Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 38 Choosing a Hero

At dusk that day, the Palace Army successfully set up camp on the north bank of the Huai River. On the south bank of the Huai River, in Fengyang City, Lu Jiude and several of his generals were caught off guard by the sudden arrival of thousands of soldiers.

Although Lu Jiude had received the news from the scouts three hours ago, he had no time to make preparations. He simply ordered his troops to gather all the ships on the north bank and move them to the south.

He didn't expect that the army could complete the journey of a hundred miles in less than a day.

Moreover, half of the scouts he sent out were intercepted and killed by the enemy in just three hours. The remaining dozen or so were chased all the way to the north bank of the Huai River before they managed to escape.

Now, apart from the few pieces of military intelligence sent back at the beginning, he knew almost nothing about the army in the north.

However, by this time, it was already dark, and although the troops on both sides of the river were facing each other, they had not taken any action. This gave Lu Jiude time to maneuver and calmly deal with this unexpected incident.

But military leaders like Gao Jie, Huang Degong, and Liu Liangzuo were not stupid, especially the scouts under their command. After seeing the appearance of the Palace Army, they were all shocked. The military intelligence they came back to report was that the army on the north bank numbered tens of thousands and was unstoppable.

Thousands and thousands are not the most important thing. The most important thing is that Zhu Cilang directly revealed his identity: a crown prince who controls the military and the current first heir to the throne of the Ming Dynasty!
So, when Lu Jiude summoned all the generals and wanted to take direct action to make the matter a done deal, Gao Jie, Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, and even Wang Hui, the governor of Huaiyang and the commander-in-chief of the flag camp, who had originally agreed to cooperate with him, all changed their minds and stood still.

After all, the reason they came to Fengyang was that they thought Emperor Chongzhen, the crown prince, and several princes were all gone, and Prince Fu was the most legitimate heir to the Ming Dynasty.

And the person opposite is now claiming that he is the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty!
Although Gao Jie and Liu Liangzuo had already disobeyed the imperial order, they would not be willing to take a gamble and risk the wrath of the world.

Each of them was a shrewd person, and they knew exactly what they could and could not do. They were here to gain some merit from serving the emperor, not to rebel.

Lu Jiude mobilized them and even offered more attractive conditions, but neither Gao Jie nor Huang Degong, whom he regarded as his confidant, was moved.

He also quickly realized that these people were not easy to fool, and then changed his strategy.

Zhu Cilang's sudden appearance in Fengyang has completely disrupted his plans. He must instigate a battle between the two armies as soon as possible, otherwise the longer the time drags on, the more unfavorable the situation will be for him.

After all, the reason he was able to win over Gao Jie, Huang Degong, and Liu Liangzuo, apart from his identity as the eunuch guarding Fengyang, was actually because of the public opinion he had created early on - Chongzhen and the prince had already died long ago.

Now that Zhu Cilang has made a high-profile appearance, this is what has been destroyed.

The value of Prince Fu is not determined by his own identity, but by the life and death of Chongzhen and his son!

Soon, under Lu Jiude's hints and instigation, Liu Liangzuo and Wang Hui immediately understood what he meant and began to divert the conflict, wanting to force Gao Jie to fight and become the vanguard of tomorrow's army's northern attack on the so-called "fake prince."

Although Gao Jie was reluctant in his heart, he could not resist the two people excluding him at the same time, and Lu Jiude even intended to make this happen.

Moreover, Lu Jiude really gave too much and offered conditions so generous that he could hardly refuse, which made it difficult for him not to be tempted!

Among all the Jiangbei troops, his strength is undoubtedly the strongest, but he is definitely no match for Lu Jiude, Liu Liangzuo, and Wang Hui who are suppressed at the same time, and Huang Degong has not expressed his position.

Moreover, Gao Jie had always longed to achieve great things, get promoted and make money. Lu Jiude gave him a death order in the name of military supervisor. A brave man would not suffer a loss in front of him, so he finally had to agree to it openly.

After the military meeting, Gao Jie immediately returned to his troops' camp outside the city. He was accompanied by a team of people sent by Lu Jiude to monitor him. Although he had some complaints in his heart, he had no choice but to accept it.

As soon as he entered the big tent, Gao Jie immediately dismissed his attendants, then walked straight forward, hugged a beautiful woman with a plump figure and a charming face in the tent, and complained with a sad face. His hands were also very dishonest and reached directly into the bulging clothes.

The beautiful woman looked very young. Although she snorted twice out of cold, pretending to be angry, as soon as Gao Jie took his hand away, she snorted again and raised her hand to stop him, saying coquettishly, "Warm me up!"

Gao Jie's big hands continued to rub inside his clothes, and at the same time he kept talking about the trap that Lu Jiude, Huang Degong and others had just set for him.

Xing came from a wealthy family. She was a quartermaster in Li Zicheng's army and was known for her intelligence. She had an affair with Gao Jie when Gao Jie was going back and forth to the quartermaster camp to deliver and verify the certificates.

After all, Gao Jie was considered a handsome man at that time. Not only was he tall and mighty, full of energy and spirit, but his real kung fu at night was also much better than Li Zicheng's. In addition, they were attracted by Gao Jie's beauty, so the two of them soon got together secretly.

Xing, the concubine who once managed military supplies for King Chuang, became the legal wife and military advisor of "Fanshan Yao" after Gao Jie defected to the Ming Dynasty. Whenever Gao Jie encountered a difficult decision, he would ask Xing for her opinion.

"The soldiers in Jiangbei are not easy to deal with. That eunuch Lu Jiude and those bastards Liu Liangzuo are clearly trying to plot against me."

"Son of a bitch, if you push me too far, I'll just run again and see which one of them can outrun me!"

"Even if Li Zicheng is in the north now, we have no choice but to go south. This time we may have to cross the river. However, once we cross the river, no one will be our opponent!"

"Actually, what Lu Jiude said is not without reason, but it's too risky. What if that's the real prince?" "Time is really running out. We can't just run away at night. Lu Jiude is a coward and has sent over a hundred personal soldiers to watch us. The same goes for Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo. His central army is almost empty."

Gao Jie kept complaining, but he also wanted Xing's advice. He didn't want to cross the river. He was already unfamiliar with the southern Zhili area, and even more so in the south. Furthermore, the conditions Lu Jiude offered him were indeed tempting, and he was very tempted.

"This Lu Jiude seems to be a man of his word, that prince..." Xing sneered, the round face of Prince Fu appeared in her mind, and she shook her head.

"He doesn't look like someone who can accomplish anything!"

"It would be better if nothing happens. If it does, we won't have to worry about it anymore!" Gao Jie laughed after hearing this.

"Then what do you think of He Renlong and Sun Chuanting? Can they succeed? If we follow them, will there be any future?" Xing took Gao Jie's hands away from her, then slowly walked to the table in front of them, poured Gao Jie a bowl of hot tea, and then said:

"Now that we have the opportunity to choose, we naturally have to choose the one who can get things done. Since those two bastards Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo are unwilling to go, it means that the one across from Jiang is not a weakling."

"But the one in Jiangbei may not give as much as Lu Jiude. Moreover, Jiangbei's troops are too few. Although they look elite, they definitely don't have tens of thousands of them."

Gao Jie suddenly hesitated. He understood that no matter which side he supported, victory would be a credit to the emperor, so the key was to choose the winning side. Right now, Fengyang clearly had the upper hand, with tens of thousands of Nanzhili troops stationed there.

Xing heard Gao Jie's hesitation, but she did not think Fengyang's scattered group had any advantages:

"You can't just look at the numbers on paper when it comes to troops. People like Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo only count if they can be mobilized. Didn't you just say that even Wang Hui, without Lu Zhenfei's support, isn't willing to be the vanguard?"

After hearing this, Gao Jie frowned and remained silent, looking as if he was weighing the pros and cons.

Seeing this, Xing tucked her black hair around her ears and then said righteously:

"Since there's still a choice, why not choose a leader who can accomplish things? It's okay to suffer a little loss temporarily, but the most worrying thing is to follow the wrong person, that would be fatal. We've already fled from Shaanxi to Southern Zhili, where else can we flee to?"

After hearing this, Gao Jie frowned even more. He and Xing had both met Prince Fu, and they could tell at a glance that the other party was not a heroic ruler. He was even far inferior to Lu Jiude, a eunuch without any balls, let alone Li Zicheng.

"But Lu Jiude." Gao Jie was really worried about him.

"Lu Jiude is just a eunuch after all!" Xing said in a firm tone. Although she knew that Lu Jiude was capable, she was not afraid at all.

"But the one from Jiangbei is said to be only fifteen or sixteen years old. I'm afraid he must be escorted by a minister of great talent and strategy, otherwise he would never have escaped to Nanzhili." Gao Jie said again, but he was still unsure and hesitant.

"We must first send a capable person to take a look and find out the truth. But who should we send now? It's a life-threatening journey. Hu Maozhen has to stay behind to lead the troops, and Li Benshen is away. Li Chengdong..."

"For matters like this, it's naturally my mother who will go." Xing's lips curled up slightly, and she smiled charmingly: "Whether he is a hero or not, I can tell at a glance!"

"You want to go?" Gao Jie was unwilling to do so, as this was his sweetheart.

"How can you trust someone else with such a risk on your life?" Xing snorted coldly. "I've seen so-called princes and emperors before, and they're nothing special. What's wrong with going and seeing them? No matter how fierce Li Zicheng was back then, didn't I just tell him to be a cuckold? And he had to be a cuckold."

When Gao Jie heard this, a smug look immediately appeared on his face. He had seduced his eldest brother's woman, and his eldest brother was now the emperor. He could brag about this for the rest of his life.

At this moment, someone suddenly came from outside the tent and reported: "General, Lieutenant General Li wants to see you!"

Gao Jie and Xing were surprised when they heard this, then they smiled at each other and said in unison, "Li Benshen arrived at the perfect time!"

　Thanks to book friends Yuekenlu Dazhuang, 20181107124212127, and Secret in the Distance for the rewards.

　　PS: Some book lovers have reacted strongly, so let me explain Huang Degong’s problem here.

　　The first thing to say is that the decision-making of the characters in the text is based on what happened in history, and the reactions of the characters are deduced on this basis. Because it is the author's deduction, it must be just one of the possibilities.

　　Secondly, because history is supposed to change within the text, the decisions made by different people will also change. This information is presented earlier in the text, but it's scattered, as it's revealed bit by bit as the plot unfolds. (For example, the previously mentioned relationship between Lu Jiude and Huang Degong, Huang Degong's resume, and the stories of Liu Liangzuo and others are all included. Then there's Lu Jiude's behind-the-scenes actions, the impact of Li Zicheng's changes, and so on.) So while some readers find it long-winded, much of the explanation is actually necessary; otherwise, the logical chain is lost, and if you don't read it, you might think the author didn't include it.

　　The third point is that based on these foundations, the character makes decisions and judgments based on the limited information he or she receives. He or she is not a reader or author, and cannot be omniscient, so he or she can only make choices based on the information he or she knows from the text. Furthermore, people are selfish and have fears; it's impossible to just say whatever they think. There are definitely concerns. To accomplish something, one needs time and the right conditions. After all, this isn't the modern world where a phone call can do the job.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)