Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 44 Why don't you join the rebel army? (Please read on)

The eleventh year of Zhizheng, September 11th, night.

Yu Tingyu led more than 2,000 combat soldiers and more than 1,000 prisoners captured from Zhu Liangzu, a total of nearly 4,000 people, and a long grain transport convoy. After two days of trekking, they finally arrived at Dongsanshili Pavilion.

After paying the villagers' promise of one dan of grain to each household, they recruited more than two hundred young and strong men in the village as soldiers, reorganized them on the spot, and rested in the village until dark. After the whole army had eaten and drunk their fill, they continued to march towards Lu'an.

By the time we arrived near Lu'an City, it was almost nine o'clock in the evening and it was completely dark.

On the official road from Luzhou to Lu'an, there was a group of about five or six hundred soldiers, not wearing armor but holding weapons, marching in a scattered manner towards Lu'an City.

Everyone in this team was holding a torch, but they all looked dejected. At the head of the team was a tattered red flag that was drooping listlessly. The leader was none other than Zhu Liangzu!

But he was still followed by Zhao Yong and Zhang Huan.
"Marshal Zhu, you don't want your entire family to be skinned alive, do you?" Zhang Huan threatened.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Liangzu glared at him fiercely and immediately said angrily, "If I hadn't come to your rescue in Luzhou, would I have ended up like this? But you, Zhang Huan, have now surrendered to the rebel marshal and are now threatening me?!"

Zhang Huan immediately curled his lips and said unhappily.

"General Zuo's main force was completely wiped out outside the city, and General Lu has ordered his men to besiege the city and attack it. I have a bunch of new recruits who can't even shoot a bow. Isn't it normal for me to ask you for help?
"You went out on the march without sending out scouts, and were ambushed by General Lu, and you still have the nerve to blame me?

"What did Commander Lu say? Arrogant soldiers will be defeated! If you had sent scouts ahead that day, you would have discovered the ambush earlier. Even if they were tricked, you would have only lost a dozen people. How could the whole army be wiped out?
"In the final analysis, it was because you were too proud and complacent, and didn't take Marshal Lu's rebel army seriously, which is why the main force was wiped out."

Zhang Huan became angrier and angrier as he spoke, and couldn't help but curse again.

"It doesn't matter that your entire army was wiped out, but you were actually captured alive and tied up outside Luzhou City. Do you know what our new soldiers thought when they saw the commander of the reinforcements being captured?

"Morale is completely lost! Even if General Lu didn't attack the city that day, the soldiers would have fled at night. How can we defend it? You can't even send reinforcements to help, let alone be a general? You are useless! You are incapable of doing anything good, but you are always causing trouble!"

Zhu Liangzu got furious when he heard this. It didn't matter that he was defeated by Lu Jin. Of course there would be winners and losers, and there would be casualties in a war. He had known that this day would come.

Losing is losing, the worst that can happen is death, but the scene of being tied up and dragged to the outskirts of Luzhou city to be executed that day, surrounded by thousands of people, made him feel more uncomfortable than death!
Therefore, when Zhang Huan mentioned this, his defense immediately broke down.

Zhu Liangzu went up and grabbed Zhang Huan by the collar and pulled him to his front. The surrounding soldiers were shocked and drew their swords, put arrows on the strings, and surrounded Zhu Liangzu. However, Zhu Liangzu ignored them and continued to curse.

"Fuck you, Lu Jin's strategy was so ingenious that he tricked me to death. Even if I lose, I will accept it. Who the hell do you think you are, Zhang Huan?
"When Zuo Junbi was alive, you were just a deputy general with a centurion rank, not even worthy of carrying my shoes. Now that you've surrendered to Lu Jin, you're so arrogant that you even scold me. Are you worthy? Pah!"

"Fuck you, let go. Believe it or not, I'll have someone hack you to death. If you don't let go, none of your family will survive!"

Zhang Huan was lifted up in public like a chicken. He wanted to break free, but found that Zhu Liangzu was very strong and he could not break free. Being watched by so many people, he felt embarrassed and threatened back immediately.

"I'm going to risk my life today to beat you to death, believe it or not?" Zhu Liangzu got even angrier when he heard that, and raised his sandbag-sized fist to attack.

Before he could hit Zhang Huan in the face, a kick came from the side and knocked him to the ground. Zhang Huan was also pulled to the ground.

Zhao Yong was originally watching the show. It was so interesting to see two defeated generals blaming and bickering with each other. It was not until they were about to fight that he stepped forward to stop them.

Watching the show is fine, but the real business of fighting Lu'an still needs to be done, so he said it immediately.

"Stop it, what are you arguing about? We are all defeated generals, what is there to argue about? No matter how capable you are, can you be as powerful as my marshal?"

As soon as Zhao Yong spoke, the two of them fell silent, snorted, let go of each other, and then both got up.

Zhao Yong then said to the two men, "Zhu Liangzu, be honest with me. Do you still want your family? If you want your family to live, you should open the city gates and cooperate with us to surrender the prisoners.

"My Marshal has no grudge against you and does not want to kill your family, so please don't force me to do it.

"Captain Zhang has just joined the army and has not yet made any achievements. This time, one of you has made achievements and the other has a family. Cooperate well and you will have the best of both worlds. Why are you arguing in public? It will hurt the harmony and make people laugh at you."

The two were speechless after hearing this. This kid Zhao Yong really doesn't know how to talk. How can there be any harmony between him, Zhang Huan and Zhu Liangzu?

Upon hearing this, Zhu Liangzu immediately asked, "If I help you to open the city gate, will your Marshal really return my family to me?"

Zhao Yong raised his eyebrows and asked, "Otherwise, what good would it do for our Marshal to kill your family? Instead, it would tarnish his reputation and make people think that our Marshal is not a trustworthy person.

"But don't try to play tricks on me. Not only do you want to open the city gate, but you also want me to help you recruit your soldiers to surrender. My marshal doesn't want to kill them in vain. If you don't let them surrender, then we will have to kill them all.

"Those are all your fellow countrymen. You don't want them all to die, do you?"

"Hmph, I hope you can do what you say." Zhu Liangzu then agreed proudly.

Not long after, a group of several hundred people arrived at the city of Lu'an.

Zhu Liangzu led the main force out of the city to fight. Lu'an City was under martial law. The defense was still very tight in the past few days, and there were people patrolling on duty on the city walls at all times.

The guards on the city wall were shocked when they saw hundreds of torches suddenly coming to the foot of the city, and they immediately shouted to the people below.

"Who is coming?"

"Open the door quickly! We are your Marshal Zhu Liangzu!" Zhu Liangzu shouted angrily.

Upon hearing this, the defenders on the city wall immediately fell into chaos. After a moment, a captain poked his head out and said, "Is it really the commander? How come there are only a few hundred men left? Why don't you open the gate quickly?!"

The centurion trotted down the city wall, and when the city gate was opened, he immediately came out and came to Zhu Liangzu, who snorted indignantly.

"Huh, why are there only these people left? Because we lost."

"Defeated? How could the commander be defeated when he is so brave?" The captain was suddenly dazed and puzzled.

"Because that group of Red Turbans had no intention of attacking Luzhou City at all. Their siege of Luzhou was fake, and the real purpose was to lure me to rescue them. I was careless and fell into their ambush halfway. Fortunately, I had martial arts skills, so I fought desperately with the remaining soldiers to fight my way out." Zhu Liangzu explained to the centurion while leading everyone into the city.

After nearly a hundred people entered the city, Zhang Huan, who was standing beside him, suddenly attacked. He swung his sword and killed a gatekeeper, and shouted, "Seize the gate!"

Then, these five or six hundred dejected soldiers suddenly became energetic, holding torches in one hand and steel knives in the other, they rushed towards the defenders who had no torches beside them, and quickly occupied various places at the city gates.

During a night raid, it was impossible to distinguish the styles of clothing, and the only way to distinguish between friend and foe was by holding torches.
The captain who came to greet Zhu Liangzu was startled. He was about to draw his sword and turn around to look, but suddenly a big hand reached out from his side and pressed his shoulder. Then he heard Zhu Liangzu's voice coming from behind his ear.

"Don't move! Tell the soldiers guarding the city to put down their weapons and surrender immediately, or everyone's lives will be in danger!"

The captain was stunned when he heard this, and looked at Zhu Liangzu with a look of shock and confusion. Zhu Liangzu immediately smiled bitterly, "I was ambushed by them, and my whole army was wiped out. They also kidnapped my family. If I don't help them break the city today, my whole family will surely die tragically.

"The city gate has been lost, Lu'an can no longer be defended, surrender, I am sorry for you, alas"

With a sigh and the calls for surrender from Zhu Liangzu and those officers, the only 2,000 remaining defenders in Lu'an quickly gave up resistance.

Zhao Yong rushed to the top of the city wall as soon as he seized the gate and turned on the flashlight lent to him by Lu Jin. The beam of light instantly illuminated the sky. The next moment, Yu Tingyu rushed out from the darkness of the night with the main force, and thousands of troops filed into the city.

In the eleventh year of Zhizheng, on the night of September 11, Lu'an city was broken!

Zhu Liangzu's eyes were red. These thousands of soldiers were all picked out by him from his hometown, but now he was the one who betrayed and sold out them, tricking the city gates into opening. The guilt in his heart was beyond words. He just wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into and hide quickly.

He could even commit suicide under the city walls, but he couldn't because he still had family.

Seeing Yu Tingyu leading his troops to rush in and quickly control the entire Lu'an, the Red Scarf soldiers were all happily taking prisoners. Zhu Liangzu immediately stopped in front of him and asked, "Where are my family members?"

Yu Tingyu raised the torch and came closer. After a closer look, he couldn't help but smile playfully. Zhu Liangzu, this peerless tough guy, actually cried out of guilt at this moment.
"What family?" Yu Tingyu teased him deliberately.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Liangzu burst into tears and roared, reaching out his hand to grab Yu Tingyu, "How dare you go back on your word?!"

Yu Tingyu waved his hand, and the scabbard in his hand easily opened him, then he snorted and said.

"Humph, looking for your family? Your family is naturally with you. Go back to your home outside the city and look for them."

Zhu Liangzu looked at Yu Tingyu with half belief and half doubt, but seeing that he had a righteous and unguilty expression, he stopped pestering him, grabbed a horse and rushed back to his ancestral home in the village outside the city.

But when they arrived home, they found that Yu Tongyuan was guarding there with his army.

Zhu Liangzu asked again in surprise, "Where are my family members?"

Yu Tongyuan curled his lips and said as a matter of course, "Of course it's in your yard."

"Dad, you're back. Are you okay? Bad guy, let my dad go."

Then the door opened and Zhu Liangzu's parents and wife appeared at the door in good health. His eldest son Zhu Xian even scolded Yu Tongyuan and the others.

When Zhu Liangzu saw that his family members were all there, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Then he looked at Yu Tongyuan in confusion and asked.

"Since you have released my family, why don't you leave? Do you still want me to invite you in for a drink?"

Yu Tongyuan immediately said with disdain.

"Do you think I want to come and watch over your door? That was something my marshal personally ordered me to do!

"You, Zhu Liangzu, used to be a lackey for the Tartars, bullying the people, helping the tyrants to commit atrocities, and being an accomplice of the tigers. I don't know how many people want to eat you alive. Even if I release your family, I will help keep an eye on them first, so that they won't be eaten alive by the angry people for pleasure.

"If this is true, wouldn't it make our Marshal lose his credibility?
"Since you have returned home to meet your family, I will leave now. My Marshal never breaks his promise!"

After saying this, he left with a group of soldiers without even going in to drink a sip of water.

Lu Jin, it’s Lu Jin again!
Upon hearing this, Zhu Liangzu stood there in a daze, looking at the red-turbaned soldiers who had just left. There was resentment and unwillingness in the soldiers' eyes. So, was it so hated for working for the Mongols?
But they are clearly the orthodox of the imperial court! The ones who rebelled are clearly the Red Turban bandits!
I, Zhu Liangzu, raised an army to suppress bandits and protect the people. Did I do anything wrong?

"Dad, I am an unfilial son. I frightened you and mom." Zhu Liangzu immediately knelt down and kowtowed to his parents to admit his mistake, but suddenly he heard Old Man Zhu say.

"Son, why don't you join Marshal Nalu's rebel army?"

Zhu Liangzu shed tears and looked up at his father with a puzzled and confused look.

Only then did Old Master Zhu speak.

"I, your father, also listened to what you said that day. I think what Marshal Lu said makes sense. If it were the beginning of the country, when the world was in peace, there would be no one to rebel.

"But when a country is about to fall, there will always be evil. Now the emperor is in power and the ministers are in power. The opening of the river and the change of banknotes have aroused the people's rebellion, causing the Red Turbans to spread across half of the country. The imperial court has no way to suppress them, but they are still issuing banknotes to make money, without caring about the lives of the people. They have no manners of the imperial court at all, and are more like a group of greedy horse thieves.

"The current situation is just as Marshal Nalu said, and it is exactly the same as the fall of the Song Dynasty. The price of rice is soaring, and the people are living in poverty. I'm afraid the world is really going to change."

Zhu Liangzu frowned slightly when he heard this and remained silent for a while.

Then he listened to what Old Man Zhu said again.

"Marshal Nalu talks about justice and has great ambitions. He is not only good at fighting, but also good at using strategies. His analysis of the general situation in the world is very insightful. He also clearly explains the relationship between the tyrant emperor and the powerful ministers. With the hands of the court alone, I am afraid that the Red Turbans in this half of the universe will never be completely wiped out.

"If the Red Turbans are not destroyed, the world will inevitably change. If this is the case, why not make plans early?
"Marshal Lu is a man of great ambitions. Now he has occupied Luzhou and Lu'an, and has won victory after victory. He is unstoppable and may accomplish something.

"And he admires you very much and wants to recruit you, so why don't you join him as soon as possible?

"I know you feel guilty for betraying the soldiers guarding the city. So why don't you continue to fight with them and earn a good future for them?"

Seeing that Zhu Liangzu still didn't react, Old Man Zhu said with a little displeasure.

"Now he is recruiting you, if you don't go, if he really gains power in the future, how can my family ever turn things around? Even if you don't consider yourself, you should at least consider your children and grandchildren, right?
“Besides, he has occupied Lu’an now. Even if he doesn’t bother with you, will his officials take the initiative to guess his intentions and harm our family?
"Only if you surrender to him and make achievements can you save our family and secure a future for yourself. Otherwise, do you want to stay at home and die in the fields?
"You've been fond of wielding swords and sticks since you were young. After learning these skills, are you just going to give up on yourself?"

Zhu Liangzu finally spoke after hearing this.

"But what kind of marshal is he? Dad, you don't know. The Chaohu navy is in chaos. I heard from those red-turbaned soldiers these past two days that Lu Jin has only been here for more than half a month. Before that, they were all under the command of Zhao Pusheng, the Maitreya demon.

"Zhao Pusheng doesn't recognize the Marshal Lu Jin, and those Maitreya Red Scarves in Huguang won't recognize him either. So who did I support in the past? Did I support the Maitreya Sect?"

Upon hearing this, Old Man Zhu became so angry that he poked Zhu Liangzu's head with his fingers repeatedly.

"Stupid! Wasn't your defeat that day bad enough? You actually dared to underestimate him. With that man's wisdom and tactics, he couldn't think of things that you could think of, and he couldn't do anything about it."

Zhu Liangzu was stunned when he heard this. Yes, thinking of Lu Jin's plan and review of him that day, Zhu Liangzu couldn't help but shudder secretly. Being plotted against by such an old scoundrel, how many days can Zhao Pusheng live?
I’m afraid I can’t count them even with ten fingers?
"Yes, I understand."

After figuring out the key, Zhu Liangzu agreed.

Today I am writing two chapters in one. I am writing about Zhu Liangzu. I either don't accept him, or I will never let him rebel. These two chapters describe the changes in his psychological process. I will stop writing today.
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(End of this chapter)