In the study room, the atmosphere was extremely depressing.
Zhu Yuanzhang was seen looking at the memorial in his hand with a gloomy face, while Liu Bowen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang anxiously, wondering what happened?
"How's it going, superior? Has there been a big change on Annan's side?"
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was reluctant to speak, Liu Bowen finally did not suppress his doubts and took the initiative to ask.
Zhu Yuanzhang slowly raised his head and said in a low voice:
"Something has indeed happened."
This sentence immediately made Liu Bowen's heart tremble, and he hurriedly said:
"Victory and defeat are common matters for military officers. The superiors should not be too sad. For the current plan, it is better to consider how to deal with the next step as soon as possible..."
Liu Bowen thought that Li Jin was defeated. After all, the place in Annan was too special, with miasma overflowing and plague rampant. No matter how strong the Ming army was, they might still be infected by the plague.
However, before he could speak, he was interrupted by Zhu Yuanzhang, but Zhu Yuanzhang's words made Liu Bowen stunned.
"Li Jin has defeated Annan's army, and Zhu Di has led his army into Hanoi City."
"Gah...?"
Liu Bowen's face was full of shock. How long has it been? Li Jin destroyed another country. Isn't this efficiency too fast?
But now that he has won a great victory and even occupied the capital of Annan, why does Zhu Yuanzhang still look indifferent?
Liu Bowen murmured in his heart and asked cautiously:
"Then this should be a happy event. Why does the superior seem unhappy?"
Zhu Yuanzhang slowly put down the memorial and said coldly:
"King Annan is dead!"
"What?"
"Not only the king of Annan, but also the royal family of Annan were massacred. Even most of the princes and nobles of Annan were massacred, leaving only some common people."
Zhu Yuanzhang's words completely shocked Liu Bowen. He did not expect that such an unexpected incident would happen in this battle.
Liu Bowen's eyes widened, his pupils kept dilating, and he asked eagerly:
"May I ask your superiors, how did the King of Annan and the princes and nobles of Annan die?"
Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes and replied expressionlessly:
"The king of Annan was set on fire by Annan's powerful minister Hu Jiyou. Those who were burned to death together with him, as well as the civil and military officials of Annan's Manchu Dynasty, were not spared, and they were all buried in the sea of fire."
"But the royal family and dignitaries of Annan Kingdom were killed by a group of rebels."
Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's answer, Liu Bowen breathed a sigh of relief.
He was afraid that Li Jin was responsible for this matter again. After all, Li Jin had a criminal record in Japan. At that time, Li Jin massacred the entire Tokyo and shocked the government and the public.
If the prince and the queen hadn't interceded, the grass on Li Jin's grave would have been over ten feet high.
Now if Li Jin still does not learn his lesson and repeats the same mistakes, Liu Bowen feels that Li Jin will definitely die. Even if the prince and the queen plead for mercy again, it will be of no avail.
Fortunately, this matter was all done by Annan's powerful officials and the rebels, and had nothing to do with Li Jin. This made Liu Bowen's heart slowly relax.
However, just when Liu Bowen thought the matter was over, Zhu Yuanzhang's next words made him fearful again.
"Although this matter is claimed by the rebels, we feel that it must be related to Li Jin."
"Your Majesty, why do you say this? No matter how you say it, Li Jin is an official of the Ming Dynasty, so how could he get involved with the rebels?"
Liu Bowen hurriedly defended himself, but Zhu Yuanzhang looked sternly and slowly stated the basis for his guess:
"Li Jin is indeed an official of the Ming Dynasty, but he is inextricably related to the Annan rebels."
"The leader of the Annan rebels is the fourth child, Zhu Di."
"Without Li Jin's instructions, we don't believe that the fourth child would have the brains to sneak into Annan and become the leader of the rebels."
"this..."
Liu Bowen was suddenly at a loss for words. Although he also wanted to excuse Li Jin, what Zhu Yuanzhang said really aroused suspicion.
More importantly, Liu Bowen did not know the ins and outs of the matter. The memorial was always in Zhu Yuanzhang's hands, and Liu Bowen had no chance to check it, which made Liu Bowen very passive.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not stop because Liu Bowen was at a loss for words. Instead, he spoke more smoothly:
"In our opinion, Li Jin had already made a comprehensive plan before attacking Annan."
"From the beginning, he never thought about rescuing the people of Annan, let alone supporting the monarch of Annan. He had only one purpose, to capture Annan."
"That's why, after conquering Annan, he wanted to massacre the Annan royal family and bloodbath the entire Annan elite."
Liu Bowen heard Zhu Yuanzhang's analysis and asked with some confusion:
"But it was not Li Jin who killed King Annan, who came to power!"
"If King Annan does not die, no matter how many princes and nobles Li Jin kills, Annan will still need to be returned to King Annan in the end."
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Liu Bowen and continued:
"If Hu Ji Yao hadn't killed King Anna, Li Jin would have done it himself."
"Now that King Annan and the Annan royal family have all been slaughtered, Li Jin can confidently and boldly occupy Annan, because Annan has completely lost his heir."
Liu Bowen was silent, because with his intelligence, he could quickly figure out the reason for the whole thing.
Behind everything, there is a huge reason.
Li Jin was so keen on attacking Annan. It was impossible that he just wanted to bring order to Annan. That was not in line with Li Jin's character.
With Li Jin's temperament of not being able to afford early benefits, he would not make wedding clothes for others in vain, so the purpose of Li Jin's attack on Annan was already obvious.
Just like the Japanese island, Li Jin wanted to occupy the entire Annan. Whether it was the land of Annan or the population of Annan, Li Jin would swallow it up in one gulp.
Regardless of the land, the millions of people in Annan are a huge wealth.
If you want to occupy these, it is naturally impossible for Annan to have another king. It is reasonable for Li Jin to massacre the entire royal family for this purpose.
Don't look at who did it, but look at the essence through the phenomenon. See who benefited the most from this thing, and then you can know the real culprit.
Liu Bowen was silent for a moment, and then asked:
"Since the superior has seen through Li Jin's plan, I wonder what the superior plans to do with Li Jin?"
Zhu Yuanzhang did not speak, but slowly tapped his fingers on the table, lost in thought.
After a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Liu Bowen and asked:
"What do you think we should do with him?"
"Kill him? Or let him atone for the sins of Annan's princes and nobles?"
Liu Bowen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and replied:
"I think it is better to transfer Li Jin back and send a mature and prudent minister to Annan to appease the people and rebuild their homes for the people of Annan!"
"Although the princes and nobles of Annan have been slaughtered, as long as the people of Annan are still there, the Annan court can be rebuilt, and a new Annan king can even be enthroned to manage Annan."
Liu Bowen followed Confucianism and had no intention of completely annexing Annan, a dependent country.
On the one hand, the climate in Annan is too harsh for the people of the Ming Dynasty to adapt to it. On the other hand, the face of the Ming Dynasty is considered. If the Ming Dynasty openly annexes a vassal country, how will other vassal countries regard it?
After Zhu Yuanzhang heard Liu Bowen's suggestion, he grinned and then told his arrangement:
"Why should we transfer Li Jin back?"
"Not only will we not transfer Li Jin back, we will also promote him."
"Annan has lost its heir. In order to prevent the local people from being displaced, it will naturally be placed under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty. Only under the jurisdiction of the Ming government can the people of Annan live and work in peace and contentment."
"Isn't Li Jin planning to do big business in Annan? Then let's help him and make him the chief envoy of Annan, responsible for managing Annan."
Liu Bowen could not believe his ears. He did not expect that Zhu Yuanzhang not only did not blame Li Jin, but actually promoted Li Jin and asked Li Jin to manage Annan.
You must know that Li Jin occupied Annan in order to conduct the so-called slave trade and trafficked millions of people from Annan to the Ming Dynasty.
Now that Li Jin is asked to take care of Annan, wouldn't it be convenient for Li Jin to guard and steal?
"Your Majesty, this must not be done. Once Li Jin is appointed as Annan's chief envoy, I am afraid that none of Annan's millions of people will be spared."
"so what?"
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care at all about the life and death of foreigners. They were just Annan people. What did it have to do with him no matter how many deaths he suffered?
"Isn't Li Jin just trying to make money by buying and selling people? Let's help him, but we have to take 90%."
"We want to see if he still has the motivation to do these things after we take away all the money?"
"If he makes money, then we will take the money from his pocket. No matter how much he makes, he will still be working for us. Isn't this the best of both worlds?"
"Don't you all say that Li Jin is a talent? We also admit that he is a talent, and talents must be put to their best use."
"We may not kill him, or even give him a promotion, but we must take away the money he earned."
"Hehe, from now on, we believe that our Ming Dynasty's treasury will never be short of money again."
Liu Bowen was dumbfounded. He did not expect that Zhu Yuanzhang would actually do this. It was equivalent to treating Li Jin as a cornucopia. Although Li Jin was allowed to make money, all the money would eventually flow into Zhu Yuanzhang's hands.
But seeing millions of people displaced before his eyes, it was still hard for Liu Bowen to accept. He once again advised:
"Sir, if Annan loses millions of people, what will happen to the local land?"
"Once those lands are deserted, other countries will take advantage of it. If countries like Siam and Champa invade, what will we do in the Ming Dynasty?"
"It doesn't matter, have you forgotten how things were done on the Japanese island?"
Zhu Yuanzhang did not panic at all and talked eloquently:
"It would be best if all the Annan people die. When the time comes, the people of our Ming Dynasty will be immigrated there, and our achievements in solidifying the border and expanding the territory of the Ming Dynasty will be enough to go down in history."
Liu Bowen did not expect that Zhu Yuanzhang actually planned to immigrate to Shibian. He was horrified and hurriedly expressed his worries.
