Dahan: A 100-year-old veteran, I will build the strongest family

Chapter 121: The Yellow Turban leader pretends to surrender, shocking the Yellow Turbans all over the world

Bo Cai suddenly heard that Li Hong actually requested the court to spare the lives of the surrendered Yellow Turbans and no longer pursue the crime of rebellion.

Bo Cai was struck by lightning.

As one of the leaders of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Bo Cai actually had some experience in how to control ordinary Yellow Turbans.

That is to recruit the Yellow Turbans first. Once the Yellow Turbans are recruited, ordinary Yellow Turbans will be charged with rebellion, and then ordinary Yellow Turban soldiers will have no choice but to follow them all the way to the end.

There is no regret anymore.

In fact, not only Bo Cai, but many other generals were using this tactic, and they had even received hints from Zhang Jue.

But now, the imperial court can actually choose not to hold the Yellow Turbans accountable for the rebellion?
All the Yellow Turbans need to do is lay down their weapons and surrender.

Such a fierce blow. If it were under normal circumstances, the Yellow Turbans would be unstoppable, winning battle after battle, and would not fall into a life-and-death dilemma. Everything would be fine, and nothing would happen.

However, when ordinary Yellow Turban soldiers were in danger and faced despair.

If the imperial court offered to lay down their weapons and surrender in exchange for their lives, then I'm afraid that most of the Yellow Turban soldiers would not seek death and would fight to the death with the government soldiers.

What's worse, now the imperial court not only allows them to surrender to save their lives, but also gives ordinary Yellow Turbans the opportunity to make meritorious contributions and capture diehard elements. The higher the position, the richer the reward?

"Li Hong's strategy is very vicious."

Bo Cai's face turned pale and he kept muttering to himself, but he knew that his journey as a Yellow Turban was probably really over.

Peng Tuo, who was standing by, was also extremely anxious when he saw Bo Cai's distraught look. Although he was not as clear-sighted as Bo Cai, he also understood that this was Li Hong's conspiracy.

"General Daqu, what should we do now?" Peng Tuo asked Bo Cai anxiously.

Bo Cai listened to Peng Tuo's anxious questions, and a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes.

Bo finally realized that he couldn't collapse, otherwise, everything would be over.

"Let me think about it." Bo Cai said, then began to frown and think quickly about how to break the deadlock.

However, the Beiwei cavalry blocked the official road, and the Yellow Turbans were cut off in various forests and mountains, making it impossible to control them. Even if Bo Cai was unwilling and wanted to turn the tables, he felt helpless.

"How many people who are loyal to our Taiping Dao can be mobilized?" Bo Cai raised his head and asked Peng Tuo.

"This... Even now, we have mobilized the Yellow Turbans in the forest. We have more than 10,000 people under our command. The ones who are truly loyal to us, those who followed us from Julu, and those who joined us before the uprising, are only about 700 to 800 people."

Peng Tuo hesitated slightly and then replied to Bo Cai.

"Seven or eight hundred people, haha, it seems that God has doomed me."

When Bo Cai heard that he could only mobilize seven or eight hundred loyal followers, he immediately became disheartened and said sadly.

Just think about it, before the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Bo Cai had tens of thousands of loyal Taiping Dao members under his command.

Now there are only seven or eight hundred people left.

However, Bo Cai also understood.

Now, his hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers were separated by the Beiwei cavalry and could not communicate at all.

"Peng Tuo, tell me, Li Hong's trick made the court spare our lives if we surrendered to the Yellow Turbans. In this situation where we are short of food and clothing and may starve to death at any time, how many of the more than 10,000 Yellow Turbans in this forest will surrender to the government soldiers?" Bo Cai asked Peng Tuo with a disheartened look.

When Peng Tuo heard what Bo Cai said, his face looked very ugly. Because he had been following Bo Cai, Peng Tuo also had to use his brain a little.

Peng Tuo thought about it, and finally sighed and said:
"Alas, many Yellow Turbans followed us after the uprising, and they are not very loyal to our Taiping Dao. I am afraid that at least half of these more than 10,000 Yellow Turbans will surrender to the officers and soldiers to save their lives."

"Haha, Peng Tuo, you are trying to comfort me. Half? I'm afraid that if there is no more sufficient food, 90% of the people in the mountains will betray our Taiping Dao and join the soldiers!" Bo Cai directly denied Peng Tuo's words, and without waiting for Peng Tuo, who was looking livid, to speak, Bo Cai continued:
"If 90% of the Yellow Turbans in the mountains surrender, how many of us, the 700 or 800 loyal generals, can survive the temptations of the soldiers?"

"This... they dare. Whoever dares to stab me in the back, I, Peng Tuo, will chop off his head!" Peng Tuo's eyes widened and he roared in shock and anger.

"Haha, I'm afraid that because of money and huge profits, there are too many people who want our heads. There are Beiwei soldiers outside, and we have no hope of survival." Bo Cai sneered, directly exposing Peng Tuo's inner luck.

The temple fell silent for a moment, and Bo stopped talking.

On the contrary, Peng Tuo, who had been acting fierce and restrained just now, stopped talking when he saw Bo Cai. He thought about the powerful Beiwei Army blocking the way outside. Even though he had led a large number of elite Yellow Turbans to attack before, they were killed by the Beiwei Army. They were already in a dead end, and Peng Tuo couldn't help but panic.

"General Daqu, please think of a solution quickly. What should we do? We can't just wait to die here." Peng Tuo said to Bo Cai anxiously.

Faced with Peng Cheng's anxious questioning, Bo Cai did not answer. Instead, he frowned even more tightly and closed his eyes. It was obvious that Bo Cai was also thinking about what to do next.

"General Daqu, please say something. The emperor is incompetent and the court is unjust. The worst that can happen is that we fight them. Killing one is not a loss, killing two is a profit, and killing three is a profit of two!" Peng Tuo walked back and forth, and suddenly said excitedly with a determined look on his face.

"No, we can't fight." Bo Cai opened his eyes and rejected Peng Tuo's words.

When Peng Tuo heard Bo Cai speak, he immediately realized that Bo Cai might have an idea. He was shocked and hurried over and said:

"Master Daqu, do you have an idea?"

"I do have an idea to survive by risking my life. Doesn't Li Hong want to surrender us Yellow Turbans? You capture me and surrender to the officers and soldiers!" Bo Cai took a deep breath and said calmly.

"What? I captured you, so you surrender to the soldiers?"

"General Daqu, what are you talking about? How could I, Peng Tuo, be a cowardly person?"

When Peng Tuo heard that Bo Cai actually wanted to capture him and defect to the soldiers, his face changed drastically and he said in shock and anger.

"Peng Tuo, listen to me. Right now, the Yellow Turbans are trapped in the mountains and forests. The only way out is to surrender, or we will be killed or starved to death. Bo Cai, you have failed the trust of General Tian Gong and have been defeated. However, if you want to survive, you must pretend to surrender to the soldiers."

"There will be no few Yellow Turbans surrendering to the officers and soldiers this time, and there may even be more than 100,000 Yellow Turbans. These are all our Yellow Turbans. Therefore, this Great Commander needs you to capture me, surrender to Li Hong, and win Li Hong's trust. If you can make another plan, incite these surrendered Yellow Turbans to rebel against Li Hong, attack the officers and soldiers, or even defeat the officers and soldiers from the inside, and completely eliminate the great threat of our Yellow Turbans, then even if I, Bo Cai, die, I will not let General Tian Gong down. Haha, after all, I, Bo Cai, am the Great Commander of the Yellow Turbans, a leader of a faction, and my status is not low. If Li Hong wants to use me to deal with the Yellow Turbans and lower the morale of the Yellow Turbans, he may spare my life and even want to recapture me."

Inside the temple, Bo Cai's eyes flashed with a sharpness, and he told the method he had thought of to survive from the desperate situation. Peng Tuo, who was standing by, was stunned and looked at Bo Cai in shock.

Suddenly, Peng Tuo slapped his thigh and said in surprise: "General Daqu, you have a good plan, a good plan. If we can pretend to surrender to the officers and soldiers, and take advantage of their carelessness to mobilize our brothers to raid Li Hong's Beiwei Army camp, then, maybe we can really eliminate the Beiwei Army. What a good plan."

Peng Tuo was pleasantly surprised by Bo Cai's plan.

Bo Cai also breathed a sigh of relief. Having come up with a possible plan, he also felt less guilty towards Zhang Jue.

Of course, Bo Cai knew that this plan was not perfect, and Li Hong might have thought of it beforehand. However, Bo Cai did not care, he just wanted to take a gamble.

He was ready to die at any time.

If he succeeds, then his death will be worthy.

"Well, go pick some people who are willing to surrender, and then express that you also want to surrender, but I won't allow it." After a pause, a look of reluctance flashed across Bo Cai's face, and he said:
"Just act, make it as real as possible, kill the brothers when necessary, you charge in the front, don't let Li Hong see it."

Bo Cai's arrangement made Peng Tuo's face change instantly.

Obviously, Bo Cai's intention was to have him pretend to join the Yellow Turbans who wanted to surrender and become one of them, and then really massacre those who were loyal to the Taiping Dao, trying to make it as real as possible and gain the trust of the officers and soldiers.

"Yes!" Peng Tuo bowed to Bo Cai, with an expression of reluctance on his face. Having reached the position of Qu Shuai, he had already become decisive and ruthless.

After Peng Li left, Bo Cai sat on the mat and closed his eyes.

That night, the sky was bright and the Yellow Turban soldiers, who were suffering from mosquito bites in the mountains and forests, were feeling extremely tormented.

It was the same in the past few days, they just wanted to survive.

But now it is different. The officers and soldiers suddenly sent a message that they can surrender, and even the court can forgive their crimes of rebellion.

This made them feel uneasy. Could they really be absolved of their guilt if they surrendered?
"We're starving. Tell me, if we surrender, will the court really forgive us for our rebellion?" In the valley, eight Yellow Turban soldiers were drinking water, and one of them, a skinny man, whispered.

"Look! Skinny boy, do you want to die? How dare you say such things?" The leader, a sturdy Yellow Turban sergeant, scolded in a low voice.

Since they all came from the same village, the eight of them would often gather together, even when they were charging into battle.

"Hey, Brother Xiong, I see there's no one around here." The skinny young man in the yellow scarf called Skinny Boy said with a chuckle.

"Be careful then." The Yellow Turban leader hissed and whispered:
"I have heard that General Li is a man of his word, and he is extremely wealthy, as rich as a country. He even recruited heroes from all over the world to Luoyang twice to select men to join the Li family and the Beiwei Army. His travel expenses and food expenses were reimbursed. He kept his word. Since General Li has guaranteed this, it should not be false."

"It can't be false? Brother Xiong, if we surrender, can we really save our lives?"

"I also heard that General Li is a man of his word, and his family business is huge. If we surrender, will the court really pardon our crime of rebellion?"

"That's great. We joined the Taiping Dao together just to make a living. Who knew that the Taiping Dao was actually a rebellion? We couldn't quit at that time. Now we can finally quit."

Seven or eight young men gathered together, discussing in low voices that surrendering could save them from the death penalty. They were all very excited.

"Ahem! You are actually planning to surrender our soldiers. You are so brave." Suddenly, a rough voice was heard.

Xiong Ge, Shou Wa and seven or eight other Yellow Turban soldiers were frightened, but they saw the sturdy and strong Peng Tuo lying behind a big tree.

"This...this Qu Shuai, I...we..."

When Brother Xiong, Shouwa and seven or eight other Yellow Turbans saw Peng Tuo, they were so frightened that their hair went numb and their whole bodies felt cold. They wanted to explain something but found that they couldn't explain it at all.

They even didn't dare to fight against Peng Tuo. Not to mention that there were Yellow Turbans all around them, Peng Tuo alone was a first-rate martial arts general.

"Hmph." Peng Tuo snorted coldly, turned over, came to the side of the thin boy, snatched the water scoop from the thin boy's hand, took a big gulp of water, drank the water, looked at the few people, lowered his voice, and said:
"I'm here to ask you, is Li Hong really as good as his word? If you surrender, he will exempt you from the death penalty for treason? If I surrender, will he exempt me from the death penalty?"

Peng Tuo's voice reached the ears of Brother Xiong, Shouwa and others, and they were stunned.

Brother Xiong stared at Peng Tuo in amazement, and said in a trembling voice: "Commander Qu, you...you also want to surrender to the officers and soldiers?"

"Haha, are you the only ones who want to live? Don't I want to live? Damn it, this is a barren place with nothing to eat. If we are not killed by the officers and soldiers, we will starve to death. What's the point of not surrendering? Even, with all my skills, I still want to beg for food under General Li!" Peng Tuo cursed in a low voice.

Hearing that Peng Tuo actually wanted to surrender, Brother Xiong, Shouwa and others were shocked, but they were quickly encouraged.

Several people hurriedly gathered around Peng Tuo, and Brother Xiong hurriedly said to Peng Tuo:

"General Qu, General Li's words can still be trusted. The emperor's words cannot be trusted, but General Li will keep his promise..."

……

Peng Tuo secretly gathered thousands of Yellow Turbans who wanted to surrender to the government soldiers, and then asked them to persuade more people to surrender to the government soldiers.

Those Yellow Turban soldiers who were loyal to the Taiping Dao were furious when they found out.

At this time, Peng Tuo rushed forward with a big knife in his hand and blood all over his body.

……

When Peng Tuo was taking action, the Yellow Turbans in dozens of forests and mountains that had been cut off by the Beiwei cavalry were all on the move. Many of them even took advantage of the loyalists' inattention to slip out of the forests and surrender to the Beiwei army. They could not be stopped.

There were also many Yellow Turbans who had killed countless people and were unwilling to surrender. Instead, they joined forces to kill those diehard Yellow Turbans or kidnapped the diehards.

Starting from the third day when the Beiwei Army delivered food to the Yellow Turbans, a large number of Yellow Turban soldiers in the blockaded forests in Changsha and Xu County dropped their weapons and surrendered in an endless stream.

Xu County, the county magistrate's residence.

In the meeting hall.

Li Hongzheng discussed with Mi Zhu, Jia Xu, Xi Zhicai, Xun You, and Xiao Guo Jia about where to accommodate the surrendered Yellow Turbans, as well as food and other items.

"Old General, good news, good news. The Yellow Turban leader Peng Tuo led nearly 10,000 Yellow Turbans to surrender to our court. He cut off the arm of the leader Bo Cai, who fainted and is unknown whether he is alive or dead. He also carried more than 2,000 heads of Yellow Turban diehards. They are now being guarded by General Yan Liang and his troops."

Huangfu Song entered the hall with joy and told Li Hong, Mi Zhu, Jia Xu, Xi Zhicai and Xun You the great news.

In the hall, Li Hong, Mi Zhu, Jia Xu and others suddenly looked up and looked at Huangfu Song who was rushing in with some surprise.

"Yellow Turban leader Peng Tuo surrendered? He also cut off Bo Cai's arm? He also brought with him more than 2,000 heads of Yellow Turban diehards?"

Everyone in the hall was shocked by the news brought by Huangfu Song.

"This Peng Tuo is indeed a ruthless man, but these letters of surrender are enough to show that Peng Tuo is truly ruthless and wants to please my officers and soldiers."

After Jia Xu realized what was happening, he couldn't help but exclaim in praise:
"If this gets out, the Yellow Turbans will no longer have a place for Peng Tuo. We don't know if Bo Cai is alive or dead, and these hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans have surrendered. I'm afraid the Yellow Turbans will be in an uproar next."

Jia Xu couldn't help but smile and laughed.

(End of this chapter)