Chapter 750: Hongwu's Doubt

Three days later.

Western Warm Pavilion of the Wuying Hall.

This place had been temporarily converted into a venue for secret discussions.

Inside the pavilion there were no eunuchs or palace maids; only Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) and Liu Ji were present.

A huge map of Bei Jing was spread across the central square table.

Zhu Yue's (Zhu Yuanzhang's) gaze lingered long on the markings of 'Hetu Ala' and 'Jianzhou Jurchens'.

His expression was calm, but his heart was icy cold.

'Nurhaci... Later Jin... this name, this timing, completely wrong.'

The memories of the transmigrator Zhu Yue were churning.

That was a completely different timeline.

There, there was no Yuneng, no Black Armor Soldiers, and the rise of the Jurchen people was something that would happen a century later.

And here, everything had been wildly accelerated and distorted.

It was as if an invisible hand had forcibly stuffed the script from over two hundred years later into this chaotic late Yuan.

'It's not a coincidence, absolutely not.'

He lifted his tea cup, using the misty vapor to conceal the sharpness in his eyes.

'Bowen.'

He spoke, his voice steady.

'I have examined the military reports and abnormal records of these past few days, together with the secret history of the previous dynasty that you have organized.'

'Some things are not in accordance with common sense.'

Liu Ji bowed.

'What does Your Majesty refer to?'

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) set down his tea cup, his finger pointing toward Liaodong.

'First, the speed of its rise does not match its foundation.'

'The Jianzhou Jurchens were previously merely scattered tribes living in the mountains and forests, hunting and fishing, with limited population and scarce production.'

'Even if the Yuan court is declining and the border defenses are empty, its sudden unification of the tribes, establishing a state, still requires accumulation, time, and a set of something that can coalesce the loose sand.'

'Upon observation, its interior shows no one with the prestige of a leader capable of commanding the masses (Nurhaci's age and qualifications at this time are far insufficient), nor any disseminated strategy of innovative institutions, enriching the state and strengthening the army.'

'By what does it rise?'

Liu Ji pondered.

'Or perhaps relying on external force?'

'Not bad.'

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) moved his finger, tracing over the locations marked 'Yuneng Pollution', 'Black Armor Sightings', and 'Aberrant Beasts'.

'Second, the power it relies upon is not of the human way.'

'Archery, horsemanship, and even firearms all have their principles; they can be learned and used.'

'Yet this 'Yuneng' corrodes the land, causes aberrations, creates deathless soldiers; it is absolutely not a naturally occurring thing, nor can human power easily control it.'

'When the Jurchen suddenly obtain this power, it is like a child wielding a divine weapon; not only can they not wield it as they wish, but they are prone to harming themselves.'

'But observing its use now, although it appears crude, it has already begun to form a system, especially those 'Black Armor Soldiers', whose discipline is strict, like marionettes on strings.'

'This is not something a tribe that has just come into contact with an unknown power could achieve.'

'It is more like...'

He paused, searching for the right word.

'It is more like someone shoved a knife into its hand, grasped its hand, and taught it how to kill.'

A gleam of sharpness flashed in Liu Ji's eyes.

'Your Majesty, are you saying that behind the Qing bandits there is another person wielding the knife?'

'The knife-wielder is probably not a 'person'.'

Zhu Yue's (Zhu Yuanzhang's) voice turned cold.

'The fragments of the 'Heavenly Sense' from that day were icy and malicious, absolutely not an emotion that living beings should possess.'

'Third, its objective is not profit.'

He moved his finger away from Liaodong and heavily tapped the line representing the northern frontier of the Great Ming.

'If it were for plunder, one would seek wealthy and empty places.'

'If it were for seizing land, one would strike when our forces are not yet firmly established, directly attack vital points, or divide and disintegrate, ally with external supporters.'

'But what of the Qing bandits' actions?'

'The probing at Dingyuan directly targets my foundation.'

'After establishing the state, they do not seek the fertile Zhongyuan, but instead deeply cultivate the barren Liaodong, massively producing strange and deceitful things.'

'Now the southward advancing troops are not scattered plundering, but precisely target our military defense nodes, as if... surveying, probing, paving the way for some larger-scale operation.'

'Its conduct does not resemble that of bandits seeking wealth and land.'

'More like...'

He lifted his gaze, looking toward Liu Ji.

'More like a 'tool' acting on orders, carrying out a task to eliminate certain 'obstacles' or 'errors'.

'And our Great Ming is that 'obstacle'.

The pavilion was utterly silent.

The crackling of the charcoal fire was especially clear.

Liu Ji's forehead beaded with fine sweat.

Your Majesty's words, layer by layer, unraveling the threads, linked the many inconsistencies, sketching out a chilling outline.

"Your Majesty... your sage foresight is profound; I am not worthy."

"But if we follow this logic, what does the 'nonhuman' wielding the knife behind the scenes seek? Is it merely to destroy my Great Ming?"

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) did not answer immediately.

He recalled the submerged historical line from his memory.

He recalled the "Yangzhou Ten Days", the "Jiading Three Massacres", the literary inquisitions and the closed-country policy, and a century of humiliation.

A chilling thought arose:

"What it wants may not be merely to destroy a single dynasty."

"But to let this land utterly lose its future."

"Becoming barren, chaotic, ignorant, unable to nurture any spark of civilization that could escape its control."

"The Qing is merely the tool it chose to carry out this 'extermination of lineage' task."

But this thought is too shocking and also too reliant on his unspeakable "memory".

He could not say it outright.

"What it seeks..."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully.

"Observing its methods, the yin can erode the earth, destroying the fundamental vitality; creating aberrant puppets destroys the moral order."

"It is likely not merely to overturn a single dynasty."

"But to sow eternal 'wasteland' and 'chaos' upon this land."

"Let my Huaxia civilization be cut off at the root, with no possibility of revival."

Liu Ji shuddered all over, his face instantly turning pale.

This is a hundred times more horrifying than the notion of dynastic change or Han-Hu conflict!

This is... the calamity of the eradication of civilization!

"So..."

Liu Ji's voice was dry and hoarse.

"So the title 'Guardian' in those fragments that day does not protect the living, but guards the script that lets civilization decline?"

"And the 'Qing' is merely the tool it uses to execute this script?"

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) nodded silently.

The outline of the truth had already formed in both of their minds.

Cold, immense, filled with a sense of oppressive despair.

The enemy is not in Liaodong.

But rather, in a higher place, in the unseen, manipulating puppets and disaster, seeking to utterly snuff out the just-ignited spark of civilization.

"This matter ends here in this pavilion."

After a long while, Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) spoke in a low voice.

"Besides you and me, it must not be leaked."

"Externally, we say only that the northern barbarians have gained strange power, their aim not plunder but the extermination of our race and the destruction of our civilization."

"Internally..."

His eyes were sharp as blades.

"Tell Xu Da, tell the Investigation of Things Institute, tell everyone who ought to know."

"What we fight is no longer an ordinary war."

"It is a battle for the survival of civilization!"

"It is for our descendants to strive for a future — unwarped and uncut off!"

Liu Ji drew a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and solemnly clasped his fists.

"Your servant, I understand!"

In his eyes there was no fear, only a resolute determination to burn his boats.

Your Majesty has already laid bare the most terrifying truth.

Then, what remains.

Is only battle.

For civilization, fight to the death.