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

Chapter 1059: Please Return to the West
In September, the summer heat in Annan had just subsided, and Nguyen Duofang could not wait to take action against the Hu family.

He first asked a highly respected scholar from an Annan noble family to write a manifesto, in which he denounced Hu Jinyao for several serious crimes, including usurping power to become emperor, killing his ancestors, and murdering Tran Thien Ping, and completely labeled Hu Jinyao as a rebellious minister of Tran Dai Viet.

He supported a member of the Chen family's branch and, in the name of justice, vowed to kill the entire traitor Hu family.

In response, Hu Jinyi also issued a manifesto, in which he strongly accused the Nguyen family of being traitors and stated that he was the one who abdicated the throne to the Chen family, and that it was legitimate. He denounced the Nguyen family for confusing right and wrong and committing crimes against their superiors.

The two sides had a war of words, but unfortunately, neither side had the ability to scold Wang Lang to death like Zhuge Liang. Since they couldn't scold the other side to death, there was no need to waste words.

The two former sworn brothers began to deploy their troops for a decisive battle.

Nguyen Duo Fang took the initiative and sent troops from Xuanguang Town and Guihua Town to encircle Taiyuan Town under the rule of Hu Da Yu. Nguyen Duo Fang personally led the army and attacked Taiyuan Town for 14 days, breaking the gate of Taiyuan Town.

The city gate had just been breached when Hu Jinyi led his army to arrive late. Seeing that the city was in ruins and untenable to defend, Ruan Duofang deployed his troops outside the city and formed a battle array with his back to the city.

The Nguyen army had 25,000 soldiers, and the Ho army had 23,000 soldiers. In terms of numbers, the two sides combined were almost all of Annan's available troops. The Nguyen army had slightly more soldiers and their morale was high, but the Ho army had experienced many battles in the war with Champa, so this battle was really a tit-for-tat fight.

When the Hu and Nguyen clans were fighting outside the city of Thai Nguyen, Le Loi brought a group of ordinary scholars and 100 Annanese soldiers recruited from the refugees in Wu Qu City to Thanh Hoa Province in the south of Annan.

"General Cao." Under a tree, Le Loi peered at the Thanh Hoa city wall in front of him with a look of fear.

"The Deng family, a noble family in Thanh Hoa, has been entrenched in Thanh Hoa for many years. Their influence in Thanh Hoa is already deeply rooted. Do you think we can take over Thanh Hoa with just a hundred people?"

"It's as difficult as climbing to the sky... I think we should take a long-term view."

The Ming general who came with Le Loi was Cao Yuan, the guard commander under Zhu Su. After all, Le Loi and his men were literati, and they were bound to lack military generals at the beginning of the uprising, so Zhu Su arranged Cao Yuan to follow Le Loi to help him persuade the residents and kill the Annan nobles.

"What's so great about this small city? I have fought with His Majesty the King of Zhou in many battles. Even the great city in the Western Regions like Samarkand was conquered by our army. What's more, this small city?" Cao Yuan expressed disdain for Le Loi's suggestion.

"Look, the city gates are wide open, and the soldiers guarding the gates are drowsy. Only when they see merchants worth blackmailing will they swarm in like flies."

"It's clear that the guards in this city are useless. As long as our army occupies the city gate, I think they will be thrown into disarray."

Le Loi still had concerns and said, "The soldiers in Thanh Hoa City are indeed not worth mentioning, but the soldiers of the Deng family are very elite."

"There are thousands of soldiers and servants under the Deng family. Even if we occupy the city gate, if the Deng family organizes the servants to come, I'm afraid..."

"... That's all." Cao Yuan saw his trembling appearance and thought that these Annan people were frightened by the nobles. "Take me to Thanh Hoa Prefecture and I will investigate first."

This was possible, so Le Loi took Cao Yuan and several disguised Zhou Wangwei and entered Thanh Hoa Prefecture.

Thanh Hoa is Le Loi's ancestral home, so he is very familiar with this city. The terrain of Annan is long and narrow, and Thanh Hoa is just in a position to cut off Annan's tail. Therefore, Zhu Su arranged for Le Loi to start an uprising here. First, Le Loi is familiar with this place. Once he starts an uprising here, he can quickly gain the support of many Thanh Hoa folks. Second, this place can cut off the Hu family's territory in half, and even if the nobles want to come to conquer Le Loi, there will be enough room for maneuver.

"This is the Deng family's residence." Le Loi brought Cao Yuan to the gate of a very luxurious mansion. In the past, his family was often bullied by the Deng family, so when he came here and looked at the tall Deng family plaque, Le Loi felt a mixture of resentment and fear.

Cao Yuan looked at the Deng family’s mansion, smiled, and walked straight forward.

"Hey, General Cao, this..." Li Li's face changed and he quickly tried to grab Cao Yuan.

"This is Deng's residence, get out of here!" At the door, two slaves guarding the gate saw Cao Yuan striding towards them, so they stepped forward to drive him away.

"Go and tell your master that a noble from the Ming Dynasty wants to speak to him about something important." Cao Yuan could not understand the Annan accent of these people, but it did not matter. He scolded the two slaves in the Ming Dynasty official language. His tone was steady, without any fear, and even with a hint of condescendingness.

Having followed Zhu Su in many battles, Cao Yuan had broadened his horizons. How could a mere so-called Deng family teach him to be afraid?

It's ridiculous. In his eyes, the nobles who made the Annan people shudder with fear were just some local tyrants in the countryside.

"..." The two slaves saw that he spoke in Ming official language and had an extraordinary bearing, so they did not dare to neglect him and quietly put away their arrogant appearance. They discussed for a while, and finally one of the slaves stepped forward and said to Cao Yuan with a hunched back, "My lord, wait a moment."

Then he ran into the house to report the news.

"To deal with these bullies, just stand up straight and they won't dare to underestimate you." Cao Yuan said to Li Li. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"..." Li Li was speechless, but seemed to be thinking about something.

"...Please come in, the master invites you." The title of the Ming Dynasty visitor was indeed useful. Not long after, the servant came out again and respectfully invited Cao Yuan in.

Cao Yuan winked at Li Li, and then the two of them, along with several disguised personal guards of King Zhou, walked in through the gate of Deng's house openly.

In the main hall, a middle-aged man was sitting in the main seat, drinking tea. When Cao Yuan, Le Loi and others came in, the man gently placed the tea on the table, held the shelf, and said in Ming official language: "Ming people, I wonder what brings you to Thanh Hoa?"

"I, the Deng family of Qinghua, have nothing in common with the Ming Dynasty."

"Of course there are good things. We found them from your Qinghua Deng family." Cao Yuan said with a smile, without stopping.

"Oh?" The Deng family member raised his eyebrows, and countless thoughts had already turned into his mind. Did the Ming Dynasty want to do business with the Deng family, or did it want to instigate the Deng family to act as an insider to counter the Hu family? After thinking about it, he looked up and found that the man from the Ming Dynasty seemed to be too close.

"What do you want to discuss? Why don't you sit down and talk?" he said.

"No need to discuss it. I have already brought the good stuff." Cao Yuan kept walking, his expression unchanged.

"I have come to invite you, the Deng family, to return to the west."

(End of this chapter)