The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 762 Fighting
The walls will gradually fall down, and heaven itself will be a cathedral in which St. Peter's in Rome is but a grain of sand on the beach; so why do we build churches and monasteries on earth? Because we do not understand that the earth is a church and a monastery, a place of faith and duty, of seclusion and freedom.

— Saramago, "The Monastery Chronicle"

In the early winter of the seventh year of the Guangde reign, Emperor Guangde arrived in Huguang. On the eighth day of the month, he traveled to Nanzhang County. Liu Kan's palace was located at the Fahua Temple near Ying'en Gate. The monks in the temple had been forced to return to secular life during the anti-Buddhist movement, leaving only a few monks to beg for alms. Emperor Guangde, who hated monks and Taoists, ordered the monks' heads to be chopped off and used as a sacrifice for the army.

Nanzhang, the Qi army's main base in Jingxiang, had already assembled a force of over 150,000 men, from which they would launch a siege on Xiangyang. Meanwhile, troops stationed in Henan had cut off the rebels' escape route north, and the rebels had lost several cities in a row, leaving them in a precarious position.

Liu Kan was determined to capture Xiangyang City, not because he valued this strategic location, but because his sister was still in the city.

Rather than destroying this historic city, what the emperor wanted to do at this moment was to kill her sister with his own hands.

If possible, the eldest princess would be escorted back to the capital, tied up and forced to kneel in front of the tomb of the retired emperor, and then burned to death.

Fahua Temple.

Liu Kan looked at the three bloody human heads displayed on the table, with a barely perceptible smile on his lips.

"I am not a bloodthirsty person, but these monks are a bit too bold."

The Grand Chamberlain, while massaging Emperor Guangde's back, chimed in, "Who says it isn't? These playboy monks eat meat and drink wine here every day. I heard they own hundreds of acres of land and even molest the young girls of the surrounding tenants. They're truly lawless! Even a benevolent emperor like Your Majesty wouldn't tolerate these evil monks."

Liu Kan smiled faintly: "The new policy has been implemented for two years. The abolition of monks and Taoist priests was an imperial decree issued two years ago. I didn't expect that the thieves are still committing crimes in defiance of the law. This is intolerable!"

"Your Majesty has devoted all his energy to the new policy, and his hair has turned gray in recent years... But this time, we can finally wipe out the rebels and put an end to their future troubles."

Emperor Guangde shook his head. After losing several cities in a row, the rebels in the Jingxiang area retreated to the two big cities of Xiangyang and Junzhou, concentrating their forces and preparing for a final fight.

"I want to accomplish my goal in one fell swoop. While annihilating Xiangyang, I also want to destroy Liu Yufei. However..."

Emperor Guangde hesitated to speak.

"I want to kill her, but I can't kill her."

Li Juying, who was spitting just now, didn't dare to talk casually at this moment. He was worried that the emperor would think he was Liu Yufei's accomplice.

"Do you know my difficulties?"

Liu Kan's sharp eyes seemed to tear Li Juying apart. Li Zongguan shuddered and stammered, "Your Majesty, of course I know that our emperor is the most merciful. Of course he won't kill everyone. He won't..."

Emperor Guangde waved his hand gently. "I'm hardly a benevolent ruler. Lately, I've become increasingly fond of killing people. However, I won't kill Liu Yufei because I am her, and she is me. She and I may appear incompatible, but in reality, we are two sides of the same coin. Let's put it this way: together, we are everything to Father."

Li Juying nodded, seeming to understand, but then shook her head again: "Your Majesty, why do you say that? How can that traitor be compared to Your Majesty?"

Liu Kan glanced at Li Juying with a hint of disappointment.

The Liu siblings are the two sides of Liu Zhaosun, like the two sides of a coin, one is kind and the other is cruel; one pursues world peace and harmony and the other maintains a strict hierarchy.

"Each step of the Emperor's father's was like walking on thin ice. If all the power of such a large country like Da Qi was handed over to him, he would have died of exhaustion."

Liu Zhaosun's pursuit of universal peace was too difficult. His life was like Sisyphus pushing a huge rock up the mountain, moving forward step by step, without end, and finally died of exhaustion halfway up the mountain.

"I will not be like my father, who sought profit for the people only to be abandoned by the world." "But I am destined not to be like my father, and neither can Liu Yufei. My sister and I are just the tortoise and snake at the feet of the Great Zhenwu, fighting each other with no clear winner, and finally dying of exhaustion."

Eunuch Li stood there in a daze, obviously not understanding what Emperor Guangde was saying. In order to make himself appear less stupid in front of the Emperor, he didn't care whether he could understand or not, and just nodded continuously.

~~~~~
On the eleventh day of the winter month, the attackers and defenders agreed to meet on the other side of the moat.

A huge umbrella was set up on the open space in front of the moat. Under the gaze of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, Emperor Guangde Liu Kan and Princess Liu Yufei walked towards each other from east to west and soon walked under the umbrella.

All in all, Liu Kan and Liu Yufei haven't seen each other for almost ten years.

However, this did not prevent the two from arguing endlessly as soon as they met.

"When my father was alive, he gave Da Qi to me, not to you. He said, don't take what's not yours."

As soon as the giant snake appeared, it was hit by the airship's artillery, its whole body burned, and it sank into the Han River.

"Firearms and calibers are the mainstream today. Your tricks are outdated."

The airships that covered the sky began to drop incendiary bombs on the city walls.

Xiangyang City was engulfed in flames. A small number of airships were shot down by artillery fire, and the warships anchored in the middle of the river also began to fire.

This was a turbulent era, and everyone was full of uncertainty about their future and destiny. Liu Kan firmly believed that his new empire was about to be built, but it was the eldest princess Liu Yufei who destroyed everything.

"If it weren't for you, if it weren't for your deliberate rebellion, the new policy would have been established by now, and Da Qi would have become an immortal empire."

"Father said to go east, but you went west. All of Father's efforts have been destroyed by you."

"Liu Yufei, you are the culprit. You let these cannon fodder die for your own selfish gain. As the emperor, I at least gave some power to the six departments of the cabinet. How could I monopolize power like you? You have no right to hold all the power in the world in your hands. Now that this situation has occurred, you should be held responsible for everything."

"Since you like to confuse right and wrong, what's the point of saying so much? We will see the truth on the battlefield. Only those who survive will have the right to discuss right and wrong."

Liu Kan sighed, "Well, since you're so stubborn, don't blame me for not respecting brotherly love. You and this Xiangyang City will be turned into a sea of fire. When the city is broken, no one will be left alive!"

Both sides returned to their respective camps, and Lin Zhenyu's mother was taken to Yangchun Gate.

Lin Zhenyu stared with wide eyes at Fujiwara Chiyoko being tied up and pushed to the bank of the Han River. He was filled with grief and anger, and shouted loudly that he wanted to rush out of the city.

"General, please accept my condolences. The Princess has ordered that you cannot leave the city easily."

Xiangyang is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The airships brought by Emperor Guangde have been consumed by the giant Xuanwu python. There are only a few surviving airships. Even if they take off, they will soon be shot down by the artillery equipped on the city walls. The artillery positions have also been destroyed by the giant python and can no longer be sustained.

The two sides returned to the state of infantry confrontation and ant-like climbing of the city wall.

As a result, the battlefield situation returned to twenty years ago.

(End of this chapter)