Short video spoiler history: The beginning of modern warfare

Chapter 170 Situation

Tang Dynasty, Chang'an City, outside the Taiji Palace, the guards on both sides listened to the angry questioning inside, all frightened and unable to look away.

Although it was December, the dead of winter, the younger guard on the left couldn't help swallowing and broke into a cold sweat for the two generals inside.

As far as I can remember, this is the first time I have seen His Majesty lose his composure like this.

Inside the palace, a group of important officials also had solemn expressions.

There is no other reason. The two daughters of the Wu family committed suicide.
More importantly, the skylight suddenly lit up abnormally, followed by a self-checking screen of the mechanical chain, and then a message came: "Major changes in history have been detected, and the self-repair program has been activated."

"The program is being repaired. Please do not shut down the computer until the current progress reaches 10%."

"Program repair failed."

"Restarting, this process may take several minutes, please do not shut down"

"Restart failed."

Then it completely collapsed into pieces, and no trace was left.

This scene happened just a quarter of an hour ago, and the entire Chang'an city was already in panic.

"Great, really great, you can't even take care of a little girl!" Li Shimin's hair and beard stood up, veins on his forehead throbbing wildly, and he said angrily: "It's not a pity if she dies, Tianmu!"

"The sky is broken because of her!"

After saying that, he slapped the dragon throne again, with a shocking "bang".

Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Zhangsun Wuji, Xiao Yu, Wei Zheng and other important officials were all silent. Who could have thought that a little girl could have such a big impact.

Is history unchangeable?
Logically speaking, it shouldn't happen. For example, in terms of artillery technology, although Tianmu did not clearly state what one of the raw materials was, the raw material was later found and produced from fireworks donated by the people, and it made great contributions when Li Jing led his troops to the northern border to destroy the Eastern Turks.

The artillery alone caused heavy casualties among the barbarians in Mobei, which definitely changed history.

However, this incident did not trigger what Tianmu called "a major change in history."

Could it be that the destruction of the Turks was supposed to happen in history? Or was the artillery incident not a major change?
There is also a series of grain breeding and improvement technologies, steam engines, diesel engines, etc., but none of these triggered Tianmu's "self-inspection" behavior, leading to collapse.

Alone
Everyone present knew the importance of the sky dome, but now it has turned into a phantom, as if it had never existed.

If everything in our minds and all that knowledge were not so real, everyone would suspect that it was just a dream.

Yuchi Gong and Cheng Yaojin looked extremely unhappy. This matter was not difficult at all. They were also very careful and ordered the lady to search their bodies. There was no problem along the way.
But he only paid no attention to the hairpin on her head. Along the way, it seemed that this little girl was also smart. She could chat with anyone and find ways to please the soldiers and get information from them. After being warned, the soldiers dared not talk nonsense with her again, but she was not discouraged. She was gentle and weak along the way and treated people as before.

Who could have thought that this weak and silent six-year-old child could be so strong-willed that he would rather die than be humiliated when he arrived at the foot of Chang'an City, catching everyone off guard.

In fact, no one could have predicted what would happen next.

No matter what, the sky was indirectly shattered because of them, and the Tang Dynasty might have missed countless opportunities because of them. Thinking of this, they both had no face to live in the world, so they bowed to the ground and said, "This matter is all caused by my fault. I have committed such a serious crime, and I am willing to die!"

Cheng Yaojin was no longer in the mood to laugh. He also prostrated himself on the ground and said sadly, "I am willing to die without any complaints!"

"What's the point of killing you!!" Li Shimin took a deep breath and forced himself to suppress his anger.

These two were brothers who had followed him through thick and thin. One of them had even been with him through thick and thin several times, and had never left him when Dalang was suppressing him, and had even made great contributions in the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

Moreover, no one could have predicted that such a change would happen in advance, and after the sky fell that day, there was a debate about whether to kill or not.

but
Li Shimin felt his heart bleeding. He had decided not to kill based on his feelings, but he didn't expect that he only made the right choice once.

"I know the crime!"

"Wei Zheng!" Li Shimin ignored the two men and asked according to the rules: "How should they be convicted according to the law?"

Wei Zheng was deeply moved. Even so, His Majesty still managed to hold back his anger and didn't kill the two men on the spot or take it out on them. So...
"Your Majesty!" Wei Zheng stepped out with a stern face. "General Cheng and General Yuchi were ordered to escort Wu to the capital. They marched according to rules and handled matters properly. There were no major mistakes in the process. Wu's suicide was unexpected, and no one could have predicted that the sky would be broken because of it."

"However, the sky curtain is of great importance. The actions of the two generals did indirectly lead to the collapse of the sky curtain. This is a dereliction of duty for the two generals. According to the law, they should be suspended from salary, dismissed from office and investigated."

"Did you hear me? I'll suspend you from work and fine you a year. Why don't you go back and face the wall?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The two men choked with sobs and kowtowed three times. Although His Majesty's tone was harsh, the punishment was not painful. If it were any other monarch, they would probably have exiled their three clans.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. It was like raising something high and then putting it down gently. When they thought about losing Tianmu's source of joy and a series of popular science videos, the loss was indeed a heavy one.

"Everyone, go away!" Li Shimin was in no mood to pretend in front of everyone. He slumped down on the dragon chair and waved his bright yellow sleeves feebly. After a moment's thought, he added, "Fang Qing, Du Qing, Wu Ji, stay!"

"Yes!" After paying their respects, everyone left the Tai Chi Hall in an orderly manner. No one dared to say anything more.

"The sky is broken. What should we do next?" Li Shimin sighed, not hiding his discouragement.

"."

Ming Dynasty, Jinling City, Hexing Tea and Snack Shop.

"Here you are, Mr. Su." Shopkeeper Wan came out from behind the counter and personally wiped the table for him. He said with a smile, "Newly brewed black tea, a rare commodity. Would you like a pot?"

"You made it so quickly? You guys are really quick! How does it taste?"

"You know what, it tastes rich. It's winter tea, you know."

Mr. Su nodded and ordered a pot anyway. Generally speaking, tea is not strictly restricted to spring harvest, but spring tea and Mingqian tea have the best taste, followed by autumn tea, summer tea is the worst, and few people make winter tea because they need to give the tea trees a rest.

However, the specific details still need to be determined based on the variety, origin, etc.

The black tea on the market today is only picked and brewed in winter for tasting. The real good black tea will have to wait until around the Qingming Festival next year.

Manager Wan was busy now. Mr. Su saw the people beside him talking about something with red faces and indignation, and couldn't help but move over and asked, "What are you two talking about? Why are you so anxious and angry?"

When the men saw the newcomers, they started talking again: "You don't know yet, the Japanese pirates have robbed our merchant ships again. This is the seventh time this month."

"It's even more brutal this time. There are more than thirty people on the ship, including sailors, crew members, guards, and merchants." The man lay down on the table before he finished speaking, shrugging his shoulders and sobbing, while pounding the table continuously.

"Hey, what's wrong with more than thirty people? Say what you want to say!" Mr. Su asked impatiently.

Someone saw Mr. Su had just arrived, so he replied for him: "More than 30 people were stripped naked by the pirates and exposed to the sun for a day. Then they cut the tendons of their hands and feet, drained their blood, deliberately attracted sharks and kicked them off the boat to watch them escape for fun. Most of them were bitten to death. Only one crew member managed to escape. He drifted in the sea for a day and a night before being fished out by villagers along the coast!"

"His elder brother is the guard on that ship!"

"The crew member eventually fell seriously ill and died, and he told us everything before he died."

"It turned out that there were five Japanese pirates who pretended to be stranded merchants, claiming to be from Guangdong. After being tricked onto the ship, they first behaved in a humble manner, kept thanking the crew for saving their lives, and got along well with everyone, which made people let down their guard."

"After arriving at the ambush site, they took out the short blades they had prepared and randomly injured people, creating chaos and dragging down the ship. Then several small boats rushed out from their hiding places. They also carried cannons and randomly shot through the decks of the ships. In order to prevent our ships from being destroyed together, they claimed that they would not be killed if we surrendered!"

"No, how did the artillery get to Japan?"

"Who knows? They got cannons out of nowhere, and when they got on board, they confiscated everyone's weapons, tied everyone's hands and feet, and then immediately turned hostile and said there was not enough food. First they hung everyone up in the sun for a day and a night, then they whipped them, bled them, and used a series of other cruel methods. They also said that sooner or later they would trample them to pieces."

"This is really too much!" Even Mr. Su couldn't help but swear, "These Japanese pirates are determined to destroy us!"

"What do the authorities say?"

"I don't know. I've reported it, but there's still no news!"

royal palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was gloomy, and he had obviously lost his temper: "Damn you beasts! This is the seventh time this month!"

Another reason that makes people angry is that countless diesel-powered merchant ships have fallen into their hands these days!

In winter, when the wind blows from the southeast, the Japanese pirates sail downwind and just intercept a merchant ship with a diesel engine that can return against the wind!
All of this was used to build treasure ships and naval forces for the Japanese pirates!
The atmosphere in the palace was extremely depressing. Just as Hu Weiyong and the others were about to say something, they were interrupted by the eunuch's announcement: "Your Majesty, Duke Wei requests an audience!"

Liu Ji and others were shocked, wondering why Xu Da came back? The Japanese pirates were just a minor issue, so it wouldn't alarm him, right? Was Liao Yongzhong unusable or what?

"Xuan!"

Then a tall figure walked in quickly, but before he could salute, Zhu Yuanzhang stopped him and said, "Tian De, don't worry about these red tapes. Come, sit down."

Then he poured him another cup of tea.

Xu Da was a little confused. He had just returned from Shanxi, and seeing that His Majesty was urging him to come back, he came directly to the palace without going home. He was also very thirsty at the moment, so he drank a few cups of tea before stopping.

"Let's take a look at this information first!" Zhu Yuanzhang then took out the information he had prepared long ago.

Except for officials in important positions such as Hu Weiyong and Wang Guangyang who were informed in advance, everyone else was shocked: "Are the Japanese, Northern Yuan, Jianzhou Jurchen and other tribes all united?"

"Artillery technology?"

"I'm afraid there are also diesel engines," Liu Ji and others said bitterly.

"This is the intelligence of the Ashikaga shogunate in Japan." Zhu Yuanzhang took out another piece of intelligence. He had been prepared since the expulsion of Japanese personnel, and he had instigated many merchants to defect and sent many spies to gather intelligence on Japan.

Later, he also intervened in the intelligence that Japan obtained from other channels. What they knew was what the Ming Dynasty wanted them to know, except for artillery technology.

Originally, the blockade of Japan was going to continue for some time, but Japan's recent frequent actions show that they can no longer hold back and are ready to take action.

Xu Da and others patiently learned about the situation of the current shogunate of Japan, especially Ashikaga Takauji, who first rebelled against the Kamakura shogunate and then rebelled against Emperor Go-Daigo. In order to overthrow his brother Ashikaga Tadayoshi, he pretended to surrender to the Southern Dynasty, and after using the power of the Southern Dynasty to defeat his brother, he rebelled against the Southern Dynasty three times. He can be called the Lu Bu of Japan.

And the current head of the Ashikaga family has taken over the Ashikaga shogunate for five years and is now fifteen years old?
"Enemy strength. Hmm? Less than 50 troops, not even a navy. Less than ships." Xu Da was silent.
"." Not only Xu Da, but even Liu Ji, who always claimed to be a Confucian scholar, laughed out of anger.
"If they were to force them, they would probably be able to gather around 5 to 10 people. They don't have that many troops under conventional forces. But they are just feinting and harassing the southeast coast. The north is the main attack direction. We have to be on guard against the Yuanliang King of Yunnan and the local chieftain Duan family."

"I have already ordered them to heavily guard the north. Tiande, I want you to lead the troops to destroy Japan!"

As soon as these words were spoken, it was like a thunderclap exploding out of the blue. Hu Weiyong, Liu Ji and others changed their expressions and their minds raced. No matter how they looked at it, this was still too risky.

"Your Majesty, this seems too risky!" Liu Ji could not help but say. Now that there are wolves and tigers lurking on all sides, it is too risky to use the power of the navy to destroy a country.

"No, this is when they are the weakest." Zhu Yuanzhang patiently explained his history and national strength. His country had just been unified between the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and the warriors and the people were alienated. The power they could mobilize was extremely limited.

Then he explained the evil deeds of Japan again, "If we let them recuperate and crack the secret of the diesel engine, it will be a fierce battle at sea!"

"Now, while their navy is weak, it would be most cost-effective for us to march our army directly to Kyoto by sea and decapitate them. If we are entangled by them on the southeast coast, the situation will be unpredictable!"

"Besides, on New Year's Eve, their army will go out and attack Zhejiang and Fujian, creating chaos to create opportunities for the northern army. At this time, the navy will enter Kyoto in one fell swoop, destroy the royal family and the Ashikaga family, and then return to intercept the chaotic army." Zhu Yuanzhang made a click gesture. To be honest, if they hadn't suddenly gone crazy and provoked the Ming Dynasty, and obtained diesel engines from them, Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely not want to destroy Japan immediately.

"The only thing we have to be careful of is that they may have artillery ambushes in Kyoto!"

Looking at the map of Japan, the information about the Kyoto royal family and the Ashikaga family in front of him, Xu Da couldn't help but sigh that His Majesty had secretly prepared everything, and when his naval forces were fully deployed, Kyoto would be the most empty.

"I accept the decree!"

"Okay, then Marquis Deqing and Marquis Zhongshan will obey your orders!"

Liu Ji secretly counted on his fingers. It was now the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, and there were only six days left until New Year's Eve.

Outside the window, heavy snow has begun to fall.

(End of this chapter)