Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1052: Hu's Attack on the City
Zhu Su had been collecting Annan refugees for several days. As Hu Jiyi's exploitation became more and more severe, more and more Annan refugees fled to Wu Qu Port. This wave of Annan refugees ushered in a small outbreak after the ordinary scientists fled Thang Long City.

The ordinary scientists who witnessed the death of "Fan Huai" were finally completely disappointed with the Annan court. They returned to their hometowns and persuaded their families to pack up their belongings and quickly went to Wuqu Port for refuge.

Most of these ordinary scholars who were able to study at Wuqu Academy were not from the lower-class peasants who worked hard in the fields. Many of them were local gentry and wealthy families, who were rich but powerless. Under the current circumstances, these people were the main targets of exploitation by the Hu regime and the Annan nobles: how much money could be squeezed from the peasants who worked hard on the land? Of course, these people had more potential for exploitation.

Most of the levies, which had become bloated after being imposed layer by layer, fell on these people. Being pressed step by step by the gentry clerks, they were already overwhelmed and basically listened to the advice of their scholarly sons, packed up their belongings, and fled to Wuqu Port with their families.

If it were the Ming Dynasty, if only these few wealthy families had escaped, it would certainly not have been a big deal for the overall situation.

However, how could Annan be compared with the Ming Dynasty? How big was Annan? Moreover, it had been in war for years and had been exploited by the nobles for years. How many families could barely make a fortune in such a situation and have some property?
After these families refused to play along with the Hu regime and fled to Wuqu Port, Hu Jilin, who no longer had a main target for exploitation, discovered in an embarrassing way that he could no longer collect the military expenses he had assigned!

"Bang!" The angry Emperor Dayu dropped another brush washer on the Golden Palace.

"Asshole! My Dayu has a huge population. If we collect a little more from each person, it will be enough for use...but we can't even collect such a small amount of military supplies...are you guys enriching yourselves, secretly communicating with Ruan Duofang, and unwilling to work hard for me?" Hu Jin'er glanced angrily at the group of gentry who were assigned tasks, and there was already a hint of bloodshot in his eyes.

He vented his "imperial anger" to his heart's content, but the officials from the noble families below were not very frightened. They just pretended to be frightened on their faces. An official from the noble family stepped out and said to Hu Jinyi in a dignified manner: "Your Majesty, it's not that we don't do our best."

"Indeed, many people are unwilling to share the national crisis with your Majesty... As far as I know, many wealthy families would rather sell their property, leave their homes, and take refuge in Wuqu Port than share your worries."

"There are too many such unruly people to count. Although we have tried our best to arrest them, many of them have already escaped into Wuqu Port."

"That is the Ming concession, and we dare not act recklessly."

When the Ming Dynasty was mentioned, Hu Jin's face changed, and he could only suppress his "imperial anger". He angrily cursed: "These traitors are really hateful!"

"Why would the Ming Dynasty protect them? Aren't they afraid that their wealth will be taken away by the Ming people?"

There was silence. The officials of the noble families looked at each other with mockery in their eyes.

Since you, the Hu family, have already started the robbery, how can they have the time to be afraid of the Ming people?

This was a robbery led by the Hu family and participated by the gentry. Of course, the gentry would not think they were wrong. The order was issued by the Hu family, and they were just helping. There was a little "handling fee" in the middle, but that was just them seeking some hard work. It was the Hu family who harmed the people, what does it have to do with us?
Seeing that no one responded, Hu Jiyi knew that he had asked a stupid question. These nobles would not be afraid of Nguyen Duo Fang, because Nguyen Duo Fang was also an Annan noble. Even if Nguyen Duo Fang came to power in Annan in the future, they would just change their master, and their interests would not be harmed.

How can we expect them to be loyal to Hu Jinyao, the emperor who has just usurped the throne?
Dynasties come and go, but clans remain forever, this is exactly what it means.

But for Hu Jinyi, the inability to collect military funds and the inability to defeat Nguyen Duofang were fatal.

So, he thought about it for a long time and finally said, "The state affairs are difficult now, gentlemen, how about..."

"Well, can you guys fill in the remaining gap first?"

"This is just a temporary measure. Once I defeat the Ruan family, I will definitely repay you tenfold. What do you think?"

There was even some humble pleading in Hu Ji's voice.

However, the officials of the noble families looked at him as if he were a fool. Asking the noble families for money? What nonsense are you talking about?

Do you really think you are the military god of Annan, and that as long as the military funds are in place, you can beat the once-powerful Nguyen Duo Fang into a panic? We did not take a direct position, and we have already done our best to surrender to Nguyen Duo Fang. You actually want us to bleed for the life and death of your Hu family?

Yes, for the Annan nobles, this civil war was essentially a power struggle between the Nguyen and Hu clans. Most of them were unwilling to take sides, because no matter who won, they would still be nobles.

Seeing that the atmosphere in the Golden Palace had been quiet for a long time, Hu Ji's eyes turned to a noble family that was familiar with Hu. This noble family was Hu's confidant, and they had already agreed to marry their children to each other, which was a very close relationship. Hu Ji's signaled him to come forward first, hoping that he could set an example.

"Your Majesty..." The noble official stepped out of the line and said with a forced smile. "I am willing to be the first one to share your Majesty's worries about the country's major events."

"I am willing to take out five...three hundred taels! To help Your Majesty with his needs!" said the official as if he was bleeding heavily.

"Three hundred taels?" Hu Jin was dumbfounded, and then a surge of anger rushed to his head. Three hundred taels, he was not a fool, these nobles earned much more than three hundred taels from the "handling fees" collected from the people this time.

But the official saw that he looked unhappy and said innocently: "I am an honest official, and my family is not rich... Or I will sell everything I have and add another fifty taels!"

You can eat so much fat, I'm afraid the cost of a meal is more than fifty taels! Hu Ji looked at the official holding out five fat fingers, with a look of pain on his face, and felt his temples throbbing.

The officials looked at each other, as if they felt that it would be bad to keep silent, so they started to contribute 20 taels each and 30 taels each to make up the total. The official who spoke first felt very sad when he heard the number: these people only donated 20 or 30 taels, but I donated 300 taels. Isn't it a big loss for me?

Oh, what if His Majesty thinks I am a corrupt official? I hesitated whether to withdraw my preface.

However, Hu Jinyi could no longer bear it. Feeling that he was being treated like a beggar, Emperor Dayu yelled, "Get out, get out, all of you!"

"Traitors, all of you are traitors! Get out of my palace!"

The ministers left, but I didn't feel anything to fear. Anyway, the Hu family wouldn't dare to do anything to our nobles. If we get pushed to the limit, we can still go to Ruan Duofang.

They were even feeling lucky that they didn't have to pay the money they had just mentioned. Well, that saved them another expense.

Hu Jin was panting and almost died of anger in the Golden Palace. He pointed at the backs of the officials from the noble families outside the palace with rage and said, "Traitors, they are all traitors!"

"They are hoping for my death so that they can bring Nguyen Duo Fang to Thang Long City... My Great Yu is in danger!"

After saying this, tears streamed down his face.

At this time, only Hu Ji's absolute confidants and his two sons remained in the Golden Palace. Hu Cheng glanced at the officials who were leaving their jobs as if nothing had happened, and said worriedly, "Father, we can't rely on these people. We should find a way out ourselves."

Hu Cang was ambitious and had long coveted the position of the crown prince of the Great Yu Dynasty. But if his father died, he would be imprisoned, not to mention the crown prince. So he frowned and racked his brains. After thinking for a long time, he really came up with a way.

"Father, I have a plan that may help resolve this crisis."

"Oh?" Hu Ji's spirits perked up, and he looked at his second son whom he had always valued. "Cang'er, tell me, what good ideas do you have?"

"Yes." Hu Cang said. "Since Wuqu Port has housed many unruly people, why don't we first break through Wuqu Port and then attack Ruan Duofang?"

When these words came out, everyone was stunned. Fan Julun was even more shocked. He quickly stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, this is absolutely not allowed."

"Ruan Duofang is just a hyena, while the Ming Dynasty is a tiger. How can we provoke a tiger in order to deal with a hyena?"

"Master Fan, please be patient and listen to me." Hu Cang seemed confident and had a plan in hand. "The Ming Dynasty is indeed a fierce tiger, but what is in Wuqu Port is just a concession of the Ming Dynasty."

"The King of Zhou of the Ming Dynasty sent envoys to Wuqu to reprimand us every day, but he never sent out troops... It can be seen that Wuqu City is empty and has no spare energy to conquer us."

"However, Wuqu Port is a commercial port, which must have a lot of gold, silver, and grain. It also houses many wealthy families in Dayu. If we can break into this city, we will definitely make a lot of money."

"As for provoking the Ming Dynasty..." Hu Cang glanced at Fan Julun. "The Ming Dynasty has framed us for killing Chen Tianping, so they will definitely send people to attack us."

"If we can't quickly deal with Ruan Duofang, and the Ming Dynasty attacks us from both sides, we will be in great danger."

"Rather than waiting to die, it is better to quickly defeat Wu Qu Port, and then use the military resources in Wu Qu Port to recruit soldiers to quell the rebellion of Nguyen Duo Fang."

"Integrate Dayu into a united front and then confront Ming. Otherwise, how can Dayu have a chance of winning?"

Hu Jinyi looked thoughtful, while Fan Julun said loudly, "Absolutely not."

"Justice is in the hearts of the people. Although the Ming Dynasty has reprimanded us, the situation is still unclear, and the Ming Dynasty may not really send troops to attack our country."

"But if we attack Ming first, we will lose our righteousness. The Hongwu Emperor of Ming will be furious and will definitely attack with all his might."

"How can a tiny country like Dayu withstand the overwhelming force of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Do we want to put the safety of Dayu on the whim of Emperor Hongwu?" Hu Cang refuted Fan Ju's theory. "If the Ming Dynasty really attacks, Wuqu Port is still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, which is tantamount to leaving a loophole in the heart of Dayu."

"When the Ming army arrives across the sea, we will be truly unable to resist!"

"Those who are in the right will have many supporters, while those who are in the wrong will have few. As long as the greater good is on my side..." Fan Julun still wanted to debate.

"Okay!" Hu Jinyi, who was sitting at the head of the group, interrupted the debate and said, "The threat from the Ming Dynasty will come in the future, but the attack from Ruan Duofang is right before our eyes."

"We will follow Cang'er's suggestion and send envoys to take back the concessions rented by the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty refuses to return them, we will send troops to attack them."

"Your Majesty, please think twice!" Fan Julun advised in horror.

However, Hu Jinli had made up his mind and sent envoys to Wuqu Port to reclaim the concession rented by the Ming Dynasty.

After receiving Hu Jilin's letter, Zhu Su sneered and threw Hu Jilin's letter into the brazier. Then he questioned the envoy: We, the Ming Dynasty, asked the Hu family why you killed His Highness Chen Tianping without authorization, but you, the Hu family, did not answer. Instead, you turned the tables and questioned our Ming Dynasty.

As for the concession...my Ming Dynasty rented Wuqu as a concession, which was a contract signed with the Chen court...what does it have to do with you, Hu?
In order to express his disdain for the traitors of the Hu family, Zhu Su had the envoy's hands and feet cut off before sending him back to Thang Long City. The purpose was to show people: This is the fate of being a traitor!

As for the rule that envoys should not be killed when two countries are at war, Zhu Su said: "My Great Ming does not recognize your Hu family as a country at all. If you Hu family is sensible, you should clean your neck and wait obediently in Thang Long City."

When my Ming Dynasty soldiers arrive, I will make sure to let you, Hu Jinyi, see the traditional craftsmanship of the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and learn how to skin and stuff the skin with grass!

This insult and humiliation made Hu Jinyi so angry that he almost died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

So half a month later, Hu Jinyao assembled 18,000 elite troops, intending to capture Wu Qu Port and obtain the huge amount of supplies stored in the port before Nguyen Duofang could react.

Eighteen thousand men marched straight in and quickly surrounded the small Wuqu Port.

"Fifth Uncle, the Hu family has completed the siege of the city wall and is now building a siege camp and setting up siege equipment."

"I'm afraid they want to win a quick victory and conquer our Wuqu in one fell swoop!" Li Jinglong reported to Zhu Su.

"Haha, no problem." Zhu Su took out his folding fan after a long absence. On the fan, there were four big characters written, "Invincible". Then he said to Li Jinglong calmly:

"Recovering Annan is actually the easiest thing to do on the battlefield."

"Hu Jinyi only fought a few battles with Champa, but he thinks he is the military god of Annan... This time, I will let him see the might of my Ming army."

"Let's scare them first. Later, when Duke Cao and Duke Liang cross the border, we can teach those stubborn resistance to lose their courage!"

(End of this chapter)