Ancestors, please don't crawl out again.

Chapter 23 Killing the Qing Monster
Of the two thousand Eight Banners warriors charging at full speed, nearly half were quickly enveloped by thick yellow-green fog.

The rest turned around and hid in fear.

However, due to the wind direction, even though they tried their best to avoid it, they were still swallowed by the thick fog.

This strange yellow-green fog, like the legendary miasma, spread through the greenery outside Lishui City. Within the fog, wailing and frantic coughing sounded like the cries of ghosts from hell. Under the setting sun, the entire battlefield was filled with a spooky atmosphere...

A Qing soldier suddenly stumbled out of the thick fog.

Then he fell to his knees, coughing like crazy and even vomiting something that looked like rotten meat.

He then collapsed to the ground, twitching weakly.

Then, pushed by the wind, the thick fog moved and more Qing troops appeared.

They all collapsed on the ground, twitching, weak but still coughing uncontrollably, coughing up their burned lungs, including their war horses, and it was obvious that they could not see, lying on the ground like crickets. Some of them had committed suicide because they could not hold on any longer, but more of them did not even have the strength to do so.

Those Qing troops who avoided the thick fog fled in chaos.

But they couldn't escape.

Because the Ming cavalry had already begun to attack.

These cavalry totaled two thousand, using captured warhorses. Most of them were defeated soldiers fleeing from the north, while others were retainers of noble officials. While the noble officials had been purged by Yang Feng, their retainers certainly remained. Thanks to the late Ming Dynasty custom of even civil officials maintaining large numbers of retainers, there were still quite a few within the city, so they were simply rounded up and organized into cavalry. Their combat effectiveness was no less than that of the Qing army; there was no need to test them. Yang Feng was simply demonstrating his sorcery. Since he was called a demon, he had better be truly demonic. With the majority of the Qing army already defeated, these remaining retainers offered a perfect opportunity for them to demonstrate their prowess.

Including the eunuch gunmen, they were already shooting and killing the fleeing Qing troops.

Yang Feng hovered in the air, looking at the scene below which looked like a World War I battlefield.

Then he turned toward the city wall.

On the city wall were local officials, gentry and common people.

They were all trembling, looking at the hellish scene outside.

An official suddenly realized.

"Quick, quick, kowtow to the Emperor Taizu Gao."

he shouted.

Then he knelt down without hesitation and performed the ritual of five bows and three kowtows to Yang Feng.

"You Yinglong, the magistrate of Lishui County, pays homage to the Emperor Taizu Gao. Long live the Emperor Taizu Gao!"

he shouted.

Then an old fellow next to him also bowed five times and kowtowed three times.

"I, Zhao Zhihua, the former Vice-Minister of Education in Shandong, pay my respects to the Emperor Taizu Gao."

he shouted.

All that is left is to kowtow.

One of them was an official local chief, and the other was the actual local boss. They both acknowledged the identity of Emperor Taizu Gao, and all they had to do was kneel down.

"Any other distinguished men here? Come out and let me see them."

Yang Feng said.

The elders and local sages looked at each other in bewilderment.

But they did not think much about it, after all, everyone had already knelt, so they started to register soon. The scholars, juren, and students all bowed five times and kowtowed three times to Emperor Taizu Gao. However, the strength of the imperial examination here was not very strong, with only a dozen in total. In addition, there was a jinshi who was absent and was currently serving as an official in Guangdong. His son had no official title, so he came out on his father's behalf. These actual local rulers knelt on the city wall in fear and trepidation.

"Except for him, all of you can jump by yourselves. I will leave you with an intact body. If you don't die from the jump, I will also consider it your punishment."

Yang Feng pointed at his son and said.

His father probably followed Yongli until he was defeated and committed suicide.

"Your Majesty, I am wronged!"

County Magistrate You let out a mournful howl.

"You are the one who receives the emperor's salary and is loyal to him. If you are defeated and die in battle, you have done your duty. If you flee in battle, you have done your best. Fleeing without fighting is a betrayal of the emperor's grace, but it still shows some integrity. But surrendering without fighting is unworthy of death.

Jump now.

If I take action, you will have no choice but to go out and join those Jiannu outside."

Yang Feng said.

County Magistrate You looked at the Jian slaves outside who were still wailing with tears in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, I have retired and am no longer an official. When the Jiannu entered the city, I stayed at home studying and did not serve them."

Zhao Zhihua also cried and said.

"What? You're eating the emperor's salary and you're going to spit it out? That's fine. All your property will be confiscated. Land, property, money, everything will be confiscated. I can spare you this trouble."

Yang Feng shouted.

"Your Majesty, I have never been an official!"

Another scholar said crying.

"Why, the court didn't provide you with food? The court didn't exempt you from taxes? Aren't these salaries? The common people didn't eat a single bite of my food, on the contrary, they had to pay taxes to support the court. If the Jiannu attacked, they could not resist, but you dogs all eat my food, wear my clothes, and rely on my power to bully others, so you have to do what I want you to do. I am very reasonable. If they don't eat my food, I don't require them to be loyal to me, but if they eat my food, they have to be loyal to me. This principle is very simple and it is natural. Even if I go to the God of Heaven, I am right.

Jump quickly!
If you don't jump, you will all join the Jiannu army."

Yang Feng shouted.

Magistrate You and Zhao Zhihua looked at each other in bewilderment. They both took a shaky step forward and leaned over the parapet to look out...

Three meters!
The Lishui city wall was built during the Jiajing period to defend against Japanese pirates. For safety reasons, the officials who built the city wall built it to three meters high, with rammed earth inside and covered with stones outside. Fortunately, it was still the rainy season this season, so the soil underneath was relatively soft.

"Emperor Taizu Gao, as long as I don't fall to my death, will you spare me?"

Zhao Zhihua raised his head and asked.

"You have no joke."

Yang Feng said.

Zhao Zhihua gritted his teeth and chose between jumping off the city wall and handing over his property. However, his choice was not too painful. Three feet was indeed very high, but it was not certain to kill him after all, especially since the area below him was obviously soft mud. Although he might die from the fall, there was a high possibility that he would not die.

In short, for the sake of your own family business, it is worth taking a risk.

Even falling to death in exchange for saving the family property is acceptable.

He climbed up the parapet tremblingly, then wisely put down his legs first and slid down with his hands.

But the power is not enough.

Then he fell down with a scream.

however……

"what……"

His screams turned into terror.

Because strangely, a sharpened green bamboo suddenly appeared on the ground, pointing vertically upwards, with deep soil buried underneath, and it was probably still rooted.

He had originally thought he would fall into the dirt, but he crashed straight into the bamboo. Although he didn't sit upright, the bamboo still instantly pierced his stomach, then slashed through his body diagonally, finally being stopped by the bones behind his neck. He just hung there, limbs dangling, twitching on the bamboo. "You, you..."

Zhao Zhihua raised his head with difficulty.

"Why, did I lie to you? Isn't it reasonable for bamboo to grow out of the ground?"

Yang Feng said.

Zhao Zhihua stopped moving immediately.

There were screams of terror on the city wall.

Without hesitation, the gentry turned around and tried to escape...

It’s okay to take a gamble.

It's not even that dangerous, after all, there's a high chance that you won't die from the fall.

But he cheated!
That bamboo just appeared out of thin air!

"Don't jump? Then there's no need to jump. Throw them all down. Their property will be confiscated, and their land will be given to whoever cultivates it, whether they are tenants or servants. Just throw them over the wall, and their land will be yours. This is my decree. Throw them over the wall."

Yang Feng shouted.

Those young and strong men woke up instantly.

It was only a short distance from Nanjing, so they were well aware of what Emperor Taizu Gao had done there. Many of these young men had even been there to transport goods. When Yang Feng spoke, they immediately realized their good fortune was coming. An old scholar had just reached the bridle path when he was pinned down by several young men. He was still howling when they lifted him up, carried him to the parapet, and tossed him out without hesitation, even giving him a slight upward throw to prevent him from falling to his death.

But he was definitely going to die, because as he fell, a sharpened green bamboo appeared out of thin air at his landing point.

Then he was also put on it.

There was chaos on the city wall. The young and strong men held down the fleeing gentry, then lifted them up to the parapet and threw them over the city wall.

County Magistrate You...

County Magistrate You jumped as fast as he could.

Of course, a bamboo will definitely grow below to welcome him.

There's nothing strange about bamboo growing on the ground. Lishui is full of bamboo.

"Alright, open the city gates quickly. I will send you a new magistrate, who will make the rest of the arrangements. But everything will follow Nanjing regulations. Anyone with less than 100 acres of land will provide one soldier. Anyone with more than 100 acres will receive an additional soldier. Those who are not soldiers are not allowed to own land. But since you are my soldiers, you are eating my food. If the Jiannu dare to surrender again, you will be punished by military law."

Yang Feng shouted at the young men.

His standard is reasonable in the south, because it does not take more than a hundred acres to support a family in the south.

Even in the north, even in Liaodong, where conditions were considered poor, a regular soldier's land was only 50 mu. In the south, paddy fields were actually 12 mu, and the remaining men were half that. This meant that a soldier in the north could support his family with 50 mu, while in the south, 12 mu was enough. Furthermore, military households had to pay a large portion of their grain to the military governors. For example, a regular soldier in the north with 50 mu had to pay 15 dan, but this was still enough to support his family. In the south, 100 mu was actually enough to support two soldiers. In this rice-producing area at that time, the per-acre yield was 45 dan, and some fields could even reach 7 dan.

Just by paying taxes and not rent, one hundred acres can fully support two soldiers' families.

So if it exceeds 100 mu, it will be counted as two.

If the land within 100 mu is counted as one, and if no rent is paid, the land that the tenants used to cultivate can fully afford the cost of one military service.

This will certainly encourage farmers to keep their land within a hundred acres as much as possible.

The Lishui city gates were then opened, and the young and strong men poured out. After confirming with Emperor Taizu Gao that it was no longer dangerous to go to the Jiannu, they immediately and happily ran to divide up the Qing army's weapons and armor, even slaughtering the dead war horses on the spot. Their respiratory systems had only been burned, and their flesh was not poisonous, but it was still a pity to lose so many war horses. The dead Qing soldiers could simply be thrown together and burned.

Lishui was thus liberated.

Of course, the news that Emperor Taizu Gao cast a spell in Lishui, releasing miasma that poisoned 1,400 Jiannu people, soon spread and became a rumor that a demon was releasing evil spirits in Lishui.

Absolutely evil.

Wherever the evil spirit touched, the bones and flesh rotted and the internal organs turned into pus and blood.

poison!
Very poisonous!

and so……

Demon!
This must be a demon!
The Ming Dynasty was struck by natural disasters: the Jiannu army was outside and evil spirits were causing trouble within.

Nanjing, Daxiaochang.

"Hong Chengchou."

Yang Feng looked at the report in his hand with some emotion.

The Qing Dynasty's Governor-General of Jiangnan Military Affairs, Hong Chengchou, formerly the Ming Dynasty's Minister of War and Governor-General of Five Provinces, arrived in Zhenjiang five days after he recaptured Lishui. He read the Qing Dynasty's imperial edict to the officials and citizens of Jiangnan, dispelling rumors about the hair-shaving order and clarifying the principle that military personnel could shave their hair, while civilians could not. He also announced that a special imperial examination would be held this autumn. All Jiangnan regions that had surrendered would be recruited using their original merits, and all civil and military officials would retain their old positions.

In addition, because evil spirits were causing trouble in the south of the Yangtze River, King Ying Ajige was appointed as the general to suppress the evil spirits.

As for Prince Lu of Hangzhou, if he is willing to surrender, he will be treated as a prince.

"This guy really knows how to do it. Each of his moves hits the heart of the gentry, making them reluctant to refuse."

He sighed.

"Before Xiang Yu massacred 200,000 Qin soldiers, he also made an alliance with Zhang Han."

Han Xin said calmly from the side.

Yang Feng smiled slightly.

Of course, he didn't need to worry about this. He would attack anyone who dared to surrender and force them to jump over the city wall. If they refused, they would be thrown down.

"Let's go. This time it's time to truly test our soldiers."

He said as he looked at the soldiers lined up in front of him.

The Imperial Guards, the imperial guards directly under the command of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty...

Of course, it’s still a quick fix.

Since we're playing Zhu Yuanzhang, we naturally have to restore the military system from his time. The first batch of the Imperial Guards is reorganized or completely remodeled. Each guard still consists of 5,600 men, and is still divided into thousand households, hundred households, general flags, and small flags. In effect, it's equivalent to a brigade, battalion, company, or platoon. In theory, the tactical method is to shoot in formation, but due to the limited number of flintlock rifles, matchlock rifles must still be used extensively, so spearmen are also required. Similarly, the guards must also have cavalry, and artillery is even more indispensable. Therefore, there are four infantry thousand households, one cavalry thousand households, and four artillery hundred households.

Tactics are still kept as simple as possible.

On the battlefield, spears carry the line, artillery is responsible for long-range output, and muskets are responsible for short-range output.

To attack is to march forward in a line and hit the opponent in the face.

In fact, the main task of training over the past month was to make them line up.

Nothing else matters.

The first group to be quickly trained was the Yulin Left and Right Guards, totaling more than 11,000 people, plus the 2,000 cavalry, a legion of more than 13,000 people, all of whom were now waiting here to set off.

"General, I will go and pacify this monster first!
Qing Yao, from now on call them Qing Yao, I don't want these slaves anymore, from now on they are all Qing Yao, soldiers, follow me to kill the Qing Yao."

Yang Feng shouted.

"Kill the clear demon!"

"Kill the clear demon!"

……

The soldiers in formation roared.

(End of this chapter)