In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 751 Recognition

Although officials like Zhu Changhe and Wang Li, who knew they were doomed, resisted, their resistance did not cause much of a stir. The Yang family army still managed to take control of the city and make it their own.

"How are the people in the city?"

Yang Zheng asked again.

Zhou Yingjie paused for a moment before replying, "It's very bad."

"Tell me more specifically."

"Because of the food shortage, coupled with the government's previous complete indifference to the lives of the people, many violent incidents of murder and robbery occurred in the city, which was extremely short of food. Families with many men robbed those without men, and the strong robbed the weak. Beggars and thieves were as numerous as hairs on a cow..."

In short, before our army entered the city, there was no order whatsoever. Large numbers of people either starved to death or were killed, and even their bodies were not allowed to rest in peace, as they were devoured by the starving people..."

Listening to Zhou Yingjie's description, the high-ranking members of the Yang family army present couldn't help but feel a chill down their spines. They had all followed Yang Zheng out of the chaos of Liangzhou and knew that people would do anything when they were starving, including murder, robbery, and cannibalism. These were things that people who were starving were perfectly capable of doing.

It was precisely because of these experiences that everyone knew how cruel Zhou Yingjie's description was. The people in the city had no food and could only hurt each other, robbing each other's meager rations, and even eating the flesh and blood of others. Just thinking about those cruel scenes was enough to send chills down one's spine.

Yang Zheng closed his eyes and remained silent for a moment.

He besieged the city with the intention of capturing it with minimal losses, and had no intention of harming the people inside. However…

His siege ultimately harmed the people inside the city.

Yang Zheng felt guilty about this, but he did not regret his choice. If he had to choose again, he would still choose the besieged city.

Under the circumstances at the time, besieging the city was the only option for the Yang family army. Without adopting the strategy of besieging the city, the Yang family army had almost no chance of capturing this large city.

Therefore, Yang Zheng did not regret choosing to besiege the city. However, as a person with a conscience, he still felt guilty when he learned that a large number of people had died because of him.

"Make every effort to restore order in the city, and punish all criminals with conclusive evidence severely without leniency!"

While giving instructions to Zhou Yingjie, Yang Zheng turned to the quartermaster and asked, "How much food do we have left?"

"It can last for about two more months."

The quartermaster replied.

"Distribute half of the military rations to people in the city who are running out of food."

"This……"

The quartermaster hesitated and said, "General Yang, I know you cherish the people, but our army doesn't have much food. If we give away half, we'll only have enough for a month. Besides... there are 500,000 people in the city. Even if we give away half, it's just a drop in the ocean!"

"No need to say more!"

Yang Zheng waved his hand and said, "Do as I say. Save as many people as you can. As for the problem of insufficient food supplies..."

Yang Zheng looked around, his killing intent palpable, and said, "The local landlords and powerful families in the city should also be slaughtered!"

Yang Zheng has always liked to fight against the local tyrants and distribute land. When he was in Liangzhou, he physically eliminated almost 90% of the landlords and powerful families. Now that he has arrived in Qingzhou, he will naturally not forget his traditional craft.

Soon, at Yang Zheng's command, blood began to flow within the city.

One by one, the gates of landlords and powerful families were broken open by Yang's army. Without saying a word, Yang's army began to ransack the houses. Large amounts of gold, silver and jewelry, antiques and paintings, as well as a small amount of grain were looted from the mansions.

During this period, many landlords and powerful families tried to resist and even tried to reason with Yang's army. However, Yang's army's sword did not listen to reason.

The Yang family army, from soldiers to generals, were all from peasant backgrounds. As peasants, they inherently despised landlords and powerful families. In addition, the landlords and powerful families in the prefecture city were all bad people who had done countless things to oppress the people and seize farmland.

Yang's army would naturally show no mercy to these local tyrants and bullies.

Any landlord who dared to resist would immediately become a victim of the Yang family army's slaughter.

Those who did not resist were imprisoned by Yang's army and awaited Yang Zheng's judgment.

On this day, the wails of the landlords and powerful families echoed throughout the city. However, their wails did not elicit any sympathy; instead, they made many of the city's residents clap their hands in delight.

"Isn't that Master Lu? He's been arrested too?"

"Good riddance! This Master Lu has done so many bad things, he should have been arrested long ago!"

"And Master Wang, his sons have raped countless young women in the city. Master Wang and his sons should all be beheaded."

"That Master Lu would rather throw the leftover meat to the dogs than give it to us. Good job catching him!"

"Heavens above! These wicked lords are finally going to be punished!"

"..."

The actions of Yang Family Army in confiscating the property of landlords did not arouse resentment among the people in the city; on the contrary, it made them feel more in agreement with Yang Family Army.

If we were to name the person the people of the prefectural city hated the most, it would undoubtedly be the former Prince Qing.

But the fact that the people hated the Green King the most did not mean that they did not hate the landlords in the city. These landlords in the city were no better than the Green King. They had done countless things to oppress the people, rape innocent women, and seize the people's farmland.

Even their servants often committed evil deeds in the city, relying on the support of their masters.

So when they saw them being killed or captured, the people clapped and cheered, feeling extremely refreshed.

"Hmph! That landlord Zhang has finally been caught! My daughter was killed by his youngest son. Heaven has eyes, and someone has finally punished him."

"That landlord Zhang's youngest son is a beast. He has harmed countless innocent women in the city. It's good that the Yang family army caught him! It would be best to behead the entire Zhang family."

"The general of the Yang family army said that after the Yang family army investigates their crimes, those with serious crimes will be taken to Caishikou and beheaded. We can all go and see it for ourselves!"

"Great! I must see Zhang the landlord's head roll with my own eyes!"

"Me too!"

"I wonder if Zhu Changhe will be beheaded?"

"Definitely! I heard that Zhu Changhe and Wang Li have already been sentenced and will be beheaded tomorrow."

"Excellent! The Yang Family Army is mighty!"

"..."

In just one day, the Yang family army had captured most of the local landlords and powerful families in the city, and their wealth, accumulated over generations, naturally fell into Yang Zheng's hands.

It must be said that the wealth accumulated by these powerful landowners over generations was astonishing. When Yang Zheng entered the warehouse, the mountains of gold and silver jewelry almost dazzled his eyes.