Ancestors, please don't crawl out again.

Chapter 173 I am a troublemaker!
Yang Feng did not linger in Guide and continued on his way the next day.

The militia sent by Kaifeng followed him into Guide, and then, amidst the cheers of the people, began the gradually improving procedures.

During the previous renovation process, some minor issues actually arose...

To be precise, when the gentry were unable to resist, they began to look for loopholes and exploit them to minimize their losses.

For example, those who are scholars do not own land. In this way, they can transfer some of their land to other scholars or even those who have passed the preliminary examination in their family. This way, the land will still belong to their family. In fact, those who receive the land will be grateful to them. After all, it is better for them to unite their clan than for Yang Feng to bribe unruly people.

Ultimately, Yang Feng's set of principles is too broad, which leaves a lot of room for maneuver.

Furthermore, for the gentry, doing this kind of thing is basic practice. If they can't resist, they submit, then join in and corrupt from within, ultimately completing their transformation and rebirth.

Always been this way.

Fortunately, the final interpretation of this matter rests with Yang Feng...

Just like Old Zhu.

What? You dare to play tricks on me?

Disloyal and disobedient to the emperor!

Kill the whole family!

There were even instances of gentry bribing militia members in an attempt to drag them into the mess.

Of course, there are bound to be some who can't resist the temptation. This also requires basic operation. Fortunately, Yang Feng still uses the same methods as Old Zhu. Although skinning and stuffing the skin with straw is indeed a bit troublesome, killing the whole family is not troublesome at all.

Ultimately, the goal of accepting benefits is to leave a good family fortune for one's descendants, so such people should kill the whole family.

Do you still want to leave behind a good family business?

May you be childless.

Since Yang Feng has already asked the people, and they have chosen a tyrant who has been cursed by the gentry for generations, then he must keep his promise.

Ultimately, under this guiding principle, the ongoing reforms across various regions have become increasingly brutal. Those carrying out this work are essentially fanatical worshippers of the Celestial Venerable, carrying out his every command without question, without even needing to think for themselves. They do whatever the Celestial Venerable says; if he says certain individuals must have their entire families killed, they strictly adhere to the standards—those meeting the criteria must have their entire families killed. What about gentle, traditional morality?

I am a troublemaker!
And so, as Yang Feng moved forward, weeping echoed wherever he went.

One by one, virtuous gentry who prided themselves on repairing bridges and roads and being kind and generous were killed along with their entire families. The kind, gentle, respectful, frugal and modest people of the past were nowhere to be seen, and everywhere were troublemakers.

Dangshan.

"You troublemakers! You troublemakers!"

Before the city gates, amidst the jubilation, a gentryman being hung from a tree branch looked at the people around him and cursed them with deep resentment.

The latter is listing his various crimes.

On the trees on either side of him, many like him were already hanging.

In reality, the militia hadn't arrived yet, but they didn't need to. In these undefended areas, the swarming civilians had taken matters into their own hands. The Qing army was currently holed up in Xuzhou, completely abandoning everything outside of it. So, at this moment, the gentry who had been cursing the unruly people could already watch the prison cart procession slowly drive past him. At the very front of the procession was a giant cart with an abstract design—actually, it was a ship, but with four huge paddle wheels on either side, making it look like a cart. On top of it was a chimney resembling a mast, and it was burning coal.

So black smoke kept billowing out.

this thing……

Yang Feng himself was completely bewildered!
He was simply tired of flying and asked that so-called god to quickly send him a cool car. He also made specific requirements: first, it had to be amphibious, since the water network gets denser the further south you go; second, it had to look spectacular and inspire awe; and third, the technology level should not be too high, so that people of this era would have the ambition to achieve it through technology.

Then that so-called god sent him this thing.

It is said that this was one of his old toys, like the armored rhinoceros that needed oxygen, which he built for himself to travel around during one of his playful adventures.

Theoretically, it's a steam-powered tractor; that's the basic structure. The shell isn't important—it's just some wood. It's just depicted to look mysterious, with a piston steam engine driving an amphibious paddlewheel system. However, because the rudimentary steam engine didn't have enough power to actually move this mobile palace, he added a diesel engine as auxiliary power in the lower compartment, ultimately creating something that looks like steampunk but is actually dieselpunk.

It even has gun turrets on it!

So this colossal machine slowly traversed the Central Plains, across the sandy land left by the repeated floods of the Yellow River. As its attendants fed coal into the boilers, black smoke billowed from the chimneys, and the whistle sounded, four enormous paddle wheels turned, grinding the ground with wide rubber pads. Around its deck, fully armed attendants stood with their backs to the deck; on the fore and aft gun emplacements stood two cannons, and in the center stood a palace.

However, the palace was now surrounded by rising eaves, so one could see the celestial being on the throne inside, seated amidst auspicious light.

Several maids stood by.

“Immortal Venerable, Immortal Venerable, if you treat scholars well, why worry that the world cannot be settled quickly? If you insist on condoning the scoundrels who exploit the gentry, then all the gentry in the world will regard you as an enemy.”

The gentryman, his head already shoved into a noose, shouted at the palace, "Does the Immortal Lord not wish to unify the world?"

The other head, which had also been stuffed into a noose, was also shouting.

The other gentry who were waiting to be hung up also shouted to the Immortal Venerable.

However, the immortal remained silent, only waving his arms on his throne as if performing some kind of ceremony, while celestial music emanated from the palace.

"You scoundrels, do you think the Immortal Venerable is afraid that you will become his enemies?"

The unruly commoner, who was clinging to the gentry's legs, said disdainfully.

He then suddenly pulled downwards, tightening the gentry's neck. At the same time, the troublemaker released his grip, and the gentry grabbed the rope with both hands, kicking his legs in mid-air, his face turning pale as he struggled to breathe.

The other gentry received the same result.

Meanwhile, the Immortal Venerable's palace continued to move slowly forward.

But at that moment, a large number of cavalry figures appeared in the distance, clearly Qing troops.

Currently, Xuzhou is teeming with troops. Ma Ge originally thought Yang Feng would take Dezhao to Kaifeng, but he didn't expect this devil to take him to Yangzhou. He could tolerate taking him to Kaifeng, since Kaifeng had been corrupted and anything done there would be considered demonic. But he really couldn't tolerate taking him to Yangzhou. In the end, it was difficult for the gentry of Jiangnan to guarantee their submission to him. If Yang Feng took Dezhao to Yangzhou and executed him, then the gentry of Jiangnan would finally understand that the Qing Dynasty was finished.

They will no longer support Mago.

The Ma brothers and the Eight Banners of Beijing were supported by taxes from Jiangnan. The gentry of Jiangnan paid their taxes honestly because the massacres of that year had terrified them.

They dared not refuse to pay.

but……

If Ma Ge is that weak, why should they obey him?
Even if we include Hangzhou, the 10,000 or so Manchu troops stationed in Nanjing and Zhenjiang could suppress them.
Then, by using this incident to bring up the massacre of that year, they could incite the people to resist, bribe the Green Standard Army, and easily wipe out the Eight Banners garrisons in the three regions. They could even do it differently, since the north and south are almost completely cut off anyway; they could simply ignore Ma Ge's orders and play the role of self-preservation. They could even bribe the garrisoned Eight Banners to join them. After all, the Eight Banners' families are already there; they either get besieged and wiped out by the Green Standard Army bribed by the gentry, or they can join the gentry as henchmen and at least protect their families.

They didn't betray Ma Ge; they just used the excuse of being cut off to stop sending money and supplies to Ma Ge and to stop obeying his orders.

And then Ma Ge was finished.

He'll be starving!
Back then, Emperor Shun of Yuan suffered a supply disruption to Dadu due to a rebellion in the south, which ultimately led to the starvation of hundreds of thousands of people. If it weren't for the loyal minister of the Great Yuan, Zhang Shicheng, who transported a batch of grain by sea, he wouldn't have survived until Xu Da arrived.

Similarly, if the money and food supplies in Jiangnan were cut off, Ma Ge and the hundreds of thousands of loyal farmers in the capital would only have one option left: starvation.

After all, there's nowhere to loot at this point.

Henan has run out of money and grain for him, and the main grain-producing areas of Zhili have been corrupted. Shanxi certainly has no grain to give him. As for Shandong, Shandong cannot be allowed to descend into chaos now; stability must be ensured, and he dares not plunder too much. Therefore, he cannot allow Yang Feng to cross Xuzhou. Protecting Xuzhou is protecting his lifeline and preserving the last bit of prestige he holds in the eyes of the gentry in Jiangnan.

"Immortal Venerable, shall we launch an attack?"

The cavalry battalion commander guarding the palace ascended to the outside and sought instructions from the immortal.

The immortal lord, who was listening to music with headphones on, took them off, stood up from his throne, and walked onto the deck to look at the cavalry.

It is clearly a bannerman group.

These people must have come from Nanjing or Zhenjiang. They still lack understanding of him. If they were from the Eight Banners in the north, they would never dare to appear in his sight.

"There's no need for that. They actually dare to spy on us. They clearly don't know what divine punishment is."

Yang Feng sneered.

He then drew his Crimson Sky Sword, and pointed it toward the cavalrymen in a spellcasting stance.

The next moment, a strange light flashed in the sky above their heads, followed by several bursts of smoke. Then, a dense cluster of fireballs erupted from the cavalrymen, one by one, causing them to tremble and fall from their horses. In the blink of an eye, only a handful of the hundreds of cavalrymen remained, standing amidst the smoke, gazing in a daze at the scene of carnage that had instantly transformed the surrounding area into a battlefield. The artillerymen in front of the palace had already taken aim at them, and then bullets were fired.

In the end, even these few fell to the bullets.

"Let's go, keep moving forward. Also, send a message to the Second Army, ordering them to head south. With so many targets, they can practice their skills."

Yang Feng said.

After saying that, he went back to listening to music.

The immortal's palace continued forward, quickly passing over the Eight Banners soldiers scattered all over the land.

At the same time, the messenger also sent a telegram to the Heavenly Army, which had already marched east to the Grand Canal, ordering them to head south and join forces in Xuzhou.

(End of this chapter)