Ancestors, please don't crawl out again.

Chapter 169 Kill the Corrupt Official, Welcome the Immortal Venerable
The Imperial Seal, transformed into a streak of white light, moved forward at an extremely fast speed beneath Kaifeng City, bursting into clouds of blood mist wherever it passed, and shattered flesh and blood plastering the city walls.

The volunteers collapsed once again.

But Yintai still didn't let them go. Under his strict orders, the Eight Banners troops stationed in Xi'an under his command still shot them without mercy...

Living in the same city, everyone knew each other well. Given the current state of the Qing Dynasty, it was difficult to guarantee that those who had only submitted because they couldn't win wouldn't harbor any disloyalty. If internal strife broke out, these garrisoned Eight Banners soldiers and their families would become the targets of attack. After all, they generally numbered only a few thousand families, a significant numerical disadvantage, and were geographically dispersed. In such a situation, they would be unlikely to receive support in the short term and could very well be wiped out.

Therefore, Yin Tai was right. After all, he started as a Manchu soldier stationed in Xi'an. So even if he failed, he had to eliminate potential threats as much as possible before he failed, otherwise his family members might face danger in the future.

Poor Giyuu really cried.

The eerie white light behind them was striking the brave soldiers one by one, turning them into a blood-red stain covering the city walls.

Shells and bullets kept falling over their heads.

Their allies ahead were still killing them with bows and muskets, piercing their bodies with spears, and beheading them with swords, just as they were treating them as enemies.

They were thus quickly slaughtered.

then……

Yintai retreated without hesitation.

He didn't even attempt to continue fighting. After seeing that the Yiyong were almost all dead, he directly issued an order for a full retreat, as if he hadn't come to attack Kaifeng but purely to kill the Yiyong. Perhaps that really was his goal. From the beginning, when he coaxed the elders to agree to assemble the Yiyong and even promised to open Kaifeng and not sheath their swords for ten days, he had already planned to do this.

"He's quite the old fox."

Yang Feng landed on the Kaifeng city wall and watched the Qing army that had already run far away.

The fact that these guys ran away so easily surprised him, so Ma Ge still had some truly capable men under him at this time. As for Yin Tai's plan, he could certainly guess it.

He planned to eliminate Xi'an's biggest threat on the battlefield, thus securing his rear. Then, using Luoyang as a base, he could continuously attack Kaifeng as long as the Heavenly Army continued its northward advance. Whether he could capture it or not was unimportant; the key was to keep attacking and forcing the Heavenly Army to stay far north. After all, without Yang Feng's intervention, he might actually be able to breach Kaifeng, and even if he couldn't capture it, he could inflict heavy damage. He probably didn't realize that Yang Er possessed a radio to report to Yang Feng, and that Yang Feng could return within hours.

He was an excellent veteran, but ultimately he couldn't think of anything beyond his comprehension.

The plan itself is not problematic.

Kaifeng was the base of the Heavenly Army. It was impossible for them to continue marching north alone when their base was under attack. No matter how capable they were, they could not ignore logistics. Since firearms were powerful, it meant that ammunition could not be lacking.

What he didn't know was that the heavenly soldiers had no logistics support whatsoever.

ammunition?

The Immortal Venerable summoned directly from the void!
Who has a deity guiding them? Why would they need to transport them from the rear base?
Besides, weren't the ones at the rear base summoned from the void by the Immortal Venerable?
"Immortal Venerable, this Qing demon is quite cunning. Although he can't break through Kaifeng, if he attacks other counties, the local militias probably won't be able to withstand him. Right now, all the counties are somewhat uneasy. The Kaifeng militia can indeed defend the city, but if they go out of the city, especially far from Kaifeng, to support the other counties, they won't be enough to fight the Qing demon in the open field. The disciples are all from commoner backgrounds and don't know how to deploy troops. Unless they are equipped with divine spears like the heavenly soldiers, with our current strength, we will inevitably fall into their traps when fighting the Qing demon's elite troops in the open field."

Besides, spring is almost here, and we can't neglect the farm work after that.

Yang Er said cautiously.

At this point, they were no longer just the isolated city of Kaifeng; in fact, most of the surrounding counties had already been captured.

The Qing army currently controls the four prefectures of Zheng, Xu, Sui, and Cao.

The counties in between basically relied on Kaifeng's support to sweep away the gentry, but to call it a true regime, it couldn't really be called one. When the Kaifeng militia went in, the local able-bodied men followed like a jubilant crowd, then elected their own battalion commanders. A few officials stayed in Kaifeng; since they were all geographically close, and many of the Kaifeng militia members were originally from these counties, they could simply be sent there. However, many of the Kaifeng militia members didn't really understand the system, after all, they were originally just ordinary people from the lower classes, and Yang Feng didn't interfere. They would eventually find their own way over time, but the problem was that it would take time.

One or two months is definitely not enough, so it's really a complete mess.

Yin Tai launched a major offensive, but because he knew the news was coming early, he simply fled to Kaifeng from places like Zhongmu that he passed through, so he did not suffer any losses.

Moreover, it was winter, and there wasn't much farm work to do, so everyone, young and old, along with their food and money, decided to stay in Kaifeng temporarily.

But it won't work after spring.

Ultimately, we all have to farm!

However, if Yintai's Qing army continued this constant attack tactic, then that kind of land would definitely be impossible to cultivate.

Unless the militia can defeat the Qing army in open battle and force them to stay away, which is difficult for these people from humble backgrounds.

Courage is something everyone has.

But warfare isn't just about courage. Yintai's troops weren't the Green Standard Army or the pampered Eight Banners of Beijing that Yanxin had previously led. This guy was the Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and his men were all elite troops, the main force that had fought against the Oirat Mongols in recent years. Such an experienced veteran, leading a group of the most capable field troops in the Qing army, would, if not completely crush, the militia with their inferior equipment, at least have an absolute advantage, unless the militia's equipment superiority could overwhelm them like a divine army.

"Of course I can continue to give you the weapons of the Heavenly Soldiers, but you also need to think about the future. With me here, you can certainly be invincible, but I will eventually have to go back. And who knows, maybe one day I will give you divine guns, but you won't be able to make bullets, or they will break and you won't be able to repair them. In the end, you will just sit and eat your savings and it won't last long. I can also rebuild the Heavenly Soldiers for you, but you can't go on like this forever. You need someone to make decisions, or rather, you need a court."

You need officials at all levels who can enforce orders, you need finances and taxes, and you need everything a real country should have.

And it can be maintained.

Instead of just getting together for a bit of fun like we are now.

This can't last.

Yang Feng said.

"There has to be an emperor?"

Yang Er said cautiously.

"If you think you need an emperor, then get an emperor."

Yang Feng said.

In reality, it was inevitable that an emperor would be chosen.

It's impossible to come up with anything else in this era, and anything else would be hard for ordinary people to accept.

They don't understand other concepts. In their view, having an emperor is a matter of course, and what kind of emperor it is doesn't matter.

That's the concept they want.

Even an emperor is an emperor subject to various restrictions.

"Then we should overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming?"

A battalion commander standing nearby said, clearly hesitantly.

"So you like the Zhu family?"

Yang Feng said.

The battalion commander shook his head without hesitation.

"The Zhu family emperors made a mess of the country, which gave the Qing dynasty an opportunity. If they were to create another Zhu family emperor, wouldn't they be asking for trouble?"

He said.

It's clear they still don't have a good impression of the Zhu family.

"If it's an emperor, they'll probably all be the same. There's never been a truly wise and benevolent ruler throughout history. The Qing emperor was praised as a wise and benevolent ruler by officials, but he still levied exorbitant taxes and levies. In my opinion, we shouldn't have an emperor. We can discuss things and decide what to do. It's not like we can't do it. We've been doing quite well these days."

Another battalion commander had completely lost his affection for the emperor.

“We only have one city, so it’s easy to discuss things. Besides, we’ve known each other for generations, and we can compromise on anything that’s difficult to discuss. But if the place is big and there are many people, how can we discuss things? The customs are different, we can’t understand each other’s language, and the rules of doing things are different. How can we discuss things? Moreover, even if we can reach an agreement, it will probably take a lot of time. Do we have to discuss things in times of crisis?”
There needs to be someone who has the final say. The other one was much more clear-headed.

……

Then they started arguing about it.

Of course, Yang Feng didn't care about them. Yang Xianzun made it very clear that the choice was up to them.

As for Yintai...

His problem is not difficult to solve.

Luoyang.

Yintai, who had just returned from the front lines, stared at the sky in astonishment.

There, a deity clad in golden armor, with golden wings spread across his back, looked down upon the chaotic crowds in the city below.

"Immortal Venerable, the Immortal Venerable has arrived!"

"It's an Immortal Venerable!"

……

A burst of excited shouts erupted below.

Without the slightest hesitation, Yintai spurred his horse into a nearby shop, while his elite Eight Banners troops were still staring in disbelief.

"Quickly, get off the street!"

Yin Tai shouted.

Having already stormed into the shop, he unhesitatingly pulled out a small hammer and casually smashed the shopkeeper, who was beaming as he greeted the governor, to death. He then dismounted and began stripping the shopkeeper of his clothes. The Eight Banners elites followed, looking somewhat bewildered at the governor. The governor said nothing, and after stripping the shopkeeper of his clothes, he quickly removed his own official robes and put on the shopkeeper's clothes. The Eight Banners elites then realized that this was a pawnshop, and that it contained quite a few pawned clothes. At this point, they didn't care about anything else and followed the governor's example, changing their clothes as well.

"General, why has it come to this?"

As an officer changed into a tattered fur coat, he said to the governor with great confusion.

however……

"Brothers, kill the corrupt officials who purged the Qing demons, and let's welcome the Immortal Venerable!"

"Kill the corrupt official, welcome the immortal!"

……

Suddenly, a roar like a tsunami erupted outside.

The officer peered out in astonishment and saw the entire street in turmoil. The usually docile and unruly people were acting like madmen, grabbing whatever they could use as weapons and forming a raging torrent.

"Sorcery! This demon is using sorcery to bewitch us!"

He said tremblingly.

"What kind of sorcery is this? What kind of sorcery do you need to rob the rich? Anyone with guts will do it. When we're burning, killing, and looting, who isn't bravely fighting for the lead? Do we need anyone to bewitch us?"

Yintai kicked him and shouted.

Then they just lay there by the crack in the door, watching more and more troublemakers surge past.

The figure in the sky did nothing at all; he simply hovered there quietly, watching the awakening of the entire city of Luoyang.

Those unruly citizens who had been watching the revelry in Kaifeng and the surrounding counties could no longer contain themselves upon seeing this figure. The able-bodied men, armed with anything they could find, stormed into government offices and the residences of gentry, beginning their celebrations. Although the city was heavily garrisoned, the main force was the Green Standard Army, and most of them were former members of the Green Standard Army who had been routed in Kaifeng. Under normal circumstances, they would have been capable of suppressing the rebellion, but the golden figure in the sky made them wisely choose to defect.

Besides, it's much more fun to rob wealthy families with the commoners. There's no benefit in risking divine punishment from the immortals to suppress them now.

How much more benefit could the gentry possibly offer them?
Besides, even if they gave it to us, could it compare to simply robbing us?

Killing them would make them all mine.

Even the local officials, upon seeing the golden figure in the sky, mostly chose to abandon their posts and flee.

Many of them originally fled from Kaifeng. After the loss of Kaifeng, Luoyang had become the capital of Henan Province, and the officials were all there.

Last time they ran fast and escaped, so this time they must run even faster than last time.

Yang Feng remained suspended in the sky, quietly watching everything below. He watched as those unruly people stormed into mansions, dragged out the wealthy gentry, searched for their land deeds, indentures, and usurious loan receipts, and happily burned them in the streets. Or they carried out bags of grain, cloth, and even silver from government warehouses. Some officials who were clearly the subject of public resentment were dragged out and beaten with sticks in the streets.

Their screams echoed throughout the city.

All the city gates were opened, and fleeing officials and gentry, along with their families, struggled forward as they were beaten by the unruly people.

"Your Majesty, where is the Qing army? Why haven't you sent troops to wipe out this demon?"

An elderly villager with white hair knelt on the ground, looking up at the sky and wailing in the direction of Brother Ma.

"How dare you insult the Immortal Venerable! This is utterly rebellious!"

"A troublemaker said angrily."

He then lashed the old man with a whip.

The latter screamed in pain after being whipped and instantly regained his senses. He quickly kowtowed to Yang Feng.

"Immortal Lord, this old man is senile and confused, and is babbling incoherently. I beg you, Immortal Lord, to have mercy!"

he shouted.

But the next moment something appeared in front of him.

Do you recognize the words on it?

Yang Feng spoke above his head.

The old man, Huan, looked at the large jade seal with trembling eyes.

"Received, the mandate of Heaven, may your life be long and prosperous."

He said.

"Since you know each other, then accept the punishment from heaven!"

Yang Feng said.

The next moment, the Imperial Seal of the State shone brightly, and at the same time, the old man and the official exploded into a bloody mist.

Behind the cheering crowd, Yin Tai, startled by the scene, quickly put on an excited act and cheered along with the surrounding scoundrels. Then, he and his few equally disguised subordinates squeezed their way out of the crowd, gradually dispersing and eventually joining the fleeing crowd in a hasty escape from Luoyang...

(End of this chapter)