The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 350 Bear, Tiger and Leopard

Section 1: Bear

Shanxi.

In the western suburbs of Pianguan County, on the official road leading to Hequ County, two horsemen came galloping from the west, both with black bear battle flags on their backs.

These two cavalrymen are both scouts of the 10th Guards Army. The 10th Guards Army's battle flag is a black bear, which makes it look quite domineering among all the armies.

The two scout horses slowed down slightly as they passed a bend in the official road at the foot of the mountain.

Suddenly, a cannon shot was heard from the mountains on both sides, followed by the sound of vibrating bowstrings.

Hundreds of arrows were shot densely, and the two scouts of the Tenth Army were instantly turned into dense hedgehogs.

The two sentinels groaned continuously and immediately fell to the ground, becoming motionless for a moment. The two war horses under his crotch were also riddled with arrows, their eyes wide open, their hooves kicking wildly, and emitting bursts of mournful cries.

A sharp whistle sounded from the hillside, and then a hundred archers in green robes and red scarves emerged from the bushes. A strong man in the lead shouted:

"The damned government troops are still thinking of sending people for help. Don't be afraid, we'll kill them all if they come!"

This strong man is a bear named Li Lai.

On the day Tokugawa Senhime and his entourage arrived in Beijing, the communication between the Western Expedition Army and the capital's scouts was completely cut off by the bandits.

The two groups of scouts sent by Deng Changxiong to the capital for help were both killed by "A Bear" Li Lai.

Li Lai was the adopted son of King Chuang and the commander of the elite old camp. He was originally a postman and fought his way up from Mizhi County. He had made great military achievements and was recognized as the successor of King Chuang Li Xianzhong.

Li Lai led a group of archers down the hillside and walked to the dead sentry horse. He asked his personal guard to find a letter from the sentry horse. He pulled his thick beard and read the letter with difficulty:

"The army is out of food and fodder, the Qin officials are unreliable, the bandits are numerous, and Hequ County cannot be defended. I implore the Duke of Protectorate to send an army to rescue..."

After reading it, a bear folded the newspaper again and handed it to the personal soldier behind him.

He stared at the two corpses on the ground and laughed loudly:
"With the grain route between the capital and Shaanxi cut off, the government troops can no longer hold a foothold in Shaanxi. Once we destroy the government troops in Hequ County, we won't have to worry about the other government troops! Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan are all ours!"

"You guys, continue to hold out here. If you encounter any government troops, shoot them! This is the closest official road from Shanxi to the capital. If we hold it, we can stop them! I'm going to return and give this letter to King Chuang. Tell him not to hesitate any longer and attack Hequ with all his might!"

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Section 2: Tiger

By mid-September, most of the post roads between Shaanxi and the capital had been cut off by the bandits. Many of the bandits had taken refuge with postmen, who knew all the roads from Shaanxi to the outside world intimately, and as soon as they entered Shanxi, they cut off all official roads to the east.

As a result, Liu Zhaosun knew nothing about the tragic battle in Hequ County. It was not until Deng Changxiong did not send back any intelligence for a long time that he realized something was wrong.

The defenders of the capital city sent out night scouts to the west one after another. However, after the scouts entered Shanxi, there was no news. The situation suddenly deteriorated rapidly, and an inexplicable fear enveloped the entire capital.

Despite the turbulent waves in his heart, the Duke of Protector of the Country remained calm on the surface. He was accustomed to seeing mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and had experienced many critical moments. He always managed to remain calm in critical moments.

The campaign to purge the censors is still ongoing.

On the eighth day of the ninth lunar month, Shen Lian, under orders from the Duke of Huguo, led a cadre of the Suoyi Guard to the Pacification Office, becoming the new head of the East Depot, replacing the long-vacant position of head of the depot. Two years had passed since Shen Lian and Cai Lian fled to the capital in the first year of the Chongzhen reign, and he had finally returned as a king. Those within the Pacification Office who had offended Shen Lian had been terrified for days, fearing retribution from this murderous god, as Captain Shen had already killed many since arriving in the capital.

To everyone's surprise, after a long ordeal, everyone was surprised to find that Captain Shen, who held the power of life and death, did not take the opportunity to retaliate. According to the recollections of the guards who witnessed Shen Lian entering the Dongjishi Factory, Lord Shen had lost his previous hostility, and instead had a hint of kindness between his brows.

Of course, no one would be fooled by this outward leniency. Not long after, Zhang Fengyi and three other censors were arrested and imprisoned by the Suoyi Guards.

In the imperial prison, the three upright censors confessed their accomplices in a torrent of information before they were even tortured.

The imperial censors residing in the capital often acted in groups to impeach local officials. Specifically, their tactics resembled those of hyenas, skilled at anal digging on the African savannah. Once they caught a whiff of the impeached individual's anus, they would rush in in droves, each chasing the other and swarming, mauling the victim to a bloody pulp. Of course, before officially attacking, the hyenas would first greet their prey, hoping to resolve the issue peacefully. The imperial censors' greetings typically went something like this (take Yang Hao's experience in Liaodong before and after the Battle of Sarhu as an example):
"Yang Jinglue, why are the accounts you recorded for purchasing horses in Liaodong different from the actual amount?"

"Yang Jinglue, why did you marry your daughter (Yang Qing'er) to a Qianzong, Liu Jing's adopted son? Do you want to tell the Emperor about the incident in Burma where you and Liu Dadao secretly divided up the military pay?"

"Yang Jinglue, the emperor gave you a million Liao salary, how much is left now..."

In the autumn of the second year of the Tianqi reign, this group of hypocritical censors were caught by Shen Lian.

After experiencing the loss of his loved ones and killing his enemies, Captain Shen's temperament changed drastically. He became taciturn and no longer had the arrogance he had a few years ago. His long-term relationship with the Protector of the Country had also made him more compassionate. However, this compassion required certain prerequisites. The spy chief showed no mercy to these hyenas who were good at digging out anus.

Under the torture of Captain Shen, the censors were forced to expose each other and confess the impeachment and blackmail that each other had committed against officials from various places over the years.

Finally, the Suoyi Guard compiled all the confessions of the censors into a book and presented it to the Duke of Huguo.

After witnessing the various crimes committed by the censors, the kind-hearted Liu Zhaosun was deeply moved by their superior law-abidingness in extorting money. He immediately arranged for Grand Secretary Qian Qianyi, Chen Zizhuang, and novelist Feng Menglong to artistically rework the censors' confessions, compiling them into a long-form novel, which was serialized in the Imperial Gazette.
Chapter 99: Donglin Fengyi was demoted for abusing his power, and the imperial envoy Yang Lian was sent to commit suicide.

Qian Qianyi held the newspaper with the scent of ink in his hands and said worriedly:

"Duke Protector of the Country, weren't you still an enemy of Donglin two years ago? Why are you trying to overturn their verdict today?"

Liu Zhaosun flipped through the official reports over and over again, praising Feng Menglong's brilliant literary talent. In this great man's writing, the censors became scum who were greedy, lustful, and capable of doing all kinds of evil. Especially the image of Zhang Fengyi, who was exactly the same as Ximen Qing in his "Jin Ping Mei".

The Duke of Huguo looked at Qian Qianyi and smiled at him:
"Master Qian is overthinking it. The people's memories are only seven months long. They don't care what they hear, they only care about what they can get. Therefore, regardless of the dynasty, killing corrupt officials is the best way to win the hearts and minds of the people. First, discredit the censors, and then, without us having to do anything, the people's spit will drown them. This is killing with a borrowed knife."

The Duke of Protectorate really wanted to tell Qian Muzhai that in his previous life, people's memory was infinitely close to that of fish, only seven seconds.

Qian Qianyi nodded repeatedly, but thought to himself: Liu Zhaosun has a heart of a tiger and a wolf, the Ming Dynasty is in danger!
~~~~~
Liu Zhaosun, who had a heart of a tiger and a wolf, was upset and confused.

He knew that Shaanxi would suffer a major defeat, but he could do nothing about it. Distant water could not quench immediate thirst, and he had no troops to transfer to provide assistance unless he gave up Shandong and Liaodong.

For the entire September, the only thing that made the Protector of the Country feel gratified was that the Tokugawa shogunate carried forward the spirit of craftsmanship and meticulously implemented all the terms of the Treaty of Niuguan.

He hasn't been to Yang Qing'er for several days.

On September 15th, Yang Hao, the chief minister of the cabinet, hurried over and happened to meet Liu Zhaosun, who was holding his daughter's hand and learning to walk, at the door.

The agile Yang Shoufu picked up Liu Yufei and said to his son-in-law anxiously:
"Lord Protector of the Country, the Japanese princess and her ladies-in-waiting have been staying at the guildhall for over ten days, and no one is offering them hospitality. We are the Celestial Empire after all, so what's the point of this?"

Liu Zhaosun frowned and said:

"Send him to the palace."

At the end of this year, Emperor Tianqi Zhu Youjian will be sent to Jeju Island to live out his life with Gwanghaegun. Before leaving the Ming Dynasty, the Duke of Protectorate decided to let him enjoy the treatment of an emperor for the last time.

"How can this be done?"

Yang Hao screamed in surprise, and Liu Yufei, who was less than two years old in his arms, giggled. She grabbed Yang Ge Lao's goatee and braided the beard between her fingers.

"This is a good opportunity to control Japan. The Protector of the Country must marry this girl and take her as a concubine..."

Liu Zhaosun said nonchalantly, "I don't like women, especially Japanese women."

~~~~~~
Section 3: Leopard

Jiang Liuer followed the three Yebushou and struggled forward in the dense forest.

On the second day of September, the first frost fell on Kuyi Island. The branches and leaves of willow and birch trees fell in the wind and sank into the muddy ground. A faint stench of decay filled the air.

On the trail leading to the supply point, one can clearly see the remains of bodies eaten by wild beasts.

The broken clothes and dead leaves mixed into one color, making people feel as if they were in hell.

More than 30 Kaiyuan soldiers and indigenous people who stayed on Kuyi Island were eaten up by the Cossacks who arrived first three days ago.

The uneaten carcasses were abandoned in the mountains and forests, and tigers, leopards, jackals and wolves followed.

Jiang Liu'er walked behind the crowd, and his sword slashed through the bushes, making a rustling sound.

The thorny branches were pushed aside and bounced back, hitting his helmet and sometimes even his face. Not long after walking, two cuts were made on his cheeks, causing a burning pain.

Although it has been settled by humans for a long time, lush primeval forests can still be seen everywhere on this largest island in the Ming Dynasty, stretching as far as the eye can see. The howling of leopards can be faintly heard in the forest.

(End of this chapter)