Turning the Enemy

Huang Chao had been keeping a close eye on Qin Yan's situation!

Especially after learning that the other side had captured Qingzhou in a very short time, his competitive spirit was aroused.

On the meat grinder of Youzhou, they swept through the land like a whirlwind, and have already taken over half of Youzhou!

Huang Chao astutely observed that the fighting strength of the imperial army was declining significantly.

After several rounds of battles, the resistance of the Great Li Army has weakened considerably.

After some investigation, he discovered that government officials were embezzling soldiers' rations and pay!

Especially the frontline troops, who haven't received their pay for three months!

Nowadays, soldiers are extremely irritable, and many are even fighting passively.

"He's truly hopeless; he can't be helped to succeed."

After learning about the situation, Huang Chao hated the Great Li even more. Such a corrupt dynasty would have been ruined if it weren't for someone supporting it from behind.

He'd already blown them up.

However, he quickly came up with a plan, and a malicious smile appeared on his face.

Quyun Prefecture!

A group of the Great Li Army soldiers quietly left the camp, traveled dozens of miles, and arrived at a vast wilderness!

"General, he is Yue Ce, the commander of the Quchang Army!"

"Yue Ce!"

Huang Chao sized up the other man, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Greetings, General Huang Chao."

When Yue Ce felt Huang Chao's gaze, he felt a chill run through his body, as if all his secrets had been seen through by the other party.

This made him even more humble.

At that moment, he knelt on one knee without hesitation. "Thank you for your kindness, General. I, Yue Ce, am willing to abandon the darkness and embrace the light, and join your ranks."

"Have you thought this through?" Huang Chao asked with a playful tone.

"Nature!"

Yue Ce's face showed resentment, "The people of the imperial court don't treat our Youzhou local army like human beings at all."

We're the ones who always take the lead in doing the dirty and hard work.

But what's most shameless is that those government officials even embezzled the pensions of our fallen soldiers!

We soldiers risked our lives for the imperial court, yet they treated us like pawns to be discarded at will!

"I've wanted to rebel against them for a long time."

As he spoke, Yue Ce's eyes became bloodshot.

If this drags on with the Heaven-Soaring Army, the Quchang Army will be exhausted sooner or later.

Their parents, wives, and children will certainly not receive any compensation whatsoever!

They had seen enough of the ugly face of the imperial court.

"Since you have the intention to pledge allegiance, this general will naturally not treat you unfairly."

Huang Chao smiled faintly, "But can you command the entire Quchang Army?"

Yue Ce hesitated slightly, "The morale of the Quchang Army is currently low, mainly due to the lack of food and pay!"

We only have two meals of thin porridge a day now, and we don't have the strength to fight.

"If the general trusts his subordinates, just two hundred thousand taels of silver, and all thirty thousand troops of the Quchang Army will be at the general's command."

Upon hearing this, Huang Chao nodded slightly. "I'll give you 500,000 taels of silver. Don't mess this up for me."

Upon hearing this, Yue Ce froze, his face lighting up with excitement. "General, please rest assured, I am absolutely certain that with 500,000 taels, everyone will pledge their allegiance to you."

"Good!"

Huang Chao chuckled lightly, then waved his hand.

One by one, heavy boxes were carried in from behind, and then the boxes were opened.

The neatly stacked silver ingots made Yue Ce and the others gasp for breath, their eyes glued to them.

However, Yue Ce's eyes quickly cleared, and his expression became more solemn than ever before. "If the general is willing to trust his subordinate, Yue Ce will serve him to the death!"

"Go! If this battle is successful, you, Yue Ce, will be the number one hero."

Huang Chao's powerful voice echoed in Yue Ce's ears!

"Yes, General!"

End of July!

At a crucial moment in the battle between the two armies, Yue Ce, the commander of the Quchang Army, suddenly betrayed the Da Li Army and led 30,000 men to join forces with the Heaven-Soaring Army to launch a pincer attack on the Great Li Army!

One battle wiped out 100,000 enemy troops!

The imperial court was no longer capable of fighting in Youzhou.

They then swept through the entire territory of Youzhou with unstoppable momentum, almost conquering the entire region!

Upon learning of the situation, Hongwen Emperor was so angry he nearly vomited blood.

One hundred thousand men were lost, equivalent to half of the imperial army!

It nearly broke the backbone of the imperial court.

"Damn it! Why did Yue Ce betray us? What have you bunch of idiots done?"

At this moment, Hongwen Emperor was like a bloodthirsty beast, as if he were about to tear the officials in the court to shreds at any moment!

Xia Chengqian watched quietly, enjoying the Hongwen Emperor's frenzied state.

Once Hongwen Emperor calmed down a bit...

"Father, I have reported that Xue Qingzhong, the Ministry of Revenue, and his cronies are secretly embezzling the rations and pay of the soldiers at the front!"

This resulted in Yue Ce's Quchang Army not receiving food and pay for several months, and I have also discovered that Xue Qingzhong embezzled the compensation for the fallen soldiers!

For this reason, Yue Ce rebelled and joined Huang Chao.

The culprit behind all of this is Xue Qingzhong!

Xia Chengqian's voice was filled with anger as he pointed at Xue Qingzhong and unleashed a torrent of furious words.

The other person turned pale with fright.

"Your Highness, I am uttering complete nonsense! I have always been upright and honest; how could I have done such a beastly thing?"

Xue Qingzhong retorted angrily, as if he had suffered some great injustice.

Seeing this, Xia Chengqian sneered, "This Crown Prince would never speak nonsense."

"If you dare to say such things in court, we will naturally find evidence of your embezzlement."

As he spoke, Xia Chengqian took out a stack of secret letters!

Upon seeing this, the chief eunuch beside the emperor quickly ran forward, took the stack of secret letters, and turned to present them to Hongwen Emperor.

At this moment, Xue Qingzhong's expression kept changing, and he was completely panicked.

Snap!

Hongwen Emperor slammed his hand heavily on the jade table, his face contorted with rage as he glared at Xue Qingzhong.

He roared like a wild beast, "Guards, take this beast to the Heavenly Prison and exterminate his entire family!"

Boom!

Xue Qingzhong immediately collapsed to the ground, then hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly to Hongwen Emperor, begging for mercy.

"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!"

This old minister was simply confused for a moment.

This old minister is willing to offer all his possessions to the court, and humbly begs Your Majesty for mercy!

Xue Qingzhong screamed in anguish as he was dragged away by two imperial guards.

The entire court was utterly silent!

At this moment, Xia Chengqian's lips curled up almost imperceptibly, before returning to normal.

Xue Qingzhong was once a member of his Crown Prince faction, and he put on an act of utmost loyalty.

But after the second prince was born, this scoundrel turned against him without hesitation.

They switched sides to the Second Prince's faction and, in turn, relentlessly pursued him.

The hatred for this man was no less than that for his emperor father.

Let this traitor get what he deserves.

How could this possibly upset him?

Xue Qingzhong was imprisoned and executed almost immediately, and his residence was searched and confiscated.

A staggering 6.7 million taels were confiscated!

This amount shocked the entire imperial court; no one expected Xue Qingzhong to be so greedy.

Hongwen Emperor was so enraged that his eyes turned red, and he ordered that the corpse be whipped and the bones crushed and scattered to the wind.

On the other side!

It seems Huang Chao is about to capture Youzhou!

The King of King of Chu's army suddenly launched an attack, catching Huang Chao completely off guard.

The 150,000-strong army stormed into Youzhou, directly disrupting Huang Chao's plans and forcing him to hastily redeploy his troops to reinforce the city!

This also gave the imperial court a chance to regroup, gather the remaining troops, and coordinate with various parties.

A new defensive line was quickly organized.