Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 129 The killing begins

The cold north wind swept across the White Mountains and Black Waters, and finally arrived at Sarhu, eighty miles away from Fushun City.

The sky was high and the clouds were light, the ice and snow had melted, and several small streams converged together to form a mighty river wave.

It's a rare sunny day today. The dazzling sunlight shines on the water, making the waves sparkle and reflecting a different kind of beauty.

Zhang Yunxiu stood on a hillside in Sarhu, overlooking the entire Sarhu.

I saw a long winding dragon, rushing from the northwest corner to the southeast with great speed. The grass and trees on both sides of the river fluttered in the wind and grew southward at the same time, as if guiding the direction of the dragon.

Originally, it was here that Nurhaci defeated the four-way coalition of the Ming army and killed Du Song, the general of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty.

After this battle, Nurhaci took advantage of the situation to capture the city of Shenyang and completely established his foothold in Liaodong.

The gears of the Ming Dynasty's demise also began to turn quietly.

"But he has no chance now." Shaking his head, Zhang Yunxiu murmured.

Han San, who was standing by, thought that someone was talking to him, but he didn't hear it clearly and seemed a little uneasy for a moment.

After a few seconds of silence, Han San glanced at the empty fields around him and carefully reminded him, "Sir, we are already close to the front line. Let's go to Fushun City. If we run into barbarians, I'm afraid we won't be able to protect you."

"Why are you panicking? It's not far from here to Fushun City." Zhang Yunxiu didn't care.

"But."

Han San looked embarrassed and was about to say something, but Zhang Yunxiu interrupted him rudely, "No buts, when Li Rusong's troops arrive, we will personally send him off and return."

"Ok."

Han San lowered his head and stepped aside, his eyes sparkling with brilliance, scanning the wilderness back and forth.

Suddenly, the clouds in the distance dimmed, and then spread rapidly towards this side like ink dropped into water.

Dark clouds rolled in and the earth suddenly became pitch black.

"Sir, it's going to rain." Han San reminded.

"I know."

Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand, signaling him to be quiet.

There was the sound of galloping horses in the distance, and on the horizon, first a tall knight appeared, then two, then three.
Immediately afterwards, a large mass of cavalry filled Zhang Yunxiu's vision.

Thousands of horses are galloping, the rivers and lakes are boiling, and the earth seems to be trembling.

The man rushing in the front was in his early thirties, well-dressed, wearing a silver eight-petal iron hat on his head, silver armor on his body, a red brocade cloak from Western Shu on his back, and a long sword on his waist.

He is so majestic, as if he is a god of war from heaven.

It was the Liaodong Lieutenant General, Li Rusong.

After the cavalry galloped for a distance, Li Rusong waved his hand, signaling the troops behind to slow down.

He rode forward and came to the hillside where Zhang Yunxiu was. When the two saw each other, Li Rusong dismounted and smiled as he stepped forward to persuade them: "Zhang Sicheng, there are often wild men here. You should return to Fushun City as soon as possible."

"Let's see the general off, and then we'll go back to the city." Zhang Yunxiu nodded and smiled.

"Thank you."

Li Rusong clasped his fists and returned the greeting.

After the two exchanged a few pleasantries, Zhang Yunxiu went straight to the point and asked, "General Li, what do you think of Nurhaci?"

Li Rusong didn't know why Zhang Yunxiu cared so much about Nurhaci, but he had to answer the question. He immediately gave a quick evaluation based on his previous impression: "This man was originally a soldier under my father's command. He was brave in battle, fearless and resolute. If he were to gain power one day, he would surely rise with the wind and soar to the ninth heaven."

"Since the general knew this, why did he allow him to annex the Jurchen tribes?" Zhang Yunxiu asked anxiously.

"Even if he jumps again, he is just a grasshopper. We won't give him the chance to gain the upper hand." Li Rusong raised his eyebrows, and his tone was full of confidence as soon as he spoke.

Zhang Yunxiu did not dare to be as arrogant as him, and hurriedly reminded him: "A lion will use all its strength to fight a rabbit. General Li must expand the results of this battle and make sure to annihilate the enemy completely."

"Don't worry, Si Cheng. We have already dispatched 3,000 cavalrymen from Liaoyang to block the retreat of Jianzhou Guards. We will personally lead 5,000 elite cavalrymen from Fushun City to attack Hetuala."

Li Rusong told his deployment with a smile.

Divide troops?

Zhang Yunxiu had a bad feeling in his heart.

But thinking that Jianzhou Wei is still extremely weak, and that it is led by Li Rusong, the tension in my heart dissipated a lot.

He stared into Li Rusong's eyes and said seriously: "This battle is related to the Liaodong situation of the Ming Dynasty in the next few decades. I hope the general will not be careless. Yunxiu thanks the general for eliminating this harm for the people."

"Zhang Sicheng is too serious. Jianzhou Guards are just a group of rootless duckweed. Once our army arrives, they will have no choice but to surrender. Zhang Sicheng, please go back to Fushun City and wait. Within five days, there will be victory news!"

"Okay, let's wait for the general's victory report in Fushun City."

As Zhang Yunxiu spoke, he clasped his fists towards Li Rusong again.

"Please go back." Li Rusong nodded in return, then mounted his horse and led his servants to chase the main force.

After galloping for about twenty miles, Li Rusong's deputy general beside him could not help but ask: "Sir, the Jianzhou Guards have always been respectful and have sent a lot of tribute every year. Do we really want to wipe them out completely?"

"It's a lot, but some people give more." Li Rusong glanced at the deputy general and replied expressionlessly.

Every year, Jianzhou Wei only sent some soldiers, some special products and money, which was a lot, but it was far less than what Zhang Yunxiu gave, 100,000 taels of military supplies and a promise.

He promised Li Rusong that he would take over as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong in the future.

Liaodong is a bitter and cold place, which is a piece of chicken ribs for the central dynasty. Therefore, if there is no war in Liaodong, the military pay and expenses here will be greatly reduced by half.

For the Li family, if they want to have a say in the court, firstly, they must let the court see that Liaodong is not peaceful. Secondly, they must find a person who has a say in the court and is rich and powerful for a long time.

After much thought, Zhang Yunxiu's size is just right.

This time, Zhang Yunxiu took the initiative to come to the door and promised huge profits to let the Li family destroy Jianzhou Wei.

Although the father and son of the Li family did not know how Jianzhou Guard had offended Zhang Yunxiu, in the face of the trend of interests, Jianzhou Guard naturally became a bargaining chip in his game of chess.

It became a stepping stone for Li Rusong to advance.

Thinking of this, Li Rusong's mouth curled up, and his suppressed joy was evident in his words.

He suddenly drew the sword from his waist, pointed it forward, and shouted, "The army advances at full speed, and we must encircle Hetuala by noon tomorrow at the latest. No prisoners will be taken in this battle, no prisoners!"

"Oh oh oh"

"Woo."

The army behind him roared with joy.

If we don't take any prisoners, then we can do whatever we want to these barbarians.

At sunset the next day, Li Rusong's cavalry army surrounded Hetuala. He did not choose to attack the city directly, but sent a small force to encircle and suppress the tribes around Hetuala.

For a moment, there were sounds of killing all around and the smell of blood filled the air.

In just two days, Hetuala became an isolated city of Jianzhou Wei.

After clearing these obstacles, Li Rusong quickly summoned his men to the big tent for a military meeting. He glanced at the generals under his tent and said, "Although the city is in ruins, most of us are cavalrymen, who are good at field battles. If we force an attack, I'm afraid the casualties will be considerable."

"Yes, according to the intelligence brought back by Li Kui, there are still four to five thousand barbarians and five to six hundred soldiers in the city. If we defend the city, it will be enough to give us a hard time." A general nodded.

"How about letting Li Kui secretly open the city gate?" another person cautiously asked.

The general who had spoken earlier frowned and shouted, "Why don't you let him kill all those 500 soldiers? The barbarians must have been prepared by now. How can they open the city gate with only a few people?"

"I just said it casually, why are you making such a fuss?"

The generals were arguing fiercely. Li Rusong slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "What are you arguing about? If you keep arguing, I will send you to lead the charge and let you fight the barbarians to the death in the siege!"

With just this roar, all the generals became like quails with their necks shrunken, remaining silent.

"You guys are used to it."

Li Rusong was furious and was about to continue scolding when he heard a messenger come to report: "General, Nurhaci's brother, Shuerhaci, is outside our camp gate asking to see you."

"Quick, invite him here." Li Rusong waved his hand and the soldier quickly retreated.

After a while, the soldier brought Shulhaci, who was shirtless and carrying a whip on his back, into the tent.

As soon as he saw Li Rusong, Shuerhazi fell to his knees and cried, "General, my tribe has always been law-abiding and respectful to the Ming Dynasty. We regard you and your son as our father."

"Now the general has suddenly raised a large army to attack my clan. I don't know how I have offended you. Please tell me clearly."

"Humph, you are such a smooth talker, Shuerhaci." Li Rusong was not affected by him at all. He just frowned and cursed: "Your tribesmen killed my soldiers and offended the power of the Ming Dynasty. Now you are pretending to be pitiful."

"Do you want to try out this sword of mine to see if it's sharp?!"

Shuerhaqi felt a chill down his spine, and beads of cold sweat oozed out of his forehead. He tried his best to defend himself, "General, this is pure slander and rumor. How dare my people kill the heavenly soldiers? There must be some misunderstanding."

"You said we slandered you?"

"Oh no, that's not what I meant."

"So you really did it? You are so brave! Come on, drag this beast out and behead him. Use his head to sacrifice to the dead soldiers. At 3:30 tomorrow afternoon, we will attack the city!"

Li Rusong was half threatening and half serious, which made Shuerhazi stunned.

He knew that it would be extremely difficult to defend this isolated city with the troops he had.

Once the city is broken, these angry Ming troops will turn into beasts and turn Hetuala into a hell on earth like Gule City.

He didn't dare to gamble and couldn't afford to gamble.

After swallowing his saliva, Shuerhaqi raised his head, looked at Li Rusong humbly, and begged: "As long as the general can forgive my people, I am willing to provide 300 soldiers for you to command."

"No, four hundred. Four hundred combat soldiers."

Li Rusong did not say anything, but just glanced at Shurhaci on the ground with the eyes of a hunter scanning his prey.

"General." Shuerhazi's brows were furrowed into knots, with a pleading look on his face.

"Well, since you sincerely admit your mistake, I will forgive you this time." Li Rusong waved his hand and said, "Tomorrow, you hand over the murderer who killed our brother, and send 500 soldiers to conquer the Haixi Jurchens, and this matter will be over."

"Five hundred people, isn't that too many?" Shulhazi was a little embarrassed.

"Hey, since you think it's too much, then go back, integrate your troops and fight with us, and then we'll tell you which is the male and which is the female!" Li Rusong said, showing his sharp white teeth, making him look particularly ferocious.

"Okay, I agree." Shuerhazi gritted his teeth and agreed.

"Okay, get off. I was just about to go to the capital to report on my work, and you're the one who caused me this mess. Do you think I want to bring a large army to your godforsaken place? You're the one who forced me to do it."

Li Rusong spoke sincerely, and Shuerhazi thought he was trying to blackmail him.

So he quickly left Li Rusong's tent and headed straight for his own city.

"The rest is up to you. You don't need me to teach you how to do it." Looking at Shulhaci's leaving back, Li Rusong waved his hand and gave the order without a trace of emotion.

They looked at each other, chuckled, and a hint of excitement flashed in their blood-red eyes.

(End of this chapter)