Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 590 Come to vote
Wang Jinwu was stationed in Pingshun to prevent Gao Yingxiang's troops from entering Shanxi from Henan.

But unexpectedly, after waiting for half a month, Gao Yingxiang did not come, but another group of people came.

No! To be precise, a man and a woman came with a team of more than a thousand people. There are two roads from Henan to Shanxi, but both roads need to pass through Pingshun and have passes. One of them is Hongti Pass and the other is Yuxia Pass.

Now these two passes are in the hands of Wang Jinwu. To defend Shanxi, one must defend Pingshun, and to defend Pingshun, one must defend Hongti Pass and Yuxia Pass. As soon as Wang Jinwu arrived in Pingshun, he took over these two passes and stationed troops in each. With these two passes in hand, it would not be easy for Gao Yingxiang's troops to break through no matter how many they had.

Just yesterday, a group of people arrived at Yuxia Pass from the east. When Wang Jinwu first heard the news, he thought it was Gao Yingxiang's vanguard. But just as Wang Jinwu gave orders to prepare for the upcoming battle, an envoy from the other side came with a letter.

After reading the letter, Wang Jinwu was greatly surprised because the content of the letter was really unexpected. Wang Jinwu was unable to judge whether it was true or not for the time being, so he could only accept the letter and asked the other party to wait east of Yuxia Pass for a while, while he sent the letter to Luzhou Wei by express horse.

When Zhu Shenzhui and Wang Rong read the letter, they looked at each other in surprise. They were also quite surprised and didn't know what to say for a moment.

"What do you think about this?" Wang Rong scratched his head and asked Zhu Shenzhui.

Zhu Shenzhu thought for a moment and said, "Let's first confirm whether it's true or not. If this is true, it's certainly a good thing. In addition, it's the first time in recent years that the bandits have surrendered voluntarily. Once this is accomplished and reported to the court, my uncle will have done a great deed."

Wang Rong nodded. This was indeed a great achievement. It was indeed a great achievement to recruit a group of bandits to surrender without fighting. Moreover, Gao Yingxiang and his men were causing chaos in the world, and the group of people who took the initiative to surrender this time were Gao Yingxiang's subordinates. Among them was even the wife of Gao Yingxiang's nephew, Li Zicheng, the general. This had great political significance.

But Wang Rong also thought that Gao Yingxiang and other bandits were always cunning. What if this group of people came to cheat the customs under the banner of surrender? Once they were allowed in, the other party suddenly attacked after passing Yuxia Pass. This was no small matter.

"Uncle, don't worry." Zhu Shenzhui smiled and said, "Jin Wu is rough but meticulous in his work. Moreover, he has the new army in his hands. He can handle even 10,000 bandits, let alone a mere 1,000. Moreover, we can also ask them to lay down their weapons and enter the pass again. We just need to propose it. If they really surrender, we can let their leader and Li Zicheng's wife enter the pass and then go to Luzhou Guard. Even if they bring a few guards, what can they do? When they come to our territory, are we afraid that they will cause trouble?"

"That makes sense!" Wang Rong raised his eyebrows and burst into laughter, immediately agreeing.

So, after some discussion, the two decided to do so. They let Wang Jinwu tell the other party that as long as they laid down their weapons, the leader and Li Zicheng's wife would enter the pass first to prove their surrender. If this could be done, he, Wang Rong, could ensure their safety, explain the situation to the court, and properly resettle them.

This request is not excessive. Since you have surrendered, you should show your sincerity, right? If you still can't do this, then the so-called surrender is fake, and don't blame Wang Jinwu for being rude.

The next day, the reply was sent to Wang Jinwu. After reading it, Wang Jinwu decided to do what was written in the letter. Soon, he replied to Gao Jie and put forward his request. After learning about the requirements of the government army, Gao Jie hesitated for a while. He was worried that if he laid down his weapons and entered the pass alone, he would have no way out if the government army turned against him. On the contrary, Xing Qiaoer persuaded Gao Jie that since he had decided to surrender, he didn't need to worry so much. The conditions proposed by the other party were not harsh. If she were the other party, she would also put forward the same conditions to confirm the sincerity of surrender.

Besides, there was no turning back since the two of them betrayed Li Zicheng and left the rebel army. Surrendering to the government army was their only way out at the moment.

As for why they came to Yuxia Pass, this was also Xing Qiaoer's suggestion. Although Xing Qiaoer was a girl, she was not an ordinary girl. The girl from a merchant family traveled around the country with her father when she was young and had a lot of experience.

Xing Qiaoer felt that it was not reliable to surrender to other government troops, whether it was Zuo Liangyu or Cao Wenzhao, they were all Liao generals, extremely cruel to the rebel army, and even had the reputation of butchers. Moreover, in the Ming Dynasty, civil officials were valued and military officials were despised. Not to mention whether they could accept her or whether they would take this opportunity to take their heads as military merit, even if they accepted her surrender, these military generals would have no say in the court.

The new governor, Chen Qiyu, was more suitable. He was originally a governor and also served as the Right Censor-in-Chief. It would be more appropriate to surrender to him. Unfortunately, Chen Qiyu was not in Henan at the moment. He was still far away in Sichuan. Far water could not quench near thirst, so he had to give up.

As for Lu Xiangsheng, it goes without saying that Gao Jie and Xing Qiaoer would naturally go their separate ways after betraying Li Zicheng. How could they possibly go in the direction of Gao Yingxiang's advance? Wouldn't that be like walking into a trap?
After much thought, Xing Qiaoer decided to go directly to Shanxi. She had heard of Wang Rong, the commander of Luzhou Guard in Shanxi, when she followed her parents in business. He had a good reputation in the local area. It was also said that Wang Rong had a strong background. Not only did he have backers in the Shanxi officialdom, he also had connections in the capital, and could even reach the heaven.

Although the commander of the garrison was also a military position, this military position was different from that of Zuo Liangyu and Cao Wenzhao. The garrison was one of the three local divisions, and in the eyes of the civil officials, it was considered half of their own people, not equivalent to ordinary military generals, so joining the Luzhou garrison was the best way out at the moment. In this way, Xing Qiaoer and Gao Jie discussed and led their people to leave the rebel team and quietly headed northwest. While Gao Yingxiang's main force attracted the various departments of the court, they hid during the day and traveled at night, taking small roads, and did not encounter any trouble. Finally, they arrived at Yuxia Pass safely.

Under Xing Qiaoer's persuasion, Gao Jie made up his mind, agreed to Wang Jinwu's request, and ordered his subordinates to lay down their weapons and surrender to Wang Jinwu.

Not only that, Gao Jie also brought Xing Qiaoer with him. The two of them went to Yuxia Pass first without any guards. Seeing them arriving, Wang Jinwu was completely relieved. He opened the door and welcomed the two of them in. After meeting them, he did not pretend to be arrogant. Instead, he was very friendly and set up a banquet to entertain the two of them and comforted them with kind words. Such an attitude finally made Gao Jie and Xing Qiaoer feel relieved.

After staying at Yuxia Pass for a day, Wang Jinwu sent someone to send Gao Jie and Xing Qiaoer to Luzhouwei the next day after settling Gao Jie's subordinates. When Gao Jie and Xing Qiaoer arrived at Luzhouwei, Wang Rong met them immediately.

During the meeting, Zhu Shenzhui was also there. Of course, he did not reveal his identity. He just sat aside as Wang Rong's aide. He didn't even say a word from the beginning until now. He just listened carefully to their conversation and looked at the couple.

Since they were surrendering, Gao Jie and his men did not hide anything from Wang Rong and told him their identities and relationships with Xing Qiaoer. They also took the initiative to inform him of many internal situations of the rebel army, including the specific identities, appearances, personalities, etc. of the eight Vajra under Gao Yingxiang, the composition of the rebel army's old camp, the actual military strength, and even some other secrets.

The court had always had a rough understanding of the rebels, especially the rebel leaders, because most of them used nicknames, not real names, and because of the lack of information, a lot of intelligence was incomplete. The court also had limited knowledge of other situations within the rebels, but today, with Gao Jie and the other two's narration, things became much clearer.

After Gao Jie and the others finished their detailed explanation, Wang Rong was very happy. Not to mention that Gao Jie and the others' surrender was already a great achievement, now with the information about the internal situation of the rebel army, it was even more of a good thing that could make the court happy.

Wang Rong immediately promised that Gao Jie and Xing Qiaoer had turned from evil to good, and that the court would naturally forgive them for their past mistakes. In order to set an example for the world, Wang Rong would report the truth, and the court would definitely not treat them unfairly.

Hearing this promise, Gao Jie and Xing Qiaoer were overjoyed, and they quickly stood up to thank Wang Rong. Wang Rong smiled and waved his hand, saying that it was not necessary, as an official appointed by the court, this was what he should do. Since they had just surrendered, it would take some time to report to the court and receive the court's reply. He hoped that they could stay in Luzhouwei first and wait patiently. As for their subordinates, they did not need to worry, Wang Jinwu had already made arrangements for them, and temporary care was necessary, but he could guarantee that they would not be short of treatment.

Gao Jie and Xing Qiaoer thanked him again, and Wang Rong comforted them a few more words before letting them go down. As for the residence, it was in a courtyard near the Commander's Mansion. Although it was not big, it had been cleaned up long ago, and all the daily necessities were available, so they could stay here with peace of mind and wait for the court's reply.

After Gao Jie and Xing Qiaoer left, Wang Rong withdrew his gaze. When he recalled the reasons they had just given for surrendering, Wang Rong couldn't help but burst out laughing. As soon as he laughed, Zhu Shenzhui beside him couldn't help laughing, and laughed so hard that he fell forward and backward. For a while, the uncle and nephew laughed so hard that tears came out of their eyes.

It was indeed a bit ridiculous. Neither Wang Rong nor Zhu Shencui had expected that Gao Jie and his men would surrender to the court for this reason. Before meeting them, Wang Rong and Zhu Shencui had speculated that these speculations included conflicts within the rebel army or power struggles, but they had never expected that it was because of such a trivial matter between a man and a woman that Gao Jie took Xing Qiaoer away from the rebel army and surrendered to the court.

"This Li Zicheng is Gao Yingxiang's nephew. He has been quite famous among the rebels in the past two years. I didn't expect that he is actually...Haha! Hahaha!" Wang Rong couldn't stop laughing just after saying this, and he clapped his thigh and laughed again.

Zhu Shenzui smiled and shook his head. Compared to Wang Rong, Li Zicheng was much more famous in his mind. This second King Chuang, who was once the gravedigger of the Ming Dynasty in history, was very famous. But Zhu Shenzui never knew that Li Zicheng would do such a thing, and he didn't know that such a thing happened twice.

According to Gao Jie, Li Zicheng was like a bastard every time he married a wife. Although he was handsome and tall and strong, Li Zicheng had a congenital defect, and it was because of this that he was repeatedly accused of a crime.

This was the case with Han Jiner before, and it is the same with Xing Qiaoer now. Moreover, Li Zicheng married Xing Qiaoer by force, and Xing Qiaoer herself had no feelings for Li Zicheng at all. For this reason, she ended up getting together with Gao Jie.

Fearing that the plan would be exposed and that Li Zicheng would retaliate against him, and because Gao Jie had always been pessimistic about the future of the rebel army, he discussed it and left the rebel army and surrendered to the imperial court.

This reason greatly surprised Wang Rong and Zhu Shenzui. They never thought that they surrendered to the court because of this. Before Gao Jie and others left, the two could no longer hold back and burst into laughter.

(End of this chapter)