Chapter 419: Hell on Earth 4

Shenyang City had become a living hell, a hell for the Jianlu and the traitors. Fires burned, blood flowed, and heads were hung one by one on the walls of Shenyang City.

Some traitors who had committed heinous crimes were tied to crosses, their stomachs ripped open and their intestines spilled out onto the ground. Wild dogs licked at their feet, but they did not die immediately, but watched as the wild dogs tore at their intestines.

Their families were driven onto a man-made mountain of knives or thrown into a sea of fire. The former Han slaves were no longer timid sheep, but turned into man-eating devils.

Three days later, Shi Lang called Wu Sangui, Kong Youde and others.

Shi Lang sat in the Dazheng Hall and said to the others, "It's time to put down the sword! I don't want to see any more slaughter in Shenyang City tomorrow! Leave the officials behind to appease the people, and we will set out north!"

"Sir! Where are we going?" asked Wu Sangui.

"Hetuala! The young emperor of Jianlu and Oboi have fled there. The prince said that the young emperor must be captured alive!" Shi Lang said.

"I understand!" Wu Sangui, Kong Youde and others knelt down and said.

In Jinling, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the Jinyiwei began to arrest the scholars and gentry who secretly supported the Jianlu.

With a loud bang, a door was thrown open. A group of Jinyiwei rushed in, and a servant shouted, "Who are you? Don't you know whose house this is? You are blind!"

A captain of the Jinyiwei came up and grabbed the servant and slapped him twice. The servant's cheeks were red and swollen, and he no longer had the arrogance he had just had.

"The Jinyiwei are following orders! Capture Shen Chongyan!" said the Jinyiwei captain.

"What? What crime did my master commit?" asked the servant.

"What crime did he commit? He colluded with profiteers and resold grain to the Jian'er! Confiscate his property!"

Scenes of property confiscations were staged in Nanjing and in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas.

In the capital, inside the imperial palace, Princess Kunxing slammed a list on the table.

"I didn't expect that there are still so many people who don't want the Ming Dynasty to have a good life. Well, I will make them suffer for the rest of their lives! Let Li Zichu confiscate the homes of all these people, send the women and children to the Jiaofangsi, the main culprits must be executed, and all the other men will be castrated and sent to the northwest to open mines and build roads!" Kunxing said angrily.

Jiang Xiaomei said, "Princess, Li Zichu has already been notified. I'm sure all the gentry in Jiangnan are worried about this!"

"Your Highness, isn't this too much? Jiangnan is an important tax collection area for the Ming Dynasty. If someone takes this opportunity to cause trouble, I'm afraid that the taxes that have been restored with great difficulty will be..." Liu Rushi said worriedly.

"They didn't pay much before. They didn't let anyone who could evade taxes go! If it weren't for these parasites, there would be no Jiashen Rebellion." Princess Kunxing said coldly.

After hearing what Princess Kunxing said, Liu Rushi fell silent. She looked up at Jiang Xiaomei. She had never expected that this Jiang was so capable and had gained the princess's trust so quickly.

"Princess, why don't you take this opportunity to abolish the previous rule that gentry are exempt from paying taxes and restore Zhang Juzheng's "One Whip Law"." Jiang Xiaomei said.

Kunxing nodded after hearing this and was about to agree when Liu Rushi said, "Your Highness, although the prince has defeated the Jianlu and recovered Shenyang City this time, there is still Zheng Zhilong in the south. It is better to wait a little longer!"

Princess Kunxing nodded. She knew that the Zheng family was the worst offender in tax evasion. If they could wrest control of the ocean from them, Ming would be the richest nation.

"Mr. Liu is right, we should take it slow. But we can make a big fuss about it, convict those families, and deprive them of their tax exemption qualifications! Let Ms. Jiang handle this!" Princess Kunxing said.

"It's Her Royal Highness the Princess!" Jiang Xiaomei quickly saluted.

After leaving the palace, Liu Rushi and Jiang Xiaomei walked side by side. Liu Rushi said, "Miss Jiang is very capable. She was able to make the princess pay so much attention to you so quickly. I think she will become a female prime minister like Shangguan Wan'er in the future!"

Jiang Xiaomei sneered, "Master Liu, you're exaggerating. I don't have Shangguan Wan'er's literary talent, and I certainly wouldn't try to imitate her. I remember Shangguan Wan'er, that fence-sitter, didn't end well! I wonder what Master Liu means by comparing me to her?"

"I want to remind Lady Jiang to leave some room for others so that we can meet again in the future! There are too many gentry families in the Ming Dynasty, and we can't offend them all." After Liu Rushi finished speaking, she took the lead and walked away.

Looking at Liu Rushi's receding figure, Jiang Xiaomei laughed. "I'm afraid of offending this Ming Dynasty gentry? What a joke!"

Zhao Xiaofei and Zhao Xiaokun joined forces, while the other Mongolian taijis led their cavalry to pursue the remaining Jianlu.

The two brothers were shocked when they arrived at the west gate of Shenyang City. What they saw before them was not Shenyang City at all; it could more be called Fengdu Ghost City.

The city gate had been blown away long ago, and the rubble that once stood there had been cleared away. On either side were broken walls, covered in human heads. Crosses lined the road, each bearing a corpse, several of them still dying.

Zhao Xiaofei covered his nose and said to the official who greeted him, "Hurry up and dispose of these corpses! They stink! Aren't you afraid of attracting the plague?"

"Yes, Your Highness! I will have someone clear it out immediately. Your Highness and the Admiral, please go to the Later Jin Palace to rest first!" said the official.

Arriving at the main hall, Zhao Xiaofei and Zhao Xiaokun sat down and drank some wine to suppress the nausea in their hearts.

Zhao Xiaofei asked, "I know that Shenyang City was destroyed, but how did it become like this?"

"This is simply hell on earth!" said Zhao Xiaokun.

"Your Highness, Lord Admiral. The Han people have been killed and oppressed severely in recent years. Now that they have turned the tables, they will definitely seek revenge. The government is short-staffed now, and this mutual killing cannot be stopped by just issuing an order!" the official said in a low voice.

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