prosperous age

Chapter 1170 1261 Going South
The dense forest more than 20 miles north of Lujiang City was filled with people.

In front of the crowd, more than a thousand people were tied to wooden stakes, with bandages wrapped around their mouths to prevent them from making any sound.

Although they tried hard to break free, it was all in vain.

From the moment they were brought here to the moment they were tied here, their fate was actually already determined.

Even if they realized it late, they knew what was going to happen next.

Especially after seeing the people being brought from afar, the fear in their hearts spread throughout their bodies.

The only uncertainty now is how they will die.

“These people are the accomplices of those who bully you.

I don't know if you know them, but if you do, you will definitely know.

They are the cronies of the chieftains, the ones who act as their thugs and oppress you.

You could have run away, but those people abandoned you and left you here, risking your life to help them escape."

Li Rubai spoke on the stage, and a Burmese army translator explained his words to other soldiers.

Soon, the scene began to become chaotic and noisy.

During this period, the Ming army instilled in these prisoners of war the idea that they were a group of people abandoned by their leaders, and that they should exchange their lives for their own safety.

Who wants to die?
No one would think so.

If you are still in the army, the only thing you would think about is following orders, even if it means dying on the battlefield.

However, after the war, they were imprisoned in prisoner-of-war camps, where they could only survive with hunger and satiety every day. With no sight of tomorrow, they naturally had time to think.

They thought of the people around them who were captured by the Ming army, and of those who had gone far away and escaped with their leader.

Envy, jealousy, and dissatisfaction grow silently.

And seeing those guys who used to be arrogant and domineering and followed the big shots around were tied up in miserable conditions not far away, he felt a lot better.

“Don’t think that we are sorry for not letting you have enough to eat. Why should we give you our food?
You can eat enough, you can eat well, and you can have meat and fish every day. Those are not problems, but you must submit to the Ming Dynasty and work hard for it, and only then will the Ming Dynasty give you what you want.

We can even give you more.”

Li Rubai continued shouting on the podium.

Now these prisoners of war only have two meals of half-full porridge a day, morning and evening, and many of them have become extremely thin.

In fact, as long as you give them food and let them have their fill, many of them will choose to obey and do whatever you say.

"Kill them, prove your bravery to the Ming Dynasty, and cut off the past ties with Burma, and you will get what you want.

Moreover, you will no longer be ordinary people. You will be incorporated into the Ming army and continue to stay in Myanmar and become officials who administer Myanmar.

From now on, you are no longer the common people who are bullied, but the superiors who manage them.
Think about your families who are still worried about your safety at home, and you can choose your future now, whether to return home with glory or stay here. "

The Burmese who understood Chinese were the first recruits of the Ming army. Only through them could the Ming army command the Burmese soldiers.

After all, language barrier is also a very troublesome thing.

These Burmese translators have actually been designated as small flags of the Burmese army squadrons, and they all have their own chief flag officer, the centurion.

Of course, these were all meritorious soldiers of the Ming army.

Once the framework is set up, we just need to recruit their subordinates and the army can be formed.

In order to prevent someone from being in Cao's camp but with their heart still with Han, it became an inevitable choice for them to execute the personal soldiers of those chieftains and completely cut off their retreat.

This was also the path that the Ming army had to go through when it first established itself in Myanmar. Until now, the Ming army did not dare to fully trust them.

"Kill them, and you will be soldiers of the Ming Dynasty from now on. You will be able to eat as much as you want, and have plenty of wine and meat."

In the distance, several large carts were pulled over, piled with sacks, wine jars, pigs and sheep.

Soon, the Burmese translator who had been arranged long ago, loudly cursing their former chieftains, took the steel knife from the Ming army, walked to the front, and waved the weapon at a tied Burmese soldier.

The knife hit the shoulder, but did not kill the opponent.

The Burmese soldier's eyes no longer had the usual fierce look, only fear.

Although they could not understand what the Ming general said earlier, they could understand the words of the former Burmese soldiers who came up to him.

They want to kill themselves.

In the past, they always bullied these soldiers. I never expected that one day I would die at their hands.

Enduring the pain, the man was still struggling, even though it was in vain, he still wanted to shout out.

Unfortunately, no one gave him time. Another person grabbed the steel knife and chopped him down again.

Although he felt very unwilling and wondered why he should be the first chicken, the severe pain made him only groan and he no longer had the strength to struggle.

Then the third knife, the fourth knife, and one after another chopped his body, and soon his body was covered in blood.

The Burmese soldier who had slashed with a knife earlier walked out of the crowd and ran towards the convoy not far away.

There, the Ming army cooks had already started cooking and lighting fires, slaughtering pigs and sheep in preparation for a big meal.

This was the demonstration effect that Li Rubai had prepared. When the Burmese soldiers behind were still hesitating, they saw that someone in front had already slashed with a knife, and then they ran to the side to wait to eat meat and drink wine, and soon others followed suit.

In fact, the prisoners of war at this time were all blindly obedient.

When the first person comes out, a large group will follow behind him.

The personal soldiers brought by Li Rubai barely maintained order and required everyone to submit their letters of surrender.

In fact, at this point, it doesn't matter whether the knife is swung or not, because everyone here will be considered to have done it.

Li Rubai no longer had the heart to watch the noisy execution site not far away. Li Ruzhen came over and whispered in his second brother's ear: "Should we leave first?"

After saying that, he looked over there with lingering fear.

Li Rubai waved his hand to call over a captain of his personal guards and ordered, "Leave a team behind to bury all of these. It's disgusting to look at."

"Yes, Second Master."

The captain of the personal guards hurriedly clasped his fists and agreed.

The two brothers got off the platform and watched as Burmese soldiers kept running over there to eat. Li Ruzhen said again, "Second brother, there are only more than 30,000 people here, but Dad wants us to take 40,000 people back."

"That can't be helped. That's all there is."

Li Rubai spread his hands and said, "Those thousands of people were killed by my father, what can we do?

Besides, these 30,000 people are enough. Didn’t my eldest brother say that it should be enough for him to bring 20,000 soldiers and 20,000 surrendered soldiers to the south?

However, I think Dad will let him take everyone here away."

Li Rubai spoke up.

"Actually, I also want to follow my brother south to Toungoo City." Li Ruzhen continued.

“I don’t want to go there, I want to go to Bagan.

The city of Toungoo has been occupied by that Yu barbarian, and I guess all the good things have been taken away by him.

I heard that Bagan was once the royal capital of Myanmar, so I guess there would be something there.

And I heard recently that the remaining powerful people in Myanmar are all running to Bagan City, and they will probably bring a lot of good things with them."

Li Rubai wanted to gain more benefits, such as military merits. His father and elder brother would consider them for him.

As long as you follow their orders, you will definitely get credit.

"Second brother, you heard that they got two boxes of treasures from Ava City. Is that true?"

Li Ruzhen thought of the news he had heard from others and asked in a low voice.

"Hey, you are just stupid, let me teach you two tricks.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Think about the good things in our house, where are they usually kept?
Either he is with his father or in the storeroom of the mansion.

When I conquered a city, the first step was to go around those big mansions and move their warehouses.

Remember the heavily guarded tent next to Dad’s military tent?

Last time I wanted to go in and take a look, but that bastard Dai San wouldn't let me in.

I guess that's the treasure my dad got this time.

This time we fought our way out of Ava City, targeting those dignitaries and chieftains, but they were all captured by my father.

Needless to say, all the good stuff will go to Dad."

Li Rubai said with a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Second brother, you are too..."

Li Ruzhen didn't say anything further. No matter what he said, he felt that the Li family came from a military family, and they should give priority to fighting for credit in a war.

As for money, fighting should be put on the back burner for now.

However, no one told Li Rubai about this. Li Chengliang focused all his attention on the eldest son Li Rusong and neglected the teaching of his other sons.

This is actually in line with the Han tradition. East Asia is dominated by Han culture. From ancient times to the present, the inheritance system of Han culture has been mainly based on the system of primogeniture. This can be seen from the order of succession set by Zhu Yuanzhang.

If there is a legitimate son, the eldest son will be the heir; if there is no legitimate son, the eldest son will be the heir. This is also the most basic principle of the patriarchal system.

Throughout Chinese history, the system of primogeniture was a principle of inheritance implemented under the ancient Chinese system of monogamy and polygamy, and was one of the core systems for maintaining the patriarchal system.

The legitimate wife refers to the legal wife or the original spouse. The eldest son born to the legal wife is the legitimate eldest son. The law stipulates that the legitimate eldest son enjoys priority in inheritance.

This system originated in the late Shang Dynasty and was established in the early Zhou Dynasty. Its specific provisions were "the eldest son is chosen based on age rather than virtue, and the son is chosen based on nobility rather than age."

Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Han dynasties have basically implemented the system of primogeniture stipulated by the Zhou Dynasty's patriarchal system, that is, the eldest son has the right of political inheritance.

The second son of the legitimate wife and the son of a concubine obtain different secondary political status according to their social status.

In the ritual era, it was mainly applicable to clan inheritance - at this time, the family and the country were one, and clan inheritance could cover succession to the throne, succession to a title, and succession to an official position.

Entering the feudal era, the law strictly distinguished between legitimate and illegitimate children, and the system of primogeniture was implemented in the succession to the throne, title, official position and clan inheritance. In the inheritance of property, all sons had inheritance rights, and the eldest son was still in a dominant position - one of the reasons was that the throne, title, official position and clan inheritance were indivisible, but property could be divided.

This system embodies the concept of hierarchy, and is consistent with the patriarchal system and the system of wives and concubines; but under the conditions of polygamy and concubines at the time, it avoided conflicts in inheritance to a certain extent.

This system has continued until modern times. Although the civil law in the 20th century stipulates that each child can inherit their parents' estate equally, this system is still continued in East Asia, especially in large clan families.

It is important to note that although the equal distribution of property among children is said to have been introduced from the West, it may actually still be an American system because they have other ways to circumvent this restriction, allowing the family to concentrate family property in a long-term and stable manner.

In Europe, such as the United Kingdom and other countries, there is also a system of primogeniture similar to Chinese culture.

The British system of inheritance emphasizes the absolute inheritance rights of the eldest son, which is somewhat different from China's system of primogeniture.

The British system of primogeniture means that the eldest son has absolute inheritance rights, while the youngest sons and daughters have no inheritance rights to property. They can only choose to join the army or go to a monastery.

Li Rubai may have seen through this and knew that he and his brothers could only get a little bit of the family's future, so he chose to "lie down."

Of course, if history had developed as it had, it would not be surprising that Li Rubai was the only Ming army unit to escape unscathed from the Battle of Sarhu.

If nothing unexpected happens, with the halo of his father and elder brother, he can continue to pass on the glory of the Li family.

It’s a pity that the rise of the Jurchens in Liaodong cut off the Li family’s last chance of survival.

The former garrison of Ava City has now become the headquarters of Li Chengliang's governor.

"Father, you called me?"

Li Rusong walked quickly into the house from outside. It was a suspended house built entirely of wood, supported by several wooden piles on the ground, similar to the stilt houses in Yunnan.

Although the exterior is very plain, the interior is decorated magnificently.

When Li Rusong first walked into this place, he was amazed that a defender of Ava city could live in such a house.

The same thing happened to Li Chengliang after he came here. He found it hard to believe that such a country could be so luxurious.

In Myanmar, gold is not only a symbol of wealth, but also regarded as a sacred object.

The Burmese believe that gold represents the sun and is associated with qualities such as knowledge and enlightenment, so gold is used in decoration on many occasions.

However, after Li Chengliang carefully studied those gold ornaments, his interest gradually faded.

Myanmar does have a lot of gold, but the quality is not high, or it cannot be purified well.

According to the gold coin rules currently formulated by the Ministry of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty, the gold from Myanmar does not meet the requirements and the gold content is generally very low.

Of course, if it weren't for this, they wouldn't have so much gold to decorate every corner of their lives.

"This is a letter sent by Yu Dayou from Toungoo City. Please take a look."

As soon as Li Rusong entered the room, Li Chengliang handed him Yu Dayou's letter.

"Isn't he urging us to send troops south as soon as possible?"

Li Rusong took the letter and opened it. As he had guessed, Yu Dayou asked the northern Ming army to move south to Toungoo City as soon as possible.

Most of the troops he brought were naval forces, and the army had only 10,000 people. It was really difficult for him to rule over millions of Burmese people.

"Father, what do you mean?"

Li Rusong folded the letter and put it into the envelope before asking.

“Although the imperial court has issued an order that Burma should take me as its leader, we must meet his demands.”

Li Chengliang looked at Li Rusong and said, "Send a message to the second and third brothers to bring them back as soon as possible.

You lead 20,000 troops south first."