Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 285 Cut off his nose
Lu Jin rode on a horse, and with the shouts of the soldiers, he brought a group of generals to the gate of Dangtu County's government office. Xu Yong, the battalion commander of the Xianzhen Camp, and the training officer were waiting there. They did not go out of the city to greet them, but were responsible for guarding the government office. Tao An also brought some local people to wait on the street outside, waiting to "congratulate the troops."

Lu Jin dismounted and did not enter the courtyard. He asked directly at the gate of the government office, "Has Nahachu been caught?"

Xu Yong immediately stood up and said proudly, "Reporting to the Marshal, fortunately I have fulfilled my mission. The fellow was captured by a squad leader of my Xianzhen Camp. The Marshal should know him. He is the monk that the Marshal personally recruited in Haozhou, Zhu Chongba."

"Oh? It's him. He did a good job. Where are they? And where is Nahachu?" Lu Jin asked again.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jun, the instructor of the Xianzhen Camp, immediately came up to Lu Jin and whispered to him about the process of capturing Nahachu and how Zhu Yuanzhang and his men had broken into private homes and demolished people's walls. This matter could be a big or small one, and it should not be allowed, and there was no precedent, so he told Lu Jin first and let Lu Jin set the tone himself.

After Cheng Jun finished speaking, he pointed at Tao An and others on the side of the road and introduced them, "General, that is the owner of the courtyard. His name is Tao An. He is a famous local scholar and the principal of Jinling Mingdao Academy appointed by the Yuan court. He is hiding at home to avoid war. This man has a good attitude towards our army. I think he seems to be interested in surrendering."

Lu Jin nodded to show that he understood, but did not deal with Tao An's matter immediately. Instead, he dealt with military affairs first.

"Bring Nahachu here first."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yong waved his hand. Guan Chen and Cui Jian from Zhu Yuanzhang's class immediately brought over the tied-up Nahachu. Nahachu was quite tough and would rather die than surrender. He refused to kneel when he saw Lu Jin.

Guan Chen was furious when he saw this, "Why don't you kneel down when you see the Marshal?!"

As he said that, he kicked Nahachu hard in the leg, but the guy just staggered forward and steady himself again. Seeing this, Guan Chen was about to kick him again, but Lu Jin waved his hand, and the two of them stood aside.

Lu Jin came in front of Nahachu and looked at him. Nahachu was 27 years old, a few years older than Lu Jin. He looked strong, but his height was probably less than meters, which was half a head shorter than Lu Jin, who was meters tall.

Nahachu also stared at Lu Jin fiercely with his triangular eyes, but seeing that Lu Jin was much taller than him, he had to look up to look at Lu Jin. He snorted angrily and turned away.

"Are you Nahachu?"

Nahachu said nothing and turned his head in another direction.

Lu Jin continued, "Our two armies were facing each other across the river, and we each prepared for half a year. In the end, I took over your Caishi and Dangtu in less than an hour. Is this all you can do? You are a defeated general, what do you have to be proud of?"

Upon hearing this, Nahachu glared at Lu Jin in dissatisfaction and wanted to refute something, but after a long time, he couldn't say a word.

He wanted to say that Lu Jin was unfair, using cannons and muskets and making so many strange weapons, but after thinking about it, he couldn't say it. In military affairs, one can use any means necessary. Lu Jin was well prepared, which could only be said to be Lu Jin's ability. However, his city walls were too close to the water, making it easy for large ships to directly reach the top of the city, and he had no defense at all.

Now that he had been caught alive by Lu Jin and became a prisoner, there was no point in making excuses any more, and it would even seem childish, so he just snorted coldly and turned away.

Seeing his expression, Lu Jin pointed at the city wall and said, "I have occupied Hezhou for more than half a year, and you haven't even finished cladding the city wall with bricks. How can you be qualified to be a ten thousand household? If it weren't for the blessing of your ancestor Mu Huali, I'm afraid you wouldn't even be qualified to be a hundred households."

When Nahachu heard Lu Jin mention his ancestors and how he was able to become a ten thousand household thanks to his ancestors, he was immediately defeated. This was tantamount to Lu Jin directly denying his talent. The key point was that Lu Jin actually only took one hour to break through his defense and captured him alive. Doesn't this further prove his own incompetence?

He was proud of his Mongolian identity, which made him superior to others. He was also the descendant of King Lu and came from a wealthy family. Now that he was despised by Lu Jin, a Han Chinese, how could he not be defensive? He glared at Lu Jin fiercely and shouted.

"You bastard surnamed Lu, a gentleman can be killed but not humiliated. Today, my grandfather has fallen into your hands. I accept defeat. You can kill me or chop me up as you please. If you ask for mercy, you are not a hero. You are not allowed to humiliate my ancestors!"

Guan Chen and Cui Jian immediately stepped forward and held Nahachu down, but Lu Jin pretended to pick his ears with his fingers.

"Hey, what did you say? A scholar can be killed but not humiliated? Do you Tartars know what a scholar is? Is there a saying that a scholar can be killed but not humiliated?"

"You?!" Nahachu was stunned when he heard the words and immediately became furious. He knew that Lu Jin was mocking him as a barbarian, so he immediately retorted.

"I have been well-versed in poetry and literature since I was young, and I know the classics. I am not like a traitor like you, who has no king or father, raises an army to cause chaos and wreak havoc on the world."

"You little Tartar, are you looking for death?!"

"presumptuous!"

When the people around heard him say this, they immediately wanted to go up and beat him up, but Lu Jin stretched out his hand to stop them and continued to speak to Nahachu.

"You, a barbarian, want to debate with me? Mencius said that the people are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the least important. Why don't you Tartars learn from him?

"They are good at lending money, forcing debts, selling people's children as slaves, and they are corrupt and wicked. They issue banknotes indiscriminately and plunder people's property. They disrupt the water veins for their own selfish reasons, causing frequent floods and drowning hundreds of millions of people. Is this the way of the saints that you barbarians learn?
"You said I have no king or father. So your barbarian kings and fathers only kill and abuse their own children every day?"

Nahachu knew that there were problems with the governance of the court. What Lu Jin said was the truth, and he had no way to refute it. However, he still said stubbornly, "Hmph, no matter how much you gossip, you can't change the fact that you are a traitor!"

Lu Jin straightened up when he heard this, lowered his head and looked down at Nahachu and said, "Nahachu, listen to me, I am here to comfort the people and punish the criminals, to help the needy, to restore order, and to save the people. I, Gongshu Jin, do things in an upright manner, and I am not afraid of any crooked shadow.

"As for you barbarians, what evil things have you done to cause chaos in the world? If you are not an idiot, then you must know it yourself."

Nahachu was speechless after being confronted by Lu Jin. He could only snort and then remained silent. Seeing this, Lu Jin stopped talking nonsense with him and waved his hand and said, "Take him away and lock him up first. Make sure he doesn't die."

"Yes."

"Wait a minute." Nahachu asked hurriedly, "You won't kill me?"

Upon seeing this, Lu Jin immediately drew his sword. With a clang, the eight-sided sword made a pleasant sound in the air. Lu Jin waved his sword and pointed it at Nahachu and said.

"It's a pity to use such a good sword to kill you. You don't deserve to die in my hands. Didn't you say that I was a traitor? I want to show you how a traitor like me punishes the people and destroys the Yuan court. Take him away."

This time, Cui Jian took Nahachu away without waiting for him to say anything.

Lu Jin glanced at the scene and asked, "Where is Chen Yexian? Bring him over."

Immediately, two more white-armored cavalrymen brought Chen Yexian over. Ye Sheng's cavalry had captured him outside the city, so he was naturally under their custody. "Kneel down!"

The two cavalrymen kicked him in the leg pits and immediately forced Chen Yexian to his knees. Chen Yexian immediately struggled and shouted, "Kill me if you want to. If I frown, I'm not a hero. My son will avenge me when the time comes!"

Lu Jin put the sword on his neck and said contemptuously, "Are you Chen Yexian?"

"It's Grandpa, what do you think?"

"be honest!"

The soldier behind him kneed him in the back again upon hearing what he said, but Lu Jin patted his shoulder with the blade of his sword.

"Chen Yesian, Chen Yesian, you clearly have a Han surname, and your ancestors must have been Han too. Why did you take a Tartar name? It's so weird. Why don't you get rid of your Han surname and shave your head and keep a braid like the Tartars, huh?"

Chen Yesian was immediately furious, "My body and hair are given by my parents, how can you destroy them?! If you want to kill me, just kill me, and stop talking nonsense!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin immediately raised the sword, and with a flick of his wrist, he cut off the bun on his head, causing Chen Yesian's hair to fall apart immediately.

Chen Ye was stunned for a moment, then he started to struggle frantically, "You bastard surnamed Lu, a gentleman can be killed but not humiliated, killing is not enough, if you have the guts, kill me. You are not a hero if you humiliate me like this!"

Lu Jin laughed and said, "If I kill you, I will no longer be a traitor in your eyes, but a hero? It is not your turn to judge whether I have guts or not. On the contrary, you have a Han surname, but you have a Hu name. You are really out of place, you are a coward who has betrayed your teacher and ancestors and has forgotten your ancestors. It's ridiculous. I won't kill you, but I want to humiliate you. What can you do to me?"

After saying that, Lu Jin shook his wrist again and cut the long beard on his chin.

Upon seeing this, Chen Yesian immediately struggled like crazy and shouted angrily, "You bastard surnamed Lu, if you have the guts, let me go and fight me one-on-one. I'll show you how I'll teach you a lesson!"

The soldiers behind him saw that Lu Jin did not stop him this time, so they immediately grabbed Chen Ye and beat him up, leaving him with a bruised face and blood gushing from his mouth and nose, which made him shut up.

"Lu, kill me now!"

"Kill you? I won't!" Lu Jin stepped forward, grabbed his collar and lifted him up.

"That fellow Nahachu is a real Tartar after all. He is not of our race, so his heart must be different. He may have some feelings for killing the Han people. Jackals are not good things. But what are you, Chen Yexian? You are a Tartar dog! A spy among the Han people, helping the tyrant to commit atrocities and enslaving my Han compatriots. A dog traitor like you, I would feel ashamed to kill you and you are not worthy of dying under my sword.

"Come here, cut off his ears, cut off his nose, and the testicles in his crotch. Since he doesn't recognize his ancestors and serves the Tartars like a dog, he is a worthless person. Then take away his testicles. Then drive him out of the city and send some captives to take him away."

Chen Yesian got anxious when he heard this. "You bastard, a gentleman can be killed but not humiliated. Kill me now, kill me now. I would rather die than be humiliated by you!"

"Tie his mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue and committing suicide. Pull him away."

"Yes!"

Someone immediately handed a rope to Chen Yetian's mouth from behind. While he was struggling in shock and anger, the soldiers behind him immediately drew their swords and cut off his ears one by one. He struggled frantically in pain, and then cut off his nose with the knife. Chen Yetian was in so much pain that snot and blood kept gushing out. He kept screaming while biting the hemp rope in his mouth, his eyes wide open, staring at Lu Jin viciously, as if he wanted to eat Lu Jin alive.

Seeing this, Lu Jin urged, "What are you still standing there for? Doesn't this spineless guy recognize the Tartars as his ancestors? This dog traitor, castrate him and drive him out of the city!"

Several soldiers did not hesitate any longer and immediately pressed Chen Yesian to the ground and stripped off his pants. Chen Yesian immediately struggled frantically, his whole body turned into a bloody gourd. However, under the suppression of several big men, he was finally unable to escape the knife. An inexperienced soldier swung a knife at him and immediately killed everything. Chen Yesian fainted on the spot due to the pain.

On the street in front of the government office, such a bloody and cruel scene made everyone around silent. Some people were even gritting their teeth secretly. As men, they couldn't help but feel the same when they saw the last knife.

Even Yang Jing, Zhu Shou, Bian Yuanheng and Ye Sheng couldn't help but frown. They had known Lu Jin for so long, but this was the first time they saw such a cruel side of Lu Jin. But Lu Jin was their lord after all, so they didn't say anything.

Tao An, who was waiting by the roadside, also frowned deeply. At first, he saw Lu Jin was kind and generous when talking to Nahachu. Nahachu refused to kneel and scolded him. Lu Jin refuted every point and debated with him. Nahachu was speechless and did not kill him in the end. At that time, he thought that Lu Jin was a generous person and worthy of being able to accomplish things. But then his attitude suddenly changed and he became fierce and evil.

Killing is not the right thing to do, and it is indeed not a glorious thing to mistreat a prisoner in this way. The contrast between the before and after made Tao An stunned.

Seeing that the soldiers had already castrated Chen Yexian and had someone bring a stretcher to carry him out of the city, Tao An immediately stepped forward to stop them.

"Wait a minute, Marshal, you can't let this man leave."

Lu Jin glanced at him and asked, "Who are you?"

Tao An immediately saluted and said, "I am Tao An, a scholar from Dangtu. I have led the elders of the city to come to comfort the army. I heard that the commander-in-chief wanted to drive out the Tartars and restore our Han people's country, so I came to surrender."

"Oh? You want to come to me, then why don't you let me let this man go? What do you think, sir?" Lu Jin asked with a smile.

Tao An saw Lu Jin showing that amiable smile again, but he knew that this was just Lu Jin's appearance. This man was extremely vicious in his heart. He did not dare to neglect him and asked back immediately.

"Does the Marshal know who this Chen Yesian is?"

"Of course I know. He is the volunteer marshal of Jiqing Road." Lu Jin answered immediately.

Tao An was stunned when he heard this. Why did this feel different from what he thought? He asked again tentatively, "Does the commander know how many soldiers he has? Does he know that his son Chen Zhaoxian is also in the army?"

Lu Jin nodded again, "Yes, I know. If we gather all the militiamen from Jiqing Road, there should be no less than 150,000 soldiers. I have also heard that his son Chen Zhaoxian is in the army."

Tao An was confused when he heard this. "Why did the commander treat this man so badly and send someone to release him? Isn't he afraid that his son will lead an army to seek revenge?"

(End of this chapter)