In the past, this would have been a death sentence. Not to mention all kinds of forced conscription, there were even people who profited from it and treated human lives like grass.
However, at the moment, there were no squires causing trouble everywhere. The decree was sent directly from the court to Nanjing via the Grand Canal, from Nanjing to the prefectures, from the prefectures to the counties, from the counties to the villages, and finally to the farmers' association.
The farmers' association immediately announced the news and held a farmers' meeting in Xun Village. They announced the grain transportation route and preferential policies. Families with free labor immediately signed up. Most of the farmers wanted to be exempted from paying agricultural taxes next year, so they fought to sign up.
Basically, there were more than 30 people. The farmers' association chose 30 people based on the principle of having more children in the family. They were given name tags to hang on their bodies and sent to designated locations to participate in the transportation. They told the able-bodied men that their treatment depended on the name tags and that they would need to rely on the name tags when they returned. Therefore, the name tags could not be lost.
In just a month, tens of thousands of able-bodied men gathered from all over the country to participate in the transportation. In addition to the army's own auxiliary soldiers, the army's needs were met.
With the logistics completed, there were no problems with the soldiers at the frontline. In the middle of December, other than Qi Dayong's army that had just arrived at the prefectures of Guizhou and was preparing to advance to Wujiang Pass, the other four armies were already in place, waiting for the order to move out.
The entire Guizhou was in a state of panic. The chieftains were all silent.
The fighting ability and equipment of the Qin Army, as well as the overall situation, shocked them. Apart from the shock, they were also afraid that they would not be able to withstand Yang Yinglong's coaxing and join the army.
The difference between the Qin Army and the Ming Army was too great. They could not be mentioned in the same breath. They were surrounded by an aura that could only be emitted by experienced elites. It was very frightening.
Not only that, these troops had strict military discipline. They did not enter the city, did not demolish houses, did not disturb the people, and did not offend the people.
Every time they arrived at a place, they did not enter the city, but only set up camp. After building the camp, they also guarded the camp tightly. Sentries, scouts, cavalry, and patrols were indispensable. They were not allowed to enter or leave at will, as if they were guarding against tigers. It was as if they did not know that in the eyes of the people here, they were the real tigers.
An army with real combat power was not an army of beasts that killed people like flies, ate human flesh, and drank human blood. Instead, it was an army with strict military discipline.
This kind of army would usually be able to last longer in high-intensity battles. Compared to the normal beast armies, they were much better at fighting in a three-pronged battle style.
The chieftains were not illiterate, nor were they fools. They had read as many books as the men and knew a lot. For example, when they saw the Qin Army like this, they could already predict the final outcome of this battle.
Yang Yinglong would probably die a horrible death.
Moreover, the imperial court had made up its mind to completely resolve Yang Yinglong's worries and completely reform the country. Otherwise, the imperial court would not have mobilized so many people and resources to support this war.
Moreover, after the war, it was estimated that the wealth accumulated by the Yang Yinglong family over six hundred years would be plundered by the imperial court to make up for the losses of this war. Even the unlucky ones like them might suffer.
For this reason, they had privately prepared a lot of gold, silver, and other valuables. They planned to congratulate the army when they conquered the sea dragon hoard.
There were also many people who predicted how long the imperial court would take to pacify Yang Yinglong. Some said one year, some said eight months, some said half a year, and of course, some said three months. No one knew how long it would take to pacify Yang Yinglong, but it would definitely be pacified.
As early as the beginning of December, when the imperial court's army arrived at Sinan Prefecture and Tongren Prefecture, Yang Yinglong knew that the imperial court had decided to use troops against him. Moreover, they were ruthless and would never waver in withdrawing their troops.
As long as he was not an idiot, he would definitely know that the imperial court's army entering Guizhou to threaten the surroundings of Bozhou was definitely not to open up wastelands, nor was it for sightseeing, but to deal with him.
And very quickly, the imperial court's official declaration of war also confirmed his guess.
Yang Yinglong was arrogant, disobeyed orders, privately raised an army, privately used tools with dragon and phoenix patterns, used eunuchs to serve him without authorization, repeatedly led troops to invade Sichuan and Guizhou, and cruelly harmed the common people, and so on and so forth. Yang Yinglong was sentenced to death. Then, it officially announced that the imperial court would send four hundred thousand soldiers to attack Bozhou.
There was not even a call for surrender.
Four hundred thousand.
Yang Yinglong was frightened out of his wits.
He had read the replies from the three chieftains. The words were vague, and he could not see their intentions or intentions.
However, Yang Yinglong knew that this was just a perfunctory reply. These guys must have seen through his weakness and were unwilling to get involved in this mess, even if they could only watch helplessly as he was finished!
Yang Yinglong was flustered for an entire night. When Lady Tian heard the news, she hurriedly ran over to discuss it with him, but it only made Yang Yinglong even more flustered.
At the peak of his fluster, he called for a meeting. The people who came to attend the meeting all heard the news and all had their own plans. Those who had a way out did not seem too willing to work for Yang Yinglong. As a result, compared to the previous meeting, the number of people attending this meeting was halved.
They all knew that the imperial court was determined to deal with Yang Yinglong. Yang Yinglong, this grasshopper at the end of autumn, would not last long.
Yang Yinglong was so angry that he cursed at them.
When he was fighting for benefits, all of them followed him, but when he was in danger, all of them abandoned him!
He immediately gave the order to lead the army to suppress them, and then destroy the imperial court army.
His sons Yang Chaodong and Yang Weidong, as well as the general Yang Zhu all tried to persuade Yang Yinglong. Those chieftains were fence-sitters, following whoever was strong. As long as the imperial court army was destroyed, wouldn't they all be as obedient as grandsons?
"Easy for you to say! Four hundred thousand! That's not four thousand, not forty thousand! How can we deal with them so easily?! "
Yang Yinglong roared somewhat crazily.
Yang Chaodong immediately said, "Father! The imperial court announced four hundred thousand, but in reality, it is definitely not that many. Most of the people transporting rations will be a few hundred thousand at most. If we mobilize, we might be able to get a hundred thousand soldiers. We have natural defenses, geographical advantages, mountains of rations, and many weapons. We can hold our ground!
The imperial court army has come from afar, and the rations they consume every day are very large. They won't be able to hold out for long. As long as we hold out, we can definitely force the imperial court to make peace with us, and you can continue to be the King of Bozhou! "
Yang Chaodong's words really calmed Yang Yinglong down.
Yang Yinglong thought about it and agreed.
Although the imperial court was strong, there was no way they would be able to mobilize four hundred thousand soldiers to suppress him. That would be a fantasy.
This was just like how Cao Mengde's eight hundred and thirty thousand soldiers and Zhuge Liang's three hundred thousand soldiers pacified Nanzhong in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It was complete nonsense.
With eight hundred and thirty thousand soldiers mobilized to fight, they would be able to feed Cao Cao every day. In a few days, they would be able to eat until Cao Cao was poor. How many more heads could Cao Cao behead? Why would they still fight?
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