Yan Ronghuo's father and son turned pale and were dragged out of the cell like two dead dogs. Immediately afterwards, the prison doors were smashed open one by one, and all the prisoners were released, and then the prison was burned to the ground.

After a night of fighting, except for Yang Ze, the eunuch guarding the tomb, who committed suicide in fear of crime, and Yang Yipeng, the governor of Fengyang, who was missing, the rest of the officials of all sizes were killed and wounded, and all of them became turtles in the urn.

By the time the sky was slightly bright, the square in front of Guozi School was already densely packed with forty-one officials of all sizes, including commander Cheng Yongning, Qianhu Chen Yongling, and Baihu Sheng Kexue, as well as more than 100 Zhusheng and eunuchs who were captured by the Xiying Righteous Army.

Countless refugees and people in the city also gathered in the open space around the square.

Under the gaze of everyone, the originally invincible Yan Rongxuan father and son were wearing a dirty prison uniform, pushed all the way, and staggered to the center of the square, where four big men with wooden sticks stood on both sides behind them.

"Get on your knees!" I don't know who suddenly roared, and the four big men immediately stepped forward and pressed the father and son to their knees.

Yan Rongxuan struggled to raise his head, looked forward, and saw that directly in front of him was a temporary high platform, with a large Nanmu case and a wide Taishi chair moved from Guozixue.

Zhang Xianzhong, a thief who had only heard of his name and had not seen him before, stepped on the Taishi chair with his right boot, crossed his arm sideways, and stared at him coldly. The four eyes met, Yan Rong was cold and shivered, and hurriedly buried his head again.

Zhang Xianzhong slapped the shocked wood violently, and asked expressionlessly: "Old thief Yan, you are corrupt and pervert the law, fish and meat people, today the sky has eyes, and it falls into the hands of my old Zhang, but there is anything to say?" ”

Before Yan Rongxuan could speak, Dingguo had already stepped forward first. I saw him facing Zhang Xianzhong, stretched out his hand to point at Yan Rongxuan, and said loudly: "Father, this dog official has done all the bad things, and not killing it is not enough to make the people angry, the child thinks that the retrial is also a superfluous move, and he will be beheaded directly to show the public!" ”

"What the second child said is very true, but the child thinks that cutting off his head is not enough! In order to have a deterrent effect, this dog official Ling Chi must be put to death! Only when everyone drinks their blood and eats their flesh can they solve the people's deep hatred! Zhang Kewang also echoed.

As soon as he heard that he was going to kill himself, Yan Rongxuan was suddenly frightened, kowtowed like pounding garlic, cried bitterly, and begged for mercy incessantly.

But Yan Gongzi died to the end, but he was much tougher, holding his neck, with a righteous and awe-inspiring appearance: "Dad, the matter has come to this, we are all a dead word, so why bother asking him?" When the time comes, it will only add to the laughing stock! ”

"Huh?" After hearing this, Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but look Yan Gongzi up and down again, and laughed instead of being angry, "Good boy, Lao Tzu underestimated you before!" Anyway, today I Lao Zhang will make an exception and spare you from death! ”

"Someone, pull him aside!" Zhang Xianzhong glanced at the two big men behind Yan Gongzi.

The two big men immediately grabbed one of his arms and dragged Yan Gongzi aside.

Who knew that Yan Gongzi didn't accept Zhang Xianzhong's love at all, and kept shouting all the way: "Dog thief! I have been reading poetry and books since I was a child, and today I am in your hands, and I should take righteousness and become benevolent! Kill me! ”

Zhang Xianzhong ignored Yan Gongzi's insult at all, turned his head to look at Yan Rongxuan, who was kneeling on the ground trembling, raised his hand, touched his nose, and snorted coldly, "Where is the knife and axe hand?" And push out the dog official Yan Rongxuan, first beat the cane for twenty, and then show the public! ”

In the cheers of the onlookers, the two big men immediately pressed down the prefect of Yan on the spot, pulled their pants back, and crackled like a beating.

Pity this Yan prefect who has been pampered for most of his life, how can he have suffered this crime, and when the twenty sticks are finished, he will already have his skin and flesh open, and he will not breathe, and he will not be able to breathe.

said that it was too late, and before Yan Rong could breathe, one of the big men quickly took the ghost head knife from the hands of others, and the other big man grabbed Yan Rongxuan's gray hair, and pulled his head back, and the big man with the knife immediately swung the knife and slashed downward, but when he saw the blood flashing, the dignified prefect was actually in a different place.

"Daddy!" Seeing his father's tragic death, Yan Gongzi, who was pulled aside, staggered to his feet, cried and rushed back to Yan Rongxuan's corpse, shaking the headless corpse that was still foaming blood, and angrily stretched out his hand to Zhang Xianzhong on the high platform, and scolded, "Dog thief!" If you don't kill me today, I will take the dog's head tomorrow! ”

"Look for death!" Although Zhang Xianzhong didn't care, Zhang Kewang had a hot temper, where could he endure this, he immediately shouted, pulled out his sword, rushed down the high platform quickly, and went straight to Yan Gongzi's heart is sword, and blood splashed Zhang Kewang's face.

"Stop!" Zhang Xianzhong raised his hand and just wanted to stop it, but Zhang Kewang shot too fast, and Yan Gongzi had already fallen in a pool of blood and died of anger.

"Why did you kill him when you promised to spare him his life?" Zhang Xianzhong angrily blamed Zhang Kewangdao.

Zhang Kewang didn't say a word, wiped the blood on his face, threw the sword to the ground, knelt under the high platform, and said loudly: "This person insults his father, the crime is unforgivable!" The child was angry, killed this guy, and asked his father to punish him. ”

Zhang Xianzhong looked at Zhang Kewang's righteous words, waved his hand helplessly, motioned for him to get up and said: "Kill all of them, and cure a fart crime!" Hurry up. ”

"Thank you, Father!" Zhang Kewang then stood up again and continued, "The child thinks that all the officials and eunuchs present here are all abusive people, and not killing them is not enough to make the people angry!" It must be slaughtered immediately! ”

"Big brother's words are wrong! Now that the first evil has been eliminated, the rest of these people are not the most heinous people in the first place, so it is better to forgive them to show the mercy of the father! Dingguo looked at the beings and eunuchs who were kneeling under the stage, trembling, and couldn't help but feel compassion in his heart.

"Birds! Merciful fart! Lao Tzu kills people like hemp, when did he ever have compassion? Zhang Xianzhong said disappreciatively.

"But Father!" Dingguo still wanted to give a few more words of advice, but before he knew the words, he looked up and saw Zhang Xianzhong's face, and swallowed back the words behind.

"Dingguo, Dingguo, for the generals, don't be soft-hearted, I've taught you all these years? You see this class of damn nerds, one can't farm, the other can't hold knives and guns, and they only know that they can hold a broken book and read Laoshzi all day long, so what's the use of keeping it except for wasting food? Zhang Xianzhong counted the road angrily.

Seeing a killing intent in Zhang Xianzhong's eyes, Zhang Kewang understood and immediately waved his hand to signal the knife and axe hand to be executed.

All the swords and axes stepped forward together, raised their knives and fell, and killed the hundreds of officials kneeling in the square, as well as all the beings and eunuchs, and for a time the corpses were all over the field, the blood flowed like a river, and there was a pungent smell of blood in the air, which made people sick.

Zhang Xianzhong raised his eyes and glanced around at the terrified onlookers, clasped his fists and said loudly: "My old Zhang Pingsheng only kills corrupt officials and corrupt officials!" There is no offense against the people! Don't be afraid, folks! ”

After that, Zhang Xianzhong turned his head to look at Dingguo and ordered: "Dingguo, the matter of opening the warehouse and releasing grain will be handed over to you, don't mess it up with Lao Tzu, do you hear?" ”

"Father, rest assured, everything is wrapped up in the child!" Dingguo hurriedly agreed.

Hearing that the rebels were going to release grain, a thunderous cheer broke out among the people.

In the excitement of the people, Zhang Kewang stepped forward and reminded Zhang Xianzhong: "How to deal with the ancestral tomb of the emperor's old son, please ask my father to show me!" ”

At this time, in the bloody air, the fanaticism of the people around the square was all aroused, and before Zhang Xianzhong could speak, everyone had already shouted in unison: "Burn it!" Burned it! ”

Accompanied by the shouts of the people shouting and tsunami, Zhang Xianzhong slowly stood up from the Taishi chair, raised his clenched right fist high above his head, and roared: "Okay! Then burn it! ”

With resentment against the corrupt court, the righteous army not only dug up Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestral tomb, but also cut down hundreds of thousands of pines and cypresses in the imperial tomb, and then burned the old Zhu family's ancestral tomb and the Longxing Temple where Zhu Yuanzhang became a monk.

Under Zhang Kewang's instructions, there were also people who erected a big flag on the ruins of the imperial tomb with a pile of rubble, and it read: "Emperor Guyuan Zhenlong".

After burning the Ming Ancestral Mausoleum, Zhang Xianzhong still felt unfinished, and asked Zhang Kewang to lead the troops, slaughter the rich gentry in the city, fill the army with all the family property, and set fire to the governor, the yamen of the government office, and the drum tower.

Unexpectedly, a strong wind suddenly rose at night, and the fire instantly got out of control, causing damage to people's houses, killing and injuring countless people, and destroying more than 20,000 houses. By the time the fire was extinguished the next morning, Fengyang, the once prosperous central capital, had already been reduced to a scorched earth.

Stepping on the dawn of dawn, King Gao Yingxiang led his troops to Fengyang to join Zhang Xianzhong.

The urgent Tang newspaper of the fall of Fengyang was sent to Beijing three days later, and both the government and the opposition were shocked and uneasy. Emperor Chongzhen was so angry that he couldn't stop crying, and immediately decided to stop one day, dressed in plain cloth robes, and personally ran to the Taimiao, knelt in front of the ancestral tablet, and asked the ancestors for their guilt. and issued an edict to sin himself: "The atmosphere shocked the imperial tomb, the ancestors threatened the people's hatred, and the crime was really me." Fengyang was conquered and the imperial tomb was burned, which was an unprecedented change in ancient and modern times, and the country was in the autumn of the death of the monarch and the minister. ”

In order to set an example, Emperor Chongzhen sent Tiqi to arrest Yang Yipeng, the governor of Fengyang who had escaped from the battle, to Beijing, and abandoned the city with death; Although Yang Ze, the eunuch guarding the tomb, committed suicide in fear of crime, he could not escape the blame and discussed the crime according to the rules; Wu Zhenying, the inspector of the imperial history, was cut to the people because he did not hear it in time, and he was never used; Zhang Fengyi, the secretary of the Ministry of War, was also punished by Dai for his crimes.

However, Emperor Chongzhen's vigorous and resolute operation did not play the slightest role, since the Battle of Fengyang, the officers and soldiers of all walks of life were afraid of the righteous army, for fear of being annihilated by it, and they did not dare to confront the righteous army head-on, and the officials of various states and counties did not have a strategy to defend the army. Everywhere the rebels went, the servants were like cities, and the situation was eroded for a while, and it reached the point of being out of control.

Since Fengyang was not only the central capital of the Ming Dynasty, but also an important town for the transportation of the Grand Canal, after punishing a large number of officials, Emperor Chongzhen had to reconsider the strategy and deployment of dealing with the rebel army. He hurriedly transferred 3,000 iron horsemen out of Guanliaodong, and led by Zu Kuan to suppress the thieves; At the same time, Zhu Dadian, the governor of Shandong, was ordered to replace the governor of Fengyang and move to Fengyang; The general soldier Zuo Guang first controlled Lintao, Gongchang, Xi'an, and Hanzhong, and Cao Wenzhao held Nanyang; He also ordered Hong Chengchou to lead the Qin soldiers out of the customs, control the Zhulu and pacify them, and be sure to sweep and clear them within six months, and immediately award a reward.

After receiving the edict of Emperor Chongzhen, Hong Chengchou deeply felt the emperor's grace and felt that the heavy responsibility was on his shoulders. In his opinion, although it is not difficult to repel all kinds of rogues, it is even more difficult to annihilate them in one fell swoop. Hungry people are everywhere, if there are fish that escape, I don't know when they will come back, once it is a spark of fire, it will fall into a dead cycle of more and more rogues.

Just when Hong Chengchou was frowning, Emperor Chongzhen's second edict arrived again.

Originally, Emperor Chongzhen was worried that Hong Chengchou would not be able to control the arrogant generals from all walks of life, and gave him the right to act cheaply. supervise the ministers, set up a heavy ceremony, and you can cut it first and then play; Those who fail to report in time according to the imperial history will be punished together.

Two holy decrees in a row, Emperor Chongzhen's urgent thoughts Hong Chengchou did not know, he immediately convened the generals in the army to discuss the matter, prepare ordnance, grain and grass, and three days later in Xi'an swore to go to the army, led the army out of the customs and rushed to Henan.

Zuo Liangyu, Cao Wenzhao, Zhang Yingchang, Qin Yiming, Deng Zuyu and other officers and soldiers, as well as the newly transferred generals Zu Kuan, Zuo Guangxian, and You Shiwei from the Liaodong border and other places, also gathered one after another, with a combined army of more than 70,000, known as the army of 200,000 to the outside world.