Chapter 675: Killing to stop killing, life for life
This victory was hard-fought.
It took the Qing Dynasty five days to capture Chuzhou.
When Liang Ren, who was in charge of this matter, came to report, the people outside the city on the night of the siege knew what was happening inside the city.
Ding Teng, the defender of Chuzhou City who surrendered with the people, walked in with a tired look on his face and a wrinkled suit of clothes that looked like dried pickles, his hair and face covered in blood.
Just as he was about to kneel down according to etiquette, Jiang Yubai stopped him.
"There's no need for formalities in wartime."
"Get a chair for Lord Ding."
Ding Teng originally wanted to refuse, but he was exhausted after being frightened for several days. He apologized in a hoarse voice and sat down on the chair panting.
Ding Teng said, "People in the city have long been dissatisfied with Fu Kun's actions, but they dare not speak out. Anyone who speaks out will be killed. Fu Kun dominates the city guard's office. The number of people he has killed could be spread out three miles outside the gate, and no one dares to speak out."
"I wouldn't dare..."
Everyone fears death, without exception.
Ding Teng endured it at first and mobilized the people in the city to cooperate with Fu Kun to resist the rebels according to the imperial edict.
Then...
Fu Kun forced him to capture refugees and the elderly, weak, women and children who should never appear on the battlefield.
In order to restrain the Lingnan army as much as possible, Fu Kun used despicable means to the extreme.
The final result was indeed what he wanted.
Concerned about not harming innocent lives, he successfully blocked the Lingnan army outside Chuzhou City.
But most of the people who died under countless arrows and huge rocks that day were civilians in Chuzhou City.
Ding Teng said bitterly, "I am a weak and incompetent official, and I can't protect the people in my jurisdiction. But so many people can't just die in vain, otherwise..."
"Otherwise, when I wake up in the middle of the night, how can I face those elders and fellow villagers who died in vain..."
"So when someone claimed to be an envoy from Lingnan and wanted to discuss cooperation with me, I agreed."
Ding Teng did not want to be identified as a traitor by the imperial court, and would rather defend Chuzhou to the death than escape alive.
But Fukun forced him.
Fu Kun was also forcing the people of Chuzhou.
Ding Teng rubbed his face vigorously and said hoarsely, "I was an official in Kyoto in my early years. I met a much younger Lingnan envoy back then."
"I know him. He's the eldest son of the Xu family and a descendant of the Marquis of Jiaxing. I know the Xu family army doesn't kill civilians, so..."
"I chose to trust him. I first tried to appease the people without Fu Kun's knowledge, then tried to calm the unrest in the army. On the day of the uprising, I invited Fu Kun to my home under the pretext of discussing important matters, and then I would assassinate him."
"According to the original plan, there shouldn't be such a big commotion, but we all miscalculated. I didn't expect Fukun to have a trick up his sleeve."
The breathing of the people listening there suddenly tightened.
Ding Teng gritted his teeth and said, "Fu Kun once gave his deputy a death order. If anything happens to him, he must immediately kill anyone in the city who might rebel, regardless of friend or foe."
"Fukun hasn't even died yet, but there's already a commotion outside..."
"Those people brought by Fu Kun, who were supposed to defend Chuzhou to the death and protect the people, now raise their butcher knives against the people in the city..."
Under the night sky, blood is everywhere.
Fu Kun is really a crazy lunatic.
He can die, but he cannot allow others to live.
The unarmed civilians were simply unable to resist the sharp iron blades.
The woman holding her child could only fall in a pool of blood with hatred in her heart.
The people who came with Fu Kun were completely inhumane and indiscriminately raised their knives to kill the young men who were forcibly captured into the camp.
It was an inhumane massacre.
Amidst the massacre, what was immediately aroused was a desperate resistance from the lowest level of society.
But how can a hoe and a stick be any match for a long knife and an arrow?
At that time, Xu Yu and others had just captured Fu Kun according to the plan, but when things developed to this point, it was no longer possible to solve the problem by just killing Fu Kun.
If the city continues to be in turmoil like this, more and more people will die for no reason, and the situation will become increasingly out of control.
Thinking of Xu Yu's decisiveness, Ding Teng said with a trembling voice filled with gratitude, "Prince Xu asked the men he brought to protect me. They hung Fu Kun's head on the flagpole and rushed out, shouting, 'Fu Kun is dead. Surrender and don't kill me.'"
"Prince Xu led a group of men into the most chaotic areas and promptly organized the people who were spontaneously resisting the violence."
"Then they temporarily gathered those young and strong men who had only recently joined the army, and using the complex alleys in the city to fight against the violent army that was killing civilians."
Xu Yu could actually have left at that time.
As long as Xu Yu wanted, he could easily escape with Fu Kun's head in his hand.
But Fu Kun is dead, and those who have followed Fu Kun for many years are all beasts with human faces and beastly hearts. If the people in the city who spontaneously resist are not guided and supported by anyone, there will only be unnecessary deaths and injuries.
But the disparity in strength between the two sides is too great.
The other side is a group of mad dogs who know that they have reached a dead end and are blood-thirsty.
Xu Yu had only about thirty people under his command, including Chen Jing'an and others who had first sneaked into Chuzhou. Even if the common people and young and strong people in the city were added to resist together, it would be too difficult.
Thinking back carefully, the chaos lasted only an hour.
But at that moment, Ding Teng felt as if he had exhausted all the warmth in his heart.
When he spoke again, a chill of fear seeped out from between the lines.
"In the chaos, some people learned that Fukun was dead, and some gave up resistance and continued the massacre. But there were always some who stubbornly resisted and tried to fight to the death, hoping to drag more people down with them."
"I couldn't hear anything clearly at the time, and I don't remember what I shouted. When I saw Prince Xu again, he told me to keep an eye on the rest of the people. Then he took away a few of the people he had assigned to me and quickly disappeared into the alley."
"Later I learned that Prince Xu had taken his men to kill the general."
Kill the mad dog that resists stubbornly.
Killing inhumane beasts.
Kill the few leaders who were still struggling and resisting and committing murder.
Killing one is not enough, so kill the second one until no one dares to raise the butcher knife anymore.
Stop killing by killing.
Life for life.
Xu Yu led a handful of men and went against the current in the chaotic army, swinging his sword at the evil ghosts who deserved to go to hell.
Ding Teng also rushed out of the chaos with his men in time, opened the city gate, and let in the decisive Lingnan army.
Later on...
Ding Teng smiled bitterly and said, "A scholar is useless. I couldn't hold on any longer and passed out. I don't know which kind-hearted person dug me out from somewhere. Otherwise..."
"I should be dead now..."
After hearing this, everyone present recalled the shocking tragedy they witnessed on the night they entered the city, and many of them closed their eyes in pain.
If Xu Yu hadn't decisively calmed the situation and quickly organized the resisting people, if Xu Yu hadn't risked his life to kill several fierce generals of the other side, then...
Ding Teng shook his head in self-mockery, as if suddenly remembering something but not daring to ask. His pale lips moved repeatedly before he finally managed to utter a hoarse voice, "We met so hastily that we didn't even have time to reminisce about the past."
"That day, I was separated from Prince Xu in the chaotic army. The last time I saw him, I could only barely see the hem of his black clothes stained with blood. I don't know..."
"I wonder how Prince Xu is doing now?"
The first thing Ding Teng did when he came in was to look around at the people standing there, but he didn't find Xu Yu.
I didn't even see any of the people I saw in the panic that night.
In that urgent situation, Xu Yu and his companions were walking on the edge of a knife at every step. Ding Teng was a scholar and could not even imagine how thrilling and life-threatening it was.
But he also kept hoping that if the gods and Buddhas in the sky still had a little mercy and compassion for the people who were soaked in the bitter water, perhaps they could give these people who went upstream a glimmer of hope.
After hesitating for a long time, he finally asked, but Ding Teng was a little hesitant to listen.
Jiang Yubai's face, which had been frozen for a long time, broke into a wanton smile. He patted Ding Teng's shoulder and said loudly, "He's alive!"
"Alive and well!"
"A man like this cannot die!"
Ding Teng staggered after being slapped, and in a trance, he smiled with a sense of relief.
At this moment, a young general suddenly appeared outside the door. He looked at the officials in the room who were all higher than himself with an embarrassed look on his face, and whispered, "Young Prince, a lot of people have come outside, saying... they want to give you and the generals something..."
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