Chapter 51 Section 4 Returning to sincerity means nothing will change, and resistance means no one will be left behind

The style and military discipline of the peasant uprising army are unavoidable problems for history readers. Unlike what we see in textbooks and on TV, there are very few peasant uprising armies in Chinese history who were truly innocent.Wherever most of the insurgents passed, it was inevitable that everything would be destroyed. In fact, the peasant army did not deny its violence and cruelty. "If you return to sincerity, the grass and trees will not move, and if you resist, the old and the young will not stay" is the consistent propaganda slogan of Zhang Xianzhong's department.

Even Li Zicheng's army, known for its strict military discipline, also issued an order on the way to Beijing: the rebels are approaching the city, and they are not allowed to resist.When the rebel army fired the first cannon, the officials in the city would come out of the city to welcome the surrender; when the second cannon was fired, the gentlemen in the city would leave the city to surrender;If there is a little resistance, after the city is broken, there will be massacres, "not a blade of grass will be left."In the history books, there are many records of Li Zicheng massacring the city.

Even in the novel, those heroes who have been shaped with ideal pen and ink regard "washing" the village as a common thing.After Song Jiang captured Zhujiazhuang, which had "10,000 to 20,000 families", he immediately "discussed with Wu Yong that he wanted to clean up the village of Zhujiazhuang".Just because Shi Xiu said that there is an old man in Zhujiazhuang who once showed the way to the heroes of Liangshan, "this kind of good people should not be broken."Then Song Jiang showed great kindness, called the old man, and said to him: "It's not that you, the old man, are kind, so I wiped out all the villages of yours, leaving no one behind. Because your family is kind, I forgive you. You are the people of the village."

In fact, we cannot be too demanding on the military discipline of the peasant uprising army.Before these heroes took up their knives and guns, they held hoes in their hands.Their cultural quality is low, and they gather under the banner of the uprising. In most cases, it is not for any "programme", but just because of hunger.It is hard to imagine that just because they have weapons in their hands, they will transform from "ignorant and narrow-minded" Chinese farmers into "revolutionary fighters" in an instant.