To Xiang Ze's surprise, Lü Tu did not immediately agree. Instead, he stared intently at him and said, "Brother Xiang, the reason I rescued you that day was not for any other reason than that I saw that you were different from ordinary refugees. Are you really willing to submit to my command?"

Upon hearing Lu Tu's words, Xiang Ze cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and solemnly said, "Lord Lu, I know you've noticed that my background is indeed somewhat different from ordinary people. I am a wanted criminal by the imperial court, but I can guarantee that I am telling the truth and that I will not cause any trouble for the village."

“Of course. I didn’t want to pry into your past and background, but as you can see from the current situation in the village, it’s very serious. We can take tonics, but we can’t take laxatives. If you don’t tell me why you are wanted by the imperial court, it will be difficult for me to keep you here.”

Upon hearing this, Xiang Ze's expression changed drastically. He immediately knelt on one knee and said, "My lord, I respect you and am grateful for your life-saving grace, but I cannot say it! If you really mind, my lord, I can only leave this place with my son."

"Okay, then you can go."

"Uh...sir, won't you keep me here?" Xiang Ze looked at Lü Tu in surprise. Why was Lü Tu's behavior completely different from what he had expected?

Lu Tu chuckled and said, "Didn't I make myself clear just now? If you're just an ordinary refugee, I have absolutely no problem keeping you here. But if you're going to cause a lot of trouble for the village, I can't risk other people's lives for you. Do you understand what I mean?"

“I understand... Please allow me to think about it, sir.”

Xiang Ze got up and paced back and forth. Lü Tu was in no hurry to urge him, giving him plenty of time to think.

After a long pause, Xiang Ze gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and bowed to Lü Tu, saying, "My lord, may I speak with you in private?"

Lu Tu led him to a deserted wilderness, naturally unafraid that Xiang Ze would suddenly attack him with a cold arrow. He had a general understanding of Xiang Ze's martial prowess, and besides, he was carrying a long sword. At such close range, he was confident that no one could harm him.

After glancing around warily to make sure no one was watching, Xiang Ze knelt down with a thud. He first kowtowed three times to Lü Tu, then said in a deep voice, "My lord, it's not that I deliberately lied to you, it's just that the crime I committed was too great!"

Lu Tu narrowed his eyes slightly: "How big?"

There was no deception involved, after all, the two hadn't known each other for long, and Lu Tu was willing to accept his three kowtows, so he didn't help him up immediately.

"Sir, have you ever heard of the Red Turban Army?"

Lu Tu shook his head: "No!"

Xiang Ze looked at Lü Tu with suspicion: "My lord, you know nothing about what's happening in the outside world?"

"Yes, I don't know anything."

Lu Tu had no reason to lie about this, after all, his information was extremely limited, and most of his information about the outside world came from teahouses and overpasses in Wuchuan.

"At present, the Great Yu Dynasty is engulfed in flames of war, and uprisings are taking place everywhere. The Red Turban Army is the largest rebel army near Qingzhou, with more than a million people!"

Upon hearing this, Lü Tu raised an eyebrow: "So many people? Are you also a member of the Red Turban Army?"

Xiang Ze stated frankly, "That's right, I am not only a member of the Red Turban Army, but also one of the four who rose up in rebellion that day!"

"So you were suppressed by the imperial army? Otherwise, why would you have ended up here?"

Xiang Ze smiled bitterly: "Actually, we weren't suppressed. The four of us were all forced laborers, but we became sworn brothers because we got along well. Later, we planned to rise up in rebellion. We swept through the city and occupied several cities, including Linzi and Zhenyue. Our numbers once reached their peak, and we were known as a million-strong army!"

After he finished speaking, he observed Lü Tu's expression. He was shocked to see that Lü Tu had not shown any emotion despite listening to such a magnificent narration.

What kind of person is this? Even though Lü Tu is just a captain on the border with only a few hundred men under his command, he remained calm and composed after hearing about such a major event.

Xiang Ze was certain that Lü Tu was a man who had seen the world and was not as simple as he appeared!

From the moment Lu Tu heard the claim of a million-strong army, he knew that it was highly exaggerated. What does a million-strong army even mean?

Putting aside everything else, even if Lu Tu only had 800 soldiers at his disposal, managing their food, clothing, shelter, and transportation would be quite difficult, let alone a million people.

Throughout history, such things have happened countless times. Everyone wants to claim to have a million-strong army, but in reality, given the current level of productivity, unless the entire nation's resources are mobilized, it is absolutely impossible to support a million-strong army. It's obviously just boasting.

Lu Tu calmly helped him up: "Brother Xiang, get up first. Don't be so agitated. Tell me, is it because of the collapse of power or something else?"

Xiang Ze was shocked upon hearing this: "Sir, how do you know everything?"

Lu Tu couldn't help but laugh and said, "You just said it wasn't because the government troops failed to suppress them, so it must be because of infighting among you. What peasant uprisings fear most is not the government troops' suppression, but that there are few people with foresight among you. When you have a common goal, you can all stand together against a common enemy, but once you achieve even the slightest victory, you immediately want to divide the spoils. Am I right?"

Xiang Ze said dejectedly, "My lord, you are a man of great insight. I admire you! As you said, we were only known as a million-strong army, but in reality we only had more than 30,000 soldiers, all of whom were conscripted from the corvée labor service. Even after we occupied several cities and opened the armory, we did not have that many weapons. Moreover, the court did not even pay attention to us."

Lu Tu became interested. This was a channel to understand the outside world, and he had to get more information from Xiang Ze: "And then what happened?"

"Actually, we were just thinking about not being oppressed at the time, but after we rose up in rebellion, we didn't know what to do. To be honest, although I had studied military strategy, I didn't understand internal affairs. In addition, the government troops ignored us. Soon, some of us came up with the arrogant idea of ​​declaring ourselves emperors."

Lu Tu was so happy he almost blew snot bubbles from his nose. In his memory, the people who had done the most things, like becoming emperors, were the leaders of various uprising armies. They had neither visionary advisors around them nor would they listen to the advice of others.

In their shortsightedness, all they want is to quickly become emperor in order to gain the approval of the people.

Little did they know that when one's strength is insufficient, rashly declaring oneself emperor could only bring devastating consequences.

A familiar example in history is Yuan Shu. His family had held high office for four generations, which was impressive enough, right? Yet he insisted on becoming emperor, which led to his being attacked by various warlords. Before he died, he couldn't even get a sip of honey water. What kind of emperor was he?

“I was strongly against it at the time, but they secretly conspired to put me under house arrest and kill my brother. In the end, it was a few of my fellow villagers who rescued me and my son, and that's how we managed to blend in with the refugees and get here!”