Kang Yingqian's only son Kang Guangxu was taken as a hostage and stayed with Emperor Wuding. The families of other ministers were also properly arranged. Qiao Yiqi, who had no family members, followed the Supreme Emperor into the southern expedition of Guan. It was called surveillance, but it was actually protection.
Qiao Yiqi's unobtrusive talk has caused a lot of disasters over the years. If it weren't for Liu Zhaosun's repeated protection, Mr. Qiao would have died long ago without a burial place.
On the 9th of September, Emperor Wu Ding arrived at Shanhaiguan. In the city of Shanhaiguan, he met Captain Lacey and Priest Kalbe who had come from Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
The captain praised the Emperor and made public demands to Emperor Wu Ding to resume commerce and allow Christians to preach freely. Liu Zhaosun was amused after hearing the Dutch's demands.
"I said two years ago that Europeans can only come to China to trade."
"It seems that the Dutch Republic has not understood my will, and it is showing contempt for me. However, since you are determined to have good relations with Daqi, I will not embarrass you and will spare your lives for the time being."
Captain Kalbe and Lacey were imprisoned in Shenyang, and the other sailors and merchants accompanying them were assigned to work in various factories and mines.
For these red-haired barbarians, this was a sudden disaster. No one expected that they originally came to Daqi for peace talks, but ended up becoming miners out of nowhere, which was worse than slaves in Brazilian plantations.
Emperor Wu Ding was shocked by the arrogance and ignorance displayed by Europeans. The high priest Francisco explained to the emperor that many people in the East India Company regarded Qian Ming as a barbarian.
"I also regard them as barbarians, barbarians who can't use chopsticks and like to eat steak."
Whether in the past life or in this life, time travelers have no favorable impressions of blond Europeans. If peace and development were the mainstream of the later world, then war and confrontation were the global consensus in the seventeenth century.
Since both sides regard their opponents as lunatics, they have no choice but to throw away all illusions, stop thinking about alliances, and prepare for war at all times.
Zhang Dong, the head of imperial intelligence, told the two surviving Dutch envoys that they would either give up their previous beliefs, join Da Qi, and join the advisory group around the emperor, or they would be executed.
Captain Lacey did not hesitate to join the advisory group of the Emperor of Qi, while Kalbei said that he would rather die than surrender to the heretics.
Zhang Dong tortured him severely for several days, but the Dutch missionary still refused to give in. When Liu Zhaosun learned about this, he personally ordered the missionary to be thrown into the Kaiyuan iron mine. After one month, if the unyielding missionary was still alive, he would be released. He has a way out.
Zhang Dong and others couldn't believe their ears. No one would survive after violating Emperor Wu Ding's will.
Liu Zhaosun himself did not know the cause of this change in his body.
Everything in this world is constantly changing, the territory of the empire is constantly expanding, and Liu Zhaosun's character is also constantly changing. An unchanging character only exists in movies, and Liu Zhaosun's experience is crazier than any fictional text.
In early October, the main cavalry force appeared in the Gyeonggi area of the former Ming Dynasty and quickly killed all the bandits around the capital and Tianjin. The remaining bandits, thieves, and White Lotus Sect forces retreated deep into Yanshan Mountain to avoid the sharp edge of the Qi army.
However, this winter offensive launched by Emperor Wuding was not an ordinary security war. In Liu Zhaosun's own words, it was "to form a rule as solid as Kaiyuan in the Gyeonggi region."
In order to prevent the imperial army from falling into the quagmire of a security war, the Supreme Emperor ordered that all villages that participated in rebellion and colluded with the White Lotus Sect would adopt a joint system. If a rebel was found, all the men in the same village would be killed.
Qiao Yiqi and several of his accompanying former ministers looked at the endless fires burning in countless villages and the rebels running around, and they were all horrified. On the contrary, the troops carrying out the "quelling the rebellion" carried out the edict of the Supreme Emperor very thoroughly. . Most of the soldiers around Emperor Wu Ding were newly recruited after the explosion in Wang Gong Factory. After repeated brainwashing and education by the training officers and soldier representatives of each battalion, they were able to execute the task with ease even if they were asked to massacre the city.
After just half a month of "counter-rebellion", the forces supporting the rebellion in the Gyeonggi area were wiped out, and all middle-class and above families were expropriated. Although more than 20,000 people died, a new and pure territory was re-annexed to Daqi.
Taking advantage of the victory, the Qi army attacked and extended its power to Henan and Hebei, defeating the counterattacks of the wealthy gentry in both places. The rule of the environment is also more stable.
Liu Zhaosun was not very satisfied with this kind of devastating war in the north. I don't know whether it was because Emperor Wu Ding's name was so famous and had a strong deterrent effect, or because the raging bandits in recent years had already emptied the strength of various places, or maybe it was because of the canal Supplies were intermittent and materials were scarce, and the morale of the defenders was low. Since the Qi army entered the Pass, the local tyrants and evil gentry in various places have resisted desperately to prevent their land and wealth from being annexed to the Qi state. However, after all, the strength is very different. Where are the local brave soldiers? It is a well-equipped and well-trained Qi army opponent. What's more important is that the White Lotus Sect and the local tyrants and evil gentry do not deal with each other, and neither side thinks highly of the other. When the Qi army pressed on, not only did the two sides not form a simple cooperation, but fought independently, they took advantage of the other party's crisis and started fighting one after another. To add insult to injury, stab the opponent in the back.
Although the war was going quite smoothly, the travelers were always alert. The Emperor ordered a strict investigation of the surrendered towns and passes to eliminate all potential enemies. In accordance with Emperor Wu Ding's secret order, the frontline troops participating in the siege were engaged in the investigation. Many cities adopt the strategy of siege but not attack. Even if they have an absolute advantage, they will not really start attacking the city until most of the people in the city have escaped or starved to death. Needless to say, this was done to clear out as many rebellions in the empire as possible and reduce costs for later rule. From a practical perspective, the food and grass in these cities have been exhausted. In the absence of food, excessive population has become the highest cost.
By the Wanshou Festival, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in the first year of Taichu, the Qi army's vanguard had already approached the north bank of the Huaihe River, and the entire territory west of Shanxi and Henan was included in the imperial territory.
Considering the difficulty of fighting in winter and the difficulty of maintaining food and grass, and mainly in order to fully digest the winter offensive in the Warring States Period, the Supreme Emperor ordered the army to stop in the north of the Huaihe River and not to continue attacking southward. Although all the soldiers and horses were very reluctant, the emperor's order could not be violated, and the winter offensive of entering the pass in the first year of Taichu came to an end for the time being.
Contrary to everyone's expectations, the entry war went so smoothly. As long as this progress is followed, it is estimated that in less than two years, Emperor Wu Ding will unify the southeastern part of the Yangtze River, and the army will drink the Maqiongzhou Strait.
The fleet led by Wu Aheng has approached the Zhoushan Islands in the East China Sea, which is the territory of the Zheng family. A thrilling decisive battle at sea is about to begin. Wu Aheng urgently needs land support. However, at this time, he got the emperor's " "Stop the attack immediately" command. In desperation, he quickly asked the emperor about the reason.
"It is better to pursue the poor bandits with the remaining brave men, cross the Huaihe River, go straight to Nanzhili, defeat the puppet emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop, and then march into Fujian to cut off Zheng Zhilong's aid... Why doesn't your majesty attack further?"
Qi Jin and other hawkish generals also advocated crossing the Huaihe River in one go and taking advantage of the situation to destroy Nanming.
Emperor Wu Ding ignored all these suggestions and instead sent a report to the southeast, blaming Wu Aheng for underestimating the enemy's advance. Without asking the emperor for instructions, he sent the fleet to eastern Zhejiang. If the war was not critical at the moment, the emperor would have sent this navy commander to Thrown into prison.
On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, Little New Year's Eve, the Supreme Emperor hosted a banquet for a group of southern expedition generals in the camp, explaining to them why they had to stop their advance and rein in their horses on the north bank of the Huaihe River.
"Although I am ignorant, I have never heard of the principle of occupying several provinces within two months? Not to mention that the soldiers are exhausted and cannot fight anymore. Even if they can really continue to go south, it is not the wisest thing. Lift."
Everyone was silent. Everyone now knew that what the emperor needed was not some good advice on military affairs, but absolute obedience to himself, so no one said anything.
After a while, Qiao Yiqi said coldly from the side: "As long as your majesty continues to kill all the way, what difference does it make between the south and the north to the butcher's knife in the hands of the Qi army? I suggest that we immediately return to the court to recuperate and defend Liaodong." But, there is no need to engage in this meaningless fight with the red-haired barbarians."
Emperor Wu Ding frowned slightly, suppressing the rage in his heart and pretending not to hear anything.
"The junction of Henan, Shaanxi, Chongqing, and Hubei is a place with high mountains, dense forests, and sparsely populated areas. This place is the destination for people fleeing for their lives from all provinces and even the country. In the current troubled times, if this small thorn is not removed, it may turn into a flood of refugee rebellions in the future. ,"
All the officials present knew that the refugee rebellion occurred in the Yunyang area during the Chenghua period. It took several months before the Ming Dynasty sent out a large army to suppress the refugee rebellion.
"Before the bandits in Henan and other places are wiped out, the army will not continue to go south. We must focus our energy on dealing with bandits. As the saying goes, to fight against the outside world, we must first settle the inside."
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