Chapter 180: Loyal Heart and Gallant Spirit, Invincible Under Heaven (Silver Alliance Leader Nuan Yang 1314 Bonus Chapter)

Mu Guiying and Hua Mulan are fictional figures, unrecorded in history books.

Famous women in history are mostly recorded in the Biographies of Exemplary Women.

The only one recorded in official histories as a famous general, a female hero among the biographies of ministers and generals, is Qin Liangyu.

The Qin Liangyu in film and television is heroic and dashing, with fine eyebrows and bright eyes, light as a swallow.

One can tell at a moment's thought that such an image belongs only on the stage; how could it appear on the battlefield?

Truly frail and unable to withstand the wind, on the battlefield she probably could not even put on armor.

Korean envoy Huang Zhongyun once personally witnessed Qin Liangyu's bearing in Jing Shi.

His diary records: "Boots and robe, exactly like a man."

"Wielding eighty-jin double swords on horseback, about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, with a quite imposing aura!"

Qin Liangyu was very tall, even somewhat taller than ordinary men.

Her figure was also very sturdy, robust and powerful.

After all, being able to ride a horse and wield an eighty-jin weapon, her arms must be extremely strong.

One jin in the Ming Dynasty was twenty percent more than one shi chang jin.

Eighty jin under the Ming system was nearly one hundred shi chang jin, fifty kilograms in weight.

Her robust figure goes without saying.

At this moment, the female general before him, almost the same height as Lin Dao, came before Lin Dao and saluted to express thanks.

"The grace of returning my son's ashes, I dare not forget."

Qin Liangyu's son Ma Xianglin had previously defended Xiangyang; after the city fell, he was killed by Eight Great Kings Zhang Xianzhong.

Lin Dao destroyed Zhang Xianzhong, captured Xiangyang, found Ma Xianglin, who had been hastily buried, burned him to ashes, and sent them to Shizhu.

Too much time had passed; they could only be burned to ashes.

"Because he is your son."

Lin Dao simply expressed: "He basked in your glory; otherwise I would not have bothered to search."

"Great Commander needs no such thing." Though advanced in years, Qin Liangyu still had an extraordinary aura: "The grace shown to my son must surely be repaid."

"But Qin Liangyu is a subject of the Great Ming and will never surrender!"

In her view, Lin Dao's kindness was merely to induce her surrender.

But she was fiercely loyal to the Great Ming and would absolutely not defect.

"You think too much."

Lin Dao shook his head: "I know your character; I never thought to induce your surrender."

"If you surrendered to another, you would no longer be the Qin Liangyu of loyal heart and righteous gall, invincible under heaven!"

Hearing such words of praise, Qin Liangyu was greatly astonished: "Great Commander summons me for a meeting; what is the matter?"

"Haha~~~"

Lin Dao laughed: "I just want to meet you, this female hero."

Taking out a Polaroid to signal: "If you don't mind, may I take a photo?"

"What is this thing? Could it be some magic artifact?"

Qin Liangyu was somewhat wary.

Among the local earthly rulers, there are far too many strange and odd things.

"If I truly meant harm to General Qin, I would long ago have led the great army forward to crush you."

Lin Dao twitched the corner of his eye: "The soldiers of Shizhu are brave, but they cannot withstand my army's offensive."

"Just consider it as repaying the grace of returning your son's ashes."

Qin Liangyu valued trust and righteousness, and finally agreed.

"Crack!"

The photo came out; Lin Dao surveyed it and nodded in satisfaction.

In the Chongzhen Spacetime, there were truly few people Lin Dao thought highly of.

Those so-called celebrities were, in his view, merely jumping beam clowns.

This spacetime was actually a world of comparing rottenness.

There were too many rotten people.

Qin Liangyu was one of the few who could earn Lin Dao's proper regard.

Packing up his things, Lin Dao rose and left.

"Great Commander Lin!" Qin Liangyu was full of confusion: "You're leaving just like that?"

She had come to discuss the future fate of the Shizhu Pacification Commissioner; was it over just like that?

"All Pacification Commissioners everywhere are abolished; all are changed to direct administration."

Lin Dao stopped his steps, turned to look at her: "Only your Shizhu Pacification Commissioner may be temporarily deferred."

"When you die, the Shizhu Pacification Commissioner will be abolished and changed to direct administration."

Lin Dao strode away, also raising his hand to wave farewell.

With so many Pacification Commissioners, changing earthly rulers to direct administration officials had to be done one by one.

By the time it was the Shizhu Pacification Commissioner's turn, Qin Liangyu would probably have reached the end of her days.

Watching Lin Dao leave surrounded by many guards, Qin Liangyu furrowed her brow.

"Truly a strange person."

A moment later, her brow furrowed even tighter: "Changed to direct administration."

"Sigh~~~"

Under the general trend, even Qin Liangyu was unable to resist.

Lin Dao at this time, compared to the Tatars who entered the Pass in history, was far stronger in power.

Backed by the terrifying production capacity of Industrial Cthulhu, coupled with the heaven-defying population base of the Great Ming.

Let alone the Pacification Commissioner's Office, even if all the countries in the world banded together, they were no match for him.

Lin Dao traveled down the river from Chongqing Fu to the Jingxiang region.

After a brief stop to inspect, he continued down the river, passing through Wuchang Prefecture and Jiujiang Prefecture, finally returning to his loyal Jinling City.

At this time, Jiangnan was already completely different from before Lin Dao arrived.

The rampant dandies, the corrupt officials who flayed skin and pulled tendons, and the city foxes and temple rats who committed all manner of evil were all gone.

The lands that once grew large amounts of cash crops were replanted with grain.

Prices were stable, and the common people's standard of living had obviously improved.

Now only the clan forces entrenched in the countryside remained, still hindering progress and development.

Lin Dao was not in a hurry; when the overseas colonization wave erupted and the rhythm of large-scale household registration migration overseas began, it would be the time for the clan forces to disintegrate.

Every household went overseas, leaving only a group of old men; what could they possibly accomplish?

The great army returned to their respective camps; next, they would take turns receiving leave.

Afterward, they would rotate to replace Liu San Dao's various camps in the western expedition to recover the Western Regions.

Returning to the residence, Dong Xiaowan and the others welcomed him in full dress.

Lin Dao looked at Dong Xiaowan and smiled, saying, "When traveling outside on campaign, what I miss most is your cooking."

All the women laughed; Gu Heng Bo, who had the best rapport, immediately spoke up, "Wan Jun also looks forward to the master's return day and night."

"These past few days have been spent busy preparing in the kitchen; I haven't even played mahjong."

Bian Sai added, "To research new dishes for the master to taste, I've injured my fingers several times."

"Oh~~~"

Lin Dao nodded and stepped forward, taking Dong Xiaowan's hand to examine it; indeed, there were several scars on her slender, fair fingers.

"Master, it's nothing."

Dong Xiaowan, her brows full of shyness, actively held Lin Dao's hand in return, "Concubine has prepared new dishes; please taste them, Master."

"Good, let's go see."

Lin Dao did not live in the Imperial Palace, so naturally there were not so many rules.

After he took his seat at the head, the women all took their seats around the table.

Dong Xiaowan gestured to a dish on the table, "Master, this is a dish I recently made, called Tiger Skin Flesh."

"Cut evenly fatty and lean pork into chunks, simmer in clear water until seventy percent cooked, then fry in an oil pot, and finally braise with soy sauce and sugar."

Lin Dao smiled, "The main ingredient is three-layer pork belly."

Looking closely, it was similar to braised pork belly, the skin wrinkled, and it really looked somewhat like tiger skin.

He picked up chopsticks, clamped a piece, and put it in his mouth.

All the women stared at his mouth.

After a moment, Lin Dao, having swallowed the piece of meat, nodded, "Fatty but not greasy, delicious and fragrant, very good."

"You've worked hard."

Dong Xiaowan, having received praise, was practically bubbling with beauty.

The other women mostly showed expressions of envy.

Women are like this; no matter how good the relationship, envy and jealousy are inevitable.

It was only because Lin Dao ran around outside for a long time that the women had nothing to fight over, so no major disturbance occurred.

However, with his return, open and secret struggles would surely not be few.

As expected.

That night, after rewarding Dong Xiaowan several times, the women, like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each displayed their supernatural powers, all showing their charms before Lin Dao.

Playing the zither, singing Southern Tunes, acting, painting, writing calligraphy, playing chess, heart-to-heart talks, sightseeing, and so on and so forth.

The most formidable was undoubtedly Gu Heng Bo.

Lin Dao was handling official documents in the study; she brought him the silver ear fungus porridge she had simmered herself.

This naturally counted for nothing.

But Gu Heng Bo put on a battle robe and danced the squat dance before Lin Dao~~~

With that squat, she directly squandered the time Lin Dao spent handling official documents.

The silver ear fungus porridge was untouched, but Gu Heng Bo had eaten her fill and drunk her fill, leaving with eyes like autumn waters.

The women all had their maidservants to gather news.

What happened in the study soon spread to all the women.

Almost without prior agreement, Chen Yuanyuan and the others began sewing their own battle robes.

At the same time, they sought out Gu Heng Bo, begging her to teach them the squat dance.

Gu Heng Bo was generous, naturally possessing a chivalrous spirit, holding nothing back; whatever she could teach, she taught.

In the following days, Lin Dao could enjoy different versions of the squat dance every day.

The days passed very comfortably.

But Lin Dao was not addicted to it.

Occasional adjustment was fine, but if one became addicted and unable to extricate oneself, that would be letting down one's transmigration ability.

"Grand Marshal, the common people heading north from Fujian, Liangguang, Yunnan, and other places are increasing."

"The remnants of the False Ming have blocked roads in various places, and incidents of killing, injuring, and persecuting common people occur from time to time."

The Ming Dynasty was destroyed, but in the Southern Land there were still places flying the Ming flag.

They enthroned members of the imperial clan who had fled south, and continued to view Lin Dao as an enemy.

These remnant forces still carried on the traditions of the Ming Dynasty.

They plundered the common people madly; even "the heavens are high and the emperor is far away" was insufficient to describe their greed.

The lives of the common people in every place were unbearably bitter.

By contrast, the standard of living under Lin Dao's rule rose steadily, and could be called a land of benevolent rule and joy.

The common people voted with their feet, trying every means to flee north to Lin Dao's rule.

The remnant Ming officials naturally would not let these pigs and sheep escape, blockading the roads and arresting fugitives.

Following the customs of the Ming bureaucracy, they naturally plundered the property of fleeing common people, and sold the captured common people for property.

Quite a few people even made a fortune from this.

"I originally wanted to wait until each Yingjun had finished reorganizing before heading southward."

Lin Dao rubbed his brow and instructed, "Since that is the case, issue orders to the garrison Yingjun of the prefectures in Nanzhili and Hu Guang; each Yingjun shall draw out one thousand-commander to reorganize the camp leaders, and divide the troops into two routes heading southward."

"The troops and horses of the prefectures in Hu Guang will enter Guangxi via Hu Guang, enter Yunnan, and finally go to Myanmar."

Remembering the curse of Shui Zhi from history, Lin Dao hated it deeply.

How the Central Plains kills itself is its own business.

A tiny little nation actually dares to strike a black hand!

What great gall!

"Order them to clean out Myanmar once they go there!"

Lin Dao calmed his breath and continued instructing.

"The garrison troops of the prefectures in Nanzhili shall assemble at Jinling City."

"I will personally lead them, go down to Fujian, and head to Lingnan."

After thinking it over, Lin Dao instructed again, "Arrange for Zhao Zhilong to serve as Shishi, and make a trip to Fujian to find Zheng Zhilong."

"Tell him to inform Zheng Zhilong."

"The thing from the West, Wei Junjie~"

End of Chapter