In the water town south of the Yangtze River, the sky and water are flat as far as the eye can see.
Not far from Nanhu Dang, it connects to Jinjia Yang. Yang and Dang have the same meaning in Wu dialect. They both refer to a shallow lake. A river of water feeds a group of people. However, the waves in Wu at this time are not peaceful either.
The Jinjiayang River is full of large and small rafts, sampans and bamboo rafts. These boats are effective tools for local villagers to travel and even transport, and the people are also good at operating rafts.
Sometimes rows of boats can even connect to form a floating market.
"Clan leader, can you win?"
The rows of boats are connected to each other, and a group of villagers sit together under the stars at night.
This place is only more than ten miles away from Zhujiazhuang.
The patriarch, Yan Wagong, was smoking a pipe, clicking, clicking, and the tobacco in the copper pot was burning red.
"What will we do if we lose?" another young man asked.
Mr. Yan was in his early 40s. He was a civil servant who failed in the exams in Beijing several times. He was considered a landlord in the countryside. Because of the turmoil in the current situation, he simply gave up the idea of becoming an official. In the past few years, he has been able to run his business at home with peace of mind.
He took over the important task of being the patriarch of the Jin family from his father. He is usually decent and fair, so he has won the support of everyone in the family.
Although An Xin manages the land at home and does some business on the side, life is pretty good. Even if the situation becomes more and more difficult, after all, the family has a big business and the life is much easier than that of ordinary people. However, as a man who has studied for dozens of years,
A scholar with a New Year's book is also full of worries about the current situation. Ordinary people only see one-third of an acre of land in front of them, and they only think about food now and clothing tomorrow, and they don't think too far ahead.
But as a civil servant, he knows very well that an individual's destiny is bound to the country. When the world is in chaos, the people will not live in peace.
Especially now, it is not an ordinary dynasty change, this is an invasion of foreign races. Think of the Five Hus and the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Five Hus, and think of the Liao, Jin and Mongolia. Any time a foreign invades the Central Plains, it will only bring endless suffering to the Han people.
A scholar should always do something.
Before the arrival of this Ming army, Yan Wogong had actually already started to take action. In the name of visiting friends, he traveled around to contact his classmates and teachers in the land of Wuyue.
Gu Jiang from Kunshan, Mao Qiling from Ningbo, Huang Zongxi from Yuyao, Zhang Huangyan from Yincheng, etc. all contacted us through letters or visited us. Everyone talked about the national crisis in Jiashen and the fall of the two capitals, and their clothes were wet with tears.
"If we fail, we will end up in Xiashi Town and Zhujiazhuang, as well as Yangzhou in the distance." Yan Woggong sighed, "How can the eggs be intact when the nest is overturned?"
"When a country is destroyed, a family is destroyed."
A group of young people couldn't help but feel heavy after hearing this. Zhujiazhuang and their Jinjiayang Village are about ten miles apart. Both villages are large villages, so they have many contacts between the two villages, and they even have many relatives and friends in each.
Zhujiazhuang was massacred, and the mother-in-laws, aunts, aunts, cousins, and in-laws of many young men here were all gone.
"Isn't it because Yangzhou was massacred because it refused to surrender?"
"Zhujiazhuang was also slaughtered because he refused to surrender."
An old scholar smoked a cigarette and slowly said in the darkness that he was Yan Wogong's clan uncle and once wanted to take over his father's position as clan leader.
"Uncle, what he said is putting the cart before the horse. Robbers rob and kill people. Instead of blaming the robbers, they blame the people who were killed for not being obedient and obedient? Isn't this what a robber thinks?" My father-in-law Yan was very dissatisfied with this uncle, and he always liked him.
To embarrass the tenants, they either take advantage of the situation to increase rents or take advantage of the disaster to lend money at high interest rates. When doing some business, they have to sell goods at second-rate prices if they are short of money. They are obsessed with money all day long.
No wonder I have given birth to thirteen daughters in my life, but I can't give birth to a good one. I have done too many immoral things.
"When the Tartars went south, didn't the wealthy gentry in Haining's Xia Shi Town bring cattle and wine to welcome the surrender? As a result, Li Yuchun said that those collaborators were causing trouble, so he cut off their heads to take credit, and also killed the male members of their families.
All of them were beheaded for their fake military merits, and all the women were kidnapped, raped, and even sold into prostitutes. How many survivors are there in the entire Kip Shek Town?"
Yan Wagong said and banged his pipe heavily on the board of the ship, "Those Tatars are not of my race, and their minds must be different. Li Yuchun is a traitor and a lackey, working as a slave to the tiger, and he can't speak half the truth."
"We people have to see clearly the faces of those people. Why are we here now? Because we want to set an example for future generations and protect the wives and children behind us. The traitors of the Qing Dynasty are like wolves. There is no reason to argue with them.
Do you want to talk?"
The old scholar continued to smoke his cigarette, "But an egg can't touch a stone, an arm can't twist a thigh, and a mantis' arm can't block a car!"
"Eggs can't touch stones, but why does uncle think that we are eggs and the Tatars are stones? I think it's the opposite. Our Lord Admiral Zhu killed thousands of Li thieves in one battle and injured a few himself.
?Obviously Thief Li is the fragile egg, and Admiral Zhu is the hard stone."
"Lao Wu, don't be too happy. It was just a small victory before, and it was a sneak attack. It was Li Yuchun's men who were attacked. His old camp is still there. What's more, the five hundred Jurchen cavalry are not something they can defeat.
.”
"Uncle, why should I increase the prestige of others and destroy my own ambition?"
"I am also thinking about everyone. Once we lose, Admiral Zhu may just slap his butt and leave, or simply surrender like Li Yuchun, but have you ever thought about what will happen to us?"
The angry Mr. Yan stood up and said excitedly, "Then I would rather die standing than beg for mercy from the Tartars and end up being chopped down with a knife. I can't be like Xu Min, whose daughter-in-law was killed by the Tartars."
My son committed adultery, but I dared not speak out in anger. Instead, I divorced my daughter-in-law with a divorce note and gave it to the Tatar. Is she still a human being? How will I face my grandchildren in the future, and how will I explain to them?"
"Ashamed of my ancestors."
The old scholar was said to be unable to refute.
I could only squat there and smoke one puff at a time.
The atmosphere on the boat was solemn for a while.
······
Shen Wenzhong, who had just been given the title of Wailang, a staff member of the Ministry of War, and was responsible for supervising the censor and the army in various provinces south of the Yangtze River, received a report in the middle of the night. Villagers reported that someone was plotting to surrender and was preparing to infiltrate the bandits.
After receiving the report, Shen Wenzhong did not dare to delay at all, and immediately summoned his own Yulin Guards, and then rushed to meet the Yulin Guards Front Battalion guerrilla Yang Boxing.
"Someone wants to secretly communicate with the Tartars and betray us. Please ask General Yang to bring someone to help me get him."
Yang Boxing rose from the flag-bearing camp to the guerrilla camp of the Yulin Guards, and now manages a thousand people. This honor is particularly amazing. He declined repeatedly, but Zhu Yihai still insisted on the order. He believed in Yang Boxing's loyalty.
And believe in his ability.
Men and horses were transferred from each battalion to form the Yulin Guards Front Battalion. Half of the men and horses were dispersed to the supervisors of each battalion's sentries to serve as law enforcement teams. The other half stayed in the camp with Yang Boxing. They were responsible for law enforcement supervision and Zhu Yihai's escort.
The task of guarding the bodyguard.
The original sixty servants have now become five hundred Yulin guards, and the number of security guards around Zhu Yihai has increased many times.
How to transform from a team leader to a qualified guerrilla general, Yang Boxing is still a little uncomfortable, so he can only handle his tasks with more diligence and caution.
After hearing that there was a traitor, he immediately sent people with Shen Wenzhong to arrest them.
By the time Zhu Yihai received the report, Shen Wenzhong and Yang Boxing had already arrested everyone in front of him.
"This man is the landowner of Jinjiayang. He was originally a scholar. He is fifty-three years old this year. He is currently the deputy battalion officer of Jinjiayang Xiangyong."
Zhu Yihai was woken up as soon as he fell asleep. His eyes were still red, and he looked at the thin old man.
"Will the Tatars spare you if they surrender?"
Old Man Yan was very frightened and said hard, "The power of the Ming Dynasty has been exhausted. Changing dynasties is also a historical trend. The common people are just adapting to the times. We are just a group of ordinary people who just want to live in peace and contentment. No matter who is in the world, there will always be others."
The common people farmed the land and paid the emperor's grain."
"The Tatars massacred the city in Yangzhou, haven't you heard? Li Yuchun massacred the whole town in Xiashi Town, and just massacred Zhujiazhuang, didn't you know?"
"That's because they resisted. As long as we don't resist, they won't kill innocent people indiscriminately."
"When the Tatars massacred Yangzhou, you felt that the sword did not hit your head. When the Tatars massacred Xia Shi Town, you felt that they were far away. When the Tatars massacred Zhujiazhuang, you felt that they deserved their punishment for resisting. Then I ask you again, you surrendered the captives
Later, if the Tatars not only demand your grain and your money, but also rob and rape your wives and daughters, won’t you resist?”
Old Man Yan couldn't answer.
"Don't have illusions about animals, and don't stand by when the knife falls on someone else's head. When Yangzhou was slaughtered, you were unwilling to stand up. When Xiashi Town was slaughtered, you were unwilling to stand up. When Zhujiazhuang was slaughtered, you still didn't stand up.
When the knife falls on your heads, who do you think will stand up for you?"
"We can only save ourselves!"
"Junmen, don't talk to this kind of traitor and traitor, push him out and chop him with a knife," Yang Boxing said.
At this time, Mr. Yan stood up behind Old Yan and said, "General, the student's uncle is also confused for a moment. The student is willing to atone for his uncle's sins and donate his family's wealth to support the army."
Zhu Yihai looked at him, and Shen Wenzhong explained on the side that this man's name was Yan Wogong, the leader of the Jinjiayang clan, a civil servant, and now the battalion officer of the Jinjiayang Township Regiment.
"He was not involved in the conspiracy."
Zhu Yihai asked, "How far have their plans reached?"
"Old Thief Yan secretly contacted the gentry and landlords in several villages, wrote a letter of surrender, and had his fingerprints printed. When he was captured by us, he was trying to think of a way to deliver the letter of surrender to Zhujiazhuang."
Zhu Yihai couldn't help but sneered a few times.
There is really no shortage of capitulationists at any time.
Lord Yan bows down and bows down.
"General, the student has a plan, and he can use it to help the general defeat the enemy!"
Zhu Yihai looked at him, "Let's talk and listen!"
"Students can add their own names to Uncle Jia's surrender letter, and then secretly sneak to Zhujiazhuang to meet Li Thief and surrender."
"That's interesting. You are quite brave. Aren't you afraid that Thief Li will find out your flaw and kill you?"
"The student hopes that he can atone for his sins and hopes that the general will give his uncle a lighter sentence."