Chapter Eleven: The Miracle of Hongdu

  In April 1363, Chen Youliang led his army on their final campaign.

  It was just before this that a man had arrived in Hongdu, who had been sent by Zhu Yuanzhang to garrison the place.

  His name is Zhu Wen Zheng.

  He was the nephew of Zhu Yuanzhang, and since the location of Hongdu was very important, it could not be lost, many people did not think that Zhu Yuanzhang would give such an important task to this guy who still had no hair on his upper lip.

  He is just a spoiled son of a rich family. This was people's evaluation of Zhu Wen before he took office.

  From an objective point of view, this evaluation is not wrong at all.

  Comrade Zhu Wen Zheng as soon as he arrived in Hongdu, lingered in the place of flowers and smoke, drinking and having fun all day, even composing a tune, letting the maids perform it day and night. As for important military work such as deployment and defense, he handed it over to his subordinates to handle, and didn't take care of it himself.

  His behavior is very consistent with the typical characteristics of a playboy, prodigal son and dissolute young man.

  Every time I see Zhu Wen Zheng drunk and unconscious, his subordinates can only shake their heads in dismay. This is a big master, nothing can be expected of him anymore. The Hong Dynasty is doomed.

  Chen Youliang's first target of attack was indeed Hongdu.

  Later generations have been puzzled by Chen Youliang's decision, why not directly attack Ying Tian? In that way, Zhu Yuanzhang would be attacked from both front and back and could not withstand a single blow. Why did Chen Youliang not take the ready-made advantage?

  This seems like a difficult question to answer, but I believe that in Chen Yongzhen's case, this question is easy to answer.

  Chen Youliang's personality weakness doomed him to attack Hongdu.

  He is a ruthless and cunning man who has always lived in betrayal and deception, so these things are not unfamiliar to him. Hongdou's defection should not be an unexpected event for him.

  But from a psychological point of view, people like him are most afraid of being betrayed by others. For a person, what he hates the most is often what he is best at.

  Something that belongs to me must be taken back!

  Capture Hongdu, and I can teach a lesson to those who betrayed me, let them understand that they must be absolutely loyal to Chen Youliang!

  It is allowed for me to owe the world, but it is not allowed for the world to owe me. This is a common disease of this kind of people.

  Of course, taking Hongdu has many benefits. This place can serve as a base for attacking Ying Tian. It can be attacked and defended, and if the attack is unfavorable, it can also control downstream and plan to fight again.

  The various anecdotes about Zhu Wen's son naturally also reached Chen Youliang's ears, which was another great encouragement for him.

  Capture Hongdu, as easy as turning over one's palm!

  But he seems to have overlooked one thing

  With Zhu Yuanzhang's astuteness, it is impossible that he did not know about Zhu Wen Zheng's words and deeds. How could he give such an important position to someone like him?

  On the very day when Chen Youliang marched towards Hongdu, Zhu Wen received this news and put away his wine-drinking and pleasure-seeking attire, revealing his ferocious face to Chen Youliang.