Inside Chungju City.
Sun Kewang was reporting the situation to Zhang Xianzhong: "Father, although we have successfully captured Zhongzhou, our army has suffered heavy casualties. According to a rough estimate, there are more than 5,000 casualties."
Zhang Xianzhong's face turned pale: "A small city like Zhongzhou has caused me such a huge loss. This is not a solution. Kill all those who should be killed!"
It is undeniable that Zhang Xianzhong was bloodthirsty.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, all forces killed people.
Zhang Xianzhong was killed, Li Zicheng was killed, and the Thirteen Huang families were killed.
Not to mention the Qing Dynasty, they killed the most people and took the most blame.
Zuo Liangyu was also killed on the Ming army side. Although the number of people killed was not large, the impact was significant.
However, I cannot agree with the two points of blaming Zhang Xianzhong for the sharp decline in Sichuan's population and saying that Zhang Xianzhong was a psychopathic murderer.
There are only three purposes for killing: one, to intimidate the rebels; two, to steal money and food as supplies; three, to steal women and then use these women to maintain the loyalty of the soldiers.
Especially the last point, in history, among all the forces in the late Ming Dynasty, almost everyone in Zhang Xianzhong's Dashi Army had a wife. In troubled times, the temptation of this condition was too great.
Of course, Zhang Xianzhong was definitely a cruel person.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many historical records recording his indiscriminate killings.
In addition to the Ming History revised by the Qing Dynasty, which recorded Zhang Xianzhong's massacre (there are many deliberate black elements in it, the most intolerable thing is that it is said that he killed 600 million people. You know, the total population at the end of the Ming Dynasty was not even 600 million).
There are also "The Veritable Records of the Yongli Emperor" by Ming Dynasty literati Wang Fuzhi, "Guoqie" by Tan Qian, "Zuiweilu" by Zha Jizuo, "Ming Ji Nanlue" by Ji Liuqi, and so on.
These materials all came from the hands of literati in the Ming Dynasty.
Sichuan literati and civil and military officials of the Dashi regime also left relevant writings and historical materials.
Including Ouyang Zhi's "Shu Rebellion" and Peng Zunsu's "Shu Bi".
Finally, there are the writings left by foreign missionaries, mainly "Records of the Holy Religion Entering Sichuan".
It can be inferred from the mutual corroboration of information from all parties that Zhang Xianzhong must have killed many people, but he should not be a madman who killed anyone he saw.
If Zhang Xianzhong was really a murderer, then Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi, the four children raised by the murderer, would definitely not be normal people.
Especially Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu and Sun Kewang, they settled refugees in Yunnan and Guizhou to cultivate land, promoted trade, restored order and introduced imperial examinations.
These policies for maintaining national security are no worse than those done by some founding emperors.
Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong was a criminal who committed heinous crimes in Sichuan.
Other criminals include the Qing Dynasty, Li Zicheng, the Thirteen Yellow Families, etc.
In addition to Zhang Xianzhong, the military advisor Wang Zhaolin was also a sinner in the Dashi regime. Every time a city was captured, he would instigate Zhang Xianzhong to start a massacre.
So after Zhang Xianzhong's death, his four adopted sons immediately executed Wang Zhaolin.
Wang Zhaolin saw that Zhang Xianzhong was ready to kill, so he immediately encouraged him, "Yes, all those who should be killed must be killed! All the Ming soldiers who surrendered in the city will be executed, and all the gentry and wealthy families will be killed."
"No..." Wang Zhaolin denied what he had just said. He thought for a moment and said, "Except for the young women, all the others should be killed! The slogan of our Dashi Army is to surrender as soon as possible and not move a single hair. If we attack, no one will be left alive."
"Since Chungju Castle was breached, let's follow the slogan! Only in this way can we intimidate the soldiers and civilians defending the city."
Kill them all...
"Godfather, we came to Sichuan to conquer territory. If we kill everyone, there will be no point in conquering the territory. I hope you will think twice." Sun Kewang, the eldest of the four sons, stood up first.
Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, Ai Nengqi and a group of generals and ministers knelt down and pleaded with Zhang Xianzhong.
Although most of the people in the city had been relocated to Fuling by the Ming army in advance, there were still many people left.
Zhang Xianzhong did not face the problem directly, but looked at his four adopted sons: "Zhongzhou City has been taken, and the next ones are Fuling and Changshou."
"Especially Changshou. As long as we take this place, we can advance to Chongqing or retreat to northern Sichuan. At the same time, we can also cut off Qin Liangyu's retreat."
"Does anyone among you volunteer to attack longevity?"
Sun Kewang immediately kowtowed and said, "Father, I am willing to go. I have made arrangements before attacking Zhongzhou. I have sent people to pretend to be refugees and flee to Changshou with the people. Although there are not many of them, they are all elite. As long as they cooperate well, we can open the city gate at night and take Changshou without any effort."
Zhang Xianzhong nodded, his expression still as ferocious.
Li Dingguo said, "Father, I am willing to lead 30,000 troops to attack Fuling. Qin Liangyu's main force and she herself are there. As long as Fuling is captured and Qin Liangyu is captured, the Ming army will have almost no soldiers left in Shu to fight."
“Chongqing and Chengdu are within easy reach!”
"Okay!" This was exactly what Zhang Xianzhong was waiting for.
Among his four adopted sons, he was more impressed by Li Dingguo's military capabilities.
Anyone can fight a larger force against a smaller one. After all, when ordinary people face enemies that are several times their number, their calves will involuntarily become weak.
But there are very few people who can win with a few.
Li Dingguo is one of them.
He personally led his men into Chungju City and opened the city gates at night, causing the seemingly indestructible Chungju to collapse in an instant.
Can anyone else do it?
Apparently it's tough.
"I will give you 50,000 elite soldiers, with no time limit, as long as you capture Qin Liangyu."
Without waiting for Li Dingguo's agreement, he continued, "Dingguo was the internal supporter when we attacked Zhongzhou before, and we can ambush him outside, and we can attack Zhongzhou with the internal and external support."
"Since you have captured Zhongzhou City, the people in the city are also handed over to you. I will not care whether they live or die."
"If there is no problem, we will send out troops tomorrow morning!"
"Yes, sir!" everyone responded in unison.
Only after everyone left did Zhang Xianzhong secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
Far from being a madman, he is as shrewd as a businessman.
Before this, he came with the slogan of free food, and he did win a lot of people's hearts along the way.
(Zhang Xianzhong issued a notice when he was in Huguang: three years of rent exemption and no one would be killed.)
As the battle progressed further into Sichuan, more and more problems were faced, especially the invisible and intangible public opinion.
Firstly, the Ming court also exempted the people from taxes for one year. Secondly, killing alone would not be enough to make the defenders surrender without a fight, but would instead provoke their resistance.
Since most of the defenders had settled down in the city, they were the first to be angered by the practice of snatching women.
Previously, the Ming army was short of money, and the government troops had no fighting spirit, so they simply surrendered.
Now the military pay is sufficient, and we have families behind us. We have money and food at home, and we have enough food and warm clothes. Why should we surrender?
Zhang Xianzhong sat for a while, then stood up with a cold snort. "Qin Liangyu, oh Qin Liangyu, let's see how long you can keep jumping around! The Zhu Dynasty is doomed, and it is beyond human power to save it! It is better to surrender early, and I can still spare your life!"
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