Chapter 305: I can’t bear it anymore, no need to bear it anymore!

In just one night, 20,000 soldiers from the Xianzhen Camp and 20,000 soldiers from the border troops, a total of 40,000 troops, had arrived at the city of Yangzhou.

Xu Chang was in charge of the army and indeed, he no longer saw the densely packed peasant army outside the Yangzhou city.

Instead, there were crowds of defenders on the city walls.

Because of the shortage of manpower, Guihui recalled all the troops, whether they were garrison soldiers or peasant armies, back to the city of Yangzhou.

On the city wall, Gui Hui looked at the 40,000 troops below the city and felt extremely heavy.

But he had no way out. The only way to have a slim chance of survival was to burn his boats and fight with his back against the wall.

Xu Chang looked at Gui Hui on the city wall indifferently and waved his right hand.

“All troops, attack the city!”

“kill!”

At Xu Chang’s command, 40,000 troops launched a fierce attack on Yangzhou City!

Military drums thundered, and deafening roars erupted from the dark siege array.

The soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp took the lead, covering the border troops behind them, and used a battering ram pushed by eight people to ram hard into the Yangzhou city.

The defenders on the city wall kept shooting arrows and throwing stones in an attempt to prevent the army from approaching.

But how could they stop an army of 40,000 with rich combat experience, high combat quality and loyalty from attacking a city?

The battle did not remain stalemate for too long, and the army outside the city had already broken through the gate of Yangzhou Prefecture.

Teams of imperial troops sent to suppress the rebellion rushed into Yangzhou City and launched a thorough purge of all rebel forces.

“Hold on! Hold on!”

“No retreat! No retreat allowed!”

Gui Hui, who had been away from the battlefield for a long time, had no idea about the direction of this city defense battle.

According to his thinking, although the number of soldiers and generals under his command was not large, they had the advantage of geographical location after all.

No matter what, they should be able to hold on for a while.

But the actual result made him terrified.

The defense of Yangzhou City was like paper. The battle had just begun on this side, and the city had already been breached over there.

Gui Hui, who had said yesterday that he would fight to the death, was now in a state of confusion and didn’t know how to command this overwhelming defeat.

The guards around him were still somewhat organized and disciplined. They still struggled to maintain their formation and protect him.

However, the peasant armies were in complete chaos.

They fled in panic in the city, trying to avoid being hunted down by the imperial army.

But the imperial army never stopped wielding their butcher knives. Every time they swung their knives, blood would splash.

In the city of Yangzhou, corpses were scattered all over the ground and blood flowed like a river.

In every corner of the city, one could hear miserable screams and wails for mercy.

In Yangzhou city, every household closed their doors and windows, waiting for tomorrow in anxiety, despair and sadness.

After the city was captured, all that remained was a one-sided massacre.

Xu Chang rode a horse and walked slowly into the city of Yangzhou with his attendants.

Looking at the tragic situation in Yangzhou City, Xu Chang’s expression did not change at all.

It’s just killing some rebellious rich peasants, that’s just the beginning.
The massacre of the peasant army was only the first step in clearing up Yangzhou. After that, they would also kill the landlords, the gentry, the wealthy merchants, the nobles, and the officials…

There are still many people to be killed, and there is not even a moment’s time to feel sad for these rich peasants.

“Sir, we have captured the commander of Yangzhou Prefecture!”

While waiting, several soldiers from the Xianzhen Camp brought Gui Hui to Xu Chang.

Guihui was covered in blood and looked in a miserable state.

His heart was filled with fear, his heart was beating violently, and his mouth was a little dry.

But he acted strong and held his head high.

“Humph! Let me go! I can walk by myself!”

Gui Hui knelt in front of Xu Chang, glanced at Xu Chang, then looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, maintaining his pride as the commander of Yangzhou.

Xu Chang glanced at Gui Hui and gave a nonchalant order: “Behead him.”

“Yes, my lord!”

The soldiers from the Xianzhen Camp standing behind Guihui immediately drew the long swords from their waists.

Gui Hui’s pupils suddenly shrank, and he turned his head in horror, shouting, “Wait! I am…”

歘!
Before Gui Hui finished his words, blood splattered and a head fell to the ground.

Guihui died, a very peaceful and uneventful death.

After Guihui was easily dealt with, the massacre in the city continued.

There are still many remaining garrison soldiers and peasant soldiers, and it will take a while to kill them all.

The defense of Yangzhou City has completely fallen into the hands of Xu Chang.

After assigning personnel and completely controlling the military and political affairs of Yangzhou, Xu Chang once again ordered the army to begin arresting and killing the powerful and wealthy in Yangzhou City.

Once this order was issued, the exclamations and screams in Yangzhou City, which had been gradually decreasing, became persistent again.

The luxurious solid wood door that was originally tightly closed was blasted open by the soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp.

All those who tried to resist had their throats ruthlessly cut by the imperial army.

There is no need to investigate those who live in luxurious houses that dominate several streets. We can kill them all without any mistake.

The amount of land they hold is an astonishing number, and none of the sources of these lands are completely clean.

But when they reached a wealthy family, the behavior of this family made the soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp somewhat undecided.

Not only did the family not put up any resistance, but the head of the family even shouted, “I am not a landlord. I don’t have any land!”

“Gentlemen, you may take whatever you want, but please spare my life!”

Should they kill or let go the wealthy people who are not landlords?

The soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp were puzzled and simply pulled the man in front of Xu Chang.

After coming in front of Xu Chang, this person guessed that Xu Chang was the supreme commander here, so he hurriedly introduced himself.

“Sir, my name is Xiang Zhiheng. I am just a businessman in Yangzhou City and I don’t own any land.”

“If you can help me and show me the way, I will reward you with a thousand gold coins.”

Xiang Zhiheng’s attitude was extremely humble. He smiled fawningly at Xu Chang and kept nodding and bowing.

And the remuneration he offered was so generous that most people would find it difficult to refuse.

A full thousand gold!

Throughout the dynasties, gold has always been a rare commodity.

Although gold can also be used as currency, in reality gold is not circulated in the market at all.

Because of its scarcity, gold is much more valuable than silver.

The value of one thousand gold is more than just ten thousand taels of silver.

With such a generous reward, Xiang Zhiheng is confident that he can impress everyone.

But he could not impress Xu Chang. Xu Chang’s expression was not moved at all, and he did not even hesitate at all. He simply waved his hand and said, “Behead.”

“Yes, my lord!”

Xiang Zhiheng was stunned, even the smile on his face froze.

“Sir! Sir Xu! I am not a landlord. I don’t have any land!”

“Isn’t your slogan to kill the landlords and divide the land?”

“I am not a landlord, and I don’t have any land under my name. Why are you trying to kill me? Even if you kill me, there will be no land to divide!”

“Master Xu, please spare my life! Please spare my life!”

Xiang Zhiheng’s expression finally became panicked, but his eager plea was only met with a sharp knife.

A single slash of the sword instantly cut off all his words.

Xu Chang looked indifferently at the soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp in front of him, and gave a cold order: “Notify everyone in Yangzhou City, except for officials and nobles who need to be detained and await the personal decision of His Majesty.”

“All other powerful people, whether they are landlords or wealthy businessmen, will be killed without hesitation.”

“Yes, Master Xu!”

After receiving the order, the soldiers of Xianzhen Camp immediately passed it on to the imperial army throughout the city.

With this order, the imperial army had no scruples anymore and began to massacre the landlords and wealthy businessmen in the city.

For three whole days, there were constant screams and blood in Yangzhou City.

After three consecutive days of massacres against the Yangzhou dignitaries, there were no more dignitaries in the city of Yangzhou.

Yes, but they are just ordinary people.

The prefect of Yangzhou, Yang Lin, was arrested, the commander of Yangzhou, Gui Hui, was beheaded, all the landlords were killed, all the wealthy families were killed, and even the rich businessmen were not spared.

The land left behind by these powerful and wealthy classes will naturally be distributed to ordinary people.

However, all the gold, silver and other valuables had to be counted and handed over to Zhu Youtang.

During those days when the smell of blood lingered, after the bloody massacre, the wealthy Yangzhou Prefecture finally became the most loyal land to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty again.

……

During the time when Xu Chang captured Yangzhou Prefecture, other prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River were also not at peace.

Zhongdu Fengyang Prefecture was also in chaos at this moment.

A large number of imperial officials and soldiers entered Fengyang Prefecture and began their work of killing landlords and dividing land.

The situation in Fengyang Prefecture is similar to that in Yangzhou Prefecture.

A large number of young farmers were deceived by local landlords and went to Fengyang City, where they fought a battle to defend Fengyang Prefecture.

The common people suffered heavy casualties, but the dignitaries in Fengyang Prefecture were not hurt at all.

Just recently, news that imperial officials and soldiers were killing landlords and dividing land reached Fengyang Prefecture.

After making sure that the people of Yangzhou Prefecture had all been allocated their own land, the people of Fengyang Prefecture began to feel itchy.

Later, I heard that the imperial court’s officers and soldiers had indeed arrived in Fengyang Prefecture, and that some of the people of Fengyang Prefecture had already received the land distributed by the imperial court.

The people gathered in Fengyang Prefecture made a decision and simply left Fengyang Prefecture in groups and returned to their villages.

Zhujiaping is a village in Linhuai County, Fengyang Prefecture.

This place is not too far from Emperor Taizu’s hometown and is a famous place where dragons rise.

But in fact, Zhujiaping is very poor.

Not only Zhujiaping, but even the entire Linhuai County and the entire Fengyang Prefecture, in the Jiangnan region, are relatively poor and backward places.

There were more than 300 villagers in Zhujiaping, who were deceived into going to Fengyang City to defend the city.

At this time, there were only 226 people returning to the village.

When the villagers returned to Zhujiaping full of excitement and joy.

What greeted them was the angry landlord Zhu and dozens of arrogant and condescending servants.

The landlord Zhu’s name was Zhu Hezheng. Like Dai Gaoyi before him, he was also the largest landlord in Zhujiaping.

But Zhu Hezheng’s actions were even more domineering.

Dai Gaoyi at least knew how to make up a lie and a reason to deceive the local people and make them willingly protect the city.

Zhu Hezheng directly forced the people of Zhujiaping to send one person from every household to go to Fengyang Prefecture to defend the city.

Otherwise, Zhu Hezheng threatened to beat them to death.

The reason why Zhu Hezheng dared to be so arrogant was that the entire land of Zhujiaping belonged to Zhu Hezheng’s family.

The more important point is that there are rumors that Zhu Hezheng’s ancestors were somewhat related to Emperor Taizu, and he, Zhu Hezheng, could also be considered a royal relative.

Of course, no one has dug into whether this rumor is true or not.

But invisibly, this made the people somewhat afraid of him.

Just a quarter of an hour ago, Zhu Hezheng heard from his servants that the villagers he sent to guard the city had returned to the village without his permission.

When Zhu Hezheng learned the news, he became furious and felt that his prestige was challenged.

So he immediately asked the servants in his house to block the road back to the village.

It is just to curse these villagers back.

Sure enough, when Zhu Hezheng, who was sitting on the sedan chair, saw the figures of those villagers, he was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, slapped the armrest of the seat hard, and cursed loudly!

“You unruly people! Who asked you to come back?!”

“I think you are really brave. You actually dare to disobey my orders?!”

“You bunch of bastards, get back here right now!!!”

“You rascals, if you dare to come back to the village without my order, I will break your legs!”

“…”

All kinds of obscene words were uttered, and the joy in the hearts of the more than 200 people who returned to the village happily disappeared instantly.

They frowned, had gloomy faces, and remained silent.

But their fists were clenched tighter and tighter.

The people of Zhujiaping did not retort, but they did not turn around either. Instead, they stood where they were, staring at Zhu Hezheng.

They were already filled with resentment and dissatisfaction towards Zhu Hezheng.

They hoped that the imperial officials and soldiers would come to their village as soon as possible and kill the landlord who exploited and oppressed them.

But now, they came back too early, and the imperial officers and soldiers had not had time to come to their village and kill Zhu Hezheng.

In this case, it seems that they can only take action themselves to get rid of this scourge Zhu Hezheng.

Just at this time, a servant under Zhu Hezheng, who was used to being arrogant on weekdays.

Seeing that these villagers were reluctant to act, he took two quick steps and kicked one of them.

He cursed, “What are you guys standing there for? Do you want to die?! Why don’t you get out of here right now?!”

I can’t bear it anymore, no need to bear it anymore!

The villager dodged the kick and punched the servant in the face.

“Get lost! I think you are the ones who want to die!”

(End of this chapter)