Zhong Xiang's victory or defeat has probably been passed back to Wuchang, and your family members are not sure how anxious they are. You go back to see your parents and wife first, so that your family will know that you are still alive. If your ambition remains unchanged, you still have to come back to join me, I am very welcome. I just agreed in advance that there is no military pay for me, so you have to work for me in vain."

It was not until this time that most of the Wuchang soldiers believed that they were really going to let them go back to reunite with their families.

After the first thank you sounded, more and more Wuchang soldiers gave the praise to Deng Ming. This time their voice sounded much more sincere than when they received the money just now.

"This is what your commander gave his life to ask for you. Since I promised him, of course I won't make things difficult for you." Deng Ming waved his hand and asked the Wuchang soldiers in the audience to leave quickly and not stay in Zhongxiang for more time.

Some Ming army officers came to persuade him, but Deng Ming was unmoved.

Zhou Kaihuang also came to Deng Ming and whispered: "If the admiral was heard by Duke Jingguo and others, I wonder what they would think?"

"I am the Admiral of Jiangnan," Deng Ming replied with a smile: "I don't need to worry about what General Yuan would think in everything."

"Your Highness is kind and blessed with great blessings!"

While he was talking with Zhou Kaihuang, a shout suddenly came from the audience. The one who made this shout was a soldier from the former Hanyang General's personal barracks. For two days, he had always believed that even if he was not killed by the Ming army, he would not have any chance to meet his family in this life, or he was taken to a foreign land by the Ming army, or his family was treated as a rebellion by the Huguang Governor's Office. Every time he thought of this at night, the soldier felt that life was worse than death, and secretly cried in the camp.

The legend that Deng Ming was a clan's son spread in Huguang. The Qing army was not allowed to discuss this statement publicly, nor was it allowed to discuss it in the Ming army. But the soldier did not expect to be able to go home alive. He was excited and no longer had any scruples. He knelt on the ground, kowtowed a few times at the tower where Deng Ming stood, and swore loudly: "How dare the villain refuse to follow the orders of Your Highness? The villain will remember His Highness's great virtue in this life. He will never hurt his life in the future. He will definitely pay for his meal!"

Infected by this soldier, the Wuchang soldiers expressed their gratitude to Deng Ming on the ladder, and at the same time promised that they would never bully Liangshan on the way back to Wuchang. If a companion deceived His Highness's money, they would not stand by.

Although people are often misunderstood as a royal family, it is rare for thousands of people to shout together that His Highness is still rare. The last time I encountered this scene was in Wanxian. Deng Ming shook his head helplessly and left with his guards and guards.

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