Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 234: Capture a Military Advisor

Lu Jin was very happy that Li Wenzhong and Zhu Wenzhen came to surrender. He now had two more generals under his command. Although they were still children in their teens, they would surely become two talented generals in the future if he trained them carefully.

Although the fact that Li Wenzhong and Zhu Wenzhen were recruited this time was just an accident and was done by intelligence spies from the north, their work achievements cannot be denied.

In view of the outstanding performance of the intelligence system during this period, Lu Jin commended Bao Yu and awarded him the rank of colonel. Although he was a civil official, he was also a civil official in the Military Command Department of the Wuyuan Academy. It was not excessive to give him a military rank, and it also encouraged him to keep up the good work.

Bao Yu was of course excited and immediately reported his other work achievements to Lu Jin.

Before, Lu Jin wanted to find Deng Yu, so he asked him to find out if there was anyone with the surname Deng who had built a stronghold in the countryside to protect himself near Xuyi and Hongxian. As a result, Bao Yu found him without any effort.

Although the useful information provided by Lu Jin was very limited, the Deng family was too famous in the local area, so Bao Yu quickly placed the information collected by his men on Lu Jin's desk.

It turns out that the Deng family was not simply building a stronghold to protect themselves, this family was also anti-Yuan. Although they did not raise a formal anti-Yuan banner, they had been fighting against the Yuan army. It was a bit like resisting taxation with force. Anyway, they would fight the Yuan army when it came, and they would also fight other rebel armies when they came. It really was a bit like "building a stronghold to protect themselves in order to survive the troubled times."

Bao Yu took out the information and placed it in front of Lu Jin, and introduced it immediately.

"My lord, the person you are looking for is in Hong County, Sizhou. There is indeed a Deng family in the local area who has built a stronghold to protect themselves, and their reputation is very loud. Although this group of people has not officially raised the flag of rebellion, they have already fought several battles with the local Yuan army in Hong County. Many local people have joined them and formed a group to defend themselves. Now they have 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers under their command."

"Oh? Tell me in detail." Lu Jin became interested immediately after hearing that. Could this group of people be the Deng Yu in history?

Bao Yu immediately took out the map and pointed at it, introducing, "It's right here. The Deng family is in a town called Longxuli in Hong County. The villagers have jointly organized a militia. There is a man named Deng Shunxing. This man values ​​integrity and loyalty. Whenever he fights against the Yuan army, he will lead the troops. After the battle, he also rewards and punishes appropriately. He is quite trusted by the local people, so he was elected as the leader of the militia by everyone.

"This man is 42 years old and has two sons. The eldest son is named Deng Youlong, who is 19 years old this year, and the second son is named Deng Youde, who is 15 years old this year. Both sons are tall and strong, and they are serving in the army together."

Lu Jin frowned after listening to this. This background condition indeed fits Lu Jin's impression of Deng Yu in history. In the original history, Deng Yu built a stronghold in the countryside to protect himself. Later, his father died in the battle and his elder brother died of illness. He was unable to support himself, so he led an army of 10,000 to join Zhu Yuanzhang. Because he brought capital into the army, he was appointed as the commander-in-chief as soon as he joined and became a capable general.

However, there are still two conditions that do not match. Lu Jin remembered that Deng Yu only defected to Zhu Yuanzhang in 1355, the year Zhu Yuanzhang crossed the river. What he remembered in his mind was that Deng Yu led an army of 16 to defect to Zhu Yuanzhang at the age of 1352. But now it is only 15, but Bao Yu said that the boy is now 18 years old, so he should be years old three years later.

Therefore, either Lu Jin recorded the age incorrectly, or Secretary Shi was wrong, or this Deng Youde is not the Deng Yu in history at all.

Another thing is the name. Deng Yu should have changed his name. Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have the habit of changing other people's names. In history, many generals under Zhu Yuanzhang had their names changed by him, such as the brothers Wu Guoxing and Wu Guoyong, the brothers Feng Guoyong and Feng Guosheng, the cousins ​​Zhu Wenzhen and Li Wenzhong, and even Mu Ying had his name changed.

Therefore, Lu Jin is not sure whether this Deng Youde is Deng Yu. He is not a historian and is not clear about these details.

Seeing Lu Jin frowning in thought, Bao Yu asked, "My lord, are you planning to recruit Deng Shunxing's troops?"

Lu Jin thought for a moment and asked, "Where did you get this information? Is it reliable? Are there any other Deng's militias near Xuyi and Hongxian?"

"This..." Bao Yu immediately shook his head, "I haven't heard of any other militia led by the surname Deng that formed a stronghold for self-defense. This group of people led by the surname Deng is the most prestigious nearby.

“As for the reliability of the news, it is definitely reliable, and the source of the news was also obtained by our spies themselves.

"Didn't I just say that the Deng family militia is very prestigious in the vicinity of Hong County? Many people from nearby villages come here in groups of dozens, one or two hundred, or two or three hundred, in order to defend themselves together. Our spies pretended to be people fleeing in search of relatives, and moved around. They happened to meet a group of militiamen who were on their way to join them, and the spies learned about it from them.

"After the news was reported to me, I sent people to investigate the dragon's beard. Only then did I verify the reliability of the news. It is absolutely true."

Hearing this, Lu Jin looked at the map and thought about it. Xuyi and Hong County are located at the junction of the Shengwu Army and Xuzhou Zhima Li's sphere of influence. The buffer zone in the middle is not large. If the prestige of the Deng family is so high that they can gather thousands or tens of thousands of troops, then it should be impossible for a second force with the surname Deng to exist in the surrounding areas.

What to do? Although I am still not 100% sure that this is Deng Yu's family, it seems that there is no other choice. It is better to give it a try. No matter whether they are the rebels or not, as long as they are the rebels, I will find a way to bring them over.

So Lu Jin thought about it and asked again, "Does this Deng family group take in everyone?"

Bao Yu said immediately, "I don't think so. Since Deng Shunxing was elected as the leader by everyone, he should not be a fool. How could he want everyone? His target must be the villagers who know him well. Even if there are outsiders who come to him, he will definitely interrogate them.

"Why, my lord, do you plan to send someone to pretend to surrender, sneak in, and assassinate Deng Shunxing?"

Hearing this, Lu Jin looked at Bao Yu in astonishment, "Why would I kill him for no reason?"

Bao Yu also became puzzled. "What is the Lord doing? Why did he specifically ask us to go to Xuyi or Hongxian to find a group led by Deng? Doesn't this Deng have a personal grudge against the Lord?"

After hearing this, Lu Jin was speechless and said, "I am a person who returned from overseas. What personal grudge could there be between me and the Deng guy? Don't make random guesses about things I didn't tell you. Just do what I tell you to do, don't add unnecessary details!

"Remember, the Mongols are my only enemies in this world. Anyone who is hostile to me, the Han Chinese, is my enemy. I have no personal grudges. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I will definitely keep it in mind." Bao Yu nodded his head in embarrassment. Before, Lu Jin specifically asked him to find a man named Deng to build a stronghold for self-protection. He thought that this man had some connection with Lu Jin. It seems that he guessed wrong. Maybe Lu Jin heard it from someone.

Bao Yu then asked, "My lord, do you plan to send someone to sneak in and then take this army back?"

"Yes, there is such a plan." This time Lu Jin finally nodded, and then said, "Think of a way, how to reasonably place people in without arousing too much suspicion from the Deng father and son." Bao Yu immediately pondered when he heard it, and Lu Jin was also thinking of ideas. It was a pity that Deng Shunxing and his son who were far away in Hong County did nothing, but they did not expect to be schemed by these two old scoundrels Lu Jin and Bao Yu for no reason.

Bao Yu had experience in lurking. He was originally assigned by Lu Jin to infiltrate Kang Maocai. He step by step misled Kang Maocai to kill Zhao Pusheng, thus removing the obstacle for Lu Jin. Later, he was instigated to attack Chao County, but was eventually wiped out by Lu Jin in one battle.

After a while, Bao Yucai said, "We should prescribe the right medicine for the right condition. We don't need too many people to sneak in. Ten people or less is better. Too many people will make it easier to be exposed. In addition, they need to be smart and clever, and it would be best if they can fight. After sneaking in, they can fight a few small battles and make some contributions. Then they can be promoted to middle and high-level positions and have some influence on the Deng family father and son.

"And they shouldn't be too old. It's better to have a combination of old and young, disguised as a family. This will make it easier for people to feel at ease and reduce the vigilance of Deng's father and son, lest they become suspicious. After all, according to common sense, no father, son, uncle or nephew would be spies together.

"Finally, the accent must be similar. Even if it is not from a nearby village, it must be someone near Dingyuan, Haozhou, Wuhe, or Huaiyuan. This will make it easier for the other party to feel close and lower their guard. Only in this way can you infiltrate them.

"Then we need to set up a special transportation line for this team to deliver intelligence messages."

Lu Jin blinked a few times, looked at him and said, "Do you want to send a few capable generals to surrender directly?"

"That's right." Bao Yu nodded.

Lu Jin shook his head. "That's a good idea, but it's too slow to let them start as soldiers and then slowly climb up to middle and high-level positions. It's also not safe. There will definitely be casualties in a war, and you want them to make contributions. What if they die in battle?"

"What do you mean, lord?"

"Why not do two things at once? Send the soldiers to join the army as military generals, make merit and get promoted. Then send a scholar to be a military advisor to give them advice and directly infiltrate the upper echelons. Then both sides can cooperate with each other. The military advisor can give advice and find some enemies that are easier to fight. Send our soldiers to make merit and then speak well of them. This way they can get promoted faster." Lu Jin also suggested.

Bao Yu frowned immediately, "My lord, this idea is good. Actually, I have thought about it, but it is not easy to find a candidate for a military advisor. He must be a scholar who has read books and understand some military strategies. A military advisor must at least give people real advice. Without real talent and knowledge, it is difficult to convince people. Moreover, this person must be absolutely reliable. Where can I find such a candidate? There is no such talent among the scholars in Chongwenguan. If there is, it has been picked up by my lord long ago."

Lu Jin smiled when he heard this, "Then we can look for someone among those who have been picked. He should be well-educated and have some knowledge of military strategy. In fact, we still have a lot of them, such as the training officers in our army."

Bao Yu's eyes lit up when he heard this. This was a good idea.

Lu Jin continued, "Choose people from the training officers of the combined brigades of the Imperial Guards. These people are scholars who come to take the exam. They are definitely educated. Even if they didn't know military strategy before, they have learned the quick military strategy I wrote after joining the army. They should be able to explain how to fight a war. It shouldn't be a problem to bluff people. Just pick someone with a reliable background and a family here. He should also be bold and careful.

"As for the military commanders, I did recruit a group of soldiers from Haozhou and Dingyuan. Some of them were too young, so I kept them among my personal soldiers. Now I will go and look among my personal soldiers and pick out a few who can fight."

"My lord is wise. I will do it right away." Bao Yu quickly bowed and agreed.

Lu Jin waved his hand and said, "You go pick the instructor, and I'll pick the personal soldiers."

"Yes."

So the two of them acted separately. Bao Yu went to the Military and Political Department of the Wuyuan to retrieve the training officer's files, while Lu Jin went to inspect the training of the personal soldiers in person.

In addition to the imperial guards, Lu Jin also has a personal guard, which was the original training camp. Most of them are too young, or they are relatives and nephews of the generals, or some potential generals, but because they are too young and there are no suitable positions, they are kept in the personal guards, practicing martial arts and learning cultural knowledge. They are also responsible for the garrison of the marshal's mansion, and it is those child soldiers who usually follow Lu Jin and lead the way.

For example, Zhu Liangzu's son Zhu Xian, Zhu Shou's brother Zhu Yan, Liao Yongan's nephew Liao Sheng, Yang Jing's brother Yang Huan, and Lu Jin's adopted son Lu Pojun all came from the training camp.
In addition to these relatives, there are also those recruited from outside, such as Song Sheng, who is only 9 years old this year, and his brother Song Guoxing, who died as a substitute for Zhu Yuanzhang in history, and is only 16 years old this year. The personal soldiers recruited from Dingyuan and Haozhou that Lu Jin and Bao Yu mentioned before are also here.

Lu Jin came to the training ground and found the training site of today's training camp, and discovered that there were indeed some people training.

There was a tall and burly young man, he drew his bow and arrow, aiming at a straw target a hundred steps away. With a bang, the bowstring sounded, the arrow shot out, and with a click, it hit the target firmly.

"Well, Big Brother Guo is awesome. You have hit five out of ten, and there are still five arrows left. If you can hit two more arrows, you will definitely be rated as top-notch." A group of half-grown kids nearby surrounded the archery boy and cheered.

"Humph, getting hit by two more arrows is nothing, just watch me."

After the young man pulled the bow again, gritted his teeth and pursed his lips, as if his whole face was exerting force. Bang, there was another sound, and the arrow hit the target again. Now he had hit six out of ten.

In the shooting accuracy evaluation of the Shengwu Army, the archery range is eighty steps (120 meters), but this young man can still hit six out of ten shots from a hundred steps (150 meters), which is already at the level of an officer. No wonder he is praised and applauded by his buddies.

Lu Jin watched from the side for a while, and finally the boy actually shot nine out of ten, with only one missing the target, which was considered an excellent shooter, so he quietly wrote down this guy's name.

Not far away, there was another young man practicing with spear and stick. He was wielding a fancy spear without a spear head with great vigor, and the three opponents who were feeding him moves could hardly defend themselves. This boy's spear skills were so good that he could defeat three people at the same time. If he had used a real gun with a spear head, the three opponents would have been lying down long ago.

Lu Jin took down another person. At this moment, cheers came from the horse farm next to him. A young man was riding a galloping horse, jumping up and down, hiding in the stirrup, picking up handkerchiefs on horseback, changing horses while riding, jumping over high fences, flying across trenches, turning around sharply, and chopping straw men with knives, picking up iron rings with long spears, and shooting bows and arrows while riding. The most outrageous thing was that this boy could shoot with both hands. He must be left-handed.
Lu Jin looked at them and nodded secretly. These were all his reserve generals. He just regarded them as training outside. It was not a big deal to have them as personal soldiers serving tea, standing guard or running errands.

So he said to the chief guard Song Guoxing who was with him today, "Guoxing, go call the three people just now and bring them to the commander's residence. Tell them that I am looking for them and have a job for them to do."

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)