Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 150 Another good news
In the south of Luzhou City, Bao Yu led Yang Puxiong on horseback, with their respective cavalry guards behind them. Yang Puxiong also bought incense, candles, paper money and some tributes from the city, and the group went straight to the tomb of Zhao Pusheng outside the south city.

"The commander-in-chief entered the Chaohu navy and led a battalion himself. Together with Liao and Yu, they joined forces to form a 7,000-man army. They first devised a plan to lure Zuo Junbi's main force out of the city, then set up an ambush on the shore of Chaohu Lake to surround and annihilate him.

"After Zuo Junbi died, the general took advantage of the situation and besieged Luzhou. He surrounded it but did not attack it, luring Zhu Liangzu of Lu'an to come to his aid, and set up an ambush on the way to annihilate him, capturing Lu'an Marshal Zhu Liangzu alive. After the main force of the Yuan army was destroyed, he swept across the country and captured the three cities of Luzhou, Lu'an and Liangxian.

"Since the general joined the army, he led the generals of Chaohu to victory after victory and entered Luzhou, so he was elected as the marshal by the generals. At that time, General Zhao Pusheng led his troops to build a camp in Hanshan, which was far away from Luzhou, but close to Kang Maocai in Hezhou. When General Zhao learned that Luzhou had been conquered, he proposed to join forces to defend Luzhou and sent people to ask the general to send troops to support.

"The Marshal had agreed to send troops to support them, but at that time, we had just occupied three cities and were short of troops, so we agreed to meet a few days later. However, General Zhao could not wait and originally planned to send troops from Luzhou to Hanshan Stronghold to join forces and return. However, General Zhao led his troops to leave alone, and Kang Maocai found a flaw and led a large army to besiege him. General Zhao was besieged to death and his head was taken. If it were not for Generals Ye and Zheng who risked their lives to save him, I am afraid that even General Hua would have died."

As the person involved, Bao Yu knew the cause of Zhao Pusheng's death best. However, as a guide, he cleared himself and Lu Jin of all blame and put all the blame on Zhao Pusheng. Of course, this could only be Zhao Pusheng's fault.

After hearing this, Yang Puxiong finally understood how Lu Jin came to power. It turned out that this was how Marshal Lu came to control Luzhou. No wonder the generals from Chaohu and the surrendered generals from the Yuan court disliked Zhao Pusheng and Li Pusheng. You were not there when they were bleeding and sacrificing their lives and working hard to start their business, and now you come to reap the benefits after they have captured the city. How could they like you?

As for the cause of Zhao Pusheng's death, although Yang Puxiong did not believe Bao Yu's one-sided statement, what he said was reasonable. It was just that he was not familiar with Zhao Pusheng, and he heard everything from his master Peng Yingyu. Therefore, he did not know what kind of character Zhao Pusheng was, and he could not judge.

Zhao Pusheng's tomb was not far from the south city. The group soon arrived at a tomb. The tomb was not big and even looked a little ordinary. There was a stone tablet in front of the tomb, but there was not a single word engraved on it.

Yang Puxiong frowned as he looked at it and asked immediately, "Why is there no inscription on this stele?"

"Firstly, when the Marshal sent troops to support, General Zhao was killed and his head was taken away. The army only recovered General Zhao's headless body, but the body could not be left unburied, so it was hastily buried. Later, the Marshal killed Kang Maocai and recovered General Zhao's head, and then he dug up the grave and reburied it.

"As for why there is no word, the commander was worried that General Zhao's tomb would be destroyed by the enemy, so he did not leave any words, but only asked people to note the location. When the Yuan court is destroyed in the future, it will not be too late to rebuild General Zhao's tomb."

Yang Puxiong felt a little better after hearing this reason. It was very common to dig up the enemy's graves during wars in ancient times, especially the Yuan army's military discipline, which was almost non-existent. Killing innocent people to claim credit, raping and looting civilians, and stealing and digging graves were all not uncommon. Only Zhu Yuanzhang had issued a special military order prohibiting looting civilians, raping women, and destroying graves. The tombs of Zhu Yuanzhang's parents had all been dug up by the Yuan army, so it was natural for Lu Jin to be on guard against it.

Yang Puxiong bowed to Luzhou and said, "Marshal Lu is very thoughtful. I would like to thank him for his kindness on behalf of my senior brother."

After saying this, he waved his hand and asked the soldiers who followed him to place the offerings. Yang Puxiong then personally cleared the weeds on the grave, lit incense and candles and worshiped. Finally, he asked again.

"Senior Brother Zhao died at the hands of Kang Maocai, so what about my other senior brother Li Pusheng?"

Bao Yu has been instructed by Lu Jin. Now it seems that Xu Song may not know the whereabouts of Li Pusheng, so he simply does not tell them that Li Pusheng is still alive. Otherwise, if the other party wants to take Li Pusheng away or meet Li Pusheng, it will be very troublesome. It is better to have less trouble than more, so he simply does not say anything.

Then Bao Yu said this.

"After the general entered Luzhou, he recruited soldiers and expanded his army to prepare for war. He first captured Chao County and used Chao County as a bait to lure Kang Maocai to send out his troops. The general personally assembled a large force and hunted with Kang Maocai outside Chao County. He annihilated Kang Maocai's army and then took Heyang.

"At that time, General Zhao had already died. It happened that the news of your army's uprising in Huanggang came. General Li had been stationed in Wuwei. Perhaps he heard the news from the south and led his troops south. He had few troops to begin with and his whereabouts were secretive. Since then, we have never heard of General Li's whereabouts. Didn't he find your army?"

Yang Puxiong was stunned when he heard this, and immediately asked in surprise, "What? You said that my Senior Brother Li led his troops south to find my master?"

Bao Yu spread his hands, "No, we are just guessing. At that time, Kang Maocai had more than 20,000 soldiers deployed in various places, and he also had the support of the Yuan Tingjiang Defense Division. The Marshal's forces were equal to them. It was not easy to defeat Kang Maocai, and he had no time to look for General Li.

"It's possible that General Li learned of General Zhao's death and he didn't know the cause and effect, so he deliberately hid from us. Anyway, when our army captured Wuwei, we didn't find General Li. Instead, there were rumors that a group of rebels went to the south and then there was no news."

Bao Yu muttered softly, "General Zhao stationed his troops in Hanshan, at least he knew to send someone to contact us, but General Li stationed his troops in Wuwei, so he really lived in seclusion and never contacted us."

Although these words were whispered softly, Yang Puxiong could still hear them.

Yang Puxiong's eyes rolled around when he heard this. According to Bao Yu, Lu Jin was busy fighting Kang Maocai at that time, and Zhao Pusheng died in unclear circumstances. Coincidentally at this time, news came that Peng Yingyu had revolted in Huguang. It was really possible that Li Pusheng might lead his troops south.

But if he went south from Wuwei, there was still Anqing Road and even Jiangxi in between, how could he get there? Either he had to go through the Dabie Mountains or take the water route to Huanggang. Anyway, it was impossible for him to fight his way there by land. If Li Pusheng really went south, he would most likely die on the way.
Of course there is another result, that is, Lu Jin killed Li Pusheng secretly, but Li Pusheng is not alone, he has soldiers under him, and it is difficult to do this without anyone knowing.

So Yang Puxiong asked again, "Mr. Bao, do you know how many soldiers my Senior Brother Li had at that time?"

"I really don't know. I heard that there are no more than 2,000, or maybe only a few hundred. General Li rarely contacts us, so how would we know?"

Bao Yu spread his hands to indicate that he didn't know, and Yang Puxiong couldn't do anything about him. It seemed that he had to send someone else to investigate the matter. If Li Pusheng really went south, maybe he could get some information from the south.

Of course, it is also possible that he hid himself under an assumed name, which is also very likely because Peng Yingyu did this before when his rebellion failed.

Yang Puxiong was skeptical about the news Bao Yu told today, but he had no evidence, was unfamiliar with the place in Luzhou, and was followed by people wherever he went, making it difficult for him to investigate the truth.

But he always felt that Zhao Pusheng's death must be not simple. Lu Jin joined the army halfway and took over the leadership of the Chaohu Navy. The original Chaohu generals hated Zhao Pusheng and Li Pusheng very much. It was hard to say that there was no deliberate guidance from Lu Jin.

However, he could not do anything now. The important thing was to return safely and tell Xu Shouhui and his master Peng Yingyu about the situation in Luzhou. So after paying homage to Zhao Pusheng, he followed Bao Yu back to Luzhou City.

On the way, the group passed by the iron factory from a distance and saw a column of smoke rising into the sky and a convoy constantly delivering wood there. Yang Puxiong became curious and asked.

"Where is that smoke coming out over there?"

Bao Yu looked in the direction he pointed and said, "Oh, that's the brick kiln that the Marshal ordered to be built over there. The Yuan Dynasty has destroyed many cities, and the defenses of cities in various places are not solid. Now even the walls of Luzhou are not covered with bricks. Therefore, the Marshal ordered people to burn more bricks to strengthen the city defenses."

"Oh I got it."

Yang Puxiong nodded, thinking that Lu Jin was indeed difficult to deal with. After occupying the territory, they reinforced the city everywhere. The Gubu Town I saw before was building a city. Here in Luzhou, not only the city walls were raised, but also covered with bricks. If they really came to attack the cities one by one, it would probably take a lot of effort. It would be best to persuade Lu Jin to lead his troops to surrender, otherwise the cost would be too high.

Yang Puxiong gathered all the information in his mind, and without further entanglement, he followed back to Luzhou City. Bao Yu secretly observed his reaction, and he didn't know if he had frightened him. The reason why he didn't tell Yang Puxiong that there was an iron factory was just to show weakness to the enemy. Now was not the time to break up with Xu Song. It was very important to pretend to be weak so that Xu Song could continue to maintain the fantasy of winning over the Shengwu Army.

The group returned to Luzhou. As soon as they entered the city gate, they heard the sound of horse hooves behind them. There was a rider on the horse with a flag on his back and shouting the victory news along the way.

"Great victory! Great victory! Commander Zhu led an army of 10,000 to capture Haozhou, killed three enemy generals in battle, and captured 2,000 enemy soldiers!"

"Great victory! Great victory! Commander Zhu led an army of 10,000 to capture Haozhou, killed three enemy generals in battle, and captured 2,000 enemy soldiers!"

Whenever the rider encountered an intersection or a place where people gathered along the way, he would stop, circle around and shout once, which amazed the people around him.

"Good, we won another battle. Our Shengwu Army is truly invincible. No city can stop our army wherever it leads us!"

"Haozhou is not close to here, it must be about three or four hundred miles away, right?"

"No way. If we go to Dingyuan and then to Haozhou, it's only about 300 miles."

"It's been less than a month, and we've already received so many reports of victory. Didn't they say last time that Quanjiao, Chuzhou, and Lai'an had all been taken? I don't know when we can reach Yangzhou."

"Where is Lai'an?"

After hearing the good news, the people in the city were talking about it. Ever since Lu Jin went out for inspection last time, the good news had been passed back one after another, giving the people a feeling that the Yuan court was weak and would collapse at any moment. The invincibility of the Shengwu Army boosted the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the city. Only the knowledgeable people knew that it was not that simple. Now they were fighting against the local Yuan army, and when the Yuan court's army came to fight, no one knew what would happen.

Yang Puxiong was standing by the road. After hearing the message from the messenger, he was immediately alert. Commander Zhu, leading 10,000 soldiers? The Zhang Huan he met before was a battalion commander of a thousand households. He had nearly a thousand soldiers under him. Above the thousand households was a commander, who was in charge of several thousand households. I don't know if there was a set rule. Now there is another commander who can lead 10,000 soldiers. It seems that he is an officer one level above the commander, and can probably manage two or three commanders.

But why is this commander-in-chief with 10,000 troops named Zhu? Could it be Zhu Liangzu, the Marshal of the Lu'an Volunteer Army captured by Lu Jin? That doesn't make sense, a surrendered general became a commander-in-chief, while the veteran general of the Chaohu faction, Yu Tingyu, was only a commander. Isn't this a bit unreasonable?
He stood there and listened to the discussions of the people in the city for a while, and couldn't help but admire in his heart. It seems that Marshal Lu's territory is not small. From Luzhou in the north to Yangzhou in the east, Anqing in the south and Lu'an in the west, they have all become his territory. He has not only occupied Luzhou Road, but if he continues to expand like this, I am afraid that Yangzhou Road, Anqing Road and Anfeng Road will also be in his hands!
This territory is much larger than their Xu Song!

No, the process of recruiting the Shengwu Army must be accelerated, otherwise as Lu Jin's territory becomes larger and larger and the number of soldiers increases, it will be even more difficult to recruit them. Yang Puxiong suddenly became anxious.

Glancing at Bao Yu beside him, Yang Puxiong asked again, "May I ask if the Zhu Dushi mentioned in the victory report is the former Lu'an Volunteer Army Marshal Zhu Liangzu?"

"That's right." Bao Yu nodded, as if he saw that Yang Puxiong was still confused, so he explained, "General Zhu was captured by the Marshal, and the Marshal released him. Later, General Zhu felt grateful to the Marshal, so he brought his whole family to surrender. The Marshal valued him, and now he leads an army and is relied upon by the Marshal."

Yang Puxiong nodded. Isn't this just a horse bone worth a thousand gold coins? It seems that Lu Jin is very good at doing things. He recruited a surrendered general and made important use of him. When they encounter similar Yuan court generals in the future, their will to resist will be lower, which is very beneficial for expansion. It seems that Lu Jin is indeed not easy to deal with.

The longer Yang Puxiong stayed in Luzhou, the more anxious he became. He immediately asked to resign and return to report to the Emperor of the Song Dynasty. Bao Yu agreed and told him to go back to the guesthouse to rest for a day and that he would arrange for someone to escort him back to Lu'an the next day.

In the Marshal's Mansion, Lu Jin also received detailed battle reports and called Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong to discuss it together.

Zhu Liangzu had been sharpening his sword for Haozhou for a long time. He had not stayed in Dingyuan for nothing, so he built a batch of siege equipment in advance. After receiving Lu Jin's order to attack Haozhou, he immediately led his troops to set off.

Thanks to the adequate preparation of equipment and the intelligence collected for a long time in advance, Zhu Liangzu even had someone draw up the defense map of Haozhou City in advance and prepared a siege plan in advance. So from the official start of the attack, it took only four days to capture Haozhou.

During his siege of Haozhou, local people from Haozhou came to join the army. They were all people who could not survive. There were so many people who joined the army, more than 2,000 people, which was just the right amount to expand the new regiment.

In addition to these local civilians who joined the army, Zhu Liangzu also killed more than 14 people in battle during the siege, and captured more than 14 defenders. After screening, they could be added to the newly formed regiment. In this way, the establishment of Feng Sheng's th Regiment was almost filled, but the officers of the th Regiment might still need to be selected.

That's Haozhou, Zhu Yuanzhang's old nest and the hometown of the Twenty-Four Generals of Huaixi. I don't know if those people will join the army this time. After reading the battle report, Lu Jin prepared to go to Haozhou again to see if there are any talents available there.

The Shengwu Army now has a lot of soldiers, but the imperial guards led by Lu Jin are too small. There is only one regiment led by Zhu Shou and an incomplete cavalry regiment led by Ye Sheng. It is neither more nor less than enough to defend Luzhou, but there are not many soldiers available to support the four directions.

Lu Jin, one of the Twenty-Four Generals of Huaixi, was not very interested in him. He actually had quite a few generals under his command, but not many who could lead troops alone. To put it bluntly, he just wanted Xu Da.

Besides, there is also a Chongba Ge in the Huangjue Temple over there. Lu Jin feels it would be a shame if he couldn't meet such an important historical figure in person.

Just as Lu Jin was lost in thought, Li Shanchang immediately said, "General, now that Haozhou has been taken, we should not have to fight further on the northern front this year, right?"

"Well, there will be no fighting in the north. Don't worry, sir. How could I forget what we agreed on before?" Lu Jin said with a smile.

Li Shanchang immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that Lu Jin would be overwhelmed by the good news, and it would be bad if he became arrogant.

Seeing that Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong looked relieved, Lu Jin spoke again.

"Although the war in the north has eased a bit, we cannot relax our efforts to govern the people. We should immediately send county magistrates to register the people, prepare for spring plowing, train new troops, strengthen city defenses, and prepare to fight off a counterattack from the Yuan court. Especially for the outer frontier cities, we must prepare more defense equipment and materials."

The two nodded when they heard this, and Feng Guoyong followed suit and said, "We will form a new 14th regiment in Haozhou, station two regiments in Haozhou on the front line, one regiment in Lai'an, and one infantry regiment and one cavalry regiment in Dingyuan. The cavalry regiment will use Dingyuan as its base and provide support from all sides. This way, the northern defense line will be completed.

"Gather two regiments in Chuzhou to the east to provide backup for Lai'an. As long as we can hold off the Yuan army for half a year, then after the autumn harvest, it will be our turn to counterattack!"

Feng Guoyong was full of confidence, and at the same time he reminded Lu Jin not to forget the regiment assigned to his brother.

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin smiled and said, "Then we need the two gentlemen to help us. The war on the northern front has stopped, and now is the time for us to save money. The two gentlemen need to take care of it. Mr. Li should supervise the spring plowing and money and grain matters, and Mr. Feng should supervise the training of soldiers and weapons. When we have enough money and grain, and strong armor and powerful soldiers, it will be time for us to advance to Jiangdong!"

"I will devote myself to this mission until my death!"

(End of this chapter)