Chapter 342: Fighting Fiercely! (Thanks to my book friend Tangtang for the reward!)
Feeling the undisguised threat in Ye Mingsheng's words, Zheng Xiaolin raised his head, looked at Ye Mingsheng, and said calmly:
"Why are you fighting here, sir?"

Seeing Zheng Xiaolin actually asked this, Ye Mingsheng said calmly:

"I am an official, you are a bandit, it is only natural for me to beat you, why do I need a reason?"

"Your father Zhen Sanshan is the chief leader of the Liaoyang outlaws. He has been doing evil and bullying the common people for decades. The crimes he has committed are too numerous to list and unforgivable..."

"I, Ye, am an official appointed by the imperial court. I am paid by the emperor and I should be loyal to him. I should protect the country and the people and restore order to the Posuo Palace. I cannot refuse this!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's accusation against his father, Zheng Xiaolin's calm eyes finally showed a hint of anger, but perhaps he thought of something, he suppressed the anger in his heart and said in a deep voice:

"What a loyal and capable general of the Great Zhou! Your Excellency's words are so fair and aboveboard. Do you believe them?"

Ye Mingsheng did not get angry when he heard this, and said meaningfully:
“It’s enough for the world to believe!”

Zheng Xiaolin was stunned when he heard this. He thought that Ye Mingsheng, who was so hypocritical, would be speechless when asked, but he did not expect that Ye Mingsheng would admit it directly.

This confused him!
But what Ye Mingsheng said was right. In the eyes of the world, he, Ye Mingsheng, was a great hero who suppressed bandits, and they were just bastards who committed heinous crimes. They would not care about what Ye Mingsheng’s real purpose in attacking Baihu Mountain was...

Thinking of this, Zheng Xiaolin felt a surge of despair in his heart, and was shrouded in pessimism.

Seeing Zheng Xiaolin lowering his head and sitting there in silence, Ye Mingsheng was too lazy to talk nonsense with him and asked directly:
"Zheng Xiaolin, my time is limited, so just get straight to the point. What exactly is your plan in coming to see me?"

After hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, Zheng Xiaolin came back to his senses. After sorting out his emotions, he said to Ye Mingsheng:
"I can lead my men to surrender, but I have a few conditions. Sir Ye, please agree to them!"

Seeing Zheng Xiaolin use the word "must", Ye Mingsheng frowned slightly, but still did not get angry and said:

"Tell me what conditions you have!"

"First, Lord Ye, you must ensure the safety of our brothers, wives, and children on the mountain. You must not allow your soldiers to kill, and you must hold those responsible accountable!"

"Second, if anyone in our department wants to leave, Lord Ye, you must not stop them..."

Before Zheng Xiaolin finished speaking, Ye Mingsheng waved his hand to interrupt him, then sneered and said:

"Zheng Xiaolin, it seems that you have not yet recognized the current situation. How can you be qualified to negotiate with me? All you can do now is to surrender unconditionally!"

Seeing Ye Mingsheng being so overbearing, Zheng Xiaolin also became angry and said in a deep voice:

"My Lord, although the Fengzhou Army is powerful, can they really defeat us?"

"General Ye, you don't think that this morning is a reflection of our unit's combat power, do you?"

“I’m not afraid to tell you, sir, that we intend to abandon these outer hilltop positions!
"Now all 5,000 of my troops are guarding the main peak position. If you force an attack, you will suffer heavy casualties!"

"Master Ye, if you don't believe it, you might as well give it a try!"

Zheng Xiaolin's words immediately corresponded to the doubts in Ye Mingsheng's heart, which made him feel depressed. This Zheng Xiaolin is really a capable person!

For the entire Baihu Mountain, five thousand soldiers and horses are not enough to guard it. There will definitely be loopholes in the defense, and the Fengzhou army can take this opportunity to kill a large number of defenders. Now Zheng Xiaolin has very wisely given up the outer hills and only guarded the main peak. This is very troublesome. Five thousand soldiers and horses are more than enough to guard a main peak.

What's more, there is no shortage of food and drink on Baihu Mountain, and there is also a geographical advantage. In this way, the main peak is really a tough nut to crack...
Even if we take this down, there will probably be inevitable casualties!
Although he felt a little heavy in his heart, Ye Mingsheng pretended to be disdainful and said:

"So Zheng Xiaolin, do you think you can hold the main peak?"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's words, Zheng Xiaolin shook his head and said:
"Lord Ye, there is no need to do this. I know myself well. There is a huge gap between your strength and ours. Even if we fight to the death and use every last soldier, we will not last more than seven days!"

At this point, Zheng Xiaolin changed the subject and looked at Ye Mingsheng very seriously and said:

"Although my army cannot defend the mountain, the things you want will not be left behind. If we are all dead, what is the use of keeping the things on the mountain?"

"The three hundred thousand taels of silver, five hundred thousand dan of grain, and other gold and silver treasures on the mountain should all be buried with us!"

After saying this, Zheng Xiaolin showed his true colors and continued to stare at Ye Mingsheng and said:
"Sir, you insist on fighting to the end, all you want is the money and food my father has saved. But if you continue fighting now, not only will you gain nothing, but you will also lose countless soldiers! You must think about this carefully!"

It has to be said that Zheng Xiaolin's words did make Ye Mingsheng feel a little scared. He believed that people would become extremely crazy before they died. Therefore, there was no doubt that as long as he continued to fight, what Zheng Xiaolin said would become a reality!
But should he just compromise with Zheng Xiaolin? Should he agree to his terms?
You may lose face by doing this, but at least you can keep your integrity...
When it comes to face and substance, some people may choose face, while others may choose substance!

But Ye Mingsheng is different, he is a greedy person, so his choice is to take it all!

I don’t care about face or money, I want it all!
Ye Mingsheng, who had made up his mind after pondering for a while, looked at Zheng Xiaolin and said helplessly:

"You really gave me a difficult problem!"

"But I'm a little curious. Even if I agree to your request, how can you guarantee that I won't go back on my word after I take over Baihu Mountain and keep my promise?"

Seeing that Ye Mingsheng seemed to be showing some weakness, Zheng Xiaolin said seriously:
“My father said that Lord Ye is a great man with ambitions to conquer the world, so as long as you make a promise in public, you will not break your word easily. It would be unfair to damage your reputation for the sake of our lives…”

Ye Mingsheng shook his head in surprise and said:

"I didn't expect your father really thinks highly of me, Ye!"

Looking at Ye Mingsheng who was sighing, Zheng Xiaolin seemed a little impatient and continued:

"Master Ye, can you please give me a definite answer?"

"Before I came here, I told the brothers on the mountain that if I didn't return within an hour, they would set fire to the mountain, so Lord Ye, you'd better hurry up!"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and said calmly:

"You are well prepared!" "But I may disappoint you. I never accept coercion from others. As I said before, you are not qualified to negotiate with me. Unconditional surrender is the best outcome for you and your brothers on the mountain!"

Zheng Xiaolin never expected Ye Mingsheng to be so persistent, but at this point he could only continue to threaten:

"Master Ye, you think we brothers don't dare!"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and nodded:
"That's right, you just don't dare! Zheng Xiaolin, you are right. What I want is the money and food in your mountains. Now you can think about it, what will happen if I don't get what I want?"

"If the information I received is correct, although you have only 5,000 soldiers capable of fighting on the mountain, there are more than 10,000 wives, children and elders on the mountain!"

"Zheng Xiaolin, you came alone to my military camp to negotiate with me. I know you are not afraid of death, and I admire your courage!

"But you always have something you care about. Zheng Xiaolin, I bet you won't set a fire and fight to the death with me. Do you dare to bet?"

After understanding Ye Mingsheng's hidden meaning, Zheng Xiaolin was stunned for a moment, then said in a stern voice in shock and anger:

"Ye Mingsheng, the law is long and wide, and as an official of the imperial court, how dare you be so unscrupulous? Aren't you afraid of the criticism from the people of the world?"

Looking at the furious Zheng Xiaolin, Ye Mingsheng said with a smile:
"Of course I wouldn't dare to do that, but Zheng Xiaolin, do you dare?"

"As soon as White Tiger Mountain was conquered, you bandits became so ruthless that you forced your wife and children to jump off a cliff and commit suicide. What do you think?"

Zheng Xiaolin was completely broken by Ye Mingsheng's words. He never expected that Ye Mingsheng would be so shameless and cruel.

Sitting on the chair, he was panting and staring at Ye Mingsheng viciously. If looks could kill, Ye Mingsheng would have been cut into pieces by him and tortured to death...
Seeing Zheng Xiaolin like this, Ye Mingsheng knew that he had definitely won. He smiled and continued:

"Zheng Xiaolin, do you think people will believe you as a bandit leader, or me as the general of the Great Zhou?"

"I still say that, Zheng Xiaolin, you are not qualified to negotiate with me. Your best choice is to surrender unconditionally!"

Listening to Ye Mingsheng's words, Zheng Xiaolin felt very unwilling, his eyes full of annoyance and regret.

Although Zhen Sanshan had already told him that he could surrender to Ye Mingsheng, as a son, he naturally did not want to hand over the family business that his father had worked hard for a lifetime to Ye Mingsheng so easily, so his first thought was to trick Ye Mingsheng into Baihu Mountain for a last fight.

However, Ye Mingsheng's caution made his plan completely fail. Zheng Xiaolin was very clear about the gap in strength between Baihu Mountain and Fengzhou Army. As long as Ye Mingsheng didn't fall for it, then no matter how hard they resisted, it would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot or an egg hitting a rock...

Now there is no possibility of preserving the foundation left by his father. Zheng Xiaolin is disappointed and can only settle for the second best, hoping to lead and preserve the remnants left by his father.

In order to make Ye Mingsheng compromise, he did not hesitate to use his own life to try to express to Ye Mingsheng their determination to fight to the death, but what he never expected was that as ruthless as he was, Ye Mingsheng was even more ruthless than him!

Ye Mingsheng was right. He dared to gamble because even if he lost, he would just not get the money and grain. He could still get it from other places.

But Zheng Xiaolin didn't dare to gamble, because if he lost the bet, the price would be the lives of everyone on the mountain. If he lost, not only would everyone die, but even if they died, they would be slandered by Ye Mingsheng and would be infamous for eternity...

Zheng Xiaolin really couldn't imagine how Ye Mingsheng could be so shameless. He was clearly a government soldier, but he was more like a bandit than the other bandits.

Although he wanted to rush over and bite Ye Mingsheng to death right now, Zheng Xiaolin had no choice but to suppress his anger and said to Ye Mingsheng:
"Even if we surrender now, won't you kill us?"

Seeing that Zheng Xiaolin finally gave in, Ye Mingsheng said lightly
"When I sent troops from Fengzhou more than ten days ago, I had only more than 10,000 people, but now I have 20,000! Many of these extra 10,000 people are from you who surrendered! Can you see me killing one person at random?"

"Also, you can choose not to believe me, but you should trust your father's judgment. He knows that I am a man who can accomplish great things. As long as you surrender honestly, I won't make things difficult for you!"

Hearing what Ye Mingsheng said, Zheng Xiaolin fell silent. After thinking for a while, he nodded doubtfully and looked at Ye Mingsheng and said:
"I will trust you for once. I hope Ye Mingsheng, you won't go back on your word. Otherwise, I will..."

Zheng Xiaolin was about to continue speaking when Ye Mingsheng glanced over. Feeling the coldness in his gaze, Zheng Xiaolin trembled slightly all over, and the harsh words he was about to say could not help but be swallowed back into his stomach.

Then, Zheng Xiaolin, who did not get any benefits from Ye Mingsheng, could only walk out of the tent in disappointment and head towards Baihu Mountain, preparing to let the bandits on the mountain come out and surrender.

After Zheng Xiaolin left, Ye Mingsheng rubbed his temples tiredly. Although he had only sat here and said a few words, this battle of wits and courage was also very tiring.

He Jingyun, who was standing aside and saw everything that happened, looked at Ye Mingsheng hesitantly, as if he wanted to say something but was afraid of angering Ye Mingsheng.

Noticing He Jingyun's expression, Ye Mingsheng said calmly:

"If you have anything to say, just speak up!"

After getting Ye Mingsheng's permission, He Jingyun made up his mind and said:
"Sir, if Zheng Xiaolin insists, do we really have to do that?"

Seeing that He Jingyun was asking this question, Ye Mingsheng turned his gaze to him and asked with a smile:

"What do you want to do?"

Ye Mingsheng’s answer made He Jingyun a little surprised. Although Ye Mingsheng didn’t say it clearly just now, everyone knew what Ye Mingsheng meant...

Looking at He Jingyun's expression, Ye Mingsheng stopped teasing him and explained:

"I don't know about you, but I've never thought of doing that!"

"I knew Zheng Xiaolin didn't have the courage, so I just wanted to scare him. Even if he really burned the money and grain, I wouldn't let my soldiers kill him. That would undermine the military rules and discipline of Fengzhou, and it's not my style."

If the person who came was Zhen Sanshan, I would just be asking for trouble by doing this, but this Zheng Xiaolin is different, he doesn't have the courage to do this!"

"He seems to be a good man, willing to risk his own life for the lives of others. Unfortunately, in today's world, good people usually don't have a good ending!"

"To be honest, if Zheng Xiaolin had offered a lower price, I might have agreed to it, but he was too greedy and asked for too high a price."

(End of this chapter)