Chapter 061: Showing Weakness or Trust to the Enemy
Zhu Yuanzhang did not know that in history, these Miao generals had also rebelled. Hu Dahai and Geng Zaicheng were killed. Also killed were Hu Dahai's only remaining son Hu Guanzhu (Hu Dahai's eldest son Hu Sanshe had been executed by Zhu Yuanzhang), and his few civil officials Wang Kai and Zhang Cheng.
This time, Ye Chen was there to assist Hu Dahai, but he did not encounter any rebellion because when the Miao generals rebelled, Ye Chen was sulking in Yingtian.
Originally, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Ye Chen to assist Hu Dahai, and the two got along well.
But when Hu Dahai and Chang Yuchun quarreled, Ye Chen stood on Chang Yuchun's side and also quarreled with Hu Dahai.
Ye Chen believed that the Miao generals were wavering and not truly submitting. General Chang had a point. If they wouldn't even visit the labor camp to see the situation, how could anyone believe they were sincere?
Hu Dahai was a good person in many ways, such as his utmost loyalty to Zhu Yuanzhang, his respect for scholars, and his stricter military discipline than Xu Da's. However, he also had the bad habits of military generals and commoners, that is, he was too "loyal".
Since these Miao generals came to surrender on their own initiative, Hu Dahai trusted them wholeheartedly and directly classified them as his protected subordinates.
Ye Chen was so angry that he made an excuse of being sick and asked to rest tomorrow.
Hu Dahai was also very angry. He decided to train these Miao generals well and let them make more contributions to prove his correctness to Ye Chen.
It was obvious that Chang Yuchun was looking for a reason to quarrel with Hu Dahai and "treat harshly" the generals who came to surrender voluntarily. As a result, Chang Yuchun was thrown aside, and Hu Dahai and Ye Chen got angry.
Chang Yuchun said he had a headache, so he had another quarrel with Geng Zaicheng.
Now, Hu Dahai wrote a letter to Ye Chen to admit his mistake while hugging Chang Yuchun and crying; Geng Zaicheng also went to find Chang Yuchun and hugged Chang Yuchun and cried.
Chang Yuchun was covered in big men (not a typo), and he could no longer tolerate it, so he wanted to beat up the two of them.
The two men, with tears in their eyes, told Chang Yuchun to beat them as hard as he wanted without fighting back. Chang Yuchun turned and ran away, locked himself in the room, and told them to get out.
When Ye Chen learned about this, he was overjoyed and applauded.
Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it and wrote a letter to Chang Yuchun, asking Hu Dahai and Geng Zaicheng to be sent to a labor reform camp for a month.
It was not Hu Dahai and Geng Zaicheng's fault that the surrendered generals rebelled again.
But even with the reminders from Chang Yuchun and Ye Chen, they still insisted on having their own way. That was their fault, and they must be punished to win over the public.
Zhu Yuanzhang also used them as a warning to other generals that labor reform was essential. Even if the surrendered generals rebelled again, Chang Yuchun's insistence on reforming the Miao soldiers and distributing land would expose their plots and prevent major losses.
However, some people impeached Chang Yuchun, saying that Chang Yuchun insisted on reforming the Miao soldiers, which made the Miao generals who voluntarily surrendered feel very embarrassed, and thus the Miao generals betrayed him.
While helping Zhu Yuanzhang grind ink, Zhu Wenzheng complained: "This guy definitely has a problem with his brain."
Zhu Yuanzhang sighed.
Zhu Wenzheng added, "If the Miao soldiers hadn't been reformed, this rebellion would have put Hu Dahai and Geng Zaicheng in danger. Just like Hongdu, uncle, you reserved all the soldiers for Hu Tingrui. If he rebelled, Hongdu would have been doomed."
Zhu Yuanzhang immediately said, "Stop being such a pessimist!"
Zhu Wenzheng said, "I'm not being mean, I'm just making an analogy. But honestly, I think Hongdu will definitely be in chaos. As General Chang said, if they truly want to surrender, they should take the initiative to accept labor reform like Ding Puluan and Fu Youde. Didn't Ding Puluan and Fu Youde contribute to the surrender of the city? Humph."
As long as Chen Biao was not around, Zhu Wenzheng was very arrogant in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhu Yuanzhang also indulged Zhu Wenzheng. Therefore, Zhu Wenzheng's tone was not polite when he commented on Zhu Yuanzhang's generals.
Zhu Yuanzhang originally wanted to refute Zhu Wenzhen, but two consecutive betrayals made Zhu Yuanzhang feel uneasy.
He looked at the edict he had just written.
Chang Yuchun and Ye Zheng, a duo, had already traveled to Hongdu to survey the land and prepare for the well-field system—even without labor reform, the well-field system and military settlements would still have to continue. When Zhu Yuanzhang entered the city, an elder from Hongdu came to inquire on behalf of the people, hoping that General Chang would still be the one to distribute the land.
Chang Yuchun only gave the initial task, and the rest of the work was to be taken over by other garrison commanders and civil officials.
Hongdu's strategic location was so important that Zhu Yuanzhang decided to let his nephew Zhu Wenzhen guard it, assisted by the general Deng Yu, and the civil official Ye Chen as the prefect of Hongdu.
Hu Dahai needs to undergo labor reform. If he wants to continue to be a partner with Ye Chen after the reform, he must show some sincerity in apologizing.
Zhu Yuanzhang was not biased towards Ye Chen and bullying Hu Dahai. He just wanted to see Hu Dahai laugh.
Deng Yu has already departed and will return to Hongdu in the next few days. Ye Chen has not yet received his official appointment and will only depart today after Zhu Yuanzhang's edict is issued.
Zhu Yuanzhang was now worried that Hongdu would rebel. Chang Yuchun and Deng Yu could still fight their way out on their own, at most protecting Mr. Ye Da. If Mr. Ye Er also went, Zhu Yuanzhang was worried that Chang Yuchun and Deng Yu's limited number of men would not be able to protect him.
Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it, crumpled the edict into a ball, changed the paper, and rewrote the edict.
He asked Zhu Wenzhen to lead a team of elite troops to set off early, with Chen Ying as his assistant; the prefect of Hongdu was changed to Zhang Cundao, the eldest son of Zhang Yi.
Zhang Yi's eldest son, Zhang Cundao, inherited Zhang Yi's good martial arts and military knowledge. He was a good (crossed out) general (crossed out) scholar who was good at fighting. He made great contributions when he followed Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer Chen Youliang.
Zhu Yuanzhang admired and loved the several scholars from eastern Zhejiang who had taken the initiative to join him. Since Zhang Cundao had this ability, Zhu Yuanzhang also wanted to give him the opportunity to be a marquis. Although this time was dangerous, it was also an opportunity.
The only headache was how he could stop Ye Chen, who would definitely want to go to Hongdu after learning that Hongdu might rebel.
So Zhu Yuanzhang secretly called Hu Dahai and asked Hu Dahai to get Ye Chen drunk under the pretext of apologizing, and then carried Ye Chen on his back and ran to Wuzhou.
Wuzhou had been renamed Ningyue Prefecture by Zhu Yuanzhang, and Ye Chen returned to his post as Ningyue prefect.
As for whether Ye Chen will be angry after he sobers up...if he is angry, he will only beat Hu Dahai. What does it have to do with me, Zhu Yuanzhang!
Zhu Wenzhen and Chen Ying also set off quickly.
Chen Ying led the most elite musket team under Zhu Yuanzhang.
The fire gun originated in the Song Dynasty and was called "Tuhuoqiang". It used a bamboo tube as the gun body and once gave the Song Dynasty an advantage in foreign wars.
However, the fire gun and gunpowder formula were soon sold to the Jin people by Song Dynasty merchants, and then obtained by the Yuan Dynasty. The Song Dynasty lost its advantage.
During the Yuan Dynasty, firearms were greatly developed. The most important improvement was the development of smelting technology, and the gun body was changed to metal.
The peasant uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty also used gunpowder weapons such as cannons and muskets. Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to muskets. While other factions used more artillery, Zhu Yuanzhang had already trained a special musketry team.
Many people in later generations know that Mu Ying, now known as Chen Ying, was a master of ancient firearm tactics. He invented the "three-stage attack" tactics, which was the main formation of firearm infantry during World War I, the "line infantry."
But few people know that Zhu Yuanzhang was the first commander to formulate and implement the tactics of combining individual firearms with cold weapons. In the Battle of Poyang Lake, in addition to the favorable time and place, Zhu Yuanzhang's firearms tactics were also a factor in determining victory.
In fact, if you think about it carefully, this is not surprising. Chen Ying was Zhu Yuanzhang's adopted son, and his understanding of firearms tactics naturally came from Zhu Yuanzhang.
However, Chen Ying's understanding of firearms tactics now surpasses Zhu Yuanzhang's because he has the external helper Chen Biao.
It was impossible to jump to the yellow powder era in one step. While making RDX, Chen Biao also started to transform black powder weapons.
Chen Biao is the son of a wealthy businessman who inherited modern memories. Since he is a rich second generation, he is naturally a member of the shooting club and knows how to use guns.
How can a wealthy person demonstrate his status and conduct business if he doesn't indulge in activities that ordinary people can't? Chen Biao is a law-abiding citizen, so he only indulges in "elegant and petty bourgeois" sports such as shooting, hunting, horse racing, and golf.
Among them, shooting and hunting are the most common social activities that Chen Biao engages in when discussing business with foreigners.
During such social gatherings, it is natural to discuss the history of the development of firearms, or even go a step further and discuss the structure of ancient firearms.
While Chen Biao's memory cheats could extract the content of his boasts, turning them into actual objects was incredibly difficult. He could only provide the craftsmen with a concept, allowing them to experiment with trial and error. Consequently, there were no upgraded black muskets, only a batch of firearms made with better materials and equipped with standard powder ladles.
This first batch of improved muskets was taken .
Although the elite troops led by Zhu Wenzhen were not a musket team, they were equipped with thick-backed broadswords that were made from "scrap steel" refined by Chen Biao in a traditional blast furnace and then hand-hammered and folded by craftsmen. When they collided with ordinary iron knives, they could cut through iron like mud.
The elite troops directly under Li Wenzhong also had such weapons.
Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang's own personal soldiers also had them. Xu Da, Tang He, and Zhou Dexing had not yet received their turn, so only he himself had changed into good weapons.
The three officials sent by Zhu Yuanzhang to take over Hongdu were all young and brought few troops. It was obvious that they were giving face to Hu Tingrui and were very weak.
When Chen Biao learned that his elder brother Yingge had taken his elite troops to Hongdu, and even the neighboring general Brother Zhang had changed back into a scholar's robe and temporarily became a civil official, he accidentally bit the fruit in his hand and broke another tooth.
His poor little mouth was leaking more and more.
"Dad, is the Marshal doing this a sting operation?" Even though the truth leaked out, Chen Biao couldn't help but complain.
Zhu Yuanzhang held Chen Biao on his knees and asked curiously, "What is fishing enforcement?"
Chen Biao explained Jiang Taigong's fishing tactics and the use of fishing methods to enforce the law, saying, "General, you are showing weakness to the enemy. Isn't this just waiting for them to rebel?"
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed: "Showing weakness to the enemy is indeed a tactic to lure them in, but showing weakness to our comrades is a sign of trust. It all depends on their choice."
Chen Biao spat out the bloody teeth in his mouth, and Zhu Yuanzhang took Chen Biao to rinse his mouth with a nervous look on his face.
Chen Biao gargled and mumbled, "No matter what, Brother Zheng and Brother Ying will be fine. Even if we can't win, we can still escape."
Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Of course. Stop talking and rinse your mouth."
Chen Biao nodded and stopped talking . As he rinsed his mouth, he thought to himself, "I've heard Hongdu is a very important place, and a major war is coming sooner or later." He was worried about Zheng and Ying guarding such a dangerous place. It seemed he needed to tinker with something else to help Zheng and Ying defend the city.
This good thing is naturally the infrastructure tool, cement.
After rinsing his mouth, Chen Biao held the medicine bag in his mouth, squinted his eyes, and clenched his fists tightly.
My brothers must not be in danger, and they will never be in danger!
