The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 29 Ambition
In the first year of the Wanli reign, the imperial court decided to build Kuandian, Yongdian, Dadian, Changdian, and Xindian, collectively known as the "Five Forts." By the fourth year of the Wanli reign, the "Five Forts" were complete. Kuandian was appointed a lieutenant general, schools and temples were established, and troops were stationed in the area to cultivate farmland. From a barren area, it became a major town in Liaodong.

Among the five forts, Kuandian is the most important one, as it is connected to Fengcheng in the west, Huanren in the north, Benxi in the northwest, and faces North Korea across the river in the east.

Historically, this "treasure land" played a significant role in Nurhaci's development and growth. After the Battle of Sarhu, Kuandian was occupied by the Later Jin. Most of the local people joined the Eight Banners and became bondservants, providing a large number of soldiers for the Later Jin.

However, due to the appearance of Liu Zhaosun, the trajectory of history has changed. In this dimension, the Bordered Blue Banner was defeated at Hunjiang River and temporarily unable to move south.

So the surrender to the Jiannu did not happen.

At the insistence of Kang Yingqian and Qiao Yiqi, Liu Zhaosun had to abandon his original plan and decided to bury the deceased in Kuandian. Because the road from Kuandian to Shenyang was even more difficult to travel, transporting thousands of corpses on a march was impossible.

Moreover, before burying his comrades, he also needed to solve the problem of food and fodder for the army.

According to the Ming Dynasty military system, when foreign soldiers passed through the border for a full day, the local government would be responsible for providing them with horse feed, food and other supplies they needed.

Just when Liu Zhaosun was worried that the Kuandian garrison would make things difficult for him, the other side immediately opened the granary and allocated 5,000 shi of grain to the Eastern Army. All the grain and grass needed by the Eastern Army were supplied.

The local garrison commander showed no airs of superiority in front of Liu Zhaosun, the captain of a thousand troops.

Of course, they didn't dare to put on airs. The captain Liu standing before them was no ordinary captain. The army he brought with him to Kuandian numbered 10,000. These 10,000 Ming soldiers had just returned from battle, and each one was filled with murderous intent.

Moreover, Liu Zhaosun has a good relationship with the Sichuan soldiers and has the support of the military supervisor behind him. Perhaps there are people in the court who support him.

Such a person is not someone a local guerrilla or lieutenant general would dare to offend easily.

More importantly, Kuandian is not short of food now.

Before the Battle of Sarhu, the officials envisioned clearing the holes and plowing the yard.

How the army escorted Nurhaci and his sons from Liaodong to Beijing after their triumphant return.

For this purpose, Yang Jinglue specially prepared extra food and fodder for Nurhaci and his subordinates to eat.

The Celestial Empire must ensure that the captives do not starve to death and send them to the capital alive.

Now that the four armies have been defeated, the food and fodder previously stored to supply the captured Jiannu are of no use.

At this time, food and supplies were piled high in Kuandian City, and the local garrison commander thought the Eastern Route Army was coming to rob them. The Kuandian garrison commander had also coveted a lot of things this time, and they had a guilty conscience. Furthermore, the Eastern Route Army had been harassed everywhere along the way, and they had just killed so many people, so they were not easy to deal with. Therefore, the Kuandian garrison commander simply gave all the remaining food and supplies to Liu Zhaosun and his men.

At Kang Yingqian's reminder, Liu Zhaosun took out some silver to bribe several generals, and also returned 20% of the grain he had been allocated to them.

Kang Yinggan stroked his beard and smiled, feeling that Liu Zhaosun was getting better and better. At this rate, combined with his own efforts, it was only a matter of time before he was promoted to lieutenant general.

Liu Zhaosun had been in the army for many years and was no longer surprised by all kinds of embezzlement.

During the Ming Dynasty, the food and wages allocated by the imperial court never reached the soldiers in full.

Various levies resulted in insufficient military pay, so the government had to continue to increase taxes. When the taxes were increased too much, the people could no longer bear it, and they rebelled. When they rebelled, they had to increase taxes again, and when the taxes were increased, they rebelled again. The Ming court itself could not collect much silver. In the most extreme case, a farmer handed over one or two taels of silver, but only half a cent went to the court, and the remaining nine and a half cents were "evaporated" along the way. So they continued to increase taxes, and another nine and a half cents were "lost" along the way, forcing millions of people to rebel...
In short, these several thousand stones of grain and grass can be regarded as lost. They can be used to make friends with the generals of Kuandian. It is not a loss at all. After all, it is inevitable to deal with these local tyrants in the future. Using silver and money to pave the way first will make cooperation much smoother in the future.

With the help of several generals, Liu Zhaosun quickly found an unowned piece of land on Hushan Mountain in the east of the city.

The bodies of more than 3,500 soldiers who died for their country were all buried.

Over two thousand auxiliary soldiers spent a full day burying their comrades. Compared to the previous funeral, this one was even more grand. Besides Kang Yingqian and Qiao Yiqi, scholars and students from the surrounding Kuandian districts also attended.

After the funeral, Liu Zhaosun began to reorganize his troops.

After Nurhaci destroyed Yehe, he would soon attack Shenyang. Liu Zhaosun was not very clear about the specific details of Shenyang's fall.

However, what is certain is that it would be strange if Shenyang could be defended relying on the current combat effectiveness of the Ming army.

Refugees joined the army every day, and Liu Zhaosun accepted them all as auxiliary troops. Of course, there were also standards for income, and it was best if they brought their own money and food. Liu Zhaosun had already run out of money.

The Korean soldiers in the Eastern Route Army were clamoring to return home, making a great commotion. Jin Yinghe did not want to return to Korea. Rather than being idle in Seoul, the Korean deputy general would rather stay in Liaodong and fight the Jiannu.

Aside from the archers around Jin Yinghe, most of the Korean soldiers were useless. It was unrealistic to kill all of these thousands of remaining soldiers, but keeping them around would be a nuisance.

Kuandian is adjacent to North Korea, separated by the Yalu River. People from both sides often interact with each other, and their customs are similar, speaking the same language and eating the same dishes.

Since they have already come to Kuandian, why not let them go back home as a favor?

The east side of Kuandian City was densely packed with Korean soldiers.

When retreating from Hunjiang, Jin Yinghe had two thousand Korean soldiers under his command.

They gathered troops along the way, and by the time they reached Kuandian, they had gathered 4,000 Korean soldiers.

These are all that remain of the more than 10,000 people Jiang Hongli brought with him to aid Liao.

In the Battle of Sarhu, the Kingdom of Korea suffered heavy losses, which made the already poor vassal state even worse off.

Kang Yingqian gathered a group of Korean generals at the East Gate Tower and said to them, "Everyone, return home and sharpen your swords. After a while, follow General Liu Qian and defeat the enemy!"

"Those who are willing to stay and kill the Tartars will receive two taels of silver per month and follow Commander Liu Qian to make great achievements. Those who do not want to stay will return to Korea and receive five cents of silver each!"

The Ming army was immediately in an uproar. They had suffered a great defeat at Hunjiang that day because the Korean soldiers were the first to escape. Now they were being allowed to go back and even had to pay them money. The Ming army generals were all furious.

On that day, the Korean soldiers fled before they even encountered the Blue Banner, and also led the Ming army to flee with them.

If it weren't for the Qian Zong Lord personally leading his family to attack the Bordered Blue Banner and turn the tide, we wouldn't have the chance to stand here.
"We don't even have enough money to pay our soldiers, yet we're still giving money to these ungrateful bastards! How ridiculous!"

"Yes! Killing them is the easiest punishment!"

The Ming army commanders were making a lot of noise, and Kang Yinggan tried to persuade them in every way, but he was unable to cope with it, so he could only look at Liu Zhaosun.

Liu Qianzong signaled everyone to calm down and said loudly to his subordinates:

"These Korean soldiers were temporarily recruited. Half a month ago, they were still farmers and were not much better than our garrison soldiers."

The Yalu River flows quietly.

"After this battle, the imperial court will increase Liao's military pay. Last year it was three million taels, and this year it will be at least five million taels. Liaoxi will get half, and I can get at least three million taels. As long as you work hard, you will get the money. In the future, when fighting against the Jiannu, we will need the help of the Koreans. Don't lose the big picture for the small one!"

(End of this chapter)