"Save? How can I save Dongshangong?" Zhu Yiyuan was puzzled.
Zhao Shizhe laughed and said, "If it weren't for what Zhu Qianshi did, how could I have convinced those government officials to let me go?"
Hearing this, Zhu Yiyuan was greatly surprised, "Have they arrived?"
Zhao Shizhe said: "Here we come, five of us in total."
Zhu Yiyuan was overjoyed and couldn't help but said: "They took the initiative to release Mr. and then escorted him back. He is a righteous man. I want to treat him!"
Zhu Yiyuan personally ordered and prepared eight dishes and a jar of aged wine.
Warmly entertain the five government officials.
"I would like to ask some of you, do you have any plans?"
The leader smiled bitterly and said: "To be honest, since the Tatar Emperor came to the throne, we people have not received salaries. Although we can make some money in the yamen, it is not a long-term solution. If we don't give salary, we will not get it."
He said, they always let us do this and that... A few days ago, we forced the villagers to shave their hair and change their clothes, and now we are asked to arrest good people. If this spreads out, the villagers will poke our spines. I happened to hear what Mr. Zhao said
, we will escort him over."
Zhu Yiyuan nodded, "Then are you willing to work under my rule?"
These people looked at each other and said, "Master Zhu, let's just ask, will you divide the fields?"
Zhu Yiyuan laughed loudly, "Why not? Not only will we allocate the land to you, but we will also arrange for people to take your family members over, and they can also get the land. And I am in urgent need of some people under my administration who can run the yamen. Come here,
This is the time to make a big difference.”
"Thank you so much, Mr. Zhu!" Several government officials were overjoyed.
Zhu Yiyuan took the initiative to toast them, and flattered several government officials. This man already controlled several counties, and logically he was much larger than our county magistrate.
In the county government office, it would be embarrassing if the magistrate looked at us seriously. There is no such thing as a toast in person and greetings. Looking at it this way, we really came to the right place.
After dinner, Zhu Yiyuan immediately arranged for people to pick up several family members.
Then Zhu Yiyuan said again: "Dongshangong, it's just a good time for you to come back. Now many scholars from poor backgrounds have come to seek refuge. It's time to start what we mentioned earlier."
Zhao Shizhe nodded repeatedly, "To be honest, when I went back this time, I have contacted many people from Shanzuo Grand Shrine. Among them are a descendant of my clan named Zhao Jinmei, and a young prodigy named Wang Shizhen. In addition, there are many others.
Young people and young students are all willing to contribute to the fight against the Qing Dynasty. These people will come over one after another."
Zhu Yiyuan was overjoyed, "If we can get talented people to join us, our talent will continue to grow. I will arrange for special people to take care of it. Next, we will conduct exams and admit a group of talents. If the talent continues to be enriched, these counties will depend on them."
Zhao Shizhe had no objections and fully agreed.
After this experience of almost escaping death, he had a new perspective. For example, Li Zhi's ideas have been more or less accepted by scholars in the past few decades. The influence of Xinxue is almost everywhere
.
However, for many years, Xinxue has remained in the realm of theory, and has even become a mere talk. Even the Donglin Party has looked down upon Xinxue, advocating practical learning that can be applied to the world.
Of course, Donglin’s practical knowledge is just that. It’s hard to say whether it’s practical or not, but it can definitely enrich your wallet.
Zhao Shizhe is also very confused. What should he do to find a way out?
Zhu Yiyuan's various actions and opinions may seem a bit deviant at first glance, but if you think about it carefully, he cares about every common person. Isn't this the people's foundation?
He equalizes land, not only to solve the land problem, suppress annexation, and eliminate refugees... This is something that people have been saying over the past few decades, but no one can do.
Now Zhu Yiyuan has done it, and he is doing well.
The situation in Laiwu and other places has initially proved Zhu Yiyuan's success. There are still people who are willing to follow him. As long as he persists, he may really become stronger and stronger...
Zhao Shizhe no longer had any doubts and decided to fully join the rebel army and assist Zhu Yiyuan to achieve great achievements.
Because of this person's status, Zhu Yiyuan did not dare to neglect him. He invited Zhao Shizhe to serve as counselor and machine maintenance counselor.
With this identity, Zhao Shizhe immediately began to conduct examinations, select officials, and establish regulations... It can be said that the rebel army is changing day by day, and it is prosperous.
However, Zhu Yiyuan was not the only rebel army in Shandong. For example, Xie Qian was in a very difficult situation at the moment.
To be precise, Xie Qian is alive today only because the Lord of Hell fell asleep and forgot to draw the cross.
In fact, the biggest characteristic of a rebel like Xie Qian is that he is casual and can do whatever he wants. He does not plan as much as Zhu Yiyuan. Every step he takes must be constantly weighed.
At first he came up with the idea of establishing a King of Lu, but after hearing Zhu Yiyuan's praise and capturing Zichuan, he felt that he could do bigger things and immediately marched into Jinan Prefecture.
If he was really big in Jinan Prefecture, Xie Qian might not have existed long ago.
Fortunately, just after leaving Zichuan, his fellow villagers in Gaoyuan informed him that Gaoyuan was empty and the villagers were unwilling to be slaves of the Qing court...
Xie Qian was born in Gaoyuan, and there are still many fellow villagers here. Instead of going to Jinan Prefecture to fight head-on, it is better to go to Gaoyuan first.
Then Xie Qian really captured Gaoyuan.
Villagers continued to join his team, and Xie Qian's men once exceeded 8,000.
At that time, Xie Qian was really confident and felt that he could do anything.
Then he received several severe blows one after another.
Mele Zhang Jing Lai Nian led troops and horses to attack. Xie Qian sent 3,000 men out of the city to actively fight. As a result, half of them were lost, and only more than 1,000 men fled back in embarrassment.
Then Yi Yonggui, the commander-in-chief of the Han Army Banner, also came, and they surrounded Gaoyuan County from the outside.
Xie Qian suddenly fell into the prison.
The Qing troops outside frequently attacked the city, and he had to go to the city in person to supervise the battle. He used all his strength to stop the Qing troops, and riots broke out inside again.
There is no food, the people in the city are in a mess, and their hearts are unstable.
A wealthy man in the city even planned to secretly open the city gate and lure the Qing soldiers in. Fortunately, Xie Qian found out and killed him directly.
"These beasts are so willing to serve as slaves of the Qing government when they ignore good people?"
Yan Ermei followed Xie Qian and said through gritted teeth: "Commander Xie, these wealthy gentry are not reliable. We can only rely on ordinary soldiers. I thought the commander should use thunderbolt tactics!"
Xie Qian gritted his teeth, "I can even kill my old master, let alone a few villagers!"
Lao Xie immediately issued an order to kill the wealthy gentry and businessmen in the city and confiscate their food... Each soldier received two pounds a day, and ordinary people received half as much.
Relying on strict food restrictions, Xie Qian managed to survive for a month and a half.
He killed all the wealthy businessmen in Gaoyuan. Later, the food for the soldiers dropped to one pound and eight taels, and for the common people it was reduced to seven taels, then five taels, three taels...
To put it bluntly, there is only one bowl of porridge left in a day.
The soldiers gradually ran out of food and had to slaughter animals.
After two and a half months, the old, weak, women and children in the city continued to die. Because they were surrounded by Qing soldiers outside, they could not even bury them. The whole city was shrouded in a stench.
Xie Qian had lost weight several times. He had to guard against the Qing army and appease the city every day. He was a candle burning at both ends. He was haggard and exhausted mentally and physically.
The most unpleasant thing for Xie Qian to see was those children crying from hunger. He wanted to spare some food, but he really couldn't.
The soldiers no longer had enough to eat. Due to hunger, they were weak and generally began to swell.
In the third month, the plague spread again in the city. Some soldiers fell to the ground while walking and could not get up again.
Xie Qian's military strength also dropped from the peak of 8,000 to less than 1,000.
That day Xie Qian came back from patrol, sat down next to Yan Ermei, and said directly: "Sir, you are ready to run, Gaoyuan is over."
Yan Ermei was also tortured to a terrible state, but he was still unwilling to give up, "Commander Xie gave up?"
Xie Qian nodded with a wry smile, "Go and have a look. I walked around today and saw three places where people were eating people! They took out the corpses, and they were all rotten and full of maggots. They also boiled them in a pot, which was a big mouthful.
Stuttering... I want to persuade them, but I have no energy. Mr. Yan, our food reserves are gone, and I am Xie Qian and only have this handful of bones left, otherwise, let them cook me and eat me!"
Yan Ermei knew too well that the situation in Gaoyuan City was even more terrifying than what Xie Qian said.
He was thinking about what to say when he suddenly heard the sound of sobbing. When he turned around, he saw that it was Xie Qian, this tough-minded man, who was actually crying.
"Damn it, that bastard named Zhu, if I hadn't listened to his instigation and wanted to be a hero, I wouldn't be where I am today... I'm standing in front of you, but you will repay the favor!"
"Zhu Yiyuan, I should bring you over your grandma's. The skin is tender and the meat is just right to cook!"
It was obvious that Xie Qian's spirit was on the verge of collapse... At this moment, someone suddenly staggered and ran over.
"Thank you, Commander, Commander...the Tatars have retreated!"
"What?" Xie Qian stood up subconsciously, his voice trembling, "You, are you telling the truth?"
"Really, if you don't believe it, you can go to the city and have a look. They are heading south."
Xie Qian was stunned for a moment, then Sayazi ran towards the city, followed by Yan Ermei.
The two men went to the top of the city and looked up. Sure enough, the Qing army had left, heading south.
"Thank you, Mr. Zhu!"
After saying that, Xie Qian lay on the ground, stuck his butt out, and kowtowed... This chapter has been completed!
