In fact, Yang Yao has not really changed. He is still the Yang Yao who can be called a famous general, the giant bandit in Dongting Lake, and the Tianzhu Yaoxing who gives countless officers and soldiers a splitting headache!
In fact, Yang Yao's real name is Yang Tai. He was born in the family of a hired worker in Zhujiagang, Longyang. The family was not a good one, but it was definitely not a bad one.
Because he had studied, although it was only when he was young, and it was only two years of private school.
Later, because the taxes of the Song Dynasty became more and more heavy, and matters such as Hua Shi Gang and others were pressing on the people of Jiangnan, those who bought official positions also set their eyes on the wealthy places of Jiangnan.
If they want to get back their roots here, they will naturally have to face these people and stretch out their claws.
In this case, Yang Yao had no family. In order to make ends meet, he gave up his private school and joined the merchant ship as a servant, and joined it without hesitation after meeting Zhong Xiang.
Because he was indeed quite capable and became one of the several leaders under Zhong Xiang, and he was also the youngest. According to the custom in Jiangnan, he was called "Yao".
Yang Yao became his name.
Perhaps Zhong Xiang himself did not expect that the young people he promoted would have the ability to dominate the world, and he would become a person that people from the Jin Dynasty, Song Dynasty, and even Liu Yu and Duchong were vying to win over.
At that time, Prime Minister Zhong must have never imagined that Yang Yao's desire was as great as his ability.
After Zhong Xiang's death, Yang Yao solved his biggest problem by killing Xia Cheng, a fellow from Longyang who was suspected of ambushing Zhong Xiang, and then changed Zhong Ziyi's name to Zhong Ziyi and became the new prince.
And he also called himself the Great Sage Heavenly King. It began to be spread in the south of the Yangtze River that he was the reincarnation of the Heavenly Pillar and the Obsidian Star, saving the people from water and fire.
He gathered around him Yang Qin, Yang Guang, Cili Chen Yuxin, Songzi Li Herong, Liyang Yingxuan and other dozens of leaders. He took over almost all the forces left by Zhong Xiang, and even Zhong Xiang, who should have been cut into pieces with a thousand swords to commemorate Zhong Xiang, gathered around him. Kong Yanzhou, the prime minister, has now changed his appearance and become the person around him.
Of course, saving Kong Yanzhou's life was not only the original agreement, but also because of the benefits Kong Yanzhou brought to him.
What are the benefits?
Naturally, it was a refreshing experience for Yang Yao.
Yang Yao actually pretended to be a good person for a while when Zhong Xiang just passed away.
First, he was elected as the overall leader by his brothers, and was called the Great Sage Heavenly King. He used it to mark the year. Zhong Ziyi, the youngest son of Zhongxiang, was made the prince. Huang Cheng was named military counselor and Zuopushe, and Yang Qin was appointed military commander. Set up the main village in Baotai Mountain.
In practice, he also resolutely implemented Prime Minister Zhong's political program of "equalizing the rich and the poor, equalizing the rich and the poor", and adopted the policies of "land farming and water warfare" and "military and peasantry", exempted the righteous areas from money and grain taxes, and developed production, and the people were convinced by it. .
If the matter is known to this point, then this matter will be over. Jiangnan Yang Yao will inevitably become the next Fang La, even more difficult to deal with than Fang La.
But things slowly changed, or in other words, Yang Yao and Zhong Ziyi changed.
When they are on an unstable footing, they still know how to be scrupulous when they want to enjoy themselves. They know how to hide themselves and enjoy a little luxury.
But it was this approach of whetting their appetite that made them become more and more unscrupulous after they completely established a foothold.
Zhong Xiang's "Equality for the rich and the poor" that he proposed last year has gradually turned into a simple slogan.
It was not that there were no opportunities for enjoyment before, but after Yang Yao gained a foothold, he no longer simply enjoyed it. Even luxury was not enough to describe his situation.
Their food, clothing, housing and transportation are all extravagant and luxurious, even the bed they sleep on is inlaid with gold and jade, and as the saying goes, they are full and warm and want to have lustful desires. Under this situation, it is difficult for them to become gentlemen.
But Yang Yao slowly forgot why they gathered together.
What really attracts these people is the slogan "equalize the rich and the poor, equal the rich and the poor"?
Is this what they call fairness?
Of course not, the people are not fools. Even fools know how to choose between the hard-working rich and the fair poor. They are not afraid of unfairness appearing to them.
They don't even understand what unfairness is, they just simply feel that there is no way for them to survive in this world, whether they choose Zhong Xiang or Yang Yao.
It's not because of those empty promises, but because Zhong Xiang really brought them a better life and helped them survive last year.
But their foundation has not changed. Although their harvest is good, even better than the official harvest in Jiangnan, this good harvest does not allow them to start enjoying extravagance.
For example, the brocades Yang Yao and Zhong Ziyi are wearing now.
It was a top-notch brocade obtained from the land of Bashu, specially supplied to the palace.
To get such a suit of clothes requires an unusually large amount of money. Yang Yao needs to spend a lot of baggage and food in exchange for money and then exchange this thing.
And a piece of fine brocade can only make this kind of clothes in the end.
This shows how luxurious this is.
There is also the "a clear song and a bunch of silk". When eating and drinking, the singer must sing praises for them in front of them. Just singing praises is not enough. How can we show our extravagance and boldness?
What a reward!
When a large number of people who followed Yang Yao barely had enough to eat or even starved to death, he actually rewarded a singer with a piece of damask just because she sang a song for him.
This is damask, not just cloth. The damask is smooth, soft, and light in texture. It is much better than the cloth worn by people today.
That is something that belongs to the nobles.
In addition to food, clothing, housing and transportation, Yang Yao built a lot of construction projects on his mansion. Under Kong Yanzhou's instigation, Yang Yao didn't even know that the construction projects in his mansion were used to build warships and camps.
It's not that Yang Yao was fooled because of his stupidity. Kong Yanzhou, who had received Tong Guan's guidance in this regard, was quite strong. You could call the emperor of the Song Dynasty a fool.
But you can't call him stupid.
Being able to fool such a group of smart people into willingly becoming that stupid king, even if Kong Yanzhou only had one-tenth of Tong Guan's ability, he would still be able to deal with a guy like Yang Yao who had never seen the world.
Under such circumstances, not to mention the common people and ordinary soldiers who followed Yang Yao, even the generals and commanders under his command were unhappy.
Extravagance is often accompanied by irritability, and wine and sex are accompanied by killing. Kong Yanzhou has already begun to persuade Yang Yao.
"The Great Sage Heavenly King is a star in the sky and a famous general in the world. Not to mention the land of Jiangnan, there are not many people in the world who can compete with the Heavenly King. The Heavenly King enjoys a little just to be able to better lead the people of Jiangnan to achieve hegemony. .
It's a pity that some people don't understand the King of Heaven's intentions after all. They want to fight against the King of Heaven, but they also want to imitate the Song court and want to share the rights of the King of Heaven. How can this be done?
The only way we can deal with this kind of people is to kill them! "
Kong Yanzhou's words touched Yang Yao's heart. How could a young man in his twenties, a young man with outstanding talents recognized by the world, not want to become the world leader? He would follow his words and do what he said, and no one would dare to touch his edge?
So, he killed it!
Yang Yao didn't understand what it meant to use military power indiscriminately. He only knew that when Prime Minister Zhong burned government offices and temples, killed corrupt officials, and even killed monks to take out their wealth and silk in exchange for people's support and military supplies, he felt that he should do the same.
He needs to use the blood of these people to establish his authority. He needs to kill them all to prove his strength!
Wu Rifang, the military commander of Jingmen, was a rare good official in this place south of the Yangtze River. He protected the people of one side, never took bribes, perverted the law, and never contributed to chaos.
He held out for several days under Yang Yao's attack. When the city was breached, Yang Yao ignored his dissuasion and killed all of them.
It was a pity that Wu Rifang's wife was pregnant with Liujia and was about to give birth. Under the influence of Kong Yanzhou, the baby was dug out by caesarean section. Even before the mother was completely dead, she was thrown into the pot in front of her.
Wuling Manjusri Xindaoxiang, a famous monk from Jiangnan, was the most famous ascetic in the chaotic and extravagant Jiangnan. He stuck to his true nature and did not dare to enjoy the slightest luxury throughout his life.
He treated the people and offered rest to the deceased. Under the command of Kong Yanzhou, he was skinned and cramped, his eyes and tongue were gouged out, and he was hanged on the city wall.
The famous scholar Yuan Xian had been teaching and educating people in Jiangnan for ten years, but he was chopped into pieces and his entire family was killed.
Wherever he passed, Kong Yanzhou even encouraged his soldiers to burn, kill, loot and massacre everywhere, regardless of age or age.
It's countless how many corrupt officials Yang Yao has killed, but it's even more countless how many accidental injuries they suffered once they let go.
And how many people under the command of the many generals who followed Yang Yao were taught and favored by these people who accidentally killed them.
Not to mention other things, if his military advisor Huang Cheng had not been enlightened and rescued by Yuan Xian, it would have been difficult for him to survive even if he could not only learn to read and write.
There are indeed countless corrupt officials in Jiangnan who are extremely bad to the people. This is the reason why Prime Minister Zhong can succeed.
But in other words, if there were just these people in Jiangnan, why would there be such a chaos after the appearance of Fang La Zhongxiang?
The last thing Kong Yanzhou did for him was to encourage Yang Yao to ignore right from wrong, completely destroying his foundation and the morale of the people and the military.
"Everyone, we will attack various water villages in Dongting Lake from today on, and your role is only one, to persuade Yang Yao's generals to surrender!"
In the large tent of the Chinese army, Yue Fei gave an order to the first group of Song officials who were about to set off. The first fatal task was to persuade them to surrender!
And this time, I don’t know how many people felt pain from their teeth.
"What is this all about? I don't know anything about it. This war hasn't even started yet, but we are trying to persuade them to surrender. How to persuade them to surrender? How to persuade them to surrender!"
After an official came out of the Chinese army's tent, he couldn't help but complain to the people around him. Many officials around him responded in the same way.
At this time, a young official suddenly sneered.
"Now that Yang Yao's foundation has been broken and the army and the people are alienated, is it possible to persuade An Neng to surrender in this way?"
"Huang Zong, don't boast!" The minister who just complained couldn't help but sneered, "Don't think that just because you are a Jinshi, you look down on me and other mature people. Do you know who Yang Qin is who you are going to persuade to surrender? ?
That is Yang Yao's confidant general, the military horse captain, unrivaled in bravery, beware of being fed to fish by the sinking river! "
"You guys, wait and see!"
