Xiao Tang, Hua Rong, Shi Xiu and others killed the bandits Leizhen, Duan Ren and Feng Yi. After counting the results of the battle, they killed more than 200 thieves, captured 780 people alive, and killed 31 local braves. Xiao Tang and others
They hurried to Pan's residence in Kongsongzhuang, where Taigong Pan, Mrs. Pan and everyone in Pan's residence put their hearts back into their stomachs.
Originally, Pan Taigong also wanted to order the villagers to collect the fine silver coins and escape from the village to avoid disaster. However, Zhang Di's various units of the Southern Hebei Army were plundering all over the territory of Enzhou, so there was no chance that they would be caught up by this group of thieves.
We encountered another group of thieves, so we only had to send Wu Zhihuo to Daming Mansion and mobilize Xiaojiaxiang Yong to come to the rescue.
Seeing Wu Zhi returning home with Xiao Tang, Miss Pan's family hurried over to greet him, her concern was beyond words. Taigong Pan also thanked Xiao Tang and said: "If my nephew hadn't arrived in time, my house would have been broken down by thieves.
Unthinkable!”
"Pan Taigong, now is not the time to be careless." Xiao Tang looked serious and said in a deep voice: "Since Zhang Di's gangsters are looting Zhuzhuang Town under the jurisdiction of Qingyihe County, I'm afraid there are also thieves running rampant near Kongsongzhuang.
.If the thieves who escaped here learn from the people that there are brave villagers coming to help from Kongsongzhuang, I'm afraid the thieves will not give up!"
When Pan Taigong heard this, he was even more frightened. Although he was a highly respected elder, he was helpless against thieves who just wanted to kill people and steal goods. He said: "This... what should we do...
?”
Xiao Tang appeased Pan Taigong and said, "Don't panic, Taigong. I have my own thoughts on this matter." While he summoned the brave fire from the Xiao family to come to the rescue, he also made two preparations: Xiao Tang first sent Xu Guanzhong to the left-behind department of Daming Prefecture.
I searched for Liang Shijie and sent drums to report the situation in the imperial army.
Pioneer Suo was suppressed by the Daming Palace Forbidden Army, so he became the deputy commander of the cavalry army thanks to Xiao Tang's help. Xiao Tang believed in Yi Suo's temperament and would definitely lead the more than 300 elite cavalry to come to the rescue without hesitation. And Liang Shijie
When attending his own wedding, he also knew about the relationship between Xiao Tang and the Pan Mansion in Kongsongzhuang, Qingyihe County. However, even if he ordered the mobilization of imperial troops from various camps in Daming Mansion, he would have to go through some twists and turns.
Under the arrangements of Xiao Tang, Yan Qing, and Yang Lin, the villagers in Kongsongzhuang collected the bodies of the people who had died under the swords of Lei Zhen and other thieves. Only half of Kongsongzhuang was seen with smoke and dust scattered everywhere, including the killed men and women.
There were countless people, including women, children, orphans and the elderly wailing loudly. Not only were hundreds of households affected, but dozens of houses were burned to the ground.
Originally, there were three wealthy families in Kongsongzhuang: Kong, Song, and Pan. At this time, more than 70 members of the Song family were killed by thieves. Song's two daughters and a dozen female relatives were naked, leaving only
The next four or five people were defiled and cried incessantly. The rest of the poor women couldn't stand the thieves' repeated ravages and attacks, and they died.
Xiao Tang felt his head twitching and his eyes were split open. Those thieves were extremely cruel and vicious. When he thought about it carefully, the so-called Jinan Army gathered by Zhang Di were not heroic heroes who had the same mind and put benevolence and righteousness first. All of them were
When desperadoes gathered together for profit, when they can do whatever they want, the dark side and animal nature in their hearts will be completely revealed. The common people, whether members or not, are nothing but fish and meat on chopping boards, allowing them to take whatever they want.
In fact, these banditry activities driven by profit were also intentionally carried out by the leader of the Southern Hebei Army Alliance. All the uprisings and riots in the past dynasties certainly included "equalizing land and freeing food", "overthrowing tyranny", "doing justice for heaven", etc.
The banners win over the people and fight to the end with the imperial government. But there are still many times when the so-called rebels actually take the opposite approach in order to expand their power in the short term...
For example, in a period like the Song Dynasty, although the state governments were ruthless and corrupt, and there were many corrupt and unlucky officials who exploited the people, and there were also six thieves in the court who were corrupt, perverted the law, and acted tyrannically, the kind-hearted and tolerant people could only find a way to survive for themselves, especially for their families.
, they would not be willing to cut themselves off and risk their lives to create an emperor. Therefore, the current resistance among the people against the imperial officials is not enough to overthrow the entire Song Dynasty.
Therefore, Zhang Di can only take another approach: Since the government has not forced you to a dead end, I will first force you to resist!
The miserable people, who were already suffering from land annexation and excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes, were plundered and plundered by strongmen and bandits who stripped them of all the means of survival that allowed them to survive. Many people were desperate and forced to join the thieves.
Although this method is to drink poison to quench thirst and drain the lake, but because it is very effective in the short term, Zhang Di can only expand his power through this method. A person like him is inherently limited by personal considerations and the limitations of each dynasty's uprising. Moreover,
Counting all the uprisings and riots in Chinese history, how many of them can truly uphold justice for heaven and love the people like their own children?
Xiao Tang was thinking in his mind when suddenly Yang Lin came to report: "Young Master, Deputy Commander Suo has led 300 Forbidden Army cavalry to Kongsongzhuang!"
Before he finished speaking, Suo, Zhou Jin, and Wang Ding arrived on horseback. Suo turned over and dismounted, rushed to Xiao Tang, and said in a furious voice: "Commander Xiao, I'm here! Where is the thief now!?"
"
Xiao Tang saw that the request was so happy, just to help him resist the bandits of the southern Hebei army, he felt grateful and said: "We have eliminated the first group of thieves, but there are still bandits raging around, I'm afraid they will still come to attack Kong Song.
village."
"I'm afraid they won't come!" Suo Ben was a man who fought for the sake of the country and refused to fall behind others. He shouted sternly: "Those thieves are so courageous! These days are just for training soldiers and horses. I
I already have a lot of time to spare. If those thieves dare to come, I will kill them all!"
As if catering to this eager vanguard, Shi Xiu hurriedly came to report: "Brother! Another bandit has arrived in front of Kongsongzhuang!"
"How many thieves are here?" Xiao Tang asked.
"According to the sentry report, there should be two to three thousand people!"
Xiao Tang's heartstrings tightened. The number of thieves killed this time was almost ten times greater than that of Lei Zhen and others. Although more than 300 cavalrymen under Xiangyong and Suo were now united, if they really wanted to fight, the casualties would be heavy!
"Follow me to meet the thieves first!" Xiao Tang ordered Xiao Yi, Xue Yong and others to lead the infantry to arrange the village's defense. Then they got on their horses, and there were two hussars, one on the left and the other on the right.
There were also Shi Xiu, Yang Lin, Zhou Jin and others, as well as three hundred Forbidden Army cavalry, rushing straight to the entrance of the village...
When Xiao Tang led his army to Zhuangkou, he saw that among the two or three thousand thieves, one of the three leaders was riding a silver curly horse and wielding a wind-splitting knife, and the other two were holding swords.
A steel gun with white dots, and the other carries a long sword on his back.
The thief carrying the Splashing Wind Knife is nine feet long. He wears an iron helmet dotted with gold, with large and small red tassels scattered on the top. He wears a pair of iron armor with a chain of threads, a war robe embroidered with clouds and flowers, and a pair of red tassels.
The slanted leather welted cloud-heeled boots, tied with a red stud, looked majestic, and the thief's fleshy face and beard made him even more fierce and fierce.
"Dog officer! You dare to bring people here to cause trouble and seek death!" The thief saw that the soldiers and horses on the opposite side were dressed as officers and generals. He raised his sword and cursed: "Even the men and women of the Enzhou Forbidden Army were all killed by me. If you destroy me, you bunch of slaves who work like dogs in the government, how dare you come to offend me and wait for my power!?"
Hearing this, Suo added fuel to the fire and was furious. He was eager to charge forward with his horse, but when he was fighting with the thief, he was stopped by Xiao Tang. Xiao Tang stared at the thief and shouted loudly: "Shameless thief! How dare you be so arrogant in killing good people indiscriminately! You, a helper of abuse, have a name, don't be a nameless ghost!"
The thief also had a bad temper. After hearing this, he cursed: "Bah! Ping'erguan'er also has two ears. You must also hear the name of Dong Cheng, the Thunder Tiger! I and the Nine-Life Leopard Shen Ji, the night owl brothers Geng Gong are here to take the lives of you slaves!"
Xiao Tang sneered: "I, Xiao Tang, have a great head here, just waiting for you to come and get it!"
Dong Cheng, Shen Ji, and Geng Gong were all stunned when they heard this. Then Dong Cheng shouted and asked: "Which Xiao Tang are you? But that Xiao Renxia who is called Mr. Nirvana in Daming Mansion!?"
Xiao Tang replied: "Who else besides me?"
Dong Cheng stopped yelling and scolding. He only looked up and down Xiao Tang's body with a pair of bull's eyes, and suddenly shouted: "We, the Hebei Southern Army, are not in conflict with you, so why are you trying to kill my allies on the road?"
Xiao Tang shouted: "Mr. Pan Taigong of Kongsongzhuang was kind to me, how could I allow you to harm his life! What's more, you robbed homes and houses just for money and food, but you killed innocent people indiscriminately in the village, killing countless people. That's it. God can tolerate you for a while, but how can I, Xiao Tang, tolerate such atrocities like yours!?"
Dong Cheng snorted heavily, even though he acted as he did, he would not kill the unresisting merchants and common people during the robbery and borrowing food, but would only kill those who dared to resist. But the strongman who made a living by licking the blood from his knife in the green forest had no choice. What's so rare about a few more lives and a few less lives? Aren't you a well-known figure on Hebei and Hebei Roads? Why are you pretending to be so noble? Who do you show this face to?
Dong Cheng was about to scold back, but was stopped by Shen Ji on the side. Shen Ji said to Xiao Tang: "Xiao Renxia, to be honest, this time my brothers and I borrowed grain from various villages in Jizhou and Enzhou. Although Zongcheng County, Daming Prefecture, Places such as Xiaojiaji are right under our noses, but we brothers also know that many of Xiao Renxia’s shops are there. Taking into account Xiao Renxia’s reputation on Hebei Road, we did not go to Zongcheng County and other places to seek your bad luck. .
Although there was a misunderstanding this time, Xiao Renxia led his men to kill our allies in the southern Hebei army without any hesitation, and also went hand in hand with the imperial officers and soldiers. Wouldn't it be against the moral principles of the world to do so?"
"What's the point of talking to this guy!?" Dong Cheng scolded again: "I always listen to that guy's reputation in the world, but I really forgot that he relied on flattery to flatter the left-behind Prime Minister of Daming Mansion! Such a person If you only have utilitarianism in your eyes, how can you take the loyalty of the world seriously!?"
"Wait a minute." Geng Gong, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, "Xiao Renxia, let our brothers discuss this for a moment."
Geng Gong rode his horse to Dong Cheng's side again and persuaded in a low voice: "Although Xiao Tang killed his allies in the southern Hebei army, the three people who came here to plunder Lei Zhen, Duan Ren, and Feng Yi are not sworn brothers who cut off the chicken heads and burned the yellow paper." Brothers, it was just our efforts to stand up for those three, but it was our brothers’ lives that were wasted!
The monk can run away but cannot run away from the temple. So Xiao Tang is in Daming Mansion. Are you worried about not being able to find him? Since he is also a well-known person in Hebei and Hebei, and he is also a luxurious person on the road. In my opinion, we have the right to withdraw our troops.
We will make further calculations after the reason for this matter is revealed to Alliance Leader Zhang."
Although Dong Cheng was reckless, their so-called Green Forest Alliance of the Southern Hebei Army was originally a gang of second- and third-rate cottages in Hebei and Hedong, and they didn't have much friendship with each other. Geng Gong was right, why bother fighting for three dead people?
People, consuming their own strength? Alliance leader Zhang Di has the final say on this matter, so why bother fighting to the death with that Xiao Tang now?
After some calculations, Dong Cheng made up his mind and shouted to Xiao Tang: "Today I will sell you the reputation of being a knight, but you must also know that you have broken the rules of the road by currying favor with the government. Let's
The relationship between the Jinan Army and you has been forged!"
