On the night when the magistrate disappeared, every house in Heshui City was closed.
The people hiding in the cracks of the door heard hoofs stamping on the ground, saw horsemen carrying fire and horsemen galloping up and down the streets, and screams could be heard from time to time in the west and east of the city.
People all thought that only their own family was the lucky one in this war.
It was bright and bright the next day, but the sun had not yet come out. The humid city seemed a little calmer. Some brave people went out and could still see traces of last night's chaos on the streets.
Some dirty cloth, scattered grain, and even a wooden cart with broken wheels were parked crookedly under the eaves of the roadside.
Then the people who went out first discovered that the neighbor who had built an extra foot of wall was still alive.
Every household is still alive.
After the catastrophe, relatives, friends and neighbors visited each other and told each other, but they couldn't help but wonder: Who died?
After the panic, the first people to organize themselves were the county student members. Under the leadership of the teacher, each led his servants and friends to form several teams of seven or eight people. They opened the arsenal to collect weapons and went to the streets to patrol the city and recover the east and west gates. p>
Then you will know who died.
The maid who was released from the Yuan family's mansion in the west of the city last night said that Yuan Yuan's wife's family entered the army last night.
In addition to the sixth lady who had just been bought home the day before yesterday, who was taken away, Yuan Yuan and his family members were killed until their blood flowed like rivers.
Everything at home was also moved, and hundreds of two-wheeled mule carts were brought in from outside the city.
There was also Mr. Feng in the east of the city, and the Cheng family of Nie County had all destroyed their troops. When the soldiers heard the news and rushed there, they saw that the corpses in the family had died in different ways.
The tactics of this group of border soldiers were extremely cruel, and there were very few corpses that were properly killed.
However, later onlookers said that the person who was hanged had hanged others a few years ago, and the person who was put into a sack and beaten to death with sticks had also used such methods to harm others.
It's like they're here for revenge.
Knowing that these people were the ones who died, the onlookers clapped their hands and cheered.
One of the survivors said: "No matter what, hundreds of people died last night. We can't just leave the corpses like this. They will stink tomorrow. Can we get some coffins for them from my fellow villagers?"
The people who had been clapping their hands just now turned around and left.
The health worker quickly shouted: "Don't go, don't go. If you don't want to put together a coffin, just put together a straw mat. Don't go. Can you carry it out of the city to the head office?"
With great difficulty, we organized a team to gather the bodies and carry them outside the city. Halfway through, we heard someone say that the border troops had not left and had set up two camps outside Xiguan.
There is still black smoke coming from a place far to the west, and the direction should be Dingjiabao, the largest grain merchant in the county.
The people carrying the corpse in the funeral procession said: "This is to eliminate harm for the people!"
"It's just a pity that Jiang's parents have only served in the small county for two years. Although they haven't done anything big, they haven't caused trouble to the place. I don't know how long it will take for the court to send another official. I don't know what they will send."<
/p>
"Yes, yes!"
Especially for the county high school students, Jiang Yingchang paid great attention to Confucian education. When he had nothing to do in the county, he would even go to the Confucian school to teach them. In addition to his parents and officials, he also served as their teacher.
At this time, thinking about the county magistrate being trapped in the hands of thieves and not knowing whether he would live or die, several students in the county were all worried.
The people below the city were still sighing when suddenly they heard someone shouting from the city: "I saw the magistrate!"
The people immediately threw the corpses on the spot and swarmed up the stone slope of the horse road to the city wall. Someone pointed to the distance and said: "The magistrate is over there!"
Outside the west city trench, there were more than a dozen frontier troops and horsemen, some holding flags and some raising whips. Behind them, there were people driving mule and donkey carts. The large group of horses and carts rolled up huge smoke and dust on the dry land.
Beyond the smoke and dust, Jiang Yingchang, the parent officer of Heshui County, walked eastward, and a young man wearing frontier armor walked alongside him. The two slowly walked to the trench.
Liu Chengzong raised his eyes towards the city head, and estimated that the distance was about the same. If he got closer, a cannon set up on the city would be able to hit him.
He said: "Scold me."
Jiang Yingchang knew what he meant, but he still shook his head: "You have done good things for Heshui. The food and property you left behind can save many people. Jiang believes that those who are clean will self-clean."
Liu Chengzong raised his eyes and said, "But you didn't stop me either."
"If I were the prefect of Qingyang, I would lead an army to stop you."
Jiang Yingchang raised his chin towards the county seat: "Heshui is a small county with no soldiers and no food. Even the death of the entire county cannot stop you. I have received the favor of the emperor as a parent of a place. I can only tarnish my reputation and keep a place safe. This is the best I can do."
."
Liu Chengzong nodded: "Okay."
After saying that, he turned around and walked away. After taking two steps, he turned around and said, "Jiang Zhixian, things are unpredictable. There is only one Liu Chengzong, but there are many thieves in the world. Maybe I will hear your name again next time."
"Either you have been seized by the imperial court and imprisoned, or you have lived and died with the city. Come to the city and take your family with me. I will ensure that you have no worries about food and clothing."
Jiang Yingchang was stunned for a moment, then paused for a moment, clasped his fists silently, and said: "Eating the emperor's salary is a matter of loyalty to the emperor. If the city is destroyed, I will die. I will die in a worthy place."
Liu Chengzong had already climbed onto the back of the red flag. He nodded again and said that he had thought of this outcome before. When he spoke, he just had a routine idea and said: "Everyone has his own ambitions. Don't blame me for not reminding you when the time comes."
"The governor is making plans. If you are interested, I can pass the message on your behalf." Jiang Yingchang said, "With your troops and horses, I will show my surrender. The general will still retain his wealth and honor."
It is easy to be rich in one life, but who can say for sure how long it will be?
What's more, the imperial court's role is to teach him that the better the fight, the later the defeat, the more benefits.
Now his price is basically as a general. If he annihilates two more generals, he will probably be promoted to deputy general. It is not impossible to use money to become a general.
But isn’t that just asking for his own fault? Now that he has no soldiers and rations, he can find a solution from others. If the soldiers who have no rations and no rations, the grievances of the soldiers will be accumulated on him.
Being rich for two days and being slaughtered by others can be considered a lifetime of wealth. Who can I ask to reason with?
It is impossible for a general to lose his wealth and honor for the rest of his life. At least he has to keep his position as chieftain and rule the land forever before Liu Shizi can consider it.
Liu Chengzong smiled and reined in the reins: "I have good intentions, but I'm afraid one lifetime of wealth is not enough, so I'm leaving."
After that, he threw something from his waist and turned the horse's head. The horse soldiers who were wandering around immediately led the donkeys and mules and galloped westward, leaving behind carts full of grain and goods everywhere.
Jiang Yingchang received his official seal. He couldn't think of the position of chieftain, so he felt that this young man's thoughts were very dangerous. He was not rich enough in this life, what do you want to do?
Do you plan to live in the Ancestral Temple after death?
As the cavalry walked through the deserted fields, Jiang Yingchang let out a long sigh of relief and rubbed the swollen bags under his eyes. He hadn't stayed up all night for a long time.
After tying the official seal back to his waist, he turned his head, and the rising sun shone on his face. Being awake all night made him very weak, and he felt dizzy facing the sunlight.
But Heshui County is still there.
The suspension bridge fell, and a large number of county residents rushed out, with their wives and children running at the front. The usually virtuous and shy woman suddenly fell on him, her face was haggard and pear-shaped.
Jiang Yingchang only responded with a silly smile: "Madam, go back and hug me when you get home. There are so many people watching."
After the woman shyly backed away, the magistrate picked up his five-year-old son and asked a few words with a smile, and was immediately surrounded by the students in the crowd.
People asked all kinds of questions: "Sir, did the thieves hurt you?"
Jiang Yingchang laughed silently for a while, then breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Unscathed."
"What did you say to the soldier just now?"
"That's not a bandit, that's Liu Chengzong, the giant bandit of Yan'an Prefecture." Jiang Yingchang's face showed both the helplessness of Xiaoliwei and the pride of surviving a disaster. Finally, he smiled casually and said: "I tried to persuade him, but he won't surrender." After that, before everyone had finished laughing and flattering him, he held his son in one hand, raised his arm to point at the vehicles outside the city, ordered a county student and said: "Quickly, summon the common people to transport the money and grain into the city's official treasury, close the city gate and count them."
This time the county suffered a loss."
Everyone was very curious about the money and food. Several county student members went to summon the people, but there were still people gathered aside and curiously asked: "Sir, how could the traitors leave money and food?"
"I want to come. I said that small counties are particularly poor. Even if they rob money and food, they can't take them all away. They are not bad. They are all soldiers who are short of pay and have some conscience. They really leave some for the county." The people happily brought Magistrate Jiang into the city. When they walked to the city gate, Jiang Yingchang saw corpses lying on the ground in front of him, and then turned back to look outside the west city, which had long gone away.
Back at the county government office, the students were still counting numbers outside the government office. This time the county magistrate went deep into the enemy's territory to get money and grain, and Jiang Yingchang had issued several orders one after another.
He appointed the nine remaining members of the county, six of whom took turns to guard the city gate, and the remaining three organized the people to repair the equipment and weapons for defending the city.
"Liu Chengzong will not be the last one to enter Qingyang, and Heshui City's luck will not always be so good. When recruiting troops to prepare for war, there will be many thieves in the future."
The money and food will be calculated quickly.
Liu Chengzong definitely left a lot of things for him, and it took more than a hundred cars to haul them back and forth twice before transporting them all back to the city.
There are more than 1,400 kilograms of grains, including old grains, rotten grains, and grains infested with insects, but there is no clean grains with strong smell of new grains.
It is difficult to estimate the value of the goods, because there are no gold, silver, leather goods, fabrics, spices, or even copper coins.
They are all hard-to-get rid of, and it is a pity to throw away things such as two foreign exotic goods, jade, porcelain, precious paper, wine bottle decoration, famous wood furniture and other items.
Jiang Yingchang knew what Liu Chengzong would leave behind last night, so it was no different when the students came to report. He just waved his hand and said: "Write a notice, and post it not only in the city, but also everywhere outside the city. If you sell it, all of it will be for
Sell it at 70% of the market price, you can buy it with money or grain."
"If it really can't be sold, it will be temporarily stored in the official treasury. It will be settled when it is sold."
He calculated that these things looked scattered, but in fact if they could all be sold at the market price, they would be worth at least tens of thousands of taels of silver.
It’s more tax than his county has paid in ten years.
Just those two Qiangong Babu beds would be a loss if they were sold for less than a thousand taels of silver.
It's just that not many people in the county can afford it now, and even 70% of the market price can't afford it.
Jiang Yingchang felt that Liu Chengzong's soldiers were really good at robbing. They were very organized and did not demolish, set fire to, or smash. They demolished five walls just to move the two beds.
After so much effort, he finally left it.
The most important order issued by Jiang Yingchang was to recruit hungry people, select strong people from among the hungry people, and form a strong people army.
This night's experience deeply touched him.
It can't be said to be an escape from the tiger's mouth, but it is enough to survive, not to mention Liu Chengzong's Lion Camp is restrained and shrewd.
During the entire robbery, Liu Chengzong took off his official robe, put him into civilian clothes and took him with him, letting him see everything from beginning to end.
The wealth of the three wealthy gentry, relatives and corrupt officials shocked him even more.
He had been serving as an official in Heshui for two years, but he never imagined that there would be so much wealth in this county.
Babu beds, Western clocks, hundreds of pieces of silk and satin, and even more than a dozen pieces of fabrics for official uniforms.
Jiang Yingchang, a rustic, has never seen many things in his life, and one night opened his eyes. It was a big adventure.
It scares him to death. How can these rubbish people not rebel?
Yuan Yuanwai dug seven or eight grain cellars underground in the courtyard. I don’t know when the cellars were dug. The old grains had not been filled with new grains, and the grains underneath were all rotten.
But Yuan Yuan took this problem into consideration when he was repairing the cellar. He neatly stacked a foot-thick Jiajing Tongbao under the cellar. When it rotted, all the water would seep into the ground through the money holes, and the grain would not be contaminated.
Jiang Yingchang used to know that there was a lot of money in opening a casino, but he didn't expect that those who opened a casino already had so much money that they no longer regarded the money as money.
And that Yuan Sannan, who took advantage of the chaos in the county yesterday, led his gang to rob two large households, killed people and looted them. At night, he brought four gangs, robbed a woman, and left the city at night from the north of the city.
I almost let him run away.
He was caught by the cavalry soldiers left outside by the Lion Battalion. He didn't have a single tael of silver on him, and he had eight kilograms of gold bars rolled alone.
In his entire life, including visiting jewelry stores in Qingyang Fucheng, Jiang Yingchang has never seen so much gold, which would be one thousand five hundred taels if converted into silver.
The gold is not important, what is important is the family that was robbed.
The man lived for more than 40 years and never did any bad things. He neither annexed land, bought shops, nor opened a casino. He just spent his whole life eating, drinking and having fun.
I have never done anything bad, but the county always donates 10 or 20 taels to build bridges and repair roads.
The amount of money is not small, and he is a very philanthropic person.
Jiang Yingchang always knew that the old man had some money in his family, he was generous, and he also knew where the money came from.
That gentleman had an uncle who was a eunuch. When the imperial court sent a tax inspector, he went with him to Xi'an to point out where to demolish and occupy, so the whole family lived very comfortably for decades.
But Jiang Yingchang never knew he was so rich.
He ruled not only this small town of three weeks, but also the people in the area of more than a hundred miles under his rule were fleeing, begging for work, chewing tree bark, and starving to death.
If things are like this, how can the people not rebel?
Jiang Yingchang sat in the county government office, crumpled the half-written letter to Yang He into a ball of paper and threw it aside, ground the ink again, and picked up the pen to write the letter.
He still wants Yang He to mobilize troops to Heshui County, and he still wants to warn Yan'an Prefecture of bandits who are migrating westward to avoid Guan Ning's army. But more importantly than this, he wants Yang He to know these things and write a letter.
A long letter.
Know what Liu Chengzong’s troops are.
We know that the rich have great wealth, and we know that the poor are extremely poor. It is not just the rich who stand next to the poor who have no place to stand.
No matter what, from this moment on, Jiang Yingchang knew that he was the real magistrate of Heshui County with great power.
He also knew that this time, there were no constraints or obstacles. The people of Heshui were poor, hungry, their families were destroyed, and they were all suffering from the pain... There was no room for shirking responsibility.
