Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 155 But the King Won't Listen!

"The city has fallen!"

"The rebel army has entered the city!"

"Run~~~"

Huang Degong, who had a rare moment of free time and lay down to take a nap, was forcefully woken up by a servant.

"My lord! The rebel army has entered the city!"

Huang Degong was shocked and exclaimed, "How is this possible?!"

Wuchang was heavily fortified, with tens of thousands of troops defending it. How could the city have been breached so quietly?
"The militia have rebelled!"

The servant quickly explained to him, "They opened the city gates and let Zhang's bandit army into the city!"

Huang Degong stood there dumbfounded.

He knew the militia were unreliable, but he never expected them to rebel so quickly, and even to collude with foreign invaders.

"Oh~~~"

Huang Degong stamped his feet repeatedly, saying, "I have long advised Your Majesty that the militia will suffer a backlash if they are without pay or food."

"But the king will not listen!"

"Quickly!" he hurriedly instructed. "Assemble the troops immediately and drive the enemy out."

The servant looked troubled. "Master, we are the only ones who have gathered here in this haste."

“The various units of the Brave Guard Battalion are scattered and cannot be assembled in a short period of time.”

Upon hearing this, Huang Degong looked up to the sky and sighed deeply.

"I reminded the eunuch commander before that the Yongwei Battalion should not be too dispersed, but he just wouldn't listen!"

Upon hearing the name of the Grand Eunuch, he hurriedly asked, "Where is the Grand Eunuch?"

"The governor is hosting a banquet for the city's high-ranking officials, but the supervising eunuch has gone to the banquet to indulge in wine and women and is currently in the east of the city."

"Zhang's bandit troops entered through the east gate."

Huang Degong was speechless.

What kind of time is this to be going out for drinks and entertainment? What kind of nonsense is going on in people's heads?!
"Send a team of men to find the eunuch in charge."

He hurriedly donned his armor and instructed, "The rest of you, come with me to the Prince's Palace!"

It's highly unlikely that the eunuch in charge can be rescued, but we can't just let it go unchecked; we should at least show some concern.

The important thing now is to escort the King of Chu out of the city as soon as possible.

If a vassal king falls into enemy hands, the emperor will punish him.

They rushed to the Prince's mansion, only to be stopped by the gatekeeper.

"It's so late, Your Majesty is already resting. Please come again tomorrow."

Wuchang is a large city, and the commotion at the East Gate has not yet reached the Chu Prince's residence.

Huang Degong suppressed his anger and said, "Zhang's troops have already entered the city. This humble general must pay homage to Your Majesty immediately!"

"You didn't send a visiting card~~~"

The gatekeeper, as was his habit, said, "If we wake the king this late, we'll be in big trouble."

Huang Degong was so angry that he laughed.

He understood what this meant; they were asking him for a red envelope (cash gift).

In the past, he would have tolerated it.

After all, even a seventh-rank official is in front of the prime minister's gate, so a gatekeeper in a prince's mansion must be at least a fourth-rank official.

This group of people are incompetent, but when it comes to causing trouble, they are experts.

But now that things are so urgent, why are you still doing this?

He kicked the door open, sending the door waiting to receive a red envelope flying, and then pushed it open and went inside.

The gatekeeper, convulsing on the ground, his eyes filled with resentment, cried out, "You wait! Trespassing into the Prince's mansion, you're dead!"

When the prince's guards saw the soldiers entering in a menacing manner, they all darted away faster than monkeys.

Whether it was a protest for unpaid wages or a rebellion, they dared not get involved.

After all, these are soldiers, not ordinary peasants who can be bullied at will.

Huang Degong, accompanied by his servants, stormed all the way to the Chu King's palace.

Startled awake by the news, Zhu Huakui got dressed and rose with the help of a beautiful maid.

Upon seeing Huang Degong, he immediately launched into a tirade of abuse: "You bastard! Are you trying to rebel?"

Suppressing his anger, Huang Degong hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty, the militia have rebelled and opened the city gates to let Zhang's bandit troops into the city."

"This humble general has come specifically to escort Your Majesty out of the city!"

"What?" Zhu Huakui exclaimed in shock. "The militia have rebelled? Aren't they afraid of dying?"

The princes of the Ming Dynasty were just that simple and honest.

They always thought that all the people in the world should work for the Zhu family for free and should be afraid of death.

Huang Degong no longer wanted to speak.

The militiamen who were captured not only received no pay or provisions, but also had to eat their own food, and many of them have starved to death in recent days.

If he were a member of the militia, he would rebel too!

"Your Highness, leave quickly!" Huang Degong stepped forward, grabbing Zhu Huakui's luxurious sleeve and trying to pull him away.

"Wait a minute." Zhu Huakui hurriedly called out, "Quickly go and call my beloved concubines to come with us."

"Also, bring all the gold and silver jewelry from the Prince's mansion."

"Oh, and bring my dog ​​over here~~~"

"And my beloved clothes, imperial gifts, my crickets, the birdcage in the corridor, the ones in the cellar..."

Zhang Xianzhong's troops have already stormed into the Prince's Palace, while this side hasn't even left the house yet.

Huang Degong couldn't take it anymore and ordered his servants to lift the shouting Zhu Huakui up and put him into the carriage.

He personally led the charge, breaking through the encirclement to escort the King of Chu straight to the West Gate.

Upon arriving at the city gate, they found that the gate had also been opened, and a large number of rebel troops poured into the city.

Huang Degong led his servants in a fierce battle, suffering countless casualties and their battle robes stained with blood.

Finally, they managed to break through the encirclement and escorted Zhu Huakui out of the city gate.

However, their whereabouts had been exposed, and more and more bandits surrounded them, shouting that they wanted to capture the King of Chu.

Covered in blood and with several arrows stuck in his armor, Huang Degong, panting heavily, approached Zhu Huakui and said, "Your Majesty, hurry up! We'll go to the Jinshui River and board a boat to Yuezhou."

"Can not be done."

Zhu Huakui, however, refused to leave, saying, "My beloved concubines, pets, and the treasures of the royal palace are all in the city."

"You must immediately go back and bring out my family and property."

Huang Degong was so enraged that he nearly fainted. His face, which had been pale from excessive blood loss, turned bright red.

"Your Majesty!"

"Life is at stake!"

"What time is it? Why are you still thinking about those things!"

"I can give up my concubines and pets, but I should at least take my treasure with me." Zhu Huakui shook his head repeatedly, refusing to leave no matter what, and kept insisting that Huang Degong take his treasure out of the city.

It's unbelievable that there are people in this world who would rather die than spend money.

Huang Degong was furious.

He tried his best to persuade the king, but the king simply wouldn't listen!
Huang Degong's servants were even more eager to chop up this King of Chu.

During the altercation, Zhang Xianzhong's men caught up, led by Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son, Ai Nengqi.

A fierce battle quickly broke out between the two sides.

After a long and fierce battle, Huang Degong, whose armor and weapons were damaged and whose number of servants had been greatly reduced, soon could not hold on any longer.

He was knocked to the ground by a bandit soldier.

He watched helplessly as the King of Chu was pinned down and bound by a group of bandits, as if he were being tied up like a fat pig.

Having lost the prince's territory and the Wuchang Prefecture, his own life was nearing its end.

Huang Degong couldn't catch his breath and fainted.

When he woke up, the sounds of fighting around him were even more intense, and countless lights illuminated the surroundings as if it were daytime.

A large number of armored soldiers defeated Zhang's bandit forces and had already fought their way into the city.

Huang Degong struggled to his feet. His first thought was, 'Is this reinforcements from the imperial court?'

But he was quickly captured by the armored soldiers and escorted to a Wei general on horseback.

Each of the armored soldiers on all sides held a bright beam of light, the snow-white light so bright that it was blinding.

He recognized this thing, and even owned one.

It is a rare and precious flashlight that originated from Jinling City.

After using it for a while, it suddenly stopped working.

The man on horseback looked down at him, asking, "Who are you?"

"Commander-in-Chief Huang Degong of the Brave Guard Battalion." Huang Degong, squinting, shook his groggy head vigorously. "And who are you?"

Under the bright light, the figure on horseback smiled.

"Lin Dao."

As dawn broke, the city of Wuchang, where a night of fighting had taken place, gradually returned to calm.

Large numbers of armored soldiers blocked the streets and searched house to house for fleeing soldiers, bandits, ruffians, and beggars.

Lin Dao's army entered the city and immediately took over the battlefield.

Whether it was the Ming army inside the city or Zhang Xianzhong's forces, they were all utterly helpless in the face of the powerful armored legion.

To make matters worse, before entering the city, Lin Dao sealed off all the city gates and attacked Zhang Xianzhong's old camp outside the city.

Zhang Xianzhong's troops, who rushed into the city, ended up trapped inside, facing certain death.

Lin Dao rode his horse all the way to the Chu King's Mansion.

At this moment, the Chu King's mansion was in complete disarray.

The once awe-inspiring gates of the Prince's Palace were smashed to pieces.

Both inside and outside the gate were littered with corpses.

Bound hand and foot, Huang Degong glanced around and saw the doorman who had asked him for a red envelope the night before, now lying in a pool of blood.

Upon entering the palace, the number of corpses of servants and maids dressed in servants' attire increased.

Many of the women were barely clothed, clearly indicating that they had suffered severe abuse before their deaths.

Lin Dao frowned and instructed his guards, "Arrange for auxiliary soldiers to come in and clean up, so as to give them some dignity."

At least cover it with a cloth, or wrap it with a straw mat.

Many cart frames and boxes were scattered throughout the Prince's mansion.

All kinds of gold and silver jewelry, silk and satin, ornaments and copper coins were scattered all over the ground.

Birds, crickets, cats, dogs, and the like were not spared either.

"The Chu King's Mansion has accumulated the wealth of the people for more than two hundred years."

Lin Dao shook his head and sighed softly, "If we could take from the people and use it for the people, we wouldn't have come to this."

The fall of the Ming Dynasty was not due to the people's inability to endure hardship, nor to the soldiers' unwillingness to fight to the death.

It's just that rent-seekers are too greedy!
They have plenty of wealth and resources, but they just won't share them.

As a result, all of it went to wild boar hides.

As he entered the main hall, Lin Dao stepped forward and sat on the golden chair bestowed upon him by Zhu Yuanzhang.

He clapped his hands. "Bring the man up."

Before long, Chu King Zhu Hua Kui, whose python robe was tattered and who looked listless and no longer the Chu King who had been clamoring to take away the treasures, was brought over.

Huang Degong, who was standing to the side, was also filled with emotion when he saw the King of Chu.

I told you to leave earlier, but you wouldn't listen!

"Along the way," Lin Dao leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "I saw the people of Wuchang Prefecture living in hardship, and there were starving corpses on the roads."

"As the King of Chu, have you never thought of helping your people?"

Zhu Huakui, with his messy white hair, shook his head repeatedly, saying, "That's a matter for the court; it has nothing to do with me."

"But you are the King of Chu."

Lin Dao raised his hand and tapped him. "As the King of Chu, how can you remain indifferent when the people of Jingchu suffer disasters and hardships?"

"My royal title was passed down from my ancestors."

Zhu Huakui insisted, "Emperor Taizu had long established a system in which the people of the land would support the princes."

"We are simply following ancestral customs."

Lin Dao shook his head, too lazy to waste any more words with him.

This prince is just like those scholars, always talking about ancestral rules and regulations.

Whose ancestor?
Who made it!
"The people of Jingchu support you."

"They are suffering, and you are indifferent to it."

Lin Dao waved his hand, and armored soldiers stepped forward to drag Zhu Huakui away.

"In that case, your fate is to be decided by the people of Jingchu."

(End of this chapter)