Southern Ming, my destiny is too abstract

Chapter 41: Gun in hand, walk alone

The Xitang River Valley has high temperatures all year round, and even in winter it is close to 30 degrees Celsius.

The smoke from the ancient city gradually dissipated, but the heat evaporated more vigorously as the sun hung high in the sky.

Affected by the northeast monsoon, rainfall is scarce, dust is evaporated by the heat, and it is so dry that people feel a stinging pain in the throat and nose when they breathe.

The chaotic and crowded prisoner-of-war camp made the Hongsha prisoners even more upset.

Fortunately, there was the Xitang River for bathing, and the Ming army spread lime, so the disease was prevented.

I only ate two meals of porridge in three days, and heard the monks distributing cooked rice and the meat of injured cattle and horses.

The Hongsha captives rushed forward in a swarm.

Only after the Ming army beat dozens of Hongsha people with the backs of their swords did the captives line up in a crooked manner under the command of the nobles who had rebelled against the Tonggu regime.

"The Ming Dynasty is still generous. I heard from the elders that during wars in the past, they would starve the captives for three days to prevent them from having the strength to resist and escape."

A Hongsha soldier muttered.

"Three days? Haha."

The companion next to him spoke up.

"I'll starve you for a month, keeping you alive. If you die, I'll save you some rice. Once you start working honestly, I'll give you one meal a day."

Hong Shabing nodded vigorously: "It's thanks to the kind-hearted monks. I heard that the Ming Dynasty prince is also the reincarnation of Buddha and has a kind heart. That's why we can have a full meal and a piece of meat."

A captive noble glared at the Hongsha soldier who had spoken out and shouted:

"Zhu Cixuan is kind? He killed our two kings and burned down the place where our Hongsha tribe was revived."

"A hundred thousand strong army was annihilated here, and tens of thousands of our men died, including those killed by Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan at Shanghongsha and the temple burned down."

"Buddhism is almost dead, and they still say Zhu Cixuan is the reincarnation of Buddha!"

The nobles still had some influence, and the Hongsha soldiers shrank their heads and dared not refute.

The nobleman's servant echoed, "Indeed, the ghosts on the Xitang River have been crying out every night these past few days."

"The old city of Toungoo was destroyed, and the ghosts of Minggyiyu and his royal family appear every day in the ruins of Toungoo."

"They set fire to the ships in the camp where the Ming prince was stationed, hoping to make him be buried alive with Toungoo."

All the people in Hongsavadi believe in Buddhism.

Naturally, people are terrified of ghosts.

While remaining silent, they also began to spread the rumors of the past few days to each other.

For example, there were frequent fires around Zhu Cixuan.

The palm tree stumps shook and someone saw the silhouette of a tiger.

There are even monsters with human heads and snake bodies appearing in the Xitang River.

Many people claimed that they saw a water ghost in the Xitang River looking for someone to reincarnate last night.

A dozen Hongsha people were sleeping by the Xitang River and were found dead in the morning.

As the monks distributed food, more news came out.

The monks narrated it orally.

The old monk Atula had a dream last night.

I dreamed of the sun rising from the northeast.

The stars from east to west revolve around the sun.

The old monk Atullah was a great master and the leader of all the monks in Toungoo County.

He is of the same generation as King Thalong and the old Lord Bagan.

After his father died in Mangyingli, he established his own kingdom in Toungoo County.

When Anabilun recaptured Xiahongsha, he killed Atula's father and forced the eight-year-old Atula to enter the temple and become a monk.

In a sense, Atullah was the Buddhist spokesperson for the Toungoo royal family.

His dream foreshadowed something.

Naturally, it aroused everyone's curiosity.

A Hongsha captive asked the monk, "Master, may I ask what the dream of Grand Master Atula means?"

The monk replied calmly, "Scholars and Brahmins say that Atula's dream indicated that a man like the Buddha would come to Honsavadi and promote Buddhism."

The new king of Toungoo, one who just died.

An old Pagan Marquis, whose fiefdom was southwest of Ava and northwest of Toungoo. His maternal family was also from the Mon tribe of Pegu in the south.

"Are the scholars referring to the Ming Emperor and Crown Prince?"

The monk shook his head, then nodded:
"How can there be two suns in the sky?"

"There is only one sun in Hongshawadi, he should be the crown prince of Ming."

The monk looked at the captives: "Scholars comment."

"The radiance of the Ming Crown Prince's imperial power will be like the sun, promoting the great cause of Buddhism."

"The numerous stars surrounding the sun represent the kings, princes, officials, and descendants of Hongsavadi, who have continuously assisted the crown prince of Ming and spread the teachings of Buddhism."

The Hongsha captives seemed to understand but were confused.

"Master, doesn't the Crown Prince of Ming believe in Western religions?"

The monks said earnestly, "In his previous life, the Crown Prince of Ming was a disciple of the Buddha, and studied the secret teachings with the saints of the West."

"He came to this world to promote Buddhism, but he also wanted to help his fellow practitioners."

Most of the noble captives were disdainful, but because the rice, swords and guns were in the hands of the enemy, they had to remain silent.

Suddenly, a roar shook the mountains and forests.

"There's a tiger!"

A tiger rushed out of the forest along with a fishy wind.

They charged straight into the camp facing tens of thousands of two-legged beasts.

The people of Hongsha were about to scatter in panic.

A Ming army general rode out on horseback, his bow bent like a moon and his arrow like a shooting star.

Three sharp arrows instantly froze the small tiger in place.

Immediately, Ming soldiers holding spears forked the tiger, tied it with iron chains and surrounded it.

The Hongsha captives did not enjoy the meal.

Someone else pointed at the surface of the Xitang River and exclaimed:

"Monster, a monster with a human head and a snake body!"

Even the monks were restless. Many stood on the riverbank, watching a wisp of long hair floating on the surface, and the occasional scaly figure caught in the shimmering waves.

A long tail swayed behind it, creating strange ripples.

"Pretend to be a ghost!"

Someone recognized it as Andy Wenbai Wenxuan.

He was the Ming general who first attacked Hongsha and approached Ava.

In the past year, I stopped my child from crying in Hongsavadi.

It was only in the past few months that the notoriety of the Crown Prince of Ming caught up with him.

Bai Wenxuan led a dozen soldiers onto the boat.

Bows and guns were fired at the same time, and arrows and stones were fired continuously.

The monster in the river swam very fast and dodged flexibly.

Wait until Bai Wenxuan is about ten meters away.

Arrows and bullets hit one after another.

The monster swung its body, causing huge splashes of water.

Those with sharp eyes have already noticed the blood mixed in the water.

After a while.

Wait until the monster is completely silent.

When the corpse floated on the river, everyone realized it was a giant crocodile. It must have eaten several corpses on the battlefield. A bunch of hair was wrapped around the giant crocodile's snout.

The Ming army used long sticks to push the giant crocodile's corpse to the river bank.

Before anyone could exclaim in surprise at the three-meter-long crocodile.

Another Ming army soldier dragged a stone tablet out of the Xitang River.

The monks came forward to observe.

Accompanied by constant sounds of surprise and doubt.

The contents of the stone tablet quickly spread among the 50,000 captives in Hongsha.

The stone tablet is engraved with the languages ​​of four ethnic groups: Shan, Hongsha, Mon and Chinese.

The king of kings, the lord of tigers and elephants.

He has countless weapons and a powerful army.

Coming from the flames, born from nirvana.

The protector and promoter of Buddhism.

The stone tablet suddenly caused a huge wave.

"This is referring to the Crown Prince of Mingguo!"

"The monsters are no match for Ming Guo's Bai Wenxuan. Ping Dali and Mang Bai are both dead. Who else has powerful military weapons?"

"Didn't the Ming Kingdom just kill a tiger?"

"Is the dream of old wizard Atula true?"

Zhu Cixuan rode an elephant and drove a cart.

Walk up to the Hongsha captives.

The originally neat formation of the Hongsha captives suddenly became chaotic.

The prince of Ming State, who had killed two kings and burned Tonggu, was filled with fear, as evidenced by the strange vision.

Zhu Cixuan met the captives' awed eyes and opened his mouth:
"Some of you may know about some of the things I did in Shanghongsha."

"You may have heard about my arrangements with Ahmedan, the peasants, and the slaves."

The lower-class Ahmedans and slaves among the captives all had their eyes shining.

Even though the previous news was blocked by Mangbai.

But he was captured these days.

Many Hongsha people and monks in the Ming army told them that the Ming Dynasty would distribute land to them and they would not have to pay taxes.

Zhu Cixuan glanced at the noble captives who were secretly glaring at him, and the Hongsha soldiers who were ready to make a move, and said loudly:
"You guessed it right."

"Shwe Min Lai."

Yangmidin Hou Ruiminlai appeared from behind the elephant cart.

“Maybe some of you know me.”

Shwe Min Hlaing's voice was strong and powerful:
"I used to be a low-ranking Ahmudan under Mangwen, the Marquis of Bimyu. As a butcher, I slaughtered animals for the nobles."

"Every year, half of the rice you grow should be picked out and given to Village Chief Mu."

"The Crown Prince of Ming promised me land and allowed me to kill the enemy. I was also blessed by the Buddha and performed several meritorious deeds."

"I, a Hongsha person with no background, became the governor-general of Yangmi Ding County."

Seeing the prisoners' increasingly heated eyes, Zhu Cixuan struck while the iron was hot and said:

"In the past, Ahmedan could not leave the village where he lived at will."

"Serfs cannot marry freely, and their descendants will continue to be slaves for generations."

"Ahmedans and Atai peasants were slaves, exploited, oppressed, and enslaved."

"Mang Yingli's excessive military spending has brought disaster to the world, and Mang Bai has even slaughtered people from all over the lower Hongsha counties for no reason, causing the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people."

"The killing karma committed by the Mangshi clan angered the heavens, which sent down karmic fire to burn down the Liuli Palace and Tonggu City."

"Many of you have been robbed of your wealth, had your relatives killed, and become slaves by Mangbai."

"Now Mangbai is dead!"

Zhu Cixuan pointed in the direction of Hongsha:

"I will give you freedom. Return to your homeland and find your relatives and tribe."

"Go find those nobles, take back your land, take back your property."

"Tell your tribe's leaders to only offer sacrifices to Buddhism and temples."

"If you respect the Ming emperor and his ministers as you would a monk, I will promise you will not have to pay taxes or grain for two years."

"Take up your weapons and take back what belongs to you."

[Bai Di, your tiger-elephant stele is captivating.]

[Welcome King Chuang, you have gained the support of the people of all ethnic groups in Xiahongsha.]

(End of this chapter)