newbobooks Chapter 239
Chapter 239
"As the saying goes, 'an army marches on its stomach.' With my army of over 100,000, without sufficient food and supplies, we cannot hold out for long."
On the sixth day of the month, he came before Zhang Heling and offered his advice.
Zhang Heling looked worried when he heard this.
"Brother Ma, do you have any good ideas?"
“Since those gentry are inciting the upper echelons to rebel, then ask them for more money and grain.”
The sixth day is a matter of course.
Zhang Heling sighed upon hearing this.
"Brother Ma, you don't know this, but these people made grand promises back then. Now that it's time to ask for money and food, they all start making excuses. It's not that they don't want to give, but that's all the money and food they can give."
Zhang Heling thought bitterly. At this moment, he remembered how Chen Jing and the others had patted their chests and boasted earlier, and he wished he could kill them.
The rebellion hasn't even started yet, and the daily food consumption of hundreds of thousands of troops is already terrifying. In the end, he underestimated the importance of rebellion.
"I do have a plan that can completely solve the problem of food supplies."
On the sixth day, seeing that the time was almost right, he immediately offered his advice.
Zhang Heling's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this.
"Brother Ma, you truly live up to your reputation as my Zhuge Liang. Tell me your plan quickly."
"Now that Your Majesty has prepared your troops and your army is strong and well-equipped, it is time to raise the banner and start an army in the name of 'purging the court of corrupt officials.' At that time, I will lead one or two thousand elite soldiers that I have personally trained to plunder all the gentry in Jiangnan. When that time comes, will Your Majesty still have to worry about money and food?"
The sixth day of the month spoke with absolute certainty.
Zhang Heling hesitated upon hearing this.
"Isn't this inappropriate? Those gentry have treated me quite well. Wouldn't doing this be considered a betrayal of their trust?"
"Those who achieve great things throughout history do not concern themselves with trivial matters. If one wants to establish a kingdom and dominate the country, how can one be so soft-hearted? Besides, are these gentry really good to you? Why have they been delaying the payment of the money and provisions they promised? Why are none of these gentry members of our ranks?"
On the sixth day, he continued to persuade her.
Actually, there was no need to say so much on the sixth day of the lunar month. The phrase "Those who achieve great things do not concern themselves with trifles" instantly energized Zhang Heling. He was never a kind person, and when had he ever cared about morality?
“Brother Ma is right. So, before we raise an army, we should first organize our troops. I hereby order you to kill all the generals in my army. These are mostly the gentry and the centurions. After you have killed them, I will appoint you as the commander-in-chief of the three armies and give you command of the entire army.”
Zhang Heling now seemed to be in a superior position, although he did so in an awkward way.
"Your subordinate will certainly live up to your expectations and handle this matter well."
On the sixth day, he hurriedly bowed and said.
So on the sixth day of the lunar new year, Zhang Heling summoned all the generals and centurions in the army to drink together, and Zhang Heling was among them.
"Brothers, I am about to launch an uprising, and I will rely on your help at that time. Today, I am hosting this banquet for you brothers as a farewell feast before the uprising."
As he spoke, Zhang Heling raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp.
These people never expected Zhang Heling to attack them, so they were completely unprepared. In addition, these people were not good people to begin with, and soon they were all drunk and staggering.
Seeing that everyone was drunk, Chu Liu's eyes were no longer tinged with drunkenness. He directly summoned the Tiger Legion, who were lying in ambush, into the tent and slaughtered them all.
The following day, Zhang Heling raised an army in Chongming County under the pretext of "purging the court of corrupt officials," claiming to have an army of 300,000. This immediately shocked the entire Jiangnan region, and the news spread rapidly throughout the Ming Dynasty and even to the capital.
At the same time as raising the army, Zhang Heling appointed Chu Liu as marshal in front of hundreds of thousands of troops. Fortunately, Chu Liu had put on some beard when he was doing his makeup, so he didn't look that young, and no one objected.
After assuming the position of marshal on the sixth day of the lunar month, the first thing he did was to completely dismantle the original organization. For example, all the people from various gangs on Chongming Island were scattered into different teams by Chu Liu.
This is to prevent these people from colluding and causing trouble.
When the people of Jiangnan learned that someone had raised an army in rebellion, they were all panicked. Zhou Chu immediately ordered the Imperial Guards of various prefectures and counties to patrol the streets and told the people not to panic.
The common people are easily swayed by rumors, but once they saw the streets patrolled by Imperial Guards and yamen runners, although they were still nervous, they were not as panicked as they had been at the beginning.
Zhou Chu also began making intensive arrangements. He divided the Tiger Legion into more than a dozen small teams and sent them to various prefectures in Jiangnan Province. At this time, the commanders of the Imperial Guards in each prefecture had already received Zhou Chu's orders. After nightfall, they led their trusted Imperial Guards, disguised, to follow the Tiger Legion.
Zhou Chu had already screened all the commanders of the prefectures in the entire Jiangnan Province. Generally speaking, there were no major problems. One or two of them with issues were replaced by Zhou Chu without anyone noticing.
After nightfall, Chu Liu led more than a thousand soldiers into Suzhou to plunder. He had a map of the distribution of various gentry in Suzhou provided by Chen Zhao, so he did not take any unnecessary routes. That night, the entire city of Suzhou was ransacked by the rebel army, which was holding high the banner of the Duke of Changguo.
As for how many of these people were brought by Chu Liu and how many were Zhou Chu's men, no one knows.
In fact, the looting did not only spread to Suzhou Prefecture, but also spread to all prefectures and counties in the entire Jiangnan Province. The speed of the looting was astonishing. Some gentry who had not yet had time to transfer their property were filled with regret. What sins had they committed? Why did they support the Zhang Heling brothers' rebellion?
Now that they've shot themselves in the foot, many people wish they could slap themselves in the face.
These people couldn't even find anyone to curse. Throughout Jiangnan, every household kept their doors and windows closed, fearing being caught in the crossfire. The outside was full of rebel troops. The gentry whose homes were raided had their property confiscated, while those whose homes weren't raided hid in their homes, hoping to escape this calamity.
The looting lasted for three whole days, during which time almost all the gentry in Jiangnan were plundered.
Of course, most of the gentry had already moved most of their money and people in advance, but even so, it was still enough to make them feel the pinch.
The Imperial Guards responsible for the looting might have engaged in some underhanded tactics, with each of them keeping some money for themselves. However, Zhou Chu didn't care. After all, if you want the horse to run, you have to feed it. With the Tiger Legion watching over things, over 99% of the loot ended up in Zhou Chu's hands.
These Imperial Guards had nowhere to rest and recuperate, and at best, they couldn't hide much money on their bodies.
Even so, all the Imperial Guards involved in the incident in Jiangnan made a fortune. They specifically picked out valuable items to hide on their bodies, and each of them managed to obtain items worth hundreds of strings of copper coins. Some lucky ones even managed to obtain valuable items worth thousands of strings of copper coins.
They also understood that everyone had one chance to make money, and they wouldn't hoard or take more than their share. Those who could become members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard were all shrewd people. They knew that their superiors would turn a blind eye to their money-making activities, so they naturally knew when to stop.
If they went too far, the Tiger Legion was not to be trifled with. More than a dozen Imperial Guards were killed by the Tiger Legion for being blinded by greed, which can be regarded as making an example of them.
Cui Wenkui had already fled with Cui Wenshan's family and hid in their old home in the countryside.
At this point, the Cui brothers naturally learned what had happened outside.
How did you guess so accurately?
Cui Wenshan said with lingering fear.
He had initially felt a pang of regret for the valuables he hadn't had time to move, but now all that remained was relief.
“Zhou Chu’s greatest skill is using these rebels. Rebels? If Zhang Heling had the ability to plunder the entire Jiangnan region, he would have rebelled long ago. Why would he have waited until today?”
Cui Wenku sneered.