The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 772 Supervising the Army
At dusk on the third day of March in the forty-seventh year of the Wanli reign, the gentle slopes of the Shajianzi camp were filled with the noisy sounds of horses and soldiers. Soldiers in red mandarin duck jackets pushed and shoved each other, shouting at each other in different accents. Under the scolding of the camp management teams, they were driven like sheep to the open space near the hillside.

A 17-foot-tall general's flag fluttered fiercely on the hillside. Liu Jing, commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army and general of Liaodong, sat beneath the flag, squinting at the disorganized soldiers below. He spat a mouthful of thick phlegm and cursed, "It's so strenuous to form a formation! Old Wanli gave me the young masters of the Beijing troops, and those bastards from Liaozhen sent over a bunch of useless people. Damn it!"

Standing nearby were his adopted sons Liu Tianxing and Liu Zhaosun, along with several trusted servants like Pei Dahu. Seeing his adoptive father's anger, Liu Tianxing chimed in, "Everyone's trying to plot against us, but we're not the kind of people who would blame him! Adoptive father, not only must Kang Yingqian be killed, but that military supervisor behind him must also be killed. What's that bastard's last name?"

"Qiao Yiqi."

Qi Meng and Qiao Yiqi had known each other for several lifetimes, so how could he stand by and watch someone die without helping? He rushed forward and said:
"Foster father, Qiao Yiqi has always been known for his chivalry and integrity. He is a good official and cannot be killed."

Liu Tianxing angrily said, "Good officials? All crows are black, and there is not a single good official!"

"Foster father!" Liu Tianxing looked up at Liu Jing, "Qiao Yiqi brought a lot of Korean soldiers to Liaodong. If we can recruit them and follow them to attack Shenyang, great things will happen!"

Liu Jing waved his hand and said, "I can't wait any longer. The Bordered Blue Banner is hot on our heels. We can't delay any longer. Let that Military Supervisor Qiao fend for himself!"

Suddenly, a scout reported that the three thousand Zhejiang soldiers had arrived at the gate of the camp, and the two leading scouts were preparing to visit General Liu.

"Deng Qilong? Yuan Jianlong? Have them bring some Zhejiang soldiers and officers to see me!"

Hearing his subordinates approaching, the bound Kang Yingqian shouted:

"Liu Jing, you can't kill me!"

"Liu Dadao, if you commit treason, your family, relatives, and friends in Nanchang will all be beheaded."

"Hahahaha! Kill them! Kill them all! It would be best if we kill them all!" Liu Jing laughed loudly, looking up to the sky. "I have nothing to do with them. I won't feel any pain even if a few die!"

Kang Yingqian was speechless.

~~~~
"Soldiers of the Zhejiang Army! I am Liu Jing, Commander-in-Chief of the Liaodong Army, Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Route Army. Three days ago, Yang Hao, Governor of Liaodong, cut off our food supplies. With insufficient supplies, we are left to fend for ourselves... To be honest, General Du Song and his troops have been annihilated! Li Rubai has fled! Ma Lin is nowhere to be found! We are the only ones left!"

"What? What happened to General Du?"

"How's General Du?"

The spearmen who spoke with Jiangsu and Zhejiang accents were suddenly in an uproar, raising their arms and shouting. They had traveled thousands of miles to Liaodong, sleeping in the open air and not having enough food or sleep. They had finally arrived in Liaodong, but they didn't expect to be isolated and helpless as soon as they arrived.

"Why doesn't the court distribute grain?"

"Damn it! Someone must have taken advantage of him! Where is Kang Yingqian?"

"Kang Yingqian escaped alone!"

Liu Jing waved his hand to signal the Zhejiang soldiers to calm down, and said in a hoarse voice:

"Everyone, I heard in the capital that if we win this battle by chance, the court will not reward us much, and the emperor has squandered all the money in the treasury... If we lose, your heads will be in danger. Even if you survive, you will have to shave your heads and become bondservants of the Jiannu!"

"Everyone, do you remember the Jizhou Rebellion over 20 years ago?"

The surroundings suddenly became deathly silent.

Liu Jing's beard trembled. "The imperial court is so harsh, and Yang Jinglue is using his power to seek revenge! Well, forget it! I no longer want to be the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army. It would be better for me to retire and stay home to face punishment!"

Liu Tianxing was the first to shout: "Kill Yang Hao and demand an explanation from the court!"

"Kill Yang Hao!"

The Zhejiang soldiers raised their arms and shouted, saying that at this point, they had no way out.

"Kang Yingqian is here, chop this guy down first!"

Liu Tianxing held up his sword, pointed it at Kang Yingqian's neck, and swung it down fiercely.

There was a clang, sparks flew, and the dagger flew out. Liu Zhaosun held the dagger in one hand to protect Kang Yingqian.

"Xiao Shisan, are you going to rebel?"

Just as Liu Tianxing was about to summon his retainers to besiege Qi Meng, a night guard arrived in front of the central army tent:
"The Bordered Blue Banner is only five miles away from here!"

The surroundings suddenly became chaotic and everyone was talking. Finally, everyone turned their attention to General Liu.

Liu Jing waved Liu Tianxing away, tears streaming down his face as he said, "Those who are willing to join me in the uprising can retreat now, and those who are unwilling can stay here..."

The eight thousand Jiannu were not far away. At this moment, staying here would undoubtedly be seeking death.

At that moment, more than a thousand of the three thousand Zhejiang soldiers were scattered, and even the commanders Deng Qilong and Yuan Jianlong refused to join the rebels. Liu Jing resisted the urge to kill them.

With the Bordered Blue Banner army approaching, the Eastern Army has split into two factions.

Liu Jing's eyes welled up with tears. "The army is moving out, and I'm worried that the Jiannu will follow. It's going to be difficult!"

At this time, Liu Zhaosun's voice came from behind.

"Foster father! I am willing to lead a thousand cavalrymen to attack the Jiannu camp at night! I only ask that you spare General Kang's life!"

Liu Jing smiled and nodded, fearing that Liu Zhaosun would not go to die.

Liu Tianxing smiled and patted Qi Meng on the shoulder: "Xiao Shisan, are you serious? You know, there is no joking in the army!" "Of course it's true!"

Liu Jing looked embarrassed. "Little Thirteen, I don't have a thousand cavalrymen. I can give you three hundred at most. As for General Kang's life... well, let him join you in the night raid before he dies, and redeem himself for his crime!"

Qi Meng happily said: "Three hundred is three hundred, can you allow me to select some soldiers myself..."

"Okay! I'll promote you to Qianzong first. After this battle, the court will definitely reward you, Xiao Shisan."

Liu Jing bid farewell to his adopted son with tears in his eyes: "You can't die."

Qi Meng squeezed out a tear:
"Godfather, I will definitely live longer than you."

After a performance of fatherly love and filial piety, Qi Meng immediately went to each camp and pointed out six people: Shen Lian, Zhang Dong, Zhang Chao, Deng Changxiong, and Wang Erhu.

Except for Shen Lian, the others are all confidants.

In the view of Liu Jing and others, these people would be a nuisance if kept, so it would be better to leave them all to Liu Zhaosun and let them fend for themselves.

~~~

The most direct and effective way to prevent the establishment of the Great Qi is to kill Liu Zhaosun.

In other words, Qi Meng, who possessed Liu Zhaosun, has become the public enemy in the Eastern World and the target of every player's attack.

Of course, directly killing this powerful general is too risky and violates the rules of the game. According to the rules of the Eastern World, attacking other players will be directly eliminated. It is this cautious approach that allowed Qi Meng to hold on to the end in the Eastern World.

Liu Jing's move was to kill with a borrowed knife, using the hands of the Bordered Blue Banner to get rid of Liu Zhaosun.

Qi Meng probably guessed Liu Jing's conspiracy, and in anger, he shouted:
"From now on, Liu Zhaosun is dead. There is no Liu Zhaosun in this world anymore. I have nothing to do with Liu Jing anymore. I remember that before I joined Liu Jing's army, my surname was Qi. Now I have changed it back to my real name. From now on, I am Qi Meng, and Qi Meng is me!"

"General Qi, what should we do?"

"What should I do?" Qi Meng looked up at the eastern sky. The sun was about to fall below the horizon, and the sky was blood red.

For his own selfish reasons, Liu Jing ignored the lives of millions of people in Liaodong and watched the blood flow like a river. When the game was over, he just patted his butt and left.

But to Qi Meng, these people are not numbers, but living lives.

"The purpose of the Eastern World is to safeguard the well-being of all mankind, prevent the establishment of Qi, and save the people. I don't think there is any contradiction between the two."

Qi Meng muttered to himself, looking around:

"Liu Jing has been kind to me in my upbringing. Now he's rebelling. Millions of Liao people will be annihilated. I can't sit idly by. Are you willing to fight your way out with me?!"

"We all wish to follow General Qi!"

Qi Meng said angrily:

"Since you have elected me as your leader, you should obey my orders! There is nothing you can achieve here except death! The entire army will retreat to southern Liaoning and return to the interior of the country! However, before that,

Everyone looked up:

"The Jiannu invaded Liaodong and massacred our Han people. We soldiers should fight hard to kill the enemy! How can we withdraw from Liaodong without firing a single arrow or sending a single soldier?"

"Today's night attack is to embolden our army and avenge the Liao people! Anyone who dares to kill the enemy with me, please step forward!"

Shen Lian, Zhang Chao and others stepped forward one after another. Zhang Dong brought five or six servants with him, and dozens of soldiers came forward in an instant.

"Li Yongfang is good at using spies, and he likes to use Jiannu to pretend to be Ming troops. Today, I will do the opposite and let these baoyi suffer!"

Kang Yingqian turned around and was about to escape, but Qi Mengchao gave Zhang Dong a wink, and Zhang Mazi rode forward and stopped him with his sword.

"General Qi Qian, you're worrying too much. I just need to pee..."

Qi Meng dismounted, hugged Kang Yingqian tightly, and said with a pleasant face: "General Kang is the backbone of the entire army, and we can't do without him..."

Kang Yinggan's face turned red and white. As a fourth-rank military inspector, he naturally did not take Qi Meng, a second-rate military general, seriously. On ordinary days, killing such a soldier would be like crushing a bug to him. However, after all, this man had just saved his life, and the more than a thousand soldiers in front of him all followed Qi Meng's orders. If he continued to care about the difference between civil and military officials and put on airs as a civil servant, he would be wasting his life.

Seeing Kang Yingqian's dejected look, Qi Meng couldn't help but laugh and said, "Old Kang, Old Kang, this is the fate we cultivated in our previous lives. How can we just break up like that?"

Qi Meng gently stroked the horse's mane to calm the restless horse, and began to assign tasks to everyone:

"Zhang Mazi, Shen Lian, Zhang Chao, you three will come with me, disguise yourself as the white armored soldiers of the Bordered Blue Banner, enter the Bordered Blue Banner tent, and kill Amin."

"Deng Changxiong, Wang Erhu, each of you will lead twenty cavalrymen to attack the Jiannu through the north gate. Remember, do not linger in the battle!"

"General Yuan, Pu Gang, each of you will lead twenty cavalrymen and attack the Jiannu through the south gate!"

Everyone responded with a roar of agreement.

"All troops, rest and regroup. Set out tonight at 11:00 PM and arrive at the Blue Banner Camp at 3:30 PM. Wait for my orders!"

(End of this chapter)