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

Chapter 231 Heaven and Earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs.
Chronologically speaking, Wang Jiayin, also known as Hengtian Yizi, died earlier than Gao Yingxiang, the rebel leader. When he died in battle, Gao Yingxiang was still being escorted to the capital. If he had marched a few steps faster, he might have been able to intercept the prison cart at Tongguan Pass and rescue Gao Yingxiang to fight alongside him.

In the third year of the Chongzhen reign, snow fell in Guanzhong in the tenth month of winter and did not melt until the first month of the following year, causing roads to be blocked and trade to be cut off! The final battles between Gao Yingxiang and Wang Jiayin both took place in the icy and snowy landscape.

The world was a vast expanse of white, like a funeral procession; the snowflakes drifting down from the sky looked like scattered paper money, and the howling wind was like the suona playing a funeral horn for them.

They fought amidst shortages of food and clothing, enduring hunger and cold; more died of cold and starvation than were killed by government troops. The Tongguan South Plain prisoner-of-war camp held over 50,000 prisoners from three bandit groups.

The reason for choosing this location is twofold: firstly, it is relatively close to Shangluo, following the principle of proximity; secondly, Tongguan has a strong military force, placing them under the watchful eyes of the Tongguan garrison makes it easier to suppress any rebellion.

The third reason was that the lucky ones among them would leave Shaanxi via Tongguan Pass. Although their final destination was unknown, they might have a chance to survive. This third point is also the reason why these prisoners of war were so obedient.

Food was scarce in Guanzhong to begin with, and with 50,000 people and 50,000 mouths to feed, Hong Chengchou wished these people would dig a hole and bury him.

However, the emperor was merciful, so he could only obey orders. But it was impossible for him to use his precious grain to feed these bandits. At most, he could give them some sweet potatoes and wheat bran to eat.

Sweet potatoes, roots and all, along with the soil and vines, were thrown into a pot to boil. The prisoners ate this for half a month until their stomachs were acidic and their eyes were glowing green.

However, today they were able to eat white rice for the first time ever. Although the rice was old and had a strange taste, it was much better than the swill they had been eating before.

The prisoner-of-war camp was like a New Year's celebration, with the prisoners bursting into laughter and joy, which kept the guarding officers and soldiers on high alert.

Today is not a good day for these prisoners of war; many will die. As a result, 20,000 troops have been secretly deployed to the outside of the prisoner-of-war camp, half of whom are Hong Chengchou's Qin troops and the other half of whom he borrowed from Tongguan.

After the meal, the government troops read aloud to the prisoners of war the imperial edict ordering the execution of eleven out of ten, as punishment for their rebellious behavior. Smiles froze on their faces, and many wept on the spot.

Tang Tong sneered, "Rebellion is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family. Do you think that surrendering will make it seem like nothing happened? His Majesty's willingness to forgive most of you is already extremely merciful!"

However, the so-called benevolent emperor they spoke of harbored malice far beyond that. The eleven-day draw order was announced at noon, and the life-or-death lottery would be postponed until tomorrow; tonight would be a sleepless night.

Late at night, under a simple thatched hut, Ma Muhammad Mingyuan knelt on a large communal bed made of straw. He raised his hands to his ears, palms facing forward, and recited Allah al-Aqbar, then prayed devoutly in the direction of the holy city. However, his God did not answer his prayers.

A tremendous fear gripped him, and his body trembled violently. This bizarre scene astonished his brothers, who were also unable to sleep.

When Ma Mingyuan opened his eyes, he found himself surrounded by a large group of people.

“What did you see, Muhammad, my brother?” Abdullah asked hastily.

The moonlight reflected off the snow and illuminated the expectant faces of Abdullah and his companions.

Ma Mingyuan was stunned. He had already resigned himself to his fate; it was only a one in ten chance, and he would most likely not die. But why?! Why should he gamble with that one in ten chance of death? Why should his fate be at the mercy of the Han people?! Even a prophet cannot arbitrarily decide the fate of others!

“Listen, brothers, I have heard the teachings of God. He said that our destiny should be in our own hands. Tonight I will launch a holy war and lead you out of this cage!” Ma Mingyuan shouted.

He knew that the Ming army never entered the prisoner-of-war camp at night, and that the Ming army disdained to monitor them, a group of defeated generals. His words made the crowd under the thatched hut boil over!
"Brother Ma, can we join you?" Liu Wusi asked timidly. He was not the Hui person that Ma Shouying had mentioned.

Ma Mingyuan hesitated for a moment, but still nodded. More people meant a better chance of winning, and he had no reason to turn Liu Wusi away: "Of course, my brother, 'all believers are brothers,' you believe in Allah, right?!"

“Of course!” Liu Wusi replied confidently, even though he didn’t know which Buddha Allah was.

Liu Wusi's arrival inspired Ma Mingyuan, and he finally understood why his father had chosen to cooperate with the Han people. In the Ming Dynasty, their power was too weak, and to succeed, they had to rely on the power of the Han people and mobilize them as well.

In reality, he was only an adopted son. Ma Shouying was over forty years old and still had no son. His wife also planned to arrange a concubine for him according to Han Chinese tradition, but he refused. He chose to adopt some orphans, some of whom were Han Chinese, some Mongolians, and even some Jurchens.

These good deeds were noticed and earned him respect. Having served in the Ming Dynasty, he was a skilled fighter, relatively fair, intelligent, and capable of winning people's hearts. As he grew older, his prestige increased, and he was gradually revered as an imam, even regarded as a leader by other ethnic minorities. However, in the eyes of the imperial court, this behavior was no different from rebellion. Therefore, he faced intense scrutiny from the local government, and unsurprisingly, he did indeed rebel. The reason for the rebellion was a dispute between the Han and Hui people of Suide over water resources; he felt the government favored the Han landlords.

Ma Mingyuan then rallied more people in the camp to join him, openly plotting a rebellion. His brothers mostly chose to join him, while the Han Chinese were much more clear-headed. It was common sense that rebellion meant the death of one's entire family; failure meant certain death—that was fair, and besides, they weren't necessarily going to die, were they?

As for rebellion, didn't they just rebel?! Neither side could win when they were fully engaged, and now they're unarmed and trying to fly to the sky!

Although the so-called "eleven-draw kill" scare them and kept them up at night with anxiety, they were exhausted and didn't want to cause any more trouble. Some even wanted to report Ma Mingyuan, hoping to receive a reward from the government army and be exempted from the life-or-death draw. Thus, the rebellion first broke out among the prisoners.

Ma Mingyuan killed the Han Chinese who wanted to report him. Liu Wusi was stunned when he saw this, but he could only follow Ma Mingyuan to the bitter end, because even if he left Ma Mingyuan's group now, he would be regarded as a traitor and accomplice and would be beaten to death.

The conflict between the Han and Hui people was on the verge of erupting, but Ma Mingyuan's priority was to escape, not to fight the Han people in the prisoner-of-war camp. They were few in number and would be overwhelmed by the sheer number of people. Fortunately, the Han people weren't that united either. Although one of their compatriots had died, most of them chose to remain bystanders.

Of course, many people were tempted to run away by Ma Mingyuan, but not everyone wanted to join Ma Mingyuan and participate in his damn holy war.

Many clever people darted around, taking advantage of the commotion to quietly slip behind the crowd. However, even though the prisoner-of-war camp was bustling with activity, an eerie silence remained outside. Just as Ma Mingyuan had suspected, the Ming army didn't even bother to come in and take a look at them.

The unrest continued until dawn, making it even harder for those already anxious and unable to sleep. That night, only a handful of the 50,000 people were able to fall asleep; they gathered with dark circles under their eyes, ready to draw lots for life or death and face their fate.

However, what everyone saw was a horrific scene in the center of the camp: Ma Mingyuan, who was full of vigor last night, was hanged on a high flagpole in front of tens of thousands of people. Everyone watched him struggle and struggle until he breathed his last, but no one came to save him.

Beneath the flagpole lay a small mountain of corpses. Tang Feng, the temporary guard of the prisoner-of-war camp, stood calmly beside the pile of bodies, without even frowning.

The prisoners of war looked at him, a chill running down their spines. Many of them were secretly relieved: they had made the right bet. How could the government troops not have set up an ambush beforehand?
Ten people were divided into groups, and life-or-death draws were made! When the answer was revealed, some people cried tears of joy, some turned ashen-faced, some wept bitterly, and some went crazy on the spot.

Their emperor showed a final shred of mercy, allowing them to eat a meal of meat broth with rice, in order to fulfill the duty of a monarch to his people.

The Eleven-Shot Kill Order was originally intended for the nine surviving people to kill the one who drew the death warrant. However, this was a practice specifically for the military, and it also required that the surviving soldiers have a bond of camaraderie with each other. This would subject them to moral torment and instill extreme fear of the Eleven-Shot Kill Order.

But Zhu Youjian didn't need them to serve in the army, so naturally he couldn't train their courage and bravery anymore. As for a sense of guilt, did anyone really think these refugees were some kind of moral vanguard?!
People with an overly strong sense of morality don't even live to this day. The sages of the past have always seen this clearly: when the granaries are full, people know etiquette!

Whether they take action or the government troops do it, they will ultimately blame the imperial court.

Ultimately, the executioners were a group of spoiled brats from the Qin vassal guards. Though called spoiled brats, they were actually quite wronged. If they were living a comfortable life, who would be eager to become the sect leader's bodyguard and risk their lives on the battlefield?

When Zhu Youjian learned of the existence of the Qin Fan Guard, he was indeed amazed. If it were an ordinary emperor, he would definitely have taken action to disperse them, because emperors throughout history have been steadfast in implementing the policy of weakening the power of the princes and could not tolerate the bravery of the imperial clan. However, Zhu Youjian was not afraid of making things worse. Since these distant relatives were so ambitious, he naturally wanted to encourage them more.

Eastern knights, how rare! History has proven that the best soldiers are not military households, but good men from the six counties.

The million descendants of the Zhu family were seen as a burden on the Ming Dynasty. The argument that the imperial family was bankrupting the Ming Dynasty didn't originate in later generations; even the local people of the Ming Dynasty talked about this a lot. Officials used this as a pretext to stand on moral high ground and condemn the emperor, which was very wrong! This seriously affected the foundation of Zhu Youjian's rule!

Although Qin's royal guard is still very weak and has a poor record on the battlefield, its future is promising. After all, no one is born knowing how to fight.

From then on, the two largest bandit groups in Shaanxi were wiped out, and Shaanxi should be much quieter for a long time. The only drawback was that they were not caught and no one knows where they have fled to now. If he had been more obedient and kept his name hidden, Zhu Youjian could have pretended that he did not exist.

The surviving prisoners will be used to dredge the waterways and become boatmen on the Sui-Tang Grand Canal. They may still die from exhaustion or freezing, and not live to a normal lifespan, but they are unlikely to starve to death.

However, despair still lingered over the Northwest. Just as the Beggars' Sect disciples were not determined by the Beggars' Sect itself, the emergence of bandits could not be changed by simple suppression and appeasement. Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all things as straw dogs.

(End of this chapter)