The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 424: Chickens and Dogs
Let’s go back to a few months ago, when Zhu Gaochi began to take over the affairs of the palace after recovering from his illness.

When everyone saw him show up, they were completely relieved.

As the New Year arrives, the feeling of being away from home is replaced by the joy of the New Year.

In order to let everyone have a good new year, the Prince of Yan's Mansion took out most of the treasures in the treasury and gave them as rewards to everyone.

Not only did the people in the palace receive rewards, but ordinary people also received a considerable amount of wealth.

This made everyone more grateful to the palace.

After this incident, the crown prince Zhu Gaochi also initially established his own prestige among the people.

The common people can temporarily forget their worries and devote themselves to the New Year, but the senior officials of Prince Yan's Mansion cannot.

Except for one day off on the first day of the Lunar New Year, I have been on duty all the time.

Everyone knows that the end of the New Year is the beginning of war.

Just after the Lantern Festival, the Prince of Yan's Palace sent a sternly worded official letter to the Pandiya Kingdom.

They claimed that the Yan State's caravan was robbed in Pandiya and demanded an explanation from them.

After receiving the letter, the rulers of the Pandya Kingdom looked at each other in surprise.

In the past, they would have definitely replied with a curse.

Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you get angry in front of the great Pandya Empire?

As a country with a clear historical record, it has existed for more than 1,800 years and dominated the southern subcontinent.

They have capital to be proud of.

But today is different from the past. Now the Pandya Kingdom is being defeated by the Delhi Sultanate and is on the verge of destruction.

If the Delhi Sultanate had not been plagued by internal strife, they would have been completely destroyed without leaving any trace.

Under such circumstances, they naturally did not dare to provoke another enemy.

So the Pandya monarch immediately sent people to investigate.

By the way, the ruler of Pandya is a woman.

But those who understand the matching mechanism of the subcontinent know that their administrative system is so chaotic that it is unbearable to look at.

I searched for several times but couldn't find out the reason.

They didn't even find out whether what Yan Guo said was true or false.

In short, after executing some scapegoats, the Pandya ruler replied with a carefully worded letter.

He promised the Prince of Yan's Mansion that such incidents would never happen again, and asked whether the two sides could form an alliance.

After receiving the reply, Zhu Gaochi and others laughed.

Alliance? What a wonderful thing to think about.

Yao Guangxiao said: "It seems that the situation in Pandiya is very critical."

Otherwise, they wouldn't think of forming an alliance with a stranger.

Yang Jing said thoughtfully: "Can this matter be used?"

Yao Guangxiao did not answer, but looked at Zhu Gaochi.

Zhu Gaochi shook his head decisively and said, "No."

"Chen Bandu once said that war can be done with any means possible, but politics cannot."

“A good politician must cherish his reputation… A country must also cherish its credibility.”

"If we agree to an alliance and then use this opportunity to plot against the other side, it would be a betrayal."

“Who will dare to trust us in the future?”

"Besides, we are not invincible in a head-on battle, so there is no need to hurt ourselves."

Yang Jing was a little disapproving. What was fair and just? Winning the fight was the truth.

However, since Zhu Gaochi had already said so and even brought up Chen Jingke, it was difficult for him to refute.

As the saying goes, a man's reputation is like the shadow of a tree. He could refute Zhu Gaochi, but he did not dare to deny Chen Jingke in public.

Yao Guangxiao showed a hint of satisfaction and said, "Your Highness is right. This is the battle for the founding of the Yan State. We must do it in an upright manner."

"In this way, we will have more ways to deal with the problems of the Delhi Sultanate in the future."

Zhu Gaochi asked: "Oh, Master, do you have an idea?"

Yao Guangxiao nodded and said, "Although the Delhi Sultanate is called a country, it is actually divided internally."

"There are five largest forces. They are constantly attacking each other. Their hatred for each other is deeper than that for external enemies."

“It also gave Pandya a chance to breathe.”

"Once we conquer Pandya, we can adopt the strategy of forming alliances and destroying them one by one."

"We need more information on how to do this... It won't be too late to talk about it after we conquer Pandya."

Zhu Gaochi did not ask any more questions, as he naturally trusted Yao Guangxiao very much.

After all, his father praised him highly.

Chen Jingke, in particular, praised Yao Guangxiao for his talent in serving the country several times.

Zhu Gaochi naturally trusted Chen Jingke very much, and therefore he also relied heavily on Yao Guangxiao.

Then, the Prince of Yan's Palace sent another official letter to Pandya.

He expressed satisfaction with the Pandya Kingdom's handling of the matter and the matter was over.

But if it happens again, we will go to war.

As for the alliance, he directly refused.

Although the Pandya Kingdom felt aggrieved, it still breathed a sigh of relief.

At least there wasn't one more enemy.

But one month later, a box was sent directly from the Prince of Yan's Mansion. When it was opened, a human head was found inside.

The head of a Pandyan general.

A letter was also sent at the same time, saying that this general was the culprit who looted the Yan State merchant caravan.

Moreover, he has his accomplices in the Pandya capital.

Since the Pandyan ruler was unable to deal with the situation, the Yan State sought justice for its own people.

At this point, even a fool would know that the caravan being robbed was all a lie.

The State of Yan just needed a reason to start a war.

But what can we do even if we know?

The war has begun.

Then the Pandya king and others became numb.

The general who was killed commanded an army of 20,000 men stationed on the southern border.

His head was delivered, which means the entire army was gone.

This also means that the southern border has been lost.

Is the fighting power of Yan State so strong?

Before they could come up with a solution, bad news came one after another.

The Yan army was unstoppable and all the people in the city surrendered.

The worst news was that the Yan army was less than a hundred miles away from the capital.

The Pandya ruling class was in a complete panic.

On the one hand, he conscripted civilians to strengthen the city's defenses, and on the other hand, he sent people to various places to draw troops to support the king.

On the other side, Yang Jing looked at the Pandya capital from afar and said expectantly:

"I hope it will be a tough fight, so I can have a good time."

"The fighting power of these poisonous people is too weak. I haven't even started to exert my strength yet and they all fell down."

Zhu Gaochi, who led the expedition in person, felt as if he were in a dream: "Now I finally understand why Wang Xuance was able to destroy an entire country by himself."

"My companion Chen told me before that the Sindhu people were vulnerable, but I was a little skeptical."

"Now I know that I was too ignorant."

It's no wonder he is like that. From the time the troops were sent out until now, they have never encountered a tough battle.

The Pandya general who guarded the southern border led more than 20,000 troops. This army was not only well-equipped, but also had cavalry and elephants.

Before the expedition, Prince Yan's Mansion was on high alert and made various plans against him.

However, when the fight really started, everything went beyond everyone's expectations.

Originally they wanted to send a cavalry to harass the Pandya army from the flank.

As a result, the cavalry directly broke through the enemy's rear formation, then killed the generals and captured the flags along the way, completing the feat of capturing the enemy and the king.

When the enemy saw their flag being cut down, they surrendered on the spot.

This result was simply unbelievable to Zhu Gaochi.

What's going on? Is this a win?

No matter what, winning is always a good thing.

During the post-war review, everyone expressed their doubts.

I couldn't figure it out and could only attribute it to the fact that this general was incompetent and unpopular.

Everyone remains cautious about Pandya's overall combat effectiveness.

But subsequent developments have repeatedly shattered their understanding of this country and ethnic group.

The two idioms, "collapse at the first touch" and "surrender at the first sign of danger", are tailor-made for them.

Zhu Gaochi did not dare to take it lightly. He sent people to investigate and finally came to a conclusion.

The caste system harms.

The Shudras, who make up the vast majority of the population and are at the bottom of society, have been enslaved by the caste system.

They believe in fate and strictly abide by the so-called fate without any sense of resistance.

According to religious doctrine, many Shudras are not allowed to hold knives. When they cook, they place the knife on a wooden board and hit the knife with the vegetables.

Not only did they not resist the enslavement of the upper castes, they also did not resist the rule of outsiders.

So, when the State of Yan attacked, they stood aside and watched coldly.

There are also a large number of Vaishyas, but they mainly engage in business.

The nature of businessmen is the same all over the world. It is a joke to expect them to stand up and resist.

As for the Brahmins and Kshatriyas, they have become corrupt and have almost no fighting power.

Even if a few senior officials still maintain their courage, they cannot change the overall situation.

After understanding this situation, Zhu Gaochi had to sigh again:
"Chen Bandu is really foresighted."

Yang Jing asked curiously, "I wonder what Chen Bandu said?"

Zhu Gaochi then recounted Chen Jingke's evaluation of the caste system and how the State of Yan should exist after occupying the subcontinent.

“His comments on the caste system have come true completely.”

"Governing the Han and Sindhu separately is probably to prevent them from being contaminated by the caste system."

Yang Jing couldn't help but admire and said: "It is said that a wise man can know what the world is saying without leaving home."

"Chen Bandu is truly a rare person in the world, possessing great wisdom."

"Among the people I know, the only ones who can compare to him are Lord Chengyi and Master Daoyan."

Yao Guangxiao said modestly: "General Yang, you are too kind. I have never seen a poor review by Lord Chengyi, but Chen Bandu is truly the wisest man in the world."

"How dare I compare myself with him."

"The more I think about the strategy of dividing the country that Chen Bandu has formulated, the more ingenious it becomes."

"Especially after seeing with my own eyes the will of the Sindhu people under the caste system, I feel that this is the only way for the Yan State to survive for a long time."

Zhu Gaochi said firmly: "The division of the country will be the unshakable national policy of Yan State. I will write this into the laws and ancestral teachings."

These were minor incidents during the conquest and did not affect the overall strategy of the State of Yan.

In just over a month, the Yan army arrived at the capital of Pandya.

Just when Yang Jing was about to attack the city, he was stopped by Yao Guangxiao.

"Pandiya is gathering the last of its troops to defend the king. We might as well wait for a while."

Yang Jing asked in confusion: "Why do we have to wait? Shouldn't we wait until their army arrives to support the king..."

At this point, he seemed to have thought of something and said:

"Master, do you want to besiege the capital and then attack their reinforcements while they are well rested?"

Yao Guangxiao shook his head and said, "No, I want to accomplish my goal in one go."

"Let them gather the last of their troops, and we will defeat them head-on."

“This will completely crush the Pandyans’ will to resist.”

"It can also deter the Delhi Sultanate and buy us time to stabilize Pandya."

Yang Jing's eyes lit up and he said, "Master, that's a good idea."

"The Pandyans are all spineless. Even if they gather an army of 100,000, they are nothing but chickens and dogs."

"They took the initiative to gather the army together, saving us from the trouble of fighting here and there."

Afterwards, the 20,000 Yan troops surrounded the Pandya king, who had a garrison of 40,000 and a population of more than 100,000.

It's the kind of encirclement without attack.

The Pandyans were a little confused. What did the Yan army mean by this?
Why not attack the city?
Are they afraid of too many casualties in the siege? Do they want to trap us to death?
That's too much thinking.

The royal capital has stored a large amount of food and is not short of water.

If we really compare consumption, it’s not certain who can consume more.

Moreover, the troops coming to support the king are arriving in an endless stream. The longer it takes, the more advantageous it will be for them.

So the two sides stopped in a strange way.

Another month passed, and Pandya transferred all the remaining 50,000 troops in the country to the royal capital.

As Yao Guangxiao said, success or failure depends on this one move.

The Delhi Sultanate could not have been unaware of such a big thing happening in its neighbor.

They were also overwhelmed by the strength of the Yan army.

You know, the remaining forces of Pandya have been fighting with them for decades.

They were so vulnerable in front of the Yan army.

Wouldn't it be very dangerous for his own army to face the Yan army?

However, they still found it hard to believe all this, thinking that the Yan army had adopted some treacherous tactics.

Now Pandya has gathered the remaining troops from across the country to engage in a decisive battle with the Yan army in the royal capital.

There won’t be so many conspiracies and tricks to use in a head-on battle, and we’ll know how powerful the Yan army is after the battle.

And they have made several preparations.

If the Yan army was defeated, or both sides were defeated, they would take the opportunity to send troops and reap the benefits.

If the Yan army won a great victory, they would defend on the spot and then sign a peace treaty with Yan.

Recognize Yan's rule over Pandya.

In fact, the entire subcontinent is watching this battle.

Half a month later, the Yan army and the Pandya army had a decisive battle.

There is nothing much to say about the final result. When the two armies were fighting, Yang Jing led 5,000 cavalry to cut off the Pandya army from the flank.

The Pandya army was unable to take care of both ends and collapsed completely.

Of the 100,000 soldiers, less than 10,000 died at the hands of the Yan army, while nearly 20,000 were trampled to death by their own people.

Upon seeing this, the Pandya king and a group of nobles immediately presented a letter of surrender without any hesitation.

Yao Guangxiao gave the order that the entire army should enter the city and not put down their weapons for three days.
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Just when the Yan army was invincible, a secret letter was sent from Ceylon and delivered to Luoyang at the fastest speed.

Du Tongli was shocked when he saw the secret letter and immediately found Chen Jingke to report the situation.

When Chen Jingke saw the contents of the letter, he was also in disbelief.

He asked Du Tongli to keep it secret and hurried out of the palace to find Xu Da, who was raising flowers and playing with birds at home.

"Uncle Xu, you are really generous."

(End of this chapter)