The huge gap in combat effectiveness made the battle process simply tedious. In contrast to the well-equipped Janissaries, who had been trained for more than half a year, the rebellious peasants said that the rabble had already lifted them up.

A round of artillery went down, only a few dozen casualties, more than 10,000 people collapsed, and the side was outflanked by the cavalry, and countless people knelt down and surrendered.

Zhao Sheng, who lit the lamp, wanted to take advantage of the chaos to escape, but was captured by Huang Degong Pegasus.

A counterinsurgency war ended so easily, killing more than 100 people on the spot, capturing nearly 10,000 prisoners, and leaving the rebels to flee to Siye. Only four or five people in the Praetorian Guard were wounded, all of them were cavalry under Huang Degong, and Gai came from his horse by accident.

In addition to the captives, more than 30,000 taels of silver, more than 500 taels of gold, and copper coins that had not had time to be counted were also seized, all of which were plundered by these rebels.

"You are the head of the thief, you look like a scholar, why do you rebel?" Looking at Zhao Sheng, who was brought to the front of him, Zhu Youzhen said unexpectedly.

Zhao Sheng knelt on the ground and trembled like chaff, he already knew the identity of Zhu Youzhen in front of him.

"Go back, go back to Your Majesty, Xiaomin didn't want to rebel." Zhao Sheng trembled and explained the reason for his rebellion.

A little boy, who doesn't even have a fame, can easily say that he has moved so many people and made such a big noise, Zhu Youzhen knows that the person in front of him is not simple.

"There is such a big mess, have you thought about the consequences?" Zhu Youzhen said lightly.

Zhao Sheng raised his pale face, and his lips trembled: "The sinners know that they have committed an unforgivable sin and are willing to die, but the people who follow the sinners are innocent, and they really can't live, so they follow the sinners and take risks, and the sinners ask Your Majesty to forgive their sins." ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head: "What is the crime of resisting when you are about to starve to death, why should I punish them?" Only those who instigate for their own selfish sake are guilty, and only those who take the opportunity to kill others are guilty! ”

With a wave of his hand, he let Zhao Sheng go down.

The gate of Qingjian County opened, and Peng Youmin, the county magistrate of Qingjian, greeted him with a gentry full of fear, and asked Zhu Youzhen to enter the city after knocking.

"It's a hot day or it's cool outside the city, so I won't enter the city, you can let people send supplies to the army." Zhu Youzhen said.

"The lower officials must do it well." Peng Youmin knelt down and retreated, but he was quite disappointed in his heart, he defended the city under the attack of more than 10,000 chaotic people, but he was not rewarded by the emperor.

Zhu Youzhen had no idea about Peng Youmin and those gentry, called Zhou Yujilai and ordered him to give a part of the grain to those prisoners and let them cook by themselves.

Smoke rose from the camp and the captives were relieved to see that there was food to eat.

Under the escort of Zhang Shize and others, Zhu Youzhen walked in the prisoner camp, looking at them with a pair of blank and numb eyes.

Zhu Youzhen stopped from time to time and asked the captives in front of him, and the captives all replied tremblingly, for fear that one of them would not be beheaded.

Dark skin, uncovered clothes, thin body with rows of ribs, slightly hunched waist, dull and helpless eyes, this is the image of most of the captives, they are some ordinary farmers in northern Shaanxi, but Zhu Youzhen knows that it is these farmers, more than ten years after the last life, overthrew their own Daming country, forced themselves to kill their wives and daughters and hang themselves!

Hate them? Maybe they should be hated, but Zhu Youzhen can't hate it, because they are also innocent. They worked hard to farm, but most of the harvest was robbed, they worked all year round without food and clothing, they fed the court, fed the gentry, and fed the vassal royal family, but no one thanked them, and everyone treated them as cattle and horses as objects that could be humiliated wantonly.

They couldn't bear it anymore, took risks, messed up the whole world, and collapsed the Ming Dynasty, and they themselves were martyred together, and the last laugh was in addition to the Tartars who took the opportunity to enter the Central Plains, as well as the gentry who took refuge in the new master.

After seeing the prisoners, Zhu Youzhen returned to the camp and issued a decree to convene a meeting of the officers and soldiers above the general level.

Soon, dozens of officers and more than a hundred representatives of soldiers came one after another, lined up to sit on the yellow earth.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think of these captives outside?" Zhu Youzhen asked lightly.

"Your Majesty, many of them are ordinary people, but they are being bewitched by others, and the last general recommends that only the first evil be killed, and the others will be released back to their hometowns." Looking at the others, Zhou Yuji was the first to speak.

Zhu Youzhen said: "I didn't ask how to deal with them, but why did they rebel? ”

Why? It's not that I can't live. The officers and soldiers present thought to themselves, but no one dared to say it.

Zhu Youzhen sneered: "If you don't say it, then I will tell me the reason." ”

"Most of them rebelled because they were dying of starvation. This part of northern Shaanxi has been dry for four consecutive years, and this year it is even worse, everyone has seen that the ground has been cracked in the sun, and the crops in the fields have dried up. But the rent and taxes they had to pay were not much at all! The government officials rushed into their homes like wolves and robbed them of their food, and they couldn't survive anymore and had to take risks.

What makes their lives so hard? Is it me? No! Just a few months ago, I decreed that Shaanxi's taxes would be reduced or exempted this year, and at the beginning of this year, I ordered the allocation of 500,000 stone of grain to help the victims of the disaster in Shaanxi!

However, I asked, and they didn't even know about the tax reduction, and some of them knew that the government officials said that the next year's taxes would be levied in advance. And the food for disaster relief has not reached northern Shaanxi at all! ”

The officers and soldiers were shocked when they heard this, and Zhang Shize couldn't help but ask: "Who is so bold that even His Majesty's holy decree dares to disobey?" ”

"Good question!" Zhu Youzhen said loudly, "I also want to know, that's why I came here in person!" ”

"Along the way, from Hebei to Shanxi, all the way to northern Shaanxi, I have asked many people, and I have the answer in my heart."

"The reason why these people outside are so miserable is because they have three mountains on their heads, one is the vassal king's clan, the other is the inferior gentry in the countryside, and the other is the evil officials of the government."

"Shaanxi has two kings of Qin Rui, the king of Qin is in Guanzhong, and the king of Rui is in Hanzhong, in addition to more than ten vassal kings, hundreds of generals, and thousands of lieutenants. They occupy half of the land in Guanzhong and Hanzhong, and they still need tens of millions of stone of rice every year, and these are pressed on the heads of all the people of Shaanxi, on the heads of those who rebel outside, and every year part of their harvest is used to support the feudal royal families in Xi'an.

These vassal clans are all my blood relatives, but I have spent too much people's fat and ointment to support them, and I do not protect them. Therefore, I decreed that the system of the clan should be reformed, and the private land of the clan should be cleared, so that the clan could support itself as much as possible. Just to reduce the burden of Li Shu. ”