The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 634 The Cost of Reform

The eighty-one instructors mentioned by Lin Zhenbei were drawn from the eleven corps of Da Qi, and their mission was to assist Zhang Jinglüe in completing the new policy in Taicang.

Perhaps they were overly optimistic about the situation or the empire was seriously short of troops, but they only brought twelve soldiers, which was barely enough to serve as guards, let alone assist Zhang Yunxiu.

Emperor Guangde and his cabinet ministers clearly underestimated the complexity and cruelty of the situation in Jiangnan.

The struggle between the old and new factions is bloody and cruel. It is a fight between you and me, and it cannot be resolved by simple coercion or inducement.

As soon as the eighty-one instructors entered Taicang City, before they had the chance to meet Zhang Jinglie, they were intercepted and blocked in the guild hall by the ambushed thieves.

Zhang Jinglie learned about this, but was helpless. He was unable to take care of himself and was unable to rescue these unfortunate instructors.

On the night of the Hongmen Banquet, Daxing Hu received an order from Wang Heng to go all out and burn the officials to death in a fire under the dark night and strong wind.

After all, the local tyrants are very familiar with burning people.

Prince Wang promised that after the matter was accomplished, he would take everyone to Japan, where they could eat meat and drink wine with hearty mouthfuls, eat Master Roshi's immortal meals, and sleep with Japanese women at night.

Such conditions sound ridiculous.

Everyone knows that Japan was so poor that they couldn't even afford fine rice and their warriors had no underwear to wear.

Going there is pure suffering.

However, for these evil bluffers, they actually don't have many options.

Having committed heinous crimes in Loucheng, it is impossible for them to survive. The cruel officials of Qi will at least castrate them and send them to Hancheng to be male prostitutes.

Considering that most of the crickets have ugly appearances and suffer from various venereal diseases, they are not qualified to work in special industries. Therefore, if they continue to stay in Taicang, they will undoubtedly die.

After seeing their future and fate clearly, the bandits decided to go all out. On the eve of their escape to Japan, they began burning, killing and looting in the state capital to satisfy their desires.

There were over a thousand of them, all armed with shiny Japanese swords, and some even had muskets and bows and arrows.

The leader of these people is Tang Zhentie.

Tang Zhentie, whose original name was Tang Saner, was a disciple of Master Yanshe of Hanshan Temple.

Unable to bear the life of asceticism with only the green lamp and yellow book, he escaped from the temple and drifted to Taicang. With his iron fists, he fought all over the streets and became the leader of the Taicang fighting gang.

Tang Zhentie is also the "righteous man" in "The Epitaph of Seven Men" who paid for the burial of the seven gentlemen.

The seven who “sacrificed themselves heroically” were not gentlemen, but refugees and beggars who were crippled by him. They were drunk and pushed to the front of the stage to take the blame for the Suzhou mob...

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"Prince Wang has gone to Songjiang Prefecture. Let's all follow him and take a boat to Japan from there. We must not let our enemies go before we leave Taicang!"

Tang Zhentie swung the twenty-jin iron club in his hand and pointed at the Taicang Guild Hall in front of him and said:

"These bastard officials have forced us to leave our homeland and make it impossible for us to stay in Loucheng. Kill these bastard officials and burn them all to death!"

Tang Zhentie stood on the street, which is the most prosperous street in Taicang City, also known as Chao'an Street.

At this time, there was a large crowd of people standing on the street, at least a thousand if not eight hundred.

Flames were everywhere. At the front of the crowd, a row of arrogant bandits were holding spears and short swords, and some were holding bows and muskets. They growled at the door of the guild hall like wild beasts out of a cage.

Most of the gangsters are around 30 years old and most of them are bachelors. They are usually brave and aggressive. They would bully others in the market with dozens or even hundreds of people, fight and extort money, and take on all kinds of dirty jobs.

As the saying goes, live by the mountain, eat by the mountain; live by the water, eat by the water. Taicang has a developed business and is adjacent to the South Grand Canal. Merchants from the north and the south gather here. In addition, there is a weaving bureau and a banknote office, so there is silver everywhere. This is also the breeding ground for thieves.

The new policy has destroyed the jobs of these people. How can they give up?

You have to leave this place. If you don't take revenge now, you will never have another chance.

A large crowd of people gathered around, all of them looking for fun and excitement.

There were a few busybodies who were urging Hu to light the fire quickly and not to dawdle.

All kinds of shouting, cursing and crying mixed together.

The door of the guild hall opened and a figure walked out.

The torches were all pointed in that direction.

Under the gazes of thousands of people, the instructor walked out of the gate, looked around, and raised his megaphone. "Everyone! Men of Taicang, if you want to set fire or kill people, wait a moment. Wait until I finish what I'm going to say. Then it won't be too late to kill them."

Although they were far away and the surrounding light was dim, the powerful aura emanating from the instructor still made the people in front of him take a step back unconsciously.

Gan Desheng, the drill instructor of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Corps, looked at the thousands of torches.

"This time I came to Taicang Prefecture City to assist Zhang Jinglie in distributing the land. Every household, as long as they are citizens of Da Qi, will have a share..."

"Liar! He's a liar!"

As soon as Gan Desheng started to explain the new policy, he was interrupted by the few people in front of him.

"He came to Taicang to steal our business. They don't allow people to do business in the north, and now they come to Taicang and don't allow you to do business there either!"

A fat shopkeeper stood up and cursed, "Damn it! You all deserve a miserable death! The Tatars are here, not only can't we do business, but they're also confiscating all the money that everyone has saved and handing it over to the treasury. They're going to embezzle it, and then give us paper money!"

Another idiot asked, "Paper? Shopkeeper Shen, are you telling the truth?"

The shopkeeper jumped three feet high and stood under the torch. The flames illuminated half of his face, and only his beard trembled as he said:
"Kuai! Damn it! These damned Tartars! Their paper is even worse than banknotes. If I tell even a single lie, I'll be struck by lightning! I'll die a miserable death!"

"Beat him! Drive the Tartar back!"

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Gan Desheng had seen a lot of things, so he didn't panic at all. He quickly climbed up the ladder to the roof, raised his loudspeaker and continued to shout:
"Everyone, you'd better think carefully. I am an official appointed by the court and have a rank. Don't be provoked by villains. Da Qi will not steal your business, let alone your money. Have you heard of the North-South System?! The retired emperor said in the first year of Guangde that the provinces south of the Yangtze River will remain unchanged, not even the governors and prefects. We will only investigate and find out the land hidden by the powerful and distribute it to you. Not only will you not suffer any loss, but you will also get land to share. Such a good thing will make your ancestors' graves smoke in joy! In other words, Zhang Jinglie is here, not only will he steal your business, but he will also give you land and money. Go back, go back, and wait for the court to pay you."

When they heard about the distribution of land and money, the crowd became chaotic again. At this time, two instructors came out and persuaded them with their words. Finally, the people began to retreat a little.

At this moment, a violent explosion suddenly came from the city wall not far away, like thunder in the sky.

The people suddenly panicked again. Some screamed, some cried, and some started cursing.

"The Tartars are coming to massacre the city! Kill them all! They are the ones who let the Tartars in! Kill them!"

Gan Desheng finally saw clearly at this time that it was those bullies who were fanning the flames again.

The sound of artillery fire on the city wall became more and more frequent, with occasional sharp whistling sounds. The red cannons on the city wall also began to fight back. However, the explosions of the defenders' artillery were soon suppressed by the sharp whistling sounds. Some experienced people knew that these were the Qi army's divine fire crows.

The end of the bluffing industry has come.

"The Tartars are coming to massacre the city. Quickly eliminate the traitors! They are the traitors! Burn down the guild hall and burn them to death first! Don't let them open the city gates!"

The panicked people finally stopped watching the excitement and looked up at the guild hall. Gan Desheng was stared at by countless pairs of resentful eyes, and a chill ran through his heart.

He didn't dare to think too much, and quickly climbed down the ladder again, ran into the yard, and blocked the gate with two pieces of wood.

There was a commotion outside, and soon people started banging on the door. Countless torches were thrown in, and the courtyard soon began to burn.

"Fire! Fire!"

The instructors were busy putting out the fire and shouting to the mob outside with loudspeakers. Only the twelve guards were holding muskets and continuously shooting at the mob who tried to climb over the wall.

The soldiers' ammunition soon ran out, and they drew their swords, ready to make a final stand.

Just as the courtyard wall was about to collapse, it was very soft. Suddenly, a loud noise was heard in the distance, followed by earth-shaking shouts.

Looking out through the crack in the door, the mob outside the courtyard wall was fleeing in all directions like rabbits.

I don’t know how long it took, but the surroundings gradually calmed down, and the sound of trumpets and drums of the Eighth Corps came from outside the door.

Gan Desheng quickly ordered someone to open the gate, and saw He Longzhou standing at the door with a murderous look on his face.

Messengers were carrying torches, surrounded by musketeers and grenadiers, and cavalry were chasing the mob through the streets.

The area around the guild hall was filled with corpses. The shopkeeper who had just sworn a curse had half of his head missing, probably because he was hit by a musket.

"It's true that he didn't die well."

Lin Zhenbei came up to introduce: "Longtou, this is Gan, the training instructor of the Second Corps..."

He Longzhou nodded slightly, glanced into the courtyard, and saw Gan Desheng still holding a wooden trumpet in his hand. He pulled out a flintlock pistol from his waist and said sarcastically:
"Instructor Gan, this won't work for this group of people. You have to use this!"

(End of this chapter)