Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 219 Great Confucian? The one I killed was the great Confucian!
When the sound of the peasant army's red cannons bombarding the city walls, mixed with thunder, fell on everyone in Suzhou City, at this moment these officials were still discussing how to resist the Anti-Corruption Bureau's auditing of accounts and measuring of land.

There were also people discussing the overall situation in the court and exchanging opinions with the senior officials of various families in the court.

Some people even gloated meaningfully.

It was in such an atmosphere that killing struck them head-on.

After Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo massacred Anqing Prefecture, they encountered almost no resistance in Ningguo Prefecture because most of the officials and gentry there had already fled.

Although the progress improved a lot, Sun Kewang was not satisfied.

Because the officials and gentry ran away, they must have taken away a lot of gold and silver valuables, which meant that their "harvest" was also less. After all, they would not get much money if they divided the officials and gentry's land among the people.

Therefore, in the later stage of the attack on Ningguo Mansion, the strategy he adopted was to first send a team of troops to block the news on the way eastward, and then capture the city, and then release them after his own troops had passed.

So... when the officials and gentry in Suzhou learned that the peasant army was attacking, it was already too late.

Today, the total number of troops under Sun Kewang, together with those under Li Dingguo, has reached 180,000.

Among them, there were 60,000 elite soldiers who had experienced many battles. They were so powerful that a flash of lightning struck down. The officers and soldiers defending the city looked at the dense black spots covering the ground, and the hairs on their backs stood up.

The city of Suzhou has been peaceful for a hundred years and there has not been any unrest for a long time.

Even during the period of Qi Jiguang's Japanese pirates, the city of Suzhou was basically not affected, and it was synonymous with prosperity.

“In the southeast, the financial resources are the most important in Gusu; in the southeast, the water conservancy is the most important in Gusu; in the southeast, the people are the most numerous in Gusu.”

"The treasures produced by the mountains and seas, the goods and shells from foreign countries, are all traveling back and forth, and merchants from thousands of miles away are crowded together..."

The red lanterns outside the brothel swayed in the breeze, reflecting the gorgeous and lewd figures. The occasional sounds of flutes and pianos highlighted the prosperity and bustle of this place.

But as the prosperity of late autumn came to an end, some people died on both sides of the street in tattered clothes. They were carried onto wooden carts, and the wheels rolled mercilessly over the blood, splashing up a lot of dust.

The leaves were falling and the ground was shaking violently.

……

"put!"

"Put it back!"

Sun Kewang ordered the Red Cannon to fire only a few shots and then stop the attack.

On the one hand, it was to test the defense of Suzhou City. On the other hand, it was due to the weather. It was raining heavily, and even with the kraft paper covering it, the power of the artillery was greatly reduced.

But the city was in chaos. The faces of these tough officials and gentry changed drastically, and their legs trembled. "Shanzhang, our lives and property are in your hands now."

"Anyway, please come out and talk to the rebels..."

"Well, the matter is urgent, so we will go back first."

"Okay, everyone go back first."

Qin Bolu sent everyone out of the house. Looking at their hurried appearance, his brows couldn't help but show a bit of worry.

It was not yet dawn, the air was fresh, and there was no rain at all. With the roar of cannons, not long after, a deafening noise began to rise from the city gate.

Suddenly, a rumor spread in the city that the bandits had already invaded the city.

Qin Bolu, who had just fallen asleep, got up in a hurry and went outside to inquire about the news. He heard someone say, "It's not the enemy entering the city, but the reinforcements from the Governor-General of Southern Zhili have arrived.

Just when he was relieved, the street suddenly became chaotic, with countless panicked refugees running towards him. His eyes suddenly focused, "Lord Su?"

Because among them there were dozens of government troops, fleeing in a panic from north to south, their momentum surging like a wave... Amid the interweaving of the fleeing soldiers and civilians, he actually saw the government soldiers escorting Suzhou governor Jia Yanchen and fleeing towards the east city gate!

That piece of clothing was sitting next to him last night, there was no way he could have made a mistake.

It was not until this moment that Qin Bolu realized that this was not reinforcements arriving, but bandits breaking into the city.

……

The reason why the city was captured so quickly was that Li Dingguo wore the clothes of the official soldiers of Anqing and Changde prefectures and pretended to be the reinforcements.

He ordered his men to use this method at the four city gates at the same time. Only the defenders at the East Gate were frightened and believed that reinforcements had really arrived. After tricking the city gate into opening, the fall of Suzhou became irreversible.

It was still dark and many people were still asleep. They watched as some armored bandits rushed into the city from outside.

The peasant army formed groups of seven to ten people and suddenly broke into the homes of the wealthy families.

There were cries and screams everywhere, and people were panicking and running away. The guards in the city also threw away their armor and weapons and mixed in with the people to escape...

In the chaos, Qin Bolu looked back at the city wall, which was already covered with bandits, who were clinging to the wall like ants and wielding their weapons.

The defenders on the Suzhou city wall were defeated and ran away, trampling on each other in the crowded chaos.

However, the city wall was too crowded and narrow, so the commander ordered the defenders to lay down a lot of wooden boards on it to widen the wall so that they could place cannons and rolling stones on it.

But these wooden boards were not strong enough and would collapse if too many people were on them, not to mention that some people were running and stepping on them, causing the wooden boards to fall off one after another. People also fell from them like fallen leaves, and guards kept falling from them.

The roofs of the houses under the city wall were cracked and broken by the people falling down like raindrops and hail.

One by one, their bones were broken and their muscles were torn, and they screamed in agony.

The soldiers and civilians in the city were in a panic, looking for hiding places everywhere, and every house closed its doors.

Qin Bolu also asked the housekeeper to close the door tightly, and he peeked outside through the gap beside the door, and saw that the interface was full of peasant soldiers.

They were marching from east to west. It was raining again, but the army was in good order, not in chaos at all... It seemed that this was an army with strict military discipline and strict compliance with orders. They would not do anything wrong to the civilians. He patted his chest and felt a little relieved.

But soon there was a knock on the back door and his heart almost jumped out of his chest.

"Who?"

"I am...Bi Baoyou."

"Senior Bi, why are you here?"

He quickly asked the butler to open the back door, but several great scholars and neighbors came in apprehensively, "Shanzhang, given the current situation, should we set up an altar and burn incense to show our submission?"

"Yes, the bandits are powerful, but they mainly target corrupt officials. We scholars should have no problem with this..."

Qin Bolu was a little confused at the moment, unable to make up his mind, and could only nod submissively.

Next, everyone began to change their clothes, and then stood at the door, lined up with bated breath, anxiously and fearfully waiting for the arrival of the peasant army. Of course, they didn't dare to open the door, as there was chaos in the city, and they were afraid of death if some ruffians took advantage of the situation to attack them.

But they waited left and right, and nothing came.

Instead, the loud shouts of killing in the city were deafening.

……

"Damn, why are there so many crazy people?" After Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo entered Suzhou City, they suddenly realized that the resistance of officials and gentry was much more fierce than everyone had imagined. The biggest reason for this was... the death squad.

In every dynasty, there have been wealthy families who kept assassins. These people were either used to take the blame, assassinate, or even rebel.

These people did not have to work in the fields or do any chores in his house. Instead, they followed a group of people and received military training every day.

The man who was originally proficient in farm work, after several months of armed training, became a warrior who was proficient in swords, guns and fists. In addition, with the daily service of rice, flour, wine and meat at the benefactor's house, his physique also became strong.

These big players hire professionals to train them, not just to teach them knife and gun skills, but more importantly... "brainwashing".

Before drawing the sword, someone will ask, who gave you this sword?

Before eating, someone will ask, who gave you this meal?
Before applying medicine to an injured person, someone will ask, who gave you this medicine... and when answering these questions, you will all shout out the name of the rich master in unison.

When the monthly allowance and clothing were distributed, it was the wealthy masters who distributed them to these people personally. Everything in life was related to the wealthy masters. Gradually, in the subconscious of these people, there was no government, no emperor, and no heaven in this world, only their masters.

These wealthy families choose those who have been imprisoned for their crimes, pull them out of prison, feed them, give them women, and let them have children.

Giving these people's wives and children 20 acres of thin land is actually holding their wives and daughters in your hands.
Normally, they would do all kinds of evil, including murder and arson, for the sake of officials and gentry.

When common people see them, they try to avoid them as much as possible, thus causing these disasters.

At this point, these assassins came forward "willingly" to die and cover their master's escape.

"Pull the artillery over here!"

"Fuck it..."

There was a drizzle, flames shot up into the sky in Suzhou city, and the wailing sounds everywhere were heart-wrenching and soul-stirring. The tragedy was indescribable.

The sounds of running and chasing continued.

The fighting lasted for two hours, and after a huge series of explosions, the shouting gradually became weaker.

……

The reason for the huge explosion was that the peasant army was fighting with the people from the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Even though Zhu Changgan and Chongzhen tried their best to avoid such a thing from happening, it still inevitably broke out.

There are a large number of Jinyiwei and Dongchang people in the Integrity Bureau. They have a large amount of granular gunpowder and palm thunder in their hands. They are ready as soon as they know that the city has been broken.

The entire street was covered with gunpowder.

So when the bandits attacked the government office, a huge impact erupted instantly, and flames, mud, bricks, tiles, wood chips... countless debris flew into the sky.

The sound vibrated the eardrums, and all the peasant soldiers within a few hundred meters were knocked away.

Even though the power of black powder is not as strong as the C4 of later generations, the scene is still amazing enough.

The peasant army had fought all the way here, and had never encountered such a situation before. They were all dumbfounded.

Some subconsciously squatted on the ground, some hid in the corners, and many people began to retreat. Even Sun Kewang was a little confused, and he quickly ordered not to move rashly.

The people in the Independent Commission Against Corruption used this precious time to start evacuating. By the time Sun Kewang reacted, they sent people to chase him, and then another explosion occurred.

The casualties caused by the explosion were even more terrifying than during the siege, and Sun Kewang had to order the peasant army to slow down again.

"come!"

The director of Suzhou Anti-Corruption Bureau, Quan Houpei, is also a ruthless person.

His family was originally a family of martial artists. His father was also a famous martial artist in Tianjin. He was in a business that risked his life. Later, he asked his son to give up martial arts and pursue literature. Although his martial arts skills were not very high, he was extremely ferocious when holding a knife.

Whenever the peasant army wanted to rush forward, the two sides would fight a few times and then explosions would be heard, frightening them so much that they dared not act recklessly.

"If you dare to follow me, be prepared to be blown to death."

Just like that, a lineup of only a hundred or so people made it impossible for thousands of peasant soldiers to achieve anything, and their soaring momentum was also suppressed by them.

"Damn it, who are these people? Why are they so powerful?"

"The court's anti-corruption department, which specializes in investigating corrupt officials, was attacked and killed by the assassins of those officials and gentry. They are also a group of ruthless people."

"So they don't have much money?"

“It should be like this…”

"Then there's no need for us to keep chasing them!" Sun Kewang stared hatefully in the direction where the Independent Commission Against Corruption people were escaping and stopped his subordinates from chasing them.

The real task was to clear out the other officials and gentry in the city. The most important thing was that the Suzhou Weaving House had not been captured yet.

Prince Xin was assassinated by them. If they escaped, it would be the biggest loss.

So the peasant army changed direction and pressed towards the wealthy families in the city.

……

In the wealthy area of ​​Suzhou where officials, gentry, and merchants lived, countless peasant armies surrounded it like marching ants.

They began searching house to house, and even captured a local Suzhou lawyer to act as a guide, explaining which mansion the person lived in, who lived there, what official position he had held, how many acres of land the family had, and any other evil deeds such as bullying men and women in the family were all revealed.

It has to be said that the combat power of the death squads and guards of the wealthy families was also extremely strong. Among them, there were even some crazy guys who rushed into the rebel army with gunpowder and detonated it.

The two sides then engaged in a fierce battle.

Both sides suffered heavy casualties.

But overall, the peasant army had the upper hand because they had more people, and wave after wave of them, like a flood, wore down these death warriors.

Inside the city, once the doors of these wealthy households were broken into, those inside would either surrender immediately or be brutally attacked and killed.

Entire households of young and strong men were slaughtered and rivers of blood flowed.

Team after team of men rushed into these wealthy families, captured people and pinned them to the ground.

"What are the details of the previous ones?"

"In front... there seem to be a few great scholars." Suzhou's lawyer shook his head, "They are not corrupt officials, and they don't oppress the people. Forget it."

"Great scholar?" Li Dingguo's eyes suddenly focused, he looked up at the roof, took out the long bow, pulled it towards a position and shot, "The one I'm going to kill is the great scholar!"

……

Two chapters are done. It’s the end of the month now. If you have tickets, please vote for me. Thank you!

(End of this chapter)