Southern Tang Dynasty, Dongdu, Jiangdu Prefecture.
However, people in this city still like to call themselves Yangzhou people.
Yang Yi Yi Er, this is the city's most glorious moment, with a population of 6 to 7 million, and the world's wealth.
Jiangdu Prefecture in the Southern Tang Dynasty was actually not big, less than a quarter of the original Yangzhou City. Especially after being attacked by the Zhou army the year before last, the number of people in Yangzhou City decreased a lot.
Because without Huainan, only relying on a Jianwu Army screen (Anhui Tianchang), Jiangdu Prefecture Yangzhou can basically be said to be alone in the north of the Yangtze River. Who knows when the Zhou people will come and easily capture Jiangdu City.
In fact, not only Yangzhou, but also all the cities in the Southern Tang Dynasty from the north of the Yangtze River to Huaibei fell into this kind of panic.
Last year alone, when Liu Renzhan launched the Shouzhou Qinghuai Army to attack Sizhou and Haozhou, even if the Southern Tang Dynasty was the attacker, more than 3,000 people fled from Yangzhou City, and even caused a stir in Runzhou across the river. The people were terrified.
Under this situation, the population north of the Yangtze River in the Southern Tang Dynasty almost saw a decrease year by year, which greatly weakened the Southern Tang Dynasty's defensive mobilization capabilities in the north of the Yangtze River.
. . . .
The northeast corner of Jiangdu City is the original sub-city of Yangzhou City in the Tang Dynasty. It is also a moon city attached to Yangzhou City. It is regarded as the acropolis of Yangzhou and mainly functions as a fortress. Together with the prosperous Yangzhou Luocheng, it forms to Yangzhou City.
Historically, Yangzhou City would experience the Huainan War between the Southern Tang Dynasty and the Later Zhou Dynasty in a few years, and would be captured twice.
By the time Zhou Shizong Guo Rong appointed Li Chongjin as the Huainan Jiedushi, more than 100,000 people in Yangzhou City had to die or flee, and the city was in dilapidated condition and uninhabitable.
So Guo Rong rebuilt Yangzhou City in the southeast of this small town. People at that time called it Zhou Xiaocheng, which was where Yangzhou City was located in the Song and Yuan Dynasties.
However, in this time and space, although Zhang Zhou also captured Yangzhou City once, it was Li Cunhui who rushed thousands of miles to suddenly seize the gate. When he retreated, the Southern Tang court also gave him the redemption money, so there was basically no damage.
Sometimes, things in the world seem to have some strange connection. Now, in this small Yangzhou town that was later called Zhou Xiaocheng, most of the people living in it were named Zhou.
And this group of people surnamed Zhou is not simple. They are the descendants of Zhou Ben, the famous general of Southern Wu and one of Yang Xingmi's thirty-six heroes.
Zhou Ben is a descendant of Zhou Yu of the Three Kingdoms. He is a rare and famous general under Yang Xingmi who is both wise and brave. In the battle of Ivory Pool, 7,000 soldiers were defeated by 100,000 soldiers. When facing Wu Yue, he staged an empty city strategy to retreat the enemy.
What is even more commendable is that Zhou Ben is very loyal. After Xu Zhigao usurped the throne, Li Ming clearly opposed Zhou Ben. He also wanted to take in Yang Xingmi's third son Yang Meng.
After Li Min usurped the throne, Zhou Ben refused to become an official. He felt guilty and died of depression. Among the Five Dynasties, he was considered a rare loyal minister.
Yangzhou, Zhou's ancestral hall, two groups are confronting each other.
The party with the largest number of people was dressed luxuriously, spoke aggressively, and had slaves holding large pots in a threatening manner.
The party with the smaller number was obviously in greater embarrassment. Although it looked relatively strong, it could no longer afford to wear silk clothes, and its hands were covered with calluses, which was obviously caused by having to work in the fields frequently.
"Brother, why do you have to be so stubborn anymore? This is not because this younger brother is unkind. This is actually the order of Sun Daling from Jiangdu County. Who made those two unsatisfactory disciples dare to join the Hexi thieves?
If my brother hands over the three hundred acres of land in the clan, I can still excuse him in front of Sun Daling. Otherwise, I am afraid that even you, my brother, will have to go to jail. "
In the ancestral hall, a fat man dressed in silk clothes sat on a round stool, surrounded by several servants holding big bowls, standing solemnly, quite a bit of official power.
The man the fat man called his brother was a strong man with some gray hair. Although he was strong, his expression was quite frightening.
The words "Hexi thief" were like a heavy hammer, hammering into his heart.
Because his two younger brothers who were in the Longwu Army and followed King Yan to the Central Plains to worship last year, for some reason, betrayed the country and took refuge with the Zhou Kingdom in the Central Plains. This is a capital crime!
The big fat man looked frightened, and he couldn't help but have a proud expression on his face. These three hundred acres of paddy fields were close to the canal. The irrigation was very convenient, the yield was extremely high, and they were connected into one piece.
The Zhou family was able to own such good 300 acres of land in Yangzhou, thanks to their grandfather Zhou Ben. This land was originally given to Zhou Ben by King Yang Xingmi of Wu.
Zhou Ben had two sons, the eldest son Zhou Ye and the second son Zhou Hongzuo. Before Zhou Ben died, he left these 300 acres of land and a manor to his eldest son Zhou Ye.
Because although the eldest son Zhou Ye was brave and good at fighting, he was simple and had a rough temper. Under his influence, he was loyal to Yang and dissatisfied with Li's usurpation of power.
Zhou Bensheng was afraid that after his death, Zhou Ye would not be tolerated by Li Min, so he left most of his family property to him and asked him to farm in the suburbs of Yangzhou to avoid being killed.
As for the second son Zhou Hongzuo, he was well-known and had followed Li Min in his early years, so Zhou Ben was not worried.
However, Zhou Ben still underestimated Li Min's broadmindedness. This man was not a stingy man like his son Li Jing.
After Zhou Ben's death, Li Min not only did not punish Zhou Ye, who often complained, but also treated him very tolerantly.
Later, Zhou Ye was also impressed by Li Min's generosity, and loyally guarded the place for the Southern Tang Dynasty, reaching the rank of military envoy.
However, Zhou Ben's arrangement caused considerable rifts among the descendants of his two sons.
In particular, Zhou Ye did not own any property. After he died of illness eight years ago, his descendants immediately declined. Now, they have to rely on these hundreds of acres of land to survive.
How could such a good land be preserved without the right to do so? It had already been taken into consideration.
Although the second son Zhou Hongzuo had a good official career, he had many descendants and was not very well-off. Naturally, some people were eyeing the 300 acres of high-quality paddy fields that they thought should be half of the family.
"Brother, just sign this contract. As long as you sign this contract, Erlang and Sanlang will be suppressed immediately.
Don't expect the two of them to come back, that would be an outburst! Such a great achievement as conquering Dragon City could only be achieved by Wei Huo and Li Weigong of the great dynasty. How could the Hexi thieves accomplish it? "
The fat man became more and more proud as he talked, but unexpectedly, the door of the Zhou family ancestral hall was pushed open with a bang.
The Zhou family went out in search of fame, but at some point, there was already a sea of people outside the ancestral hall.
The Zhou Family Ancestral Hall is built outside Zicheng, next to Guanhe River. On weekdays, it is very lively with people coming and going, but it is rare to see so many people standing outside like this today that you can see so many heads just from the door. .
What's even more strange is that there were so many people around, but few of them made a sound. Everyone looked at the few people who pushed open the door of the ancestral hall with some horror and fear.
The big fat man raised his eyes and saw that among these people, the leaders seemed to be his disciples and the younger brothers of this gray-haired man, Zhou Fengyi and Zhou Fengyi.
"Erlang, Sanlang, you are back." The fat man tried his best to put on a smile.
Among Zhou Ben's two sons, the eldest son Zhou Ye was extremely brave. He once killed dozens of people with a spear on the battlefield and rescued Zhou Ben.
The second son, Zhou Hongzuo, studied literature and could not fight with others.
The big fat man is the third son of Zhou Hongzuo, the second son of Zhou Ben. Naturally, like his father, he has no martial arts.
But the brothers Zhou Fengyi and Zhou Fenquan opposite him looked very much like their father Zhou Ye, who frequently killed people on the battlefield. They were both powerful killers.
However, as soon as he felt a little uneasy, he was instantly driven away by four strong men holding large cannons around him.
Moreover, when he came this time, he not only brought warriors with big cannons, but also got the support of Jiangdu County Magistrate, and also got the reason for Zhou Fengyi brother to defect to Zhou State.
Just as he was about to say a few words to save his cowardly expression, he heard a faint, cold voice.
"It was you, the dog slave, who was talking about the Hexi thieves just now, wasn't it? In the next life, remember to cut off your tongue when you are born, so as not to be killed again!"
Next life? Death? The big fat man was confused for a moment, and suddenly saw the person who spoke.
As if he was struck by lightning, he shook his head and raised his hand. He couldn't say "Zhou people" out of his mouth.
The silver-white flying fish uniform is the symbol of Zhang Zhou's Jinyi guards, and the reason why Zhang Gao sent several Jinyi guards even though Zhou Fengyi's brother returned south was specifically to slap Li Jing in the face, and to dispel the illusions of the Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, as soon as the captain in Jinyi, who was wearing a silver flying fish uniform, finished speaking, he was already approaching. Before the four thugs behind the big fat man could react, the meteor hammer in the captain's hand flew out.
The big fat man screamed "Ah", and his chubby face immediately turned into a pile of rotten meat.
A thug holding a big gun was about to take action when a crossbow arrow shot through the air, and a bloody arrow shot out from the thug's neck.
The Yangzhou people outside the door were all shocked. It was not that they had never seen murder before, but it was still too overbearing for the Zhou Kingdom's Jinyi guards to go directly to the territory of the Southern Tang Dynasty and kill people at the slightest disagreement.
People at this time still had a strong sense of localism. Although the big fat man who was beaten to death was not popular and was not of the same class as ordinary Yangzhou people, the people outside the Zhou family ancestral hall still felt extremely humiliation.
They didn't have the courage to charge forward yet, but they tightly surrounded the Zhou family ancestral hall and did not disperse, with indignation shining in their eyes.
Guo Zhao looked at the Yangzhou people in front of him without fear, and instead jumped onto a stone pier.
As a captain in Jinyi, he certainly knew what he was doing. All of this had been planned long ago.
If he is beaten to death by these Yangzhou people now, his family will have the emperor's favor. If you get things done, you can leave a mark in history.
"Since the first year of Shaoming, there has been no Tang state, only the vassal state of the Southern Tang Dynasty of the Great Zhou Dynasty. This Southern Tang Dynasty is a vassal of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the people of the Southern Tang Dynasty are also the people of the saints of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
This person speaks arrogantly and dares to insult the present generation as a Hexi bandit. That is a capital offense.
Not only does a certain family want to kill him, but anyone else who dares to say this will be killed! "
The people of Yangzhou became even more angry. In their view, the emperor of the country changed the Tang Dynasty to the Southern Tang Dynasty because he was bullied by the Zhou Dynasty and did it out of desperation. The Southern Tang court has always promoted it this way.
This made everyone in Southern Tang feel extremely aggrieved, and now Guo Zhao's words were simply adding fuel to the fire.
Several strong men from the Southern Tang Dynasty clenched their hands. They looked at Guo Zhao with hatred, as if they were going to beat him up in the next second.
The rest of the people were also excited. They cursed loudly, and the atmosphere finally became heated. At this time, only a small spark was needed to ignite it immediately.
But at this time, Guo Zhao did not look at the angry and roaring Southern Tang people in front of him, but at a two-story small restaurant in the distance.
He had already found out that the magistrate of Jiangdu County, the eastern capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was in this restaurant.
If he comes, he will make great contributions and leave his name in history.
If he didn't come and he was beaten and killed by the Southern Tang people, then the army would have an excuse to go south.
Didn't Li Jing say that Liu Renzhan of Shouzhou was domineering and he couldn't control the vassal town, but now the imperial soldiers were beaten and killed in Jiangdu Mansion, let's see how you explain it!
(End of chapter)
