Du Yinxi stood at the bow of the boat, looked at the stars and lights in the distance, turned his head to ask a young general standing beside him, "Is that Jiangling City?"

Du Zhengming scratched the back of his head, "It should be! Time is coming. Uncle, the thief is a thief after all, and has always been unruly and has been indomitable and can do anything. You can stay on the boat first and your nephew will enter the city. If they treat you with courtesy, I will send someone to inform you to enter the city."

Du Yinxi smiled, "Since you have arrived here, how can you not enter the city? Haven't we agreed on this journey?"

Du Zhengming said: "But..."

Du Yinxi waved his hand, "I came here to show my sincerity. If you do as you said, not only will it not be able to conquer their hearts, but it will backfire and make them more suspicious of the court."

Du Zhengming's face looked ugly, "But after all, the King of Chuang Li Zicheng died under Wuchang City, and you were the coach at that time. My nephew was worried that the thieves in the city would be detrimental to you."

Du Yinxi curled the corners of his mouth and turned his head to the other side a young man wearing a blue Confucian uniform, who looked like a scholar, asked, "Pei Gong, what do you think! Will there be any danger in entering the city at this time?"

The young man was from Jingmen, named Zhou Peigong, who was a newly recruited clerk of Du Yinxi. He saw him bow slightly and said calmly: "Li Guo will surely ensure your safety when the commander is here."

Du Yinxi asked again: "Why?"

Zhou Peigong replied: "Although Huguang has tens of thousands of rebel troops, the truly elite soldiers can be called elite soldiers, only 40,000 to 50,000. At this moment, the Qing army occupied Xiangyang, Wu Sangui owned Bashu, and the Ming Dynasty even had Wuchang and Hengzhou. The three forces formed a siege of the rebel troops, and either side was better than the rebel troops in terms of strength. In addition, the rebel king Li Zicheng and the general scepter Liu Zongmin died in battle one after another, and the rebel soldiers were scattered. Although Li Guo had a high status, his prestige was not enough to completely suppress other rebel generals. There were strong enemies outside and disasters inside. Li Guo needed the general commander to help him stabilize the situation, and at the same time found a way out for the rebel troops in Huguang."

Du Yinxi nodded secretly, "But as Zhengming said, Li Zicheng died in the wilderness under my plan. Wouldn't the generals jealous of me and want to get rid of it quickly? Just like you, the rebel army ravaged Huguang, and Ling Ci died in the war disaster. As his son, did you not have the intention to attack and destroy the rebel army and avenge your mother?"

Zhou Peigong's face suddenly darkened, and he was silent for a long time before he said slowly: "I dare not finish the term. The students did have such thoughts before. But then I thought about it carefully. There were tens of thousands of rebel soldiers, and the students didn't know which traitor their mother died. Could it be that they had to kill each rebel army to avenge their mother?"

Zhou Peigong paused for a moment, bowed to Du Yinxi gently, and continued: "The students thought that if they really wanted to pursue the matter, it was the troubled time that their mother was killed, not the hands of a rebel soldier. If they really wanted to take revenge, ending this troubled time would be the greatest comfort to their mother."

Du Yinxi nodded with satisfaction and turned to Du Zhengming and said, "Zhengming, did you hear it? This is the Zheng theory. There is no selfless grudge in troubled times, not to mention that Li Zicheng died in the battle formation. I have no personal grudges with the rebel army, only public grudges. Li Guo knew this, otherwise he would not have sent Niu Jinxing to contact the court."

Speaking of this, Du Yinxi sighed softly, "Li Guo understood, but the mediocre officials in the court did not understand. They were entangled in the death of the late emperor and the division of bandits, but they could not see the current situation at all. If these tens of thousands of rebel troops surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and then went down the river, could the court really stop it at this moment? Even if they did not surrender to the Qing Dynasty, and established themselves in Huguang, colluded with Wu Sangui, and the Qing Dynasty, the court would have to hold troops in Wuchang to guard against them, and how much money and grain would be spent to supply the soldiers stationed in the institute every year? When will the Northern Expedition be truly implemented?"

Du Zhengming understood in his heart that Du Yinxi seemed to be in a high position and powerful position, but he was constrained everywhere and was always very depressed. He comforted him: "Fortunately, the Supreme Lord and Shigemen supported his uncle, which made those traitors unable to succeed."

Du Yinxi smiled and nodded, "Your Majesty is indeed a wise king. In order to repay the priest, I must conquer the rebel army here. Zhengming, if you enter the city with me this time, don't mention the word "rebellion thieves" again, and you are not allowed to mention it again in the future."

Du Zhengming's face turned red and he lowered his head and said, "My nephew knew he was wrong." Like most officers and soldiers, he kept telling the treacherous army in his heart. Sometimes he spoke quickly and said it out.

Du Yinxi then turned to Zhou Peigong and said, "Peigong, you go and do something for me."

Zhou Peigong bowed and said, "Please give orders to the commander."

Du Yinxi said: "You go to the city first to meet Niu Jinxing and let him cooperate with me to complete the acceptance and surrender."

Seeing Zhou Pei leave on a small boat, Du Yinxi turned to Du Zhengming and said, "Zhengming, this son will become a great man in the future. You must communicate with him more."

Du Zhengming curled the corner of his mouth, "Uncle has a high opinion of him!"

Du Yinxi nodded, "In my opinion, the only ones who can bear the heavy responsibility of the Ming Dynasty in the future will be Zhang Huangyan and Zhou Peigong."

Du Zhengming smiled, "Where is my uncle here, where is their turn?"

Du Yinxi shook his head gently and said, "Uncle is old, you young people in the future."

At this moment, a gust of wind suddenly blew. Du Yinxi felt uncomfortable in his throat and couldn't help coughing. One after another, his whole body seemed to tremble.

Du Zhengming's face changed and he hurriedly stepped forward to support him.

Du Yinxi waved his hand and pushed him away, covered his mouth with his right hand, held the ship bar, and slowly bent down. His whole body shrank together and looked very thin.

Du Zhengming squatted aside and was a little at a loss, so he could only use his hands to keep pounding his back.

After a while, the cough gradually subsided, and Du Yinxi gradually came to his senses. He leaned his back on the ship railing, closed his eyes, gasping continuously, and his face was full of fatigue.

After a while, Du Yinxi opened his eyes and said, "Zhengming, help me up."

Du Zhengming looked worried and nodded and held Du Yinxi's arm. He suddenly shouted, "Uncle, this?"

Du Yinxi followed his gaze and there were blood spots on his sleeve. He turned his right hand, but found that the palm of his hand was covered with blood, as bright as peach blossoms.

Du Zhengming's face changed drastically and he shouted loudly: "Come here! Come here!"

Du Yinxi quickly waved his hand to stop him, "Don't make a noise."

Several personal soldiers came up with swords, "Supervisor, what's the matter?"

Du Yinxi waved his hand and said, "No, you all go down!" As he spoke, he placed his right hand behind his back.

The personal soldiers looked at each other, and although they were confused, they still bowed to Du Yinxi and slowly retreated.
Chapter completed!