Volume 2: The Capital, I’m Back Chapter 50: Heads Rolling
Twenty miles west of Tumubao is Huailai City.
When the Wala army attacked, the garrison general Kang Neng saw that the situation was not good, so he gave up resistance and fled with hundreds of soldiers defending the city.
But at that time, the 30,000 troops of the Alazhiyuan blocked the only way back to Beijing. They could not go back, so they had to wander around. Without food supplies, they robbed the people along the way. After a while, one day they suddenly learned that the Wala had withdrawn!
Kang Neng thought again, if he returned to Beijing like this, how would he explain to the emperor?
I might as well go back and "take back" Huailai City!
In this way, the Ming army retook Huailai. However, Huailai had already been looted by the Oirat people and was in ruins.
After Kang Neng took over Huailai again, the first thing he did was not to appease the people, but to take people to plunder the city again under the pretext of raising military pay.
The people had already been suffering terribly, and they did not expect that after the Oirat people left, they would still be exploited by the government soldiers.
For a time, nine out of ten houses in Huailai City were empty, and the ground was full of starving people.
Kang Neng didn't care about the lives of the people, but was thinking about how to write a beautiful memorial.
When the Wala army approached the border, he led the troops and fought desperately, but was outnumbered and had to withdraw temporarily. Later, he described how he dealt with the enemy and finally took the city back. He wrote several thousand words in a very fluent manner.
After sending this memorial, promotion and wealth are inevitable, and who knows, he may even be awarded a title. The only drawback is that the memorial only describes how brave he is and how many enemies he has killed, but there is only oral testimony and no evidence, which is very regrettable.
"General, General!"
The door was opened, and the commander Fan Cheng came in hurriedly, looking anxious, "There really is not a grain left in the treasury, but the soldiers are still waiting for their salaries. If they don't see the money and food, they will not accept it. If they mutiny..."
Kang Neng was thinking about something and said impatiently, "Didn't I tell you to search the city by yourselves?"
"The whole city has been searched. There is no food left. The streets are full of people starving to death."
Kang Neng suddenly raised his head and asked, "What did you say?"
"I'm told that there's no food left in the city."
"Not this one, the next one!"
"What's the next sentence?" Fan Cheng scratched his head and said, "The streets are full of people starving to death."
Kang Neng suddenly smiled and said, "If you don't have money or food, you can ask the court for it!"
"Will the court...give it to you?"
"Did you just say that the streets are full of people starving to death?"
"Yes!" Fan Cheng nodded and said, "It looks like there are at least several hundred."
"Not enough!" Kang Neng smiled mysteriously and said, "How many are there if you count the half-dead ones?"
"This... I haven't counted it, but I estimate it to be around one or two thousand."
Kang Neng nodded slowly and said, "It's almost done this time!"
…
The next morning, Fan Cheng led three hundred soldiers and five large carts towards the capital.
They thought that the journey to Beijing would be smooth, but who would have thought that the team had only walked out for half a day when they heard a burst of hurried horse hooves coming from the valley ahead. Fan Cheng immediately became alert and ordered people to go forward to check.
"Lord Fan, it's bad!" The outpost came on horseback to report, "A large group of Wala cavalry appeared ahead!"
Fan Cheng was so frightened that he turned his horse around and shouted, "What are you still standing there for? Run!"
However, it was too late. The sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer, like thunder. Around the corner of the valley, there were shadowy figures and a large number of cavalrymen were coming.
These people were coming at him aggressively. Seeing that there was no way for Fan Cheng to escape, he put his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, made up his mind, jumped off his horse, and fell to his knees on the ground.
"Grandpa, spare my life!"
When the soldiers saw that their leader had knelt down and begged for mercy, they stopped struggling and just lay down!
Then, everyone fell to their knees.
Da da da……
The sound of horse hooves came from far away and got closer. Everyone knelt on the ground with their heads bowed. Their hearts almost jumped out of their chests listening to the sound.
The people of the Oirat Mongols are brutal by nature. Whether you live or die today depends on their mood.
A horse's four hooves slowly passed through the crowd and came in front of Fan Cheng.
"Who are you?"
Fan Cheng's mind moved . He was speaking Chinese. Could he be a Han Chinese?
He looked up cautiously, then immediately lowered it again.
This man was tall and strong, with only fat and beard on his face. He was wearing leather armor and looked like a typical Mongolian.
Maybe because they saw that I was Han Chinese, they sent someone who could speak Chinese to communicate with me.
"I am Fan Cheng, the assistant commander of Huailai City. Nice to meet you, nice to meet you... the general!"
I don't know what his name is, but is it okay to respectfully call him General?
"Where are you going? What's in the car?"
Fan Cheng suddenly shivered, and felt cold sweat pouring down his forehead, unable to utter a word.
"I'm asking you a question, are you deaf?"
"My dear, my dear...I am going to the capital..."
"What are you going to do in the capital?"
"Go, go... report your achievements..."
The man kicked the horse's belly lightly, and the warhorse walked in front of the carriage . Then, the tarpaulin on the carriage was lifted.
"Are these heads from the Wala people?"
"No, don't misunderstand!" Fan Cheng was terrified and hurriedly explained, "These are all Han people, the people of Huailai City!"
"Han people? What are you going to do to claim credit by taking the heads of Han people?"
"General, you don't know that Huailai City has been out of food for many days. In order to raise military funds, my master came up with this idea, using the dead in the city to impersonate... impersonate..."
"Pretending to be a Wala?"
"Yes!"
All I heard was the general saying, "Your Majesty, I have found out everything. It turns out that he was a deserter from Huailai City. Now he wants to use the heads of the people in the city to claim military merit!"
emperor?
Fan Cheng was very confused. Where did the Oirat people get their emperor? Shouldn't he be called the Khan?
Da da da……
Another horse slowly approached, and Fan Cheng felt nervous, not knowing what to do.
"Your name is Fan Cheng?"
The man on the horse suddenly spoke. Judging from his voice, he seemed to be quite young. However, his Chinese pronunciation was very standard and he didn't sound like an Oirat at all.
"Yes, little Fan Cheng!"
"Lift your head!"
"I dare not, please spare my life, Khan!"
"I command you to raise your head!"
I?
Why did the Oirat people start to imitate the Han people and call themselves "I"?
Fan Cheng was full of doubts and looked up fearfully, then he saw a thin, dark face full of anger.
This man looks to be in his early twenties, with messy hair and beard. I feel like I have seen him somewhere before.
Suddenly, he felt his head buzzing and seemed to explode!
Isn’t this the emperor?
I had the honor of meeting the Zhengtong Emperor of the Ming Dynasty when he was leading the army to war and passed through Huailai.
This face is much darker than before, and full of vicissitudes, but the eyes are shining with brilliance.
"Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"
His shout confused everyone else. What was going on?
Zhu Qizhen smiled and said, "When the Oirat came, you abandoned the city and fled. When the Oirat left, you killed innocent people to claim credit. The army of the Ming Dynasty is really getting better and better!"
"Your Majesty, spare my life!"
"Do you know how to beg for mercy now?" Zhu Qizhen's tone became colder. "Who can the people of Huailai City go to beg for mercy?"
“Mercy…Mercy…”
Fan Cheng had lost all hope. He kept muttering "please spare my life" and his body was already trembling.
Zhu Qizhen suddenly shouted: "Ha Ming!"
"I will be here!"
"Behead all these disgraceful scums!"
"yes!"
Fan Cheng's whole body went limp and he collapsed to the ground.
He wanted to beg for mercy, but no matter how hard he opened and closed his mouth, no sound came out.
Ha Ming waved his hand and three hundred people walked out of the formation, drawing their swords.
These people had grim expressions on their faces. They raised their swords and slashed with their knives, and three hundred heads rolled to the ground.
Zhu Qizhen's eyes were still burning with anger as he ordered, "Li Zhen!"
Li Zhen hurried forward and said, "I am here!"
"Organize the troops and enter Huailai City!"
"yes!"
