Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 504: Massacre of the Jurchens (Special thanks to book friends 2024…1624 for their monthly tickets!)

The other Jurchen leaders were horrified and knelt down begging for mercy:
"Your Majesty, all of our tribes are law-abiding and have absolutely no intention of rebelling!"

Wanyan Wugunai thought he had no luck, but remained calm and said angrily:
"Emperor of the Great Zhou, you held today's banquet with ill intentions! You want to capture all the leaders of the Jurchen tribes in one fell swoop!"

Chai Zongxun snorted coldly:

"I act uprightly, why should I resort to tactics against you barbaric tribes?

Those who obey my Great Zhou will prosper, and those who defy my Great Zhou will perish! I will not kill a minority tribe loyal to the Great Zhou by mistake, but I will not let go of any minority tribe that dares to disrespect the Great Zhou!

Wanyan Wugunai, I will let you go back. Lead the members of your Wanyan tribe to make preparations. In three days, I will send a large army to attack you and make you die with a guilty conscience!

The other tribal leaders can make their own decisions on whether to obey or rebel! "

When the Jurchen tribal leaders heard that Chai Zongxun would not kill them immediately and regarded it as a general amnesty, many of them expressed their gratitude and hurriedly left the hall together under the guidance of the imperial guards.

Many Han people said:
"Your Majesty, calm down!
These Jurchens usually act without integrity and are often full of lies! We Han people hate to have business dealings with them.

Today Wanyan Wugunai dared to look down upon Your Majesty, so he should be punished."

Chai Zongxun nodded and did not mention the matter again. After drinking with everyone at the banquet for another hour or so, he ordered the imperial guards to send them back.

After thinking for half the night, the next morning, Chai Zongxun summoned all the ministers to discuss the matter in the temporary palace.

Chai Zongxun said:

"The Jurchens live between the white mountains and black waters. They have always been fierce and fear power, not virtue. They only judge heroes by their bravery. They are a hidden danger to our Great Zhou!

I order you to go on this expedition, not only to slaughter all the Wanyan tribes, but also to capture all the Jurchen tribes, and slaughter anyone who resists!

I have decided that from now on I will never allow the Jurchens to live in tribal communities, and will distribute them all to Han people as slaves!"

All the generals responded loudly. After a discussion, Chai Zongxun decided to send Zhang Ning's Fifth Corps and Cao Kefan's Tenth Corps to annihilate the Wanyan tribe and the Jurchen tribes that dared to resist in one fell swoop.

Ninety thousand imperial guards and thirty thousand Wudesi soldiers were left behind to guard Emperor Chai Zongxun.

Ding Wei, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue who accompanied the expedition, came out and said:

"Your Majesty, the people of Xiwei were also enslaved along with the Jurchens. Now that Your Majesty is attacking the Jurchens, I am afraid that the Xiwei people will hear of it and worry about their situation, and may even rebel!"

Chai Zongxun pondered for a moment and said:
"What Lord Ding said makes sense, and the people of Shiwei have to worry!

An imperial decree was immediately issued to station troops in various places in Beiming. The Shiwei people were also prohibited from living together as a clan. They were distributed to the homes of local Han people as slaves!

Anyone who resists will be killed immediately without mercy!"

He Yao, the chief eunuch in front of the palace, immediately drafted the imperial edict with Ding Wei. After Chai Zongxun reviewed it, it was immediately dispatched to all parts of Beiming.

Zhang Ning and Cao Kefan withdrew to prepare for the army's expedition two days later. At the same time, they sent out scouts to gather information on the terrain, military strength, and other information of the Jurchen tribes near "Zheyuxun City".

When Liaobei was destroyed and Beiming was conquered, Zhang Ning was one of the commanders-in-chief of the three major corps of the Longxiang Army. He was quite familiar with this place. This was one of the reasons why Chai Zongxun personally led Zhang Ning to the army this time.

After more than a day of research, Zhang Ning and Cao Kefan had worked out an overall battle plan, which was to use the forces of the Fourth Army to directly attack the dozen or so Jurchen tribes in the northeast and east of the city, and use the forces of the Second Army to form a pincer control on the route that the Jurchens had to take to escape.

On the tenth day of the fifth month of the thirty-eighth year of Kaixi, Zhang Ning and Cao Kefan entered the temporary camp, bid farewell to Emperor Chai Zongxun, and after receiving the tiger seal of command, led the fifth and tenth corps of the Longxiang Army to attack the Jurchen tribe. After Wanyan Wugunai returned to the eastern part of the city, he invited the leaders of all tribes to a meeting and said excitedly:

"The Great Zhou treated our people extremely unfairly!

My clan has no hatred or grudge against the Great Zhou. It was just that when the Great Zhou was destroying the Liao, they invaded our territory and we rose up to resist!

However, Emperor Chai Zongxun of Zhou was kind to the Liao people, treating them equally with the Han people! But he seemed to have a deep hatred for us, the Jurchens!
Not only were those of my tribe who were captured during the resistance made slaves and distributed to Han families, but all of my Jurchen people were also enslaved!
At the banquet yesterday, the Emperor of Zhou clearly stated that he would send a large army to exterminate our tribe in three days! At this critical moment for our tribe’s survival, I hope that all the leaders can unite against the enemy and fight against it together! "

The Jurchens who moved to the vicinity of "Zheyuxun City" originally had more than ten tribes, totaling more than 700,000 people, including 200,000 armored soldiers.

The Wanyan and Hesheli tribes were the strongest, each with 100,000 people.

The leader of the Hesheli tribe, Hesheliba, said:
“Yesterday’s banquet was an act of Emperor Zhou to be close to the people, and there was no malicious intent in it.

More than ten tribal leaders including us all danced to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Zhou. Only you, who thought you were noble, were unwilling to dance, thus angering Emperor Zhou!
The Zhou Emperor said:

"Those who obey the Great Zhou will prosper, and those who go against the Great Zhou will perish!"

Although we Jurchens were conquered by the Great Zhou and classified as slaves, as long as we behave ourselves, our lives will not be in danger and we can still live a decent life!
It’s all because of you, Wanyan Wugun, who is so conceited that you caused this disaster!
With the vast territory of the Great Zhou, hundreds of conquered nations, and three million soldiers, how could a small tribe like us, the Jurchens, resist?

Don't even think about us dying together with your Wanyan tribe!"

The leader of the Bolikai tribe said:

"We, the Jurchens, grew up in the mountains and are all brave. Why should we be slaves of the Zhou people?
Even if we cannot defeat the Zhou army, we can still survive by escaping into the mountains and dense forests!"

After a debate, more than half of the Jurchen tribal leaders were afraid of the military power of the Great Zhou and were unwilling to rise up in rebellion.

Wanyan Wugunai said:

"According to Emperor Zhou's behavior, if he were to mobilize troops against the Jurchens, he would definitely wipe them out completely!
Hesheliba, I am afraid that even if you lead your tribe to surrender to Emperor Zhou, you will die and your clan will be exterminated!"

Hesheliba hesitated for a moment and said:

"The Emperor of Zhou has always kept his word and never lied to anyone! He once said, 'Those who obey Zhou will prosper, and those who go against Zhou will perish.' We sincerely submit to him, and he will never kill us!

This disaster is all caused by you, so you don't have to deceive people anymore!"

Hesheliba stood up and strode out of the tent. Eight or nine tribal leaders followed him and left the Wanyan tribe together.

Seeing that things had come to this, Wanyan Wugunai had no choice but to immediately discuss a battle plan with five or six other tribal leaders who were preparing to resist the Great Zhou...

At 3:00 pm on the tenth day of the fifth month of the thirty-eighth year of Kaixi, Zhang Ning and Cao Kefan, with a total of four armies of 120,000 men, arrived at the Wanyan tribe ten miles east of the city.

When the two generals were waiting for scouts to report the enemy situation of the Wanyan tribe so as to formulate a specific attack plan, their personal soldiers came to report: leaders of ten Jurchen tribes, including the Hesheli tribe, had come to surrender.

The two generals immediately summoned ten leaders including Hesheliba, accepted their surrender, and sent a team of 10,000 people to escort these leaders and then take over their tribesmen.

By the end of the hour of Wei, the scouts had returned. After understanding the general military deployment of Wanyan and other troops, Zhang Ning and Cao Kefan ordered the soldiers to launch a fierce attack. First, they used the "Yansu Artillery" to destroy many small castles of the Jurchens, and then the entire army attacked with the "Kaixi No. 33".

(End of this chapter)