Chapter 51: Muster Ground Pay Day—No Armor or Weapons Allowed!

Page (1/3)

  Massacre of cities has always been a crucial means for feudal armies to vent their pent-up rage throughout history!
  During the Western Han, both Liu Bang and Xiang Yu committed city massacres.
  In the Eastern Han, Liu Xiu and Cao Cao also carried out such atrocities. Among them, Cao Cao’s massacres have long been a subject of debate; the famous verse “White bones lie exposed in the fields, for miles no crowing of chickens” is not only a literary masterpiece expressing the hardships of the common people but also a grim reality following Cao Cao’s military campaigns...
  Since the Eastern Han, through the Three Kingdoms, Jin dynasties, Northern and Southern dynasties, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Yuan, and Ming, city massacres have repeatedly occurred.
  The reason, apart from the notoriously poor discipline of feudal armies and their desire to seize wealth opportunistically, largely boils down to the issue of morale!
  If a city falls easily with minimal losses and without draining the attackers’ spirit, the likelihood of massacre is low—everyone is relaxed, so there’s no need for wanton slaughter.
  However, if the siege drags on and the city remains unconquered for a long time, the probability of massacre upon its fall approaches nearly one hundred percent...
  The reasoning is simple: the attackers have invested enormous time, effort, and manpower, suffering heavy casualties, leaving the entire army infuriated and burning with pent-up fury!
  If they ultimately fail to capture the city, they must swallow their frustration and retreat—no matter how great the anger, it must be stifled. But if they succeed, they will unleash their wrath with compound interest...
  Massacre, killing, rape, plunder—these become the most effective outlets for venting! The feudal foot soldiers care little about morality or justice; driven mad by frustration, they become beasts in human form. If their commander consents to the massacre, that is merciful; but if the commander insists on playing the righteous gentleman, then don’t be surprised if the soldiers overthrow him too!
  Thus, this act—universally deemed wrong by any era’s standards—persisted throughout feudal times, for it is the very nature of feudal armies.
  And now, you too, inevitably, have massacred the city...
  Standing before the ruins of Yangzhou, after two months besieging the city, you have finally somewhat relieved the bitterness in your heart!
  The good news: it did not drag on for a year or more.
  The bad news: two months is still a long time—two months! What does two months mean?!
  Your new reforms have just begun; what you need most is time. Originally, you should be seated steadily in the capital’s prime minister’s residence, boldly reforming and renewing governance across the vast regions of the two capitals and thirteen provinces, swiftly steering the Ming dynasty back to the proper course.
  But damned if a mere rebellion in Yangzhou has pinned you and three thousand Embroidered Uniform Guards beneath the city walls for two months, during which nothing was accomplished except exhausting the city’s supply of cannonballs, bullets, and arrows!
  Throughout these two months, your body and soul endured agonizing torment daily, helplessly witnessing the precious opportunity for reform slip away in vain. Night after night, sleep evaded you, your closed eyes haunted by the expectant gazes of the Divine Emperor and the realm’s people... Over time, your fury reached its peak; your eyes bloodshot, as if poised to devour whoever crossed your path!
  If this is your state, then the Embroidered Uniform Guards are even worse, though they do not dream of the people’s expectations; their frustration is raw and simple.
  The emperor’s personal elite troops—when have they ever suffered such humiliation? Especially in the past sixty years, they have been arrogant and feared by all officials and commoners alike!
  Yet now, not only have they failed to take a mere solitary city for two consecutive months, but every day they are pelted with cannon fire! When cannonballs run out, bullets follow!
  Explosive shells burst continuously. Although no one has been fatally struck dead, after two months of attrition, even with constant evasion, their divine strength is gradually depleted. Another month or so like this, and they will be forced to retreat shamefully to seek reinforcements of divine power from Your Majesty...

Page (2/3)

  Shame! An immense disgrace! Know your shame!
  The realm’s greatest army was nearly forced to withdraw... If you don’t execute a ruthless purge now, they might think the Embroidered Uniform Guards are made of clay!
  Therefore, you decide on massacre! The entire army shall vent their fury thoroughly!
  But as prime minister of the Ming, you are not Cao Cao; you cannot commit a true massacre. So you first evacuate the innocent civilians from the city, then proceed with the massacre... Thus no innocents are harmed, and the embittered soldiers can comfort themselves that they are indeed massacring the city—how satisfying...
  “Prime Minister!”
  A captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guards who has just emerged from the city reports respectfully.
  “Nearly one hundred thousand killed, all wealthy merchants who participated in the rebellion and their trained private militias, as well as many officials... But we also found some officials in the dungeon, along with five Embroidered Uniform Guards stationed in Yangzhou who claim loyalty and deny rebellion, asserting they were merely imprisoned by the rebels... How should we handle them?”
  You frown: “Kill them all!”
  “Huh?”
  With the captain’s startled gaze upon you, you speak sternly: “The Yangzhou rebellion was not a sudden affair; it has been prepared for decades. Throughout this time, these people were blind to the rebels training militias and amassing weapons. Even if they did not take part directly in the revolt, their negligence alone is a crime!”
  “Moreover, did they truly not know about the rebellion? To be unaware right under their noses—that only proves they are accomplices.”
  “Kill them all!”
  The captain stiffens and promptly replies, “Yes, sir!”
  He then reports further: “Prime Minister, we have uncovered the rebels’ backgrounds in the city!”
  “Apart from local merchants and gentry, most are retired senior officials—such as Liu Yizhao, former Provincial Governor of Shaanxi; a former governor of Huguang; a former Administrative Commissioner of Shandong... even former ministers of six ministries from the capital’s Ying Tian Prefecture... After retirement, they brought their wealth and families to Yangzhou, living lavishly in luxury...”
  Wonderful—just a group of retired old men! When in office, each appeared loyal, but once retired, they let loose, conspiring rebellion and abandoning their roles...
  Truly, “loyalty was work, rebellion was life!”
  Hearing these rebels’ profiles, your lips twitch involuntarily: Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you hoped to secure loyalty by indulging corruption, but now it backfires—these men grow bolder the more you indulge them. Corruption is one thing, but they even covet your divine throne...
  After a moment of reflection, you ask, “Anything else? Tell me all.”
  “Yes! We also seized gold, silver, jewels, antiques, and calligraphy from Yangzhou city. We don’t know their exact value, but to load them all would require at least one hundred carts...”
  “There are also many foreign firearms and cannons. Plenty of gunpowder and bullets remain for the firearms, though the cannons lack shells and many barrels were damaged by the rebels. Our men plan to melt down the cannons; they total tens of thousands of pounds of copper...”
  You shake your head: “Send the valuables to the capital treasury. Bring the firearms and cannons back intact—do not melt them down. They are treasures!”

Page (3/3)

  “Treasures?”
  The captain looks puzzled: “What’s so special about firearms and cannons? Although we suffered heavily from explosions this time, that was mainly because retired old men inside used divine power to assist the city’s defense and prevent night raids. Otherwise, we would have taken the city that very night!”
  “At least from the Embroidered Uniform Guards’ perspective, mere firearms and cannons can at best harm ordinary people. For elite troops with divine power like us, they pose little real threat. Calling them treasures is hard for us to understand...”
  But since the prime minister says so, they have no objections and will bring them along!
  Thus, a vast army, laden with countless spoils, returned to the capital, leaving behind only a ruined Yangzhou. The large city stands empty, with bloodstains uncleared in many places and a newly constructed mass graveyard outside the walls...
  The night rain falls softly, chilly winds sweep the land, stirring the desolate burial grounds... The howling wind and drizzling rain sound like ghosts weeping through the night, evoking a mournful chill in all who hear it...
  You are not one who delights in killing, but you know that if your path is to continue, killing—countless killings—are inevitable.
  Yangzhou is the first place you have massacred, but it will not be the last...
  You have no choice!
  ...
  In the seventy-fourth year of Emperor Chongzhen’s reign, in June, after three months of campaigning since late February, Prime Minister Zhou Liang of the Ming finally led his forces to capture Yangzhou!
  That month, the prime minister relocated all innocent civilians from the city to rural Jiangnan, then carried out the city massacre and razed it!
  The prime minister’s “de-urbanization” of Yangzhou was remarkably effective!
  In July, the prime minister returned to the capital, first greeted by the cheers of the people, then receiving the emperor’s commendation.
  The emperor praised: “Having the prime minister is like Liu Bei having Zhuge Liang!”
  That month, the prime minister resumed governance, wielding the authority earned from quelling Yangzhou’s rebellion to proclaim the continuation of reforms!
  Also that month, given the poor performance of the capital garrison in the Yangzhou suppression, the prime minister resolved to reform the capital forces, issuing orders to the one hundred thousand soldiers of the capital garrison...
  “Tomorrow, muster at the training ground to receive your pay. Do not bring arms!”
  ...