Chapter 360 The General's Desperate Strike

Since that 100,000-strong army collapsed in just half a day and most of them became prisoners, more and more Yingzhou daimyos were willing to surrender.

The number of Second-class Han citizens also grew, expanding to over a thousand in a short time. From these, Cao Xing selected some to stay and continue oppressing their compatriots, while the rest were loaded onto ships and sent back to Great Qian.

This was Gao Yuan's long-standing policy: those not of our race must have different hearts; they must never be allowed to gather, or chaos would surely ensue over time.

These people were actually quite eager to go to the prosperous Great Qian to undergo reform and experience a different life.

As an island, Yingzhou was extremely lacking in resources. To what extent was it lacking?

Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Seii Taishogun of the Edo Shogunate and one of the three great heroes of Japan's Sengoku period, once lamented that if he could eat fried eggplant at every meal, he could die without regrets.

There are many similar cases. For example, the reason they ate raw eggs was purely because most Japanese people had never eaten eggs and had no idea how to cook them.

The reason Omakase became popular was simply because the Japanese had never seen anything good and had no idea how to order, so they just let the chef decide.

As for why so many Chinese people later felt these things were high-class, it was probably because they lacked worldly experience and were easily fooled.

So, when these people stepped onto the soil of Great Qian and enjoyed their first meal of all-you-can-eat white rice and plenty of meat, they no longer had any longing for their barren, backward homeland.

As more and more 'nations' disappeared, the high-and-mighty Yingzhou Emperor and Shogun Soga Ebi could no longer sit still.

No matter how they packaged or exalted themselves, they knew very well in their hearts that without the offerings of the people below, they were nothing.

Unfortunately, it was already too late. By the time they reacted, more than half of Yingzhou's population had fallen into Cao Xing's 'clutches,' and they no longer had enough power to resist.

However, Soga Ebi did not want to wait for death. He gathered all the daimyos still willing to follow him and began to list the crimes of Cao Xing, or rather, the Qian people.

"I hope you all do not harbor any illusions. These people are cruel and heartless. Whether you are defeated or surrender, the men will become their slaves and perform hard labor in dark, sunless mines."

"Your wives and daughters will all become tools for them to vent their animalistic desires. Therefore, I hope everyone can unite to resist these brutal invaders."

Soga Ebi was very emotional. As he delivered his impassioned speech, he stood up and waved his arms vigorously, hoping to stir up a common hatred among these warlords.

Initially, these people were somewhat hesitant, truly because the Qian Army's combat strength was too powerful. An army of 100,000 had vanished in less than a day; their small forces couldn't possibly hold out.

But soon, someone stood up. Soga Ebi looked closely and saw it was the abbot of Kyoto's largest temple, who excitedly responded to Soga Ebi's call.

"Rest assured, Seii Taishogun, we Buddhists will surely follow the General to resist these thugs."

As this abbot spoke, the abbots of several other temples also stood up to respond to Soga Ebi.

If one were to say whose interests were most damaged by Great Qian's invasion of Yingzhou, it was definitely these temples.

In all areas occupied by Great Qian, every temple had to comply with the orders of Prince of Tang Gao Yuan: eating meat was forbidden, marriage was forbidden, and collecting money was forbidden. All monks had to be registered and hold a government Ordination permit.

Tens of thousands of monks were driven into the mines, and the women were all rescued, leaving only some aging bald donkeys in the temples.

The metal Buddha statues they used to hide wealth were hauled away, and from then on, only clay molds were allowed for making statues. All their hidden money and land were also confiscated.

The money was gone, the women were gone, the extravagant life was gone, and the power was gone. They went from being superior elites to ascetic monks who could only eat vegetarian food and chant sutras.

How could these pampered 'great monks' with political ambitions possibly bear this?

They became monks precisely for the extravagant life. Now that the Qian people had come to uproot them, they naturally had to resist.

With these great monks taking the lead, the daimyos no longer remained silent. They also wanted to fight for their own interests, so they stood up one after another to respond to Soga Ebi's call.

In this way, Soga Ebi gathered all males in the country between the ages of ten and sixty, distributed all his treasured weapons to them, and organized an army of over 150,000.

Learning from the lesson of the Yingzhou Allied Army's crushing defeat, they did not choose to attack the port, but instead set their sights on the mining areas.

Upon receiving the intelligence, Cao Xing could not help but sneer.

"These shorties don't think that only warships can fire cannons, do they..."

The vice generals beside him also couldn't help but laugh.

"This humble general assumes so, otherwise, how would they dare to attack with such fanfare?"

"Then let's give them a lesson."

Cao Xing ordered with a cruel smile.

"Tell the brothers to work a bit harder and transport all the Zimu Cannons over. I'm going to give these people a massive surprise."

However, just as the vice generals turned to leave, Cao Xing called them back.

"What was that nonsense Shogun's name again..."

"Soga Ebi."

"Right, that guy named 'Shrimp and Crab.' Try to capture him alive; I want to thank him in person."

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what kind of whim their Commander was having.

"The Commander wants to thank him?"

"Of course. If we had to catch these 150,000 prisoners one by one, it would take forever. He's packaged them all up and delivered them to our door in one go. Don't you think I should thank him properly?"

Everyone suddenly understood, followed by a burst of laughter; some laughed until their stomachs hurt.

"Right, right, we must properly thank this Seii Taishogun for saving our brothers at least two or three months of effort."

"Exactly. Finish the fight early and go home early. I miss my wife at home terribly."

“Tsk tsk, these Yingzhou women still can't satisfy you?"

"It's not that I'm picky. These Yingzhou women are obedient and have many tricks, but one gets tired after a while. It's better to go back and find my own wife to change the pace."

"Hahaha!"

There was another burst of hearty laughter.

Leading an army of over 150,000, with the Emperor following behind and the statue of Amaterasu and priests in tow, Soga Ebi was in high spirits, feeling as though the world was in his grasp.

He was full of confidence for this decisive battle, believing that the Qian people would be no match for him once they were away from their loud, giant ships.

In this manner, these 150,000 people marched grandly toward the battlefield, toward an inevitable defeat.

Meanwhile, forty Zimu Cannons had already been transported by carriage to the outskirts of the mine. Twenty thousand navy soldiers and twenty thousand Xuanjia Army soldiers were already waiting in full battle gear, just waiting for the prey to arrive.

Before this expedition, Gao Yuan had already made a promise: thirty percent of the gold and silver mined from all mines in the first year would be distributed among everyone.

At the same time, the imperial court wanted none of the women; they would all be distributed to the men.

Once the soldiers who had enjoyed the obedience and tricks of the Yingzhou women spread the word, the hearts of the soldiers who hadn't received any women began to itch with desire.

They wished they could immediately charge into every city in Yingzhou to enjoy their own share of pleasure.