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

Chapter 110 The Three Stages of the Uprising

Hearing Jiang Han's outrageous remarks, Deng Yang felt a chill run from his tailbone to the back of his head, making the hairs on his body stand on end.

"No! We can't stay here any longer!"

"If I keep listening, even if I don't join him in the rebellion, just hearing these words will get me killed!"

With that thought in mind, Deng Yang no longer cared about cooperation or money.

His survival instinct made him jump up from his seat and turn to run out of the tent!
However, he was fast, but someone was faster than him!
He had barely stood up, before he even took a step, when a large, fan-like hand, like an iron clamp, slammed heavily onto his shoulder!
Immediately, Li Laowai's voice rang in his ear:

"Hey, General Deng, are you leaving?"

For some reason, Li Laowai's originally rough voice sounded somewhat sinister and chilling to Deng Yang.

Deng Yang's body stiffened instantly. He could clearly feel Li Laowai's hand on his shoulder, eager to try something.

You can feel the undisguised ferocity in the eyes of the rebels around you!
Deng Yang had no doubt that if he dared to nod in agreement, he would be hacked to death by these wolves and tigers in the next second!

His throat tightened, he swallowed hard, and forced a smile that looked more like a grimace.
"No, that's not true! Where would I go?"

"After listening to Brother Shangshanhu's invaluable words, I felt as if the clouds had parted and the moon was shining through, and everything became clear!"

"In my excitement, I couldn't help but stand up and want to applaud and cheer for the King!"

As Deng Yang spoke, he actually raised his hand and clapped twice stiffly.

Li Laowai chuckled, but the force in his hands didn't lessen at all; instead, it increased, making Deng Yang's shoulder blades crack.
"Really?"

"That's great! Since General Deng also thinks it's good, why don't you tell us what your thoughts are?"

At this moment, Deng Yang's survival instinct was at its peak, and his mind was racing.

He knew that if he couldn't say something that would satisfy these rebels today, he would never be able to leave this tent.

do my best!

Deng Yang steeled his heart, closed his eyes, and almost screamed:

"I think Your Majesty is right! The emperor of the Ming Dynasty should have been replaced long ago!"

"I think... I think Brother Shangshanhu should be the emperor!"

These words stunned everyone.

The tent fell silent for a moment, then erupted into thunderous cheers and jeers!

"Good! General Deng is right! The Banner Commander should be the emperor!"

"That's right! The Zhu family emperors are nothing, our King is the true Son of Heaven!"

The group of roughnecks, who had been stirred up by Jiang Han's previous words, were now completely ignited by Deng Yang's words and began to jeer.

Even more extreme, some people actually knelt down and shouted "Long live the Emperor!" to support Jiang Han as emperor!
Jiang Han frowned instantly as he looked at the chaotic scene before him, which resembled a vegetable market.

"Shut up, everyone!"

He slammed his hand on the table, making a loud bang that echoed like thunder throughout the tent, silencing all the noise.

"Nonsense!!"

Jiang Han's face darkened, and he shouted sternly.

"Do you want me to die even faster? Just say you want to kill me!"

"The Ming Dynasty hasn't fallen yet!"

A stern rebuke, like a bucket of cold water poured over someone's head, finally cooled down the frenzied atmosphere inside the tent.

Everyone then realized that they had indeed gotten a little carried away and awkwardly shut their mouths.

Seeing this, Jiang Han softened his tone and continued to explain:
"What I just said was not to ask you to enthrone me as emperor right now!"

"The point is to make everyone recognize a fundamental issue!"

What are our goals in this rebellion?

"We rebelled to overthrow this corrupt Ming Dynasty and the Zhu family emperor who sits on the dragon throne, calls himself the Son of Heaven, but treats the people like dirt!"

Overthrow the Ming Dynasty!
These five words, like a thunderclap, exploded in everyone's ears and were deeply imprinted in their minds.

Zhao Sheng, who had been silent all along, now had a strange light flashing in his eyes.

He stepped forward, cupped his hands, and asked:

"We admire the general's lofty ambition!"

"However, the Ming Dynasty possesses two capitals and thirteen provinces, has a reign of over two hundred years, a large army and many generals, and a deep foundation."

"What should we do to accomplish this great feat of changing dynasties?"

"Good question!"

Jiang Han gave Zhao Sheng an approving look. This question had finally hit the nail on the head!
He walked to the hanging map, picked up a scabbard, pointed at it, and said:

"One must eat one bite at a time, and walk one step at a time; overthrowing the Ming Dynasty is by no means an achievement that can be accomplished overnight!"

"In my opinion, our uprising can be roughly divided into three stages."

"Phase One: Mobile Warfare!"

"Our rebel army, which fought its way out of Shaanxi, is still far too weak compared to the Ming Dynasty."

"If we try to fight head-on and engage in positional warfare, it will be like an egg hitting a rock."

"Therefore, for a considerable period of time, we must adopt a mobile warfare approach."

"Fight if you can win, run if you can't, and try to avoid a decisive battle with the main force of the government troops."

"We must move and fight like mercury spreading across the ground!"

This is a well-worn topic, and everyone does it this way. Jiang Han then explained:
"Although the Ming Dynasty was vast and rich in resources, it was by no means peaceful in every place."

“In other prefectures, there are also farmers who are forced to live, just like us, and government soldiers who are embezzled and harbor resentment.”

"What we need to do is spread the flames of resistance to other states and ignite this tinderbox!"

"To recruit like-minded brothers to join our ranks and grow stronger through the movement."

"And this stage will be the most difficult and brutal stage of the struggle."

"We will face encirclement and suppression by various government troops, and we will have to fight for thousands of miles, enduring wind and rain, and even sleeping at night without removing our armor or leaving our saddles."

"This stage will be the greatest test of everyone's will and determination. If anyone is not firm in their resolve, they will easily waver under the heavy pressure of the government troops."

“They might even repeat the mistakes of Shen Yikui and choose to surrender.”

As soon as Jiang Han finished speaking, the Hun Tian Hou below lit up and shouted:
"Your Majesty! This is simple, I know what to do!"

"Let's lead our troops and fight our way through!"

"We'll recruit all able-bodied men into our ranks, burn down their homes to extinguish their hopes, and make them wholeheartedly follow us!"

"Won't our team grow bigger and bigger in this way?"

"With more people and greater power, the government troops will naturally dare not easily come to encircle and annihilate us!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Han immediately shook his head, resolutely denying it:

"Wrong! If you really did that, you'd only die faster!"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked puzzled. Wasn't it a common tactic used by various rebel armies to recruit refugees and expand their ranks?
How did it become a dead end?

Jiang Han explained helplessly:
"It's not wrong to recruit refugees to expand your ranks, but you can't turn people into refugees."

After hearing this, everyone was still confused. What was the difference?

There was nothing Jiang Han could do but be patient:

"Let me give you another example from Water Margin."

Do you know which four words are the most chilling and terrifying in the entire Water Margin?

The group exchanged bewildered glances, and someone tentatively asked:

"To rip out one's heart and lungs?"

Jiang Han shook his head and slowly uttered four words:
"Take him up the mountain!"

He glanced around at the crowd and snorted coldly.
Do you really think that all 108 heroes of Liangshan were true heroes?!

"Shit!"

"In my opinion, most people on Liangshan don't deserve the title of 'heroes'!"

"In order to lure him to join the mountain, Song Jiang and Wu Yong went to great lengths."

"The most terrifying thing is that, no matter if you are friend or foe, as long as you are targeted by Liangshan, they have countless insidious ways to ruin your family and cause you to die. In the end, you can only obediently be 'tricked' into joining them on the mountain."

"Thunderbolt Qin Ming, Jade Kirin Lu Junyi, Magnificent Beard Zhu Tong, and so on, are too numerous to count."

Jiang Han's sharp gaze swept over the crowd:

"Is it justified to indiscriminately kill innocent people and frame others just to lure him up the mountain?"

"Does such behavior deserve the title of 'acting on behalf of Heaven'?"

"Let me ask everyone here again."

"If it were you, and someone used such despicable and shameless means to ruin your family and force you to join their gang, how would you feel?"

"Will you follow this group wholeheartedly?"

These words left everyone speechless, and the tent fell silent once again.

Many people ask themselves, if they were Lu Junyi, Zhu Tong, or others, they would probably want to tear Song Jiang and Wu Yong to pieces!
Seeing the reactions of the crowd, Jiang Han knew that his words had had an effect, so he continued:
"So! This leads to the second key issue I'm about to discuss!"

"Now that we've figured out the goals of the rebellion, we also need to figure out who the enemy is."

"Our enemies are corrupt officials, wealthy merchants, and landlords."

"Instead of ordinary people who are also living in dire straits!"

As he spoke, Jiang Han's tone became exceptionally serious.

"Therefore, when we are marching and fighting, we must strictly discipline our subordinates!"

"If I discover that you have allowed your troops to plunder and pillage your neighbors, don't blame me for not showing any mercy!"

"The homes of those wealthy merchants, gentry, and corrupt officials can be robbed! Their grain can be seized; their heads can be chopped off!"

"That's fine, because these people are our enemies!"

"As for those ordinary people who are still struggling to make ends meet, and those small landlords who are overwhelmed by the taxes levied by the imperial court, we should not touch them."

"These are people we can win over; they are potential friends."

"The imperial court's taxes will not stop; in fact, they may be increased in the future to fund the war!"

"These ordinary people will eventually be forced to the brink of starvation! When that happens, who will they turn to?"

"Think about it yourselves."

There's a saying that goes, "Make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible."

"That's why I've always kept you in check, only robbing the wealthy and not the common people. That's the reason."

"You won't get rich by robbing them of their little things; instead, you'll only push them further away. It's not worth it!"

(End of this chapter)