Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 20: Subjugating Jingning Hou (Seeking follow-up reading)
On the third day of September in the eleventh year of Zhizheng, at 7:30 in the evening, it was already completely dark.

The shouts and cries of killing had disappeared, leaving only the crackling sound of countless burning torches. The fierce battle in Changjiaao Village had just ended, and the Chaohu Red Army soldiers who had won their first victory were overjoyed. They were arrogant and walked out of the house with the dejected and uneasy prisoners of war.

Tonight, the Chaohu Red Army is the winner!
At the north entrance of the village, Zuo Junbi and Yin Congdao were both tied up and held there. Soon, Ye Sheng, who was picked out from the captives, was also brought here. Even Jia Chou's body was carried over. All the generals from Chaohu also gathered here.

A bonfire was burning in the open space at the entrance of the village. Lu Jin parked the car and came to meet them with a steel knife he picked up in the village.

Yu Tonghai, Zhang Wen, Zhu Shou and others immediately shouted excitedly when they saw him, "Brother Lu, we won!"

Zhao Zhongzhong and Zhao Yong were also happy and said, "Brother Lu, this time, thanks to your advice and good command, we have never won such a beautiful victory. I just checked and we didn't suffer many casualties."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin immediately asked, "Have the casualties been counted?"

"Not yet, but definitely not many. There should be less than ten people killed in our camp, and less than fifty injured." Zhao Zhongzhong estimated.

"That's good." Lu Jin nodded, then looked at Zhang Wen.

Zhang Wen also quickly replied, "Our battalion didn't suffer many casualties. We attacked from the rear, ambushing on all sides. The enemy panicked and ran away when they saw us."

"Hahahaha." These words immediately caused everyone to burst into laughter.

After he finished laughing, Liao Yongan looked at Zuo Junbi who was being held next to him, and then asked Lu Jin, "Brother Lu, how do we deal with this bastard Zuo Junbi?"

Lu Jin then looked at the three people who were forced to kneel in a row beside him. Yin Congdao and Ye Sheng were relatively calm, but Zuo Junbi was the only one who was struggling. When he saw the Chaohu generals looking at him, he immediately started shouting.

"Little boy with red scarf, I fell into your trap this time. I was careless. If you want to kill me, just scream."

Hiss.

A steel knife reflected the firelight and accurately cut across Zuo Junbi's throat, causing the rest of his words to spit out along with blood.

Zuo Junbi fell to the ground unwillingly, staring at Lu Jin, wanting to speak but unable to. His body kept twitching and he spat out a mouthful of blood as soon as he opened his mouth.

Lu Jin shook off the blood drops on the knife and uttered a sentence of justice.

"Defeated general, stop making a fuss! As a Han Chinese, you sell out your ancestors for fame and fortune, you have no sense of shame, you are willing to be a lackey of the Tartars, you enslave your compatriots, you deserve to die!

"As a general guarding a region, you do not know how to protect the country and the people. Instead, you allow your soldiers to commit evil, forcibly collect military rations, persecute the people, and kill innocent people to claim credit. Your crimes are so heinous that you deserve to be put to death!
"You were defeated by me today. This is the law of nature. Retribution is inevitable. You will suffer for your own sins. I heard that you have a brother. Don't worry, I will send him to see you soon. Go to hell!"

After saying that, he chopped off Zuo Junbi's head with a knife. A burst of blood flew up and splashed on Lu Jin's fair and handsome face, adding a bit of heroic spirit.

"Good kill!"

"Brother Lu is really well-read, and what he said is so satisfying. This bastard has done so many evil things, and it turns out that God is on our side!"

Killing a person is easy, but Lu Jin's words are righteous. Killing a person also requires destroying his heart. At the same time, it also boosted the spirit and morale of the Chaohu generals, telling them that our cause is just! Doing just things will be blessed by God!

Not to mention modern times, at least this kind of statement was very popular in ancient times.

Then Lu Jin picked up the knife and walked to the remaining two people, glanced at Yin Congdao, and finally fixed his eyes on Ye Sheng. He swung the long knife in his hand and put it on his neck.

Ye Sheng swallowed involuntarily, looked up at Lu Jin, and heard Lu Jin ask.

"Your name is Ye Sheng, right? What do you want to say?"

Ye Sheng was still relatively tough. Although he was afraid of death, he did not cry or beg for mercy.

"There is nothing much to say to a defeated general. If you want to kill him, then kill him. If you don't want to kill him, then..."

Lu Jin was immediately happy when he heard this, "If I don't kill you, what do you want to do?"

Ye Sheng muttered softly, "If you don't kill me, I will repay you generously for sparing my life."

Lu Jin suddenly became serious, "Are you Han or Tatar?"

"I am a Han Chinese!" Ye Sheng suddenly raised his head with a firm gaze. People can die, but their ancestors cannot be humiliated.

"Then are you willing to turn over a new leaf and submit to me?"

"Brother Lu"

Hearing that Lu Jin actually wanted to surrender Ye Sheng, his former enemy, Liao Yongjian suddenly felt reluctant. Before Lu Jin came, the cavalry led by Ye Sheng had beaten them a lot.

But as soon as he said the beginning, he was grabbed by Liao Yongan and forced to hold back the rest of his words.

Lu Jin looked back at Liao Yongjian, gave him a reassuring look, and then looked at Ye Sheng.

Ye Sheng understood very well that Lu Jin wanted to recruit him, but the Chaohu generals had a long-standing grudge against him and would probably not agree. Now, the only way for him to survive was to cling to Lu Jin's thigh.

Lu Jin was also very interested in Marquis Jingning, the man in history who conquered Liaodong for the Ming Dynasty. His current strength was too weak. Not to mention compared with other forces, even in Chaohu, he only had one combat battalion.

Moreover, the soldiers in that battalion were brought by Zhang Wen and Zhu Shou. Lu Jin was truly alone and had to take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen himself.

Seeing this, Ye Sheng's desire to survive was aroused, and he quickly said, "I will never forget the general's kindness in saving my life. Sheng, I am willing to die for the general!"

"Okay, remember what you said today! Zhu Shou, untie him." "Yes." Zhu Shou stepped forward immediately.

Only then did Lu Jin look at the Chaohu generals. He needed to give everyone an explanation. After Ye Sheng was released, Lu Jin asked him again.

"Ye Sheng, do you know why I didn't kill you?"

Ye Sheng was stunned. He thought that Lu Jin must want to subdue him, but now that Lu Jin said this, it should not be that he meant it. He could only say anxiously, "I don't know."

Lu Jin said this.

"I first came here more than ten days ago. At that time, I had not yet surrendered to the Red Turban. I happened to see Jia Chou killing innocent people to gain credit. He personally killed Zhu Shou's father and brother. At that time, Zhu Shou's father and brother were all dead. There was also a seven-year-old child at the scene. That was Zhu Shou's brother.

“It was because you arrived in time, angrily rebuked Jia Chou, and stood in front of him that the child was saved. Otherwise, Brother Zhu Shou’s only relative would have been gone.

"I saw that you still have a conscience and are a kind and righteous man, so I wanted to persuade you to surrender. You can save your life today, so thank you for your kindness that day."

Ye Sheng suddenly understood, "So that's it."

Then he looked at Zhu Shou who had untied him, "I went too late that day and failed to save my uncle and brother. I am ashamed, ashamed."

"Hmph." Zhu Shou snorted coldly, not really appreciating it, which made Ye Sheng very embarrassed.

Lu Jin told this story to Ye Sheng, but also to the generals in Chaohu.

When the Chaohu generals heard about this, they realized that Lu Jin had spared Zhu Shou's brother's life, and that it was a life in exchange for a life. Even though they were unwilling, they couldn't say anything.

However, Lu Jin continued.

"In the past, each served his own master. On the battlefield, swords have no eyes, and life and death are determined by fate. I don't blame you, but if I let you go like this, I'm afraid the generals will not accept it."

When Ye Sheng heard this, his heart, which had just been at ease, suddenly became tense again.

"You can escape death, but you can't escape punishment. I will punish you with twenty military sticks as a warning. The past grudges will be wiped out and we will be brothers from now on. Are you willing to accept the punishment?"

Ye Sheng finally breathed a sigh of relief. It was only twenty military sticks.
"I am willing to be punished!"

"Okay, Brother Yongan, you carry out the execution."

Lu Jin immediately called out Liao Yongan's name. Others might not understand what this meant, but Liao Yongan and Lu Jin had a tacit understanding.

Not using Zhu Shou and Zhang Wen means not using his own subordinates, which shows that Lu Jin does not show favoritism or protect his subordinates.

The reason why Liao Yongan was asked to carry out the execution was because the Chaohu navy was previously led by Liao Yongan. Even if the Chaohu generals had a grudge against Ye Sheng, as long as Liao Yongan had defeated them, that would be the end of the matter, and no one else could say anything. This was to shut everyone up.

Finally, Liao Yongan is a man with high emotional intelligence. He actually knows everything in his mind and knows what Lu Jin means. He certainly cannot beat Ye Sheng to death, otherwise if he beats him to death with 20 military sticks, it would be a disrespect to Lu Jin!
Lu Jin had just led them to their first victory. If they didn't give Lu Jin face, would they force him to leave?

"Yes!" Liao Yongan agreed, and immediately called the soldiers, found two wooden handles of hoes, and started fighting. He did not hold back, but he did not use heavy hands either.

Lu Jin took the opportunity to come to Liao Yongjian and Yu Tingyu and whispered ideological work to these two old men in their thirties and forties.

“Brother Yongjian, Brother Yu, if we want to grow stronger and expand our territory in the future, and then fight with others, we must recruit surrenders and rebels. Otherwise, no one will easily surrender to us, and we will definitely defend the city to the death.

"Today's action is to buy horse bones for a huge sum of money, just to set an example for future generations. Otherwise, won't people laugh at us for not being tolerant?"

Yu Tingyu was not too disgusted and nodded immediately, "Brother Lu is right, this is the kind of person who can do great things. In the past, during the Han and Tang dynasties, China also took in many generals from the Xiongnu and Turks. Those foreign generals also fought for China. What's more, Ye Sheng is a Han Chinese, a compatriot of ours, so why not?"

It is obvious that Yu Tingyu has not been around for nothing at the age of 40. He has a high emotional intelligence and immediately cooperated with Lu Jin.

Although Liao Yongjian felt uncomfortable, he had already said so. If he didn't agree, wouldn't he be "intolerant" as Lu Jin said? So he nodded and said.

"Since everyone agrees, and you have punished him, then I have nothing to say. Just accept him."

Lu Jin nodded, then whispered to the two of them, "Then there's another one."

The two looked at Yin Congdao again, and Liao Yongjian immediately frowned.

"You want to keep this too?"

Lu Jin explained, “First, this man is the garrison commander of Luzhou. He is familiar with the city and can help us break into the city.

"Secondly, we have too few people and too few soldiers. After we take down Luzhou City, we will definitely have to expand our army. We also need to capture nearby prefectures and counties. We have to take the iron mines in Lujiang and the port in Wuwei. We also have to take Hezhou, Dingyuan, and Chuzhou. We have to fight for these places, and we also have to defend them, right?"

Liao Yongjian obviously didn't expect Lu Jin to be so ambitious. It seemed that what he said before about protecting the country and the people and waiting for a saint to be born was all nonsense. He was even more surprised at Lu Jin's confidence!

He immediately asked, "Brother Lu, are you sure you can take these places?"

Lu Jin immediately said in a relaxed tone, "This little place is nothing. If I can win once, I can win twice, three times. Brother Yongjian, don't you believe me?"

Thinking about who had contributed the most in the fight they had just won, Liao Yongjian immediately believed it. "I believe it. If that's the case, then I'll leave Yin Congdao to Brother Lu for disposal."

(End of this chapter)