*Edited by LazyCat

After taking Gaoyou, the imperial court once again sent someone to deliver documents.

The person who was sent was a Han, probably because the court thought it would be easier for a Han to communicate with them. The Han who was sent was a small official named Jia Fuqing. He was dressed in plain clothes and had a small beard. When Lin Yuan saw him at the time, he felt that he looked like a typical Han official.

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Standing in front of Lin Yuan, Jia Fuqing was a little nervous. He didn’t know what bad luck had befallen him, to be sent to have talks with rebel thieves. In his opinion, Lin Yuan in front of him appeared to be just a young man who had a bit of a scholarly bearing. But in the end, he was still a rebel thief. The rebel thieves are unreasonable. You never know if they would cut off your head in the next second due to a small disagreement.

“Brother Jia.” When Lin Yuan saw Jia Fuqing, he greeted him with enthusiasm, “I have been waiting for you for a long time.”

Jia Fuqing was taken aback, but soon quickly reacted, and said with a smile to Lin Yuan: “I heard of Lin Gongzi’s name even in Zhengzhou. Sure enough, Lin Gongzi is a heroic young man with much talent, so why become a……”

He sighed, looking very regretful.

Lin Yuan smiled and asked, “What do you think of Lin?”

Jia Fuqing sighed: “The court sent people a few months ago to bring documents. As long as Lin Gongzi is willing to submit to the court, you will be gifted with 10,000 households and made a Wanhu. Wouldn’t that be better than living a life of precariousness now? Looking ahead, since Fang Zhizhong had submitted to the imperial court he is now the governor of Huizhou. If Lin Gongzi also submits to the court the title of Wanhu will be in your grasp.”

“Lin Gongzi, you also know that the court is now willing to grant you the title of Wanhu because it pities your soldiers and people, and not because the court is powerless. If the court is forced to send troops, then Han Shantong’s fate is in front of you.”

Jia Fuqing appeared to be neither too humble nor too overbearing, and his words were spoken entirely for Lin Yuan’s consideration.

Lin Yuan was not angry either, and smiled at Jia Fuqing: “Brother Jia has just made the long travel, so perhaps a short rest is in order. After that, shall we talk some more?”

“Come in.”

The servants waiting outside swarmed in. Their footsteps were very quiet and their movements also very orderly. When they came in, they did not brush up against anyone at all. Jia Fuqing lowered his eyes, but he was secretly astonished.

These servants felt like soldiers.

“Take Lord Jia to his room.” Lin Yuan ordered.

The servants responded with an affirmative and a man of medium build walked up to Jia Fuqing and bowed his head saying, “Lord Jia, please.”

Jia Fuqing couldn’t refuse, and could only leave with the servants.

When Jia Fuqing left, Lin Yuan had someone bring over Song Shizhao. Song Shizhao was more like a scholar than Lin Yuan. If one only looked at his appearance, no one would have thought that Song Shizhao had the courage to rebel. He only needed to wear a robe and a literati hat to appear like any old stuffy scholar walking on the road.

Song Shizhao also knew that the imperial court had sent someone over, and of course he also understood that Lin Yuan called him over to solve the imperial emissary’s problem.

“We can’t let him go back at this time.” Lin Yuan said to Song Shizhao, “We must have him stay at least six months, and the letters he sends to the court should also make the court feel that I am considering, rather than refuse to ever submit to the court.”

Song Shizhao touched his chin, and asked: “Boss wants to use the delaying method, but I’m afraid the court won’t have so much patience.”

Lin Yuan: “Before we capture Changshu and Songjiang, we can’t completely display open animosity towards the court.”

He had no desire to be the rebel army targeted by the Yuan court after Han Shantong.

After all, the court’s army was not all made up of the useless. In fact, Tuotuo Timur was a famous general during the late Yuan Dynasty.

He did not die on the battlefield, but died from schemes at the court.

His life was eventually taken by the Yuan Dynasty, the very thing he was loyal to.

In Lin Yuan’s memory, Tuotuo Timur was a very famous general and a rare military talent. He not only learned the culture of his own ethnic peoples, but also the Confucian culture of the Hans. He was also very good at calligraphy, the script powerful and similar in style to Yan Zhenqing’s calligraphy style. He was also talented at painting bamboo. And because he accepted Confucianism, he also lived according to Confucian standards.

And, like Zhang Shicheng, he had been brawny and physically strong since he was a child.

Probably all generals were born with this talent?

Lin Yuan remembered that Chen Youliang seemed to have excelled at physical strength since childhood.

He thought about it seriously. If he could leave a trace in the history books, it was likely that some people would say that he was also physically superior.

This made Lin Yuan suddenly feel a little bit amused.

Anyway, most generals had the habit of boasting of their strength and wisdom.

It was impossible to pinpoint the truth. What was recorded in the history books was passed down over many years, and who knew how many people have edited and made changes.

Song Shizhao said: “I will take care of this matter for Boss, and will not disappoint Boss.”

Lin Yuan smiled at him: “Giving the matters over to Mr. Song, I am always at ease.”

Mr. was a respectful form of address, not just for teachers. As for whether Song Shizhao actually taught or not, no one cared. After Lin Yuan called him this a few times, other people also followed along.

This made Song Shizhao feel very happy, but he would not show it, only secretly feel pleased.

After all, it was a person sent by the imperial court, so some respect was called for. The people were very respectful to Jia Fuqing. After being taken to the room arranged for him, Jia Fuqing also saw the Four Treasures of the Study placed out on the table (TN: the essentials of calligraphy and scholarship which includes brush, ink, paper and ink-stone). There were even clothes prepared for him which felt rather strange to Jia Fuqing. He had only been here for one day, and there was no tailor to measure him. But even if he had been measured, clothes couldn’t be made in one day.

The middle-aged man who took him into the room lowered his head and said respectfully: “Lord Jia, if you have a need for something just ring this bell here and someone will answer to your needs.”

Jia Fuqing nodded: “This is convenient.”

The middle-aged man said: “These clothes are all newly made. No one has ever worn it before. If you think it is a bit loose, just ask a tailor to come over and tighten it for you.”

Jia Fuqing was taken aback for a moment, having not expected that there would be such a practice. He said: “Even if it is tightened, it is still not as suitable as tailored clothes.”

The middle-aged servant smiled: “Lord Jia is joking with us. We are not rich here and can’t afford so many tailors.”

Jia Fuqing laughed dryly.

When he came over, he didn’t have time to look around outside, and he didn’t know the current situation in Taizhou and Gaoyou.

However, according to his speculation, Lin Yuan was a young man. And young men lacked years and experience. There may be one or two experts around him, but it was impossible for the hearts of the people of Taizhou and Gaoyou to convert towards Lin Yuan in such a short time.

Perhaps the situation in Gaoyou and Taizhou was not as good as he speculated.

At this time, many people on the street walked out of their homes one after another. The bell was struck, and even the people who were working stopped their work. The supervisor did not scold like they used to when seeing their workers being lazy. They also went to the side of the street and waited for the sound of the bell to get closer.

“They’re here! They’re here!”

The little boy ran all the way, with a smile on his face. If one didn’t know better one would think it was the New Year. He shouted: “They’re here!”

The crowd was very noisy, talking to each other with joy on their faces.

The sound got closer, and they finally saw the arrivals.

The first person to enter the field of vision wore brown prison pants. Prisoners had no clothes to wear. The most they had on was only a pair of pants that were cropped. He was unkempt, and had a big belly that everyone knew at a glance was not something other than a rich person could have.

Every time he took a step his stomach wobbled. His hands and feet were also shackled. There were two bailiffs escorting him, one on the left and one on the right. One of them was holding a bell in his hand and the other was preaching loudly the crimes that the prisoner had committed.

The people looked at the originally rich and entitled lords with excitement as they were now imprisoned and being paraded on the streets. They all had a smile on their faces.

If it weren’t for not bearing to waste even rotten vegetable leaves and eggs, they would probably throw it at those prisoners.

They don’t dare to throw stones either, because they were afraid they might hit the bailiffs next to the prisoners.

“Who is this person?” Most of the poor have never seen the lords and masters above, and naturally they couldn’t recognize who this person was.

The person next to him replied: “I heard the officer say that this person is the master of the Zhao family!”

“Hah! Master Zhao! He is ‘this’ at our Gaoyou!” Someone made a gesture to show master Zhao’s wealth.

The man laughed: “Whatever he used to be, now he is a prisoner! Do you know what a prisoner is? They have to be tattooed on their face, their property has to be confiscated, and they will be beheaded after a month of parade.”

“What crime did he commit?”

The man said mysteriously: “I heard someone sued him to the South Bodhisattva. When the South Bodhisattva knew that he harmed and oppressed the commoners, he ordered him to be arrested and atone for his crime, his money to be shared with the people he had oppressed.”

“Really? All distributed to the people?”

“How could it be false? The South Bodhisattva has spoken, who would dare not listen? Who doesn’t know what kind of person is the South Bodhisattva? He naturally stands on our side!”

“That’s natural.”

People naturally discussed among themselves.

“I didn’t expect that when the South Bodhisattva came over, those soldiers did not steal our things at all.”

“Do you know what it means for a military order to be like a mountain? The South Bodhisattva told them not to disturb the people. Of course, they will not disobey the South Bodhisattva’s orders. Where can they find a South Bodhisattva who thinks about the people like this!”

While people were whispering, someone suddenly rushed to the middle of the road. He rushed madly over and punched and kicked at master Zhao. The bailiffs on the side pretended not to see it. After a while when they saw that this person didn’t stop, then they pulled the man away.

The person who rushed out shouted, “The South Bodhisattva brings justice for the people! The man surnamed Zhao forcibly occupied the land where I lived and forced my sister to go to his house as a slave. It was but for a year when she was sent back as just bones! This man surnamed Zhao told me that my sister died from a cold, but why didn’t he inform us in advance? Sending her back only when already dead, and won’t even give us a spot of land for burial!”

“If there is no South Bodhisattva! I don’t know when my sister’s death could be avenged!”

“I kowtow to the South Bodhisattva!”

Facing the direction of the government offices, the man knelt down, and honestly knocked his head more than a dozen times. The blood dripped down his forehead by the time he stopped. He wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve and then left the intersection.

People were moved. They were oppressed in the past but could only keep silent and tell themselves to bear with the hardship.

They had no other choice except for enduring it.

After enduring it for a long time, they even seemed to feel that the lords and masters above were right.

Their property and children, whatever the masters want they could just take it at will.

Otherwise, they would face a situation worse than the destruction of their family.

The daughters and sons born with beautiful or fine appearances had to hide at home since they were young, lest they be seen by the lords and masters and taken away.

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After being taken away, if the daughter was lucky enough she could become a concubine. But most of the sons taken were played with until they were crippled or dead before being sent back.

The people shouted: “South Bodhisattva brings justice to the people!”

“Kill the dog officials! Kill the scum that oppress the people!”

“South Bodhisattva!”

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*Edited by LazyCat

When Lin Yuan saw the city gates slowly opening from inside Gaoyou, he himself was a little confused.

After all, he did not arrange for people to go in to instigate rebellion, so this move was a choice made by Gaoyou soldiers themselves?

Not only Lin Yuan, but the people at his side were also stunned. Even the soldiers who were currently laying siege on the city did not expect such a situation.

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Wasn’t this opening the door yourself and waiting for them to enter?

They were practically saying: “Gaoyou welcomes you”.

Lin Yuan shouted: “Enter the city!”

Regardless of whether this was the other party’s strategy, they must seize the opprtunity and charge in now. Even if they had explosives, it was still not an easy thing to break open the city gates. Although the city gates was a wooden gate, but, the thickness did would not allow their explosives to easily penetrate it.

If they used the traditional method of hitting at the gates with a battering ram, the sacrifices would be even greater.

Lin Yuan raised his long sword up high, and the Lin family army with their conditioned reflexes reacted before they had even thought about it, charging through the opening where Lin Yuan’s sword pointed.

Before the attack on Gaoyou, Lin Yuan had repeatedly ordered that they were not allowed to harm the people in Gaoyou or rob them of their property.

In fact, Lin Yuan could understand why in ancient times, most of the generals would not try to prevent the soldiers under their command from looting or vandalizing after winning battles. This was because the soldiers who had just experienced the bloodlust of war were still in a stage of extremely heightened adrenaline and needed to vent. In order to recruit more and win over these soldiers, the generals would not restrict them.

As for public grievances? That was something the Emperor had to consider. These generals were only responsible for fighting and winning. As for subduing the people, that was left to the officials sent by the court.

Lin Yuan’s method for getting the soldiers out of this stage——was to loot and vandalize the government offices.

He also brought a large amount of food and meat, so that after the battle, the soldiers could vent through their appetite and smashing of the government offices.

Although he also knew that such a method might not work, but there was no better way at this stage.

If he wanted the soldiers to develop the habit of not looting and vandalizing, then he could only rely on subtle training to influence their habits.

It’s just that the duration of their training was still too short.

Maybe when the time came he could organize the people of the city to thank them, which would arouse their sense of responsibility and heroism.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Baisong were the first to lead the soldiers into Gaoyou City.

The soldiers behind them followed closely.

At this time, Lin Yuan still couldn’t support a cavalry, so he could only use infantry.

Fortunately, the current Yuan Dynasty army was mostly composed of Han people. During the late Yuan Dynasty, not much was left of the Yuan Dynasty’s cavalry that had first conquered the world back then.

Chen Baisong’s long knife swept up. On his horse, he leaned his head aside to avoid the opponent’s long knife. He then flipped over and dismounted, wresting the opponent’s weapon with his bare hands, and piercing the opponent through his chest.

Only then did he remount his horse and continued to charge forward.

In a battle of cold weapons depended only on who had more agile movements and sharper weapons.

Just behind Chen Baisong, the gunpowder team shouted: “Get down!”

All the people from the Lin family army heard the sound and got on the ground instantly. Only Gaoyou’s soldiers did not understand, standing there stupidly with their weapons raised in mid-air.

They only saw a flash of fire in front of their eyes and a huge explosion sounding in their ears, as sharp metal pieces flew every which way. Only the Gaoyou soldiers in plain clothes had no time to react, standing right at the target position of the gunpowder explosives. Many of them were hit by the sharp metal pieces, with the lucky ones only getting scratched, and the unlucky ones directly pierced through by the metal pieces.

Lin Yuan brought a lot of gunpowder explosives this time, using them excessively as if they weren’t as costly as they were.

When the gunpowder bags were all thrown out, the soldiers of Gaoyou were either killed or frightened into a daze. They had never experienced such a battle before. Everywhere they could see was fire and their ears were practically deafened by the huge explosions.

Taking advantage of their pause, Chen Baisong and Zhu Yuanzhang at this time caught them by surprise.

Compared with the soldiers in Gaoyou, the soldiers on Lin Yuan’s side had more faith——although this belief came from feudal superstition.

But this faith filled them with courage and the result was that they all became extremely courageous and valiant.

What’s more, the low-level soldiers in Gaoyou could barely eat enough, and they rarely even see meat in a month.

The soldiers on Lin Yuan’s side were different. Lin Yuan hadn’t mistreated them at all, especially when it came to eating. In fact, Lin Yuan practically went broke to ensure that the soldiers all have good physiques.

——Although in truth it did not get to the point of completely breaking his pockets.

Before setting off, he even played up the pitiful act to the soldiers, telling them that the reason why they didn’t get as much meat as before was because they ate too much and they made him poor. So in order to be full, Gaoyou must be captured. This way, they could once again live a life where they could eat meat every three days.

“Kill!” Chen Baisong shouted in the front.

The soldiers behind echoed: “Kill!”

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Chen Baisong. Likely not wanting to lose to Chen Baisong, he also charged in the frontal position.

——

After two days and one night, Lin Yuan could finally breath a sigh of relief when they succeeded in winning Gaoyou. It would be detrimental to them to drag it any longer.

But Lin Yuan didn’t have time to relax. He had to first record the number of people killed, then appease the ordinary people, and finally decide how to deal with the prisoners of war.

“Young master, take a break.” Chen Baisong, who woke up from his nap and saw Lin Yuan still standing outside waiting for people to report the number of war casualties, couldn’t help but persuade the other.

Lin Yuan rubbed his face and struggled to stay awake, saying to Chen Baisong, “I can’t sleep unless I finish everything in one breath.”

Chen Baisong was helpless: “It’s not a day’s work.”

Lin Yuan smiled: “You actually know this expression.”

Chen Baisong: “I heard it being said by the scholar from my original villa.”

Regarding this scholar, Lin Yuan had also put him to good use, and was now working as a teacher in Taizhou. Lin Yuan did not miss a chance to find a use for all talents.

The main reason was that Lin Yuan discovered that this scholar was really just a scholar and did everything completely by the book. So Lin Yuan only had the man teach children to read and write. Other teachers would teach the students about other things.

Even the courses were drawn up by Lin Yuan.

In regards to his habit of considering too much, Lin Yuan himself couldn’t do anything about it either.

So he was always appallingly busy.

Zhu Yuanzhang brought his men over at this time and bowed to Lin Yuan first before saying: “2,620 brothers died.”

Although Lin Yuan was prepared, he couldn’t help but inhale sharply when he heard this number.

“Bury them well, and give their families twenty taels as pensions.”

Zhu Yuanzhang promised to do so.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Baisong stood next to Lin Yuan after their subordinates left.

“Boss.” Zhu Yuanzhang still used the original title, “There are more than 4,300 prisoners of war.”

Lin Yuan: “Keep them locked up first.”

The families of these people may not all be in Gaoyou. What he needed to worry about now was that if they were pardoned, then someone among them might inform the court. That would become a problem.

Lin Yuan thought about it for a while and then said: “Starve them for a while.”

Zhu Yuanzhang responded with an affirmative.

As for how to subdue them when the time came, after removing those who may have contact with the court it could be left to later consideration.

——

Zhao Xiaosi curled up in a corner of the prison. The first time he went to the battlefield, he became a prisoner of war before he could even react.

There were more than a dozen people in this small cell. They still had blood on their bodies, and some of them had stab wounds. They could not lie down as there was not so much space. They had to sit squeezed up next to each other. If they were really tired they could only lean on a comrade’s shoulder to sleep for a while.

Zhao Xiaosi was the youngest among them, only thirteen years old. He was only half the height of his fellow comrades, and he did not take up much space when he curled up there.

Zhao Xiaosi whispered: “I’m so hungry.”

His comrades did not speak, only the sound of gurgling bellies sounded in their ears.

It only made them hungrier.

Just when they were sitting there numbly, the jailers came in. These jailers were soldiers brought by Lin Yuan and took charge of the prison temporarily.

The jailers just received their own food outside, which they brought in to eat while also tormenting the prisoners of war a bit.

These meals were all placed on specially made plates made by the artisans collected by Lin Yuan. It was impossible to use iron so all was made with copper. There were copper mines in Taizhou, and not much of it was mined, which benefited Lin Yuan.

The plates were made according to Lin Yuan’s drawings.

The style of the plates was the kind he used in the canteen when he was in college.

The scent of the food soon spread all over the prison.

The prisoners of war were even hungrier and looked at the jailers with hungry eyes.

A jailer spat at them: “What are you looking at? Careful that I don’t dig out your eyes!”

After scolding them, he said triumphantly: “Did you have such meals when you were a soldier of the dog court?”

“Have you eaten so much rice?”

“How often do you eat meat?”

Among the prisoners of war one had the courage to say: “We eat meat once a month.”

He swallowed: “I have never eaten white rice in my whole life.”

The jailer laughed and said, “I have never eaten it before either. But since I signed up under the South Bodhisattva, I can eat meat once in three days, eat enough steamed buns every day, and eat white rice once every seven days.”

The prisoner of war asked again: “I heard that you don’t need to be beaten by the army supervisors?”

The jailer spat again: “No need for the supervisors to do anything. If a fellow doesn’t know obedience, his squad mates would beat him up instead.”

Otherwise, the excellent evaluation of a squad would be lost.

If a squad got an excellent evaluation, not only will it be named and praised by the entire military camp, but all the squad members will also get a pot of meat stew.

There was meat, vegetables, and sauce, enough for an adult man to eat for a day.

Not only that, but also white rice.

Everyone in the squad would get a share.

If someone dared to hold back his squad mates, there waa no need for the army supervisors to say anything, the others in the same squad would have already taught him a private lesson.

Because the military camp did not allow armed fighting and they were afraid of being reported, the way they taught troublemakers a lesson was just to speak reason. If reason didn’t work, then they ostracized him. If that did not work, then they tell the supervisors to remove him from their squad and have him he sent to the labor reform squad.

The training intensity of the labor reform squad was greater than that of all the other regular squads. There was almost no break from morning to night, and they were always under surveillance. If one wanted to be lazy, then the intensity of training would be increased even more.

Now the military camp had the squad as the lowest unit, followed by the platoon.

They all gained a sense of collective honor in a short period of time.

The prisoners of war did not understand. They were all soldiers, but why was the gap so big?

He was a bachelor, with no family he needed to think for, so he shouted out: “Officer! I am willing to work for the South Bodhisattva!”

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“Officer! Accept me!”

Zhao Xiaosi looked at that prisoner of war, and he also wanted to shout along with him, but he didn’t dare.

He lowered his head and thought, if someone else also shouted, then he’ll follow along?

If so many people were together, then he would not be afraid.

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*Edited by LazyCat

On the day of the attack on Gaoyou there was rare good weather.

There was no wind, thousands of miles without clouds, and the sky was blue and clear like it had been washed. Lin Yuan led an army of more than ten thousand. Zhu Yuanzhang, Chen Baisong, and Li Congrong all followed him. Gaoyou had 10,000 permanent troops, but it was only called ten thousand strong. Among them, there were many old, weak, sick and disabled. The military households have been military households for generations. The father died and his son inherited the titles and land, and when his son died the grandson inherited everything. In terms of fighting strength, Lin Yuan’s army was not their opponent.

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But many years have passed.

The Mongolian warriors who were brave and superior in fighting have gradually lost their former glory.

Moreover, most of the people in the army were of ethnic Han, and the Han were at the bottom of the society in the Yuan Dynasty. Even in the army, only very few could climb up in status.

Some of them joined the army for their livelihood, but some were forced into the army.

It goes without saying that the people’s hearts and loyalty were unstable.

Weapons and equipment have also not been updated for many years.

Once they began to worry about whether they could win this battle, they had already lost half of it.

People on Lin Yuan’s side worship Lin Yuan blindly, and they think that as long as they follow Lin Yuan, there was no unwinnable battle.

In terms of momentum, Lin Yuan’s army has an advantage.

Sometimes the commoners were not necessarily worse than the official army, and sometimes the so-called faith could indeed make people brave.

The soldiers followed Lin Yuan, and no one whispered to each other. All the training under a collective system was indeed useful.

Although the soldiers have not been trained to march, but because the soldiers were in good spirits, they actually all marched neatly on the road.

Wanhu Ulaanbaalsi of Gaoyou was lying on the bed when he heard that someone was attacking the city, with his arms around a beauty offered by his subordinates. As soon as he heard the news, he immediately threw aside the woman in his arms. The woman rolled to the ground and finally stopped with her limbs spread out, a purple palm print on her neck——she was already strangled to death by Ulaanbaalsi before he fell asleep. (TN: wanhu: ducal title meaning lord of 10,000 households also translated as Marquis)

Ulaanbaalsi cursed, but he hurriedly put on his clothes, and then went to get his longbow and knife.

“What happened?” Ulaanbaalsi asked his confidante as he walked.

The confidante followed him: “They are attacking the city, wanhu, our people will not be able to resist for long.”

Ulaanbaalsi widened his eyes and roared: “What did you say?!”

The confidante swallowed and fearing that Ulaanbaalsi would turn his knife on him, kept a distance from Ulaanbaalsi as he said: “Wanhu, we have only 7,000 people! Among them, there are nearly half who are old, weak, sick and disabled! The enemy has explosives, wanhu!”

Ulaanbaalsi was very self-preserving. He turned his head and asked, “Everyone has gone over?”

The confidante nodded: “All the troops that can be mobilized have gone.”

Ulaanbaalsi asked again: “How many people are in the other party? Do you know who is the leader?”

The confidante said: “There may be more than ten thousand, and the leader……I am afraid it is the South Bodhisattva of Taizhou.”

Ulaanbaalsi knew about this South Bodhisattva, and many people in the army believed in him, but these people did not dare to speak out. As early as a month ago, Ulaanbaalsi had killed several followers of the South Bodhisattva. These people felt that there was no future in following the Yuan army. They had originally planned to call on some in the army to go to Taizhou and join the South Bodhisattva, but were betrayed to Ulaanbaalsi who killed them all for the sake of restoring stability to the military.

But though the people were killed, the only result was that the people in the army dared not talk about the South Bodhisattva anymore.

Ulaanbaalsi’s eyes flickered and he said to his confidante: “You go over first, and I will write for help.”

The confidante did not suspect him, and he went to the city wall.

But Ulaanbaalsi returned to his house.

He was a wanhu, and knew that even if he asked for help now, it would not be possible for the reinforcements to come over in such a short time.

Moreover, there were now many calls of rebellion, even if they asked for help, there may not necessarily be reinforcements coming.

He knew his own military strength. If he lost, he would surely die, and he couldn’t see the hope of winning.

He kicked away the body of the woman in the house and started to pack up valuables.

——

Zhou Siwu followed behind a fellow soldier, holding a rusty knife in his hand. He didn’t even have a helmet and was only dressed in cloth. His armor was his flesh and blood. It was the first time Zhou Siwu went on the battlefield. He was a forcibly recruited soldier. He only remembered that he was a farmer in a village and there was a girl who was his childhood sweetheart. But then a group of soldiers appeared. Because his childhood sweetheart was the best-looking girl in the area, she was called to serve the leader of that group of soldiers.

At that time, he was so angry that he wanted to rush to rescue his sweetheart with his axe.

But when he was near the yard, he thought of his family.

He squatted on the ground, and finally couldn’t help crying in pain. He seemed to hear the screams of his sweetheart, but he couldn’t do anything but listen numbly.

For a moment, he felt that he might as well die.

He squatted there until dawn broke the next day, and the sound of a rooster crowing reached his ears.

He thought in his heart that even if his sweetheart was defiled, he still admired her and was willing to marry her. He could treat it as if it had never happened in his life.

But the heavens did not give him a chance.

After his sweetheart was sent home, she committed suicide while her family was away.

Before he could even see her one last time, she was taken away.

Zhou Siwu had waited all this time. He thought, weapons have no eyes on the battlefield, and he would have a chance to kill that leader.

He endured the suffering in silence and waited year after year, finally waiting for this day.

Zhou Siwu held the hilt of his knife tightly and looked at the leader ahead.

This was the only way he could think of that would not implicate his family.

When the leader died, he would also end his life.

He remembered that his fellow soldier had said that the people under the South Bodhisattva had a good life. He also said that serving as the South Bodhisattva’s soldiers would not face unfair treatment, and the leaders there would not be able to take civilian girls, otherwise they would be subjected to military law.

Looking at the sky Zhou Siwu thought, if the man who was in charge of the place where his family lived was the South Bodhisattva, would his sweetheart not die, would he be able to marry her and have a few children? Men farming and women weaving, just living a normal life.

Zhou Siwu lowered his head, fearing that the resentment in his eyes might be seen.

The soldiers around him did not speak.

Apart from fear, everyone felt only numbness.

When they climbed up to the top of the city wall, Zhou Siwu joined the soldiers stationed there. The leader scolded him: “Useless thing! Take up your knife!”

Zhou Siwu glanced at the leader.

The leader saw his red eyes, and thinking he was afraid, mocked: “As expected of Han people, all cowards!”

Suddenly Zhou Siwu knelt down, shaking all over.

The leader felt that he had frightened the other and spat: “You dare not kill the enemy, but you kneel very quickly.”

Zhou Siwu crawled over slowly and hugged the leader’s leg.

The leader wanted to kick him away, but found that he was hugging too tightly, and cursed: “Let go!”

Zhou Siwu gritted his teeth and suddenly pulled out the knife. He raised his hand and inserted the blade into the leader’s stomach then he slid to the side. The leader looked shocked as his intestines fell out of his stomach, hurriedly trying to hold it with his hands but he was kicked down the city wall by Zhou Siwu.

Someone came to suppress him. Zhou Siwu kneeled on the ground motionless like a dead man. He was ready to die a long time ago. Anyway, this battle would definitely be lost. He would be dead by then, and no one would pursue his crimes. It would not affect his parents and brothers.

Just when he thought that he was bound to die, suddenly someone killed the person who was holding him down.

Zhou Siwu looked up and saw a fellow soldier who he was close to standing in front of him.

He heard him say: “I quit! I have been using my life to defend this Mongolian empire! I f**king rebel! I’m going to open the city gate! Welcome the South Bodhisattva into the city! I would rather serve as a soldier under the South Bodhisattva!”

The soldier looked around, a long and hideous scar on his dark face. At this time, it shifted with his expression like a centipede.

The soldiers in their team did not speak.

They were already desperate, no matter how obedient, they would always be punished for the mistakes of their superiors instead. The young people come in, thirteen or fourteen years old, and because of unreasonable charges they were administered with the military stick until beaten bloody. And then struggling all night before dying.

“I don’t want to swallow my grievances anymore!”

“Brother! We listen to you!”

“Anyway, if advance and retreat all mean death! Then, it’s better to take a bet!”

Zhou Siwu didn’t expect that he would survive. He stared blankly at everything in front of him, and he didn’t understand why all of a sudden, his fellow soldiers had rebelled and were going to open the city gate.

He just hated the leader. He didn’t have the guts to rebel, and he didn’t have the guts to fight against the court.

He was afraid of implicating his family.

Weren’t his fellow soldiers afraid of implicating their family?

Zhou Siwu’s mind became muddy, and he couldn’t figure out anything, climbing down the city wall with his fellow soldiers in a daze.

When they got close to the soldiers guarding the city gate, he finally came back to himself, and said to his comrades in fear: “No, no, we can’t rebel, what would happen to our families if we rebel? What would happen to our parents?!”

The soldier suddenly laughed: “Who knows if they are still alive.”

“The world has fallen into chaos and so many people have been displaced, how do you know that your parents have not become refugees?”

“I want to live, I don’t want to die, I’m unable to care about that many things!”

Zhou Siwu wanted to persuade them, he burst into tears, grabbed the hand of the soldier, opened his mouth and said hoarsely: “I don’t know if my parents are still there, but I dare not gamble, let’s not open the city gate. Let’s escape! Let’s escape! We can still live!”

“How to escape? Where would we escape?” The soldier smiled with difficulty, “Look at it for yourself, where can you escape? Can you escape? There is no way! Zhou Siwu! Let’s open the gates now! The South Bodhisattva comes in, and we still have a chance to survive! If the gate is not opened, if they charge in, then we will have to die!”

Zhou Siwu said in a trance: “Being a soldier one must be prepared for death……”

“But that doesn’t mean we should die for that group of beasts!”

Zhou Siwu took a step back in fear.

He did not dare to oppose the imperial court, after all it was the imperial court!

How could they dare to open the city gate!

Zhou Siwu turned to run, but his comrade strangled his neck with a rope from behind.

Zhou Siwu struggled with hands scratching randomly, eyeballs protruding from his eye sockets.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

Before losing consciousness, he heard his comrade say: “We saved you, but you still want to be a dog for the court. It’s better that you go die.”

Zhou Siwu’s body collapsed limply at the foot of the city wall.

His eyes were open.

He had died with remaining grievances.

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