Zhou Zhenghao knelt on the execution ground, looking at the people throwing stones at him, feeling extremely bitter in his heart.
Unexpectedly, he was a noble man, but he ended up like this. The ordinary people who were trampled under his feet before, without even looking at him, now seemed to have become their masters, cursing the gentry kneeling on the execution ground unscrupulously.
.
Zhou Zhenghao looked around and found that all the famous gentry in Huai'an Prefecture were kneeling there. The prefect Yuan Minglu, the minister Zhao Kefan, and the general Huang Yigong. Eleven landlords and civil servants in Huai'an Prefecture who donated money to support Qian Qianyi were all present.
Land is the lifeblood of the gentry. Without land, it is impossible to live a good life by fleeing to other places. These gentry were reluctant to leave behind a large amount of land and flee, but now they were caught by Li Zhi.
Li Zhi, a gentry who donated money to defend the city and strengthen the people, did not let go. He also ransacked his home and beheaded him.
There were more than fifty people kneeling on the execution ground. These gentry, who were used to being domineering, could not say a word amidst the roar of laughter from the audience. They all looked pale and trembling.
Among the crowd watching the excitement, more than a dozen farmers from Xujia Village were crowded at the front of the crowd, just a dozen meters away from Zhou Zhenghao. It seemed that Boss Xu distributed Zhou Zhenghao's five gold bars to other farmers. Now five
Five gold bars were held by villagers from Xujia Village. The villagers held the gold bars high, as if they were laughing at Zhou Zhenghao's stupidity.
Zhou Zhenghao remembered the scene of bribing Boss Xu that night, and his face turned red with anger.
He suddenly moved a few steps to the side and said to a soldier next to him: "Soldier, I want to report. I want to report Boss Xu of Xujiacun. He embezzled five gold bars that were supposed to be inspected by the Duke of Jin. Those gold bars
Just lift it up in his hand!”
After hearing Zhou Zhenghao's words, the soldier looked at the company commander Zhang Yu next to him.
Zhang Yu has been following Li Zhi these days, so he knows the situation. He snorted coldly and said, "You are overthinking Gou Juren. That gold bar was awarded to the villagers of Xujia Village by the Duke of Jin!"
Zhou Zhenghao's face sank when he heard this, and he was suddenly discouraged.
The soldier frowned and kicked Zhou Zhenghao in the chest, knocking him back to where he was kneeling.
The villagers of Xujia Village were extremely excited when they saw Zhou Zhenghao's embarrassed appearance. The villagers of Xujia Village knew that the Duke of Jin was going to set up a court in Juntianfu, Huai'an, and knew that good days were coming for them. At this time, they saw their enemies commit suicide.
, how can we not be excited?
When the sun rose to the center of the sky, a soldier raised his rifle and fired a shot into the sky, announcing the execution.
The division commander Zheng Kaicheng walked in front of the people, bowed his hands to them, and shouted loudly:
"Common people, I am Zheng Kaicheng, the commander-in-chief of the Duke of Jin!"
"Last summer, the Duke of Jin made an expedition to the north against the Qing Dynasty for the country and the people, for the sake of peace for the people of the Ming Dynasty. At this critical moment, the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River actually planned to form a Jiangbei Army and colluded with the Tatar Qing to stab the Duke of Jin in the back! If not
Duke Shenwu of Jin State, the great cause of the Northern Expedition to the Qing Dynasty almost failed! Do you think this kind of gentry should be killed?"
The people shouted loudly: "He deserves to be killed!"
"kill!"
"Kill these unscrupulous gentry."
Zheng Kaicheng nodded: "Torture!"
When Zhou Zhenghao heard Zheng Kaicheng's words, he was so frightened that he wet his pants. His body was shaking like a threshing machine for shelling rice, and he couldn't control it at all.
Seeing Zhou Zhenghao's embarrassed appearance, the villagers in Xujia Village became even more excited, raising their arms and shouting kill.
A soldier pointed his rifle at Zhou Zhenghao's head and pressed the trigger.
The back of Zhou Zhenghao's head exploded, and he fell down on the execution platform, unable to get up again.
The crackling gunshots rang out one after another, and the gentry who donated money to Qian Qianyi to form the Jiangbei Army were shot dead one by one and fell in a pool of blood.
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Ten miles north of Yangzhou City, 40,000 tiger and benign soldiers faced off against 30,000 ragged Yangzhou "minzhuang".
Li Zhi looked at the minzhuangs holding various weapons, and asked Xue Sanku, who was leading the cavalry of the Selection Division: "Zuo Liangyu and Wu Sangui's Jiangbei army escaped again?"
Xue Sanku cupped his hands and replied: "The scouts reported that as soon as our army set off from Huai'an, Zuo and Wu fled. According to our scouts stationed in Yangzhou City, the Jiangbei Army had crossed the Yangtze River and fled to the south of the Yangtze River seven days ago. It is said that
Already fled into the capital city of Nanjing."
Li Laosi pondered and said: "My boss, Yangzhou is one of the largest cities in the south of the Yangtze River. The Jiangbei Army gave up without firing a single shot. This seems to indicate that they have no determination to fight us decisively!"
When everyone heard Li Laosi's words, they all surrendered in the direction of Nanjing. They didn't know whether the Jiangbei Army would stick to Nanjing as its capital, or whether they would continue to flee south and abandon Nanjing, exposing all the civil servants and gentry who sponsored the Jiangbei Army to Huben.
military.
Zheng Kaicheng smiled and said: "In any case, let's deal with this Yangzhou Minzhuang first! These Minzhuang seem to have learned the lesson of Huai'an Minzhuang. They did not defend the city, but took the initiative to attack!"
"The gentry in Yangzhou are so desperate that they actually want to rely on the temporary organization of the people to overwhelm our Tiger and Ben army, which is the best in the world."
Li Laosi held up a telescope to observe the Yangzhou City wall in the distance and said: "My boss, there are many gentry standing on the top of Yangzhou City watching the wind. It is estimated that once these people are defeated, the gentry in Yangzhou City will flee towards the dock.
, crossed the river and fled."
Li Zhi nodded and said: "We can't let these Yangzhou gentry escape, Xue Sanku! You lead five thousand cavalry to go around to the south first, blockade the south of Yangzhou City, and occupy several ferries such as Guazhou."
Xue Sanku accepted the order with clasped fists and led the troops to block the gentry's retreat.
Li Zhi asked: "Who will go up and defeat this strong people?"
The generals under Li Zhi looked at the strong people and felt that the Yangzhou soldiers and horses were vulnerable, and they had no interest in asking for orders to fight.
In the end, Li Zhi could only point his general and said: "Zhong Feng, go up and defeat this strong people."
Zhong Feng clasped his fists and accepted the order, then led 10,000 enemy troops forward to meet the enemy.
The 30,000 Yangzhou minzhuang saw the trapping division approaching and attacked the trapping division under the leadership of local generals. Although the minzhuang did not have armor, they made many flags, and the 30,000 people holding the flags were quite impressive.
.
But four hundred meters away from the trapping division, they received a fatal blow.
There were four thousand sharpshooters in the trap division. These sharpshooters aimed at the thirty thousand people and fired conical bullets with extremely accurate accuracy.
A large number of the 30,000 people in the front row of Minzhuang suddenly fell down. Amidst the screams, Minzhuang's camp was like a slaughterhouse for killing pigs. I don't know how many Minzhuang were shot, and blood mist spattered from the wounds.
Pillars of blood fell to the ground, rolling and twitching.
Thousands of people were killed in one fell swoop, and the morale of the Yangzhou people was shattered.
With the morale of this temporary organization, Minzhuang was completely unable to withstand such casualties. As soon as they heard the bang, Yangzhou Minzhuang lost all fighting spirit and fled in both directions in a panic.
Not only the soldiers were on the run, but also the officers of the Yangzhou District Guard who directed the battle were on the run. All the forces that could man the formation and supervise the battle no longer existed, and the more than 20,000 people who were still alive dispersed in all directions.
Li Zhi looked at the vulnerable Minzhuang and said to Zu Dashou: "Commander Zu, you lead four thousand cavalry to rush over and take advantage of the chaos to seize the city gate of Yangzhou!"
