The prince is more stable

Chapter 850 The Cannon Fires

Time was of the essence. The secret letter sent by Zhong Jianzhong made it very clear that the Emperor's family members must be sent back to the Song Dynasty by ship as soon as possible, as all the officials were still waiting for the Emperor to confer the title of Empress.

As for this young prince named Zhao Hao, he is the only bloodline of the Emperor. Although he is born out of wedlock, he is under the serious scrutiny of the entire court.

In this era, we should not underestimate the importance of inheritance.

When the emperor has an heir, the hearts of all the people in the country can be at ease; otherwise, if the emperor has no heir, the whole country will fall into chaos.

After Zhao Xu's death, Bianjing was in such chaos that the border troops and the capital troops clashed with each other, and cannons were used to blast down the city gates. Many people inside the city, whether they deserved to die or not, died.

This is the serious consequence of an emperor having no heir to carry on his legacy.

Now that Zhao Xiaoqian has a son, even if the child is born out of wedlock, it is enough to attract the attention of the court officials.

The investiture of the empress was merely a formality; the real concern of the court officials was to send the young prince away from Japan and back to the safety of Bianjing.

Zhang Rong hastily arranged for four large ships, which were temporarily requisitioned from Song Dynasty merchants who had docked at Nagasaki Port.

Two thousand soldiers boarded the ship for protection. Zhang Rong personally escorted Feng and the others to the ship and settled them in before disembarking and leaving.

Standing on the port shore, Zhang Rong bowed and clasped his hands in a fist salute, maintaining the same posture until the ship left the port, at which point he slowly straightened up.

After straightening up, Zhang Rong's smiling face gradually turned cold and stern, until it became ferocious.

He could not return to Bianjing yet; he had to continue leading the Song army in battles and slaughters on the land of Kyushu.

Zhong Jianzhong sent more than one secret letter from the Emperor. In addition to the one instructing his family to return to Bianjing as soon as possible, there was also another secret decree.

The secret edict instructed Zhang Rong to temporarily station troops in Japan and to systematically massacre the young and middle-aged Japanese on Kyushu Island, leaving only women, children, and the elderly.

This secret edict was so inhumane that Zhang Rong was shocked when he saw it.

The secret edict did not explain the reason, but only instructed him to follow the ancient Chinese custom of massacring entire cities and to systematically and in batches kill the young and middle-aged men on Kyushu Island, Japan.

Throughout history, during the rise and fall of dynasties in the Central Plains, armies would indeed carry out massacres after occupying enemy cities.

A massacre is not a cool, indiscriminate killing; it is a planned and strategic killing.

They treat the people in the city like lambs, and today they've spread the word that they'll only kill the remnants of the army disguised as civilians.

After the remaining soldiers are killed, release the message tomorrow that we will only kill the rich and unscrupulous merchants and will not harm the common people.

The next day, another message was released stating that civilians were spreading rumors that were very unfriendly to our occupying forces, and that we would only kill the civilians who spread the rumors...

The daily updating of specific conditions for killing creates a sense of impunity among the vast majority of civilians, who believe it has nothing to do with them and that they and their families will not be killed or implicated. As a result, they remain indifferent and unconcerned.

In the end, the occupying forces held knives to their own and their families' necks.

This is the true process of massacring a city in ancient times, not as depicted in movies and TV dramas, where occupying forces enter the city and kill people indiscriminately.

Leaving aside the question of whether this would tarnish the reputation of the occupying forces, wouldn't this indiscriminate killing incite the righteous indignation of all the civilians in the city? If they united and launched a desperate counterattack, they would ultimately inflict some casualties on the occupying forces.

The correct method for massacring a city is like boiling a frog in lukewarm water: release false information to lower the frog's guard until it realizes the water is getting hotter and hotter, at which point the frog will no longer have the strength to jump out and will be boiled alive.

Zhang Rong has now received a secret order from Zhao Xiaoqian, instructing him to use this method, but the difference is that this time it's not a massacre of a city, but a massacre of an entire island.

Zhang Rong was initially taken aback, as he didn't understand why the Emperor seemed to harbor such deep hatred towards the Japanese.

In my memory, the Japanese have never offended the emperor. They even have two Japanese sisters in their family who serve him diligently. What could have caused the emperor to have such a strong desire to kill the Japanese?
Zhang Rong dared not ask the specific reason. He knew that the former prince was now the emperor, and he had to carry out the emperor's orders without fail.

What motivated Zhang Rong even more was that Zhong Jianzhong told him some good news in his letter: on the day of the Emperor's enthronement ceremony, meritorious officials were conferred titles, and most of the generals in the Yan-Yun border army were promoted. Zhang Rong was also appointed as the "Military Governor of Anhua Army" and granted the title of "Marquis of Zhucheng County".

He never dreamed that Zhang Rong would one day be granted a marquisate.

Moreover, the titles of nobility conferred by the government were quite particular. Zhucheng County, which belonged to Mizhou, was located by the sea and had a port.

So, does the Emperor mean that he might vigorously develop the Song Dynasty's navy in the future?

Zhang Rong was very likely the chief commander of the Song Dynasty's navy.

Don't think about it too much, the more you think about it, the more agitated you'll become.

Zhang Rong left Nagasaki Port with a chilling murderous intent on his face.

"Issue the order: starting today, screen the young men of Japan on Kyushu Island. Publicly declare that a bandit army has infiltrated and bribed the young men of Kyushu Island with the intention of harming our Great Song army, and that they shall be severely punished."

Killing requires a legitimate excuse; indiscriminate killing without reason may feel good at the time, but explaining it afterwards will lead to a nightmare.

The Song soldiers under his command all clasped their hands in obeisance and accepted the order.

A massacre targeting the Japanese began silently.

...The Great Song Dynasty, Bianjing (Kaifeng).

Zhao Xiaoqian held an urgent letter in his hand. The letter was written in standard Chinese characters, and each character was written neatly and correctly. To be honest, it was much better than Zhao Xiaoqian's own handwriting.

This letter was written by Japanese people; to be precise, it was jointly written by a group of feudal lords from Kyushu, Japan.

When this letter was sent, the Japanese lords on Kyushu Island were being chased and beaten by Zhang Rong. The lords, who usually flaunted their power to the people, could only run away in fear in the face of the powerful Song army, and had no power to fight back.

After many days of back and forth, by the time the letter finally reached Zhao Xiaoqian, the situation on Kyushu Island was probably already as cold as daylilies.

The tone of the letter was very respectful, with every sentence expressing humility and reverence for His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty. The respect in the words could almost be felt through the paper.

But the contents inside were a complaint against Zhang Rong.

The Japanese feudal lords were traumatized by Zhang Rong's defeat and protested against the Song army's frequent massacres of Japanese civilians.

Of course, the feudal lords dared not blame the Song Emperor. They insisted that Zhang Rong had disobeyed the Song Emperor's decree and violated the righteous and benevolent ways of the Central Plains sages, causing countless deaths and injuries among Japanese civilians. They humbly begged His Majesty the Song Emperor to show mercy and save the Japanese civilians from their dire straits...

After reading the letter, Zhao Xiaoqian immediately crumpled it into a ball and tossed it away as if he had just thrown away a fart.

"'Princes'? What level are they? How dare they submit memorials to me?" Zhao Xiaoqian sneered disdainfully.

Strictly speaking, the Song Dynasty of today is also a "vassal state," but it has thousands of years of cultural heritage, a complete court structure typical of a unified dynasty, the orthodox rule of the monarchy, a legitimate lineage of culture, an annual revenue of hundreds of millions, and an invincible army.

Can those so-called feudal lords of Japan compare?
In Zhao Xiaoqian's view, they were nothing more than a group of thugs and criminal gangs.

These criminal gangs used to rule this land, but once the real regular army appeared, they were no match for them.

What should be done with Zhang Rong?

Don't even think about it!

Zhao Xiaoqian had just given Zhang Rong a secret order, instructing him to intensify his efforts and slaughter as many young and strong Japanese men as possible on Kyushu Island.

Zhao Xiaoqian pretended not to see the letter of complaint.

Rubbing his chin, Zhao Xiaoqian pondered to himself whether or not to send more troops to Japan. At the same time, he also needed to establish a logistical supply route between Mizhou Port of the Song Dynasty and Nagasaki Port of Japan in preparation for the Song army to be stationed in Japan for a long period of time.

Food, ammunition, and warhorses were replenished as needed, ensuring that Zhang Rong and his soldiers had no worries about supplies while in Japan.

After calculating the army's food and ammunition consumption, and the bottom line that the Song Dynasty's treasury could support at present.

After a long silence, Zhao Xiaoqian nodded and called out, "Old Zheng."

Zheng Chunhe walked in from outside the hall.

"A decree was issued to the Privy Council to select 5,000 soldiers from the three armies of the Palace Guard, prepare them, and depart for Mizhou Port to board ships to Japan. They will be placed under the command of Zhang Rong and will obey his orders."

Zheng Chunhe immediately accepted the order and turned to leave.

The war went so smoothly that there were virtually no casualties during the occupation of Kyushu. Japan's military strength was now so weak that it was beyond Zhao Xiaoqian's expectations. In that case, it would be better to occupy more territory. In the future, once all preparations were complete, Zhang Rong could lead his army north to gradually occupy all of Japan's territory.

Since you cannot defend it, this land should naturally belong to the virtuous. The Great Song Dynasty is a great and powerful celestial empire. In terms of virtue, who can surpass the Great Song Dynasty?
Will this war be a losing proposition?

No, there's no such thing as a loss in war. Even if the country loses money, private individuals can still make a fortune.

Putting aside everything else, after the victory, the young and strong civilians of Japan could not be killed. Instead, they were tied up like crabs and sold to wealthy families in the Song Dynasty as servants. The income from this trade would be astronomical.

Not to mention that Japan also has abundant reserves of gold, silver, and copper mines, all of which are gifts from nature.

I vaguely remember reading in a book in my past life that there was a world-class gold deposit somewhere on Kyushu Island, which produced 200,000 tons of gold ore in just one year.

Zhao Xiaoqian could hardly imagine how happy he would be if this gold deposit were in his hands...

Reinforcements are needed! Reinforcements are absolutely necessary!
First kill people, then seize the mines. If this war goes smoothly, the Song Dynasty will reap unprecedented benefits.

When the cannons roar, gold flows like water; that's how war is played.

While preparing for war, skilled craftsmen exploring mineral deposits also needed to keep up. Zhang Rong was fighting on one side, while the craftsmen were exploring the mines on the other, so that neither side was neglected.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. Zhao Xiaoqian immediately spread out some paper, quickly wrote several imperial edicts, and ordered Zheng Chunhe to send them to the Hall of State Affairs, leaving Zhang Dun to handle them.

After finishing all this, Zhao Xiaoqian tossed his pen aside, leaned back comfortably in his chair, and felt inexplicably happy.

If a gold mine is indeed discovered in Japan, after refining and purifying the gold, I must have Zhang Rong send a batch of gold bricks so that I can have craftsmen build a large bed of pure gold, where I can lie and dream all day without doing anything else.

So happy...

(End of this chapter)