ebonymovies Chapter 187 Du Fuwei of Jianghuai and Xu Maogong's Persuasion of Various Regions
Chapter 187 Du Fuwei of Jianghuai and Xu Maogong's Persuasion of Various Regions
Huainan, the main camp of the uprising army.
As dusk settled, a cold wind howled.
The air was thick with the stench of blood from the recently concluded battle, a smell that lingered for a long time.
Bonfires blazed between the tents, their flickering flames illuminating tired yet excited faces.
A group of soldiers held torches aloft and formed a huge circle.
In the center of the circle stood Du Fuwei, the leader of this rebel army.
He was a burly man with a full beard, and his eyes gleamed with a beastly light in the firelight.
He was still wearing armor stained with blood, a mark left from the battlefield.
"Bring that Song Hao from the Sui Dynasty here!"
Du Fuwei raised his hand, his voice booming like thunder, echoing through the silent camp.
A commotion broke out in the crowd.
Soon, several soldiers pushed a disheveled man to the center.
The man's armor was tattered, he was covered in wounds, and his face was smeared with blood and dirt.
Only his eyes remained bright, burning with an unquenchable rage.
Song Hao was a captain under the command of the garrison commander of Jiangdu.
In today's battle, he led his troops to attack the rebels who had started the uprising, but was ultimately captured alive due to being outnumbered.
"Song Hao," Du Fuwei drew his sword, the cold blade pressed against Song Hao's neck, "will you surrender, or not?"
The blade still bore traces of dried blood, which clung to Song Hao's skin, sending a chill down his spine.
Song Hao raised his head, looked at Du Fuwei's fleshy face, and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood onto his face.
"Du Fuwei!" he cursed, his voice hoarse but loud.
"You dare to gather a crowd to plot rebellion? It won't be long before the imperial army wipes you out. At that time, you and all of you traitors will not escape!"
Blood slid down Du Fuwei's cheeks and dripped onto the armor on his chest.
He wasn't angry; he simply wiped the dirt off his face and smiled instead.
"Old Master Xu," Du Fuwei turned his head and shouted into the crowd, "you're right, the generals of the Sui Dynasty were indeed tough."
A rustling sound came from the crowd, and a figure slowly emerged.
The man was wearing a drab gray Taoist robe and a cloak that covered most of his face.
He walked into the firelight, reached out and took off his cloak, the firelight illuminating a thin face.
Song Hao's pupils suddenly contracted.
He didn't know this Old Master Xu.
But when his gaze passed over Xu Maogong and landed on the people behind him, he was struck dumb, as if by lightning.
He would recognize those faces even if they were ashes!
Shen Faxing of the Shen family of Wuxing, and several others, are members of a prominent family in the Jianghuai region!
What he found even more unbelievable was that the figures wearing armor were clearly generals from various counties along the way!
They were still wearing Sui army uniforms!
Do powerful families, local generals, and rebel traitors stand together?
"You...you all!" Song Hao stammered, his mouth agape, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time.
"Commander Song," Shen Faxing stepped out from the crowd, dressed in a brocade robe, a smile on his face, "Yang Guang is ruthless, why continue to serve the court?"
The Shen family of Wuxing was once very prominent. However...
After the Sui Dynasty destroyed the Chen Dynasty, these southern aristocratic families gradually declined and were suppressed to the point of being unable to raise their heads.
Now, Yang Guang is ruthlessly suppressing powerful families, leaving them no way out.
But this also gave Shen Faxing an opportunity.
The time for a change of dynasty has come.
If they can overthrow the Sui Dynasty, why shouldn't the Shen family of Wuxing be able to regain their former glory?
"Pah!" Song Hao spat out another mouthful of blood, this time spraying it directly onto Shen Faxing's face.
"I am a general of the Sui Dynasty! Even if I die, I will never surrender to you traitors!"
He was a rough man, barely literate. But he remembered the first words his superior told him when he enlisted: "You are paid by the emperor, so you must be loyal to him."
His official rank was not high; he was just a minor captain.
But every grain of rice he ate and every piece of clothing he wore was a salary given by the imperial court.
He kept this kindness in his heart.
Ask him to surrender to these rebels? Dream on!
"That's blind loyalty."
Du Fuwei shook his head, his tone tinged with a mixture of emotion and disdain.
Xu Maogong looked at Song Hao, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
His thin face was now filled with a sinister look.
"Kill him," he said coldly, his voice not loud, but filled with an undeniable killing intent.
"Send the head to Luoyang and deliver it to Lü Xiao."
Lü Xiao destroyed Wagang Village, killed Wang Bodang, and forced Xu Maogong to wander around like a stray dog.
He was determined to avenge this.
It started with uniting rebel armies from various regions.
He wanted to deliver the heads of the imperial generals to Lü Xiao.
Let him see how many people in this world want him dead, and how many people are rebelling against him!
Du Fuwei took the broadsword handed to him by the soldier beside him, gripped the hilt with both hands, and raised it high.
The blade gleamed with a cold, icy light in the firelight.
Song Hao raised his head, staring intently at the knife, his eyes filled with contempt, not fear.
"Traitor! May you die a horrible death!"
The blade flashed.
"puff!"
Blood gushed out, splattering all over Du Fuwei.
Song Hao's head rolled off the ground, spun a few times, and came to rest at Xu Maogong's feet.
Those wide-open eyes gazed at him until their dying breath.
"Clean it up." Du Fuwei returned the knife to the soldier and casually wiped the blood from his face.
"Song Hao has been defeated, and the garrison commander of Jiangdu will certainly not dare to send anyone out to fight again. What should we do next?"
He looked at Xu Maogong.
Although this old Taoist priest was physically weak, he was quick-witted.
If it weren't for his advice and strategies, I wouldn't have been able to develop so quickly these days.
Xu Maogong did not answer immediately. He looked down at the head at his feet, a look of satisfaction and catharsis flashing in his eyes.
He raised his head, looked at the night outside the tent, and slowly said, "Incite the people and workers who are building the canal, and win them over to start an uprising."
Du Fuwei frowned: "Those peasants?"
"So what if I'm a peasant?" Xu Maogong sneered.
"There are many peasants here. Along the canal, there are hundreds of thousands of people and tens of thousands of workers. If you can win them over, you can immediately gain hundreds of thousands more men under your command."
"Would they really rebel?"
"Why not?" Shen Faxing chimed in, his smile meaningful. "Their dissatisfaction with Yang Guang is no less than yours, Du Fuwei's."
canal.
It's the canal again.
Since Yang Guang ascended the throne, the Grand Canal, which runs through the north and south, has never been stopped under construction.
Widening, deepening, and extending the ditches meant conscripting laborers every year, and causing deaths every year.
Those common people and those river workers had long harbored deep hatred for the imperial court and for Yang Guang.
"Just reduce their wages for building the canal."
Another member of a prominent family spoke up, his tone casual, as if he were talking about something trivial.
The imperial court ordered the people and river workers to build the canal, and this was certainly not done in vain.
The money and grain allocated from the national treasury were used to pay wages and purchase materials.
But how many hands does this money go through after it leaves the national treasury?