Fu Shanhe

Chapter 356 Recovering Yangzhou
"kill!"

……

"What's going on outside?"

Liu Laoxu was awakened from his sleep by the shouting and killing, and asked in panic.

The enemy is at the gates of the city, and shouts of killing are heard from the city. That is absolutely not a good thing.

"General, the noble families in the city have launched a rebellion and are attacking the garrison."

The captain of the guards replied in panic.

The enemy came so suddenly, without any signs beforehand.

If it weren't for the guards in the mansion, who were old brothers who had followed Liu Laoxu in his battles, they might have been successfully ambushed by the enemy.

Temporarily blocking the enemy's attack does not mean that everything is fine.

The war has spread to the garrison, and what it means is too obvious to mention.

"This is impossible!"

“The Jin family leader reported it two days later, and I even deliberately ordered to tighten the internal forces and loosen the external forces to lure the enemy into the trap.

There are still two days left before the agreed time. How dare they start early? "

Liu Laoxu said in disbelief.

In fact, he did not believe that the aristocratic families in the city would rebel.

The fact that Wu accepted them was because everyone had pledged their allegiance.

All the noble families in the city, big and small, have the blood of the royal family or officials of Dayu on their hands.

These people also made great contributions in Fu Haoxuan's process of becoming emperor.

He wrote a large number of memorials severely criticizing Yongning.

If any copy is released and reaches Dayu, the entire family will be executed.

In order to stabilize people's hearts, the top leaders of the Wu State also intermarried with these literary families.

The slightly more upscale families in the city all had daughters who married high-ranking officials of the Wu State, and many of them even became royal relatives.

According to the laws of Dayu, the main culprit of treason will be executed along with nine generations of his clan, and all these people are on the list.

He thought that the Jin family's accusation was an internal fight among the city's noble families.

After all, each family has a lot of political stains, and even if they return to Dayu, they will inevitably be liquidated.

Even if he had doubts, he was only on guard against the yamen runners, constables, and garrison soldiers who had left orders in the city.

These people are of too low a status to be eligible to pledge allegiance, so there is still a possibility of turning back.

They never expected that the noble families in the city who seemed to stand with them would actually jump out and rebel at the first moment.

"General, maybe the Jin family's denunciation is just to paralyze you.

If he really wanted to inform on someone, he should at least give out a few accomplices. It's impossible to just give a time for rebellion.

If the Pseudo-Dynasty dares to contact them, it must be absolutely sure!

If nothing unexpected happens, the city gate has already been lost and the enemy troops outside the city have already entered the city."

The captain of the personal guards said with a solemn oath.

It's ridiculous to jointly launch a plan to capture the city without even knowing who your teammates are.

"Damn traitor, how dare you betray me!"

"If I don't let me live a good life, they won't be able to live a good life either."

“Pass the order down, have the soldiers in the city take action immediately and destroy all the noble families in the city.

Especially the Jin family, no one should be left alive!"

Liu Laoxu ordered viciously.

This cognitive error made him trust the law too much.

Those who commit treason will be punished along with nine generations of their family, and that is aimed at ordinary people.

The imperial court adopted a different set of standards when dealing with aristocratic families.

As long as you are not the mastermind, you can avoid being held accountable by making meritorious contributions while serving your sentence.

The noble families in the city chose to defect because they realized that the Wu Kingdom was doomed.

For the sake of family inheritance, one must jump ship at all costs.

The sons of men who served in the State of Wu could be abandoned, and the women who were married off through marriage alliances were also considered abandoned.

Although the crime of exterminating nine clans appears frequently, there are actually not many people in history who were actually punished with nine clans.

The main reason is that too many people are involved.

Among the distant branches, there will always be a few prominent relatives who can escape legal sanctions.

Liu Laoxu has never lacked ruthlessness to be able to climb up from the bottom.

Due to cognitive bias, he mistakenly thought that he was cheated by the Jin family.

In his rage, he didn't care whether he could escape or not, he just wanted all the noble families in the city to die.

"As ordered!"

After saying this, the captain of the personal guards immediately sent someone to pass on the message.

Traitors attract more hatred than enemies.

Thinking they had seen the truth, they wanted to kill all the traitors.

As the order was given, all the Wu troops in the city took action.

Unable to figure out who the traitor was, they launched an indiscriminate attack on the wealthy families in the city.

……

The chaos in the city created favorable conditions for the government troops to capture the city.

After capturing the city gate, the expected bloody battle did not break out, and the government troops successfully entered Yangzhou City.

Standing on the city gate tower and looking at the blazing fire in the city, Qin Tianrui was shocked.

He asked the Yangzhou families to create chaos in the city to cover the army's capture of the city gates. This was too much noise.

I thought that in the Great Yu Dynasty, the families of meritorious service had the strongest military power, but now it seems that the military power of the literati families is also not weak.

Even without much preparation in advance, they were able to burst out with such fighting power. If arrangements had been made in advance, they would have been able to easily capture Yangzhou City.

"General, we have taken control of the outer city and the inner city gate. It's time to launch an attack on the city."

The deputy general at the side spoke up to remind him.

The progress was too smooth. After taking over the outer city, the rebels did not even send troops to stop them.

They took advantage of the situation and captured the inner city gate. Everyone realized that it was the noble families in the city who actually tied down the main force of the rebels.

Their allies are so powerful, they cannot let them down. They must continue their efforts and wipe out the rebellion in the city as soon as possible.

"Wait a minute!"

"After all, they are not the same as us. These people are too powerful, which is not a good thing for the court."

Qin Tianrui said coldly.

The struggle between civil and military officials is the main theme running through the court of Dayu.

When the Yangzhou Camp and the Huai'an Camp first arrived in Guangdong, they were ostracized, which was a microcosm of the struggle between the two sides.

During the process of suppressing the White Lotus Rebellion, the noble family was also quietly suppressing the civil service families.

It was not until the rebels grew stronger and both sides realized that the situation was not good that they turned from stabbing each other to cooperation.

As the situation improved, the civil servants in the court began to stir again.

Local civil servants formed a group with local gentry and competed for power with the governor's office in inconspicuous places.

If it weren't for the previous war, which caused heavy losses to each family, the new taxes and likin would not have been levied at all.

As a general from a noble family, Qin Tianrui was very clear about his position.

The White Lotus Rebellion, which affected half of Dayu, seriously shook the ruling foundation of the imperial court.

The circumstances of the Yangzhou literati families were much worse than those of the literati families in the three provinces of Huguang, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

People placed bets separately, which was a private act, but they did not openly betray Dayu.

In order to preserve themselves, the Yangzhou family not only gave the city to the rebels, but also presented a letter of surrender.

Now they have turned from darkness to light and returned to Dayu's embrace, only to protect themselves.

If you can betray once, you can betray countless times.

The lack of loyalty and strong strength are the biggest destabilizing factors.

For the long-term stability of Dayu, Qin Tianrui chose to ignore the war that broke out in the city.

……

The bloody war is going on, and the local noble families who are the protagonists are now in tears.

It's not that they are strong enough to tie down the main force of the rebels, it's just that they are killed when they are caught.

The rebels are weak compared to the elite government troops.

A family of scholars is not a family of military commanders. The servants they keep are to guard the house, not to go to war.

Daily practice is also a way to develop personal martial arts.

The weapons are mainly wooden sticks, and armor is absolutely not allowed.

Whether in the Great Yu Dynasty or the newly born Wu Kingdom, privately storing armor was a serious crime punishable by confiscation of property and extermination of the entire family.

The ones who attacked the garrison in front and attracted the attention of the rebels were the salt workers in the city.

Once their servants who grew up in their comfortable homes encountered an organized enemy force, they would simply give the enemy a piece of their mind.

Jin Mansion.

"Misunderstanding!"

"It's all a misunderstanding!"

"we are……"

Before the head of the Jin family finished speaking, the head flew out.

They were identified as traitors, and their previous status and position in the Wu State now became a death warrant.

Seeing this scene, all the members of the Jin family were frightened and completely lost their former pride.

Some chose to kneel down and beg for mercy, some chose to flee everywhere, but neither of them affected the Wu army's pace of slaughter.

Similar scenes continued to occur in the city.

Compared to the Jin family, which was completely unprepared, the other literati families in the city had a much stronger will to resist.

Having chosen to stand on the side of the imperial court, he naturally also considered the possible dangers that might arise if the secret was leaked.

The core members of the clan either hid in secret rooms at home or took refuge in some corner of the city, waiting for the government troops to enter the city.

The tribesmen who were on the surface were prepared to sacrifice from the very beginning.

After all, he had done so many bad things before, and he had to give an explanation to the court.

Especially those members who have killed court officials or attacked royal family members will not be able to survive.

At the very least, you cannot live in the open, otherwise you will become a thorn in the emperor's heart.

Even if we don't settle accounts with them now, they will be held accountable in the future.

The best option is to fake your death with the help of the rebels and live a new life with a new identity.

In essence, this is also a token of allegiance to the imperial court.

Only by shed blood with the Wu army could they regain the trust of the court.

The more people from each family died, the more weight the letter of surrender would carry.

As time passed, the scale of the battle increased instead of decreasing, and more and more people were forced into the battle.

The huge wealth brought by looting after the massacre soon made the Wu army soldiers addicted to it, and they forgot the threat of government troops outside.

After robbing the noble families in the city, some wealthy merchants also became targets of slaughter.

Many civilians living nearby also suffered the disaster.

……

"Pass the order down, the entire army will attack and seize Yangzhou City!"

When the first ray of sunlight appeared in the early morning, Qin Tianrui saw that the strategic goal had been achieved and decisively issued the order to attack.

The government soldiers, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately marched into the city and launched an attack on the rebels who were busy looting.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The sound of arrows mixed with the sound of muskets became a powerful weapon for siege.

The sudden attack woke the rebel soldiers, who had been tossing and turning all night, from their excited state.

In a panic, they were surprised to find that they couldn't find their boss.

The middle and high-level generals in the army quietly left Yangzhou City at some unknown time.

Realizing that the situation was not good, the rebel soldiers ran away.

A night of burning, killing and looting ruined their chance of surrender.

Anyone with a bit of common sense would know that they had severely offended all the gentry and common people in the city.

Even if they surrendered to the government troops, they had to be careful that the government troops' generals would take their heads and appease the people in the city.

Life-and-death moments can best unleash people's potential.

Countless Wu army soldiers ran out of the city at the fastest speed.

They were preparing to cross the Yangtze River and retreat to Zhenjiang on the other side.

Unfortunately, when they arrived at the ferry, the ship at the dock had long disappeared.

While looking for a boat to cross the river, countless government troops were already chasing them from behind.

With a big river blocking the way in front and pursuing soldiers coming from behind, they were forced into a desperate situation.

A few soldiers who were good at swimming immediately made up their minds, took off their armor, threw away their weapons, and jumped into the Yangtze River.

More rebel soldiers were forced to the riverside and forced to take up arms to fight.

……

Nanjing City.

Looking at Liu Laoxu kneeling on the ground and apologizing, Fu Haoxuan was filled with anger.

When he woke up, he found that Yangzhou Prefecture, which he regarded as his rear base, was lost.

"Humph!"

"The enemy arrived in Yangzhou yesterday and lost the city that night. You are really capable!"

"If all the generals of Wu were as useless as you, I would not be able to keep my head for many days.

Confident officials bring disaster to the country!

I am simply blind to let you, a piece of trash, guard Yangzhou..."

Fu Haoxuan, in a rage, launched an indiscriminate attack, not even sparing himself.

Liu Laoxu, who was kneeling on the ground to apologize, wished he could bury himself in the ground to reduce his presence.

All the excuses I thought of on the way were useless at this moment.

No matter how you explain it, the fact is that Yangzhou City was lost.

There is a price to pay for causing such a big mess.

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

"Yangzhou City fell so quickly, there must be some hidden reason behind it.

It would be a good idea to listen to General Liu's explanation first and find out the whole story of the fall of the city."

The left prime minister, Yu Ruiyu, immediately began to persuade him.

He was also very annoyed at Liu Laoxu's incompetence, but they were all from the same village after all.

As a representative of the faction, it is necessary to lend a hand to the younger brother at this critical moment.

He has given him the chance, but whether he can save his life depends on Liu Laoxu's luck.

"General Liu, it's your turn to perform.

Feel free to make up anything you want. As long as you can fool me, I won't hold you responsible!"

Fu Haoxuan said sarcastically.

He was also very distressed about his opponents' subordinates sticking together.

But there is no way around it, any country is bound to be free from factional disputes.

The newly born Wu Kingdom was relatively good.

Now is the time to conquer the world. Although there are differences among the various factions, the overall goal is to seize the world.

"Your Majesty, I dare not lie!"

“The fall of Yangzhou City was mainly due to the collective betrayal of the noble families in the city.

Not only did they open the city gates and let the enemy in, they also organized their own private army to attack the garrison.

The sudden chaos disrupted my military deployment, and I had no choice but to quell the civil unrest first.

However, these traitors were well prepared. Each family hid a large number of private armies and lurked in the city disguised as civilians.

After the enemy launched an attack on the city, these people joined forces with the puppet army outside the city. I led the defenders to fight desperately, but were ultimately outnumbered.

After a night of fighting, I can only lead the remaining soldiers back to report to you!"

Liu Laoxu said with tears in his eyes.

In order to save his life, he exaggerated the enemy's strength and dragged everyone into the water.

After all, the fact that the noble families in Yangzhou City were able to preserve their strength was closely related to the people present.

If it weren't for political marriages and the addition of a group of powerful relatives, the Yangzhou family would have been purged long ago.

(End of this chapter)