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Before Pingdali hurried back to the capital with his personal soldiers, he handed over the task of resisting the Qin army to his trusted general Wu Jin.
However, a few days later, news came that Pingdali was assassinated in the Ava River and the second prince Baimang was appointed regent. This news was like a blockbuster bomb, hitting Wu Jin hard.
He has always been highly regarded by the Crown Prince Pingdali, who relies on him as his right-hand man. Over the years, he has fought with Pingdali in many battles and made outstanding contributions.
The second prince Bai Mang once bribed Wu Jin with a large sum of money and a beautiful concubine in an attempt to win him over, but was rejected by Wu Jin.
At that time, Crown Prince Pingdali was the heir to the throne and would inherit the throne in the future. He was the crown prince's beloved general, so it was normal for him not to accept the solicitation of the second prince Bai Mang.
But now... Pingdali has most likely died, Bai Mang has successfully become regent, and the king Talong is dying. The throne of Dongwu is about to fall into Bai Mang's hands.
Thinking of how he had humiliated Bai Mang, Wu Jin felt a chill in his heart. Once Bai Mang became the king, would he let him go
Wu Jin was in a state of panic. On the one hand, he sent people back to his hometown to pick up his wife and children, and on the other hand, he sent people to search for Ping Dali's whereabouts. At the same time, he contracted the defense line, quickly replaced those unreliable generals, and firmly controlled the 50,000 troops.
His adviser Du Weizhong said to him, "General, if the second prince becomes the king, he will definitely deal with you first."
Wu Jin was worried and asked with a glimmer of hope: "Now that the Qin army is invading on a large scale and the country is in danger, even if the second prince becomes the king, he may not dare to do anything to me."
Du Weizhong sighed, "If it is certain that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been killed, then the Second Prince might not do anything to the General at this time. But now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is still unsure of his life or death, and his whereabouts are unknown. What if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not dead? How can the Second Prince not be on guard against this? If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince appears again one day, the General will become the biggest threat to the Second Prince.
Therefore, unless it is confirmed that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been murdered, once the Second Prince takes power, he will immediately deprive the General of his military power. At that time, the Second Prince will be the ruler and the General will be the subject, and the soldiers in the army may not necessarily follow the General. "
When Wu Jin heard this, his brows knitted tightly, and he quickly asked, "Please give me some advice, Mr. Du."
"Since the general trusts me, I will speak directly. The general should first send someone to contact Cui Feng, the commander of the Qin army. If the situation is not right, there will be a way to retreat."
"You mean..."
"General, the world is no longer the same as before. The Qin State is at its peak and growing stronger. You have seen the firearms they use, which cannot be resisted by flesh and blood. Sulu, Brunei, and even the Westerners were defeated by the Qin army. Although our country has the advantage of geographical location, I am afraid we can't hold out for long against the powerful Qin army alone."
"Mr. Du is right. But...if we just surrender, the soldiers may not be willing to do so."
"General, he who knows the current situation is a hero. If you are willing, it will not be difficult to convince the soldiers. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has always been supported by the soldiers. As long as you make it clear to everyone that it was the Second Prince who assassinated His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, you can arouse everyone's indignation.
Now that the crown prince has just been assassinated, everyone is furious. The general must act quickly, otherwise it will be too late. Moreover, once the Qin army attacks the capital, the general will probably not be needed at all.”
After hearing what Du Weizhong said, Wu Jin was in a state of confusion and could not make a decision for a while. Finally, he punched the wall hard and said to Du Weizhong, "In this case, Mr. Du, please go and meet the commander of the Qin army."
"Okay, General, you trust me, so leave this matter to me."
Wu Jin then wrote a handwritten letter and asked Du Weizhong to meet Cui Feng as a token of trust.
At this time, the Qin army had basically occupied the northern Shan State and was advancing rapidly to the south. Du Weizhong did not have to go far before he met the Qin army commander Cui Feng at Dasheling in southern Shan State.
Cui Feng was a little surprised by Du Weizhong's arrival, but he didn't find it strange when he thought about it. When the Qing army entered the pass at the end of the Ming Dynasty, how many Han generals surrendered to the Qing army? It was really countless.
Now the power of the Great Qin State is strong and it is launching an invasion with unstoppable force. It would be unreasonable if every member of the Dongwu State fought to the death without anyone surrendering.
After reading Wu Jin's letter, Cui Feng asked the military advisor to put it away, and then said calmly: "If Wu Jin can obey the will of heaven and surrender to the Qin Dynasty, I will write a letter to ask Your Majesty to reward him. But he didn't come in person, and only Mr. Du brought a letter. How can I believe that his surrender is sincere?"
Du Weizhong bowed repeatedly and said, "General Cui, please forgive me. My General Wu commands 50,000 elite troops. The current situation is complicated. If I come in person, I am afraid that the 50,000 elite troops under my command may move. Therefore, I cannot come in person.
Don't worry, General. As long as you agree to my general's conditions, my general will immediately send the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty and Mu Tianbo and others, and at the same time, I will be the vanguard to help you take Ava City. By then, whether my general is truly loyal to the Qin Dynasty, General Cui will naturally know at a glance. "
"What are Wu Jin's conditions?" Upon hearing that there were conditions, Cui Feng couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and his tone immediately became cold and hard.
Du Weizhong was good at observing people's expressions and noticed all the subtle expressions of Cui Feng. He thought to himself that something was wrong.
He and Wu Jin originally planned to become the second Duke of Qian, request to be granted the title of Duke, and rule Ava forever.
But at this moment he clearly felt that Cui Feng was not at all surprised by his arrival, and did not seem to care too much whether Wu Jin would defect or not. In this case, if he put forward the predetermined conditions again, he would probably immediately anger Cui Feng.
"Marshal Cui has misunderstood. My general actually doesn't have any conditions. He will be satisfied as long as he can be granted an official title by the Emperor of Qin."
"Don't worry about this. As long as Wu Jin has made contributions to the court, His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Qin will naturally reward him." Cui Feng's tone finally softened.
Du Weizhong felt a heavy pressure in front of Cui Feng. His decisive and murderous style made it difficult for him to breathe, and he dared not raise any conditions anymore.
After getting Cui Feng's approval, he quickly went back and tried his best to persuade Wu Jin to accept the reality.
Wu Jin felt that he had no other choice, so he sent people to capture Zhu Cihuan, Mu Tianbo and others and sent them to Dasheling to hand them over to Cui Feng to show his sincerity.
Afterwards, he gathered the generals in the army and claimed that he had obtained solid evidence that it was the second prince Bai Mang who assassinated the crown prince Ping Dali and poisoned the old king Ta Long in an attempt to seize the throne. He also told everyone that once the second prince Bai Mang became king, he would definitely eliminate the crown prince's followers. Under his strong incitement, the 50,000 soldiers under his command were soon filled with indignation.
Wu Jin and his generals cut off chicken heads and swore brotherhood, then led an army of 50,000 back to the capital Ava.
Some counties along the way were captured by Wu Jin before they could figure out what was going on. He also sent out vanguards to block the news. Three days later, when his army arrived at the city of Ava, Bai Mang and Dongwu officials in the city still didn't understand what was going on.
Wu Jin first wanted to open the city gate, but at this time the soldiers guarding Ava City were all from the Second Prince Bai Mang. Seeing him suddenly return with an army of 50,000, they were very alert and refused to open the gate no matter what Wu Jin said.
Wu Jin had no choice but to send troops to block the city gates, and then announced that Bai Mang was the murderer of Crown Prince Pingdali, and he led his troops back to purge the emperor's side.
Bai Mang personally climbed up to the top of the city wall and shouted to Wu Jin: "General Wu, you misunderstood. I am also very sad that my brother was assassinated. This matter has nothing to do with me..."
"It doesn't matter?" Wu Jin interrupted him, "Everyone in the country knows that you have been jealous of the prince for a long time. In order to seize the throne, you even ignored the enemy and assassinated the prince, and then poisoned the emperor. You still want to quibble now?"
Everyone had doubts about Bai Mang assassinating the prince, but it was really surprising to say that he poisoned his own father. The defenders on the city wall were shocked when they heard this.
Bai Mang was so angry that he was like a Buddha being born and two Buddhas ascended to heaven, and he cursed Wu Jin on the top of the city wall.
Wu Jin was not polite and immediately ordered an attack on the city. Fifty thousand troops swarmed in and rushed towards the city wall like a tide, and the sound of killing shook the sky.
There were as many as 30,000 soldiers stationed in Ava City, all of whom obeyed Bai Mang's orders. The two armies launched a massive and bloody battle at the foot of Ava City.
Without Wu Jin's obstruction, Cui Feng's five armies behind them moved forward like a rocket, quickly taking control of the cities along the way and advancing all the way to Ava City.
Song Qing, the deputy minister, was worried about possible changes in Ava City and suggested that Cui Feng quickly surround Ava.
Cui Feng smiled and said, "Let Wu Jin fight Bai Mang for a few days. Let's capture the areas around Ava City first, and then we can go to Ava City."
"General, Bai Mang has 30,000 troops. If he manages to break through, it will be troublesome."
Cui Feng nodded and said, "Okay, then let Chen Ruizheng lead 10,000 troops to Ava City and try to prevent Bai Mang from breaking through."
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ps: Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year. I wish all my brothers and sisters a happy new year and all the best! (To be continued..)
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