Chapter 1013 Eternal Peace
"Tang Emperor, you are not trustworthy! That tiger is your brother Xuanzang. We have already returned it to you, but you still want to attack us."

King Baoxiang asked angrily.

"King Baoxiang, you have gone too far in bullying me. My brother is a good man who has practiced for ten lifetimes. You have murdered him, and now you are slandering him by saying that he is a monster. This is really outrageous.

Come, capture the Elephant King for me."

Wang Ming had an excited expression on his face.

As his words fell, a hundred thousand elite Black Armored Army began to operate in an orderly manner like a war machine.

The drums are thundering.

A group of soldiers holding iron pipes walked out of the army. They placed one end of the iron pipe on the ground with one end facing diagonally forward and slightly adjusted the angle. If a time traveler from a later generation saw this scene, he would definitely give a standard friendly greeting and exclaim that something was wrong.

The soldier was holding a mortar.

"Peng!!"

"Peng!!"

"Peng!!"

A huge explosion sounded, the iron pipe shook violently, and at the same time a stream of white smoke came out of the upward pipe mouth, and the shell flew out from the muzzle.

"boom!!"

"boom!!"

"boom!!"

A deafening sound rang out, and the ground beneath our feet shook violently. Huge holes were blown out of the walls of Baoxiang City by shells, and the fallen earth and rocks on the walls raised a lot of smoke and dust. The strong smell of gunpowder entered people's nostrils.

"How...how...what's going on?"

The King of Baoxiang Kingdom was so frightened by this sudden change that he collapsed to the ground. It was a relief that he didn't pee his pants out of fright.

"Your Majesty, let's retreat quickly. The city wall can't hold up anymore."

The loyal guard steadied himself, stood up on the shaking city wall, helped King Baoxiang up, and wanted to take him away.

But at this moment, King Baoxiang looked dazed, with a look of disbelief on his face: "How could this happen, how could it be..."

"Your Majesty, let's leave quickly. The thieves from Tang are using evil magic."

Just at this time,

A cannonball fell from the sky not far from them, and the next moment King Baoxiang died.

The city wall gate collapsed soon after.

The Tang soldiers immediately rushed into the city and began to arrest those who resisted.

"Your Majesty, isn't this a little too cruel?"

"Yes! Is it really necessary to turn all those men into slaves?"

"To do so is against the spirit of a benevolent ruler!"

Some ministers began to give advice to Wang Ming.

"If you don't understand His Majesty's difficulties, then don't speak." The God of War Li Jing scolded.

"Shut up, you murderer! You must be a bunch of war maniacs who have instigated the whole nation to become slaves. You will become a sinner in history, you..."

Wang Ming nodded and said, "Okay! This matter has nothing to do with Li Jing. It was my own idea."

The minister's face froze when he heard this, and he felt as if he was wondering why he didn't follow the routine. Because the kings are all very treacherous, even if these are the king's own ideas, they will never admit that they are his own ideas, and these are the ministers' ideas.

Once something went wrong, the minister would be asked to take the blame to appease the public anger. The minister just now was actually trying to trick Li Jing and put him on the spot.

"Don't tell me about benevolent monarchs or non-benevolent monarchs. A benevolent monarch is your Confucian ideal of an emperor. A benevolent monarch is one that meets your Confucian standards, but not necessarily a wise monarch.

What I do today may be too cruel, but it is the best way.

"Father, isn't this indeed a bit too cruel?" Crown Prince Li Chengqian couldn't help but speak up.

Wang Ming glanced at the people around him. They were just ordinary people, and Wang Ming could see through their thoughts at a glance.

So he said in a deep voice: "Qin Shi Huang was too lenient to the nobles of the six countries, so after the death of Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng, there was a strong counterattack, which eventually led to the death of the second emperor.

Cheng Qian! If I don't do these things now, I can indeed leave behind the title of a benevolent monarch, but I will leave the hidden danger in your hands.

I did not intend to kill them all. Those who were demoted to slavery were officials and nobles, as well as those who resisted fiercely.

I do want to capture the common people of Baoxiang Kingdom, but only to give them a new place to live and to allow them to better integrate into the Tang Dynasty.

The blood shed today is meaningful. Wars arise because of friction between countries.

When there was only one country in the world, even if conflicts occurred, there would not be such large-scale casualties.

For the sake of eternal peace, I will bear all the sins and crimes today."

As soon as these words were spoken, Crown Prince Li Chengqian and Li Zhi couldn't help but shed tears. They were so moved. This father was so good.

Emperors all cared a lot about their fate after death. Just like Emperor Qianlong, in order to maintain his reputation as the "Ten Perfect Emperor", he suppressed all hidden dangers and handed them over to his son Jiaqing.

Li Zhi couldn't help thinking: "Father, you have done all these dirty things now. When I take the throne a hundred years later, I will definitely be a clean monarch."

Wang Ming took into account the thoughts of all the princes without naming any.

He just said to himself silently in his heart: "Even if you turn into bones, I will not die."

Wang Ming has never been a person who helps others without asking for anything in return. He did these things not to make it easier for the prince to inherit the throne in the future. It was simply because the journey from Chang'an to Tianzhu was too long, and Wang Ming didn't want any problems to arise, so he made these arrangements.

Give future generations peace?
Wang Ming had some such thoughts incidentally, but it was just a casual thought.

Because there is no real peace. As long as people are selfish, there can be no real peace.

but,

If a person has no selfishness, is he still a human being?

As for the reputation issues, Wang Ming is not worried.

After all, later historians and the Holy Mother would curse Li Shimin, so what does it have to do with Wang Ming?
···········
But let’s talk about the other side.

The Yellow-Robed Monster knew that Princess Baihuaxiu asked Tang Sanzang to pass a message to the King of Baoxiang Kingdom, so he came immediately and slandered Tang Sanzang as a demon and turned him into a tiger.

Last night the Yellow Robe Monster drank in the Yin'an Palace and slept until dawn.

He heard someone calling his name, and when he opened his eyes he saw Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing holding children who looked like his two children.

Before he could see clearly, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing threw the child fiercely onto the Hundred Jade Steps, and the child was immediately smashed into a bloody mess and died a horrible death.

The Yellow Robe Monster was confused at the time, thinking that the two children were a trick used by Zhu Bajie and his gang to deceive him, so he immediately ran back to his cave to check if his children were still there.

It was at this time that Wang Ming's army arrived.

The entire Baoxiang Kingdom was plunged into the flames of war.

Sun Wukong also started a fierce battle with the Yellow Robe Monster.

Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing took advantage of the chaos to rescue Tang Sanzang and fled outside the Baoxiang Kingdom.

(End of this chapter)