Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 334 The Red Turban Army Joins Forces

"King Ming~"

Outside Bianliang City, Liu Futong and others, dressed in tattered clothes, bowed deeply with tears streaming down their faces.

"You've suffered." Lin Dao dismounted and helped them up, his expression filled with emotion. "You've suffered so much."

The Red Turban Army in the north truly suffered.

The remnants of the Red Turban Army gathered here, ate up all the food in the city, and demolished the houses to defend the city.

After nearly half a year of hardship, reinforcements finally arrived.

Upon entering the city, all traces of the scenery I had witnessed in the Jingkang era were gone.

Compared to the Jingkang era, this city is far more dilapidated.

Once the world's most prosperous city with a population of millions, it has been ravaged by the Jurchens and Mongols, and is now as dilapidated as a dried mushroom.

There are almost no trees in the city; the few that remain have neither leaves nor bark left.

As for the common people...

The Red Turban Army swept the land into battle, and almost everyone, young and old, wore red turbans on their heads; there were no civilians left.

Seeing their emaciated and pale faces, Lin Dao instructed Luo Guanzhong and the others to quickly distribute military rations and set up soup kitchens to save lives.

If the siege continues for another ten days or half a month, people in the city will be eating boiled meat.

On the way to the temporary palace prepared by Liu Futong, Han Shantong, and others for the Ming King, Lin Dao saw a large group of people, mostly women, enclosed by a wooden fence in an open space.

It looked like a herd of livestock that had been penned up.

He frowned and asked, "What are these?"

If the common people were used as food reserves, all the officers above the rank of squad leader in this Red Turban Army would have to be slaughtered.

"These?"

Han Shantong nodded in response, "They are all family members and relatives of the Mongol Semu people."

Lin Dao suddenly realized.

They were originally those who served as lackeys for the Semu people, yet turned around and bit their own hometown.

There were many Red Turban Army kitchens nearby.

If people in the city start eating boiled meat, these people will naturally be among the first to be consumed, which explains why they are kept here.

Lin Dao paid no attention to this and immediately looked away.

When the Mongol-Muslims were in power, they drank the blood of the people.

Now it's their turn to suffer, and there's only one thing to say about that.

Live it!

Upon arriving at the palace, Lin Dao's first words were...

"All departments of the Henan-Jiangbei Province need to be reorganized."

The so-called reorganization is actually a form of annexation.

The Red Turban Army led by Liu Futong only received a batch of supplies from Lin Dao when they split up.

Their subsequent expansion of strength was all achieved through their own efforts.

Now that Lin Dao has offered to take them in, everyone looks unwilling.

Yes~
Reality left them with no other choice.

After the Red Turban armies in the north were defeated, they had already suffered heavy losses in terms of troops and resources.

They no longer have the strength to bargain or even resist.

Led by Han Shantong and Liu Futong, the generals stepped forward to pay their respects, signifying their complete submission.

By this point, Lin Dao had gained control of most of the Red Turban Army.

Although there were still many small groups of rebels in various places, all of them were no longer large-scale or influential.

Moreover, many of them were merely using the name of the Red Turban Army, while in reality they were bandits and outlaws.

Army groups like the Tianwan Army and the Red Turban Army of Bianliang City are the ones truly qualified to influence the course of history.

Nowadays, the main force of the anti-Yuan rebels has all been brought under Lin Dao's command.

Finally, the righteous armies of the world were united to fight against the Yuan dynasty.

Numerous soup kitchens were built both inside and outside Bianliang city.

The emaciated Red Turban Army soldiers lined up to receive rice porridge.

There was only rice porridge with salt, nothing else, this was for their stomach health.

"All the elderly, women, and children will be laid off."

Lin Dao, who was inspecting the soup kitchen, instructed everyone, "The army must consist of young and strong men."

Han Shantong subconsciously asked, "Should we drive them all away?"

Everyone immediately turned to look at them.

Han Shantong, realizing he had said the wrong thing, immediately looked embarrassed.

Lin Daoxiao said, "It's about distributing land to them and resettling them to restore their production and lives."

"Son."

He still remembered that he had appointed Han Shantong as the Holy Son of the White Lotus Sect.

He chuckled and instructed, "Master Zhang is busy with matters at the Association of Various Religions and urgently needs help. Why don't you go and assist Master Zhang?"

Han Shantong was somewhat dazed.

He knew that the Ming King not only wanted to take away his troops, but also wanted to send him far away.

But given the current circumstances, he has no choice but to accept it.

"Yes~"

With his head bowed, Han Shantong respectfully bowed and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I will certainly do my best to assist Master Zhang."

He lost control of the Red Turban Army, and his influence over the White Lotus Sect was nothing compared to that of the Ming King.

Without these, he is truly useless.

With a smile on his face, Lin Dao stepped forward and whispered his instructions.

"The Cooperative Association of Religions encompasses all the religions in the world. If one is in charge of it, then he is the head of all religions in the world, which is not bad."

"Say it again~"

Lin Dao's words were full of seductive intent.

“Master Zhang is already so old. When he passes away, you will be the leader of all the sects in the world!”

"I swear on my name on this!"

These words indeed touched Han Shantong's heart.

In worldly matters, one cannot possibly contend with the Wise King.

In that case, becoming a sect leader would be a good option.

He himself comes from a family that has been the leader of the White Lotus Sect for generations. If his family can now expand to become the leader of all sects, it would be a great leap forward and progress.

Ming Wang is right. Zhang Sanfeng is already so old, how many more years can he live? Let's learn from Zhang Sanfeng for a while, and then take over after he passes away.
Having figured it out, Han Shantong immediately bowed deeply to Lin Dao.

"I will obey the decree of the enlightened king!"

Lin Daozhen wasn't lying to him. If Han Shantong could outlive Zhang Sanfeng, he would definitely let him succeed him.

The premise is that Han Shantong can outlive Zhang Sanfeng.

You should know that Zhang Sanfeng lived until the Yongle era!

The Yongle Emperor has not even been born yet.

Everyone's eyes instinctively turned to Liu Futong.

Han Shantong has found a place to go, what about you?

Liu Futong was also sweating profusely.

Seeing this, they decided to go with the flow, since they hadn't planned to arrange their forest road right now.

"Liu Futong".

"The minister is here."

"Luo Guanzhong has been ordered to reorganize commercial taxes and reform commerce. Why don't you go and lend him a hand?"

"Your subject obeys the order."

The essence of Confucianism is to keep the people ignorant, locking them firmly to the land to cultivate.

This makes management and exploitation easier.

After all, the more foolish the people are, the easier they are to control.

Look at those mostly illiterate rednecks, look at those Indians who are interested in anything with holes—they are all examples of how the dumber you are, the easier it is to control you.

The forest paths are different.

Unlike most rulers in history, he did not focus solely on his own small territory.

His gaze fell upon the entire world.

European colonization was led by religious sects, followed by military forces.

Lin Dao doesn't need a religious sect; he chooses to prioritize business, with the army following later.

Merchant caravans will become the vanguard for the world.

He therefore attaches great importance to business.

Luo Guanzhong is currently busy with this matter, reforming the Yuan court's already corrupt and rotten businesses, which are all based on personal relationships and worldly affairs, and pushing them to expand outwards.

They left behind manpower and troops to establish government offices at all levels throughout Henan, and to quell bandits, landlords, powerful clansmen, and remnants of the Yuan dynasty.

At the same time, the local Red Turban Army was reorganized and its land was distributed to restore production and daily life.

He himself led his army to continue north.

Since the Jingkang Incident, the lands of the two rivers have been under the control of savages for more than two hundred years.

When the Red Turban Army marched north, many locals treated it with caution.

"If we don't launch a northern expedition soon, the Han people in the north and south will become two different groups."

"These barbarians are truly like spring breezes that keep growing back."

"To prevent this from happening again, it must be resolved thoroughly and completely."

As Lin Dao was pondering this, Lan Yu rode up on horseback to report, "Your Majesty!"

"General Fu has broken through the Jining Road (Taiyuan) and captured a large number of Mongol elderly, weak, women and children. He called to inquire about how to deal with them."

At this time, Xu Da and Chang Yuchun worked together and swept across Shandong like autumn leaves in the wind.

Following Lin Dao's orders, they then charged into Hebei.

Lin Dao himself led a large army into Hedong.

They split their forces into two groups to recapture the lands of the two rivers.

Fu Youde, who served as the vanguard, was extremely brave in battle, and his offensive was unstoppable.

Lin Dao was somewhat surprised when he was suddenly asked how to deal with the prisoners.

Isn't this already a precedent?
He received the telegram and examined it carefully.

Looking at it this way, I realized that a new situation had arisen.

The local Shanxi merchants expressed their willingness to pay to buy these elderly, weak, women and children.

"Shanxi merchants?"

Although many people in later generations have tried to whitewash it, and even made TV series about it.

Anyone who understands history knows what kind of people the Shanxi merchants were.

In short, it was smuggling and treason during times of war.

He handed the telegram in his hand to Li Shanchang and others for them to read. "Shanxi merchants, what are you planning to do?"

Although his character was questionable, Li Shanchang's abilities were outstanding.

After a moment's thought, I gave a response.

“Your Majesty, the Shanxi merchants are planning to resell their goods to the grasslands.”

"The main purpose was to sell women and children; the elderly and infirm were just extras."

Lin Dao then asked, "Do the tribes on the grasslands need people?"

“Of course we need them.” Li Shanchang stroked his beard and smiled. “Women and children, no matter where they are, will never lack buyers.”

“Even the elderly and infirm, if they have relatives, can be sold to places like Dadu and Shangdu.”

"In exchange, we acquired cattle, sheep, and horses, which could be sold to Han areas for a much higher price."

"By simply reselling it like this, you can make a large sum of money."

Lin Dao understood this time.

These Shanxi merchants really dare to do any kind of business and smuggle anything out of the country.

“I remember.” Lin Dao pondered for a moment. “I once ordered that anyone who colluded with the Mongol people should be treated as a traitor.”

"Aren't the Mongols on the grasslands also Mongols? They are also barbarians!"

"These Shanxi merchants must have been trading with the tribes on the grasslands for many years. Doesn't that count as colluding with the barbarians?"

Li Shanchang and the others responded in unison.

"Calculate!"

"Since they are traitors, then they should all be dealt with."

Lin Dao instructed Lan Yu, "Write this down."

“Any Mongol or other ethnic group that is taller than a cartwheel shall be beheaded.”

“Those powerful landlords who are vassals of the Yuan court who send troops to aid the tyrant will have their families destroyed and their clans torn apart.”

"Those who have colluded with the enemy shall be dealt with together."

"Send immediately."

(End of this chapter)