Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 108 What does he want from me?
After Hu Weiyong left, Lu Jin flipped through the list and began to summon the next person.

He needs to appoint these officials personally in order to maintain his prestige. Of course, when his power grows stronger in the future, this won't be so troublesome.

However, even if he became emperor, he still had to appoint officials at the provincial and central ministry levels himself.

Lu Jin roughly divided these people into three categories. The first category was those who surrendered first and were granted important official positions, such as the Bao, Li, and Qin families. They also had the merit of surrendering the city.

The second category is those who come through examinations and can be appointed normally. The third category is those large families who are fence-sitters, such as the Fan, He, and Hu families in Luzhou.

I came to Luzhou so early, what were you doing? When I defeated Kang Maocai, you finally thought of surrendering to me, but it's too late!
No matter how talented these companies are, they have to start as clerks. This is the political attitude, allowing you to speculate! Doing business also requires risks. If you are not willing to take risks, how can you get huge profits?
However, there is a special person here, that is the Luzhou Qin family, a branch of the Chao County Qin family, and a distant relative of the Qin Li family. This guy actually surrendered when Lu Jin got married, that is, before defeating Kang Maocai, so there is still a slight distinction to be made.

Lu Jin summoned Qin Xuesi directly and asked him.

"Mr. Qin, I heard that the Taifusi among the Nine Ministers is just a horse breeder. How can a horse breeder also be among the Nine Ministers?"

Qin Xuesi was stunned when he heard this. What did this mean? The Marshal was so smart, he must know the importance of horse politics! Was he testing himself?

So he immediately said, "Reporting to the commander-in-chief, because horse policy is related to a country's military strength, the number of horses raised and their quality are top military and national affairs, so the Imperial Household Department can be ranked among the Nine Ministers."

"Very good." Lu Jin nodded with satisfaction. "Then I'll give you a military and national task similar to the one at Taipu Temple. Will you do it?"

Qin Xuesi was immediately delighted, "It is what I wish for. It is my honor to share the worries of the commander-in-chief."

"Haha, then please make gunpowder for me, sir. I will set up a gunpowder promotion department, which is independent of the civil and military academies and directly under the Secretariat. If there is anything, you can report directly to the Secretariat or to me. How about you be the promoter of the gunpowder department?"

Qin Xuesi was stunned again, and immediately said anxiously, "I am willing to do this, but I don't know how to make gunpowder."

"It doesn't matter. If you don't know how, I can teach you. You just need to be responsible for the management." Lu Jin said immediately.

Two quarters of an hour later, Qin Xuesi left the Marshal's Mansion with a complicated expression, holding the "Gunpowder Technology Manual" in his hand. It turned out that the position higher than the Nine Ministers that Lu Jin mentioned was the one who collected manure.
I opened the process manual again and found that saltpeter could be extracted from feces and urine.

"Collecting saltpeter fields: Make a plot of land in the shape of a vegetable patch, and spread a layer of sand on top of a layer of manure, and stack them up to several layers. Pour urine on it, rinse it for several days, and then dry it. Put the manure into a bucket, and pad the bottom of the bucket with sand and wood ash, and layer the manure and wood ash on top of each other, and stack them up to several layers. Pour clean water on it and rinse it repeatedly. Open the bottom of the bucket and wait for the water to flow out. Collect the manure ash water and boil it in a pot to get saltpeter."

After summoning these officials, Lu Jin presided over the military test in the afternoon of the same day. The military test consisted of four subjects. The first was how to punish violations of military law, which had three questions in total. The second was the assessment of military merits, which also had three questions.

These two questions mainly tested how to divide responsibilities and military merits. There were no specific punishment and reward rules. After all, they had not learned the reward and punishment rules of the Shengwu Army, so they would not know even if they were tested.

The third and fourth questions are interesting. The third question is about how to boost the morale of soldiers under four circumstances: the hardship of garrisoning, the exhaustion of marching, cowardice in fighting, and neglect of play.

The fourth question is a policy essay question. Please talk about the relationship between the military supervisor and the commander-in-chief. There are many cases in history where military supervisors have meddled in battles and caused defeat. What do the candidates think about this?

On October 17th, when Lu Jin was taking the martial arts test, there was finally movement in Dingyuan.

Zhu Liangzu's Fifth Regiment set out on the ninth day of the first lunar month. Chao County was three hundred miles away from Dingyuan, and they walked for eight full days, marching less than forty miles a day, trying their best to prevent the soldiers from getting too tired and maintain their combat effectiveness.

They marched along the way without wearing red armbands, without flying the Shengwu Army flag, and without spending the night in any village. They kept a low profile all the way and finally arrived at a small rural village in the southern suburbs of Dingyuan County on October 17.

This place is less than ten miles away from Dingyuan County. If we go to attack and capture the city, we can arrive in less than an hour. After controlling the entire village and arranging sentries for alert, Zhu Liangzu immediately sent someone to find Feng Sheng.

Feng Sheng came with Li Shanchang's younger brother Li Cunyi. Currently, Li Cunyi is in charge of the communication channels between the outside and inside of the city.

"You are finally here. If you hadn't taken Dingyuan, I would have been worried these days." Li Cunyi finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Zhu Liangzu's army.

"Who is this?" Zhu Liangzu didn't know this person at all, and asked Feng Sheng next to him.

"Oh, this is the brother who is the secretary of the Secretariat of our Marshal's Office, and the brother of Li Xu, the county magistrate of Dingyuan County. It was he who helped us arrange the insider into the city. Now, our contact with the city also depends on him to deliver the messages." Feng Sheng introduced immediately.

"So you are the brother of the Dingyuan county magistrate. You are indeed a handsome man, smart and courageous. With the county magistrate as an insider, there is no need to worry about Dingyuan not being conquered. This is a great achievement of the Li family." Zhu Liangzu immediately grabbed Li Cunyi and praised him.

This guy is not stupid, he still knows how to put on a show.

As expected, as soon as these words came out, Li Cunyi burst into laughter. "General, you are too kind. Without you leading the attack, how could my brother have captured the city even if he was the insider? This great achievement naturally also belongs to you."

"Hahaha, you are good at talking. Tell me quickly, what is the current situation in the city? How many troops have you deployed in the city? Do you control the city gates? When should we break into the city?" Zhu Liangzu immediately asked, pulling Li Cunyi.

Li Cunyi introduced it immediately.

“There are currently 6,000 soldiers guarding the city, 2,000 of whom are under the command of my brother Li Xu, led by Wang Bi, Hua Yunlong, Hu Hai, and the brothers Wu Guoxing and Wu Guobao.

"They each lead 500 soldiers and take turns guarding the East Gate. The East Gate of Dingyuan has always been in our hands. General, you only need to lead your troops there, and our people will open the gate for you."

Zhu Liangzu frowned upon hearing this and asked, "Why are there so many people? Are they reliable? I remember the Marshal told me that the only traitor was Wang Bi."

Upon hearing this, Li Cunyi glanced at Feng Sheng beside him and said, "These people and soldiers were introduced by Captain Feng. I am only responsible for contacting my brother and placing them in the city."

Feng Sheng also immediately explained, "Commander Zhu, please rest assured that these people are absolutely reliable. I recruited them all myself. I first approached Wang Bi, and Wang Bi recommended others to me. They all plan to join the Marshal together after we capture Dingyuan.

"I guarantee it with my life, there will be no mistakes!"

"Hahaha, Brother Feng, you are too kind. How could I not trust you?"

Zhu Liangzu laughed to show that he had no doubts, and then asked Li Cunyi.

"Whose troops are the other 4,000 in the city? What's going on?" Li Cunyi asked again, "The other 4,000 are from Miao Daheng, a wealthy and powerful man in Dingyuan. When he heard that Kang Maocai was defeated, my brother suggested recruiting soldiers to defend the city. He immediately donated money and food to recruit 4,000 soldiers to help defend the city. He was very active.

"But this man's attitude is ambiguous and unclear. It is unclear what his real intentions are. At present, he is more inclined towards the Yuan court. He often tells people that it is a pity that Kang Maocai died, and that such a hero was defeated by thieves.

"It seems that he wants to emulate Kang Maocai and gain an official position through military merit."

"Haha, that's a good idea. I thought so at first, and then I met Coach Lu."

Zhu Liangzu was speechless for a while. There were also people in Dingyuan who shared the same idea as him and Kang Maocai.

There is nothing wrong in helping the imperial court to suppress the rebels, but unfortunately this rebel is Lu Jin, who first defeated me and then defeated Kang Maocai. You, the great tyrant Miao, were watching right beside them. How did you get such courage?
Li Cunyi had heard from Feng Sheng that Zhu Liangzu was a marshal of the imperial court who was conquered by Lu Jin, but he was not sure what to say about this.

At this time, Zhu Liangzu spoke again.

"This Mr. Miao has too many soldiers and his mind is unclear, which is a hidden danger. Can you ask your brother to think of a way to control all the generals of his faction first, and then open the gate to seize the city, so as to avoid bloodshed and conflict.

"After all, we have such a huge advantage now. If we fight again and someone dies, it won't be worth it."

Li Cunyi and Feng Sheng looked at each other, and Li Cunyi said immediately, "This is not difficult. My brother is the county magistrate. It is not difficult to find a reason to invite him. Then let Wang Bi and others ambush the swordsmen and imprison them.

"But this matter cannot be delayed too long. When does the general plan to capture the city?"

Zhu Liangzu thought for a moment and said, "It could be tonight at the earliest."

"Okay, then I'll go into the city to contact my brother now." Li Cun Yi agreed immediately.

In Dingyuan City, Miao Daheng and his son did not know that they were being plotted against. At this time, the three of them were also plotting against others.

Miao Daheng and Li Shanchang are the same age, both are 37 years old. His eldest son Miao Youzhen is 18 this year and is training troops and defending the city with his father.

Not long after, the second son Miao Yi, who was out gathering intelligence, also came back and hurriedly reported to Miao Daheng.

"Dad, Sun Deya has indeed made a move. He, Yu Shiliang, and Pan Yuxing are colluding with each other everywhere, preparing to use the Linghu Temple Fair as an excuse to gather troops for rebellion."

Hearing this, Mr. Miao stood up excitedly. He had finally waited for this day. He asked hurriedly, "Have you found out whether they are going to attack Dingyuan after gathering their troops?"

Miao Yi immediately shook his head, "That's not the case, Dad, what are you thinking? There are thousands of soldiers in Dingyuan City. How can they capture Dingyuan if they temporarily gather a group of farmers?
"But I did find out some other information, but I don't know if it's accurate."

"What news?" Miao Youzhen also asked.

"My people heard from Liu Minhua, a general under Sun Deya, that they seem to be going to attack Lu Ding."

"Lu Ding?"

Mr. Miao frowned and recalled, "Why attack Lu Ding who built a stronghold to protect himself? Isn't he familiar with Sun Deya and the others? Did they have an internal conflict?"

Miao Yi said immediately, "I don't know either. I heard that Sun Deya approached this man and asked him to join the rebellion, but Lu Ding was unwilling to do so and planned to raise his own army to join the rebel commander Lu in Luzhou in the south.

"As a result, Sun Deya and others were dissatisfied and wanted to take over his troops and property."

Hearing this, Mr. Miao was stunned and immediately sneered.

"Haha, if that's the case, then it's really possible. Sun Deya is not a good man. If Lu Ding surrenders to the Luzhou bandits, he will definitely be an enemy of Sun Deya in the future. It's better to kill him now before he surrenders.

“This way, even if we kill Lu Ding, it won’t have anything to do with the Luzhou bandits in the south, and we won’t have to offend Marshal Lu.

"Hahahaha, a bunch of scoundrels who also want to be king. They haven't even started the rebellion yet, but they've already started fighting among themselves."

"Dad, what should we do? Should we go and fight Sun Deya?" the eldest son Miao Youzhen also asked.

Tycoon Miao shook his head. "No hurry. Let's wait for them to fight with Naru Ding first. Then we can do the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!"

Miao Daheng looked at his youngest son again, "What is Guo Zixing doing recently?"

"Guo Zixing has been acting very abnormally recently. He was planning to sell off his property, houses and shops to exchange for gold and silver, as if he was preparing to start a rebellion. But recently, he is not selling the houses and shops that were listed for sale.

"But he is not idle either. I heard that he is buying horses and secretly collecting weapons recently." Miao Yi reported again.

"Haha, it turns out that they are both tough guys. Let's keep an eye on him first, then investigate and report back." Mr. Miao said immediately.

"it is good."

Just as Miao Yi was about to go out to gather intelligence, a clerk from the county government suddenly came over to deliver a message.

One of his soldiers came over to tell him, "General, the Second Yin sent someone to tell him that he wants you and the Major General to go to the county government office together. He said that there is something important to discuss."

Mr. Miao immediately raised his eyebrows, "Second Yin? Li Xu? What important matter could he have with me?"

(End of this chapter)