Emperor Chongzhen was too extreme.

Chapter 96 Li Zicheng has gone mad with killing!

Listen to this.

Sun Chuanting was immediately stunned.

Sun Chuanting certainly wanted Prince Rui dead too. Prince Rui had openly rebelled, so why keep him alive?!

But the question is, how do we kill them?!
This is the real reason why Sun Chuanting was stunned.

With all its troops stationed in Yansui, inciting the people could easily lead to unforeseen events over time, and Prince Rui might even resort to desperate measures.

But Sun Chuanting knew that His Majesty's words were no joke.

Just as he was about to ask His Majesty to clarify his doubts, he heard the voice from ahead again.

"Lead a troop to Hanzhong Prefecture to deliver my decree: Prince Rui, Zhu Changhao, frequently abuses and massacres lower-ranking members of the imperial family."

"."

As he listened to His Majesty's words, Sun Chuanting became increasingly alarmed.

The imperial edict explicitly stated that Zhu Changhao massacred lower-ranking members of the imperial clan and then incited them to seek revenge?!
Not only that, but they also said that after the killings, they would divide the wealth in the Prince's mansion among them in three parts?!

This actually works!

Sun Chuanting had personally witnessed firsthand the hardships endured by members of the lower-ranking imperial family during his years of travel.

A member of the royal family without a title, who had been unable to receive his stipend for years, finally had to weave a pair of straw sandals to sell.

Then he was dragged over by the local government and severely beaten.

While hitting him, he asked: "Our Great Ming Dynasty is thriving, and you, a noble member of the imperial family, are trying to slap the face of the Great Ming Dynasty by selling straw sandals on the street?!"
Or do you want to emulate Liu Bei?!
As for members of the royal family like the King of Qin and the King of Rui, the local government didn't dare utter a single word.

Both are members of the imperial clan.

The hatred stemming from this inequality is unimaginable.

In addition, His Majesty's current prestige in the Shaanxi region.

It was incredibly easy to incite these already resentful lower-ranking members of the royal family with a single imperial edict.

He was ordered to kill his enemy, but he wasn't in a hurry to go!
Sun Chuanting's breathing became rapid.

He never expected that Prince Rui, whom he had been trying to figure out how to deal with all the way, could be killed directly in this way.

Moreover, not only Prince Rui, but several other princely residences within Shaanxi will also be eliminated.

In this case, let's not worry about the external situation for now.

In any case, things are absolutely stable inside Shaanxi.

Officials have been terrified, and capable members of the royal family have been slaughtered.

Then Your Majesty can focus all your attention on border affairs; to repel external threats, you must first secure the internal stability!

Sun Chuanting dared not waste any more time and hurriedly knelt down and bowed his head, saying, "Your humble servant obeys the decree!"

"But before I depart, there is one more thing I would like to confirm with Your Majesty. Your Majesty has dispatched half of your troops to the Yansui military garrison. Is this in preparation for a personal campaign?"

Hearing Sun Chuanting's words, Zhu Youjian nodded lightly.

The grain seized from killing a few princes alone is not enough for the people of Yan'an Prefecture to get through the winter smoothly.

Therefore, the non-Han peoples on the grasslands naturally took on the obligation of providing food.

If an empire doesn't develop through plunder, what does it rely on?!

After the battle, Yan'an Prefecture was well-fed.

Sun Chuanting looked at His Majesty, who was nodding in response, and for a moment felt his throat tighten.

He had so much to say, but in the end, it all boiled down to one sentence: "Your Majesty, I understand. I will go to Yansui Military Town to meet with Your Majesty as soon as I finish dealing with matters concerning the imperial clan!"

at the same time.

Mizhi County, Yan'an Prefecture.

Inside the mansion of the Han family, a gentry family.

The head of the Han family sat in his armchair, looking down at Han Jin'er, and was instantly filled with anger.

He didn't expect that.

He asked his daughter to marry Li Zicheng, but things have escalated to this point.

of course.

The Han family head was not angry because Li Zicheng was slapped in the street by his own daughter.

He was just a lowly courier; it was no big deal to beat him.

What truly angered him was that, at such a critical juncture, Han Jin'er had stirred up a scandal that would cause a great uproar.

You should know that ever since the Emperor came to Shaanxi...

These local gentry and wealthy families suffered a great deal.

Several gentry families in Mizhi County had their homes confiscated and were imprisoned, all in order to divert grain to provide relief to disaster victims.

The Han family escaped disaster only because they had a close relationship with the county magistrate.

Even so, the Han family still gave away a large chunk of their wealth.

So how could he not be angry that Han Jin'er still dared to act so arrogantly?!
Isn't this just asking to become a target for the emperor?!

Even if the emperor doesn't notice him, what if those unruly people remember the Han family's past arrogance because of this incident and expose those things?

The Han family head had no doubt that the current county magistrate would abandon their family directly.

They used these expendable pawns to protect their own official positions.

All of a sudden.

The more the Han family head thought about it, the angrier he became. He raised his cane and smashed it down on Han Jin'er, who was standing below the hall: "You beast!"

"I think the Han family will perish in your hands sooner or later!!"

Seeing this, a servant quickly stopped him, saying, "Master, please calm down! Miss is still quite naive!"

"Besides, Li Zicheng is, after all, a coward who dares not speak out against his anger and won't cause any trouble."

Han Jin'er cried as she dodged, "Father! Why do you insist on making me marry such a good-for-nothing!"

"Shut up! You beast!"

The head of the Han family was stopped by his servants and did not pursue Han Jin'er any further.

However, the head of the Han family did not answer his daughter's question.

He just kept yelling and cursing, telling her to hurry up and go find Li Zicheng to negotiate the marriage.

After Han Jin'er ran out of the house, the head of the Han family finally calmed down a bit.

He naturally had his own reasons for insisting that his daughter marry Li Zicheng.

He knew that when the emperor came to Shaanxi, he was targeting wealthy gentry families like theirs.

Therefore, he had to find a poor enough son-in-law to nominally transfer all his property to, so that he could truly save his life.

However, the son-in-law cannot be too difficult to control, otherwise, unforeseen changes will inevitably occur in the future; there are far too many examples of this.

then.

The Han family head then set his sights on Li Zicheng.

After all, no one in the entire Mizhi County was more qualified than him.

Thinking about these things.

The head of the Han family waved his hand and summoned several servants, instructing them: "You few go with the young lady. If Li Zicheng still doesn't agree, just tie him up and bring him here."

"This matter absolutely cannot be delayed any longer!"

"Yes, sir!" Seeing the servants leave with their short sticks, the Han family head finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Not long after.

Han Jin'er, who had been kicked out by her own father, came all the way to Li Zicheng's door.

Then he started cursing loudly at Li Zicheng's door.

Han Jin'er's thought process is very simple.

If you've been wronged at home, you'll naturally want to get revenge elsewhere.

Moreover, from her perspective, a man like Li Zicheng wouldn't dare say anything even if he were slapped in the street. If she scolded him severely, he would naturally obediently go back with her to get married.

The current situation is indeed as Han Jin'er predicted.

Faced with her insults, Li Zicheng simply stood with his head down under the eaves of his house, silently enduring it.

Seeing this, Han Jin'er naturally became even more enthusiastic in her scolding.

The villagers were all attracted and stood around watching.

The villagers, who saw each other every day and had some connection with Li Zicheng, quickly persuaded Han Jin'er to stop humiliating her.

Those who weren't close to him simply stood aside and watched the show.

of course.

There were also several gloating individuals who made sarcastic remarks, as if afraid the matter wouldn't get big enough.

After all, it's not easy to have a full stomach these days.

Now that there's such a good show to watch, shouldn't we join in the fun and have some fun?
Li Zicheng remained silent with his head down, though his body began to tremble slowly.

The crowd's attempts to dissuade Han Jin'er were completely ineffective, and as they egged her on, her words became increasingly vulgar.

Han Jin'er only paused briefly when the Han family's servants arrived.

The servants, seeing a crowd gathered around, naturally understood what had happened.

However, they had been instructed beforehand not to escalate the situation, so they approached Li Zicheng with short sticks in hand.
"Kid, just come back with us and you'll suffer less."

"Not just anyone can be the son-in-law of the Han family. Don't take your good fortune for granted!"

Han Jin'er glanced at Li Zicheng with disdain, and was about to say something more sarcastic.

But then he saw Li Zicheng pull something out of his waist, and a flash of cold light suddenly stabbed towards his neck.

puff-

A spurt of hot blood gushed from Han Jin'er's neck and splashed directly onto Li Zicheng's face.

Han Jin'er looked at the person in front of her with some disbelief.

But before she could react...

Then they saw Li Zicheng pull the dagger from his own neck and then, with the same swift movement, stab it into the necks of the servants.

In the blink of an eye, Li Zicheng had killed several people!

The once lively crowd was instantly stunned, and everyone even forgot to flee.

What everyone didn't expect was.

Li Zicheng killed several people without pausing at all.

Instead, he went up to the villagers who had mocked him earlier, grabbed their clothes, and plunged the knife into their necks again.

Fuck your mother! I'll make you laugh!

Several more people died by the sword.

Only then did the crowd realize what had happened and scatter in all directions.

Li Zicheng did not pursue and indiscriminately kill Han Jin'er. Instead, after cutting off Han Jin'er's head, he carried the head in one hand and the knife in the other, and strode to the post station manager's house.

He endured all the humiliation the postmaster inflicted on him on ordinary days.

But now, he's not going to put up with it anymore!
After a while.

The entire family of five, including the postmaster, was wiped out.

Even after killing more than ten people in a short period of time, Li Zicheng still did not stop.

He took the key to the post station's treasury from the postmaster.

Li Zicheng picked out a suit of armor from the treasury, took several long swords, and rode his horse towards the county town without saying a word.

It stands to reason.

It's impossible for a fully armed person to swagger into the county town.

However, all the county's main officials happened to be in the prefectural city for a meeting today, and the city gate guards were lax in their duties, which is how Li Zicheng managed to ride his horse through the city.

Li Zicheng, clad in armor and wielding a long sword, paid no heed to the discussions among the people in the county town and went straight to the gate of the Han residence.

He kicked open the door to the Han family's house and walked in with a cold look in his eyes.

immediately.

The sounds of fighting and screams could be heard from inside the courtyard.

About the time it takes to burn two incense sticks.

The entire Han family, including servants and household members, totaling thirty-seven people, were slaughtered.

Such a commotion naturally attracted countless civilians and a small number of government soldiers.

When Li Zicheng walked out carrying a string of human heads, the onlookers gasped and backed away.

The officers and soldiers retreated along with them, not daring to advance.

With only a few coins a month, who would dare risk their life against a bloodthirsty thug?!
Most importantly, this person was wearing armor!

The boss isn't here, who dares to step up?!
Li Zicheng calmly swept his gaze over these people, showing no intention of taking action.

In fact, from the moment he made his first stab, he had no intention of living.

All he wanted was to kill everyone he deserved and then turn himself in.

Becoming an outlaw might not be a bad choice.

But that also meant that from now on he would have to kill unarmed civilians.

This was not what Li Zicheng wanted.

He looked down at the severed head in his hand.

I've already had enough in this life.

Li Zicheng's gaze swept over the soldiers and officers; he had intended to throw down his weapons and surrender himself.

But seeing how cowardly they were, Li Zicheng really didn't want to die at their hands.

suddenly.

That chilling sense of fate flashed through Li Zicheng's mind once again.

It seems the Emperor has come to Yan'an Prefecture.

So, since death is inevitable either way...

It would be better to die at the hands of the emperor.

Without further hesitation, Li Zicheng mounted his horse and headed straight for the prefectural city.

The crowd immediately pushed and shoved to make way for them.

Not a single person dared to stop them.

(End of this chapter)