dognovel Chapter 1230 The Kind Father of the Grasslands Wants to Beat Me Up?
Chapter 1230 The Kind Father of the Grasslands Wants to Beat Me Up?
The sudden escape of Wang Baobao, whom Emperor Zhu had been so fond of, had a multifaceted impact on the entire Ming Dynasty.
No one expected that Wang Baobao, who had repeatedly suffered defeats, would actually lead the remnants of the Northern Yuan army to flee, and also leave all the grassland herders who were unwilling to flee to Liu Dingbei.
As a result, the Grand Commander's original plan for a northern expedition was completely scrapped—the fighting was no longer needed, but mobilizing the garrisons to garrison there, sending people to search for mineral deposits, and relocating people to live and cultivate the land became urgent matters.
If Wang Baobao hadn't fled but had instead fought the Ming Dynasty to the bitter end, this timeline would likely have stretched to five or even ten years.
Now, the Ming Dynasty has barely had any time to react.
Even more critically, Wang Baobao's escape with the remnants of the Northern Yuan forces directly caused the north-south dividing line of the Ming Dynasty to shift indefinitely northward.
To put it bluntly, before Wang Baobao fled, the Yangtze River was the dividing line between the north and south of the Ming Dynasty, and the Great Wall was the border of the Ming Dynasty.
After Wang Baobao fled, the Great Wall inexplicably became the dividing line between the north and south of the Ming Dynasty. The original plan of Emperor Zhu and Yang Shaofeng, Li Shanchang and others, with the south as the economic center and the north as the military and industrial center, was also declared bankrupt.
The grasslands are so vast, they must be used for something, right?
Similarly, this also means that Emperor Zhu's original plan to move the capital was forced to be brought forward.
Emperor Zhu reached up and scratched his head, sighing, "I always feel like something's not quite right—sister, tell me, which emperor has ever been as frustrated as me?"
Empress Ma grasped Emperor Zhu's hand and said with a smile, "Then tell me, which emperor throughout history has been able to sweep across the grasslands without shedding a drop of blood like you?"
Empress Ma's words immediately cheered Emperor Zhu up.
Yes, there have been many emperors throughout history who were better at fighting than us, and many who were better at governing. But who else could conquer the entire grasslands and completely eliminate the threat from the north to the Central Plains like we have?
Throughout the five thousand years of Chinese history, there has only ever been one like Zhu Chongba!
Emperor Zhu nodded smugly, but his joy lasted only a few seconds before his face fell again.
“Our original plans for the grasslands were to take several years or even more than a decade to clear them.”
"But Wang Baobao's escape has ruined all our plans, and we have to start all over again."
Emperor Zhu rose from his chair with a distressed expression and said, "Alright, let's pack up and go back to the capital. We'll have to go back to being beasts of burden."
However, Empress Ma reached out and grabbed Emperor Zhu's sleeve, saying, "Back to the capital?"
"I'm asking you, where did you originally plan to move the capital to?"
"Have you seen it with your own eyes?"
"So, we can't go back to Beijing now. Instead, we should go to Beiping to take a look around, and we should also go to Zunhua, Luanxian and even Liaodong."
"We also need to make a trip to Shaanxi, Shanxi, Gansu, and Sichuan."
"How can you make such a momentous decision as moving the capital if you don't have a thorough understanding of the entire north and even the whole of the Ming Dynasty?"
Empress Ma's advice finally calmed Emperor Zhu down.
"The girl is right, we really need to take a good look around."
"It's comfortable to just stay in Ningyang County, but in another way, we're being blinded by others."
“We’ll do as you say. We’ll set off tomorrow, first to Beiping, then to Zunhua.”
……
Just as Emperor Zhu was preparing to flee Ningyang County, the officials in the Ming Dynasty court were already engaged in a fierce battle.
As the saying goes, different strokes for different folks. There are a lot of civil and military officials in the imperial court, and they all have a lot of thoughts and ideas.
Faced with the sudden westward expedition of the remnants of the Northern Yuan and the forced relocation of the capital, the officials in the court all began to have their own ulterior motives.
Some people agreed to move the capital to Beiping.
There were also those who opposed moving the capital to Beiping.
Those who supported moving the capital to Beiping were either like Yang Shaofeng, who loved to watch the drama unfold, or like Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen, officials who thought, "I have deep ties with my family and clan, I'm not playing with you."
Those who opposed moving the capital to Beiping were either those who couldn't bear to leave the pleasure quarters of Jiangnan, or officials who had been lying low amidst a series of major cases, still harboring their own petty schemes.
The former holds high positions and wields great power, but has a small number of members.
The latter held low-ranking official positions and wielded little power, but they comprised more than half of those qualified to attend the grand court assembly. If they were to unite, they would be a force not to be underestimated.
As for black sesame glutinous rice balls?
Although the black sesame glutinous rice ball is said to be a cultured version of Emperor Zhu, being cultured does not mean being without a wicked sense of humor—when the officials fight each other, the black sesame glutinous rice ball, much like his father, sits on the dragon throne with a smile and watches the show.
Yang Shaofeng and Li Shanchang were chatting idly behind the coiled dragon pillar.
"My older cousin has been acting strange lately; he always looks at me oddly."
Yang Shaofeng spoke first, "I have a feeling he wants to beat me up, but he can't find a good reason—the problem is I didn't provoke him."
Li Shanchang glanced at Yang Shaofeng, chuckled, and said, "You haven't provoked him yet? You've really messed with him!"
Yang Shaofeng was stunned for a moment, and Li Shanchang continued, "Let me ask you, Wang Baobao's inexplicable westward expedition must be related to Marquis Chongli, right?"
"You have to admit that Marquis Chongli was corrupted by the people you arranged, right?"
"Good heavens, Marquis Chongli tricked Wang Baobao into leading the remnants of Hu Yuan's army on a westward expedition with just a few words."
"He's escaped, so who is the Duke of Cao going to kill?"
Yang Shaofeng blinked blankly.
That seems to be true.
Li Wenzhong, that guy, may blush even when he receives a handkerchief from a young girl in Jiangnan, but on the grasslands he is an absolute strict father.
On the grasslands, there's a rule that you won't be killed if the car wheel is lower than the ground. But Li Wenzhong is the kind of guy who lays the car wheel flat or even draws a car wheel on paper on the grasslands.
“Slaughter them all.”
"Devour his heart and gouge out his eyes."
"It was dragged along the grassland for a hundred miles, and its stomach and intestines were ruptured outside its body."
"The Yuan capital was burned, the Khaladrin was massacred, the Mongol royal family was slaughtered, the statue of Genghis Khan was destroyed, and the holy sites of the Mongols were burned. The Mongols wept upon hearing this. The women of the royal family were forced into prostitution in the military camps, and the men of the royal family were often nailed outside Wenzhong's tent and left to die in the sun for three days."
"Upon entering Datong, two-year-old Mongol children were cut into three pieces, and all Mongol men were slaughtered; only sixteen or seventeen survived."
There aren't many records about Li Wenzhong on the Ming side, but Hu Yuan recorded every single detail about him.
But hey, Wang Baobao ran away, so you're going to find him. What's with that look in your eyes that makes you want to beat me up?
Yang Shaofeng smacked his lips and said, "This is difficult. My cousin is too good at fighting. I'm not sure I can beat him."
Li Shanchang glanced at Yang Shaofeng.
You're not necessarily going to be able to beat him?
You definitely can't beat him!