The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 469 Fire Dragon Empire
One day in September, Jiang Liuer stopped beside a fur shop run by a Korean on Nanbei Street. The flag officer of the Suoyi Guard stood with his hands behind his back. Both sides of the street were filled with Shenyang residents waving banners engraved with Qi army totems such as dragons, tigers, eagles, and leopards. They were seeing off the soldiers heading to the front line.

After more than four months of rest and preparation, Emperor Wuding is about to launch a new round of war.

A part of the Fifth Corps, consisting of 2,000 men, has already set out. They will serve as the vanguard of the Northern Expedition (a total of 8,000 men), and will rush to Sakhalin Island first to launch a surprise attack on the Tsarist Russian expeditionary force entrenched on the island.

As the Northern Expedition's vanguard set out, the Eastern Expeditionary Army also prepared for a punitive war against Korea. Comprising the Second and Eighth Corps, along with auxiliary troops, cavalry, and artillery, the Eastern Expeditionary Army totaled 25,000 men. According to the battle plan formulated by the retired emperor, Generals Deng Changxiong and Zhao Lujiao were to seize an opportunity before winter arrived to cross the Yalu River and march directly to Seoul, launching a decapitation operation against the Joseon King Yi Jong. Liu Zhaosun specifically instructed that Yi Jong be captured alive, so that this traitor, along with Du Du, would guard the tomb of Emperor Taizu for eternity as a terracotta warrior.

Liu Zhaosun will personally lead the First Corps, the Third Corps, the Fourth Corps and the Seventh Corps Cavalry, forming an army of 30,000, and strive to enter the pass before the end of the year, sweep through Henan and Hebei, and prepare for next year's crossing the river campaign.

The Qi army once again exhausted its national strength and attacked from all sides, which was a reckless act of war.

During the Great Purge and foreign expansion, the people more or less benefited from the war. The Chamber of Commerce regularly distributed dividends to urban residents, and the military garrisons distributed the looted food directly to farmers. Therefore, ordinary people were not very disgusted with this kind of warmongering.

Having said that, Liu Zhaosun had already cleared out those who opposed the new policy, and the remaining people (such as Kang Yingqian, Qiao Yiqi, etc.) also gained a new life under Zhang Dongfangzhu's "gentle education".

Therefore, it is not surprising that the people showed such a fanatical war atmosphere.

Jiang Liuer looked at the unfamiliar faces and tried hard to find the figures of old neighbors in the enthusiastic crowd.

Uncle Yang who runs a garment business, Zhang Sanniang who runs a silk business, and Mr. Ma who runs a coffin business...

Now they are all gone.

Jiang Liuer knew that those people were purged by Zhang Dong because they resisted the "New Deal".

The fate of a small person is naturally not as good as that of high-ranking officials like Prime Minister Kang and Minister Qiao. If ordinary people dare to block the advance of the chariot of the Great Qi, they will inevitably end up torn to pieces.

Jiang Liuer has lived in Shenyang for more than ten years and grew up eating at many people's homes, so he has a special feeling for this city.

At this moment, he suddenly felt it was so strange.

The parade team, shouting "Long live" and "Victory", reached the north gate city wall and gradually disappeared behind the moat.

When Jiang Liu'er looked up, he could only see the white paper figures on top of the soul-calling banners swaying in the wind.

He instructed his two men:

"The army is on the move, the streets are crowded and busy, everyone, brace yourself! Zhang Dong wants us to catch ten more spies this month!"

Like Jiang Liuer, the two were dressed in casual clothes. Gray uniforms were the most common clothing for the people of Qi.

No one around knew that this was the famous蓑衣卫, and they had no idea that they might become spies inexplicably because of a word from them.

The sound of shouting came from far away and two war horses came whistling. Jiang Liuer was about to step forward and ask who was so bold, but before the troublemakers could start riding their horses, two red-clothed riders pulled the reins, dismounted, and stopped in front of the screen wall on the street.

A few familiar faces followed him, and Jiang Liuer recognized that they were pacification soldiers, so he stopped asking any more questions.

One of his men came up to Jiang Liu'er and whispered, "Which high-ranking official has been in trouble again?"

The dismounted pacification soldiers skillfully tore off the official notices on the screen wall, picked up a bucket of glue and smeared it on the wall, pasted up a new notice, turned around and got on their horses, and hurriedly pasted notices on other city gates.

After knocking on the door, a schoolboy who knew how to read passed by. He squeezed through the crowd and walked to the bottom of the notice, and read aloud:

"The criminal Kang Yingqian, as a cabinet minister, was afraid of death and instigated peace with the Jiannu, missing the opportunity to fight and nearly causing the fall of Shenyang. The criminal Qiao Yiqi disregarded the emperor's grace and spoke without thinking, repeatedly leaking court secrets, which were known to the enemy and led to the defeats in Kaiyuan and Tieling... These two people should be executed according to the law. However, considering their hard work and great contributions and their years of dedication and diligence for the Great Qi, they will be retained in their posts for observation to see how they will perform..."

Even the former Prime Minister was imprisoned, demonstrating the Emperor's ruthlessness this time. The workshop students read while gazing at the people around them. No one spoke, their faces expressionless. It's unclear whether they were numb to the Great Purge, or perhaps they were afraid of being discovered by the hidden Minotaur Guards and charged with "making irresponsible remarks about state affairs."

Jiang Liuer heaved a sigh of relief. The emperor didn't take action against the meritorious officials after all. He only dealt with a group of middle and upper-level officials. He didn't even know the names of many of them.

"The emperor gives you a way to live, so don't go the wrong way again."

Jiang Liuer said silently in his heart.

The Great Purge lasted from May to early August, during which more than 3,500 rebels of the empire were executed, exiled, or imprisoned. Those who survived were given a new life under the care of the Suoyi Guards, the high priests, and the Imperial Household Department.

Under the high pressure of totalitarian rule, the Great Qi under Emperor Wu Ding was unprecedentedly united and stable - at least on the surface - but in the later stages of the Great Purge, the movement gradually expanded, and more and more innocent civilians and officials were implicated and brutally massacred, causing a certain degree of panic. In order to quell the spread of panic, the emperor had to stop this vigorous purge.

However, since then, the relationship between Liu Zhaosun and Jin Yuji was on the verge of breaking up. In the eyes of the queen, her husband was no longer the great hero he used to be, and was even not worthy of being called a human being.

"Empress Dowager Cisheng, don't forget to attend the burning judgment ceremony presided over by the high priest at the north gate this afternoon. The Empress Dowager will be the mother of the country. Yang Qing'er has gone, and you should also go to set an example for the people of the world and let them know my attitude towards pagans."

In the Empress Dowager's bedroom, Liu Zhaosun hugged the busty Portuguese nun Daphne and shouted orders to Jin Yuji who was facing away from him.

~~~~
Jin Yuji will not attend the burning sentence ceremony presided over by Francisco today.

The young emperor Liu Kan caught a cold and had a fever, and needed someone to take him with him. Jin Yuji had treated this child, who was less than three years old, as her own child. Thinking of the dying instructions of Emperor Wu Ding (she believed that her husband was already dead), Empress Dowager Jin could not help but feel grief-stricken. She was determined to take good care of Liu Kan and not let him repeat his father's old path.

Of course, there are more reasons why the Queen Mother stayed in the palace.

Jin Yuji was extremely disgusted with the harsh laws implemented by the retired emperor - if she were not Jin Yuji, she would have been eliminated long ago.

The entire trial process was extremely cruel.

Fanatical people marched in the streets, shouting all kinds of inspiring slogans under the encouragement of the instructors and representatives of the farmers' association, chamber of commerce, schools and workshops. Under the onlookers of tens of thousands of people, the Portuguese high priest slowly read out the verdict, and the convicted people hung their heads and cried out in sorrow.

Finally, human flesh gave off a strong smell in the flames, and the little fat left on the bodies of those stubborn traitors in the Zhenfu Prison fell drop by drop into the red charcoal fire.

Nowadays, burning people on North and South Streets has become a habit, and it happens every ten days or half a month.

Just like going to a market, on this day, the people of the Great Qi Empire wore their best clothes that they only wore during the New Year. The women stood at the windows near the city gates, carefully dressed according to the dress standards set by His Majesty the Emperor, and applied vermilion powder on their faces and chests. The women pursed their lips and tightened them to appear smaller, attracting bachelors who had nowhere to vent their energy... The empire encouraged childbirth and did not hinder normal love between men and women.

The procession was like a giant snake, and the north gate of Shenyang could not accommodate it. It turned one corner after another, as if it wanted to extend to everywhere so that the entire empire could see the execution scene.

The procession circled and arrived at the execution ground, where the high priest Francesco announced the court's punishment for the sinners.

Those who were burned to death were mainly rebels and thieves, as well as some criminals who were difficult to accurately classify, such as rapists, profiteers who engaged in speculation and hoarding, flower thieves who seduced and instigated women, and other criminals who should be sentenced to death by burning.

A total of 108 prisoners were executed, most of them from Hetuala and North Korea, of whom 87 were men and 21 were women.

Francisco recited a long, dry prayer.

All 108 prisoners were burned to death.

The weather was hot and humid, and the sun slanted towards the gallows. The huge shadow of the city wall fell on the square. The executed prisoners fell on the firewood that had not yet been burned through and would slowly disappear. At night, the ashes would be scattered and could never be gathered together again.

The people read aloud the laws made by the retired emperor, reading as they walked until they returned to their homes, with their heels still stained with the dust and soot left by the black human flesh, and perhaps the blood of the dead that had not evaporated in the charcoal fire.

(End of this chapter)