Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 23 I won’t tell you who is anxious (please read)
The next morning, just after dawn, in Luzhou City, Zuo Junfu had just gotten up and asked his personal guard, "Is my brother not back yet?"

"General, General Zuo has not returned to the city yet, but you don't have to worry. A few thousand pirates are definitely no match for General Zuo. Maybe they have finished the fight and are chasing the remaining enemies, or they are camping somewhere. We will definitely have news today."

Zuo Junfu nodded and didn't take it too seriously, because just like what the personal soldier said, this was not the first time that Zuo Junbi went out to fight. When he went to fight the Chaohu navy before, he had to camp outside for several days in a row because he had to run far away. So even if his brother didn't come back for one night, Zuo Junfu was not worried.

But generally in this situation, even if Zuo Junbi didn't come back, he would send troops back to report his safety.

'Perhaps it was because it was too late, so the message was not delivered in time,' Zuo Junfu thought.

He shook his head and called to his personal guard, "Go get me a basin of water."

"Yes."

As a result, when the personal soldier just came back with the water, a soldier came in from outside, rushed in like a fly, knocked the personal soldier who was carrying the water to the ground, and howled in fear on his face.

"Second General, it's bad. The Chaohu Red Turbans are here to attack us! They have killed General Zuo and Captain Jia, and even Deputy General Yin has defected!"

Zuo Junfu's head buzzed, and his low blood pressure was cured. He immediately grabbed the soldier's collar with both hands and lifted him in front of him.

"What did you say? My brother lost?!"

The soldier cried, "It's absolutely true. They chopped off General Zuo's head and hung it outside the South City."

When Zuo Junfu thought of his elder brother's head hanging outside and the Red Turban Army at the gates of the city, he suddenly lost consciousness, his face turned pale and sallow, his lips trembled, he shook twice, and sat down on the ground.

The personal guards were also shocked by the news, but after all, they were the people Zuo Junbi left with his younger brother, so they hurried forward to support him upon seeing the situation.

"Second General, the most urgent task is to defend the city. We also need to go and see what is going on. Maybe the soldiers have made a mistake. Lieutenant General Yin started as a centurion and has followed General Zuo for many years. How could he defect to the enemy?"

Hearing the reminder, Zuo Junfu came back to his senses, "You are right, go and call Deputy General Zhang, let him command the defense of the city, and let me put on armor, I want to go to the top of the city to supervise the battle."

"Yes."

After a while, Zuo Junfu finally put on his armor and staggered all the way to the South Gate, where he found Zhang Huan already on the city wall, still cursing at the outside of the city.

"Yin Congdao, you are a despicable and shameless villain. General Zuo treated you well, but you dared to betray him and sell out your master for fame, causing General Zuo to be beheaded. Now you dare to lead the rebels to attack the city. Do you have any shame?"

Yin Congdao was standing on the bow deck of a large ship at this time, his face turning blue and red as he was scolded. Although he had surrendered to the Red Turbans out of helplessness, he had already surrendered and could not rebel again, as that would be too fickle.

Besides, he had already gained some knowledge from Lu Jin yesterday. The master who took him in was no ordinary man. Not to mention his lofty ambitions, his ability to plan for everything was enough to make him quite fearful.

He listened to the story Zhang Wen told him, how Lu Jin plotted to kill Zuo Junbi step by step in just a few days.

Last night, he personally listened to Lu Jin's plan to ambush Zhu Liangzu, and he was impressed. This man was really insidious to his enemies! And he was very good at analyzing people's minds.

However, Lu Jin was very good to his own people. He even went to visit him last night and applied medicine to him personally. The Yunnan Baiyao was quite effective. It felt cool when sprayed on his back and the pain was gone immediately.

Lu Jin also asked him about his family situation with concern. If Yin Congdao still had family members in the city, Lu Jin even allowed him to temporarily "fake his death" to protect his family. After taking down Luzhou City and rescuing Yin Congdao's family, he would allow him to make public appearances.

How considerate of him! Yin Congdao was so moved that he immediately said that his family was not in the city, but in the village outside the city. So this morning, his parents, wife and children were all taken to the pirate ship by Liao Yongan.
He can't jump off the boat now even if he wants to. Since he has no way out, he might as well perform well. Yesterday, he saw Lu Jin's leading position among the Chaohu generals. If he really follows Lu Jin wholeheartedly, his future may not be worse than now.

After figuring out the key, Yin Congdao immediately cursed back.

"Zhang Huan, I advise you not to be stubborn. You said Zuo Junbi treated me well, but where did he get the money from? Didn't he make money by forcibly requisitioning food and selling it to the people in the city at a high price?
"This is all dirty money earned by exploiting the people, and I still think it's dirty even if it's given to me!
"Listen up, soldiers guarding the city walls. It was Zuo Junbi who sold grain at a high price, which made your wives and children unable to even eat. That's why he used three liters of grain a day to make you work for him. Zuo Junbi is not a good guy. Don't be fooled by him!"

Once these words were spoken, they were more effective than ten catapults and had greater destructive power, and immediately caused the soldiers defending the city to talk about it.

Zhang Huan became anxious when he heard this.

"Yin Congdao, you are bullshitting! You are selling out your master for fame and you dare to slander your master. You are shameless! You are shameless! Don't believe his lies! This guy is talking nonsense and disturbing our army's morale. Don't trust him!"

"Hahahaha." Yin Congdao laughed immediately.

"Zhang Huan, I'm not talking about you, why are you in such a hurry? Brothers guarding the city on the wall, think about how much food Zuo Junbi has collected from outside the city, why the price of rice is still so high in the city, why your wives and children at home still can't eat, think about it this way, and you will know who is harming you. "Zhang Huan, you say that I am selling out my master for fame and fortune, I only know that my ancestors have been Han people for generations, and we will not be dogs for the Tartars. You are just a hawk dog guarding the city's Darughachi, what qualifications do you have to say that I am selling out my master for fame and fortune? I think it is you who betrayed your ancestors!

"If you have the guts, shout three times, your ancestors were Tartars, and I will respect you as a good dog!
"Listen up, brothers in the city. Stop working for the Tartars. Think about how your families live like slaves. Hurry up and fight. When we Han people rule the world, we will make sure that every family has more food than they can eat!"

Zhang Huan's face turned pale and blue with anger when he heard this. Of course his ancestors were Han people, how could they be called Tartars? Both of his criticisms of Yin Congdao were refuted by him, which made Zhang Huan very angry. He knew that it was meaningless to continue scolding like this, and it would only shake the morale of his troops, so he shouted immediately.

"Shoot, shoot, shoot him to death!"

Yin Congdao immediately raised his shield to protect himself and continued to shout in a despicable manner.

"Hahahaha, oh, who is anxious? I won't tell you."

Zhang Huan snorted coldly. At this moment he saw Zuo Junfu coming to the top of the city wall. He immediately whispered to Zuo Junfu.

"Second General, Yin Congdao has joined the bandits. We cannot let him talk nonsense outside the city, otherwise it will definitely shake the morale of the army.

"Now our main forces have all been led away by General Zuo, and they were completely wiped out. The rest are all new soldiers. It may be difficult to defend the city. The longer it takes, the lower the morale. We must ask for help quickly."

"Help, help, yes, who should I ask for help?" Zuo Junfu looked at the heads of his relatives hanging on the mast outside the city. His face was pale and he had already lost all his consciousness.

Zhang Huan cursed the man as a waste in his heart, but said it on the surface.

"The only ones who can save us now are Zhu Liangzu of Lu'an and Kang Maocai of Hexian. We must send a messenger to ask for help as soon as possible."

"Okay, you arrange it!" Although Zuo Junfu was panicked, he was obedient. He followed whatever Zhang Huan said. However, when he heard the next sentence, he was immediately embarrassed.

"Second General, we have to lower the price of food in the city so that the people in the city can afford it. Otherwise, there is a risk of mutiny among the soldiers."

Zuo Junfu's expression instantly became uglier, and he spoke timidly.

"The grain business is not just for my Zuo family. The biggest source of income is from Lord Darughachi. If he doesn't agree to lower the price, what can I do?"

Zhang Huan had just been ridiculed by Yin Congdao, and when he heard the four words "Daruhachi", he felt particularly uncomfortable.

"Then go and talk to him. We have knives. Why should we be afraid of a man who talks nonsense? Ask him whether he wants your life or money? If he wants money but not your life, then we can just wait for the soldiers to mutiny and break into his yard!"

"Okay, I'll go later." After that, Zuo Junfu pointed outside the city and asked Zhang Huan.

"Who are those hanging outside? What is the red scarf doing?"

Zhang Huan answered immediately.

"These are the heads of Zuo Shuai and Jia Chou. They are cutting wood and building siege equipment. We must ask for help as soon as possible. Otherwise, when the enemy has built their equipment, we will not be able to defend the city with only these new soldiers."

"Oh." Zuo Junfu nodded absentmindedly, "Yin Congdao has surrendered to the enemy, but what about Ye Sheng? Why is his head missing?"

"I don't know either. I just asked Yin Congdao and he said he didn't see him. Ye Sheng is an extraordinary martial artist, so maybe he escaped alone." Zhang Huan speculated.

"I didn't expect my brother to lose so badly. I don't know how he lost. Lieutenant General Zhang, everything here depends on you. Send people for help as soon as possible and guard the city." Zuo Junfu murmured.

"Yes, I will do my best."

Zhang Huan clasped his fists in agreement, but he felt disdain in his heart. Although Zuo Junbi was not a good person, he still had some real skills. What kind of person was this Zuo Junfu? He was a useless guy, and he deserved to be called the Second General?

Am I a Tartar henchman? Pah! Even if there are people who are henchmen, they are people like Zuo Junfu. I am not a subordinate of that Darughachi.

What happened last night? Why did Zuo Junbi's army get wiped out overnight? Jia Chou died, Ye Sheng disappeared, Yin Congdao defected to the enemy, and why did the Chaohu Red Turbans suddenly become stronger? Did that evil person Peng Yingyu send reinforcements?

Zhang Huan called a few personal soldiers with a heavy heart and immediately ordered them to break out from the northwest and ask for help from Lu'an and Hexian, especially Lu'an, which was a little closer.

(End of this chapter)