"Yes, sir!"
“In the first place, Jiang Lingfeng was of no help to us. Before, when Longcheng was besieged for so long, his army did not come to our aid. Now that Zhang Chengyan has been gone for half a month, my brother has restored the trade routes in Longcheng. He has come to pick up the fallen peaches.”
"That's right! We conquered Dragon City, why should we give it to some old bastard? We won't do something so humiliating as to do someone else's work for nothing! If we're going to do something, we'll do something earth-shattering and exhilarating with our leader!"
"Let's do it!"
In an instant, everyone was determined to fight Jiang Lingfeng. They all bowed to Lü Tu and then left the tent to prepare. At this time, Lü Tu only had Xiang Ze by his side.
He looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated: "Big brother."
Without turning his head, Lü Tu picked up his halberd, which had been with him for a long time, and took out an oily cloth to slowly wipe it: "Are you trying to ask me why I rebelled?"
"Yes, I..."
"You didn't actually intend to rebel, otherwise you wouldn't have parted ways with the Red Turban Army in the first place, right?"
“Yes, I thought you were a loyal and patriotic person, but I never expected you would also want to rebel and become emperor.”
Lu Tu had long seen that Xiang Ze was actually a rigid and traditional person, but this was understandable. After all, in this era where Confucianism was prevalent, Xiang Ze was born in Qingzhou and had been instilled with the traditional ideas of ruler-subject, father-son, and so on since childhood.
Lu Tu sighed softly, "Xiang Ze, do you remember where we first met?"
"It was in Baoma Village, Wuchuan. I was seriously injured and starving, and I almost died. It was you, my elder brother, who saved me."
Lu Tu shook his head: "No, I saved you because I was moved by the bravery and fearlessness shown by your son. I saw the indomitable fighting spirit of the Chinese nation in him."
Xiang Ze remained silent, lost in thought.
Lu Tu continued, "But think about it carefully, why are there so many refugees and so many rebels in the world?"
"Because of the severe drought and the Yellow River changing its course."
Lu Tu shook his head: "It takes more than one cold day for the ice to freeze three feet deep. Droughts occur in various places every year, but has the Great Yu Dynasty ever done anything to benefit the people? The funds allocated from above are passed down to the people layer by layer, and a hundred catties of fine flour only yields a handful of rice soup full of sand."
"And this Commandant of Longcheng, Mo Tienan, even the wine cups he casually takes out to entertain guests are made of Ru kiln. You can imagine how serious their corruption is. Let me ask you, Xiang Ze, why is it that we common people have to eat tree bark and clay, while they even feed their dogs beef and chicken legs?"
Upon hearing this, Xiang Ze fell completely silent. He knew that what Lü Tu said was right, but a voice in his heart still wanted to refute it.
Lu Tu nodded: "I know what you're thinking. You care about the reputation of your family. Your Xiang family may have been a powerful force in the area. Even if you've fallen on hard times, your pride remains. But don't you think about it? If people like Jiang Lingfeng who buy and sell official positions aren't eliminated, there will be thousands upon thousands of Xiang families who will fall on hard times, not to mention the common people."
"Are you really willing to watch those soldiers outside who willingly follow us go back to the old days of eating chaff and wild vegetables, and having no way to get medical treatment when they are wounded and just waiting to die? Do you also want your son to end up like you were back then, poor and destitute, bullied in a corner, waiting to die in despair like a stray dog?"
A series of questions were posed, like sharp thorns piercing Xiang Ze's heart, making him shudder.
"Brother, I've figured it out. I shouldn't have questioned you."
Lu Tu shook his head: "You haven't thought it through yet, and I won't force you. You can leave whenever you want. You can even take those 80,000 Red Turban soldiers with you. But you have to think about whether you can make sure they live a good life after you take them away. What were your original intentions when you started the uprising?"
After saying that, Lü Tu patted his arm, signaling him to leave. Then he began to put on his armor. He had to personally lead this battle. Facing an old fox like Jiang Lingfeng, both Nie Yun and Tuoba Yue were still too inexperienced.
Xiang Ze left the main tent dejectedly. Standing outside, watching the soldiers with firm steps and joy in their eyes, he fell into deep self-doubt. He didn't know if this rebellion was truly what he wanted.
Just then, a soldier who had come from Kuishan Village passed by. He looked puzzled when he saw Xiang Ze, then grinned and said, "Brother Xiang, what's wrong? Are you homesick? I have some dried biscuits from the village, you can have them."
He then shoved a dry flatbread into Xiang Ze's hand and left without looking back.
As Xiang Ze clutched the flatbread, he recalled how, before he left, the entire village, young and old, men and women alike, were excitedly baking flatbreads to prepare rations for the soldiers who were about to go to war. His son, Xiang Yong, was among them.
She looked up at Xiang Ze with her little face and said, "Dad, you must drive away those rebels. When I grow up, I want to be a great hero like you!"
Before he knew it, mist rose in Xiang Ze's eyes. It was so hot that he quickly stuffed the flatbread into his mouth, tore off a piece, and chewed it vigorously.
He looked towards the direction of Kuishan Village in the north: "Son, it doesn't matter whether your father becomes a hero or not, but I will never let you live a hard life again."
After saying this, Xiang Ze left the main tent and went to his quarters to put on his armor.
Although Lü Tu didn't see any of this, based on his observations of Xiang Ze, he could roughly guess the outcome. If Xiang Ze really didn't want to rebel, he wouldn't have participated in the Red Turban Rebellion in the first place.
This shows that even though Xiang Ze was severely suppressed by the ideology of ruler and subject, he was still a restless person at heart.
After the entire army had been preparing for two full hours, Lü Tu, standing on the high platform in the center of the army, looked at the boundless army of 250,000 behind him and nodded in satisfaction.
"Brothers, we've sacrificed so much to defend Longcheng and drive Zhang Chengyan away. Now they want to come back and kill us. Can we let them?"
"No!" The continuous roar of 250,000 people made the heavens and earth change color.
Lu Tu nodded: "Enough with the nonsense, for the sake of our lost dignity, kill!"
"kill!"
With a wave of his hand, Lü Tu mounted his warhorse, Xiao Hei, and headed towards Jiang Lingfeng's army, accompanied by his brothers who had fought alongside him through thick and thin.
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