Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 319: Just to Survive (Please give me a monthly ticket, there will be another chapter later)
Liu Minhua never expected that Zhu Liangzu's strategy of sowing discord would easily divide them internally. Before the generals under him started to rebel, it was Sun Deya who attacked them first.

Looking at his wife and children who were held hostage, Liu Minhua felt it was absurd. Originally, everyone was united to defend the city first and then find ways to ask for help. There was always a glimmer of hope. Now that Sun Deya had done such a thing, it was really digging up his own foundation. Now no one was going to survive.

Seeing the armored soldiers surrounding him from all sides, Liu Minhua suddenly felt hopeless. Even if he could break through desperately, could he escape from the city? Moreover, his wife and children would definitely not be able to be saved. He probably couldn't even die together with Sun Deya.

Thinking of this, Liu Minhua said in despair, "My Liu family received favors from the Sun family more than ten years ago. When you, Sun Deya, started a rebellion, I also abandoned my family and followed you. I didn't expect that today you would not believe me. As for your suspicion that I have the intention to rebel, I have nothing to say.

"A real man should have a clear conscience. If he dies, then he dies. It doesn't matter if I die. I just hope that you can spare my wife and children for the sake of our past friendship. Give her and her son a chance to live.

"As for you, Sun Deya, I just hope you won't regret what you did today. When we meet in Haoli in the future, don't say I didn't warn you. Go ahead."

Upon hearing this, Sun Deya acted like a madman, trembling all over. He was in a dilemma for a moment. He had done a lot of bad things and felt that everyone he saw had bad intentions towards him. He wanted to test Liu Minhua, but he didn't expect this man to be so frank. This actually put him in a difficult position. If he didn't kill this man, wouldn't it just prove that he had wronged a good person and was suspicious of his own generals?
After hesitating for a while, he still said with a sneer on his face, "What do you mean I have nothing to say? I think you have planned it all along. Why are you still pretending to be loyal now? Go ahead!"

However, when Sun Deya gave the order, none of the soldiers in the field moved. This situation immediately shocked Sun Deya and Liu Minhua. Sun Deya immediately looked at Tu Hai, the leader of the soldiers, with vigilance, and asked with trembling voice, "Tu Hai, are you going to betray me too?"

Tu Hai heard this and advised respectfully, "Marshal, Lao Liu started the rebellion with us, and he is also the most important general under you. If we kill him just based on suspicion and unclear reasons, it will inevitably make the brothers below feel disheartened.

"Old Liu is fair in his work, and we brothers have seen it all. When we captured Tianchang County, he was the first to reach the city. He is also able to command the troops. If we really kill him at this critical moment, I'm afraid that before the Shengwu Army outside the city can attack the city, the brothers in Chuzhou, Lai'an, and Tianchang will really rebel. How could he betray the Marshal? Please think twice."

Sun Deya was so angry when he heard that that he started shaking. He was about to draw his sword and attack himself, but he found that Tu Hai's two brothers, Tu Huai and Tu Dian, had come behind him at some point. Although they were not holding weapons, they held him on the left and right, as if they were controlling him.

The two Tu brothers also hurriedly advised, "Please think twice, Marshal!"

"Okay, okay, you guys have colluded and are planning to use me to exchange for Lu Jin's official position, right?"

The Tu brothers fell silent for a moment. Tu Huai and Tu Dian looked at their eldest brother Tu Hai, ready to ask him for a decision.

Liu Minhua was also stunned when he saw this. His wife and children were being held hostage, and he had originally planned to surrender, but he didn't expect that the situation would take a turn for the better. This immediately gave him hope.

Sun Deya felt a chill in his heart, and immediately emphasized, "Tu Hai! You were also involved in Lu Ding's matter! I have distributed a lot of the wealth and goods I took from his family to you brothers. Are you going to betray me too? I was really blind at the beginning. How could I let you brothers lead my personal soldiers? Even if you surrender to that guy named Lu, do you really think he will let you go?"

Tu Hai did not argue after hearing this, but bowed respectfully with his fists clasped together, saying, "Marshal, we are facing a powerful enemy now. I just want you to calm down. Brother Liu is right. Don't fall for Zhu Liangzu's plan to sow discord. If you insist on killing Old Liu at this moment, it will not benefit the war at all. How can you do such a self-destructive thing?"

"Bullshit! If you weren't in league with him, why would you let your two brothers take me? Let me go! You."

Sun Deya wanted to say something else, but Tu Hai frowned and waved his hand. Tu Huai and Tu Dian understood immediately and found a soft hat to cover Sun Deya's mouth.

Liu Minhua was stunned and asked quickly, "Brother Tu, what's going on?"

Tu Hai frowned and said, "The Marshal has always relied on Brother Liu, and I, Old Tu, also admire Brother Liu's ability. The Marshal has been influenced by Zhu Liangzu. If he really kills Brother Liu, I'm afraid that tens of thousands of soldiers in this city, as well as our rebellion team, will all be gone. Now that things have come to this, the Marshal can no longer be relied on, and I don't want to be buried with the Marshal. I hope Brother Liu will take charge of the overall situation and give us a plan."

Liu Minhua looked at him deeply, and instead of offering any advice directly, he asked, "Then I wonder what Brother Tu thinks of the Marshal's surrender to the Yuan court?"

Tu Hai frowned and thought for a while before saying, "We started the rebellion because we didn't want to accept the Tartars' oppression. If there was a glimmer of hope, I, Tu Hai, certainly wouldn't want to surrender to the Tartars, but I have no choice but to be forced. I have to live with it for a while and rebel later."

Upon hearing this, Liu Minhua immediately said, "If we don't want to surrender to the Yuan court, we won't be able to find reinforcements, so we only have two options."

"Which two roads?" Tu Hai asked immediately.

Liu Minhua did not answer directly, but helped to analyze, "Although we have 10,000 defenders in the city, we have escaped all the way from Dingyuan. Although we have expanded a lot of troops, we are in short supply of armor. One county is not sufficient to support nearly 20,000 troops.

"With no elite troops inside and no reinforcements outside, Yu Shiliang was captured alive. Not only was the entire army annihilated, but even his generals surrendered to the Shengwu Army, which made the morale of the city low. Continuing to defend the isolated city would only lead to death.

"Besides, if the Shengwu Army doesn't send troops, it's fine. But once they send troops in large numbers, there's absolutely no reason for them to turn back if they can't win. At this point, the army is divided and disloyal. It's still okay below, but even the Marshal doesn't trust us now. He's been frightened by the Shengwu Army and is showing signs of madness."

Upon hearing this, Sun Deya immediately struggled and whimpered, but his mouth was blocked and he could not make any sound.

Liu Minhua and Tu Hai looked at him at the same time, neither of them took it seriously, and Liu Minhua then continued.

"At this point, we can't defend it. Tianchang County is not high and the moat is not deep. We have no food and no external aid. If Sun Deya hadn't gone crazy and appeased the generals, and everyone was united, we could still defend it and find a way to break out and seek help. But now, there are only two options left, either escape or surrender."

Tu Hai frowned and thought for a while, then nodded, agreeing with Liu Minhua's judgment, and then asked again, "If you want to escape, where will you escape to?"

"Break out in separate groups, leave everything to fate, and hide your identity." Liu Minhua told the truth.

Tu Hai fell silent when he heard that. It was obvious that he didn't want to do that. What Sun Deya said was right. After they started the rebellion and annexed Lu Ding, Sun Deya did give him a lot of wealth. Besides, he followed Sun Deya in the rebellion just to turn over a new leaf and seek wealth. If he could only live a low-key life in hiding in the future, then what had he been doing for the past year?
Tu Hai frowned and asked again, "What if we don't flee? You heard what Zhu Liangzu said outside the city. Chuzhou, Lai'an, and Tianchang can surrender. Can we in Dingyuan surrender too?"

As soon as these words came out, Sun Deya started to struggle again with his eyes wide open. Tu Hai waved his hand impatiently, and his two brothers immediately dragged Sun Deya away. Liu Minhua then said, "We should do our best and let fate decide. We have to try to make it or not. Why not take a chance?"

Tu Hai immediately asked, "How do we bet?"

"First, the Shengwu Army is relentless in their pursuit simply because Lu Ding surrendered to them and became the commander. General Lu needs to give an explanation to his subordinates, so anyone involved in this matter will definitely not be able to escape. If Brother Tu wants to surrender, he must have nothing to do with this matter."

Tu Hai frowned upon hearing this and asked in confusion, "Then Brother Liu's first point is stuck, so there is no way to surrender?"

Liu Minhua immediately explained, "Brother Tu, if you want to have nothing to do with this, first you have to think you have nothing to do with it. It's been a year since the incident. As long as you refuse to admit it, what can they do?"

Tu Hai heard this and said, "But who among the brothers from Dingyuan doesn't know that I can deny it, but won't they point me out?"

"If these people are gone, how can we identify you?"

Liu Minhua said this expressionlessly, but it shocked Tu Hai so much that he widened his eyes and stared at him for a long time.

However, Tu Hai did not express his opinion directly. Instead, he nodded silently and asked, "What about the second one?"

"Secondly, you have to have great achievements and the capital to bargain and make a living."

"How do you mean?" Tu Hai asked humbly.

“Of course the great achievement is to eliminate those Dingyuan generals and capture Sun Deya alive, as you just heard.

"As for bargaining, the capital for survival is of course the army in our hands. Even if the Shengwu Army wins this battle, they will certainly not send all these soldiers back home. In this chaotic world, there is no need for soldiers, so they will naturally recruit these soldiers for their own use.

"Brother Tu, if you can control these soldiers and make them serve the Shengwu Army, even if they know that you also did what happened to Dingyuan, they will have no evidence and they will have to pretend not to see it because you are dead and they need you to lead the army."

Tu Hai frowned again and said, "According to what Brother Liu said, even if we really surrender, won't we still have a handle in his hands? If he wants to bring up the past, won't our lives depend on his will?"

Liu Minhua shook his head and said, "Otherwise, people with leverage are more useful. No one is perfect and everyone makes small mistakes. If you have leverage in the monarch's hands, he will be more confident in using you.

"As for digging up the past, as long as you don't have any extravagant thoughts and haven't thought about rebelling against the enemy again, then why do you want to make this handle public? What you hold in your hand is the handle. If you throw it away, you will have nothing.

"Besides, isn't there still a false charge? Just like General Yue Fei of the previous dynasty, when the superiors really want to kill you, they still care whether there is any evidence? Isn't it easier to just make up a false charge?
"As long as you surrender and do more meritorious deeds in the future, even if someone wants to rebel, they will know that people's words are scary and they will have to consider everyone's feelings, don't you think?"

Tu Hai nodded. That was the truth. If the emperor really wanted to kill someone, he would be afraid that he could not find a reason. So, leaving a handle was really nothing. But then he suddenly raised his head and looked at Liu Minhua.

"It's still not safe. Brother Liu also knows about this, but I can't kill him. And Sun Deya, they want him alive. If I hand him over, he'll be exposed if he talks nonsense, right?"

Liu Minhua said immediately, "Then send a dead one. Anyway, it's just to appease Lu Ding. Do you think he really cares about life or death?
"As for me, Brother Tu saved the lives of my entire family today. If I tell others about this, what good will it do me?"

Tu Hai frowned and thought for a long time, then nodded and asked, "What should we do now?"

Liu Minhua said immediately, "First, you are the commander of Sun Deya's personal soldiers. You can fake Sun Deya's military orders and trick the untrustworthy Dingyuan officers to come over and control them.

“Secondly, you have to appease the soldiers under the command of those generals. It would be best to distribute all their wealth to the soldiers, win their hearts, and make them listen to you.

“Third, someone needs to come forward to appease those officers and soldiers who are not from Dingyuan. It would be best if they could share some of the wealth with them. Don’t be reluctant to give it away. You have to live to spend the wealth. If you have a life to live, why would you worry about not having wealth in the future?

"Fourth, you have to send a trusted person, preferably your brother, to the city to negotiate surrender to show your sincerity. You have to tell them clearly that they can surrender the city, but you must be the commander and still lead the original troops. If the city agrees, you can surrender the city. If not,
"Since they won't let us live, we may have to fight to the death. We may die, but as long as we hold on here, we can at least disgust them and make them lose more soldiers."

Tu Hai nodded repeatedly, thinking that what Liu Minhua said was logical and feasible. But when he finished speaking, he suddenly looked up at Liu Minhua with a meaningful smile on his face, "Brother Liu has a great reputation in the army. At this moment, I'm afraid that Brother Liu is the only one who can appease those generals who are not from Dingyuan, right?"

Liu Minhua also smiled upon seeing this, and told the truth, "I want to live too, don't I? We two brothers are now in the same boat. If I hadn't appeased those soldiers, I'm afraid Brother Tu wouldn't have been able to accomplish this. I'm afraid that as soon as you gather those Dingyuan officers, they will rebel first."

Tu Hai gritted his teeth upon hearing this, "As expected of Brother Liu, you really have a good way. I will trust you this time. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, we can die together. I just have to let my sister-in-law and nephew stay in this government office for a while longer. After all, I want to live, too."

Liu Minhua nodded calmly, "Yes, in fact, ever since Sun Deya and Yu Shiliang had a disagreement and drove him out of the city, I knew that sooner or later there would be such a day. You and I are just fish in a small puddle that rely on each other."

PS: I'm asking for monthly tickets at the end of the month. I'm only 140 or so away from one thousand. Please, please. There will be another update in the evening.

(End of this chapter)