Chapter 118 Who is the enemy and who is the friend
Those who were not good at escaping were captured first.
Frankly speaking, this was a bit beyond the expectations of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Ximeng. A high-ranking official in the Yuan Dynasty, the younger brother of Prime Minister Tuo Tuo, who had escaped twice from Liu Futong, even if he couldn't be defeated, he could always escape!
Even if you can't run away, you can still die!
But this man became a prisoner. His rank was much higher than that of Zhongshu Zuocheng and Minister of Industry Jia Lu, and his influence was also much greater.
How to deal with this person?
Killed?
Perhaps this is the simplest and easiest way. There is nothing better than killing high-ranking officials of the Yuan Dynasty, boosting the morale of the army and boosting morale.
It's just that Zhu Yuanzhang has not made up his mind for a long time. He has some other ideas.
"My lord, if I guess correctly, my lord wants to tame this person?"
Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled and said: "We are also wishful thinking. He is a high-ranking official of the Yuan Dynasty and a Mongolian nobleman. How can he change his ways? We are just a little worried that if we kill him, will Tuotuo risk his life? In that case,
Can we hold on?"
But Zhang Ximeng encouraged: "My lord, Timur is not willing to die first, which proves that he is not a stubborn person. My lord has the world in his heart. Since the founding of the Yuan Dynasty, there have been hundreds of thousands of Mongolians in the Central Plains. Timur is also here first."
When he was an official in the court, he assisted Tuo Tuo, organized the administration, and supervised the officials, and he also did some good things. If such a person could be won over, it is self-evident what impact it would have on the people of the world.
!”
"And my lord is worried that Tuotuo will fight hard. I dare not say that he won't, but Tuotuo is in his current position. Can he withstand failure?"
In a word, Lao Zhu sighed with emotion, yes, Liuhe was defeated miserably, losing 20,000 elites, and a high-ranking official of the imperial court was captured, and he was also Tuotuo's younger brother.
If you can't even protect your brothers, how can you lead the three armies?
It is foreseeable that Tuotuo's next situation will be very difficult, and the enemies in the DPRK will definitely attack in groups.
Even if Tuotuo does anything and ignores his brother, it will become an excuse for attacks by political opponents. If he cares, he is protecting his brother and has no court in his heart; if he doesn't care, he will be said to be ambitious, ruthless, and not moral enough to lead the three armies... Anyway, that's it.
I scold, so I am here. As long as you want to find fault, you will always have an excuse.
If Timur was killed with a sword at this time, Tuotuo might just attack him directly with his army. Both sides would tear each other apart, and it would be much easier to deal with it.
But if Timur survives first, he will be a hostage in the hands of Zhu Jiajun, who can not only contain Tuotuo, but also influence Yuan Ting, and can also boost people's morale.
It’s simply a wonderful way to use it, all with one heart!
"My lord, killing someone with a sword and gratifying one's heart is not the best thing after all. Killing the people who deserve to be killed must be killed because they are extremely evil and unscrupulous beasts. As for other people, please think twice, lord, allow me to say something that is too much."
If so, if I can capture Tuotuo, I hope the lord can also be lenient and just let him reform!"
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but laugh, "Sir, how dare you think about it! Okay, I promise you, let alone taking off, even if we capture the Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, if he is willing to change his ways, we will not kill him!"
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't take these words seriously, he always wanted to catch him before talking about it.
As for Timur's survival first, it all depends on his brother Tuotuo. After all, Tuotuo is still the leader of the largest armed group with 400,000 troops. If he kills his brother casually, the consequences are really unpredictable.
"Since my lord agrees, it's better to imprison Timur and Lao Zhang together, and let Lao Zhang teach him first." Zhang Ximeng said with a smile.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this idea, he almost laughed. He tried to hold on tight for a while, but he still couldn't hold it in any longer.
We are well-trained, but sometimes we can’t help it!
Why is this idea so joyful? If we were to follow Tamerlane first, we would probably commit suicide directly and not suffer this torture.
First of all, Timur was a Mongolian nobleman, the imperial censor of the Yuan Dynasty, responsible for supervising all officials.
Zhiyuan Lao Zhang was a Semu man. He was defeated and captured at Hengjian Mountain and underwent reform.
Now let Lao Zhang teach Timur first. The two of them stand together and feel embarrassed just thinking about it.
Lao Zhu also figured it out, even if it was just to watch the fun, he couldn't kill Timur first for the time being!
"Sure, let's do as Mr. wants!"
What is unexpected is that Timur heard the news first, his eyes widened in surprise, and he blurted out, "Zhiyuan Lao Zhang, thanks to the emperor's grace, how dare he linger on? He should die for his country!"
After Timur yelled first, everyone looked at him strangely.
The guy was startled, and his old face turned red. If he put a thermometer on his face at this time, it would probably explode.
Zhang Ximeng said quickly: "You don't have to think too much, we have rules for doing things. If you are indeed guilty of serious sins and cut into pieces, it is your own fault. If you are not guilty of mortal sins, follow the reform and repent, and you will be able to regain your life."
A day of freedom... Remember, we are the real King Master, different from Yuan Ting!"
Zhang Ximeng gave a few explanations, and someone immediately took Timur down first.
Moreover, there were people divided into two groups, keeping an eye on him all the time, for fear that this man might not think about committing suicide.
This arrangement is really interesting. The big guys even thought about how interesting it would be to capture Tuotuo and let him get together with his younger brother, sleeping with dragons and phoenixes!
Taking advantage of Timur's efforts to deal with it first, the entire battlefield situation was almost clear.
The Yuan army lost almost 2,000 of its 20,000 households during the attack on Liuhe. Of the remaining 18,000 people, more than 3,000 died in the battle just now, and more than 7,000 were captured, but they were still alive.
Thousands of people scattered, some ran towards the Yangtze River, trying to escape to Zhenzhou, and some ran towards Tianchang, intending to escape back to Gaoyou.
Preparations were made in both directions, but Xu Da was also facing a 30,000-strong army who knew the Privy Council matter Xuexue, and the situation was critical.
Lao Zhu did not dare to neglect at all. Before the war here was completely over, he gathered his troops, with Tang He and Hua Yun as the vanguard, a total of 15,000 people, and immediately went to assist Xu Da.
Zhu Yuanzhang personally led the troops, which shows the importance he attached to it.
As for the remaining finishing work of Liuhe, Zhu Yuanzhang left it to Zhang Ximeng. As long as it was not a war matter, Zhang Ximeng was more skillful than Zhu Yuanzhang in handling it.
Geng Junyong and Geng Bingwen's father and son had done a good job in defending the city, but they were in urgent need of repairs. After a few words of encouragement, Lao Zhu asked them to assist Zhang Ximeng and deal with the aftermath.
After Lao Zhu made the arrangements, he immediately set off and rushed to the next battlefield to entertain the second table of guests.
Zhang Ximeng has nothing to regret, this is what he does.
The strongest support is coming!
Zhang Ximeng arranged for the Geng family and his son to lead troops, sweep the battlefield, mobilize surrounding militia, capture prisoners, and try not to let anyone go.
Then Zhang Ximeng launched an offensive against the prisoners, and Tuotuo gathered an army of 400,000, including soldiers and horses from the Western Regions, and more were drawn from various provinces, and many were even captured as young men.
He was obviously working in the fields, but somehow he was caught, tied up with a rope, and taken to Dadu, and then he followed the soldiers southward without realizing it.
A man who had never been anywhere except the county town for decades, traveled thousands of miles without any clue, went to fight in an unfamiliar area, and was captured without any clue.
They are like poor weeds, fluttering in the strong wind, unable to make any decisions.
Zhang Ximeng immediately ordered that the captured officers be found, the Mongolians, and the Semu people screened out, and all be held in separate cells.
As for the largest number of remaining ordinary soldiers, Zhang Ximeng gathered them together.
"We know very well that most of you were coerced here, and you are also the victims. The Yuan Dynasty has done so many evil things that it is difficult to describe them. They opened rivers to convert money, brutally squeezed, and broke bones and sucked marrow. They forced the Red Turban rebels to spread all over the place. Now in order to destroy the Red Turban Army, they have
They imposed exorbitant levies, captured husbands everywhere, and forced the kind-hearted people to kill each other, acting as their executioners."
"In a word, our fighting to death and fighting each other are all the fault of Yuan Ting. We must recognize this clearly. We are not enemies of each other. On the contrary, we have a common enemy. After you are captured, you don't have to
If you are worried, we will arrange food and clothing so that you don't go hungry. Of course, we will also arrange work so that you can receive education and change your mind. If you are willing to join the Red Turban Army, we welcome you and are willing to farm the fields.
, as ordinary people, we can also grant land, and even if you want to go home, we will provide money. In short, as long as you don’t act as lackeys for Yuan Ting and don’t kill each other, we are brothers!”
Zhang Ximeng talked a lot with the prisoners and clarified his policy on treating prisoners.
But no matter how nice it is, many people still don't believe it.
But they soon felt the difference. After Zhang Ximeng finished speaking, dinner was prepared for them.
Many people have been hungry all day and night, and their stomachs are empty.
Zhang Ximeng had someone prepare brown rice porridge, steamed buns, and pickles for them.
When each prisoner received the food, some of them had trembling hands. Is this true? How could they eat so well?
Indeed, being able to eat white flour steamed buns was something that no one in the Yuan army dared to think of.
Not to mention whether the Yuan Dynasty had enough food, even if there was good food, those officials would have to deduct it in every possible way to make a fortune. As for ordinary soldiers, it is good to have enough to eat. As for what to eat, there is no need to look forward to it.
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Moldy and spoiled food, even bran eaten by livestock, can be used to satisfy hunger.
In terms of food alone, Zhu Jiajun is much better than them.
Zhang Ximeng even came up with an idea, "Geng Qianhu, you said that if we surrounded the Yuan army, then we would place white-flour steamed buns and fragrant pork stew in front of the formation, beat gongs and drums, and ask them to surrender and come over and have their fill.
Okay. What do you think they will do?"
Geng Jun smiled and said, "What else can you do? Surrender obediently! Sir, let's build military villages and equalize acres of land. This is a very good strategy. Only when you have food in your hands can you have peace of mind!"
Zhang Ximeng also nodded. At this time, Geng Bingwen came. With something in his arms, he came to Zhang Ximeng mysteriously and said, "Sir, please take a look."
Zhang Ximeng frowned and took it. He found that it was a book with tens of thousands of words. The pages were black. He must have read them frequently, but the book had no name.
Zhang Ximeng opened it and took a look. He only turned two pages and suddenly frowned.
"This, where does this come from?"
Geng Bingwen said: "It was also in Timur's Chinese army tent first. That fool Hu Dahai only cared about arresting people, but did not take away the official documents and letters. I snatched them all. When I was counting, I found this."
He lowered his voice and said, "Sir, does this, does it say we are in charge?"
Zhang Ximeng was stunned for a long time. Looking at the above text, he seemed to have guessed something, and his expression changed. Someone did a really good job and deceived Yuan Ting miserably.
"Keep your mouth shut and don't let the news leak out. I will discuss this matter with my lord." Zhang Ximeng said again: "Is there anything else you can do now?"
"Yes!" Geng Bingwen said: "There are two main things at the moment. One is that I have captured a lot of gentry and celebrities in Chuzhou. They have defected to the Yuan army. In the military camp, I will give you some advice. What should I do with these people?
?”
"Find it out and punish them severely!" Zhang Ximeng said decisively: "Everyone must understand that the ordinary soldiers in the Yuan Army are our brothers and can be fought for. Some Yuan Army generals act under orders, and we can also reform them. But
Those beasts who betrayed their ancestors and were willing to be lackeys were opposed to our land equalization and did not want to see the poor gain power. They also imagined using the power of Yuan Ting to continue to dominate, squeeze the people, and turn the big guys into cattle and horses again.
Such people are even more hateful than Timur, so don’t be polite to them!"
Zhang Ximeng made the key points clear in a few words. Geng Bingwen nodded repeatedly, convinced. He was afraid that someone would say that he didn't even kill Tamerlane first, so why should he kill them?
Now that Zhang Ximeng has made it clear, he has a solid foundation.
"Sir, there is one more thing, that is, while we were defending the city, we recruited a female soldier. She was a strange woman. King Qin broke the formation drum and beat it impassionedly, which greatly boosted morale. Sir, what do you want to do with this person?
"
Zhang Ximeng was also surprised, is there such a person?
"Please come and let me see."
Not long after, Zhou Huiniang hurried over wearing a bright red war coat. Her hands were folded in her sleeves. Although playing the drum is not as good as playing the pipa, don't forget that in order to make the drum sound exciting, you must hold the drumstick tightly and beat it continuously with your fingers.
The wound on her body had already split open due to the shock, blood soaked into the white cloth, and the bone-piercing pain made her frown.