Based on the current information, it was not difficult to deduce some bits and pieces of information. However, if they wanted to know the whole story, they had to completely annihilate the Northern Barbarians. Xiao Ruxun's original plan was to stay in Taiyuan City for a few hours before leading his troops out to chase after the Northern Barbarians' cavalry. However, it was not the right time to leave.
In such a large Taiyuan City, other than Jiang Hui and Wang Ke, who were imprisoned, there was not a single official left.
When Xiao Ruxun led his men to patrol Taiyuan City, he heard some refugees mention that the King Of Jin's residence was the first to be set on fire. After that, it spread to the government offices and the rich residences. As for the commoner residences, they were the least affected. Many places did not even suffer. Otherwise, there would not only be tens of thousands of refugees.
Before midnight, Xiao Ruxun led his men to the King Of Jin's residence with torches. He took a trip to the government offices and the rich residences. Then, he came to a very strange conclusion.
The King Of Jin's residence should have been the first to be affected because it was the area that suffered the heaviest damage. Next were the government offices and the rich residences. These three areas were the elite areas of Taiyuan City. With these three areas destroyed, Taiyuan City's self-protection mechanism was also paralyzed because there were no officials to activate it.
Then, the general guarding Taiyuan City died in battle. Most of the soldiers fled. Taiyuan City did not even hold out for two hours before it fell. Then, it was ravaged for eight hours.
"What kind of strategy is this? Why was the King Of Jin's residence the first to be affected? The King Of Jin's residence is a city within a city. The Northern Barbarians could not have fallen from the sky into the King Of Jin's residence and then killed their way out, right? "
Li Rusong looked at the King Of Jin Residence, which was almost completely destroyed. His face was filled with confusion.
Xiao Ruxun couldn't figure out what he didn't understand either. The layout of the King Of Jin's Residence was similar to that of the Forbidden City. It was also located in the center of Taiyuan City, a city within a city. If Taiyuan City fell, the King Of Jin's Residence was another Taiyuan City with strong defense. But why was the King Of Jin's Residence the first to be burned down?
Also, the Northern Barbarians who started the fire were really strange. The city gate had not fallen yet, but they had already entered. Could they be spies in the city?
Xiao Ruxun then asked the thousand or so soldiers who were saved in Taiyuan City. After listening to their statements, Xiao Ruxun could roughly confirm that the Northern Barbarians who started the fire had entered the city with a team of woodcutters. As for how they had managed to enter the city through the strict security checks, Xiao Ruxun didn't dare to speculate.
According to the soldiers, they had to guarantee each other's names and identify each other. This was already the best way to confirm the identity of the Northern Barbarians under the current circumstances. How could they have let the Northern Barbarians in? Also, did the Northern Barbarians speak Chinese? The hair accessories of the Northern Barbarians were also completely different from the Han people. It was easy to tell them apart!
He couldn't figure it out.
But other than this, there were naturally more problems to deal with. After the battle, the snowy nights in Taiyuan City were very difficult to endure. Xiao Ruxun ordered people to collect the winter clothing that the army did not need. Then, when they patrolled Taiyuan City, they would be given some to those who needed it. At the very least, they wouldn't suffer from the cold.
Most of the warehouses in Sourcepeak City had been burned to the ground, and only a small number of ammunition warehouses had been preserved. Xiao Ruxun had found some gunpowder and lead bullets inside, which could be used to supply the gunners. The firearms were enough, but the other military supplies had basically been destroyed.
These Northern Barbarians were very cunning. It looked like their plan was to paralyze the leadership of Taiyuan City, paralyze the military facilities, and then successfully take over Taiyuan City. They could also prevent the Ming Army from organizing an effective pursuit.
Right now, Xiao Ruxun felt that leaving behind the food and some of the gold and silver treasures and not burning them was also a strategy of the Northern Barbarians. This was to prevent the Ming Army from successfully pursuing them.
Right now, he could not immediately leave Taiyuan City to pursue the Northern Barbarians. He had to at least wait until the infantry led by Wang Hui and the others arrived here before he could continue the pursuit with the cavalry. Otherwise, there would be no reliable troops and generals to maintain order in Taiyuan City. It was hard to say that a second disaster after the battle would not occur.
At present, the people of Taiyuan City maintained a basic level of trust in Xiao Ruxun, so they did not cause trouble. But who knew if they would continue to cause trouble after Xiao Ruxun left. When normal order was destroyed, they had to use powerful military force to intimidate the small fry until normal order was restored.
During this time, Xiao Ruxun began to write memorials to Zhu Yijun. This was something that Zhu Yijun had specifically told him to do before he had set off.
He had asked him to send someone to the secret stronghold outside of Beijing. There would be Imperial Bodyguards who would use spies to send his memorials to Tian Ting to ensure that Zhu Yijun could see his memorials. Only then would Zhu Yijun be able to judge the situation based on the information provided by Xiao Ruxun.
Right now, Zhu Yijun had reservations about the information from the Ministry of War. He basically did not trust them.
Before leaving Zijing Pass, Xiao Ruxun had already reported the specific situation to Zhu Yijun. He had also emphasized the problem of Chen Liang. Xiao Ruxun realized that this was a serious problem, but he did not reveal his conjecture. He only told the truth.
And now, Xiao Ruxun had basically confirmed that this matter had something to do with the Jin merchants. Since that was the case, he would not hold back. Datong was crippled, Taiyuan was destroyed, and the Jin merchants were greatly weakened. If he did not take this opportunity to completely destroy them, would he wait for them to recover and continue the legend of the Eight Great Imperial Merchants?
Xiao Ruxun even had a vague feeling that the Northern Barbarians' strategy did not seem to be purely to attack cities and seize property. There seemed to be some other special meaning in it.
They crippled the Jin merchants of Datong and seized their food. Then, they deliberately attacked Taiyuan and destroyed more than ten families of the Jin merchants. What was the meaning of all this?
For some reason, he felt that there was a hand manipulating the Northern Barbarians to send them to the place where the Jin merchants lived. Then, they would use a bloody massacre to kill the Jin merchants. They would destroy the Jin merchants physically. This was the most direct way to destroy this powerful merchant gang.
In today's world, only the Northern Barbarians could destroy the Jin merchants without any scruples. However, these Northern Barbarians were also doing business with the merchants. It was impossible for them to destroy the merchants without any scruples. Even so, to Daming, it was reasonable for them to kill people. It would be strange if the Northern Barbarians stopped killing people.
However, these Northern invaders seemed to have a purpose in slaughtering the main families of the Jin merchants. This was strange and thought-provoking. If it was just to take revenge on one or a few families, why did they have to make such a big deal out of it?
Xiao Ruxun was more and more confused about the purpose of the mastermind.
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