Chapter 122 Retracting the heart of the army, killing the king of Shu, examining the gentry
After the army entered Chengdu and controlled the situation.
Quickly put out the fires all over Chengdu and arrest all officials in Chengdu.
Send soldiers to watch all the gentry's residences. If anyone dares to resist, immediately mobilize soldiers to eliminate them.
Su He personally led the troops to the governor's Yamen.
There are many rioters here, looking through boxes in the courtyard.
When they saw someone coming, they wanted to rush out of the yard.
Su He saw the people rushing out. Their bodies were all bulging, as if they were carrying something heavy, and they couldn't walk fast.
"Take these people down."
The soldiers immediately stepped forward and pointed their muskets at the rebels.
These people were trembling with fear, and all the silver ingots hidden on their bodies were shaken to the ground.
The soldiers quickly controlled the situation, and Su He looked at the messy governor's office.
The yard was filled with boxes of silver. Many boxes were emptied, and the silver fell to the ground.
He initially estimated that there were at least three million taels of silver here.
Su He looked at the Ming Dynasty general who was following him.
This man kidnapped Zhang Lun, the governor of Sichuan, and opened the north gate of Rongcheng. He remembered it very clearly.
"Zhang Yunqing, General Zhang, Sichuan Governor's Yamen, how could he save so much silver?"
Su He was very curious as to why Zhang Lun, the governor of Sichuan, saved so much silver.
When silver is stored, it can only become a precious metal.
Only when money is spent and circulated can it be money.
Money can drive people's interests and accomplish many things.
"Commander Su, you can call the villain by his name, but I don't dare call him general in front of you."
Zhang Yunqing said humbly first.
He knew that the man in front of him would determine his fate.
"Commander Su and Governor Zhang Lun of Sichuan asked the gentry and merchants in the city to donate money in the name of preventing thieves.
In the name of helping to defend the city wall, a male from each household must be selected, and if they don’t want to leave anyone, they have to pay money.”
When Su He heard that Sichuan Governor Zhang Lun was doing this, he couldn't help laughing.
The resistance of the people in Chengdu was very weak, but Zhang Lun's approach played a decisive role.
People like Zhang Lun are not good at leading troops in battle, but they are very good at torturing the people.
"Zhang Yunqing, call all the surrendered generals here.
I will honor all your treatment anyway."
The surrendered general is handing over the troops to them. Only when these troops completely give up resistance will they be considered complete.
Su He estimated that the handover of the army has now been completed.
Zhang Yunqing was very happy, saluted and left.
He still remembered the two main benefits anyway.
Article 1: The chief officer will be rewarded with five thousand taels of silver, and the soldier will be rewarded with ten taels of silver.
Article 2: Keep the original position unchanged. No matter how many people you commanded before, you will control how many people you will command later.
Defeat is inevitable, and they, as they have not done any evil deeds that would be outraged by both humans and gods, are not afraid of the thieves in yellow finding fault.
Of course, the door must be changed in time.
Su He watched Zhang Yunqing leave happily.
He ordered Li Fengming: "Implement military control over Rongcheng.
I am responsible for winning over these surrendered generals, and you go and distribute silver coins to the regular soldiers.
I have already notified the troops and asked Master Zhu to do ideological work for the surrendered soldiers.
Strive to turn most of these surrendered troops into our soldiers.
The last thing we need to do is surrender our troops and stop opposing us."
Li Fengming took orders to deal with the Ming army's surrender.
Su He agreed to let the Ming generals continue to command the same number of troops.
He did not agree to let them continue to lead the original team.
This is to create small groups in the army, and these people will gradually become warlords.
Let these people continue to command the troops, but the soldiers they command are soldiers trained in the new military camp.
Those who are capable can continue to lead the frontline troops like Wu Jie, Han Shuliang and others.
For those who are incompetent, arrange for them to form a reclamation corps.
The Reclamation Corps is a large farm under military management.
Instead of going out to fight, they are responsible for farming, developing the local economy, and maintaining local stability.
There are many undeveloped places in Sichuan, such as the place where Tusi is located.
Regarding the chieftain, Su He must resolutely implement the reform of his native land and return to his hometown.
If people do not cooperate with the policy of returning land to local people, they will need the land and not the people.
Ordinary people at the bottom should be given equal status, so that they can live a better life and integrate into the circle established by the commander-in-chief.
Any high-ranking chieftains who dare to oppose land reform will be eliminated.
Remote areas such as border areas and chieftains cannot be managed by conventional settlements, so a reclamation corps is needed.
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Li Fengming came to the camp where the Ming army surrendered, and he was followed by several soldiers.
Each of them is carrying a big basin.
The aroma of pork and rice wafted from the big basin.
Each soldier carried meat, vegetables and rice to serve fifty surrendered soldiers.
Cao Zhengyuan stared at the food that was brought to him, his mouth watering with greed.
He usually eats some taro and sorghum rice with some pickles.
During the Chinese New Year some time ago, their family couldn't afford meat because there was no salary.
Sun Ben opened the lid of the large vegetable basin.
Inside is pork stewed vermicelli with a lot of oil and bright red chili floating on it.
As soon as the lid was opened, the aroma of meat and vegetables wafted out, making the Ming soldiers' mouths water after smelling it.
"Everyone, come and eat. It won't taste good when it's cold."
Sun Ben asked the surrendered soldiers to line up to serve the meal.
Everyone in his charge had finished serving their meals, and he also filled a bowl of rice and ate among the crowd.
Cao Zhengyuan held the food in his hand and ate it hungrily.
He has forgotten what meat tastes like?
I finally remembered it today.
Especially the chili pepper in this dish suits his taste very well.
He had seen generals eating chili pepper, but this condiment was too expensive and his family could not afford it.
Cao Zhengyuan finished his meal quickly, staring at the vegetable basin next to him and drooling.
Sun Ben saw his look and said with a smile: "If you're not full, I'll give you another bowl."
Cao Zhengyuan said in surprise: "You haven't had enough to eat, but you can get another bowl. This is such a good treatment."
He immediately stood up and filled a large bowl of food.
"Your treatment is really good. You can have one meal of meat and vegetables a year, so your life is very good."
Sun Ben said with a smile: "How can it be possible to have one meal a year? We usually have one meal of meat and vegetables every seven days, but during wartime we have one meal of meat and vegetables every three days."
“The treatment is so good.”
Not only Cao Zhengyuan, but also all the Ming troops were very surprised to surrender.
I didn't expect them to be treated so well.
Cao Zhengyuan asked shamelessly: "Brother, we also want to join.
Tell us how you are treated in the military."
Sun Ben was waiting for this sentence. He was not an ordinary soldier in the cooking squad, he was a blessing master.
The people they came were all Zhushi, and they were best at doing ideological work, especially the grievance movement.
Sun Ben immediately told these soldiers about their treatment in the army.
He used this topic to talk about his life experience.
He was also an ordinary military householder in the Ming Dynasty.
Sun Ben introduced his own life experience. These people all have common experiences.
They could easily resonate with what Sun Ben said and attract everyone's attention.
Sun Ben talked about his past sufferings, and these people all shed tears.
At the same time, they confided to Sun Ben the suffering they suffered when they were military households.
Sun Ben analyzed their suffering bit by bit based on his own learning experience.
The truth is that the Ming court and generals exploited them.
After hearing this, Cao Zhengyuan suddenly understood. He immediately licked the bowl clean in his hand and threw it to the ground.
"We usually farm land for thousands of families and work for them during the war. This is how these people treat us.
They usually don’t have enough to eat, and when faced with difficulties they have to sell their children and daughters.”
Li Fengming heard bursts of crying in the surrender camp.
From time to time, he could still hear these people cursing the generals and the Ming court.
People are very susceptible to group infection, and they can empathize with a certain thing with people of the same identity.
Master Zhu can easily pick out those who have no empathy in the crowd.
Most of these people are servants. They are vested interest groups and are difficult to convert through grievance campaigns.
This group of people will be held in separate custody, and after strict review, if they have not made any serious mistakes, they will be cleared out of the army.
Most of the remaining surrendered troops will not support the generals even if the generals return to the army.
The generals have lost their biggest trump card.
These masters are very powerful and specialized in their crafts.
Let Li Fengming handle it, he will definitely not be able to complete it.
The time had come, and Li Fengming led a team to personally distribute the promised silver rewards to the soldiers who had committed the crime anyway.
Ten silver coins for each person, everyone has it.
The process of issuing silver coins is to strengthen the impression of these soldiers on the commander's office.
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Su He invited the eight generals to have dinner together.
"Don't worry, everyone, your treatment is absolutely guaranteed.
I, Su He, have one advantage: I always keep my word.
The things promised will definitely not be discounted."
Zhang Yunqing and other surrendered generals felt even more relieved after hearing Su He's assurance.
Su He chatted with these surrendered generals and learned about the local situation in Sichuan.
After the banquet, these people happily returned to their homes with the silver reward.
Zhang Yunqing did not leave until he saw other generals leaving.
He said directly: "Commander Su, I am good friends with Mo Yunbao, the commander of Sichuan Xingdu Division.
He manages Sichuan Xingdusi, most of which are mountainous areas, where chieftains gather.
Especially in Jianchangwei, located in the Liangshan area, there are many Yi chieftains.
He often suppressed the chieftains such as the Yi people, and his methods were somewhat heavy-handed, so that Sichuan Xingdusi remained very stable.
According to Commander Su's regulations, my friend will definitely be punished with the death penalty.
Can you please be accommodating, I am confident that I can persuade my friend to surrender."
Su He smiled and said: "Don't worry, those who integrate into our Chinese civilization are our people.
Even the toasts and raw fans are not considered common people.
For those who defend the homeland and suppress rebellion or bandits.
We will not pursue him unless he is acting inhumanely for his own selfish desires.
If Mo Yunbao can really join us, his position and treatment will be better than before."
After Zhang Yunqing heard this, he hesitated for a moment and said: "Commander Su, you'd better write a personal letter and I will bring it to Mo Yunbao personally.
Explain your conditions in the letter, and I will try my best to persuade him to seek refuge with you."
Su He still attaches great importance to Sichuan Xingdusi.
This place is close to Tubo. This place, the roof of the world, has been China's territory since ancient times. Sooner or later, it will be taken over.
He is also very lacking in people with experience in managing toasts.
Su He asked Su Changsheng to check the files and collect information about Mo Yunbao. He and Zhang Yunqing chatted about Mo Yunbao's personality.
Su Changsheng got the information and handed it to Su He.
Su He read the information and sat down to write a letter to Mo Yunbao.
He sealed the letter and handed it to Zhang Yunqing.
Zhang Yunqing received the letter and became more confident when he saw that Su He had investigated and did not agree directly.
"Commander Su, just wait for my good news.
Chengdu has been captured by you, and this friend of mine is a shrewd man, and he will never do anything like a chariot."
Zhang Yunqing took the letter and his confidants and left Chengdu overnight.
He had heard about the tactics of the thieves in yellow, and he no longer imagined that he could continue to lead the soldiers under his command.
He wants to find other opportunities to make meritorious deeds.
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Li Fengming took a stack of accusations and happily walked to Su He's room.
"Commander Su, we are done.
I wish Master to cooperate with the grievance movement, it is really powerful.
The surrendered soldiers of the Ming Army will no longer resist us, and even if the generals are careful, they will not be able to command these soldiers."
When Su He heard Li Fengming's words, he knew that Rongcheng was stable.
Now we have gained the hearts and minds of the surrendered troops, but it has only been one night, and they have not yet fully regained their complacency.
The surrendered soldiers will not resist them again until they have gone through the training in the new military camp and their families have finished dividing their fields.
These people will definitely return home.
Su He looked at the charges in Li Fengming's hands and found that these generals were fairly honest officials.
But only Zhang Yunqing could lead troops in battles, and his strength was pretty good. He defeated She Chongming and the Anbangyan Rebellion, and he was demoted for making trouble with pay.
The other seven generals were very poor at leading troops, and they could not defeat the local soldiers.
These people can also be used in the Reclamation Corps.
"Mr. Li, it seems that our Ming army generals who are notorious and have murderous crimes against them dare not surrender to us.
It’s so late, let’s go and rest first, there are still many things to do tomorrow.”
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Early the next morning, order had been restored in Chengdu, and the streets were full of soldiers standing guard.
The King of Shu and other Ming officials in Rongcheng were all arrested.
Su He asked the soldiers to escort these officials to the governor's Yamen gate.
At the same time, he sent someone to notify each household to send a representative to the governor's Yamen to observe the trial of the King of Shu and other officials.
There were no Dali Temple officials, so Su He tried these people himself.
He ordered a trial bench to be built in front of the governor's office.
Yu Tianyou led the troops to maintain order, and Qin Shanshui led a group of guardsmen to carry out executions.
Qin Shanshui walked to Su He and asked sheepishly: "Commander Su, you said you wanted to hang the King of Shu with a street lamp, but there is no street lamp here."
Su He looked at this strong man who was 1.8 meters tall, broad-shouldered and round-waisted.
Just looking at his appearance, who would have thought that this man's marksmanship was the most accurate in the army.
"Be flexible in what you do. If you can't find a street light, you can do it yourself.
Get a bamboo pole and hang a lantern on it, it's not a street light.
As long as it can hang people, other functions can be simple."
Qin Shanshui scratched his head and led the soldiers to make street lamps.
He was very happy in his heart. After taking down the guard regiment in Rongcheng, there was basically no war. It felt good to be alive.
The regiment commander also talked to him. After the war, he hoped to be promoted to company commander.
Su He saw that the King of Shu and other officials had been pressed over by soldiers from the guard regiment.
Many people came around, but they were stopped by soldiers and stood on the outside to observe the situation inside the judgment seat.
"Bring the King of Shu."
Su He gave an order, and Ding Degui and other loud-voiced guardsmen shouted outside.
Other soldiers relayed the message and kept repeating this sentence to let the surrounding people know what was going on in the judgment seat.
"Zhu Zhishu, the king of Shu, committed extremely evil crimes. He invaded people's fields, robbed beautiful women, and colluded with the government to harm the people.
I sentence King Zhu Zhishu of Shu to death and confiscate all the property of the King of Shu."
King Zhu Zhishu of Shu had his mouth blocked and was directly hung up on the simple street lamp made of bamboo by Qin Shanshui.
He struggled a few times and then died.
There was no need for a trial in Suhe. Most of the charges reported by the soldiers last night were related to King Zhu Zhishu of Shu.
During the Ming Dynasty, the feudal princes were raised like pigs. These people had some problems in their hearts. There were often feudal princes who took pleasure in torturing the people.
As long as the feudal king did not rebel, the court would not care about the evil deeds he committed.
The King of Rui, Zhu Changhao, believed in Buddhism and had just arrived in Hanzhong for a few years. He committed crimes that Su He could not bear.
The Prince of Shu's Mansion has taken root in Chengdu for many years, and more than half of the people in Chengdu have been harmed by the Prince of Shu's Mansion.
The crimes committed by the Prince of Shu are too numerous to describe.
If we really wanted to try the cases committed by King Zhu Zhishu of Shu, it would take a month to complete the trial.
Not only the King of Shu, Zhu Zhishu, but most of the entire family of the King of Shu were hung from the street lamps.
When the people saw that King Zhu Zhishu of Shu was hanged, they kept cheering.
Some people were shouting, Lord Qingtian.
Su He told the deputy editor of Hanzhong Newspaper next to him: "Describe today's events clearly, put it on the front page of the newspaper, and share the news with everyone under your rule."
Zhang Lun, the governor of Sichuan, was quickly pressed up by soldiers from the guard regiment.
When Zhang Lun saw this situation, he immediately knelt down and begged for mercy.
"Commander Su, I surrender.
I am good at managing local areas and understand the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.
I am a useful person to you, please spare me."
Su He snorted coldly: "I can't afford a corrupt official like you.
Chengdu is in danger. You actually tried to steal money and killed 136 people.
In just a few years as governor of Sichuan, you collected more than six million taels of silver.
With so much money collected, we can quickly catch up with next year's grain tax."
Su He would not dare to use such a greedy and stupid person.
He directly asked the soldiers of the guard regiment to hang Zhang Lun, the governor of Sichuan.
"Take Hou Liangzhu."
Hou Liangzhu, the commander-in-chief of Sichuan, was brought up by the soldiers of the guard regiment.
His right arm was gone, and his whole body was dying.
Hou Liangzhu refused to surrender when he was defending Deyang City, and his right arm was blown off.
He did not die directly, but he was dying due to wound infection.
Mu Qishen died faster than him and was directly shot to death.
"Hou Liangzhu raped civilian girls and embezzled food and wages from military households, causing many military households to starve to death.
Slaughter the common people and take credit for killing good people.
The crime is so heinous that he is sentenced to death."
Hou Liangzhu was also hanged from a street lamp.
Su He dealt with all the named officials in Rongcheng.
Based on the information and reports from officials, he discovered that the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty in Rongcheng was basically rotten.
Officials who have been in office for more than two years are basically corrupt officials, and only a few scholars who have just become officials survive.
Su He established prestige among the people by dealing with corrupt officials.
He said solemnly to the people:
"I will make the decision for everyone today. If you expose the gentry, as long as you have witnesses or physical evidence, you can come here directly to sue them.
These people will be duly judged."
When the people heard this, they immediately became excited.
Seeing the rows of people hanged in front of the judgment seat.
These are high-ranking officials whom they usually have no contact with.
The thieves who broke into Rongcheng were actually able to judge these officials.
Now that thieves are ruling Chengdu, maybe we can really avenge them.
A young woman shouted: "Sir, I have a grievance to complain to.
Tian Li, a folk girl, my husband just loves Western learning and bought some Western books, one of which showed a woman with a broken arm on the cover.
The patriarch, Tian Yuankang, had my husband Tian Jiapeng's legs broken in the name of immorality, and also prevented the doctor from seeing a doctor, causing my husband to become disabled.
They embezzled all the property passed down from our ancestors.
There are a total of three thousand taels of silver, one thousand six hundred acres of land, and three shops in Rongcheng Mansion."
Su He was very happy after hearing this. Finally someone took the lead and wanted to sue the gentry.
The gentry exploited tenants through land externally, and exploited branch branches within the clan internally through clan.
If you want to exploit others, you must use cruel means to oppress opponents.
There are very few gentry who have not violated the law.
This kind of law-abiding gentry can also be easily transformed, allowing them to become factory owners and give up their land to develop industry.
As long as the laws set by Su He are used as the basis, 99% of the gentry can be eliminated.
In addition, the land of the law-abiding gentry was redeemed.
This will completely eliminate the gentry who rely on land rental as their main means of survival.
The gentry used land to collect rent and made no contribution to the development of productivity.
As long as the bottom farmers, who account for 99% of the population, can be allocated land, and the normal circulation of land can be restricted.
Suhe can gain the support of farmers, who send their sons and husbands to the battlefield.
Build up enough troops to overthrow the Ming Dynasty and fend off the nomadic invasion.
Farmers are very motivated to plant their own land.
Produce enough food to survive the Little Ice Age.
"Bring Tian Yuankang and others here."
Su He began to hear the case.
The witnesses and material evidence are all there, and the case is not complicated.
It means that the clan leader uses his authority to use clan family laws to seize the property of the clan branches.
"The criminal Tian Yuankang intentionally harmed others, causing serious injuries, and illegally took other people's property.
He was sentenced to return of property and compensation of 500 taels of silver.
The criminal was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment through hard labor."
When Tian Yuankang heard Su He's sentence, he kept kowtowing and pleading: "I used the clan law, which is in line with Ming law and Confucian ethics.
Sir, you cannot punish me for this reason."
Su He slammed the table and angrily said: "Now the laws of the Ming Dynasty can't control you. Under my rule, you must abide by the laws I set.
Drag him down."
The soldiers from the guard regiment were about to drag Tian Yuankang down.
An old man dressed as a servant rushed over and screamed.
Su He immediately sent someone to bring the old man over.
He was mute and struggled to write crooked words to accuse Tian Yuankang.
His daughter was defiled by Tian Yuankang and committed suicide by throwing herself into the river.
He went to sue the officials, but Tian Yuankang said that he had falsely accused him.
He was beaten ten times and was caught by Tian Yuankang when he left the Yamen and his tongue was cut out.
Su He asked the security team to drag Tian Yuankang back and continue to examine the case against him.
Tian Yuankang did not kill this man, but used him to warn others and demonstrate his authority as the patriarch.
The soldiers quickly called the then-minor officials and Tian family slaves to testify.
Su He confirmed the authenticity of the matter and sentenced Tian Yuankang to death, which was immediately executed.
Qin Shanshui led the guardsmen and hanged Tian Yuankang from a street lamp.
He was accompanied by important figures such as King Zhu Zhishu of Shu, Governor Zhang Lun of Sichuan, and General Hou Liangzhu of Sichuan. He was not alone in his death.
When the people of Rongcheng saw that Su He really made the decision for the people, they easily hanged a powerful gentry.
They enthusiastically accused the Chengdu gentry of the evil deeds they had done.
Su He showed no mercy and hanged a famous gentleman to death.
Qin Shanshui strangled some small gentry and accomplices to death with hemp ropes.
There were a lot of bamboos, but too many people died.
There is almost no room to display it, and only the main criminal is qualified to hang it from the street lamp.
"I regret it! I should have known that the thieves in yellow were ruthless in their tactics.
I should support Sir Zhang Lun and keep the yellow-clothed thieves out of the city."
Some gentry saw the security team coming to arrest people at home.
Gather the servants and clan members to prepare to resist the arrest by the guards.
They were directly shot open by the guardsmen with cannons.
All those who resisted were shot on the spot.
Su He interrogated for three consecutive days, and more than 90% of the gentry in Rongcheng were punished by him.
Thirty percent of them were executed and all their property was confiscated.
Sixty percent of the crimes committed were not serious, and the family owner and his minions were sentenced, all the land was confiscated, and part of the family property was confiscated.
The remaining gentry were frightened to death when they saw Su He's methods.
Suhe announced that each household could reserve up to 100 acres of land.
Most of these people did not dare to resist. Those who wanted to retain more land separated their families, and they happily handed over the excess land.
Su He confiscated all the land from the gentry in Rongcheng Prefecture, and this process caused some minor disturbances.
But with a large army in hand, the gentry who did not understand current affairs were all executed.
He also established authority in Chengdu by judging the gentry.
Rongcheng Prefecture is approaching stability.
Su He held another military meeting, and he left Han Shuliang's 1st Brigade of the 4th Division and the 1st Brigade of the Guards Division with the heaviest casualties.
They are responsible for the defense of Rongcheng Prefecture and maintaining order in Rongcheng City.
Wu Jie led the 2nd and 3rd brigades of the 4th Division to attack south and captured Rong County and Fushun County, where there are salt wells.
Li Dazhuang led the rest of the Guards Division to attack other places in northern Sichuan along the Minjiang River.
Especially the area around Dujiangyan, which is the main grain-producing area in Sichuan.
The grain harvest has just been completed a few months ago, and there is a lot of grain stored here, so we must get it.