Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 315 Is your offer of the city reliable?

"Jiqing?"

Looking at the somewhat familiar city before him, Lin Dao took a breath.

"It must be Jinling!"

The name Jiqing is utterly meaningless.

Before even entering the city, Lin Dao had already renamed the place.

A large number of Yuan soldiers could be vaguely seen on the city wall.

This is the most important city in Jiangnan and the core of the Yuan Dynasty's rule in Jiangnan.

To defend this place, Bai Buha, the prime minister of the Jiangzhe Province, concentrated almost all the troops from various regions here.

This person also boasted that he would make the corpses of the Red Turban Army soldiers who attacked the city cover the area outside the city.

"Siege the city."

Lin Dao withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Li Shanchang. "What did you say on your end?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty."

Li Shanchang hurriedly bowed and said, "Your subordinate has already made contact with the agents inside the city."

"The informants said they would send someone to let us know when they were ready."

Lin Dao neither confirmed nor denied this.

He turned his head and looked at Zhongshan Mountain not far away.

Looking back at Taiping Gate, I mentally calculated the distance between the two sides.

If the inside agent fails to surrender the city, then set up the cannons on the mountain and fire them into the city from there!
In Lindao's warfare, the principle has always been to crush the opponent with sheer strength.

As for surrendering the city, it would be best if it succeeded, but it wouldn't matter if it didn't.

Turning his gaze away, Lin Dao looked in the other direction.

Over there, there is a marshy area.

Upon seeing this, Li Shanchang hurriedly advised, "Your Majesty, this place is Houhu."

"Houhu?"

Lin Dao smiled and said, "It must be Zhenwu Lake."

Zhenwu is also known as Xuanwu.

This is the famous Xuanwu Lake.

Xuanwu Lake is actually part of the ancient Qinhuai River channel.

Due to the low-lying terrain, a shallow lake gradually formed.

During the Liu Song dynasty, it was named Zhenwu Lake.

After undergoing several name changes, it eventually became the Xuanwu Lake that is known to the world.

"To have been named by the Ming Emperor is a great fortune for this lake."

Li Shanchang immediately declared, "From now on, this place will be Zhenwu Lake."

“Zhenwu is Xuanwu.” Lin Dao took a breath. “Let’s call it Xuanwu Lake.”

Li Shanchang, his expression unchanged, loudly proclaimed, "By the Ming Emperor, Jiqing is renamed Jinling, and Houhu is renamed Xuanwu Lake!"

The soldiers around them shouted in unison.

"Bestowed a name by the Ming Emperor~"

"Bestowed a name by the Ming Emperor~~"

Upon hearing the shouts from outside, Baibuha on the city wall immediately spat out, "You Red Turban traitors, you pigs and dogs! I'll cut off all your heads!"

He turned to the group of Mongol generals and said, "Go and urge the conscripts to pay their wages and rations."

"Tell those wealthy Han Chinese families that if they dare to make excuses again, don't blame me for being impolite!"

In war, the key is manpower, money, food, and supplies.

The Red Turban Army was renowned far and wide, and even the brilliant and ambitious Prime Minister Toqto'a defeated and killed a million-strong army.

Baibha spoke with disdain, but in his heart he took it very seriously.

He ordered wealthy Han Chinese households in the city to contribute manpower, money, and grain.

They called it repaying the country, but it was actually extortion.

After all, the Han families who could live in Jiqing City and were prominent were all wealthy families.

They mostly worked as tax collectors in Jiangnan year-round, and every household was extremely wealthy.

Faced with the extortion of the Mongols, the wealthy families in the city were unwilling to sit idly by and wait for their doom.

"Things are different now than they were back then."

The head of the Hong family, a well-known wealthy family on Jiqing Road, said at a secret gathering of people, "Ten or twenty years ago, we could have relied on the government to protect us from disaster."

"Thirty or fifty years ago, there was no other choice but to give it to them."

"But now!"

He put down the exquisite teacup in his hand, stood up, and said, "Times have changed!"

“Brother Hong is absolutely right.”

Another head of a wealthy family stood up and echoed, pointing towards the door, "The Red Turban Army is just outside the city!"

Chao Mingshan, from a scholarly family and the head of the Jiqing Road General Administration, replied, "We have already contacted Li Changshi of the Red Turban Army and agreed to surrender the city."

"Now, it is up to you whether you continue to serve the Mongols like slaves or join the new dynasty to gain merit by following the emperor."

Those who come here all know in their hearts why they are here.

Besides, even if they were unwilling, they wouldn't dare show it at this time, otherwise they would inevitably be sacrificed.

Everyone echoed this sentiment, expressing their willingness to serve the Ming King and gain merit by following him in his footsteps.

After the agreement was made, everyone went their separate ways to prepare and make arrangements for the event.

These wealthy families were scholarly households.

When the Mongols came to power, they quickly pledged allegiance to them.

They used gold, silver, jewelry, land, houses, shops, and women from their households as gifts to establish connections with the Mongols, monopolize taxes, and ruthlessly exploit the people of Jiangnan.

Over the decades, every household has become well-fed and bloated.

Now that they see the Mongols are on the verge of collapse, they immediately think of switching sides, hoping to gain favor by following the new emperor, and continue to enjoy wealth and glory.

That's what they did historically, and they succeeded.

By sponsoring Zhu Yuanzhang, he reaped incredibly rich rewards.

Although Old Zhu had wielded the butcher's knife, he had not been seriously injured; in fact, Old Zhu had even been framed and killed.

For more than two hundred years afterward, they maintained a huge influence on the imperial court, which was finally manifested in the Donglin Party.

They sponsored the Ming Dynasty in its early years, acting as its angel investors.

Ultimately, however, it was they who undermined the foundation of the Ming Dynasty and destroyed it.

They even shamelessly yearn for the Yuan Dynasty and its tax farming system.

With tax included, they earn more than they would from maritime trade and smuggling.

Lin Dao agreed to accept their surrender of the city for a very simple reason.

Take the city first.

We've taken the city; we can deal with these people later. If Old Zhu could wield a butcher's knife, surely Lin Dao can too?

It's like a joke; treat them all like Mongols and wipe them all out.

The wealthy families in the city began to secretly make contact and prepare.

Many sons of these wealthy and scholarly families held positions in the military and government offices.

Once communication is established, find a suitable opportunity to open the city gates and let the Red Turban Army in.

But unforeseen events can happen, or rather, the more people know about something that should be kept secret, the greater the risk of leakage becomes.

Some sons of wealthy families who participated in the uprising got into a fight with Semu people over a woman in the Sanwa Liangshe, and were subsequently beaten up.

In his drunken state and anger, he left behind a single sentence.

"I'll allow you to be arrogant for a few more days. Once the righteous army enters the city, we will avenge this humiliation."

As the saying goes, the speaker has no intention, but the listener has intention.

The man from Semu sensed something was wrong and reported the matter.

Finally, the report reached Bai Buha, the Prime Minister of the Jiangzhe Province.

He didn't trust the Han people to begin with, and was worried that someone might try to surrender the city.

Upon receiving the news, they immediately arranged for people to arrest the person.

The fool who made threats out of jealousy was arrested and thrown in jail.

Under Miki's influence, he confessed to everything.

Baibuqa was furious and mobilized a group of Mongols to ransack the house. After capturing the head of the household, they cruelly tortured him.

After that, everyone involved was implicated and exposed.

The rest is easy.

Large numbers of Mongols and Semu people ransacked homes and arrested people throughout the city.

"Do you want to die or live?"

Bai Buha asked Chao Mingshan, the steward of the governor's mansion, who was covered in bruises, "If you want to die, I'll send you to your death right now."

"If you want to live, do something for this prime minister."

"After it's done, not only will you live, but your family will live too."

Without hesitation, Chao Mingshan immediately replied, "I am willing to serve the Prime Minister!"

"it is good."

With a beaming smile, Bai Buha squatted down and asked, "I've heard that you're the one in charge? And that you're the one who's been in contact with the Red Turban rebels?"

Chao Mingshan's gaze darted away as he replied, "Yes~"

"Bring me paper and a pen!"

Bai Buha summoned someone to bring pen, ink, paper, inkstone, and a small table, which were placed in front of Chao Mingshan.

“Write a letter to the Red Turban rebels outside the city and arrange to open the Taiping Gate and let them in at midnight three days later!”

At the foot of Zhongshan Mountain, a large tent stands along the forest path.

"Three days later?"

Flipping through the letter in his hand, Lin Dao asked, "Is it reliable?"

Li Shanchang immediately stated, "My subordinates have been corresponding with them for a long time, and these people are indeed willing to surrender the city."

"Moreover, he also promised to send his clansmen to serve the Ming King and assist with military supplies and provisions."

“They have connections throughout Jiangnan, and many of their clan members serve as officials in various places.”

"It will greatly benefit all the richest people in Jiangnan under the Ming Dynasty."

"Enough with the nonsense." Lin Dao frowned. "I'm just asking you, is your plan to surrender this city reliable?"

Seeing that there was no way to get around it, Li Shanchang, eager to make a name for himself, immediately gritted his teeth and said, "It seems like he's reliable."

Lin Dao nodded, his gaze sweeping over the generals. "In that case..."

All the generals stepped forward to pay their respects, vying to go and break through the city.

Seeing this, Lin Dao simply remained silent.

The generals began to argue amongst themselves.

Some people said that they were masters of martial arts and that they should do such dangerous work themselves.

Some people say that they are excellent at training troops and that their soldiers are the most suitable for this task.

Some people even said that they were strong enough to lift mountains and could break open the city gates even if they weren't.

They argued fiercely over who got the credit.

However, all the generals opposed Chang Yuchun's attempt to claim credit.

Their words were all similar: you're already a general, your job is to command battles, not to compete with us for the credit of breaking through enemy lines and capturing cities.

Chang Yuchun had a bad temper; he would glare at you and then fly into a rage.

At this moment, Lin Dao said, "That's right, Chang Yuchun. You are in charge of commanding this battle. As for the task of supporting the capture of the city, you should leave it to someone else."

Chang Yuchun was not convinced by anyone, especially Xu Da, who was known as the one with the greatest military achievements.

But when facing Lin Dao, he would listen to anything he was told.

Although he was unwilling, he still bowed and accepted the order.

Without this most powerful competitor, the competition among the generals became even more intense.

In the end, Fu Youde defeated Tang He and others with his superior martial arts skills and won the mission of rescuing the enemy.

Although it cannot compare to the merit of being the first to scale the city gate, successfully and smoothly capturing the city gate is still a merit.

For meritorious service in the army, the Ming king was truly generous in bestowing rewards.

Moreover, everyone was looking forward to being granted titles after the founding of the country.

The more merits one accumulates at this time, the higher the rank will be when one is granted a title, and the more benefits will be bestowed upon one's descendants.

Three days later, preparations were complete both inside and outside the city.

The waning moon hung low, dim and without light.

Inside the city walls of Taiping Gate, there were Mongol Yuan soldiers lying in ambush everywhere.

Inside the barbican, various ambushes were set up, just waiting for the Red Turban Army's elite troops to fall into the trap.

"Prime Minister."

A military officer came to Baibuha and reported, "The Red Turban rebels have reached outside the city!"

Looking out in the dim moonlight, one could vaguely see a swaying figure approaching.

"very good."

Baibha nodded in satisfaction and whispered, "Go and execute all those traitors as a sacrifice to the flag."

He shrank back and waited quietly for the Red Turban Army to enter the city.

"Ok?"

At some point, a low 'buzzing' sound came from above.

He looked up in confusion.

"Where did this strange bird come from?"

(End of this chapter)