Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 396 Recommendation! Zhu Shou's Decision! Eradicate Evil Completely!
Sensing someone approaching, the Ming people, who had endured countless hardships, all raised their heads, their eyes filled with wariness.

Zhu Shou and his accompanying Ming soldiers, dressed in brand-new, crisp military uniforms, exuded an aura of authority.

These people had been away from the Ming Dynasty for quite some time and were unfamiliar with this new military uniform.

They were filled with curiosity when they saw that even the local warlord leader Duan Xiao treated Zhu Shou with such respect.

Because of the tragic experiences they had previously suffered, they were deeply shrouded in fear and unease, and many of them were tense and very anxious.

They were terrified, fearing that the glimmer of hope they had finally seen would be extinguished again, and that their fate would once again be plunged into unknown twists and turns.

Zhu Shou's gaze slowly swept over the people.

Seeing their tattered, patched clothes, their faces contorted with exhaustion and fear, and their emaciated, wounded bodies, his heart ached, and he couldn't help but sigh heavily.

This scene seemed to transport Zhu Shou back to decades ago.

It was the end of the Yuan Dynasty, a time of great chaos and war. People fled everywhere to escape famine and war.

He had seen countless refugees, and their appearance was exactly the same as that of the people before him.

But back then it was still a time of war and chaos, while now, the Ming Dynasty has unified the world for more than 20 years, and it should be a time of peace and prosperity.

The people should live in peace and contentment, and such scenes should never happen again.

"Fellow citizens of the Ming Dynasty!" Zhu Shouqing cleared his throat and shouted loudly.

The voice was loud and powerful, echoing across the open riverbank.

"His Majesty received the petition written in blood from the people, and learned that you had been abducted and kidnapped overseas, and forced into slavery."

"His Majesty took pity on the suffering you have endured, and was therefore enraged. He ordered the Ming army to travel thousands of miles to rescue you."

"I am the Marquis of Zhulu, Minister of Military Affairs, and Commander-in-Chief of this Expeditionary Force of the Great Ming Dynasty. I have come to escort you back to the Great Ming Dynasty on His Majesty's orders!"

These words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky, instantly exploding among the crowd.

At first, the crowd fell into a deathly silence; everyone was stunned, seemingly unable to believe their ears.

Immediately afterwards, a deafening cheer erupted.

"What did I just hear? His Majesty has sent a large army to rescue us?"

"His Majesty intends to take us back to the Ming Dynasty?"

"Are we finally saved?"

……

The voices of the people mingled together, tinged with sobs—the joy of surviving a catastrophe, the longing to return home—and cheers echoed for a long time over the riverbank.

Previously, although they had been released from the dark and gloomy mine, they were still deeply shrouded in a profound sense of unease.

They were filled with fear, worried that these native warlords were merely deceiving them with empty promises.

They were terrified of being betrayed again.

After all, they had suffered far too much deception and persecution.

Those painful experiences, like demons, left indelible psychological shadows in their hearts.

Only now, seeing the Ming army with their own eyes and hearing Zhu Shou's powerful and responsible words, did their hearts finally settle down, and they truly felt safe and hopeful.

Zhu Shou's gaze slowly shifted to the other side, where the mine owner and his accomplices were tightly bound by iron chains.

These once arrogant and domineering villains are now huddled together like a flock of lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

"It is people like you who have so heartlessly abducted and kidnapped their own compatriots, and then forced them into slavery?"

Zhu Shou's face was cold and stern, his gaze sharp as knives, and his voice seemed to carry the frost of winter, icy and piercing. He exuded a chilling killing intent, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

For a moment, all was silent. The traffickers, slave owners and other criminals being questioned all lowered their heads, not daring to meet Zhu Shou's gaze.

Upon hearing this, the people on the other side became as agitated as a powder keg being ignited.

"My lord, it's them! All these injuries on my body are thanks to them!"

A middle-aged man, his face contorted with rage and his eyes red-rimmed, shouted loudly.

Those angry gazes were like sharp blades, piercing straight at the human traffickers and slave owners, as if they wanted to devour them alive.

“Sir, these people are inhuman. First they deceived us with sweet words, then they forced us into slavery, making us mine for them day and night, and feeding us rotten food that even pigs wouldn’t eat.”

“They even forced us to write letters to our relatives, tricking them into becoming slaves as well. They are worse than pigs and dogs!”

A boy covered in wounds cried out in a hoarse voice.

His voice was hoarse with anger and pain, and his thin body trembled slightly with excitement.

"My lord, they cruelly chopped off two of my fingers just because I refused to submit to them and refused to write to my family to deceive them into becoming my slaves!"

"Not only that, they also cruelly castrated me, making me a cripple for life!"

Someone trembled as they raised their hand, which had only three fingers left, tears streaming down their face, sobbing uncontrollably as they recounted their utterly tragic experiences.

"Sir, that beast first raped my sister, and then tortured her to death."

"My poor little sister, she's not even thirteen yet, still a child!"

Some people had a face full of grief, and their voices were full of pain and despair, as if their hearts had been torn apart.

"My lord, kill them!"

"Kill them!"

"Kill them!"

……

The roars of the people rose and fell, their emotions running high. Their eyes burned with fury, and they wished they could tear these thugs to pieces immediately.

Zhu Shou stood silently in place, his face ashen, his eyes fixed on the heinous human traffickers and mine owners, listening to the people's tearful accusations.

With each sorrowful tale, his murderous aura intensified, as if freezing the surrounding air.

The actions of these thugs are outrageous; they have committed countless evil deeds, lost all humanity, and are utterly devoid of conscience.

He roared angrily, "These human traffickers and mine owners have committed countless evil deeds, are utterly inhuman, and have lost all conscience. They must be killed to uphold the law and appease public anger. Guards, execute them on the spot!"

"Wait!" Just as the soldiers were about to step forward and execute all the human traffickers and mine owners, a voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone turned to look, and the one who spoke up to stop them was an accompanying Ming Dynasty official.

Zhu Shou frowned slightly, turned his head and saw that the speaker was a member of the delegation who had originally followed Li Sicong.

After Li Sicong left by boat, not all members of the delegation followed him.

Some people stayed behind and began negotiations with Siam.

Several others followed the army to the border of Pegu, preparing for the upcoming peace talks with Pegu.

This person was one of them, not very old, about twenty years old, and had come to this riverbank with Zhu Shou.

Displeased that his orders had been interrupted, Zhu Shou looked coldly at the young official before him and asked, "Do you have anything to say?"

Upon seeing this, the young official hurriedly stepped forward, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, and spoke with a firm tone: "General, I believe that although these people are indeed guilty of heinous crimes and deserve to die, they should not be executed here."

"They should be brought back to the Ming Dynasty and handed over to the relevant authorities for interrogation, and then punished in accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Shou's lips curled up slightly, revealing a cold smile full of disdain and mockery: "I wondered if there was some reason why he couldn't be killed?"

"These people abducted and kidnapped the people of the Ming Dynasty with cruel and outrageous methods."

"Then they forced the people into slavery and subjected them to cruel abuse, owing them a heavy debt of blood."

"When I went to war before, I always killed such bandits without hesitation and never showed them any leniency."

“They are all my prisoners right now, and it is perfectly reasonable and justifiable for me to deal with them on the spot according to military law.”

"Besides, this is also the strong demand of the people. Haven't you heard their angry roars?"

After Zhu Shou finished speaking, he waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to step forward and carry out the execution.

"General, executing them like this is far too lenient on these people!" The young official's face flushed red with anxiety. He stepped forward, his voice high-pitched and urgent, almost shouting.

"The crimes they committed are outrageous and intolerable!"

"Such a depraved person must be punished with the most severe penalties in order to truly quell the endless resentment in the hearts of the people!"

"Take them back to the Ming Dynasty for interrogation before executing them. Then they can be torn to pieces to uphold the law and appease public anger!"

"To execute them so easily now would be to appease them, and it would be too lenient for these beasts!"

These words were like a strong gust of wind, instantly dispelling the people's discontent with his obstruction of the execution.

The people, who had initially glared at him with anger and hostility because he had obstructed the execution, softened their gazes somewhat.

Zhu Shou did not respond immediately, but instead gave him a deep look.

Seeing this, the young official stepped forward a few steps, walked up to Zhu Shou, bowed slightly, and lowered his voice, saying, "General, His Majesty has repeatedly emphasized that our Great Ming Dynasty must govern the country by law and become a model for all nations in the world."

"We must let the barbarians overseas know that no matter what we do, our Great Ming Dynasty always puts the most emphasis on etiquette and morality, and always abides by the laws of the country."

“If the general were to execute these people on the spot now, and the barbarians saw it, they would surely think that the Ming Dynasty’s way of doing things was no different from theirs, that they were both barbaric and arbitrary.”

"On the contrary, if we bring them back to the Ming Dynasty and punish them according to the law, we can establish in the minds of the barbarians the idea that 'the Ming Dynasty is indeed different from others, and the Ming Dynasty is more civilized and law-abiding.'"

"This is of immeasurable benefit to our efforts in spreading the culture of the Ming Dynasty overseas, so that people yearn for and admire the Ming Dynasty from the bottom of their hearts. This is one of the reasons."

"Secondly, bringing these villains back to the country and executing them after a fair trial would be a more effective deterrent to those with ill intentions within the country."

"Let them understand that any heinous act will be severely punished, and even fleeing overseas will not help."

"This instills fear in them, making them afraid to imitate these people and commit illegal or criminal acts."

"As far as I know, since Your Majesty established the Ministry of Posts and Communications, private correspondence has become more and more frequent. However, fraud using letters has also emerged one after another, making it difficult to guard against."

"The cases of defrauding people into slavery that occurred in Siam and Bagan this time are just the most typical and heinous of the many letter fraud cases."

"Similar fraud cases are also numerous in China, and have become a major malignant tumor threatening the stability of our Great Ming."

"The imperial court urgently needs to make an example of these criminals by severely punishing them, so that those audacious criminals will realize the majesty of the law and dare not act recklessly again."

"Therefore, it is more appropriate to take them back and punish them, which will be more effective in deterring those people."

"Besides that, there is a third point."

At this point, the young official cautiously glanced around to make sure the soldiers brought by the Bago warlords were far enough away not to hear their conversation. Then he lowered his voice further and leaned closer to Zhu Shou, saying, "The culprits behind this incident are not just these human traffickers and mine owners, but also the Bago warlords and their generals."

"While human traffickers and mine owners certainly deserve to die, these warlords and generals are equally culpable and should not be let off easily."

"Now, they are awed by the might of the Ming army and filled with fear, and dare not openly oppose the Ming army."

"We might as well try to appease them gently and do more to comfort them."

"On the other hand, they secretly conducted an in-depth investigation and uncovered the various crimes they had committed."

"When the time is right, the Grand General will host a banquet, set a trap, capture them all, and escort them back to the Ming Dynasty so that they can be tried by law, avenge the innocent people, and demonstrate the power of our Ming Dynasty."

“But if we kill these human traffickers and mine owners now, it will surely alert the warlords and generals and make them more vigilant.”

"Although the Ming army is fearless, this will inevitably bring a lot of unnecessary trouble and trouble, and increase the difficulty of subsequent operations."

“Taking them back to the Ming Dynasty for questioning will put the warlords of Pegu at ease.”

"To reduce the trouble for the general in capturing them."

"General, what do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Shou's expression changed slightly.

His gaze inadvertently fell on Duan Xiao, who was not far away, only to find that the man was also looking in his direction.

Zhu Shou then calmly withdrew his gaze, nodded slightly, and said in a resounding voice, "What you said makes a lot of sense. Our Great Ming has always ruled the country according to law. These people have violated the law and should be escorted back to the Great Ming for trial."

"Guards, take them all away!"

After giving his instructions, Zhu Shou walked towards where Duan Xiao was.

"The fact that the people of our Great Ming Dynasty were able to be saved this time is entirely due to the merits of Commander Duan!"

"This general must properly thank Governor Duan!"

……

(End of this chapter)