Chapter 1170 1261 Going South

The dense forest more than 20 miles north of Lujiang City was filled with people standing in the dark.

In front of the crowd, more than a thousand people were tied to wooden stakes, with bandages wrapped around their mouths to silence them.

Although they tried very hard to break free, it was all in vain.

From the moment they were brought here and then tied here, their fate was actually determined.

Even if they realize it later, they know what will happen next.

Especially after seeing the people brought from a distance, the fear in their hearts filled their bodies.

The only uncertainty now is how they will die.

“These people are the accomplices of those who bully you.

I don’t know if you know them. If you do, you will definitely know.

They are the cronies around the chieftain, the group of people who work as thugs for them to oppress you.

You could have run away, but those people abandoned you and asked you to stay here and trade your lives for their escape."

Li Rubai spoke on the stage, and a Burmese army interpreter explained his words to other soldiers.

Soon, the scene began to become chaotic and noisy.

During this period, the Ming army instilled in these prisoners of war the idea that they were a group of people abandoned by their leader, and that they were required to sacrifice their lives in exchange for their own safety.

Who wants to die?

No one would think so.

If you are still in the army, you will naturally only think of executing orders, even if you die on the battlefield.

However, after the war ended, they were imprisoned in a prisoner-of-war camp and could only live with one hungry meal every day. When they couldn't see tomorrow, they naturally had time to think about it.

Thinking of the people around them being captured by the Ming army, thinking of those who were far away and escaped with the leader.

Envy, jealousy, and dissatisfaction breed quietly.

And seeing the miserable appearance of those arrogant, domineering and arrogant guys who had followed the big shot not far away and were tied there, I felt a lot more happy in my heart.

"Don't feel like I'm sorry for not letting you have enough to eat. Why should we give you food?

It’s okay to eat well, and it’s okay to eat well. It’s not a problem to have plenty of fish and meat every day. Then you must surrender to the Ming Dynasty and work hard for the Ming Dynasty, so that the Ming Dynasty will give you what you want.

We can even give you more."

Li Rubai continued to shout from the high platform.

Now these prisoners of war only have two half-full meals of gruel in the morning and evening every day, and many of them are already thin and disfigured.

In fact, as long as they are provided with food and fed, many people in this group will choose to be obedient and do whatever they say.

"Kill them and prove your bravery to the Ming Dynasty and the separation of Burma in the past, and you can get what you want.

Moreover, you will no longer be ordinary people, you will be incorporated into the Ming army and continue to stay in Myanmar, becoming officials who manage Myanmar.

From now on, you will no longer be ordinary people who are bullied, but the masters who manage them.

Think about your family, they are still worried about your safety at home, and you can choose your future now, whether to return home in glory or stay here. "

Those Burmese people who understood Chinese were the first people recruited by the Ming army. Only through them could they command the Burmese soldiers.

After all, the language barrier is also a very troublesome thing.

These Burmese translators have actually been designated as the small flags of the Burmese army team. They all have their own chief flag officer, a hundred households.

Of course, these are all filled by meritorious soldiers of the Ming army.

Once the frame is set up, just wait until they recruit their men, and an army can be formed.

In order to prevent anyone in Cao's camp from caring about the Han, they were asked to execute the personal soldiers of the chieftain leader, completely cutting off their retreat, which became an inevitable choice.

This is also the path that the Ming Army had to go through when it was first established in Myanmar. Up to now, the Ming Army does not dare to completely trust them.

"Kill them, and you will become my soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. You will have plenty of food and wine and meat right away."

In the distance, several large carts were pulled in, piled with sacks and wine jars, as well as pigs and sheep.

Soon, the Burmese army interpreter who had been arranged long ago cursed their former chieftain leaders loudly, took the steel knife from the Ming army and walked to the front, waving the knife in his hand at a bound Burmese army. arms.

The sword was slashed on the shoulder, but it did not kill the opponent with one blow.

The Burmese soldier no longer had the usual harsh look in his eyes, only fear.

Although they couldn't understand what the former general said, they could understand the words of the former Burmese soldiers who came to him.

They want to kill themselves.

In the past, they were the ones who bullied these soldiers, but I never thought that one day I would die under their swords.

Enduring the pain, the man was still struggling. Although it was in vain, he still wanted to cry out.

Unfortunately, no one gave him time. Another person grabbed the steel knife and slashed him again.

Although he felt very unwilling, why should he be the first chicken, but the severe pain made him moan, and he had no strength to struggle.

Then the third and fourth knife struck his body, and his flesh and blood soon became bloody.

The Burmese soldier who had slashed the knife before walked out of the crowd and ran towards the convoy not far away.

There, Ming army cooks were already setting pots and lighting fires, killing pigs and sheep to prepare a feast.

This was the demonstration effect prepared by Li Rubai. When the Burmese army behind was still hesitating, they saw someone in front had already made the knife, and then they ran to the side to wait for meat and drink. Soon someone followed suit.

In fact, the prisoners of war at this time were all blindly obedient.

When the first person comes out, a large group of hula-la will follow behind him.

The soldiers brought by Li Rubai barely maintained order and asked everyone to submit a certificate of surrender.

In fact, by this time, it is meaningless whether or not the sword was swung. Everyone here will be considered to have done it.

At the noisy execution ground not far away, Li Rubai had no intention of watching anymore. Li Ruzhen came over and whispered in his second brother's ear: "Should we leave first?"

After saying that, he looked over there with lingering fear.

Li Rubai waved his hand to summon a soldier captain and ordered: "Leave a team of people behind for a while and bury them all. It looks disgusting."

"Yes, Second Master."

The soldier captain hurriedly clasped his fists in agreement.

The two brothers got off the high platform and saw the Burmese soldiers running over there to eat. Li Ruzhen said again: "Second brother, there are only more than 30,000 people here, but dad wants us to bring back 40,000 people."

"That can't be helped, there are only so many here."

Li Rubai spread his hands and said, "Dad ordered people to kill those thousands of people. What can we do?

Besides, having more than 30,000 people is enough. Didn’t Big Brother say that it should be enough for him to take 20,000 soldiers and 20,000 surrender troops to go south?

However, I guess dad will leave everyone here to him to take away. "

Li Rubai said.

"Actually, I also want to follow my elder brother south to Taungyu City."

Li Ruzhen answered.

“I don’t want to go there, I want to go to Bagan city.

Dongyu City has been taken over by that Yu Manzi, and he probably took away all the good stuff.

I heard that Bagan City used to be the royal city of Myanmar, so I guess there is something there.

And I recently heard news that the remaining dignitaries in Myanmar are running to Bagan City, and they will probably bring a lot of good things with them. "

Li Rubai wants to reap benefits even more, and his father and eldest brother will consider things like military merit for him.

As long as you follow their orders, you will definitely get credit.

"Second brother, you heard from Ava City that you got two boxes of treasures. Is it true?"

Li Ruzhen thought about the news he heard, and asked in a lowered voice.

"Hehe, you are just stupid, let me teach you two moves.

Think about it, where are the good things in our house usually placed?

Either he carries it with his father, or he keeps it in the mansion's warehouse.

When I conquer a city, the first step is to visit those big mansions and move their warehouses.

Remember the heavily guarded tent next to Dad’s military tent?

Last time I wanted to go in and take a look, but that piece of shit Dai San wouldn't let me in.

I guess that's where daddy got his treasure this time.

This time we fought out of Ava City, heading for the dignitaries and chieftains, but in the end they were all captured by dad.

Needless to say, all the good stuff must have ended up in daddy’s hands. "

Li Rubai said slightly dissatisfied.

"Second brother, you are too much"

Li Ruzhen did not continue. No matter what he said, he felt that since the Li family was from a general family, they should give priority to fighting for the credit.

As for money, fighting should be on the back burner right now.

However, no one told Li Rubai about this. Li Chengliang focused all his attention on his eldest son, Li Rusong, and neglected to teach his other sons.

This is actually in line with the tradition of the Han people. East Asia is dominated by Han culture. From ancient times to the present, the inheritance system of Han culture has been based on the eldest son inheritance system. This can be seen from the order of succession set by Zhu Yuanzhang.

There are direct descendants, but there are no direct descendants. This is also the most basic principle of the patriarchal system.

Throughout Chinese history, the primogeniture system is an inheritance principle implemented under the monogamy and polyconcubine system in ancient China, and is one of the core systems that maintains the patriarchal system.

The first wife is the first wife and the first wife. The eldest son born to the first wife is the legal eldest son. The law stipulates that the legal eldest son has priority in inheritance.

This system started at the end of the Shang Dynasty and was established at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty. The specific stipulation is "to establish direct descendants for elders rather than virtues, and to establish sons for nobles rather than elders."

The eldest son inheritance system Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Han dynasties have basically implemented the eldest son inheritance system stipulated in the Zhou Dynasty's patriarchal legal system, that is, the eldest son has the right to political inheritance.

The second son and the concubine obtained different secondary political status according to their different status levels.

In the era of ritual system, it was mainly applied to the succession of ancestors - at this time, the family and the country were integrated. The inheritance of ancestors could cover the succession of throne, title and official position.

Entering the feudal era, the law strictly differentiated between legitimate concubines and concubines, and the eldest son inheritance system was implemented in the inheritance of the throne, title inheritance, official position inheritance and ancestral inheritance. In the inheritance of property, all sons have the right to inherit, and the eldest son still has the advantage - the throne and title. , official position, and clan are indivisible, and property can be divided is one of the reasons.

This system embodies the concept of hierarchy, which is different from the patriarchal system and the concubine system. However, under the conditions of polygamy and concubine system at that time, conflicts in inheritance were avoided to a certain extent.

This system has continued into modern times. Although the civil law of the 20th century stipulated that each child can inherit the inheritance of his parents equally, in East Asia, especially large clans and families, this system still continues.

It should be noted that although the equal distribution of property between children is said to be introduced from the West, it may actually be an American system, because they have other ways to bypass this restriction, allowing the family to concentrate the family property in a long-term and stable manner.

In Europe, such as the United Kingdom and other countries, there is also a system of primogeniture similar to Han culture.

The British property inheritance system emphasizes the absolute inheritance rights of the eldest son, which is somewhat different from the Chinese primogeniture system.

The British primogeniture system means that the eldest son enjoys absolute inheritance rights, and the youngest son and daughter do not have the right to inherit property. They can only choose to join the army or go to a monastery.

Li Rubai may have seen through this and knew that he and his brothers could only get a little bit of the family's future, so he chose to "lie down".

Of course, if history had developed originally, it would not be surprising that Li Rubai would be the only Ming army unit that escaped unscathed in the Battle of Sarhu.

If there were no accidents, he could continue to pass on the glory of the Li family with the halo of his father and eldest brother.

It's just a pity that the rise of the Jurchens in Liaodong cut off the last way out for the Li family.

The former garrison of Ava City has now become Li Chengliang's governor's headquarters.

"Father, you called me?"

Li Rusong walked quickly into the house from outside. This is a suspended house built entirely of wood, supported by many wooden piles on the ground, similar to the stilt houses in Yunnan.

Although the appearance is very simple, the interior is decorated with gold and splendor.

When Li Rusong first walked in here, he was amazed that a garrison commander of Ava City could live in such a house.

And after Li Chengliang came here, it was the same. It was hard to believe that such a country was so luxurious.

In Myanmar, gold is not only a symbol of wealth, but also regarded as a sacred object.

The Burmese believe that gold represents the sun and is related to qualities such as knowledge and enlightenment, so gold is used for decoration on many occasions.

However, after Li Chengliang carefully studied those gold decorations, his interest gradually faded.

There is indeed a lot of gold in Myanmar, but the quality is not high, or it cannot be purified.

The gold coin rules currently formulated by the Ministry of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty cannot meet the requirements of these golds in Myanmar, and the gold content is generally very low.

Of course, if it were not for this, they would not have so much gold to decorate every corner of their lives.

"This is a letter sent by Yu Dayou from Toungoo City, take a look."

Li Rusong entered the room, and Li Chengliang handed Yu Dayou's letter to him.

"He is not urging us to send troops south as soon as possible."

Li Rusong took the letter and opened it. As expected, as he guessed, Yu Dayou asked the northern Ming army to go south to Toungoo City as soon as possible.

Most of the troops he brought were naval forces, and the land forces had only 10,000 people. It was really a bit difficult to rule millions of Burmese.

"Father, what do you mean?"

Li Rusong folded the letter paper and put it in the envelope, then asked.

"Although the court ordered Myanmar to take me as the master, we must meet his requirements."

Li Chengliang looked at Li Rusong and said, "Send someone to tell the second and third sons to bring people back as soon as possible.

You lead 20,000 troops south first."