Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 337 This is such a short distance, the Red Turban Army should be able to crawl across it!
"It's almost midnight."

Hassansha, perched atop the city wall, was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

He kept peering out of the city walls, wondering, "Why aren't they here yet?!"

The agreed time had passed, but there was no sign of the Red Turban Army outside the city.

This made Hassansa, who had already staked her life on the matter, extremely anxious.

"How do you do things?"

The general in charge of guarding the city gate approached with a dark face and demanded in a low voice, "What time exactly was the appointment?"

The commander was a member of the Kheshig army, and his ancestors were among the Han Chinese hereditary lords who followed Liu Bilie in burning Karakorum.

He wasn't stupid; he knew that the remaining days of the Great Yuan Dynasty could only be counted in days.

When an opportunity to jump ship arises, immediately learn from our ancestors and switch allegiances.

This is something only the Han soldiers could do.

After all, neither the Mongols nor the Semu people were stupid; they knew very well how the Red Turban Army treated them.

Even if someone wanted to surrender, they wouldn't accept it.

Only these Han soldiers could offer a sliver of hope.

"General Liu, do not panic."

Hassansa, who was also anxious, could only offer kind words of comfort.

"The Red Turban Army will definitely come; this is Dadu!"

In their simple minds, the Red Turban Army would never give up on such a monumental achievement as conquering the Yuan capital and completely destroying the Yuan Dynasty.

Under normal circumstances, that is indeed the case.

The problem is that Lin Dao, who is in charge of the Red Turban Army, has a mindset that is different from that of people in this era.

He preferred watching internal strife to conquering cities and territories.

Within the chaotic capital city, numerous mortal enemies of the Han people were tormented in despair and engaged in infighting amidst madness.

This is much more interesting than just killing them.

Such thoughts and behaviors would be considered somewhat perverse in later generations with higher moral standards.

As the two were talking, a trusted confidant quickly came over to report.

There's movement outside the city!

The two hurriedly peeked out.

Sure enough, in the dim light, one could vaguely see the gleam of armor surging towards the city from afar.

"Finally here~"

Hassan and General Liu, who were on the city wall, both breathed a sigh of relief.

They exchanged a glance, both with smiles on their faces, and then turned to give instructions to their subordinates.

Hassansha's servants, holding torches, stood on the city wall and waved them in circles, signaling the Red Turban Army outside the city.

General Liu, on the other hand, went down from the city wall and personally directed his personal guards to open the city gate.

The heavy door was slowly opened, the sound of the hinges turning and rubbing was extremely jarring under the night sky.

However, since the Red Turban Army was about to enter the city, General Liu no longer cared.

"Great-grandfather~Grandpa~"

"Did you see it?"

Liu Pu revealed a smug smile: "Our Liu family is going to rise again in my hands!"

Their ancestor was Liu Bolin, who surrendered to Temujin.

He later followed Muqali in attacking the Jin state and made meritorious contributions. After his death, he was granted the title of Duke of Qin.

As for his great-grandfather, he was the famous Liu Heima, also known as Ke Tuli.

He participated in the national wars to destroy the Jin and attack the Song, and made outstanding contributions.

His grandfather was Liu Wei, who participated in the battle to force the surrender of Diaoyu City when he was young.

Their Liu family was ranked first among the 30,000 households of the Han army, one of the 90,000 households in Han territory, and the first Marquis of Hedong!

Their family's century-long wealth and glory were stained red with the blood of countless sons and daughters of China.

Now, the Liu family, who have served the Mongols for over a hundred years, are finally forced to betray them again in order to survive and maintain their family's wealth and status.

It has to be said that this is a closed loop.

He was imagining what position he could achieve in the new dynasty, whether he would have the opportunity to follow the Ming King on a campaign to Karakorum, to make unparalleled contributions, and to stand shoulder to shoulder with his ancestors.

Suddenly, it became bright behind me.

He turned around in confusion and was astonished to see the city brightly lit.

A large number of Yuan troops surged in like a tidal wave.

Liu Pu felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

He knew all too well what would happen if things went wrong and the plot fell into the hands of the Mongols.

Fortunately, his confidant reminded him, "General, there are Red Turban Army soldiers outside the city."

Liu Pu, regaining his senses, breathed a sigh of relief. "Right, right, the Red Turban Army is about to enter the city. Don't be afraid."

"My lads~"

He drew his sword and rallied his trusted family members, shouting, "The time has come to restore the Liu family's prestige and to render meritorious service to the new dynasty! Kill!"

The opening team, composed of Liu clan members, peripheral members, confidants, and servants, rushed into the street with weapons and fought against the arriving Yuan army.

They fought extremely fiercely, displaying awe-inspiring courage.

Their bravery was no less than that of their ancestors when they served the Mongols and conquered all directions.

Not all members of the Liu clan wanted to betray the Yuan Dynasty.

But there is no way.

If someone in the clan does this, then everyone else has to follow suit.

This is treason!

Their entire family must be executed!

Anyone within the nine generations of their family will be implicated if things go wrong.

In this situation, the only option is to provide support; only if it succeeds will there be any hope of survival.

Rather than waiting to be killed after things fail, it's better to give it your all.

For their own sake and for the sake of their families, the courage they displayed even forced the charging Yuan army back half a street at one point.

"Why hasn't the Red Turban Army entered the city yet?"

Covered in blood and wounded in multiple places, Liu Pu calculated the time and the distance between the Red Turban Army outside the city and the city gate. "It's such a short distance, the Red Turban Army should be able to crawl over here!"

"What are the Red Turban Army doing? Haven't they eaten?!"

Annoyed, Liu Pu subconsciously turned to look at the city gate.

This sight made his heart seem to stop for a moment.

A group of Yuan soldiers were seen struggling to push the gate shut.

The next moment, Liu Pu, his eyes bloodshot, roared and screamed, brandishing his long sword, and led the core members of the Liu family to turn around and charge towards the city gate.

He was still wondering where these Yuan soldiers had come from.

Then a corpse fell from the city wall and landed not far in front of them.

Those wide-open eyes were filled with resentment and confusion.

"Hasansa?!"

Upon seeing the familiar face on the corpse, Liu Pu hurriedly looked up.

Only then did they discover that large numbers of Yuan soldiers were also charging across the city walls on both sides of the city gate.

The sheer number of torches they held illuminated the night sky like a fiery dragon.

The men who remained on the city wall, as well as the Squid Tribe loyalists brought by Hassansa, were all slaughtered and thrown off the city wall.

These Yuan soldiers descended the city wall along the horse path, scattered the rebel soldiers guarding the city gate, and ran to close the city gate.

Liu Pu is going crazy.

He didn't understand why things had turned out this way.

But he knew that the city gates absolutely could not be allowed to close.

Once the city gates are closed, it will be the lives of the entire Liu clan!

Driven to madness, the Liu family members charged forward like madmen, managing to break through the Yuan army's blockade and reach the city gates that were about to close.

Liu Pu anxiously looked out of the city, hoping that the Red Turban Army was just outside the gate.

But the next moment, he paused in his breathing.

The Red Turban Army outside the city was still hundreds of paces away.

They even sat on the ground holding torches, showing no intention of moving forward.

The scene was like watching a spectacle.

The shouts of battle behind them grew more intense, and the Yuan army surged forward like a tide, slaughtering the few remaining members of the Liu family one by one.

Liu Pu had a chance to break out of the city gate.

But he was so devastated that he did not step out of the city gate until the cleaver fell on his back.

Before he died, one question kept swirling in his mind.

"Why? Why didn't the Red Turban Army enter the city?!"

"There are no good people in the capital city." Lin Dao frowned slightly after waking up in the morning, having breakfast, and convening a military meeting. "The dregs of the entire Yuan Dynasty are basically concentrated in the city."

“Those Han military lords helped the Mongols slaughter the people of the Central Plains, levying exorbitant taxes and committing all sorts of evil deeds.”

“These vicious dogs deserved to be beaten to death by their own owners.”

Luo Guanzhong certainly knew how to sow discord.

He didn't adopt Lin Dao's proposed method of sending letters by arrow, feeling it was too outdated.

After discussing with his master, he used his undercover agents who had been lurking in the city to set up a scheme targeting many powerful families in the city.

First, there are the seemingly simplest, but actually most effective, folk rumors.

It is said that the Han military lords wanted to abandon the Yuan court and jump ship to join the Red Turban Army.

This cannot actually be considered a rumor, because the Han military lords did indeed think so.

In fact, many people among the Mongols and Semu people also wanted to jump ship.

Unfortunately, the Red Turban Army did not give them a chance.

The Han dynasty's hereditary rulers believed they had a chance.

Little did they know that Lin Dao had always remembered the crimes committed by these Han military noble families over the past century.

opportunity?

What a chance!

First, lay the groundwork for public opinion.

Then came the specific provocations, which initially targeted not the Liu family, but several other families.

Only when Liu actually opened the city gates did he reveal the exact news to the Mongols.

As a result, the suspicions surrounding the already suspicious hereditary lords deepened even further.

Since the Liu family has already done it, shouldn't you all do it too?

At this time, some letters supposedly from the Red Turban Army were casually lost. The letters were all genuine, and some even bore the seal of the Ming King.

What happened next will naturally be left to the Mongolians to fill in the blanks and take action on their own.

Using tricks and such is actually not that complicated.

The most important thing is to look at the environment.

In the current perilous situation where Dadu is besieged and the Yuan Dynasty is on the verge of collapse, even a simpler strategy can be surprisingly effective.

If this were during Kublai Khan's most prosperous period, no matter how realistic, complex, or secretive the scheme was, it would be of little use.

The nobles would never give up the wealth and honor they had gained to actually betray their cause.

Kublai Khan also did not believe that the well-fed lords would betray the Yuan Dynasty.

Therefore, what truly determines everything is strength.

Intrigue and trickery are somewhat useful, but not many.

The people inside the tent echoed in agreement.

Li Shanchang even joked, "Perhaps, at this moment, the city is besieging and killing those Han military lords."

"They have been aiding and abetting evil for years; it's time for them to pay the price."

Shi Nai'an stroked his beard and smiled, his eyes filled with satisfaction as he looked at his disciple.

"Guanzhong has further plans, which can now be implemented."

After eliminating the Han military lords, it was time to let the Mongols kill each other.

As the Red Turban Army members said, the city was undergoing a brutal purge at this time.

The target was all the hereditary lords of the Han army.

(End of this chapter)