Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 441 Who will pull the Tianhe River to wash the nine states? (asking for monthly tickets)
On July 13, the day before the Ghost Festival, the last auspicious day in mid-July, Lu Jin held a sacrifice on the top of Niu Shou Mountain, burned firewood and recited prayers to report to the heavens, and was formally promoted to the King of Chu.

Lu Jin first said that the ceremony should be simple, not too grand, and there was no need to build an altar. Just find a natural sanctuary. Then the Minister of Rites Tao An suggested setting up an altar in Fangshan, south of Jiankang.

Fangshan has a good terrain. It is just south of Jiankang. Moreover, Fangshan is a flat-topped hill, like a seal on the ground. It is simply a natural altar. However, it was rejected by Lu Jin.
The damn Fangshan is 40 miles away from Jiankang City. Why would I run 40 miles away to offer sacrifices and then run back?
So in the end they chose Niu Shou Mountain, which was only 20 miles away from Jiankang. Don’t ask why. The reason is that Yue Fei had fought against the Jin soldiers here and won a great victory at Niu Shou Mountain. Lu Jin also wanted to offer sacrifices to the heavens here and vowed to wipe out the Hu Lu!

After offering sacrifices to heaven at Niu Shou Mountain, he returned to the palace in Jiankang City to worship his ancestors. He posthumously conferred the titles of King of Chu and Queen on his parents of three generations. He then canonized Zhang Yunxiu as his principal wife and his eldest son Gongshu Tan as the Crown Prince of Chu. He also took two concubines into the palace on the same day.

At the same time as Lu Jin proclaimed himself king and took a concubine, military orders were sent out from the palace to all directions. Lu Jin summoned the generals of the 1st, 4th and 5th armies to hold a combat meeting in Hezhou on July 20, and then summoned the generals of the 2nd and 3rd armies to hold a meeting in Zhenjiang on July 23.

Before he officially sets out on the expedition this year, he has to summon the commanders of various fronts to arrange strategic goals. Also, after he officially becomes king, he will meet with the generals leading the troops outside and paint a rosy picture for them. We will be listed in the next round, so you have to work hard.
On July 16, just three days after Lu Jin officially proclaimed himself king, Zhang Wen, who had received a transfer order at the beginning of the month, also returned to Jiankang with a royal guard division. Although Lu Jin did not go far this time, since he was away, naturally someone had to be in charge of the central government.

Who can suppress those civil servants in the central government, who can protect the Princess of Chu and the young prince? Of course, the most suitable person is Zhang Wen, the emperor's uncle. Taner is his nephew, the future crown prince. How dare Zhang Wen not protect him?
Moreover, Zhang Wen's military ability was actually not bad. In the original history, Zhang Wen only led 5,000 soldiers to garrison Lanzhou, but he repelled two attacks by Wang Baobao with tens of thousands of soldiers and guarded Lanzhou without losing it. Under Zhu Yuanzhang's account with so many generals, he would not have been granted the title of marquis if he did not have some real ability.

"Your Highness! You look so beautiful in this dragon robe."

As soon as Zhang Wen came back, he came to pay a visit to Lu Jin. When he saw Lu Jin in a white robe with a round collar and a dragon pattern, he smiled so hard that his mouth was crooked. The big brother Lu who sneaked into Zhujiagang in the middle of the night has now become the King of Chu, and he and Zhu Shou, two farmers' sons, have also become successful with him.

Seeing how happy he was, Lu Jin immediately walked up to him, took his hand and said, "Does it look good? Your sister embroidered it for me. If you like it, I'll make one for you when I come back."

"We dare not wear this." Zhang Wen paused when he heard this. He thought Lu Jin was testing him, and he was so scared that he quickly expressed his opinion.

Lu Jin patted his shoulder and consoled him, "What are you afraid of? If I become the King of Chu, you will no longer recognize me as your elder brother Lu. How can I harm you?
“The Tartars in the Yuan court are uneducated. The dragons they embroidered all have three claws. What kind of dragons are they? In my opinion, the one with three claws should be called a Jiao, the one with four claws a python, and the one with five claws a real dragon.

"Although you can't wear the dragon robe, you can still wear the four-clawed python robe. I'll make a batch of python robes in the future and give them to meritorious officials. Then all of us brothers from Chaohu can wear them so beautifully, and it will be worth it for you to work so hard for me."

Zhang Wen was relieved when he heard this, and immediately smiled, "This is great, I know that following His Highness will not be a disadvantage. If I hadn't followed His Highness to Chaohu, how could I, Zhang Wen, be where I am today."

"Okay, it's good that you know. Although I don't have a dragon robe for you to wear now, I do have other good clothes. Someone, bring up the flying fish suit." Lu Jin clapped his hands, and Li Dingbang outside the door immediately came out with a plate of brocade clothes.

Lu Jin took it and unfolded it before Zhang Wen. Zhang Wen looked at the pattern and was stunned. "What is this flying fish? It looks like a dragon but not a dragon. However, this dress is pretty."

Lu Jin said immediately, "This is called a flying fish, a kind of ray mentioned in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. It is like a dragon and a fish, with wings, and can fly over the sea. From now on, it will also be a kind of clothing granted by the new dynasty, only one level lower than the dragon robe. You can wear it."

"Give it to me now?" Zhang Wen still hesitated.

"What are you afraid of? Just wear what I give you. You are not the only one who has it. I asked you to come back to look after the house this time so that I could call all the generals to a meeting before the expedition. By then, they will also have the clothes I give them. Now that I am the King of Chu, I naturally cannot let my brothers sit and watch.

"You have been following me since you joined the army. You have fought in hundreds of battles and made so many contributions. What's wrong with you wearing a Feiyu suit? Just take it. This is the size Yunxiu personally determined for you. Try it on and see if it fits you. Then put on your new clothes and we can go home for dinner.

"Tan'er will be one year old in a few days, and he can talk now. Yunxiu knows you are coming back, and has been teaching him to call uncle these days."

Zhang Wen laughed and said, "Thank you for your reward, Your Highness. I will put on new clothes and go to the street to buy some things. I will go back to entertain my nephew. This is the first time he calls me uncle, so I can't go empty-handed."

"As you wish."

"Uncle~"

"Like it?"

"like."

"Be good, take it and play with it."

A moment later, in the palace, Zhang Yunxiu looked at her elder brother speechlessly, and couldn't help but complain, "Brother finally came back, and then he went to the street to buy two katydids for your nephew?"

"What's the big deal? What boy didn't like insects and birds when he was a child? Look, doesn't he like them?" Looking at his nephew running around the yard with a katydid cage, Zhang Wen laughed playfully.

Zhang Yunxiu rolled her eyes at him and then said, "Ta'er is the prince of Chu. He will be a wise king in the future. You are not allowed to let him play with this thing anymore. Don't you know that playing with things will ruin one's ambition?"

Zhang Wen said indifferently, "He's still young, just one year old. Do you expect him to be able to memorize and write now?"

"I don't want to bother with you. You can talk to His Highness. I'll go get the food ready."

Zhang Wen then came to the veranda and stood next to Lu Jin and asked, "When will Your Highness go to Hezhou?"

"Nineteen, you'll go in three days and be back soon. However, the scale of this year's battle is large, and troops are being deployed in three directions at the same time. I'm worried that there might be some recurrence, so I may have to go to the front line to supervise the battle. Therefore, you have to stay in Jiankang for the next six months." Lu Jin said immediately.

Zhang Wen nodded and asked, "So if they send troops to Shandong this year, I won't go either?"

"No, you can't go." Lu Jin explained immediately.

"This year, the main force in the Shandong direction is Zhu Liangzu's Second Front Army, and half of the troops from Yang Jing's Third Front Army will be transferred to reinforce, a total of three army groups.

"Jiangnan has only been annexed for less than a year, and the people's hearts are not yet on my side. I have also implemented a tiered tax system, and I don't know how many local gentry are resentful of me. The reason they are not making any moves now is because they are intimidated by our military might. Therefore, we cannot transfer all of Jiangnan's main forces away. In order to prevent them from causing trouble, at least one army group must be left in the entire Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and you must also guard Jiankang.

"We have just collected the first summer tax, and some people may still be dissatisfied. They hope that we will be defeated and driven away by the Yuan army so that they can take the land back. Of course, we cannot let them succeed.

"When the autumn taxes are collected this year, and we win another battle on the front line and take over Jiangxi, Hubei, Central Plains, Jingxiang, and Shandong, I will hold another imperial examination in September, gather all the scholars in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, select the talents, and send them to new places to serve as officials. The rest of the people will also be confined to study.

"By then, our situation will have been decided, and they will probably be able to fully understand the situation. This way, our territory will be stable. Next year, we will only need to use local internal guards to garrison Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the remaining group army of the Third Front Army can also be transferred to the front line to fight. When the time comes, we will let you go to the front line depending on the situation."

Zhang Wen frowned upon hearing this, and then he realized that Lu Jin had to consider so many things, not only military, but more political considerations. But what Lu Jin said was right, now the Yuan Dynasty is about to end, and the situation is divided among the heroes. It is true that Gongshu Jin occupied Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Huaibei, but he just called himself the King of Chu, and Xu Shouhui of Huguang called himself the "Emperor of the Song Dynasty". Liu Futong of the Central Plains is also not a pushover. It is still unknown who will win in the future, so of course they will not be so anxious to bet on Lu Jin.

For ordinary poor people, it is natural that whoever they help will win, but for those landlords with culture and wealth, it becomes "whoever wins they help".

If the battle is fought well this year, Lu Jin wins, successfully swallows up Jiangxi and Hubei, half of the Central Plains, plus the whole of Shandong, and heads straight for Dadu, then the situation will naturally be different.

All together, they have already occupied half of the country. If those landlords are still hesitant at this time and are unwilling to bet heavily on Lu Jin, then when Lu Jin establishes a country and becomes emperor and rewards and distributes benefits according to merit, they will not even be able to catch up with the hot meals, and there will be no place for them by then.

Zhang Wen then said, "Doesn't that mean we can't afford to lose this battle at all?"

Lu Jin said, "When can we afford to lose? I have told you long ago that from the moment we went to Chaohu to join the army, there was no turning back. This road is like sailing against the current. We can only move forward and not retreat. We must either kill all the enemies or be killed by them. If we make a mistake, we will die without a burial place. So we can only win, not lose!"

Zhang Wen nodded seriously, "I understand. Brother Lu, just go and make the arrangements. I will help you take care of the house."

"Well, don't worry. You just need to take good care of Yunxiu and Tan'er and defend the city. Li Shanchang will take care of the civil affairs, and Feng Guoyong will take care of the military affairs. The two of them will check and balance each other, and nothing will go wrong. You don't have to worry about anything. Besides, I won't be gone for long. I'll be back in a few days at most."

"I understand." Zhang Wen immediately agreed solemnly.

At this moment, Taner came running over with a katydid cage in his hand, threw himself at Lu Jin's knees and said, "Dad, katydid."

Lu Jin reached out and picked up his son and held him in his arms, "Who gave you this katydid?"

"uncle."

"Dad is going out these few days, you stay home and listen to your mother and uncle, remember?"

"Oh, I'll listen to you."

"Tsk, that's good, you can talk so much now?" Zhang Wen laughed when he heard that.

Gongshu Tan scratched his hat and said, "If you don't obey, your mother will beat you."

"Hahahahahahaha." Lu Jin and Zhang Wen immediately laughed together.

Three days later, Lu Jin left Jiankang, leaving only Zhang Wen to guard the city. Li Shanchang was promoted to Zhaowen Xiang, and Feng Guoyong was promoted to Wuying Xiang. One civil and one military were in charge of various government affairs, while Zhang Wen took the young master to guard the house.

Lu Jin was accompanied by a group of guards, and was followed by Bao Yu, Xia Yu, Zhan Ding, and the newly arrived Ning Anqing. Among these four military advisers, Bao Yu was in charge of intelligence, and combat meetings could not be held without him. Xia Yu was in charge of the specific plans in the Central Plains, so he had to go as well. Zhan Ding was in charge of the plans in Jiangxi, and he could not be missing either. Only Ning Anqing came here to learn how to do things and to familiarize himself with the structure of the Shengwu Army.

Other followers include Wang Guangyang, Qin Conglong and Tao An, who are in charge of civil affairs. These are the three provincial governors selected by Lu Jin. After they have conquered the territory, Qin Conglong will go to Jiangxi, Wang Guangyang will go to Shandong, and Tao An will go to Nanyang. So they were brought to this meeting, and they will go into the war together with the army.

On July 19th, when everyone was standing on the dock of Niuzhuji, waiting for the guards to pack up the boats, the newly arrived Ning Anqing looked at the surging Yangtze River in front of him and the decisive battle against the Yuan Dynasty that Lu Jin was about to launch, and suddenly he was inspired and recited a poem by Su Shi on the spot.

"The great river flows eastward, the waves wash away all the heroes of the past. To the west of the old fortress, people say it is the Red Cliff of Zhou Lang in the Three Kingdoms period. The rocks pierce the sky, the waves crash against the shore, and the snow piles up. The mountains and rivers are picturesque, and there are so many heroes at that time."

Lu Jin heard this and said, "This is Su Shi's Nian Nu Jiao. Now that you mention it, I remember the scene of the Battle of Crossing the Yangtze River that day. At that time, Nahachu, the Wanhu of Taiping Road, deployed dozens of Huihui cannons on Niuzhu Rock. As soon as our leading ship approached the east bank, countless huge rocks flew over. It was really like 'rocks flying through the sky'."

Qin Conglong asked curiously, "Then how did Your Highness win?"

"Before crossing the river, I used the captured Yuan army ships to transform six ships into artillery boats. Three of them were deployed outside Dangtu City to bombard Dangtu City. The other three were parked at Niuzhuji, on the river surface, firing at the Yuan army's Huihui cannon positions. Relying on the long range of the artillery, I shot down all their archers and Huihui cannons on the shore.

"The commander of the Fifth Front Army, Chang Yuchun, was only the commander of the 13th Regiment at the time. He was the first to reach the shore and led his soldiers all the way to Caishiji inside. This allowed the subsequent troops to continuously land on the dock." Lu Jin explained.

Qin Conglong then stroked his beard and said, "General Chang is so brave, no wonder His Highness thinks highly of him."

Xia Yu was also curious at this time, "Your Highness just recognized that this was Su Zi's Nian Nu Jiao. I think you must have read a lot of poetry. I wonder if Your Highness has any old poems?"

Lu Jin said immediately, "I have indeed read a lot of poetry, but I learned a lot of different things. For some of them, I have forgotten who wrote them. I only remember one or two classic lines. I can remember this one only because Su Shi's poem is more famous.

"As for my old works, I don't really have any, and I'm not very good at it, but I'm in a good mood today, so I can try to write one."

As soon as these words were spoken, the four military advisers immediately took out their notebooks and pens, waiting for Lu Jin to write the lyrics.

Lu Jin thought about it and suddenly chanted with great vigor.

"A thousand miles of river, a thousand sails split the clouds, Zhongyue is like a hook. Look at the blue waves hitting the shore, the fish and dragons rolling, the eagles hitting the waves, and the stars rising and falling.

"Iron chains sink into the sand, barbarian dust obscures the sun, who can hold the Milky Way to wash the nine states?

"After the long howl, I ask who will take over the royal aura of Jinling now?
"Back then, arrows shot at the crest of the tide, laughing at how many heroic bones were left. In the past, Huaixi crossed halberds, common people bathed in blood, Penglang set fire, and red boats burned autumn.

"Pointing the sword at the Central Plains, with the flag flying over the desert, I dare to teach Qiankun the way!

"When the wind and thunder are stirring, the wine of Xinfeng is ready, and the sun and the moon are on the same boat!"

Everyone was stunned. Xia Yu only remembered half of it and just stared at Lu Jin in a daze.

You call this not being good at poetry? ? The first one he wrote was the most difficult Qinyuanchun. Isn’t Qinyuanchun a tune that only big names would choose to show off their literary talent?
Before everyone could react, Lu Jin suddenly drew his sword and pointed it forward, "Get on board and cross the river!"
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ps: This chapter is counted as yesterday's first, and will be recalculated tomorrow. Please vote for me at the beginning of the month.

(End of this chapter)