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Just after noon on May 20, 1854, the landlords of Lu'an rode their horses and carriages through the road where the three thousand Qing Army prisoners of war were. Only then did they realize how many people there were. On the side of the road that was more than one li long, there were square formations of Qing Army prisoners sitting cross-legged. The entire side of the road that was more than one li long was filled with square formations of Qing Army prisoners.
On one hand, the landlords were shocked, but on the other hand, they were quite unhappy. Just before they passed through, the Prince Of Qi Vézé of the Taiping Rebellion had led his men through this road. At that time, the three thousand Qing Army prisoners had knelt and kowtowed. After Vézé had passed through, the Taiping army guards ordered the Qing Army prisoners to sit cross-legged on the ground. Whether it was the Taiping army soldiers or the Qing army prisoners of war, they simply ignored the landlords and gentry.
Seeing the difference in treatment between himself and Prince Of Qi Vézé, a middle-aged man, who looked like a scholar, said in a low voice, full of jealousy, "In times of chaos, the head of an army rises in all directions. Anyone with a gun is the king of grass. Hmph! "
The man next to the middle-aged man immediately lowered his voice and advised, "Brother Hu, lower your voice. I heard that Prince Of Qi Vézé publicly said in his army that political power comes from the barrel of a gun. "
After hearing this, Brother Hu snorted again, but didn't say anything else.
The road that the Qing Army prisoners of war were on led to a relatively flat valley between two mountains. Although the landlords knew that Vézé had invited them here to demonstrate his power, after seeing the three thousand Qing Army corpses on the battlefield, they felt that there was nothing to be afraid of. But when they finally arrived at a new battlefield, they saw the four thousand Qing Army corpses piled up in the valley. Everyone's expression changed.
After all, the two battlefields that they had been to had been fought several days ago. The Taiping army had already sent people to clean up the battlefields. Therefore, the corpses of the deceased were 'washed' once, and the corpses were basically moved.
What they saw now was the "original" battlefield. The smell of blood was mixed with the pungent smoke of the battlefield that had yet to dissipate. Some withered branches were burnt black, and some branches that had been set on fire were even smoking. Lie prone, lie on your back, lie on your side. Hugging tightly with both arms, pushing forward with both arms, both arms lost one or both arms.
Nothing on the battlefield had moved. It was as if everything was still frozen at the moment of death. The aristocrats could even see that a stream on the battlefield had already turned crimson and emitted a strong smell of blood.
Most of the landlords and gentry kept quiet out of fear, and their faces were ashen. There were also a few landlords and gentry who had excitement in their eyes. However, no matter which one it was, it was like a dog that had been beaten up, obediently tucking its tail between its legs in front of the Taiping army.
After visiting the battlefield, Vézé didn't order these landlords to "clean up" the battlefield again. Instead, he took them back to Liu'an City.
By the time they arrived in the city, it was already night time. Vézé immediately brought the landlords and gentry to the military training ground and held a meeting. Vézé had just discussed with these gentry about the issue of paying taxes for this year's harvest. None of the landlords and gentry dared to refuse, and all of them "willingly" expressed that they were willing to "pay taxes for the harvest" according to the system set by Vézé.
After listening to the landlords and gentry, Vézé smiled and said, "I've heard of a saying, 'If three people are of one mind, their sharpness can cut through gold.' We don't only have three people in Liu'an City, we have more than thirty thousand people. If there are so many people who think in the same direction and work hard in the same direction, what do we have to be afraid of? "
There were many landlords and gentry who were hostile to Vézé, but not many of them were fools. After listening to Vézé's words, they immediately echoed,
"Prince Wei is right!"
"We will follow Prince Wei closely!"
"Whatever Prince Wei says, we will listen!"
Of course, Vézé wouldn't believe this group of people. Not to mention Vézé's attitude toward the landlords and gentry, even from a practical point of view, since Vézé wasn't able to steadily collect taxes for three years in Central Anhui, nor was he able to keep the Qing Army out of Central Anhui for three years in a row, then the landlords and gentry in Central Anhui could basically be considered unreliable people. Thus, Vézé had prepared a few other plays for this group of people.
After waiting for the landlords and gentry to stop shouting, Vézé smiled and said, "I am a crude person, and my handwriting is especially terrible, so I have always admired people who can write beautifully. During the battle with the Qing Army this time, I captured a captive, and this person wasn't even a Han, but a Mongolian. I didn't expect that Vézé would kill him just like that, and actually show no mercy.
Meanwhile, Vézé didn't care what other people thought of him. He said to the commander-in-chief Yindöb who was kneeling on the ground, "Yindöb, I will let you go today, but there is one thing you have to do for me. Deliver the heads of these people to the leader of the dog Tartars, Xian Feng. At the same time, help me pass a message to Xian Feng. Sooner or later, I will chop off his head!"
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