The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 268 Send him a Little White Boat
The unconscious Zu Dashou was dragged into the tent by guards, along with the Zu family's head servant and a portly servant. The guards, wielding short guns and swords, stared intently at the two men kneeling on the ground.

When the two men saw Liu Zhaosun sitting at the top, they both kowtowed to him.

Ping Liaohou withdrew his gaze from the corpses scattered outside the tent and quickly glanced at the two of them.

Zhang Dong came closer and whispered a few words.

Before meeting Ping Liaohou, the leader of the pacification troops had briefly interrogated the two men and had a general understanding of their situation.

After listening to Zhang Mazi's words, Ping Liaohou slowly opened his eyes and looked forward:

"Zu Dashou, were you the ones who caught him?"

The two looked at each other, and one of them, the short and strong one, nodded quickly and said flatteringly:

"Lord Liu, my name is Wang Rong. I was the one who captured Zu Dashou. I captured him all by myself."

After he finished speaking, he looked at his kneeling companion with disdain and said disdainfully:
"He was just a cook. He was lucky enough to escape."

Zhang Dong swung the scabbard and hit Wang Rong, saying angrily:

"Just answer whatever the adults ask, don't be so long-winded!"

Wang Rong quickly shut up.

Liu Zhaosun said sternly, "Are you the head servant of Zu Dashou's household?"

Wang Rong realized that the situation was not good and quickly waved his hands to explain:

"Lord Liu, I am wronged. I am originally from Luanjiazhuang, Shenyang. I was captured here by Liaozhen in the 40th year of the Wanli reign. I know a little archery, but Zu Dashou forced me to do bad things. I have been trying to expose Zu Dashou's crimes to the court. Thank goodness, Lord Liu, you have captured him today..."

The servant kept on rambling, and Liu Zhaosun interrupted him with a wave of his hand:

"Have you been following the Zu family for ten years?"

Wang Rong, who was kneeling on the ground, nodded in confusion.

"As the head of the household servants, Zu Dashou treated you well. But in times of crisis, not only did you not protect your master, you betrayed him! Stain your official robes with his blood. Back when I was at Sarhu, all eight hundred household servants under my command died in battle; not a single one surrendered! I hate treacherous people the most. Over the years you've followed the Zu family, you've bullied men and women a lot."

Liu Zhaosun raised his voice several times and slammed the table:

"Last winter, my family colluded with the East Depot and sent people into Kaiyuan to indiscriminately kill innocent people. They incited Song Yingsheng to defect, ambushed my guard in southern Liaoning, killed Captain Zhang Chao and others, and even went to Shandong to kill my wife. Were you involved in all of this?"

"Come here, take him to the city of Ningyuan and execute him by slow slicing!"

Wang Rong's face was pale, his forehead was covered with sweat, and he kowtowed and begged for mercy:

"Sir, please spare my life! Please spare my life. I was forced to do this. It was Zu Dashou's idea to kill the Kaiyuan soldiers. It has nothing to do with me... Didn't you say that as long as you capture Zu Dashou, you will be granted a thousand households and rewarded with silver..."

A group of guards immediately rushed up, grabbed the servants and dragged them out. Many brothers of the central army guards were killed in southern Liaoning. When enemies met, they were extremely jealous of each other.

Liu Zhaosun raised his hand slightly, and the guards stopped in place, waiting for orders.

"Wait, I remember saying this."

Wang Rong breathed a sigh of relief, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

He was about to kowtow and thank the Marquis of Ping Liao.

A cold voice sounded in the tent:

"In that case, I will skin you alive first, then posthumously confer the title of Qian Hu (a thousand households), and the five thousand taels of silver as a reward. I will keep it for you. You can go with peace of mind."

The hope that Wang Rong had just ignited was instantly shattered. Liu Zhaosun gently waved his hand at those dead eyes.

The guards rushed forward, pulling the head servant's limbs and dragging him out like a dead dog.

The captured Liaozhen generals in the tent saw this scene and dared not breathe a word. He Kegang was tied up and struggled and shouted:

"Liu Zhaosun, if you want to kill me, then go ahead. I'll take your surname if I frown!"

Zhang Dong stepped forward to hit someone but was stopped by Ping Liaohou.

"Captain He, I'm sorry to have wronged you. I need to take care of some personal matters first. I'll talk to you again after I'm done."

"You killed innocent people..."

He Kegang wanted to curse more, but Zhang Dong stuffed a rag into his mouth.

Liu Zhaosun nodded to the fierce general of Liaozhen and turned to look forward.

Zu Dashou was still asleep, and the fat cook next to him was shaking with fear, with a puddle of water on the ground beneath his feet.

Liu Zhaosun suppressed his murderous intent and looked up at the cook:
"Are you from Huguang? How did you come to western Liaoning?"

The fat cook shuddered and stammered:
"Replying to Lord Liu, I'm originally from Junzhou, Huguang. I ran a tea shop at Caodian Wharf in Junzhou. In the 37th year of the Wanli reign, General Zu went to Mount Wudang to pay homage. He praised my delicious cooking and brought me to Liaoxi."

Liu Zhaosun looked at the fat man and said with a pleasant expression:

"What's your name?"

"My name is Tan Er. I like to add two spoonfuls of soup when I cook, so everyone calls me Tan Ershao."

A rare smile appeared on Liu Zhaosun's gloomy face. In this chaotic time of war, he didn't expect to meet his fellow townsmen in western Liaoning.

"Ershao, I'm also from Junzhou, my home is at the foot of Wudang Mountain. I heard from Officer Zhang that you're an honest man and haven't done anything wrong. I'll give you some money. Hurry and leave this troubled place and return to Junzhou."

When Tan Ershao heard that Ping Liaohou said he would not kill him and would give him money for travel, he was deeply moved.

He hesitated for a moment, then said:
"Lord Liu, Zu Dashou has committed many evil deeds in Liaoxi. Few of his servants are good people. Over the years, they have abused women and plundered the people. You have destroyed Zu's family today to eliminate this evil for the people. We in Junzhou have a good official like you, like Chen Shimei. It is a blessing for the people. I have been away from home for almost ten years, and I am afraid I can never go back."

When he heard the name Chen Shimei, his heart skipped a beat. Wasn’t this guy the villain in the Chen Shimei case?
Judging from Ershao's tone, this person has a very good reputation among the people.

But I don’t have time to study the case of the beheading of Mei now.

I looked at Ershao carefully, and the more I looked, the more I felt that I had a connection with this fellow villager.

If Jin Yu Ji were still alive, she would also be in confinement after giving birth.

We need to hire a cook.

He looked at Zhang Dong and whispered:

"Take him to Instructor Sen for some instruction. If there are no problems, send him to the General's Mansion and have him cook for me."

At this time, Zu Dashou sat up from the ground staggeringly.

He finally woke up.

Liu Zhaosun glanced at Zu Dashou and said nothing.

This was the second time the two met. The first time was in Shenyang City in April of the 47th year of the Wanli reign.

That time, he and Zu Dashou almost got into a fight.

It was from then on that the two began to officially become enemies.

Now, Zu Dashou sat slumped on the ground, no longer as rebellious as before.

Zhang Dong shouted loudly and ordered Zu Dashou to kneel down.

"You bastard! I'm going to skin you alive today on behalf of the people of Kaiyuan!"

Liu Zhaosun waved to Zhang Dong, stood up from his seat, and walked straight to Zu Dashou.

Liu Zhaosun looked at his enemy calmly, so quietly that it was frightening.

Zu Dashou was intimidated by this aura and said nervously, "If I hadn't let Ding Bi and the others cause trouble for you at the Liaodong Governor's Mansion three years ago, would the Zu family have ended up like this?"

Liu Zhaosun's face was calm and he shook his head slightly.

Veins popped up on Zu Dashou's face and he cursed.

All of a sudden, General Zu remembered a lot of things.

All three thousand family servants were lost, Ningyuan was about to fall, and there was no land left in Liaoxi. The family business of three generations was destroyed today in the hands of Liu Zhaosun.

He raised his head with difficulty, his eyes filled with resentment and unwillingness.

Suddenly, he grinned.

"Liu Zhaosun, Song Yingsheng and the others succeeded in Shandong. You didn't know yet, did you? Your women and children are all dead. Hahaha! I only got the news before Ningyuan was besieged, so I didn't have time to tell you."

"Liu Zhaosun, don't you want to be the emperor? If you can't even protect your woman, how can you be the emperor? And your father-in-law Yang Hao, do you know how he died? It was because..."

"Give him a little white boat and let him set sail with his brother."

Liu Zhaosun's voice choked with sobs and he looked up at Zhang Dong.

Zhang Mazi, with a ferocious look on his face, nodded.

~~~~·
On that day, generals Zu Dashou, Zu Dabi, He Kegang and others were captured. A total of 2,000 soldiers and servants were captured in Liaozhen, and the rest were killed by civilians. Liaozhen was thus destroyed.

Of the 5,000 troops that went out of Xuanfu Town to pursue the enemy, only less than 1,000 escaped in the end, and 3,000 officers and soldiers below the rank of lieutenant general were captured.

For the next two days, the defenders hid in the city and dared not show their heads.

The foreign soldiers' fighting spirit was not as strong as that of Liaozhen. Now that Zu Dashou is dead and Liaozhen is destroyed, naturally no one will defend Ningyuan as their home ground anymore.

As the siege continued, not only several generals and lieutenant generals, but even the military supervisor and the governor began to think of surrendering.

The Kaiyuan army continued to dig tunnels and pile up earth.

The range of the artillery fire from the city walls was not enough to cover the mounds behind the earth wall.

The defenders in the city could only watch in despair as the mound grew higher and higher until it was taller than the city wall.

On November 28, Wu Zimian could no longer bear it and led 300 servants out of the city to attack.

As a result, the troops of Yansui Town were killed by the ambushed Kaiyuan Army, leaving behind more than 60 corpses. Wu Zimian fled back to the city in panic.

From then on, no one dared to go out of the city to fight in the wild.

On the first day of December, under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of soldiers on and below the city walls, a small white boat was pushed into the moat.

Zu Dashou, the general commander of Ningyuan, and Zu Dabi, the lieutenant general of Guangning, were tied in a small boat and soaked in kerosene.

Ping Liaohou, surrounded by the guards of the central army, came to the front of the moat. Above the endless camp, there came thunderous cheers of victory.

Liu Zhaosun took a large bow from Deng Changxiong.

The boiling noises immediately subsided.

Kang Yingqian handed over a light arrow with the arrowhead dipped in tung oil.

Liu Zhaosun took out a lighter and moved a little closer, and the arrow immediately ignited.

On the city walls and outside the city walls, hundreds of thousands of eyes were looking towards this side.

On the top of Chunhe Gate, the Liaodong Governor and the eunuch military supervisor led a group of generals from the nine frontiers, looking at Liu Zhaosun who was drawing his bow and arrow with complicated expressions.

Liu Zhaosun's eyes were filled with tears.

He forced himself to take out the amber ring that Jin Yuji had given him from his bosom, put it on his right thumb, gently pulled the bowstring, and adjusted the position of the ring.

Finally, he looked at the small white boat floating on the river fifty steps away and closed his eyes gently.

The Korean nursery rhyme sung by Jin Yuji rang in his ears again.

blue sky galaxy
There is a little white boat

There is an osmanthus tree on the boat

White rabbit playing

The oars are invisible

There's no sail on the boat.

The thumb suddenly released, the bowstring was quickly pulled apart, and the light arrow flew out of the string, rising quickly into the air with a buzzing sound.

A moment later, the little white boat on the moat was engulfed in flames.

Liu Zhaosun stood on the shore, watching the burning planks, watching his brothers struggling and twitching in the fire, and watching the boat disintegrate bit by bit.

He looked calm.

Until the sound of burning coals colliding with river water came from the distance.

Until the stench of burning human flesh wafted over the river.

Until everything turns to nothingness.

Ping Liaohou slowly turned around and walked back to his army.

More than 500 evil servants of the Zu family were tied up and made to kneel in front of the moat facing the city wall.

Zhang Dong walked cautiously to the side of Ping Liaohou.

Liu Zhaosun had no expression on his face:
"Kill him!"

~~~~~~
On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the birthday of Marquis Ping Liao, the earthen mounds around the city wall were all completed and the general attack began.

At the beginning of the afternoon, the artillery battalion concentrated a total of 460 artillery pieces of various types and launched covering fire on the battlements of the city wall from all sides.

Four hundred field guns were pushed onto a mound more than six feet high. The field guns were two miles away, firing at the top of Ningyuan City from a high position.

The infantry field artillery bombarded the city walls at a rate of five rounds per minute. Although their power was not as great as that of the Red Cannon, under such high-speed and intensive bombardment, the Ningyuan Red Cannon had no ability to fight back.

What’s even worse is that they are in an upward firing position and their range is not as good as that of the Kaiyuan field guns.

Amidst the lightning and thunder, thick white smoke covered the long front line. The artillery mounts retreated, and hundreds of iron bullets weighing two to ten pounds rushed out of the muzzles and poured down on the city walls like raindrops.

Dust suddenly flew up inside and outside the city wall. Bricks, stones and wood were overturned in the air and fell like raindrops, occasionally with broken human flesh.

The red cannons mounted on the city walls were destroyed by the field artillery from above.

The wooden gun carriage was hit and wood chips flew everywhere, and the gunners nearby were all killed or injured.

The surviving gunners sat slumped behind the battlements, with body parts scattered all over the ground. Everyone looked up in confusion, as if they had just woken up, at the Kaiyuan artillery group that was constantly spewing flames around Ningyuan.

The sound of collapsing bricks and stones continued to come from behind the city wall, mixed with many screams and panicked calls.

After three rounds of shelling, Sen Ti and the instructor climbed onto the mound, raised a loudspeaker and spoke to the devastated city wall.

"Liaozhen and Xuanfuzhen have been destroyed, Zu Dashou is dead, Kaiyuan has no grudges against you, the enemy troops, you no longer need to defend Ningyuan! Ping Liaohou has issued an order! I cannot bear to hurt innocent people, so surrender immediately and I will give you a chance to live! That was just a test of the artillery, and more artillery will be shipped from Guangning! In one hour, my 400,000-strong Kaiyuan army will launch a general attack on Ningyuan! Those who stubbornly resist will all suffer the same fate as Zu Dashou!"

Half an hour later, the gate of Chunhe Gate was slowly pulled up from the inside.

Wang Zaijin, the governor of Liaodong, led a group of foreign troops, generals and lieutenant generals, took off their armor and bared their bodies, and surrendered outside the city.

(End of this chapter)