Chapter 1 Drumming (beat) Li Xu understands those people who have locked themselves in walls. If he were still in Yixian now, he would also hold a bow and follow the elders of the clan to hide behind the fortress when the court could no longer protect them.
When the common people were young, everyone had to think of ways to protect themselves. Zhang Xutuo once mentioned to him that in the last troubled times, bandits usually would not attack a relatively strong fortress. Instead, they would come up with a number based on the fertility of the surrounding fields.
It is up to the guardian in Zhuangzi to decide whether to pay. If both parties can reach an agreement, they can live in peace.
Everyone calls this kind of transaction security fee, which means spending money to buy peace. Zhuangzi paid the bandits for the materials they requested, and the other party could not attack again within a year, otherwise they would be ridiculed. Most bandits can do what they say.
And if there is a letter, there are also bandits who do not abide by this rule. As such, the men in the fortress will take up weapons and fight to the death. Once the Zhuangzi is broken, no one will survive.
Village owners from all over Henan obviously classified the government troops and bandits into the same category, so when Zhang Xutuo's banner appeared outside their fortress, the first thing they thought of was to pay a part of the "security fee" and invite the army.
Men, hurry up and get on your way. As for opening the village gate to welcome guests, that is absolutely impossible, because even if the officers and soldiers outside are genuine, their discipline may not be much better than that of the bandits. Moreover, in the past year, there have indeed been officers and soldiers pretending to be bandits.
Robbery and bandits pretending to be officers and soldiers often occur.
After joining the Wagang Army, most of the bandits active in Dongjun, Dongping, Jiyin and other places adopted this method of collecting "security fees". Based on what he learned along the way, Li Xu was surprised to find that several bandits carrying tiles
The money collected by the bandits under the banner of Gangjun from Zhuangzi seems to be lower than the current taxes of the Sui Dynasty. Of course, this refers to the actual collection figures. If we only look at the part levied by the court on the surface, the people of the Sui Dynasty should
Every family is extremely rich, but if we do that, local officials and subordinate staff will have no money to make money. They will not work for the court in vain.
"The thieves collected less than the government!" While thinking about these absurd facts, Li Xu led his brothers to move closer to the main force. In the afternoon battle, thirty-six of his brothers were killed and one hundred and ten were injured.
The four of them together reduced their number to 150. The defeated rebel army was about 10,000 dead. Not many were killed on the spot. Most of them escaped over the mountains and ridges. There were also a small number of people who had weak legs or suffered injuries.
The arrow wounds were serious and they were captured by the officers and soldiers of Qi County. Li Xu ordered the neatly dressed ones to be tied up with ropes and tied into a bunch at the waist. The soldiers escorted them to Zhang Xutuo's Chinese army to interrogate the enemy.
"Victory?" Zhang Xutuo saw Li Xu returning safely and stepped forward with a smile, asking
"A complete victory! We killed more than 470 people on the spot and captured more than 200 prisoners. Some of them may be the leaders. I took them all over!" Li Xu waved his hand behind him, signaling Zhou Xing and others to take the prisoners.
bring
"Okay, let me come and see how many generals Li Hou captured today!" Zhang Xutuo joked, stroking his beard.
Introducing the organization of officers and soldiers into the rebel army was a major initiative Li Mi made after arriving in Wagang Mountain. Now, the bandits following Wagang's banner have their own names, and the big and small leaders are no longer simply called
As the head of the family, he has a complete series of official titles from general to halberd commander. Zhai Rang, the original leader of Wagang, is now elected by the bandits as Dongjun Gong, general, and Shangzhuguo.
And Xu Maogong, the original second-in-command of Wagang Mountain, became the champion general and the general manager of the internal army.
In the past year or so, the Wagang army has expanded too fast, and the leaders who came to join the army did not belong to each other. In order to be fair, the official positions Li Mi assigned to everyone through Zhai Rang were a bit high.
Li Xu and others estimated that those with 3,000 minions in the bandit army could be made generals, and those with more than 5,000 men could be made generals. They had so many officers that after more than half a month of fighting between the two sides, the county soldiers had already
The formation beheaded a General Zhongwu, a General Xuanwei and a General Dingyuan, and also captured alive a dozen generals of the fifth rank.
The officers and soldiers of Qi County had already learned about the situation of the generals in Wagang through the prisoners' mouths a few days ago. Therefore, everyone was amused by Zhang Xutuo's words and laughed loudly. When they had laughed enough, the guards wiped away the tears from laughter and
Walk up to the prisoner team, pick the one with the best armor, and pull it outwards. This is the best way to identify the status of the prisoner. Basically, once people who are doing good for God get a benefit, they usually give it to themselves first.
The first person who was pulled into the central military tent by the swordsman introduced himself as a general of rangers. He was quite stubborn in his words. Zhang Xutuo Wenyan asked him a few questions about the specific tactical arrangements of the Wagang Army.
He claimed that he was unaware of Luo Shixin's threats, but the man sneered and cursed: "Kill him if you want. The scar on his head won't be bigger than a bowl. Anyway, I have never thought about living a long life since I embarked on this path!"
"Forget it, I will bury your body here, and your name will be engraved on the tombstone!" Zhang Xutuo saw that the other party had no intention of begging for mercy, so he waved his hand and ordered someone to take him away.
"Thank you very much. The one engraved on the monument is Kuangcheng Li Huating!" Wagang Ranger General Li Huating smiled and strode out.
"This man is quite a man!" Looking at the enemy general's back, Luo Shixin praised in a low voice, "It's a pity that he became a bandit, otherwise it would be in line with my temperament!"
"In times of war, many heroes died." Zhang Xutuo also shook his head with emotion. If it were five years ago, an upright man like Li Huating might not be able to do things for the country. But now, he can only become a
A handful of loess in the middle of the wilderness
"Who would be willing to become a rebel if they had the chance to get married? Didn't Mr. Zhang see it? This man is not afraid of death, but he cares about his official title and surname very much!" Bei Hai, who came with everyone to beg the thief.
The county magistrate Wu Yulin was attentive and reminded him in a low voice.
His words caused a sigh. Everyone in the tent had been fighting with rogue bandits for many years. Earlier, the reason why most people became bandits was because they could not survive. But starting from this year, a large number of government soldiers and low-level officers appeared among the enemy.
Low-level officials and unsuccessful scholars joined thieves in order to get ahead. Their purpose was clear, and they played a considerable role among rogue thieves. With the help of these people, many large-scale rogue bandits settled down and began to
Manage your own nest in one city and one place
If the imperial court could give a little space to people of commoner background when selecting officials, perhaps the rebellions in various places would not be so serious. But this assumption has no possibility of being realized. The government of the Sui Dynasty was in the hands of aristocratic families, and they would not
Take actions that harm your own interests
The second prisoner who was pushed into the central military tent was obviously still a child. The beard on his mouth had just grown, and his voice was a bit childish. He had an arrow wound on his thigh and a huge horse hoof on his chest.
Yin'er, so he couldn't walk very steadily, but when he answered Zhang Xutuo's words, he tried his best to straighten his body.
"Is this year a strong man?" Learning the lesson from the last time, Zhang Xutuo decided to change the interrogation method. Based on his experience in dealing with bandits for many years, young people don't have much scheming, and it is easier to get words from them.
"What are you talking about? I don't understand!" The young man's eyes widened, with a very strong local accent in his throat.
"Your Majesty, how old are you this year?" Wu Yulin repeated Zhang Xutuo's question again.
"Fifteen, why do adults who belong to chickens ask this? Do you still want to let me go home?" The young man puffed up his chest and tried to look like an adult.
"I can let you go home, but you must first tell me your name, what officer you are in the bandit army, where the other teams are, and what arrangements Li Mi has made!" Zhang Xutuo smiled kindly and said
His face was not too fierce, and his smile was more like that of a loyal elder. However, the other party was not fooled. He spat bloody spit on the ground and said proudly: "My name is Huang Gou Sheng, and my nickname is Wagang."
Lieutenant Zhenwei of the Weicheng Camp. The brothers in our battalion were defeated by that big black guy among you today. The other battalions are on the nearby mountains. I don’t know where exactly! As for what arrangements Mr. Li made, he
You definitely won’t tell me, so there’s no point in asking me!”
"Lie! Since you are already a military captain, you should naturally know what the specific arrangements for this battle are. Could it be that Li Mi just mentioned a place and you all came to die without asking?" Zhang Xutuo made a serious face and said
A fierce look and a scolding
"Since you know I can lie, why are you still asking me?" Huang Gou Sheng opened his black eyes and looked at Zhang Xutuo without fear.
There was only calmness and determination in those eyes. Li Xu watched from the side and couldn't help but feel sad for him. This is the year of Yihai. The person born in the Year of the Rooster is just in his early fourteens. He is about the same size as when he left the country. It's just that he was
Fortunately, he escaped the conscription, and due to various opportunities, he made great achievements in the future. If nothing unexpected happened, the life of the young man in front of him was about to end.
Those who confess quickly can be detained as coolies in the back camp. As for those who refuse to surrender, they are basically killed immediately. The young man obviously chooses the latter, and has no fear.
"Don't you want to go home? Think about home, think about your grandparents!" Unwilling to let the young man die, Li Xu leaned close to him and almost used a begging tone to enlighten him.
"I have no home. Grandpa was arrested by you and went to Liaodong the year before last year. He has not come back yet. My mother is weak and could not stand the hunger. She also died last spring. Sir, please let me go home. My house is underground. Is there any use?"
Please let me go?" Huang Gou Sheng tilted his head and glanced at him, then replied with a sneer.
"I'm not a thief, you are!" He spat out another mouthful of blood and cursed bitterly.
