Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 364: Water Village Secret Agreement
Fang Guozhen thought about it and found that he actually had no choice. Yang Jing's army of more than 100,000 was right in front of him. If he dared to say no, he would lose everything. Now his only way out was death except surrender.

But he was unwilling to do so. Fang Guozhen was a man who would never truly surrender if given the slightest chance, unless you allowed him to maintain his separatist regime, just like in history when he took the initiative to seek amnesty from the Yuan court, or took the initiative to surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang but refused to hand over the navy fleet and territory. Then he could agree, but Lu Jin would definitely not agree.

So this matter is not up for negotiation.
Just as he was lost in thought, a subordinate suddenly came to report, "General, Ding Dingpingzhang and Envoy Dong from the Suzheng Lianfangsi are here."

Fang Guozhen was worried, and when he heard about these two guys, he immediately sneered and muttered, "Before, you ordered me around like you were your grandson, and now that you can't beat the Luzhou soldiers, you want to seek refuge with me.

"Please invite them in and take them to the mansion for inspection first. Don't let them run away."

"Yes!"

When Zhan Ding saw Fang Guozhen's attitude, he quickly asked, "Have you figured it out, sir?"

Fang Guozhen sighed and frowned, "Don't rush me yet, let me think about it again."

"."Zhan Ding was speechless for a while. Fang Guozhen was good in every way. Once he made a decision, he was more motivated than anyone else. But it was too difficult to get him to make a decision. With such a hesitant personality, what great things could he accomplish? Alas.

In fact, people like Fang Guozhen are suitable to be executors. There is absolutely no problem in asking him to do things, but it is too difficult to ask him to make decisions. He is not born to be a big leader. But it is understandable, after all, it is related to his life and family's future.

However, Fang Guozhen was hesitant, and the Shengwu Army did not give him the opportunity to continue sitting on the fence. On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, as Yu Tonghai captured Shaoxing, everyone from Shangyu to Dinghai surrendered. Fang Guozhen could no longer sit still, but he was still hesitant. The main reason was that Yang Jing only said what he wanted but did not say how to arrange for him after surrender, that is, the issue of treatment after surrender. So he finally decided to follow Zhan Ding's suggestion and it would be best to have a face-to-face meeting with the Shengwu Army to make the matter clear.

So on the seventeenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Qiu Nan came to Hangzhou again as an envoy and landed at the Qianjiang Wharf in Hangzhou. Fang Guozhen and Zhan Ding also hid in the cabin, and they tied up Ding Ding and Dong Shouqun and brought them over, preparing to hand over the two captives to Yang Jing.

After arriving at the Shengwu Army camp in Hangzhou again, Qiu Nan saw Yang Jing and said, "Governor, Fang Guozhen is still hesitant at this time, but he is willing to submit. He just wants to know the specific arrangements made by Marshal Gongshu for him. Otherwise, he is a little worried about asking him to hand over the Taiwen and Wen routes, especially the navy ships.

"He also said that if the Governor was worried about the news leaking out, he would be willing to come and listen to the Governor's instructions in person."

"Oh? To give me advice in person? He wants to see me?" Yang Jing was a little surprised. "That's interesting. Does that mean he wants me to go to Zhoushan to see him, or does he want me to come to Hangzhou to see me?"

Qiu Nan said quickly, "The Governor is busy with military affairs, so he naturally dares not trouble the Governor. He is willing to come to Hangzhou to meet the Governor."

Yang Jing was also quite surprised to hear this. Fang Guozhen was so hesitant, and you said he was a bold and straightforward person, right? That was definitely not the case. But you said he was timid, and he still had the courage to come to Hangzhou.

"He's quite courageous. He's not afraid that I'll take the opportunity to arrest him."

Qiu Nan quickly lowered his head and pretended not to hear. He didn't dare to respond.

Yang Jing thought for a while before saying, "Okay, then let him come over and talk."

Qiu Nan looked around and saw that there was no one around. He then took two steps forward and lowered his voice, "To be honest with you, Governor, Fang Guozhen is on the boat right now, at the Qianjiang Wharf in Hangzhou. He doesn't want to go too far ashore, so he hopes that the Governor can meet him at the wharf."

Yang Jing was stunned when he heard this, and looked at him before saying, "Okay, he dares to come to Hangzhou, don't I have the courage to go to the dock?

"Well, Qianjiang Wharf is crowded with people, not a good place to talk. You go and tell him to go to the Shuijunzhai Wharf on Fenghuang Mountain. I'll wait for him there. Let's go now. I'll go to Shuijunzhai, and you can go with him on the boat."

"Yes." Qiu Nan quickly bowed in response and was then taken out by the guards.

So half an hour later, Fang Guozhen's ship went to the Water Army Camp in the southeast of Hangzhou. This place used to be the dock of the Southern Song Dynasty imperial city. It was specially built by Zhao Gou for the Jin soldiers to escape when they went south. It was a military restricted area. Although it had been abandoned for a long time, there were indeed not many people here.

When Fang Guozhen and Qiu Nan came over, Yang Jing also arrived here with his guards and set up a tent on the dock. After Fang Guozhen landed, a soldier of the Shengwu Army wearing red cloth armor immediately came to greet him, "The governor is in the tent, please let General Fang go in alone."

Seeing this scene, Fang Guozhen was not intimidated. He went ashore with his neck stiffened. Now that he was here, wouldn't he be laughed at if he didn't dare to see people?
"Please lead the way."

The soldier said nothing and brought Fang Guozhen to the door of the tent. The two soldiers guarding the door immediately tilted their bayonets and muskets to the middle, blocking Fang Guozhen's way.

"Please hand over your sword."

Fang Guozhen frowned immediately, and put his hand on the knife handle. "Governor Yang is so stingy. I, Old Fang, dare to come here alone. There are so many of you, are you afraid of my knife? Can't I bring a knife for self-defense?"

At this time, Yang Jing's voice came from the military tent, "Let him in."

Upon hearing this, Fang Guozhen snorted at the two soldiers, pushed away their guns, lifted the door curtain and walked in.

There were only two young generals in the tent. Yang Jing was sitting in the middle in iron armor, while Zhu Shou stood beside him with his pistol in his hand. The trigger was already open and ready to fire.
I heard that Fang Guozhen's personal martial arts skills are not low. He can rein in a galloping horse with his bare hands. He should be the one with the highest personal martial arts skills among the heroes in the late Yuan Dynasty in history. Of course, those generals are not included, only the leaders of various factions are counted. Therefore, Yang Jing and Zhu Shou did not dare to be careless. Who knows what this guy is going to do when they suddenly meet.

When Fang Guozhen saw Yang Jing sitting and Zhu Shou standing, he immediately bowed to Yang Jing and said, "Greetings, Governor Yang."

Yang Jing did not stand up, but just nodded, "General Fang, there is no need to be so polite. Besides, you and I may be colleagues in the future. It's just that the general came here in a hurry today, and I didn't prepare a banquet here, which makes me seem to be inadequate in entertaining you."

When Fang Guozhen heard the word "colleague", he immediately said, "The Governor and the Marshal are pressing me step by step, and they asked me to hand over all my ships. This doesn't seem like a colleague of the Governor."

Yang Jing immediately smiled and said, "I'm asking you to hand over the fleet just to see your attitude. If you are not willing to sincerely submit, how can you be my colleague?"

Fang Guozhen's tone slowed down after hearing this, and he lowered his posture and pretended to be pitiful, "I am just a small person. Marshal Gongshu is entrusted with the will of heaven and is dedicated to the people. He has the ambition to help the world. In the eyes of the Marshal, my little property is just a matter of his words, but it is my entire fortune. If the Governor and the Marshal don't explain clearly, I am worried about the future.

"Now I have the courage to come here alone, without informing anyone or making it public. Even my naval officers are not aware of the fact that I sent an envoy to surrender. I hope the Governor can explain it clearly so that I can rest assured."

Seeing his sincere attitude, Yang Jing said seriously, "Since General Fang said so, I can tell you the truth, but you can't tell anyone, otherwise this matter won't be accomplished."

Fang Guozhen immediately pointed to the sky and swore, "If I, Old Fang, tell anyone a word, I will die in the sea and feed the fish. I will die without a burial place. Is this okay?"

After saying that, he looked at Zhu Shou next to him and said, "I came here alone, I promise not to tell anyone, but what's going on with you?"

Yang Jing immediately introduced, "This is General Zhu Shouzhu of the Second Army. He followed the Marshal to raise an army in Chaohu and is also the commander of the Marshal's imperial guards. He also knows about this matter."

Fang Guozhen hurriedly bowed and said, "I wish I could come to see General Zhu in person. I'm sorry."

Zhu Shou just nodded, but his hand remained on the handle of the musket without moving.

Yang Jing then said, "I wonder if General Fang has heard that because Li Er of Xuzhou blocked the grain transport, and you blocked the sea transport, most of the people have been cannibalistic due to lack of food in the first half of the year."

Fang Guozhen nodded, but didn't understand why, "Isn't this a good thing for the Marshal? Wouldn't it be better if we could starve them to death?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Jing said, "It would be great if they could starve to death just by cutting off their food supply. The problem is that they can't starve to death. Your Excellency, don't forget that the Mongol emperors were all Tartars from the grasslands. If they really have no food to eat, the worst that can happen is that they go to Shangdu on the grasslands to eat. The only people who will starve to death are the people in the north."

"So, what does this have to do with my surrender?" Fang Guozhen didn't quite understand.

Yang Jing immediately said, "The Marshal does not want the Yuan Emperor to go to Shangdu before the formal Northern Expedition. Otherwise, if the Yuan Emperor retreats to the frontier and the system remains, it will definitely not be a good thing for us Han people in the Central Plains." Fang Guozhen listened carefully and nodded.

"So the Marshal wants to make a deal with the Yuan court, providing 200,000 to 300,000 shi of grain to Dadu every year, hoping to stabilize the Yuan court center and prevent them from escaping to the Shangdu grassland."

Fang Guozhen was stunned after hearing this. "Marshal Gongshu? Supplying food to the Yuan court? This, this is too much."

Fang Guozhen really wanted to complain, you are traitors, how can you do such a thing???
Yang Jing nodded and said, "Indeed, it is just as you think. So we can't do this. You have to do it."

Fang Guozhen was a little confused, and immediately asked in confusion, "I, but I have already submitted to the Marshal, haven't I?"

"So what the Marshal means is that you can join our army in private, but remain a minister in public."

"Ah?!" Fang Guozhen was completely confused.

Yang Jing then explained, "If you are willing to submit sincerely, we can temporarily not attack Zhoushan, Taizhou Road, and Wenzhou Road. We will leave them to you on the surface. You are still a minister of the Yuan Dynasty, and the navy can continue to be handed over to you. Externally, our armies are still enemies.

"But from now on you must follow the Marshal's secret orders and continue to deliver grain to Dadu. The grain will be provided by us. Just say that you bought it from the grain merchants in northern Zhejiang and sold it to Dadu. Let them exchange it for horses to purchase war horses for the Marshal."

Fang Guozhen thought, what's the difference between this and not surrendering? It's nothing more than helping Lu Jin sell grain and buy horses. It's just an extra job. Can Lu Jin be so kind as to let him continue to rule? So he asked again, "What else does the Marshal need me to do?"

Yang Jing nodded, secretly thinking that he was smart, and then continued, "Your Excellency's three young masters..."

Fang Guozhen immediately looked embarrassed.

Yang Jing continued to persuade him, "The Marshal is well versed in both Chinese and Western learning, and he is also the direct descendant of the Gongshu family. The Gongshu family has inherited the strengths of hundreds of schools of thought, and knows astronomy and geography. Others want to become the Marshal's direct disciples, but they have no way. Your sons are also at the age of learning, but you don't want to worship such a good master. Do you want them to continue to do the business of floating salt on the sea with you, which is a business that can cost them their lives? Or do you want them to have the birth of a disciple of the emperor in the future?

"If you truly submit, will the Marshal harm you? Unless you are just pretending to be nice to the Lord, am I right?"

Fang Guozhen didn't dare to continue bargaining after hearing what Yang Jing said. If he didn't agree, it would be considered as rebellion, so how could he talk about it? So he said immediately, "I am willing to send my third son to Jiankang, but can it be done later? The child is not in Zhoushan now."

Yang Jing nodded immediately and said, "The Marshal is not an unkind person. He can let the three young masters spend the New Year's Day at home and then send them to Jiankang."

Fang Guozhen quickly bowed and said, "Thank you very much for your kindness, Marshal. Do you have any other requests?"

Yang Jing immediately asked again, "How many ships do you have now?"

"There are still thousands of ships of all sizes, but there are only about 600 that can be used as warships."

Yang Jing immediately added, "You have to hand over half of these ships, and tell the public that we lost the naval battle and captured them."

Fang Guozhen nodded. "I can hand over half of the ships, but what should I do with the generals in my navy?"

Yang Jing said immediately, "You can go back and ask privately how many of your generals are willing to come. You can let them come with the 500 ships and be reorganized by our army. In the future, they will serve as officers in our Shengwu Army. As for the remaining half of your navy, we will also send officers and soldiers from the Shengwu Army. In the future, every time you go to Dadu to transport grain and buy horses, we will have people watching over you.

"Including your Wanhu Mansion, as well as the prefectures and counties in Taiwen, the Marshal will send people there. If the civil servants in your Wanhu Mansion come here now, they don't have to take the imperial examination. The Marshal will provide official positions for them. How do you think?"

Fang Guozhen thought to himself, he knew that Lu Jin would not allow him to continue his separatist rule. In this way, although he was still independent on the surface, the navy, Wanhu Mansion, and the officials of Taiwen would all be Lu Jin's people. Then he would let him send his three sons to Jiankang. Except for not joining the Shengwu Army on the surface, he would have to obey orders in the future.

Even after Lu Jin's people are placed in place, he can be completely sidelined and just have him register as a figurehead in the Yuan court, serving as a cover for Lu Jin's secret transactions with the Yuan court.

But now that things have come to this, he is powerless to resist, what else can he do?

Fang Guozhen sighed and said, "I will follow the Marshal's arrangements, but I don't know how long I will have to do this."

Yang Jing immediately said, "Until our army marches north and captures Dadu."

Fang Guozhen opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. If you can't march north in your lifetime, I will have to be this mascot forever?

"Why? General Fang doesn't believe it? I'm not bragging, but my Shengwu Army was formed in Luzhou last September. It's only been a year or so, but we've already achieved this. With our military strength, to be modest, we can conquer the north and recapture Yanyun in ten years at most. Do you believe it, General Fang?"

Fang Guozhen dared not to believe it, and nodded quickly, "Of course I believe in the Marshal's strength, but, then I will..."

Although Fang Guozhen didn't finish his words, his meaning was very clear. He just wanted to ask him about his own treatment.

Yang Jing said immediately, "You have offered the two routes of Taiwen, plus Zhoushan and all the ships of the navy. If you hand them all over, it can be considered a merit. If you continue to join the army in the future, the Marshal said that you can start as the chief of lieutenant generals. There are generals and generals above lieutenant generals. I am only a general now. The general Zhu next to me is a general. Both of us have not been granted titles yet. General Zhu is a follower of the Marshal. We are not in a hurry, so why are you in a hurry?
“But the lord also said that if you cooperate and accomplish this, he will at least give you the title of marquis in the future. If you don’t want to join the army and lead troops in the future, the lord can also arrange other positions for you.

"If anything happens to you during this period, the Marshal has promised to let your eldest son inherit the title. With such a reward, what else is there for General Fang to hesitate about?"

Fang Guozhen felt helpless. Although he didn't have the title of Duke or Prince, he didn't have such great contributions after all. Giving him a Marquisate was a fair deal, not too high or too low. Fang Guozhen gritted his teeth and clasped his fists, saying, "I will leave it to the Marshal to arrange!"

Yang Jing nodded, and then asked, "Did Dingding ask you to go to Haining Prefecture to deliver grain to Tuotuo?"

"Yeah." Fang Guozhen nodded.

“How much was transported?”

Fang Guozhen said quickly, "A total of 50,000 shi were transported over. Dingding asked me to transport a few more batches later. But after the naval battle that day, I had people recover the grain. Now it's all in Zhoushan. There are 180,000 shi."

Yang Jing immediately arranged, "Keep this batch of grain for now, and don't transport it to Tuotuo and Dadu for the time being. After you go back this time, privately ask which generals are willing to come, and then have them and half of the ships you handed over be sent to Liujiagang and handed over to the navy commander Bai Guangtai. Then you stay in Zhoushan and wait for the Marshal's news.

“If the Yuan court has any instructions for you, you must send someone to Hangzhou to tell me as soon as possible. If I am transferred out of Hangzhou, I will also send someone to tell you how to contact me in the future before I leave.

"This is how it will be handled for now. After New Year's Day, you will send the three young masters to Jiankang. The Marshal will also send someone to your residence. I will not be responsible for any further contact from now on."

Fang Guozhen quickly bowed and agreed, "Thank you Governor Yang for telling me. Oh, by the way, I also brought Dingding and that Dong Shouqun here. They are now tied up in the cabin. I would like to hand them over to the Governor for disposal."

Yang Jing nodded and asked Zhu Shou to ask someone to take the two prisoners. Then he stepped forward and shook Fang Guozhen's hand. "In this way, General Fang will be one of us from now on. Don't worry, when you meet the lord in person, you will know that you will never regret today's decision."

Fang Guozhen smiled bitterly. He was forced to surrender. Even if he wanted to regret it, what could he do? Once his three sons were sent to Jiankang and his navy was handed over, wouldn't he be at the mercy of others?

But on the other hand, he is now a marquis and a member of the Shengwu Army. He only hopes that Lu Jin can pacify the world as soon as possible and fulfill his promise!

At the same time, just as the battle in eastern Zhejiang was coming to an end and Fang Guozhen secretly surrendered, the situation in Xuzhou also saw a reversal. Zhima Li was killed in the battle, but Xuzhou had not completely collapsed yet and had actually stabilized the situation.

However, Tuotuo did not win easily and suffered heavy losses. Both sides suffered losses.
(End of this chapter)