The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 102 Looting the Zheng Family
At Jiang Han's command, the archers, who were already prepared, immediately drew their bows and nocked their arrows.

"put!"

With a sudden wave of the command flag, a dense rain of arrows poured down towards the top of the wall!

Screams and groans immediately rang out, incessantly.

The guards and servants who had initially tried to peek out from the wall were instantly suppressed and unable to raise their heads. Many of them fell after being hit by arrows, while the rest quickly retreated behind the wall.

Several breech-loading cannons from the army were also brought out and bombarded the corner tower. Bricks and stones flew everywhere, and people dared not stand in front of it.

"Crash! Drive!"

Under the cover of long-range firepower, a dozen strong men pushed a wrecked vehicle covered in sheet metal, and with heavy steps, launched an assault on the heavy iron-clad wooden gate of the Zheng family manor.

Boom!Boom!Boom!
The dull, massive impact echoed through the night sky like the beating of a drum. Each impact caused the entire gate to tremble violently, sending wood chips flying everywhere!
The guards panicked and tried to reinforce the gate with bolts and stones, but it was all in vain.

With a loud crash and the cracking sound of wood breaking, the thick gate of the Zheng Family Manor was forcefully smashed open.

"kill!"

"Grandpa's here to take your dog's life!"

"Rob money! Rob food! Rob women!"

Jiang Han's soldiers, like a floodgate opened, led by their captain and squad leader, deliberately imitated the arrogant slogans of bandits, brandishing their knives and guns, and swarmed in through the gate!

Inside the manor, dozens of Zheng family guards attempted to put up a final resistance to cover the escape of the family patriarch, Zheng Yunsheng.

But in the face of these seasoned soldiers, their ranks were as fragile as paper, crumbling at the slightest touch, with many being cut down almost instantly.

In the chaos, Zheng Yunsheng was also caught by several soldiers who rushed up. Before he could beg for mercy, his head was chopped off.

In less than an hour, there was no more resistance from the manor.

Jiang Han rode his horse slowly into the manor. Looking at the mess on the ground, he expressionlessly instructed Hei Zi beside him:
"Clean up the battlefield, collect the gold and silver, and inventory the grain and cloth. Be quick!"

Hei Zi nodded, then beat the drum to regroup the scattered soldiers and began assigning tasks to each squad.

The soldiers were divided into several teams and, under the command of officers of all ranks, began to systematically and thoroughly search Zhengjiazhuang.

Gold and silver were carried out of the warehouse box by box, and mountains of grain were loaded onto horse-drawn carts from the granary.

The warehouse was looted of all valuable items, including silks, satins, antiques, jade artifacts, and precious medicinal herbs!
He Lei, who was covered up completely, watched as truck after truck of goods were unloaded, and he couldn't stop smiling.

We've struck it rich! We've really struck it rich this time!
Seeing this, Jiang Han walked over and patted him on the shoulder:

"This harvest was quite substantial, all thanks to Brother Yipianshi's information!"

"As agreed beforehand, we'll split it equally among the three families."

He pointed to the antiques, paintings, jade ornaments, and other items that were piled up separately.

"These things are valuable, but I can't easily sell them and can't immediately convert them into silver."

"How about this, I'll give these things to you two at a discounted price. You can keep them and gradually cash them out when you have the time and connections."

"I urgently need the grain, so I'll take it all, at market price. If it's not enough, I'll give you more!"

He Lei naturally had no objection and nodded repeatedly:
"Easy to say, easy to say!"

"My brother, Tiger Mountain, is truly righteous!"

Just then, the soldiers in charge of the search rushed in to report that they had discovered the remnants of the Zheng family hiding in a cellar under a rockery in the backyard!

Upon hearing this, Jiang Han immediately gave the following instructions:
"Bring them all over here!"

He originally intended to slaughter everyone in Zhengjiazhuang, but then he changed his mind and decided that he should leave a few survivors.

Otherwise, if no one reports it to the authorities, how will the government know that it was Shangshanhu who started it?
Soon, the surviving Zheng family members and women were roughly dragged out of the cellar by the soldiers and brought before Jiang Han.

Leading the group were Zheng Yunsheng's two sons and two unmarried daughters, with the rest being a group of young women.

Because he was wearing a face mask, Jiang Han wasn't afraid of being recognized. He whispered to Hei Zi:

"Go and verify their identities. Leave no male member of the Zheng family, not even a single direct relative, alive!"

“Among the women, pick a few who are unimportant, young and beautiful, and keep them.”

"We'll tie them to the back of the line and find an opportunity to send them back to report."

Hei Zi was somewhat puzzled after hearing this:
"Chief, isn't this act too fake? If we release them directly, it will be easy to expose our flaws. In my opinion, we should just kill them all!"

Jiang Han glared at him and hissed:
"You know nothing!"

"Deng Yang's men were already lying in ambush outside, just waiting to put on a good show of 'government troops suppressing bandits'!"

"If you kill them all, where am I supposed to find an audience?"

Jiang Han paused for a moment, then explained carefully.

"When the time comes, we'll pretend we're no match for the government troops, throw these women to the side of the road, and then the government troops will just happen to appear and rescue them."

"Tell me, what else can these terrified women say besides crying out 'the tiger on the mountain killed and set fires'?"

"They should be grateful to the government troops for saving their lives!"

Hei Zi suddenly realized what was going on and looked at Jiang Han with admiration:
"Understood! You're the best, Commander!" With that, he ordered his men to take the surviving members of the Zheng family out.

A few screams came from not far away, then silence soon returned.

Zheng Yunsheng's two sons and two daughters were all beheaded by Hei Zi.

Only a group of trembling, pale-faced women remained, tied together by the soldiers like a flock of lambs to the slaughter.

Seeing this, Jiang Han nodded in satisfaction, then mounted his horse and deliberately adopted a rough voice, shouting at the group of women:

"Take all these women back to the mountain stronghold!"

"Let me, the Tiger of the Mountain, have my way with Master Zheng's women too!"

At a command, the remaining team escorted the group of women away from Zhengjiazhuang under the cover of night.

As for the looted goods, they had already been transported back to Shilou Mountain overnight by a group of soldiers.

Hearing Jiang Han's extremely exaggerated and pretentious lines, Hei Zi and several of the knowledgeable guards beside him couldn't help but shake their heads, their lips twitching.

The flag commander's acting is so fake! It's like he's afraid people won't notice.

But the women of the Zheng family didn't think so.

Hua Ling, who was tied to the back of the group, was so frightened by these vulgar words that her whole body went limp and tears streamed down her face.

She was Zheng Yunsheng's concubine. In the first half of the night, she was still lying in Zheng Yunsheng's arms, but who knew that in the second half of the night she would be taken as a trophy by bandits!
Judging from the bandit leader, Shangshanhu's intentions, he actually wanted to kidnap them and take them back to the mountain stronghold to be used as playthings!

Was he destined to spend the rest of his life in that dark and hopeless bandit's den?!

Hua Ling felt utterly hopeless.

Just when she was feeling utterly hopeless and thought her fate was sealed, shouts of killing suddenly erupted from the woods on both sides of the official road ahead!
"Kill them! Suppress the bandits and bring peace to the people!"

Hua Ling looked in the direction of the sound and saw hundreds of government soldiers, armed with knives and spears and dressed in red coats, suddenly rushing out from the woods on both sides!

They lit torches, brandished their weapons, and charged towards the bandits!

"Oh no! The government troops are here!"

"There's an ambush! Run!"

The bandits escorting them cried out in alarm, immediately dropped their weapons, and took off running into the dark woods ahead, faster than rabbits!

Upon seeing this, the government troops who rushed out immediately gave chase with strange cries!

Both sides quickly disappeared into the dark woods!

In an instant, the forest was filled with shouts of battle! Interspersed with the booming of cannons!
The sounds of clashing weapons were incessant! It sounded like the battle was incredibly fierce!
Hua Ling and the other women, who were left standing there, had never seen such a scene before.

They couldn't see the specific battle situation in the woods, but they could hear the heart-stopping sounds of fighting.

Hua Ling knelt on the ground, clasped her hands together, and prayed incessantly to all the gods and Buddhas, praying that the government troops would win a great victory and rescue her, so that she would not become a plaything of the bandits.

"May God protect me! May Buddha protect me! May this lowly concubine escape safely!"

After about fifteen minutes, the shouts and cries of battle in the woods gradually subsided.

Immediately afterwards, excited cheers erupted from the government troops:
"Wan Sheng! Wan Sheng!"

Hearing the cheers of victory, Hanabi's tense nerves finally relaxed!
She let out a long sigh and collapsed to the ground.
"saved!"

Little did she know that this was a grand show of collusion between officials and bandits, specifically staged for the prisoners like them.

The two sides hid in the dark woods, shouting and yelling and randomly banging their weapons.

To make the effect more realistic, Jiang Han even pretended to fire two cannons to bolster the effect.

Meanwhile, in the woods, Li Zicheng, who witnessed all of this, was so shocked that his jaw dropped and he couldn't speak for a long time!

Can it still be like this? !
Officials and bandits colluded to rob wealthy households, then left survivors to vouch for the government troops in their suppression of the bandits.
He felt that his entire worldview had been turned upside down!

He used to only know how to work hard and fight to the death with the government troops. He never imagined that there were so many intricacies involved!
Li Zicheng suddenly understood, as if a door to a new world had been opened! So this is how you can rob wealthy people!
At the same time, Deng Yang, who was leading the team, ran up to Jiang Han with an excited expression and said with a boastful smile:
"Haha! Jiang... oh no, Brother Shangshanhu! How was my performance?"

But Jiang Han was somewhat dissatisfied and shook his head:
"Brother Deng, next time tell your men to be more careful!"

"Who lays an ambush like that?"

"They rushed out in a chaotic mess, without any order or strategy."

"It's just that it's dark and we can't see clearly. Otherwise, if those few survivors from the Zheng family saw us, wouldn't we be completely exposed?"

But Deng Yang waved his hand dismissively and chuckled:

"Hey, Brother Mountain Tiger, why take it so seriously?"

"Those are a bunch of naive and timid young women. How could they tell the difference between a real fight and a fake one?"

"All they need to know is that the government troops descended from the heavens, drove away the bandits, and saved their lives. That's enough!"

He winked at Jiang Han.
As for those details...

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter! Hahaha!"

(End of this chapter)