Master, Master Peng is here to pay his respects. This is a greeting card. "
Following the announcement from his family, the man called Master turned around from the side of the fish pond. No matter what standards of time and space, he was an old man. He patted the crumbs of fish food on his hand and took his time. asked:
"Which Master Peng?"
"He is the original magistrate of this county..."
"It's him."
This man is Ouyang Xi, the local "village sage" recommended by Peng Shou'an. Ouyang Xi himself had no fame, but his son Ouyang Da was elected in the fourth year of Tianqi. In Yangshan, a place where the name of the subject is not obvious and specializes in martial arts, his family is considered the number one Jin gentry.
The Ouyang family's home was originally located in Yangshan County. When the Yao people invaded the city, their family also suffered a great disaster. Although Xiruan and his family members were moved to a village in the countryside in advance, the residence in the city was also destroyed. Things were in disarray. After the Australians arrived, the situation was not peaceful. He also wanted to avoid suspicion, so he simply excused his house from being dilapidated and did not return to the city. He stayed in the village in the countryside to watch the scenery.
Because his family was based in Chengguan, the Ouyang family was not as indifferent to the Senate as other Jin gentry, and even refused to pay money and food. When Wang Chu first came to Yangshan, although he haggled over how much reasonable burden to pay, he paid every grain of rice after the agreement.
Although Ouyang Xi sincerely hopes that the Ming Dynasty will come back - after all, Ouyang Da's honorary title belongs to the Ming Dynasty - he does not like this new foreign regime, but on the surface he still tries to be perfunctory. After all, he is somewhat aware of the strength of the Australians. If the Ming Dynasty was really going to die, he had no intention of letting his family die for the Ming Dynasty.
Wang Chuyi wanted to suppress the bandits, and Ouyang Xi naturally agreed. His family was the number one gentry, with money, food, and young men. Normal bandits would not dare to provoke them, but their family had a large population and a wide range of connections. Even if the bandits can buy the face of his Ouyang family, they may not buy the face of the Ouyang family's relatives and friends. Moreover, his family still has a large amount of land and other properties. "Friends", spend some money to keep safe. It would be a good thing if Sun Dabiao could be defeated.
Later, he heard that County Magistrate Wang wanted to recruit Sun Dabiao, which was not beyond his expectation: this was considered normal in the local area. Therefore, he not only paid a "reasonable burden" to the county, but also spent a lot of money on the Sun and Feng bandits who came to ask for food and wages. If the Ming officers and soldiers came back one day, he would "help with food and wages" as usual. This is not a big burden for the Ouyang family, it is just a harmless way to survive.
However, Sun Dabiao openly attacked Wang Chuyi in Dawangwei and completely turned against the Australians. This was far beyond Ouyang Xi's expectation.
Ouyang Xi also knows the strength of the Australians - Yangshan is not a place with little information. Businessmen traveling from north to south often pass by here. He has seen Australian goods and heard about Australians.
Although Yangshan is a remote place, the Australians cannot bring many troops over. But if they really want to annoy them, the combat power of people like Sun Dabiao is definitely no match for the Australians - after all, the Australians defeated General He's tens of thousands of troops back then.
However, he heard that the two major bandit leaders in the county, Sun Dabiao and Feng Haijiao, were recruited by the imperial court and became the right-wing commanders of Yangshan. Although there have been rumors of murder and arson since ancient times, Sun Dabiao and Feng Haijiao were both recruited by the imperial court. Ouyang Xi secretly despised the man who had a lot of misdeeds in Yangshan, but he actually became an officer and soldier openly.
However, whether he despises it or appreciates it, the fire in Dalangwei plunged Yangshan into chaos. The newly arrived "Great Song Dynasty" seemed unreliable to everyone. Sun and Feng, who were under the banner of "Da Ming", were also a bunch of bandits. Each of these two parties claimed that they represented the "Wang Fa" and sent people everywhere to recruit people. Collect food. Several groups of people came to Ouyang Village. Ouyang Xi's response was to "speak kind words without using money." Whenever the envoys came, they sent someone to warmly entertain them, and served them with good wine and food. When it came to asking for food, they had their own butlers. Cry poor. In short, nothing was lost.
It's not that he is stingy about money and food, it's just that the situation in Yangshan is confusing for a while, and no one can tell what will happen next, so naturally he doesn't want to take sides easily.
At the same time, he took care of his son to stockpile gunpowder, build weapons, repair the walls, and prepare for war - not all to guard against the Australians or Sun and Feng, but because Yangshan now completely lost Wang Fa. , not only did all kinds of gangsters take the opportunity to become bandits, but some of the big families in the county also took the opportunity to settle old scores with old grudges. For a time, fires were lit in every village, smoke was rising in the village, and Ouyang Village was crowded with people who had come to seek refuge nearby.
A few days ago, he heard that the Australians had sent a new county magistrate - and she was actually a woman - Ouyang Xi didn't believe it for a while. How could a woman be a county magistrate since ancient times! Although Wu Zetian was mentioned, she became a queen first and then an emperor. Later, I heard that a woman was really the county magistrate, so I immediately took a Da Song pill.
However, a few days ago, shocking news came: the female county magistrate actually went out in person, wiped out Dalangwei, and captured Sun Dabiao's family alive. Master Ouyang naturally didn't believe it - the Sun family was an old bandit with many years of experience. County magistrates of all dynasties had been unable to take advantage of him. Now he was rewarded by the court. It was a time when the army was strong. How could he be killed by a woman hiding in the county town? wipe out?
However, the spies he sent to the county came back and described vividly the embarrassing appearance of Sun Dabiao and his group in public in the county. Ouyang and his son had to believe it.
Regardless of whether the female county magistrate personally ended this victory or the Australians sent another elite to handle it, Sun Dabiao's destruction was real. Dalangwei is an important road in the Yao District. The Australians captured it and not only made a fortune every day, but also secured the lives of the Yao people in Yonghua.
This time, although the Australians could not call it a comeback, they had the upper hand. Feng Haijiao probably also jumped around for a few days. Based on his experience, and given the Ouyang family's status in the county, it is inevitable to encounter the problem of "taking sides" - where should the family go?
At this juncture, Peng Shou'an suddenly came to visit. He was definitely not here to drink tea with him - he was probably here on orders. Ouyang Xi was not sure of the other party's purpose. He wanted to discuss it with his son, but Ouyang Da went to another Zhuangzi the day before yesterday and was not at home.
Peng Shou'an was the county magistrate of the Ming Dynasty. After surrendering the Australians, he served as a "consultant". Naturally, he had also been to the Ouyang family. Although Ouyang and his son had a "disdain" for Peng Shou'an at the beginning, they never showed it. He just dealt with it carefully, and when collecting "reasonable burdens", he also "expressed" to Peng Shou'an, so he only set a lower number, and the two parties had some friendship.
Why did he come to visit suddenly at this time?
Seeing that the master's face was uncertain, the servant hesitated and said: "Then, go and tell the master that you are not at home..."
"No, no." Ouyang Xi hurriedly stopped him. It was obviously unwise not to see Peng Shou'an at this time. Judging from what this woman did after arriving in Yangshan, her decisive killing and ruthlessness were far superior to County Magistrate Wang. It must be a strong point. Now that she had just defeated Sun Dabiao, it was the time to establish her authority, so it was not appropriate to lose her face.
"Change your clothes! Open the front door and tell me that I will greet you personally." Ouyang Xi ordered.
Ouyang Xi changed his hospitality clothes and came out. But he saw Peng Shouan and several Kun followers waiting in front of the dripping eaves. He quickly straightened his clothes, walked down the steps and bowed with a smile on his face. Welcoming Peng Shou'an into the hall and reciting the ceremony.
After the two of them bowed to each other, they pulled out chairs to sit down respectively, and brought tea to them from the left and right. While having tea, they exchanged a few polite words. Ouyang Xixian complimented the newly arrived county magistrate as "brave and resourceful" and "thundering". Apart from the major disaster in Yangshan, the people were "like a rain of sweet rain" and so on. Then he praised Peng Shouan for "helping military aircraft" and "helping the world and bringing peace to the people". Although he knew it was flattery, he couldn't call it "helping" at all, but Peng Shouan still felt very good after hearing it. He also gave me some flattering words, which were nothing more than "being kind and charitable" and "bringing blessings to the country".
After the two sides exchanged polite words, Ouyang Xi said, "Sir, you came to our village specially today. What do you want to teach me?"
Ouyang Xi roughly guessed the reason for his coming, and it was just for money and food. In fact, he had already made a decision in his heart, prepared to spend fifty stones of food and three hundred taels of silver, and sent him away. If we want to talk about other things, we need to fight famine properly.
“The students came here this time to send greetings on behalf of the county magistrate: Mr. Ouyang is a wise man in this county. Nowadays, Yangshan is in troubled times, and the people are like fish swimming in a cauldron. I hope that Mr. Ouyang can come out and do more for the benefit of the people. "
"Easy to say, easy to say." Ouyang Xi couldn't figure out what he meant for a while, so he could only say perfunctorily, "My family lives in Yangshan. Since Yangshan is in trouble, I should do my best." He guessed that this was just another reason to ask for money and food. Find a high-sounding reason.
"Okay," Peng Shou'an said, "In that case, the student won't beat around the bush. In fact, the student is here to 'borrow troops' from the teacher on the order of the county magistrate."
"Borrowing soldiers?" Ouyang Xi was stunned, "Sir, don't be ridiculous, students are just ordinary people, how can they get soldiers?"
"I'm not joking." Peng Shou'an said sternly, "In terms of brave men and women, which family in Yangshan County can compare with Mr.'s family?"
When it comes to the number of people, the Ouyang family has the largest number of members in the county, and Ouyang Xi himself cannot deny it. If a sweeper becomes a soldier, he can recruit two to three hundred regiments - and his regiment's military equipment is the strongest in the county.
Ouyang Xi secretly thought that something was wrong, this "borrowing troops" had bad intentions!
"When it comes to the number of regiments, there are indeed many Ding Yong in our village - it's just that most of them are rural people, and they are quite competent in guarding the manor and homes. If we talk about it as a 'soldier', the difference is too far."
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Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 457
(End of chapter)
