"Ha ha!"
Zuo Yu burst into laughter when he heard this.
Daenerys also smiled, shook her head, and said disdainfully: "Cheap loyalty."
Zuo Yu smiled and shook his head: "The princes of the Ming Dynasty are all of the same character, just kill them, there is no need to keep them."
Zhao Lihe smiled and said, "Of course I know this. The reason why I kept the King of Qin was to let the outside world see that I treat the Ming royal family well, so that they can understand that I am different from those bandits, so as to eliminate the resistance in their hearts..."
"Why bother?" Daenerys asked doubtfully, "You already have the military strength of the United States during World War II, why bother to care about their feelings, can't you just force them to retreat!"
Zhao Lihe chuckled: "Little Danny, I will teach you something. To win every battle is not the best of the best. To defeat the enemy without fighting is the best of the best..."
Zuo Yu smiled and said, "Don't teach me. Your strategy is not applicable to Dany. You care about the enemy's army and the lives of the people under your rule. You think they will be your own people sooner or later, so you don't want to kill them. But she doesn't care about the lives of those notorious mercenary groups and noble soldiers. Whether it is the slave city-states on the continent of Essos or the looting Dothraki warriors, they all need to rely on violence rather than kindness to govern."
“That’s right!”
Daenerys nodded quickly in agreement.
Zhao Lihe smiled helplessly. Zuo Yu was indeed right. In the world of Game of Thrones, kindness was not worth mentioning. Only money and army were king.
But in the Ming Dynasty world, Zhao Lihe still wanted to preserve the population of the descendants of Yan and Huang as much as possible. A healthy young man required tons of food and eighteen years to grow up, but to kill him, only a cheap bullet was needed.
If he could use strategies to keep tens of millions of people who would have died in the chaos of the late Ming Dynasty alive, even if it delayed the time for a few years, it would be a profit for Zhao Lihe.
"Don't worry. When the new dynasty is established, I will deal with these princes and nobles of the old dynasty according to the law. Those who should be killed will be killed, and those who should be imprisoned will be imprisoned. I will use these people's lives to give an explanation to the people who have suffered so much in the troubled times..."
Zhao Lihe spoke lightly as he walked out of the Qin Palace with Zuo Yu and Daenerys.
On the way to the garrison in the city, young officials could be seen passing by the three of them from time to time.
They were wearing modified official uniforms similar to Zhongshan suits. They had young and energetic faces, and there was a restrained pride from body to body. When they saw Zhao Lihe and others, they just bowed respectfully, called them "Your Excellency", and then hurried away.
Zhao Lihe responded with a smile and watched them leave.
Zuo Yu had a strange expression on his face: "Master Fuzun?"
Zhao Lihe glanced at him and said, "Now the entire north, except for Kyoto, is under my rule. Even the majority of the Ming Dynasty officials in Kyoto have secretly surrendered to me. Only Chongzhen is still holding on. He appointed me as the prefect of Xi'an, but appointed my general as the governor. He wanted to alienate the relationship between me and my general. I thought it was interesting, so I accepted his reward."
Zuo Yu asked with interest: "And then?"
Zhao Lihe said calmly, "Old Liu, who was appointed as the governor, was frightened. That night, he brought the imperial edict to my house with his wife and daughter. He cut Chongzhen's imperial edict in half in front of me, then pulled his wife and children to kneel in front of me, presented the sword with both hands, and said that if he was suspected of betrayal in the future, I would use this sword to kill his entire family..."
"You accepted it?"
"Of course not." Zhao Lihe said unhappily, "If I wanted to kill him, would I need a sword?"
Daenerys listened with great interest, then asked in confusion: "Zhao, you have taken over the entire north, why don't you take over Kyoto? Is it interesting to keep a king from the previous dynasty in the territory?"
“It’s really interesting.”
Zhao Lihe nodded first, then smiled and said, "But I didn't keep him for humiliation or fun, but for other reasons. If I really killed Chongzhen, those corrupt scholars in Jiangnan would immediately support another member of the Zhu royal family to ascend the throne. At that time, someone would still use the name of the Zhu royal family to disgust me. Instead of dealing with those bugs that popped up out of nowhere, it's better to keep Chongzhen first."
"It just so happens that he and I have some unresolved grievances, and I just want him to see with his own eyes the collapse of the Ming Dynasty in his hands..."
Having said that, Zhao Lihe narrowed his eyes slightly, and for the first time his eyes revealed the coldness and cruelty of an emperor.
Seeing his eyes, Zuo Yu felt very comforted, and Daenerys finally saw the familiar appearance of the emperor.
"Your Excellency!"
Another young official bowed to the three people, then turned and left in a hurry.
Daenerys frowned, looked at his back and said with some dissatisfaction: "Zhao, why do I feel that these people don't seem to respect you very much? Do you need me to help you teach them a lesson?"
"Don't do that!" Zhao Lihe hurriedly stopped him, saying unhappily, "I have worked so hard to cultivate their pride, please don't break it. Besides, they are not disrespecting me, but in this Qin Palace, they are not themselves, but officials representing the country. Once you leave this Qin Palace, you will see their respect for me..."
Zhao Lihe spoke with great confidence, which made Daenerys feel a little envious for some reason.
"It seems that I really need to learn how to govern a country from you!"
"You've got some learning to do, little Danny!"
Zhao Lihe smiled and rubbed her head, then turned around, put his hands behind his back and walked away laughing.
Soon, the three of them arrived at the military camp in the city, where Zhao Lihe's most trusted 3,000 guards were stationed.
Most of the soldiers in the army were members of the Tongmenghui who had initially followed Zhao Lihe. Among them were children of the Qi Family Army and fellow villagers from Hanzhong Prefecture. These people were extremely loyal to Zhao Lihe and had no second thoughts.
In return for their loyalty, Zhao Lihe also gave them the best equipment and treatment.
The military camp not only has the most advanced modern firepower configuration, but also the iron soldiers and iron puppets he bought.
At the rear of the military camp, there is a Wujing Pavilion, in which are stored the secret manuals of martial arts that Zhao Lihe obtained from the official Under One Person. All members of the Royal Guards have the right to enter and exit the Wujing Pavilion and choose a martial arts manual to practice.
Even if they do not have the talent for practicing Qi, they can be strengthened through the four strengthening machines installed in the military camp.
Each Gray Mist Enhancer stores 500 Gray Mist Coins, which adds up to a total of 2,000 Gray Mist Coins, which is a considerable expense.
At this point we have to mention that due to their affinity, time travelers can absorb nearly twenty Grey Fog Coins every day in the beginning, while ordinary people can only absorb 1-5 wisps of Grey Fog every day, which is equivalent to 0.2-1 Grey Fog Coin.
After absorbing for several days in a row, you need to rest for a while.
This results in the gray fog strengthening efficiency of ordinary people being extremely low, far inferior to practicing martial arts or relying on technology.
Only more than 700 people have used the four gray fog enhancement machines that Zhao Lihe placed in the military camp so far. Among them, the only ones who are still insisting on strengthening are those with the highest talent, that is, 39 people who can absorb one gray fog coin every day.
Most of the rest have given up and are trying to practice Qigong or rely on technology instead.
However, practicing Qigong also requires talent, which results in a considerable portion of the 3,000 guards being relatively strong ordinary people, and there are only a mere 184 people who can truly master superhuman powers.
"I've read the comic book Under One Person. I'm very interested in the self-cultivation furnace that can turn ordinary people into extraordinary people. When you meet Ma Xianhong and get that thing, you can sell it to me. I will give you a satisfactory price."
Zhao Lihe patted Zuo Yu's shoulder and said.
Daenerys quickly said: "No, I want this thing too. Let's compete fairly!"
Zuo Yu smiled and said, "Don't worry, if you want to sell it, you must sell it to the Alliance first. After Xu Kong and Boss Lin have finished their research, you can buy a more cost-effective and improved version from the Alliance. Isn't that all!"
"Too……"
Daenerys nodded and stopped competing with Zhao Lihe.
Next to the three people, a handsome young man in a white shirt was listening silently, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Zhao Lihe turned around and said with a smile: "Old Pan, lead the way!"
"Yes, Your Excellency!"
Pan Yunpeng smiled and bowed, then walked in front to lead the way for the three people.
He is the leader of these three thousand guards and the supreme leader of the secret spy organization and intelligence network under Zhao Lihe.
As a member of the Tongmenghui who was not a descendant of Qi's army, the most important thing for him to sit in this position, in addition to his loyalty to Zhao Lihe and the Tongmenghui, was his own character and ability.
Because of this, Zhao Lihe decided to let him be responsible for cross-border transactions and give him the management of the first fixed portal.
Soon, Pan Yunpeng stopped, turned sideways, and said softly: "Master, this is it."
Everyone looked up and saw a metal platform in front of them that was thirty meters long, wide and about two meters high.
The entire platform is made of alloy, engraved with the Seal of the Void and magic spells. It is sturdy and durable, and is not eroded by wind and rain. It requires no maintenance, and it has stood unchanged for tens of thousands of years.
There are nine steps on the front of the platform, and the other three sides are gentle slopes for vehicles to drive on.
Zhao Lihe took a step forward and stepped onto the nine-step staircase in front of him.
Zuo Yu and Daenerys stood in place, accompanied by Pan Yunpeng and his three hundred personal soldiers.
These people will become the first members and armed forces of the new department that Zhao Lihe will establish next.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Zhao Lihe climbed onto the platform, took out a cup of gray mist coins and activated it.
"Void, open the fixed portal!"
As the soft words fell, a silver light burst out before Zhao Lihe's eyes.
A space crack glowing with silver light appeared out of nowhere, and then rapidly expanded in the four directions of up, down, left and right. In an instant, the crack turned into a giant portal about ten meters wide and twenty meters high.