Chapter 85 Chapter 38: One thousand seven hundred pairs of palms

Zhang Xianzhong wiped out all the urban residents in the area under Zhang Xianzhong's control, and he forced villagers from the suburbs into the city.After all, there are still people in town who need to serve the army. Although so many troops and manpower were spent to suppress the relocation of the city, all parts of Sichuan were not peaceful.Under the offensives of the Qing army, the Ming army, and the rebels from all over the country, Zhang Xianzhong suffered repeated defeats and did not win a single battle for several months.Zhang Xianzhong couldn't stand it anymore, he missed his life as a bandit very much.The idea of ​​abandoning Sichuan and starting over elsewhere is getting stronger and stronger.

However, I was unwilling to go like this, because I really hated Sichuan people too much.Well, aren't you against me?Eliminate you all and turn them into a piece of terracotta.Zhang Xianzhong decided to slaughter Shu, the reason is "to gain it by oneself, to destroy it by oneself, and not to let others gain it".Before withdrawing from Sichuan, try to kill all the people in Sichuan, leaving an empty shell for the enemy. This is the most grandiose massacre plan in history, and it has been carried out quite resolutely. Not long after the extermination of the city residents, Zhang Xianzhong issued an order to "eliminate the city and wipe out the city" to order the army to go out of the city and wipe out the rural population.Go deep into the poor mountains and mountains, not letting a single one go. "Let's search the mountains, Wangyan and other leaders. If there are hidden cliff caves in the mountains and valleys, use the fire to fumigate them."

Judging from the materials cited in the annals of Rongxian, Hongya and other counties, Zhang Xianzhong indisputably carried out the policy of "eliminating all cities and towns" in many places in Sichuan.He believes: "All those who live in the mountains are rebellious and will be wiped out; all good people in the city will not die." The specific method is: Wherever one place is suppressed, the local officials will be ordered to clean up the four borders, and the township leaders will be sent to lead the military officers.On the previous day, troops were deployed around the four borders according to Zhao, and the next day they launched a campaign to search and kill in the center, just like the dragon's mouth in the siege.

The result is: "Regardless of men, women, old or young, we will kill everyone we meet." The leader of the army." Ouyang Zhi, the little scholar mentioned above, when he was serving Zhang Xianzhong's department, "tasted to see a fugitive from Pixian county, and after interrogation, he was found to be from Emei, so he was responsible for investigating and suppressing the officials of Emei. Hong Dudu was skinned." Under such a strict policy, officers and soldiers from all over the country would not dare to neglect their duties.In the counties in central Sichuan alone, more than 140,000 people died under the butcher's knife.

As a military order, of course there must be a merit test standard.That is the palm.When Ouyang Zhi was handling copywriting, he had seen records of using the palm of his hand to memorize merit.He said: Every officer and soldier returns to the camp to test his merits with the palms he chops, and a pair of palms is accurate.Wherever there is a military officer's office, the palms are like mountains.And the palms of people in Chengdu are even more comparable to the tens of thousands of peaks in the rockery.After seeing a letter of payment, he was promoted from deputy general to general.In the blank space of the head of the letter, the level of merit is noted in small characters with a vermilion pen, counting one thousand seven hundred and zero in the palm of the hand.

Not long after Fu Diji was captured by Zhang Jun, looking for an opportunity, he deserted and fled back to his hometown.However, his hometown could not escape the order of "elimination of the city".In the first month of the third year of Shunzhi (1646 A.D.), Fu Diji heard that soldiers were coming to kill people, so he had to flee for his life up the mountain. "On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, in the middle of the night, I heard that there were many people talking in the woods behind the village. I got up immediately to ask what was going on. It turned out that they were people who hid in the nearby mountains earlier, and there were also people who escaped from the mountains. There were about thousands of people. , They said: "When it was dark, the bandits rushed to kill people. We escaped and didn't know what was behind.""

"I quickly called my family to clean up the food. It was just dawn, and the food was not ready, and those who escaped fled to other places, so I had to stop eating. I fled to Guojiagou Mountain, and heard Someone sent a letter saying: "Zhang Jun has arrived at Neiguan Temple and set fire to Fu's house." It turned out that my house had already been burned. At this time, fortunately, there was this group of messengers. It can be heard for dozens of miles when you climb (suddenly). If the thief is in the east, he will go west; "It's night, I'm staying in the Yangmei River temporarily. Seeing that the fire is raging in the sky, and the battles (continued) continue, tens of miles away, dozens of battalions are all Zhang's army, and there is no way out in the places they pass. I dare not Stay here for a while, and go to Laolongchang Temple. At dawn, the thief will arrive. My mother-in-law and aunt were all killed. Sad, sad... We lived together for more than 20 days, and the thief retreated before returning .”

"When I returned to the place, it was completely empty. I saw corpses all over the field, and no one was seen at the bottom of the river. In the middle of the bay, there was a man who had both hands chopped off. I went to the camp for several days. The day before yesterday, four horsemen came and asked me the way to cross the river, and I pointed them out. When I arrived at home, all the houses were burned and all the monks were killed. All my family lived together in the temple hut. "