Cao County, the first stop where the Yellow River enters Shandong Province (the hometown of Shan Xiongxin, a fierce rebel general in the late Sui Dynasty, and Huang Chao, the rebel leader in the late Tang Dynasty) is almost a disaster-stricken household. Every time there is a major disaster, there will be a large-scale famine.
There is a local jingle: "One year of harvest, two years of drought, three or four years of food shortage."
Frequent breaches of land have made it impossible for farmers in the Yellow River Flood Area to live, and they either have to wander away from home or join gangs of thieves.
Since southwestern Shandong and northwestern Shandong are at the junction of multiple provinces, the government's control is weak. Shandong officials pursued and suppressed them, so they either fled to Henan, Jiangsu, or fled to Hebei.
He came to suppress it and then fled back to Shandong, so it became a long-term cure.
In the 32nd year of Guangxu (1906), an official from the Qing Dynasty concluded that in Shandong, "bandits originated from Yunju, flourished in Hecao, harassed Guide in the south, and became abundant in the east, while they spread to Yanyi and Tai'an in the northeast." .
Thieves on the borders of various provinces often collude with each other and are difficult to exterminate, so many thieves in Luxi have become a common practice.
Besides, the magical land of Sulu, Henan and Anhui is a magical place that has given birth to many outstanding people.
This area consists of four cities: Xuzhou in Jiangsu, Suzhou in Anhui, Shangqiu in Henan, and Heze in Shandong.
The Yellow River is the central line connecting the four provinces. In ancient times, this section of the Yellow River was quite dangerous.
Flooding from breaches is a common occurrence, bringing huge disasters to people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. People living in the Yellow River Flood Area have gradually formed their own unique survival philosophy during their long-term struggle with floods.
Facing the flood, they became more and more courageous, and developed a tough and tough folk custom. The people at the junction of the four provinces have a common quality: they are able to fight, fight, endure hardship, and refuse to admit defeat or give up.
It is also particularly good at drinking. This area is the area with the most peasant uprisings in the history of our country.
The Daze Township of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's uprising was in Suzhou City, and Liu Bang of Xuzhou also launched an uprising in Dangshan in Suzhou.
Zhu Wen, who overthrew the rule of the Tang Dynasty, was from Dangshan, Suzhou. Heze had the Huangchao Uprising and the Shuibo Liangshan Peasant Uprising.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, when the Nian Army revolted, the junction of the four provinces of Lu, Su, Henan and Anhui happened to be the main battlefield. The famous Zeng Gelinqin died in Heze.
Such a place with constant flooding has never been a peaceful and reassuring place.
Gunzhou seems to have nothing to do with Caoxian, but the relationship is that the lips are dead and the teeth are cold.
Bandits are rampant in Cao County, and the adjacent areas of these three provinces and eight counties are all behind them. Maybe Cao County cannot be suppressed today, but they will flee to their own territory tomorrow.
Situations like this have happened from time to time. In addition, the life of my family is not easy, and there are many bandits in the territory, so life in Gunzhou is so difficult.
After listening to the words of the officials who came and the introduction to Caoxian County.
Zheng Xiong had a general understanding of the situation in Caoxian County.
Compared with the information that only stays on the Internet in later generations.
As the center of the universe, Caoxian is actually not someone to be trifled with.
If you can't fight, just run away, so why fight? It's too deep, and the three adjacent provinces and eight counties are its rear area.
Conventional tactics are of no use at all, even if they block people.
This put Zheng Xiong in a dilemma, and he looked embarrassed.
Perhaps after seeing Zheng Xiong's expression, the official who came here said considerately.
"These actually have little to do with us in Gunzhou. We are also planning for a rainy day and cannot bear the trouble."
"After all, if this group of people from Cao County comes over, more people will be implicated if they are not protected."
"The Marquis returns to the capital. I don't dare to ask the Marquis to do anything. I just ask the Marquis's army to leave as soon as possible. If the Marquis himself thinks that Gunzhou is good, he can visit here again. Xiaguan and the magistrate will welcome the Marquis very much. s arrival."
Yes, what I said before was too full, and now Zheng Xiong is in a dilemma. This attitude clearly shows that he does not welcome his army, and it is useless to say more.
We can only take one step at a time. It seems that there is nothing we can do about the lost money, and it is not that easy to try our luck.
I had to catch some thieves along the way to see if I could make up for my losses and explain what I had said before.
"In this case, I won't bother you anymore. There is no need to send you off to Guizhou. I'll take my leave."
Although Zheng Xiong's words were a bit unpleasant, the officials who came saw that Zheng Xiong was relieved, and he himself was relieved.
These people are the gods of plague. The definition between soldiers and bandits is actually very vague, and no one can guarantee their character.
"Then let me go and tell Lord Zhizhou. Lord Zhizhou specifically said that if the Marquis leaves, he will come to see him off."
"No need, aren't you guys quite busy? Forget it, you can go back."
I came here for a day or two, but after I left, I still wanted to show my presence, but it was too late.
Zheng Xiong's attitude was beyond words and he issued an order to expel the guests.
When the officials saw this, they left quickly.
The governor of Gunzhou did not want to cause trouble, leaving Zheng Xiong as an unstable factor.
Zheng Xiong could only leave like this.
To be honest, this trip to Gunzhou was definitely not pleasant, and it was very annoying.
Zheng Xiong left, leaving the territory of Gunzhou with some anger.
Following Gunzhou, we headed straight to Caoxian County. Along the way, we discovered that the boundary conditions in Gunzhou were indeed not good.
I haven't seen a situation where there is no cockcrow for a hundred miles, but I have seen a lot of the plight of lack of food and clothing.
On this cold day, many people I saw were only wearing thin linen clothes.
It can be seen that life in Gunzhou is indeed difficult.
However, bandits are not common, and they can obviously still be maintained, not that serious.
The formation of this 10,000-strong army was so majestic that even if they knew there were bandits in the areas they passed through, they would not be able to find any of them when they actually searched.
After all, these bandits are not fools, and they don't know how to do anything that would put an egg on the bone.
Apart from having some fun for myself, this journey is quite boring.
There was no bandit suppression as expected, and it was even more impossible to subsidize one's losses.
In this way, he walked around and left the boundary of Gunzhou.
On this day, we finally arrived at the boundary of Caoxian County.
"Master Marquis, we are reaching the boundary of Cao County ahead."
"We're finally here. I want to see if Cao County is really that cool."
Zheng Hu had an indescribable feeling as he followed the army. This land made him feel quite familiar.
After discussing with several followers around him, he became more and more sure of his guess, came to Zheng Xiong, and said to Zheng Xiong.
"Boy, I'm familiar with this world!"
"You know me, you mean you were robbed here?"
"That's not true. If we go ahead and take a look, we're not sure yet."
"good."
As Zheng Xiong and his party walked a certain distance again, Zheng Hu seemed to confirm his guess and nodded.
"Yes, this is this world. The mountain there looks like a Buddha. It's very impressive. Just go past that mountain."
"Actually, there is no problem in charging tolls, but they are too expensive. They should be taught a lesson."
(End of chapter)
