Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 170 Go talk to the River God
"We've caught Ebilun!"

"Did they really catch him?"

"It's true, the Ming army in Tianjin captured him!"

"It has been delivered to the outside of the dike!"

"Captured by the Ming army? And they fled to Tianjin?"

After getting off the excavator, Lin Dao took off his cotton gloves. "Explain yourself clearly, how did you grab me?"

The bodyguard who followed explained, "That scoundrel is truly cunning!"

"He ordered his personal guards to wear his armor and fly his banner as they fled toward Jiazhenbao and Guantao."

"They even actively spread the news that Ebilun had gone towards Jiazhenbao."

"The soldiers were all deceived and rushed towards Guantao, Guanxian, and Qiuxian in pursuit."

"The scoundrel himself changed his clothes, crossed the Grand Canal, and traveled north through Jinan Prefecture, passing Cangzhou and heading to Tianjin, intending to take a boat to Juehua Island."

"Juehua Island." Upon hearing this place name, Lin Dao recalled the Juehua Island massacre recorded in historical books.

The Tartars committed far too many massacres to count.

"I heard it was because he was unlucky; the turban on his head was blown off by the sea breeze when he boarded the ship."

"When the Ming soldiers on the dock saw his 'money-tail braid,' they immediately took him down."

"Upon interrogation, it was discovered that he was Ebilun, and the Ming army happily escorted him over."

"Ok?"

Lin Dao stopped in his tracks and looked over in confusion. "What are they happy about?"

"The Ming army also knows about the high reward offered by the commander-in-chief."

The guards reported, "These days, they have captured many Tartars and Mongols in exchange for rewards."

Lin Dao was somewhat uncertain: "Did I say that people outside our army could also come and claim the reward?"

The Ming army and the rebel army should be in a hostile and warlike relationship now, right?
Now it was the guards' turn to be stunned.

Didn't the commander-in-chief say that?

Could it be that you don't want to give it?

No way, the commander is so rich, would he care about such a pittance?

Lin Dao took another step, went up the embankment and then down to where the crowd had gathered. There he saw dozens of Ming soldiers surrounded by a prison cart in the middle.

Weapons had been removed, and numerous guards surrounded them menacingly.

Just as Lin Dao said, the two sides are actually still in a state of hostile warfare.

These Ming soldiers were incredibly bold, willing to risk their lives for the reward.

Upon seeing Lin Dao approaching, the Ming army centurion leading the group quickly saluted.

Lin Dao asked his guards, "Have you confirmed their identities?"

“They kept him instead of cutting him down. The Tartars who used him to identify himself have already confirmed that he is indeed Ebilun himself.”

"We've finally caught them."

He turned to a group of Ming soldiers. Though called Ming soldiers, they were more like farmers.

These were garrison soldiers, a completely different entity from field troops.

Over two hundred years later, the garrison troops had long been abolished and were nothing more than pitiful serfs kept by officers.

They were all tanned dark, their faces were full of wrinkles, and their clothes were tattered, making them look even worse than beggars.

That is, the centurion in charge was wearing a half-worn, half-new battle jacket with stains all over the cuffs.

"I'm a man of my word, and what I say is as good as my word."

"The promised rewards will certainly not be lacking for you."

"However, it is not appropriate for you to receive houses and land."

Lin Dao paused for a moment, then said, "Let's settle for cash."

The Ming soldiers went to receive their rewards with great joy.

This time I've really struck it rich.

A reward of tens of thousands of taels!

Lin Dao keeps his word; if he says he will reward someone, he will reward them.

As for how these Ming soldiers were distributed among themselves, and how they resisted the spying and plundering of others, that was none of Lin Dao's business.

Lin Dao walked to the prison cart, looked at the dejected figure inside, and grinned.

"You like setting fires, don't you?"

Have you ever heard of a form of torture called "branding with hot irons"?

"The things have already been prepared for you."

"I thought you had run away and that we wouldn't need you for the time being."

Lin Dao instructed his guards, "Bring all the torture devices over and put them in the river."

"After roasting them, bury them directly under the riverbed."

Crowds of people gathered around the river to watch.

Some people who had managed to escape from Dongchangfu City cried and offered various sacrifices in the river.

The guard with the syringe stepped forward and injected Ebilun, who was tightly bound, with a needle.

This was a vital injection that Lin Dao obtained from South Africa to prevent Ebiron from fainting prematurely due to severe pain.

"This person."

Lin Dao, holding a megaphone, pointed at Ebilun, who was bound to the torture device, and exclaimed, "He's insane!"

"In order to escape, they set fire to the city, causing the deaths of countless innocent souls!"

"Today, we ask the River God of the Yellow River to bear witness and punish these wicked people on the spot, so as to comfort the many wronged souls in heaven!"

Loud wailing erupted from the crowd.

Many people are calling out the names of their relatives and friends who perished in the fire in Dongchangfu City.

The guards stepped forward and lit the fire.

As the temperature of the copper pillar continued to rise, Ebilun's heart-wrenching screams became deafening.

"Control the temperature," Lin Dao instructed. "Don't finish so quickly."

The sound of firecrackers rang out.

The sounds mingled with the cries of the mourners and the screams of Ebilun, creating a very unique sound.

Lin Dao lowered his head and stepped into the muddy riverbed.

"There's no water in the river, and I wonder if the River God has come to check on it."

Li Zicheng, together with government troops, breached the dike, causing the Yellow River to change its course.

Downstream, only some tributaries flow into the old channel.

But the northern region is suffering from a severe drought, and the water from these tributaries has evaporated before it even reaches the area. "We need to hurry and clean up the riverbeds, as much as we can."

"Next, we should plug the gap."

"Those bastards who dug up the dike, catch them all and throw them into the river to beg the River God for forgiveness!"

Every breach of the Yellow River brings devastating floods and catastrophic losses.

For thousands of years, countless people have lost their lives because of this.

"I can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause."

Lin Dao took a breath and said, "Building multi-stage dams is really impossible."

This is the Yellow River, not some obscure little river.

Despite some people saying that the Yellow River is far inferior to the Yangtze River in terms of its flow width and other aspects, it is still a significant challenge.

But that's compared to the Yangtze River.

Besides the Yangtze River, who dares to fight?
Lin Dao was lost in thought here, while Ebilun, who was being tortured, was gradually losing his voice.

Upon seeing this, the guards surrounding the area quickly grabbed Molotov cocktails, lit them, and threw them over.

The bottle shattered upon impact with the bronze pillar, and flames shot into the sky in an instant!
Ebilun's already broken voice rose again.

The firecrackers went off more frequently, and the cries and wails grew louder.

Finally, after a long time, everything returned to calm.

An excavator drove over, and its huge bucket dug a large, deep pit in the mud.

The bucket pushed horizontally, shoveling the charred body along with the bronze pillar into the deep pit.

With a few scoops of the bucket, the deep pit was filled in, and everything came to an end.

The dredging work, which mobilized a large number of people, lasted for nearly a month.

Despite its seemingly large scale, it was actually just a matter of clearing away a layer of silt that had accumulated in a section of the downstream river.

After all, manual operation is far from comparable to large-scale mechanization.

After finishing all that, Lin Dao hurriedly led his men to the site of the Yellow River breach.

Kaifeng was once a megacity with a population of hundreds of thousands.

Its prosperity in those days rivaled that of the two capitals.

At this time, however, the place had already been turned into a vast swamp.

The Yellow River, surging from the breach, submerged the entire city.

Houses collapsed, trees withered and broke, and even the city walls that had held off Li Zicheng's siege for half a year were soaked and collapsed.

Plump, chubby Yellow River carp occasionally appear and disappear in the water.

"It's so damn good."

Watching the surging river water rushing out from the breach, Lin Dao shook his head repeatedly.

"This man-made disaster is more serious than the natural disaster."

The hundreds of thousands of innocent souls in Kaifeng, and the countless disaster victims in the Yellow River flood area.

It's really too miserable.

"General," a guard stepped forward to report, "the former governor of Henan, Gao Mingheng, the imperial inspector, Yan Yunjing, the Prince of Zhou, Zhu Gongxiao, and others have all been brought here."

These people are the culprits who decided to breach the dike at Zhujiasai.

Of course, it refers to the Ming army.

The rebel army also dug once, but Lin Dao can't reach them yet, so he can only wait for the future.

"It's here, it's good that it's here."

Lin Dao took a breath and said, "Then bring them all up."

On the Yellow River embankment, Gao Mingheng, Yan Yunjing, and other high-ranking officials of the imperial court who had previously escaped from Kaifeng, as well as Prince Zhu Gongxiao of Zhou and others, were all escorted up.

When Kaifeng was flooded, these people escaped in small boats.

As for the hundreds of thousands of people in the city
They were not allowed to go to the capital; the emperor forbade it.

I wanted to go to Jiangnan, but Jiangnan was occupied by Lindao.

In the end, Gao Mingheng and the others returned to their hometowns, while Prince Zhou, Zhu Gongxiao, went to Huai'an Prefecture.

Lin Dao headed north, and first, Prince Zhou, Zhu Gongxiao, was arrested in Huai'an Prefecture.

After defeating the Tartars, they dispatched troops to the hometowns of Gao Mingheng and others, and captured them all.

"you."

Lin Dao's eyes were filled with disdain. "How dare you live?"

"They have absolutely no shame!"

Yan Yunjing struggled and shouted, "This was all done by the rebels, it has nothing to do with us!"

Gao Mingheng knelt on the embankment, without saying a word.

As for Prince Zhu Gongxiao of Zhou, he was already trembling with fear and speechless.

"I will settle accounts with Li Zicheng myself."

Lin Dao's words were resolute: "He can't escape!"

"As for you."

His gaze swept over the crowd. "None of them will escape!"

"Kaifeng City, a million innocent souls."

"After the Yellow River breached its banks, countless people suffered from the floods."

Lin Dao stepped forward and kicked Yan Yunjing to the ground. "You've harmed so many people, yet you act like nothing happened and continue living happily."

"A bunch of shameless bastards!"

He raised his hand and pointed to the Yellow River beside him, saying, "Today, I will send you to see the River God."

Gao Mingheng and the others all trembled violently.

"General~~~"

Yan Yunjing struggled to his feet, crawling on his knees and wailing, "We were just trying to protect ourselves."

"If Kaifeng falls, the people will surely fall into the hands of the rebel Li Zicheng!"

“It’s no use telling me this.” Lin Dao tilted his head and gestured, “Go talk to the River God.”

The guards stepped forward, dragged up the bound criminals, and added loads to their bodies.

Each person had a large stone strapped tightly to their body.

They were taken aboard several kayaks and brought to the river.

Amid cries of pleading and wailing, one by one they tumbled off the boat and sank into the water.

The strings of bubbles are their last words to the world!

(End of this chapter)