Li Cheng was driven to despair, and he himself surrendered. He was not a surrendered general who surrendered after running out of ammunition and food during a battle with the Mongols, but rather he surrendered his weapons on his own initiative before the Mongols invaded.

This kind of surrendered general had no say, and although he was given the title of a thousand-man commander after surrendering, he was actually not even as good as a centurion. On weekdays, those centurions would look down on him and ignore him.

At this time, his ragtag army was led by Shao Bu, Wang An, to go out of the city to fight against the Song army. Regardless of victory or defeat, it had nothing to do with him.

If we win, it's because of Captain Shaobu's good command. If we lose, or if Quanzhou City is lost, it's your fault, Li Cheng, so you have to take the blame.

If I am not welcome here, I will go somewhere else. Shao Bu is simply going too far. You are cheating me, so I am betraying you.

Li Cheng decided to surrender when he left the city to fight the Song army. He heard that the Song army treated surrendered generals well, at least they could treat them equally.

In Quanzhou, the Mongols looked down on him openly, and the common people scolded him behind his back. He was neither a human being nor a soldier. Although they were surrendered soldiers, they were also human beings and hoped to be respected.

Now the Mongols have taken advantage of my misfortune and pushed me into a desperate situation. Fine, then I will surrender to the Song people.

"Butler Liu, I'm about to lead the troops out to fight the Song army. You take the ladies and the young masters and leave the city quickly. Hide in the countryside first. I'll pick you up after I leave the city." Li Cheng instructed his butler in his mansion.

The butler nodded with tears in his eyes: "General, you are always concerned about everything."

Li Cheng patted his shoulder and said, "You have been my family's housekeeper for more than 20 years. You have been here since my father's generation. Now I entrust the lives of my entire family to you."

Butler Liu was quite loyal: "General, when the master was still alive, thanks to the master's mercy, this life has long been the property of the Li family. At the beginning, people advised the general not to surrender to the Mongols, but now, alas."

Li Cheng wiped his tears and said, "I feel so ashamed of my ancestors and the late emperor. Let's go! Let's go! If we're late, we'll be in trouble if the Mongols find us."

There was no time to pack up everything in the house except for valuables. Li Cheng's mother, three wives and concubines, two young children and one daughter all got on the carriage outside the house.

The old mother burst into tears and said, "Cheng'er, please stop being so foolish. The Song Dynasty has come to avenge us. You must be a man of integrity to be worthy of your dead father."

Li Cheng knelt down with tears in his eyes: "Mother, I know I was wrong. I know what to do next." He kowtowed several times.

His wives, concubines, and children bid him farewell in the carriage. Li Cheng waved his hand and said, "Take good care of the children. They are the most important thing in everything."

After sending his family and wife away, Li Cheng had no more worries. He went to the military camp to gather his men.

He had already discussed with several generals last night and agreed to surrender as soon as they left the city.

"Come here, tie up Borgu, Jamuka, Baki, and Cook!" Li Cheng shouted outside the tent.

These Mongolian soldiers were sent to Li Cheng's camp to monitor and contain the soldiers. They did not treat the soldiers as human beings at all and would beat and scold them at will. The soldiers had long been angry but dared not speak out.

Now the captain gave the order, and dozens of personal soldiers rushed forward and tied up these people tightly.

The Mongols were furious. Borgu, the deputy general, said, "Li Cheng, you dare to rebel! Captain Gert will not forgive you!"

Li Cheng said coldly: "You forced us to do this. Soldiers, let's rebel against him!"

Before he could finish his words, those Mongolian generals were killed by Li Cheng's men.

Li Cheng's mouth twitched. He hadn't originally intended to kill these officers and soldiers. He thought that if Gert returned or the Song army refused to surrender, there might still be room for maneuver.

Unexpectedly, his generals, who had long hated these Mongol officers, had actually killed them. Now he was in a difficult situation and had no choice but to not turn back. He stepped onto the command platform and said, "Men! As I'm sure you all know, the Song army is besieging the city. The Mongols themselves dare not go out to fight, so they sent us as scapegoats. If they win, the credit goes to the Mongols. If they lose, the blame will be on us. Do you agree or not?"

"No! No!" All the officers under him responded passionately and enthusiastically.

Li Cheng's troops were in the west of Quanzhou, an unwelcome place. It was far from the Mongolian army's headquarters, which created favorable conditions for Li Cheng to start a rebellion.

Li Cheng wasn't completely clueless; they had made full preparations before the uprising. To prevent leaks, no one was allowed to leave the camp after the meeting last night.

Sure enough, early in the morning, his men caught two people who had secretly gone out to report the news.

"Captain, we just caught two people trying to sneak out of the camp." Several guards came over with the two men.

The two men were so frightened that they were shaking all over. One of them said tremblingly, "Captain, my mother is sick, and I am leaving the camp to get her some medicine."

Another said, "Captain, I am afraid of dying if I leave the city. I want to escape."

Li Cheng waved his hand and said, "No matter what your reasons are, anyone leaving the camp without permission will be executed! I can't gamble the lives of over a thousand people to let you two go. Drag them out and chop them up as a sacrifice!"

The guards brought the two Ran army flags to the front and killed them with a single cut.

"Captain, these two thieves have been killed!" The guard came to report after the chopping was completed.

Hundreds of eyes were watching outside the tent, and no one dared to have any other thoughts.

Li Cheng took off his captain's helmet and said, "Fuck the captain! I rebelled against the Mongols. Now I am your general. Call me General Li!"

"Yes, General Li!" the soldiers shouted.

"General, it's bad, Shaobu is coming with his soldiers!" Suddenly the guard at the door came to report in a panic.

"What, what!" Li Cheng was so frightened that he lost his balance and almost fell off the stage.

With a "buzz!" the crowd erupted in excitement. People were buzzing and talking, with expressions of fear on their faces.

Although they were rebelling, they were still deeply afraid of the Mongols. Li Cheng was trembling with fear. If the Mongols discovered his plot, no one here would survive.

Li Cheng managed to calm himself down: "Shao Budai, how many troops did you bring?" He wanted to risk it all, he had quite a few men on his side, so at worst he could just fight.

The guards were also frightened: "Well, it seems not many, he only brought a few dozen personal soldiers."

Originally, this was an opportunity for Li Cheng to lure Shao Bu into the military camp and capture him. In this way, Quanzhou would be his, but he was really afraid of the Mongols.

If Shao Bu hadn't forced him into a corner, Li Cheng wouldn't have dared to defect. His men were a motley crew, and they were immediately at a loss.

Some advocated surrender, while others advocated running away. However, surrendering would be a dead end, as Shaobu would kill them all. The surrounding city gates were guarded by Mongols, so there was no escape route.