Hyper-Dimensional Player

Chapter 782 61: Inferno Sweeps the Land! Heads Roll (Part 4)_3

Wherever Duncan led his army, heads rolled, and then he quickly dispatched people to stabilize the situation, reassuring the citizens of Guangxi, directly distributing land and granting relief grain, even preparing seeds for next spring's cultivation.

The distribution of land by the Rebel Army was based on the Tang dynasty's system, with an adult male receiving forty mu of land and an adult female thirty mu.

The entire region of Guangdong and Guangxi had been left in shambles by Liu Chang, with a combined population of only two to three million. A vast amount of farmland lay fallow, so as long as one registered as an assimilated citizen, a family consisting of an adult male and female could immediately receive an additional ten mu, totaling a full eighty mu of land.

Indeed, because of this, many widowers and widows from ordinary families married overnight just to gain those extra ten mu of land.

There was no worry about not having enough to distribute, as the population had drastically decreased several times over already.

Moreover, tens of thousands of people from Guangdong and Guangxi enthusiastically joined the military. They had varying degrees of foundation, and with a little training, they could at least hold their own in a battle.

Under Duncan's command, his staff worked through the night to enact laws, referencing parts of the Imperial Code, incorporating contemporary legal standards, and applying strict laws to restore order.

In just over a month, from Hainan to Guangxi, most of Southern Han had changed its appearance.

Duncan gathered an army of ten thousand to advance on Foshan. Once the southwestern gateway to Guangzhou was opened, he could attack Xingwang Mansion, the capital of Southern Han, at any time.

The world was shaken!

Rumors spread rapidly; some said the Red Army was a force of justice, not infringing on the common people, while others claimed the Red Army was akin to bandits, slaughtering and looting many gentry and clans, with some methods as brutal as, if not surpassing, the Huang Chao Rebellion.

After all, the Huang Chao Rebellion targeted the aristocratic clans, while the Red Army spared not even the local tycoons where imperial power did not extend. Many were completely stripped of their wealth.

Duncan was indifferent to this.

He would bear the infamy!

The benefits for the people of the world, he was determined to acquire them.

Not unleash a massacre?

Where else would he get the money and provisions to aid and resettle the displaced people?

The first blow was against the powerful landlords and gentry, and the second should be against the wealthy Buddhist establishments of Jiangnan.

Whoever had money, he would seek it from them!

Without extracting funds and supplies from them, even if Duncan wrung the bones of the common folk dry to sell by the pound, he wouldn't eke out a drop of profit.

The Rebel Army's offensive was overwhelmingly fierce.

Even the long-aloof Liu Chang hastily sent people to consult with Fan Huzi and others. Southern Han gathered the troops stationed in the north, along with reinforcements from other routes, including the Qinghai Army, Jianwu Army, Ningyuan Army, and Xiong Wu Army, amassing nearly a hundred thousand soldiers, effectively mobilizing all available forces.

Yet, the Jingjiang Army garrisoned in Guizhou had already been completely wiped out; they forcibly conscripted strong men to barely muster ten thousand troops.

Furthermore, Liu Chang even dispatched the Elephant Army to the front lines and other places.

However, the course of events took an unexpected turn. Just when everyone thought the Red Army would advance like a tidal wave on Xingwang Mansion, Duncan suddenly amassed heavy troops and entrenched in Foshan, as if slowing their assault and preparing to secede and govern independently.

This also gave Southern Han a chance to catch its breath, allowing time to leisurely assemble troops to suppress the Rebel Army.

But they were unaware that the reason Your Majesty temporarily ceased the warfare was simply because spring cultivation was near.

In these times, too many people were hungry, needing food.

Spring cultivation was their lifeline.

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