Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 154 These are all good seedlings
In early February of the twelfth year of Zhizheng, Lu Jin led a battalion of cavalry and was escorted to Haozhou by Shen Ren.

However, he was only followed by 400 cavalrymen, and the other 400 cavalrymen were responsible for escorting the well-drilling tools and the newly made spears. This group of people first escorted the supplies to Dingyuan, and then went to Haozhou to find Lu Jin.

Lu Jin led the cavalry and galloped towards Dingyuan. This time he deliberately did not bring infantry with him in order to travel faster and avoid wasting time by taking a month like last time.

The advantage of riding a horse is that it is fast, so this time it only took two days to reach Dingyuan. Zhu Liangzu had received an order from Lu Jin before, and after taking Haozhou, he withdrew to Dingyuan to take charge. This time when he saw Lu Jin coming in person, he couldn't help but complain.

"General, you made me stay in Dingyuan all the time. I finally went out to fight a battle. I just took Haozhou and I haven't been here for a few days. You called me back again. When will you let me fight a good battle?"

Lu Jin was convinced by this warmongering man with great martial arts skills. The reason why he transferred Zhu Liangzu, who was a capable fighter, to the second line was for future planning and to promote the historical process.

In the original history, Xu Song's biggest enemy was Dong Tuanxiao, the deputy marshal of Zhejiang East of the Yuan Dynasty, who was the one who was beaten into a commander without troops by Fang Guozhen. Although he was not good at naval battles, he was a good hand at land battles.

In the twelfth year of Zhizheng, which is this year, Xu Song had been fighting back and forth with the Yuan army in the Huguang Jingxiang area in the first half of the year. In the end, neither side could do anything to the other. In order to break the deadlock, Xu Song sent a surprise force to sneak across Yuling Pass and launch a surprise attack on Hangzhou, which was taken in one fell swoop. The Yuan court was shocked and hurriedly dispatched Dong Tuanxiao to lead troops to suppress the rebellion.

Dong Tuanxiao did not disappoint everyone's expectations. He beat Xu Song so hard that he sent him to Dabie Mountains to fight guerrilla warfare, and almost beat Xu Song to death.

What was Dong Tuanxiao doing in the first half of the 12th year of Zhizheng? He was besieging Haozhou.
Lu Jin's original plan was to wait for Xu Song to invade Jiangnan, and then the Yuan court would send troops to counterattack, pushing them all the way to Huguang, transferring all the Yuan troops in the Jiangnan area, and then he would take advantage of the opportunity to cross the river and occupy the entire Jiangnan.

But now the changes brought about by his time travel are too great. If we do not interfere and continue with the current situation, the consequences will be unimaginable.

For example, if Zhu Liangzu, a super-capable warmonger, is allowed to stay in Haozhou, what will happen next?
It goes without saying that Zhu Liangzu might kill Dong Tuanxiao with one shot, and then Xu Song would sneak across Yuling Pass and launch a surprise attack on Hangzhou. At that time, no one would be able to stop him. Instead, Lu Jin would help Xu Song gain a foothold in Jiangnan.

By then, the three lakes of Taihu Lake, Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake, which gather 60% of the world's wealth, population and food, will all become the territory of Xu Song. Once Xu Song's power is established, it will be difficult for Lu Jin to change his fate even if he has the ability to cheat.

Therefore, Dong Tuanxiao, Xu Song’s mortal enemy, must not die. He must be allowed to live well, and wait until the second half of the year to let him fight to the death with Xu Song, so that Lu Jin can steal the spoils from behind.

However, it would not work to keep this matter hidden from Zhu Liangzu, otherwise he might get impulsive and go out of the city to kill Dong Tuanxiao, and then Lu Jin would not even have time to cry. So he came here this time specifically to tell the generals on the northern front about this matter to prevent these people from ruining his plan.

Thinking of this, Lu Jin said.

"Want to have a good fight? You really haven't had this opportunity in the past six months. I know you are belligerent and good at fighting, but do you know why I specifically transferred you back to Dingyuan, the second line?"

Zhu Liangzu was stunned when he heard this. He originally thought that it was because of his status as a surrendered general that Lu Jin did not trust him very much and therefore did not want to give him too many opportunities to make meritorious contributions. But now it seemed that there were other reasons.

So he shook his head and said, "I don't know. Is there any explanation for the Marshal's arrangement?"

"Of course. Otherwise, what good would it do to keep a fierce tiger like you in a cage instead of going out to expand the territory?"

Lu Jin glanced at him, which immediately made Zhu Liangzu burst into laughter. The thing he was most proud of was that he had mastered martial arts. Lu Jin praised him so bluntly as a fierce general and a tiger, which naturally made him extremely proud.

After laughing, he scratched his head and said, "Since the Marshal knew that I could fight, he kept me in Dingyuan. I think there must be a deep meaning. But I really don't know the reason. Please explain it to me."

Lu Jin shook his head and asked Zhu Liangzu to follow him, and then asked the guards to retreat far away. After no one around could hear him, Lu Jin whispered.

"I have received accurate intelligence. The Yuan court will send troops to counterattack by March this year at the latest. Liu Futong in the northwest has already fought with the Yuan army, and Xuzhou Zhima Li will not be far away from us."

"That's not it..." Zhu Liangzu was shocked when he heard it, and he shouted out without paying attention. Lu Jin quickly suppressed his hand, and he changed to a low voice.

"Since the Marshal knew that the Yuan army was coming, shouldn't he have left me at the front line? Otherwise, if Haozhou was captured by the Yuan army, wouldn't the salt mines in Dingyuan be exposed to them?"

"You overestimate the Yuan army. If we put two regiments in Haozhou and have two cavalry regiments around it to contain the enemy, as long as Haozhou does not underestimate the enemy and fight recklessly, what can the Yuan army capture?" Lu Jin said, shaking his head.

"Then why, Marshal?" Zhu Liangzu asked puzzledly.

At this time, Lu Jin suddenly stopped and started talking about something that seemed unrelated to Haozhou.

"Xu Shouhui of Huanggang proclaimed himself emperor and founded a country last year. Did you know about this?"

"Of course I know. Wasn't it last October? It's been a year." Zhu Liangzu nodded, but he didn't know why Lu Jin suddenly brought this up.

Lu Jin laughed again, "Xu Shouhui started a rebellion last year, occupied a county and proclaimed himself emperor and founded a country. This year he finally conquered the entire Huangzhou Road, which is only four small counties in the mountains. With such a 'national power', he actually sent an envoy to Luzhou last month to ask me to submit to him and become his vassal."

Zhu Liangzu opened his mouth in shock. After finally digesting the news, he cursed, "What a mad boy! He occupied a county and established a fake country, usurped the title of a fake emperor, and took four counties without knowing how high the heaven is and how deep the earth is. He even dared to make the general pay tribute to him. What a madman! How did the general respond to him?"

Lu Jin then said, "Xu Shouhui offered me a post as governor of Bianliang Province and wanted me to surrender and offer tens of thousands of troops and dozens of counties. This is ridiculous. I would never agree to it, but I did not fall out with him. I just refused on the grounds that the governor of Bianliang was suspected of trying to sow discord between my army and Liu Du's righteous army.

"In today's situation, the rebel army is just beginning to rise, the anti-Yuan cause is in full swing, the Yuan court is still powerful, and we are in the Jianghuai area. If the Yuan court army comes, we will be the first to bear the brunt, while Xu Song can focus on expanding the territory.

"The area is in Huguang, where the population is dense and the grain production is abundant. If it is controlled by them, it will be a disaster. What we want to take is Jiangdong, but this year we are unable to cross the river. The military equipment is insufficient and the grain is not abundant. We cannot cross the river without a year's worth of reserves.

"But Xu and Song must be guarded against and suppressed. We are also a rebel army and it is not convenient for us to take action. Firstly, fighting with them is a waste of manpower. With these soldiers, why not expand the territory and build a foundation? Secondly, the Yuan court has not been destroyed yet, if we take the lead in attacking other rebel armies, we will surely be hated by other rebel armies. Therefore, the Yuan army must be the only one to curb the offensive of Xu and Song." I have received accurate information. The person who came from the Yuan court to conquer Jianghuai is Dong Tuanxiao, the former deputy marshal of Zhejiang East. Although he is weak in naval battles, he should not be underestimated in land battles. He has now been transferred to the governor of Jining Road and will head south soon.

"The Yuan army has another cavalry commander named Chelibuhua, who has 3,000 cavalry under his command and may be the vanguard.

"So I have made a strategy. We can take on Chelibuhua's 3,000 cavalrymen, which will not affect the overall situation. But we must not allow Dong Tuanxiao to be defeated. We need to preserve his strength.

"This man was originally the deputy marshal of East Zhejiang and is familiar with the military affairs of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Once Xu Song invades Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the Yuan court will definitely send this man back to help. Xu Song will cross the west to invade Zhejiang, and their roots will be unstable. They will definitely be defeated by Dong Tuanxiao. By then, we will chase them all the way to Huguang, which will be the best time for our army to cross the river. Therefore, in this battle, our army can only defend, not attack. We just need to wait for the opportunity, and their army will naturally retreat. Do you understand?"

Zhu Liangzu's eyes rolled around as he listened. Lu Jin's words contained a lot of information.

What Lu Jin meant was that although Xu Song was weak, it was located in Huguang, where there were abundant population, food, and wealth, and without the central army of the Yuan court, it would surely expand very quickly. Xu Shouhui was extremely ambitious and wanted Lu Jin to become his vassal, so the momentum of Xu Song had to be curbed.

However, it is not convenient to do this by yourself, otherwise you will be labeled as the first to attack the rebel army, and will be looked down upon by the heroes of the world, or even excluded. Therefore, it is best to let the Yuan army do this.

What surprised him the most was that before the Yuan army arrived, Lu Jin already knew who the main general and vanguard of the Yuan army were. This intelligence work was simply terrifying.

The current situation is not favorable to our side. Firstly, we have to deal with the counterattack of the Yuan army this year. Secondly, we have to build weapons and store food. Now is not the best time to cross the river.

Lu Jin was worried that Xu Song would get ahead in Zhejiang, so he wanted to keep Dong Tuanxiao, who was familiar with the military affairs of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Once there was a change in Zhejiang, the Yuan court would naturally transfer this person away. At that time, Dong Tuanxiao and Xu Song would fight each other, and Lu Jin would reap the benefits.

After figuring out the tricks here, Zhu Liangzu said in distress, "The commander's temple is good, but it's really frustrating to fight like this. Our army obviously has the ability to defeat the Yuan army, but we can only defend and not attack. Fighting like this is too passive."

"Of course I know that this is passive, but it is also for the overall situation in the future. As the saying goes, those who do not plan for the overall situation are not qualified to plan for a region, and those who do not plan for eternity are not qualified to plan for a moment. Today's passivity will lead to tomorrow's success, so we must check it out." Seeing that Zhu Liangzu understood what he meant, Lu Jin could only comfort him first.

Zhu Liangzu nodded when he heard this. He naturally knew that Lu Jin was very good at strategizing. He was defeated by Lu Jin's stratagems in the beginning and suffered from the aftereffects of Lu Jin's calculations. Now that Lu Jin had predicted that Xu Song would march east to Zhejiang and also expected that the Yuan court would transfer Dong Tuanxiao, it was highly likely that he was not wrong, so he agreed.

"I understand what the Marshal means. The focus of the northern line this year is to defend the territory. Apart from the Yuan court's vanguard cavalry, if Dong Tuanxiao comes, we will just stay indoors." Having said this, Zhu Liangzu said aggrievedly again.

“In fact, if the Marshal had this plan, he could have just told me directly. There was no need to transfer me back to Dingyuan. I am not someone who does not know the importance of things. As long as the Marshal explained his intentions to me, I would not fight Dong Tuanxiao even if I was in Haozhou.

"On the contrary, the commander-in-chief asked me to transfer the old fifth regiment back to Dingyuan and leave new soldiers in Haozhou. The commander-in-chief also said how powerful Dong Tuanxiao is, and we must not let him take Haozhou away."

Lu Jin thought that it would be impossible to take Haozhou away. He had asked the magistrate of Haozhou to prepare to defend the city as soon as he arrived there, and he started making preparations two months in advance. In addition, there were two regiments guarding the city, even if one of them was a newly formed regiment, it would not be possible for Dong Tuanxiao to break the city. That would be underestimating the Shengwu Army.

Historically, it was Guo Zixing's Five Generals of Haozhou who defended Haozhou City. Even though the five of them were not united, they were able to hold the city. Lu Jin's army is united, so it is even more impossible for them to fail to hold the city.

However, what Zhu Liangzu said is not unreasonable. It is not that placing a new regiment in Haozhou will lead to insufficient defense, but if the new regiment is placed there and immediately engaged in a battle to defend the city, the new regiment will not have much time to train, which is not appropriate.

So Lu Jin thought about it and said.

"What you said makes some sense. I'm not worried about Haozhou being conquered by Dong Tuanxiao, but Feng Sheng's new regiment is just there. It has just been reorganized and has not been trained yet, but it has to participate in defending the city. I'm afraid there is not much time for training.

"Since you also want to fight, how about this? I will go to Haozhou first to check on the reorganization of the 14th Regiment. When he has organized the new regiment, I will have him stationed in Dingyuan for training. You can take your 5th Regiment to Haozhou to take charge. Although you cannot leave the city to fight, you will at least have something to do while defending the city. But you must remember not to let Dong Tuanxiao be defeated, let alone kill him. What do you think?"

Zhu Liangzu was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately said, "General, you are wise. I have been here for a long time. I have been training all day long but have never seen an enemy. It is better to go to Haozhou to defend the city than to stay idle in Dingyuan and watch the birds. I will definitely save the life of this kid Dong Tuanxiao, so don't worry, General."

"Yes." Lu Jin nodded, "Then it's settled. You wait in Dingyuan first. I have someone send a set of well-drilling tools and 6,000 guns. They are all for the new recruits and the local internal guards. You stay here and don't forget to receive them when they arrive."

"Yes, I will pay attention to it." Zhu Liangzu was immediately happy when he learned that he could go to the front line in Haozhou. He naturally agreed to such a small matter as receiving the goods.

So Lu Jin only rested in Dingyuan for one day, and the next day he took the cavalry guard to Haozhou. As soon as he arrived there, he found that this place was very busy.

Ji Guozhang, the magistrate of Haozhou, did not forget Lu Jin's instructions. He began to prepare to defend the city as soon as he arrived. Haozhou has now become a big construction site, and many people are raising the city walls.

While strengthening the city walls, Ji Guozhang also recruited laborers to build the city. He asked them to cut wood and store firewood, roll logs and pound stones, dig more wells in the city to store water, and semi-forced the local gentry in Haozhou to move into the city with food to increase the city's food reserves.

He also forcibly borrowed grain from grain merchants in the city, saying only that he would return it later. From today on, the city began to organize baojia systems, and the amount of grain each household could buy must be limited according to the number of people in the household. They have begun to save money and prepare for a long-term siege.

Lu Jin was satisfied, and Ji Guozhang was also very fortunate. Fortunately, there were enough troops stationed in Haozhou and there were enough people to help him do things. Otherwise, Haozhou could not even gather enough clerks in the county government, and there was no way he could accomplish these things.

Today, Haozhou is under temporary military control during wartime.

Lu Jin did not interfere with Ji Guozhang's affairs, but went directly to Feng Sheng to ask for the roster of his newly formed 14th Regiment. After flipping through the names recorded in it, he found that there were quite a few well-known and famous figures in history.

Xu Da, Tang He, Hua Yun, Tang Shengzong, Lu Zhongheng, hey, quite a few generals from Haozhou really came to join the army.

(End of this chapter)