Chapter 747 Successfully landed
Chapter 747 Successfully landed
Zhang Jincheng and Liu Heita glared at each other and sat down angrily.
Dou Jiande said slowly, "The only way to stabilize the people is to bring out salt. Before, we went to the seaside to collect salt. Although the cost was very high, it was better to collect it than to have no salt at all. Now I have thought of a good idea. We can use fire to burn ice. It is said that there are a lot of reeds on the seaside. Then we can cut the reeds and burn ice to get seawater, and then boil salt on the spot. Now is a matter of life and death. We must collect the salt at all costs. Which general is willing to lead the army?"
The six generals looked at each other, and no one said anything. At this time, Sun Anzu stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I will go to Hejian County! I must bring enough supplies, otherwise we will all starve to death on the coast of Hejian County."
Sun Anzu took the lead, and Liu Heita also stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I'm going to the Bohai Salt Field!"
Dou Jiande felt very uncomfortable, but there was nothing he could do. Those four bastards said nothing, fearing that they would suffer even the slightest loss.
Dou Jiande had no choice but to order Sun Anzu and Liu Heita to lead 30,000 troops each, with thousands of carts loaded with food and tents, and half of the salt was given to them, otherwise the soldiers would not have the strength to walk.
An army of 60,000 marched towards Bohai County and Hejian County.
In the evening, Zhang Jin said he found Lu Mingyue. Both of them used to be subordinates of Liu Badao. They had a very good relationship and even became sworn brothers.
Lu Mingyue prepared some food and wine in the study. Zhang Jincheng took a bite of the food and slammed the table, saying, "Damn it, I'm going to get sick from it."
Lu Mingyue smiled and waved her hand. Her personal guards came in and put a bag on the table.
Lu Mingyue smiled and said, "This is five catties of salt. It is three-filtered refined salt from the Central Plains. It has no bitterness at all. The official price in the Central Plains is two hundred coins per catty. It is not our dirty salt. I have ten catties. I will give you half of it."
Zhang Jincheng was overjoyed, "Where did you get it from, brother?"
"Didn't the lord send dozens of caravans to the Central Plains to get salt? I also sent troops to wait on the north bank, killed a caravan, and got 50 stones of salt. The lord thought that the caravan was captured by the enemy."
Zhang Jincheng sighed, "My dear brother is ruthless and managed to get the good stuff. I, an honest man, am just waiting for the distribution. From today on, each soldier will only have half a penny of salt. If it is dissolved in water, it will only be as big as a wine glass."
Lu Mingyue shook his head and said, "My lord has given our salt to Sun Anzu and Liu Heita. Their soldiers get two coins of salt every day."
"If they can get salt, it doesn't matter if they get more. Do you think they can get salt?"
Lu Mingyue narrowed her eyes and said coldly: "Dou Jiande is an idiot. He has fallen into the trap of the Sui army and doesn't even know it. His military advisors are all pale-faced scholars who know nothing about politics and war!"
"How do you say this?"
Lu Mingyue snorted, "Brother, think about it. Knowing that we sent a large number of people to buy salt, why didn't Xiao Xia limit the sales and let us buy it freely? This question is very critical. Think about what the other party's purpose is?"
Zhang Jincheng shook his head, "How could I have imagined that?"
"The other side's goal was to give us a glimmer of hope and stop us from going to the seaside to collect salt. Now they have suddenly cut off all the supplies, and not even a pound of salt can cross the Yellow River. This means that the Sui army has already deployed in Bohai County and Hejian County. If I am not mistaken, the Bohai Army and Hejian County have been occupied by the Sui army. It's only because of the heavy snow that the news didn't come through. This is why I refuse to go to Hejian County and Bohai County."
Zhang Jincheng was shocked, "Why didn't you tell the prince?"
"Why should I tell him? This man is indecisive. The people have all fled, but he didn't stop them. The whole Hebei Province is empty. If I tell him, can he survive?"
"what!"
Zhang Jincheng said in horror: "Then what should we do?"
Lu Mingyue narrowed his eyes and said, "It's a good thing that the people have all run away. We will plunder each county one by one, collect the wealth and disband the soldiers. We will take the wealth and a few hundred confidants to Nanhai County, buy a few ships, and go to Nanyang to be the king." "Become a king?" Zhang Jincheng widened his eyes.
Lu Mingyue nodded gently, "I've thought about it for a year. It's inevitable that Xiao Xia will unify the world. We have no hope, and Xiao Xia will never let us go. When I was a child, my grandfather told me that there are many island countries in Southeast Asia. They have a large population, but their armies are very backward and weak. I can take a few hundred armored soldiers with me and kill their king. Then I will be the new king."
Zhang Jincheng's eyes lit up, "What should we do?"
Lu Mingyue whispered, "Didn't the Sui army station 100,000 troops on the south bank of the Yellow River? Tomorrow morning, we will volunteer to go to the north bank of the Yellow River for defense. You go to Ji County, and I go to Pingyuan County. We will plunder along the way, then disband the army on the north bank of the Yellow River, and each of us will lead a thousand armored soldiers south. We will meet in Nanhai County."
The two men discussed the details again, and early the next morning, they found Dou Jiande and expressed their willingness to lead troops to defend the north bank of the Yellow River. Although Dou Jiande was a little skeptical, he still agreed.
The two men immediately led their own 30,000 troops southward. Zhang Jin said that they took the southwest route, from Xiangguo County, Wuan County, Wei County, Ji County, and plundered the property of more than 20 counties along the way. The county towns were all empty, which was a good opportunity for them to rummage through the boxes and drawers to look for wealth.
Lu Mingyue went to Dongnan County, but he did not enter any county. He hid during the day and moved out at night, heading straight for Pingyuan County, without harming anyone along the way. His brother Lu Mingxing complained a lot. In Ande County, they happened to encounter more than 100,000 fleeing people, but Lu Mingyue still strictly prohibited his soldiers from looting.
He then said to his brother Lu Mingxing: "I know you blame me for not letting the soldiers loot. If we loot at this time, the Sui army will chop off our heads. I instigated Zhang Jincheng to loot so that he can serve as a foil to us. Zhang Jincheng will surely die, but we have a chance to survive. Do you understand?"
"Ah! So that's what's going on?" Lu Mingxing suddenly realized.
Lu Mingyue reminded him again, "You must explain this clearly to your generals, let them know that saving their lives is the most important thing at this time, and then you can escort hundreds of thousands of people across the Yellow River and surrender directly to the Sui army. The Sui army will definitely check you out, and if they find that you have not harmed anyone along the way, they will accept you in, and everyone will get a good ending."
"What about my brother?"
Lu Mingyue narrowed her eyes and smiled: "I have my own destination. I will send someone to deliver a letter to you in the future. Don't ask so many questions now."
"Brother, don't you believe me?"
Lu Mingyue patted his brother on the shoulder and said, "It's not that I don't trust you, but only by keeping it secret can you succeed. I will definitely tell you later!"
Lu Mingyue left overnight with three hundred personal soldiers. They disguised themselves as a caravan, took hundreds of mules, carried three hundred sets of armor and tens of thousands of taels of silver and gold, and crossed the Yellow River from Qi County.
The team went all the way south, and they took advantage of the fact that the Sui Dynasty had no checkpoints along the way, and arrived in Jiangdu a month later. Lu Mingyue bought two 10,000-stone sea ships, as well as a large amount of weapons and food in Jiangdu, and went out to sea with a caravan consisting of a hundred large ships.
A year later, a new country called Lu appeared in the country of Flemish in Southeast Asia. A few years later, it occupied half of Kalimantan Island. The country of Flemish was destroyed. There were 300 nobles in Lu, who ruled over millions of people and believed in Buddhism.
Zhang Jincheng was not so lucky. He was surrounded by Zhang Xutuo's 50,000 troops in Ji County. Zhang Jincheng died in an internal conflict over the uneven distribution of spoils, and his 30,000 troops surrendered to the Sui army.
The Sui army confiscated all their property. Zhang Xutuo ordered the execution of more than 4,000 soldiers who had committed serious crimes. The remaining soldiers were sent to mines to do labor for three years and then released.
However, because of their good military discipline and the fact that they had not committed any crime, Lu Mingxing's army was pardoned by the imperial court, and Lu Mingxing was also named Yingyang Zhonglang Jiang.
Eight years later, Lu Mingxing, then General of the Right Guard, received a letter from a merchant. He then learned that his brother had established a country overseas and changed his name to Lu Qingfeng.
He reported the matter truthfully to the emperor, who was overjoyed. He immediately issued an edict to confer the title of Prince of Nanyang and General of the Cavalry on Lu Qingfeng, and ordered him to return to the country for an audience at an appropriate time.
Two years later, King Lu Qingfeng of Lu State came to the Sui Dynasty at the order of the emperor to meet the Sui Emperor.
(End of this chapter)