The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 196 World Cultivator's Surrender
With the arrival of 300,000 shi of grain from Shen Chenxing in Shandong, the food shortage for resettling disaster victims was temporarily plugged.

The more than one million shi of grain that followed, plus the grain that had been plundered from Shandong, was enough to cope with the reconstruction of Shandong afterwards.

Then there is only one thing left to do in Shandong: to annihilate the White Lotus Rebellion and other rebels!

Even at the end of a dynasty, government troops could easily defeat rebel armies, let alone during the Yongle era. The rebel army had absolutely no chance in terms of politics, military affairs, economy, or even the quality of individual soldiers.

The entire battle unfolded exactly as Li Xianmu had envisioned. Five thousand soldiers overwhelmed the 100,000-strong rebel army in open battle and then relentlessly pursued them.

They would stop from time to time to set up camp and cook, letting the rebel army escape. Marquis Shouchun sensed something was wrong while fighting.

It seems that Shandong Governor Li Xianmu deliberately let the rebel army attack Qufu. After all, the rebel army would not let Qufu pass by. Qufu is just a county town with no heavy troops guarding it, but it is also very wealthy. The Duke of Yansheng's mansion is famous for its large grain reserves.

He only thought about it briefly before he dared not think about it anymore.

Neither the Duke of Yansheng nor Li Xianmu, who was deeply favored by the emperor, were people he could afford to offend.

Moreover, the Duke Yansheng is a descendant of the sage Confucius, and Li Xianmu is the biological son of the sage Li Qi. What does this matter of the Confucian school have to do with a military general like him?

He only needed to follow the imperial edict and obey the Shandong governor's opinion; he didn't need to have his own thoughts.

……

"Governor, this is military intelligence sent back by the Marquis of Shouchun from the front lines."

As the core of the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission, all military and political intelligence must be reported here.

Li Xianmu quickly dissected the situation, first relaxing his brow, then pretending to frown, and loudly proclaimed: "The rebel army has reached the outskirts of Qufu County. Immediately order the Duke of Yansheng to hold the line. The imperial army will come to the rescue after clearing out the rebels from the last battle."

As for how long the cleanup will take, that will naturally depend on when the rebel army breaches Qufu.

Qufu.

The rebel soldiers were right outside the city, clamoring for Yansheng to open the city gates. He naturally disdained them and even sent people to hurl insults at them, such as calling them peasants, which provoked the rebels outside the city to howl in anger.

The magistrate of Qufu and his entourage paid a visit, and said with a wry smile, "Your Excellency, why should your son, who is of noble birth, bother with those peasants?"

They don't want to leave simply because they want gold, silver, and some food. Why not just give them that and let them go? Why provoke them? What if something unpredictable happens?

Duke Yansheng waved his hand dismissively, "You don't know yet, do you? These rebels are just defeated troops that were scattered by the imperial army in Jinan."

Once the imperial army arrives, why bother with these worthless mortals?
As for gold, silver, treasures, and food, giving them to these thieves is absolutely out of the question.

Tell those soldiers to guard the city well. I am the Duke Yansheng, appointed by the imperial court. If anything happens to me, you will all be in deep trouble.

The Duke Yansheng's attitude was utterly astonishing. The magistrate of Qufu and others dared not speak out, fearing that if they angered the Duke Yansheng, they would find it difficult to live in Qufu in the future. They could only leave in a huff.

Watching the departing figures of the crowd, the Duke of Yansheng spat and said smugly, "You think you can get rid of me by spending money? You're dreaming! I won't give you a single penny."

If the magistrate of Qufu County and others saw this miserly appearance, they would probably be so angry that they would die of high blood pressure.

Duke Yansheng probably never dreamed that anyone would dare to sit idly by and watch Qufu fall without coming to its aid.

In Li Xianmu's mind, some of the rebellious people were still quite forgivable.

But the kind of pure bloodsucker like the Duke Yansheng deserves to die the most. If we can use the power of these chaotic soldiers to clean up the Duke Yansheng's descendants, big and small, it would be a good thing.

The White Lotus Rebels were thoroughly enraged by the Duke Yansheng's disdainful attitude and launched a fierce attack on Qufu. On the first day, the Duke Yansheng did not think much of it, but when no reinforcements arrived by the morning of the second day, he began to panic.

Weren't these White Lotus Sect defeated soldiers the ones who came to Qufu?
Logically speaking, shouldn't the imperial army be following behind?

It's already unbelievable that it took less than half a day, but how come they haven't arrived after a whole day and night? Don't they know that Qufu is ahead?

How dare you delay the arrival of rescue personnel?
In his panic and fear, he immediately sent men out of the city to see what was going on, but all the men he sent out were captured by the surging tide of rebels. Even if some of them managed to escape, the news they would receive would likely be even more despairing.

The imperial army is adhering to Li Xianmu's battle strategy of "after each battle, the people must be comforted and the routed troops must be eliminated," and has no intention of advancing further for at least the next day.

Qufu was just a small county town, and according to regulations, it was naturally not as difficult to conquer as those large cities. On the second day, before the sun had even reached its zenith, the White Lotus rebels had already stormed the city, and it seemed that Qufu was about to fall.

Standing atop the city wall, gazing at the horizon, there was still no sign of imperial reinforcements. Qufu County was truly plunged into deep despair.

Accompanied by a roar.

The city gates of Qufu were also smashed open, and tens of thousands of rebels surged into the city. It was all over. "That's about it."

Looking at the nearly completed finishing work, which was entirely in accordance with Li Xianmu's instructions, the Marquis of Shouchun knew that it was time for him to head to Qufu.

I just don't know the situation in Qufu. It's likely that it has been breached after so long.

"General, the White Lotus Rebels have captured Qufu County!"

"What!" The Marquis of Shouchun was shocked, but secretly he was laughing. He was not the only one who was dissatisfied with the Duke of Yansheng. "Qufu, where the descendants of the sage are based, actually dares to attack? They are truly a bunch of beasts!"

The Marquis of Shouchun was so immersed in his role that he even shed a few crocodile tears. "Quickly assemble the army and follow this general to kill the enemy!"

On the way to Qufu, the Marquis of Shouchun suddenly thought that the crime of defeating the rebel army in Qufu was compounded, but if he could avenge the Duke of Yansheng, wouldn't that be a greater merit?

If the court blames him for not protecting the Duke Yansheng, Li Xianmu will take the fall, so it won't have much to do with him.

Thinking of this, he actually hoped that the White Lotus Rebels would be ruthless and kill the Duke Yansheng directly.

Qufu.

Even without the Marquis of Shouchun saying it, the people of Shandong, especially those living near Qufu, harbored genuine hatred for the Duke Yansheng. Among all the nobles and officials of the Ming Dynasty, only Zhu Yuanzhang's inhuman sons could match the Duke Yansheng's beastly and inhuman fervor.

Compared to the occasional inhumanity of Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants, the Duke Yansheng was almost always human. They were already tyrannical before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, and after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, they became even more tyrannical.

The various means of collecting taxes were minor matters. Forcibly abducting women, even killing people in the street to seize their wives, and beating ordinary people to death were not uncommon. However, the court always kept quiet about it to save face for Confucius.

But the local people all know it.

Qufu has never been a moral holy land of Confucianism, but a moral lowland, a purgatory, where the people living there suffer terribly.

The fact that the White Lotus Rebellion was able to capture Qufu so easily was inseparable from the lives of the people in Qufu.

Especially after entering the city, a rather ironic scene unfolded: many civilians spontaneously became guides for the rebel army, leading them to capture the Duke Yansheng and search for the Duke Yansheng's grain and valuables.

The Kong family has always valued the purity of bloodlines, with distinctions between inner and outer Kong families. People living in Qufu are divided into concentric circles, which were originally a symbol of status, but now they have become the scythe of death. The White Lotus Sect knows that time is limited and that the imperial court's pursuers may arrive at any moment.

So they didn't bother plundering the ordinary people at all, and went straight to the Duke Yansheng's mansion in the inner city. Not only the Duke Yansheng's mansion, but also the Kong clan members who were closely related by blood, were among the wealthiest people in the city.

This was a purgatory for the Northern School of Confucius!
Some rebels looted the area, some ordinary citizens took the opportunity to vent their frustrations, and some people tried to take advantage of the chaos, including murderers and arsonists.

The entire inner city of Qufu was littered with blood and corpses. The bodies, dressed in fine silks and satins, lay scattered about, their faces filled with panic and despair.

The gate of the Duke Yansheng's mansion, which Li Xianmu had seen when he first came to Qufu, was now wide open, creaking and groaning as if it were lamenting the human tragedy unfolding within the mansion.

The sounds of fighting filled the Duke's mansion, but the servants' resistance was a joke in the face of the surging soldiers. They could bully ordinary people on ordinary days, but now it was a complete farce.

Tang Shengzong, the leader of the White Lotus Rebellion, roared at the chaotic scene, "Where is the Duke Yansheng?"

Then a voice rang out, "Master, the Duke Yansheng is here. He tried to escape but was caught by the brothers."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Shengzong's eyes lit up. If he could capture the Duke of Yansheng, he could force him to reveal the location of the treasure. If the Duke dared not to speak, he would be subjected to severe torture.

Thinking this, he strode into the hall and saw several brothers escorting a middle-aged man. He looked quite refined, with wrinkled clothes and disheveled hair, presumably messed up during his escape.

Are these the direct descendants of Confucius?
The contemporary Duke Yansheng?
Emperor Shengzong of Tang noticed that his eyes were darting around, and he could tell at a glance that he was quite cunning.

"So you are the Duke Yansheng?" Tang Shengzong asked fiercely, drawing his sword without saying a word.

"Pfft!"

Upon seeing the bandit draw his sword, the Duke of Yansheng's earlier intention to utter a few harsh words in his capacity as the Duke of Yansheng vanished instantly.

He actually knelt down on the ground and said without any shame, "I am the Duke Yansheng."

Please spare my life, my lord! Killing me would bring me no benefit whatsoever!
"Whatever you want, hero, I'll give you, just please spare my life."

what?
The fawning manner of the Duke Yansheng made Emperor Shengzong of Tang lose his composure and be completely dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)