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

Chapter 1075: Taking Advantage of the Situation
"Although they came here to pretend to surrender, was it really a surrender? And can they take the head of King Zhou of the Ming Dynasty?" The Annan officials who were called by Hu Jinyi in the middle of the night to watch how Hu Jinyi tortured the people from the Ming Dynasty were stunned. Many of them couldn't even understand this long and difficult sentence.

It took Hu Ji a long time to understand the meaning of this sentence. He blinked, trying to look unsurprised, and said, "Tell me why you are here?"

"Haha." Ma Jingchang smiled calmly, still neither humble nor arrogant, and said: "I have said before that I came here to present the head of Zhu Su, the King of Zhou of the Ming Dynasty, to Your Majesty. Your Majesty should first ask whether I can be trusted."

"Otherwise, haha, wouldn't these murderous soldiers of your majesty be in vain?"

Hu Ji's face was embarrassed. He should have let the other party find a way to gain his trust first. The tongue-twisting words just now turned over in his mind, and his brain was actually not working well.

"Then tell me, why should I trust you?" Hu Jinyi sat up straighter, but he completely forgot that he wanted to ask this question at first, just to humiliate this Ming Dynasty visitor. Now he was really curious.

Ma Jingchang still had a smile on his face, neither humble nor arrogant. Now that he had taken the initiative in the conversation, he spoke even more slowly. He said, "I wonder if Your Majesty knows this person called Le Loi?"

"I know." Hu Jin's face darkened, and he said, "He is a traitor from Dayu."

"...Le Li is my old master."

Hu Jinli was stunned, and the ministers looked at each other in bewilderment. This man was not from the Ming Dynasty, but a former subordinate of Le Loi? Hu Jinli calmed down and said, "So what?"

"The Ming Dynasty is a foreign enemy, and Le Loi is a traitor. Besides, isn't your lord Le Loi already involved with the Ming Dynasty? Whether you are a Ming official or a former subordinate of Le Loi, it doesn't matter to me."

"They are all the ones I want to kill!"

Hu Jinyi's last sentence sounded sinister, as if he was trying to regain the dignity he had just lost.

"But Your Majesty... do you know how we got involved with the Ming Dynasty?" Facing Hu Jinyao's pressure, Ma Jingchang still spoke slowly.

Hu Jinluo was stunned again. He really didn't know about this.

"……Why?"

Listening to what Ma Jingchang said, it seemed that there were hidden secrets that he didn't know. Hu Jinyi was really curious.

As far as the war was concerned, he also needed to find a way to know himself and the enemy as much as possible... Hu Jinyi convinced himself of this.

"In fact, my lord Le Loi received secret support from the Ming Dynasty at the beginning of the rebellion..." Ma Jingchang said, his face finally became solemn, as if he was recalling some unpleasant past events.

He told the whole story, one by one, about Le Loi's refuge in Wu Qu, Zhu Su's instigation of Le Loi's rebellion, Zhu Su's dispatch of Cao Yuan to help Le Loi, and then Cao Yuan's killing of Le Loi and manipulation of Le Loi's forces to defect to the Ming Dynasty.

"Wait... wait a minute, are you saying... Le Loi is dead?" Hu Jinlei was shocked.

"Yes. As early as half a year ago, my lord Le Loi was killed by Cao Yuan." Ma Jingchang said.

Hu Jilin looked at Ma Jingchang in shock, still in disbelief. Half a year ago, Le Loi's power was at its peak, and even Hu Jilin had to pay attention to him, and even feared him.

But at that time, Le Loi was already dead? Hu Jili felt that his brain was not enough again.

"Why did Cao Yuan want to kill Le Loi?" Hu Jinyi asked.

"Oh, it's all because of the instructions of that Zhou Wang Zhu Su... When the Ming Dynasty first supported our Lord, it was hiding a huge conspiracy..."

Then, Ma Jingchang informed Hu Jinyi that King Zhou Zhu Su was secretly manipulating the war situation in Annan, causing the Hu and Nguyen families to fight with each other, making it unable to take care of Le Loi's plan.

"Zhou Wang Zhu Su originally planned to secretly support our leader Le Loi to grow stronger until he seized Annan. In the end, he would hand over Annan to the Ming Dynasty, so that the Ming Dynasty could take over Annan without any trouble."

"Unexpectedly, during this period, my master suddenly realized the greater good and did not want to be a puppet of the Ming Dynasty. So King Zhou became so crazy that he ordered Cao Yuan to kill my master."

"Then he gathered the motley crowd under my lord's command and deceived them with benefits, making them still willing to serve the Ming Dynasty. He then dispatched Lan Yu, the Duke of Liang from the Ming Dynasty, and secretly took control of the military power left by my lord..."

Hu Jinyi sat on the throne in shock, feeling as if his brain had been hit hard by a stick. All the things that had puzzled him in the past suddenly became clear: Why did King Zhu Su of Zhou let his second son Li Cang go, why did the Ming army, which had always been just reprimanding him, suddenly send Li Wenzhong and Lan Yu to invade his territory of Dayu, why did Li Wenzhong not pursue the victory after beating him to death, but retreated back to the border, why did Le Loi's power grow so rapidly, and he was always able to occupy the cities that were left with a power vacuum after Lan Yu's disturbance...

"Since you still call Le Loi your old master, why did you surrender to the Ming Dynasty and come to the city today to pretend to surrender to me on behalf of the Ming Dynasty?" Hu Jinyi said, his expression still arrogant, but in his heart he actually believed in Ma Jingchang 80%.

What Ma Jingchang said was all reasonable, and Le Loi's defection to the Ming was really too fast... He did want to send someone to investigate the situation of the rising rebel army in the south, but by then his power had shrunk significantly and could only cover a few prefectures near Thang Long Prefecture. He was really unable to investigate Le Loi.

Now it seems that Le Loi is dead and the soldiers under Le Loi have actually been controlled by Ming general Cao Yuan and Liang Duke Lan Yu... This explanation is indeed the most reasonable.

"I am a villain who is naturally hypocritical in trying to please the wise men and deliberately acts like I am greedy for wealth and fame," said Ma Jingchang.

"After my old master died, Cao Yuan wanted to use our name to win the hearts of the people in Annan in order to avoid causing resentment among them."

"For this purpose, he divided the wealth and power of my lord Le Loi into several parts, and anyone who was willing to submit to the Ming Dynasty could take one part."

"I took a share and became a puppet general controlled by Cao Yuan... But even so, I was actually unwilling to obey the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty wanted to take away my Annan land. Although I am humble, I am also an Annanese. Naturally, I don't want my Annan country to be destroyed and my family to perish."

"Moreover, the Ming Dynasty wants to use us as a springboard... If the Ming Dynasty annexes Annan in the future, they will definitely take back the power in my hands... In this case, why not surrender to your Majesty? At least, I believe that if I can make great contributions, your Majesty will be willing to support my Ma family to become a member of the Annan noble family."

Hu Jinyi laughed. He was treacherous by nature. If Ma Jingchang said that he was lurking in the Ming camp to avenge his old master, then he would definitely not believe it. Evil people generally don't believe in such feelings. In their eyes, loyalty is also a bargaining chip to measure interests. Ma Jingchang's reason suited his appetite very well. Because the Ming Dynasty did not give enough, because he was afraid that the power would be taken back, and because he wanted to become a noble family for generations, he hid in the Ming camp and found an opportunity to come and surrender... He believed this reason.

"Of course, if you can really get the head of Zhou Wang Zhu Su, I will not only make you a noble, but also make you the most powerful aristocratic family in the Great Yu Kingdom, second only to my Hu family!"

"I will allow you to be the Prime Minister of Dayu, and will also confer upon you the title of Duke for generations!" Hu Jinyi made a blank check.

Seeing Ma Jingchang's expression change, he knelt down to thank him, Hu Jinyi asked his attendants to help him up, and then said: "Now you can tell me how you can help me take down the head of Zhou Wang Zhu Su."

"Yes." Ma Jingchang stood up and calmed down his "excited" mood.

"In fact, it's because your majesty is defending the city perfectly, and the Ming army outside the city has been thrown into disarray and is very worried. The reason why King Zhou Zhu Su sent me to pretend to surrender is actually to try to save the situation."

After hearing this flattery, Hu Jinyi felt very happy. He couldn't help but sit up straighter and he liked Ma Jingchang more and more.

"He wanted me to gain your trust first, and after you trusted me, he would light a fire as a signal one night to open the city gate and let the Ming army in..."

"You're really confused. You even came up with such a clumsy plan of feigning surrender." Hu Jinyi snorted coldly, fully demonstrating his superior IQ.

"Of course it's clumsy, so I'm just trying to save the situation. Even if I'm killed by your majesty, it's just a foreigner from Annan who dies to the Ming Dynasty, and Zhou Wang Zhu Su doesn't feel bad at all." Ma Jingchang said. "However, I've thought of a way to turn the tables."

"The King of Zhou is young, but he is eager for success and profit. In the past, he always took credit for the achievements of the Ming army soldiers, which is why he earned the title of a famous general."

"But because he was the son of the Ming emperor, the Ming army officers and soldiers did not dare to comment on this and just indulged him and flattered him. This also made Zhou Wang Zhu Su even more arrogant."

"If his plan succeeds this time, I predict that he will be the first to enter the city and earn the title of being the first to arrive. If we take advantage of his trick and set up an ambush to kill King Zhou, wouldn't we be able to take the head of King Zhou Zhu Su?" Ma Jingchang said.

"Ambush and kill the King of Zhou..." Hu Jinyi was very excited when he heard this. Although he always boasted that his Thang Long City was impregnable, he was actually still afraid.

The Ming army had too many tactics, such as artillery, hot air balloons, and the tactic of digging the city wall and detonating it the day before, which made him tremble with fear every day and made him lose his appetite. The reason why he had the upper hand temporarily was that the Ming army under the city had not yet attacked the city without considering the losses. If they really did not consider the losses, Hu Jinyi had no confidence that he could defend the city wall.

Even if they did not attack Thang Long Prefecture by force, with the national strength of the Ming Dynasty, they could have just besieged the city and fought him head-on without caring about the losses. Although the city now had sufficient reserves, they might not be able to drain the Ming Dynasty's treasury.

Ambush and kill Zhou Wang Zhu Su, may lead to revenge from Ming army... But if you can seize the opportunity to capture Zhou Wang Zhu Su, you can use Zhou Wang Zhu Su as a bargaining chip to ask for peace talks and ask Ming army to confer an imperial title. Ming claimed to be the Celestial Empire, as long as you get the imperial title, Ming will definitely not send troops to attack again, then you can be considered to have a firm foothold, and have the spare energy to slowly deal with the mess in the country.

Maybe, by using this King Zhou Zhu Su, he could get a lot of ransom from the Ming Dynasty to make up for the losses... Hu Jinyi thought.

"...I still need to discuss this with my ministers and businessmen." Although Hu Jinyi was yearning for it, he was not completely confused after all. He still knew to seek the opinions of his think tanks.

Then he looked at the ministers below the steps. After they had been whispering for a long time, one of them stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I think this is a good opportunity. We can give it a try. We can just trick the Ming army into the city wall and kill them. Even if the Ming army is well prepared and enters the city wall, they will just be trapped in the jar of Dayu."

"Your Majesty, I think there is great potential in this matter."

"Your Majesty, I agree with you as well."

"I second the proposal!"

"Seconded……"

Soon, most of the officials agreed to this plan. Hu Jinyi excitedly patted the throne and said, "Okay! In this case, we will use their tricks to deal a heavy blow to the Ming Dynasty!"

"Lord Ma, tell me, when do the Ming people want you to light a fire as a signal?"

Hu Jinli was also well versed in the art of winning people's hearts, and at this time he had already started calling him "My dear minister".

"Your Majesty, this false surrender plan was also thought up by King Zhou on the spur of the moment. It was crude and did not require a specific time." Ma Jingchang said. He climbed up the pole and acted like a subject.

"However, I think we should wait for a while. After all, it takes me some time to gain your trust. If I gain your trust too quickly, the Ming army outside the city will definitely become suspicious."

"That makes sense, that makes sense!" Hu Jinyi praised Ma Jingchang's caution, and he was completely convinced that he was truly surrendering. After all, if he was pretending to surrender, how could he consider him so carefully? "In that case, after seven days, we will implement the plan of pretending to surrender and lure the King of Zhou Zhu Su into the city!"

"Yes!" There was a resounding response in the hall. Hu Jinyi laughed loudly and felt that all the depression in his chest was swept away.

I can have a good sleep tonight.

……

"Your Highness, Sanbao has been taken into the city by the Annan people for more than half a day. There is no movement in the city now, and I don't know whether Sanbao has successfully implemented his plan."

Beside Zhu Su, the dog would occasionally look over the curtain and towards the city wall.

He and Sanbao have worked together for many years, and they have served Zhu Su together, and they have a very good relationship. Sanbao is a humble and polite person, and he respects Gou'er, his senior, very much, so Gou'er also regards him as his own.

"Don't worry, no movement, that's the best news. If Sanbao had failed, his head would have been hung up by Hu Jinyao to hit the morale of our army." Zhu Su still lowered his head to check the map, and said casually.

"You should go and have a good rest. These past few days, Hu Jinyi in the city must have been gathering his strength, preparing to teach me, the King of Zhou of the Ming Dynasty, a lesson one day."

"Whether you can break through the city wall at that time will depend on your ability. You can't let me down." Zhu Su said to Gou'er with confidence.

(End of this chapter)