Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 211: One Word Saves Hundreds of Thousands
After the artillery fire, there was a cry of wailing.

Thousands of Ming troops rushed out of the city and dealt with the remaining rebels like cutting melons and vegetables.

The Ming army of the Hongwu Dynasty, which had just fired artillery shells, had already sailed slowly upstream, watching these younger Ming troops from afar.

There seemed to be some disappointment in his eyes.

Ugh.

When the Yuan Dynasty was in chaos, they followed Emperor Taizu in his campaigns to pacify the country. How could they have been forced into this state by bandits?

In just over two hundred years, the Ming army has fallen to this point, which is really sad.

Just as the Hongwu Ming army came and went in a hurry after a round of artillery support, the Jiangxi Ming army in the Chongzhen period quickly defeated the rebels and captured a large number of leaders.

Yang Tinglin ordered an immediate interrogation and to quickly compile a list of names and report it to Nanjing.

Soon, in mid-March, Old Zhu, who was far away in Nanjing, received a report from Yang Tinglin and briefly recounted what had happened.

The rebellion in Jiangxi was very simple. In fact, it was an insider who tipped off the traitorous officials, allowing them to join together and rise up in rebellion. The rebellion was so powerful that Nanchang was almost captured.

As for the interrogation, it went very smoothly, and he confessed everything that needed to be confessed. In addition to Cao Gu, several other "loyal ministers" who reported the incident were also implicated.

In the Qianqing Palace of the Ming Dynasty's Nanjing Imperial Palace, after reading the memorial, Zhu Yuanzhang asked someone to call Jiang Lin who was in the Beijing camp.

The current composition of the Beijing Camp is actually the troops from the three towns under Ma Shiying.

Historically, there were four towns, but the last of the four towns, Gao Jie's troops, fled to Nanjing after Li Zicheng broke through Shaanxi, and are still under the command of Sun Chuanting, so now there are only Liu Zeqing, Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo.

After Ma Shiying arrived in Nanjing, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Fu Youde and Jiang Lin with 500 people to Jiangbei to kill Liu Zeqing and Liu Liangzuo, and almost scared the only remaining Huang Degong to death.

Fu Youde then took over the three towns in Jiangbei, eliminated the old and weak, and reduced the original population of more than 40,000 to about 30,000.

Zhu Yuanzhang then ordered Jiang Lin to reorganize the Jinyiwei and select elite personnel from the Ming army in the three towns in northern Jiangbei. Not too many people were needed; two to three thousand would be enough to handle the current situation.

As for Mao Xiang.

Mao Xiang led 200 people to Zhejiang to help Zuo Guangxian suppress the rebellion, and by the way went to Fujian to intimidate Zheng Zhilong.

Before Jiang Li came over, Zhu Yunfeng asked Old Zhu: "Grandfather, I'm afraid a lot of people are implicated this time. I saw the reports from Zuo Guangxian and Yang Tinglin, and I'm afraid the number of people involved is more than 100,000."

"More than 100,000?"

Old Zhu sneered and said, "Multiply it by ten."

"what?"

Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He were dumbfounded.

More than one million?
Is it that exaggerated?

"Rebellion is a serious crime of treason. Do you think it only includes those involved in the case?"

Old Zhu said calmly: "The entire clan should be punished."

Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He fell silent.

The number of people directly involved in this rebellion reached over 100,000.

This included thousands of current and retired officials who later surrendered, as well as scholars and landlords who were to be dealt with.

They control a large amount of social resources, and the estates and fields under their control range from thousands to tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands. The number of tenants, field slaves, and tenants alone ranges from hundreds to tens of thousands.

When they heard that Lao Zhu was going to take action against them, they quickly gathered a large team.

Many of them had no record of treason, but because their relatives and friends were on the death list, they embarked on the path of rebellion without knowing it.

They thought that Nanjing was occupied by bandits and they raised an army to attack the bandits.

The result is that more and more people are involved, and more and more people are implicated.

The most innocent are the tenants of the manors. They were already exploited and oppressed by the landlords, and had to work under the instructions of their employers. They were deceived by their superiors, saying that they were fighting bandits to defend their country, but now not only are they going to die, but their wives and children are also implicated.

Put yourself in their shoes. If you were a tenant like that, life would be tiring enough. Your boss said that if you follow him to fight bandits, he would reduce the rent and give you rewards. You go to the battlefield for your family and country, and if you are defeated, your whole family will be killed. Don't you feel it's unfair?
Therefore, after a while, Zhu Yunfeng said, "I don't think this is a good idea. Many people are actually innocent and are being coerced by officials and landlords. They are originally from the lower class, they don't know anything, and their cognitive abilities are low. They probably think they are helping the court fight bandits. If they directly punish their entire clan and make a big fuss about it, I think this is wrong anyway."

"Kindness does not command the army, righteousness does not raise wealth, goodness does not serve as an official, and affection does not establish affairs."

Old Zhu shook his head and said, "Yunfeng, do you know that if you and Xiaoji hadn't met me, you would never have been rich and powerful in your life."

"Of course I know."

Zhu Yunfeng laughed at himself and said, "My parents were two tough guys who worked hard to get by, but they ended up giving birth to a good-for-nothing like me. I can't do business or make money in my life. If I hadn't met my ancestors, I would probably be a pauper."

"If that's the case, and you've been with me for so many years, how come you haven't learned anything good?"

Lao Zhu asked.

"."

After a long silence, Zhu Yunfeng shook his head and said, "I don't think this is good. I only know that the people are ignorant. They don't know what they are doing at all. They just follow the orders of the landlords. Many people are even deceived into participating in it. So in my opinion, they need not only the country to help them eat and wear warm clothes, but also a wise person to lead them on the right path. You have read so many books by that gentleman, why didn't you learn the essence of it?"

"."

This time, it was Zhu who was silent. After a moment, he also laughed at himself and said, "Forget it, I will just take it as a lesson from you. I will ask Jiang Li and the local government to conduct a thorough investigation. The ignorant people who were coerced will be released, as for the rest."

"capital offense."

Zhu Yunfeng said quickly.

"Hahahaha, that's only the Queen, the Crown Prince, and you. If someone else were to persuade me, I wouldn't change my mind."

Lao Zhu smiled.

In fact, for him, those lower-class people who were being coerced can be released.

Because his target was the corrupt officials and landlords who occupied a large amount of social resources. He wanted to take back the large amount of land that had been annexed in the southern region, liberate productivity, and return it to the people.

As for the lower-class people, they are all tenants of other people and certainly have no land under their names. Killing them will not help in liberating productivity, but will instead lead to a shortage of labor.

Therefore, it is in Zhu's interest to kill the big and let the small go.

But according to Old Zhu's temper, anyone who dares to rebel against his own Zhu family must be tired of living, so he must be killed until rivers of blood flow.

But now that Zhu Yunfeng has pleaded for mercy for those lower-class people who were coerced, he is giving his descendants some face and a way out, so it doesn't matter.

"Of course, the death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime cannot be escaped."

Old Zhu added: "These people should be punished as criminals. I will arrange land for them. It is considered as a five-year sentence. The harvest of the first five years belongs to the court. The court will provide them with food and clothing. After five years, the land will be given to them and all the charges will be forgiven."

"Maybe this is not a sin for them, but a good thing."

Zhu Yunfeng smiled.

In the past, being a tenant farmer meant you could barely get enough to eat, and you were exploited like a slave by the landlord your entire life.

Now as long as you work for the court for five years, you can own your own land. I guess all tenants will agree.

And even if all the tenants were released, hundreds of thousands of people would still have to be killed this time.

There are so many landlords in the South.

The whole family, young and old, and even the entire clan are involved.

The tenants can be released, but the corrupt officials and the nine generations of the landlords and evil gentry, numbering two or three hundred thousand, will definitely not escape.

At this moment, Jiang Li hurried in, knelt on one knee and said, "Your Majesty."

"How is your Jinyiwei formation going?"

Old Zhu asked.

"Your Majesty, we have already selected the personnel, but the training is just..."

Jiang Li looked embarrassed.

During the Hongwu Dynasty, the Jinyiwei were the elite among the elite. They were not only proficient in various royal etiquette, but also in all kinds of case handling, interrogation and memory recovery techniques. They were experts in using the knife to deal with Zhu Yuanzhang.

But the Jinyiwei had already been rotten by the end of the Ming Dynasty, and now we have to select new people.

Although Jiang Li selected 3,000 people and recruited various interrogation and torture talents in Nanjing, he also ordered a batch of military uniforms from the Jiangnan Weaving Factory.

But Rome could not be built in a day or two. He had only formed the Jinyiwei for more than ten days. Naturally, it was impossible for him to train these newly selected people into the elite Jinyiwei in the Hongwu and later Yongle periods.

Old Zhu smiled and said, "It's okay. Many things are learned through actual combat. Didn't you follow me in the past to fight east and west, and gradually we have what we have now? You can take your people to Jiangxi. I will let Mao Xiang handle Zhejiang. It just so happens that the newly appointed Zhejiang Provincial Governor Peng Yuying is a cruel official. It should be a good idea for him to partner with Mao Xiang."

"Yes."

Jiang Li said again: "I just don't know, Your Majesty, how should I deal with them? Should I kill them all?"

Later emperors, like Jiajing, often spoke ambiguously in order to maintain their majesty, leaving the officials below to guess his intentions, just like a riddle man.

But Zhu was the founding emperor, with supreme majesty. Moreover, Jiang Li, Mao Xiang and others were all Jinyiwei soldiers who had followed him for many years. They were the most trusted among the trusted, so naturally, there was no need to be mysterious like the later emperors, and they could just ask directly.

Old Zhu glanced at Zhu Yunfeng, who understood him and said, "Your Majesty's meaning is very simple. All corrupt officials and landlords who own a lot of land must be punished with their entire clans. All their land and assets must be confiscated and distributed to the poor people. As for those tenants who are being coerced, you need to carefully identify which ones are being coerced and which ones are willing to be lackeys for the corrupt officials and landlords."

"Yes."

Jiang Li knelt on one knee, clasped his hands, and said, "Then I will do it immediately."

"Go."

Old Zhu waved his hand.

Jiang Li then backed out of the Qianqing Palace.

After he left, Zhu Yunfeng looked out from the gate of Qianqing Palace.

It was mid-March, spring was in full bloom, and the sky outside was clear and cloudless, as beautiful as a painting.

I don't know how many people were saved by these words of mine.

(End of this chapter)