Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 129 Are you trying to rebel? (Bonus chapter by Silver Alliance Leader Nuanyang1314)

The vermilion gate, bearing a century of history, collapsed with a crash.

A large number of armored soldiers flooded into the Duke of Wei's mansion like a tidal wave.

This mansion, which has been passed down for more than two hundred years, has finally had its outer shell smashed.

It was completely exposed to the armored soldiers.

Lin Dao spurred his horse and rode straight into the mansion.

What you see first is a screen wall with exquisite relief carvings.

"The Duke of Wei's Mansion."

"Having enjoyed wealth and honor for over two hundred years, Xu Da's contributions should have been enough."

"The blessings of a virtuous person will last for five generations."

"You've all been passed down for over a dozen generations, do you really think you can last forever?"

He raised his riding whip and pointed it at the screen wall that testified to the glory and power of the Duke of Wei's mansion.

"Tear it down!"

Cries, shouts, running sounds, and the deafening crash of collapsing houses filled the air.

Xu Hongji opened his eyes.

Xu Hongji got up from the chair.

Xu Hongji arrived in the courtyard.

Xu Hongji looked terrified, his hands and feet trembling!

Just a quarter of an hour ago, he was the true master of Jinling City, whose word could decide life and death.

But now, he can no longer maintain the dignity of a duke.

No matter how much I wipe the sweat off my forehead, I can't get it all away.

At this moment, he had only one hope in his heart.

"It's a wage riot! It's a wage riot! It's a wage riot!"

The Ming Dynasty court was chronically in arrears with military pay, and even the military pay during the Jiajing reign was still owed.

The soldiers were dissatisfied and, in order to survive and support their families, they often gathered together to protest for their pay.

This led to numerous instances of the imperial court massacring its own troops.

Such a bizarre operation is extremely rare in world history.

A rare absurdity.

As the deputy garrison commander of Jinling and the nominal commander of the rear army command, Xu Hongji was most impatient with the issue of unpaid wages.

The military households were unwilling to let their families starve to death quietly, and they would come and cause trouble from time to time, which was indeed a very troublesome thing.

In the past, they would either drive people away with sticks or arrest, imprison, and behead them.

But at this moment.

Xu Hongji prayed to his ancestors for protection, but the soldiers who came were demanding unpaid wages!

These military households can be appeased if you speak to them politely and give them enough money.

What he truly feared was that those coming wouldn't be people demanding back pay.

I simply can't bear to think about it!
The servants of the manor came running in screaming.

They crawled on the ground like quails, scrambling and rolling to escape behind the nobles.

It was as if the lord's imposing figure was as solid as a mountain, always able to shelter them from the wind and rain.

The armor plates clanged together, their sound as loud as thunder.

A large number of heavy footsteps, as dense as raindrops, surged into the room.

Looking at the large number of armored soldiers pouring in, Xu Hongji's legs went weak and he almost knelt down.

"It's over."

It's really over; the soldiers who came weren't the ones demanding their pay.

The military households in Jinling City did not have such excellent equipment; they couldn't even wear it.

The nobles looked terrified and on the verge of collapse.

However, even at this time, there are still some who are blind to the situation and cannot see clearly.

Marquis Pingjiang, Chen Zhian, stepped forward and shouted, "Who are you?"

"How dare you trespass into the Duke's mansion while wearing armor! Do you know that this is a capital offense?!"

His response was a powerful punch.

The armored soldier punched him in the face, instantly knocking him to the ground.

Chen Zhian covered his face and wailed, blood and foam gushing from his fingers.

The lords were terrified and trembled like leaves.

These once powerful figures, whose mere stomp of their feet could shake the entire city of Jinling, now finally felt a genuine sense of fear.

Looking around, Xu Hongji sighed deeply.

The servants and guards in the mansion were all experts at bullying the common people and showing off their power.

But when facing armored soldiers, she was as weak as a chicken.

As for household guards and servants, sorry, in the long-peaceful Jiangnan region, these do not exist.

With the clatter of hooves, Lin Dao rode his horse, tearing down houses and breaking through walls, until he arrived before the nobles.

His gaze swept over the nobles surrounded by armored soldiers, he reined in his horse, and raised his hand to remove his face shield.

"Hiss~~~"

Those who had met Lin Dao before immediately gasped in shock.

"Lin~Lin~~Lin~~~"

For a moment, I didn't know what to shout.

Calling someone a "dog thief" will probably get you chopped off.

Call him "Master," but he's fully armored.

Shouting "Zihou" makes me feel a little guilty.

"Lindao!"

Xu Hongji, who had served as a duke for decades, took a deep breath and asked, "Are you planning a rebellion?"

Lin Dao, on horseback, looked at him leisurely. "So what if it is?"

The single sentence, "So what if it is?" instantly plunged everyone into an icy abyss.

This is practically a rebellion.

To privately amass armored soldiers is tantamount to treason.

However, the nobles still held onto a sliver of hope.

"The Seventeen Guards of Jinling, with tens of thousands of elite troops!"

Xu Hongji said expressionlessly, "Large and small training grounds, 20,000 soldiers."

"Within the Divine Machine Battalion, there are three thousand muskets."

"The patrol battalion is suppressing the local forces; six thousand brave soldiers!"

"There is also the Xinjiangkou Camp outside the city, with tens of thousands of troops stationed there."

As Xu Hongji spoke, the aura of the group of nobles gradually rose.

Yes, we still have soldiers!

You traitor, so what if you kill us? You'll still be wiped out anyway.

"More than 100,000 troops were stationed inside and outside Jinling City."

Xu Hongji took a deep breath. "You're rebelling? You're asking for death." Lin Dao smiled faintly, tilting his head slightly. "What are you trying to say?"

“This matter can be let go.” Xu Hongji said in a deep voice, “I am willing to escort you to the ferry crossing on the riverbank and allow you to board a boat and sail away to distant lands.”

"what do you think?"

negotiation.

We'll give you a way out, and we'll give us a way out too.

Who would choose to die if they could live?
The nobles all wore expressions of hope.

Some people were thinking that once they escaped danger, they would immediately mobilize a large army to surround and kill the rebels!

"Lord Xu."

"Commander Xu".

"Admiral Xu".

"Governor Xu!"

Lin Dao took the package hanging from the horse's head with his backhand and casually threw it away.

The package rolled on the ground and tumbled to Xu Hongji's feet.

The blood-stained package fell apart, revealing Liu Yunji's hideous head inside.

The nobles all paled.

Some of the more timid were so frightened that they even let out a woman's broken voice.

"You said it yourself, it's a rebellion."

Lin Daohao said calmly, "Do you think I'm a brainless brute?"

"The Jianghuai Guard and Jichuan Guard among the Seventeen Guards have long been subdued by me and are currently patrolling the river, cutting off all contact."

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard is good at confiscating homes and arresting people, but they are not good at fighting."

"The Xiaoling Guards are stationed at the mausoleum; there's no need to interfere."

"The rest of the guards are all worthless rotten fish. They're only useful for guarding the palace and standing watch. But what about fighting a war?"

"Heh~~~"

"It's not that I look down on them, it's just that they really are despicable."

Lin Dao's gaze sharpened like lightning. "Duke of Wei."

"Do you think I'm a three-year-old who doesn't understand anything and is trying to fool me?"

"Large and small training grounds, firearms battalion, city patrol battalion, Xinjiangkou main camp."

"Can these areas mobilize more than 10,000 people?"

"As the commander of the Rear Army Commandery, you know better than I how many troops exist only in the military register."

"They are busy working on weekdays, busy working for the lords, busy earning money to support their families."

"Who would go to the military camp, assemble, and await orders?"

He straightened his back. "As for the places you mentioned, I have already sent troops to seize them, control the military supply depots, and seal off the military camps."

"If there are truly loyal and patriotic individuals who go to the military camp, they are merely walking into a trap."

Controlling the warehouses cut off the source of military supplies; there were no weapons, armor, military supplies, or even provisions.

These are things that military households do not have.

Closing the military camps cut off the channels through which the soldiers and their families could gather in the city.

If they can't go to the military camps, and even if the military households in various places want to pledge their loyalty, how can they be gathered together when they are scattered in such a large city?
If an army cannot assemble, it is just a disorganized rabble, and its combat effectiveness is negligible.

This is why, in every dynasty, after capturing a city, the first thing to do was to seize these important locations.

"impossible."

Xu Hongji shook his head repeatedly, "Jinling City is so big, how could you possibly have so many men?"

It's all out of habitual thinking; people think Lin Dao can't pull out that many people.

After all, it would take at least ten thousand men to completely control Jinling City.

Xu Hongji was shocked when he met Lin Dao's ambiguous smile.

He realized that this person had a task for him.

Instructors of the Brave Guard Battalion!

Originally, everyone thought that the Brave Guard Battalion was just a trick where everyone teamed up to divide the money and food.

Having learned that Lin Dao had crammed tens of thousands of refugees from outside the city into the Yongwei Camp to make up the numbers, Xu Hongji had thought that this man was clever and knew how to make use of waste.

Xu Hongji suddenly remembered again.

In the past few months, there have been no reports of any refugees appearing near Jinling City.
"You, you~"

Xu Hongji stared wide-eyed, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"You're using the income from Jubao Tower to support those displaced people as soldiers?!"

Raising soldiers in this era is actually quite simple.

Food in the belly, clothes on the body, and provisions in the hand.

If these three conditions are met, and some additional methods are employed, the goods can be used to one's advantage.

It's quite normal for those starving refugees to risk their lives for Lin Dao after receiving his benefits.

In other words, this person was already planning a rebellion when he first proposed forming the Brave Guard Battalion.
"I realized one thing a long time ago."

Lin Dao pointed his whip at the assembled nobles, saying, "You will not let my property go."

"In that case, it's better to use the money we earn to support the army than to leave it for you all to divide up."

"Now."

Lin Dao gestured to everyone, "Honestly hand over your family's money, grain, and hidden treasures."

"You are all nobles, so don't make trouble for yourselves."

As they were speaking, a deafening bell rang out from the direction of the distant palace.

"Heh~~~"

Lin Dao joked, "This is like ringing the Jingyang Bell."

It was indeed the Jingyang Bell that was struck.

A large number of soldiers appeared near the palace, blocked the city gates, and engaged in battle with the guards defending the gates.

When the news reached the garrison eunuch, Han Zanzhou was stunned.

His first reaction was...

"How can it be!"

This is Nanjing!

Although there were constant peasant uprisings in various parts of Jiangnan.

But Nanjing remained impregnable.

How did so many guards manage to let the thieves get close to the palace?

At first, Han Zanzhou thought it was nonsense and loudly rebuked the messenger.

As a result, news came from all the palace gates, and only then did he go to see for himself, half believing and half doubting.

All the gates of the palace had fallen, and the banners the enemy was flying struck the guarding eunuch like a thunderbolt.

The one who seized the palace gates was none other than the Brave Guard Battalion!

With his head spinning, Han Zanzhou was already thinking about which members of his nine clans were included.

When he came to his senses, his first reaction was to order the Jingyang Bell to be rung to summon people.

Call upon the city's garrison to come and quell the rebellion immediately!

The Jingyang Bell, which had not rung for many years, tolled the death knell for the Ming Dynasty!
(End of this chapter)