The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 56

Why did so many people come to Linqing City all of a sudden? First, before the bandits arrived, Ji Qin recruited more than a dozen warriors and publicized it with great fanfare to calm the people. Ji Qin asked his son to learn boxing and stick from these warriors, and then recruited hundreds of warriors and assigned these dozen warriors to take charge. The villagers outside the city, as well as the merchants and wealthy households in various towns, all thought that the city was impregnable, so they helped the old and young and moved their families into the city. Ji Qin was an official who was upright and loved the people, and had always won the hearts of the people. Therefore, many people who lived far away also transferred their property to the city. Some even entrusted their wives and children to relatives in the city. From the first month to February, they flocked to the city. There is an endless stream of people day and night. Seeing that the people had returned to the city, Ji Qin even ordered officials to strictly prohibit officials from moving their families out of the city to avoid shaking the people's hearts. He also sent people to fill the four city gates with earth and rocks, and then installed iron chains on the gates to make them unopenable. They set up a battle formation where the city is alive and the people are alive, but the city is dead and the people are dead. Although the south gate was almost attacked by the bandits on the fifth day of the lunar month, fortunately it was saved, so the residents in the city had no idea of     escape.

Now that there are no more rebels in the north of the city, it is time to open the north gate to connect the inside and outside so that the rebels do not dare to act rashly. Chongen had been promoted to governor of Shandong at this time. The previous governor Zhang Liangji was dismissed and sent to the army after being impeached by Commander Sheng. Shengshuai was so arrogant that no one was allowed to interfere in military matters. Chongen didn't dare to touch his tiger's B*tt, so he said to me: "A good general is so cunning, how can he move his camp to force thieves?" Xiang Shengshuai said the same. In vain. "I said: "I am thinking about the overall military situation, not just for the people in the city and Ji Qin." But no matter how much I tried to persuade him, Chongen did not dare to say anything. As for myself, I stayed in the camp in white clothes after being dismissed. I didn’t have any official position, and I didn’t dare to stand out in anything for fear of causing other disasters. Besides, Shengshuai has always looked after Zixiong, how could he possibly adopt my opinion? As for the others, who are not snobbish and willing to help, I can only remain silent--what a pity for my strategy!

At the fourth watch on the 14th, I was in the dilapidated house in Zaoyuan and heard the sound of the city wall collapsing. Even the walls in the house shook. I went out and looked south, and vaguely saw a fire. Soon I heard the sound of killing, so I sent people to fly to the front camp to investigate, only to find out that Linqing City had fallen. My heart was broken and I couldn't help but lower my head and let out a long sigh. After daybreak, there was a strong wind, followed by another heavy rain. Commander Sheng also led his troops back to the camp, and I was even more helpless. Only the sounds of brutal killings in the city could be heard, and plumes of black smoke rose in all directions.

After a while, my guard Yuan Zhanchun came back and brought back a young man named Wang. He was Ji Qin's third son-in-law. Wang's clothes had been torn, and his face and hands were covered with wounds and bleeding. Bleeding. According to Yuan Zhanchun's report: "After they entered the city, they helped Ji Qin patrol the city every day. On that day, when the city was about to be broken, the rebels had sneaked into the city and set fire to it. Ji Qin took Yuan Zhanchun back to the Yamen in a hurry, and sent people to set fire to the grain in the granary. Burn it. At first, Ji Qin was worried that the gunpowder and food would be stolen by thieves, so he put eight bamboo baskets of gunpowder in the granary. By then, since the thieves had entered the city, Ji Qin ordered it to be set on fire. The Zhizhou Yamen was closed and a fire was set inside. It seems that he was determined to die for the country. "

Yuan Zhanchun climbed over the wall and entered the city. He searched for Ji Qin's son but could not find him. He met Wang Sheng, a groom, and an old servant from Guizhou who ran away from the city wall because there was no ladder and could not get down to the city. Yuan Zhanchun took off his belt, connected the match rope, lowered the king's son-in-law down, lowered the groom and the old servant together, then tied the match rope to the battlement, and lowered himself down. At this time, the rebels were approaching and throwing bricks at them. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. At this time, the corpses piled up under the city were already several feet thick, so they would not be injured even if they fell. The keyholes of the city gate were filled with tin water, filled with earth and rocks, and tied with iron ropes. No one in the city could escape. I took out the clothes for Wang Sheng to change into, arranged for him to have a meal, and asked him to go to the Chong'en camp to explain the whole story of Ji Qin's sacrifice. I thought, if I had followed my advice, why would hundreds of thousands of people be slaughtered today? Although this is a catastrophe destined by God, it is ultimately the result of man's inadvertent planning!