Ming Dynasty: pacifying the rebellion and defending the border, dominating the world

Chapter 386 The Battle of Liaodong, Leveling the Wheels

The Wenhua Hall fell silent.

Zhu Jinzhen rubbed his temples. Had he said that?
After a moment's recollection, Zhu Jinzhen realized that he had indeed said it.

Three years ago, Jiayuguan and even the whole of Shaanxi were undergoing vigorous construction and large-scale building projects. He did have a tempting idea of ​​acquiring the Kunlun slaves that the Sui Dynasty merchants brought to sell in the Ming Dynasty.

He then blurted out those words.

Unexpectedly, Li Chengen kept it in mind and put it into practice.

Zhu Jinzhen thought for a moment. Since the Kunlun slave had already been captured, he certainly couldn't release him. After much deliberation, he finally spoke:

"That's fine."

"Since we've caught them, let's throw them all into the mines of Ü-Tsang.

"Remember, don't let them eat too much."

Li Chengen was taken aback for a moment, then immediately accepted the order: "Yes."

"If there's anything else, tell me all at once."

Zhu Jinzhen cast a questioning glance at Qin Yiyan and Song Senxue beside him. After exchanging a few glances, the two did not speak. After Zhu Jinzhen's Jingnan army left, they had been reorganizing the border troops and nothing major had happened.

They certainly wouldn't hesitate to bring even the most trivial matters to Zhu Jinzhen's attention.

That would make them seem incompetent.

Li Chengen opened his mouth, but ultimately did not speak.

He actually had some other things to report. For example, after crossing the Himalayas, he led the Tian Ce Mansion in battles to the south and north. Conquering Kathmandu was just one aspect of his campaigns. He also expanded the Ming Dynasty's territory by eight hundred li, reaching as far as India, which was full of Kunlun slaves.

If Zhu Jinzhen hadn't summoned him back, giving Li Chengen a few days, he could have easily crushed the country built by those Kunlun slaves, the place called India.

"Since Your Highness is not displeased."

"Then I'll destroy that dark little country."

"Consider it a surprise for Your Highness."

Li Chengen thought to himself.

They didn't take seriously the place where he led the Tian Ce soldiers to sweep through, killing so many Kunlun slaves that they cried for their fathers and mothers and wished they had more legs.

Anyway, it's just a matter of going through the motions once.

Or it could be the matter of Tian Ce's iron hooves trampling back and forth several times.

Although Zhu Jinzhen saw Li Chengen's expression, he assumed it was just a minor matter since Li Chengen didn't speak and didn't take it to heart. However, in the near future, Li Chengen's nonchalance today would give him a big surprise.

……

The matter concerning Li Chengen and others has been resolved.

Zhu Jinzhen then continued to use the Anywhere Door to summon the others who were fighting outside.

Changsun Wangqing.

Xue Zhi, the deputy commander of the Tian Ce Mansion.

As soon as the two returned, Zhu Jinzhen and Changsun Wangqing's eyes fell on Xue Zhi.

Previously, Xue Zhi was seen by both of them as a scholar-general.

But now...

His white robe was stained with blood, and his armor was even stained with dark red bits of flesh and blood. The long sword he held in his right hand was still dripping blood. His face was also somewhat ferocious, exuding a murderous aura and revealing his killing intent.

"Ok?"

"Xue Zhi, what's going on?"

Zhu Jinzhen and Changsun Wangqing were naturally familiar with this situation.

Clearly, Xue Zhi had just experienced a bloody massacre.

Without saying a word, Xue Zhi threw down the longsword in his hand, knelt on one knee, clasped his hands and said, "This humble general has been disrespectful, please forgive me, Your Highness."

Zhu Jinzhen frowned: "You were fighting on the front lines, so it's inevitable that you'd get some blood and gore. My hasty recall of you was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and it has nothing to do with you. What crime have you committed?"

"On the contrary, it is you who exudes such a menacing aura."

"Could it be that the war in Liaodong is not going well?"

Changsun Wangqing's phoenix eyes also looked at Xue Zhi, revealing a look of doubt and inquiry. She was well aware of the number of elite Cangyun troops led by Xue Zhi. Although Liaodong was freezing cold, it was not unfamiliar to the Cangyun army.

Previously, there had been no known powerful or entrenched forces in Liaodong. How did Xue Zhi end up like this?
"Your Highness, Commander Yan."

"The war in Liaodong is going well. Wherever I lead the Cangyun Army, all who hear of it surrender."

"The reason it turned out this way is really..."

Xue Zhi paused, as if he had thought of something, and his eyes turned cold, subconsciously revealing a murderous intent. Fortunately, he quickly came to his senses, restrained himself, and continued to report.

There could be no enemy in front of the Cangyun Iron Cavalry.

Although Liaodong is freezing cold, it is no different from the northern deserts and the south of the Yangtze River for the Cangyun Army.

The war was progressing quite smoothly.

However, one incident enraged Xue Zhi and the entire Cangyun Army, even to the point of boiling over, and filled them with resolute killing intent.

"It's just a village being slaughtered; it shouldn't have aroused such murderous intent in you." Although Zhu Jinzhen knew that saying this was cold-blooded, he knew even better that Xue Zhi, as the deputy commander of Cangyun, would not easily act on emotion, much less be swayed by feelings.

He even allowed Cangyun's deputy commander, who possessed cultivation surpassing that of a terrestrial celestial being, to personally wield his Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) and engage in bloody slaughter on the battlefield.

Xue Zhi gave a wry smile and sighed, "Your Highness, your insight is truly remarkable."

"The thing is like this..."

"The tribes in Liaodong that called themselves Jurchens were included in the mission of the Cangyun Army to exterminate and eliminate them."

"but……"

"In my humble opinion, they were just a few rebellious rebels who did not submit to the Ming Dynasty. Even after arriving in Liaodong and learning about their actions, I still thought they were just a group of Jurchen collateral branches who did not engage in production, did not think about farming, and had wandered away from home."

At this point, Xue Zhi sighed and clenched his fist: "This humble general thought of the beginning, but he did not expect that when they could not plunder grain, they would eat the people of my Great Ming, and even massacre the villagers to use them as winter food reserves."

"From the elderly to infants crying for milk, no one is spared."

"After the scouts captured a few prisoners, I interrogated them and learned that they indeed did not engage in production or farming. Their leader, Nurhaci, even pointed at our Great Ming Dynasty and Liaodong and said, 'Isn't this our granary?'"

“Since four years ago, they have been plundering Liaodong every year, massacring nine out of ten villages.”

"It left nine out of ten houses on the Liaodong border empty, and no one for a hundred miles."

Such behavior is worse than that of beasts.

"Then I gave the order... to lay down the wheels, and kill any that are larger than the wheels without mercy."

As Xue Zhi finished speaking, his eyes turned bloodthirsty, and a smile appeared on his face, as if he had done a great deed on behalf of Heaven.

Zhu Jinzhen frowned upon hearing this and remained silent for a long time.

Zhu Jinzhen was not surprised by Nurhaci's emergence. In the chaotic world of the martial arts world, the absence of a corrupt Qing dynasty was not surprising, as it only brought forward Nurhaci's timeline.

After all, it was only during his time in the capital after the Jingnan Rebellion.

The eunuch Wei Zhongxian who emerged from the Eastern Depot, the Jinyiwei guard Shen Lian who appeared, and the eldest daughter of the Zhou family who was deliberately released on the night the entire Zhou family was imprisoned—all of these should normally appear at the end of the Tianqi era.

Nurhaci is really not worth mentioning.

Upon hearing Xue Zhi's report, Zhu Jinzhen felt a surge of anger and even considered issuing an order to exterminate the entire clan.

But recalling what Xue Zhi had just said, Zhu Jinzhen's tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and a faint smile appeared on his face: "Well done."

"Non-my family, its heart must be different."

"To eat people is the behavior of beasts, and they are not worthy of being called human."

Upon hearing this, Changsun Wangqing, who was standing to the side, also nodded subconsciously.

In warfare, when supplies are scarce, it's not uncommon to treat people as provisions; this has been a frequent occurrence throughout history. It was common during the Three Kingdoms period and even earlier.

But that was only a desperate measure to solve the immediate problem.

Even so, it has been thoroughly criticized throughout history.

They would be condemned by the people of their time and despised by the world.

However, if one does not engage in production or cultivate the land, but instead focuses on other members of the same species and only thinks about feeding on them, how is that different from being a beast?

They are even worse than beasts.

If Xue Zhi hadn't said that his order was for the Cangyun Army fighting in Liaodong to lay down their wheels and slaughter everyone, Changsun Wangqing would have even wanted to kick Xue Zhi out of the Wenhua Hall and ask Zhu Jinzhen to open the portal and personally go there to oversee the Liaodong war.

because……

If passing the wheels of a car can save them from death, that would be too lenient.
(End of this chapter)