Total War: I'm building up an army to rebel against the Qing Dynasty in a heavily modified vers

Chapter 97 Under the rule of the Manchus, everyone suffered.

After the fire lizards slashed and killed about 20 of them, the remaining less than 300 Mongol cavalrymen all surrendered. Their surrender speed was extremely abnormal, without the slightest hesitation.

So, under the watchful eyes of the dragoons, the Mongol cavalry were led into Kaiyuan City like sheep, bound with ropes, leaving the city's residents utterly astonished.

On the one hand, they were shocked by the sudden appearance of the Mongols. After all, nomadic peoples in those days were not known for their singing and dancing. The sudden appearance of so many Mongol cavalry near Kaiyuan City was obviously not for good deeds.

On the other hand, they were also shocked by the Po Lu Army.

Good heavens! If this were any other time, and so many Mongol cavalry came here to plunder, who knows how many people would die outside, and the citizens of their city might also be in danger.

But after the Polu Army was stationed there, these Mongol cavalrymen were captured as soon as they showed up, just like sheep.

Even the Mongol cavalrymen seemed quite happy after being captured, which puzzled the people of Kaiyuan.

Before long, the group of Mongols was brought before Rok.

"Hmm—why do these Mongol cavalrymen look so thin and weak? This is very different from what I remember!"

Upon seeing the appearance of these Mongols, Rock was momentarily stunned. He felt that the appearance of these guys was completely different from the image of Mongol cavalry in his mind.

In Rock's memory, the Mongol cavalry were the Scourge of God who swept across Europe. They were not only strong and well-equipped, but they should also be fully armored. However, when he saw the Mongol cavalry in front of him, he did not see the Mongol men with arms as thick as thighs that he had imagined.

These Mongols were all emaciated and had bowlegs from years of riding horses. Even their warhorses looked extremely thin, completely incomparable to the warhorses produced by the system.

As for their equipment, let alone a full set of iron-cotton armor, Rock scanned them for a long time and didn't see a single person wearing armor. Even their padded coats were extremely thin, and they were shivering in the cold winter.

If it weren't for the fact that they were indeed speaking a Mongolian language that was incomprehensible to them, and that they had been captured by the dragon riders, Rock would have thought they were starving people who had wandered over from somewhere to the Northeast!

At least in Rock's mind, they now looked exactly like vagrants, each one as poor as a beggar!

While Rock was still sizing up the Mongol cavalry, they were also secretly observing him. When Rock stepped forward, the leading Mongol did not hesitate at all and knelt down on both knees to pay his respects. The other Mongols behind him also quickly followed suit.

"General, please take us in! We sincerely want to join the Breaking Army and fight the Tartars alongside you!"

"Those Tartar dogs aren't human, they—"

As he kowtowed, the Mongolian man shouted in broken Chinese. The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, as if he had an irreconcilable hatred for the Tartar.

However, after listening to his tearful account, Rock suddenly felt that it seemed to be true that these Mongol cavalrymen had a deep-seated hatred for the Tartars!

Under the rule of the Manchu Qing dynasty, the Mongols did not live a very good life, especially for Mongols who were just small tribes; their lives were so bad that it was appalling.

According to the Eight Banners system of the Qing Dynasty, the status of the Manchu Eight Banners was definitely higher than that of the Mongol Eight Banners, and the status of the Mongol Eight Banners was higher than that of the Han Eight Banners. As for those outside the Eight Banners, they were all slaves.

But all of this is just theoretical. A system is one thing in theory, but it is another thing in practice. Otherwise, if everything that is theoretically valid could also be valid in reality, then the world would be at peace long ago.

Under the rule of the Manchus, the Mongol princes and nobles may have gained some advantages. At least they could exploit other Mongol people more reasonably and legally by relying on the league and banner system established by the Manchus.

But apart from them, this system is quite remarkable for ordinary Mongolians.

Because of this system, they have to bear a lot of exorbitant taxes and levies every year, as well as various other pretexts such as "contribution" and "apportionment," all of which ultimately amount to taxes.

They had to pay livestock tax for raising livestock, salt tax for consuming salt, and fur tax for skinning and selling livestock.

The various chaotic tax systems left Rock bewildered, making him realize that he had ultimately underestimated these feudal rulers.

Even if you asked him to rack his brains to come up with all sorts of ways to collect taxes, even if you beat him to death, he still wouldn't be able to come up with so many messy taxes. But these Mongols are indeed forced to bear such high taxes.

In this situation, the vast majority of the Mongols' annual output had to be handed over to the Qing Dynasty court and princes and nobles, but what if they couldn't afford to pay?

It's very simple. What did the Eight Banners cavalry do?

If these poor Mongolians can't pay their taxes, then of course they'll just start looting!

Those with livestock would seize them, and those without livestock would simply seize other people's children to sell; women and children could all be sold for money!

If they really can't get anything at all, and some Mongol tribes are so poor, then they don't need to live; they should just die!

After all, they were so poor that they couldn't even pay taxes to their Qing Dynasty court, so what was the point of having these guys?

The Manchus were no saints; they weren't going to play the charity game with you and expect you to pay taxes later. Their logic was simple: if you don't pay taxes, you die!

In addition, just as the Manchu Qing dynasty restricted the movement of the Eight Banners and did not allow them to roam freely, they also restricted the movement of the Mongols under Manchu rule.

Each Mongol tribe was demarcated to a specific territory, and they were forbidden from wandering around freely. If they were caught, it was considered treason, and they would all be executed!

Furthermore, these Mongols also had to undertake various corvée labor, just like the Manchu Eight Banners. The Mongol Eight Banners could not arbitrarily go off to farm or manage other industries; they could only do things according to the plans stipulated by the imperial court.

Even the Mongol princes and nobles could only obediently live as parasites; the tribal rule was not in their hands, but in the hands of the ministers and governors sent by the Qing court.

Furthermore, their inability to intermarry with Han Chinese or freely trade with them exacerbated their poverty, completely restricting their productivity and making their lives even worse than those of the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, the Manchu Qing dynasty vigorously promoted Tantric Buddhism in Mongol territory and forced a large number of Mongol men to become monks, which further weakened the Mongol male population and productivity.

With all the men gone to become lamas, no one was left to herd livestock properly, and the tribe was unable to arm itself due to the lack of men, leaving it even more vulnerable to being slaughtered.

"General, you don't know the truth, our lives are so hard! All the livestock we raise with such care end up going to those unscrupulous merchants!"

"Those unscrupulous merchants, taking advantage of our inability to wander around or buy things elsewhere, simply divided up our business area and started raising prices on the spot. Just a mere earthenware pot, and they actually traded it for two lambs! A large earthenware pot for two big fat sheep!"

"What kind of logic is this? They're clearly taking advantage of the fact that we have nowhere else to buy things, so they're raising prices on the spot. This is outrageous! We can't survive like this!"

Hearing such an outrageous price, even though Rock wasn't completely clueless before, he still gaped in astonishment.

Damn it, this business isn't just about making huge profits, it's outright robbery!

For a moment, Rock even considered doing business with the Mongols.

Of course, Rock also knew that although those merchants did sell their goods at very high prices, in the end, they might not actually make much money.

The reason is simple: theoretically, those merchants were smuggling goods to the Mongols, which was not a legal channel at all. So how could they avoid getting caught?

It's very simple. They naturally had to share most of the profits with the Qing troops guarding the border, feeding each checkpoint well so that they could open the gates wide for them.

Otherwise, these caravans are quite large, and their business activities would naturally be quite noisy. How could they possibly sneak out of someone else's checkpoints without being discovered?

However, in the end, these Qing border guards might not actually get much profit. At least ordinary soldiers certainly wouldn't get any, because the lion's share had to go to supply their superiors, who in turn had to continue to pay tribute to their own superiors.

In this way, most of the wealth lost by the Mongols ended up in the hands of the Manchu rulers. Only the real Manchu princes, nobles and ministers were able to live a life of luxury, while others could only pick up scraps.

"Alright, since you are truly determined to overthrow the Qing, I don't mind accepting you into the Breaking Army, but you must demonstrate your sincerity!"

Rock sat upright in his armchair, pretending to sip his tea, and said calmly, "It's not just you. A group of Manchus came to join the Po Lu Army earlier. I set some rules for them and then accepted them, and gave them the designation of the Loyal and Brave Battalion."

"And I will give you the same rule: as long as you are willing to sincerely oppose the Qing and can take the heads of three Qing soldiers, the Polu Army will officially accept you and will be willing to grant you all the same treatment as regular soldiers."

"But if you dare to waver or fail in battle, don't blame me for being ruthless."

What? It's not just them who want to join this anti-Qing rebel army; even some members of the Manchu Eight Banners have joined?

Good heavens, the Manchus have really gone to such extremes that even their own people have raised the banner of rebellion. It seems that the Qing Dynasty is doomed to perish sooner or later!

Since that's the case, they might as well get on the bandwagon of the Broken Army as soon as possible. Maybe they can really overthrow the Qing Dynasty in the future?

Besides, they have no choice now. If they are not willing to join the Polu Army, they might be lucky enough to be taken prisoner and forced to do hard labor. If they are unlucky, these people will probably kill them all without mercy!

So after hearing what Rock said, the Mongol leader was shocked but also secretly delighted. He quickly and without hesitation drew his knife and cut off his braid at the back of his head.

"Thank you, Commander, for taking us in. From this day forward, we are willing to die for you, no matter what it takes, we will go through fire and water!"

As soon as the leader finished speaking, the other Mongols echoed him and cut off their queues in unison. Some Mongols even cut their faces with knives and smeared their blood on their foreheads as a testament when they swore their oaths.

Roc nodded, then bestowed upon the Mongol cavalry the designation of the "Loyalty Battalion," and appointed a group of dragoons to join them as officers and overseers.

Since these Mongols were willing to join, Roc naturally didn't mind taking them in. As long as they made contributions in the war, Roc was willing to keep them, since there was never too much cannon fodder.

As for whether they might turn against us on the battlefield?

Rock wasn't worried about this at all; it wouldn't be so easy for the Polu Army to withdraw!

Especially after they kill Qing soldiers on the battlefield and then present their pledge of loyalty to Rock, they will naturally have no choice but to follow Rock all the way to the end.

Following Luo Ke, regardless of future prospects, at least the current treatment is quite good. In comparison, what future do they have following the Manchu Qing Dynasty?

With the addition of the Loyal and Righteous Battalion to the Po Lu Army, along with the original Loyal and Brave Battalion, the two of them together contributed a total of about 700 troops to Luo Ke.

When the two battalions of soldiers met, they felt a little awkward for a moment. After all, they were now considered traitors to the Qing Dynasty.

However, the awkwardness only lasted for a moment, and soon the two sides began to exchange their experiences.

Under the guidance of the officers sent by Rok, the group of Mongols and Bannermen began to confide in each other and discuss their respective difficulties.

As they talked, many people on both sides burst into tears, feeling that everyone's life was truly difficult!

"Damn it, these Qing traitors are truly inhuman! They're utterly depraved!"

One of the Mongol cavalrymen couldn't help but curse, but as soon as he finished speaking, the loyal and brave bannermen next to him couldn't help but echo him.

"Who says otherwise? Those bastards are truly despicable, so shameless they'd even have sons without an anus!"

Hearing the Manchus joining him in cursing the Qing dogs, the Mongol felt something was amiss, so he couldn't help but ask, "But speaking of which, isn't it a bit strange that you're cursing the Manchus with us? After all, you're Manchus too—"

But before the Mongol could finish speaking, the Manchu man, who had recovered, suddenly became angry.

"Shut up! Stop talking nonsense! How could I possibly be a Manchu?"

"I've already cut off my rat tail and even changed my name. Now I'm a Han Chinese, and you better remember that!"

"Once I kill a few more Tartars on the battlefield and collect enough heads, I can officially become a soldier and obtain military status, thus becoming a genuine Han Chinese!"

Upon hearing the Mongol say that he was a Manchu, the Manchu man was so angry that he almost wanted to hit him.

He used to identify himself as a Manchu, but in the end he didn't get any real benefits. Instead, he suffered all sorts of hardships.

Now he saw a new hope, an opportunity to join the Polu Army and enjoy the treatment of a regular soldier. But if he failed the political review because of this damned Mongol, he would have nowhere to cry!

As for whether not acknowledging one's Manchu ancestry would be a disservice to one's ancestors?

I bother!

What is there to be ashamed of in front of their ancestors? Their ancestors did not bring them any benefits, but instead brought them a lot of dirty profits, causing them to suffer for no reason. It's good enough that they don't curse their ancestors for not taking the right side back then!

Before long, the argument between the two battalions of soldiers reached Rock's ears. When Rock heard the conversation between the two men, he nodded in satisfaction.

"Hmm, not bad, very good! This is exactly the effect we wanted!"

"Now that they've joined the Broken Army, what's the point of clinging to their past Manchu identity? I'm very pleased that they're willing to sever ties with their past!"

In order to maintain the unity of his team's thinking, Rock did not want to play any diversification in his team. He could wait until he established a unified dynasty and then slowly play diversification if he was interested. Playing diversification now would only weaken his team's cohesion.

In Rock's view, regardless of their previous identities, now that they have joined the Po Lu Army, they should identify themselves as Han Chinese.

In a hundred or eighty years, when their customs and lifestyles are no different from those of the Han people, when they speak Mandarin and use the same names as the Han people, they will be intermarrying with each other.

By then, who will remember what the Jurchens were like?

Even if a group of people do lose their minds and insist on becoming some kind of spiritual Jurchens, they will just be a bunch of idiots who only know how to criticize.

While Luo Ke was consolidating his forces, Yu Ming, now serving as the General of Shengjing, soon learned of the fall of Kaiyuan City and that a force called the Po Lu Army had suddenly emerged there.

"Excellent, excellent, excellent Broken Army! I truly never imagined that rebels would emerge in this land beyond the Great Wall, the birthplace of the dragon, and even capture a county town so quietly!"

"Damn it! What is Wan Fu, the garrison commander of Kaiyuan City, good for? He has thousands of soldiers under his command, yet he can't even defend a small county town, letting it fall into the hands of a band of rebels!"