Chapter 81 Section Thirty-Four

Perhaps the lunatic is not terrible, what is terrible is the lunatic with the power of reason. Zhang Xianzhong is like this.Seeing that there was no hope of bringing the chaos to an end, Zhang Xianzhong came up with a plan to draw salary from the bottom of the pot. Although he had passed the imperial examination and recruited most of the scholars into the city for strict supervision, there were still many who slipped through the net.The whole Sichuan is in chaos, and these restless students and scholars are obviously the most unstable factor. For example: "Zhang Xianzhong's troops passed through Syria (state). Yibin Zhusheng Yu Jiapeng, Zhusheng Li Shiwu, and Yiyong Peng Mingyang hacked his camp at night, got the seal and ribbon, and was captured and killed." Another example: "Fan Yu, Governor Kuangzi, Yiku He came to Chengdu because of the bandit threat, Tongxiang gave birth to Liu Yufa and joined the officers and soldiers."

There are more students who organize landlords' armed forces to fight against the Daxi Army in various places, such as Zhu Fengyin and Zheng Yanjue in Yazhou, Hu Guozhu in Mianzhu, Ye Dabin in Qiong Prefecture, Fan Mingshan and Wang Jingqi in Nanchong, Zou Jianchen in Shunqing, Zhao Sixuan, Jiajiang Li Yingda, Yibin Zhang Wencan, Jiang An Luo Wencan. Zhang Xianzhong felt that it was necessary to carry out another major cleansing of the scholars. In the summer of the next year of Dashun (AD 1645), Emperor Daxi Zhang Xianzhong issued an "Election Examination Order" in Sichuan, ordering all scholars in Sichuan to go to Chengdu to take the exam because the empire was first established and talents were urgently needed.Those who pass the exam will be awarded official titles in accordance with the order.The soldiers from all over the country were ordered to search and the common people reported. If they didn't come out to take the exam, my whole family would be beheaded, and the neighbors who didn't report would be punished.

Knowing that Zhang Xianzhong likes to conduct imperial examinations, people in Sichuan don't think it is different.Give an order, and everyone knows that the "Emperor Daxi" has strict military orders. They packed their luggage and brought their family servants.After entering, they were not allowed to go out and were locked up like prisoners. A month later, it was reported from all over the place that the students had gathered.So Zhang Xianzhong took action.Ouyang Zhi, a young examinee who took part in this "examination", later wrote a book "Shu Police Record", recording all kinds of unbelievable experiences he suffered in that chaos.According to:

"Scholars came together. That day, from the gate of Daci Temple to the south gate of Chengdu, there were three layers of soldiers standing on both sides. A long rope was set at the gate of the temple, four feet above the ground, and Zhang Xianzhong personally 'inspected'." If the person is still young, less than four feet tall, or if Zhang Xianzhong looks pleasing to the eye and wants to keep him, he will order him to stand aside.In addition, it is deemed to have passed the inspection and is allowed to start. "So, every time a freshman passes by, there is a person in front of him, holding a high pole, hanging a white paper flag, and writing a letter to a certain prefecture and state. The instructor is in front, and the scholars are behind each with their servants and luggage. They walk in a single file. I thought I was going to the examination room. I went to the gate of the city, knocked down my luggage, stripped off my clothes, and one person came out, and the soldier took another person, and led him to the South Gate Bridge and cut him into the water. Accumulated flow resistance, it will take more than ten days to drift away."

After three days of "testing" like this, except for a dozen young children who Zhang Xianzhong liked and wanted to keep for his own use, the remaining 17,000 people were all wiped out.Originally Ouyang Zhi was also among the massacred, Zhang Xianzhong thought he was young and kept him as secretary.It was not until Zhang Xianzhong died on Phoenix Mountain that Ouyang Zhi took the opportunity to escape, and his records should be credible. The second thing to be wiped out is "monks, Taoists, doctors, yin and yang, and all kinds of craftsmen", these people are the elite figures among the refugees.No one is more familiar with the laws of the peasant movement than Zhang Xianzhong. He knows that the peasants are a pile of dry firewood, and these knowledgeable, well-informed, and brainy people are dangerous kindling.All previous uprisings were caused by these restless people raising their arms, and the majority of foolish people rose to respond.

These people should also be regarded as unstable elements, and get rid of them quickly.Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong also resorted to deception, "pretending to fast and sacrificial offerings, or taking exams, or developing large-scale projects, etc., will all die."In Chengdu alone, he killed more than 2,000 monks.