Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 222 The Death of Zhu Tongmeng, Prefect of Yan'an

Every autumn after the harvest, the granaries of the Central Plains are full, and the horses on the grasslands are fat and strong, making it a time of great turmoil. In the second half of the third year of the Chongzhen reign, the focus of the court's work shifted from the Ministry of Revenue to the Ministry of War.

On an ordinary afternoon in mid-September, Zhu Youjian was relaxing on a reclining chair in the Imperial Garden, his three children playing around him. For some reason, after having one son and two daughters, he had become impotent. Despite his tireless efforts day and night, none of his concubines conceived. This caused anxiety throughout the empire.

"Your Majesty, Minister Zhu requests an audience!" Wang Chengen rushed in and said.

Zhu Youjian jumped up, shoved the porridge into the Empress's hands, and shook Zhu Ciyan off his lap. He hurriedly asked, "What happened? Have the Jurchens attacked again?!"

"It's an urgent report from northern Shaanxi!" Minister Zhu said. "Yan'an, the city of Yan'an... has fallen!" Wang Chengen said in a hoarse voice.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian remained silent for a long time before softly saying, "I understand."

……

In Yan'an, the heavy beechwood and copper-nailed city gates still stand strong, but the long-neglected city walls could not withstand the continuous bombardment of cannons and catapults for several months, and a huge gap has been formed.

Wang Jiayin, known as the "King of the Horizontal One Character," rode a chestnut horse and entered the city in a triumphant manner, surrounded by his men.

He had besieged the city for three months, and his brothers had gone hungry for three months. Now he was eager to meet the renowned Prefect of Yan'an, Zhu Tongmeng, and ask him in person:
With the emperor clearly incompetent and corrupt officials in power, showing no regard for the lives of ordinary people or even the local officials, why should Zhu Tongmeng risk his life for such a court and such an emperor?!
He wanted to ask, on what grounds did Zhu Tongmeng call them "rebels"? They were just a group of starving people trying to survive! If they had any food, if the court had given them a bowl of porridge or a way to live, they wouldn't have risked their lives to rebel!

"Who? Who killed him? Didn't we say we couldn't hurt Lord Zhu?! Who?!?" Inside the government office, he didn't get the chance to confront Zhu Tongmeng face to face; instead, he was met with a cold corpse.

"What Lord Zhu? Brother, why are you still thinking about accepting the imperial amnesty? That dog emperor said that those of us who lead the rebellion will be killed without mercy! Let's stop daydreaming! Zhu Yuanzhang was just a beggar back then, but he still became emperor, didn't he? If you ask me, let's rebel big, march all the way to the Forbidden City, and become kings and overlords!" "Cao Cao" Luo Rucai said.

Wang Jiayin glared at Luo Rucai and said in a deep voice, "Lord Zhu is a good official. Our uprising is to rob the rich and help the poor, and to act on behalf of Heaven, not to indiscriminately kill the innocent!"

Luo Rucai scoffed, but didn't argue with Wang Jiayin. Although Luo Rucai felt his intelligence far surpassed Wang Jiayin's, everyone thought Wang Jiayin was loyal and willing to follow him. However, Luo Rucai believed that since they had rebelled, they had to be ruthless; only by being as shameless as Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang could they win.
Otherwise, at best they would be like the overlords, or the likes of Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng, who might gain temporary glory but would ultimately die without a burial place.

Wang Jiayin was well aware of Luo Rucai's ambition, and even vaguely felt that Luo Rucai would eventually leave him and establish his own power base. However, he neither took preemptive action to eliminate or suppress Luo Rucai, nor did he listen to his empty promises. He believed that Luo Rucai was incapable of achieving anything; his ambitions were sky-high, but his fate was as fragile as paper. "Even marching on Beijing? They can't even leave Shaanxi now!"
Their attack on Yan'an was actually at the behest of Gao Yingxiang, the leader of the peasant rebellion: to attack Yan'an and draw the attention of the Yansui garrison, while Gao Yingxiang and his forces would launch a surprise attack on Xi'an through the Ziwu Valley. Wang Jiayin also did not think highly of Gao Yingxiang. Although he admired Gao Yingxiang's character, Gao Yingxiang had the same flaws: he couldn't see his own limitations and looked down on the government troops.

They haven't even managed to defeat "Hong the Butcher" in a single direct confrontation, yet they want to raid his stronghold?! This is simply disregarding the lives of their brothers! He struggled so much to attack Yan'an, let alone Xi'an, which is two hundred times larger than Yan'an!

Wang Jiayin picked up Zhu Tongmeng's body and found that this tall and imposing prefect's body was unusually light. He loosened his official robes and lifted the hem of his inner garment, only to find a emaciated body underneath, with sunken pectoral muscles and even a clearly visible xiphoid process.

A short knife was still stuck in Zhu Tongmeng's body. Wang Jiayin reached out to pull it out, but failed. He then realized that the blade was stuck in Zhu Tongmeng's bone.

"Damn it, he's a real tough nut to crack!" Wang Jiayin cursed as he ripped off Zhu Tongmeng's blue official robe with the embroidered geese pattern. Wang Jiayin also wanted Zhu Tongmeng's undergarment, but in the end, he spared Zhu Tongmeng some dignity.

"Guards! Give Lord Zhu a proper burial!" Wang Jiayin suddenly roared as if he were losing his temper.

"Yes!" Wang Jiayin's personal guards were startled and quickly replied.

He stared blankly at the official robe in his hands, tears welling up in his eyes without him realizing it. "So be it, so be it, it's not mine, it's never mine!" he muttered to himself, then knelt down, folded the robe neatly, and placed it over Zhu Tongmeng's navel. He said, "Bury this robe along with the rest of the robe!" "Yes..."

A long sigh echoed from inside the county government office.

Those who followed Wang Jiayin looked at him with worry, unsure how to offer any advice; while Luo Rucai's contempt grew even more unrestrained: "Indecisive, womanly!"

He felt it was time for him to "change jobs," but unfortunately, who in this world was qualified to be his lord?!

Since his brothers had given him the nickname "Cao Cao," he felt he was "a capable minister in times of peace and a ruthless hero in times of chaos"! He hadn't yet discovered "Liu Bei," so he was the only hero in the world! Perhaps, he should start his own faction!

The loss of the opportunity to confront his respected enemy was a huge blow to Wang Jiayin. However, the situation in Yan'an Prefecture that followed was even more disheartening: the expected granaries were empty, and even the wealthy families in the city had no surplus grain.

"Honorable sir, spare my life! Honorable sir, spare my life! All our grain has been forcibly seized by that damned Zhu Tongmeng!" Zhang the philanthropist knelt on the ground, banging his head against the ground like garlic.

He was terrified. He had heard that these starving people were ruthless killers who would eat people when they were starving. What was even more terrifying was that these people hated wealthy families like theirs. If they fell into their hands, the whole family would be slaughtered: the men would be humiliated to death, and the women would be played with and then disemboweled and eaten!

However, no matter how much he begged for mercy, he saw not a trace of pity in the eyes of these refugees; they continued to look at him coldly.

Zhang the philanthropist finally broke down, tears and snot streaming down his face as he cursed, "Zhu Tongmeng, you heartless bastard! You stole my grain, saying it was for defending against the enemy, but the enemy couldn't be defeated, and now the grain is gone! You useless piece of trash! You corrupt official! Waaah..."

"If I'd known, I would have rather died than give you food! Even if I died, I could at least die well-fed! I've never gone hungry in my life!"

"Your Majesty, this man has gone mad with fear! What should we do?! We haven't even found out where he hid the grain yet!"

With a whoosh, a cold glint flashed, and Zhang Dafu's howling stopped abruptly. His head rolled three times on the ground, his eyes wide open in death!
Wang Jiayin pointed his blood-stained knife at Zhang Fuhu's face and said, "No need to ask anymore, there's no food left! Look at his own fat face, it's sunken in from hunger!" As he finished speaking, a drop of blood landed precisely on Zhang Fuhu's cheek without sliding down.

Wang Jiayin suddenly realized something: the "Rebel King" wasn't crazy. He couldn't possibly be a fool to have assembled such a large army. The reason he went to attack Xi'an was because he truly had no other choice; they had exhausted all their food supplies, and even the wealthy families were running out of grain!
He was completely bewildered: as the leader, he had been leading his men to rob the rich and help the poor, and the group had grown stronger and stronger, conquering village after village and killing those troublesome landlords.

Everything was going smoothly: they had managed to seize the grain, and everyone ate their fill... He himself had even taken several daughters of landlords as concubines, and everything was thriving. However, it seemed that this path had come to an end.

At the beginning of the year, he joined forces with Chuang Wang, Lao Huihui, and two other families, intending to cross the Yellow River eastward to Shanxi to "eat the rich." They had heard that the people of Shanxi ate mutton every day and were rolling in money! However, they failed, and tens of thousands of their brothers perished in the river. They didn't even reach the other side of the Yellow River!

These people, who grew up eating yellow sand, rarely bathed in their entire lives; most of them were landlubbers, unable to swim, so having many of them wouldn't help. Left with no other choice, they had to turn back and try to find a way in another direction.

They were initially unaware of this situation, but after encountering numerous setbacks, they finally realized that the imperial court had deployed heavy troops to the east, south, and even west to intercept them! The imperial court intended to trap them to death in northern Shaanxi!

The imperial court is too vicious! Who knows which treacherous official came up with this plan? They hate the court to the core! But what can they do, no matter how much they hate? They want to live; they need a way out. Tragically, they can't defeat the government troops!

(End of this chapter)