Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 37 Let's Defend the City of Luzhou Together (Please Read)

After a while, Hua Gao and Xu Yong were led to the lobby of the government office.

Looking at the high and mighty Lu Jin, and the Chaohu brothers who he was very familiar with in the past but can only stand on his left and right now, Hua Gao feels very complicated.

Just now on the road, I heard the notice read by the people. The Chaohu Red Turbans were reorganized into the Shengwu Army. Lu Jin, who had never been seen before, became the marshal and was unanimously recognized by all the generals of Chaohu.

But he and Zhao Pusheng were the ones who were in the same group as the Chaohu generals. You captured Luzhou City and established the Shengwu Army here, so what is the point of our stronghold in Hanshan?
What about Brother Zhao, who originally formed the team?
Lu Jin was also looking at this historical Guangde Marquis Hua Gao, who was probably about 25 years old this year. His hometown was Heyang County, on the bank of the Yangtze River, just opposite Dangtu Caishiji. It was a springboard for attacking Jiangnan. Historically, Zhu Yuanzhang crossed the river there. Heyang County is now occupied by Kang Maocai, the Huaixi envoy of the Yuan army.

In history, the Chaohu Navy was badly suppressed by Zuo Junbi. In 1352, after Zuo Junbi was surrendered by Monk Peng, he stopped attacking the Chaohu Navy. Zhao Pusheng then had the courage to bring Hua Gao to join the Chaohu Navy. They struggled in Chaohu for several years and were in a very miserable state until they defected to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang and his comrades were from Guo Zixing's faction, and Guo Zixing had been surrendered by Liu Du's troops. Zhu Yuanzhang and his comrades thought it was nice to take shelter under a big tree, so they paid homage to Liu Du and became part of Han Lin'er's White Lotus Red Turban system.

The Chaohu Navy and Zhao Pusheng were branches of the Maitreya Red Turban Army developed by Peng Yingyu of the Xu Song tribe in the south.

People like Liao Yongan and Yu Tonghai who did not believe in religion did not care. They just went to Zhu Yuanzhang and pledged their loyalty without any psychological burden.

But if you ask Zhao Pusheng, a core member of Maitreya Sect, to join Zhu Yuanzhang of White Lotus Sect, he will be very embarrassed. What is a pagan?
So Zhao Pusheng and Li Pusheng, two core members of the Maitreya Sect, conspired to defect, but were reported by Yu Tonghai and Zhang Desheng. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and tricked Li Pusheng over under the pretext of inviting him to dinner, then tied him up and drowned him in the river.

When Zhao Pusheng saw that something was wrong, he fled to the territory of Xu Song and was reused. However, Hua Gao stayed with Zhu Yuanzhang, and in the subsequent battle between Zhu Yuanzhang and Xu Song, Hua Gao beat Zhao Pusheng to death.

So even though Hua Gao is following Zhao Pusheng now, Lu Jin doesn't believe how deep his feelings or admiration for Zhao Pusheng are, so this person is worth recruiting.

Moreover, Hua Gao was originally a member of the Chaohu Navy and had a good relationship with all the generals, without any barriers between them.

After entering the hall, Hua Gao greeted the Chaohu generals in a familiar manner, and then bowed to Lu Jin with great courtesy.

"I have long heard of your great reputation. Today I see that you are indeed extraordinary. I just saw you attacking the city from outside the city. I was really worried about you, but I didn't expect that you were so resourceful and could take it down in one go. I really admire you."

Seeing that the other party was giving him so much face, Lu Jin immediately smiled.

"Haha, I've heard the name of Captain Hua many times from my brothers, but I've never been able to see him. It's such a pity. Today I finally saw him in person.

"I heard that Captain Hua has been following General Zhao to build a stronghold in Hanshan for self-protection. I wonder why he has time to come to our Luzhou today?"

Hearing that Lu Jin didn't want to waste time talking to him and wanted to get straight to the point, Hua Gao explained.

"It's like this. Recently, Kang Maocai's troops have been making continuous moves and always looking for trouble with us. We can't stand it any longer, so Brother Zhao asked me to go to Chaohu for help. But when I got there, I found no one there. The people who stayed there said that you were here to besiege Luzhou, so I rushed over from Chaohu."

"So that's how it is." Lu Jin suddenly realized.

It turned out that they came to ask for help, but whether Zhao Pusheng died or not was none of his business. Lu Jin wished that these cult members would die immediately, so how could he possibly go to support them? Therefore, he immediately acted in an awkward manner and said.

"But it would be difficult for us to go and provide support. Brother Hua, you are from the Chaohu Navy, so you should know that we don't have many people.

"It's true that we have conquered Luzhou City, but this city is also a burden. Now that we have conquered it, we have to leave people to garrison it. Besides, Brother Yu will send troops to attack Lu'an. We are really short of manpower and can't spare many soldiers to help you." "But we are not ignoring it. After all, we are all brothers in the past. How about this? You hold on for a while. When we recruit soldiers and train some soldiers, we will definitely rush over to help you fight Kang Maocai."

Lu Jin looked very embarrassed, which made Hua Gao stunned. It seemed that General Lu didn't want to help them?

Hua Gao was silent for a while after hearing this. Zhao Pusheng was indeed not a good guy, and you would not be able to make any progress if you followed him. Now Lu Jin had taken Luzhou with the Chaohu navy, and was about to attack Lu'an. He looked like he could accomplish anything. Why not just come back and let Zhao Pusheng have fun on his own?
Thinking of this, although he knew that Lu Jin was rejecting him tactfully, Hua Gao did not dare to get angry, but said.

"Since the Marshal needs troops to defend the city, we can't hold on any longer. How about we move to Luzhou City as well? Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds? What do you think, Marshal?"

"Great! I was just worried that we didn't have enough soldiers to defend the city!" Lu Jin immediately acted happy and excited.

In fact, he was smiling on the surface, but he was furious in his heart. I had conquered Luzhou City with great difficulty. Who does Zhao Pusheng think he is? He just moved here when I said so. He wanted to take advantage of me so easily. Did he think I was easy to bully?
"Really?" Hua Gao was also very excited. Who would be willing to hide in Hanshan with Zhao Pusheng and become a bandit if he could live in the strong and safe Luzhou City?

He immediately said, "Then could the Marshal send a group of people to Hanshan to pick us up? Otherwise, I'm worried that Kang Maocai will find us on the way, and then we will inevitably have a fierce battle."

Lu Jin nodded repeatedly after listening.

"Sure, but Captain Hua, can you give us some time? We just captured Luzhou today, and we have to set out to attack Lu'an tomorrow. I am also taking over the city defense and arranging the defense.

"Give me at least three days to reorganize, so that I can gather troops and go to Hanshan to meet you. What do you think? You can't wait even three days, right?"

When Hua Gao heard that Lu Jin didn't say any more nonsense about recruiting soldiers and re-training, he immediately believed him. He had just taken over the city defense and did need to make some arrangements. Didn't he see that the notice to reassure the people was just posted when he entered the city just now?

"Three days is enough. The Marshal is also our brother from Chaohu. He won't lie to me. I will go back and tell Brother Zhao the good news."

Seeing this, Lu Jin hurriedly called him.

"Hey, Brother Hua, you've finally come here, don't be in a hurry to leave. We have just captured Luzhou City and are preparing to reward the three armies and hold a celebration banquet. Brother Hua, why don't you have a feast before leaving?"

Upon hearing Lu Jin's invitation, Hua Gao's legs, which were about to go out, suddenly couldn't lift up. It was time for a feast. He and Zhao Pusheng had been hiding in the mountains as bandits, and he hadn't eaten anything good for a long time.

"Haha, the Marshal is indeed one of us. Since the Marshal has invited me, I will respectfully obey your order. I haven't gathered with my brothers for a long time."

"That's right, Desheng, go see if the banquet in Tonghai is ready. Aren't you familiar with Brother Hua? Then you can take Brother Hua to the banquet." Lu Jin arranged with a smile.

"Okay, Brother Hua, come with me. I'll take you to eat something delicious." Zhang Desheng immediately stood up and held Hua Gao. The other generals from Chaohu also took their leave and prepared to attend the celebration banquet.

Lu Jin looked at their backs as they left, and suddenly he caught a glimpse of Bao Heng looking at him. The two of them looked at each other and immediately understood what the other meant. It seemed that they were both old bastards and sympathized with each other.

"Let's go to the back hall and talk." Lu Jin called to Bao Heng.

(End of this chapter)