The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 478 Winter Offensive in the First Year of Taichu
Kang Yingqian's only son, Kang Guangxu, was taken as a hostage and left with Emperor Wuding. The families of other ministers were also properly arranged. Qiao Yiqi, who had no family, followed the emperor into the south to fight, in the name of surveillance, but in fact it was protection.

Qiao Yiqi has caused a lot of trouble over the years due to his outspokenness. If it weren't for Liu Zhaosun's repeated protection, Master Qiao would have been killed without a burial place long ago.

On the ninth day of the ninth month, Emperor Wu Ding arrived at Shanhaiguan. Inside the city, he met Captain Lacy and Missionary Karlbe who had come from Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The captain flattered the retired emperor and publicly put forward demands to Emperor Wu Ding, such as restoring trade and allowing free Christian preaching. Liu Zhaosun found it quite funny after hearing the Dutch's demands.

"I said two years ago that Europeans can only come to China to trade."

"It seems the Dutch Republic has not yet grasped my will. This is a sign of contempt for me. However, since you are committed to forging a friendly relationship with Great Qi, I will not make things difficult for you and will spare your lives for now."

Except for Captain Karlbe and Captain Lacy, other sailors and merchants accompanying the Dutch delegation were sent to work in various factories and mines.

For these red-haired barbarians, this was a sudden disaster. No one had expected that they had come to Da Qi for peace talks, but ended up becoming miners. Their fate for the rest of their lives would be even more miserable than that of the slaves in the Brazilian plantations.

Emperor Wu Ding was shocked by the arrogance and ignorance shown by the Europeans. The high priest Francisco explained to the emperor that many people in the East India Company regarded the former Ming Dynasty as barbarians.

"I also see them as barbarians, barbarians who can't use chopsticks and like to eat steak."

Whether in the past life or the present life, the time traveler has no good feelings towards the blond-haired and blue-eyed Europeans. If peace and development are the mainstream of the 21st century, then war and confrontation are the consensus of the people on Earth in the 17th century.

Liu Zhaosun had already given up all his illusions, not even thinking about forming alliances, and was ready for war.

Zhang Dong, the head of imperial intelligence, told the two surviving Dutch envoys that they must either give up their faith, join the Great Qi, and join the emperor's advisory group, or be executed.

Captain Lacy joined the emperor's advisory group without hesitation, while Karlbe said he would rather die than surrender and would never bow to the infidels.

Zhang Dong tortured the Dutch missionary for several days, but he still refused to surrender. After Liu Zhaosun learned about this, he ordered the missionary to be thrown into the Kaiyuan Iron Mine. After one month, if this steadfast missionary was still alive, he would be spared.

Zhang Dong and others couldn't believe their ears. No one could survive after disobeying the order of Emperor Wuding.

Liu Zhaosun also didn't know the reason for this change.

The world is constantly changing, the territory of the empire is constantly expanding, and Liu Zhaosun's character is also constantly changing. Unchanging characters only exist in novels and movies, and Liu Zhaosun's experience is crazier than any text.

In early October, the main force of the cavalry appeared in the former Ming capital area. The Qi army quickly killed all the bandits entrenched in the capital and around Tianjin, mainly including Shaanxi bandits, Shandong bandits, and Hebei White Lotus forces.

These defeated soldiers retreated deep into the Yanshan Mountains to avoid the attack of the Qi army.

However, the winter offensive launched by Emperor Wuding was not an ordinary security war. In the words of Liu Zhaosun himself, "After the war, we must establish a rule in the capital area as solid as that in Kaiyuan."

In order to prevent the imperial army from being bogged down in a long-term security war, the retired emperor ordered that a collective responsibility system be implemented for villages that participated in rebellion and colluded with the White Lotus sect. If a rebel was found, all male members of the same village would be killed.

Qiao Yiqi and several of his old followers were horrified at the sight of the raging fire in the village and the rebels running around.

The army that was responsible for "suppressing the rebellion" carried out the imperial edict quite thoroughly.

Most of these soldiers were newly recruited after the Wanggongchang explosion. After repeated brainwashing by the instructors and soldier representatives, they could carry out the task with ease even if they were asked to massacre the city.

After more than half a month of "suppressing the rebellion", the rebellious forces in the capital area were cleared out, the middle class and above families were confiscated, and after killing more than 20,000 people, a brand new and pure territory was incorporated into Da Qi.

The Qi army took advantage of the victory and extended its influence to Henan and Hebei, defeating the counterattacks of local gentry one after another and advancing rapidly. By the end of November, the army occupied most of Hebei and northern Henan, and the capital and Tianjin were all incorporated into the Great Qi. The rule over the entire Shandong province became more stable.

Liu Zhaosun was not very satisfied with the rapid progress of the war and he hoped the pace would be slower.

Whether it was the intimidating power of Emperor Wu Ding's reputation, the devastating effects of banditry in recent years that had eroded the strength of the various regions, or the intermittent supply of the canal and the resulting lack of supplies that had demoralized the defenders, since the Qi army entered the pass, nearly all regions had surrendered. The few who resisted were quickly defeated by the Qi army. Of course, the primary factor was the disparity in strength; the local militia was no match for the well-equipped and well-trained Qi army.

More importantly, the White Lotus sect and the local tyrants and evil gentry did not get along with each other, and none of them looked down on each other.

When the Qi army was approaching, the parties not only failed to form a coordinated effort, but instead took advantage of the other side's predicament, adding insult to injury, and stabbed them in the back. Failure was inevitable.

The time traveler remained vigilant in his heart. The emperor ordered strict investigation of all surrendered towns and passes to eliminate all potential enemies.

The troops participating in the siege surrounded many cities but did not attack them. Even if they had an absolute advantage, the Qi army would not actually start the siege until most of the people in the city had escaped or starved to death.

Needless to say, this was done to eliminate as many rebels in the city as possible. In simple terms, it was to starve more people to death and reduce the cost of later rule.

From a practical perspective, the food and grass in these cities have been exhausted. In the following famine spring, the excessive population will only become a ruling cost that Liu Zhaosun cannot bear.

By the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in the first year of Taichu, the Wanshou Festival, the vanguard of the Qi army had already approached the north bank of the Huai River. In addition to Henan and Hebei, the areas west of Shanxi and part of Anhui were also incorporated into the territory of the empire.

Taking into account the difficulty of fighting in winter and the difficulty in maintaining food and fodder, and more importantly, in order to fully digest the results of the winter offensive, the emperor ordered the army to stop attacking southward.

Although the troops from various factions were very reluctant to cease fire, they could not disobey the emperor's order, and the winter offensive into the pass in the first year of Taichu came to a temporary halt.

The war of entering the Pass was going so smoothly. If the progress continued at this rate, it would not take two years for Emperor Wu Ding to unify the southeast of Jiangnan and even have access to water from the Qiongzhou Strait.

At the end of November, the fleet led by Wu Aheng approached the Zhoushan Islands in the East China Sea, which was the territory of the Zheng family.

A thrilling naval battle is about to begin, and Wu Aheng urgently needs support from land. However, at this time, he received the order to "stop the attack immediately."

He quickly asked the emperor the reason.

"You should use your remaining courage to pursue the enemy, cross the Huai River, and go straight to Nanzhili to wipe out the false emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop. Then, march into Fujian and cut off Zheng Zhilong's support... Your Majesty, why don't you advance and attack?"

Several hawkish generals, including Qi Jin, also advocated crossing the Huai River in one go and destroying the Southern Ming.

Emperor Wu Ding ignored all these suggestions. He sent a report to the southeast, blaming Wu Aheng for underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly, and for sending the fleet to eastern Zhejiang without asking for permission. If it were not for the current critical situation of the war, he would have thrown the naval commander into prison.

On the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, the day of the Little New Year, the emperor hosted a banquet in the camp for the generals who were on the southern expedition, and explained to them why they had to stop advancing and rein in their horses on the north bank of the Huai River.

"Although I am ignorant, I have never heard of conquering several provinces in two months. The soldiers are exhausted and unable to fight again. Continuing south is not a wise move."

Everyone was silent. Everyone now knew that what the emperor needed was not some good strategy on military and national affairs, but absolute obedience to him. No one expressed any opinion.

Qiao Yiqi said coldly, "As long as Your Majesty continues to slaughter people, what difference will it make to the Qi army, the south or the north? I suggest you return to the capital, recuperate, and defend Liaodong..."

Emperor Wuding frowned, suppressed his rage, and pretended not to hear anything.

"The border between Henan, Shaanxi, Chongqing, and Hubei is a dangerous place with high mountains and dense forests. Since the end of the Yuan Dynasty, it has been a place where people from all provinces, and even the entire country, have fled for their lives. In these troubled times, if this small thorn is not removed, it may turn into a flood of refugee rebellion. I must now eliminate them once and for all."

During the Chenghua period, refugees in Yunyang area rebelled. The Ming Dynasty dispatched a large army to suppress the rebellion for several months before it was quelled. However, the rebellion revived afterwards, and the refugees in Yunyang continued until the end of the Chongzhen period.

"I will not continue southward until these bandits are wiped out. I must focus my energy on dealing with the bandits. As the saying goes, before we can resist foreign aggression, we must first stabilize the country."

(End of this chapter)