The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 109 On Water Margin

Having conceived the idea of ​​starting a school, Jiang Han planned to first gather all the key officers in the army and have them study in batches.

Then these officers would pass on the knowledge to their soldiers, and Jiang Han would personally conduct spot checks.

"Gentlemen, I want to set up a school in the army and teach you to read and write."

As soon as Jiang Han uttered the news, the tent erupted in chaos.

"Commander, are you asking us, the men who carry knives and kill, to learn from those pedantic scholars who nitpick over words?"

"Your Majesty, you must be joking! I can't even recognize all of my own names!"

Upon hearing the words "running a school" and "studying," the group of roughnecks inside the tent widened their eyes, their faces full of confusion.

Even Deng Yang, a member of the government army, couldn't help but frown, looking astonished.

These soldiers who are paid by the army only need to charge into battle. Asking them to read and write is just making things difficult for them.

Study? Study my ass.

Jiang Han had anticipated the reaction of these guys and wasn't angry.

He reached out and pressed his hand down, signaling for everyone to be quiet:
"Stop, stop, stop arguing! Who said you were supposed to learn from those pedantic scholars, spouting classical phrases all day long?"

"For our first lesson today, we won't talk about anything else but 'Water Margin'!"

Water Margin?
The moment those three words were uttered, the effect was immediate!
The group of rough men, who had just been looking unwilling and complaining, suddenly brightened up!
They absolutely love hearing this!
Even the three outsiders, Li Zicheng, Zhang Tianlin, and Hun Tianhou, immediately perked up, craning their necks and looking on with anticipation, refusing to leave the tent.

Jiang Han chuckled inwardly upon seeing this.

He knew that if he wanted these roughnecks to listen to him, he had to start with what they were most familiar with and interested in!
The most popular works from the Ming Dynasty were undoubtedly "Water Margin", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Journey to the West".

All three books were written in the Ming Dynasty. Among them, "Water Margin" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" have always been favorites of various rebels and rebel armies.

For example, Nurhaci, the old wild boar, regarded "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as a military treatise and studied it diligently.

The novel *Water Margin* was even more appealing to these rebels from northern Shaanxi.

When many people raise a flag to rebel, they will imitate the heroes of Liangshan and give themselves a nickname.

Not only can it conceal one's true identity and avoid implicating one's family, but it is also a form of heartfelt identification and imitation!
They all compared themselves to the heroes of Liangshan, only to rise up in rebellion and become outlaws because they could no longer bear the oppression of the Ming Dynasty.

"All right! Silence!"

Jiang Han gestured for everyone to be quiet, and then sent someone to call in Zhao Sheng, who was still counting the spoils, as well as Shao Yong and others who were in charge of patrolling the camp.

Before long, the tent was filled with people; a rough count revealed at least twenty or thirty key officers.

Upon hearing that Jiang Han was going to tell a story about Water Margin, the group of people assigned their guard duties to their subordinates and rushed over in a hurry.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Jiang Han cleared his throat, scanned the entire room, and said loudly:
"I'm sure all of you brothers here are very familiar with Water Margin."

"Some people may have read it several times; some people, even if they are illiterate, must have heard the storyteller tell the stories in it!"

"Everyone who has heard of it says that Water Margin is well written, right?"

The people inside the tent responded in unison, clearly agreeing with this statement.

"right!!"

Jiang Han nodded, then asked:
Everyone says Water Margin is great, but have you ever thought about what makes it so great?

No sooner had he finished speaking than Li Laowai jumped out and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"I know! Murder and arson! Taking revenge!"

Jiang Han rolled his eyes at him:

"wrong!"

In front of everyone, Jiang Han couldn't reprimand Li Laowai, so he gave him some face.

Li Laowai wisely shrank back, no longer daring to shout about murder and arson.

Jiang Han shook his head, then abruptly changed the subject, saying each word carefully:

"In my opinion, the beauty of Water Margin lies in its depiction of surrender!"

"It uses the tragic end of the Liangshan heroes to tell us in a bloody way what the fate of the surrender faction really is!"

These words caused an uproar throughout the tent!

The expressions on everyone's faces instantly became a fascinating mix: some were shocked, some were puzzled, some frowned in thought, and some looked indifferent.

Clearly, Jiang Han's viewpoint overturned their traditional understanding of "Water Margin".

Jiang Han wasn't in a hurry, letting them digest the information for a moment before continuing his speech:

"The reason I chose Water Margin as our first lesson today is very simple."

"Because it describes exactly what we're doing right now—rebellion!"

He pointed at the crowd,

“Every single one of you here comes from a poor family.”

"We've toiled half our lives, or served as border soldiers without complaint, all we want is to earn a living peacefully and be obedient citizens, right?"

"But what was the result? In the end, they all gathered together and became rebels."

"Aren't their backgrounds and experiences strikingly similar to those of characters like Lin Chong, the Leopard Head, and Wu Song, the Tiger-Slaying Hero?"

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement, deeply sharing the sentiment. Even Li Zicheng, Hun Tianhou, and others looked on with a sense of unease.

Deng Yang, sitting in the front row, looked embarrassed and uncomfortable.

"Damn it, I'm an official appointed by the imperial court!"

"How did I end up mixed up with a bunch of rebels today, listening to the rebel leader talk about his rebellion experience? What kind of situation is this!"

Jiang Han ignored Deng Yang's embarrassment and continued speaking to himself:

"But why did these heroes, who were forced to take to the mountains, ultimately meet such a tragic end?"

"Is it simply because a leader like Song Jiang emerged, who was only interested in being granted amnesty?"

"No!" Jiang Han denied it outright.
"The root cause is that they fucking got the target of their struggle wrong from the very beginning!"

“Song Jiang kept saying that ‘Emperor Daojun is the most holy and wise, but he has been deceived by treacherous officials.’”

"But isn't the most absurd character in the entire Water Margin the emperor?"

"Gao Qiu, Cai Jing, Tong Guan, and Yang Jian—which of these four treacherous officials wasn't promoted by the emperor himself?"

Jiang Han slammed his hand on the table and roared:

"If an emperor favors sycophants and alienates virtuous ministers, what kind of good person can he be?"

"Emperor Huizong of Song neglected state affairs and only cared about composing poems and frequenting brothels."

"He turned a blind eye to the Jin army's repeated invasions on the border; he turned a deaf ear to the suffering of the people at home!"

"Seeing the peasant uprisings led by Fang La and Song Jiang causing chaos and upheaval, he still indulged in a life of debauchery. Does he deserve to be called the most sage and wise?"

Jiang Han's voice echoed within the tent, filled with endless mockery and anger!
The people inside the tent listened intently, their eyes shining.

Jiang Han abruptly changed the subject, pointing the finger directly at the present:
"Now that we've talked about the emperors of the Song Dynasty, let's take a look at the 'Sons of Heaven' of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Let me count for you just how many outrageous things these Ming emperors have done."

"Emperor Yingzong of Ming, Zhu Qizhen!"

"The emperor favored the eunuch Wang Zhen and personally led the expedition, but what was the result? In the Battle of Tumu Fortress, hundreds of thousands of elite Ming soldiers were lost, and the Ming dynasty's backbone was broken by his own strength!"

"If it weren't for Yu Shaobao's heroic efforts in saving Beijing, Zhu Qizhen's ancestral temple would probably have been burned down!"

"Poor Yu Shaobao, he helped Zhu Qizhen clean up his mess, but in the end he was killed by Zhu Qizhen who had restored the monarchy."

"Let's talk about Emperor Jiajing!"

"He is obsessed with cultivating Taoism and refining elixirs, engaging in large-scale construction projects that waste resources and manpower!"

"In order to amass wealth, he promoted the Yan faction, led by Yan Song and his son Yan Shifan, who were corrupt and preyed upon by the people!"

"The last memorial on maintaining order finally exposed Jiajing's true colors, hence the saying, 'Jiajing, Jiajing, every household is clean.'"

"And Emperor Shenzong Wanli!"

"This one is even more heavyweight!"

"He did not attend court for a full twenty-eight years, resulting in a vacancy of officials and the neglect of government affairs throughout the Ming Dynasty!"

"Wanli Emperor personally shattered the nascent revival spirit that his teacher, Grand Secretary Zhang Taiyue, had painstakingly built up!"

"Not to mention the subsequent struggle over the foundation of the nation."

"To compensate Prince Fu, he bestowed upon him 300,000 taels of silver alone, as well as 20,000 hectares of fertile land."

"But that wasn't enough for him. He then gave all the most lucrative jobs, such as the tea tax in Sichuan and the salt tax in the Huaihe River region, to Prince Fu!"

Mentioning Prince Fu, Jiang Han unconsciously glanced at Li Zicheng, who was listening attentively to the lecture, and silently apologized.

Just wait, when I get to Luoyang, the first thing I'll slaughter is this fat pig.

"We've gone off on a tangent; let's not talk about Prince Fu anymore."

"Furthermore, Emperor Xizong, the carpenter emperor, was constantly embroiled in factional strife in the court. The eunuch faction and the Donglin faction fought to the death, and no one cared about national affairs."

"A eunuch and a bunch of hypocrites are all bad people!"

"Finally, there is our current emperor, Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian, who was known for his diligence in governing."

A cold smile appeared on Jiang Han's face.
"In terms of diligence, he was indeed diligent enough, but unfortunately, he had more diligence than ability and could not shoulder the burden of the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty."

"Not only is he incompetent, but he is also mean-spirited and ungrateful."

"Take Shaanxi as an example."

"Shaanxi suffered from severe drought for years, leaving the land barren for miles. Every official with a conscience wrote to Emperor Chongzhen, requesting tax reductions and relief for the disaster victims."

"But what about Zhu Youjian? Not only did he not listen, he also dismissed these people from their posts and then sent more Liao Xiangs."

"In short, taxes must not be reduced by a single penny."

“He dared not touch the gentry and wealthy merchants in the Jiangnan region who were rolling in money; he also dared not touch the princes and members of the royal family.”

"The only people he dares to touch are us, the ordinary people of the northwest frontier!"

"It's just us border soldiers who are short of pay and food, and who have to risk our lives for him!"

Jiang Han stood up, pointed outside the tent, and his voice boomed like thunder.

"tell me!"

"Does this kind of person deserve to sit on that dragon throne? Does he deserve to be called 'Son of Heaven'?"

Jiang Han's words completely exposed the Zhu family's true colors.

It revealed its true colors of selfishness, greed, ignorance, and cruelty!
Inside the large tent, there was a deathly silence!

Whether it was the soldiers under Jiang Han's command or the bandit leaders like Li Zicheng and Hun Tianhou, they were all completely shocked by Jiang Han's words!

Most of them, although they also hated corrupt officials and local tyrants, still held a certain degree of awe for the "emperor" who was high above them.

Just like in the Water Margin, the emperor is good, and the bad ones are the treacherous officials below him.

When the imperial edict was issued to defend the capital, countless patriots rushed to the capital region to fight desperately against the Eastern barbarians.

But today, after listening to Jiang Han recount the disgraceful deeds of emperors throughout history, they were suddenly jolted awake!

So emperors weren't all good people after all!
An unprecedented sense of sudden realization, like breaking through a window, arose in the hearts of many!
Their gazes toward Jiang Han became more complex, filled with shock, admiration, and even a hint of fanaticism!
Deng Yang, caught in the middle of the rebels, was on pins and needles!
He originally thought that the Mountain Tigers were just a group of powerful bandits who were only interested in robbing money, food, and territory.

But after hearing these words today, Deng Yang realized how wrong he had been!

This is hardly a ruthless bandit!

This is clearly a powerful figure who wants to overthrow the dynasty! A traitor!

Deng Yang looked at the group of rebels in the tent who had suddenly realized what was happening, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead:
"Oh no! What kind of pirate ship have I boarded?!"

(End of this chapter)