The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 213 Minions
In the distant Hetuala, the traveler was in a coma and he dreamed of the talking lion again.

"The young dragon slayer will eventually transform into a dragon, and the evil dragon's minions will eventually disperse. Your soldiers are slaughtering the people. You have betrayed your original intention. Is this the end of the story?"

"No, the story has just begun."

~~~~
The morning light is dim.

The central army guards came to the Khan's palace with the general's flag. When the Kaiyuan soldiers saw the flag of Ping Liaohou, they shouted "Ten Thousand Victories".

The news of Liu Zhaosun's injury was strictly kept secret, and no one else knew about it except a few trusted ministers.

Sun Chuanting and Kang Yingqian rode side by side on two horses. Both of them had red and swollen eyes because they had not slept all night.

At this moment, both of them were quite excited, and behind them were groups of Kaiyuan generals.

There is no room for a power vacuum. Just a few hours after Liu Zhaosun fell into a coma, people from all walks of life began to take sides.

Taking the bloody battle of Kaiyuan in the 47th year of Wanli as the time point, most of the generals who joined Kaiyuan before that chose to support Kang Yingqian, while those who came later expressed their support for Sun Chuanting.

The Kaiyuan military group founded by Ping Liaohou faced the tragic fate of disintegration three hours after losing its leader.

The two chief officers reined in their horses and stood under the central army flag, waving to the thousands of troops, as if they were the ones in charge of Kaiyuan.

"Wan Sheng! Wan Sheng!"

Kang Yingqian held a triangular command flag, which was held by Ping Liaohou himself and symbolized supreme power. After Liu Zhaosun fell into a coma, the flag somehow ended up in Kang Yingqian's hands.

"Marquis Ping Liao was right. Lord Sun is very resourceful. He gathered these 5,000 bannermen, no, common people, overnight and even had them build trench-filling equipment. Filling the trench is now a piece of cake. Today, we'll see Lord Sun clear the holes and plow the fields, and achieve an unprecedented feat!"

Ever since Liu Zhaosun used Yuan Chonghuan, Kang Yinggan has been wary of Yuan Dudu. Among all the people, Yuan Chonghuan, who was a Jinshi and had extraordinary courage and insight, was the most threatening and was likely to replace Kang Yinggan.

But no one expected that Sun Chuanting would appear in the end.

Just now, this person won the hearts of the people with a few nonsense words, as if he was competing with Kang Yingqian.

A grudge was formed between the two of them.

When Sun Chuanting first arrived in Kaiyuan, Kang Yingqian took good care of him. Now this man is repaying his kindness with enmity and wants to seize power. The more Kang Yingqian thinks about it, the angrier he becomes.

"They're not all civilians, there are also some bondservants. Inspector Kang, don't worry. Lord Yuan has already rushed to the rescue from Kuandian. Together with his 3,000 elite troops, we can easily wipe out the Jiannu."

"Sir Sun, I thought you were just talking, but I didn't expect you to actually use civilians to fill the trenches! You're truly ruthless! I admire you!"

When Kang Yingqian heard Sun Chuanting using Yuan Chonghuan to pressure him, he flew into a rage and feigned surprise:
"You and I both know the character of Ping Liaohou. If he knew that you slaughtered civilians and used them to fill the trenches, have you ever thought about what would happen to you?"

"General Kang, I'm different from you. I don't act for personal gain! Justice is in the hearts of the people!"

Sun Chuanting was too lazy to argue with him, so he just refuted him and stopped talking.

At this time, a messenger was seen coming from afar.

"My two superiors, we are ready. Chief Deng Qian asks, when will we begin?"

Before Kang Yingqian could speak, Sun Chuanting said loudly:

"General Ping Liao Hou orders us to fill the trenches immediately. Anyone who dares to disobey or retreat will be killed without mercy! Carry out the order!"

Kang Yinggan's beard trembled as he suppressed the anger in his chest.

Sun Chuanting pointed at an adjutant beside Kang Yingqian and said in a deep voice:
"Zhang Dianli, how is the coffin and pottery jar I asked you to prepare two hours ago?"

Zhang Dianli was bewildered when he heard this. He had long forgotten about this assignment.

"Please forgive me, Lord Sun. It's a chaotic time, and we're in Tartar territory. Where can we find coffins and pottery jars..."

Sun Chuanting's eyes were sharp and he said in a deep voice:
"So, you're not prepared?"

Zhang Dianli was about to argue, but Sun Chuanting waved his hand and said:

"How can you be so negligent in dealing with important military and national affairs? You're treating the lives of tens of thousands of people like a joke. Come on, drag him away and chop him off!"

Two pacification soldiers immediately stepped forward and dragged Zhang Dianli away without saying a word.

Kang Yingqian said angrily:

"Who dares?!"

Sun Chuanting looked at Kang Yingqian carefully and changed his tone:
"Since General Kang is begging for mercy, then I'll give him thirty military sticks!"

The two pacification soldiers dragged the official to a distance of more than ten steps and beat him with military sticks in front of thousands of soldiers. The military sticks hit Zhang Dianli with a loud bang. Kang Yingqian's face flushed red and he pointed at Sun Chuanting and cursed:

"Good! Good of you, Sun Baigu! Even when beating a dog, you still need to look at the owner. You are so unruly, do you really think you are Yu Shaobao?!"

"Taking advantage of Marquis Ping Liao's coma, you want to single-handedly turn the tide and seize power in Kaiyuan? No way! I'm not afraid to tell you that Marquis Ping Liao and I are close friends. If you act presumptuously and trespass like Yu Qian, you'll end up being hacked to pieces!"

Sun Chuanting snatched the banner and said with disdain:

"Marquis Ping Liao was arrogant and indulged the enemy, lacking strategy in the face of danger! He endangered the lives of thousands of soldiers. If anyone is to be punished, he should be punished first! The army is in danger now! I have to make the necessary decisions. I don't have time to waste on you! I have made plans for Kaiyuan and have a clear conscience! Get out of the way!"

After saying that, Sun Chuanting whipped his horse and rushed straight towards Kang Yingqian's mount. Kang Yingqian quickly dodged, still cursing to himself.

Sun Chuanting came to the front of the army.

"Start the war!"

The command flag pointed forward, and the golden drummer immediately beat the war drum, and the powerful drum sound resounded throughout the city of Hetuala.

The trench-filling armor rushed towards the Khan's palace position like a tide.

Kang Yingqian stared at Sun Chuanting's back fiercely, gritting his teeth:
"When villains gain power, gentlemen are in danger. You are such an ungrateful person, Sun Chuanting! Wait until Ping Liaohou wakes up, and see how I will deal with you!"

~~~~
More than 5,000 able-bodied men crowded into the narrow passage, about to begin filling the trench.

No one cares whether these people are bondservants or good servants of the Later Jin masters.

Sun Chuanting's standard for judging baoyi was very simple: there was a rat-tail braid on the back of the head.

Teams of pacification soldiers, armed with longbows and muskets, stood behind the bannermen to supervise. They had received orders that anyone who dared to retreat would be killed immediately.

Sun Chuanting looked at the Han people who had been assimilated into the Jurchen system with a complicated look in his eyes. He knew that there were many Han civilians among these 5,000 people, but since things had come to this point, he could not care about that.

Sun Chuanting was a Jinshi graduate, well-read in the books of sages and devoted to Confucianism. In the past two years, he had traveled with Ping Liaohou throughout the Ming Dynasty and witnessed the suffering of the people.

There were many people who sold their children and castrated themselves to get official positions. His faith in the court and Confucius had long been completely shattered.

Since the kingly way cannot save the world, then we will resort to hegemonic ways. In order to destroy the Later Jin Dynasty, what does it matter if a few civilians die?

If it is true as Kang Yingqian said, there will be a reckoning later, and it would be fine for him to bear the crime of slaughtering the people on behalf of Ping Liaohou.

Sun Chuanting sighed, feeling that Kaiyuan's future was quite bleak, and perhaps it would really fall apart after this battle.

The artillerymen were busy collecting gunpowder everywhere, piling bags of gunpowder into baskets, and when the trenches were filled, they would prepare to transport it to the foot of the city.

Zhang Dianli, whose buttocks were broken, quickly asked people to search the city for coffins and porcelain jars.

The soldiers would use these things to seal the gunpowder and push it into the gap in the city wall to blast it. It was said that this would make the explosion more powerful.

This trick was learned from Song Yingxing. As for how effective it is, Sun Chuanting has no idea because Song Yingxing has never used it either.

Sun Chuanting looked forward and prayed silently in his heart, hoping that the trench filling would go smoothly.

Two crudely made trench-filling vehicles staggered onto the passage. These vehicles were slightly smaller than shield vehicles and filled with earth and rocks. There was a thick vertical plate in front to protect against arrows and stones. Due to the tight schedule, the trench-filling vehicles were made very hastily and there was no time to make protective plates on both sides.

Apart from these two nominal trench-filling vehicles, the bondservants had no other protection, and none of them wore armor. They could only pray that their master would show mercy and not kill them later.

Many people have participated in the construction of these trenches and know that the position is dangerous. However, the temptation of women and silver is huge, and there are soldiers threatening them behind them. If they retreat, they will die, but if they rush forward, they may be able to fight for a future.

The bondmen carried bags of sand and followed two crude trench-filling vehicles, stepping onto the slippery road and stumbling towards the trench.

A black mass of prisoners crowded the passage. The people in front poured bags of sand into the trench and hurriedly retreated with the empty bags.

The two trenches near the front of the formation were filled with sand and soil. The trench-filling vehicle moved forward more than ten steps and gradually entered the range of the Later Jin bows and arrows.

A dense rain of arrows rose from behind the breastwork, pouring down and being blocked by the thick planks in front of the trench filler.

The exposed eunuchs on both sides were hit by arrows and fell to the ground screaming and crying.

More Baoyi hid behind the trench-filling carts. Fifty steps away, no matter whether light arrows or heavy arrows were shot, they could not cause any harm to them.

The guards who rushed up from behind stepped on the bodies of their companions and continued to throw bags of earth and rocks into the ditch. Soon two more trenches were filled, and the trench-filling vehicles were getting closer and closer to the breastwork.

Sun Chuanting looked at the pile of corpses and sea of blood in front of him, his expression becoming more and more calm.

At this rate, the outer trenches and horse traps will soon be filled, and the demise of the Later Jin will be getting closer and closer.

(End of this chapter)