After staring at Zhu Su blankly for a while, Cao Yuan suddenly came back to his senses under Zhu Su's encouraging gaze.
Realizing that he was rude, Cao Yuan hurriedly lowered his head, clasped his fists and said to Zhu Su: "Go back to your highness."
"Although I used to guard the city under King Cheng."
"But that's actually out of helplessness..."
Cao Yuan had a wry smile on his face.
"At that time, the entire city of Pingjiang was surrounded by Xiwu... and was surrounded by our powerful tomorrow's soldiers. The city was depleted of ammunition and food, and King Cheng's troops either surrendered or collapsed."
"In order to defend Pingjiang City, King Cheng recruited soldiers among the people. The villain and most of the men in the camp were recruited into the army at that time..."
When it comes to this, Zhu Su has generally understood. What is a big warning to soldiers? To put it bluntly, it is just to attract strong men.
Having seen the mess in the west of the city that looked like a dead city, he guessed that the Pingjiang city defense battle that year was particularly brutal. Even so many houses were demolished to defend the city, how could they not forcibly sign civilians as strong men to defend the city?
Listening to Cao Yuan's words, the subsequent development was just as Zhu Su expected: After that, Pingjiang City was broken, and Cao Yuan, who was an ordinary soldier at the time, surrendered to Lao Zhu along with his troops.
Then these remnants of the army were dispersed and reorganized, and were organized under many of Lao Zhu's own generals.
Cao Yuan and others were placed under the command of Wu Liang, Marquis of Jiangyin. In the subsequent battles, they followed Wu Liang, Marquis of Jiangyin in the north and south, and were promoted to Qianhu due to their merits. Later, Wu Liang was transferred to the commander of the Suzhou Guard, and Cao Yuan returned to his hometown in Suzhou.
"Your Highness, I have shed blood and sold my life for the Ming Dynasty!" Cao Yuan, a man as tall as a tower of iron, shed tears of grievance.
"General Cao is a member of the army, so why should he keep calling himself a 'little man'?"
"General, there is no need to feel wronged. I will not treat any meritorious officials harshly who have contributed to our Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Su comforted him in a warm voice. The next thing that happened next became clear. Wu Liang, Marquis of Jiangyin, was ordered to go to the southwest with Mu Ying, Deng Yu and others to train troops and wait for the opportunity. Perhaps he realized that Cao Yuan and others were locals in Suzhou, and perhaps they did not want to be far away from their hometown again, so they kept Cao Yuan and continued to serve as Qianhu in Suzhou Guards.
But the next commander, Yang Lu, spread his grievances on them, the former soldiers of Zhang Shicheng, because of the ineffective campaign.
As a result, these people were wronged. Even in the hands of Chang Mao, they still could not gain Chang Mao's trust and were treated differently to a certain extent...
"There is one thing that I need to apologize to you all for." Zhu Su raised his wine bottle.
"Mr. Chang Guo is loyal and upright, and he is devoted to my king's plans. Perhaps because he is too worried about my king's safety, he is wary of you all..."
"Please don't take it personally. If you have any regrets, I would like to toast you all on behalf of Duke Chang."
As he spoke, he picked up the wine bottle and drank it in one gulp.
Cao Yuan and others were stunned for a moment when they saw that the dignified prince actually apologized and toasted to military households like them.
At this time, Chang Mao also stood up and said: "Your Highness does not need to toast for us, we, Chang, can do it ourselves."
"Don't blame me for being suspicious. I always have a straight head, but I really can't see through people's hearts."
"You don't have to be submissive. If you are upright, you won't be afraid of your shadow being crooked! Just practice hard. If you want us to believe you, we will naturally believe you if we see people's hearts over time."
"When the time comes, I will really treat you as Pao Ze. When you go to Yingtian, you will all come to our house to have a drink!"
"I don't dare, I don't dare. Thank you, Your Majesty!" Cao Yuan hurriedly stood up and saluted.
"Young man... I will definitely do my duty faithfully and dedicate myself to my duty in the future!"
"Live up to the trust of His Highness and the country!"
"I will definitely fulfill my duties with dedication and dedication, and live up to the trust of His Highness and the country!" Several other households also said in unison.
Cao Yuan's answer was still cautious, but the hand holding the wine bottle was rarely trembling. Several other people also had loud voices and sincere feelings.
Zhu Su saw this change and felt a slight movement in his heart. I originally just wanted to win over the soldiers a little bit, but it seemed that the effect was far beyond expectations.
This Cao Yuan was originally a subordinate of Wu Liang, Marquis of Jiangyin. If he really had evil intentions, Wu Liang would not leave him here. Loyalty comes naturally.
At this time, they were in dire straits. When I came here today, I unintentionally helped them, which was tantamount to providing help in the snow.
Originally, they were just intended to be used as eye-catching bait, but the main force that actually captured Zhang Chen's remnants was actually another guard station in the Susong area, the "Taicang Guard".
Cai Ben, the commander of the Taicang Guards, was a personal guard under Chang Yuchun. Using the Chang family's flag to mobilize the Taicang Guards was a bit troublesome, but it was more reliable than the Suzhou Guards who relied on Yang Lu.
But now that Cao Yuan and others have military morale available... Zhu Su couldn't help but think about the feasibility of using these soldiers to do something.
…
…
…
Above Taihu Lake in the distance, a round, bloody sunset happened to set on Dongting Mountain in the lake.
The towering Suzhou City Wall was also dyed with a bright color by this red sun.
This is the last sunset of the year.
In the fifth year of Hongwu, it was the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month.
Alright.
The west part of the city, which was originally dirty and dilapidated, is now different from what it used to be. Although it is not as prosperous and prosperous as the east city and south city, it is still somewhat similar.
The shacks and shacks that were once messy all over the place have been cleared away, creating a large open space.
A three-story high-rise building stands in the middle of this open space, right on the bank of the river flowing through Suzhou. It looks extremely out of place in the West City, which is full of shabby shacks. Although this building has not yet been painted or carved, the main part has been completed. Although it is not dark yet, lights have been hung in the building. You can vaguely see people coming and going in the building, which is quite lively.
"Boss Zhao! Long time no see, long time no see! We haven't seen each other for a long time. The last time we met, we were summoned by His Highness King Wu, in Shen Garden, right?"
Inside the building, a businessman with a big belly greeted another businessman with a Chinese character.
"It turns out to be Boss Fang. I'm glad to meet you." Zhao Yunyan, a rice merchant, turned around and saw Boss Fang, who was also a Suzhou businessman, and said in return.
"Boss Fang was also invited by the prince to come here?"
"Who wouldn't be! Who would come to a dirty place like the west of the city if it wasn't for that prince's invitation?" The businessman surnamed Fang looked around, raised his hand to his mouth and whispered.
"You know, the west of the city is where those refugees stay! Don't get sick when you come here!"
Zhao Yunyan smiled and said nothing. Now the place in the west of the city looks cleaner than the east of the city where he lives, and it doesn't look like a place where you can get sick.
"Hey, this Chinese New Year party actually comes to Hongmen Banquet again..." Seeing that Zhao Yun didn't answer, the boss was not surprised and continued to complain. "I don't know how much blood will be shed this time..."
"Boss Fang, why complain?" Zhao Yun said. "The invitation only said that I would be invited to wait for the New Year's Eve banquet. If you can, can you be sure that this time I will be invited to wait for bleeding?"
"What else can we do?" Boss Fang said firmly. "The prince is young, so he must be addicted to using empty gloves and traps. How can a nobleman like him look down on businessmen like us?"
"Could it be that you really want to invite me to a banquet?"
"Alas... we can't just catch our merchant's sheep when gathering wool."
"Be aware that sheep are anxious and even bite people!"
Boss Fang spoke with depression.
(End of chapter)
