I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 424 We are the king’s division!
There are several estuaries of the Tao River (Red River) in Annan, one of which branches to the north into Halong Bay.

There are islands such as Jipo and Tuoshan in the bay. The karst geography there is obvious, the river is winding and narrow, which is not suitable for large-scale navigation and was abandoned by the Ming army.

The branch south of Haiyang is the main estuary.

The river is wide and straight with few bends. Especially the places near the sea such as Lequn and Wanlu were cut into an offshore island by the river. It was occupied by the Ming army and became a naval and land fortress named Taiping Island.

Forty-six large centipede boats sailed out from Taiping Island, with the oars on both sides moving in unison, breaking through the waves. Soon, they left the dock one by one, sailed into the Tao River, and went upstream.

Pan Yinglong stood at the bow, facing the strong wind. The wind was so strong that he couldn't help but stretch out his right hand to hold on to his hat.

"Join the army, you see!"

The accompanying staff officer pointed at the river and said.

Pan Yinglong walked to the side of the boat and looked out. He saw corpses floating downstream on the river. There were men and women, teenagers and middle-aged people. They were either lying on their backs or lying on their stomachs, floating on the water and drifting with the waves.

Looking up, the water of Taojiang River was turbid and the waves were turbulent. Corpses could be seen everywhere on the river, like scattered duckweed. A quick glance showed that there were at least thousands of them near and far.

"A lot of people died in Annan this year." Pan Yinglong straightened his hat.

"Join the army, how many people died?" a staff officer asked curiously.

"On the Mo family alone, there are at least 500,000 or 600,000 people, and there are still 5 out of 10 rooms."

"Soldier, were we the ones who killed them all?" the staff officer asked softly.

"What are you talking about? We are the royal army, not a brutal and immoral bandit army." Another staff officer said dissatisfiedly.

Pan Yinglong laughed, "Yes, we are the king's army, we will never do such a thing. They killed each other. They killed each other, and sometimes they were more cruel than outsiders."

"Ah, the Annamites are killing each other?" Several staff officers looked at each other in confusion.

"I don't understand. Haha, I'll find someone to explain it to you. Yang Xuanzan," Pan Yinglong waved his hand and called out, and a man walked over from the deck.

"This is Yang Xuanzan from the Xuanzan Bureau of the Nanhai Xuanwei Envoy. Yang Fengming, courtesy name Lingde. These three are the staff officers of our General Staff Office."

"Greetings, Yang Xuanzan." The three staff officers hurriedly saluted.

Yang Fengming bowed in return.

"Yang Xuanzan is a great talent in the Propaganda Bureau of the Imperial Household Department and a capable general of the Imperial Household Department's Cai Shaoqing. During this mission to comfort the South China Sea, especially during the Annan campaign, his colleagues in the Propaganda Bureau made great contributions.

Hu Duxian requested an imperial decree to set up a special Xuanzang Bureau, which was directly under the Xuanweishisi, and was responsible for promoting the emperor's virtues, promoting his great ideas, educating the barbarians, and pacifying the people near and far. His achievements were outstanding. "

Yang Fengming quickly cupped his hands and said modestly, "General Pan, you are too kind. The Xuanzan Bureau has been completely following the orders of the Crown Prince and the guidance of Governor Hu, and has made some small contributions."

"Haha, Yang Xuanzan, can you tell the three of them why the Annan Mo family killed each other and killed so many people?"

Yang Fengming said righteously: "They are completely Mo's running dogs, stubborn and unrepentant, stubbornly resisting the royal army, cruel and immoral, and cruel to the people. The people of the Mo family are grateful for the virtue of the Ming Dynasty, and they are fighting against the Mo's running dogs to the death."

Pan Yinglong smiled and motioned Yang Fengming to continue.

"The purpose of the Ming Dynasty's raising of the royal army this time is to eliminate violence and protect the good, and to eliminate the traitorous Mo family. Every time we go ashore to annihilate the Mo family's lackeys, we will spread our benevolence and distribute all the confiscated Mo family's rebel land to the good people of Annan, so that they can feel the saint's virtue and live and work in peace.

Over the past few months, millions of people in Annan were grateful for the benevolence of the Ming Dynasty, and they regarded the Ming army as their king's army, and followed them with food and drink. Some served as laborers to help the army, while others served as guides to lead the army to defeat the enemy.

However, the Annan Mo family's lackeys were unwilling to be annihilated and were so crazy that they organized a rebel army to return home as soon as our royal army retreated, to recover the rebel property and to exploit their bones and marrow. How could the people of Annan follow their lead? They took the weapons and armor provided by the royal army and fought against the rebel army.

The rebels were so frenzied that they slaughtered everyone, regardless of whether they were rich or poor, old or young, male or female. The people of Annan had the support of the Ming Dynasty, so they would not be frightened by the rebels' unjust and unnatural behavior. They would definitely fight bravely against the rebels and their lackeys.

However, the methods used by both sides are becoming more and more brutal. Our Ming army is a benevolent and righteous army. Sometimes we just can’t stand it and have to personally intervene to stop it.”

Yang Xuanzan said a lot of things and the three staff officers understood what he said.

During the past six months, the Ming Dynasty has been landing in Annan from time to time to attack the powerful families who followed the Mo family and distribute some of their property, such as grain, furniture, farm tools, livestock, and all their land in their mansions and warehouses to the poor people.

The people must have been happy. But once the Ming army retreated, the powerful families organized a "returning home group" to force the people to return their land and divided property, and even demanded more repayment.

At first the people had to return the land, but soon the Ming army landed again, drove away the powerful families, killed a group of people, and divided the land and property again.

The people of Annan were very brave at this time. You are nothing. You fled in front of the Ming army. Now we have the support of the Ming army. Why should we be afraid of you?
After a while, the people of Annan and the powerful families started fighting.

The powerful families saw that the people were becoming more and more daring and no longer afraid of them. This was not good, so they had to use bloody massacres to intimidate the people.

However, the people of Annan had the Ming army behind them, and they soon counterattacked and retaliated with bloody massacres, killing all the captured powerful families and their running dogs' families, men, women, young and old.

The two sides fought each other until they were blood-thirsty.

Originally, the Mo family and the Zheng family of Annan were entrenched in Thang Long Prefecture and Thanh Hoa respectively, fighting each other. The two cities were both in the Taojiang Delta, less than four or five hundred miles apart. It can be said that the two forces had been fighting each other in a snail shell for decades.

The village in the area follows the Mo family, and the village across the river follows the Zheng family. They have been killing each other for decades, and the basis for hatred has long been there.

Now that the Ming army is divided and disintegrated, there is a deep blood feud!

The Ming army is besieging Thang Long City. More than 100,000 soldiers and civilians of the Mo family are defending the city. The "righteous army" following the Ming army is gaining momentum and will definitely carry out large-scale "liquidations" in various places.

The local powerful families and their lackeys who followed them to do evil things, no matter who they were in the past, as long as they rebelled, they would all be killed.

When the fleet arrived at Xing'an City, thousands of people gathered on the river bank, with flags of various colors flying. Hundreds of people were led to the river bank, including men and women, young and old, all tied up with their hands behind their backs. They knelt in rows by the river, and the executioner raised his ghost-head knife, chopped off their heads, and then threw them into the river along with their bodies.

Thousands of people watching around burst into cheers as rows of heads were chopped off.

When they saw the fleet flying the Ming flag sailing up the river, the people all rushed to the riverside, jumping and dancing, and cheering loudly.

Some people even knelt in the mud by the river and kowtowed to the Ming flag.

"What are they doing?" The three staff officers were very surprised.

Yang Fengming said calmly: "They have been tenants for generations, working like cows and horses, and have been bullied by landlords for more than ten lifetimes. Now they have been given houses and land by the Ming Dynasty. What do you think they are doing?"

The three staff officers looked at each other.

One staff officer said: "When you have nothing and suddenly have everything, you will be grateful."

"Now outside Thang Long City, there are 200,000 Annan civilians helping the royal army dig trenches and build fortifications. They are all young and strong people from the surrounding areas, and the people who were given land by the Ming Dynasty. If it weren't for the persuasion and resistance, they could gather 500,000 civilians."

Another staff officer murmured, "Annan distributed land to the poor people, but our Ming Dynasty sticks to the old ways. If the news gets back, it will definitely cause a stir."

Yang Fengming and Pan Yinglong looked at each other knowingly.

Yang Fengming said: "When we went south, we organized a study session at the Imperial Academy. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally taught us and told us that Annan is a test field. We have tried it here and know the pros and cons. Only then can we implement it in the Ming Dynasty and minimize the harm.

Not only Annan, but also Korea, Japan and other vassal states will be our test fields."

Pan Yinglong said meaningfully: "The Gaoge Department is currently conducting a land survey. If we want to reform, we must first understand our financial situation."

Seeing the three staff officers nodding in understanding, Pan Yinglong said sternly, "These are military secrets, you must not leak them out. When you join the General Staff Bureau, your first lesson is to learn the confidentiality regulations. The Jinyiwei people are always watching you."

"My subordinates know."

The fleet soon arrived at Hedong Port, an important transit port for the Ming army.

Wu Weizhong, the commander of the front line of the siege of Thang Long City, came to greet him.

As soon as they met, Pan Yinglong bowed and said, "General Wu, I am here to escort a batch of military equipment and supplies, as well as 6,000 Guangxi wolf soldiers as reinforcements. All of them are here, and I am now handing them over to you, General."

Wu Weizhong bowed and replied, "General Pan, you have worked hard."

(End of this chapter)