The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 58 Death of Marin
"Where is the master?! Why are you, a slave girl, running out alone instead of just looking after the master and his wife? If anything happens to them, the lieutenant general will skin you alive!"

With a bang, the wooden door of the courtyard was kicked open from the outside. Pei Dahu, with a face full of flesh, pushed the fat maid away and shouted at the closed main room.

"Master Yang!! The Tartars have escaped!"

Several servants ran into the house quickly, and a moment later, a shout was heard from inside the house.

"The master is hanging himself! The master is not dead yet!"

The servants hurriedly untied Master Yang from the beam. Yang Hao was already dead. Pei Dahu was anxiously pacing around the room, hammering and hitting the old man.

The head servant struggled for a long time, and Yang Hao, who had one foot on the verge of death, finally coughed twice, struggled to open his eyes, slowly pointed his finger at the sky, and muttered:

"Hurry! Help me up! I need to submit a petition... Go and save Madam Gaoming!"

Then he fainted again.

A group of servants looked at each other in confusion. Pei Dahu ran into the boudoir of the lieutenant general's wife and saw that Yang Qing'er was safe and sound. When she heard that her father was going to hang himself, she hurried out.

Pei Dahu shook Master Yang vigorously and shouted into his ear:

"Master! Lieutenant General Liu has driven back the Tartars. Our soldiers are almost dead. The city is in chaos. We are all waiting for you to take charge. Master! Master! Master! You can't die!"

Yang Hao was so surprised and happy that he fainted again.

~~~
Yang Jinglie did not die because he had a good son-in-law like Liu Zhaosun.

General Ma Lin was not so lucky.

He had no daughters or sons-in-law, and several of his sons died tragically at the hands of the Later Jin army.

After losing his son in middle age and suffering repeated defeats, Malin almost became a walking corpse when he returned from the battlefield of Sarhu.

It was the appearance of Liu Zhaosun that rekindled the courage of this military leader to fight.

Half an hour ago, Ma Lin witnessed the fall of the East Gate, the death of He Shixian in battle, and the collapse of Liaozhen. Regardless of his old body, he resolutely put on his armor and went into battle.

If the Ming army was finished and Kaiyuan was finished, there would be no point in him living.

Kaiyuan is the city he is determined to defend to the death.

After Bayara of the Plain White Banner killed He Shixian, the morale of the Ming army was low and it began to collapse. The other gates were all fighting hard and could not provide assistance. The old general had to go out to fight himself and led the servants to block the east gate. As soon as they arrived at the east gate street, they were surrounded by a group of Later Jin soldiers.

Ma Lin claimed to be a Confucian general. He liked to indulge in literary arts and neglected battlefields. He was not as skilled in archery and horsemanship as Liu Jing and Du Song. However, at the last moment, he did not hesitate and led his servants to stand in front of the Zhengbai Banner.

The old general stood on the East Gate Street, using a Kaiyuan bow to block the attack of more than a dozen Zhenyi armored soldiers. After shooting and killing several Zhenyi armored soldiers in succession, the old general was exhausted, and all 135 servants he led were also killed in the battle.

In the end, Marin was shot into a hedgehog by the dense rain of arrows from the Jiannu army, and his body fell to the ground with a bang.

Several loyal and brave servants risked their lives to retrieve Marin's body and brought it back to the general's mansion.

A real man dies on the battlefield, nothing more than this.

The living room of the general's residence was in a mess. Ancient books printed on wooden boards were thrown on the ground at random. The draft blew through the hallway, and the pages of the books fluttered in the wind.

"General Ma, I will be a step too late..."

Liu Zhaosun fell to his knees, kowtowed three times in front of the corpse riddled with arrows, and sighed deeply. Several servants from the general's mansion collapsed on the ground and wailed loudly.

Liu Zhaosun had just returned from the North Gate battlefield, where the fighting was coming to an end. He stood beside Ma Lin's body for a long time, recalling the scene of General Ma rescuing him when he was trapped in Shenyang.

If Marin hadn't taken me in at that time, I don't know where I would still be wandering now.

As a time traveler, Liu Zhaosun had no feelings for this Liaozhen military leader. He usually just regarded him as an old man who was pretentious.

This uncle is a general, but he doesn't like fighting. He also sucks the blood of soldiers, draws salaries without working, and likes to fool around with civil servants, even though they look down on him.

However, such a military general was not a coward. He maintained his integrity until his death. He did not surrender to the Jiannu, nor did he escape. Instead, he chose to fight to the end and defended the bravery of the Liaodong generals!
At this moment, Liu Zhaosun suddenly felt an inexplicable sadness.

He knew that everyone would leave, whether it was his adoptive father or his uncle.

General Ma maintained the demeanor of a Confucian general before he died for his country. Even though he was shot all over his body and fell to the ground wounded, he still shouted "Kill the slaves to serve the country", which is admirable.

"Collect the general's body. Once the imperial court provides compensation, I will give him a proper burial!"

Liu Zhaosun stood in the room, staring blankly at the world around him. The room was full of ancient books and picture albums, which were Ma Lin's interests.

Picking up a landscape painting casually, with Dong Qichang's signature engraved on the bottom, Liu Zhaosun's eyes lit up. He ordered his men to put the painting and calligraphy away and send it back to his camp as a souvenir.

Before leaving, the lieutenant general said to everyone:

"Remember, General Ma died in the pursuit of Amin. I saw him chop off Amin's head with my own eyes. Do you all know this?!"

Marin's servants were silent for a moment, looked at each other, and quickly said they understood.

In this way, Amin, the leader of the Bordered Blue Banner, who had already died once, was beheaded by Marin again.

This can't be blamed on Liu Zhaosun's scheming. He simply wanted to leave more and more good reputation for General Ma. Lieutenant Liu said to the servants:
"Where is the cellar at General Ma's house? Take me there!"

Half an hour later, more than a dozen carriages loaded with gold, silver and jewelry slowly drove out of the general's residence.

Liu Zhaosun was riding on a horse, and a group of servants were escorting the carriage. This was the third family.

Just as Lieutenant General Liu was about to go to the prefect's residence to take another look, he saw the chaotic streets full of fleeing soldiers and civilians. He frowned and said coldly:

"Capture all those fleeing soldiers! Take them to the South Gate!"

The servant said anxiously, "Sir, there are hundreds of them! Our soldiers are still fighting the Jiannu at the north gate."

"Then arrest a few bandit leaders. I will kill them as a warning to the rest!"

Liu Zhaosun was a little panicked, as his thousands of soldiers were still chasing the Bordered Blue Banner at the north gate.

Xiong Tingbi was about to enter the city. Kaiyuan City was still in chaos. Many people were looting things, including himself.

Ma Lin died, He Shixian died, Yu Chengming died, and even the Kaiyuan prefect committed suicide by jumping into a well.

A question arises: how to govern Kaiyuan?
Are we just going to keep snatching it like this?
"Lieutenant General Liu! Why are there so many carriages? Are you not going to fight the Tartars anymore?"

"How can I fight the Tartars every day? I am not that cold-blooded. Several generals have died, and I will go to comfort their families."

"Oh,"

Qiao Yiqi rode up from the north gate, looked at Liu Zhaosun suspiciously, and stared at the carriage for a while.

"General Ma died for his country. I just went to pay my respects and help with his funeral. After all, we were colleagues!"

Qiao Yiqi stopped talking. If Liu Zhaosun didn't rob these treasures, those rioters and defeated soldiers would also rob them.

He looked up and saw a raging fire in the distance. People were still screaming in the flames. It felt like being in hell.

Qiao Yiqi said with compassion:

"Kaiyuan has been held, and the Tartars have been driven away by you. I admire you as a brave man, but the city is on fire from all sides, and the defeated soldiers are taking advantage of the situation to loot. The people have no food to eat and no place to live, and they will soon freeze to death or starve to death. What good plan do you have, Lieutenant General Liu? Save the people of Kaiyuan."

Liu Zhaosun shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he was powerless. He was an expert at defending cities and fighting battles, but he was not good at anything else. Not to mention governing a city, he couldn't even be a village chief.

"Where is Pan Zongyan, the military governor? Where are the swift hands, doormen, clerks, and yamen officials, all these gentlemen who usually act so arrogantly and domineeringly? Where are they now?"

"Lord Pan jumped into a well and died. Before jumping into the well, he also hacked his daughter to death. Those petty officials died, some escaped, and the survivors dared not leave the house!"

Only then did Liu Zhaosun realize the importance of a complete bureaucratic system.

It's embarrassing that he can defend the city but is unable to govern it.

"Go find Kang Yingqian. He's been a prefect and a coastal defense commissioner. He should know how to deal with this."

The name naturally flashed through my mind. This traitor is still under house arrest in Kaiyuan City.

The last time Wei Zhongxian came to announce the imperial edict, he had already discovered something and was ready to ask Liu Zhaosun for the person. Later, the two heroes became sworn brothers and jokingly talked about their thirst for the blood of the Huns, and the matter was left unresolved.

However, we cannot keep Lord Kang under house arrest forever. I heard that he was on a hunger strike a few days ago, saying that he would rather die than surrender to the military man Liu Zhaosun.

"I am willing to cooperate with Lieutenant General Liu to save the people of Kaiyuan and benefit all mankind! Hurry and lead the way!"

Kang Yinggan, with a weathered look on his face, stroked his white beard and had a happy smile on his face.

The servants sent by Liu Zhaosun stood far outside. One of Kang Yingqian's servants whispered something to him. Kang Yingqian's expression kept changing. Before he could finish, he said in surprise:
"Did Lieutenant General Liu really defend Kaiyuan and defeat the Jiannu? I underestimated him. As expected, a pretty boy can... No, what I meant is that a handsome man like Pan An can also accomplish great things!"

"Master, the four banners of the Later Jin Dynasty, with tens of thousands of troops besieging the city, have broken down the east gate wall. Lieutenant General Liu forcibly drove Huang Taiji out!"

The servant was beaming with joy, as if he were on the battlefield killing the enemy himself.

Kang Yinggan was furious: "Shut up! Where have you been all this time? Why didn't you come to rescue me? Why didn't you send a report to the capital?"

The servant looked aggrieved.

"Master, I threw stones from the city walls and killed several Jiannu. The Jiannu have surrounded Kaiyuan, and we can't get out even if we want to report to the capital."

"Tens of thousands of Tartars couldn't conquer us. It seems I was wrong. This guy is the Lu Bu of men and the Red Hare of horses. In the future, he will be no less than Li Chengliang!"

Kang Yingqian muttered to himself, his eyes rolling around as he quickly reassessed Liu Zhaosun's strength.

Finally, he waved his hand sharply at the bewildered servant.

"follow me!"

The thin servant followed Master Kang and quickly crossed the street. Many houses along the street were burned down, some wealthy families were being robbed, and rioters were roaming everywhere.

(End of this chapter)