Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 51: Receive your salary at the training ground, but do not bring armor or weapons!
[Massacre in a city has been an important means for feudal armies to vent their anger since ancient times! ]

【During the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu both massacred cities.】

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, both Liu Xiu and Cao Cao massacred cities. Cao Cao's massacre has always been a focal point of controversy. The line "Bones lie exposed in the fields, and no roosters crow for a thousand miles" is not only a masterpiece of poetry written by Prime Minister Cao expressing his feelings about the hardships of the people, but also reflects the reality of his military campaigns...

[Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty, the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Five Dynasties, the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, massacres of cities have been common.]

[The reason for this, aside from the feudal army's poor discipline and their desire to seize property, is largely due to the issue of "morale"!]

If a city is easily captured, the attackers suffer minimal losses, and morale remains high, then the probability of the army massacring the city is low, as everyone is relaxed and there's no need for a massacre.

[And if it's a city that hasn't been conquered for a long time, the probability of a massacre after the city is captured is extremely high, even close to 100%...]

The reason is simple. The attackers have already invested too much time and energy in the city, and even suffered heavy casualties. This has infuriated the entire army, and they are all filled with resentment!

If they fail to capture the city, the attackers will have no choice but to swallow their anger, no matter how mad they are. But if they succeed, they will have to vent their anger, both at their original cost and with interest...

Massacring, killing, raping, and looting are the best ways to vent at this moment! Feudal soldiers don't care if this is right or wrong; driven mad, they're all beasts in human form. If the commander agrees to the massacre, that's fine. But if the commander insists on being a gentleman, don't blame the soldiers for charging him too!

Therefore, the practice of massacring a city, which was considered wrong by people of any dynasty, persisted throughout the feudal era because it was the nature of feudal armies.

[And now, you can't help but massacre the city...]

[Standing before the ruins of Yangzhou City, after enduring two months under the city walls, you finally managed to let go of the anger in your heart!]

[The good news is that it didn't take as long as a year or two.]

[Bad news, two months isn’t a short time. Two months! What does two months mean?!]

The New Deal has just begun, and what you lack most is time. You should have remained firmly in the Prime Minister's Palace in the capital, and then carried out drastic reforms across the vast territory of the two capitals and thirteen provinces, bringing the Ming Dynasty back on track as soon as possible.

[As a result, just because of the Yangzhou rebellion, you and your three thousand Jinyiwei were trapped outside the city for two months. During these two months, you did nothing but waste the city's artillery shells, guns, and arrows!]

[For these past two months, your body and mind have endured daily torment, watching helplessly as precious opportunities for reform were squandered. Sleep was impossible at night, and every time you closed your eyes, you saw the expectant gazes of the Divine Emperor and the people of the world... Over time, your anger has reached a peak, your eyes bloodshot, as if ready to devour anyone!]

[And you are like this, and the Jinyiwei are even more like this, but they don't dream of the expectant gazes of the people of the world, they are just simply angry.]

When has the Emperor's personal army ever suffered such injustice? Especially over the past sixty years, they've been so arrogant and conceited. Who among the officials and the people of the world isn't afraid of them?!

[But now, not only have we been unable to capture a mere isolated city for two consecutive months, but we're also being bombarded with artillery shells every day! And after bombs, there are still bullets!]

[The shrapnel bombs kept exploding. Although no unlucky souls were killed by the bull's-eye, after two months of blasting, even with everyone's diligent dodging, the divine power was gradually running low. If this dragged on for another month or so, we would have no choice but to retreat in disgrace and seek replenishment from His Majesty...]

[Shame! This is a huge shame! You must know your shame!]

[The world's strongest army was nearly forced to retreat... If they don't chop off a bunch of heads, they'll really think the Jinyiwei are made of clay!]

[So, you decided to massacre the city! Let the entire army vent their anger together!]

[But you, the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, are not Prime Minister Cao after all, and you can't actually massacre the city. So, you should first move the innocent people out of the city, and then massacre the city... This way, not only will no innocent people be implicated, but everyone who is angry can also pretend to be massacring the city and have a good time...]

"Prime Minister!"

[A captain of the Imperial Guard, who has just emerged from the city, respectfully reports to you.]

"Almost 100,000 people were killed in total, all of them wealthy merchants involved in the rebellion and their private soldiers, as well as many officials... However, we also found some officials in the dungeon, as well as five Jinyiwei stationed in Yangzhou. They claim to be loyal subjects and do not agree with the rebellion, but are simply being held captive by the rebels... I'm not sure what to do with them."

You frowned: "Kill them all!"

【what? 】

Facing the stunned gaze of the reporting captain, you said sternly, "The Yangzhou rebellion wasn't a one-time event; it's been in the works for decades. For so long, these people have been blind, allowing the rebels to train their own soldiers and accumulate military equipment. Even if they didn't directly participate in the rebellion, they can't escape the charge of negligence!"

"Besides, are they really unaware of the traitors? They're right under our noses and they're still oblivious. That only means they're in cahoots." "Kill them all!"

Qian Hu was startled and quickly accepted the order: "Yes!"

He then reported, "And Prime Minister... We've found the details of these traitors in the city!"

"Apart from the local wealthy merchants and gentry, most of them were retired local officials, such as Liu Yizhao, the former governor of Shaanxi, the former governor-general of Huguang, the former envoy of Shandong... and even the former ministers of six ministries in Yingtian Prefecture... After retiring, they brought their property and wives and children to Yangzhou, where they lived lavishly and enjoyed a life of luxury..."

[Well, they're all a bunch of retired old bastards! These guys acted incredibly loyal when they were in office, but once they retired, they let themselves go, each one plotting a rebellion and never acting again...]

[What a saying: "Loyalty is work, rebellion is life"!]

Hearing the details of these traitors, you can't help but twitch your lips: Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you still hope to buy your subjects' loyalty by tolerating corruption. Now, the more you indulge them, the more rampant they become. Corruption and lawlessness are one thing, but they even covet your divine position...

After a moment of sighing, you ask, "Anything else? Tell me all about it."

"Yes! We also found gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, calligraphy, and paintings in Yangzhou. We don't know how much they're worth, but if we loaded them all up, it would take at least a hundred trucks..."

"We still have a lot of foreign guns and cannons. There's still a lot of gunpowder and bullets left in the guns, but the cannons are out of shells. The rebels even damaged a lot of their barrels. Brothers, we plan to melt these cannons down. They'll cost at least hundreds of thousands of pounds of copper..."

You shook your head: "Send all the treasure back to the imperial treasury in Beijing, and take the foreign guns and cannons with you too... Don't melt them, they're all treasures!"

【baby?】

The captain was bewildered. "What treasures are foreign guns and cannons?" "Even though we were badly bombed this time, it was mainly because those retired old men in the city used their divine powers to aid in the defense, preventing a night attack. Otherwise, we would have taken the city that very night!"

At least from the perspective of the Jinyiwei, simple foreign guns and cannons can only hurt ordinary people at best. For elite troops like their own, who possess supernatural powers, they are not really a big problem. They say they are treasures, but everyone really doesn't understand...

[But since the Prime Minister said this, they have no objection. Just take it along!]

[So, a mighty army returned to the capital with countless spoils of war, leaving behind only the ruined city of Yangzhou. The vast city was deserted, with only bloodstains everywhere that had not been cleaned up, and a newly built mass grave outside the city...]

[The night rain is rustling, the cool wind is blowing across the ground, leaving the empty city like a mass grave... The howling wind and the dripping rain are like the cries of ghosts at night, making one feel sad...]

You are not someone who enjoys killing, but you know that if you continue on this path, you will inevitably kill countless people.

[Yangzhou is the first place you massacred people, but it will definitely not be the last...]

【You, have no choice! 】

【…】

In June of the 74th year of the Chongzhen reign, starting at the end of February and lasting three months, the Ming Dynasty Prime Minister Zhou Liang finally led his troops to capture Yangzhou!

[This month, the Prime Minister relocated all the innocent civilians in the city to the countryside south of the Yangtze River, and then massacred and destroyed the city!]

[The Prime Minister used "de-urbanization" in Yangzhou, and the effect was remarkable!]

In July, the Prime Minister returned to the capital, where he was first cheered by the people and then commended by His Majesty.

The Emperor was pleased: "I have a Prime Minister, just as Zhaolie had Kongming!"

[This month, the Prime Minister re-managed government affairs, and with the might of slaughtering Yangzhou, he announced that the new policy would continue!]

[This month, in light of the poor performance of the Beijing Army during the Yangzhou rebellion suppression campaign, the Prime Minister decided to reform the Beijing Army's military forces. He subsequently issued orders for the deployment of 100,000 troops...]

"Tomorrow you will be receiving your pay at the parade grounds. Do not bring your armor or weapons!"

……

(End of this chapter)