The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 320 Is this an occupation or a coup?

Yang Yuchun's order was passed down, and the Ming army stationed near Hamburg immediately took action.

The large troops entered the trenches and bunkers in batches to set up defenses and alert, and Zhu Jingjian's King of Hanover Guard Corps entered the city to quell the rebellion.

There is nothing wrong with the command itself, but there is something wrong when it comes to execution.

The order was to put down the rebellion, but the city of Hamburg looked completely peaceful.

Hamburg's parliament, commune, police and military systems were not yet prepared for armed confrontation.

Since no one is openly rebelling, how should we put down the rebellion?

If it were a traditional feudal army, they would definitely understand this situation and know that they were looting under the pretext of suppressing a rebellion.

However, the Ming Dynasty court army at this time was a new-style army established by Zhu Jianxuan.

The militia were either children from peasant families in military settlements or children from workers' families in state-owned factories and businesses, and the main force was the elites selected from them.

Both the main force and the militia had discipline far exceeding that of traditional feudal armies, and most of them had no experience of opening a city to loot.

Before the Northern Expedition, the central government left behind some old-style troops, but the senior officers had basically retired, and the lower-level officers and soldiers had also retired long ago.

Even the living environment of those old-style armies had been transformed by Chongzhen, and the level of pure ruffianism was not high to begin with.

So much so that the first batch of Hanoverian troops were a little overwhelmed after receiving the order.

The army commanders, division commanders, and staff officers discussed the matter and concluded that the forces currently opposing the king were the existing official and civilian institutions in the city of Hamburg.

City councils, guilds and their constituent communes, courts, and police and military institutions.

Therefore, in accordance with the form of capturing a city, the main division was deployed to occupy and control these institutions, while the militia was responsible for controlling the streets and suppressing civic activities.

The commanders of each division assigned tasks and then arranged for their respective troops to act separately.

The actions of the King's Guard of Hanover were sudden enough, and their force was strong enough compared to the city, so they encountered almost no obstacles.

A group of soldiers carrying guns ran to the scene and rushed directly into the buildings of these institutions. The translator Hadron who accompanied the army shouted loudly:

"The Ming Dynasty is suppressing rebellion. Surrender and don't kill! The king has ordered that those who resist will be killed."

People from all classes and groups in Hamburg knew that they would soon be negotiating with the new king to determine the future city management methods and degree of autonomy.

The vast majority of people are paying attention to this matter and are waiting for this day.

They all felt that only after the negotiations were over would the main forces of the Ming Dynasty withdraw and Hamburg could restore its original social order.

Today is the day for the formal talks, so the main personnel of various organizations have gathered together, waiting for the results of the negotiations between the delegation headed by the Speaker and the King.

As a result, they did not wait for the Speaker to return, but instead waited for the Ming army to rush in with ferocious looks.

The local police and army in Hamburg had long been disarmed by the Ming Dynasty's occupying forces. The city was occupied by the Ming Dynasty's army, and officers, soldiers, and police were asked to go home for vacation.

Now the police station and military camp are basically empty, with only officers and some workers doing odd jobs left.

Faced with the well-equipped Ming army, they had no ability to resist. Having surrendered long ago, they had no motivation to directly resist.

Representatives of parliament and various industry associations may have some light weapons for self-defense, but their combat effectiveness is not on the same level as the army.

Faced with these regular troops in large groups and in neat formations, and facing the Ming Dynasty's Australian rapid-fire rifles, they simply did not have the courage to fight back.

When most of the representatives saw the Ming army rushing in, they subconsciously raised their hands:
"Don't shoot, we surrender."

"What happened? What about suppressing the rebellion? No one is rebelling!"

After the soldiers of the main division confirmed that everyone at the scene had raised their hands in surrender, they grabbed ropes and went in to tie up everyone's hands.

All the members of the parliament hall were extremely shocked and didn't know why the situation had turned out like this.

Of course he didn't dare to resist. He just raised his hands and waited to be tied up, while starting to mutter.

"In the end what happened?"

"Did the negotiations break down? That shouldn't be the case..."

"Is the king going to throw us all into prison?"

"What did the Speaker and the others do to cause the king to come and arrest us?"

"Haven't we discussed this already? The most we can do is promise to obey the king's orders. Has the Speaker changed his mind?"

These people instinctively felt that the king wanted to arrest them in order to make them obey.

And then through them they control Hamburg and gain sufficient power and tax revenue.

They thought they were very useful to the king, and they didn't realize that the king just wanted to kill people.

If they really understood the character of their king, they might have rebelled or fled to other countries.

There were almost no accidents. The Hanover Guard Corps arrested the main members of various organizations in Hamburg, tied their hands with ropes and strung them into several large groups.

Then they were escorted to the military camp outside the city, ready to be handed over to Yang Yuchun or Zhu Jingjian for disposal.

At the same time, the streets, intersections, and squares in the city were filled with Ming militiamen holding rifles, and the entire city was completely under control.

At important street intersections and squares, several armored vehicles were parked in strategic locations, and the military translator repeated messages using electric loudspeakers.

"The Hamburg City Council, the Guild, and the court representatives refused to obey the orders of the Ming Dynasty King of Hanover.

“The king has ordered the dissolution of all organizations that are not authorized by the king, and ordered the King’s Guard Corps to suppress the rebellion and arrest all members of illegal organizations.

"The citizens of Hamburg must swear allegiance to the king directly and obey all his orders, otherwise they will be killed on the spot.

"All members who followed the original illegal organization can be spared from death by surrendering immediately."

Compared with the traditional armies of other European countries, the discipline of the Ming army in Hamburg is much better.

They had never come into the city in groups to rob before. They had come into the city individually to buy things and paid for them.

The two sides have been living in peace for more than half a year, and now the citizens of Hamburg are not very afraid when facing the Ming army.

So when the so-called counterinsurgency team took control of the city and broadcast, many residents of Hamburg opened their windows to see what was happening, and some talked about it with their neighbors.

"Did I hear correctly? The Ming army is entering the city to quell the rebellion?"

"So where exactly is the rebellion? Is it the parliament and the guild that are rebelling?"

"This is a direct and forced dissolution of Parliament. It seems that the Speaker and his Majesty the King have really broken down in their negotiations..."

"The King of Ming is different from the Lord of Shinra. He is not so easy to talk to."

"So what should we do now?"

"We'll just verbally agree to it and then slowly see how things turn out. Can the king really come and take care of us personally?"

"That's right, can we really fight?"

The citizens of Hamburg started discussing the situation casually, but when they saw all the parliamentarians, all the members of the famous chambers of commerce and guilds, all tied up and dragged through the streets, they began to realize that the situation might be really serious.

These people began to subconsciously feel that this was actually a coup d'état launched by the new king using the army to forcibly control the original city's ruling body.

The actions of the Hanoverian Guard Corps were indeed more like some form of military coup rather than the capture of an unfamiliar city.

But neither the Guard Corps, the citizens of Hamburg, nor the captured members of Hamburg's original institutions knew what their king really thought.

Military coups are indeed very bad, but since they are coups, they have a purpose, which is usually to fight for control and the right to govern.

Most people in this city, as targets of competition, do not feel that their lives are in danger; they are just worried about the future.

They also didn't think that the king would kill all the celebrities in these cities. They simply didn't have such an idea, so there were no signs of emotional breakdown.

At the same time, Yang Yuchun and Shen Fu each wrote a report explaining what happened today and sent it urgently to Shuntian Prefecture via the telegraph system.

Both of them now felt that Prince Zhu Jingjian was too murderous. If no one was controlling him, he might really take the initiative to massacre the city.

It's not just a problem of Hamburg, but the entire Kingdom of Hanover in the future may be tormented by him in various ways.

The reports of the two people involved the prince and were specially selected as urgent, so they were specially marked and sorted out and immediately sent to Zhu Jianxuan's office.

Zhu Jianxuan saw it as soon as he woke up in the morning. He found that it was an urgent message involving his son, so he opened it and checked it immediately.

Zhu Jianxuan couldn't help frowning as he watched, and after reading it, he couldn't help pinching his forehead.

"This bastard is simply the reincarnation of Zhang Xianzhong..."

Zhu Jianxuan wrote a short but stern order on the spot.

First, he warned Zhu Jingjian that he could not do whatever he wanted even if he became king, and then he asked him to handle the hamburger issue properly.

Remind him that punishment, including the death penalty, and even the massacre of cities by traditional armies, are means, not ends.

If the purpose is to deter people from living in a place where their morale is unstable, then you can choose to severely punish those who oppose the king, and you can selectively execute those who disobey orders.

However, as the ruler of a country, one must never punish, torture, or kill for its own sake, as that would undermine the monarch's prestige.

If Zhu Jingjian's handling of Hamburg affairs deviates from this principle, or if local governance in Hanover deviates from this principle in the future, he will directly establish officials from the Three Departments of Hanover to handle all affairs of the Kingdom of Hanover on behalf of King Zhu Jingjian.

At the same time, Zhu Jingjian was allowed to return to the Ming Dynasty to continue his studies and follow the established education route for the princes, while going to the local area to learn governance experience and experience life.

When he has learned how to be a good person, he will go back to be king.

After Zhu Jianxuan finished writing, he asked the Ministry of Public Security to send an urgent telegram, which was immediately delivered to Europe and handed over to Zhu Jingjian.

Then he wrote a telegram to Yang Yuchun and Shen Fu, requesting and authorizing them to supervise and restrict Zhu Jingjian.

If necessary, he can be directly controlled, placed under house arrest and escorted back to the Ming mainland.

When Zhu Jingjian received a telegram from his father reprimanding and educating him, his first reaction after reading it was to be extremely unhappy.

I thought I would be free after becoming a king, but now I am still scolded and cannot do whatever I want. Doesn't it mean that I have been a king in vain?

Then there were complaints about Yang Yuchun and Shen Fu. Zhu Jingjian guessed that it was probably these two people who wrote reports to his father because they were too talkative.

At the same time, he couldn't help but feel annoyed with the telegraph technology. After the Ming Dynasty had this technology, his father could reach across the entire earth and nag him from far away.

There was some panic at the end, mainly because of the disposal method mentioned by the father at the end.

He could actually arrange for his ministers to handle the affairs of the kingdom on his behalf, allowing him to go back and continue studying. Is this such a horrifying plan that only a human could come up with?
The key point is that if you calculate it this way, he was really a king in vain, and he married Charlotte, this little old woman, in vain.

But Zhu Jingjian was not really stupid, and he reacted quickly.

After becoming a king, even though he would occasionally be scolded by his father across the globe, he could no longer lecture him in person at any time.

As long as he behaves a little more restrained, and mainly avoids being reported by the ministers around him and the Western Factory, he should be able to be the overseas king relatively freely.

Before you make a decision, you can ask for their opinions.

My father invented the telegraph, so no other minister can act recklessly, as he is not the only one.

After becoming the monarch of a country, you are much freer than ordinary officials.

Then Zhu Jingjian continued to read his father's letter carefully, savoring or looking for the real point in the letter.

"Punishment is a means, not an end. This should be the sentence..."

On the other side, the Hanoverian Guard Corps in Hamburg worked hard for a day and basically completed the re-control of Hamburg, which could be considered a takeover to some extent.

Prominent figures in Hamburg, including members of parliament, were sent to the Ming military camp outside the city that evening.

After receiving the report, Yang Yuchun did not immediately ask the commander of the Hanoverian Guard Corps to report to Zhu Jingjian, but reminded him to wait in the camp for a day.

By the next afternoon, Yang Yuchun received the emperor's reply and confirmed that Zhu Jingjian had also replied.

Yang Yuchun waited another night to give Zhu Jingjian time to read and think. On the morning of the third day, he went to see Zhu Jingjian alone:

“Your Highness, the rebellion in Hamburg has been quelled.

“Major members of illegal organizations, including the parliament, have surrendered.”

Zhu Jingjian was visibly stunned when he heard the report, and then he said a series of words, each one more severe than the last:
"So fast? How come it was resolved in less than two days?
"How can they surrender? How can you allow them to surrender?
"I give the order now to execute them all immediately."

Yang Yuchun was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but start to mutter in his heart, the emperor's response has already arrived, why is this killer still giving such an order?
Yang Yuchun had already received the emperor's authorization, so he could relax his persuasion a little:

“Your Highness, they have surrendered, and according to your order, they do not need to be executed.

"The Hamburgers don't want to resist you. They are actually willing to obey your orders."

Zhu Jingjian instinctively didn't want to listen to Yang Yuchun's persuasion, so he stood up and said:

"Take these people to the square in Hamburg and arrange for the guards to publicly execute them one by one. Let the surrounding residents of Hamburg come out and watch."

Yang Yuchun couldn't figure out what this guy was thinking, so he could only try to bring the emperor out directly:
"If Your Highness decides this way... I am worried that Your Majesty will be unhappy..."

Zhu Jingjian said very confidently:

"The Emperor won't be unhappy, he specifically told me so in the telegram.

“I now know that punishment is a means and not an end, so I decided not to massacre the civilians in the city.

"Now we are publicly executing representatives of them, the most famous people in Hamburg, as a means of intimidating the civilian population in the city."

Yang Yuchun was choked and felt that the emperor's lesson was completely correct. Punishment is a means and cannot be an end. This was really a great saying.

But the killer in front of him seemed to have some problems in understanding. This warning only made him give up the idea of ​​massacring civilians.

Shen Fu, who was standing by, saw that Yang Yuchun was unable to persuade Zhu Jingjian, and knew that this killer's way of thinking was different from others, so he tried to remind him from another angle:

“Your Highness, according to the emperor’s reminder, since punishment is a means and not an end, the means should not be exhausted directly.

“Otherwise, how are we going to continue to do things after the existing means have been exhausted?

"Based on my understanding of Europe, I advise Your Highness that you should have these representatives publicly swear allegiance to you and publicly swear to obey all your orders.

“If some of them break their oath in the future, it won’t be too late for you to execute them publicly.

“At the same time, I need to report your actions here truthfully according to His Majesty’s request, and you can also report it yourself.

"If you can't judge whether something will make His Majesty unhappy, you can ask others to help you."

After listening to this, Zhu Jingjian hesitated for a moment, feeling that he was indeed a little unsure of his father's thoughts.

Every time I proposed a solution or was about to do something, my dad would look at me strangely.

Zhu Jingjian also remembered his previous decision. In order to avoid other officials reporting to his father, he had to ask them before doing anything:
"Mr. Shen... tell me the truth now. If I don't accept your suggestion, will my father be very angry?"

Shen Fu breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that this child could still be saved.

Maybe he is born a killer, but as long as he can still refer to other people's opinions instead of acting completely on his own will, he still has a chance to become a normal person.

Shen Fu calmed down a bit and continued to comfort and guide Zhu Jingjian:

"It's not that His Majesty would be unhappy if you didn't take my opinion into consideration. In fact, His Majesty is very kind and generous.

"Instead, you should judge from your own perspective whether some of the things you want to do would seem absurd or cruel to ordinary people."

Zhu Jingjian shook his head and sighed:

"I just don't know how to judge this kind of thing, Mr. Shen, please analyze it for me.

“I actually think that the logic you just reminded me of, that we cannot exhaust all the means, makes sense.

“So I thought, I should chop off one of those people’s hands and let them do things for me in the future.

“If you make a mistake again, if you don’t obey my orders directly, but make irresponsible remarks or shirk your responsibilities, I will chop off the other hand.

"If something like this happens again, we'll chop off a foot, and finally the head, which is execution."

Shen Fu was stunned. Who on earth is this guy? Is this a plan that a human could come up with?
Yang Yuchun couldn't help but ask back:
"Your Highness, if you cut off their hands and feet, how can they do anything? Simply writing is a big problem..."

Zhu Jingjian suddenly realized:
"That's right, then chop off their children's hands and feet. For each mistake, chop off one hand or foot. Make a specimen and hang it on the father's body. After four mistakes, behead both the father and son."

Shen Fu felt a little desperate after hearing this. He couldn't imagine how a prince who had been pampered since childhood could come up with such a cruel punishment:

"Your Highness, I can now clearly tell you that your method will cause a lot of people to feel pain and make them feel that you have no mercy at all.

"This will be extremely detrimental to your future rule over Hanover, and will also be detrimental to the stability of Ming's rule in Europe. If His Majesty knew about this, he might reprimand me.

"I will never let you do this, even if I carry you back to Shuntian Prefecture, I will never let you do anything."

When Zhu Jingjian saw Shen Fu's reaction, he knew that his previous thoughts seemed very outrageous to others.

But why? My method is obviously very novel and should be very useful.

But since everyone thinks it is not good, my father probably won't support it, and may even be very angry.

Zhu Jingjian thought about it and gave up. He closed his eyes and waved his hands weakly:
“Let’s do this according to Mr. Shen’s wishes. Let them publicly swear allegiance to me and swear to obey my orders.

"If someone refuses, I can always kill them right?"

Shen Fu thought for a moment and said:

“Killing them outright might make them heroes in the eyes of certain groups.

“So I suggest that we first sentence them to forced labor and let them do the dirtiest and most tiring jobs.

"For example, going down to the mine to dig coal, or cleaning the toilet, etc.

"If they do not yield, they will work themselves to death, setting a miserable example for those who resist.

"If they surrender of their own accord, it will strengthen the king's prestige."

Zhu Jingjian was stunned for a moment after hearing this:
"Mr. Shen's suggestion is a plan that does not exhaust all means and allows them to maximize their effectiveness. I think it's great, let's do it!"

Shen Fu and Yang Yuchun both breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)