PDLP Chapter 887 Mingzhou Changes Hands
Chapter 887 Mingzhou Changes Hands
Most of them were once tenant farmers or serfs of the Lu family. They had no freedom, and the majority of the grain they painstakingly grew belonged to the Lu family.
Nowadays, the majority of the grain grown in the fields belongs to them, even though the land ownership belongs to the government.
But didn't King Yang say that as long as they don't break the law or abandon the land, they can continue to cultivate the land indefinitely?
This alone was enough to unleash tremendous initiative among the people of Youzhou. They worked enthusiastically in the fields, and although they were still thin and pale, their faces no longer held the numbness of the past, but were filled with hope and anticipation for the day when the crops would yield a bountiful harvest.
Meanwhile, good news also came from the northernmost part of the Great Wall.
Previously, when Tian Yu was helping Yang Zheng attack the Lu family manor, the barbarians who were in league with the Lu family approached the Great Wall and quickly launched an attack on the Great Wall, attempting to force Tian Yu to return to the Great Wall to provide reinforcements.
Fortunately, the Great Wall Army, which had been fighting against the barbarians for many years, did not panic at all. Under Chang Yong's command, they relied on the natural barrier of the Great Wall and firmly kept the barbarians outside the Great Wall.
With the fall of the Lu family manor and Tian Yu's return to the Great Wall, the barbarian forces immediately realized that the situation was hopeless and thus sounded the retreat, ending the war.
With this, peace was restored to the entire territory of Youzhou. After the war ended and the people were given their own land, they were filled with great enthusiasm. The whole of Youzhou seemed to be revitalized, giving people a feeling of vitality.
And so time passed by, and before we knew it, it was early April!
As the officials dispatched from Liangzhou took their places one after another, Yang Zheng was finally able to extricate himself from his busy political affairs, assemble a large army, and personally lead 20 troops to attack Mingzhou, igniting the flames of war within Mingzhou's borders!
The development of the war was almost exactly as Yang Zheng had predicted. After a long period of fighting, the rebel forces in Mingzhou were already extremely weak. Most of their soldiers were forcibly conscripted from the civilian population. Before being conscripted, these soldiers were either starving farmers, hungry beggars, or emaciated refugees.
After being conscripted into the army, they received almost no training. They were simply given a weapon and forced to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy...
Such a ragtag army was naturally no match for the fierce and powerful Yang family army. On the first day of entering Mingzhou, the Yang family army captured several cities in succession. Then, they continued to march eastward with unstoppable momentum. In less than ten days, they completely defeated the rebel army whose territory was adjacent to Youzhou.
After that, the Yang family army continued to attack cities and seize strongholds, and in just half a month, they conquered a county.
However, Yang Zheng was not satisfied with this and continued to expand his gains.
In late April, Yang Zheng defeated the second rebel army in Mingzhou, and in early May, the third rebel army was also defeated.
Thus, the three major rebel forces in Mingzhou were all defeated by the Yang family army, and Mingzhou completely changed hands!
The news caused an uproar throughout the land!
"First take Youzhou, then Mingzhou. Yang Zheng now controls the surrounding lands. Is the world really going to fall into the hands of that cowherd Yang Zheng?"
"The imperial court is in grave danger! This traitor Yang Zheng has gained enough power to threaten the throne; the world may soon change hands!"
"It's truly unbelievable that General Tian would collude with a traitor like Yang Zheng!"
"Without Tian Yu's help, how could Yang Zheng have conquered Youzhou so quickly?"
"Yang Zheng and Tian Yu are truly a disgrace to all scholars in the world!"
"..."
Just as everyone in Kyushu was shocked by Yang Zheng's conquest of Mingzhou, another big piece of news came from Qiongzhou.
"What? The White Lotus Sect has gained the support of the powerful families of Qiongzhou and has now reconciled with the Qiongzhou warlords?"
"Not only was there a reconciliation, but the local warlords of Qiongzhou were also incorporated into the White Lotus Sect, with the White Lotus Sect taking the lead."
"Doesn't that mean the White Lotus Sect now controls both Yuezhou and Qiongzhou?"
"exactly!"
"The world is in chaos, and the imperial court is doomed!"
"..."
It turned out that after news of Yang Zheng's capture of Mingzhou spread, the White Lotus Sect and the Qiongzhou aristocratic families, who were negotiating the distribution of benefits, had to speed up their negotiations.
Ultimately, after the White Lotus Sect promised more benefits, the two sides immediately reached an agreement: the White Lotus Sect and the Qiongzhou aristocratic families would turn hostility into friendship, and the Qiongzhou aristocratic families and the Qiongzhou warlords they secretly controlled would fully support the White Lotus Sect in its struggle for power. After the White Lotus Sect won the power, they would give back to the Qiongzhou aristocratic families, allowing them to obtain even greater benefits!
Thus, the White Lotus Sect and the Yuezhou aristocratic families behind it merged with the Qiongzhou aristocratic families, and the White Lotus Sect naturally took over the Qiongzhou region.
As a result, the people of Qiongzhou suffered.
Because of their cooperative relationship with the powerful families of Qiongzhou, the White Lotus Sect did not harm the powerful families of Qiongzhou after entering Qiongzhou territory. However, the White Lotus Sect was not so lenient with ordinary people!
The White Lotus Sect, which relied on plunder to grow stronger, obviously could not give up the opportunity to plunder, and launched a plundering campaign against the people of Qiongzhou.
Countless families were torn apart and people died; countless women were brutally abused; and countless children were displaced...
Human tragedy was unfolding throughout Qiongzhou, with the cries of the people echoing everywhere.
"God! Can't you give us a way to survive?!"
"When will this end?!"
"With landlords exploiting us from the front and war ravaging us from behind, can't God give us a way to survive?"
"Those damned White Lotus Sect soldiers, they defiled my daughter!"
"Hahaha! It's better to be dead than alive!"
"Damn this imperial court! They collect so much grain tax from us, yet they can't even wipe out a traitor like the White Lotus Sect!"
"..."
Public discontent is boiling over in Qiongzhou, with people expressing their grievances.
However, the White Lotus Sect did not care about the voices of these lowly people. While plundering the people to strengthen itself, it also began to prepare for war against Haizhou!
Now, of the nine provinces, Qingzhou, Liangzhou, Youzhou, and Mingzhou belong to Yang Zheng, Jingzhou is the place where the imperial court is barely clinging to life, and Yuezhou and Qiongzhou belong to the White Lotus Sect!
Only Haizhou and Yuzhou remain unclaimed lands!
Of course, this "no man's land" does not mean that the two states are without owners, but rather that the two states are currently in a state of fragmentation, and no powerful leader has emerged to unify the entire state.
Therefore, these two states became the most suitable places for the White Lotus Sect to expand.
Because Yuzhou and the White Lotus Sect's territory do not border each other, the only remaining direction for the White Lotus Sect to expand is Haizhou.
"Get the new recruits trained as soon as possible and make them combat-ready, then send troops to Haizhou!"
As he settled in Qiongzhou Prefecture, the young Ming King gazed eastward, his heart burning with fervor. He could already see a bright future where he would successively occupy Haizhou and Yuzhou, possessing four prefectures, and standing shoulder to shoulder with Yang Zheng.