The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 144 The Japanese invaders reappear, stirring up trouble.

We need to understand the enemy's situation clearly, including whether they have mounted troops.

Tu Chengyu immediately had some countermeasures taken.

First, he had people move a lot of stones and clods of earth of different sizes from the wasteland on both sides of the road and throw them on the road to slow down the speed of the horse's flattery.

At the same time, gather the archers in the guard group together and have them prioritize shooting the mounted soldiers.

Before Tu Chengyu had even finished making arrangements, the sound of horses' hooves grew closer.

Immediately, under the enemy's torches, a group of people were seen fleeing in this direction in a disheveled state.

Perhaps worried about getting separated from the runners, the few enemies on horseback didn't move particularly fast, basically keeping pace with those running on the road.

This actually saved Tu Chengyu some trouble.

Otherwise, if they split up and Tu Chengyu's side captured the rider in front, it would alert the fleeing riders behind.

Conversely, if you wait to catch those who run away, you can only release the ones on horseback; it's a difficult choice no matter what you do.

It's great now; they're all connected, making them easy to tidy up.

In the blink of an eye, the enemy was quickly surrounded.

At this moment, their horses encountered stones and clods of dirt on the road, slowing them down even further.

This caused those who were running behind to all crowd together.

It's unclear whether these people were genuinely careless or simply didn't expect anyone to be lying in ambush on them.

They were completely unprepared for the sudden appearance of so many rocks on the road.
The pedestrians simply ran ahead to clear obstacles for the horse riders, and then continued on their way.

And just like that, this group of people unwittingly walked into Tu Chengyu and his men's encirclement.

Once the encirclement was complete, Tu Chengyu immediately ordered an attack.

The next moment, the archers, who were already prepared, fired a volley that nearly knocked the riders off their horses.

Meanwhile, the enemy naturally discovered that they had been ambushed.

The only one among the riders who wasn't shot off quickly jumped off his horse and shouted in a high-pitched voice to his companions behind him.

It was as if they were being warned to be wary of an ambush.

However, it seemed that even without him shouting, his accomplices following behind him realized they had been ambushed immediately.

They all stopped in their tracks, as if preparing to face the enemy.

Having laid an ambush for so long, Tu Chengyu was not about to let them easily get their troops ready.

In fact, the guards who were lying in ambush on both sides of the road had already rushed out when the first volley of arrows was fired.

The enemies in the middle of the road didn't even have time to regroup; they only had time to draw their swords before the guards rushed up to them.

They had no choice but to hastily prepare for the battle.

Tu Chengyu's side was well-rested and had more men than the enemy.

Even though these enemies fought desperately after being ambushed, they could not escape being surrounded and annihilated by the guards.

In less than 15 minutes, the escaped enemy force was either killed or captured, and the situation was completely quelled.

The ambush we just laid was a great success.

But Tu Chengyu felt no joy at all.

Just now, during the entire process, Tu Chengyu suddenly realized that the enemy he had ambushed did not seem to be citizens of the country; judging from their voices, they seemed to be Japanese slaves.

To avoid mishearing the dialect as Japanese, Tu Chengyu specifically asked Han Bocai.

Now he was certain that the enemy he had just captured was a Japanese slave.

This is what angered him; there seemed to be too many Japanese on the land of the dynasty.

This is the third time he has encountered such a group of Japanese slaves since he left the capital.

In the first two instances, these Japanese slaves either acted as henchmen for others or helped salt merchants smuggle salt.

Now, they've actually joined the rebellion.

The Japanese are full of wolfish ambitions and have always been eyeing our nation covetously.

Getting involved in this kind of thing now would only embolden them.

Tu Chengyu felt that if he hadn't suddenly brought his men and breached the county town, things would have been different.

Perhaps these Japanese invaders will actually occupy this county and do something even bigger.

While Tu Chengyu was thinking about all sorts of random things, he waited for the guards to clean up the battlefield.

Once they've finished cleaning up, kill those who should be killed and take prisoners of those who should be taken prisoner.

Then, Tu Chengyu led the prisoners toward the county town.

By the time they reached the county town gate, the unrest in the town had already been quelled.

At this moment, Su Xuanbao also led his men and hurriedly ran out of the east gate.

The two groups met at the city gate, and Tu Chengyu asked first, "What are you planning to do here?"

Su Xuanbao replied, "Your Highness, a group of enemies has escaped, and I was just about to lead men to pursue them."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu thought for a moment and said, "Let's put the pursuit of the enemy aside for now. Tell me first, what's the situation in the city?"

Su Xuanbao replied, "Your Highness, the turmoil has been quelled, and all the rebels have been captured. However, the rebel leaders have all escaped, and I am preparing to capture them."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu immediately thought of the Japanese slaves he had just captured.

He asked, "What kind of people are the leaders of the rebels?"

Su Xuanbao replied, "Based on my interrogation just now, the people who instigated this salt workers' rebellion are very likely a group of Japanese pirates?"

"It's very likely that they are Japanese?" Tu Chengyu was a little puzzled. He had just captured people who were clearly Japanese, but he hadn't yet figured out how Su Xuanbao had interrogated them.

Tu Chengyu couldn't help but ask, "What exactly did you interrogate them about?"

Before Su Xuanbao could answer after Tu Chengyu finished speaking, Quan Wenwei spoke first.

"Your Highness, let's discuss this after we enter the city."

After being reminded by Quan Wenwei, Tu Chengyu realized that he was still outside the city.

It's the middle of the night, and standing at the city gate isn't a good idea. It's safer to go inside and close the gate.

Then, Tu Chengyu wanted to order his men to enter the city immediately.

But Su Xuanbao said anxiously, "Your Highness, the city gates cannot be closed. I still need to go out and capture the enemy."

Hearing this, Tu Chengyu couldn't help but laugh and said, "They're just a few Japanese slaves. You don't need to catch them yourself. I've already caught them for you."

"Really?" Su Xuanbao was somewhat incredulous.

Tu Chengyu said, "How could I lie to you? The people I captured are right behind me. Go and see for yourself."

Upon hearing this, Su Xuanbao disregarded everything else and immediately bypassed Tu Chengyu and the others, running towards the back.

Then he saw the Japanese slaves being escorted by guards.

After reading it, Su Xuanbao was overjoyed and ran up to Tu Chengyu, saying:
"Your Highness, you are truly amazing. You captured all the rebel leaders with ease."

Tu Chengyu said dismissively, "Stop flattering me. Tell me about your interrogation." With that, Tu Chengyu took the lead and walked towards the city.

Su Xuanbao followed closely beside Tu Chengyu and replied, "Your Highness, this is how it is."

"When we stormed the county government office, we rescued several men who claimed to be salt workers from the woodshed in the backyard of the office."

"They said that this attack on the county town was coerced by a group of Japanese pirates."

"At first, I didn't believe it, but when I was cleaning up the bodies, I did find the bodies of the Japanese slaves."

"They then realized they weren't lying, so they led their men to chase after them."

Su Xuanbao explained the whole story in just a few words, and Tu Chengyu asked after listening:
"They didn't say how the Japanese could so easily coerce them?"

Su Xuanbao shook his head and said, "This subordinate was in a hurry to arrest people and did not interrogate them more thoroughly."

Since Su Xuanbao didn't know much, Tu Chengyu didn't ask any further questions.

When they arrived at the county government office, Tu Chengyu immediately arranged for everyone to split up and take action.

He first instructed Lin Ruhai to find a few people who understood Japanese to interrogate the captured Japanese slaves.

Then, he had Su Xuanbao bring the rescued salt workers to him, and he planned to interrogate them personally with Quan Wenwei.

A short while later, Su Xuanbao brought several people dressed in hemp clothing and short shirts to Tu Chengyu.

There were five people in total, including four middle-aged people and one old man.

Looking at their weathered faces and sun-darkened skin, they really did resemble salt workers.

These people came in and were all pinned to the ground.

Tu Chengyu didn't ask any questions right away, but instead carefully examined him for a while.

When they felt a little uncomfortable being scrutinized by Tu Chengyu, he finally spoke:
"The one at the very back, come to the front and answer my questions."

Tu Chengyu singled this person out because he appeared to be the youngest among the group.

Secondly, through observation, Tu Chengyu discovered that this person was also the most timid and indecisive among them.

This is the kind of person from whom we can make a breakthrough.

The person Tu Chengyu pointed out looked panicked as Su Xuanbao pulled him forward, frequently turning his head to look at the other four, as if pleading for help.

Seeing this, Tu Chengyu gave Su Xuanbao another instruction.

"Take the remaining four away and lock them up in separate rooms. I will interrogate them one by one."

After the four were taken away, the one left behind seemed even more terrified.

Regardless of his reaction, Tu Chengyu asked directly, "What's your name?"

The person being questioned looked at Tu Chengyu and said tremblingly, "My name is Six Fingers."

This is a very uncommon name, not like a formal name.

However, Tu Chengyu was in no mood to dwell on these matters at the moment. He asked, "Do you know why I questioned you first?"

Six Fingers gently shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.

Tu Chengyu continued, "That's because you're young and we wanted to give you a chance to make a contribution. Do you want this opportunity?"

Upon hearing this, Six Fingers looked hesitant, seemingly unsure whether to nod in agreement.

Seeing his expression, Tu Chengyu continued, "Do you know that your attack on the county town is tantamount to treason? If you don't seize this opportunity, you'll be executed in the autumn."

Perhaps Tu Chengyu's intimidation worked, or perhaps he himself was aware of the consequences for them.

So after hearing Tu Chengyu's words, he quickly nodded and said:

"I want it."

Seeing that he was very cooperative, Tu Chengyu was also satisfied and said, "Since you want this opportunity, you have to answer my questions honestly. If you dare to lie, I will give this opportunity to the next few people."

Six Fingers nodded again.

Then, Tu Chengyu asked the first question: "Why did you all suddenly start making trouble?"

Upon hearing this, Six Fingers immediately replied, "We dare not cause any trouble. We were forced into this situation by the Prefect."

His words were basically consistent with the previous news, so Tu Chengyu did not bother to verify their authenticity.

Instead, he asked further, "But as far as I know, after your uprising, Prefect Tian stopped pressuring you. So why did you still attack the county seat?"

Six Fingers seemed unsure how to answer this question and remained silent for a long time.

Tu Chengyu didn't have time to waste, so he said, "Stop dawdling and get to the point."

Urged on by Tu Chengyu, Six Fingers had no choice but to say, "We were also deceived, which is why we had no choice but to attack the county town."

Finally, they got to the point, and Tu Chengyu quickly followed up with, "Who tricked you?"

Six Fingers hesitated before saying, "Uncle Zhong said that the ones lying to us are probably the Japanese."

Suddenly a name popped up, and Tu Chengyu asked, "Who is this Uncle Zhong?"

Six Fingers said, "He's the oldest one who came here with the younger one. He's our leader this time."

Lin Ruhai had previously said that whenever these salt workers caused trouble, they would always push out some old men to take the blame, and now it seems that this is indeed the case.

After learning about this person, Tu Chengyu asked, "How did the Japanese deceive you?"

Six Fingers said, "The Japanese devils lied to us, saying that a prince happened to be in Yangzhou at this time and was very angry after hearing about our turmoil."

"They also said that this prince is mobilizing troops to kill all of us unruly salt workers."

"We've never met the prince, so we naturally believe them."

"Then these Japanese slaves said that if they wanted to save everyone's lives, they had to break through the county town, capture the prefect hiding in the town, and then use the prefect as a bargaining chip to negotiate with this prince."

"Just as we breached the county town and were preparing to arrest the prefect, this prince led his men to attack us."

"But this prince seems to be different from what the Japanese said. After he arrived, he first tried to persuade us to surrender, saying that he would not hold us accountable for our crimes."

"After hearing this, Uncle Zhong and the others wanted to surrender, but at this moment, those Japanese devils revealed their true colors."

"In order to prevent us from surrendering, they actually detained us and then, in the name of Uncle Zhong and the others, continued to make the salt workers resist."

The man with six fingers spoke haltingly, but he still managed to recount the whole story fairly completely.

However, at this moment, Tu Chengyu still had a question that had been lingering in his mind for a long time, and he asked:

"Since you know they are Japanese slaves, why do you still believe their words?"

Six Fingers replied, "At first, we didn't know they were Japanese slaves. It was only after we were detained that we overheard their conversation and learned that they were Japanese slaves."

Tu Chengyu then asked, "Even if you didn't know they were Japanese slaves before, these people were still outsiders to you, so why did you still trust them so much?"

Tu Chengyu really couldn't understand how a group of outsiders could command the salt workers so effectively.

Six Fingers thought for a moment and replied, "The reason we trust them is simply because these people were invited from outside by Uncle Zhong and his team to help us."

Tu Chengyu noticed something odd and quickly asked, "You invited them? When did you invite them?"

Six Fingers said, "It was the night before Prefect Tian came to investigate the case."

The timing is really coincidental. Tu Chengyu would never believe that no one was manipulating this.

(End of this chapter)