Chapter 71: Aftermath in Dengzhou

The rebel generals were executed by beheading one by one in front of the assembled rebel army. There were not enough executioners from the Li Dynasty on the island, so they had to recruit executioners with experience from the rebel army. For a time, the training ground was filled with blood, and the three armies trembled with fear. After the execution was over, the heads were packed in boxes and transported to Qimu Island.

Feng Zongze did not watch this spectacular execution scene. He was still immersed in his role as the “Seraph of Justice.” In particular, he had practiced this set of grand and righteous lines for a long time, which fully satisfied his craving for melodrama.

The order to execute all the rebel generals came directly from the Engine Command. Although some people believed that Kong Youde and others had once risen up against the Qing, and their final surrender to the Manchu Qing was also a last resort, and that Kong and Geng had high command and tactical skills and could have served as vanguards of the colonial armed forces in Southeast Asia, sent to Vietnam or other Southeast Asian regions to harm the local natives, this proposal was rejected after discussion by the Executive Committee and the Standing Committee of the Senate. To reorganize the old Dongjiang troops, these senior generals could not be retained. This was one reason. Secondly, Lu Wenyan and others had made many shady deals with Li, Kong, and others during the Engine operation. Only Li, Kong, and others knew about these things. In order to ensure the legitimacy of the future regime and not give conscientious historians of the future an opportunity to exploit, this matter must be completely erased.

If they were used to conquer Southeast Asia, without sufficient control over their troops and logistical support, they would either be wiped out due to acclimatization or be bought over by a certain native force and become an enemy of the Senate. Even if they carved out a piece of territory for themselves, they would never obey the Senate.

Moreover, this army that had withdrawn from Dengzhou City was not only mostly the direct subordinates of Li, Kong, and others, but also a group of bloodthirsty wolves who had killed with red eyes in the Dengzhou rebellion. They had to be given the greatest spiritual shock to make them “know fear.”

After watching the execution, nearly 20,000 disorderly soldiers were escorted in batches for purification and screening. All the servants and personal guards of the generals were separated and imprisoned. After purification, they were all sent to Sanya to serve as miners.

Ordinary soldiers were organized into “labor brigades.” They did not earn points for the first three years. Starting from the fourth year, they were allowed to redeem themselves based on their workload. The craftsmen, sailors, and people plundered by the rebels were resettled as immigrants after purification.

On the third day after the rebels withdrew from Dengzhou, the first to receive the news was Sun Yuanhua’s direct subordinate general, Zhang Tao, who first led his troops to Dengzhou. Then, the troops of the Shandong Field Camp also swarmed in, and Dengzhou was declared recovered.

In order to avoid conflicts with the government troops who were eager to claim credit and seize territory, Zhu Mingxia had already led his troops to withdraw from Dengzhou, leaving the empty city to the government army.

After the execution on Jeju Island was over, Feng Zongze sent a fast boat to send the box of heads and some prisoners back to Qimu Island and hand them over to Lu Wenyan.

Lu Wenyan secretly sent the boxes of heads of Li Jiucheng, Kong Youde, and others, as well as the former government army generals who had been spared, back to Sun Yuanhua as a merit for Zhang Tao and others. As for the other heads, they were sold to the various government forces.

The various government forces of the Shandong Field Camp were originally worried about only getting an empty city. Even if they wanted to kill civilians to claim credit, there were no civilians for them to slaughter. Now that someone was selling the heads of rebel generals, they all came to buy them. As for the surplus flags, documents, seals, and the weapons and armor of the generals, which could be used as “military merits,” some were given to Sun Yuanhua and Zhu Dadian, and some were sold publicly at a marked price, with no deception of the old or the young.

Besides “selling,” Zhu Mingxia also “bought.” He bought the people, goods, and livestock plundered by the government troops of the Shandong Field Camp in the camp. In fact, in terms of their actions, the various government forces of the Shandong Field Camp were not inferior to the Dongjiang rebels in harming the common people along the way. It was just that because they were more or less restrained by their superiors, the scale and frequency of killing and plundering were smaller. Zhu Mingxia’s camp was bustling with people day and night, and generals from all sides sent people to “do business.”

During this period, it was inevitable that some generals did not know the power of the Qimu Island side and tried to seize the heads by force. As a result, after a fierce firefight, they all honestly followed the trading rules.

Zhu Mingxia priced the heads according to their identity: for ordinary rebel soldiers, one tael of silver could buy ten. For other generals, the price increased with their rank, starting from company commander. The higher the identity and the greater the fame, the higher the price. If everyone wanted to buy a certain head, they could also bid against each other. As a result, he also made a small fortune.

Not only that, the firearms used by the Qimu Island militia also attracted the attention of the generals of the Guanning towns. They had already seen this kind of firearm in some of the government troops in Laizhou. Now that they had personally experienced its power, they all came to Zhu Mingxia to curry favor, wanting to know where the muskets came from.

Zhu Mingxia sent a few naturalized citizen cadres from the trade department to receive them, and gave them a few Type 30 revolvers and Nanyang-style rifles as samples, saying that as long as they could pay, they could get more.

Lu Wenyan paid a visit to Zhu Dadian and Sun Yuanhua in the former Dengzhou-Laizhou governor’s yamen.

“Mr. Lu is indeed not an ordinary person. I didn’t expect him to have such great ambitions!” Zhu Dadian’s face was uncertain. The first credit for recovering Dengzhou was taken by Zhang Tao, a general under Sun Yuanhua who was still under punishment, and the militia. This made him, the “prime minister” of the suppression of the rebellion in Dengzhou, lose face. But at least Dengzhou was recovered before the new year, which was like a timely rain for the emperor who was eagerly looking forward to good news. Besides, this also somewhat saved his face from the previous rout under the city.

“I dare not. It is all due to Lord Zhu’s central coordination, Lord Sun’s personal command, and the brave advance of all the generals that Dengzhou was recovered. I, Lu, am just a fly on a horse’s back. My small contribution is not worth mentioning,” Lu Wenyan said, bowing respectfully.

Sun Yuanhua secretly nodded. Brother Lu’s words were very appropriate. In these days, he was already very clear about the origin and purpose of this Brother Lu. He knew that this time, he was able to escape from a disaster, and this mysterious Lord Lu and the forces behind him had made a great contribution.

He was an old hand in the officialdom. He kept these insights to himself and never revealed them to outsiders. When someone mentioned Lord Lu and Qimu Island, he just pretended to be ignorant.

Zhu Dadian nodded. He heard that Lord Lu’s men were selling the heads of the rebels, and he couldn’t help but feel relieved about him. He would rather turn the heads that could be exchanged for meritorious service and official positions into silver, which showed that the other party had no great ambitions and was only satisfied with being a local tyrant. Now, hearing his words, he felt even more that this Mr. Lu was quite sensible, not arrogant, and did not compete for credit. He had a good sense of the overall situation.

“Lord Lu is indeed a model for the gentry of Dengzhou and Laizhou,” Zhu Dadian said. “I will definitely ask for a reward and commendation for you, sir.”

“I dare not, I dare not,” Lord Lu became even more subservient. “Although Dengzhou and Laizhou are not my ancestral home, they are the place where I live. Li and Kong, the two rebels, have harmed Dengzhou and Laizhou. It is my duty to do so for the court and for the local community.”

Zhu Dadian turned his head, “Lord Sun, what do you think…”

Sun Yuanhua knew that it was not appropriate for him to compete with Zhu Dadian for credit at this time. In any case, the fact that Zhang Tao was the first to enter the city was already a foregone conclusion. Not to mention that Lord Lu had also provided the heads of the main rebel generals. No one could take this credit away. He was in a good mood at this moment. He smiled and said, “It is Lord Zhu’s might to have a brave man like Lord Lu to use, and it is also the blessing of the emperor and the court.”

Lu Wenyan quickly added another icing on the cake, “I, Lu, have already prepared 50,000 jin of potatoes for military supplies, all of which are a contribution. Although it is a drop in the ocean, I hope the two lords will accept it with a smile.”

These “two lords” did not know what “potatoes” were, but they knew that it must be food. Although the quantity was not large, it was a great thing to be able to get food in this icy and snowy, ruined Dengzhou City. They immediately praised him again and then “accepted it with a smile.”

Now that the war was over, there were still many things to do in the aftermath. Dengzhou was already a ruin, and the common people were gone. There were still a large number of bones that needed to be buried. The court had to allocate money and grain for relief and send local officials, all of which would take time. Zhu Dadian and his advisors discussed and thought that since Lord Lu had grain reserves and tens of thousands of people, and Qimu Island was in Huangxian County, which was under the jurisdiction of Dengzhou, it was not impossible for him to come forward to handle the aftermath. In ancient times, it was very common to appoint local gentry to be responsible for the aftermath of a war. Besides, in the current Dengzhou-Laizhou area, except for Laizhou, where there were still gentry, the local gentry of Dengzhou had almost been wiped out. Even if they were lucky enough to survive, their families were broken and they were dead. He immediately issued a commission, appointing Lu Wenyan as the head of the Dengzhou Aftermath Bureau, responsible for the aftermath work in the Dengzhou area.

Lu Wenyan gladly accepted. With this official title, whatever he did in the Dengzhou area would be legitimate. Now, as a local powerful force, they had been recognized by the government and had full freedom of action.

Now that Dengzhou had been recovered, and this place was extremely dilapidated, not to mention that there was no food, there were not even enough houses. After Zhu Dadian and Sun Yuanhua discussed how to write the victory report, they led the Shandong Field Camp back to Laizhou to be stationed. Sun Yuanhua, on the other hand, led his troops to be stationed on Mishen Mountain. There were still many corpses in the city that had not been collected. As for the governor’s yamen, it was even more dilapidated and could not be used for stationing.

As for the three men of Qimu Island, they also divided the work. Chen Sigen returned to Qimu Island to watch the house and continue to be responsible for the surrounding reconnaissance work. Lu Wenyan and Zhu Mingxia stayed in Dengzhou to prepare for the aftermath. It was no joke to have a plague break out.

After this great catastrophe, the surviving people in the three eastern prefectures would have an even more difficult life. The only way to survive was to leave. And the government’s power in this place was also greatly weakened, and it was no longer possible to make any effective interference in the actions of the Qimu Island side. They could openly and legally carry out a large-scale population outflow. Although the population loss in the three eastern prefectures was serious, the three western prefectures also had floods in 1632, and a large number of refugees appeared. As long as there was a way to live, people would naturally flock there.