Eight hundred miles across Taihu Lake, straight across Zhejiang Province.
The lake covers an area of 36,000 hectares, with 48 islands and 72 peaks.
The pearl-like Taihu Lake is surrounded by countless small towns in the south of the Yangtze River, with small bridges, flowing water, fields of lotus leaves, and the dawn color on the lakeside. The continuous roof ridges and edges of the eaves of the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River outline the uneven eastern skyline.
Amid the crowing of cocks and the barking of dogs, a new day has ushered in.
This was supposed to be another ordinary morning in midsummer, but a sudden noise broke the tranquility, and a team of hundreds of people suddenly arrived.
The team held a Gu family flag high and a green flag next to it.
The leader of this team was called Gu Mazi. He was originally a fisherman in Taihu Lake. Later, he was struggling to make a living and joined Taihu Lake as a water thief. He robbed homes and homes. King Fu proclaimed himself emperor of Nanjing and was recruited and awarded the rank of guerrilla general. However, the Qing army soon moved south. This Gu
The guerrillas simply accepted the Qing army's recruitment, and suddenly became officers of the Qing Dynasty, and even got a higher rank and became a staff general.
However, in addition to getting a green flag and a letter of appointment, Gu Mazi didn't even get his official seal as a general. The Qing army recruited too many surrenders in Jiangnan, and it was too late even if they worked day and night to engrave them, so some important civil and military surrenders were made.
The official granted him a temporary wooden seal that was quickly made, while the others didn't even have a wooden seal.
Gu Mazi occupied an island in Taihu Lake and had hundreds of brothers and hundreds of family members under him. Although he became a general in the Qing Dynasty, he had neither a flood defense area nor money and military pay. In order to build up his momentum, he
He also recruited many people to join him.
The Qing army had no money and food supplies, so they had to return to their old business and sail boats along the lake to collect grain.
The so-called raiding for food is actually robbery.
The town they came to today was Sanshui Bay between the two states of Suhu and Huzhou. Gu Mazi knew this place well. It was close to the canal and backed by Taihu Lake. It had smooth water conservancy and guaranteed harvests during drought and floods. It also had traditional agriculture.
, they also grow mulberry, raise silkworms, reel and weave silk, and the handicraft industry is also very prosperous. This town has a population of more than a thousand households.
Last night, Gu Mazi had already sent his men disguised as business travelers to enter the town in advance. He knew the topography of the entire town and even the situation of the wealthy families in the city. He left some people on the outside to watch and intercept.
Then he swaggered into the village at dawn.
The town was in a panic, and Gu Mazi and his men began to loot the entire village like a dragnet, not only looting the rich families, but also the poor families, and everything from gold and silver silk to cloth and food was looted.
Let it go and grab whatever you see.
Anyone who dares to resist will be chopped with a knife.
After a whole morning of looting, all kinds of gold, silver, cloth, and food were piled up in the drying field in front of the village. But Gu Mazi was still not satisfied. He asked people to arrest the rich and powerful families in the town based on a list, and kidnapped several young men from each family.
, then set up a pyre and threatened each family to give gold and silver to redeem their people, otherwise they would be burned to death.
"I know you are dishonest, and you must have hidden gold, silver, calligraphy, paintings, etc. Now use the silver to ransom people, otherwise I will light people on fire as soon as noon passes."
Everyone begged, but Gu Mazi didn't pay attention at all.
After publicly beheading several villagers who came to tear them apart, the other villagers had no choice but to retreat in fear and go home to find a way.
Finally, some people took out the gold hidden in the house, some brought the silver, and some took out the jewelry of the wife and daughter at home.
Some people really had no money, so they had no choice but to bring in antique calligraphy and paintings, or even pigs and cows from home to replenish their money. Some people even had to use land deeds to redeem people.
Some even had nothing to offer, so they had to trade slaves or even daughters.
Gu Mazi proudly picked and picked, and finally he knocked out a lot of bones and sucked out the marrow, and then returned with satisfaction.
The villagers who were brutally looted were filled with resentment, but there was nothing they could do.
Chen Yanzong, a member of the village, said to his father, "We can't just let them take advantage of us. If these people robbed us this time, they will definitely come back next time. We, Sanshui Bay, will never be able to live in peace in the future."
Chen Shiyong is a silk merchant who has worked hard for half his life. He is usually very cautious, but today he was robbed but he dared not speak out in anger. When he heard this, he sighed, "They are bandits and we are common people. How can we fight?"
"I heard that Commander-in-Chief Wu Zhikui has stationed troops in Taihu Lake. I would like to go to Commander-in-Chief Wu's barracks to ask for troops to serve as a guide for the army to suppress Gu Mazi and other water bandits."
Chen Shiyong sighed repeatedly, "Although the Wu Zhikui and General Wu you mentioned were originally officers of the imperial court, now that the Ming Dynasty is gone, these officers and soldiers have long since become rebels. I went to Suzhou to sell silk, and then
I heard that Wu Zhikui's subordinates are not much better than Gu Mazi, and they are also collecting food and paying them everywhere. If you come to find them, isn't this a sheep entering a tiger's mouth and falling into a trap?"
"Son, in these troubled times, those who serve as soldiers are bandits. There is no difference between bandits and soldiers. Don't take the initiative to provoke them, otherwise there will be endless troubles."
"But what if Gu Mazi comes again?"
"It's better to rely on others than to rely on yourself." Chen Shiyong stroked his beard, "We also have more than a thousand households in Sanshui Bay. Many of them have silk machines and many are doing business. We cannot let others take advantage of us, but we can't
We can't provoke those soldiers and thieves. We might as well raise funds ourselves to build watchtowers, sentry towers, bell towers, build walls, buy swords, guns and firearms, gather young people in the village for training, and send more people to watch the wind and observe if there are bandits.
When soldiers and horses cross the border, we immediately close the village gates and guard the villages and towns with swords and guns."
Chen Yongshi was also well-known in the village. At this time, he expressed his idea of self-defense, which was positively agreed by the villagers. These days, the war is chaotic. Today's thieves will be tomorrow's soldiers. When they come, they will have to scrape the land. When encountering someone like Gu Mazi,
Those who are greedy and cruel will have to break their bones, suck out their marrow, and scrape the ground three feet before they are satisfied.
If this continues, no one will be able to live in peace.
So it was agreed that the people's bravery should be trained according to the method of Baojia. The rich would provide money and others would provide personnel. Everyone pooled money and let Chen Shi use Chen Yanzong and his son to purchase swords, guns and firearms. The villagers took out the money that had been hidden underground.
, a little bit of this, a little bit of that.
With the expectations of the villagers, the father and son took their servants and a dozen young people from the same village on the road.
They dressed up as cloth merchants and left home to go south. Their first stop was Zhenze Town. As soon as they entered the town, they found a tea shop and ordered some tea and ate the dry food they had brought. As a result, there was chaos in the town.
Someone shouted that the thieves were coming, and they were frightened and fled in all directions.
Soon, a large group of people rushed into the town, and they quickly took control of this lively town by the canal.
"Who is this person?"
The tea seller whispered, "It seems to be Gu Biao, the guerrilla general under General Wu. This Gu Biao was originally from this area. He was quite powerful in the land. He sold private salt secretly and had a fortune of tens of millions. He colluded with the government on weekdays and used his power to bully others. In the end,
He likes to use lawsuits to oppress people, causing countless families to be ruined.
After General Wu led his troops to the south, he took the initiative to bring his salt dealers to join him, and actually got the position of guerrilla general, so he became more and more lawless."
"Since you are a local, why are you leading troops to surround the town now?"
"Hey, you don't know something. These people are more powerful than bandits. Yesterday, Gu Biao had a soldier who was also a salt dealer. He brought a few of his men to this town to drink. After drinking, they went to a brothel and followed the town.
The young masters of the Zhao family, a wealthy family, got jealous and started fighting. The Zhao family has never been a fuel-efficient lamp. There were officials in the court who were also smuggling salt. It is said that the Gu and Zhao families often fought over salt sales in the past.
"Yesterday, Gu Biao's men were outnumbered by Mr. Zhao and were beaten with bruises and swollen nose. Mr. Zhao also deliberately made the city full of noise, and then tied up several of Gu Biao's soldiers at Wu Zongbing's barracks, saying that they were traitors.
, robbed property, let me give you an explanation."
General Wu was originally from Wuju, a native of Huating, Songjiang. He was once famous in the capital. It is said that he was a man who could carry 700 kilograms of iron and drink one stone a day. Later, Zhang Guowei, the Minister of Rongzheng, recommended him to be the commander-in-chief of Jinshan Dingbo Camp.
, Nanjing fell, and Huang Fei, the commander-in-chief, and others supported King Yiyang to supervise the country Chongming, and paid homage to the commander-in-chief Su Song. After listening to Mr. Zhao's remarks, he ordered the military sticks to punish those few people, but they were beaten to death directly.
When Gu Biao found out, he was very angry. He didn't lead an army to surround Zhenze Town, and he wanted to find Mr. Zhao to raise an army to hold him accountable."
Chen Yanzong was also very shocked after hearing this. How could General Wu's subordinates hide their filth, and how could General Wu kill his subordinates without asking any questions? Even if Gu Biao wanted to plead for an explanation for his subordinates, he couldn't directly
If you lead troops to surround the town, how can the merchants and people in other towns be spared?
"This is how the world is!"
"There is no difference between soldiers and bandits."
"Everyone is careful not to show his face. I hope that Gu Biao will only cause trouble for the Zhao family and not involve us."
It's just that things went against their wishes. The Zhao family is also powerful in the local area. Otherwise, how could they dare to cause trouble for Gu Biao's men like that? After they were beaten to death yesterday, they also knew that things were troublesome, so they made preparations early.
Gu Biao led troops to surround the town, and the Zhao family had already contacted many salt dealers, thugs, gangsters, etc. The two sides had a disagreement and soon started fighting in the town, and then many gangsters in the town began to take advantage of the fire to rob.
For a time, the whole town was in chaos.
Chen Shiyou, his father and son were so frightened that they hid behind the tea shop. Soon after, another group of troops came and they recognized it was Gu Mazi and others who had robbed them not long ago.
Gu Mazi and his men launched an attack on Gu Biao's men. It turned out that he was hired by the Zhao family to help.
Both sides fought chaotically.
The entire town of Zhenze was caught in the flames of war, and many people took advantage of it, robbing and committing adultery everywhere, and many places in the town were on fire.
"What a sin!"
Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, it suddenly changed again.
Suddenly, a larger force arrived. This force had more people, better equipment, better military discipline, and better military appearance. As soon as it arrived, it surrounded Zhenze Town on all sides.
In less than half a day, the chaos was over.
Chen Jizong and a group of people hiding behind the tea shop saw cavalry going to the streets to beat gongs to calm the people, and infantry began to patrol the streets, searching for defeated soldiers, capturing rogues who took advantage of the chaos, and organizing people to put out fires.
"Could it be that Chief Wu led his troops to arrive in person?"
The tea shop owner who quietly went out to inquire about the situation slipped back and said to everyone with excitement, "It's not General Wu who is here, it's the Supervisor."
"Isn't the Supervisor State on Chongming Island? Why are you here?"
"It's not the one from Chongming, it's the supervisor from eastern Zhejiang, the supervisor from Lu. He just entered the city and his troops were like dragons. He was engulfing the mountains and rivers. Also, Gu Biao, Gu Mazi, Mr. Zhao and other leaders who were fighting in chaos have all been captured.
The new supervisors who entered the city sent troops to kill them, and all their soldiers surrendered."
The villagers of Sanshuiwan Village are still confused. Why did Zhejiang also have a prison state, and why are they here?
"Zhenze Town is located in the canal, so news can be easily communicated. To talk about Lu Jianguo, that's incredible. His deeds can be told in three days and three nights."
Chen Jizong looked at the streets that were quickly restored to order. Although he had not met him, he was in awe of Lu Jianguo. He had always thought that soldiers and bandits were indistinguishable, but he did not expect to see the real Master Wang now.
"Dad, I want to go see Lu Jianguo."
"What are you doing?"
"Lu Jianguo killed Gu Mazi. I'm going to see if I can get back some of the money and food that Gu Mazi robbed from us. Even if the money and food are not returned, the female slaves who were taken away will definitely be able to get back."
"Also, I want to give up my writing and join the army and join the army of Lu Jianguo to help the world and the people and help the country! This world is in need of a wise king and savior like Lu Jianguo. It is the right time for us scholars to join this wise man!"
