Shandong, Changbai Mountain.
There is a camp here, the Bandit Village. It used to be one of the eighteen villages under the rebel leader Wang Bo. It is now one of the few bandit gathering places in the Changbai Mountain area.
After Wang Bo's defeat, many of his men fled here to avoid being pursued by officers and soldiers.
Some of the rebels who followed Wang Bo did so out of helplessness, and Zhang Xutuo could spare them, but some of them were simply bandits, and they would be killed if caught.
In the past two years, Shandong's main task has been to appease the people of aristocratic families. As for the bandits hiding in Changbai Mountain, they really have no time to deal with them.
Firstly, the scale is too small to be dealt with. Secondly, Changbai Mountain is a natural hiding place. If you mobilize people to suppress the bandits, you may not be able to catch them.
So Zhang Xutuo naturally ignored such a small harm.
This village is called General's Village because the bandit leader inside, who calls himself General, rebelled with Wang Bo and killed many officers and soldiers. If someone like him is caught when he goes out, he will most likely end up in trouble.
Originally, my life was peaceful, but something has been wrong recently.
Because more and more people who are evading military service or working in the army are fleeing to them, and there are more and more people.
Because Wang Bo rebelled in this place, the people of Shandong naturally believed that they had to run to this place if they wanted to avoid the officers and soldiers from arresting young men.
As more and more people came in from Changbai Mountain, Du Fuwei, the bandit leader of the General's Village, became more and more worried.
"Brother, it's not good to continue like this," Du Fuwei said: "In the past, we kept a low profile and the officers and soldiers didn't bother to deal with us. Now more and more people are fleeing into the mountains, which will inevitably attract the officers and soldiers, and they may take them with them. Clean us up."
Du Fuwei is thirty-seven years old this year. He is also a great rebel leader in history. In The Legend of Two Dragons of the Tang Dynasty, he is the adoptive father of the two protagonists. Yes, this man likes to adopt adopted sons, and he has already adopted four of them. .
And the brother he was talking about was his hard-core brother Fugong Er, who was also a big rebel.
The level of rebellion and the scope of influence of these two people in the late Sui Dynasty was not comparable to that of Wang Bo, but it has to be said that Wang Bo was the key figure who fired the first shot of the great chaos in the late Sui Dynasty.
Fu Gong'er said with an ugly face: "Brothers come to report that we have found traces of officers and soldiers outside. Zhang Xutuo is too powerful. He also has several fierce men. We are short of weapons and only have a few hundred men. Once the officer The army is marching into the mountains to encircle and suppress us, for fear that you and my brothers will be trapped here."
The adopted son Wang Xiongdan said at the side: "I sent people to inquire around. Zhang Xutuo should not have left Qijun. He is responsible for recruiting soldiers in Shandong. I heard that the war will start in April and May. Where can we escape? What? Why not hide in the mountains again, and after a month or two, you should be fine."
"This dog emperor recruits troops every three days, as if there are endless battles," said the adopted son Kan Leng: "I see, there will be a big chaos in Shandong this time. Just look at these civilians who have fled from Shandong. Everyone knows that Zhang Xutuo's recruitment is very difficult."
After saying that, Kan Leng said sternly: "Father, why don't we take advantage of the situation and make a big move? How are we different from savages hiding in the mountains all day long? Going out will mean death anyway, so why not take advantage of the situation to rise up vigorously, recruit refugees, and form a rebel army?" .”
"My son's words are exactly what I want," Du Fuwei laughed loudly: "If Wang Bo can do it, why can't I, Du Fuwei? But now is not the time, just as Xiong Dan said, After the imperial army from Shandong has left, and all county and county government offices are empty of troops, it will be the time for us to flex our muscles."
Fugong Er frowned and said: "Zhi Shilang was so powerful back then, but in the end he couldn't escape and was defeated and died. It can be seen that Shandong is not a suitable place for righteousness. In the future, we will still have to go south to hide away from the imperial army."
"That's right," Du Fuwei nodded and said, "I followed Chishiro in the south and north expeditions and was defeated. After leaving Shandong, I went to Hebei. It can be seen that these two places are where the government is strong. The Jianghuai water system is crisscrossed. Why should the defender be afraid of the officers and soldiers?"
Fugong Er said: "Right now, all the civilians in the mountains can be used by me. Networking people's hearts is at stake. We need to withdraw to the mountains as soon as possible to avoid encounters with the officers and soldiers."
"Okay!" Du Fuwei slapped the table: "Brother will be the long history of our Du family army from now on. Let's also give ourselves an official title."
These two people have been close friends since childhood. In fact, Fugong Er was tricked by Du Fuwei and became a bandit.
Du Fuwei was also a landowner, but his parents died early, and he was a prodigal, so everything was gone. However, the young assistant minister Fa had been helping him, always stealing sheep from his aunt's house and giving them to Du Fuwei. .
Later, Fu Gong'er's aunt reported to the police, and the two boys hid in the mountains and became bandits. Du Fuwei was only sixteen years old that year, and he was considered to be a group of people who had fallen into bandits in Changbai Mountain very early. Wang Bo was among the latter. Come.
It's just that Wang Bo was older and had unusual personal charm. He gathered a group of bandits who had fallen into captivity in Changbai Mountain under his command, and that's when Du Fuwei followed Wang Bo.
With such a strong relationship, Du Fuwei and Fugong Er still had problems in history. After the two surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, Du Fuwei took the initiative to apply for an audience with Li Yuan. In Chang'an, he was named the King of Wu, appointed the crown prince's Taibao, and the Minister of the Southeast Road. , the pacifying ambassador south of Jianghuai, ranking above Qi King Li Yuanji, and the fourth in command of the Tang Dynasty.
Fu Gong'er, who stayed in Jianghuai, rebelled directly. Later, after being caught by Li Xiaogong, he lied that Du Fuwei had asked him to rebel, which even implicated Du Fuwei in Chang'an.
This is retaliation. When he was young, he was convicted of a bandit because of Du Fuwei, and later Du Fuwei also died because of him.
Du Fuwei's epitaph records that his death was because Fu Gong'er "stayed in Danyang in order to provoke rebellion", which led to Du Fuwei's "feelings in his heart and his death."
Zhang Xutuo seemed to have aged many years in a few months. This conscription was His Majesty's will. He knew very well that if he didn't do it well, Your Majesty could kill him.
In Yang Ming's letter to him, he also said to do his best.
The number of soldiers assigned to Shandong was not large, only 30,000, but there were still 300,000 civilians, and the grain supplies from various counties had also been requisitioned.
The common people in Shandong became distraught upon hearing about military service. Before the officials could explain it clearly, they were already preparing to flee with their families. They had just experienced it three years ago, and now they are not living a stable life, and they are here again. once.
How about playing?
"Well, now it's all about catching the strong men. Fortunately, we are almost there," Fang Xuanling said: "Once the army leaves, Shandong will probably be full of rebels. The turmoil three years ago will probably happen again. "
The reason why Fang Xuanling is here is that he is responsible for handling the hundreds of thousands of acres of open fields in Xuangan. If there had not been this year's Northern Expedition, everything in Shandong would be stable and moving in the best direction.
But once the conscription was launched, it was over. Bandits were everywhere, and the people were in dire straits. Now all the wealthy businessmen and wealthy families were holed up in the city and no longer dared to go out.
Zhang Xutuo let out a long sigh: "The general situation is like this, and it is beyond our power to change it. Even the prince can only sigh with regret."
"The Licheng Military Mansion must maintain a standing force of 3,000 men. Otherwise, once the army leaves, we may not even be able to protect the county government offices," the person who said this was Zhang Xutuo's new favorite general, Luo Shixin.
Luo Shixin's family was originally a wealthy family in Licheng. During the rebellion three years ago, his brother Luo Ming, the Prime Minister of Linji County, died at the hands of Wang Bo. Their family was very close to Zhang Xutuo.
Now he is fifteen years old. He has been out fighting bandits for a year. He is so brave and invincible that people in Shandong area give him the nickname "Little Meng Ben".
At the age of fifteen, he is as tall as a twenty-year-old.
Zhang Xutuo nodded: "In the name of recruiting military pay, I secretly deducted some food and grass and stored it in the Licheng treasury for future needs. This northern expedition will be over before the end of this year, and we are Get through this year and things will be better in the future.”
"That's right," Fang Xuanling nodded: "But it's only a little better than this year. It's far worse than last year. Bandits together are just a spark. In the future, when Xuancheng is over, we will have to put out fires everywhere."
Zhang Xutuo almost didn’t want to do it anymore. What the hell was he doing? Can't Shandong be allowed to live a more stable life?
"After this year, Xuanling helps me talk to the prince and find a place for me," Zhang Xutuo said with a wry smile.
Fang Xuanling said with a smile: "The prince once said that Shandong cannot be fruitless for a day. Here, we still have to rely on you. Shandong will be very difficult in the future, but the more difficult the time, the more the pillars of Xuancheng Hou will be revealed." talent."
He didn't dare to agree to such a thing as Zhang Xutuo. You are of a higher rank than me and you are also a prince. Why didn't you say it yourself?
Zhang Xutuo smiled and said, "Xuanling should prepare in the past few days and return to the capital as soon as possible. You have nothing to do with me here. If you leave later, I'm afraid the road back to the capital will be bumpy."
Fang Xuanling nodded. He also wanted to leave quickly. If he didn't leave, it would be difficult to get out of Shandong. There were many young and old bandits blocking the road. Although he had dozens of followers around him, he couldn't handle the large number of bandits.
At the moment, the troops recruited from Shandong are setting off. It is considered a relatively safe period. Once the army leaves, the official road will be full of dangers.
As for Fang Xuanling, he would cross the Yellow River from Qijun, enter Qinghejun, and then take a boat south from the canal to Luoyang, and then return to the capital from Luoyang.
This route is the safest, because this route is full of large armies. The Xiaoguo army who came to protect the children is taking the canal, and the link between Luoyang and Guanzhong is the safest official road in the entire Sui Dynasty.
Because there are always messages passing between the capital and the eastern capital, and there are constant postmen, no one dares to rob on this road.
Two days later, Zhang Xutuo and his generals personally sent Fang Xuanling's motorcade out of the city.
Looking at the cars and horses leaving, Luo Shixin frowned and said, "This man is a bit of a coward. The prince didn't ask him to go back. Look at how timid he is."
Zhang Xutuo smiled and said: "Those who are afraid of death have the advantage of being afraid of death, and people who are not afraid of death have the advantage of not being afraid of death."
"Then we shouldn't be afraid of death, right?" Luo Shixin said.
Zhang Xutuo nodded and said: "If we are also afraid of death, we will be completely useless people. Useless people will naturally be abandoned like nothing."
"I've learned a lesson from my humble position," Luo Shixin nodded.
(End of chapter)
