The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 270 Cutting Off (I)

The next day, Kang Yingqian and Wang Zaijun finalized the details of the Battle of Shanhaiguan, chatted for half a day, said goodbye to his classmates and old friends, and rushed back to the general's office to report the situation to Ping Liaohou.

After the army entered the city, Ping Liaohou's central military tent was moved to Ningyuan General's Mansion, which was the original residence of Zu Dashou.

In other words, Liu Zhaosun occupied his enemy's nest, which is what is meant by "the cuckoo occupying the magpie's nest."

Kang Yingqian rode his horse through Chunhemen Street. Rows of Kaiyuan pacification soldiers stood on both sides of the street, beheading groups of tied-up Ming soldiers.

The killing never stopped.

Zu Dashou's confidants had all been killed, and the next to be killed were the Shaanxi soldiers who participated in the resistance.

According to the order of General Ping Liaohou, all the officers of Shaanxi Town in the city, above the rank of captain, except Wu Zimian, were beheaded.

In the past few days, there have been countless heads of people killed in Ningyuan City, and the border troops have begun to worry whether Ping Liaohou will go back on his word.

Killing prisoners is unlucky.

However, Ping Liaohou's wife and father-in-law both died in Shandong, and it was done by the Jinyiwei and Liaozhen people.

There is no guarantee that Liu Zhaosun will not retaliate.

Zu Dashou's entire family was wiped out and all their property was confiscated. Liu Zhaosun gave out three million taels of silver as a reward to the foreign tribes and Liao people who accompanied the army on the expedition.

All of the family's properties in western Liaoning, including factories, mines, shops, fertile fields and beautiful houses, were taken over by Ping Liao Hou.

Kang Yingqian felt that killing a chicken to scare the monkeys was necessary. If he wanted to win over these generals, it would be better to let them bleed, even if it was someone else's blood, than to give them money. However, killing so many people at once was too cruel.

The guards escorted General Kang to the General's Mansion in Xicheng.

The Ningyuan General's Mansion was crowded with people. In addition to the more than 300 guards of the Central Army, there were also some military and political officials. Kang Yingqian even saw Xia Chenshi, the Ningyuan Guard who had been sent away by him a few days ago. Xia Chenshi insisted on giving his daughter to Ping Liaohou as a maid.

Seeing Kang Yingqian dismount, Deng Changxiong stepped forward:
"General Kang, you're back! Marquis Ping Liao is staying indoors today, even to us. He has many matters in the city that need his decision. Please go in and take a look."

Kang Yinggan looked at the two of them, then looked at Xie Yang, Ma Shiying, Sen Ti and others standing around, sighed, and walked to the door and started knocking.

The guard poked his head out from the crack in the door and saw Kang Yingqian, and whispered:

"General Kang, the Marquis of Ping Liao is not seeing any guests today."

He was about to close the door when Kang Yingqian saw him and quickly stepped forward to push the door open.
"I have an urgent matter. Go in and report it to General Liu. Tell him it's about Wendeng and that I have another secret to report!"

~~~~~
The study of the Ningyuan General's Mansion.

Behind a rather delicate ivory and rhinoceros horn screen, calligraphy and paintings were scattered all over the room, and several broken Ge kiln porcelain pen holders had been thrown to the ground and shattered.

Kang Yingqian had followed Ping Liaohou for the past few years and had seen quite a bit of the world. However, the luxury of Zu Dashou's study was far beyond his imagination. He thought that only the Confucius Mansion in Qufu could barely compare with it.

Faced with a room full of rare treasures, Kang Yingqian forgot the purpose of his visit for a moment. He found two Annan ivory and gold-inlaid jade pen holders and an agate paperweight from a pile of ancient books from the Tang and Song dynasties. He played with them in his hands and could not help but marvel at them.

"Such a good thing, but it's in the hands of a warrior like Zu Dashou. It's such a waste. What a pity."

He turned his eyes to the bookshelf in the distance, and saw Ping Liaohou staring at the sheepskin map in a daze.

Kang Yingqian didn't say anything. He put down a few treasures and tiptoed in.

Ever since Ping Liaohou learned from Zu Dashou that Jin Yuji was killed and Yang Hao died tragically, his temperament began to change drastically.

He used to be talkative, but now he speaks less and less. Except for necessary military orders, sometimes he doesn't say a word for half a day.

What is even more disturbing is that the Marquis of Ping Liao, who used to be upright and kind to others, suddenly became sinister and cruel.

After Zu Dashou was burned to death, all 1523 members of the Zu family in Ningyuan City were beheaded, except for Zu Dashou's mother who was over 80 years old and a grandson who was less than three years old.

After wiping out the entire family, Liu Zhaosun still felt it was not enough, and ordered the excavation of the ancestral tombs of his family in the suburbs of Ningyuan. Except for Zu Dashou's father Zu Chengxun, all the other tombs were turned into ashes.

Zu Chengxun was an old friend of Liu Jing. During the Wanli period of aiding Korea, the two fought side by side and made important contributions to repelling the Japanese pirates.

These changes in Ping Liaohou had terrified everyone around him. Even Zhang Mazi, the brutal executioner, had been speaking cautiously to Liu Zhaosun these past few days, fearing he might anger him. "Ping Liaohou, Wang Zaijin has agreed to help us negotiate peace with the imperial court."

Kang Yingqian walked over nonchalantly and sat down on a sandalwood armchair next to the bookshelf. He picked up the peach blossom cup and filled it up for himself, then spoke loudly to Ping Liaohou.

Liu Zhaosun's eyes fell on the southern Liaoning area on the map and he did not hear Kang Yingqian speak.

"Marquis Ping Liao?"

"Oh, it's you."

Liu Zhaosun looked dazed.

"Now that we have Wang Zaijin's help, the peace talks with the imperial court are more secure. I wonder when Ping Liaohou will attack Shanhaiguan. I have already made an agreement with Wang Zaijin to help him gain military merits when the time comes. This will make it easier for him to negotiate with the imperial court when he returns to the capital."

Liu Zhaosun put a Jiajing edition of "Han Feizi" back on the bookshelf and flicked the dust from his fingers.

Zu Dashou had countless books in his house, but he never read any of them properly.

"Call the officers of the guest army. I will personally inform them how to get along with the Kaiyuan army in the future."

Liu Zhaosun knew that after this battle, Wang Zaijin's standing in the eyes of the enemy generals would inevitably decline significantly, and it was no longer possible to rely on him to control his subordinates. Therefore, the final peace plan still had to be finalized personally with the military leaders of the Nine Frontiers.

After hearing this, Kang Yingqian quickly agreed:
"Marquis Ping Liao is indeed very thoughtful. From what I've seen in this army, everyone wants to be the second Li Chengliang. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it would be hard to believe. It's only been less than twenty years since the three great expeditions of the Wanli Emperor."

While Kang Yingqian was still sighing, Liu Zhaosun had already slowly walked out of the study and headed towards the back garden of the general's mansion.

Kang Yingqian hurriedly followed.

"Ningyuan is short on food and cannot support so many captives. Wang Zaijin cannot control these military leaders. This matter must be arranged as soon as possible. The 30,000 surrendered foreign troops in the city will be sent back to the interior, and the rest will be escorted to Kaiyuan. Without further delay, we will host a banquet here tomorrow night for Wu Zimian and his men. Supervisor Kang, send someone to tell these military leaders that anyone who does not attend the banquet tomorrow night will be an enemy of Liu Zhaosun."

"Whoever is my enemy is dead."

Kang Yingqian said nervously:

"I just got news from Korea. Pei Dahu and Shen Lian escorted Yang Jinglie to Shandong. They killed a group of Japanese pirates on the way. Only a few of them escaped to Korea and were captured by our people. Zu Dashou's words may be hurtful. Madam may still be alive..."

Liu Zhaosun was so angry that he didn't even listen to Kang Yingqian's words. He just kept saying:

"The war in southern Liaoning should be over. Once Yuan Chonghuan takes Lushun, I will personally go to Dengzhou to exact revenge. I will kill Song Yingsheng and exterminate his entire clan."

"But, Marquis Ping Liao, we still need to negotiate peace with the imperial court."

Liu Zhaosun stood under an ancient pine tree. He had not slept all night last night, and his red eyes were covered by the shadow of the tree.

"Negotiation is a matter between Kaiyuan and Daming. Killing people is my personal matter."

Kang Yingqian felt a chill in his heart.

Before they knew it, they had reached the back garden of the general's mansion.

But I saw a peach grove in the garden, with thousands of fragrant and beautiful trees, and branches like clouds.

Kang Yingqian was walking on the fallen petals all over the ground, and he was inspired to write a poem.

I looked up and saw that Ping Liaohou had a gloomy expression on his face.

"Western Liaoning is indeed different from Eastern Liaoning. The peach blossoms bloom earlier..."

Kang Yingqian changed the subject and prepared to talk about some interesting stories in western Liaoning to ease the atmosphere.

But a cold light flashed.

Liu Zhaosun drew his sword and cut off a bunch of charming and beautiful peach branches with the goose-feather sword, and the branches fell to the ground.

(End of this chapter)