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

Chapter 72 Yang He
Upon hearing the news, Jiang Han immediately led his men back to the prefectural government office in a flurry of activity.

The moment he stepped inside, the scene before him took him by surprise:
The prefectural government office was in complete chaos, with the floor littered with trash.

The courtyard was filled with officials and gentry from Yan'an Prefecture, all of them with ashen faces, bound tightly and unable to move.

Meanwhile, the culprit, Li Liyuan, was being held down on the ground by Li Laowai's personal guards, struggling incessantly.

Jiang Han frowned and said in a deep voice:

"Old Li, bring him to the inner hall. No one else is allowed to come near!"

Upon hearing this, Li Laowai immediately ordered his personal guards to escort Li Liyuan into the inner hall.

Jiang Han stared intently at Li Liyuan, his tone unfriendly:

"Li Liyuan, what's wrong with you?"

"I have repeatedly ordered that no one is allowed to trespass on private property, and even more so, no one is allowed to kill innocent people indiscriminately. How dare you openly disobey military orders?"

Li Liyuan lowered his head and remained silent, seemingly aware that he was in the wrong.

"say!"

Jiang Han slammed his hand on the table and roared, "Don't play dead with me!"

Upon hearing this, Li Liyuan slowly raised his head and gritted his teeth, saying:
"General, what kind of people are they?"

"Every single one of these people deserves to die!"

Jiang Han narrowed his eyes, signaling him to continue.

Li Liyuan said bitterly:

"Take Wang Fusheng for example. He's no good. Relying on his connection with the prefect, he wants to control all the grain around Yan'an Prefecture!"

"The soaring grain prices in Yan'an Prefecture in recent years were all orchestrated by him!"

"And then there's Master Zhao. His family is the biggest landlord in Ganquan County. They eat delicacies every day, and most of the tenant farmers in the county work for them!"

"Since the general has troops now, we might as well fleece these fat sheep!"

After listening, Jiang Han nodded and asked:
"What are you going to do?"

A ruthless glint flashed in Li Liyuan's eyes as he whispered:
"I plan to lock all these officials and gentry in jail, torture them, and squeeze every last drop of profit out of them!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Han suddenly realized that this was the same method used to extort money.
I didn't expect to use it here ahead of time. Truly, ruthless people have ruthless tricks.

Jiang Han didn't actually dislike the extortion, nor did he sympathize with these officials and gentry.

Because he is currently just a rebel leader, he has no right to consider whether opposing the landlord class will lead to an unstable foundation for his rule.

What a joke! He doesn't even have territory, so what basis does he have for ruling?

On the contrary, these officials and gentry were the foundation of the Ming Dynasty's rule, but at the same time they were also the parasites of the Ming Dynasty and its most loyal vassals.

Because only under the Ming Dynasty system could they all eat so much oily food.

Having figured this out, Jiang Han stopped trying to stop Li Liyuan:
"Go ahead, but don't make too much noise."

“Those who are not so wealthy, or those who are popular officials and gentry like the Ma family, should be spared.”

"We must focus on the major issues and let the minor ones go, and take targeted action against these corrupt officials and gentry."

Li Liyuan was taken aback and asked in confusion:
"My lord, what is the meaning of this?"

Jiang Han slowly began to explain:

"Don't see all these officials and gentry as our enemies!"

"We need to win over some people and then crack down on others, dividing them from within."

“Those who wreak havoc in a region are naturally our enemies; but those who have a conscience and popular support, we might as well do them a favor.”

Li Liyuan suddenly realized what was happening and cupped his hands in greeting:
"Understood! I'll take care of it right away!"

Having said that, he rushed out in a hurry. Watching Li Li's departing figure, Li Laowai couldn't help but speak:
“Lord Jiang, this man surnamed Li is no good person.”

"He previously led men to Baota Mountain, captured a eunuch from the Prince Qing's mansion, imprisoned him, and burned him alive."

"Then he tortured all the prison guards in Yan'an Prefecture to death. I was quite impressed by the methods he used."

"Shouldn't we be on guard against him?"

Jiang Han waved his hand and said calmly:

“I know all of this, and I acquiesced to it.”

Jiang Han turned around, poured a glass of water, and explained to the puzzled Li Laowai,
"Li Liyuan has been in Yan'an Prefecture for so many years. If we send him to deal with those officials and gentry, wouldn't he be able to take them down with ease?"

"He's a mad dog now, biting people everywhere in order to avenge the massacre of his Li family."

"Let him bite it. Anyway, the meat he bites off is all ours, so why not?"

Li Laowai nodded, seemingly lost in thought.
"I see. Let Li Liyuan be the knife, and we'll eat the meat."

Jiang Han sighed:
"That's called cutting off your own escape route!"

“Li Liyuan is a smart man. His family has old grudges against us. If he doesn’t cut off all his escape routes, do you think I would use him?”

"Originally, I was planning to kill him after we captured Yan'an Prefecture, but now it seems that keeping him alive is not a bad thing."

Jiang Han shook his head.
"Forget it, let him do what he wants. We just need to mind our own business."

"Go find Magistrate Zhao and tell him to quickly collect cotton and cloth and send them to the garrison's armory. The brothers' armor and weapons need to be replaced."

"Also, send out another notice to see if there are any skilled blacksmiths and weavers in Yan'an Prefecture. We'll have them come and help, and we'll pay them wages!"

Just as Jiang Han was frantically manufacturing weapons and increasing his strength, Yang He, far away in Shenmu County, finally received news of the fall of Yan'an Prefecture.

At this moment, he was leading General Du Wenhuan, Governor Hong Chengchou, and his troops in a full-scale attack on Wang Jiayin and Gao Yingxiang.

Upon hearing the news, Yang He was furious and slammed his fist on the table.

"This carriage truly deserved to die!"

"I ordered the prefectures and counties to focus on appeasement and not to actively attack bandits and rebels. How dare he disobey my orders?"

The newly appointed commander-in-chief of Yansui, Du Wenhuan, curled his lip and sneered:
"Has Zhang Nian lost his mind, daring to provoke those rebels with only a few thousand guards?"

"Back then, Wu Zimian transferred all the elite troops from our town to serve the emperor. Now, Jiang Han's troops are all the former elite border troops."

Meanwhile, Hong Chengchou, the governor of Yansui, shook his head and sighed.

"If Wu Zimian hadn't transferred all the elite troops away, why would it have been so difficult for us to suppress two bandits?"

After Zhang Mengjing and Wu Zimian died one after another on their way to defend the emperor, the court appointed Du Wenhuan, who was on sick leave, as the general of Yansui Garrison, in charge of Guyuan; and promoted Hong Chengchou from Shaanxi Provincial Councilor to Governor of Yansui Garrison.

The two men were still making sarcastic remarks, unaware that Aimu below was already frantic with worry.

He was a newly appointed military commander in Yan'an by the imperial court, but before he even took office, he was pulled in by Governor-General Yang He to suppress the bandits.

Now, as the fighting continues, they discover that their territory has been occupied by the rebels, and they feel like the sky has fallen.

Yang He glanced at Aimu and comforted him:
"General Ai, do not worry. I will report this matter to the court myself. The fault does not lie with you. It was Zhang Nian who underestimated the enemy and acted rashly, which led to the loss of Yan'an Prefecture."

Hearing this, Aimu finally felt relieved and breathed a sigh of relief.

After comforting his subordinates, Yang He frowned and said in a deep voice:

"For now, we can only let Jiang Han go for the time being and concentrate our forces to wipe out the two major bandits, Wang Jiayin and Gao Yingxiang!"

"These two have now escaped to Gushan, where Cao Wenzhao, the deputy commander of the Eastern Route Army, has been waiting with the Guan Ning Army for a long time!"

"This time, we must annihilate Wang Jiayin and Gao Yingxiang's troops, capture them alive, and present them to the capital as prisoners!"

"After we deal with these two, it won't be too late to go back and deal with Jiang Han!"

　I've been working on plot developments lately, so updates have been a little late. Please forgive me, fellow godfathers!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)