Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 109 I can't do it
The county magistrate is generally called the county magistrate by the people. If the county has an assistant official such as the county assistant or the chief clerk, they are called the second magistrate or the third magistrate. Li Xu was the county assistant, so it was not wrong to call him the second magistrate.

When Miao Daheng heard that Li Xu wanted to discuss something important with him, he was the first to not believe it. He looked at the soldier who came to deliver the message and asked, "What's the important matter?"

The soldier immediately replied, "No details were given. The errand boy only said it was about sending troops."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Miao looked at his son, and Miao Youzhen immediately whispered.

"Dad, could it be that Li Xu has also seen through Sun Deya or Guo Zixing's movements and wants to discuss with us how to send troops to share the military merit?"

Mr. Miao was stunned. This was indeed possible. After all, Li Xu was the county magistrate and a local. It was normal for him to have his own unique intelligence channels.

Miao Daheng hesitated for a moment, and then made a decision, "Let's go and take a look."

"Dad, what about me?" the youngest son Miao Yi shouted hurriedly.

"You continue to inquire and keep a close eye on Sun Deya's movements."

"Oh, I know."

Only then did Mr. Miao take his eldest son to meet Li Xu, followed by a dozen guards.

Li Xu was quite good at judging people. He would not be able to trick the father and son into coming with ordinary excuses, and inviting them to a banquet would be even less effective because the relationship between the two parties was average to begin with, and it was not to the point where they had to come just because of a banquet.

But Mr. Miao attached great importance to military merit and official positions. As long as the issue of dividing troops and gaining military merit was mentioned, he would definitely take it seriously, and now it was indeed the case.

At the same time, a storm was brewing in Outang Town, sixty miles southeast of Dingyuan City.

This was once the main battlefield of the Song-Jin War at Outang Pass. There is a Linghu Mountain in the territory, which is a peak on the western foot of Huangfu Mountain in neighboring Chuzhou. Temples were built on Linghu Mountain as early as the Han Dynasty. It was named after Linghu Zibo, the prime minister of Chu in the Han Dynasty, who once took refuge and studied on the mountain.

Later, during the Tang and Song dynasties, Zi Bo Temple and Bixia Palace were built on the mountain. They have always been popular and the Linghu Temple Fair was born. Every time there is a temple fair, many people come from all over the place to attend the fair.

Because Outang Town is not far from Chuzhou, even people from some towns and villages in Chuzhou would come to attend the temple fair.

Although natural disasters were frequent in Huaixi at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, at least the war had not spread here, so some people still came to the temple fair. However, Dingyuan's peaceful days came to an end because Sun Deya was gathering troops here to prepare for an uprising.
Why did they choose such a place to start the rebellion? First, there was the temple fair as a cover, so that they could mobilize a large number of troops to gather in Outang Town. Anyway, if anyone met them, they could just say they were going to the fair, and others would not be able to say anything.

The second reason is that this place is sixty miles away from Dingyuan County. Even if the uprising was leaked and discovered, it would take the Yuan army in the city a whole day to rush over. By then, whether they fought or ran away, Sun Deya would have enough time to react.

The third is that they are close to the Huangfu Mountain area. Even if they cannot defeat the government troops, they can run to the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare, or cross the mountains to Chuzhou.

Choosing such a place for the uprising took a lot of effort.

Fortunately, they were far away from Dingyuan City, otherwise they might have run into Zhu Liangzu's team.

Hetai Township is a village near Chihe River. It has now become the base camp of the rebel army. The troops of Sun Deya, Yu Shiliang and Pan Yuxing have gathered here.

After Sun Deya met up with the two men, he immediately asked, "How are you doing? How many troops have you recruited?"

"I have 2,600 soldiers, but I can't get all the weapons." Yu Shiliang said worriedly.

"I have three thousand. There's no point in recruiting too many. We can't afford to support them, and they don't have weapons. It won't be too late to recruit more soldiers after we capture Haozhou." Pan Yuxing seemed very confident.

When Sun Deya heard that the two had only 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers, he suddenly became proud and said, "I have recruited 4,500 people, most of whom have spears and darts, some machetes and waist knives, and I also got dozens of bows."

At this point, he lowered his voice and pretended to be mysterious, "I also bought four sets of armor from the city's armory."

"Iron armor?! How much did you buy it for? Brother Sun, can you sell me one?"

"You can buy this? I only bought some broken swords and spears."

Both of them were shocked when they heard this.

Sun Deya said happily, "There is no need to talk about money between you and me. Since there are four sets of armor, you two brothers can each take one. Consider it a gift from me to you two brothers.

"As for money, I heard that Lu Ding is quite wealthy. After we rob him, are we still worried about not having enough money?"

The two were very happy to hear that they could pick up a set of armor for free, but when they heard that they were going to fight Lu Ding, Yu Shiliang hesitated again.

"Lu Ding is a good guy, so there's no need for us to be so ruthless, right?"

Pan Yuxing didn't care about that. This guy had a dry and yellow face, short and slightly upside-down eyebrows, and a weird angry look on his face. He looked like someone who was not easy to mess with. He spoke immediately after hearing what was said.

"We asked him to come, but he refused to come. Now that he knows about our affairs and doesn't want to join us in the uprising, he wants to flee to Luzhou in the south. Sooner or later, he will have to fight us on the battlefield. It's better to kill him first and seize his troops and property to avoid trouble in the future."

"That's right." Sun Deya also said, "It just so happens that the two brothers have a small number of troops. When we kill Lu Ding, his wealth and troops, the two brothers will each take 40%, and I can just give you 20%."

In order to borrow the soldiers of the two men to kill Lu Ding, Sun Deya made a huge investment, but since the things were not his in the first place, of course he was willing to give them up.

"Okay. If you don't go, the stolen things will be divided between me and Brother Sun." Pan Yuxing also said.

Yu Shiliang gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go."

So, on the evening of October 17, the three men gathered an army of tens of thousands, slaughtered cattle in Hetai Township, Outang Town, and raised the banner of rebellion. The three of them each called themselves marshals, and marched towards Renhe Township where Lu Ding was.

These days, Lu Ding is preparing to take refuge with Lu Jin. Since they all have the surname Lu, they are relatives. I think Lu Jin will definitely accept him. After all, they are all rebels and volunteers, so who would complain about having too many soldiers?

He had even found out about the general organization of the Lu Jin Sheng Wu Army. The highest-ranking officer was called the regiment commander, who had four to five thousand soldiers. So he thought about gathering four to five thousand soldiers and going over there. By then, with the advantage of being a "family member" and having thousands of soldiers, he would definitely be able to become a commander.

However, he had only gathered more than 2,000 troops so far and had not yet achieved his goal. While he was still recruiting soldiers everywhere, Sun Deya and his two men suddenly attacked him without any moral principles.

Both sides were composed of newly recruited inexperienced peasants, with no organization at all and without any training. Lu Ding's generals were not even familiar with each other yet, and they were suddenly killed by surprise. As soon as the two sides started fighting, his more than 2,000 soldiers were defeated.

Fortunately, Lu Ding still had some trusted relatives who organized a core group of hundreds of people to break out of the siege and escape. However, his family and property were all gone, and the more than 2,000 troops he had finally gathered were also scattered. He did not dare to go back to gather the defeated soldiers.

The group ran for ten miles before they dared to stop to rest. Lu Ding was so angry that his eyes turned red and he waved his whip and hit the tree continuously.

"Fuck Sun Deya, I didn't even start the rebellion with him, but he actually wanted to kill me. I'll make him pay when I gather the army again!"

Lu Ding's brother-in-law Zheng Chao was also very angry, but it was too late to say that now, so he immediately asked, "Brother-in-law, where should we go now? Why don't we go directly to Marshal Lu and ask him to borrow troops to destroy that guy Sun Deya?"

Lu Ding's cousin Lu Xian said, "How can Marshal Lu be so kind? We have not achieved anything and now we have no soldiers. Even if we surrender, we may not be given a high position. If they only give us a centurion, how can you have the face to ask them to borrow soldiers?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Chao immediately retorted, "What should we do? We can't go to Dingyuan and ask the soldiers to help us suppress the bandits, right?"

When Lu Xian heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up and he looked at Lu Ding, wanting him to make a decision.

Logically speaking, now that Sun Deya has openly rebelled, the Yuan army in Dingyuan City must have the responsibility to suppress the rebellion. It just depends on whether they dare to fight.

"Are you really going to join Dingyuan?" Zheng Chao also looked at Lu Ding in surprise.

Lu Ding immediately scolded, "Are you two stupid? We are also rebels. Are we going to ask the government troops to help us get revenge? Do you believe that Tycoon Miao will cut off our heads and hang them on the city wall first?"

"What should we do then?" Lu Xian and the other man were at a loss as to what to do.

Lu Ding thought for a moment before saying, "Let's go find Guo Zixing. Guo Zixing must have some soldiers, but we don't know what his plan is. We should be careful when we go there. Don't show up together. Let's find someone to test his bottom line first."

As the three of them were talking, the sky gradually darkened.

In Dingyuan City, Miao Daheng brought his son Miao Youzhen to the county government office and found that Wang Bi and Hua Yunlong were also there. Miao Daheng knew that these two were generals recruited by Li Xu, and it seemed that he really planned to send troops.

When he saw Li Xu, Mr. Miao asked directly.

"Li County Magistrate, I wonder what important matter you want to discuss with me. I heard from my subordinates that you want me to send troops. Could it be that you have heard that someone is planning a rebellion? Is it from Sun Deya or Guo Zixing?"

Li Xu was stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect that Mr. Miao was thinking about this matter. He immediately smiled and shook his head.

"Neither. I have heard some rumors that these two are planning a rebellion, but what I want to talk about today is the actions of the imperial court. General Miao, do you know the former Zhejiang East Marshal Dong Tuanxiao?"

"Oh? Dong Tuanxiao? I've heard of him. He's the one who fought with Zhejiang East King Fang Guozhen for several years?" Mr. Miao really didn't think of this, but Li Xu was the county magistrate after all, so it was normal for him to receive the news from the court first.

"That's right. Dong Tuanxiao has been transferred and is gathering troops to prepare for a new war."

Li Xu stopped talking halfway, pretending to be mysterious. He looked at the guards following the father and son, glanced at them, and said, "This matter involves military merits. There are too many people and too many gossips. Why don't you let General Miao dismiss them first?"

Miao Daheng glanced at him, and at Wang Bi beside Li Xu, and then at his guards. Miao Youzhen immediately whispered, "Dad, it's okay, I'm here."

"Yeah." Mr. Miao nodded, waved to his men, and the guards retreated.

"Li Xianyin can speak now."

"Haha, of course. I heard that Dong Tuanxiao has been transferred to the position of general manager of Jining Road and is gathering an army to suppress Xuzhou Sesame Li." Li Xu said immediately.

Mr. Miao raised his eyebrows. He really didn't know this.

"So what Magistrate Li wants us to do is to send troops to help him attack Xuzhou?"

At this time, Li Xu shook his head, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, which made Miao Daheng and his son puzzled.

Just when the two were about to get impatient, Li Xu opened his eyes again.

"Xuzhou has nothing to do with us. We can hardly protect ourselves now, so how can we help the court to conquer Xuzhou? I have received news that Marshal Lu of Luzhou in the south is coming."

"Huh?" Miao Daheng was surprised again. "Luzhou is attacking? But why didn't I hear any movement? When, how many troops, is the information from Li Xianyin reliable?"

Li Xu nodded immediately, "Of course it's reliable. As for the time, it will probably be tonight!"

The next moment, Wang Bi drew his sword and blocked Li Xu behind him. Dozens of swordsmen also ran out from the back hall of the county government office, and some people on the courtyard wall raised bows and arrows.

"Don't move, be quiet, put down your weapons!"

Mr. Miao and his son were stunned on the spot. Before they could say anything, they heard footsteps and shouts behind them again. Hua Yunlong also led a group of armored men and surrounded them from behind.

"Dad, what should we do?" Miao Youzhen drew out a knife on the spot and nervously protected his father.

"Hahahaha." At this time, Mr. Miao laughed and said to Li Xu who was hiding behind Wang Bi.

"Li County Magistrate, you said that Marshal Lu of Luzhou is about to attack us. You were able to learn such secret information in advance. You are not trying to tell me that you are Marshal Lu of Luzhou's man, are you?"

Li Xu showed half of his body and nodded seriously, "Yes, General Miao guessed it right. If I calculated the time correctly, I'm afraid that General Lu's army has already entered Dingyuan City."

"Luzhou Marshal Lu is really good at scheming. He even managed to bribe the county magistrate of the imperial court in advance."

When Mr. Miao heard this, his eyes narrowed immediately. In a flash, his mind was already turning over and over again. Then he smiled again.

"Hahaha, but Magistrate Li's move is really unnecessary. In fact, I am recruiting soldiers into the city, and I am also preparing to surrender to Marshal Lu of Luzhou. If Magistrate Li has this idea, why didn't he tell me earlier? You and I can discuss it in advance, and we won't have to fight today."

"Um???"

Oh my god, I won’t be able to deal with Li Xu this time.

(End of this chapter)