Starting from the fifth day of the righteousness, Zhang Xing and Li Shu were completely separated.
The latter took Xiong Bonan, who was equivalent to a reserve force, and a thousand soldiers left behind to go to Jishui, trying to organize military forces to capture the southern half of Jiyin County, while the former began to patrol the Dongjun area, participating in grain distribution and leadership , appointment arrangements for demotion, and at the same time organizing and expanding the troops... Releasing grain is the fundamental political commitment of the Deposed Dragon Gang and is the core expression of winning over the people. Appointment arrangements belong to organizational construction, not to mention military construction, which of course cannot be said Not a big deal.
In fact, these tasks are not that simple.
For example, when Zhang Xing just left, but just after passing through Weinan and before reaching Baima, Niu Da was hit on the head with a stick because Chief Wei, who stayed in Puyang, publicly asked Niu Da to take the lead in gathering the big households in the county to organize the daily work. Take out the moneylending debts and burn them in public!
In the words of Chief Wei, if you release food without burning debts, wouldn't it be the same as taking off your pants and not farting?
Niuda's reaction was very interesting, and he didn't know who was instigating it. He stated his position on the spot. As the local leader of the Deposed Dragon Gang and the largest local powerful man, he was willing to take the lead in burning debts... and he also said that he understood the truth behind this. , it's nothing more than buying people's hearts... But he hopes to burn the debt in front of Zhang Longtou, not just because of Chief Wei's few words.
Wei Xuanding was furious to death, but found that he was helpless, and then surprisingly restrained himself a lot.
In this way, I don't know whether it was the original plan or Chief Wei's impromptu idea. After releasing food in the seven counties of Dongjun, the Deposed Dragon Gang started a large-scale debt-burning operation in Dongjun.
And this move directly triggered spillover effects.
Specifically, spontaneous riots occurred in surrounding towns even though most of the military forces of the Deposed Dragon Gang moved south. However, it is worth mentioning that not all such riots brought good results:
For example, it was natural that Wei Cheng, which was sandwiched between Dongjun and Jiyin, surrendered quickly;
Chanyuan, Ji County, across the river from Puyang, had its city defenses breached and fell into the hands of local gangs and powerful men. Immediately, the city, which had no force from the Deposed Dragon Gang, immediately took the initiative to send people across the river to contact and seek refuge. This was an accident. It's... But it's hard not to take it, but the military risks that come with it are also numb;
At the same time, Fengqiu, which belonged to Dongjun but was close to Liangjun, failed in the uprising. Fengqiu ordered Lin Zhen to stop watching after the uprising, closed the city gate, and asked for reinforcements from Zhang Shizhao, the Xianggong who was in Xingyang.
When the news came, Zhang Xing immediately sent troops to seal Qiu with Xu Dalang and Niuda to take over Chanyuan.
Then the family continued to burn debt.
On the third day of October, I don't know if it was a coincidence. Li Shu, Wang Wulang, Shan Dalang and Shang Huaizhi were on the southern front, Xu Dalang was on the western front, and Niu Da was on the northern front. They broke out with the army at almost the same time. Head-on conflict.
At the same time, Zhang Xing, who was unaware of this, led Jia Yue, a fellow paralyzed fellow from the north, and two hundred soldiers to Lihu.
Lihu is the place where the Deposed Dragon Gang has arranged for a long time... This place is surrounded by the sphere of influence of Shan Tonghai, Wang Shuyong and Xu Shiying. There are many local gangs, powerful people and officials who interact with the Deposed Dragon Gang, not just In this way, Lihu County Magistrate Chai Xiaohe was born in Kansai, and was a close friend in his early years with Li Shu's personal confidant Du Caigan, who participated in Yang Shen's rebellion. Therefore, after Du Caigan returned to Li Shu, Magistrate Chai immediately Being roped in... Because of this, the Deposed Dragon Gang did not allocate any extra strength during the uprising. They only sent Du Caigan and Chai Xiaohe to join forces and easily took over the city.
"I've seen Zhang Longtou."
"Zhang Longtou has been working hard for days. Please come in and rest first."
"You two have worked hard, and so have you."
It may be that one has experienced a long-term escape, and the other has a lower status (a mere county magistrate, not even a county magistrate), or it may be that it is simply realized that the people of Kansai should not cause trouble here, but Du Caiqian and Chai Xiaohe were unexpectedly He doesn't have the arrogance of a famous family, but he has a well-chosen attitude and is neither humble nor overbearing.
Zhang Xing had already been here once before to inspect the grain storage, so he was quite familiar with it.
One side brought two hundred soldiers, and the other side brought a group of local rebels. After greeting each other outside the city gate, the two sides went straight inside.
After entering the city, he didn't have any revolutionary enthusiasm to take over the work regardless of everything. Instead, he honestly had a working meal with the accompanying soldiers and city defense troops... He had an experience, and the locals seemed to know this person's temper. , no trouble came out... The main dish was also very suitable, which was stir-fried bacon with pickled scallops, and it was paired with a big bowl of Autumn New Noodles.
The garlic is something similar to garlic, but it is more convenient for pickling. It can be put on the countertop to absorb the local flavor. It also has a meaty taste, so no one will be embarrassed to eat it.
After finishing the meal, Zhang Xing asked Jia Yue to lead the soldiers to arrange the arrangements around the county government office, and then he got off the yellow gelding majestically, carrying an unsheathed sword, went to the lobby of the county government office, and sat down in the seat of County Magistrate Chai, and then he started. Formal work.
"Do you have any explanation for the deficit in the last account?"
"Yes, it should be that during the three previous expeditions to Dongyi, the saint... His Majesty sent a group of people from Jing'antai southward for no reason when he passed by from the north. It must be that a wealthy family here stole the royal horse. It's very strange. There was a commotion, and that family was also destroyed, and that family had always been the key to assisting the two local townships in collecting grain. However, the official was newly appointed. Before the autumn harvest, he was thinking about getting together to reunite, so he didn't have much thought. Above, that's why there was a big mistake in the accounts... I feel really ashamed."
"I understand...Xue Taibao, he cares about his head but not his body, and his methods are rough."
"..."
"And that matter, what do you two think?"
"Mr. Zhang, we thought about it... Lihu is surrounded by places where we have succeeded in our righteousness, and it is also a small county. The next recruitment will be nothing more than sending out 1,500 troops, and 500 will be used to defend the city. , public security, an army of a thousand people, and when necessary, it can be handed over to the big leader of the gang for unified use and dispatch, and there is no need to have any ability to lead troops... In this way, there is no need to appoint a leader, and there is no need to divide There is a need to separate them... The two of us are in Lihu, there is really no need to separate for external transfer."
"Have you thought it through? With your status in the gang and your merits for this act of justice, as long as the situation ahead opens up, you can each live in a county, be a safe leader, dominate one side, and stay. Here, there is always someone to serve as a deputy.”
"We have thought it through, and my subordinate is willing to serve as deputy."
"That's good, that's good, Du Weizheng and Chai Weizheng, you can discuss the matter and make sure you don't make any mistakes in name... In fact, in the future things will have to be handled by experienced and qualified officials like you." ...When a tide rises, it will be military men who want to conquer cities and territories. When the tide rises again, it may depend on your methods."
"Mr. Zhang...that's what he said."
"Thank you Zhang Gong Kuanhong."
After a conversation, the two matters that came up last time were settled in almost a moment. Zhang Xing did not delve into the so-called serious organizational issues, but actively recognized the two people's self-arrangement.
Think about it, a group of gangsters and bandits, even with a few educated people, can they really escape the category of grass-roots team? Who among the truly capable people would use the gang system as a arrogance to local officials? And whose top leadership is too weak to remove the leaders below?
In fact, what Zhang Sanlang is trying to do at this time is just to imitate the cat and the tiger, trying to create some organizational structure, hoping to start to play a role in the future storms. Whether it is good or bad, whether it is in line with the times, I have no idea.
But it doesn’t matter, if something goes wrong then fix it, and something is better than nothing. It doesn’t matter what you do, just put up the stall first.
Similarly, there are things like releasing grain, burning debts, and preparing to conduct an inventory of the land afterwards... Zhang Xing's thinking is also very simple. Doing it is better than not doing it well, doing it right is better than doing it wrong, and it can win some people's hearts. It's a piece of people's minds.
You can't burn debt and burn out people's hearts, right?
"Then you should know what happened this time, right?" After settling the old matters, Zhang Xing did not delay at all and continued to ask questions in the hall.
The local county magistrate Chai Xiaohe hesitated for a moment, as if he wanted to say something.
But Du Caiqian responded directly:
"We have received the letter. Fifteen wealthy businessmen in the city, three gangs that have always made loan sharks, a Taoist temple, and ten powerful families. No one dares to violate the power of the rebels. Now they have gathered together with debts and are waiting at the cross street. Come on, just wait for Mr. Zhang to deal with it... Leader Jia also led some soldiers to maintain order, so there will be no mistakes."
Zhang Xing nodded with satisfaction, but without any delay, he stood up with his unsheathed sword and headed outside.
Du and Chai also quickly followed.
After leaving the door, even though it was only two or three hundred paces away, Zhang Xing got on his yellow gelding, and then Du Chai and his two men followed on horseback. Surrounded by a group of rebels armed with swords and guns, they followed up holding a large flag with the word "deposed" on a red background. He looked like he was out of touch with the masses...but there was really nothing he could do about it. This was Zhang Xing's experience gained from just ten days of touring the base area.
This scene is really useful when facing many small tycoons and small gang leaders within the rebel army, and even many civilians.
Otherwise, they will really do some incredible things for you.
When we arrived at the intersection, the onlookers had already blocked the intersection. They were talking and full of emotions. They seemed to have great enthusiasm for everything about the rebels, and they dared to point fingers and shout at anyone and anything. Everything was covered for a while... To put it bluntly, no matter how many faults there are, the Caotai team and the previous grain distribution were undoubtedly virtuous and good governance. It is better than the Maoist saint and his father who only hold on to the warehouse and never let go. If you can't get in, you'll have to go up a few levels to kill people... Therefore, there is no doubt about the people's enthusiasm and identification with the rebels in the short term.
And Zhang Xing got off his horse, raised the big flag with the word "deposed", sat down behind the arranged table, cleared his throat a little, and then shouted politely to the group of people in front of him who were saluting him. :
"Are you all here voluntarily to burn debts?"
"yes……"
"voluntary."
There were a few feeble and sparse words below, and then there was a burst of laughter from the people watching. Isn't this nonsense? Who dares to say that it is not voluntary? If you don’t do it voluntarily, don’t burn it? Do you think the rebels’ swords and guns are fake?
"As long as it's voluntary." Zhang Xingci looked kindly and continued to speak seriously. "I also hope that all the sages will not be resentful. Since you can afford to spend money, you have read some ancient books, or at least have read history books. You should also know that this kind of thing is inevitable after a rebellion... …Furthermore, in troubled times, if you give up money and change people’s hearts, it will never be a loss…After today, there will be some villagers who will remember your loyalty and give you a hand when the time comes to prevent your whole family from being overturned.”
"Yes Yes Yes……"
"I know, I know..."
"Whatever the big dragon head says is whatever it is..."
There was another burst of shouting and agreement, but Zhang Xing still felt vaguely resentful, but he was too lazy to care about it and nodded directly: "Then show me the debt!"
I don’t know if it was an illusion, but as soon as this statement came out, the onlookers, not only the wealthy people who wanted to burn off their debts, but also the two famous leaders from Kansai behind them, plus a group of local rebel leaders, fell into a stagnation. with hesitation.
He seemed to be a little flustered.
"Bring it here?" Zhang Xing was impatient and urged him again and again.
"Zhang Dalongtou, shouldn't we burn it ourselves?" A man dressed as a wealthy businessman glanced at the red flag with the word "Deposed" on it and couldn't help but step forward.
"Yes, Big Dragon Head." A local rebel leader who seemed a bit familiar also stood up with a sincere tone. "A group of people who are causing harm to the people through loan sharking deserve to be killed. Why bother?"
Zhang Xing glanced at this theoretical subordinate who emerged from behind him. He said nothing, but a refreshing chill came out of his body in a literal sense. In October, the sun was shining brightly in the afternoon, so the whole At the street entrance, there was a feeling of fairy spirit almost instantly.
And this cold air is still growing.
The leader of the rebel army paused for a moment, his face turned pale, and he withdrew directly along with several other small leaders, and then Zhang Xing turned around and waved to the wealthy businessman:
"Come here, I've always been a meddlesome person, and I like to be more serious about good things... I like to check accounts when putting food in, and I like to read IOUs when burning debts... To put it bluntly, if any of you has an interest rate that is too high, who Families like to give their children to orphans and widows, but who likes to let their children be used to pay debts... Do you really think I dare not kill them and bleed them like rivers of blood?"
The wealthy businessman swayed for a moment, his face not looking good, but he still stepped forward and handed over a large pile of IOUs he had prepared in his arms.
Zhang Xing opened it and looked at it, but after reading only half of it, he asked him to pick out a few IOUs that were directly given to women. There were also several that stated that they would use their children as slaves to pay off the debt. He snorted in his heart and only took these few notes. Zhang picked it out alone and put it aside.
Then, he continued to look down, but there seemed to be no problem.
Even after taking out these few notes and comparing them in such a pile, it seemed that they were not too much of a proportion, so he rolled up all the debts, prepared to scold him, and directly passed this person's account... However, , when he raised his head, he was a little surprised to see that the wealthy businessman waiting for him was actually a little disappointed. Not only that, but the other wealthy businessmen seemed to be staring at him closely.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Xing suddenly turned back to look at the rebel leader who had just spoken, as if by mistake. He found that this man was somewhat relieved and relaxed.
If Zhang Dalongtou realized something, he went to look through the IOUs again, three times, and then with a sudden movement, he picked out one of the IOUs, and was stunned.
There were people starting to fight around. Du and Chai also looked at each other, bowed their heads deeply, and prepared to face possible trouble.
"Who is Zhang Qingshui?" Zhang Xing turned around and asked.
No one answered for a while.
"Let me ask you, who is Zhang Qingshui?" Zhang Xing's body was filled with cold air, and the gray-white ice energy was churning around him, which was even better than just now. "Is this Zhang Qingshui, who hurriedly borrowed 20 essays from someone the night before yesterday, that hero?!"
A small leader of the rebel army couldn't bear it, so he came out of the queue and bowed down on the spot. Then he said something shocking: "Big leader! I am not the leader. I heard that the debt was going to be burned, so all the gang leaders borrowed it... According to the army expansion For my position, each of the team generals borrowed fifty guans, each of our team captains borrowed 20 guan, and the chief and corps leader also borrowed three to five guans!"
Hearing this, the rebel leaders around him cheered and knelt down for more than half, and the people watching also burst into laughter... Only then did everyone realize that the rebel leaders knew they wanted to burn debts, so they gathered a crowd to temporarily borrow money.
When Zhang Xing saw this scene, instead of being angry, he smiled and came to ask Du Caigan: "Just now in the county office, Leader Chai wanted to speak, but Leader Du pushed him over. Is that because of this?"
"Reporting to the big dragon head, the law does not punish everyone." Du Caigan hurriedly stepped out of the queue and responded with embarrassment. "For example, there are 1,500 troops, and there are exactly ten generals, all of whom have contributed to the cause of righteousness. As far as my subordinates know, I heard that debt-burning began in the north, and eight of them borrowed money overnight."
"That's right, there are still two who know how to hold back." Zhang Xing continued to ask with a smile. "I was a little surprised just now, why Lihu is just a small county, but there are more wealthy businessmen than powerful ones. It is slightly different from other counties... Now it seems that it is just because businessmen are easy to borrow money, right?"
"Of course." Du Caiqian was embarrassed for a moment.
"It's okay." Zhang Xing stood up and looked seriously at the leaders of the county's rebels behind him. “Those who have borrowed money, but there are still those who haven’t come forward or come?!”
Several more people came out to pay their respects, and some directly reported their names, saying that so-and-so was on duty where and had not come. Zhang Xing was patient and asked Du Caigan to find the person.
After a while, everyone arrived and knelt down directly at the intersection facing the county government office.
Zhang Xing then went to see those wealthy businessmen: "Are there any who temporarily borrowed money from you and are not here?"
The wealthy businessmen were no longer in the same posture as before. Some looked happy, some looked on coldly, and some looked horrified. But when asked, they looked at each other and shook their heads... Maybe there were still fish that slipped through the net, but this posture didn't matter.
"Let me ask you a few more things." Zhang Xing nodded after receiving the reply, and looked at the rebel leaders again, still looking kindly. "Is it because the rewards haven't been distributed or the military pay hasn't been decided yet?"
The rebel leaders also shook their heads.
"So, it's just greed?" Zhang Xing couldn't ask further.
"I see that everyone else has borrowed it. If I don't borrow it, I'm afraid of being squeezed out by others." Someone suddenly raised his head and shouted. "Big Dragon Head, I don't have the sincerity to ruin the reputation of the Deposed Dragon Gang and the Rebel Army."
"Well said." Zhang Xing immediately reached out and tapped the other person. "If you say this, you still understand in your heart that this is wrong. You don't take looting and extortion after the rebellion as a matter of course... If this is the case, why did our Deposed Dragon Gang rebel? Isn't it good to follow the Wei Dynasty to oppress the people? ? Let alone a fellow villager? Let me ask you, if I ask you to return the money now, are you willing to pay it back? "
"I do!" The man was relieved.
"I'm willing too..." Another person shouted in a hurry. "After I got the money, I helped the village and bought land. Yesterday I temporarily bought fifty acres of good land. I really didn't have enough money..."
"How much is the difference?" Zhang Xing asked seriously. "Refund thirty acres and keep twenty acres. Is the money enough?"
"That's still four or five points short..."
"Then I will leave twenty acres, and the remaining Wu Guanwen will give you the official money, which can be regarded as an advance of military pay... Anyone like him can get an advance of half a year's military pay... If you still can't pay, you can also tell me! "
Everyone was talking, most of them were willing to give in and refund the money under Zhang Xing's pressure, but there were also a few people who kept stiffening their necks and refused to speak, such as the one who spoke at the beginning.
"What's your name?" After waiting for a while, Zhang Xing finally lost his patience and ordered the person on the spot.
"My name is Shan Zheng!" The man raised his head from the ground and faced me proudly.
"No wonder...did you borrow money? Are you willing to return the money?"
"I borrowed it, but I don't want to return it."
"Why?"
"Because I have the greatest credit for the righteous actions in this city before. Besides, my surname is Shan. This matter needs to be handled, and it should be handled by my elder brother!" The man frowned and continued to speak. When he saw Zhang Xing's expressionless face, he said Not angry or happy, but more courageous. "Besides, why do we just reward 20% of the wealth and silk for the treasury? Why can other rebels and queens share the women's property? Why can't we even ask some wealthy households for some money? No? If Da Longtou does this, he will lose people's hearts sooner or later! It won't be easy to explain it to the front line!"
"Zhang Longtou!" Du Caigan also quickly stepped forward to persuade. "Shan Dalang is on the front line, why should this matter ruin Shan Dalang's loyalty?"
After Zhang Xingzheng listened, he seemed to be in a daze, but suddenly turned to look at Jia Yue, and said crisply: "Why are you still watching? Didn't you hear? Even for the sake of Shan Dalang's reputation, he should be killed quickly. Is it Shan Dalang’s loyalty that makes people whole?”
Du Caiqian was stunned on the spot, and the man named Shan was also a little confused.
Jia Yue, on the other hand, was obviously familiar with the road. Although he was confused for a moment, he immediately swarmed up with more than a dozen skilled soldiers, held down the man in front of everyone, then dragged him out, and easily killed him with just one knife. This man cut off his head again and brought it to see Zhang Xing.
"Why are you cutting off your head?" Zhang Xing was speechless. "The others remained silent and were killed together!"
This statement immediately caused some commotion. Several leaders who had followed the man in a confrontational posture immediately tried to draw their swords to fight. Unexpectedly, the surrounding soldiers swarmed in, and many kneeling colleagues also rushed towards them. They were subdued in a moment. , and then they were all executed as easily as execution.
At this time, the people around to watch the excitement had already been frightened and stayed away, and several wealthy businessmen and powerful people were also shocked.
Zhang Xing just sat still and asked people to call the people back.
After a while, as some of the onlookers came back, Zhang Dalongtou spoke again, but it was to the wealthy businessmen: "What do you say? Are there still grievances?"
The rich businessmen's faces had already turned pale and they could only bow their heads. The few who spoke had their words confused.
"Okay." Zhang Xing also nodded, but stretched out his hand again. "It's still early, let's continue to look at the IOU..."
Everyone looked at each other, but they could only continue to present the IOU.
This time, Zhang Xing only picked out the newly written IOU and continued to read it. After looking around, he finally smiled again, pointed at the Taoist priest and asked: "Does Qingdi Guan like to make loan sharks so much? Do you still like to let people use their children to pay debts?"
The Taoist priest did not dare to say anything and could only grab the ground with his head.
Zhang Xing pursed his lips. The next moment, Jia Yue, who was familiar with the road, stepped forward and stabbed the Taoist priest easily... as if he was back in front of Zhang Jinsheng that day.
What happened next finally returned to everyone's previous imagination of today. The brazier was raised. Except for the Taoist temple that was about to be confiscated, all the other families took their own IOUs and burned them in public.
Moreover, according to Zhang Xing's request, every time a card is burned, the general must be called out in public: "Depose the Dragon Gang Enyi, how much does so-and-so in what year and month do you want to pay for free!"
It's not enough to shout weakly, but you have to shout again! Such continuous activities finally rekindled the enthusiasm of the onlookers, just like they had released food before, cheering and running to tell each other, so that they blocked the streets.
In contrast, the few corpses on the ground had long been ignored.
However, Zhang Xing could not turn a blind eye.
In the evening, the IOU had just been burned clean, and the leader of the Deposed Dragon Gang also stood up, but instead of turning back to the county office behind him, he ignored his propriety and jumped directly to the desk in front of him, attracting everyone's attention. Finally, he spoke again to the brazier, corpses, rebel leaders, wealthy businessmen and powerful people in front of him, as well as countless urban poor people who were still in excitement and farmers who came after hearing the news.
The voice is blessed by true energy and appears full of vitality:
"Today we are burning debts. I have made it clear to everyone. It is not that you are not allowed to be promoted, nor that you are not allowed to get rich. It is just to depose the Dragon Gang and raise troops. They are for the common people. Cutting off the violent Wei is also to stabilize the world and let the people of the world have a good life. ! Therefore, if anyone makes a mistake, puts the cart before the horse, and insists on going his own way, please don't doubt it before you die... I would also like to trouble you fellow villagers to tell you what happened today! If you don't remember much, then 'Depose the Dragon Gang to raise troops, I will The words "for the people" are enough."
With that said, Zhang Xing bowed on the table, then jumped down and led the yellow gelding back.
The soldiers and the common people were at a loss at first, and then continued to cheer, not knowing whether they heard it or not. However, the wealthy businessmen and powerful people couldn't help but change their expressions. After hesitating for a long time, they bowed their heads and left.
As for the surrounding rebel leaders, they naturally started to follow Zhang Dalongtou to the county government office.
When he walked to the county government office, Zhang Xing tied up his horse and pretended as if nothing had happened. He looked at Du and Chai and said, "You said before that Du will be the leader of the local helmsman and Chai will be the deputy. Yes or no?"
The two nodded quickly and became nervous at the same time.
"Change over." Zhang Xing patted the horse's back and ordered in front of everyone. "You two are the leaders of the left wing. Logically speaking, I shouldn't overstep my authority, but Chief Du is a little inferior to Chief Chai. For the sake of the future, it shouldn't hurt if we change things within our own family, right?"
Du and Chai were embarrassed for a moment, but immediately, Du Caigan bowed his head in public: "I am ashamed, I am willing to follow what Zhang Longtou said."
Zhang Xing then rolled his sleeves and entered.
ps: Good night everyone
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