Chapter 307: The Destruction of Jiangnan! (Part )

“what?!”

The people of Zhujiaping, who were unaware of the situation, were horrified when they saw this scene and took a step back.

As for the villagers who had personally participated in the massacre, they looked at Zhao Xun with nervous expressions and some trepidation.

Zhao Xun looked at the head rolling on the ground, and only after it stopped did he confirm that it was Zhu Hezheng’s head.

Zhao Xun raised his eyebrows and looked at Zhu Guangyuan: “Did you kill him?”

Zhu Guangyuan nodded: “I killed him.”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to kill the landlords and divide up the land?”

“Since we are going to kill it, we can’t wait for you to come, so we will kill this beast first.”

“If we kill him, won’t it be easier for you?”

Zhao Xun smiled and looked at Zhu Guangyuan with eyes full of admiration.

“Yes, you are right, and you did a great job.”

“You are brave and resourceful. The Ming Dynasty needs talents like you. Have you ever considered joining the army and serving His Majesty?”

join the army?

When Zhu Guangyuan heard these two words, his heart moved.

If they stay in Zhujiaping and continue to farm, even if Your Majesty distributes all the landlords’ land to them, they will only be self-employed farmers.

Having food and clothing is certainly not a problem, but if you want to get rich and continue to move up, that is still not enough.

Joining the army is undoubtedly a way out.

However, the current military service system of the Ming Dynasty made Zhu Guangyuan hesitant.

Except for emergency temporary recruitment during special periods, if you want to join the army at other times, you must first change your household registration from agricultural to military.

Once he becomes a soldier, his family line will have to serve in the army for generations and will not be able to engage in other professions.

Moreover, their personal freedom must also be strictly controlled.

Of course, the more important point is that the vast majority of military personnel will be assigned to serve as garrison soldiers.

There is no need to say more about the current status of the garrison soldiers.

That is a slave who is a soldier in name only but a farmer in reality.

Zhu Guangyuan had just been freed from the oppression of the landlord, and he didn’t want to be a slave again to some garrison officer.

Zhu Guangyuan politely declined: “Sir, it is an honor for us Ming people to serve your majesty.”

“But I have old people above me and young children below me, so I can’t be both loyal and filial…”

Zhao Xun nodded slightly and said nothing more.

Next comes the part of land distribution that the people love to watch the most.

“Zhu Guangyuan, eleven acres of land!”

“Zhu Xianzhi, seven acres of land!”

“Zhu Changgui, six acres of land!”

“…”

Every time a name was called, there would be excited screams from the villagers.

Because the land surveying team led by Wang Yan and Yang Jizong has not yet come here to survey.

Therefore, the imperial court did not have the accurate number of land and population at this moment.

The land is now divided basically according to the amount of land they originally rented and the number of laborers in their families.

Families with more labor force will naturally get more land.

And after Zhu Youtang pacified Jiangnan and thoroughly measured the amount of land and population in Jiangnan.

We will also make minor adjustments based on the original basis, striving to be as fair as possible.

Narrow the gap between the rich and the poor among ordinary people as much as possible.

At the grassroots level in rural areas, equality for all is achieved to the greatest extent possible.

……

After Zhao Xun and other court officers distributed the land, they did not stay for a moment and immediately rushed to the next village.

The peasant uprising in Zhujiaping and the killing of landlords were just a microcosm of the vast land of Jiangnan.

More and more people, inspired by various deeds and dissatisfied with the oppression of the landlords, took the initiative to stand up and kill the local landlords.

In just two days, more than a hundred cases of peasants beheading landlords occurred across Jiangnan.

And the news spread throughout Jiangnan in a very short time, further intensifying the murderous intentions of the people in other places towards the landlords and gentry in the village.

For a while, all the landlords in the south of the Yangtze River felt insecure.

Compared with the panic among rural landlords everywhere, the officials at all levels in Nanjing at this moment were filled with just as much fear.

In these two days, one piece of despairing news after another was continuously sent to Nanjing.

Every once in a while, everyone would hear a piece of bad news that made them shudder and break out in cold sweats.

After they finally digested the news and accepted the fact.

The next moment, worse news would come, plunging them into a vortex of despair.

“Master Zhang, this is bad! The soldiers sent by the imperial court have entered Yangzhou again! But this time they did not go to Yangzhou city, but to various villages in Yangzhou!”

“Minister Zhang! This is terrible! After the imperial soldiers arrived in the countryside, they began to kill the landlords and divide the land. Many peasant soldiers returned home from Yangzhou because of this!”

“Master Zhang! Urgent news! Urgent news! The peasant army outside Yangzhou City mutinied. After killing a group of garrison soldiers, they all went back home. Now the court has assembled 40,000 troops to attack Yangzhou City! Yangzhou City is in danger!”

“Minister Zhang, Yangzhou City has been captured! The imperial army slaughtered the landlords, wealthy merchants, and noble officials in Yangzhou City. They killed them for three whole days and killed all the powerful people in Yangzhou City!”

“Master Zhang! It’s bad! Urgent reports have come in from all over the country that the imperial army has begun to march towards other prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River! The only ones we can be sure of are Huai’an Prefecture and Fengyang Prefecture!”

“Minister Zhang, something terrible is happening! This is terrible! The slogan of killing landlords and distributing lands by the imperial officers and soldiers has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people! Now, there are reports from all over Jiangnan that people are slaughtering landlords in their own villages!”

“All the landlords are dead, so what should we do now?”

“…”

Zhang Peng, the Nanjing Minister of War, sat in a chair, listening to the bad news one after another, his face as gloomy as iron.

He didn’t say anything for a long time, and no one knew what he was thinking.

A mood of despair spread throughout Nanjing. Although the enemy was still hundreds of miles away from Nanjing, everyone felt that defeat was imminent.

The core reason why Zhang Peng dared to rebel was that he was confident that he could unite the power of the entire Jiangnan region to fight against the imperial court.

The power of the entire Jiangnan region, of course, includes the power of the people of Jiangnan.

In Zhang Peng’s opinion, the gentry from all over Jiangnan represent the people of Jiangnan.

As long as you gain the support of the gentry from all over Jiangnan, it is equivalent to gaining the support of the entire Jiangnan people.

He thought so and did so, and the result did not disappoint him.

Through the landlords and gentry in various places, Zhang Peng did indirectly control the people of Jiangnan, and even won a great victory with the help of these people.

But he really didn’t expect that Zhu Youtang only used one move to cause the rebel alliance he had worked so hard to build to collapse.

Killing the landlords and dividing the land, this move is so cruel and deadly!

It directly disintegrated the local foundation of the landlords and gentry, and turned the landlords and gentry, who were originally the leaders of the people, into the mortal enemies in the eyes of the people. It was not until this moment that Zhang Peng realized that the relationship between the landlords and the people was not just that of leaders and the led.

I finally understood what it means that water can carry a boat, but can also capsize it.

But what Zhang Peng couldn’t figure out and couldn’t understand was how Zhu Youtang, as the largest landlord in the Ming Dynasty, came up with the slogan of killing the landlords and dividing the land?
“This is betrayal!”

“The imperial court actually helped those unruly people to deal with us!”

“This is blatant betrayal!”

Suddenly, Zhang Peng started shouting angrily, shocking the officials around him.

“All the troops are trash, the garrison soldiers, the peasant army, they are all trash! Trash!”

“These so-called commanders are all cowards who are afraid of death!”

“These garrison officers are the dregs and waste of the Jiangnan people!”

Without any warning, Zhang Peng began to roar. His eyes were bloodshot and the anger on his face was evident.

The Nanjing officials in the room looked at each other in shock, not knowing what to do.

Zhang Peng openly cursed the Jiangnan garrison officers, which made Jiangnan commander Cao Lei also angry.

“Minister Zhang, what you said is really inappropriate…”

“Coward! Traitor! Waste!”

Before Cao Lei could finish his words, Zhang Peng suppressed them with an even louder roar.

“You have no sense of honor! No sense of responsibility!”

“Defending the city was a death order, but the commanders of Yangzhou and Xuzhou didn’t even last a day before the imperial court breached the city walls!”

“The soldiers at the garrison are so weak. Where did your daily military training go?!”

“If I had known that you were so unworthy of my position, I would have killed all the officers of the garrison long ago, just like His Majesty did in the capital!”

Cao Lei gritted his teeth tightly. Although he looked unhappy, he endured it and did not dare to lose his temper.

“From the very beginning, you have been full of deception and betrayal to me, and to the entire Jiangnan people!”

Zhang Peng stood up and looked at Cao Lei, his eyes filled with anger and sorrow: “Your garrison soldiers are so vulnerable and will collapse at the first blow. How can I lead such garrison soldiers? How can I win the victory?”

Cao Lei lowered his head and did not respond.

The other officials also remained silent, not daring to speak, and not knowing what to say.

Zhang Peng glanced at the officials around him, and seeing them keeping their heads down and keeping silent, he felt even more disappointed.

He sat dejectedly in his seat, muttering to himself: “It’s over…”

“The war has already been lost…”

Hearing this, the other people in the room looked at each other, not daring to breathe.

But at the same time, a strong sense of despair surged in their hearts.

They suddenly realized that the battle that had not yet begun was already over.

He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world.

In the past, they thought they were the ones who won the hearts of the people.

But now, they realized that they had been winning the hearts of the landlords and gentry from the beginning.

The true will of the people is not the will of those powerful landlords and gentry, but the will of the unruly people whom they have always looked down upon.

It is obvious that the people who truly win the hearts of the people now are the imperial court and Zhu Youtang.

Zhang Peng sighed and waved his hand weakly: “Do whatever you want…”

After a while, someone finally left his seat and walked out of the room.

Soon, people left the room one after another, until finally, Zhang Peng was the only one left in the room.

If before this, there were still people who held on to the fantasy of victory.

After this meeting, everyone had to accept a reality.

A reality in which they have failed.

Zhang Peng stayed in the room alone for an hour, and only came out when the sun was setting.

When he walked out of the Ministry of War, the servants of his family were already waiting for him at the gate, carrying a sedan chair.

But today, Zhang Peng did not take the sedan chair. He asked the servants to go back first, and he wanted to walk home by himself today.

Along the way, Zhang Peng looked at the surrounding scenery greedily.

This is the city where he has lived all his life, and this is the road he has walked for decades.

But today, the street scene seems particularly charming.

Every flower, every blade of grass, every scene and every color seem to be beautiful to the extreme.

Looking at the red setting sun, Zhang Peng couldn’t help but shed tears.

Only when the sun set did Zhang Peng return to his house.

Everything seemed fine in the yard, with the grandchildren playing and frolicking in the garden.

His wives and concubines were sitting in the dining room, waiting for him to come back for dinner.

But his sons all looked serious, as they already knew that he had lost his temper at the meeting today.

But at this moment, Zhang Peng raised a smile on his face and slowly walked into the restaurant.

“Dad, you were at the meeting today…”

Seeing Zhang Peng coming back, Zhang Peng’s eldest son became anxious and was about to ask, but was interrupted by Zhang Peng.

Zhang Peng smiled and said, “Everyone is waiting. Let’s eat.”

After sitting down at the dinner table, Zhang Peng changed from his usual sad face and irritability to become gentle and respectful.

He served food to everyone with a smile and chatted with them. No matter how boring the topic was, there was no trace of impatience on his face.

During this period, Zhang Peng’s sons tried to bring up the issue of the war many times, but Zhang Peng evaded the issue every time.

After the five dishes were finished, Zhang Peng suddenly said, “I suddenly remembered that I have a jar of rice wine that has been stored for 20 years.”

“I see everyone is in a good mood today, why don’t we drink it.”

“Wait, I’ll get the wine.”

After Zhang Peng finished speaking, he turned and left.

Soon, he returned with a dusty jar of wine.

After carefully opening the wine seal, Zhang Peng poured wine for everyone at the table.

“Here, cheers.”

Zhang Peng raised his glass, and no one dared to disobey. They all raised their glasses and drank together.

Zhang Peng’s eldest son drank the wine in his glass and looked at Zhang Peng in surprise: “Dad, why don’t you drink it yourself?”

Zhang Peng looked at the orange-yellow wine in the glass, took a deep sniff, and said with some regret on his face: “I really want to drink this wine, but unfortunately… it’s not the right time yet.”

“I’ll savor this wine when I’m done with what I’m doing.”

“Don’t worry, it won’t be long.”

(End of this chapter)