stubborn thief

The internal strife, a chaotic mix of good and bad, was quickly quelled.

As Ren Quan'er led the Second Brigade to take full control of the offensive within the city, the Ming army, which stubbornly resisted, was pushed back to the north side of the Bell Tower, but was still defeated and forced to retreat.

The Second Brigade, carrying heavy equipment into the city, thrived in the streets and alleys of Yulin City. They changed their rifles and ammunition, and used heavy guns and cannons to block the long streets. The suppression and blockade efficiency of one battalion was better than that of Liu Fangming's four battalions.

The lightweight Lion Cannon and rocket warheads also had unparalleled advantages in attacking fortified positions. In just one afternoon, they captured all the main streets and walls of the northern city and transported more than 2,000 wounded prisoners of war to the rear.

In fact, the biggest conflict between the Marshal's Army generals and the Ming generals in this battle was how to capture the enemy general before he committed suicide.

The remaining Ming troops, under Hou Shilu's command, gradually retreated until they were all forced into Cangxiang, where Guangyoucang was located.

Ren Quan'er estimated that the number of Ming soldiers in Cangxiang was less than eight hundred.

But he couldn't get through.

Because Guangyoucang is the largest grain storage warehouse, both sides of the alley are lined with grain storage warehouses.

Ren Quan'er knew that Liu Chengzong wanted the grain here, and she also knew very well that Yulin City was geographically important and would serve as a key passage connecting Shaanxi to southern Mongolia in the future. She could not allow the Ming army to burn down the granaries.

It was only at this time that Liu Chengzong entered Yulin City and personally climbed the Kaige Tower, which was riddled with bullet holes from the explosions. Standing on the third floor, he leaned on the railing and looked down at this mighty town.

They then went to the city walls and listened to Quan'er's report.

Ren Quan'er was unusually enraged by Hou Shilu, his teeth itching with anger: "He's a crippled and useless general serving on the frontier, and he still dares to use the granary as a hostage after being beaten to this extent. If I weren't afraid of spoiling the grain, I would have blown him up long ago!"

This made Liu Shizi laugh out loud: "I know you're not convinced, but you can't really treat Marshal Hou like an ordinary bannerman, can you?"

During the Second Brigade's attack on the North City, all the veteran generals who had served as commanders-in-chief in the city resisted stubbornly. Only You Shiwei and You Shilu were spared because Zuo Liangyu pleaded with them and persuaded them to stay.

It would be extremely difficult to capture the remaining generals before they committed suicide.

This is also why Hui Dengxiang was so anxious to kill Zhang Tianlu after his prisoners were killed.

He and Zhou Qing were both from the militia, and they couldn't get along with Xu Yong, Liu Fangming and other former Ming soldiers. Seeing that Xu Yong had stolen the credit, he decided to capture Liu Chengzong alive and bring him back.

After going through countless hardships and losing more than a dozen men in the process of capturing a live commander-in-chief, they finally managed to capture a deputy commander-in-chief, You Quwen. But then Zhang Tianlu, that madman, rushed out halfway and killed him!
At that moment, Huyden's mind went blank.

By the time Liu Chengzong entered the city, the 220 horses and 80 sets of full armor confiscated from Zhang Tianlu's headquarters had already been delivered to Hui Dengxiang.

Even after he had calmed down, Prime Minister Hui Deng still complained to Liu Chengzong.

"Grand Marshal, these former Ming soldiers are truly despicable! In their quest for the greatest merit, they've completely abandoned all sense of law!"

Regardless of what Hui Dengxiang thought, this at least shows that the heads of the generals and even the capture of prisoners were a great encouragement to the marshal's generals and soldiers.

However, at this stage of the war, Ren Quan'er faces a different problem.

Hou Shilu was a very cunning strategist. With few troops left and poorly armed, he retreated into Cangxiang, seized the granary, and became invincible, making him a very difficult opponent.

Unfortunately, this thing wasn't a bone to Ren Quan'er, but a rock.

Hou Shilu held no official position.

This unlucky old man suffered from the mismanagement during the Jisi Incident, and was also burdened with the false accusation of robbing the Ministry of Revenue of more than 10,000 taels of military funds. He suffered two defeats, and only escaped the death penalty by being the first to arrive at the capital. He was sentenced to be dismissed from his post and exiled to the border, and sent back to his hometown.

Therefore, to be precise, Hou Shilu's identity in recent years has been that of a member of the Yulin Guard Banner Army.

This resulted in Hou Shilu being difficult to defeat and having few merits, while also occupying the granary, making Ren Quan'er hesitant to act against him.

However, this matter was difficult for Ren Quan'er, but it was a different story for Liu Chengzong.

"Ji Fang wrote a letter to Hou Shilu, advising him that the Ming army had already done enough to save face by fighting to this extent, and that further fighting would be pointless."

Liu Chengzong said to his attendant Zhao Jifang, "Explain the consequences to him. It is the right thing for a military officer to die on the battlefield, but the soldiers who are lucky enough to survive are not destined to die. There are still tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the city. Why burn the grain stores and add to the bloodshed?"

"Tell Hou Shilu that I will not capture him. Rather than resisting stubbornly, let's make an agreement. I remember his son Hou Gongji has crossed the Yellow River. If he has any letters or items, he can give them to me. When we meet on the battlefield, I will pass them on."

"Tonight, he will end his own life. The remaining troops will surrender tomorrow morning. I will bury the generals who died in this battle according to the rites of the Left and Right Commanders-in-Chief, and the Left Magistrate of Hancheng will submit a memorial to the court."

"If they do not surrender, at noon tomorrow, the people in each village of the city will line up to enter the granary to receive their food. We will kill them if we wish, but if they do not, after the people have received their food, our army will blow up the granary from south to north in sequence."

Liu Shizi's worst-case scenario was that he could simply give up the grain in the granary and the Guangyou Granary itself.

Anyway, the city has been besieged for so long, there won't be much food left inside.

After Zhao Jifang finished writing the letter, Liu Chengzong glanced at it and said, "Delete those polite compliments and write another one."

"The fact that he was able to fight to the end is because I was willing to fight such a battle with them. This is already a great respect for veteran generals and those who are no longer in service. There is no need to be polite."

After the letter was written, Liu Chengzong originally planned to send soldiers to deliver it in Cangxiang with messenger flags, but Zuo Maodi volunteered and said, "Grand Marshal, please allow me to deliver this letter and persuade Marshal Hou."

Zuo Maodi looked as if he had aged ten years; his heart was riddled with holes from the battle.

At this time, he deeply resented Liu Chengzong and wanted him to come to Yulin so that he could witness with his own eyes the battle that had already been decided from the very beginning.

Watching loyal generals and nobles die heroically, and seeing hundreds of soldiers and men fight bloody battles with the marshal's army for city walls, only to be crushed in the small street of Cangxiang, his heart was bleeding.

Watching the situation get worse and worse, yet powerless to change it.

Zuo Maodi was also going crazy, becoming like a philosopher, pondering and doubting all day long about the meaning of loyalty and martyrdom in this civil war between Liu Chengzong and the Ming army.

After much thought, it all came to nothing.

Martyrdom is inherently heroic; it is when a person, under special external circumstances, voluntarily gives up the hope of survival, launches a final attack at the cost of their own life, and uses their indomitable spirit to undermine the enemy's confidence in ultimate victory.

Unfortunately, Zuo Maodi didn't know whether to call Liu Chengzong mentally ill or a charlatan.

Outside Yulin City, he showed utmost kindness and righteousness to the officers and soldiers of Yulin, but this actually changed the meaning of martyrdom.

Liu Chengzong was forcing others to die for their country. The entire battle was like a drama; despite the large number of soldiers who died, few marshals' troops were troubled by the enemy's deaths.

Because from the very beginning, Liu Chengzong had made arrangements for them. All the marshals knew that the enemy would act as heroes under the marshal's arrangement, and could only act as heroes.

Overkill.

Even Zuo Maodi, a staunch official of the Ming Dynasty who was still serving in Shaanxi, felt that there was no need to continue fighting Hou Shilu in Cangxiang.

He wanted to go into Cangxiang to persuade Hou Shilu to surrender.

Upon hearing Zuo Maodi's request, Liu Shizi paused for a moment, his instinctive reaction being to wave his hand and say, "No need to persuade me..."

He paused before speaking, then nodded and said, "Very well, Hou Shilu has had a lifetime of bad luck, it's time for his luck to improve. Then I'll trouble Brother Zuo to give it a try."

When Zuo Maodi entered Cangxiang, a marshal carrying a peace-making banner first circled the entrance of the alley. The Ming soldiers who were surrounded were obviously tired and did not fire their muskets, which allowed Zuo Maodi to enter the alley safely.

He walked through heavily guarded streets and alleys, where muskets, bows, arrows, and hidden sentries were set up everywhere, and entered the government office, which was fortified with grain sacks.

The entire yamen was like a wounded soldiers' camp, with wounded soldiers bandaging each other everywhere. The painful cries of soldiers could be heard from the back hall, and blood poured out after wiping their wounds flowed along the cracks in the floor tiles all the way outside the yamen.

Zuo Maodi did not see the old general strategizing in the official granary, but only a shirtless old soldier playing chess with his servants, slamming his fist on the table and laughing loudly.

"This junior, Zuo Maodi, greets Commander Hou."

Hou Shilu had an old scar on his left arm and a blood-soaked white cloth bandage on his right arm. When he first learned that the marshal's messenger had entered the alley, he merely glanced at him and continued playing chess while fiddling with the chess pieces.

Only after hearing Zuo Maodi's name announced did Hou Shilu put down his chess piece and ask seriously, "Oh? So both the young champion and the Emperor recommended the outstanding Zuo County Magistrate of Hancheng?"

"It's the junior."

Hou Shilu finally smiled, pushed the chessboard aside, and beckoned his servants to bring him a chair. He said, "Please sit down. I am quite lucky to have met such a talented person as Magistrate Zuo in this desperate situation. I have heard about your work, which has kept Hancheng County safe for several years. In these times, that is especially remarkable."

Good luck?

Upon hearing Hou Shilu's words, Zuo Maodi couldn't help but smile. He remembered that just moments before, Liu Chengzong had said that Hou Shilu was an unlucky fellow who had been plagued by bad luck his whole life.

However, he did not forget why he had come here. Seeing the guards sent by the Marshal's Mansion behind him, he reached out and took Liu Chengzong's letter.

However, he did not present it to Hou Shilu. Instead, he pressed it down on the tea table with his hand and said, "Marshal Hou, this is a letter from the Marshal's Office. Grand Marshal Liu Chengzong is outside. I believe you understand why I am here. At this point in the war, there is no need to continue fighting."

"The soldiers and generals of the Ming Dynasty also had a place called Hancheng in Shaanxi."

Hou Shilu stared blankly at Zuo Maodi, then looked down at the letter pressed under his hand, and leaned back slightly.

After a moment of contemplation, Hou Shilu shook his head with a wry smile: "I'm old and don't understand how Hancheng managed to remain unharmed during the war, but the fact that over 100,000 people were spared is ultimately a good thing."

"Although I am old and frail, I am still a military man and I don't know much. In my seventeen years as a general, I have risen and fallen five times. Life is all about luck."

Upon hearing Hou Shilu mention luck again, Zuo Maodi couldn't help but say, "The Grand Marshal said that Marshal Hou has always had bad luck."

"So that's what that young striker said? He's just a martial artist, what does he know? Nobody's luckier than me."

Hou Shilu smiled and said unconvinced, "My father's name was Mingchen, and he was the hereditary commander of Yulin Guard. I went to the battlefield to kill the enemy when I was young, and became the deputy general of Liangzhou at the age of twenty-nine."

Zuo Mao knew something was wrong the moment he heard those words.

Hou Shilu had long been prepared to die; otherwise, he wouldn't be here recounting his epitaph and life story to himself.

But since the matter had already been brought up, Zuo Maodi had no choice but to nod and say, "At twenty-nine, Commander Hou is indeed in his prime."

"So this is your prime?" Hou Shilu smiled smugly, his expression turning slightly serious. He said, "That year, we suffered a great defeat at Sarhu. With no generals at the front, I served as deputy general for only four months before being promoted to general and leading the Liangzhou army to Liaodong."

"After a major defeat in Liaoyang, I was seriously injured and fell from my horse but luckily survived. My servants rescued me. Afterwards, when the court discussed merits and demerits, only Zhou Shilu, the general from Sichuan, and I were found to have merits and were not guilty."

Hou Shilu recounted his near-death experience on the Liaodong battlefield, then suddenly changed the subject: "I've heard that the young vanguard led his troops in a fierce battle in Liaodong and won a great victory. Is that true?"

This topic was of great interest not only to Hou Shilu, but also to the groups of servants and veterans sitting on the ground behind him. People stared intently at Zuo Maodi.

Zuo Maodi didn't know what kind of answer these veteran Ming soldiers were hoping to hear, so he simply nodded and said truthfully, "It's true, they broke into the Liaodong border wall and plundered the Liaoshen area."

“Zhang Xianzhong of the Ministry of Rites burned down Liaoyang City, and Liu Chengzong plundered the Later Jin Kingdom. Tens of thousands of soldiers stuffed gold and silver bars into the saddlebags of their horses. Huang Taiji tried to stop him, but he couldn’t stop him even when he chased him to the border. Instead, he used the sandstorm to outmaneuver and attack him, killing countless enemy heads. The old servant Changsun and the Dongjiang rebel general Kong Youde were captured and recruited.”

As Hou Shilu listened to Zuo Maodi's account, his mouth remained slightly open, as if he had forgotten to close it.

Until Zuo Maodi finished speaking, the hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, except for the heavy breathing of these veterans.

After a long while, Hou Shilu finally came to his senses. He exchanged a glance with the old servants behind him and urged Zuo Maodi, "What else? How did the battle go? How many casualties did Marshal Liu suffer?"

Zuo Maodi shook his head and explained, "I am the magistrate of Hancheng County. I have never fought against Marshal Liu, nor will I have followed him on his campaign. I know very little about the battle on the border. If you want to know, why don't you go out and ask him yourself?"

Hou Shilu then smiled somewhat awkwardly, raised his hand to scratch his headband, and shook his head, saying, "I won't ask him anymore. In Liaoyang and Jisi, I suffered two major defeats and was seriously injured. I was only able to escape death because my servants risked their lives to protect me."

"Marshal Liu defeated the Later Jin army in one battle. It is only natural that we, the remnants of our army, were defeated by him, haha."

It was only at this point that Zuo Maodi realized that Hou Shilu had changed his tune, no longer referring to Liu Chengzong as "Little Vanguard" but instead calling him "Marshal Liu."

"General Hou, could you please put aside your grudges, lead your troops out of the alley, and come back to Hancheng with me?"

"Haha, Magistrate Zuo, I have no grudge against Marshal Liu, and we in Yulin have no grudge against him either. Life is all about luck."

"The country has deteriorated to this point, with only Yulin remaining in Shaanxi. As soldiers of the imperial court, we should defend it to the death. My old friends and acquaintances have all died in this battle. I am an old man who has been seriously wounded twice and can neither draw a bow nor ride a horse. Going to Hancheng? Ha."

Hou Shilu's somewhat cloudy old eyes stared into Zuo Maodi's eyes: "You want Hancheng to have the same scenery as Yulin today?"

Zuo Maodi could not answer.

"Alright, today has been extremely enjoyable. Lord Zuo, please return and tell Marshal Liu that Yulin City... is his now." (End of Chapter)