Ancestors, please don't crawl out again.

Chapter 59 The dragon is devouring people!
Two hours later.

"Grandpa, spare my life!"

"Grandpa, I feel wronged!"

……

Hundreds of local gentry and their adult descendants, with their hands tied, knelt on the dock and begged.

As for minors and women...

That has been confiscated. Emperor Taizu Gao was a law-abiding person. After all, he was the one who compiled the Ming Dynasty Law, so he had to abide by it. It was stipulated by law that the property should be confiscated, the property should be enslaved, and the property should be given to meritorious officials.

And the terrifying dragon was standing on the city wall opposite them.

Really watching them.

These were all reported by the people in the city.

Emperor Taizu Gao said that if the rebels and accomplices were not handed over, the city would be massacred.

We still have to believe what Emperor Taizu Gao said.

So the people in the city reported these people without hesitation.

The situation wasn't complicated. This was Xie Sanbin's base camp, and aside from a few who were away serving as officials or for other reasons, the remaining major gentry were virtually all involved. While these individuals quickly revolted, it was only to cut their losses, not to say they were truly obedient. They still harbored the intention to stir up trouble.

Those who were looking for the covenant in Xie Sanbin's hand had actually been in Yin County before.

There were originally two armies in the city.

One was a local militia organized by the gentry, and the other was this de facto mercenary army. As for the several mountain kings who nominally came to join in the celebration, they were actually mercenaries recruited by the allied families with their own money. The so-called leaders at the head were all loyal soldiers employed by these families. They were waiting in Yin County for more righteous men to arrive before heading to the battlefield, but in reality, they were just there as a precaution. They were also the ones who attacked Xie Sanbin in Yin County before, originally intending to lure him into the city before attacking, but someone tipped off Xie Sanbin, ultimately turning the attack into a surprise attack.

Xie Sanbin fled in panic and surrendered to Wang Zhiren.

They also raided Wang Zhiren's forces through their insider support in Dinghai.

But they encountered a dragon and the raid failed.

Therefore, waiting for Xie Sanbin to obtain the alliance and then raiding the imperial camp to destroy the alliance became the last option.

The gentry in the city provided cooperation, and before disarming them, they sold two cannons and a large number of firearms to them. In this way, they could cheat the imperial camp while distancing themselves from the matter, and vent their resentment.

but……

How come there really is a dragon?
If the demons can control dragons, how can we fight against them?

They didn't actually believe in dragons. After all, such a thing was too absurd. If there were no gods, there couldn't be dragons. If there were gods, why would they allow these demons to wreak havoc on the world and enslave the dragons? Shouldn't the dragons be the ones to slay the demons? We are the righteous, the loyal and righteous, and we are the ones who deserve God's blessing!
Are the barbarians responding to the celestial phenomena?
This demon actually has the support of God?

They really don't understand! In their minds, they represent justice, and if the gods really exist, they should bless them.

Is this monster worthy?
But the dragon is on his side!
Of course, they are now at the mercy of the oppressed.

"Isn't this unfair? You bastards, I've given you chances time and time again, yet you think I'm easy to deceive and even dare to rebel. I only ask you to hand over some of the land you've stolen, and you dare to rebel? You've plundered and taken everything by force, colluding with each other to turn my official land into yours. In the past, those worthless emperors were deceived by you, and now I want to restore order, and you dare to rebel? Seeing you can't defeat me, you play these tricks on me. I didn't want to bother with you, but you're still pushing your luck and thinking I'm easy to fool. You've colluded with me to kill my imperial camp. If I don't kill your entire family today, I'd be sorry for the fallen soldiers."

The dragon roared on the city wall.

After saying that, its mouth opened wide, and the next moment a strong wind blew in front of it, and a clear vortex formed in the air.

Then came a huge tornado with flying sand and rocks.

The bottom of the tornado quickly covered some of the gentry.

They screamed in terror in the raging wind, but they quickly rose up with the vortex, carrying their screams and colliding with each other in the tornado, flying quickly towards the top of the city, and then directly into the dragon's mouth...

Energy dragons, of course, couldn't digest them, but they could extract their souls. Souls were a special kind of energy, and these dragons were composed of this energy. They didn't actually exist; they were created by the so-called gods. While they didn't actually need energy replenishment, it was still possible to do so. As for the bodies after the soul energy was extracted, they would be directly decomposed into cells, molecules, and even atoms before returning to the earth.

Therefore, the process of the dragon swallowing is a process of extracting soul energy.

It does not devour people.

It just eats people up completely.

Not to mention the body tissues, even the soul becomes a part of its body.

Of course, the scene was still quite shocking.

A dragon with its mouth opened wide on the city wall, a magnificent tornado, and the gentry being swallowed...

All the onlookers knelt there and watched in fear.

There are no bones left!
This is undoubtedly the most horrific punishment.

After all, the crushed bones and ashes were still scattered on the ground, but this thing no longer existed. There were no bone fragments or ashes left. Hundreds of people were annihilated in the belly of the dragon.

"If this goes on, I'll really feel like a demon!"

Emperor Taizu Gao, watching this scene, expressed the common voice of the people.

He is indeed becoming more and more demonized.

The blood pool formation, although it is just a wooden trough, now a giant dragon comes out to devour it.

"Demons are also gods as long as you give them what they want."

The so-called God replied.

"That's true."

Yang Feng said.

So the next moment, the dragon that had devoured hundreds of people roared again.

"These bastards' wealth is the blood and sweat of the people. Now, we will distribute their gold and silver to the soldiers who participated in the war, their land to the people who reported meritorious crimes, their houses to the homeless poor in the city, and free their slaves to serve as civilians. We will also distribute their shops, ships, and livestock."

The roar of the dragon on the city wall startled all the soldiers and civilians who were kneeling and trembling.

This was followed by countless cheers.

"Long live the Emperor Taizu Gao!"

……

After Emperor Taizu Gao devoured hundreds of Ningbo gentry with his divine dragon, the Imperial Guard's takeover of eastern Zhejiang went smoothly. Furthermore, a large-scale denunciation campaign also began, with numerous gentry arrested based on reports from the people. As for their rebellion, it wasn't important. Some things were useless, such as insulting Emperor Taizu Gao, despite the fact that they had previously called for a crusade against him.

Because they were all talented and elegant writers, many gentry also wrote poems to express their lofty ambitions.

There's even a collection of poems. This thing obviously can't be solved anyway.

In short, as the people actively reported the crimes, more and more gentry in eastern Zhejiang had their homes confiscated.

Resist...

They didn't dare to do that even when they had soldiers, let alone now that they have been disarmed.

Besides, the golden dragon in the sky is watching.

This golden dragon guards eastern Zhejiang, flying continuously in the sky according to its own simple routine, and people all bow down to it wherever it passes.

As the gentry of eastern Zhejiang were being brutally suppressed, the teams that had been granted military merit land also arrived one after another at the locations of their respective lands. The gentry in these areas silently accepted the reality of their land, watching as their land, after being re-surveyed and compiled into the Yellow Book, became someone else's military merit land. The owners of the military merit land also re-established the rent stipulated in the imperial edict to the tenants who had previously cultivated it, which the tenants cheered, as they actually received no less than the new landowners.

Thirty percent of land rent.

No taxes required.

In the past, paying 50% of the land rent was considered low, and all kinds of exorbitant taxes and levies were even more necessary.

Of course, there are also those who are unwilling and try to resist...

But the more they resist, the happier everyone is!
Although you will not be awarded military merit land for suppressing internal rebellions.

This must be insisted on. Even in Ningbo, Yang Feng only rewarded the soldiers with money from the gentry, not their land. This loophole must not be opened under any circumstances. However, there is a distribution of silver for suppressing internal rebellions. It is also worth looking forward to confiscating the homes of the rebellious gentry and obtaining gold and silver rewards.

In this way, the gentry of Jiangnan began their crying all the way.

Nanjing Imperial Prison.

"Crying, crying also counts as time!"

Emperor Taizu Gao looked at the prisoners in front of him who were crying bitterly.

That's what's in that covenant.

There were no accidents during the arrest of these people.

It was just a normal procedure. They issued an order to the local officials according to the alliance, and the latter would seal the gate first and then wait for the Jinyiwei to come and arrest them. These were all prefectures in Jiangnan, and the farthest was Zhejiang. It wouldn't take too much time on the road, and it wouldn't happen like the raid on Yuan Dudu's house, which took more than half a year, and even his property was taken away by his brothers and they absconded.

However, this is also due to the fact that the local gentry did not dare to cause trouble.

No new Five Gentlemen incidents occurred.

There was no such thing as during the Wanli Dynasty where local people beat up the Jinyiwei.

"You all know why it's so easy for the Jinyiwei to capture you. Whether it's local officials or the gentry who control the area, they all want to use you to kowtow to me and beg for mercy, saying that they have realized their mistakes and ask me to spare them this time. Even if you want to escape, they will inform the Jinyiwei. I have a list of informants submitted by the Jinyiwei here. You can take a look and see which ones are the people you are supposed to protect.

You must die.

Don't have any illusions about this. You and your relatives who have been executed according to the law will all be executed according to the law.

But all deaths are different. Some deaths are a very long process.

I can promise you that as long as you confess all your accomplices, I can deal with you according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

And it will also give you a good time.

Otherwise, you have all gone to see the execution ground in front of the Confucian Temple.

I can tell you that Ajige and others in there have been tortured to death for several months. Every day when they open their eyes, they are tortured to death, and then I restore them to health before dark. When they open their eyes the next day, they continue to be tortured to death.

If you are not sensible, you will be tortured repeatedly like them.

Furthermore, I can tell you that humans have souls, but those who are devoured by my two divine dragons will be annihilated, both physically and spiritually. On the last day of your lingchi (death by the sword), I will feed you to my divine dragons, causing your physical and spiritual bodies to be annihilated."

Yang Feng said.

After saying this, the young eunuch beside him placed a box in front of these people.

These are the top families in each prefecture.

For example, Wang Xijue's grandson Wang Shimin, but he was implicated by his son, Wang Xian, who was on the list of the covenant. At that time, the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion of the Qing Dynasty was still very young. Although his family was indeed very happy to kneel before the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was another matter...

Yang Feng was speechless about this. Even with his furious demeanor, these guys still tried to resist. He didn't ask for as much as the Qing Dynasty did; he only wanted a piece of land, while the Qing Dynasty was just grabbing land. But these bastards were always very straightforward when they knelt before the Qing Dynasty. Now, facing him, whose demeanor had reached the demonic level, they were not so straightforward. This made him somewhat puzzled.

Of course, it may also be because he did not massacre the city, but my Qing Dynasty really massacred the city, so massacre of the city is really important.

He indeed wants less than I do.

but……

This means he has a bottom line.

I don’t have it in the Qing Dynasty.

These bastards are afraid of those who have no bottom line, but they are not afraid of those who have a bottom line. They know that those who have a bottom line still have humanity and are good people. What are you afraid of good people?

So they, they are just cheapskates.

The bastards were still crying, each one of them weeping with their hearts broken. Each of them had a large family behind them, and they knew that sacrificing a few in exchange for the continuation of the majority of the family was worth it. Even if they were killed, their descendants who had fled would be protected by other families, quietly waiting for the opportunity for the family's revival. This has been the case since ancient times.

But if you do as this demon says, these families will retaliate.

But don’t do it...

How many months of torture!

They had all watched the execution ground in the Confucian Temple, and their feelings towards Ajige and others were not so severe. However, Sun Zhixie, who had just joined, was from the same system as them. Seeing Sun Zhixie being tortured repeatedly, they felt the same pain!
"Everyone, you are all scholars, your families have been at the top of the social ladder for generations. Lord Xilu, we had quite a good relationship when you were in the Shangbao Division. Now that you have committed treason, we are quite saddened. Just listen to us and give up all the people you should give up. We will plead with the Grand Ancestor for you and give you and your son peace. We will also find good families for your grandchildren whose property was confiscated. You are old, so don't be foolish."

Han Zanzhou looked at Wang Shimin, the grandson of the prime minister of the Wanli Dynasty, the son of the second place in the imperial examination, and the former Minister of the Imperial Household, and said sincerely.

Then he handed over a list.

Wang Shimin, lying on the ground crying, looked at the list.

Then I cried even harder.

Emperor Taizu Gao snorted coldly. At this time, the dragon he released to Shanhaiguan came back, shrank instantly outside, and then flew in, coiled around his arm, and raised its head on his shoulder.

Wang Shimin shuddered with fear and quickly took the list. Han Zanzhou smiled and helped him up. Wang Shimin followed him tremblingly to the next room and wrote his confession according to the list in his artist-level calligraphy...

(End of this chapter)