The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 420 Hanging Coffin
How should we deal with a fighting nation that has been at odds with the Han people for nearly two thousand years?

The answer is, of course, respect!
The consequence of generals respecting their opponents is that they unleash devastating weapons.

The army's military strength is still led by General Gan!

Gan Minglan: She hasn't even been a hands-off manager for long before she has to do the work herself. She's definitely not destined to enjoy a life of ease!
Then, she led 20,000 Kansai troops into battle.

Having witnessed countless mummies unearthed from the deserts of the Western Regions without batting an eye, General Gan was deeply moved by the unique scenery on the sheer cliffs of the mountains inhabited by the Bo people.

What kind of scenery is it?

Hanging coffins!

There are thousands!
Densely packed, yet arranged in a pleasing, staggered pattern.

Anyone who dared to enter this world would get goosebumps.

In this dynasty.

The most common way to settle the deceased is through burial.

Among them, there are a few places where the customs of sky burial, water burial, and cremation still exist.

But who can tell her?

"Why would they leave a perfectly good coffin on a cliff face? Won't those wooden frames supporting the coffin weather away in a few decades or even a hundred years? And how did they manage to hoist such a massive coffin, weighing hundreds or even thousands of kilograms, up there?"

I simply can't understand even a little bit about it.

The head of a Sichuanese noble family, forced to work part-time as a guide, continued explaining from the sidelines:

"In the earliest days, it was probably to prevent wild animals from disturbing the area, as there were many man-eating beasts in the mountains. Moreover, the area experiences heavy rainfall in summer and autumn. Placing the coffins on the cliffs could prevent damage to the underground cemetery from floods and mudslides."

Most of the wooden stakes used to place the coffins are made of Phoebe zhennan wood, which, with proper preservation measures, can last for hundreds of years. General, you see, there are caves of varying sizes on those cliffs. If any wooden stakes show signs of rotting, the deceased's descendants will remove them and place them in a cave.”

Gan Minglan nodded, understanding slightly:

"That was indeed a method, but what happened afterward? How did their descendants maintain this funeral custom for nearly two thousand years?"

She interacts with outsiders in a relatively friendly manner.

But when this member of the Sichuanese aristocratic family answered her questions, he dared not look her directly in the eye.

I'm terrified!
It wasn't that he was afraid the female general would use her beauty to seduce him.

He is a smart man.

The only female general in the entire army who could be invited to take charge, could she be some kind of weakling?

The general's good looks and martial prowess are absolutely proportional!
Not daring to be the slightest bit offensive, he continued to answer carefully and respectfully:
"The Bo people had many fierce conflicts with the Central Plains court and other ethnic groups. Placing the coffin on the cliff ensured that the deceased could rest in peace after death."

"Tsk, are they afraid their enemies will come and dig up their graves? Or are they just used to elaborate burials?"

Gan Minglan quickly recalled what famous mineral resources Sichuan and Chongqing had in later generations.

I wondered if these Bo people, like the nobles of those small kingdoms in the Western Regions, had their coffins filled with gold dust or silverware.

The head of the Bashu gentry family quickly shattered her illusions:
"Ahem, that's probably not the case! The Bo people wear linen and animal hides, and their porcelain is not very fine. They rarely use gold or silver, and bronze and ironware are not common either."

Gan Minglan: "."

So, with such meager burial goods, who would bother to go through the trouble of digging a coffin up a cliff?

The head of the Bashu gentry family also felt a bit of a toothache when he talked about this.

The Bo people have always left the impression on the Han people as being poor and arrogant.

They were truly poor, the kind of poor that didn't even have shoes to wear!

Just thinking about going barefoot in the dead of winter makes me shiver!

According to him:
"Although the burial goods of the Bo people were not valuable, this hanging coffin burial later became the privilege of Bo nobles, Bo leaders or important figures."

Because this burial method requires a great deal of manpower and resources, transporting the coffin and burial goods to the cliff is an extremely difficult task. Therefore, hanging coffin burial best demonstrates their social status. Most importantly, the Bo people, through this unique burial custom that has been passed down for nearly two thousand years, distinguish themselves from other ethnic groups and highlight their uniqueness.”

Why would someone go to such lengths just to demonstrate their status and position?

That's really unique!
It was because the 20,000-strong Kansai army lingered under the hanging coffin for an extra half an hour.

Everyone was still craning their necks, staring intently at the coffin on the cliff.

In the distance, the Bo people, who were planning a second sneak attack, were breathing rapidly.

The Bo chieftain was filled with rage:

His father had only been bedridden for less than a year, and his coffin was the most conspicuous one on that cliff.

Where?

The Han Chinese man suffered a small loss a few days ago, so he set his sights on his father's coffin.
Why look so closely?
Someone whispered in the leader's ear:

"I heard that those Han people used those things called muskets to kill off a million Miao people in Miaoling, and a few days ago they also killed off the Qiang people!"

"Finally, it's our turn! Will they target our ancestral graves? Will they blow up all those golden nanmu wood stakes supporting the coffins?"

During the last sneak attack, they were positioned high enough that the enemy hadn't even had time to use firearms.

But that doesn't mean they were unaware of how lethal that thing called a musket was.

Bo people leader:

"Not sure! Let's wait and see! If they dare to make a move, they'll make sure these people don't leave alive."

General Gan, whose head was already reserved: "."

She's not that tasteless!
When it comes to fists, she's never been afraid of anyone!
She wasn't interested in the Bo people's hanging coffin technique; she was interested in prisoners of war.

We don't need to give her too much. Just add 8,000 troops to her vanguard battalion, and the Western Expedition to the Western Regions will be a piece of cake!
On the battlefield, General Gan personally selected Bo people prisoners of war, making the Bo people, who had never suffered a defeat, suffer greatly.

The Bo people didn't realize that as long as they could endure hardship, endless hardship awaited them.
The other end.

Zuo Wenxuan, having retrieved the treasure map near the Zuo clan cemetery in Daming Prefecture, successfully evaded several waves of pursuit by the clan elders. Finally, disguising himself as an old woman, he endured great hardship before finally arriving in Shangdu.

He dared not so brazenly enter the palace to present the treasure.

With great foresight, they found a woodshed at a large inn to stay in.

Upon inquiring, I found out...

Baka baka!
Emperor Zhao Muyun, instead of sitting comfortably on the dragon throne in the Golden Palace, actually led his troops to personally lead an expedition against the barbarians.

It's the Miao region, famous for its Gu poison!

He dared not imagine what would happen if this emperor died on the battlefield.

The position of crown prince has not been decided yet.

Which of the three princes should he side with?
Wu Yue Ni family?

The eldest prince, Zhao Rui, born to the imperial concubine, is a complete wastrel!

Furthermore, the Empress could not agree to this eldest son of a concubine ascending the throne.

The problem is that the legitimate prince is too young; he would be a figurehead emperor.

The previous dynasty serves as a cautionary tale!
Zuo Wenxuan's mind was in a mess.

Unexpectedly, the treasure map in his hand became a hot potato.

Before Emperor Qianwu returned to the capital, he dared not make any rash moves.

(End of this chapter)