The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 635 The Crying Temple
At the crossroads of the state capital, the people who had just been instigated by the thugs to set fire had now fled without a trace.

Soldiers from the First Battalion of the Eighth Corps entered the main city and were clearing out the rebels one by one. The sound of gunfire rang out continuously, and from time to time a rocket with an orange-red tail flame passed over their heads. The shrill whistling and the neighing of horses and soldiers made it feel like they were in hell.

There were corpses lying all over the streets. The dead were all the insects who shouted and screamed for killing, and some were civilians who ran too slowly.

The surviving fleeing soldiers huddled together and were blocked in the middle of the street by the grenadiers and musketeers who came from the north and south gates. They had no way to retreat.

"Brothers of the Qi army, we have no past or present grudges. I will give you a way out. I will let you rob all the shops in the city. If it's not enough, I will give you silver! Make way for us, and we will go our separate ways."

The thieves were like frightened birds, their previous arrogance had disappeared, and they rushed forward to ask for peace from the soldiers in an almost pleading tone.

Before the Eighth Legion entered the city to clear the area, Lahu had never seen a proper Qi army. These people's impression of the Qi army was still stuck in their previous cognition, thinking that the Tatar Qi army was the same as the Ming army, a group of soldiers who killed innocent people and sought credit for money.

As mentioned before, the Eighth Corps' combat principle was to achieve more, faster, better, and cheaper results, so this Qi army directly skipped the stage of persuading the enemy to surrender.

Two hundred musketeers who rushed in from the south gate raised their Type 36 rifles and began firing freely.

Grenadiers coming in from the north gate threw hand grenades into the crowd.

The beating of the walking insects made ghosts and wolves howl, and blood and flesh flew everywhere.

Soon another order came from the rear, asking the musketeers and grenadiers to make way.

Artillery appears.

Eight infantry guns rumbled forward and stopped three hundred steps away from the target, with their muzzles slightly raised.

"fire!"

The captain waved his flag and the cannons loaded with shotgun shells fired at close range.

Boom boom boom!

A dense barrage of bullets swept across and poured into the crowd. The deadly shotgun shells tore the human body into pieces, and the ground was littered with limbs and remains. The living people were hit by the limbs falling from the sky, and each of them turned into a bloody mess.

After three rounds of bombardment, more than a thousand soldiers were killed, but only more than 500 were left.

Tang Zhentie was covered in blood, with dead bodies everywhere under his feet, and the huge iron club in his hand had long disappeared.

"Kill the Tartars..."

He yelled and ran back, but after taking two steps, his body was hit by a hammer and flew three or four steps away.

A Minié bullet shot into his chest, easily penetrating the solid chain mail and creating a bloody hole the size of a bowl in Tang Zhentie's chest...

The infantry attack drums sounded again and the artillery stopped firing.

One hundred spearmen, twenty men in a row, formed a dense line, like a sharp comb, plowing the street again and again.

Those enemies who were not dead yet were killed one by one.

At the same time, the grenadiers stopped throwing bombs, took off their cymbals and lances, and formed a loose formation, driving the remaining enemies towards the pikemen like rabbits.

The last two hundred or so surviving bluffs were quickly wiped out by the grenadiers and spearmen.

Auxiliary soldiers came up to cut off the heads and clean up the battlefield...

Instructor Lin Zhenbei entered the city from the north gate under the escort of two sword and shield soldiers.

The sound of rapid bamboo whistles rang out all around, and the Qi army was still chasing the remaining enemies.

There will be no sleep tonight.

Some houses along the street were set on fire by rockets fired by artillery. Several corpses of civilians were lying at the door, still burning fiercely. The auxiliary soldiers were busy fetching water to put out the fire.

There are ponds everywhere in Taicang City, so it is not difficult to put out the fire.

"Really, really taking human life lightly!"

There were shrill screams coming from afar, and figures were swaying on the street. I didn't know if they were trying to scare people.

The two sword and shield soldiers raised their swords as if facing a formidable enemy and stood in front of the instructor.

Lin Zhenbei shouted, "Ask someone for directions and take me to the Jinglüe Mansion!"

After saying that, he rushed forward. After taking just two steps, he tripped over something and almost fell.

Lin Zhenbei thought it was a dead body, but when he looked closely, he found that it was actually a cannonball that had crashed into the ground.

The iron ball was still warm.

"Are they still bombarding the inner city?"

The sword and shield soldier holding the shield quickly replied:

"My Lord, the bombardment has long ceased. This cannon was fired during the siege..."

Lin Zhenbei uttered an "oh" and muttered to himself:

"Taicang was occupied before the shells had even cooled. How quick, convenient and economical..."

The First Battalion of the Eighth Corps occupied the entire city in just half an hour.

This is an asymmetric war. From weapons and equipment to military morale and tactical actions, the enemy and our side are two generations apart.

All that was left was to chop the melons and vegetables and hunt down those frightened insects.

The fighting continued until the second half of the night, until all men carrying weapons and acting suspiciously were killed (unavoidably some civilians were accidentally injured).

The Wang family of Taicang was also destroyed.

Just like dealing with Zhu Hu, He Longzhou skipped the step of persuading the enemy to surrender. He personally commanded the artillery to bombard the Wang family mansion.

Considering that Wang Heng had already moved his property, Battalion Commander He ordered a comprehensive and thorough artillery barrage against the Wang family's sixteen-story mansion. The entire battalion's thirty cannons and two thousand Divine Fire Flying Crows unleashed a barrage upon this ancient family.

The bombardment and fire lasted for more than two hours. Various artillery pieces never stopped firing, as if to demonstrate their firepower to the people of Loucheng. Half of the night sky of Loucheng was illuminated by rockets.

The Yang family, one of the three major families, had a group of family members playing mahjong all night long.

"Three cakes."

"All the same color! I win!"

Outside the window, there were rumbling sounds of cannons and flames everywhere.

Master Yang laughed as he shuffled the cards:
"Fight, fight, a hungry tiger versus a jackal, one of them must die tonight!"

~~~

As daybreak approached, the gunpowder and shells carried by the First Battalion were exhausted, and the shelling gradually stopped.

The first rays of sunlight in the early morning illuminated the devastated state capital. The common people who were good at watching the excitement were shocked to find that the Taicang Wang family, which had stood in Loucheng for hundreds of years, had turned into rubble overnight.

The pavilions and towers are gone, the rockery and ponds are gone, and the young men and beautiful women are gone.

The Wang family's house became a pile of rubble and holes, like a pockmarked face.

"Beat the Wang family into pockmarks, good."

He Longzhou nodded in satisfaction, turned to the governor Zhang Yunxiu and said:
"Zhang Jinglue, now we can discuss the land survey with the Taicang tyrants."

Zhang Yunxiu looked at the unrecognizable Taicang city, at the streets where blood flowed like a river, and then at He Longzhou who was full of murderous intent beside him. He opened his mouth wide and remained speechless for a long time.

Kang Guangxu acted as if nothing had happened and walked up to Zhang Yunxiu and whispered a few words to him.

Li Zicheng wiped the blood off his face and said loudly:
"There's no need to go looking for the rich and powerful; they'll come on their own."

Everyone looked up and saw that at the end of the street, several sedan chairs had fallen to the ground and the bearers were running away in all directions as if they had seen a ghost.

Soon, several old men who looked like gentry walked out of the sedan chair.

"They are the patriarchs of the Huang, Yang, and Qian families, and Eunuch Cao from the Weaving Bureau."

Kang Guangxu explained loudly to everyone.

Several of the most powerful men in Taicang City, surrounded by their servants, walked unsteadily on the uneven rubble towards the Governor's Mansion.

The servant seemed to be holding something in his hand.

After taking a few steps, they were blocked by the spearmen guarding the road.

Servants are not allowed to approach, otherwise they will be killed without mercy.

Several clan leaders did not dare to object and nodded repeatedly to show that they understood.

Kang Guangxu laughed and said, "What do you think these people are holding in their hands?"

Eunuch Zhang Bao said in a gloomy tone:
"What else could it be? Silver notes and land deeds. Now you know you're giving in."

Zhang Yunxiu was deeply shocked by the scene before him and was speechless for a long time.

He brought hundreds of people to Taicang and worked day and night for two months. In the end, dozens of lives were lost and his mouth was worn out, but he couldn't even bring down a powerful person.

Less than a day after the Eighth Corps entered the city, they had already reclaimed all the farmland.

It seems that reform requires rivers of blood.

The three clan leaders and eunuch Cao had already come in front of the crowd. Li Zicheng and his guards searched them before letting them in.

"The criminal Huang Longhai, who was blind to the laws of the Great Qi, was ignorant of the will of the people and relied on luck, ignoring the majesty of Heaven. He deserves death. Today, I repent and repent. I am willing to turn over all 150,000 mu of land I have concealed under my name to the court. I will also pay the one million taels of various commercial taxes owed since the 25th year of the Hongwu reign. I beg the governor to grant me a chance to reform."

"The criminal Yang Buyi, previously bewitched by the traitor Wang Heng, nearly made a grave mistake. Now, I am willing to offer 180,000 mu of newly reclaimed farmland, pay an additional 150,000 taels of commercial taxes, and return the 120 large and small grain transport vessels I have seized..."

Kang Guangxu stroked his beard and laughed from ear to ear. Zhang Jinglie suppressed his inner ecstasy and said loudly to these "reformed" tyrants and evil gentry:
"The traitor Wang Heng has fled to Songjiang. Officer He has already dispatched cavalry in pursuit. Wang Heng is a disaster to the nation and its people, and he cannot escape! You have been deceived by him, aiding and abetting his schemes, becoming his accomplices and enemies. Logically, you should all be beheaded, and your entire clans exterminated..."

Everyone immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Zhang Yunxiu. Yang Buyi hit his head on the bluestone slab, causing it to bleed. The others reacted even more violently.

"However,"

Zhang Jinglue paused for a moment and continued:
"You all were able to stop before it was too late and turn back, not following Wang Heng to flee to Japan, and ultimately supporting the new policies with real money. You have merit. I will report this to the Emperor and persuade the Grand Emperor. If he is pleased, perhaps he will spare your lives."

"Thank you, Lord Jinglüe, for not killing me."

A group of local gentry kowtowed like chickens pecking at rice. They all knew very well that the lives of their entire families now depended on this Zhang Jinglie.

What happened last night, especially the tragedy of the Wang family in Taicang, left a deep impression on everyone.

A true aristocratic family like the Wang family was nothing in front of the Qi army and could be killed at will.

The gentry thought that they did not have the ability like Wang Heng - to plan ahead and escape to Japan - so they gave up the idea of going against Qi.

The so-called new policy is like giving yourself a bottle of poison. Once you drink it, you will die sooner or later.

However, I'm almost dying of thirst now, so I don't care whether it's poisonous or not.

With the implementation of the new policy, the lives of the big families will become increasingly difficult, as their land and farmers will be taken away by the Da Qi.

Everyone knows these principles, but what can we do now?

I can only entrust it to Xushe for a while, and wait until the Tartars withdraw their troops, then go to the Confucius Temple and cry to Confucius.

(End of this chapter)