Chapter 82 The Thirty-fifth Slaughter of Chengdu

However, killing these tinders didn't do much.The fires of re-uprisings in various places are burning more and more vigorously. These Sichuan people simply killed a hundred, stood up a thousand, and followed each other, making things difficult for Zhang Xianzhong.Once the rebel armed forces from the poor mountains and fields attacked the city, the residents in the city couldn't wait to join forces, attack and kill Zhang Xianzhong's army defending the city, and welcome those "re-revolting" teams. Zhang Xianzhong has been fighting for more than ten years, and has never seen such people.In other places, the people bowed their heads and ears to him, trembling with fear, but the people of Shu were "ungrateful".He asked his subordinates puzzledly: "It's been two years since I took over Shu, and the people of Shu have never been gracious and fearless, and they have been dodged and rebelled repeatedly, what will happen?" He forgot that he had conquered a place before, and the longest several months.Now that he has stayed in Sichuan for such a long time and the measures are so severe, the people have no hope of surviving except rebellion.

Zhang Xianzhong analyzed the intelligence from various places, and found that the cities in various places were lost, and the people in the cities played a key role in making internal reports.Thinking about it this way, he felt that there were dangers everywhere in Chengdu.From the expressions of the people in this city, Zhang Xianzhong had already read the resentment in their hearts.The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, so he simply moved out of Chengdu and lived in the "Zhongyuan", the villa of the king of Shu outside the city. Prime Minister Wang Zhaoling understood Zhang Xianzhong's thoughts and said:

The people of Shu are aggressive, and the minister said it first, but now it is the same...But the people of Shu do not know their virtues, they do not know their power, and they repeatedly rape and rebel. Mo Ruo first massacred the people in the city... This is a good strategy to control the tyranny and security. Zhang Xianzhong thought so.Just in November of the following year of Dashun (AD 1645), the Daxi Army suffered repeated defeats on the front line of Hanzhong, the Qing army entered eastern Sichuan steadily, and southern Sichuan was gradually captured by the Nanming army.Zhang Xianzhong decided to exterminate the urban population in various places in order to completely eliminate the internal response.

Two missionaries recorded in more detail the process of slaughtering Chengdu: On the 22nd of November of the following year in Dashun (AD 1645), Zhang Xianzhong planned to exterminate the residents of the city.He arranged in advance for a spy to run into the city with great fanfare to report, saying that the enemy's brigade is coming, and it is necessary to train soldiers and horses as a way to defend against the enemy. The next day, Zhang Xianzhong mobilized his troops and made a gesture of going to the battlefield.He first summoned the officers of each battalion, held a meeting under high secrecy, and conveyed the order to "suppress and cleanse the whole city, leaving no one behind". Residents of this city. Everyone should prepare secretly, and the military situation must not be missed." Yun Yun.All the officers returned to camp after the meeting to prepare for tomorrow's massacre.

The next day, the two missionaries saw Zhang's army leaving the city one after another and gathered in the open space outside the city. They didn't know what they were going to do.Soon, the messenger arrived and informed the officials and the two missionaries that major changes would take place today, and the officials should protect their families, young and old, otherwise, they would be responsible for the consequences.Only then did the two missionaries figure out what Zhang Xianzhong wanted to do, and hurried back to his apartment, trying to rescue his servants.However, the servant had already been found and taken away by the soldiers, and they were all in vain.

At this time, except for the family members of Daxi officials, all the residents in the city had been searched door to door and driven to the south and east gates of Chengdu.Li Leisi ran to the south gate tower, and An Wensi came to the east gate tower, hoping to persuade the officers standing here not to kill.Of course, the comparison between the two foreigners was of no use, as the two places had already started killing people. "Innocent people, men and women were killed, the voice of the cry, the fear of the heart, the blood flowed into the canal." Not long after the massacre began, Zhang Xianzhong personally led the cavalry to the Shaba Bridge outside the South Gate to watch the massacre in person.As soon as the common people saw Zhang Xianzhong coming, they all knelt down and begged for forgiveness in unison, saying, "Long live the king! The king is our king, and we are your people. We have not violated the laws of the country, so why kill innocent people?" I have no weapons, but I am a law-abiding citizen, begging the king to save my life, and forgive all my innocent people'".and so on.

Zhang Xianzhong was unmoved in the slightest. Instead, he cursed the Sichuan people for being ungrateful, for colluding with the enemy, and for seeking their own death. "Then he jumped into the crowd with his horse, let the horse jump and kick wildly, and roared loudly: 'You should kill and damn the rebel.' Then the sergeant was ordered to execute the sentence quickly." So tens of thousands of soldiers fought together, more and more people were killed, and the sound of shouting became less and less.Finally, looking around, I saw that the land outside Chengdu was completely covered with corpses, "quiet and silent", "there were corpses everywhere, the river was blocked, and boats could not be sailed. The city of Jinxiu Rong suddenly became a wilderness, uninhabited. It was desolate The tragic image is beyond words to describe" ([法]

Gu Luodong's "Sacred Religion Entering Sichuan"). Chinese history books also provide a detail that the missionaries did not mention: when Zhang Tu Chengdu, the sky was cloudy and thunderous.Zhang Xianzhong "pointed at the sky angrily and said: 'You let me go to the lower realm to kill people, and now you scare me with thunder?' Fight back with cannons."