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

Chapter 57 Majia Village

At Li Laowai's command, the hundreds of cavalrymen behind him charged out like arrows released from a bow.

These cavalrymen were seething with anger today. They hadn't been of much help during the siege and could only loiter on the perimeter. They were all burning with rage.

Outside the city, Wu Ze's soldiers were still lazily yawning, waiting to go into the city for a good sleep.

But to everyone's surprise, a sharp whooshing sound suddenly came from above, followed by a barrage of arrows, bullets, and falling rocks raining down from the city wall.

Caught completely off guard, a large number of people were instantly knocked down, their screams echoing throughout the area.

Before they could even get up and catch their breath, the sound of hooves thundered ahead. Li Laowai's cavalry descended like tigers from the mountain and arrived before them in the blink of an eye.

This sudden offensive completely stunned Wu Ze's troops, leaving them unable to muster any will to resist, and the entire army formation instantly descended into chaos.

Li Laowai took the lead, using the momentum of his horse to raise his saber high and slash fiercely at the crowd.

An enemy soldier hurriedly raised his spear to block, but it was too late. With a muffled "thud," the blade slashed down, and half of the man's shoulder and arm flew off, blood gushing out like a fountain and splattering all over the ground.

The cavalrymen followed closely behind, raised their spears, and with a gentle flick at the crowd, sent one unlucky fellow flying.

Wu Ze's soldiers were completely panicked. Some tried to raise their shields to defend themselves, but were thrown several meters away by the huge impact of the warhorse. When they landed, they were already bloody and lifeless.

Li Laowai's cavalry, like a sharp blade, pierced through the enemy formation, tearing a bloody gash in the crowd.

However, that was not the end of it. Just as Wu Ze's men were fleeing in panic, the sound of battle suddenly rose again from the direction of the city gate. Two teams of heavily armored infantrymen surged out like a tide, each with fierce eyes, and rushed over menacingly.

The sounds of horses neighing, screams, and the clanging of weapons mingled together, filling the entire battlefield.

Wu Ze may not have any other skills, but he has an excellent sense of the battlefield and can run faster than anyone else.

As soon as the arrow fell from above, he knew something was wrong. He immediately told his guards to mount their horses and run away.

He cracked the whip repeatedly, one strike after another, not daring to stop for even a second, lest he be caught up and beheaded.

Behind him, Li Laowai was leading a dozen cavalrymen in hot pursuit, determined to kill Wu Ze.

But it was too dark, and the rugged terrain of northern Shaanxi made it unsuitable for a pursuit on horseback.

After chasing for several miles, Li Laowai saw that the terrain was becoming increasingly treacherous, so he had no choice but to rein in his horse, slow down, and stop the pursuit.

He glanced resentfully at Wu Ze, who was fleeing frantically ahead, sighed, then whistled, signaling his brothers behind him to head back.

After all, in this place, it's easy for a warhorse to slip and fall, but it would be a serious matter if it accidentally falls to its death.

Old Li is a man of some stature. If word got out that he died in a fall from a horse, wouldn't people laugh their heads off?

In contrast, Wu Ze was only focused on escaping, caring nothing for the terrain; since life and death were preordained, he just kept whipping his horse and charging forward like a madman.

He had only one thought in his mind right now—to run back to Yan'an Prefecture as quickly as possible.

Only when he entered the city walls could he catch his breath and regain some sense of security.

As for going out into the field again? You're kidding. If he can even hold the city after today's battle, he'll be lucky to have his ancestors' graves emitting auspicious smoke.

If he loses another city, he'll be charged with the crime of losing territory, and his life will be completely over.

Fortunately, he left several hundred men in Majia Village, which were his only remaining forces.

He had to hurry back and bring these people back to the ranks. Perhaps once they returned to the city, they could use the city's defenses to hold off the ravenous rebel army.

However, the few hundred men he had placed his hopes on had long since turned Majia Village into a cash deposit shop, and were now looting and killing people all over the village.

In the eyes of these government troops, this village was a den of bandits, so they robbed it without any scruples.

The centurion leading the bandits was even happier, as there were quite a few bandits in the den, and taking a few back would at least earn him some military merit.

Jiang Han and his team worked hard for several months in Majia Village, and the village had just begun to show some improvement.

The original villagers no longer fled, and could still take on some sewing and mending work to earn a living.

The newly arrived migrants were also well-behaved and honestly helped take care of the crops. Although life was hard, at least they could survive.

When Jiang Han recruited people, he chose farmers with calloused hands, mostly young and strong men, some with wives and some with children.

Hei Zi initially advised him to only hire single men, as he disliked those with families who would consume too much food.

Jiang Han didn't think so. These families were easier to manage, and he didn't have time to keep an eye on them all day. For these people, life was getting better day by day. They could make ends meet every day and no longer had to eat tree bark and white mud.

But today, everything has been smashed to pieces.

Jiang Han's men had barely left for half an hour when Wu Ze's government troops rushed into the village like hungry wolves.

The villagers were still picking up the ears of wheat and millet that Jiang Han and his group had missed in the fields, completely unaware of what was happening.

Upon suddenly seeing the government troops arrive, they were terrified and abandoned their food to run away.

But how could the government troops let them go?
The government troops were like wolves among sheep. They rushed up and kicked the fleeing villagers in the back, knocking them to the ground. Ignoring the villagers' desperate pleas, they raised their hands and stabbed them, blood splattering on the spot.

The people inside the house were in no better condition. The soldiers kicked open the door, rushed in, and killed anyone they saw without any mercy.

Before Old Li at the village entrance could even get up, he was slashed in the back with a knife, and blood stained the straw mat on the kang (a heated brick bed).

He struggled to get up, but the government soldiers stepped on his head and then stabbed him, killing him instantly.

The child's cries inside the house were abruptly cut off by the soldiers, and after a moment, there was no more sound.

After killing the people, the soldiers acted as if nothing had happened, ransacking the house and taking everything they could.

The grain went to the tax collectors, and the money went into their own pockets. Although the amount was not much, they could at least exchange it for some wine money when they got back.

The group that came to Majia Village included not only government officials and soldiers, but also tax collectors sent by the government.

Because Jiang Han had long occupied Majia Village and the surrounding areas of Anse, these tax collectors dared not come to collect summer taxes and could only plunder other townships and counties.

But in this poor place of northern Shaanxi, after the disaster, everyone fled, so there was no summer tax to collect.
Even in the event of a disaster, the imperial court's grain tax must not be reduced by a single penny, otherwise the tax collectors themselves would not get any benefits.

In order to meet their performance targets, these tax collectors had already plundered the land of other townships and counties, but they still couldn't collect enough taxes for this year. So they had no choice but to set their sights on Majia Village.

Taking advantage of the government troops' suppression of bandits, the tax collectors were eager to search Majia Village thoroughly.

They led their officers and soldiers to search house to house, seizing any grain they could find without any mercy.

The villagers were terrified and knelt down, begging the officials to leave them some food to live. But these jackals didn't care about their lives.

The government troops and tax collectors ransacked the houses, looting all the little food each household had left.

In a cave dwelling at the end of the village, a middle-aged man saw tax collectors and soldiers rushing in to seize the last half-sack of grain from his family, and his eyes turned red with rage.

He lunged forward and pressed the half-bag of grain under his body, protecting it tightly, but how could he withstand the soldiers' punches and kicks?

Several men held him down and beat him mercilessly until he lay on the ground, groaning and unable to get up. Finally, they stabbed him, and blood flowed everywhere.

The tax collector kicked the man's corpse aside, disdainfully picked up the blood-stained half-sack of grain from the ground, casually tossed it into a sack, and turned to leave.

Even so, they weren't done yet. The government troops dragged all the villagers out of their houses and interrogated them one by one. If they didn't comply, they were beaten severely.

A man named Song Lao Er couldn't take it anymore and cried out, begging for mercy.

"Sir! Sir, stop hitting them! Stop hitting them! I know there are two petty thieves who haven't run away yet!"

"I'll implicate them both, please spare my life, sir!"

The leader of the centurions' eyes flashed with a sharp light. He stepped forward, grabbed the man by the collar, and shouted sternly:

"What's the thief's name?! Where is he?!"

"Tell me! I'll spare your life!"

Song Lao Er trembled like a leaf, pointed to the old Ma family house on the north side of the village, and stammered:

"I don't know their names, I've only heard people mention that the thieves were a brother and sister."

"I just saw them heading towards the Ma family's residence!"

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(End of this chapter)