The moon is gone, the stars are sparse, and the sky is dark.
The sun shone all over the earth, but it did not dispel the haze in Gutian City.
In the county government flower hall, there were only leftovers and wine on the table, but a group of people were still sitting with no intention of leaving, but the atmosphere was silent and depressing.
This special banquet lasted all night. It was originally intended to discuss responses to the current crisis. It could also be called a "fund-raising meeting".
Researching, discussing, and dilly-dallying for four or five hours, there is still no result.
County Magistrate Xu He'an rubbed his sore back and squinted at Master Zhong next to him. Seeing that he had his eyes closed and a dead look on his face, he probably had nothing to hope for.
Then he looked at the fat-headed and big-eared Captain Wang, and saw that he was holding a silver chopstick and repeatedly poking at the rotten meat on the plate. He seemed bored and obviously had no idea.
Then he glanced at the twenty or so squires in the hall. They were all yawning profusely, listless, and looking lazy and indifferent.
With a sigh, Xu Hean forced himself to cheer up and knocked on the table to attract everyone's attention.
"Gentlemen, we don't have much time. Should we just sit back and wait for death?"
Perhaps because the squires didn't want to endure it any longer, they sparsely began to respond.
"Come on, come on, I'll add fifty more strings, for a total of two hundred and fifty strings. If there's any more, there won't be any more..."
"I'll add fifty more strings..."
"A total of two hundred and twenty strings, this is all I have in my family..."
A group of wealthy old people are adding money one after another, but they are just looking at it in a perfunctory way.
Xu Hean's face turned bitter, and he had no choice but to wink at County Lieutenant Wang.
Then Wang County Lieutenant said dryly, "Everyone, please give me some more. Even if it is not enough for the bandits, it can be used to reward the soldiers and the people. It can also boost morale. It is still possible to defend the city."
It is said that a brave man must be rewarded, but the squires don't think so.
"It's enough for those penniless guys to give you a little sweetness. If you give them too much, they will become greedy."
"That's it, just give each person two guan guan. We now have six or seven thousand guan guan. I guess there is still some left..."
"We all live in the city. We pay and they contribute their lives. It's very fair and reasonable."
"Those ignorant people down there will easily get into trouble if they are overfed..."
"It makes sense. If you give me too much this time, they will definitely want more in the future. Untouchables don't read poetry and books, and don't know loyalty and morality. Don't be too lenient."
The squires talked a lot, but their arguments were surprisingly consistent. The duty of ordinary people is to contribute. Why do you need so much money? As long as you can eat enough and not starve to death.
Master Zhong originally had the same view, but he also knew in his heart that if the bandits attacked, other gentry might not be in trouble, but his family might not be able to escape.
He changed his mind and made a sincere and frank look, "You are right, but in these critical times, the bandits are all lawless people. If they really break into the city, who knows what they can do. We can say We are like grasshoppers on a rope. We should work together to help each other. No matter whether it is a ransom or a bounty, the more the better. If everyone endures the pain and gives more, it will be a waste of money to eliminate the disaster."
These words are a bit cryptic, but the gentry can still understand them, and they actually make some sense.
Although most of the gentry knew what the bandits were, and some promised not to harm wealthy gentry like themselves, they were not very confident about what would happen when the time came, and they began to hesitate for a while.
After a while, someone said, "Let me tell you, Mr. Zhong, don't just sing a high tone. The bandits are mainly here for you. We, the people, would be doing our best if we don't send you out. But you still deserve the money." Get more."
Master Zhong had no choice but to grit his teeth and said, "Then I'll pay you three thousand guans, so that's enough!"
Three thousand guan is quite a lot. The most promised just now was not more than 300 guan, but the gentry didn't take it seriously.
Someone immediately pointed out, "Master Zhong, this is a bit boring. You are worth at least one hundred thousand guan. Even if you don't count the land and house, you should have tens of thousands of guan in cash. Why do you give me so little?"
Master Zhong immediately retorted, "Don't spread rumors. I've been honest all my life. Where did I get so much money!?"
"Rumors? Your granddaughter is telling everyone that your family's wealth is nine figures. Is this still false?"
One hundred thousand guan is 10,000,000 yuan, which is indeed nine figures...
Master Zhong would naturally not admit it, "A child is ignorant, how can he take what he says casually seriously? If you don't believe it, you can go to my house and check it out, so that you can clear my name as soon as possible."
He spoke frankly and righteously, but the gentry did not accept this trick.
"There's no need to say such things in front of us to fool people. Who doesn't know who is who? Anyway, how much we can give will be compared to what you can give. The total is only more than you. It's quite loyal. , if it’s not enough, then no wonder we stand idly by.”
Seeing that the gentry had reached a consensus and looked at him, Master Zhong knew that it was impossible to cut off the flesh, so he closed his eyes and leaked a few words from between his teeth, "Yi, Wan, Guan!"
Immediately, the gentry also began to "generously" donate their money, at least doubling the amount before. Then, adding more than 700 guan from the county treasury and private individuals in Xuzhi County, they collected 26,000 guan.
That's right, there is only such a small amount of money in the county treasury, and it was only available when Xu Hean was relatively clean.
Looking at the pledge sheet in his hand, Xu Zhixian was filled with emotion. This amount of money was actually only a few tenths of the property of all the gentry. If it were not for the weapons, he would have refused to take it out even to the death.
"Although it's still a long way from one hundred thousand, I think that Akameryuu is asking for a lot of money. The money should satisfy him. If he is really not satisfied, then let's recruit Minzhuang, Wu Guan, Ten Guan, recruit someone Four to five thousand, we can fight the bandits to the death!"
Next, under Xu Hean's urging, the money from the gentry was finally sent to the county government one after another, including copper coins, cloth, and silk.
Then when the gentry were looking for excuses to leave, Inspector Luo, who was on duty at the top of the city, ran into the Yamen excitedly.
"My lord, good news, the bandits have surrendered, surrendered!"
Xu Hean immediately became excited, "Really!? King Yan's army has arrived?"
Inspector Luo was stunned, "Huh? The army didn't arrive... Anyway, I didn't see it."
"The army hasn't arrived yet!?" Xu He'an's face turned from bright to gloomy in an instant, "The army hasn't arrived yet. What do you mean, the bandits have surrendered!? Are you confused, or do you think this county is stupid!?"
The gentry also rolled their eyes wildly, and they all ridiculed Inspector Luo for making them happy in vain. At the same time, they also complained about King Yan.
"Three days ago, the shopkeeper of my shop in Fuzhou sent a pigeon letter, saying that King Yan will arrive in Fuzhou on the 19th. It has been four or five days. Even if he crawls, he should crawl to our place. There is no movement at all."
"I think King Yan only has a false reputation. I heard that he only leads some baby soldiers and cannot fight at all. The princes in the court also let him do whatever he wants. How powerful is the Song Dynasty..."
"Humph, if it weren't for King Yan always doing something new and random, he wouldn't have caused this mess, but it's a pity that we have to suffer..."
"We've arrived in Fuzhou, but we haven't sent out troops to put down the rebellion yet, and just sit back and watch the county town being besieged by bandits before our eyes. How can such a person be able to shoulder the responsibility of thousands of miles of country!?"
"That is, if I can escape death this time, I must contact my former colleagues and impeach him to the officials!"
Seeing the gentry's criticism becoming more and more vigorous, Inspector Luo, who had been stunned for a long time, finally came to his senses, "Everyone, please listen to what I have to say. From dawn to now, the bandits outside the city have not dug any more tunnels, and they are still A letter came in, saying that the King of Yan sent a small force to arrive last night and forced the bandits to surrender. This letter has the official seal on it, so it doesn't look like a fake."
After speaking, he handed the letter to Xu Zhixian.
After Xuzhi County looked at it carefully, he couldn't help but be confused, "The shape of the seal is fine, but what is the official position of the commander of the special service team?"
The establishment of the Eastern Guard is different from that of the Forbidden Army, and the officer titles are also different. However, for the convenience of the outside world, there is usually a corresponding Forbidden Officer position and an identity seal is produced.
"No matter what his official position is, the commander is the chief officer of the first battalion. With three to five hundred troops, he can still scare the ragtag bandit army." Wangxian Lieutenant became happy.
Master Zhong also said, "In the main hall, why don't we first
Let's go to the city and have a look. "
So, a group of people rushed to the south city wall full of suspicion.
Then they discovered that the bandits had indeed stopped attacking the city, so they believed it a little, and then asked people to shout outside, demanding to meet with the officers and generals.
Not long after, the bandit leader Yang Xiao was seen thirty steps outside the city accompanied by several people wearing strange armors.
Xu Hean boldly stuck his head out, "May I ask who is Commander Wu Qiongwu?"
"I am the magistrate of Gutian County in the city? I want you to know that now that the rebel army has been recruited, you don't need to worry anymore." Wu Qiong responded loudly.
Xu Hean continued to ask, "I wonder how many troops Commander Wu has brought?"
"Thirty people!" Wu Qiong answered truthfully.
But when the city heard this, there was an uproar, and the gentry started shouting.
"Damn it, you're just making up some lies. Can thirty people force over 10,000 rebels to surrender?"
"Otherwise, no matter how much you ask him to say, the bandits won't be able to get the officers and soldiers' armor, and he won't be able to pretend no matter how much he says."
"Oh, do you really think that we are country bumpkins who have never seen the world? I have seen more Imperial Guards than I can count, but I have never seen the appearance of these people."
"I think this must be a trick of the bandits, trying to deceive the city gate!"
Some people even shouted directly outside the city, "Stupid thief! You want to deceive people with such a clumsy trick? What a big joke! I advise you not to be embarrassed here."
Then Master Zhong shouted directly, "Even so, don't bother so much. The purpose of attacking the city is just to grab some money and food. We have already raised 26,000 guan. If you are willing to retreat, no one will be hurt." Wouldn't it be better to go for free?"
It seemed that he was very concerned about his own life, fearing that he would anger the bandits and then actually attack the city.
Seeing the city's reaction, Wu Qiong was a bit dumbfounded, so he planned to turn around and leave, leaving the city to continue to be frightened in vain.
However, when Yang Xiao saw Master Zhong's book, he was extremely jealous. He changed his mind and persuaded Wu Qiong, "General, these old wealthy people in the city are not good people, especially this person named Zhong. They have been greedy over the years." Master, since they want to give money, let’s not give it in vain. Besides, didn’t you say before that you can’t just dismiss the people, but you have to give them some money and food? Rather than letting His Highness King Yan spend money, it’s better to let these rich people bleed. .”
When Wu Qiong heard this, he couldn't help but look at Yang Xiao in surprise, "What you said seems to make sense, and they can feel at ease only if they give the money. Well, then I'll do as you say."
After receiving the agreement, Yang Xiao immediately started negotiating with the city in a arrogant manner, "Listen to the city, you have one hour to give out all the money, otherwise I will be short of one, and I will immediately rush in and go to all the big houses." Go get it!"
Xu Hean was a little confused after hearing this, but the others seemed to have won the battle, and were very proud of seeing through the bandit woman's scheme. Chief Zhong couldn't wait to have the money brought over, and threw it down the city one by one.
As for whether the bandits will regret it after receiving the money, these people are not too worried.
It was useless to worry at first. If they really regretted it, they would have given a little earlier. After all, they really had no confidence that they could defend the city. Spending money to buy peace was also a "good tradition".
In the Song Dynasty, when local military forces were weak and county-level officials did not have the power to deal with bandits within their borders, there were many cases where they raised money to send them out of the country as gifts.
Secondly, thieves have their ways. These days, thieves tend to pay more attention to credibility. They generally don’t do things like tearing up tickets after receiving money. Otherwise, if the reputation spreads, they will no longer be able to do similar business. Moreover, You will also be despised by your colleagues...
The people on the city put away their bows and arrows, and kept throwing money down. The "bandits" also ran to the city empty-handed, carrying or carrying the money, and happily carried the money back to the "big camp".
This scene was so harmonious and absurd that Wu Qiong shook his head. When he saw Yang Xiao grinning, he casually asked, "How did you become enmity with that Lord Zhong?"
Yang Xiao didn't feel like there was anything to hide, so he started talking.
"This guy surnamed Zhong was originally a poor man who couldn't even pass the examination. He worked as a clerk in the Yamen in his early years. When Yan Mengbiao rebelled during the Shaoding period, this guy was called to Chen Zhao's arresting army. Later, he got involved
Guang, who had a lot of credit for his work, got better and better as he got better and better. Ten years ago, he started working as a stage manager at a major theater. "
"Although the silver market seems to be in a depressed state now, and there is not much silver to go to it, in fact there is not a lot of silver mines dug out, but most of them were moved to other places for smelting by these bad officials, and then they were pocketed."
"The dog officials ate the meat that belonged to the court, but instead of giving us miners a sip of soup, they exploited it even more fiercely. But in order to have food to eat, the brothers had no choice but to swallow their anger."
"We also understand that this world is like this. As long as we can live, we don't dare to ask for anything extravagant."
"It was just more than five years ago that during the Chinese New Year, the silver market asked us brothers to go to the mines. We thought that even if we had money, we had to have a New Year's Eve dinner, so we pooled the money with everyone and made some pork for everyone to enjoy."
"Unexpectedly, after just two bites, a black dog jumped out and tried to take away the meat. When we saw that the dog was raised by the farm supervisor, we didn't dare to stop it even though we were unwilling to do so."
"But this beast took one piece after another in his mouth. We were so angry that we chased him and saw the granddaughter of the farm manager kicking and playing with the pieces of meat."
"When we saw her trashing things, we couldn't help but go up and persuade her to return them to us, but this girl was unreasonable at all."
"They also said that we are untouchables. She doesn't even eat the cheap meat she eats during the Chinese New Year. We should be serving her family as cattle and horses for generations. Anyway, we don't speak like human beings, and we can't remember that much. , but he was so angry that he couldn't hold back and slapped the girl."
"Then Zhong had my pants ripped off in public and I was beaten with thirty sticks. We survived, but we knew that Zhong would definitely try to kill us, so we just dragged our brothers and ran out of the bank. field."
"The man surnamed Zhong sent people to arrest us. During those few months, we hid here and there, but many of our brothers were beaten to death. Then we fought back to the mine, but the man surnamed Zhong ran back to the county seat. Later we I have to make a living, so I start digging private mines, but this guy always sends people to cause trouble again and again..."
Yang Xiao downplayed the story and told it very simply, but Wu Qiong was also a person who had suffered hardships, so he could naturally hear the bitterness and suffering in it, so he patted Yang Xiao on the shoulder.
"As long as what you say is true, His Highness Prince Yan will seek justice for you."
