Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 142 No, does he have some serious illness?!

"I've become as hard as stone."

Looking at the long line of people waiting to get food, Lin Daoxin felt a pang of sadness.

"I've also thought about having an uncle who's a school principal, and then taking over the cafeteria to make a lot of money."

"But I never dared to imagine using pig feed as food."

In the large pots, the bubbling, mushy substance was their dinner, which consisted mainly of animal feed.

Thousands of people are queuing up, waiting expectantly to receive their prizes.

"That is, a chaotic era."

Lin Dao shook his head repeatedly, "If they really opened a cafeteria to sell this stuff, they would have been arrested long ago."

As income increases, it's not unreasonable to improve the quality of the food you buy.

For example, broken rice from India is very cheap.

Moreover, in order to earn foreign exchange, the Indians are very willing to export on a large scale.

Lin Dao is still buying feed on a large scale.

On the one hand, it's due to inertia; he has a good working relationship with the feed mill, and they treat him as a major customer. After all, he exports to ranches in South Africa, so they are very enthusiastic and offer substantial discounts.

Another point is that eating this for a long time can easily lead to weight gain.

In the modern world, everyone abhors weight gain.

But in chaotic times, it is a good thing that everyone desires.

Many people enjoy gaining weight and even actively request to eat this kind of blessed food.

This made Lin Dao hesitate for a moment, unable to make a decision.

"Commander."

The guard stepped forward and reported, "Dinner is ready, please have a meal, General."

"Take the food and eat it."

Lin Dao strode towards the back tent. "I'm going into seclusion. Don't disturb me."

Unless there are special circumstances, he will go to various places in different time periods to make a public appearance every day.

Even just having a meal together is enough to put people's minds at ease.

Lin Dao first returned to the modern world, had dinner with Su Tongtong, and contacted the company's sales staff to inquire about the progress of various projects.

The company's recent big move is to import large quantities of salt under the guise of export.

Lin Dao planned to take care of the Yangzhou salt merchants while he was at it during the Chongzhen era.

The vast majority of exported goods will receive support and approval.

As long as the goods can be sold and foreign exchange can be earned, many other things will not be of so much concern.

After finishing up here, Lin Dao went to Yonghe Time and Space to make an appearance.

"Master Lang."

As soon as Lin Dao emerged from his seclusion, Wang Meng happily delivered the good news.

Huan Wen has surrendered!

"Cooperate with our army to exterminate all those Qiang people as a pledge of allegiance."

Lin Daochao said, "They've surrendered already? Didn't they send out a proclamation before, saying they were going to attack me, that they were going to go north, that they were going to advance east or something?"

"Those are just empty words."

Wang Meng laughed and said, "Huan Wen is not stupid. To fight against the whole world with the territory of one province is tantamount to courting death."

"Even if he really is stupid, his soldiers are not stupid either."

"No one wants to fight a battle they can't win."

Jingzhou is a good place, and its fighting strength is not bad either.

However, facing an attack from the entire world, it is difficult to withstand the onslaught alone.

In particular, Li Nong's army entered Shu and destroyed Cheng Han, forming a three-sided encirclement of Jingzhou.

In this situation, Huan Wen, who had no natural defenses to isolate him from the outside world, was completely hopeless.

Even if he himself was not afraid of death, his subordinates were unwilling to die with him.

The world has settled down, so what's the point of all this fuss?

"My lord," Wang Meng, who had assisted a wise ruler in restoring order to the empire, said in high spirits, "what should be done with Huan Wen, the Huan clan, and the gentry of Jingzhou?"

Normally, the problem is cleaned up and the harmful tumor is eradicated.

But since it was a surrender, some preferential treatment should be given.

Lin Dao paced back and forth, pondered for a moment, and then made a decision.

"When Huan Wen came to Luoyang, he was placed under surveillance."

"The Huan family and the gentry of Jingzhou were all broken up into households and scattered to various prefectures and counties throughout the country to farm and work."

"The original manor, fortress, family property, and military equipment were all confiscated."

"His serfs and servants were disbanded and their land was distributed."

"If they refuse, then let them gather their people and have a good fight, and wipe them all out."

Lin Dao felt he was compassionate enough.

At least they were spared their lives; after all, not everyone is Wang Xizhi, and not everyone has such great influence.

If these Jingzhou gentry are unwilling to give up their family businesses, that would be best; they could simply be wiped out once and for all.

"Don't worry, Master."

Wang Meng stated, "I will do my utmost to persuade them to obey."

Lin Dao thought to himself, "You'd better be able to force them to rebel; it would save me a lot of trouble."

But Wang Meng had already changed the subject.

"My lord, the world is gradually being settled, but the Qiang and Di tribes still raid the deep mountains."

"I ask for your advice, sir: should we appease or demand?"

After the Guanzhong Plain, Sichuan, Liangzhou and other places were restored, they naturally came into contact with the continuous plateau and mountains.

The complex and ever-changing terrain and climate became the biggest enemy.

"From this day forward, anyone who dares to offer assistance is a traitor!"

Lin Daoxian set the tone first, then said, "If we are not strong enough, we can weaken them first, and then launch an attack when we have enough strength."

"First, block trade; not a single needle, thread, or grain of salt should be allowed to enter the mountains."

"You should take charge of this matter personally."

A large-scale operation to sweep through the mountains is not feasible at the moment.

Then we should wage economic warfare first, blockade and suppress them to weaken their strength.

Without the cloth from the Central Plains, we would freeze; without the grain from the Central Plains, we would starve; without the salt from the Central Plains, we would fall ill!

As for ironware, needless to say, let's just use stone and wood.

Forget about medicine; if you get sick, you go to a shaman.

As for the Confucian ideals of universal harmony and cultural assimilation, Lin Dao scoffed at them.

Assimilation is achieved through weapons like swords, spears, and armor, not through women or valuables!

Confucianism is truly useless at everything except boasting.

He was clearly beaten so badly he couldn't take care of himself, but he insisted on bragging that he had assimilated the other person.

Those who resolutely resisted and paid with their blood and lives were all ignored and smeared.

"We can fight fewer battles, but we cannot stop."

Lin Dao continued to instruct, "Now you must recover your strength as soon as possible."

"We need to encourage population growth; there are too few people."

Even if you bring out all the hermits and reclusive families from the mountains and forests, the total population of the Yonghe era is still less than a fraction of that of the Chongzhen era.

Rather than frantically expanding land use, restoring population and production is now more important.

Only with a large population can people continuously migrate there and firmly occupy the place.

If one only pursues outward possessions, wouldn't that make one a mere emperor?
After giving some instructions, Lin Dao went into seclusion again and arrived in the Chongzhen era.

After all, there's still a war going on here, so he needs to keep an eye on things as much as possible.

In the following days, large numbers of people, livestock, and various spoils of war were successively transferred to the banks of the Grand Canal in Jining Prefecture.

Those that could be loaded onto ships were loaded onto ships; those that could not were carried south on foot.

The Grand Canal was filled with sails like clouds, and people and livestock lined both banks endlessly.

Only after the main force had all marched south did the garrison in Jining Prefecture cautiously venture out of the city to investigate.

After confirming that they had all left, they cautiously sent troops to Yanzhou Prefecture to gather information.

When the news got back, everyone was stunned.

The people of Yanzhou Prefecture are gone, and so are the Tartars.

The entire city of Yanzhou was in ruins, except for a huge mound of skulls standing beside the official road outside the city.
Once it was confirmed to be the head of a Tartar, a fierce battle broke out among the Ming army, resulting in heavy casualties.

These heads were worth silver and military merit.

Later, many newly dug pits were discovered outside the city.

The interior was filled with corpses.

People from Yanzhou City, including the kings and officials from Yanzhou Prefecture, were all present.

Most of them belonged to the Tartars and their bondservants.

The Tartar corpses were headless, while the bondservant slaves died in all sorts of ways.

The prefect of Jining Prefecture gritted his teeth and stomped his foot, then submitted a memorial to the capital.

The statement vaguely indicated that the Tartars who broke through the pass and marched south had been defeated, and that the people of Jining Prefecture had fought for many days and killed many enemies.

The memorial, delivered by fast horse to the capital, was presented directly to Emperor Chongzhen.

The emperor's first reaction was disbelief.

Over the years since he ascended the throne, he has been fooled by his civil and military officials quite a bit.

According to the battle reports and statistics submitted by his civil and military officials, the Jurchen population had already been wiped out many times over.

He believed it was at most a minor victory, barely managing to hold the city.

Soon, the various armies that came to the aid of the emperor captured many stragglers and vagrants of the Tartars.

Interrogation revealed that a Ming army had indeed fought a bloody battle with the Tartars outside Yanzhou City.

The Ming army unleashed its war machine, rampaging and dominating everything in its path. The Tartars could not stop it, and the entire army was routed.

Even the general who commanded the troops, Abatai, was killed in battle.

Battle reports and prisoners of war from all over the country flew to the capital like snowflakes.

When the heads arrived from Jining Prefecture, they filled over a hundred large carts. After inspection by the Ministry of War, it was confirmed that there were over ten thousand genuine Tartar heads.

Only then did Emperor Chongzhen become convinced that the Ming army, which had suffered repeated defeats, had truly achieved an unprecedented and glorious victory.

"reward!"

"A generous reward!"

Emperor Chongzhen, his eyes red with excitement, could not hide his emotion as he spoke.

"My esteemed ministers, whose subordinates are these?"

"I will reward him handsomely, I will bestow upon him a title!"

Upon learning the truth, the civil officials all wore strange expressions, none of them knowing how to explain it to the emperor.

This silence also puzzled Emperor Chongzhen.

His gaze swept over the assembled officials, finally settling on Grand Secretary Zhou Yanru.

"what happened?!"

Emperor Chongzhen was puzzled. "If you are worried about the blame for losing Prince Lu, I will not blame you."

Who exactly destroyed the Jurchens?

Others can pretend to be quail eggs, but Zhou Yanru, as the Grand Secretary, cannot.

Only he could bite the bullet and step forward, saying, "Your Majesty."

"Nanjing fell into the hands of bandits."

"What?!" Emperor Chongzhen was momentarily stunned. "Nanjing? How is that possible!"

Because both the Central Plains and Northern Zhili were embroiled in chaotic warfare, the transmission of information was difficult, and confirming information was even more challenging.

Only then did the court officials become convinced that the situation in Jiangnan had indeed changed.

Zhou Yanru carefully recounted what had happened in Jiangnan.

The specific process is definitely unknown.

However, the general result is unlikely to be wrong.

After he finished speaking, he added, "It is said that it was the Jiangnan rebels who defeated the Jurchen army outside Yanzhou City."

After saying this, Zhou Yanru himself found it unbelievable.

The rebel commander must have been seriously ill, because he traveled thousands of miles to fight the Tartars, and then actually went back after the battle.

Such actions are truly baffling.

"You mean," the Chongzhen Emperor said with a strange expression, "that the rebels in Jiangnan marched all the way north to Yanzhou Prefecture, slaughtered all the Jurchens, and now they've returned to Jiangnan?"

Zhou Yanru bowed and said, "Yes."

An unspeakable silence fell over the main hall.

Only the heavy breathing of Emperor Chongzhen remained.

I don’t know how long it took.

Emperor Chongzhen was unable to express his feelings.

"No, does he have some serious illness?!"

(End of this chapter)