Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 351: Handing a Knife to Kill

Because Zhima Li fully adopted Lu Jin's suggestions, Tuotuo's journey southward was relatively smooth at the beginning in Huaibei. The three county towns of Peixian, Fengxian and Dangshan in Zhima Li's territory in Huaibei were all voluntarily abandoned. The population in the city should be evacuated, and those who did not want to leave had to stay or fled to the countryside for refuge. Tuotuo encountered almost no resistance and occupied the three cities.

However, what he got were only three ruined empty cities. There was no food for the people in the cities, and even logistics could not be provided. They could be used as temporary military camps, but it could only be said that they were slightly better than camping in the wild.

In addition, in order to prevent Tuotuo from using these three cities as strongholds and stationing troops and food inside to confront him for a long time, or to make it difficult for him to attack in the future, Zhima Li ordered the civilians to tear open gaps in the walls of the three cities before evacuating. This way, even if Tuotuo wanted to plug the gaps again, it would take a lot of time.

The battle continued all the way to the Huai River, where Tutu finally encountered formal resistance. The two armies fought for several days just over the pontoon bridge on the Huai River.

At the beginning, Tutuo only built one or two pontoon bridges, but Zhima Li shot arrows on the south bank to obstruct him. The Yuan army shot at Zhima Li while forcing the bridge to be built regardless of casualties. As a result, when Tutuo's pontoon bridge was finally completed, Zhima Li's fireboats ambushed upstream went downstream and broke the pontoon bridge, causing Tutuo to waste two days' effort.

Tuotuo was furious and ordered people to collect more bridge-building equipment on both sides of the canal in Huaibei. Then he made full use of the advantage of large military force and built six floating bridges on the Huai River at the same time. He also sent people to the upstream shore to collect boats and drive away the fireboats that Zhima Li had ambushed upstream.

Relying on the advantage of more soldiers, the Yuan army finally successfully built a pontoon bridge and pressed forward. Zhima Li also took the opportunity to retreat into the city of Xuzhou. However, the Yuan army's arrival at the gates of Xuzhou could only be regarded as the beginning of this battle.

Seeing the Xuzhou City that had been transformed beyond all recognition, the Yuan army generals all gasped. The main city wall of Xuzhou after the transformation was nearly 15 feet high, and the arrow slits on the parapet were more than 16 meters high. With such a high height, it would not be easy even if they wanted to set up ladders and attack the city.

What's more, there is a circle of horse-blocking wall outside the main city wall, and there are terrain obstacles between the horse-blocking wall and the main city wall, all of which are low walls, slopes and deep pits and gullies, making it impossible for the enemy troops to gain a foothold and deploy. The outer horse-blocking wall is also three meters high, and there is a three-story arrow tower on the main city gate. There are also three layers of urn cities outside, and there are two or three-story arrow towers on the urn cities.

The walls on all four sides are the same, with only one gate each. There are 60,000 combat soldiers and 40,000 young and strong civilians in the city, with 100,000 people guarding the four gates. The Yuan army certainly cannot think of breaking in so easily.

When Tuotuo saw Xuzhou like this, he couldn't help frowning, but since he was already there and the emperor's edict had been issued, he had no choice but to fight. He could only send people to scout the surrounding enemy situation and let the civilians start filling the moat.

Zhima Li had the defenders stand on the outer horse-blocking wall and shoot with bows and arrows at the Yuan army's laborers who were filling the river, resulting in heavy casualties among the laborers. The Yuan army had no choice but to build a well-shaped tower, a three-story high, movable arrow tower with wheels at the bottom, which allowed the Yuan army to shoot at the defenders on the horse-blocking wall from a high position. They then brought in a large number of bowl-mouth guns and fire guns to suppress the horse-blocking wall and allow the laborers to continue filling the river.

Just as the Yuan army was filling the river, news came from Shuyang in the east that Yesu was defeated and captured, and only more than 300 remnants of the 3,000 cavalry escaped. The deputy general of the detachment, Tu Temur, led the remaining 10,000 infantry to retreat to Shuyang.

Tuotuo was shocked and angry when he heard the news. The Li thief in Xuzhou had built a strong city and was already very difficult to defeat. The Luzhou thief in the east actually had a large-scale elite cavalry, and could actually defeat the elite Qiexue of the imperial court in one battle. Why did these Red Turban rebels develop so fast?

At the same time, the news that a large number of cavalrymen of the Shengwu Army were equipped with muskets that could be fired with one hand, and that everyone could shoot with both hands, also attracted Tuotuo's attention. People who understand cavalry tactics naturally know how big a cheat this is. It is no exaggeration to say that it is comparable to the first appearance of stirrups. This can be regarded as a revolution in cavalry tactics, and it also forced the top brass of the Yuan army to pay more attention to the Shengwu Army.

When Taiwei Yuekuochar heard that his eldest son was injured and captured, he was furious. He repeatedly asked Tuotuo to fight, saying that he wanted to destroy the cavalry in Huaibei and rescue his son. However, Tuotuo frowned and did not agree.

The situation on the Shengwu Army's side is unclear, and it is hard to say whether this is not a strategy of the enemy army to lure the enemy. Although the Yuan army's force heading south this time is not small, if it is divided into two battlefields, it will not be able to maintain its troop advantage. Once they divide their troops to attack the enemy in two directions, they will most likely not be able to capture any of them in the end.

Perhaps the bandit army had the same idea, or perhaps Zhima Li and the Luzhou bandit had some prior agreement, so the Luzhou bandits in the east frequently provoked the Yuan army, hoping that the Yuan army would divide its forces to attack Huai'an. How could Tuotuo fall for this?
However, he couldn't help but express Yue Kuochar's feelings. He had to be on guard against the elite cavalry of the Luzhou bandits appearing on his side and rear, so Tuotuo said.

"Yue Kuocaer, you can't go. The most important thing to avoid when leading an army into battle is being blinded by anger. Besides, Yesu has been captured by the enemy army and is still injured. It's probably too late to go now."

What this means is that Yesu is most likely dead. How could a high-ranking official of the imperial court fall into the hands of rebels and have a good ending? Do you think everyone is Xu Shouhui and Ni Wenjun? How could you keep a few members of the Tartar royal family after you captured them?

Yue Kuochaer said with red eyes, "I have long said that we should not attack Xuzhou first, but should attack Huai'an first. The Prime Minister did not listen to my advice. If the army had attacked Huai'an first, with heavy troops pressing on the border, what use would the three thousand cavalrymen of the bandits be, no matter how elite they were."

Tuotuo's face immediately turned cold when he heard this. Yue Kuochar actually blamed him for everything.

Tuotuo took a deep breath and explained, "I only said that you were easily angered by the enemy army because of Yesu, but I didn't say that I would not save your son."

Yue Kuochar then opened his eyes wide and looked at Tuotuo with hope.

"Who is the Prime Minister going to send as the general?"

Tuotuo said immediately, "Let Ke Ke Zhalu Huchi Fushou lead 5,000 elite cavalry and 5,000 infantry to Shuyang to join forces with Tu Temur, and then go to suppress the Luzhou bandit cavalry in Huaibei. Without my order, you are not allowed to cross the river and attack. Just protect our flank from being ambushed."

Finally, Tuotuo added, "If we find Yesu still in Huaibei, rescue him as well."

Fu Shou immediately accepted the order, "Yes!"

The implication was that if Yesu had been taken south of the Huai River, there was no need to rescue him for the time being. Yue Kochar gritted his teeth upon hearing this, but said nothing more. After all, the overall situation was more important. The army would not change its combat intentions for the sake of his son, a defeated general who was ignorant of the danger. In addition, Yue Kochar still trusted Fushou.

Zharuhuchi was an official position unique to the Yuan Dynasty. Its function was to be in charge of judicial affairs, but its jurisdiction was much greater than that of the traditional Ministry of Justice in China. It also included some functions of the Zongzheng Temple, one of the Nine Ministers. It could even manage the royal family and princes of the Yuan Dynasty, as well as military generals from all over the country.

However, it is different from the system of the Censorate. The Censorate is equivalent to a procuratorate, which only has the power of supervision and reporting, but not the power of law enforcement or trial. However, Zhaluhuchi has the power of law enforcement. This group of people can not only supervise and report, but also arrest people directly, and even sentence them directly after arresting them. Their power is limitless.

Fu Shou's official title was Ke Zhaluhuchi, which means the highest chief of all Zhaluhuchi! In the Central Plains Dynasty, he was the highest chief in charge of the country's justice, and his position was comparable to that of the Three Dukes. Compared with Yue Kuochar, the Grand Commandant, he was not inferior.

Tuotuo sent Fushou to rescue his son, and Yuekuochar had nothing to say.

So around the tenth day, Fushou received orders and took 10,000 infantry and cavalry to Shuyang to support Tu Temur, preparing to join forces to drive back the Shengwu Army in Huaibei, while the main force of the Yuan army in Xuzhou continued to attack Xuzhou.

After filling the moat for several days, the Yuan army finally filled several attack passages outside the east, west and north gates, and launched a fierce attack on Xuzhou that day. However, several consecutive attacks ended in heavy losses. The defenders led by Zhima Li kept shooting arrows from the top of the city wall, and the arrows flew like locusts along the outer horse-blocking wall. The Yuan army was unable to resist at all. Even if someone climbed over the horse-blocking wall and rushed inside, they would fall into various sloping tunnels and maze-like walls, and then be shot to death by the defenders on the top of the city wall like a target.

Although the Yuan army had prepared mobile arrow towers such as Jinglan, as well as muskets and bowl-mouth guns, those things were only good for hitting the three-meter-high outer horse-blocking wall, but they were completely inadequate against the 16-meter-high main city wall.

The Yuan army's three-story arrow tower was pushed to the side of the horse-blocking wall, but its height was still so high that it could only be used for overhead fire from the defenders on the city walls. The height advantage of the arrow tower could not be fully utilized. The bowl-mouthed gun, a short-barreled mortar that fired solid bullets and had no chamber pressure, could hardly cause any effective damage to the city walls even if it fired a high-altitude trajectory.

Continuing with this strong attack will only result in more unnecessary casualties. There is no other way. During the more than one year that Zhima Li occupied Xuzhou, although he only had a few sets of iron armor, he had been working hard to make arrows. The number of arrows he made is huge. You can attack as much as you want, and you will be finished if I shoot you or not.

In contrast, Lu Jin's Luzhou Ironworks was desperately manufacturing armor. The only long-range weapons they produced were flintlock rifles and cannons. They didn't make any arrows at all, relying entirely on captured weapons and the inventory of Yuan army arsenals in various places. Both sides went to extremes.
Seeing that there were plenty of arrows on the city walls and a direct attack would result in too many casualties, Shi Pu, a big traitor who was accompanying the army and the head of the Ministry of War, suggested building an arrow-proof tunnel. A covered tunnel was built directly to the outside of the outer horse-blocking wall, and then the horse-blocking wall was dug through the tunnel. Anyway, the horse-blocking wall was not very high or thick, so after digging down the horse-blocking wall and filling in the trench inside, they could continue to attack the main city wall.

Shi Pu was a Han Chinese from Xuzhou. He was a Jinshi in the fifth year of Zhizheng. He once served as an editor in the National History Institute and participated in the compilation of the history books of the Song, Jin, Liao and Three Kingdoms. As soon as the history books were completed, he was transferred to the Ministry of War as the head.

Tuotuo also recognized Shi Pu's talents, and since Shi Pu was a native of Xuzhou, he brought him with him.

So the Yuan army immediately changed their strategy and built a tunnel close to the horse-blocking wall, and then dug the wall from the outside. With the covered tunnel, the arrows from the top of the city wall were indeed ineffective. In just one day, many gaps were dug in the horse-blocking wall. The Yuan army also threw a lot of sandbags into the gaps, filled the trenches inside, pushed down the low walls inside, and then launched another attack.

However, this attack still ended in failure. The troops were transported forward only by relying on a few gaps and corridors in the horse-blocking wall. The number of troops deployed at a time was too small. Every time a few hundred soldiers were deployed, Zhima Li organized one or two thousand elite defenders in the city to pour out from the side door of the city wall, rush to the horse-blocking wall and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Yuan army. With the support of bows and arrows from the defenders on the city wall, the two sides fought hand-to-hand combat in this narrow area for more than a dozen rounds, and blood flowed like a river, but the Yuan army was still unable to break through.

There was no way. The Yuan army deployed too few troops each time and could not form a clear advantage over the defenders. Although the horse-blocking wall was not high or thick and could be easily dug through and pushed down, it still limited the scale of the Yuan army's troop deployment, which made people very uncomfortable.

It was at this time, when the attacking and defending sides were in a stalemate, that the time came to the 20th of the winter month, and the news that Lu Jin launched an eastern expedition and began to march towards Jiangsu and Zhejiang also came from Haining Prefecture, along with Lu Jin's article that spread rumors that Tuotuo had usurped the throne.
Although the Shengwu Army occupied the Jiangbei area from Huai'an to Yangzhou, the connection between the Yuan court in the north and Jiangsu and Zhejiang was not completely cut off. They could still take the sea route from Hangzhou to Haining Prefecture or Dadu. The news of Lu Jin's eastern expedition was sent by Ding Ding, the governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province, who sent people from Jiaxing to Haining Prefecture (Lianyungang) by sea.

Tuotuo was furious when he saw the manifesto. "Asshole! This traitor actually slandered me for having the intention to usurp the throne. How vicious! When I catch him, I will cut him into pieces!"

However, the other important officials who followed Tuotuo south were shocked and confused when they saw this letter, and each had their own thoughts.

Because among the ten major crimes that Lu Jin denounced the Yuan court, the eighth one was about the emperor not caring about state affairs, practicing evil skills in the Heavenly Demon Palace, evil monks entering and leaving the dragon and phoenix beds, the princess actually learning joyful Zen, the Sixteen Heavenly Demon Dances were not yet completed, and red scarves were spreading across the universe.

This one talks about the Yuan Shun Emperor, Xiao Tieguo, who was doing nothing all day long. He didn't do anything an emperor should do, but instead had parties in the imperial palace every day with a bunch of Tantric Lama evil monks, performing the Sixteen Heavenly Demon Dance and the Tantric initiation and dual cultivation magic.

Did Lu Jin wrong him? No!

The problem is that Xiao Tieguo has only been using this thing for a month or two. How did a rebel from Jiangnan know what the emperor does every day in the palace? Could it be that there are spies from the rebels in Dadu and the palace?

This is a bit scary to think about.
What makes them even more frightened is the rumor spread by Lu Jin that Tuotuo wanted to usurp the throne. It is true that Lu Jin spread the rumor and slander, but that does not prevent someone from making a big fuss about it.

The so-called killing with a borrowed knife, and Lu Jin's manifesto was actually handing a knife to Tuotuo's political enemies. This knife was extremely sharp and could really take Tuotuo's life!
Xuexue, who was in charge of the Privy Council, immediately gave a solemn warning, "Prime Minister, although this letter is undoubtedly a false accusation by the traitor, you must be on guard."

Tuotuo was furious when he heard this, "I am upright and aboveboard, why should I be afraid of the evildoers' words?!"

Xuexue insisted, "The Prime Minister is upright, but this does not prevent the proclamation from being used by the treacherous villains in the court. We must send people back to Dadu as soon as possible and never let this proclamation fall into the hands of the Second Queen and the Imperial Censor in the Palace. Otherwise, the Prime Minister will be in danger! The army will be in danger! The country will be in danger! If the Prime Minister dies, I am afraid that no one will be able to rule the Red Turbans in this world, Prime Minister!"

Xuexue immediately knelt down at Tuotuo's feet with a plop, which also shocked Tuotuo. He soon realized the seriousness of the situation. He couldn't help but feel shocked and angry, and was shaking with excitement.

The Palace Attendant Censor and the Second Queen that Xuexue mentioned were precisely Tuotuo’s biggest political enemies!

By the way, the Yuan Dynasty was different from the Han Dynasty in the Central Plains. Each emperor had four empresses, and Emperor Shundi of Yuan was no exception. Xiao Tieguo's first wife was from the Mongolian noble family Hongjila, but he did not like this first wife. Instead, he particularly favored the second empress Qi, who was from Goryeo. Well, this is the Qi Empress who was praised to the sky by the Koreans in the TV series in later generations.
This is mainly related to Xiao Tieguo's childhood experience. Before becoming emperor, Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty was exiled to Goryeo for a period of time. It can be said that the emperor grew up in Goryeo in his childhood, so he had a good impression of the Goryeo people, but was particularly afraid of the Mongols. As a member of the Yuan Dynasty royal family who was exiled to Goryeo, it was usually difficult for him to see the Mongols. Once someone who spoke Mongolian came one day, it might be that they were here to take his life.

Growing up in such an environment, Xiao Tieguo inevitably trusted the Koreans more and developed a lot of good feelings towards them.

And this Queen Ki was originally a palace maid who was sent to the Yuan Dynasty by Goryeo. Because she was skilled in the tea ceremony and Xiao Tieguo was close to the Goryeo people, she soon gained Xiao Tieguo's favor. From a palace maid at the bottom, she climbed up to the position of the second queen. If the first queen of the Yuan Dynasty could only be a Mongolian, this little palace maid might have been able to directly sit on the position of the queen.

But in fact, the first queen Hongjila now only has a position left, and all the power in the harem is controlled by the second queen Qi.

Qi Shi had climbed to this point. What else could a woman want? Of course, she wanted to make her son Ayushiridara the crown prince so that he could inherit the throne in the future.

However, in the Yuan Dynasty, if one wanted to establish a crown prince, one had to go through a procedure, that is, the crown prince had to be approved by the prime minister, and only after the prime minister stamped his seal could the crown prince be established.

Then, Toghto refused to approve the appointment of Queen Ki on the grounds that Ayushiridara had Korean ancestry and was not suitable to be the crown prince, and the two became mortal enemies.

Any political struggle involving the dispute over the succession of a crown prince can have any good outcome?

But Tutu did nothing wrong. Xiao Tieguo's first wife, Hongjila, is not without a son. If anyone is to have an heir, it should be the first wife's son who should be made the crown prince. If the queen had no children, he would have no objection to appointing Ayushildar as the crown prince. The problem is that the queen now has a legitimate son!
But the Queen has fallen out of favor.
The other one is the Palace Attendant Censor Hama, who was the son of the Duke of Ji in the Yuan Dynasty. He used to be a guard for Emperor Shun, Xiao Tieguo. Because of his eloquence, he quickly won the favor of Emperor Shun. It was this man who instigated Xiao Tieguo to perform the Sixteen Heavenly Demon Dance. He was definitely a typical treacherous minister!
With this trick, Hama quickly gained the favor of Xiao Tieguo and was promoted from a guard to the Imperial Censor of the Palace. Now his biggest political enemy is Tuotuo.

The most ridiculous thing is that Hama also formed a political alliance with the second queen, Qi, and both of them regarded Tuotuo as their mortal enemy.

It is conceivable that when Lu Jin's letter slandering Tuotuo for usurping the throne fell into the hands of these two people, what would they do?
(End of this chapter)