A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 860 Despair
Regarding the hidden worries about the disadvantages brought about by chasing stolen goods and subsidizing salaries, in fact, there are not sober people in Dashun Kingdom. For example, on the first day of April, the military adviser Song Xiance used the celestial phenomenon to explain things: "The sky is miserable and the sun is dark. It is urgent to suspension."

On the seventh day of April, when Li Zicheng passed Liu Zongmindi, he saw more than 300 people in the courtyard, wailing half-quietly. Li Zicheng said: "The celestial phenomena are warning, and the Song army master said that it should be a provincial punishment, so we should release them at discretion."

But since the moment he entered Beijing, the relationship between Li Zicheng and his subordinates has undergone subtle changes. Just as the interests of the emperor and ministers are generally inconsistent, the relationship between Liu Zongmin himself and Li Zicheng has also changed.

Li Zicheng asked Liu Zongmin to let him go, saying: "Why don't you help Gu to be a good emperor?"

Liu Zongmin disagreed, saying: "The power of the emperor belongs to you, and the power of torture and looting belongs to me. There is no need to bother."

There was also a change in the psychology of ordinary soldiers towards Dashun's high-level officials. For example, when Li Zicheng first entered Beijing, Li Zicheng gave the old man, that is, the old camp rice only a few dendrobiums, and the horse beans rose every day, and the crowd resented them.He thinks that before entering Beijing, the top leaders of the rebel army were generous and proud, drinking in big bowls, and sharing gold in big bowls, but now they are in the country, but they are so stingy and resentful.

And to be honest, neither the Chuang Army in the past nor the Shun Army is a well-disciplined army, a political organization with ideals and aspirations.Their backbone is border households, postmen, and prairie horse thieves who can't survive, and then coerce a large number of refugees to screen and eliminate teams of veterans.

In their hearts, they are still refugees, a collection of robbery gangs.

The slogans they put forward are also ridiculous. If they don't work on errands and don't pay their food, they basically destroy all the foundations of their legal existence.

As far as my own survival can only be robbed, how can I bring stability to others?

If we talk about wartime, in order to survive and conquer the world, the top leaders of the Chuangshun Army can use strict military discipline to restrain their subordinates.But now that the country has been laid down, a world of flowers and flowers that was unimaginable before suddenly appeared in front of my eyes, surrounded by ants who had no power to resist, and the original refugees were lost.

What's more, what's good at the top will be bad at the bottom. Li Ziben himself is a person who doesn't like drinking and sex, and now he is also addicted to sex and sex, drinking all day long.Not to mention Liu Zongmin and other high-level executives, apart from torturing and chasing money all day long, they just take prostitutes for fun.

Niu Jinxing and others shouted and roared in front of the demoted officials all day long, letting go of their previous frustrations, and by the way collected some rich and beautiful women to paint their sedan chairs with gold powder.There are also Li Guo, Yuan Zongdi, Liu Xiyao and others, all of whom occupy luxurious houses and enjoy being surrounded by dozens of beauties.

The upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked. All this is a powerful stimulus for the middle and lower classes.

Moreover, the current Shun army is mixed, and its composition is complex. In addition to the tens of thousands of inner camps, more of them are outer camps, and there are countless, at least hundreds of thousands, who surrendered to the Ming army.These people are either refugees, or people without loyalty, and all of them have indescribable evil desires hidden in their hearts.

Pursuing stolen goods and subsidizing payment is tantamount to opening the dam, and the madness, greed, and irrationality in everyone's heart suddenly poured out.

Not to mention that the higher-ups themselves were too busy venting their desires, so they never thought of restraining them, and now it is impossible to restrain them.

They also have good reasons, plausible: "The emperor let you do it, but the gold and silver women don't let me?"

Even when Li Zicheng wanted to ascend the throne, some generals actually said: "Who would bow down to a thieves." He also said: "It is not his ability to kill the world with blood and sweat." He is also a thieves, why worship him?"

So in the eyes of the generals, officers can rob, why can't they rob?

You high-ranking officials and dignitaries can rob the honorable officials of the Ming Dynasty, and I can also rob the rich and common people of the Ming Dynasty!
Just a few days after chasing stolen goods and paying for money, the evil desire hidden in human nature was suddenly released, and the situation took a sudden turn for the worse, and the situation spread in a terrible direction.

In the end, everything got out of control.

……

When the Shun army first entered the city, Bagu Yang's family had been in fear for two days, but on the [-]th, the Anmin notice from Dashun was posted, strictly prohibiting killing.On the same day, four other soldiers robbed the silk shop and were chopped.

Bagu Yang was in high spirits, watched the execution with relish, and said excitedly when she came back: "There are good days ahead."

She took her daughter Niannu, and went shopping with Zhang Shouyin in peace of mind. She bought some ready-made clothes near Chongwenmen, new clothes for the family of three, bought rice noodles, tea oil, etc., and even generously bought some meat back. One or two silver dollars.

She calculated carefully, and looked at the remaining money to do some small business.

However, the shops in the capital are expensive, and Bagu Yang planned to set up a small stall with Zhang Shouyin. While planning, the recovery of stolen goods and payment began.

When these officials were arrested and tortured, Bagu Yang discussed with her neighbors a little gloatingly, saying: "These corrupt officials should be beaten."

Bagu Yang still shouted loudly in the street: "Dashun Heavenly King is wise, he knows what the evils of the previous dynasty are."

She inquired about the news with great interest, but sometimes she met shopkeeper Tian and saw that his expression changed and worried.

Starting from the 27th, every workshop in the capital began to protect ten families and one family. If one family escaped, all ten families would be killed together.At the same time, Shun Guan led the long squad to investigate the deposits of officials and people. There were 50 people in each square, and most of them were local scoundrels who were the village leaders.

On this day, squires were constantly being taken away to ask for money to help pay, such as Zhou Qiang, Liu Yuyou, Liang Yizhang, Mi Wanzhong, Wu Bangchen, Shen Zizhang, etc., all of them were wealthy, and the long squad swarmed to plunder and plunder wantonly. There is no difference in membership.

Bagu Yang still feels happy, she has never been able to see these rich officials, businessmen and rich gentry, and seeing them suffer, she feels refreshed in her heart.

But for some reason, she began to panic a little.

On the 28th, many Dashun soldiers appeared on the street. They carried hemp ropes in their hands. When they saw a passerby with a fat face, they suspected that they had money. They immediately put the hemp rope around their necks and dragged them away.Some were even taken to their homes and released at their choice.

This kind of luck is good, if it is dragged to Liu Zongmin's residence, it will be over.

Bagu Yang had already reduced going out on the street, and when she had to, she would bow her head and pass by. Those Shunjun soldiers didn't care about her, only some people took a look at her new clothes.

On the 29th, the Shun army began to enter the streets and alleys. When they encountered wealthy households, even those from Qingjin and Bai households, they immediately went to Suoyin.At noon that day, Bagu Yang heard the sound of screaming for land from a nearby family. She knew that family, and they were not considered rich, at most they were small and medium-sized families.

On this day, the long squad in the workshop came over and ordered all folks who had bronze utensils of horses and mules to lose to the camp.Yang Bagu's family has several sets of ancestral brass utensils and round mirrors for musical instruments, which have been handed down from generation to generation.Bagu Yang felt reluctant, but seeing that her neighbors had lost money, she dared not lose.

Seeing the ancestral brass utensils being transported away, and there is not even a mirror in the house, she was at a loss.

On this day, horsemen of the Shun army galloped across the street holding beauties. It turned out that King Dashun rewarded the remaining court ladies to the soldiers, and those who got the beauties showed off happily.

On the [-]th, soldiers and horses of the Shun army filled the alleys, with various uniforms and accents, and they searched from house to house under the pretext of searching for horses and copper.Then wherever they passed, there was a sound of howling, and every family was exhausted.

Bagu Yang has already hidden the rice, noodles, money and food at home tightly, and changed into new clothes, but the uneasiness and fear in her heart have always filled her heart.

At noon that day, the three of them ate in silence, and Nian Nu was about to help his mother wash the dishes, when the door was kicked open suddenly, all three of them screamed in surprise, and then fell silent.I saw five or six Shunjun troops rushing in, all of them in black uniforms, high-spirited, looking at the three of them as if they were ants.

Bagu Yang pulled Zhang Shouyin's hand and stood up tremblingly, and her daughter Niannu also pulled her mother's sleeve nervously.

The leader at the front seemed to be quite friendly, he clasped his fists, and said with a smile: "This master, this lady, this lady, the villain and others have just entered the capital, but King Dashun has not paid the rations, the villain and others I have no choice but to ask the people for help, and I hope that Master Zi in Guixiang can use some pots of money to save money."

Bagu Yang trembled and said: "If you talk about Master Tianbing, the little lady really has no money or food."

Seeing that the soldiers didn't believe it, she hurriedly dragged Zhang Shouyin and Nian Nu to kneel down.

The leader smiled and said: "No money? No, why did I hear people say that your family was still wearing new clothes a few days ago?"

He looked at Zhang Shouyin with a smile again: "This master got up and spoke."

Zhang Shouyin quickly stood up, the leader sized him up for a while, and said, "Have you been a soldier before?"

Zhang Shouyin said respectfully: "If you go back to Tianbing, the villain used to be a squadron."

The boss's friendly face suddenly turned ferocious, and he shouted: "You remnant of the Ming Dynasty, how dare you stand and talk to me?"

He suddenly slapped Zhang Shouyin heavily in the face, causing blood to flow from his mouth and nose, and he staggered and fell to the ground, unable to get up for a long time.

Bagu Yang exclaimed, "Brother Shouyin."

As if her heart had been stabbed hard by a knife, she immediately burst into tears, kowtowed and said: "I beg you, please let the little woman's family go."

Her daughter Nian Nu also cried and begged.

The leader ignored them and just growled, "Stand up straight."

Zhang Shouyin's face was covered with blood from his nose, and he struggled to stand up.

The leader roared: "Stand up!"

He swung his thick arm, and slapped Zhang Shouyin hard on the face again, causing him to stagger again, and more blood flowed from his mouth and nose.

The leader roared again: "Stand up straight!"

Another heavy punch hit Zhang Shouyin's abdomen. Zhang Shouyin bent over in pain, and blood dripped from his mouth.

Bagu Yang wept bitterly, she said: "Don't beat me, the little lady will give you money."

She found four silver coins and some broken silver from a hidden place under the bed, and handed them to the leader with great reluctance.

The leader said: "Hey, Yinyuan is still a rich man."

He sighed: "Tell me about the three of you, if you had paid the money earlier, it would have been over. Why should you suffer this crime? You won't shed tears when you see the coffin."

A soldier next to him said: "Master Sun, it seems that this family still has money, why don't you chase after him?"

The leader said: "Forget it, brothers came to Beijing late, and now there are more and more camps, hurry up, let's go to the next one."

He tossed the silver coins in his hand, made a clattering sound, and smiled at Bagu Yang's family, "Thank you very much."

Then a few people laughed and turned around.

Bagu Yang hurried over to close the door, moved a table on top, and then saw Zhang Shouyin sitting in pain. Her daughter Niannu fetched water and was wiping the blood on Zhang Shouyin's mouth, asking softly if it hurt.

Bagu Yang came to her side and sat dumbfounded. She said blankly, "How could this happen? Didn't the Heavenly Soldiers commit any crimes... Yes, the people below must be doing something wrong, Dashun Heavenly King will not ignore it..."

On the first day of the fourth lunar month, more terrifying news came. Not only did Dashun soldiers spread all over the city, but they broke through the gates and searched everywhere they went.And they began to be childless.

Especially those officers and soldiers who were not assigned maids were full of resentment. They couldn't wait for the high-level assignment of mothers-in-law and aunts, so they came to the door to prostitution and plunder their needs.At first they also found prostitutes and sang songs, but now they are gradually becoming women from good families.Dashun also stipulated that unmarried women in the capital should be forcibly assigned to Dashun officers and soldiers as wives.

Bagu Yang has already heard the news that a girl from a good family was taken away, raped to death, and sometimes followed the army's generals, and the soldiers were afraid of being held accountable, so they threw the body out of the city.

Some people hanged themselves to death after being defiled. Bagu Yang also saw cavalry soldiers passing by on the street, with one in their arms and two or three women in their arms.

On the second day of the lunar new year, things became more and more serious. Many women were polluted, and it was heard that even their wives and concubines were unavoidable.Bagu Yang has already hidden her daughter Niannu in the backyard, and she can never go out without going out.

On this day, she heard the sound of door-to-door kicking outside, and some neighbors were crying: "Master Tianbing, please, this is the last ration for the family, if you don't have it, you can't live..."

There was deep despair in their cries, and their voices were piercing, and some people were howling: "Daughter... my daughter, please, don't take my daughter away..."

Bagu Yang huddled in Zhang Shouyin's arms, her face pale and her body trembling constantly, she murmured: "Why is this happening? Doesn't it mean that we have a good life?"

Suddenly the door of her house was kicked open again, and a group of soldiers rushed in, all of them were wearing red uniforms, and the leader was a burly figure. He glanced inside the room, and then swept over the ashes-faced, dumbfounded Yang Bagu, He said indifferently: "Bagu Yang? I know that your family has a daughter Li Niannu, who is fifteen years old, who happens to be betrothed to soldiers as wives, to inspire the army and kill thieves for the country... Where is your daughter?"

Bagu Yang and Bagu got up, they both knelt on the ground and kowtowed continuously, Bagu Yang sobbed: "The little lady has no daughter, she has been living with her husband all the time."

The leader Shunjun smiled, and the Shunjun beside him also laughed loudly, the leader Shunjun waved his hand: "It's the same trick again, let's search, there is nowhere to hide in this small family and courtyard."

They rummaged through boxes and cabinets and searched everywhere. Bagu Yang watched anxiously. Not long after, she heard her daughter's struggling and crying, as well as the cheers of those soldiers.

Then, she saw two Shunjun pulling her daughter from the backyard, Bagu Yang's tears rolled down, and she tremblingly said: "Don't..."

She walked in a hurry, and took out the last two silver coins in the house from a secret place, and then cupped them in both hands. She cried loudly and begged: "Master Tianbing, this is the last silver coin in the house, and I will give it all to you, just ask I can spare my daughter."

The leader Shunjun took the silver yuan in her hand and said: "Hey, there are still silver yuan, the brothers in front are not careful."

He put it away slowly, then waved his hand: "Take it away!"

Zhong Shunjun laughed wildly, took Yang Bagu's daughter and went out, Niannu was crying, she turned around and shouted: "Mother..."

Bagu Yang hissed and shouted: "No!"

She wailed and rushed out the door, hugged a soldier's leg, and was dragged away like that.

Zhang Shouyin roared mournfully, "Niannu."

He rushed out the door at the same time, trying to rescue his daughter, but was punched to the ground by the leader of the Shun army, and then three or four people surrounded him with punches and kicks, making him roll all over the ground, and finally mouthed blood Vomited and struggled on the ground.

And the rest of the people still pulled Nian Nu, laughing wildly and walking away.

Bagu Yang wailed and screamed all the way, and she was dragged for nearly a hundred steps like that, with blood all over her body and face.

In the end, those Shunjun got tired of playing and kicked her away, Bagu Yang watched her daughter cry and walk away.

Bagu Yang slowly got up, she looked crazy, and laughed sternly, she shouted to the surroundings: "The heavenly soldiers have entered the city, everyone is living a good life."

She even clapped her hands and sang a ballad frantically: "Kill the cattle and sheep, prepare the wine, and open the city gate to welcome the King Chuang. When the King Chuang comes, he will not pay the food!"

"Eat his mother, eat her mother, if you don't have enough to eat, you will be King Chuang. If you don't work as an errand, you don't pay food, everyone have a good time!"

She clapped her hands and came over, still shouting: "The righteous army passed by, and Qiu did not commit any crimes. King Dashun said: Killing a person is like killing my father, and adultery is like adultery with my mother..."

Zhang Shouyin struggled to get up, his body was covered with blood and dust, seeing Bagu Yang approaching, he tremblingly said: "Bagu."

Bagu Yang looked at him with unfamiliar eyes, she stared at him blankly and said, "You, why didn't you defend the city, why did you let these thieves in? You are in vain for the emperor's favor!"

She growled and beat Zhang Shouyin, Zhang Shouyin let her beat him, and finally he cried loudly and slowly knelt on the ground.

In the end, the two hugged each other and wept bitterly, the cry was shrill, and the sound was like weeping blood.

……

Old Hu watched from a distance, his heart twitched, and he suddenly made up his mind not to let this happen again in Xuanfu Town.

After entering Beijing, Lao Hu’s mind didn’t change. He thought about Chuang Wang, no, it was King Shun who won the world so quickly.

It's just that what happened next caught him by surprise. When he was chasing stolen goods for payment at the beginning, Lao Hu was still a little gleeful.He didn't have a good impression of those honorable officials, wealthy households and gentry, but when things got out of control and finally affected these ordinary people, a voice in his heart faintly said: "It shouldn't be like this."

He had a fear in his heart, if these locust-like thieves entered Xuanfu Town, would everything before him be repeated to his wife and daughter?Repeatedly on the elders of Xiangzi in Xuanfu Town?And they are so kind, they are so sincere to themselves, how can I let them be destroyed as they see before their eyes?

He has been in the thief camp for a long time, and he also knows that it will be a matter of time before they get out of control, but he didn't expect it to come so fast, like this...

This is not the atmosphere of the new dynasty at all.

But now the capital is full of scenes like this, he can't control it at all, sometimes to stop the chaos, they will even draw their swords at each other.Even his battalion was in chaos, except for some developed intelligence personnel, the rest of the battalion was just as crazy.

He was silent for a long time, looked at Kong San, who was also silent beside him, and said, "Master Kong."

Kong San knew what he was going to say, he said: "Quickly."

He looked at the couple not far away, they were still hugging and weeping bitterly, not only the two of them, but the whole neighborhood and village were crying together.

Their cries were filled with the deepest despair.

(End of this chapter)