At the end of April, the conduct officer of Anton Guard Zhang Yi and the conduct officer of Dasong Guard Wang Bo respectively led the soldiers of the left and right battalions to attack. In just four days, they defeated the resisting officers and officials of Andong Guard and Dasong Guard. The generals defeated them, beheaded more than 300 people, and captured more than 800 people.
Liu Yan immediately summoned all parties in Anton Guard City, and all the small flag officers, chief flag officers, and hundreds of household officials from Anton Guard and Dasong Guard who did not participate in the resistance were brought, as well as scribes and other civil servants from various places. , as well as the military households and civilians watching the excitement, there were thousands of people standing densely outside Anton Guard City.
Surrounding the crowd were hundreds of armored New Army soldiers, and the open space outside the city gate had turned into a preaching place.
"Bring all the prisoners up!"
Zhang Yi immediately led his troops to bring up more than 800 generals, servants and idlers who participated in the resistance. These people were all tied up with ropes. At this time, they were no longer as arrogant as when they made the rebellion. They were all dejected, even when they saw Liu Yan was so frightened that he peed his pants.
Liu Yan looked at everyone coldly, and then said loudly: "...the thieves are arrogant. They gathered people to cause chaos for their own selfish interests. They attacked many shops and houses. Hundreds of innocent people were killed and injured. I was furious after hearing this. Today Here, these thieves will be beheaded on the spot as a warning to others!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone was dumbfounded. They all said that Liu Yan was extremely cruel to his enemies. When he saw it with his own eyes, he killed more than 800 people at one time, which made the people and officials present feel terrified.
Liu Yan shouted: "Execution!"
Immediately, groups of new army soldiers escorted the prisoners forward and beheaded them one after another in full view of the public.
During this period, some of the prisoners kept kowtowing and begging for mercy, some were wailing, and some were even frightened to the point of incontinence. However, the beheading operation still did not stop until an hour later, all the more than 800 prisoners were beheaded, and the blood had already cut them off. The empty space was dyed red, and the feet of the onlookers and officials and generals were stained with scarlet blood. Everyone was filled with fear of Liu Yan.
Liu Yan smelled the bloody smell in the air and said loudly: "From now on, anyone who dares to disobey my orders and bully the people will be punished!"
On that day, Liu Yan allowed the families of the more than 800 captives to come and collect the bodies, and paid a certain amount of subsidies to each household. The women and children who received a few taels of silver all cried bitterly and were grateful to Liu Yan. They only regretted that their men had gone astray and lost their lives in vain.
After killing people, the reorganization of Anton Guard and Da Song Guard was finally carried out smoothly without any resistance.
Regarding matters here, Zhang Yi, Wang Bo, Zhang Lei, Yue Ming, Wang Jing and others were all responsible for their respective duties. Liu Yan then left and returned to Jimo Yingcheng.
At the General's Mansion, Liu Yan met Wang Yunhe, Shang Shan, and Ruoshui whom he had not seen for more than a month, and there was another burst of tenderness. During this period, Wang Yunhe was very sensible and took his son away, leaving space for Liu Yan and the others.
But within a few days of such a happy life, Lu Xiangsheng found out about Liu Yan's murder of more than 800 people in Anton Acropolis.
Lu Xiangsheng originally thought that Liu Yan was in charge of Jimo Yingcheng and that given time, he could expand the size of the new army again, preferably to 15,000 to 20,000 troops. In this way, not only did Shandong have a strong army with sufficient strength, but the imperial court also had a mobile elite with sufficient strength.
But just over a month later, Lu Xiangsheng did not wait for the news that Liu Yan had begun to expand his army. Instead, he received the news that there was unrest in Jimo Ying City. Liu Yan first put down the chaos and then killed the prisoners. He killed more than a thousand people. How could he sit still? ?
"This Liu Yan, his methods are getting more and more violent, it's too bloody!"
Lu Huaiying on the side said: "Governor, please calm down. Some rumors about this matter have spread to Jinan. It turned out that the officials and generals of Andongwei and Dasongwei prevented General Liu Shen from reorganizing the place, and they also gathered troops and horses to cause chaos. General Liu Shen It's just sending troops to quell the chaos. Even if it doesn't work, it won't be a fault, right?"
"Where are the prisoners?"
Lu Xiangsheng said: "Why did he want to kill prisoners! Don't tell me about the use of heavy codes in troubled times. Liu Yan just wants to kill people to establish his authority so that there will be no resistance in Jimo Yingcheng!"
Lu Huaiying said: "Master Governor, even if he has this idea, General Liu is dedicated to the country. I heard that he took back a large amount of farmland for military camps from the gentry and powerful people, and gave it all to poor military households. He also began to repair the city defenses and rectify the guards. So, it looks like he’s preparing for a big fight.”
Lu Xiangsheng sighed and said: "Why don't I know Liu Yan's loyalty and ability, but he just acts like this? As Liu Yan's official position gets higher and higher, he will come into the eyes of those in the court. Will he want to You’ll suffer a big loss!”
Lu Huaiying said with a smile: "The worries of the governor are unnecessary. With General Liu's strength and style, it is estimated that the Qingliu will be the ones who suffer the consequences."
"In any case, I have to question him face to face. I will immediately send someone to Jimo Yingcheng and ask Liu Yan to come to Jinan Fucheng. If he doesn't mention it face to face, Liu Yan doesn't know what trouble he will cause."
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Liu Yan arrived in Jinan Fucheng in a light and simple manner. When he arrived at the Governor's Mansion, he met Lu Xiangsheng. After some salutes, he sat down with Lu Xiangsheng as the guest of honour.
Liu Yan saw that Lu Xiangsheng's face was not very good, so he asked: "The governor has summoned his subordinates. What's the important matter?"
"The governor has heard about Anton Wei. You, General Liu Shen, are so majestic. You killed more than a thousand people and killed more than 800 prisoners at will. Why don't you escort them to Jinan Mansion!"
Liu Yan was silent for a long time, and Lu Xiangsheng did not urge him. He just said: "I have always valued you very much. I hope you will behave yourself and do not violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty when governing the place. Otherwise, I will not be able to deal with it when the court accuses you! "
Seeing Lu Xiangsheng thinking about himself, Liu Yan felt warm in his heart and said, "The supervisor's protective intentions will be remembered by my subordinates."
Lu Xiangsheng said: "I know that what you did is right, but the method is not appropriate. You must think more and think twice before you act!"
In fact, Liu Yan also wanted to go step by step and fight steadily, but this was unrealistic. Will the Manchus and Li Zicheng let themselves go and safely pull out hundreds of thousands of new troops before slowly killing them?
Liu Yan took a deep breath, then clasped his fists and said, "My subordinates understand the intention of the governor. But the current situation is no longer the time of the Shenzong, or even the time when the late emperor was on the throne."
"Nowadays, there are slaves and thieves glaring at us from outside, and thieves from all over the country are corrupting us. The civil and military officials in China are taking advantage of us, and officials from all over the country are preying on the common people. It can be said that the country's world is rotten from the roots! Such a situation cannot be reversed without a strong dose of medicine! "
Lu Xiangsheng looked at Liu Yan, who was a little excited, and his expression dimmed. How could he not know this? It's just that I can't change it.
Liu Yan said loudly: "The general trend of the world is too far for me. Now I only look at Jimo Camp. But Jimo Camp is the epitome of the Ming Dynasty. The problems are the same. What should I do? I don't have money, food and energy. In the future, those corrupt officials, evil gentry and powerful people will not give their subordinates this chance. They can only use force to push back and completely smash the old order of Jimo Camp so that the people can have a bite to eat and survive. This is the only way. The way out!”
Lu Xiangsheng was silent after hearing this. It was undeniable that what Liu Yan said made sense and was the best way to change the current situation. But does this really work? It works in theory, but it may not work in reality!
"Liu Yan, you are still too young. Many things in this world are not what they seem on the surface. They cannot be achieved with passion and iron fist. You must know the trade-offs and detours."
Lu Xiangsheng seemed to think of his own experiences, especially the dangers of the Battle of Julu, and he still felt very uncomfortable in his heart: "The governor also experienced many things before he realized this. Only by preserving yourself first can you remain useful. .”
Lu Xiangsheng's words are reasonable, but they do not apply to the current situation.
"Master Governor, given the current situation in the court and the current situation in the world, can we accomplish great things while protecting our lives wisely?"
Liu Yan shook his head and said: "Impossible! There are constraints on everything. How can we break the situation without thunderous means? In the opinion of my subordinates, only by using a huge force to smash all the shackles can we save the current situation."
"Take the incident of Anton Guard and Da Song Guard as an example. Governor, if more than a thousand people had not been killed and without these more than a thousand bloody heads, my subordinates would not have been able to take back the farmland occupied by the two guards. The military households and civilians in the two guards will not be able to live and work in peace and contentment, and the subordinates will not be able to receive money and food, and they will have no sources of troops."
"So, where did the strong army in my subordinates' hands come from, and what did my subordinates use to expand the army?"
Liu Yanyue became more and more excited as he spoke, and stood up directly and said: "Master Governor, let's look at the world again. Now in all counties and counties, rich households, squires, and officials and merchants occupy large tracts of fertile land, but the imperial court reduces their taxes, and the vassal kings everywhere are even more excited. They don't pay a penny or a grain of rice, but they occupy tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land. What about the common people? Under the torment of natural and man-made disasters, they have no place to stand, but they are shouldering nearly 90% of the world's taxes! How dare you! Ask the governor, what a weird thing this is!"
Lu Xiangsheng sighed and said, "This is the law of the imperial court. What can you and I do? None of us can change it!"
Liu Yan ignored Lu Xiangsheng's answer and continued to say with emotion: "The governor is the governor of the local military and administration, and he is quite familiar with tax matters. Even though the people in the world are so miserable, the subordinate officials everywhere still do their best to oppress: Zhang Di Shrinking ropes, deceitful mailings, spreading, widening lines, hiding fields, hiding households, in order to collect less taxes from the gentry, officials and businessmen, and more taxes from the common people, those subordinate officials came up with all kinds of strange tricks. Such a rich pot When the money is full, those who have no money become even poorer. This is the source of the turmoil in today’s world!”
Liu Yan strode up to Lu Xiangsheng and asked: "Master, I would like to ask: Can such a world be saved by ordinary means? In such a world, the only way out is to break it and then build it up, and my subordinates are in the Jimo camp. Everything you do is like this!”
Lu Xiangsheng was silent when he heard this, closed his eyes and sighed.
Liu Yan looked at Lu Xiangsheng's look, and felt sad in his heart. This famous anti-Qing hero in history was now under the double weight of political enemies in the DPRK and local forces, and was unable to support him. There was no longer a battle of Julu. The heroism and heroism of sacrificing oneself for the country.
"Supervisor, this is my subordinate Meng Lang."
Lu Xiangsheng opened his eyes, sighed and shook his head. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know where to start.
At this moment, General Lu Huaiying opened the door and walked in. He looked at the expressions of Liu Yan and Lu Xiangsheng and felt a little depressed. He paused and then said: "Master Governor, the food and drinks in the side room are ready. Governor I and Liu Shen will go over to have dinner."
Some people died, but not completely...
