The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 277 The Fire is Burning

Sun Chengzong relied on his status as the teacher of Emperor Chongzhen and his deep friendship with Zhu Youxiao, so he did not shy away from the issue of peace talks.

The great emperor of the Ming Dynasty actually surrendered to the Liaodong horse bandits (the people in the capital called Liu Zhaosun as they were). This was not only against the ancestral system, but would also make the people laugh at him if it were spread.

Fortunately, Emperor Yingzong had set an example before him, so let alone negotiating peace with the barbarians, this emperor even ordered the construction of a temple after the coup to commemorate the Oirat Grand Tutor who had captured him and led him to conquer the Ming Dynasty.

In comparison, the Chongzhen court's compromise with Kaiyuan does not seem so unbearable.

The most important thing is that compared with the Coal Hill God of War Zhu Youjian in history, although both of them have the Chongzhen reign title in front of them, their personalities are very different.

The seventeen-year-old Zhu Youxiao did not seem to be very smart, but at least he had a stable personality and did not have bipolar disorder. He would not burn bridges for the so-called face of the emperor and kill those ministers who really helped him one after another.

With this premise, General Sun dared to contact Chaotianguan and ultimately avoided the tragic fate of Chen Xinjia.

The tall Li Tiran appeared at the Ministry of Rites. He sat in the lobby, clamoring to meet with the cabinet's chief minister, Huang.

A group of officials from the Ministry of Rites stayed away from the stubborn Koreans, not daring to hit or scold them, for they were afraid that something might happen to Liu Zhaosun's envoy in their own office.

That's the consequence of losing your head.

Sun Chengzong hurried over, stood at the door, glanced at Chaotianguan, and immediately wanted to retreat.

Li Tiran exudes the unique aura of rebelliousness and unwillingness to admit defeat that is unique to Koreans.

Commander Sun shook his head. He had originally planned to leave the envoy alone for a few days to dampen his morale before continuing the talks. However, the situation had changed.

The court's spies in Shanhaiguan sent back information that Wang Zaijin and Liu Ze were in more and more frequent contact, and Shanhaiguan was in danger. Sun Chengzong was worried that if it dragged on for too long, Wang Zaijin would make up his mind and open the pass to lure the enemy without caring about the life and death of his family.

When the time comes, hundreds of thousands of Kaiyuan troops will arrive and the Ming emperor and his ministers will not have time to escape.

Although very reluctant, General Sun still skipped all the red tape, put aside his airs, and personally went to the Ministry of Rites to meet the Korean envoys.

Li Tiran brought two Kaiyuan civil affairs officers with him. The three of them were wearing foreign affairs uniforms with their collars raised high.

After exchanging greetings with Sun Chengzong, Li Tiran went straight to the point:

"The Zu family of Liaoxi colluded with Zeng Qixiao, a barbarian from the East Depot, to incite Kaiyuan officials to rebellion, persecute Kaiyuan soldiers and civilians, and plot to assassinate imperial officials. The evidence is overwhelming! Marquis Ping Liao had no choice but to lead his troops into an attack, conquering Liaoshen, Guangning, and Ningyuan in succession, eliminating this great threat to the imperial court. The ringleader has now been executed, and Liaoxi is now at peace. However, some remnants of the Zu family have fled into the interior of the country. Marquis Ping Liao has sent this envoy to negotiate with your superiors regarding entering the interior to suppress these bandits."

Without waiting for Sun Chengzong to speak, the envoy continued:
"Marquis Ping Liao has put forward twenty-one demands, and I hope that the superiors will carefully consider them:

1. Immediately hand over Xu Xianchun, Zeng Qixiao, Song Yingsheng and other culprits of the crime, and give an explanation to the 400,000 soldiers and civilians in Liaodong.

2. Border troops from all regions shall withdraw from Shanhaiguan and return to the interior. The number of troops stationed at Shanhaiguan shall not exceed 2,000 to avoid misjudgment and accidental injury with the Kaiyuan troops.

3. The remnants of the Wenxiang Sect still exist in Dengzhou, and the Kaiyuan army will be stationed in Dengzhou to assist the court in suppressing the bandits.

4. Yizhou of the Joseon Kingdom voluntarily submitted to Liaodong and is now controlled by the Kaiyuan Army. The court should encourage this kind of kingly education and not interfere.

5. No interference shall be made in the trade between Liaodong, Liaoxi and other places within the Great Wall.

········
Sun Chengzong gritted his teeth and listened to the Korean read out the Twenty-One Demands in one breath. Several civil servants around him were furious and immediately pointed at Li Tiran's nose and started cursing.

The two Hanlin scholars who came from the Hanlin Academy quoted from classics and spoke eloquently, comparing Liu Zhaosun to Gao Huan and An Lushan, and cursing Ping Liaohou for a bad death.

More and more civil servants joined the battle, waving their arms and shouting, surrounding the Kaiyuan envoys in the center.

"How dare you! You still want to invade Dengzhou? Your Ping Liao Hou has a really big appetite!"

"The common people of the Eastern Frontier, like that thief Liu, are all ungrateful!"

"Kill this barbarian and see if he dares to be disrespectful again!"

Li Tiran looked at everyone with a fierce look, not giving in at all. He slammed the table and stood up, shouting:
"Who dares? I want to see! Who of you dares? The elites of the nine frontiers are no match for Marquis Ping Liao, so how can we be afraid of you!"

"My superiors, it's useless to yell at me here. I'm merely delivering a message to Marquis Ping Liao. I've come to the capital determined to die. You can kill me or chop me up, it's all at your disposal!"

After Li Tiran finished speaking, he stretched out his neck with an awe-inspiring look, which made a senior official of the Ministry of War so angry that he covered his chest and almost fainted.

There were dense curses all around.

Li Tiran stretched his neck and saw that no one dared to kill him, so he continued:
"If this envoy cannot return safely to Shanhaiguan within three days, Ping Liaohou will personally lead an army of 400,000 into the pass to apprehend the remnants of our ancestral clan and avenge the victims!"

~~~~~~~~~
Shanhaiguan, Ping Liaohou’s central military camp.

Kang Yingqian, beaming with joy, walked into the tent humming a little tune. Before he even saw Ping Liaohou, he said with delight:
"General Liu, this is good now. We don't have to fight Shanhaiguan. We will get everything we want."

Liu Zhaosun looked up at Kang Yingqian, and seeing the smug look on his face, he asked calmly:

"How come? It's settled so quickly?"

Kang Yingqian said quickly, "How can it be so fast? I just received a secret report from the interior, saying that the capital has become a mess. The ministers have different reactions. Some say to move the capital, and some say to send the prince south..."

Liu Zhaosun sneered:

"This time, I sincerely want to negotiate peace with the imperial court, but they are trying to judge me by their own standards?"

Kang Yingqian looked at him with disdain and echoed insincerely:

"General Liu's strategy is unparalleled. If Chongzhen is not a fool, he will negotiate peace with Kaiyuan. Otherwise, he can only be emperor for three months."

Kang Yingqian had predicted that the imperial court would not gamble with the safety of the capital, and Zhu Youxiao had no choice but to negotiate peace or move south.

Needless to say, moving the capital would have been impossible without a year or two of preparation. Furthermore, most of the officials' property and families were in the capital, and they were unlikely to be willing to follow Emperor Chongzhen on his southern expedition. Surrendering to the new dynasty was clearly a wiser option.

The Battle of Western Liaoning has come to an end, and a new war is about to begin.

The psychological warfare between Kaiyuan and the imperial court has already begun, and it depends on who will give up first.

Liu Zhaosun's eyes fell on the map in the distance. After looking at it for a while, he said to Kang Yingqian:

"What's going on with Lin Danhan? He doesn't seem to have sent anyone to help in this Liaoxi campaign."

The bright smile on Kang Yingqian's face gradually disappeared, and he said in a low voice: "This Hudun Rabbit will be a disaster sooner or later. Not only does he have no faction, but he also takes advantage of our presence in Liaoxi to constantly harass other tribes."

Liu Zhaosun's eyes tightened and he thought for a while:

"I told Bumbutai at the end of last year that I would send her back to the grassland after the spring. Now the time is ripe."

In the Battle of Western Liao, most of the foreign Liao people who followed the army got some benefits. The Zu family's property in Western Liao and Central Liao was divided up by Liu Zhaosun, and the influence of Tian Khan was further enhanced.

If we raise our arms and call out on the grassland at this time, many tribes will surely respond.

Lin Danhan must not be left alive. If he is left alone and allowed to annex other tribes, he might really restore the glory of Jisi Khan and lead the Golden Family to grow and become stronger. That would be a bigger trouble than Nurhaci.

"We must root out the scourge. Lin Danhan has been treacherous and betrayed me time and again. He truly treats me, Liu Zhaosun, like a tyrant! Send Wang Zengbin to escort Bumbutai back to the grasslands and destroy the tiger squat rabbit while he's at it."

Liu Zhaosun said in a light tone that with the strength of the Kaiyuan Cavalry Battalion, it should not be difficult to defeat Hu Duntu, but it would take some time to completely wipe out the enemy.

"This battle is a show of strength, a warning to others. We must not be lax or show any softness! According to Genghis Khan's method, all males above the wheel of a wheel who dare to resist Ligdan Khan's tribe will be executed. The Mongols fear power, not virtue. Silver is not as effective as swords. Those who are enemies of Kaiyuan will be shown no mercy!"

After Jin Yuji's death, Liu Zhaosun had unconsciously transformed from one extreme to another:
In his eyes, human life is like that of an ant. Anyone who poses even the slightest threat to Kaiyuan or himself must die.

Kang Yingqian looked anxiously at his lord, who was only twenty-two years old.

He became more and more worried. Once the bodies of Jin Yuji and Yang Hao were transported back to Liaodong, who knew what terrible things would happen in this world.

"By the way, General Liu, there is one more thing."

Liu Zhaosun looked at Kang Yingqian coldly.

"The northern expedition team will depart from Liaoxi in the next few days. I wonder if Ping Liaohou is free today to send them off."

This team started to be formed last year and it took more than half a year to finally gather 120 people.

The team was led by Xu Xiake's favorite disciple, Li Sanguang, a mining official from Kaiyuan. In addition to miners, there were also Liaodong hunters, Jurchen hunters and Mongolian herdsmen.

These extras have been repeatedly brainwashed by the Discipline Department, and there is no problem with their loyalty or ability.

In addition to the armed personnel, there are also twenty craftsmen and scholars from workshops and schools who will record everything they see and hear along the way.

They were well prepared. Starting from western Liaoning, they headed north to land on Sakhalin Island and established settlements on the island until the Sixth Army escorted a large number of immigrants in.

"when are we leaving?"

"Today at 3:00 PM, we passed through Shanhaiguan."

"Remember to call me this official during the afternoon."

Liu Zhaosun is still very busy.

The king's envoy from Jin will be arriving soon, and he needs to inquire about the latest situation in the capital.
A grain route was robbed by gang members again last night, and he needed to arrange a pursuit mission;
Finally, the scout sent to Shandong to contact the Sixth Army finally returned.

He didn't know whether she was dead or alive, although he had given up hope.

But there is a fire burning in my heart.

If the fire breaks out, it will burn down Shanhaiguan and the Ming Dynasty.

I left the tent to get some fresh air and walked onto the field. In the distance, on the Shanhaiguan front, artillery groups were sporadically firing at the empty city walls. Occasionally, a few cannon shots were heard from the inner city, but no one knew where the shells flew to.

The artillery on both sides bombarded the air tacitly, as if ammunition was free.

Liu Zhaosun smiled coldly, feeling that the scene before him was familiar and very magical.

He didn't have time to think about it. He wrapped himself tightly in his outer cloak, but the sunlight didn't feel warm on his body.

He walked about a hundred steps straight to the southwest and came to a secluded place, with the guards following behind him like a tail.

Across the military camp fence, a group of Liao merchants were selling candy and tea to the Korean soldiers. The Kaiyuan army was strictly prohibited from trading with the people.

Once discovered, the offender will be punished with thirty military sticks at the lightest and beheaded at the worst.

However, the pacification troops basically did not care about these foreign invaders who followed the army to fight.

Liu Zhaosun moved closer, and the Korean soldiers and merchants were frightened and scattered when they saw a high-ranking official coming.

Only one woman was left, holding a baby in her arms. She was unable to move and was packing her load in a panic.

Two guards stepped forward quickly and pushed open the wooden fence. The vendor with the child, seeing he couldn't escape, knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.

Liu Zhaosun's eyes fell on the baby in the cradle, the midday sun shining down from above:

"Get up, how old is the child?"

The woman looked up and around, and seeing that the officer was asking her, she trembled and said:
"Replying to the military master, it's just been a month."

Liu Zhaosun asked sternly:
"Where's his dad?"

The woman looked at Ping Liaohou in fear and said anxiously:
"I went there last December when I was carrying goods in the countryside of Guangning and was killed by bandits."

The child opened his eyes wide and giggled at Ping Liaohou.

Liu Zhaosun said nothing, took out a piece of silver and stuffed it into the woman's hand.

"Raise this child well, and find a job at a Ningyuan shop. Then tell them that Marquis Ping Liao introduced you."

After Liu Zhaosun finished speaking, he took his guards back to the central military tent.

Look up at the southern sky.

"Jin Yuji, if our child were still alive, he would be this old, right?"

(End of this chapter)