The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 129: Heart of a Tiger and Wolf
The northwest wind swept across the Liaohe Plain. The biting cold wind blew the central army's banner. The wind and sand hit the flagpole, making a tapping sound like a blind stick hitting the ground.

There was warmth inside the Kaiyuan central army tent.

Jin Yuji slept like a baby, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised, happy and peaceful.

A corner of the warm quilt slipped off,
Liu Zhaosun gently covered her, put on a cloak, and tiptoed to the bronze furnace.

There was only a spark of fire left in the furnace. He added a shovel of charcoal to the furnace, placed the medicine pot on the fire, and lay on the ground to blow the fire carefully.

The fire gradually grew brighter, illuminating Liu Zhaosun's handsome face with the red glow of the sunset. A moment later, a faint medicinal aroma rose from the tent, lingering around Jin Yuji...

Liu Zhaosun turned down the fire and continued to simmer it over low heat for another hour. When Yu Ji woke up, the medicine was just effective.

Five days ago, Old Song came once and took Miss Jin's pulse. He said that Miss Jin's life was safe and she would recover after some time of recuperation.

However, Liu Zhaosun was still worried and took care of him without taking off his clothes.

It's the fourth day.

~~~

The morning light was breaking outside the window, and Liu Zhaosun slipped out of the camp while the medicine was being boiled.

Zhang Chao was leaning against the flagpole at the door, dozing off.

Looking at this servant who had followed him for many years, the scenes of his past as a servant emerged in his mind.

The guard tilted his head, woke up, touched the back of his head and said:

"Master Thirteen, Director Xie came to see you last night. You were taking care of Miss Jin, so I didn't tell him. As a result, he dragged me to the military camp to look for a warhorse..."

Liu Zhaosun laughed and said, "Looking for horses? Didn't you capture some war horses?"

"We all rushed back to Kaiyuan a few days ago. It suddenly snowed last night, and Director Xie was worried that the roads would be blocked by heavy snow in the next few days, so he wanted to bring back more food."

"Send more food?"

Liu Zhaosun was bewildered: "Hasn't all the food seized from the Jiannu been moved away yet?"

After the bloody battle of Hunhe River, Xie Guangkun started moving like an ant, which lasted for a whole month.

Even the Ming Dynasty's treasury was emptied by him.

Zhang Chao shook his head and said, "I don't know either."

Liu Zhaosun was looking for Xie Guangkun, so he asked Zhang Chao to lead the way.

~~~

Xie Guangkun, with his thick, shiny black hair, was standing at the foot of the city, directing the auxiliary soldiers to load bags of grain onto carts. Several loaded carts, crushing the thin snow, were moving slowly towards the north like a snail.

"Director Xie is up so early."

Liu Zhaosun took the initiative to greet.

Xie Yang stopped what he was doing and walked forward to salute Brigadier General Liu.

"Mind your own business, don't worry about me. I'm going to inspect the wounded and came to see you."

Liu Zhaosun glanced at the piles of sacks of grain under the city wall and estimated that there were at least a thousand bags of grain.

He walked closer and touched the bag casually, and found that it was filled with silk tea. He touched the bag next to it and found that it seemed to be filled with gunpowder.

It is understandable that the Jiannu left behind food when they retreated.

What about silk tea?

"Director Xie, where did you get all this?"

Liu Zhaosun lowered his voice, trying not to let people around him hear.

Xie Yang looked around and lowered his voice:
"General Liu, these were all obtained by Inspector Kang. I don't know anything else. It looks like it's going to snow again, so we have to get these things back to Kaiyuan as soon as possible. If we're late, we'll be out of luck..."

Another unknown.

Liu Zhaosun decided to find Kang Yingqian to find out the truth. He patted Xie Yang on the shoulder and signaled Xie Guangkun to roll up his sleeves and work hard.

~~~~
"What? You emptied the Liaoshen Treasury?"

"Please be patient. There are more than just these. I will also take over the shops and banks related to the Ding and Li families."

Kang Yingqian's tent.

The scent of women's rouge still lingered around, and there were a few colorful medicine bottles left on the bed.

Live up to the spring and grow wildly.

Liu Zhaosun rubbed his nose and looked at the greedy and lustful old man in front of him with a complicated expression.

"General Kang, you're so bold! Don't they have account books? What if the new governor comes to investigate?"

Before the Battle of Sarhu, Liu Zhaosun once went to the Shenyang treasury with his adoptive father Liu Jing.

Kang Yingqian narrowed his eyes and said proudly:

"I have a clever plan. The Liaoyang garrison commander and I are old acquaintances. They have been stealing military supplies in secret. I only used two thousand taels of silver and two bags of fine eastern pearls to make a deal. I gave them gunpowder, firearms, and bows and arrows. Director Xie and his men have been pulling the cart for two hours and still haven't finished..."

"The account books were burned. They were all a mess anyway. The new governor came in and he's unfamiliar with the place, so he's completely clueless. The garrison officers in Shenyang are mostly dead. If he wants to check, let him do it."

Liu Zhaosun was speechless for a long time. Kang Yingqian's action shocked him.

"You did such a big thing without telling me?"

Kang Yingqian said in a neutral tone:

"Even if I tell you, it's impossible to do it. Isn't General Liu busy taking care of that enchanting concubine? I'm afraid he'll be busy enough to see her. As the saying goes, the first move is the strongest. If we fall behind the court, we'll just have to watch them eat meat while we starve."

Liu Zhaosun remained silent.

Kang Yingqian teased, "I said I wouldn't hinder you from taking the right path. But soldiers can't go to war on an empty stomach, right? Calculate for yourself. How many days of peace and quiet have we had this year? We've either been fighting or preparing for war. How many people can Kaiyuan's little bit of farmland support?"

Liu Zhaosun was only twenty years old after all, full of youthful vigor, and was too lazy to listen to the nagging of an old man who was twenty or thirty years older than him.

It is estimated that the civil servant in charge of the treasury was also killed by Kang Yingqian.

This person is indeed cruel and ruthless. He is greedy for money and lustful at ordinary times, but he does things without dragging his feet at critical moments.

Liu Zhaosun couldn't help but look at him with admiration.

He tentatively asked, "Should we leave some of the supplies from the two city treasuries for the imperial court?"

Kang Yingqian smiled and said:
"What are you going to keep? Don't leave even a grain of food or a blade of grass. How much pension does the court still owe us? How much military pay? If you don't ask the emperor for it, it's like doing good deeds! That Yuan Yingtai is no pushover. Back when he was navigating the river in Wuchang, he even dared to withhold the life-saving money of the river workers. In the end, it almost caused a civil uprising. If it weren't for Xiong Jinglüe helping him, this old guy would still be in the Ministry of Justice jail now!"

"Not only did you embezzle the treasury, but how many wealthy families did you rob?"

"Not many, maybe a few dozen. They're all relatives of Ding Bi and Li Ruzhen. They're not clean anyway..."

It is estimated that the so-called relatives here are not necessarily Ding Bi’s relatives. Whether they are relatives or not is just a matter of a word from Kang Yingqian.

Thinking of this, Liu Zhaosun said angrily:

"General Kang, if you act on your own accord again, don't blame me for being rude!"

Kang Yingqian had gained a lot of benefits in the past two days, and he didn't care about Liu Zhaosun's anger. He just nodded in agreement.

Faced with a veteran who is so much older than himself, Liu Zhaosun is a little overwhelmed. He can only hope that Lao Kang is of the same mind as him, otherwise...

Although Liu Zhaosun is the ancestor of Wu in Liaodong and is very reliable in fighting, he is no match for General Kang when it comes to fighting for power.

"The court should reward me handsomely this time, and I don't want to offend them!"

Kang Yingqian showed a look of disappointment:
"A huge reward? It's only been a few days, and you've forgotten! How did the imperial court treat your adoptive father at Sarhu? Food and fodder were insufficient, and the Sichuan troops were not arriving, yet the Ministry of War simply urged you to die. Did they ever treat you as human beings? Now you have troops and land, and you are the bravest of the three armies. You should take what you should take, and you should take what you should take. Why should you be afraid of the imperial court..."

~~~~~
In the next few days, all of Ding Bi and Li Ruzhen's properties in Shenyang were moved back to Kaiyuan by Xie Yang's ant movers.

As for shops, teahouses, brothels and other businesses, Xie Guangkun sent capable managers and clerks to take over the management and take over the business.

If you take advantage, you must take responsibility.

The garrisons, watchtowers, fortresses and villages around Shenyang were almost wiped out by the Jiannu. In the cold winter weather, the Liao people who had become refugees had no food or clothing and had no choice but to flock to Shenyang.

It just so happened that the Kaiyuan army suffered heavy losses in the war and needed to replenish its troops. After Qi Jin selected and recruited a group of troops, there were still more than 20,000 refugees left.

Kang Yingqian believed that these refugees were a burden and it would be better to throw them to the court and wait for Yuan Yingtai to deal with them.

Seeing that these people had no food or clothing, Liu Zhaosun could not bear to watch them starve to death or freeze to death, so he ordered relief for the refugees. The grain reserves in Kaiyuan were originally limited, and after being transported back by the civil administration, the remaining grain was quickly consumed.

Liu Zhaosun had no choice but to buy grain from western Liaoning at a high price and make porridge for the refugees. Kang Yinggan was so angry that he stamped his feet.

Zu Dashou raised the price and made a huge profit from General Liu.

~~~~~~
On November 18, the 47th year of the Wanli reign, after a month of waiting, Yuan Yingtai finally arrived with the officials who came to inspect the performance.

Liu Zhaosun led the crowd to welcome them at the south gate of Shenyang.

After the last surrender of captives from the capital, Liu Zhaosun no longer had the respect he had at the beginning for these civil officials.

To be fair, with the current strength of the Kaiyuan Army, let alone his title of Liaodong Governor, even the Prime Minister Fang Congzhe would have to give some face when meeting General Xuanwu.

The imperial court owed Kaiyuan grain and wages, and never paid them in full.

Yuan Yingtai came to Shenyang to inspect his achievements and to provide relief to the dead and wounded soldiers. However, based on various intelligence reports, Yuan Jinglüe seemed to be here to stir up trouble and it seemed that he regarded Liu Zhaosun as a soft persimmon.

~~~~~
Three unfamiliar faces stood on the pontoon bridge, looking at the Kaiyuan troops stationed at the north gate.

"Thirteenth Master, I checked, these three are Jinyiwei soldiers, they came from the capital."

Zhang Dong looked at the three people and pressed his finger on the scabbard.

"Sent by the Emperor? What does that mean?"

Liu Zhaosun was speechless, and a chill rose in his heart.

Lu Shou would not send anyone to investigate him, and Eunuch Wei would not do the same either. So there was only one possibility left, and that was that Emperor Wanli personally instructed it.

"Do you want me to take a few people with me to..."

Liu Zhaosun waved his hand to stop him.

"Keep a close eye on them and prevent them from contacting the wealthy families in Fushun and Qinghe. Tell the Civil Affairs Department to be careful and not leave any evidence when confiscating land and property. I heard from Supervisor Qiao that some gentry in Liaodong are planning to file a joint lawsuit against us, exposing my vicious intentions."

"A heart of a tiger and a wolf?" Zhang Dong was a little surprised. This intelligence chief didn't even know what kind of heart Liu Zhaosun had.

Liu Zhaosun laughed.

The enclosure movement was simply an attempt to help refugees solve their food problem.

Of course, in the eyes of the imperial court, Liu Zhaosun's actions were not far from rebellion.

Zhang Mazi put down his knife and said anxiously, "The Central Army Guard is short of manpower..."

In the bloody battle of Hunhe, the mountain warfare battalion suffered heavy casualties. Rong Touqiang and Peng Yong were killed in battle. Only dozens of the three hundred people were left, and the battalion basically lost its intelligence reconnaissance capability.

At present, only the Central Army Guard can take charge of the intelligence mission.

"Last time I asked you to recruit guards, did you do it?"

Zhang Mazi quickly replied, "Yes, we recruited. The Lord said we wanted five, which only makes a total of twenty-two people. Besides, Mrs. Jin... Captain Jin is still recovering from his injuries."

Liu Zhaosun glared at him and said, "What Madam Jin? You haven't even gotten married yet!"

The Central Army Guard is related to the life and property of General Liu and the safety of Kaiyuan, so the selection is very strict.

In addition to considerations such as close combat, archery and horsemanship, there are also high requirements for personal loyalty.

"If there aren't enough men, we'll select from the White Spear Soldiers and the Zhejiang Soldiers."

This time, the White Spear Soldiers and Zhejiang Soldiers suffered heavy casualties and were almost wiped out. He couldn't bear to draw more troops from these people.

From afar, one could see the banner of strategy raised by Yuan Yingtai's standard-bearing battalion.

Pei Dahu suddenly said, "Thirteenth Master, we're recruiting guards this time. There's a young man from Shaanxi who's very skilled. Even with a shoulder injury, he can still take down three fighters."

The Kaiyuan Army had complex origins, including Xuanda soldiers, Liao soldiers, Zhejiang soldiers, and Baigan soldiers, but this was the first time I heard of civilians defecting.

"This man is the Ranger who stopped Huang Taiji on the north bank last time. He was the leader, and all his men are dead."

"It's rare that there are still people alive. I said that day that they are good men of the Han family."

Pei Dahu continued, "This man passed the test successfully. He wants to kill Cao Zhongqing and avenge his brother."

Liu Zhaosun nodded and said with emotion:

"Young knight, good! After I meet Yuan Yingtai, I'll go meet this knight-errant. Is Cao Zhongqing still alive?"

Pei Dahu chuckled: "He was castrated by Old Song, but he's not dead yet."

~~~~~
As they talked along the way, they soon arrived at the South Gate City Wall.

A camp was set up near the south gate, and Yuan Yingtai's standard-bearers lined up from the moat to the gate corridor. It was a huge crowd, and their style was much more imposing than when Xiong Tingbi was the governor of Liaodong.

Liu Zhaosun looked at the densely packed standard-bearers and thought to himself, "Are they here to offer me relief, or to punish me?"

Kang Yingqian, Deng Changxiong, Wang Erhu and others were waiting at the gate of the city wall, surrounded by the 1,000th headquarters soldiers.

Supervisor Kang's face looked grim, his beard trembling rhythmically. Liu Zhaosun suspected he was guilty, as he had emptied the Liaoshen warehouses. He teased,

"Who on earth is this Yuan Yingtai? How could he make General Kang so angry?"

Kang Yingqian glared at the group of civil servants standing in the city wall and said unhappily:

"General Liu, go talk to him yourself and you'll know what kind of person he is. This guy has no ability, but he's even more arrogant than General Xiong! Yuan Yingtai has such great power!"

"A new official has three major tasks to do. Supervisor Kang, don't be angry. I'll go meet him."

After saying that, he took Zhang Dong and Pei Dahu and walked straight towards Yuan Yingtai.

There were several military generals standing next to Yuan Yingtai, all of whom were unfamiliar faces.

"Kaiyuan General Liu Zhaosun pays homage to Yuan Jinglüe!"

Several generals on the opposite side looked over here with different expressions, some were envious and jealous, and some had fierce eyes.

Liu Zhaosun looked at the opposite side tit for tat, his eyes sharp and his momentum not inferior to others.

A fat civil servant wearing a third-rank official robe with a peacock patch on his chest, supported by two standard-bearers, walked quickly out of the crowd and walked towards Liu Zhaosun.

"Hahaha, it's rare to see General Liu again today. He's truly a heroic young man. In the battle of Hunhe, he defeated the Eastern Tartars and eliminated a great threat for our emperor!"

Liu Zhaosun was a little confused. He seemed to remember that he had never met Yuan Yingtai before.

Seeing Liu Zhaosun's expression, Yuan Yingtai said with some displeasure:
"General Xuanwu, your Excellency has forgotten something. Last time the capital presented the captives, I was among the officials from the six ministries observing the ceremony. At that time, I was only a minor official in the Ministry of Works, standing at the back of the crowd. The general was so proud of himself that he naturally forgot me."

Liu Zhaosun smiled awkwardly.

Kang Yingqian hurried out to smooth things over and stepped forward to salute Yuan Yingtai.

"Yuan Jinglue, this subordinate is Kang Yingqian, the Kaiyuan Military Commissioner and Military Supervisor, also known as Niandong. This is Qiao..."

Yuan Yingtai snorted. After all, he was a Jinshi and he looked down on the military supervisor who was a Wujuren.

He sees everything but doesn't say it out loud. Qiao Dazui, the martial arts scholar, was probably bought with money.

Qiao Yiqi stepped forward and saluted, but Yuan Jinglie pretended not to see it and turned to talk to Liu Zhaosun.

"Hmph! The villain succeeds!"

Qiao Dazui stood up and was about to curse, but Mao Yuanyi and others rushed forward and grabbed him from behind.

~~~~~~
Because of the butterfly effect caused by Liu Zhaosun's time travel, the originally unknown head of the Ministry of Works was promoted to the Right Censor-in-Chief in just half a year. Now he has become the Governor of Liaodong and the governor of a place with overwhelming power.

"General Xuanwu, the bloody battle at Hunhe was awe-inspiring. The Emperor read the report and was delighted! I heard that you killed over 40,000 bandits and captured the leader of the Bordered White Banner alive. This has greatly boosted our army's morale. I've been so happy that I haven't slept for several nights!"

Liu Zhaosun was about to express some humility when he felt that there was something else behind the words.

When Yuan Yingtai said this, it was obvious that he wanted to ask him for someone.

Kang Yingqian did not mention Du Du's capture in his report, and it was impossible for anyone in the capital to know that Du Du had defected to him.

In other words, either there was an internal traitor in Kaiyuan, or Yuan Jinglüe had already established connections with Liaoxi, and Zu Dashou had close contacts with the Jiannu, so he might have already known about Du Du's surrender.

If Du Du is handed back to the capital, he will be executed by slow slicing.

If this is the case, there is no need to implement the policy of transforming the Xia into the Yi.

Furthermore, if Du Du died, the foreign tribes would feel that Kaiyuan could not protect them, and who would still follow Liu Zhaosun in the future?

Therefore, no matter what, he would not hand over the leader of the Bordered White Banner.

"General Liu, what are you still standing there for? Why don't you go into the city and talk? I came to Liaodong this time primarily to commend you for your merits. The emperor will grant you a title of nobility. By the way, I'm also here to investigate the corruption of the previous governor, Xiong Tingbi..."

(End of this chapter)