Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 311: Cultural Troupe and Model Operas

Once the decision to expand the army was made, the entire Shengwu Army immediately took action, racing against time to complete various plans.

Bao Yu sorted out the action plan for Jiangbei that night, and then translated the entire plan into digital secret letters according to the code agreed upon with Min Zishun. He then divided the plan into two copies and sent them to Taizhou by two different people across the river to prevent them from being intercepted on the way.

The content of the whole plan was actually not that complicated. It was just to let him send spies into various cities along the Yangzhou Road and arrange people to lead the army and introduce the local situation. In particular, the army should focus on arranging several cities in Gaoyou Prefecture. The army would be about to take action, and after the Jiangbei battle was over, he could be promoted to prefect.

There was also another fast ship, carrying the news of the capture of Jiankang and the latest order from the Marshal's Office, which crossed the river directly to Anqing and delivered a letter to Liao Yongan, asking him to immediately send Guo Zixing's Eighth Regiment across the river to Jiankang for expansion. He also asked him to send someone to recruit troops and promoted Yin Congdao to the commander of the 57th Regiment.

The victory report was also delivered to all government offices in the temporarily established Huainan Province, and an internal notice was issued that the headquarters would be moved to Jiankang, and Jiankang would be renamed Shuntian Prefecture.

Huaining County, the capital of Anqing Road, has been changed into Anqing Prefecture City since the Shengwu Army captured it. The originally ruined city has been repaired and reinforced. The missing side of the city wall has been filled in, and the wall has been raised and thickened. The number of wall faces has been increased, and double urn cities and arrow towers have been built. The moat outside the city has also been deepened and widened. There is also a bastion not far from Shankou Town in the west, which echoes the Anqing Prefecture City from a distance, making it impregnable.

Liao Yongan has been stationed in Anqing for almost a year. During this time, he has been training troops and building cities.

In addition to the main force of the 35th Army under his command, he also recruited men from local villages and towns for training. Each village, based on the population, sent to men. A small village sent one squad, a large village sent two squads, a town sent one company, and a county sent one to two battalions. They were organized into the Internal Guard, responsible for guarding the city or escorting food and grass for the main force. They were a bit like the county brigade and district squad, and in fact should be considered the armed police.
Now, in every city of Anqing Prefecture, in addition to the main force of the Shengwu Army, there are basically one or two thousand internal guards. Their training level is no worse than the main force. After all, they have been trained for more than half a year. It’s just that their weapons and armor are not as good as those of the main Shengwu Army for the time being.

However, these internal guards were not completely free from production for the time being. After the Shengwu Army arrived, they distributed land to the people and temporarily retained some wasteland or unowned land, all of which were used as government land. Each county was allocated a piece of government land, which was reclaimed and cultivated by the internal guards, who planted crops and raised pigs while practicing martial arts.

Most of the output from the official fields was used to supply the Internal Guards themselves, and a small part was used to pay the salaries of civil servants in the county government. If there was any left, it would be distributed to the Internal Guards as subsidies.

Ever since he learned that Lu Jin led the Imperial Guards and the 37th Army to fight in the Battle of Crossing the Yangtze River, Liao Yongan had been unable to sleep well for a while, fearing that something unexpected might happen. Until a while ago, he heard that the crossing of the river was smooth, Dangtu and Caishi were captured in the first battle, and in the second battle enemy troops were annihilated in Xiaomaoshan, and Lishui had been taken, he was finally relieved.

I heard that Lu Jin had cleared the outskirts of Jiankang in recent days and was besieging Jiankang. He didn't have to worry about it anymore. There was a circle of cities outside as a barrier. Jiankang lost its external support and was besieged by Lu Jin's large army. Even if the attack was slow, it would be conquered sooner or later.

Liao Yongan was sleeping in the middle of the night when a guard suddenly knocked on the door to report something. Liao Yongan woke up suddenly and took out a cavalry standard short musket from the bedside. Then he asked, "What happened?"

"General, this is the victory report from Jiankang. The Marshal has captured Jiankang yesterday."

"So fast?"

Liao Yongan was a little surprised. He quickly put on his clothes and lit a candle. Then he opened the door to let the guards in and asked, "When did you capture Jiankang?"

"The messenger said it was yesterday afternoon."

"You're in such a hurry? Besides reporting the victory, do you have any other instructions?"

"Yes, it's the Marshal's military order, and it has an expedited stamp on it." The guard took out an official letter and handed it to Liao Yongan.

Liao Yongan opened it with the help of candlelight and found that it was full of digital codes. The first string of secret orders did correspond to his 35th Army, so he asked the guards to wait at the door first, and he took out a copy of the Art of War by Lu Jin and translated the orders in a short while.

Seeing the order to transfer the Eighth Regiment to Jiankang to expand the army, and promoting Yin Congdao to be the commander of the 57th Regiment, he couldn't help but be shocked. My goodness, it has already been incorporated into the 57th Regiment, how many have been expanded? It's not enough, and the Eighth Regiment has to be transferred to expand the army.

He didn't have time to express any more emotion, as the order stated that he should order the troops to march out immediately upon receiving the order and without any delay, so Liao Yongan quickly called the guards in.

"Who's on duty tonight?"

The guard replied, "It is the turn of Jin Chaoxing and Jinying officers to guard the city."

"Send someone to wake up Yin Congdao and his personal soldiers immediately. Then arrange for the communications team to have two messengers on standby and prepare a few fast horses."

"Yes." The guard quickly instructed someone to do it. Liao Yongan was also writing a transfer order. After the messenger arrived, he sealed the order and took out his token and handed it to the messenger.

"Take my token and military order, and rush to Tongcheng to pass on the message. Tell the Eighth Regiment to execute the order immediately upon receipt. Do not delay military operations!"

"Yes!"

Not long after the messenger left, Yin Congdao also hurried over. Liao Yongan rarely called people in the middle of the night, so he thought something had happened.

"Commander, what happened?"

"What happened? We just received good news from Jiangnan. The Marshal captured Jiankang yesterday afternoon. Jiankang will be renamed Shuntian Prefecture from now on. The Marshal's headquarters has also been moved to Shuntian Prefecture. At the same time, the army needs to be expanded. The scale of the expansion is very large, and the Marshal's people are not enough. The Eighth Regiment will be transferred across the river immediately to expand the army." Liao Yongan explained.

Yin Congdao was a little surprised, "Then our 35th Army is missing a regiment. One of the six regiments is a naval regiment, so now there are only four infantry regiments left."

"Yes, so in order to fill the vacancy, the Marshal asked us to form a new regiment. Jiangnan will provide the new soldiers, and we will provide the generals. The Marshal thought of you and asked you to serve as the commander of this new regiment. You will be promoted." Liao Yongan stuffed the translated order into Yin Congdao's hand.

Yin Congdao immediately said happily, "Really? I thought the Marshal had forgotten about us, the 57th Regiment? Wow, how many troops did the Marshal expand? All of them are in the 57th Regiment?!"

Liao Yongan slapped him upon hearing this, "You joined our Shengwu Army when it was first established. How could the Marshal forget you? Stop talking nonsense. Tell all your officers to get ready. Set out at dawn tomorrow to pick up new soldiers from Wuwei County, and then move to Tongcheng to take over the garrison mission of the Eighth Regiment. Remember to train the soldiers well."

"Yes!"

The next morning, October 7th, the messenger who set out from Anqing changed four horses overnight and arrived in Tongcheng at daybreak. The Eighth Regiment of Tongcheng had not yet gotten up for drill, but Guo Zixing received the military order from Liao Yongan.

As mentioned above, the Battle of Crossing the Yangtze River has ended successfully, Lu Jin has already captured Jiankang and is currently expanding the army. Let the Eighth Regiment immediately go to Wuwei County to cross the river and receive expansion. The defense of Tongcheng will be handed over to the Internal Guard Army first. After dawn, Liao Yongan will send people to take over the city defense. From now on, Tongcheng will be handed over to the new regiment. Let Guo Zixing lead his troops to set off immediately after receiving the order, and no delay is allowed.

After reading it, Guo Zixing was filled with emotion. He originally thought that he was the commander of the Eighth Regiment and ranked quite high. He would definitely have a place in the Shengwu Army in the future. However, just because he hesitated during the last battle of Anqing and was not as aggressive as Zhang Desheng when attacking, he was noted down by Lu Jin. After that, the army was expanded many times, but he had nothing to do with it.

When the Shengwu Army was small, his position in the Eighth Regiment was quite popular. But now, let alone regiments, there are more than eight division-level units, and he is still only a regimental commander.

His own forces were also broken up by Lu Jin. Except for his youngest son Guo Tianjue who was by his side, his eldest sons, second sons and brother-in-law Zhang Tianyou were all transferred to various troops by Lu Jin. There were also training officers watching over each camp. Lu Jin also sent Cao Liangchen as deputy commander to contain him. Even if he wanted to run away, he couldn't and was being controlled.

I originally thought that I would remain unknown from now on, but I didn't expect that Lu Jin would still think of me at this time.

He did not dare to delay and immediately notified all camps to start preparations. The army set out after breakfast and prepared to cross the river. He hoped that after this expansion of the army, he would have another opportunity to perform, otherwise Lu Jin might really not use him anymore.

There are also his two daughters. Now the scale and territory of the Shengwu Army are growing. Seeing that Lu Jin's power is growing day by day, and now he has even captured Jiankang, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, maybe he can really accomplish something in the future. Guo Zixing began to get anxious. He must find a way to marry Lu Jin, and then he can no longer be timid in fighting.

After all, there are so many people in the Shengwu Army, and the various factions are intertwined. If Lu Jin favors and takes care of you just because you are related to him, you will inevitably be accused of nepotism and unfairness. Lu Jin will definitely not do that, so even if you want to get Lu Jin's care, you will probably have to show your real abilities in the future.

Now the larger the territory of the Shengwu Army is, the greater the chance of Lu Jin's success, and the more these uncertain guys dare not act rashly. Instead of choosing to betray, it is better to find a way to perform well. No matter what, it is much easier to gain the merit of following the dragon than to rebel, and the risk factor is much lower.

On the other side, Jiankang City was also not idle, everyone was busy with their own things.

Shi Nai'an spent two months visiting various units of the Shengwu Army to inquire about the tragic experiences of the soldiers. After crossing the river, he also actively participated in the prisoners' grievance meetings and collected folk songs from them. Lu Jin also told him the general plot of the White-Haired Girl, which was about a woman who owed a landlord a loan shark and used her daughter to pay off the debt. He asked him to write a few similar model operas.

I have to say that as the original author of Water Margin, Shi Nai'an is quite capable. He handed two scripts to Lu Jin early this morning. One is similar to the plot of White Haired Girl, but it was changed to the Yuan court implementing the tax farming system, and Huang Shiren became an evil gentry who contracted the taxes, and then he levied more taxes on the people and squeezed the people dry.

The protagonists of the story are two families. Family B was exploited by the landlord. After paying taxes, the family had no surplus food and no rice to live on. The old man in the family was seriously ill, so they could only sell the land to survive. Then the land sold became less and less, until there was no land left. The family’s land was annexed by the tax-farming landlords. The self-cultivating farmers were forced into bankruptcy and became miserable tenants.

The Jia family was also a tenant. Because they had no money to treat a serious illness, they owed the Tartars a loan shark. The Seljuq merchants in the city were appointed by the Tartar emperor to collude with local rogues and induce the Jia family to borrow a loan shark with an annual interest rate of 100%. If they could not pay it back, they would use their daughter to pay off the debt. The Tartars sold these slaves overseas to the Nanyang barbarians as slaves.

Then the two families made an engagement. The daughter who was kidnapped from Family A was the daughter-in-law of Family B who had not yet married. Both families were forced to break up. The parents of Family B hanged themselves, and the father of Family A eventually died of illness. The mother turned gray with worry and committed suicide by jumping into a well. The son wanted to save his sister, but was seriously injured by the Semu merchants and local ruffians.

Then the Shengwu Army came, and all the men in the two families joined the army. They killed the Tartars and Semu merchants in revenge, raided the house of the tax farmer Huang Shiren, and rescued his sister, his "fiancée". Lu Jin also divided land among them, and the two families eventually became relatives. The man in Family B finally married the daughter of Family A, and the result was quite satisfactory.

After reading it, there was only one word in Lu Jin's mind, "miserable, miserable, miserable!"

Then I told Shi Naian, "This beginning needs to be revised."

Shi Naian asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Lu Jin explained, "The tax farming system itself is wrong, but what you wrote makes it seem like the Tartar government didn't intend to collect much tax, and that the evildoers were all the evil gentry who farmed the taxes. This is wrong, and it seems to be an excuse for the Yuan court."

Shi Naian was about to retort when Lu Jin raised his hand to interrupt him, "Are the Yuan government officials all a bunch of idiots? Even the merchants who farm taxes know that collecting taxes is a profitable business, but they still allow merchants and evil gentry to bid for the right to farm taxes. Isn't this deliberate connivance?
"It is very difficult for the common people to understand these complicated relationships. You have to write and act them out straightforwardly so that they can know the evil of the Tartars, the evil of the tax-farming system, and the evil of the evil gentry. Only then can they understand that the Shengwu Army is the royal army and heavenly soldiers who have come to rescue them. Do you understand?" "I understand. Then I'll take it back and revise it." Shi Nai'an nodded.

Lu Jin waved his hand, "Don't worry. I heard there are many entertainment venues along the Qinhuai River, including many opera troupes and drama troupes. You can recruit a few, five or six, and also musicians, and organize them into an art troupe and a military band. In the future, you will send them to various troops for tours, and strive to have an art troupe in each front army."

"Yes, I'll go today." Shi Naian quickly agreed.

Lu Jin put down the revised version of 'White-Haired Girl' and said, "Besides this White-Haired Girl, there is still one more play missing."

"What drama?"

"The two scripts you wrote both describe the tragic experiences of Han people. Do the Mongolian people have a good life?"

Shi Nai'an was stunned when he heard this. Didn't Lu Jin always shout to expel the Tartars and restore China? Did he want to win over even the Mongolian people?
Then Lu Jin stood up and explained, "I have an adopted son, who is the commander of the Imperial Guard Cavalry Battalion. I named him Lu Pojun. In fact, he is a Mongolian who was sold to the south as a slave by the Tartar King Zhao.

"You can ask him what kind of life the lower-class people in Mongolia live. Under the rule of the so-called 'Golden Family' of the Yuan Dynasty, people of all ethnic groups enjoyed the same treatment as cattle and horses. Many of these Mongolian slaves were sold to the south of the Yangtze River. I heard that there is an example of a village in Jiangsu and Zhejiang that is entirely populated by Mongolians.

"Do you know how many Mongolian slaves were sold to Jiangnan?"

Lu Jin gestured, "The total number is about 800,000!!! This is the force we want to fight for. Even if only one eighth of them join the army, we can still have an extra 100,000 troops. These are important forces for us to pacify Mobei in the future."

Shi Nai'an didn't know what to say for a moment. Lu Jin's ambitions were indeed great, but it seemed that he had never considered the consequences of doing so. He was silent for a while before asking.

"Once this kind of drama is made up and widely publicized to incite the lower-class Mongolians to hate the 'Golden Family', it will be a fight to the death with the Mongol nobles.

“Even if we can really march north to pacify the northern desert and drive out the ‘Golden Family’ in the future, as long as the Han army retreats back to the Great Wall, the Golden Family will eventually come back. Wouldn’t the New Dynasty then become a mortal enemy of the Mongols? And it would not be conducive to recruiting the Mongol forces in various places to surrender. Marshal, should you think about this again? After all, this is something that even the Han and Tang dynasties could not do.

"We can change our propaganda strategy. There is no need to direct all the hatred towards the 'Golden Family'. Even when the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Turks, it still had to move the remaining Turks to the Yinshan area to serve as a vassal state for the Han. We..."

"You mean to say that we can't stand in Mobei, right?" Lu Jin interrupted directly and looked at him firmly.

"I want to build a city in Mobei, station troops, and farm and graze! I will do what the Han and Tang dynasties could not do!

“Don’t look at today’s problems with the old perspective of more than a thousand years ago. The reason why our Central Plains Dynasty cannot maintain long-term peace and stability on the grassland is simply because we cannot farm. Our customs are different from those of the grassland herdsmen. Why can’t we grow crops and station troops for a long time?
“There are two reasons, one is the cold and the other is the drought, but neither is a problem now.

“Did cotton exist to keep out the cold during the Han and Tang dynasties?”

Shi Nai'an shook his head. That was indeed not the case. Cotton was first planted in the Song Dynasty and was not promoted on a large scale until the Yuan Dynasty. After hearing what Lu Jin said, he began to understand what Lu Jin meant when he said that we should not look at today's problems with the eyes of more than a thousand years ago.

"Did the Han and Tang dynasties have kangs for heating? Perhaps, but there was not enough firewood on the Mongolian grasslands to keep them warm in winter. But we can dig coal now, and there is plenty of coal on the grasslands!

"With cotton clothes and fuel, the Han people could spend the winter on the grasslands. But just surviving the winter was not enough, they also needed food. During the Han and Tang dynasties, it was indeed impossible to grow food on the grasslands. Even corn and wheat were difficult to grow on the grasslands. The grasslands were cold and dry. If you sowed a handful of wheat seeds, you might not get a single harvest after a year of hard work.

"But things are different now. There was no cotton a thousand years ago, but there is now. There was no food that could be grown in Mobei a thousand years ago, but there is now!"

Shi Naian's eyes widened immediately. "Is there really such food? What is it?"

Lu Jin did not say it directly, but asked, "Sir, do you know Wang Dayuan from the Marshal's Mansion, that is, Mr. Huanzhang?"

Shi Naian nodded, "We've met a few times, but we didn't talk much."

"Sir, do you know why I didn't give him an official title, and why I sent people all the way from Jiangxi to invite him here?"

Shi Naian speculated, "I heard that Wang Huanzhang had sailed to sea in his early years, traveled thousands of miles across the sea, and also wrote a book called 'A Brief Account of the Island Barbarians'. Did the commander recruit him to go to sea?"

Lu Jin nodded and explained.

"There are four kinds of kapok in the world, none of which is native to China. One of them is produced in India, which is often called Tianzhu. It was introduced to Qiongzhou via Nanyang. It is said that Huang Daopo introduced it from Qiongzhou to Songjiang Prefecture in the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty.

"The other kind is the kapok brought by the Tartars from the Western Regions, which is said to have originated in Egypt. The cotton grown in China now is nothing more than these two kinds.

“In fact, there are two other types of kapok in the world, both produced on the other side of the East China Sea. One is Sea Island Cotton and the other is Continental Cotton. Continental Cotton is of the best quality, with the longest and finest cotton fibers, and can be woven into cotton cloth that is as good as silk.

"Look, there are so many good things in the world that benefit the country and the people, but they are not in China. However, the Confucian scholars of all dynasties have been clinging to the past and boasting that China is a great country. They are too arrogant and never look overseas. How could they know that in addition to kapok, there are also oil trees that can produce 1,000 catties per mu, grain seeds that can produce 10,000 catties per mu, corn that can produce 1,000 catties per mu, and grain that can produce 1,000 catties per mu, which can also be grown in Mobei?"

Shi Nai'an was stunned after hearing this, and looked at Lu Jin with an expression of disbelief and suspicion.

"Do you really mean what the Marshal said? Ever since I followed Yuan Heng to join the army, the Marshal has always been confident and a wise and virtuous leader. Please don't listen to the nonsense of this villain."

Shi Naian thought that Wang Dayuan had gone out to sea twice and came to deceive Lu Jin that there were good things overseas, hoping to trick Lu Jin into funding his expedition.

Lu Jin glanced at him speechlessly, picked up the latest edition of "Gongshuzi" from the desk next to him and handed it to Shi Nai'an.

"I was the one who told Wang Dayuan about the Donghai incident, not Wang Dayuan who told me. I specially sent someone to invite him from Jiangxi, and he didn't come to my house to deceive me."

Shi Naian immediately showed a suspicious expression when he heard this.

Lu Jin pointed at the book Gongshuzi and said, "I am the direct descendant of Gongshu. Gongshu does not believe in ghosts and gods, and even less in the rumors of immortal islands in the East China Sea. Why? Because I, Gongshu, have really been to the other side of the East China Sea.

"The miraculous crops I just mentioned are not the magical grains from the fairy island. They are just some exotic grains. People on the other side eat those grains, just like the Chinese people eat rice and wheat. When Zhang Qian was on a diplomatic mission to the Western Regions, he also brought back many crops such as cucumbers, walnuts, and cumin. There is nothing strange about this.

"Don't worry, I don't believe in immortality. People eat grains and cereals, and they will grow old, get sick and die. This is fate. I won't send people out to sea to look for immortals like Qin Shi Huang did."

After hearing Lu Jin's straightforward statement, Shi Nai'an finally felt relieved. It seemed that his lord was not crazy and had not been deceived. But Lu Jin still insisted that there was only one possibility, that there really were those things on the other side of the East China Sea. But then he became confused again.

"India and the Western Regions are also located far away overseas. Why is it that the merchants, rare animals and flowers from those places have all been introduced to China, but for thousands of years, no one has ever heard that there is land in the depths of the East China Sea. We only know that there is a Japanese country in the East my country Sea, which often sends pirates to harass our sea borders."

Lu Jin pointed at him and said, "You finally got to the point. Yes, why is it that there is only a rumor about the fairy island of Penglai in the depths of the East China Sea in China, but no one has ever found the land on the other side?"

Lu Jin raised his palm and gestured, "Because from here, we have to go east for 50,000 miles to reach the land on the other side. It's a vast deep ocean with very few islands in between. If we don't know the route, we can't even find fresh water supplies, and we will die of thirst and sunburn on the way.

“Even if someone could really reach the other side, the return trip would be another 50,000 miles, or a round trip of 100,000 miles by sea. Without some real skills, who could make the round trip and come back alive?
“If you travel by sea from China to India or Persia, you can still follow the coast and not get lost, but in the deep sea of ​​the East China Sea, there is really no heaven or earth to help you. There is no place to dock for supplies. If you really go in, I’m afraid you will die.

"Since no one can come back alive, how can there be any news from the East China Sea?"

Shi Naian was even more puzzled and asked, "How did the commander know the secrets on the other side of the East China Sea?"

"Because my ancestors of the Gongshu clan had been there and drew a detailed map of the other side, I also know the nautical charts of all the seas in the world, where to start, where to resupply, what kind of ship to build, how long it will take to sail, and how to reach the other side. It's all in my head. I also know the art of crossing the ocean and pulling the stars, and I'm teaching Wang Dayuan how to do it now.

"Before I said I wanted to build an observatory on top of Purple Gold Mountain, it was for drawing sea charts and tracking stars across the ocean. Now you understand, right?"

Shi Nai'an suddenly realized that no wonder what Lu Jin and Wang Dayuan were talking about when they attacked Jiankang the day before yesterday was actually related to this matter.

Then he asked, "Then I wonder if the Marshal can tell me where the other side of the East China Sea is?"

"It is a land that stretches ten thousand miles from east to west and more than twenty thousand miles from north to south. It is not smaller than the land of China. The people living there look the same as those in China.

"My ancestor Gongshu, the first person to set foot on the other side of the river, actually went there by land, not by sea. There were other countries in the area that worshipped Nuwa and built Nuwa temples. They had no horses or wheels, and they still used stone and bronze tools, and they couldn't even smelt iron. So my ancestor suspected that they were the descendants of Chiyou who were defeated by Emperor Xuanyuan Huangdi, the remnants of the Jiuli tribe, and migrated to the other side by land, so they called the continent on the other side Lizhou."

Shi Nai'an was ordered by Lu Jin to keep his mouth shut, forcing him not to tell anyone about it outside. However, Lu Jin told him such a bizarre story that aroused his curiosity. As a person who likes to write novels, Lu Jin was too bullying to hear such an interesting thing, but he didn't say more to him.

However, getting down to business was the most important thing, so he quickly went to the Qinhuai River to recruit opera troupes and theater troupes. Outside the city of Jiankang, the expansion of the Shengwu Army was also proceeding in full swing.

(End of this chapter)