The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 671 Mandrill

After the emperor finished his retreat, he came to the main hall of Fengtian Palace with the chief steward Dongfang Zhu.

Emperor Guangde Liu Kan had been waiting in the hall for a long time. When he saw his father come out, he quickly stepped forward and knelt down:

"Your Majesty, I respectfully wish you the best of health. May I ask if you are well?"

The Emperor, waving his Buddhist whisk, his Taoist robe fluttering, said softly, "I am well."

Liu Kan then stood up and looked at the emperor timidly.

My father looked taller and stronger than usual, and his complexion was more rosy. He didn't look like a man in his forties at all.

Rumors in the palace said that the retired emperor and Master Zhang had already achieved spiritual enlightenment, and all they had to do was slay the evil dragon Tokugawa Iemitsu from the East China Sea, and then they would ascend to heaven and live forever.

Emperor Guangde Liu Kan received formal Confucian education since childhood and did not believe in ghosts and gods at all.

In his opinion, it was unreasonable for his father to cultivate the Xuan sect. He hated Zhang Yixing, Tao Wenhe and other Taoists.
However, the various miracles that have happened to his father recently have given the 20-year-old Emperor Liu Kan a new perspective on the world.

"If you are old and still alive, you are a thief. I am old."

The retired emperor waved Dongfang Zhu away and motioned Liu Kan to sit next to him.

Only the father and son were left in the hall.

"Your Majesty, your father is as old as the heavens. How can he possibly be old? I heard that your Majesty will soon lead an expedition to pacify Japan."

The emperor nodded without comment.

Emperor Guangde clasped his fists and said, "Father, I am willing to lead the army in your stead. As long as Tokugawa Iemitsu is killed, you will be able to join the ranks of the immortals. Now that the army has set out, we will be able to capture the Japanese pirates' heads in no time."

Liu Zhaosun looked at Liu Kan carefully, sized him up and down, and said, "Killing Tokugawa Iemitsu is only the first step. You must kill the seven demons before you can become an immortal."

Master Zhang told the retired emperor that in a situation like his, it was impossible to achieve enlightenment by just eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures, and releasing animals wouldn't help either. Only by killing the monsters could he achieve immortality.

The so-called human goblins refer to those evil people who appear once in a hundred years, are extremely evil, and harm all living things.

Generally, there is heavy killing, which goes against the laws of nature. According to a certain Taoist theory, those who are determined to become immortals must kill seven human monsters before they can achieve the right result.

However, human goblins are usually people of high status and power, and ordinary cultivators cannot contact them at all, let alone eliminate them for the people.

As of the fourth year of Guangde, the human demons killed by the retired emperor included Nurhaci, Huang Taiji, Li Xianzhong, and Zhu Youjian.

Needless to say, the slave chief Nurhaci massacred the people of Liaodong and enslaved them. Under his rule, no less than 10,000 people from Liaodong were killed or starved to death. He even spared no effort in killing his own brothers and chopped his brother-in-law in half. He was a typical human goblin.

As for Huang Taiji, because of his stubborn resistance in Hetuala, Sun Chuanting had to choose to massacre the city, implicated tens of thousands of civilians. It is not an exaggeration to say that he was a human goblin.

Li Xianzhong's crimes were even greater. He led refugees from northern Shaanxi all the way to the capital, his army snowballing into a vast, unchecked massacre. Along the way, he not only burned, killed, and looted, but also brought the plague from Datong and Xuanfu to northern China, ultimately causing a plague pandemic in the first year of the Wuding reign, killing and injuring millions of people in the capital. This blood debt must naturally be attributed to Li Xianzhong. As the saying goes, "If you don't live in peace and starve, you'll be more likely to follow the example of a mantis." He traveled recklessly between Chu and Shu, waging war without restraint.

Under the premise that the retired emperor had completely controlled the Ming Dynasty, the Tianqi Emperor Zhu Youjian ignored the peaceful transition of imperial power and, for his own selfish reasons, colluded with Zhang Chun, instigated the rebels, attacked the capital, and finally died together with the retired emperor. Zhang Chun's rebellion caused hundreds of thousands of casualties among the Ming Dynasty's soldiers and civilians, and Zhu Youjian was the culprit.

In short, all of the above four people are extremely vicious and bring disaster to the country and the people.

More than one million people died directly or indirectly at their hands, so they are truly human goblins.

Of the seven human goblins needed to become an immortal, plus Tokugawa Iemitsu who has not yet been killed, there are still two missing.

Who are the last two Xiaos?

Looking around the world, there are only a few people who commit heinous crimes.

The emperor had reason to suspect that he was also a human goblin.

From the Battle of Sarhu to the Ten Days of Yangzhou and the Three Massacres of Zhangzhou, the number of people killed directly and indirectly by Liu Zhaosun was at least one million, if not eight hundred thousand.

Putting aside the facts, killing so many people, no matter what the motive, is a heinous crime. Therefore, putting aside the facts, it is reasonable to attribute the emperor to the last two Xiaos.

Finally, the emperor realized that if he wanted to become an immortal, he had to kill himself first.

Perhaps this is the legendary phoenix rising from the ashes.

Who's got the last spot?
The emperor was puzzled.

From somewhere, a voice told him that the human Xiao was also in Japan.

"Japan is a knot in my heart. The failure of the Eastern Expedition and the disastrous defeat of the army were all due to my careless use of troops... Only by killing Tokugawa Iemitsu can I escape. Only by killing the Japanese pirates can I ascend to heaven. You stay in Nanjing to guard it. When I kill the Man-Man and return from the Eastern Expedition, I will ascend to heaven in broad daylight. All military and political power of the Great Qi will be handed over to you. You will be the true emperor of the Great Qi, and I can rest assured to accompany your mother..."

Before the emperor could finish, Liu Kan knelt down with a plop, his eyes red, and sobbed:

"Your Majesty, your father is blessed with great fortune and a lifespan equal to the heavens. Great Qi cannot do without you. Your Majesty is in his prime. I ask you to continue the regent and I will lead the Eastern Expedition."

The Emperor helped Liu Kan up and said with a look of relief, "I am old and tired. It's not my appearance that has aged, but my enterprising spirit. I don't want to toss around anymore. Once we have conquered Japan and Da Qi is back on track and the country is prospering, you will do the rest."

Liu Kan looked at his father with red eyes. He knew that his father was determined to give up power early this time.

"I fear I am not up to the task. State affairs are complex. Bashu and Lingnan remain unpacified, and the policies of the north and south are inconsistent. I'm afraid a bloody storm is inevitable in the future. I'm worried that I lack experience and won't be able to control those below me..."

Emperor Guangde was extremely terrified.

Over the years, the retired emperor has been like a big tree, protecting Liu Kan and sheltering him from wind and rain. Now that this big tree is about to fall, Liu Kan suddenly feels a little scared.

The empire's territory is vast, several times larger than that of the former Ming Dynasty. At present, the situation is not peaceful, the borders are overgrown with weeds, and there is intrigue in the court.

Liu Kan, who was only twenty years old and didn't even have much of a team, suddenly came to power, so naturally his orders were difficult to carry out.

"There are no roads in this world. When more people walk on them, roads appear. Kan'er, you've done very well in Yangzhou. Governing a country is not as difficult as you think. My father came from a humble background. If it weren't for my adoptive father Liu Jing, I'd probably still be practicing as a sorcerer in Junzhou, performing magic tricks to cheat people out of money every day... The situation you face now is much better than what your father faced back then. There's no need to worry."

"But so many people died in Yangzhou..."

Liu Kan wanted to say something but stopped himself. The Qi army slaughtered people in Yangzhou for ten days, killing all the Cao troops, Luojiao and Ya merchants who rebelled against the empire. Because so many people were killed, the Qinhuai River was dyed red with blood. In the end, Liu Kan could not bear it anymore and collapsed to the ground in fear.

"Father, there is something I have always wanted to ask you."

Liu Zhaosun put down his whisk and looked at his son with loving care.

"Just ask."

Liu Kan said anxiously, "Father, only one in ten people in Yangzhou survived, and tens of thousands of people died in Zhangzhou. Is this the way of justice?"

The Emperor pondered for a moment before replying:
"Kan'er, righteousness, or justice, has never been about right or wrong, kindness or cruelty. You must remember that you are a king. As long as the people under your rule want to do something, and it is finally accomplished, what you are doing is justice."

"For example, the Tang conquered Goryeo, the Yuan conquered Jin, and the Song conquered Southern Tang. Do these wars have right and wrong? No, later generations recording this history will only put themselves on the victorious side. So you can't lose. Defeat is the original sin."

The Emperor Emeritus continued, giving examples: "During this eastern expedition to Japan, Zheng Yishi and his men plan to land in Ezo and attack Japan from the south. Once the army occupies Ezo, they will inevitably encounter resistance from the local indigenous people—even if these people already have a grudge against the Japanese pirates—the indigenous people of Ezo will be utterly exterminated... In the future, there will be no accusations against the Empire, and no one will consider the massacres committed by the Northern Army to be massacres."

"The people want to occupy more land, and the people of Da Qi are united in this. If we win in the end, even if we have to massacre the city and destroy the country, it will be justice."

The Emperor Guangde was dumbfounded by the Emperor's definition of justice.

Liu Kan asked with a stiff upper lip:

"Father, if we can capture Edo and occupy all the feudal domains, how many daimyo will you leave behind?"

Liu Zhaosun said lovingly:

"Leave no one alive, kill them all. This is also justice."

(End of this chapter)