The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 456 The End of the First Anti-Qi Alliance
In mid-February, Emperor Wuding's entourage left Yuncheng, where the dead were everywhere, and continued to provide relief to other counties in Qingzhou Prefecture. On February 20th, they headed north back to Dengzhou, the headquarters of the Qi army.

At the end of February, the emperor arrived in Dengzhou.

The Weihaiwei port is full of masts like forests and sails like clouds. The once deserted Yingzui Port has suddenly become extremely busy.

The beach was filled with all kinds of ships, including large, medium and small Fu ships that transported food, fodder and artillery, sand ships and bird ships that transported militiamen, and of course the giant flat-armored warships that only the Qi army navy had.

The sailors on the ship climbed the mast like monkeys, repeatedly checking the sails and ropes to ensure that everything would be safe for the army to set sail tomorrow.

The gunners on each ship carefully wiped the huge red cannons with silk, and some even placed the medicine bags on the deck loft to dry, for fear that they could not be ignited immediately during a naval battle.

In the distance, several mosquito-sized speedboats were cruising back and forth on the sea of Weihai.

One hundred thousand militiamen recruited from the five counties under Dengzhou Prefecture were busy transporting mountains of food and supplies onto ships. Dense crowds of people unloaded bags of food from the horse-drawn carriages on the post road next to the harbor day and night, and moved the food to the dock like ants moving house. Finally, they stepped on the wobbly sampans and carefully moved the food and artillery to the bottom hold of the large Fu ship as ballast.

Liu Zhaosun stood beside the Baichiya Guard Post, surrounded by Lu Xiangsheng, Zhang Dong, Dongfang Zhu and others.

The emperor put down the telescope, and his thick fingers began to tap lightly on his armor, repeatedly pondering the details of tomorrow's military expedition.

The Qi army fleet is expected to set sail tomorrow, which is the beginning of March. Ten warships will transport 5,000 vanguards to southern Liaoning. After 5,000 veterans occupy the port of Lushun, the follow-up troops of more than 50,000 people will land in southern Liaoning.

At this time, the main infantry and cavalry forces of the Great Qi Empire were still fighting fiercely with bandits on the Luxi Plain and the Liaoxi Plain.

According to the order of Emperor Wuding, the newly recruited guards must undergo prior training and fight with the enemy before officially assisting Liaodong to ensure that every recruit can see blood. Only after this can they rush to Liaodong and select bandits and robbers as trial subjects, which is just right.

After this inspection, the emperor was quite satisfied with Lu Xiangsheng and decided to train him well.

Lu Xiangsheng witnessed what a true doomsday scenario was. What he saw and heard during his trip to Shandong was different from all the sage books he had read before.

The emperor told Magistrate Lu that if he wanted to end the chaos in the world and ensure that the people had enough food to eat, he had to continue killing people.

All enemies of Da Qi must die.

"Although Li Xianzhong is dead, his remnants are still entrenched in western Liaoning. However, the bandits have lost their courage, their morale is low, and they are prone to collapse at the first sign of trouble."

Emperor Wuding ordered Lu Xiangsheng to lead the main force of the cavalry to attack Shanhaiguan.

"This time, we will aid Liao with an army of 60,000, advancing by land and sea, with a pincer attack from both infantry and cavalry. I intend to annihilate the Jiannu, the Koreans, and all of Great Qi's enemies in one fell swoop. I will give you twenty days. In twenty days, that is, on March 20th, you will meet me in Shenyang. I will make Du Du into a living figurine."

Lu Xiangsheng knew that the emperor had given him command of all the cavalry of Da Qi, which showed his trust in him. He knew that this was a test.

Within twenty days, the cavalry not only had to defeat the bandits at Shanhaiguan, but also had to march a thousand miles to the city of Shenyang and launch an attack on the Eight Banners.

To be fair, such a task was by no means an easy task for the newly established cavalry.

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I will fulfill my mission. Twenty days from now, I will meet Your Majesty at the foot of Shenyang City!"

Liu Zhaosun looked at the tall, serious Lu Xiangsheng and said threateningly:
"County Magistrate Lu, you know there's no joking in the military! If I hadn't seen you in Shenyang on March 20th, you know what the consequences would have been."

"I know that if the army fails to arrive on time, the lives of me and my entire family will be at the disposal of the Zhangying officer."

Lu Xiangsheng answered clearly and concisely, and Emperor Wuding added:
"By the way, food and grass are scarce right now. You saw it in Yuncheng. I will only give you ten days of food and grass. The rest depends on you robbing the Liaoxi bandits. If you can't grab food, you will starve to death." A breeze blew across the sea, and the waves rippled. It was a good day to go out to sea. The emperor suddenly remembered something and turned to Zhang Dong and said:

"Zhang Mazi, are there any Tartars left in Dengzhou?"

Zhang Dong was stunned for a moment. This question was unexpected. It was impossible for the Eight Banners soldiers to appear in Shandong now. Zhang Mazi thought for a moment before saying:
"Your Majesty, there are no Tartar soldiers. There are a few Tartar merchants in the city, selling sable furs and oriental pearls, right next to the Ying'en Gate."

Emperor Wu Ding said murderously, "Don't let them escape. Capture them all and offer sacrifices to the army here before we cross the sea tomorrow."

Zhang Dong stood there, hesitant:
"Your Majesty, as far as I know, these five Jianzhou merchants have been allied with us for a long time. They are respectful and law-abiding, and have never committed any illegal acts. If we kill them rashly, I'm afraid..."

At that time, Liu Zhaosun vigorously promoted the policy of converting Han people into barbarians in Kaiyuan, which attracted many Korean merchants from Haixi and Jianzhou. These foreign merchants responded to the call of General Liu and moved into Kaiyuan City to live together with the Han people. Because of their status as barbarians, they were treated preferentially by General Liu. Later, when the Kaiyuan army entered the pass, some foreign merchants also moved in. Dengzhou was the base camp of the Kaiyuan army, so naturally there were some Jurchens there.

"That's not a reason! From now on, the Great Qi will no longer have the strategy of using the Xia people to transform the barbarians."

The emperor looked indifferent, as if he was recalling something very distant and trivial.

"If I don't kill a few Tartars as a sacrifice before the army marches out, everyone will doubt my resolve! If Great Qi is defeated and the Qing army enters the pass, burning, killing, and looting, do you think the Tartars and good people in Dengzhou will obediently wait for the Han people to retaliate, or will they seize the opportunity to open the city gates and provide support to their fellow invaders outside the pass?"

Zhang Dong was speechless.

Emperor Wuding's eyes were cold and he continued:

"So, I'd rather kill a thousand by mistake than let even one escape. Even if they are lurking enemies, we must kill them all. I don't want to be fighting on the front lines for a few days and then suddenly have a fire in the backyard and have to go and execute them!"

Zhang Dong didn't say much and turned to leave.

Before Lu Xiangsheng left, the young scholar heard everything that the emperor said to Zhang Dong.

Lu Xiangsheng was dumbfounded.

Liu Zhaosun handed the telescope to Dongfang Zhu and said with an unhappy look:
"Zhixian Lu, do you also think I'm too cruel?"

"I don't dare."

"Do you know how valiant the Kaiyuan army was back then? They were invincible, conquering every frontier. They conquered the Jiannu, Japan, and Korea, all before me. I, through my soft mercy, defeated them but spared their lives. Now they seek revenge, joining forces with the Southern Ming, Russia, and the four East Indians to form a nine-nation anti-Qi alliance. These people will not rest until Great Qi is destroyed.

"So, I cannot lose, and the Qi army cannot be defeated. They are the ones who will die, and their doom has come! For the sake of victory, let alone a few Jianzhou merchants, even the entire population of Dongdu can be killed."

Lu Xiangsheng knew very well that serving the emperor was like serving a tiger. The young emperor before him killed people and massacred cities at will, which was completely inconsistent with the moral requirements of Confucian ethics for the monarch. It can be said that Liu Zhaosun was simply the greatest tyrant in history.

But then again, even if he was a tyrant, he was still his own monarch. Having already boarded this pirate ship, Lu Xiangsheng had no way to retreat, otherwise he would be a traitor.

If the king wants the minister to die, the minister has to die.

Lu Xiangsheng received the order to leave Yuncheng and return to Jinan. He led the cavalry battalion to travel day and night, heading north to Tianjin and quickly approaching Shanhaiguan.

(End of this chapter)