A Green Camp soldier blew his horn horn in panic, "Thieves!"
Hearing the alarm, several green battalion flood soldiers frantically looked for weapons and equipment. Archer Zhao Laoliu strung the bow, but despite his best efforts, he could not string the bow.
He tried again, and finally gasped and cursed, "Damn it, I don't have the strength to string up the bow."
Several other Green Camp soldiers were also desperate.
They have been hungry for too long. They have been starving for more than a year. Each of the several city guards in this flood pond has lost at least thirty kilograms due to hunger.
All of them were skinny and hungry, with sunken eyes.
They could no longer even string their bows, and the dozens of kilograms of armor seemed extremely heavy.
Eight flood soldiers gathered together and looked at the group of troops galloping in the distance.
The dust is flying, and there is a horse team in front.
Looking at the chaotic flags, it was obvious that this was not the Ming army.
"It's from the White Robe Club."
There were a large number of people in this group, headed by more than a hundred knights in white robes, and those behind were obviously much more chaotic.
The White Robe Society has a great reputation. It is said that these people used to be a branch of the White Lotus Sect, a secret society. Then at the beginning of the year, under the leadership of Xie Qian, a Gaoyuan native, they raised a banner to rebel, broke through Gaoyuan County, and killed the Qing Dynasty in the city.
The army also killed many officials and gentry, and looted the entire county.
Afterwards, they recruited troops and used the banner of the White Robe Society, wearing white robes as their symbol. These people also raised the banner of supporting the Ming Dynasty and destroying the Qing Dynasty.
Gaoyuan is in the north, at the junction of Qingzhou and Jinan, not far from the Daqing River. Last year, the Yellow River changed its course and diverted the Daqing River into the sea. This also caused hundreds of miles along the river to become a yellow flood zone, which flooded during the rainy season.
A disaster occurred and Gaoyuan was severely affected, but the governor of Shandong still pressed for grain and taxation, which eventually led to Xie Qian's death.
Later, the Qing army came to attack, and Xie Qian led his troops and began to flee.
I don’t know why, but I ended up here now.
"There are only eight of us in this flood pond. He won't come after us, right?"
The hungry archer couldn't even string his bow. Looking at the overwhelming crowd of people and horses, he couldn't help but lick his lips, "Why do you think these people still have so many horses and mules to ride on? They must be able to eat well, leader of the team."
, let’s just join them and have a good meal first, I’m so hungry.”
The same goes for the other green soldiers who can't even wear armor.
"If we stay here any longer, we will all starve to death."
"Surrender, get a piece of white cloth, we surrender." The small team leader didn't even have a rank. They were completely forgotten by the superiors. The team leader also went to Zhangqiu Camp to ask for food and wages, but every time he came up empty-handed.
And return.
If we didn't usually dig some wild vegetables, or even set traps to catch some mice, catch some toads, etc., we would have starved to death. I'm sure we wouldn't be able to hold on even if we were so hungry and full.
These few of them are still singles and don't have families to drag them down, otherwise they would have run away long ago.
When the eight skinny green soldiers appeared with white flags, everyone in the White Robe Society was shocked. They didn't expect that there were still several Qing soldiers here.
When he learned that they wanted to surrender, he accepted it after some questioning.
"Can you give me something to eat first? Anything will do. We are really hungry. Let's exchange for bows and armors."
The eight people had eight pairs of armor, three pairs of cotton armor and five pairs of cloth armor. Although it was a bit broken, there were actual pieces of iron armor inside, not to mention they also had bows, knives, spears, and even two poles.
shotgun.
Xie Qian saw that they were starving to death and was not surprised. Although the Tatars still controlled many places in Shandong, the Eight Banners garrisoned them were all huddled in Jinan. In big cities like Xuzhou, other green camp soldiers were also huddled in their houses.
, those in the county and in the countryside are the city garrison and flood-tang soldiers, who have low combat effectiveness and poor treatment.
After being blocked by the Ming army for so long, they are already relatively capable of handling it even if they are still alive.
"Give them something to eat."
Xie Qian's servants threw them some corn buns, cold corn buns, but as if they saw treasures, they rushed to grab them and gnawed them into their mouths when they caught them.
I haven’t eaten food for a long time, and I cried while eating.
"Slower."
Xie Qian accepted the armors and weapons of several people unceremoniously. He would accept anyone who came to submit, but he would definitely give these equipment to his confidants first, and only then would he give them the equipment after they prove themselves later.
Several people cried while eating, choked while eating, and almost choked to death. They patted their chests and drank water before finally coming back to their senses.
"Where are you going, sir?"
Xie Qian looked at these people and said with a smile, "We are waiting for our friends here."
Collect these people and arrange them to the back. Each person is given a wooden gun, and they are considered to have joined the gang.
At this time, only a few people had time to take a closer look at the men and horses of this white-robed society. There were about several thousand people. The most elite ones were probably the more than a hundred white-robed knights led by Xie Qian, followed by about three hundred mules.
Then what was left were hundreds of young and strong men carrying spears, and behind them there were many people who were as thin and hungry as them, and there were also many old and weak people with them.
The entire team is said to be divided into five battalions, front, rear, center, left and right, but they can't see any difference. They are just a group of refugees anyway.
After eating a few wotou, I regained a lot of energy. Although it was exchanged for a set of equipment, it would normally be worth seven or eight taels of silver. They had not sold it before, and they didn't know who they could sell it to, otherwise
I sold it a long time ago, and now I have only exchanged it for a few steamed buns, but I don’t regret it.
By donating eight sets of equipment, he gained some trust in this battalion. Their sentry commander was a stout man with a flail in his hand. He used to be a tenant farmer. During the attack on Gaoyuan, it was said that he killed a green camper with a flail.
He was a soldier, so he became the sentinel commander.
According to him, they had been guerrillas in the Daqing River and Changbai Mountain areas before. Recently, they had contacted Ding Keze of Zichuan and were preparing to cooperate with others to defeat Zichuan County.
"I heard that the imperial camp of the Ming Dynasty has sent out troops to attack Jinan. We are going to capture Zichuan this time and be the vanguard for the king."
The burly and stout Xie Qian was from Xiejiacang, Gaoyuan County. When the Daqing River was flooded when he was young, he fled with his family to Zichuan. Later, he became a tenant of the famous Han family in Zhangdian. The Han family was an official, and Han Yuan became a Jinshi in the first year of Chongzhen.
, when he was in charge of the military affairs department, he returned from the eleventh year of Chongzhen. As soon as the Tatars entered the customs, he went to Beijing with Sun Zhixian, a fellow villager in Zichuan, to pay homage, and was revived by the Qing court.
Han Yuan gave Shizhong the rites department, and later promoted the officials to Shizhong. His official career in the Qing court was pretty good.
However, Xie Qian hated the Han family. When they were fleeing from disaster, the Han family bought his sister as a slave with a little food. He said he was taking them in, but in fact they were driving them like cattle and horses. They were often punished and beaten, and they couldn't eat.
Satisfied.
Later, Xie Qian returned to his hometown in Gaoyuan. Because he had participated in the White Lotus Sect secret society in his early years, he took advantage of the chaos and took advantage of the chaos. He targeted the powerful landlords who had surrendered to the Han family like the Han family.
He sneaked into his hometown with a few brothers to advocate for the Shenghu family, killed him, distributed his property and food to the local poor people, raised a flag to revolt, and soon recruited many poor people who could not survive.
In less than a month, he gathered thousands of people, and then worked together inside and outside to conquer Gaoyuan County, killed the county magistrate Wu Zhenhua, called the people in the county by name, and distributed money and food.
After that, he captured Liujia Town and Changshan County, and his reputation became more and more famous.
When the sentry commander talked about Xie Qian, he was full of respect and thought he was a truly heroic man.
"Why didn't you go to the Ming Army?" the captain asked.
The sentry commander smiled and said, "Being a boss means that there are many rules in the military, and not everyone wants it. We are the ones who take care of the family, and no one else wants it after we get there."
After chatting for a while, the sentry commander had something to do and left. The eight Green Camp soldiers had food in their bellies at this time. One of them held a simple wooden gun that he had just received. They were quite calm.
"I think Xie Qian is very ambitious. He must want to attract these people to make a bigger noise and attract more people, so that he and the emperor can have the capital to ask for titles." The captain analyzed.
"Well, in troubled times, if you have soldiers and guns, you are the grass-headed king, that's right." Everyone agreed.
there.
Not long after Xie Qian waited, more than ten horsemen and horses arrived.
But it was Ding Keze, a native of Zichuan.
"Brother, you've been waiting for a long time."
Ding Keze is also very tall and strong. He has good riding skills. He gallops forward on his horse, gallops close to him, and makes a beautiful turn and falls off the horse, firmly and firmly.
"We have just arrived." Xie Qian gave Ding Keze a big hug.
Xie Qian and Ding Keze are old friends. They both worked as tenants in the Han family and lived a hungry and tired life. They often went out to fish and catch shrimps on moonlit nights late at night when they were too hungry to sleep. They also lay in bed
Complaining about the unfairness of the world under the moonlight.
After Xie Qian raised his troops in Gaoyuan, he sent letters to recruit his old friends to join him in doing great things.
Ding Keze did not go, however. He started a smuggling business in Zichuan and even acquired a few mines, so his life was still good.
After Xie Qian found out, he didn't force it, but he still kept in touch secretly. Xie Qian even robbed gold and silver jewelry and other items from powerful families, and sometimes used Ding Keze to do so.
"You came a step too late. The Shence Army of the Imperial Camp of the Ming Dynasty had already occupied Zichuan. The camp officer still wanted to resist, but the Ming Army fired several volleys of cannons, and the big households in the city forced them to surrender."
Xie Qian originally planned to cooperate with Ding Keze to capture Zichuan and loot some money and supplies before the Ming army arrived, but he did not expect to arrive late.
"That's a pity."
"I have good news here. Do you know about that bitch Sun Zhixian?"
"I know, even if I turn into ashes, I'll recognize it. A relative of the Han family, a Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi. He studied in the same department as the loyal minister Lu Xiangsheng. It seems that their department also produced a bachelor?"
"Well, Wen Zhenmeng, the number one scholar in that subject, later became a cabinet bachelor. Sun Zhixian, a thief, was Wei Zhongxian's lackey in the court. He was promoted all the way by hugging Wei Zhongxian's thigh. After Wei Zhongxian's fall, Sun Zhixian
Xie Shi was dismissed from office and returned to his hometown.
But as soon as the Tatars came, he immediately dragged Han Yuan to vote.
At that time, the Tatars had just entered the customs and did not even ask the Han officials to shave their heads. When they went to court, the officials were divided into two classes: Manchu and Han. The Manchu officials had their heads shaved, but the original Ming officials still did not shave their heads.
As a result, Sun Zhixie took the initiative to shave his head and change his clothes, and also asked all the women in the family to change into Manchu clothes.
When he went to court again, only Sun among the Han officials had his head shaved. As a result, the Han officials were unwilling to let him join the Han class. Sun went to the Manchu class, but the Manchus did not recognize him as a slave.
Angry, Sun Zhixian immediately wrote a memorial to Dorgon, saying that Manchuria had pacified China and brought about a great revolution, but the system of clothes, hats, and hair only existed in the old Han Dynasty. This was Manchuria coming from China, not China coming from Manchuria.
This memorial made Dorgon feel that it was very reasonable, and he immediately began to force hair shaving across the country, causing countless lives to be devastated.
Because of Sun's flattery, he was awarded the title of Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Rites and a bachelor of lectures in the Hanlin Academy.
Later, Sun was awarded the title of governor of Jiangxi. He left Beijing and went south with Hong Chengchou, and suddenly became a feudal official. However, because he had a disagreement with the admiral Jin Shenghuan in Jiangxi, he was impeached for accepting money to sell his official position, and without giving money to the deputy general Gao Jintang.
, Liu Yipeng and others add up their military ranks.
However, later Jin Shenghuan rebelled and defected to the Ming Dynasty, Dorgon became angry with him and dismissed him.
"Thief Sun is in Zichuan now, but he heard the news beforehand that the Ming army was coming, so he went to Santai Mountain to hide in advance. He has a villa there, and he has secretly moved and stored his family's wealth and food there. His relative Han
Yuan's family, money and food are also hidden in Santai Mountain." Ding Keze told Xie Qian an important piece of information.
"We can raid Santai Mountain. I have internal contacts in Sun Thief Village. As soon as we arrive, we can capture the village in one fell swoop. By then, all the gold, silver, treasures, food, horses and mules inside will be ours."
Xie Qian thought he was late, but he didn't expect this to happen.
He immediately smiled and said, "Brother, this news is too precious. Okay, let's send troops to Santai Mountain right now. After the event is completed, you and I will share the money and food equally."