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

Chapter 183 The Numb People of Guanzhong

Upon learning that Shangshanhu was advancing into Guanzhong, Hong Chengchou was extremely anxious.

Damn it, how come these bandits are like flies, infiltrating everywhere?

He had finally managed to wipe out the bandits in Shaanxi, but now, a moment of carelessness had provided an opening.

Now that the bandits have returned to Shaanxi, the Shaanxi bandits who were just suppressed may resurface.

Hong Chengchou dared not delay and immediately summoned messengers to prepare to mobilize his elite troops to reinforce Shaanxi.

Wang Jiayin's remaining followers had already fled into Henan, so Hong Chengchou simply gave up on continuing the pursuit and handed them over to Xuanmo, the governor of Henan.

In any case, his official title was "Governor-General of Military Affairs in Shanxi and Shaanxi," but the territory of Henan was not actually under his jurisdiction.

The main responsibility for the failure of this encirclement and suppression lies with Wang Pu and Yang Jinchao, who blocked the front line. Hong Chengchou still has some room for maneuver in front of the emperor.

But if something happens to Xi'an Prefecture, then he, as the Governor-General of the Three Border Regions, will be in serious trouble.

At this time, Hong Chengchou's elite troops were far from Shaanxi, so he could only send Deng Qi, Cao Wenzhao, Zuo Guangxian and others to advance along the Tongguan direction to pursue and annihilate Shangshanhu.

He then led Zhang Yingchang, He Renlong, and others to detour through Pingyang Prefecture to see if they could enter Shaanxi from Hancheng and block the bandits in front of them.

Soon, military orders were delivered to the generals of various regions.

But the journey back to Shaanxi was far longer than expected.

Not to mention Zhang Yingchang and He Renlong's troops who were far away in Zezhou, even Cao Wenzhao and Zuo Guangxian, who were closer to the city, were still resting near Mianchi.

Even traveling day and night, it would take at least several dozen days to reach Tongguan.

Taking advantage of this time, Jiang Han led his troops to capture Huayin County.

Huayin County is located north of Mount Hua. In ancient times, the southern foot of the mountain was called Yang and the northern foot was called Yin, hence the name Huayin.

This place is a vital passage connecting Shaanxi, Henan, and Shanxi provinces, and is the gateway to the Guanzhong Plain. It has been a strategic location fought over by military strategists since ancient times.

Yet, Jiang Han's troops captured this important town in less than half a day.

The defending government troops collapsed almost immediately upon contact, showing no will to resist.

Jiang Han was puzzled. This city was taken far too easily.
It wasn't until he entered the city that he finally understood what had happened.

The soldiers and civilians here have no intention of defending the city.

Jiang Han rode his horse slowly along the streets of Huayin City, his brows furrowed as he looked at the apathetic people coming and going.

Feng Chengxuan, the captain of his personal guards behind him, also looked surprised and puzzled.

"General, what... what's going on?"

Feng Chengxuan rode closer, lowering his voice.
"Why does Huayin County look like a ghost town?"

"We've been bombarding the city with cannons for ages, and the shouts of battle are deafening, but why are the people in the city acting like nothing's wrong?"

Jiang Han didn't speak, but simply pointed to both sides of the street with his riding whip.

There were no refugees there, nor any screams of terror.

All that remained were pairs of empty, numb, and lifeless eyes.

The people in the city were like walking corpses. Some leaned against the corner of the wall, staring blankly at the army in front of them. There was no anger, no fear, and not even the most basic curiosity in their eyes.

It was as if what they saw was not a menacing army, but a group of passersby who had nothing to do with them.

Not far away, a gaunt old man was walking along when suddenly his body went limp, and he silently collapsed to the ground, never to move again.

But the pedestrians coming and going on the street seemed not to see him at all, and stepped right over his body as if it were not a life that had just passed away, but a stone in the way or a puddle blocking the way.

Seeing this scene, Feng Chengxuan felt a chill run down his spine and his scalp go numb.

He couldn't help but dismount, rushing to a middle-aged man who looked fairly energetic, wanting to ask him what was going on:

"What's wrong with you? Don't you know our army is attacking the city?"

"Why don't you hide when a large army is passing through?"

The man slowly turned his head, glanced at him blankly, then shook his head and prepared to leave, as if he didn't even have the strength to say another word.

"Hey! Are you fucking deaf?"

Feng Chengxuan, his anger rising, grabbed him and pulled him back.
"I'm asking you something!"

But the man remained silent, mechanically turning around and trying to walk away.

Feng Chengxuan clenched his fists, preparing to teach this guy a lesson and extract some information from him.

"and many more."

Jiang Han's voice came from behind him. He dismounted and stopped the impulsive Feng Chengxuan.

Immediately, Jiang Han took out a piece of bran cake from his pocket and handed it to the man.

Upon seeing the flatbread, a glimmer of light finally appeared in the man's cloudy eyes. He hurriedly took the flatbread and wolfed it down.

After finishing his meal, he licked his chapped lips with lingering satisfaction and turned his gaze to Jiang Han.

Jiang Han looked at him, then took out a piece of bran cake from his pocket and waved it in front of him:

"Want to eat?"

"If you want to eat, answer my questions honestly."

Upon hearing this, the man's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly nodded in agreement to Jiang Han's request.

Seeing this, Jiang Han nodded and asked in a deep voice:
"Where are you from? What's your name?"

"What's wrong with the people in Huayin City? Why do they all seem to have lost their souls?!"

"With such a large army entering the city, why are they not hiding or avoiding us? Are they all tired of living?"

Jiang Han was very surprised. In the past, whether it was the government army or the righteous army, wherever the troops went, the people would avoid them like the plague, for fear of getting themselves killed.

How could I have witnessed such a bizarre scene the moment I stepped into Guanzhong, as if the city was filled with a bunch of walking corpses?

Upon hearing this, the man merely shrugged numbly, forcing out a smile that was more like a grimace.
"General, my name is Wang Da."

“There used to be eight people in my family, but now I’m the only one left.”

"If we're not afraid of living, what's death?"

He paused, then, in a hoarse voice, began to slowly recount a story steeped in blood and tears:

"This autumn harvest, the government came to collect taxes, saying that the money was to supply the army to suppress bandits and quell rebellions."

“They stormed into our house and took away all our food supplies, which were essential for our survival.” “We said that without food, people would starve to death this winter; but the officials said that suppressing bandits was a matter of national importance and a top priority, and asked us to understand the court and overcome the difficulties together.”

"Later, some people were so hungry that they started to steal and rob, and they were hung up and beaten to death."

“Some people wanted to flee the famine, but they died on the way before they even left Guanzhong.”

"Some people couldn't bear it any longer, and their whole family, hand in hand, threw themselves into the river and committed suicide."

"General, you said we've tried everything—good people, bad people, those who want to live, those who want to die—what else can we do?"

"Just keep enduring it, see how long it lasts, and when the time comes, I'll close my eyes, kick my legs, and be free."

Jiang Han fell silent, feeling as if a huge boulder was pressing down on his heart.

From Wang Da's calm tone, he finally understood the origin of the city being filled with walking corpses.

Jiang Han originally thought that Guanzhong should be a rich and prosperous place, and that the people there should be able to make a living.

After all, everyone knows that the Guanzhong Plain is a fertile land with abundant water systems.

Even though the whole of Shaanxi suffered a severe drought, Guanzhong, nourished by several major rivers such as the Wei River, Jing River, and Luo River, was not in such a tragic state as northern Shaanxi, where nine out of ten houses were empty and people resorted to cannibalism.

The problem lies precisely in the word "wealthy".

Last year, Hong Chengchou was promoted to Governor-General of the Three Border Regions. In order to allow him to focus on suppressing bandits without distraction, Emperor Chongzhen issued a special decree allowing him to "act as he sees fit" and to levy taxes from Shaanxi during the summer and autumn seasons to support the army's operations.

However, Hong Chengchou surveyed the entire Shaanxi province and found that apart from the fertile Guanzhong Plain, where else could one find a place that produced grain?

Due to years of drought and war, other parts of Shaanxi were already engulfed in flames of war and devastation.

The government troops and the rebel army fought back and forth, repeatedly pulling in a tug-of-war, leaving almost the entire Shaanxi province in ruins, with not a single hair left to be squeezed out.

Thus, the Guanzhong Plain, the only remaining fertile land in Shaanxi, naturally took on the heavy responsibility of supporting the imperial court's tens of thousands of troops sent to suppress bandits.

It was precisely because of the hard-earned money and grain squeezed from Guanzhong that the various government troops had the strength to brave the blizzard and go into the mountains to pursue and suppress the bandits.

Otherwise, the army would have mutinied long ago.

Most of the fertile land in Guanzhong was in the hands of wealthy and powerful landlords, especially the largest landlord, Qin Fan of Xi'an Prefecture.

These people, not to mention the local government, even Hong Chengchou wouldn't dare to provoke them easily.

Therefore, the burden of supporting the army naturally fell on the shoulders of the ordinary people struggling to make ends meet.

In an instant, tax collectors and runners from all the prefectures and counties in Guanzhong came out like mad dogs.

They broke into people's homes, ransacked their homes, and looted all the food the people had left to survive the winter.

They even went so far as to say, "I will give my all to repay the emperor's kindness."

Driven to desperation, the farmers of Guanzhong also rebelled.

The event was so powerful that it shook the entire Guanzhong Plain.

Upon receiving the news, Hong Chengchou was not surprised but delighted. It was exactly what he needed, as he was just looking for an excuse to send his main army into the heart of Guanzhong.

Led by Cao Wenzhao, He Renlong, and others, the butchers showed no mercy, plowing up the entire Guanzhong region, killing so many that rivers of blood flowed and heads rolled everywhere.

While suppressing the rebellion, these people did not forget their original intentions and took the opportunity to plunder a large amount of money and grain in various places to supply the army.

And so, a momentous uprising was brutally suppressed.

Those who survived could only eke out a living.

Their spirit and soul had long been utterly crushed into dust in this endless suffering and despair.

What remains are nothing more than living corpses that are still breathing.

However, after Jiang Han successively conquered several prefectures and counties around Huayin and seized a lot of money and grain from landlords, things took a turn for the better.

The number of starving civilians following his army grew larger and larger, and after a rough estimate, it was no less than several thousand.

Many of them had heard the news and traveled a long way with their families to come.

Despite the bitter cold, this group of people followed closely behind the army.

Besides hoping to scavenge for scraps to fill their stomachs, they also harbored a faint illusion.

They hoped to join Jiang Han's troops to avenge their relatives and fellow villagers who died under the government's tax collection and the soldiers' butcher's knife!

However, Jiang Han's army had a different view of these starving people who wanted to join the army and rebel.

"Commander!"

Inside the central command tent, several officers were passionately expressing their opinions.
“I think these people following me around are a big problem; it’s better to get rid of them as soon as possible to avoid future trouble.”

As he spoke, he looked around and raised his voice even higher:

"General, look, many of these people are old, weak, sick, or disabled, which is seriously slowing down our march!"

"The government troops could launch a large-scale encirclement and suppression campaign at any time. With so many burdens, we won't be able to escape even if we want to."

"In my opinion, we should cut our losses and let them fend for themselves!"

"We're risking our lives in this rebellion, not running a charity!"

The speaker was Li Laowai, and his opinion was very direct and realistic.

These starving people, if recruited into the army without any training, will only dilute the fighting strength of the Anse Battalion.

If left unchecked, it would endanger the army, making it easy for starving civilians to be coerced into charging into battle by government troops.

Jiang Han remained silent, his fingers lightly tapping the hilt of his knife. Deep down, he actually leaned towards Li Laowai's opinion.

His purpose in returning to Shaanxi was to recruit border troops in border towns in Gansu and Ningxia, not to gather a group of starving people.

It's a pity that Zhang Tianlin, Liu Guoneng and their gang aren't here; otherwise, giving these starving people to them would have been a good option.

Apart from Li Zicheng, the other leaders did not come to Shaanxi, but instead turned south and headed towards Huguang.

Just then, Zhao Sheng, the clerk who had been standing by, stepped forward, bowed, and said:
"General, I think these people might still have other uses."

He calmly explained, meeting the questioning gazes of the crowd:

"Although these starving people may seem weak in combat, their hatred for the government is genuine, and they are a force that can be utilized."

"In my opinion, we might as well open the armory in the county town, distribute all the captured weapons, and let them also rise up in rebellion."

"At that time, they will not only be able to make a living on their own, but also attract the attention and forces of the government troops for us."

At this point, Zhao Sheng lowered his voice even further, revealing a chill in his tone.
"Or, give them a good meal and let these men charge into battle, scaling walls and filling in lines!"

　Here's one chapter, more to come tomorrow.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)