In Hongwu, we started as rebels

Chapter 711 A Cup of Wine Settles the Situation in Liaodong, But Turbulence Begins

Lu Yunyi, who had just left the camp, soon met Tuoluhuchaer and the other two.

The two had already set out wine and dishes in the camp, and a warm stove was lit, making the whole camp cozy and warm.

"My lord, please come in quickly!"

Tuoluhuchaer, who came to greet him, blushed and made a gesture of invitation.

Lu Yunyi sat down somewhat awkwardly and looked at Azashiri opposite him:
"So grand?"

"What a great victory! We would feel guilty if we didn't celebrate."

Azashili said with a smile, and Tuolhuchar also spoke up one after another, his face full of fear:

"If it weren't for the fact that the adults discovered the Jurchens gathering in Halamulin, we would have been in danger."

"I only learned of this by chance; it was all just a coincidence."
However, today's resounding victory certainly deserves a celebration!

Lu Yunyi didn't stand on ceremony and picked up the gleaming gold wine glass on the table.

"Come on, let's toast to this temporary victory!"

The two quickly raised their cups, their eyes filled with some confusion.
After the two finished their drinks,
Lu Yunyi put down the wine glass, and the amount of wine inside was not reduced at all.

"My lord, shall we continue with the military campaign?"

Azashiri wiped the water droplets from his beard and stared intently at him.

Lu Yunyi nodded:
"The Jurchens have lost all their elite troops, and their homes are poorly defended."
Wouldn't it be a pity not to take advantage of his illness and kill him?
"Such an easy victory—if we don't seize it, we'll be wasting a precious opportunity."

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the military tent instantly froze!

Their eyes were fixed on each other, and their breathing was slightly rapid.

Tuoluhuchaer leaned closer and hurriedly said:
"My lord, should we transfer some more soldiers from within the clan?"

Lu Yunyi glanced at him, knowing that he was pursuing a greater victory and simply wanted to grab more.
"Don't pursue a desperate enemy; the Jurchens have already been cornered by us."
It would be fine to sweep them away, but if we insist on wiping them out completely, it might be a waste of effort and not worth the effort.

My meaning is, excluding the wounded and routed soldiers,
The remaining soldiers will go to the three Jurchen territories; whatever the outcome, that's what will happen.

Do not be greedy for credit or act rashly.

Firstly, it was to expand the gains of the victory; secondly, it was to intimidate the Jurchens.
Since they are the weakest in the Northeast, they should stay home and do business with us honestly, and not have any ulterior motives.

Upon hearing this, both of them understood.

Azashili suddenly realized what had happened, remembering what Tuoluhuchaer had told him.
Dusi wanted to complete his business deal with the Jurchens through the Baisong tribe.
Now it's time to heat things up and expand this business even further.

However, in the past, it was the Jurchens who took the initiative.

From this point on, the commander will take the initiative.

"My lord, the Jurchens are uncivilized barbarians. It is better to kill them once and for all than to join forces with them. I believe that we should exterminate their entire clan as a warning to others."

Tuoluhuchaer was filled with murderous intent.

After listening, Lu Yunyi fell into deep thought. After pondering for a long time, he slowly shook his head.

"There are too many people. Unless we deploy an army of over 200,000, it would be impossible to completely wipe them out."
Otherwise, once the will to resist arises, we will be attacked from both open and covert angles at every turn.

Tuoluhuchar was still somewhat unwilling and wanted to say something more.
But Azashiri stopped him abruptly, giving him a reassuring look.

Then he looked at Lu Yunyi and smiled:

"Your Excellency is wise. We will obey your orders. How shall the spoils of this expedition be distributed?"

"It's the same as before: 30% will be handed over, and you will keep 70% for yourselves."

However, we must remain tight-lipped about it externally, lest we let anything slip. Furthermore, we must keep the war a secret as much as possible, and quietly amass wealth.

The two men's faces lit up with joy.
Although I didn't know why I had to hide it, I readily agreed.

In their view, handing over 30% to the military commander would secure a stable environment and gain his support.

This is a very good deal.

This was also due to the fact that the two were already leaders and extremely wealthy.
There's absolutely no need to worry about treasures.

After the three discussed the matter further,

Lu Yunyi stood up and said to the two of them with a smile:
"The matter has been explained. I will take my leave now. I will bring my troops to join you tomorrow."

The two looked at the table full of food, stood up, and then noticed the untouched wine. In the end, they said nothing.
"Sir, please."

"Um"

Lu Yunyi was escorted out of the military tent, mounted his warhorse, and rode away.
The sound of horses' hooves faded into the distance, and their figures became increasingly elusive in the candlelight.

After an unknown amount of time, Azashiri slowly spoke:
How do you feel about our current situation?

Tuoluhuchaer pursed his lips and sighed.
Even if he didn't want to admit it, the facts were undeniable.
"This is the best era for the Three Guardians of Duoyan. There are no external enemies, and they can make money."

More importantly, there is a bright future.

"Yes, the people of the Central Plains are best at living a good life."
Unfortunately, the people of the Ming Dynasty today are not only good at fighting, but also good at managing their lives, and Lord Lu in front of us is one of the best among them.

Let's not cause any more trouble these years; I'm afraid you'll lose people's support.

Azashiri offered kind words of advice, saying that today's fight...
He had heard many of his clansmen say that he should simply become a Ming citizen and receive military pay.
This is not good news for the three guards of Duoyan.
If all the soldiers in the tribe are loyal to the Ming Dynasty, is there any need for the Doyan Three Guards to exist?
Tuoluhuchaer's face was gloomy:
"What I'm afraid of now is that just getting by will kill us."

"So what do you want? To give up your good life and prepare to go to war with the Commander?"
Putting aside whether your tribesmen would agree, can you even win a fight?

Azashili's voice was somewhat anxious; he was genuinely afraid that Tuoluhuchaer would do something foolish.

Have you seen the battlefield today?

A camp of over a thousand men who resisted were turned into corpses in just a few breaths.

The Jurchens wore leather armor, and so did we.
After one round, do you think we can withstand it?

After speaking, Azashiri's tone softened somewhat:
"Don't rush, conserve your energy and see what happens next."

You yourself said you'd wait until the old Ming emperor dies, then we'll see.
Before that, appease the commander well and get as many good things as possible from the open.

Tell the tribesmen to spend the stolen money quickly.
Money is meaningless if you don't exchange it for good armor and weapons.

Tuoluhuchaer's face flushed red, and his fists clenched tightly.

"I see."

Lu Yunyi arrived at Lingshanpo Camp at midnight.

He originally did not intend to contact Tianjin.
But the situation changed unexpectedly.
The practice of the army delivering goods was popularized and developed in Liaodong.

After thinking it over, he decided to come and give him a reminder.

At the north gate of the camp, a soldier dressed in grassland armor stepped forward, drew his large bow, and fired an arrow forcefully at the gate.

This arrow caused the Tianjin garrison soldiers on the stockade wall to turn serious.
However, when they saw the arrow embedded deeply in the wooden leg of the drum...

After gently shaking it, I breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Especially when he saw the letter hanging precariously on the arrow.

Upon learning that a letter had been delivered by people from the grasslands outside the city, Chi Yun rushed over immediately.

He hurriedly opened the letter, and after just one glance, his expression suddenly turned strange.

His gaze swept across the darkness, looking at the Jurchen camp not far away, and he also saw a group of people standing at the camp gate.

His voice was urgent and excited:
"No one is to move without orders. Wait for my return!"

The soldiers looked at each other, bewildered, wondering what had happened.
But he obeyed orders and stayed there obediently, only looking at the opposite camp with some apprehension.

Based on their speculation, the Jurchens had already been defeated and killed.

The people who now occupy the camp are from the grasslands.
It's just unclear why the grassland people stopped their raids.

Fifteen minutes later, Huang Yingzhi was lying on a wooden board and was carried over by several soldiers.

He tilted his head to look at the camp gate. The excruciating pain all over his body made his face pale, his lips looked like they were covered with a layer of white frost, and his skin was extremely dry and cracked.

"Open the door, open the door!"

Chi Yun shouted for the soldiers to open the camp gates.

With a creak, the camp gate opened.

Chi Yun led a dozen or so soldiers.
While everyone looked at each other in surprise and uncertainty, they carried Huang Yingzhi out.
Before long, several figures entered Huang Yingzhi's line of sight.

The tall figure of the leader, in particular, almost made him breathless.

He coughed violently from excitement.
"Lord Lu, what brings you here?"

Before they had even come to a complete stop, Huang Yingzhi spoke weakly, her pupils slightly contracting.

He considered that the person in front of him might be one of his own, or he considered that he might be a soldier from Da Ning.
But when he actually saw it, he still found it somewhat unbelievable.

It evokes a sense of joy, like meeting an old friend in a foreign land.

Lu Yunyi frowned as he looked at Huang Yingzhi's miserable appearance:
"General Huang, if I remember correctly..."
"We've only been apart for two months, how did you change like this?"

"I'm ashamed. I'm so ashamed."

Huang Yingzhi gripped Lu Yunyi's hand tightly, her palm trembling with excitement.

A rare glimmer of red appeared on his deathly pale face. "Hurry up and go into the village, it's too cold outside."

Lu Yunyi waved his hand, the gate of the stockade opened, and a group of people carried Huang Yingzhi into the stockade.

This scene undoubtedly shocked the soldiers of Tianjin Garrison behind the lines.

what's wrong?

Why did the commander-in-chief go to the enemy camp?

However, the group did not act rashly, as they had made no progress since the steppe people defeated the Jurchens.
They had guessed some things, at least not the enemy.

Inside the main tent of the vanguard camp, Huang Yingzhi was placed near the stove.

The warm air currents made his stiff body more flexible.

Lu Yunyi personally brought over a cup of hot tea and sat down.

"General Huang, have some ginseng tea to replenish your qi and blood. This is a good thing that only the Jurchen people have."

Huang Yingzhi didn't stand on ceremony and drank the ginseng tea in one gulp.

He looked Lu Yunyi up and down, a look of emotion on his face:

"Lord Lu, I feel ashamed to see you here in Liaodong."
"If it weren't for Lord Lu's timely arrival to reinforce us, our Great Ming would have suffered a crushing defeat."

When the topic of war came up, Lu Yunyi's expression turned serious:
"General Huang, Tianjin Wei was once the elite of Beizhili, how could it have fallen to such a state?"

Don't even mention it.

Huang Yingzhi shook her head, gritting her teeth.

He recounted everything that had happened in the past few days.
Hearing this, Lu Yunyi frowned deeply, his eyes burning with anger!

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Yunyi slammed his hand on the square table, making it shake, and gritted his teeth:
"This is outrageous! Such a traitor, betraying his own people and harming his colleagues, I cannot rest easy until he is executed!"

After speaking, Lu Yunyi looked at Zhang Huai'an, who was standing not far away, and instructed him:
"Go, move all the grain and fodder that were prepared to be left behind to Lingshan Slope, all of it!"

"Yes!"

Zhang Huai'an responded and hurriedly ran away.

"Thank you very much, Lord Lu!"

Huang Yingzhi's face showed emotion, and she let out a long sigh of relief.
With the supplies secured, Tianjin was saved.

Lu Yunyi's face remained gloomy as he spoke bluntly:
"The grain supplies of the Jurchen camp originally belonged to Liaodong, but they were betrayed and sent here."

Huang Yingzhi's face stiffened and darkened; he had already guessed it.

The Jurchens were a people who couldn't even get enough to eat; how could they possibly muster an army of nearly 100,000 in the winter?
The daily consumption of food supplies was an alarming figure.

Even if you hunted all the prey in the northern mountains and forests, it still wouldn't be enough.

The answer to where the food came from is self-evident.

Seeing that he remained silent, Lu Yunyi said in a deep voice:

"General Huang, I have come to see you today to tell you something."

"Please speak, Lord Lu."

"Marquis Mei Yi of Runan is the mastermind behind this matter. Be careful when returning to Tianjin."

Huang Yingzhi fell silent for a moment, and after hesitating for a long time, he finally gritted his teeth:

"Since Lord Lu has gone to such lengths to save me, I will not hide anything from you..."
Marquis Mei Yi of Runan was detained in the camp by me before the battle began, and has been there for nearly ten days now.

Lu Yunyi was stunned for a moment, wondering if he had misheard.

He looked at Huang Yingzhi in disbelief.
The person in front of me looks like a nice guy, so how could he be so bold?

"Detained them?"

Huang Yingzhi nodded.
"They were still starving in the camp; the army's food supplies had been burned."
I went to request it, but the Marquis of Runan was adamant about not providing any grain or fodder.

I thought to myself, since I'm going to die anyway, I might as well take one or two people down with me; maybe then there'll be a chance for a turn of events.

Only then was the Marquis of Runan arrested.

At this point, Huang Yingzhi touched her nose somewhat awkwardly:
"Looking back now, I admire my own courage."

"General Huang is indeed very bold."

After holding it in for a long time, Lu Yunyi blurted out a sentence.

He was deeply moved, realizing that one should not push an honest person too far unless absolutely necessary.

Lu Yunyi thought for a moment and asked:
Why did the Marquis of Runan do this? Was the Marquis of Yan'an also involved?

As soon as the question arose, Huang Yingzhi made up her mind.
Lord Lu must have come with some kind of mission.

Otherwise, such a taboo matter,

People tend to avoid it if they can; there's no reason for them to come closer.

He didn't hide anything and told them about inheriting the title.
And my feelings about interacting with Mei Yi these days.

Finally, in a somber voice, he affirmed:

"Lord Lu, such an important matter cannot be accomplished by the Marquis of Runan alone."
The Marquis of Yan'an was certainly involved, and perhaps even the Duke of Han and some important figures from the capital and the Huai River region.

Lu Yunyi's expression was strange.
He never expected that the breakthrough in the court's disputes would actually be in Liaodong.

"General Huang, when do you plan to withdraw to Beizhili? And what will be done with the Marquis of Runan?"

Huang Yingzhi gave a wry smile and shook his head:
"To be honest, I'm prepared to die here and have no plans to return."

Just thinking about it now gives me a splitting headache.
It wasn't just the situation in Liaodong that was difficult to explain;
The Marquis of Runan is someone you can neither release nor kill.
I am now in a dilemma.

The tent fell silent; neither of them spoke, as if lost in thought.

Huang Yingzhi was inwardly groaning; he didn't have much of a powerful backer.
Mei Yi was a hot potato in his hands; he couldn't afford to offend either side.
He could already imagine what would happen to him when he went back.
He will definitely be targeted by those important figures in the court, and it's uncertain whether he can keep his official position.

Moreover, even if he were to expose this matter to the world,
He didn't fare well either; most likely, he would become a pawn to be discarded.

Just as he was lost in thought, Lu Yunyi spoke up decisively:
"A lose-lose situation is better than a win-win situation. Mei Yi cannot be let go, nor can he be killed."

Then we will secretly send him back to the capital and hand him over to His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince to handle.

Regardless of the circumstances, he has committed treason and cannot be ignored.

If General Huang takes him back,

There won't be any trouble in the short term, and you might even get a promotion because of it.

However, there will inevitably be many troubles afterward.

The nobility are different from us generals; they form their own faction.
Even if they are completely unrelated, in order to protect the interests of the noble class as a whole, there's no guarantee that someone won't try to deal with you.

Huang Yingzhi gave a wry smile; how could he not know?
Arresting nobles is not a slap in the face to the rebel party.

He's slapped the face of the entire nobility, so someone will inevitably take action to deal with him.

He could already see his miserable end.

Seeing his increasingly dejected expression, Lu Yunyi said in a deep voice:
"General Huang has another option: hand Mei Yi over to me, and I will send someone to escort him and a group of Jurchen generals back to Yingtian."

Huang Yingzhi suddenly raised her head, her anxiety undoubtedly intensifying.
The person before me must have received a secret order to act so recklessly.

"Lord Lu, this is not a good job."
Lord Lu has saved my life; I cannot allow him to suffer this punishment in my place.

Lu Yunyi raised his hand to stop him:
"General Huang, you don't need to consider this matter."

Since I dare to accept this task, I am confident that I can handle it.

If you are willing to grant me a higher official rank and title, then hand Mei Yi over to me.

All matters in Liaodong were kept secret, as if nothing had happened.

There was no collusion between internal and external forces, and no treason or collusion with the enemy.

What they have is the combined forces of the three Jurchen tribes, who are fierce in battle.

Of course, doing so
The cost was considerable, but the compensation after things are settled should be substantial.

As for the choice, that's up to you, General Huang.

Huang Yingzhi frowned. Between praising first and then criticizing, or criticizing first and then praising, even a fool would know which to choose.

But he was somewhat worried and asked anxiously:

"Lord Lu, I would like to ask a question."
Did you come to Liaodong with some secret orders?
If this was merely a spontaneous act by the Commander, then we need not trouble Lord Lu with this matter.

"I will take full responsibility; as for what comes next, let it be."

Lu Yunyi laughed, somewhat admiring Huang Yingzhi's frankness.

He didn't answer directly, but stood up:

"General Huang, please send Mei Yi here. I will take care of the rest."

(End of this chapter)