Chapter 25 Chaos
It was almost sunset when everyone left the government office. The generals who received the mission rode their horses straight to their own defense areas. The shouts of their personal guards in the southern and northern accents were heard everywhere in Yan'an Mansion:
"People from Douying, gather at the treasury immediately. Anyone who doesn't come back before dark will be beheaded!"
"Tian Ziying, gather at the east gate. If you don't come back after dark, chop off your heads!"
"Everyone from Zhenyong Camp will go to Ximen..."
…
Following the shouts that spread throughout the city, chaos once again broke out in the streets and alleys. Guys carrying swords and guns in one hand and dragging bags of various sizes with the other emerged from shops, restaurants, and private houses in a chaotic manner. Most of them were Wearing clothes that were stolen or even just stripped from residents. Among them, the more "smart" ones actually put on five or six pieces of four-season clothes on their bodies in order to free up maximum carrying space, covering themselves up and sweating profusely. There are also people with two or three leather hats on their heads, and one or two pairs of boots hanging around their necks... The most ridiculous thing is that there is actually a guy in a yellow "dragon robe" running into the street with a big baggage on his back. superior!
At first glance, everyone thought that the "Emperor" had arrived at Yan'an Mansion, but when they looked more closely, the more they looked, the more they felt that something was wrong: the sleeves and waist were ridiculously big, the dragon had four claws (this is called "python robe". The ancients called "python" , is not the "python" as we understand it today - at that time, no one had been to the Amazon rainforest and did not know the existence of an anaconda. The difference between a python and a dragon was mainly in the toes: "Four claws are a python and five claws are a dragon." ". The python robe is the auspicious robe of the prince, and the emperor sometimes gives it to meritorious officials. If there is no ready-made four-clawed python robe and a five-clawed python is given, the recipient must "pick off one claw and wear it." The material is not silk but Homespun—it turns out that this guy actually robbed the theater troupe and put on the emperor's costume!
The "Emperor" was a little unhappy: He originally went there for the all-powerful beauties in the troupe, but he rushed in full of enthusiasm and found out that all the beauties on the stage were dressed as men. Some of them were men. He is still a bad old man! In that era, in order to make it easier to travel around the world, many leading roles in the team were played by men. Otherwise, it would take ten or eight years to train a pillar. The time and teaching costs were very high. Those who had just been popular for a year and a half had not yet returned. Ben, if it is seized or snatched away by some bandit, the whole team will really "have no chance to sing." Of course, in the Ming Dynasty at that time, especially among the scholar-bureaucrats, there were many people who were "masculine". Those young men who played male roles would inevitably encounter some troubles from time to time... However, compared to women, they would be much better after all. ——How could this country bumpkin understand this? When he understood it, he got angry and became furious.
If the robbery fails, then rob the wealth. Unexpectedly, those gold and silver jewelry that looked dazzling from a distance were actually worthless fake props! Just as they packed up some scattered silver and opera robes, they heard the order to assemble. I was bulging with anger, and I was regretting it in my heart. I didn't expect that when I walked out on the street wearing this outfit, all my friends would applaud! For a time, everyone was watching, and everyone was pointing and pointing. This guy's vanity was greatly satisfied in an instant. All the worries he had just forgotten were thrown away from the country of Java. He opened his big mouth to reveal a mouth full of uneven expressions. With yellow teeth and a dirty ugly face, a proud smile filled his face. He simply imitated the nondescript steps of the actors on the stage, and from time to time he would put on some weird appearance that he thought was handsome but was actually weird, attracting more people. Onlookers and colorful voices. This guy became even more happy. While squinting and imagining the emperor's style, he pointed at a shy guy with a silly face, and shouted in a long and pretentious voice: "That father-in-law, give me a white-faced steamed bun." Come and eat!" The accused agreed, knelt down on his knees, and raised his hands in vain: "Grandpa Emperor, the fine white flour buns are dipped in sugar!" The gangsters laughed more and more until the second day. Everyone received a severe whip on the head, and there was a loud shout in the ear: "You bastards, hurry up and gather together, I will kill you assholes if you are too late!" Just then, he covered his head and ran wildly, and another burst of fire broke out behind him. The roar of laughter echoing through the dusk...
When it was time to hold the lanterns, most of the troops found their respective commanders at the designated locations. Guan Shengyun's troops finally returned to their formation, and the chain of command resumed operation.
Following Luo Yonghao's instructions, the generals first called the team officers and fruit leaders together to discuss their interests. After these guys understood that their lives were at stake, they especially explained the rewards of 20 taels for the team officers and 10 taels for the fruit leaders. Things were much easier to handle: a group of guards held torches high in their left hands and held knives in their right hands, standing in a semi-circle behind the bright-eyed Takato Doya Shirakaba and others, staring at the team officers and fruit leaders and searching them one by one. Soon, each case was Hills of property were piled up in front of him.
Subsequently, these stolen goods were escorted to the treasury by the generals' personal guards - Master Luo and Master Luo and the magistrate Chang Wenping in civilian clothes were waiting there to register them one by one and put them in the treasury. It was natural to wipe out some oil and water on the way. Mr. Luo had good eyes. He looked at a guy with bulging arms and just opened his mouth. Luo Yonghao, who had been lowering his head and concentrating on accounting, suddenly coughed twice. Luo Shifan immediately kept silent. . The guard glanced at the father and son, bowed deeply, and walked away quickly with his head lowered.
After staying in Yanchang County for two days, Yu Shengliang finally gradually regained his senses. In the past few days, he also gathered more than a dozen officials, big and small, who had escaped from Yan'an Prefecture, and more than 200 soldiers and soldiers.
While sending another urgent military intelligence report to Xi'an Mansion, the old man was not idle either. The Yan'an Guards set up five garrison stations at the front, rear, left, right, and middle. Due to the long period of peace, these Qianhu Stations, which were mainly for farming, had completely transformed into farms without soldiers and generals, so Yu Shengliang simply let Li Shaobing hurriedly reorganized the broken soldiers and the men from Yanchang County into a team, barely forming a battalion of troops. About half of them had formal weapons, and the rest used sticks and hoes. As for the fighting power of these farmers and soldiers, there is no need to count on it, it is better than nothing.
The old man also wanted to mobilize the people of Yanchang to raise the city wall, but was persuaded by Li Shaobing, Yanchang County Magistrate Liao Xingxiang and others. The earthen wall was so dilapidated that there was really nothing to repair. If we piled more bricks and stones on top, it might collapse altogether. If you really want to practice it, you have to cut out a long section and start over - that is equivalent to opening the door and waiting for Guan Shengyun to come in. What's more, you can't build a city wall on the Yanhe River. As long as Guan Shengyun wants to come, he still can't stop him.
Shaanxi's official envoy Niu Shiqun, envoy Zhang Deming, and commander-in-chief Ma Teng were rarely seen together, frowning and looking at each other. The only thing that can make these three people feel troublesome at the same time is Guan Shengyun's military disaster.
According to common sense, there are three traditional ways to deal with thieves: to suppress them, to caress them, or to make them invisible. The specific operating standards are also simple:
If the number of bandits is not large, for example, two or three hundred, and there is no rabble with a strict organization and command system, like the Mountain King, or if it is expected that they will not dare to fight hard, then suppress them! Mobilize thousands of soldiers and horses, surround them on all sides, spend a few months, and wait until they are half dead of hunger, then you can annihilate them all at once. During this period, there will definitely be some officers and soldiers who receive benefits from the thieves and try to escape, and there is a high probability that there will be a bandit leader among them. But it doesn't matter. There are plenty of corpses of thieves. If you point to any head, it will be the culprit. In order to avoid disturbing their family and friends, or to make their names more famous, thieves almost always give themselves nicknames such as "Scorpion Block", "Sky Monkey", "Old Zhang Fei"*, etc. There is no real name. Know. Even if the thief makes a comeback in the future, as long as he insists that it is another thief who has faked his name, he will most likely be fooled - some giant bandits have been killed more than ten times in military reports from various places, and the evidence is irrefutable every time, and the court has never seen any comparison. Zhen'er, you have to be rewarded anyway! If not, who will work harder in the future?
This has the greatest benefits: First, when troops are mobilized, they must be paid, and they are paid twice. The cannon fodder can recite Amitabha if they can get some scraps of money. Who dares to care about how much they really get? Second, you can recruit troops. The soldiers have gone to suppress the bandits, but what about city defense and security? Who will guard the army's food route? So we need to recruit troops. When you recruit soldiers, you have to pay settlement fees, right? Third, war consumes food and grass. The longer the war lasts, the more it will be consumed, right? Of course, the court won't do anything if it takes too long. I guess we'll just do it for the longest time the court can accept - food and grass are also money! Fourth, you can receive awards for meritorious service. The reward for the decapitation skill is clearly marked! Some generals even led their personal guards out to catch refugees from time to time, and brought them back and kept them in camps. Anyway, they just gave them wild vegetable porridge every day to prevent them from starving to death. When the number of people reached dozens, they would kill them all and report a great victory in the suppression of bandits. Go to the court and ask for a reward! In fact, the court knew that they were close, but they couldn't be serious about it. They could still make a profit by bargaining for a small amount. There are always casualties in wars, let alone thieves and bandits. Those cannon fodders who died in the battle can be exchanged for silver rewards as long as you call them thieves! Fifth, you can recommend "people of merit". There are ready-made examples: it took several years to catch a "big criminal", and hundreds of people received awards for their meritorious service! How can you miss a good opportunity to promote your own people? Finally, if you go through the war, you have to be exempted from local taxes - those dead people can't see the imperial edict, so the court exempts them, and the local governments can collect "a little" "appropriately"...
If there are a lot of thieves, or if the knife in their hand is strong enough to hit them, and they are determined to fight tooth and nail, then touch them! Officers and soldiers are not stupid: they usually scream and scream to scare good citizens who would rather hang their whole family than take one of them away with them. Of course they are brave and invincible. But if they encounter those who are really willing to go all out, it is not worth having their wages cut off by thieves for a few taels of silver.
The imperial court will definitely not be happy with the situation, and some people will make sarcastic remarks, but don't be afraid. Are you okay? If you can do it, come on! In the end, the court will always weigh the cost, talk to the other party, send some money and food, give a false name like guerrilla defense, and forget about it - the court wants to have face, and this is much more important than spending some money! Of course, regardless of whether it is true or false, it is necessary to go through it several times, and you have to go through the process, and you can still get the benefits mentioned above, just less. However, the prerequisite for pacification is that the thief dares to risk his life, which is both a necessary condition and a sufficient condition: when seeing the officers and soldiers, their hands will become too weak to lift the knife. If not, who can you chop? Hey! The rebels will take their lives!
If you encounter a really difficult thief, then use the third method. Either pretend to be deaf and deny it: "With bad intentions, making a mountain out of a molehill in an attempt to destroy a good situation" - this crime is the best, it can be easily picked; or the trouble will be diverted to the neighboring provinces, and then it will be the headache of those dog officials! It's easy for the court to explain: I have eliminated all the thieves, but a few fish that slipped through the net came to you and actually caused trouble. If you don't examine your greed for exploiting the people and causing the hungry people to attach themselves to the thieves, how can you still have the nerve to falsely accuse your own officials? This is simply unreasonable - who is afraid of this kind of nonsense lawsuit where everyone is spitting at each other...
But none of these three methods worked for Guan Shengyun. Three veteran cadres encountered new problems.
