Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 172 Lu Jin is difficult to seal
Xu Shouhui tried to win over Lu Jin in order to win over external forces and create internal balance, in order to get rid of Peng Yingyu's control and stop being a mascot.

But now Peng Yingyu has proposed such a plan, hoping to divide and win over Lu Jin through his two apprentices. If he really succeeds in this, wouldn't it be like helping Peng Yingyu and increasing his strength in vain, while he himself will still be a mascot without military power.

How could Xu Shouhui tolerate this? !
So he immediately waved his hand and retorted, "Absolutely not. The military advisors all know that he has nearly 100,000 soldiers, including naval, land and cavalry. With such strength, if we can't be friends, we shouldn't be enemies either.

"Now we have less counties than Lu Jin, and our military strength is not necessarily as strong as Lu Jin. What we rely on is just to be the first to establish the system and raise the flag to restore the Song Dynasty. At this time, we should try our best to win over all the people who dare to fight against the Yuan Dynasty. How can we do it secretly? Wouldn't it ruin our reputation for justice? How would people in the world see me?"

Peng Yingyu was speechless when he heard this. He thought to himself, "You are too naive. You know that you can't compare to them in terms of territory and military strength, right? Why are you still dreaming that they will be willing to bow down and serve you? Why? Just because you are the emperor of the Song Dynasty?"

Xu Shouhui is certainly not a fool. Peng Yingyu is already very powerful in the entire Xu Song Group. If he is asked to recall his two apprentices and bring tens of thousands of soldiers, he might as well give up being the emperor and abdicate to Peng Yingyu.

Xu Shouhui’s thoughts now are very simple. Even if he cannot win over Lu Jin, he cannot let Lu Jin’s forces fall into Peng Yingyu’s hands.

Peng Yingyu wanted to persuade him again, saying that you don't have to take on all the 100,000 soldiers and horses, and you may not have the appetite for it. How many soldiers do we have? If you suddenly bring in a force more numerous than ours, isn't this like usurping the magpie's nest and becoming the host?
It would be better to find a way to win over tens of thousands of forces, who will be obedient and easier to control in the future. Instead of biting off more than they can chew, wouldn't it be better to just put the money in the bag and run away?

However, before he could speak, Yang Puxiong next to him spoke again.

"Military Advisor, Your Majesty, I'm afraid this method of winning over our senior brothers and asking them to bring troops over won't work." He showed a worried look on his face after saying this.

Peng Yingyu's heart suddenly skipped a beat. What was going on? Could it be that those two little bastards had grown too powerful? With too many soldiers, they wouldn't listen to us anymore?

"Why not? Don't your two senior brothers agree?" Peng Yingyu asked with a frown.

"No, Senior Brother Zhao is dead and Senior Brother Li is missing." Yang Puxiong explained immediately.

“After I arrived in Lu’an, I had already received the news that Senior Brother Zhao had died. After I went to Luzhou, they took me to Senior Brother Zhao’s grave.

"I heard that Senior Brother Zhao died at the hands of Kang Maocai, the Huaixi envoy of the Yuan court. His head was chopped off by that fellow. It was only after Lu Jin defeated Kang Maocai that Senior Brother Zhao's head was recovered."

Xu Shouhui was secretly happy when he heard that, but he didn't show it. Peng Yingyu's face turned a little dark, but he didn't say much. As for rebellion, if you don't succeed, you will be beheaded. This day will come sooner or later. He has been a rebel for more than ten years and has experienced many life and death. His apprentices are just his tools. Sacrificing a few of them is nothing.

It’s just a pity that without Zhao Pusheng, he has one less chance to divide and win over the Luzhou forces.

Peng Yingyu didn't say much, but asked, "What about your Senior Brother Li?"

Yang Puxiong said immediately, "People in Luzhou said that when they fought Kang Maocai, Senior Brother Li led his troops to hide in Wuwei. Later, when people were sent to look for him, they could not find him anymore. Locals said they saw a group of chaotic soldiers heading south.

"People in Luzhou speculated that Senior Brother Li might have heard the news of His Majesty's ascension to the throne and came south to join us, but we have not heard any news about Senior Brother Li yet."

"He came south to find us?!" Peng Yingyu was a little shocked.

"How many soldiers did he bring?" Xu Shouhui asked with a frown.

"This is not very clear. People in Luzhou said that before the battle against Kang Maocai, Senior Brother Li may have had one or two thousand soldiers in Wuwei, but it is not clear how many he took away. Local people said there were more than a thousand, and some said several hundred." Yang Puxiong explained immediately.

Xu Shouhui breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, while Peng Yingyu frowned and asked, "Did you go to Wuwei in person and hear what the local people said, or did Lu Jin tell you?"

"It was a martial arts officer under Lu Jin who told me when he took me to pay respect to Brother Zhao's tomb that I could not move around freely in Luzhou. I had to be escorted when I went out. It was called escort, but it was actually a guard.

"And Na Lujin was very cautious. I brought 250 armored soldiers with me, but when I first arrived in Huoshan County under the jurisdiction of Lu'an, they detained 40 of my armored soldiers and only allowed me to take people to Lu'an. When I arrived in Lu'an, they detained another people and only allowed me to take people to Luzhou. Along the way, we were escorted by Na Lujin's armored cavalry." Yang Puxiong took the opportunity to complain while reporting the situation.

Peng Yingyu still frowned after hearing this, "So you don't know whether Li Pusheng is dead or alive. Whether he came south to look for us is just Luzhou's guess. You haven't seen those people in person."

"Yes." Yang Puxiong nodded immediately.

Upon hearing this, Peng Yingyu immediately turned to Xu Shouhui and said, "Your Majesty, it seems that my disciple Li Pusheng is in danger. This Lu Jin joined the army halfway and took over the magpie's nest. My two disciples who founded the Chaohu Navy are now dead and missing. They must have been ostracized by Lu Jin. It is obvious that he must be hostile to us, otherwise he would not have wasted his troops to build a city in the mountains to defend against us.

"I'm afraid it's impossible to win over Lu Jin. We can only think of ways to start with his generals, especially those veterans from Chaohu. If Your Majesty is willing to give them high positions and generous salaries, I don't believe they will be loyal to Lu Jin."

"What the military advisor said makes sense." Xu Shouhui nodded immediately after hearing this.

As long as Peng Yingyu's disciples don't interfere, if he can show favor to the generals of Lu Jin, he might be able to win them over to serve him. In this way, he can get rid of Peng Yingyu's influence. Xu Shouhui is quite interested in this idea.

However, Yang Puxiong's words interrupted their fantasies.

He said with difficulty, "Your Majesty, Military Advisor, I'm afraid this is not an easy task."

"Oh? What do you mean?" Peng Yingyu asked immediately.

Yang Puxiong then introduced, "This time when I went to Luzhou, I first met a Luzhou general in Huoshan County in the mountains. His surname was Zhang, and he was a thousand-household battalion officer with a thousand armored soldiers under his command. He was building a city in Huoshan. According to him, he was originally a general under Zuo Junbi of Luzhou, and he surrendered only after Nalu Jin defeated Zuo Junbi and captured Luzhou City.

"When I inquired about Senior Brother Zhao's situation with this person, he was very disdainful of him, calling him a defeated opponent, and he didn't take him seriously at all.

"Later, when I went to Lu'an, I met another commander named Yu who was nearly 40 years old. He was the commander of Lu'an and had 5,000 soldiers under his command. I heard that he was the veteran commander from Chaohu, the father and son of the Yu family that Master mentioned before he left." Peng Yingyu nodded immediately. He did know the Yu and Liao families, and he had specifically told Yang Puxiong about them. "And then what?"

Yang Puxiong continued, "However, this Yu was also disrespectful to Senior Brothers Zhao and Li, claiming that when he and Liao were in the most difficult time in Chaohu, Zuo Junbi often went to encircle and suppress them, but Senior Brother Zhao and Senior Brother Li hid in Hanshan and Wuwei respectively.

"As the saying goes, a friend in need is a friend indeed. When the disaster was imminent, neither of my two brothers was there, so I have a lot of resentment towards them. Even though Senior Brother Zhao has passed away, Commander Yu has never said a good word about Senior Brother Zhao."

Peng Yingyu frowned even deeper when he heard that. The commander named Yu was in charge of 5,000 soldiers and was stationed in Lu'an alone. He was also a veteran from Chaohu. This was no ordinary identity. He could definitely be considered a veteran of Chaohu and a senior general in Luzhou. However, such a veteran of Chaohu hated Zhao Pusheng very much. This was not good news.

As the saying goes, love the house and love the dog; hate the bird and hate the forest. Since they hate Zhao Pusheng so much, I'm afraid they don't have any good feelings towards Xu Song and myself. How can I win them over?

Yang Puxiong hadn't finished speaking yet when he heard him speak again.

"Not only the old generals in Chaohu are like this, but also many of Lu Jin's subordinates who surrendered from Yuan Ting. For example, the 1,000 cavalrymen who escorted me back and forth were led by a commander named Ye, who was also a general under Zuo Junbi of Luzhou. He was captured by Lu Jin and then surrendered.

"These surrendered generals had met Senior Brothers Zhao and Li on the battlefield before, and they either looked down on or hated the two senior brothers, and there were quite a few surrendered generals under Lu Jin.

"Especially Zhu Liangzu, the former Marshal of the Lu'an Volunteer Army. He recruited local militiamen and was willing to serve as a lackey of the Yuan court. He worked very hard to suppress the voluntary armies of my two senior brothers. I heard that he was so brave that he personally charged into the battle line and took Senior Sister Jinhua's head amidst thousands of soldiers. He has a great grudge against us!
"However, Na Lujin later captured Zhu Liangzu alive and subdued him, making him an important figure. It is said that he has now become a capable general under Na Lujin, and he may have more than 20,000 soldiers under his command."

Peng Yingyu and Xu Shouhui looked at each other and were shocked when they heard this.

Peng Yingyu also knew Zhu Liangzu. When Miss Jinhua led Zhao Pusheng and Li Pusheng to start the rebellion, he had not left yet. It was because Miss Jinhua was beheaded that Li Pusheng and Zhao Pusheng fled and hid. The Chaohu navy could only hide in the lake to protect themselves. Seeing that there was really no chance, he went south to find the second battlefield opened up by Xu Shouhui.

I didn't expect that even a man like Zhu Liangzu was subdued by Lu Jin and became such a high official. The Chaohu generals had conflicts and estrangements with Zhao and Li, which was easy to say, but Zhu Liangzu was a real enemy. If Xu Song tried to win over Lu Jin, how would Zhu Liangzu be arranged? Even if Xu Shouhui could put aside the past grudges, what would Peng Yingyu's disciples think? Wouldn't he avenge his sister?
After listening to Yang Puxiong's introduction, not only Peng Yingyu realized this problem, but Xu Shouhui also thought of it and he said it immediately.

"This is difficult. The Chaohu generals are easy to deal with. Even if they have some estrangements with the two disciples of the military advisor, they are still brothers who started the rebellion together. However, most of Lu Jin's subordinates are surrendered generals of the Yuan court. They all have hatreds with the two disciples of the military advisor. Zhu Liangzu has a blood feud with them. He is also a general under Lu Jin. Even if Lu Jin agrees to our solicitation, what should we do with Zhu Liangzu? It's not good to get rid of him secretly, right?"

As Xu Shouhui spoke, he secretly looked at Peng Yingyu's expression, wanting to see his reaction.

He brought this up on purpose. If Peng Yingyu ordered Lu Jin to secretly get rid of Zhu Liangzu as a deal, what would Zhu Liangzu think if he knew about it? Then he could send someone to tell Zhu Liangzu, wouldn't he be able to gain his loyalty? Wouldn't this fierce general with 20,000 troops in his hands become his subordinate?

Peng Yingyu frowned and said in disbelief, "Since Zhu Liangzu had a blood feud with the Chaohu generals, how did Lu Jin subdue him without causing resentment among the Chaohu generals? He also gave him such a high position and let him command 20,000 troops alone. Don't the Chaohu generals have any resentment?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Puxiong said, "Zhu Liangzu has a grudge against the two senior brothers, but not necessarily against the Chaohu generals. Master forgot that the Chaohu generals also have a lot of resentment towards the two senior brothers."

Peng Yingyu reacted immediately, but felt a little embarrassed by this rebuttal. She couldn't help but glare at Yang Puxiong, scaring him so much that he shrank his neck.

But Yang Puxiong said again.

"Your Majesty and the military advisor need to think carefully if they want to divide and win over Lu Jin's generals. His generals are roughly divided into three factions. The first is the Chaohu elders, headed by the Liao and Yu families. The second is the Yuan court surrendered generals, headed by Zhu Liangzu. The third is the generals recruited by Lu Jin himself, which is also a considerable force."

Peng Yingyu and Xu Shouhui nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, and agreed with what Yang Puxiong said very much. In order to divide and win over others, one must also find the right target, which one is closer to oneself and which one has a bad relationship with oneself. If one finds the right target, one can get twice the result with half the effort. If one finds the wrong target, the result will be hard to predict.

"Oh, by the way, there is one more thing that Your Majesty and the military advisor must pay attention to." Yang Puxiong suddenly thought of something and said again.

"what's up?"

"Lu Jin has not only some military generals under his command, but also many civil officials." Yang Puxiong added again.

"This man established the Shengwu Army and called himself the Marshal. He set up the Marshal's Office in Luzhou. The office had two academies, the Civil and Military. The Civil Academy had the Li Mu, Criminal Law, Etiquette, Finance, and Construction Departments, which looked like a small six-ministry. The Military Academy also had the Military Order, Military Administration, and Armament Departments. Although they had different jurisdictions, they looked like the Privy Council.

"Above the Civil and Military Academy, there is a secretariat, with a secretary and several secretaries, just like the Secretariat.

"Moreover, Lu Jin also convened scholars from all over the country to take exams in Luzhou, and those with excellent results were recruited as officials. In each city, there were positions such as county magistrate, chief clerk, and prefect. In Lu'an, where I first met, there was a county magistrate named Qin. He said that he was originally the chief clerk of Chao County in the Yuan court, and was promoted to the county magistrate of Lu'an by Lu Jin because of his meritorious service in surrendering the city.

"The dozens of prefectures and counties in Lu Jin are not only guarded by military commanders, but also have county magistrates and chief clerks in charge of government affairs, just like a small imperial court.

"If your majesty and the military advisor want to win over Lu Jin, it is not enough to just give him an official title. I am afraid that they should also give titles to the local civil servants under him and those in his Marshal's Office. Otherwise, even if Lu Jin is willing to agree, I am afraid that those people under him will force him not to agree."

After hearing this, Xu Shouhui and Peng Yingyu felt a little numb, as if it was really the case.

They are doing well with Lu Jin, and maybe they can become prime ministers or founding heroes in the future. But now you have already established your country and proclaimed yourself emperor. What benefits can they get by following Lu Jin now?
Moreover, even if Xu Shouhui was generous, it would be difficult to reward Lu Jin's subordinates. It was not that he was reluctant to give up high positions and generous salaries, but those positions had already been occupied by others.

Grand Tutor Zou Pusheng, General Ni Wenjun, and Peng Yingyu, who was nominally the military advisor but actually the prime minister, all these high positions had already been taken. Even if Lu Jin brought his men to surrender, what would happen to the civil and military officials under his command?

No matter how they are placed, their position can never be higher than Xu Song's entrepreneurial team. This is the contradiction.

This Lujin is really hard to seal! Xu Shouhui and Peng Yingyu thought at the same time.

(End of this chapter)