Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 88 Deceptive Surrender
Of the four garrisons under the Beiyuan Guard, the Weizhou Garrison had the strongest defensive capabilities.

However, the Arctic Army places the greatest importance on the Great Wall Garrison.

At the request of Beijiwu, Lü Siming led a team to persuade the Great Wall Guard to surrender.

Of the more than a thousand men, three hundred were cavalry, and the rest were infantry.

Everyone changed into new shoes and ate and drank their fill before setting off from Beiyuanwei.

The original high-ranking officers were basically all replaced, and most of the mid-level officers were also replaced.

Without middlemen, everyone was finally able to eat their fill, wear brand-new military uniforms, and discard their rusty weapons in exchange for sharp tools that had been gathering dust in the warehouse.

The Northern Plains Guard had been at peace for four or five years, which was enough time for many weapons to rot and warhorses to be replaced.

In the past, no matter how much silver was in the treasury, it had nothing to do with the lowest-ranking soldiers.

Now that they have a new master who doesn't care about money, the group of surrendered soldiers have wine, meat, and money to take with them, and they're running away much faster.

They could march thirty or forty li on a normal day, but could go much further without armor or baggage, carrying only weapons and flags.

The group set off at night and arrived at Changchengwei at around 10 a.m. the next day, having marched more than 60 li overnight.

When Lü Siming arrived at the Great Wall Guard, his personal guard Geng Zhong shouted to his superiors, "Open the gate! Lord Lü of the Northern Plains Guard has arrived! Quickly, tell your commander to come out!"

When the garrison of the Great Wall Guard saw that the men below were all wearing military uniforms and had come from the direction of the Northern Plains Guard, they sent out their captain with five soldiers to conduct a formal inspection.

Even if the visitor claims to be from the Beiyuan Guard, the Great Wall Guard must still conduct a thorough check and verification.

Geng Zhong and the others remained silent, as did Lü Siming, demonstrating a high degree of cooperation.

As Lu Siming rode on his horse, he subtly observed the number of people being inspected nearby. While his horse circled in place, seemingly wanting to graze, he also glanced at his men, who stood motionless with their guns.

Seeing that his thugs and gangsters were all quiet and not wandering around, Lü Siming felt a lot of pressure.

These people were clearly a rabble who surrendered to any strongman, so why did they change after surrendering to the Arctic Martial Arts Academy?

If I take them with me... will they come with me?

Lu Siming remained silent, quietly waiting for the flag commander of the Great Wall Guard to verify the number of people.

There are many items that need to be checked.

A bronze plaque engraved with the military officer's identity information, military orders written by the general's staff, the general's seal, and dynamic border defense codes updated monthly.

After spending an hour verifying everything, counting heads, and confirming that they were all on their side, the city gates were finally opened to welcome the superior troops.

Gao Shimian, the commander of the Great Wall Garrison, greeted him at the entrance. "Brother Lü, may I ask what the General-in-Chief's orders are?"

Lu Siming raised the troop deployment seal in his hand and shouted, "Gao Shimian! Why didn't you go to rescue Beiyuanwei when you saw the beacon fire at dawn?! Now that Beiyuanwei has joined forces with the reinforcements from Hezhou and Jinzhou to repel the bandits, the General has ordered me to arrest you and bring you in for questioning!!"

Gao Shimian's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly bowed and said, "This humble general is only worried that if the Great Wall is lost, the Mongol Tartars outside may take the opportunity to enter. Moreover, without the seal of the general, I do not know exactly what happened in Beiyuan Guard, so I dare not act rashly!"

Lu Siming said directly, "Go and explain to the commander! Men, tie him up!"

"Yes!" Geng Zhong and the others dismounted and walked towards Gao Shimian.

Gao Shimian also had his own personal guards, but now that they saw Lü Siming bringing a thousand men, they were all waiting for Gao Shimian's orders.

If Gao Shimian resists, they will help him.

If Gao Shimian does not resist, they will end up killing him if they help him.

The actions of these guards and the nearby garrison were not wrong; Gao Shimian truly had no intention of resisting.

Unless they rebel, they simply cannot win.

"This humble general is willing to go and apologize! But if this humble general leaves, who will remain here to oversee things?"

Gao Shimian offered no resistance, feeling that he did not deserve to die, and instead became concerned about the safety of this strategic pass.

At this point, whether it was a deputy general, other personal guards, or even brothers or advisors, anyone who dared to advise him against listening would be reprimanded by him and severely punished by the court.

You listen to whoever is in charge, unless you have a really good relationship with them, otherwise you won't dare to speak up in this situation.

Lu Siming said directly, "Don't worry, the Beiyuan Guard is now very powerful. If the Hu people dare to come, as long as we can hold this place for two hours, the Beiyuan Guard will send a fierce general. No matter how many troops come, they will all be doomed!"

Gao Shimian assumed that the Prince of Jin had gone to Beiyuanwei to quell the rebellion, and was relieved upon hearing this. "I beg Lord Lü to put in a good word for me. I would be extremely grateful and will repay you handsomely!"

Gao Shimian was a loyal minister, but he also knew the importance of making friends with his colleagues.

Lu Siming smiled and said, "Don't worry, the new commander is very easy to talk to, and you will definitely thank me in the future."

Gao Shimian should indeed thank Lü Siming, who took full responsibility and sent Gao Shimian back to the imperial court.

With the general and the other commanders of a thousand households serving as scapegoats, the imperial court wouldn't kill them all in order to stabilize the situation.

Furthermore, there's the example of Lü Siming, who surrendered. If we were to kill the other generals who refused to surrender and were sent back, it would be disheartening.

After Commander Gao Shimian agreed to cooperate, Lü Siming said, "The Shishankou Thousand-Household Garrison and the Weizhou Garrison are just like you, standing by and watching someone die without offering any help. In principle, we should call people over one by one, but you are of low status and your words carry little weight. Why not call Zhu, the Thousand-Household Garrison Commander of Shishankou, to come along? It would be better if the two of you could share the burden."

"We'll leave the Weizhou branch alone. If we involve them all, we'll risk being blamed."

Gao Shimian was also willing to have another person scolded, so that he could defend himself later.

“What Lord Lü said is true. I know Zhu Xu from Shishankou Garrison, so it would be good to go there together.”

With Gao Shimian's cooperation, both the Great Wall Garrison and the Shishankou Thousand-Household Garrison were replaced by two centurions under Lü Siming, following the same formal procedures.

The order was correct, the people were correct, and the procedures were all in order. It was just unexpected that Lü Siming, with a thousand men, could have taken refuge in the garrison or escaped back to the mainland by taking a detour, but instead he surrendered!
Lu Siming had no way out. After kidnapping his superior and surrendering, Beijiwu actually released his superior and colleagues.

At this point, his entire family's lives would certainly be in danger. Even if he rebelled and returned to Tongzhou, his subordinates might not listen to him, as some of their families were in Beiyuanwei.

Furthermore, his thousand men had already surrendered to Beijiwu long ago. If Lü Siming surrendered and then rebelled, his men might not necessarily regard him as their leader.

Going back to the imperial court would only lead to certain death, so he could only give up and continue to strive for merit.

When Lü Siming led two commanders who had voluntarily come to plead guilty into the city, everything was peaceful, and there was no sign of war at all.

The road was full of ordinary people doing business and buying things. The two commanders breathed a sigh of relief after getting on their horses.

Upon entering the command office, the two bound commanders knelt on the ground, awaiting the arrival of the Prince of Jin.

Not long after, a young boy walked over.

Lu Siming quickly knelt down: "Reporting to the clan leader! The Great Wall Guard and the Shishankou Guard have been captured by this servant, and the commanders of the two places have been brought to see the master by this servant!"

slave?

Zhu Xu and Gao Shimian both felt something was off.

Has Lü Siming acknowledged the Prince of Jin as his master? It's not good for a border general to be so close to a prince.
While Zhu Xu was still lost in thought, Gao Shimian raised his head, intending to apologize, when he suddenly saw the short hair on the young man's head and felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

"You...you're not the Prince of Jin?"

Gao Shimian was so frightened that he lost his composure, while Zhu Xu suddenly raised his head and immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Beiji Wu smiled and said, "I am Beiji Wu, the chieftain of the Mountain Farmer Clan."

Gao Shimian quickly tried to stand up, shouting, "Lü Siming! You beast!!"

The nearby guards quickly kicked the middle-aged man, who was trying to get up, to the ground, and four guards held the two commanders firmly to the ground.

Arctic Warrior asked, "Are you two willing to surrender to me?"

"Pah!! Traitor!" Gao Shimian refused to yield even in the face of death, looking at Beiji Wu with resentment, wishing he could devour him.

Beiji Wu didn't care. "Alright, if you don't want to surrender, then shut your mouths. Your general and commander are in Hukou Fort. The court can redeem you all for one hundred taels of silver."

“If the court is unwilling to spend even a hundred taels of silver on loyal servants like you, then you are a joke.”

"Men, take them to Tiger's Mouth Fortress."

Upon hearing this, Gao Shimian angrily retorted, "Kill me if you want! I will never surrender!"

Beijiwu was too lazy to listen to their nonsense and was thinking about who should take over the Great Wall Guard and Shishankou.

Of the four garrisons of Beiyuan, only Weizhou Garrison remains today.

(End of this chapter)