You have truly caused me great suffering!

Li Shiyan couldn't understand the local language, and he wasn't exactly a philanthropist.

Now that we have obtained the moral high ground, let the Annamese do as they please.

All these Jing soldiers wanted was to take Champa quickly; how to take it was up to the Annamese soldiers.

In his mind, once he gets the throne, everything will be perfectly justified.

This is typical of the thinking of people from the Central Plains: the monarch is greater than heaven and is the panacea for solving all problems.

He knew nothing about Hinduism, nor about Brahmanism and Kshatriyas.

Fortunately, he doesn't need to know too much.
As soon as Wu Yata was dragged out of the main tent, he was immediately beheaded on the spot, and his personal guards carried his head to the front of the battle to pass it around.

The Annamese soldiers roared like a tidal wave, their ferocious shouts terrifying the city's defenders.

This is a bloodline suppression that is almost like a natural enemy.

The Champa people, especially those in the north, were born and raised in the shadow of Jiaozhi (Vietnam).

To scare children, they would say: "The Jiaozhi people are coming!"

They've simply changed their name.

As the fuse was lit, the Annamese soldiers looked excitedly at the artillery battalion's position. Having been rained on themselves, they especially wanted others to be rained on as well.

Having experienced the power of cannons, they wanted the Champa people to also taste the might of poisonous fireballs, thunderbolts, caltrop fireballs, and iron-beaked fire hawks.

Because of their underestimation of the Champa people, the artillery battalion almost advanced to the city walls. On the battlefield between the Central Plains Dingnan Army and the Jin army, this distance was within firing range, which would have been tantamount to suicide.

But here, they have nothing to be afraid of.

Dozens of two-wheeled iron carts were seen, carrying brass cannons with long, python-like barrels that gleamed coldly. Soldiers in blue armor carried no swords or spears, only wooden boxes, compasses, and rangefinders, shouting, "Three degrees of elevation! Load the grapeshot!"

What is this?

A deafening roar that ripped through the air.

"boom!"

The earth is shaking and the mountains are shaking.

The earthen wall of Bintonglong crumbled like paper, and rubble mixed with blood and flesh shot into the sky.

The guards' ears were ringing. They saw their comrades with half their bodies embedded in the temple pillars and their intestines hanging from the statue of the goddess Po Naga. Their eyes went from fear to bewilderment.

He stood there, not knowing how to avoid it, nor how to be afraid; his mind was completely blank.

One cannon shot after another rained down on the city walls and inside the city. This was a new type of explosive that had just been developed and was being used in combat for the first time. There were also craftsmen who had come from Nanjing to observe and record the explosions with lead rods and parchment.

Iron pellets rained down, smashing through thatched roofs and shattering earthenware jars, turning scalding rice porridge into a pool of boiling human brains.

The woman fled with her child, but stepped on a severed hand. As she slipped, flying metal fragments sliced ​​off half of her face.

"Sorcery!" someone shouted. "It's the Corpse-Headed Barbarian borrowing the Thunder God's wrath!"

The priest, with disheveled hair and bare feet, held a coconut shell filled with blood freshly drawn from the lowly, and knelt before the goddess's tower, pleading, "Show me! Show me!"

Before he could finish speaking, a cannonball struck the base of the tower.

The centuries-old temple collapsed with a deafening roar. Amidst the smoke and dust, the severed head of the goddess statue rolled off, its empty eye sockets gazing at the sky.

The most affected were the Champa people's trump card: their elephant corps.

In Bintonglong City, thirty meticulously trained war elephants, clad in rattan armor and carrying archers, were terrified and scattered before even engaging in battle, trampling their own men.

The Annamese soldiers clapped and cheered outside the city, laughing heartily.

By this time, the city's defenses had long been blasted beyond recognition, but the artillery battalion had not stopped firing. The Annamese soldiers themselves were wondering why these northern barbarians had become so generous.

In their hearts, they actually didn't want to continue firing the cannons, because the city had been bombed too badly, and the lost property and the women and children killed were all things they wanted to loot.

It had long been regarded as their property by the Annamese soldiers.

Finally, after this round of artillery fire was completed, the artillery battalion's position fell silent.

The Annamese soldiers pulled out the strips of cloth stuffed in their ears, raised their weapons, and prepared to finish off the attack on the city.

Jingren followed them into the city and began to record the power.

About half a day later, Li Shiyan also entered the city with his personal guards. By then, the city had basically returned to order.

Don't mistakenly believe that a massacre of a city means rushing in and killing everyone you see; in fact, this is extremely rare.

A typical massacre of a city is carried out in stages.

First, stabilize the people in the city, make them hand over the money to buy their lives, and squeeze the money out of the city's residents.

When they can no longer extract money, they start robbing and slaughtering those who refuse to pay.

After killing off those who didn't pay, they would continue to exploit those who had paid, and those who paid again could still temporarily stay alive.

This cycle continues until nothing can be extracted, at which point the old and weak are killed.

Lastly, they plundered people.

Historically, the Manchus and their traitors were probably the best at playing this game when they entered China.

The Yangzhou Massacre was a classic example of a city-wide massacre, a textbook example of how Yangzhou was drained of all its wealth and people.

Li Shiyan was halfway through his journey in Bintonglong City when he discovered a small mound.

Surrounded by blood, he frowned slightly and leaned closer, only to find the scene before him extremely bloody and terrifying.

On the small mound, dozens of pillars were stuck in the ground, each with a naked man tied to it, now discarded on the ground.

Their chests had been gouged out, leaving them bloody and gruesome sights.

Li Shiyan summoned an Annamese military officer and asked him what was going on.

The military officer said dismissively, "This is the curse of the Champa barbarians."

"curse?"

“That’s right. They’re always performing blood sacrifices. There aren’t many Bintonglong people here. In the south, the priests kill more than a hundred people in a single blood sacrifice.”

This Annamese military officer, who clearly had frequent dealings with the Champa people, pointed to the center and said, "Commander, please look, that is the Champa Tower where they sacrificed their blood to the goddess Po Nagar."

Li Shiyan stepped closer to take a look and found that the goddess was made like a demon or monster, but inexplicably similar to some statues in ancient Buddhist temples.

He didn't care about that, only that the blood sacrifice was rather barbaric, especially since His Majesty of the Great Jing had just launched a major campaign to eradicate cults.

It was aimed at the blood sacrifices in the Jinghu and Fujian-Zhejiang areas.

Seeing that the Annamese army was about to commit another massacre, Li Shiyan wondered if they should ask them to exercise some restraint and preserve some of the people's strength to resume production.

The lessons learned in the Red River incident reminded them that they couldn't kill too many people, otherwise it would be really difficult to rebuild their lives.

At this moment, seeing some inscriptions carved on the stone pillar, Li Shiyan asked, "What does it say?"

Li Puhe stepped forward, and after reading it, his expression changed. He cursed, "These barbarian thieves dare to curse His Majesty the Emperor of Great Jing!" "What!" Li Shiyan, who had remained calm until now, roared in anger, "Damn it! This is outrageous! Smash all these stone pillars and slaughter all the Champa barbarians who worship evil gods!"

After nightfall, Li Shiyan began writing a military report inside the main tent:

Your Majesty, I led the artillery battalion and troops from Haiyun Pass in Annam, arriving at Bin Tong Long City on the eighth day of the eighth month. We breached the city within half a day. We found the barbarian tribes surrounding the hills, slaughtering animals and spewing blood; this was not a land of men, but a realm of ghosts. They used blood sacrifices to summon the plague god and cursed Your Majesty with sorcery. This is an outrage against both gods and men, and intolerable to Heaven and Earth. If Your Majesty does not demonstrate Your Majesty's might, the barbarians of the southern wilderness will surely follow suit. Therefore, I presumptuously destroyed their licentious shrines and eradicated their evil worship. I humbly beg Your Majesty's forgiveness for my recklessness.

These powerful families in northern Champa had long maintained close ties with the people of Jiaozhi.

In reality, they were a group of traitors, essentially compradors for the Vietnamese.

However, this time the Annamese soldiers showed no mercy and slaughtered Bin Tong Long, almost digging up the earthworms in the ground and cutting them in half.

The Grand Jing military supervisor, who should have been their lifeline, instead orchestrated a blood sacrifice.

This lifeline has now become a death sentence, even more ruthless than the Annamese.

Little did they know that the people here were susceptible to this kind of thing; intimidated by this terrifying pressure, they dared not resist any longer.

Wherever the army went, cities surrendered.

Thus, this group of people successfully stormed into the capital city of 'Buddha's Passing'.

Since Dajing also had a Buddhist academy, this name was clearly against regulations, so Li Shiyan petitioned the court to change it.

In the city of Buddhabhadra, the king of Champa looked at the army with mixed feelings.

He never expected that a letter he wrote casually would lead to Jing Jun's arrival a month later.

It did relieve him of his predicament, but it was no longer possible for him to stay there.

After the royal family, consisting of about a hundred people, packed their belongings, they were escorted by Annamese soldiers and transported by sea to Nanjing by the navy.

The remaining work was to be completed by the Annamese, but because of their priests' curse on Chen Shao, the believers in the country were likely to face annihilation.
-
In Nanjing, Chen Shao, who had returned to the capital, held a banquet in the palace to bid farewell to the Goryeo delegation.

With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, Wang Kai insisted on spending the festival here before leaving, wanting to experience the festive atmosphere.

But a major event occurred in the country: after the three emperors of Xijing were killed, the Kaijing clan promised to forgive them and grant them a general amnesty upon the return of the king.

Who knew that the Xijing faction, seeing that the king had not returned for a long time, was extremely panicked and once again gathered troops to rebel.

Wang Kai didn't want to start a massacre. Goryeo was a small country to begin with, and after all this turmoil, he didn't know how long it would take to recover.

Therefore, he had no choice but to set off ahead of schedule.

During the banquet, the Goryeo king and his ministers all hoped that Chen Shao would order the Jing army to quell the rebellion.

After all, given the Jing army's formidable power, if they were to intervene, Xijing would likely surrender.

But Chen Shao never expressed his opinion, and pretended not to understand their hints.

Holding his wine glass, Chen Shao smiled broadly, but his mind was perfectly clear.

If I send troops, you might be grateful at the moment, but soon after, you'll think of the Jing army as a sword hanging over your heads, that the Jing army is too threatening, and that it's a disrespect for national dignity.
If they were able to destroy Xijing this time, will they turn against me next time for personal gain?
I won't fall for it.

Do whatever you want.

Jing Jun chose to remain inactive, protect the caravan, and minimize his presence.

Let the Koreans' fear gradually disappear over time. Once you get used to it, I won't station troops there anymore, but you'll still demand that I do.

Seeing that Chen Shao consistently avoided talking about the garrison, Jin Fushi, Wang Kai, and others felt a mixture of regret and a hidden sense of relief.

Could it be that the Great Jing only stationed troops there to protect their caravans?
If that's the case, although in the short term it will be more troublesome and costly for me to go back and quell the rebellion.

In the long run, it's actually a good thing; their descendants may not have to worry about being swallowed up by the Great Jing.

Even the Han and Tang dynasties in the Central Plains experienced cycles of rise and fall. When the Great Jing Dynasty weakened, it naturally withdrew its troops.

At least at this time, the garrison at Daegeung was advantageous to Goryeo, saving the country a great deal of money.

Perhaps I should take this opportunity to reform in Goryeo and eliminate the long-standing problems in the country.

We can also learn from Dajing and introduce some new technologies.

Everyone at the banquet had their own thoughts, but the atmosphere was quite good.

After seeing off the Goryeo delegation, Chen Shao returned to the Funing Palace.

Because Li Shishi would bring hangover soup with her at every banquet, Chen Shao would sit in the courtyard waiting for her.

Chen Shao was the founding emperor, a man who set the rules, but not one who was bound by too many rules.

Therefore, he was still quite free in the palace, and he transformed the Funing Palace into a very unique place.

In the Imperial Garden, amidst the clusters of chrysanthemums, various new machines were scattered.

In a sunny spot, they even set aside a plot of farmland to test the new farming tools on a regular basis.

There was a jujube tree, as well as some taro and cabbage planted there. Chen Shao would occasionally come to weed and loosen the soil.

After seeing that His Majesty had cleared out his own fields, Lady Lin was also tempted and cleared out a medicinal herb field next to it.

When the palace maids were bored, they would also tend to the crops.

Farming seems to be ingrained in everyone's genes, especially when farming is not a means of livelihood, everyone loves to grow vegetables.

Watching it break through the soil, sprout, mature, and be harvested is a very therapeutic process.

These side dishes and fruits tasted especially delicious and were a rare source of enjoyment for the palace maids during their leisure time.

While waiting, Chen Shao came to the edge of the field and looked at the green and red dates on the tree. He really wanted to hit them with a stick.

The palace maids nearby watched nervously.

They had already counted each one and secretly allocated them.

Fortunately, Chen Shao did not make a move in the end, and everyone felt relieved, clutching their chests.

At this moment, Li Shishi, accompanied by palace maids and carrying a food box, came over. Seeing Chen Shao standing there dumbfounded in the courtyard, she couldn't help but smile and tease him, "Is Your Majesty afraid to listen to the autumn wind, suspecting it to be the sound of the people's suffering?"

Chen Shao turned around irritably, glared at her, but couldn't help laughing at himself.

He had passed through the early stages of his reign as emperor, when he was constantly worried about the country and its people, and his state of mind had reached a new level.

As long as you do your best in your duties and put in your heart and soul, you will have a clear conscience.

Whether the people of Dajing are living well under my rule is hard to say, but at least they are living better than they have in the same period in history!
A few days ago, he restrained his desire and ambition to unify the Indochina Peninsula by force and wrote in his notebook:
When a ruler is not besieged by external enemies, he must restrain himself and keep his mind calm.

"How dare you mock the emperor! Bend over here!"

Li Shishi's eyes sparkled, and she actually slightly bent her knees and raised them; she was the best at understanding Chen Shao's thoughts.

Chen Shao lightly tapped the jujube-picking stick and laughed, "Everyone who sees it gets a share."

After saying that, he whipped each of the palace maids' buttocks, making them gasp and giggle. Some dodged, while others stuck out their buttocks. Chen Shao threw down the stick and laughed, displaying the demeanor of a tyrannical ruler.

The emperor can be quite abstract at times, as even the palace maids around him know, and they were secretly chuckling to themselves. (End of Chapter)