Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

Chapter 85 People are neither good nor bad, only have different perspectives! (Please continue reading)

Wu Daozheng and Zhang Bingwen entered the inner hall and took their seats. Two maids then brought them two cups of tea. Wu Daozheng took a small sip and asked, "Governor Zhang, how is the plague situation in Shanxi now?"

After hearing this, Zhang Bingwen sighed and shook his head: "The situation has occurred in multiple counties and towns! Xing County, under the jurisdiction of Taiyuan Prefecture, is the most severely affected. The governor's office is currently guarding all roads to prevent a large number of refugees carrying the plague from entering Taiyuan City!"

Zhang Bingwen also had no good way to control the plague, and could only continue to use isolation measures to slow the spread of the plague.

"Gao Qiqian has taken over the garrison in Taiyuan. Let him handle the rest!" Wu Daozheng said nonchalantly.

"The army?" Zhang Bingwen said incredulously, "What is His Majesty's decree...?"

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"His Majesty's decree is for Gao Qiqian to lead the army to surround the plague-stricken areas to prevent its spread!" Wu Daozheng explained their purpose.

Wu Daozheng paused for a moment, then said, "As for grain and other necessities, I request that Governor Zhang arrange them!"

Wu Daozheng meant that the emperor only issued an order for isolation, and the rest of the handling was done by Gao Qiqian. Even if it was a massacre of the city, it was Gao Qiqian who did it. How could the emperor order the slaughter of the people?

"Yes, Your Majesty!" A bad feeling arose in Zhang Bingwen's heart. He vaguely felt that Gao Qiqian's actions were not as simple as just besieging the city, but he did not show it.

The next morning, as the sun shone on the land of Shanxi, Gao Qiqian led tens of thousands of troops stationed in Taiyuan overnight to surround all the roads in Xing County, which was under the jurisdiction of Taiyuan Prefecture, including the small roads, which were all guarded!

Originally, there were 20,000 troops stationed in Taiyuan, under the command of Sun Yingyuan, the general of Shanxi Town. Among them, 7,000 were Shenyong Guards. A little over a month ago, Sun Yingyuan led the Shenyong Guards to the capital to garrison. Of the remaining 13,000 soldiers, 3,000 remained in Taiyuan, while the rest followed Gao Qiqian to Xing County.

Xingxian County was the epicenter of the outbreak, which has now spread to many other areas, although the outbreaks in other places are relatively small.

"Eunuch Gao, several hundred men are on their way from the Xingxian defense line!" A captain approached Gao Qiqian and reported with his hands clasped.

"Dissuade them from resigning! Anyone who disobeys orders will be killed without exception!" Gao Qiqian said without hesitation.

"This!..." The commander hesitated and didn't move.

Gao Qiqian glanced at him and asked, "What? Do you have any other ideas?"

"In my humble opinion, we should first verify their identities and persuade those from Xing County to return!" the captain said. He dared not act, fearing that the eunuch before him might use him as a scapegoat...

Gao Qiqian's expression remained unchanged as he nodded: "Alright! Go and do it!"

"Yes!" Seeing that Gao Qiqian had accepted his suggestion, Qianzong turned and left without lingering.

Gao Qiqian beckoned to a spy from the Eastern Depot standing nearby and whispered in his ear, "This man disobeyed military orders; execute him along with his four personal guards!"

The Eastern Depot agent cupped his hands in greeting: "Yes!"

He then approached the commander, drew his sword, and swung it at the commander's neck. Blood gushed out, staining the yellow earth red.

Before his four personal guards could even resist, they were killed on the spot by the Eastern Depot agents who attacked at the same time.

Just then, Gao Qiqian appeared before the shocked soldiers: "This man disobeyed military orders and has been executed!"

He then pointed to a burly man in front of him and asked, "What is your position?"

"The garrison commander of Taiyuan, the centurion of the vanguard!" the burly man replied truthfully.

"From now on, you are a commander of a thousand households!" Gao Qiqian said softly.

"Thank you so much for your help, sir!" the burly man said excitedly.

"Go and persuade the refugees and carriages ahead to turn back. Anyone who refuses to listen will be killed on sight if they come within fifty paces!" Gao Qiqian ordered again.

"Yes, sir!"

The burly man led the remaining soldiers forward and shouted, "People ahead, turn back immediately! If you advance any further, kill them without mercy!"

""

Having said that, he ordered the soldiers following him, "Test fire the musket as a warning!"

Then three blasts of fire sounded, and many refugees stopped in their tracks, looking at each other in dismay. They saw that the carriage not only did not stop, but continued to move forward.

"My master is a scholar from Xing County. Please, sir, do me a favor!" the coachman shouted to the soldiers.

Just then, an aged voice rang out from inside the car: "Why waste words with those thugs? Just go!"

"Yes, sir!" The driver obeyed the old man's words and began to speed up towards the fortified position.

"Fire!" the newly promoted commander of the thousand men ordered.

Immediately, several guns opened fire simultaneously, instantly killing the horses and the coachman outside the carriage, causing the vehicle to lose control and overturn to the side.

The old man inside the carriage, howling, climbed out, shouting, "Outrageous! Outrageous! I'm going to file a complaint with the imperial court!"

After the first volley, the front-ranking soldiers quickly retreated two steps, and the second-ranking soldiers behind them moved to the front. At this moment, the burly commander gave the order again: "Fire!"

Another volley of fire followed, and the scholar fell completely to the ground in a pool of blood, unable to appeal to the court any longer. Even in his dying moments, he couldn't believe that these soldiers actually dared to take his life...

This group of gentry had always looked down on these soldiers, considering themselves superior, but now they lay dead in pools of blood... The privileged class was utterly powerless before the machine of violence (the army), which was why Prosecutor Zhu insisted on personally leading the troops...

"They killed Master Li! Slaughter them!" someone suddenly shouted.

The refugees who had stopped moving suddenly became enraged upon hearing the shouts, turning hostile towards the soldiers in front of them. Little did they know that this scholar was one of those who had annexed their land!

"Ready! Fire!" The commander ordered another volley of fire, and dozens of men who rushed forward fell instantly.

"Prepare the oil canisters!" The burly commander, watching the approaching refugees, calculated the distance and, when they were about thirty paces away, shouted, "Throw them!"

A dozen or so earthenware jars filled with kerosene fell to the ground and shattered about twenty paces in front of them, the kerosene flowing down the dry ground.

"Throw torches!"

At a command, a dozen torches were thrown onto the oil, instantly igniting a wall of fire that burned the fallen corpse along with the dry grass...

Seeing this, some timid refugees kept retreating.

The remaining people bypassed the wall of fire and continued running towards the soldiers.

"Keep firing!" The commander's eyes were fixed on the remaining refugees.

After several volleys of fire, hundreds of corpses lay on the road and in the wasteland on both sides. At this point, no one dared to charge the defensive line anymore.

Seeing this, Gao Qiqian slowly stood up and said to the eunuch from the Eastern Depot beside him, "Go to Taiyuan, find the deputy commander-in-chief who is left behind, and get this chiliarch appointment back!"

"yes!"

Gao Qiqian thought this burly man was quite capable; he dared to carry out orders, regardless of whether the man was a civilian or not, he would act on any command given.

He then slowly walked to the burly man's side: "These plague victims, who stormed the government offices, don't feel guilty!"

Gao Qiqian believed that these people in front of him, though dead, were not good people; they were nothing but rioters. He thought that once they gathered, they would attack peaceful civilians, burning, killing, and looting...

Nowadays, most of the good people in Xing County probably died out during the plague and natural disaster. Those who survived mostly have blood on their hands... In this world, there are no good or bad people, only people with different positions and interests... Only children distinguish between so-called good and bad!

"Yes! We will obey your orders, sir!" the commander said, bowing with his hands clasped.