Liu Mingzhi's gentle words made Zhao Qing, Hu Sanyuan...the excitement in their hearts gradually calm down.
After everyone drank a cup of tea, their eyes fell on Hu Sanyuan, the eldest brother of the Longwu Guard Camp. Feeling the eyes of his brothers, Hu Sanyuan reached out and took out a piece of silk cloth from his armor and handed it to Liu Mingzhi.
"Your Majesty, it is too difficult for swan geese to send messages across thousands of mountains and rivers.
Therefore, apart from sending reports to His Majesty in letters about some of our urgent situations, the two commanders could only temporarily shelve and seal the rest.
Wrapped inside the silk cloth were the detailed records of the Western Expedition recorded by many military records since the expedition.
The two marshals knew that Your Majesty must always be concerned about our safety. After sending letters to each other, they worked together to copy and simplify the specific content since the Western Expedition.
This time, I was waiting to escort the culprit of the massacre of our Dalong people in the two countries back to the capital to be dealt with by Your Majesty. Zhang Shuai asked me to take him back with me.
Please take a look at it, Your Majesty."
Zhao Qing also took out a piece of silk cloth from his armor and handed it to Liu Mingzhi.
"Your Majesty, this is the detailed confession given by the barbarians from the two countries who massacred our Dalong people after they were captured. It contains the reasons why they massacred the people of our Dalong merchant house, what happened, and the results of disposing of the corpses.
The two marshals sent letters to each other, sorted them out, and asked the minister to bring them back.
Please take a look at it, Your Majesty."
Liu Mingzhi raised his hand and took the silk cloth from Hu Sanyuan and Zhao Qing. He glanced at the frightened prisoners of the two countries outside the palace, and gently untied the silk cloth from Hu Sanyuan.
This book, which is two fingers thick, is presented to everyone.
Liu Mingzhi picked up the book and flipped through it gently. Looking at the dense handwriting on the pages, he let out a sigh of relief.
"On what day will the barbarians be pacified, and the good men will stop going on an expedition?"
"I am waiting for you, the court is waiting for you, and millions of wives, children, and children in various places and capitals are also waiting for you!
With this book, I can finally give an explanation to thousands of people.
I can finally give them an explanation."
Liu Mingzhi put the book and the confession together and patted them a few times in his hands, then turned around and climbed onto the dragon platform.
"After the court is over, I will read the contents of the book about the Western Expedition by burning the midnight oil when I return to the palace. You first select some of the more important things and tell them orally to me and the ministers.
For example, what were the casualties of the soldiers in this expedition? Was it heavy? What was the situation of food and grass before you returned to Beijing? Was it sufficient? What was the situation in the two countries after you pacified the barbarians in the two countries? Is it stable?
I urgently want to know this, and I want to know the situation of the expedition soldiers in a foreign country.
Zhao Qing and Hu Sanyuan, you two are the ten thousand generals of the trapped army and the Longwu Guard respectively. One is following the Protector of the Kingdom to crazily conquer the Kingdom of Dashi, and the other is following the Duke of Yong'an Nangongye to conquer the Kingdom of Tianzhu.
They must have a very clear understanding of the situation of each side's campaign against the traitors.
Quickly tell me and the other ministers about the situation of your respective armies, who of you will come first?"
Zhao Qing and Hu Sanyuan looked at each other. Zhao Qing looked at Hu Sanyuan with a faint smile: "Brother Hu, you are the big brother, so you should first report to His Majesty the situation of your army on the left to conquer the Great Food Country.
.”
"Okay, then brother, you're welcome."
"Your Majesty, I will first report to you the main situation of our army on the left to conquer the country of Dashi!"
"Okay, tell me quickly."
"Reporting to Your Majesty, our left army, under the command of Zhang Shuai, started from Dawan in the Western Region... It was not until October last year that the war against the Kingdom of Dashi came to an end.
After the brothers followed Zhang Shuai to capture the Dashi Kingdom, Zhang Shuai, Deputy Commander Yale, Warden Hu Yan, General Ning Chao... and others gathered their troops and stationed them in important cities in the Dashi Kingdom to manage the local people's livelihood and administration.
Since our expedition, we have strictly abided by His Majesty's orders and obeyed Your Majesty's will. Apart from collecting indispensable food and grass and confiscating part of the property of the local people, we have had no conflicts with the local Yi people.
Therefore, since the end of the war, the local Yi people have always honestly accepted the constraints of our left army and have not done anything to resist.
Moreover, with the consensus of the two marshals, a military order was issued to encourage young brothers to intermarry with local Yi girls. Seeing how kindly we treat them, the Yi people became more and more aware of my Dalong's rule.
There are even some Yi people who are aware of current affairs and have taken the initiative to look for our soldiers to learn the Chinese language.
Therefore, before I escorted the prisoners, the people's livelihood and administration in Dashi Country were relatively stable, and there was no problem with the supply of food and grass.
I think what I said was roughly mentioned in the letter sent to His Majesty by the two commanders a few months ago. In addition, the book I brought back has detailed contents, so I will not waste time by going into details one by one.
I wonder if that’s okay?”
Liu Mingzhi smiled lightly and nodded: "Of course, then let's talk about the casualties of your soldiers during the year since the expedition. Zhang Shuai, Nangong Shuai and their battle reports only mentioned a few words, and there was no mention of them.
detailed record.
I have been worried about the losses of your two armies."
"this……"
Hu Sanyuan's excited expression, which he had just described about the results of the conquest of the Great Food Kingdom, suddenly dimmed, and he sighed sadly.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, our left army's front, middle and rear armies, plus tens of thousands of auxiliary soldiers, suffered a total loss of more than 43,000 brothers during this year."
Liu Mingzhi suddenly stood up from the dragon chair, his eyes narrowed and stared at Hu Sanyuan, whose expression became gloomy.
"More than 43,000 soldiers?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, that's exactly it."
Liu Mingzhi fell heavily on the dragon chair and was silent for a long time with his brow furrowed.
"Before the expedition, I ordered the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs to cope with the crisis of empty national treasury and prepare more than a thousand artillery pieces of various types for dispatch to your left and right armies for the expedition.
As far as your army on the left is concerned, it has been allocated at least 500 artillery pieces of various types and sufficient artillery shells. It is also supported by about 400,000 elite troops from the Anxi Protectorate and the coalition forces from the countries in the Western Region.
You actually told me that in only about a year, your army on the left alone lost more than 45,000 soldiers."
Hu Sanyuan hurriedly stood up and knelt down on one knee: "Your Majesty, please calm down."
Liu Mingzhi took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, and looked at Hu Sanyuan calmly.
"Didn't you tell me just now that after you captured Khorasan and Mulu City in the Great Food Kingdom, you coerced and induced the surrendered soldiers and horses of the Great Food Country to serve as pawns for your left army?
There are tens of thousands of soldiers from the Great Food Kingdom acting as vanguards to charge into the battle for you, and there are artillery, crossbows and other siege weapons to help you attack the city. How can you still lose so many soldiers and horses?
What does he do for food? How did he get soldiers?"
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty... Your Majesty, please give me your permission to report the specific reasons in detail."
Liu Mingzhi rubbed his temples and sighed?
"explain."
"Reporting to Your Majesty, more than 40,000 brothers were killed in the army on the left. It was not because of Commander Zhang's poor command of the troops that the brothers died in the battle, but because of some other reason.
Our army on the left actually had only more than 11,000 brothers who died on the battlefield because of the confrontation between the two armies."
"Where are the remaining thirty thousand soldiers?"
“They were not accustomed to the climate and the soil, and some died of diseases such as malaria, dysentery, plague, etc., and some died of the bad weather.
After we left the border of the Western Region, we were stationed dozens of miles away from the border of Dashi Country for about a month, practicing day and night to adapt to the local soil and water.
At first, the brothers were all safe and sound, and they gradually adapted to the local water and soil problems. However, the further they marched westward, more and more brothers began to show symptoms of discomfort. Hundreds of army doctors continued to treat them, but they still returned.
There is no way.
Along the way, more than 30,000 brothers eventually died for the country... because they were not acclimatized to the country."