Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 370 The Iron-Faced General 2
"Greetings, Your Highness!"
Greetings, generals!
You can call me Iron Face, or Iron Face General!
"From now on, we'll all work for the Prince's Mansion together, so please give me your guidance!" Upon arriving before the group, the masked man raised his hands in a respectful bow to Zhu Zhanhe and the seated generals. At the same time, in his hoarse voice, he gave a very brief self-introduction.

However, all everyone knew from beginning to end was that the general in front of them, clad in full armor, with an iron mask covering his face and an impenetrable body, was called Iron Mask! They knew nothing else!

Furthermore, everyone knew that this so-called "Iron Face" title was a fake! In other words, no one even knew the name of the new general introduced by the prince!

Are we going to fight alongside someone whose name we don't even know? For a moment, many of the generals had some doubts.

"Swish~~" Just as everyone was wondering what was going on, after the Iron Mask introduced himself, General Hu Tian, ​​who was closest to him, stumbled and almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, Hu Tian reacted quickly and grabbed the chair behind him, preventing himself from falling. Even so, Hu Tian's legs went weak and he squatted down.

In an instant, due to Hu Tian's sudden change of events, everyone's attention in the room was focused on Hu Tian.

"Your Highness, please forgive me!"

"This humble general has lost his composure!" Hu Tian, ​​who had almost fallen to the ground, realized his mistake. So, Hu Tian immediately knelt down and bowed his head to Zhu Zhanhe to apologize.

"Prince Han! This is definitely Prince Han!!!"

No, wait! He's not the Prince of Han!
He is King Zhuang of Han! He is absolutely King Zhuang of Han!! In fact, at this moment, Hu Tian, ​​who was kneeling on the ground, was practically jumping out of his throat!
As a trusted confidant who had followed King Zhuang of Han for decades, Hu Tian would never mistake King Zhuang for someone else!

Even though the person before him had a slightly altered voice, the way he moved, his proud and disdainful gaze—Hu Tian would stake his life on it! This iron-faced general before him was absolutely none other than the rumored deceased Prince Zhuang of Han!
Therefore, in his shock, Hu Tian was so frightened that he fell to the ground!
Hu Tian knew that if the masked man in front of him was indeed King Han Zhuang, then the one lying in the coffin in Yunnan was definitely a fake!
King Zhuang of Han's feigned death and escape would be a colossal event! Upon realizing this, Hu Tian lowered his head even further. He even wished he could bury his head in the ground to minimize his presence!
At this moment, Hu Tian was still unsure whether knowing the secret of Prince Han Zhuang's feigned death and escape would arouse the murderous intent of both Prince Han and Prince Han Zhuang! Thinking of this, Hu Tian couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

Hehe~~
It's alright~, it's alright~
"General Hu Tian, ​​please rise." Seeing Hu Tian's tense and even somewhat fearful appearance, Zhu Zhanhe knew in his heart that Hu Tian kneeling before him had unsurprisingly discovered the true identity of the Iron-Faced Man!

Zhu Zhanhe was not surprised by this situation. After all, he had been mentally prepared for it.

At the same time, Zhu Zhanhe turned his gaze to his younger brother, Zhu Zhanqi, in the crowd. He saw that his brother also looked puzzled. From this, Zhu Zhanhe knew that his brother, Zhu Zhanqi, also suspected the Iron Mask's identity!
However, whatever their speculations are, as long as they are not confirmed, they are just speculations.

Zhu Zhanhe immediately spoke again.

"Everyone, please don't be shy."

Perfect timing. I'm planning to temporarily place the Iron-Faced General in the army.

In the pioneering war after the New Year, the Iron-Faced General will be in charge of purging all the rebels after the war ends!
Meanwhile, General Iron Face will also be part of the second naval expeditionary force after the New Year. This means General Iron Face will serve in both the army and navy! Zhu Zhanhe first explained the work arrangements for General Iron Face. However, what's puzzling is that the Prince of Han didn't assign General Iron Face any specific position; instead, he only said that he would fight alongside both the navy and the army!

Furthermore, everyone noticed a crucial issue: the Prince of Han entrusted the task of purging the post-war rebels to the Iron-Faced General before him! That was an absolutely ruthless task! It could even be described as ruthless! Didn't you see that General Hu Tian was now an absolute god of death to the people of Annam, capable of stopping even children from crying at the mere sound of his voice!
Could the masked man before them be a killer specially arranged by the prince, or a front man? In an instant, everyone had new guesses about the masked man in front of them.

Seeing the puzzled looks on the faces of his generals, Zhu Zhanhe continued to speak.

"Under certain necessary circumstances, the Iron-Faced General will also hold my seal and directly take over command of the army."

"What do you generals think of this arrangement?" Zhu Zhanhe made no attempt to conceal his intentions, explaining his work arrangements for the Iron-Faced General and asking for the opinions of all the generals present.

Upon hearing Zhu Zhanhe's words, everyone in the camp was stunned for a moment.

After all, judging from Zhu Zhanhe's words, this unfamiliar man in an iron mask hadn't even been assigned a military post! Yet he held concurrent positions in both the army and navy! This clearly demonstrated the extremely high status the man in the prince's heart!
More importantly, although the Iron Mask held no military rank, he was able to take direct control of all the troops in the Prince's mansion by wielding the Prince's seal at certain special times! This was what terrified everyone the most!

At this moment, Zhu Zhanhe's camp was deathly silent. For a moment, no one knew how to respond to their lord's words. Wasn't their lord afraid that the Iron-Masked Man would seize power within the army?!
"Your Highness, we have no objections."

"Your Majesty, we will obey your decree!" Upon hearing Zhu Zhanhe's question, before everyone could react in their daze, Hu Tian seemed to have thought of something and was the first to react. Everyone saw Hu Tian kneel down first and respectfully reply to Zhu Zhanhe.

"Your Majesty, we obey your decree!" Hearing Hu Tian's words, everyone snapped out of their daze. Looking at Hu Tian, ​​who was already kneeling on the ground, none of them understood why Hu Tian, ​​as the army commander-in-chief, was behaving this way.

However, no one present was a fool; they knew that Hu Tian must know something that the others didn't. Therefore, everyone chose to follow Hu Tian's lead. Immediately realizing what was happening, many officers knelt down and loudly replied to Zhu Zhanhe.

"In that case, all of you ministers, let us work together to expand our territory!"
"You may all go and prepare." After Zhu Zhanhe finished speaking in a few simple words, he signaled to everyone that they could go and get to work.

"We take our leave!" Hearing their lord dismiss them, the generals, some with restraint and others with a hint of smugness, retreated one after another.

After all, the current prince is so oppressive that they can hardly bear it!
At the same time, with the addition of an unfamiliar Iron-Faced General, everyone is somewhat at a loss and needs to carefully consider how to deal with him.

Immediately, the commanders of the army and navy, led by Hu Tian and Wang Jinghong, withdrew. However, before leaving, Zhu Zhanqi subtly glanced at his elder brother and the Iron-Faced General. In the end, however, Zhu Zhanqi pursed his lips and quietly followed everyone else.

"Hu Tian noticed." After everyone left, the Iron-Faced Man, Zhu Gaoxu, was the first to break the silence. Anyone who wasn't a fool could see that Hu Tian's demeanor was off! Therefore, it was safe to conclude that Hu Tian had figured out the problem!
(End of this chapter)