Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 354: The King's Business Is Not at Peace

Liu Ji was now forced into a corner, otherwise he would never have thought of asking Fang Guozhen for help. Although the two of them were not mortal enemies before, their relationship was definitely not very good.

Fang Guozhen started the rebellion in the eighth year of Zhizheng, which was 1348 in the Western calendar. Chen Youliang started the rebellion in 1350, while Liu Futong, Zhima Li, Lu Jin and Xu Shouhui all started the rebellion in 1351. Fang Guozhen was three years ahead of them.

But this guy didn't have any big ambitions. Although he defeated the Yuan army that suppressed him many times, he took the initiative to ask the Yuan court for amnesty. At best, he was just a warlord and had no ambition to rule the world.

The feud between Liu Ji and Fang Guozhen was related to the previous suppression of Fang Guozhen.

After Fang Guozhen started the rebellion, he fled to the sea by boat. The Yuan court government in eastern Zhejiang offered rewards for official positions to recruit brave warriors and formed a navy to fight against Fang Guozhen. The people along the coast who were good at sailing signed up enthusiastically, wanting to help the court fight the rebels.

However, the official in the Yuan court who was in charge of this matter repeatedly robbed his subordinates of their military merits. Several brothers in one family all died in the war against Fang Guozhen, but the Yuan court did not give them the proper rewards, pensions and official positions, which made the people resentful. Moreover, the person in charge also accepted a large bribe from Fang Guozhen and helped him to submit a petition to the court to recruit Fang Guozhen.

Those common people who wanted to serve the government and get rewards for helping it fight bandits saw that not only were they not rewarded for fighting for the government, but the government was so stingy that they didn't even give them official positions. Instead, the bandit Fang Guozhen was promoted higher and higher. So they left the government one after another and joined Fang Guozhen to become bandits.

As the chief official of the Marshal's Office of East Zhejiang, Liu Ji had always been opposed to recruiting Fang Guozhen. He believed that Fang Guozhen had surrendered and rebelled repeatedly and had no integrity at all. Any other pirates could be recruited except Fang Guozhen, who must be executed.

However, the other officials were only concerned with collecting money and doing their jobs, so how could they listen to Liu Ji? Liu Ji vomited a liter of blood because of this matter, and he was at odds with his colleagues.
Fang Guozhen also had spies and connections in the government, so he knew Liu Ji's attitude towards him.

Normally, if Liu Ji asked him to send troops, he would definitely not do it, but Liu Ji was not a fool, so he told this suggestion to the right prime minister Daran Temur, and sent someone to tell Ding Ding, asking Ding Ding to order Fang Guozhen to send troops as a Pingzhang, and even promise some benefits to see if he would do it.

So on the 28th day of the winter month, the envoy sent by Dingding came to the Zhoushan Islands and found Fang Guozhen.

Fang Guozhen himself now lives in Changguo Prefecture on the Zhoushan Islands, which is Dinghai County in later generations. The entire Zhoushan Islands is his maritime base. In addition, a total of seven counties in Taizhou Road and Wenzhou Road are also his territories.

Although he nominally accepted the Yuan court's amnesty, he never handed over the territories of Wenzhou, Taizhou, and Zhoushan Islands. Not only that, he also collected taxes in these seven counties and asked the people to cut down wood to help him build ships in Taizhou. Within a year after his amnesty, he had been building sea-going ships on a large scale, and now he has thousands of sea-going ships.

There are more than 30 large ships with three or four masts, which are over meters long, meters wide, and have a displacement of to tons. There are to smaller ships. In this era, they are the absolute overlords of the sea!

Fang Guozhen himself knew what his advantages were. As long as he had a ship and was on the sea, even the imperial court could not do anything to him. So even after he was recruited, he stayed on the Zhoushan Islands and never went ashore. He was also afraid that the imperial court would go back on its word and deal with him, so he always remotely commanded Taizhou and Wenzhou.

In this way, even if the imperial court defeated Taizhou and Wenzhou, as long as his main fleet was not damaged, he could take it back at any time. This guy was very cautious.

However, as long as the imperial court did not seize his territory, Fang Guozhen was very willing to cooperate. He would transport grain if the imperial court asked him to, and do whatever the imperial court asked him to do.

In the original history, after Zhang Shicheng rebelled, he crossed the river and captured Suzhou. The Yuan court ordered Fang Guozhen to lead troops to attack Zhang Shicheng. Fang Guozhen actually went and personally took part in the battle. He even won seven battles in a row, which made Zhang Shicheng completely lose his temper. He then surrendered to the Yuan court again and accepted the amnesty.

From then on, the two cooperated. Zhang Shicheng occupied the land in eastern Zhejiang and plundered grain for the Yuan court. Fang Guozhen controlled the shipping vessels and transported the grain plundered by Zhang Shicheng to Dadu.
From this point of view, Fang Guozhen is not opposed to helping the Yuan court fight. Liu Ji's plan is still possible to implement, provided that Fang Guozhen can defeat the navy of the Shengwu Army.
Lu Jin only had seven large ships over 30 meters in length, which were flat-bottomed ships and could not be used for sailing.

The main ships of the Shengwu Army's navy are only Yangtze River ships of about 20 meters in length. The two main naval groups have only about ships each, and the other thousands are mainly for transportation.

Among the main warships of each regiment, only dozens were converted gunboats, and the remaining one hundred or so were just armed merchant ships, equipped with armored soldiers, hook-and-sickle spears, swords and shields, bows and arrows, muskets, and grenades. These were the configurations of those armed merchant ships.

The navies of both sides can only be said to have their own characteristics. Fang Guozhen's advantage is that he has all sea-going ships, many large ships, and an absurdly large number of ships. His sailors are also relatively elite, all of whom are sea sailors with sufficient experience in ship operation.

The navy of the Shengwu Army is well-equipped, with a high rate of soldiers wearing armor, unconventional weapons such as muskets, cannons and grenades, and the geographical advantage of occupying the upstream. The disadvantage is that the number of ships is too small. If you take a single regiment, it is less than half of Fang Guozhen's.

So if the two sides really fight, it is hard to say who will win or lose.
"The Red Turban bandits from Luzhou are coming? They've even captured Pingjiang Road? Lord Pingzhang asked me to send troops to attack Jiankang, and also promised me a position as a provincial councilor?"

After listening to the purpose of the envoy sent by Dingding, Fang Guozhen pretended to be surprised and asked back. In fact, he had known for a long time that although his fleet was in the Zhoushan Islands, so many people needed to eat, drink, defecate and urinate, and they often went ashore in Qingyuan Road (Ningbo) to buy daily necessities. So he had also seen Lu Jin's letter and knew that the Shengwu Army had sent a large army to the east.

However, what he didn't expect was that it had only been a few days. There had been fifteen manifestos issued, and only twenty-eight had been issued so far. In less than half a month, the Shengwu Army had actually reached Pingjiang Road. This really surprised him. Are these Luzhou Red Turbans so powerful?
"That's right. Here is a handwritten letter from Lord Pingzhang. Please don't hesitate, Fang Wanhu, and send troops immediately to resolve the crisis in eastern Zhejiang." The messenger said as he took out a handwritten letter.

Fang Guozhen's official status in the Yuan court now is the commander of the sea transport system, and the Yuan court used this official position to recruit him.

He took the letter, opened it and read it, but didn't understand anything. In fact, this guy didn't know many words, but he had many advisers under him. Fang Guozhen just glanced at it casually and handed it to a Confucian scholar beside him. The Confucian scholar took it and read it, then nodded at him, indicating that was what he meant.

Fang Guozhen then asked the envoy, "The provincial vice-chancellor is not a small official, he is of the second rank. If I send troops, can your minister really fulfill his promise? What if he doesn't keep his word?"

The messenger said immediately, "Although Lord Pingzhang has no power to promote Wanhu, Prime Minister Tuotuo is currently leading an army of 400,000 to suppress the thief Li in Xuzhou, which is not far from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. As long as Fang Wanhu makes great contributions, the Prime Minister will definitely take note of it. In addition, with Lord Pingzhang's recommendation, it will not be difficult for Fang Wanhu to take the position of a councilor.

"There are two provincial councillors now. Fu Jialu has been defeated and killed in Changzhou, and Councillor Fan is defending Huzhou. The position of councillor is vacant. As long as Wan Hu has made military achievements, it will be a natural thing for him to be promoted to councillor."

Fang Guozhen nodded, but he was not particularly tempted. His current post as the Minister of Sea Transport was a third-rank official position, and being a councilor was a second-rank official position. Even if he was promoted, it would only be a half-rank promotion. What was he trying to do by fighting with Lu Jin for a half-rank official position? It would be better if the Yuan court gave him a title.

So he hesitated for a moment and shook his head and said, "The Red Turbans of Luzhou are so powerful that you can't stop them even with so many troops. I only have some naval forces and can't go ashore. What use can I be? I'm afraid your Pingzhang will be disappointed."

The envoy was immediately anxious upon hearing this, and hurriedly said, "Lord Pingzhang asked Wan Hu to send troops because he values ​​the bravery of Wan Hu's navy. It just so happens that the enemy army also has a navy near Kunshan. This is the only navy of the enemy army from Taiping Road onwards. As long as Wan Hu defeats this navy and leads the fleet upstream to attack Jiankang, he does not need to actually go ashore to fight the enemy army, and he can rescue Zhejiang East.

“The rebel army came out in full force to invade the east this time, leaving very few troops in the rear. Therefore, as long as Wan Hu defeats the rebel navy in Kunshan, the rebel army will be unable to retreat and will definitely stop the attack immediately. If Wan Hu’s fleet can reappear on the river outside Jiankang City, the rebel army will definitely retreat immediately.

"This is the naval battle that Wan Hu is best at. He has many ships under his command. As long as we defeat the enemy navy, it will be a great achievement. Why not do it?
"If the enemy army can stop advancing, Lord Pingzhang can mobilize troops from Shaoxing to support the front. If the enemy army retreats, Lord Pingzhang can take advantage of the situation to counterattack. This is a great achievement and will be highly valued by Prime Minister Tuotuo of Xuzhou. Please do not hesitate and send troops quickly."

Fang Guozhen was very excited when he heard this. This battle seemed easy to win and would bring great merit. However, he still would not agree immediately. Didn't he keep so many counselors just to give advice? So he pretended to be hesitant and spoke.

"The Luzhou Red Turbans are not easy to deal with. Besides, your Lord Pingzhang asked me to mobilize ships to help him transport grain to Haining. I don't have many warships now. Please ask the envoy to rest for a few hours. I will ask how many ships can be mobilized now, and then give the envoy a reply. How do you do?"

The messenger was stunned when he heard this, "But."

"Please ask the messenger to rest first."

Fang Guozhen immediately asked someone to invite the envoy away without giving him any explanation. Before the envoy was taken away, he turned back unwillingly and reminded him, "Fang Wanhu, don't forget that you are also an official appointed by the court! Since you have accepted the official position of the court, you must work hard for the court! Wanhu, don't make a mistake!"

However, Fang Guozhen had no intention of responding. After the messenger was taken away, Fang Guozhen summoned all the generals and his advisers to discuss the matter.

Soon, his two younger brothers, three sons, two nephews, and several counselors all arrived.

There are five Fang brothers in total. Fang Guozhen is the third oldest. His eldest brother Fang Guoxin died in a fight with Cai Luantou, a local gangster salt lord in Taizhou, before he started the rebellion. His second brother Fang Guozhang is now in Taizhou, helping him supervise the shipbuilding.

Therefore, now only Fang Guozhen, his fourth brother Fang Guoying, his fifth brother Fang Guomin, his son and nephew can be considered as confidants.

Fang Guozhen explained Dingding's requirements and conditions, and then asked everyone, "What do you think? Can this battle be fought?"

The fourth brother Fang Guoying was the first to speak up, "I think we have to fight this battle. If we don't help the government troops, the Luzhou Red Turbans will definitely attack us. When their army arrives, they will have to be our neighbors from now on.

"We are not afraid in the water, but we have few soldiers on the shore, how can we win? Maybe the Red Turban Marshal in Jiankang will annex us in the future.

"Even if we are not on the same page with the government troops, we must fight a battle before joining the Red Turbans in Luzhou, so that Gongshu can know our abilities. Even if we sell to them, we must sell them for a good price. If we don't show off our abilities, they might look down on us."

Fang Guozhen nodded, thinking that what Lao Si said made sense, and asked, "What about you?"

The fifth brother Fang Guomin also echoed, "I think what Fourth Brother said is right. We should have a fight to let Gongshu see what we brothers are capable of. Don't think we are easy to bully."

Upon hearing this, Fang Guozhen looked at the Confucian scholar who was standing next to him reading the letter.

This man was named Zhan Ding, also known as Guoqi, a famous poor scholar in Taizhou. He was forcibly abducted to the island by Fang Guozhen to serve as a military advisor.
In the original history, this person later surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang with Fang Guozhen, and also served as the Minister of the Ministry of Justice during the Hongwu Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty. Later, because of those major cases, he was implicated and executed.
Zhan Ding was born into a poor family. His father was a hawker selling sesame cakes in Taizhou City. His father wanted him to follow in his footsteps, but Zhan Ding loved reading since he was young. He had no money to go to school, so he ran to the school window to listen to others reading. After listening once or twice, he could memorize what others read. So he was noticed by a local wealthy man named Hu, who came to his house in person and advised Zhan Ding's father that it would be better to let his child go to school.

But his father refused, saying that his son could just inherit the family business and make pancakes in the future, and that studying was of no use. However, Zhan Ding remained true to his original aspiration and still went to listen to books outside the school every day. His father saw that the child was really good at studying, so he no longer insisted and sent him to school. The rich man named Hu also provided a lot of financial support.

Later, Zhan Ding learned all the skills of the private school teacher and had nothing to learn, so the rich man named Hu hired a famous teacher to teach him at home and let Zhan Ding study with his own children, raising him as his own son. Later, after the teacher hired by the Hu family left, Zhan Ding stayed in the Hu family and became a teacher himself.

Do you think that this guy is smart and studious, and is a good person? No, after Zhan Ding grew up and graduated, he also cheated for others and pretended to be someone else to take the imperial examination. He helped that person pass the examination and became an official.

Zhan Ding said, I took the imperial examination for you and let you become an official, you cannot remain ungrateful, so the man gave him fifty taels of platinum (an alloy of silver and tin).

It is said that the surrender letter that Fang Guozhen presented to Zhu Yuanzhang was written by Zhan Ding. In the letter, Fang Guozhen was compared to a son and Zhu Yuanzhang was his father. The reason why Fang Guozhen ran away was to follow the Confucian filial piety of "endure small battles and flee when they are big". Otherwise, you are angry now, and I would definitely be killed by you if I went there. Wouldn't it show that you, Zhu Yuanzhang, are intolerant? It would ruin your reputation if it got out? That's why I ran away. I will come back to admit my mistake when you are no longer angry.
Zhu Yuanzhang was so upset by the memorial that he sighed and said, "Who said Fang Guozhen had no capable people under his command?" So he spared Fang Guozhen's life and asked him to return to Nanjing as soon as possible. He gave him a high-ranking official position with a salary, but did not allow him to take up the post, which was equivalent to keeping him in Nanjing.

However, Fang Guozhen had a good end. After his death, he was buried in Zhongshan, on the same mountain as the royal mausoleum. Zhu also asked Song Lian to write a stele (epitaph) for him.

What about Zhan Ding? He was Fang Guozhen's subordinate. After he surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang with his boss, he was not reused. So in order to become an official, he wrote a ten-thousand-word long article and waited for Zhu Yuanzhang's imperial carriage to leave the house, then stopped him on the road and presented the article. Zhu Yuanzhang saw that he was quite talented, so he asked the prime minister to give him an official position.

The prime minister at that time was Yang Xian. Yang Xian was very jealous. He was jealous of Zhan Ding's talent, so he arranged for him to be an official in Shaanxi. He was transferred to Shaanxi for many years and was not allowed to return. In the end, he was promoted to the Minister of Justice. Otherwise, with Zhan Ding's talent, he would never be just a Minister. As for how he was finally implicated and killed, it is not clear. Several major cases in the Hongwu Dynasty involved a wide range of people, and tens of thousands of people were implicated at a time. God knows how they were implicated.
I have said so much just to say that Zhan Ding is by no means a nerd or a pedantic Confucian scholar. He is not only talented but also very cunning. He persuaded Fang Guozhen to surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang, which showed his foresight and his sense of the times. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang had already defeated Chen Youliang and destroyed Zhang Shicheng. The south was unified by Zhu Yuanzhang. You, Fang Guozhen, could not defeat him and there was no point in continuing the confrontation. You might as well surrender.

Taking the imperial examination on behalf of someone else and asking for money shows that this person is not pedantic, but even has no morals. He does things by any means necessary, is not bound by rules, and dares to challenge the rules.

Later, in order to become an official, he took the initiative to stop Zhu's carriage and present articles, which shows that this person is very courageous, ambitious, and has strong initiative. He is a person who can stand on his own and get practical things done.

Fang Guozhen has found a treasure, but it's a pity that he doesn't have the ambition to conquer the world. Such a talent is useless in his hands.
When Zhan Ding saw Fang Guozhen looking at him, he immediately frowned and said.

"I don't recommend that you send troops."

Fang Guozhen asked curiously, "Why?"

Zhan Ding then explained, "Your Excellency has also read the proclamation of Marshal Gongshu. It took the Luzhou Red Turbans only a little over a year to occupy such a large territory from Feishui in the west to Huaihe in the north, Anqing in the south, and Canghai in the east. Their strength is definitely extraordinary. It can't be said that they have occupied half of the country, but they are not far from it.

"This man clearly expressed his ambition to pacify the world and the four directions in his manifesto, and even mentioned beheading the emperor in Dadu at the end. It can be seen that this man did not take the Yuan court seriously at all.

"Let's talk about the Luzhou Red Turbans' expedition to the east this time. They only issued the manifesto on the 15th of this month, and today is only the 28th. In less than half a month, they have already reached Jiaxing. Half of the eight routes and one prefecture in eastern Zhejiang have fallen into their hands. What a terrifying offensive! Even if there are not 300,000 soldiers as mentioned in the manifesto, there must be at least 100,000 or 200,000. Otherwise, why would the Zhejiang government troops ask for help from you and ask you to send troops to besiege Wei and save Zhao?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Guozhen and his brothers frowned and seemed to be thinking about something.

Zhan Ding continued, "In my opinion, the Yuan court in eastern Zhejiang will definitely not be able to hold on, and will definitely fall into the hands of the Luzhou Red Turbans. Even if you send troops, it will be useless. At most, it will slow down the attack speed of the Luzhou Red Turbans. It is a foregone conclusion that we will be neighbors with the Luzhou Red Turbans in the future.

"Since we know we can't stop them, why do we have to send troops to keep them as our neighbors? Isn't this a lose-lose situation? We can't help the Yuan court defend eastern Zhejiang, and we have made enemies with this new powerful neighbor for nothing? And it gives them an excuse to annex us."

The fourth brother Fang Guoying immediately retorted, "Are you so sure that the Luzhou Red Turbans will definitely occupy eastern Zhejiang? Maybe after we send out the troops, the government troops will win again?"

Zhan Ding immediately said disdainfully, "How can you win? Perhaps your navy is indeed stronger than that of Luzhou, and you can destroy it in one battle. Then what? Lead the fleet to Jiankang? Go ashore and fight them? Are you sure you can defeat the hundreds of thousands of fierce troops of the Luzhou Red Turbans? Do you have more soldiers than them?"

Fang Guoying retorted, "Who said we should go ashore and fight him head-on? Isn't it the so-called Wei-Kuai-Zhao strategy? As long as the fleet reaches the Jiankang River, won't they retreat?"

Zhan Ding immediately sneered again, "Who said that the Luzhou Red Turbans will definitely withdraw? This is just wishful thinking on their part. Let's not talk about whether Marshal Gongshu has left a backup plan. Even if he didn't leave a backup plan, and he really sent out all his troops, but we are approaching Jiankang, will he really withdraw the front-line troops?

"Eastern Zhejiang is a fertile land with a large population and abundant food. It seems that we are about to conquer it all. Will he withdraw his troops at this time?

“If I were that commander, and saw your navy appear on the Jiankang River, I would either defend the city to the death, because Jiankang is a strong city, and you only have the navy, so it is impossible to break through in a short period of time. As long as we can hold on for half a month, according to the speed of their main force, Taizhou and Wenzhou will probably be captured. By then, if we send the main force to rescue, it will not be them who should withdraw, but us.

“Either he doesn’t have the courage to defend the city by himself, and he can just leave a lieutenant to guard Jiankang, and he can take the civil officials and flee to other places, or go to Luzhou, or go to Gaoyou, or even go to Taihu Lake to join up with the Eastern Expedition Army. Then, we can just abandon Jiankang City and give it to you for free. As long as the Eastern Expedition Army can successfully swallow up eastern Zhejiang, at worst, we can dispatch the main force to take it back.

"And you, my lord, only have the navy, but you are deep inland, surrounded by Luzhou soldiers on all sides, and only have Jiankang City to rely on. How many soldiers do you have? Can you stop the counterattack of the Luzhou soldiers?"

Zhan Ding spread his hands. "If I were in charge, I would never withdraw the troops from the frontline at the critical moment of the Eastern Expedition. I would rather suffer a little, even give up Jiankang, and conquer Eastern Zhejiang first. After conquering Eastern Zhejiang, I will have soldiers and food, and my soldiers will be everywhere. Why would I be afraid of an isolated army trapped in a dead end? Or afraid of not being able to take back Jiankang?"

Fang Guoying had nothing to say now. What Zhan Ding said did make sense.

Fang Guozhen frowned and asked, "So according to you, we won't send troops? Let's just sit back and watch the Yuan Dynasty fall in eastern Zhejiang, and then we will just become neighbors with the Luzhou Red Turbans?"

Zhan Ding nodded, "Yes."

Fang Guozhen frowned again when he heard this and said, "But didn't you just say that this Gongshu has the ambition to pacify the world and bring peace to all directions? How can he tolerate a neighbor like us? If I don't offend him, he won't annex me?"

Zhan Ding sighed and said, "Why do you ask when you already know the answer?"

Fang Guozhen immediately scolded, "I know why I'm asking you, explain it to me clearly."

Zhan Ding was also feeling resentful, and when he saw Fang Guozhen wasn't speaking nicely, he immediately retorted.

"Do I really need to explain this? They have the ambition to pacify the four directions and bring peace to the world, so they naturally cannot tolerate us as neighbors. They must want to annex you. Is there any need to ask?"

Fang Guozhen added, "I know. What I meant is to ask you, is there any other way to save us?"

"No." Zhan Ding shook his head expressionlessly.

"You! Do you believe that I will chop you to pieces?!" Fang Guozhen said angrily when he saw him like this.

Zhan Ding also got angry and immediately said, "Cut, cut, cut, I didn't want to work for you. You forced me to the island. So I'll go to the island. You hired me as a servant, and I gave you advice but you didn't listen.

"You know that in all dynasties, any rebellion is like sailing against the current. If you don't move forward, you will move backward. Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. Once you raise the banner of rebellion, you have to go all the way to the end.

"At the end of the dynasty, the world was in chaos. Heroes rose up and ruled the four corners of the country. Warlords fought for the throne of the world. If you don't annex others, you will be annexed by others. It's either you or me! You only want to rule one corner to protect yourself, but others want to unify the world and rule the country.

"Everyone calls you the King of East Zhejiang, but do you know the truth that 'a king cannot be content with a partial state'? If he is content with a partial state, can he still be called a king? Sun Quan ruled East Wu, did not think about making progress, did not want to unify the world, but only wanted to be content with a partial state. He was scolded by later generations as a rat of East Zhejiang for thousands of years!

"You defeated the government troops several times before, and I advised you not to accept the amnesty, but you didn't listen. If you had started to expand at that time, the territory of Luzhou Red Turban should have been yours now. It extends to Huaiyang, Qi and Lu in the north, and Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian in the south. You have the advantage of the navy, the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, and the population and wealth of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. At least it would be a situation of the Northern and Southern Dynasties with the world divided in two. But you didn't listen!

"Now they have come to my doorstep, and you ask me how to protect myself and stay safe in a corner. What can I do? With just a small area like Taiwen, how can I resist the Red Turbans of Luzhou, who have Feishui in the west, Huaihe River in the north, Wanshan in the south, and the sea in the east, and who have 300,000 soldiers just by issuing a manifesto?
"Even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice. How many soldiers, horses, money and food do they have? Even if Zhuge Wuhou were resurrected, he wouldn't be able to do this!

“In terms of when you started the rebellion, you started it in the eighth year of Zhizheng, while Liu Futong, Gongshu Jin, Xu Shouhui and their ilk started it in the eleventh year of Zhizheng. But look at them. Liu Futong took over the entire Central Plains in one year, Gongshu Jin took over Huaiyang in the north, Luzhou in the west, Anqing in the south, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the east, and Xu Shouhui also took over Huguang and Jiangxi. Which one of them was not a local hero with hundreds of thousands of soldiers?
"What about you? It's been four years since the uprising began, and there are only two roads in Taizhou and Wenzhou. What can I do? You get up early and arrive late! Now you ask me, why didn't you listen to my advice before?
"I didn't want you to accept the amnesty, but you insisted on doing so. Since you were willing to surrender to the Yuan court in the beginning, now you are just surrendering to a different court. It doesn't matter who you serve as a minister to. Why do you want to preserve your own peace now?

"I've said what I want to say. You kidnapped me in the first place. If you want to kill me, go ahead. I won't serve you anymore!"

Zhan Ding's remarks stunned Fang Guozhen and his brothers. They didn't expect Zhan Ding to say that. They were stunned for a long time without saying a word. Zhan Ding just stood there with his neck stiff. The two sides confronted each other for a long time. Fang Guozhen took a deep breath and said.

"It's a pity that you have good intentions and are thinking about us. However, I, Fang Guozhen, have never thought about becoming an emperor, so I let your kindness go to waste. Now that things have come to this, please put aside your past grudges and help me make a decision."

"Alas," Zhan Ding sighed helplessly, and then said, "The Yuan court will definitely not be able to defend eastern Zhejiang. It is a foregone conclusion that they will be neighbors with the Luzhou soldiers. With such a powerful lord who has ambitions for the world by his side, it is only a matter of time before he swallows it up. Perhaps you can still live in peace for three to five years, but what about after three to five years? When he has collected money and food from the people of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and trained an army of 300,000, who in the world can stop him?

"My Lord, you asked me to help you make a decision, but you should at least tell me what my Lord thinks, right?"

Fang Guozhen then said, "If there is really no other way, even if I want to surrender to Luzhou, I have to get a good price. At least it can't be sent away by a second-rank councilor, otherwise my surrender will be in vain."

That means raising one's own status and selling at a good price. In modern terms, it means increasing the value of the united front.
"Well, I have two plans. You can choose one of them."

"Say it."

"First, if you want to sell it at a good price, you might as well take advantage of it now, before the Luzhou troops come, and send troops to seize Qingyuan Road. In this way, you can control Qingyuan, Wenzhou, and Taizhou, as well as the navy. Then send people to actively find the Luzhou generals to negotiate surrender, and attack Shaoxing from the east and west together. With this great merit of offering land, you can not only keep the navy, but also get a military position in Jiankang. Moreover, since you offer three routes of land and the navy at once, the commander-in-chief of Jiankang will have to give you a title.

"Secondly, if you don't want to surrender easily and you must fight with them, that's fine, but the purpose should be to show your strength, let Jiankang know how powerful you are, and try to get bargaining power so you can get a good price. Don't force yourself to fight Jiankang, and don't disrupt the Luzhou soldiers' eastward expedition. Otherwise, you won't get any bargaining power, and you'll just offend them for nothing."

Fang Guomin was puzzled and asked, "Sir, you said you can fight, but you can't really fight, and you still have to show force, so how should you fight?"

Zhan Ding took a breath and then said, "If you want to fight, you can only fight the navy, you can't go ashore. Even if you go ashore, you may not be able to win. Be careful not to lose more than you gain.

"After defeating the Luzhou navy, we can either fight them to a draw or annihilate them completely. But after winning, we cannot go upstream and advance to Jiankang. We should take the initiative to withdraw and take prisoners back to Zhoushan.

“When the Luzhou soldiers arrive in Qingyuan, they will certainly send someone to ask you for an explanation. You can then negotiate with them. First, release the prisoners as a gesture of goodwill, then offer the two routes of Shangtai and Wen, plus the navy as a condition. Ask them what official position and honor they dare to give. With Gongshu Jin’s talent, he will definitely not refuse.

"only."

"Just what?" Fang Guozhen asked with a frown.

"But if you choose the second option, even if you really get the official position and title, I'm afraid it will leave trouble. The Luzhou naval commander who was captured by you will definitely have a grudge against you, and the Gongshu Marshal in Jiankang will also feel that he was forced to award you this title.

"Of course, nothing will happen in the short term, but if something happens in the future, it will be an excuse for others to criticize you. At that time, it is hard to say whether this Marshal Gongshu will show leniency and miss the old friendship. You must know that for the emperor, this title is just a matter of words. If someone can give it to you, they can naturally take it away easily."

After these words were spoken, Fang Guozhen and his brothers began to hesitate again.

(End of this chapter)