GBP Chapter 88 Reunion with Governor Sun
Chapter 88 Reunion with Governor Sun
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Liu Ye turned around and said, "We've finally saved our lives!"
Bai Lian breathed a sigh of relief, and Ling Xi'er excitedly hugged Liu Ye: "We survived! That's wonderful!"
This feels so good, Liu Ye thought to himself, but he quickly recovered.
"Now is not the time to relax. We need to hurry to the governor's office. In Dengzhou City right now, the safest place is to stay with Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde!" Liu Ye thought to himself, "I'll also pay another visit to Governor Sun."
The three finally left this troublesome place and, escorted by Geng Zhongming's personal guards, headed to the governor's office. With an escort, the rebel soldiers who occasionally ran by along the way did not harass them, and their journey was quite smooth.
Upon reaching Dongmen Street, they saw a group of military officers approaching. It was Li Jiucheng, with Kong Youde walking to his left. Seeing the three of them, a flash of gloom crossed Li Jiucheng's eyes. Kong Youde, however, was quite surprised. He quickly walked up to them and exclaimed, "Brother Liu, are you alright? We succeeded! The entire Dengzhou City is now under our control. Brother Liu, your strategic planning and liaison work are invaluable!"
Liu Ye inwardly grumbled, thinking that Li Jiucheng probably hoped to see him die, but on his face he put on a smile and flattered, "It was all thanks to the two generals' decisive actions that things went so smoothly!"
Kong Youde laughed heartily, reached out and pulled Liu Ye up, saying, "Since we've run into each other, let's go and meet General Sun."
As the group turned the corner, a personal guard rode up and loudly reported, "We've captured Governor Sun, along with his advisor Wang Zheng and the battalion commander Zhang Tao."
Kong Youde quickly asked, "Where is Zhang Keda?"
"Zhang Keda killed his wife and concubine in his own residence, hanged himself, and then set the house on fire. He was already dead."
The generals high-fived each other in celebration. With Zhang Keda dead, the regular army camp was no longer a threat, and there was no longer any organized force in Dengzhou City.
"Where is Sun Yuanhua?" Li Jiucheng asked.
"They are being escorted from behind."
Li Jiucheng laughed heartily and led the group forward quickly. By this time, the roadside was littered with corpses, and blood seeped into the streets through the cracks in the bluestone pavement. People were constantly rushing out of their homes in panic, only to be caught and killed by the pursuing rebels, who then robbed them of their belongings. The cries of women filled the streets. Bai Lian was deeply distressed and wanted to say something, but Liu Ye quickly stopped her and shook his head.
Li Jiucheng did this all the way in Shandong. He stipulated that soldiers had to hand over half of what they looted to their officers. He and Kong Youde made a fortune from this. Looting was the only way for his army to maintain morale, which was similar to the Jurchens in Liaodong. However, the Jurchens' distribution mechanism was gradually becoming more regulated, and their organization and military discipline were stronger.
When they reached the Mifen Bridge, they saw Sun Yuanhua covered in blood. He, Wang Zheng, Zhang Tao, and others had their hands bound and were being escorted by several rebel soldiers. Behind them were some officials and more than ten Portuguese.
Kong Youde hurried over and saw that Sun Yuanhua had a wound on his neck that was still bleeding. He went to untie the ropes binding Sun Yuanhua and angrily said to the rebel soldiers who were escorting him, "Who told you to treat Lord Sun like this?"
Sun Yuanhua struggled violently and cursed at Kong Youde: "Kong Youde, stop pretending! Before you left, you kept saying you would strike the Jurchens hard, but in the end you rebelled. I only regret that I didn't listen to Grand Councilor Sun's advice and kindly took in a bunch of heartless bastards like you. Even after you rebelled and reached the outside of the city, I still kindly let in the defeated soldiers you sent, which led to the fall of Dengzhou and the suffering of the people. I am deeply guilty, and I deserve all this!"
After speaking, Sun Yuanhua laughed three times, staring disdainfully at the group of rebel officers. Kong Youde, who had received the greatest favor from Sun Yuanhua, felt somewhat embarrassed and turned his head away, not daring to look at Sun Yuanhua. Li Jiucheng, on the other hand, looked at Sun Yuanhua coldly.
Sun Yuanhua stared at Li Jiucheng and said, "Li Jiucheng, you shameless scoundrel, you actually started a rebellion to embezzle the money for buying horses. You burned, killed, and looted all the way. How are you any different from the Jurchens? Looking at your smug look, it is clear that you have no sense of shame at all. You are even more hateful than Kong Youde and others."
Li Jiucheng said coldly, "I once killed entire villages in Liaodong. I was never a good person to begin with, but why does Lord Sun speak so righteously? The money for the horse was 20,000 taels, but I only got 10,000. Lord Sun, you got at least 3,000. All the officials in the court are full of benevolence and morality, but they want 7,000. Why am I the only one who is hateful?"
Sun Yuanhua was speechless for a moment, and Li Jiucheng continued, "I know that General Sun is not greedy. He left the silver to please his superiors. We all remember your kindness to the Liao people. As long as General Sun is willing, we are willing to continue to serve you as our master. Please declare yourself king in Dengzhou and Laizhou and obey the court's orders but not its commands. In the future, you will not have to please those ministers and grand secretaries. Wouldn't that be more comfortable than now?"
Wang Zheng, who was behind him, spat and cursed, "Li Jiucheng, you are blinded by greed. You still want to take advantage of General Sun's reputation. The court will not let you succeed. It will send a large army to wipe you all out. You can wait to have your family and clan exterminated."
Li Jiucheng ignored Wang Zheng and said to Sun Yuanhua, "It's just the two of us, father and son. Even if our family is wiped out, it's just two lives. What's there to be afraid of? Since ancient times, wealth and honor have been sought in danger. General Sun, you should think more about my suggestion. You've been good to us Liao people. I won't touch your family, but if you lose your city and your army, the court won't give you a way out. If you rebel with us, there's still hope."
"No need to say anything more." Sun Yuanhua interrupted firmly. "I should have died anyway, but I failed to commit suicide and was captured by you. If you think you can use me to blackmail me, you are sorely mistaken. A true man should die a worthy death. I have lost a city and disgraced the country, so I deserve to be executed at the execution ground. Do you really think I would cherish my life and willingly live in the den of wolves and leopards?"
After he finished speaking, Wang Zheng stepped forward and said, "I will accompany Chuyang on his journey."
The group of rebel generals fell silent. Although they had subdued these civil officials by force, they still felt inferior in spirit. The integrity of the civil officials instilled in them an indescribable fear. In addition, the concept of respecting the civil over the military was deeply ingrained, and the sense of superiority they had gained from capturing Dengzhou and taking these civil officials prisoner vanished instantly.
Kong Youde looked at the Francois behind him. These men had been teaching the various battalions how to use the cannons, so they were their teachers. Last night, they had inflicted some casualties on the rebels with their cannons from the city walls and had also put up a resistance at the south gate. More than half of the thirty Francois had been killed in action, leaving only the dozen or so in front of him. He asked, "And you? Are you willing to join us?"
The leading Franco man shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, although we are mercenaries, we have mercenary principles. We will not surrender to the rebels."