Chapter 91: So you're called Huailiang!

“What is this little Japanese fellow saying?”

Zhu Gaoxu frowned at the Japanese old man before him, who was not even four and a half feet tall and was groping randomly at the body of a guard.

The interpreter accompanying him was drenched in sweat and had no idea what the word meant either. After a moment’s thought, he said, “He says he is an islander.”

Zhu Gaoxu was taken aback, then waved a hand. “This little bastard is full of nonsense. Find out who Huiliang is. I need to get back and report to Father!”

Leading three thousand cavalry in a forced march all the way here, he had gone from one local governor to the next asking whether they knew where the Prince of Huiliang was. If they could not answer, they died.

By now, four minor lords had been exterminated, along with more than seven hundred samurai.

“Yes, yes!”

The interpreter was embarrassed, because quite a few Japanese had in fact given information about Huiliang, but this half-baked man had not understood a word of it.

Naturally, better for a comrade to die than for oneself to suffer.

He glanced at the dazed old man, silently offered him a prayer, cleared his throat, and solemnly uttered a Japanese name: “Prince Huiliang!”

“Yes!”

The listless Huiliang answered reflexively.

The real one?

The interpreter froze, then cried out in excitement, “Your Highness, this man is Huiliang!”

In the back courtyard, Zhu Gaoxu was crouching beside a hot spring with Zhu Gaosui, muttering to him. “Third Brother, are Japanese people’s pots really this huge? If you boiled a pot of porridge in that thing, could this little runt even finish it?”

“I have no idea.”

Zhu Gaosui had never seen such a massive stone bath either, and could not help clicking his tongue.

“Your Highness, we found Huiliang!” the interpreter said, hurrying over in delight.

Zhu Gaoxu strode forward at once, lifted Huiliang by the front of his robe, and glared fiercely at him. “So you’re the one called Huiliang, are you? You really are bold, aren’t you!”

You even dared declare war on the Emperor? You’re something else. Everyone’s jealous of you!

“Wait, wait!”

Huiliang resisted in panic, but his struggles were no more than a mosquito bite to Zhu Gaoxu; they were less forceful than the blows of the Princess of Han.

“I-I can speak a little court Chinese. I am Huiliang, son of Emperor Go-Daigo. Don’t you dare go too far.”

Smack!

“If you could speak human language, why didn’t you say so sooner?” Zhu Gaoxu slapped him twice. The old bones had barely any flesh on them.

Still rather hard on the hand, though.

Huiliang stared in bewilderment at the “sister-in-law,” who was shuddering with fear, and at several retainers and attendants lying in pools of blood. Then he roared in grief and fury, “Bastards! Bastards! Who are you people? I am the son of Emperor Go-Daigo. You are insulting the family of the gods!”

Zhu Gaoxu was deeply concerned about his health and hurriedly took out a pill intended to keep a person alive. Though sweat had soaked into it and much of its potency had been lost, it was still a fine medicine indeed.

He shoved it into the mouth of the shouting Huiliang.

“Page 2 of 3”

Zhu Gaoxu ordered, “If he keeps spouting nonsense, beat him!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Dozens of Ming soldiers surged forward.

In an instant, Huiliang was thoroughly beaten all over.

Zhu Gaoxu watched for a while, then headed out and called to the interpreter. “Old Li, tell the men not to set up camp for cooking. There’s a damn huge pot right here!”

“Yes!”

The interpreter had just answered when he glanced at the Prince of Han and the Prince of Zhao crouching there, tasting the broth, and instantly froze. “Wait, no, Your Highness... this seems to be a Japanese bath.”

“What?”

“Bathwater?”

Gah!

Zhu Gaosui’s eyes went wide. He had just been thirsty and drunk a few mouthfuls. Now he began gagging and vomiting violently.

Zhu Gaoxu retched in disgust a couple of times, then whirled around and roared in anger, “You sons of bitches haven’t eaten enough, have you? Make some noise when you hit him!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Thus Huiliang’s “sister-in-law” too received a severe and merciless beating.

“Yamete... iiya...”

...

Half a month later, the Northern and Southern fleets of the Hongwu era joined forces.

The southern half of Japan had been thoroughly ravaged. The so-called Japanese governors and samurai bands had been slaughtered to a man.

Any Japanese who offered even the slightest resistance was sent to the mines. As for those who resisted more fiercely, the Ming soldiers were exceptionally kind-hearted and helped them disembowel themselves, bringing their zealotry fully to light.

It was enough to move one to tears.

“How much has been added to the stores today?” Zhu Yuanzhang asked with his hands behind his back, coming by every day to inspect the work.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, the silver ore sent today is of excellent quality. It is estimated that twenty-seven thousand taels of silver can be refined from it.”

The official before him had ten abacuses laid out in front of him, and even as he bowed, his fingers kept twitching uncontrollably.

“Not enough, still not enough! Use these beasts until they drop dead for us. Every one of them was born with rebellious bones—there isn’t a single decent one among them!” Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly.

These days, the number of slaves sent in from all regions had tripled, but not because the Ming army was oppressing the local lords too heavily.

It was because those lords, and the officials ranking just below them, had gone mad and turned their blades on their own people, dragging them off everywhere to mine.

When their own lands ran out of people, they robbed their neighbors.

No one ever treated the Japanese more brutally than the Japanese themselves. It was sheer madness.

They even sent in people barely over three feet tall.

After digging for half a day with nothing to show for it, Old Zhu still had to feed them a meal.

If Zhu Yuanzhang had not issued a stern edict sharply rebuking the lords of each province for such irresponsible conduct and forcing the daimyos to restrain themselves, he would already have been taking losses.

Zhu Yuanzhang cursed under his breath. “Those damn bastards have schemed against me.”

“Father, calm your anger. My own side has already fought its way to their capital. I’ll send you more Japanese miners then,” said the elder Zhu Di, hurrying to curry favor.

Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a moment and said, “No need. Resources can be transferred from one dynasty to another, but not people. That makes trouble.”

“Understood, Father.” Zhu Di nodded.

At that moment—

“Grandfather, Father, look who I’ve brought!” Zhu Gaoxu arrived in a cloud of dust, carrying the barely conscious Prince Huiliang in his hand.

Thud!

Old Zhu Di kicked him and snorted. “What are you trying to be clever with in front of your grandfather? Say who it is plainly!”

Zhu Gaoxu grimaced and rubbed his leg, then grinned. “This is the Japanese Prince Huiliang.”

“Oh?”

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled as he crouched down and asked, “So you’re Huiliang.”

No response.

Zhu Gaoxu kicked him and barked, “Speak!”

Prince Huiliang sniffled miserably and said in a trembling voice, “I am Huiliang, son of Emperor Go-Daigo, younger brother of Emperor Go-Murakami, and uncle of Emperor Go-Kameyama. I am of the family of the gods. You cannot treat me like this!”

Smack!

Zhu Yuanzhang’s smile vanished. He pulled a booklet from his sleeve, a book of pacification and submission that had been specially brought back from the Yongle era by the Fourth Prince.

Old Zhu said coldly, “Read.”

Huiliang took it and frowned in silence.

“You’re deaf? The Emperor told you to read it!” Zhu Gaoxu kicked him again.

Huiliang said with pitiful grievance, “I can’t read it.”

“Read it to him.” Zhu Yuanzhang took his seat at the head position and gave the order with a nod.

“Yes!”

The interpreter, Yang Zai, fixed him with a bitter, hateful stare and read each word slowly and clearly: “... I have heard that your nation has a policy of waging war. Though I am but the ruler of a small state, I too have my own plans for resisting the enemy. I do not fear you.”

If you have the ability, then come and fight. I truly do not believe you can get here.

Long-buried memories surged up.

Huiliang’s head rang with a deafening buzz, and he cried out in a broken voice, “The Emperor of Great Ming...?”