Liu Mingzhi's gentle words made Zhao Qing, Hu Sanyuan...the excitement in their hearts gradually calm down.
After everyone drank a cup of tea, their eyes fell on Hu Sanyuan, the eldest brother of the Longwu Guard Camp. Feeling the eyes of his brothers, Hu Sanyuan reached out and took out a piece of silk cloth from his armor and handed it to Liu Mingzhi.
"Your Majesty, it is too difficult for swan geese to send messages across thousands of mountains and rivers.
Therefore, in addition to sending reports to His Majesty in letters about some of our urgent situations, the two commanders could only temporarily shelve and seal the rest.
Wrapped inside the silk cloth were the detailed records of the Western Expedition recorded by many military records since the expedition.
The two marshals knew that Your Majesty must always be concerned about our safety. After sending letters to each other, they worked together to copy and simplify the specific content since the Western Expedition.
This time, I was waiting to escort the culprit of the massacre of our Dalong people in the two countries back to Beijing to be dealt with by His Majesty. Zhang Shuai asked me to take him back with him.
Your Majesty, please take a look. "
Zhao Qing also took out a piece of silk cloth from his armor and handed it to Liu Mingzhi.
"Your Majesty, this is the detailed confession given by the barbarians from the two countries who massacred my Dalong people after they were captured. It contains the reasons why they massacred the people of my Dalong merchant house, what happened, and the results of disposing of the corpses.
The two marshals sent letters to each other, sorted them out, and asked the minister to bring them back.
Your Majesty, please take a look. "
Liu Mingzhi raised his hand and took the silk cloth from Hu Sanyuan and Zhao Qing. He glanced at the frightened prisoners of the two countries outside the palace and gently untied the silk cloth from Hu Sanyuan. This book, which is two fingers thick, is presented to everyone.
Liu Mingzhi picked up the book and flipped through it gently, looking at the dense handwriting on the pages, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Whenever the barbarians are pacified, the good men will stop the expedition."
“I am waiting for you, the court is waiting for you, and millions of wives, children, and children in various places and capitals are also waiting for you!
With this book, I can finally give an explanation to thousands of people.
Finally I can give them an explanation. "
Liu Mingzhi put the book and the confession together and patted them in his hands a few times, then turned around and climbed onto the dragon platform.
"After the court is over, I will read the contents of the book about the Western Expedition by burning the midnight oil when I return to the palace. You first select some of the more important things and tell them orally to me and the ministers.
For example, what was the casualty of the soldiers on this expedition? Was it heavy? How was the food and grass situation before you returned to Beijing? Was it sufficient? What was the situation inside the two countries after you pacified the barbarians in the two countries? Is it stable?
I urgently want to know this, and I want to know the situation of the expedition soldiers in a foreign country.
Zhao Qing, Hu Sanyuan, you two are the ten thousand generals of the trapped army and the Longwu Guard respectively. One of you is following Duke Protector in his crazily expedition to the Kingdom of Dashi, and the other is following Duke Nangong Ye of Yong'an in his expedition to the Kingdom of Tianzhu.
They must have a very clear understanding of the situation of each side's campaign against the rebels.
Quickly tell me and the other ministers about the situation of your respective armies. Which of you will come first? "
Zhao Qing and Hu Sanyuan looked at each other. Zhao Qing looked at Hu Sanyuan with a faint smile: "Brother Hu, you are the big brother, so you should first report to His Majesty the situation of your left army's conquest of the Great Food Country. .”
"Okay, then brother, you're welcome."
"Your Majesty, let me first report to you the main situation of our army on the left to conquer the Dashi Kingdom!"
"Okay, tell me quickly."
"Reporting to Your Majesty, our left army, under the command of Zhang Shuai, started from Dawan in the Western Region... It was not until October last year that the war against the Dashi Kingdom came to an end.
After the brothers followed Zhang Shuai to capture the Dashi Kingdom, Zhang Shuai, Deputy Commander Yale, Warden Hu Yan, General Ning Chao, etc., after deliberation, divided their troops and stationed them in important cities in the Dashi Kingdom to manage the local people's livelihood and administration.
Since our expedition, we have strictly abided by His Majesty's orders and obeyed Your Majesty's will. Apart from collecting indispensable food and grass and confiscating part of the property of the local people, we have had no offense with the local Yi people.
Therefore, since the end of the war, the local Yi people have always honestly accepted the constraints of our left army and have not committed any acts of resistance.
Moreover, with the consensus of the two marshals, a military order was issued to encourage young brothers to intermarry with local Yi girls. Seeing how kindly we treat them, the Yi people became more and more aware of my Dalong's rule.
There are even some Yi people who are aware of current affairs and have taken the initiative to look for our soldiers to learn the Chinese language.
Therefore, before I escorted the prisoners, the people's livelihood and administration in Dashi Country were relatively stable, and there was no problem with the supply of food and grass.
I think what I said was roughly mentioned in the letter sent to His Majesty by the two commanders a few months ago. In addition, the book I brought back has detailed content, so I will not waste time by going into details one by one.
Not sure if that's possible? "
Liu Mingzhi smiled lightly and nodded: "Of course, then let's talk about the casualties of your soldiers during the year since the expedition. Zhang Shuai, Nangong Shuai and their battle reports only mentioned a few words, and there was no mention of them. detailed record.
I have been worried about the losses of your two armies. "
"this……"
Hu Sanyuan's excited expression, which he had just described about the results of the conquest of the Great Food Kingdom, suddenly dimmed, and he sighed sadly.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, our left army's front, middle and rear armies, plus tens of thousands of auxiliary soldiers, suffered a total loss of more than 43,000 brothers in this year."
Liu Mingzhi suddenly stood up from the dragon chair, his eyes narrowed and stared at Hu Sanyuan, whose expression became gloomy.
"More than 43,000 soldiers?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, that's right."
Liu Mingzhi fell heavily on the dragon chair and was silent for a long time with his brow furrowed.
"Before the expedition, I ordered the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs to prepare more than a thousand artillery pieces of various types to be dispatched to your left and right armies for the expedition due to the crisis of empty national treasury.
As far as your army on the left is concerned, you can get at least 500 artillery pieces of various types and sufficient artillery shells, and you are supported by about 400,000 elite troops from the Anxi Protectorate and the coalition forces from the Western Regions.
You actually told me that in just a year or so, your army on the left alone lost more than 45,000 soldiers. "
Hu Sanyuan hurriedly stood up and knelt down on one knee: "Your Majesty, please calm down."
Liu Mingzhi took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, and looked at Hu Sanyuan calmly.
"Didn't you tell me just now that after you captured Khorasan and Mulu City in the Great Shi Country, you coerced and induced the surrendered soldiers and horses of the Great Shi Country to serve as pawns for your left army?
There are tens of thousands of soldiers from the Great Food Kingdom acting as vanguards to charge into the battle for you, and there are artillery, crossbows and other siege weapons to help you attack the city. How can you still lose so many soldiers and horses?
What does he do for food? How did you get the soldiers? "
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty... Your Majesty, please give me your permission to report the specific reasons in detail."
Liu Mingzhi rubbed his temples and sighed?
"explain."
"Reporting to Your Majesty, more than 40,000 brothers were killed in the army on the left. It was not due to Commander Zhang's poor command of the troops that caused the brothers to die on the battlefield, but for some other reason.
Our army on the left was actually due to the confrontation between the two armies, and only more than 11,000 of our brothers died on the battlefield. "
"Where are the more than 30,000 soldiers?"
“The climate was not adapted to the climate, and some died of diseases such as malaria, dysentery, plague, etc., and some died of bad weather.
After we left the border of the Western Region, we were stationed dozens of miles away from the border of Dashi Country for about a month, practicing day and night to adapt to the local soil and water.
At first, all the brothers were safe and sound, and they gradually adapted to the local water and soil problems. However, as they marched westward, more and more brothers began to show symptoms of discomfort. Hundreds of army doctors continued to treat them, but they still returned. There is no way.
Along the way, more than 30,000 brothers eventually died for the country... because they were not acclimatized to the country. "
