The villagers of Xiaodong Village came to seek refuge?
Han Zhen, who had just woken up from his sleep, thought he had not woken up when he heard the news.
It is understandable that people who have fled their households must seek refuge with the villagers...
Could it be that Song Huizong had done something outrageous again?
With doubts, Han Zhen rode all the way to the village.
Climb the wall and look down.
Oops!
They are really villagers from Xiaodong Village.
When the villagers below saw Han Zhen, they burst into cheers.
"Look, it's really Han Er!"
"We have come to join you!"
"Han Er, it's me!"
"..."
Han Zhen turned around and asked, "Have you checked it out?"
Nie Dong on the side replied: "I have just sent people to explore. There are no ambushes behind. Except for the leader who has a spear in his hand, the others have no swords and arrows. There are really only more than a hundred villagers."
Hearing this, Han Zhen nodded and said, "In that case, open the village gate and let them in."
Creak!
As the two heavy village doors opened, the villagers immediately filed in.
After entering the village, the villagers gathered in front of the village gate in a chaotic manner, looking around curiously and talking among themselves.
"Did you really send Arata?"
"Is the five buckets of rice wheat?"
"Han Er, do you still remember me? I am your second uncle."
There was so much chattering that it gave people a headache.
Han Zhen had a cold face and shouted: "Quiet!"
Today, Han Zhen has a rather calm and confident aura, coupled with the cold looks of the soldiers around him.
For a time, the villagers in Xiaowang Village gradually became quiet and looked at him with anxious expressions.
After glancing around, Han Zhen pointed at someone and asked, "Why are you here?"
The villager being pointed at was none other than Zhang Qiao.
Facing Han Zhen's gaze, Zhang Qiao felt frightened. He felt as if he was being stared at by a fierce tiger, and a chill ran down his spine.
Swallowing his saliva, he answered truthfully: "Today, the tax collector came to the village and said that the government would collect a small amount of money, six guans per person. If you don't pay in full, you will be subject to military law. We really have no way to survive, so He escaped from the village at night."
Hearing this, a strange color flashed in Han Zhen's eyes.
The natural disaster has not yet come, but the man-made disaster has arrived first.
Six guans per person, is Song Huizong crazy?
Or does he have absolute confidence in the recruitment method?
You can think with your toes that uprisings will occur frequently in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Han Zhen asked again: "Why do you know I am here?"
Zhang Qiao didn't answer and turned to look at Yu Jun.
Seeing this, Yu Jun had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "I went hunting in the mountains a few days ago and came down the mountain from a fugitive family. I learned from the fugitive's registration that you are in Xiaowang Village."
"Where are the other villagers?"
"The village chief and his friends don't want to leave. They plan to sell their land and pay taxes."
After Yu Jun finished speaking, he begged: "Han Er, I'm not hiding it from you. I just killed Lu Da when he stopped him from leaving. Now that he has become a fugitive, with human lives on his hands, he really has nowhere to go." Go, I just ask you to take me in and give me food to eat!"
Han Zhen chuckled and said, "You are quite brave. Are you willing to join the army?"
"this……"
Yu Jun was stunned for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said: "As long as I can keep my family alive, I am willing to join the army."
To be honest, his family has a large population, and his own father had his leg bitten off by a tiger and is disabled.
The mother-in-law is also sick and cannot do heavy work, and she has three children waiting to be fed.
Just relying on him to manage a few acres of dry land would make it difficult for him to make ends meet.
Han Zhen said sternly: "Don't worry, I won't treat you badly. After joining the army, your monthly salary will be 500 yuan, three meals a day and one meal of meat every three days. If you have military merit, there will be other rewards."
Yu Jun was immediately overjoyed. He didn't expect that he would be treated so well after joining the army.
Hearing this, a young man hurriedly said: "I also want to join the army."
After looking him up and down, Han Zhen shook his head: "Just keep farming!"
We used to live in the same village and knew each other well.
He knew very well what kind of character this person was.
Now Han Zhen is not worried about the supply of troops. There are still 100 reserves over Songshan Ridge.
Moreover, there will continue to be fleeing households and villagers coming to seek refuge in the future, so you can choose slowly.
The reason why Yu Jun was selected was that he was a hunter, could bow and arrow, had a strong temper, and had the courage to kill people. He only needed some training to become a qualified soldier.
"It's late at night, so just spend the night near the village. Go to the village tomorrow to register. Each household will be allocated two acres of wasteland and five buckets of rice."
As soon as he finished speaking, the villagers in Xiaowang Village suddenly showed surprise.
They actually divided the unused fields and gave them rice grain.
Han Zhen ordered Nie Dong again: "Keep a close eye tonight. If there is any abnormal movement, don't be soft."
"Got the order!"
Nie Dong responded.
After walking all the way back to the house, Han Zhen lost sleep and went straight to the study.
The imperial court's collection of Ding's money disrupted his plan.
His original intention was to wait for another two months. When the natural disaster comes, war will break out in the north and uprisings will occur frequently.
At that point, you can take it easy.
However, plans cannot keep up with changes.
Who would have thought that at this juncture, Song Huizong would dare to collect Ding Shen money nationwide.
So brave!
Pulling out the paper, grinding some ink, Han Zhen took up his pen and started writing and drawing on the paper.
Linzi County - Qiancheng County - Boxing County.
These three counties are very close to each other and are all gathered in the upper right corner of Qingzhou. They have high mountains and dense forests, with the Bohai Sea as their back.
To occupy these three counties, all you need to do is cut off the Jishui waterway and the official roads of the three counties, and half of Qingzhou will fall into your hands. If you advance, you can go south to attack the county town, and if you retreat, you can form your own boundary and live a happy life.
Even if you prepare for the worst, you can still go to sea along the Jishui River.
The terrain of Qingzhou is high in the northwest and low in the southeast.
It can be divided into upper and lower parts diagonally. The upper part is the three counties of Linzi, with high mountains and dense forests and rugged terrain.
Due to its remote location and harsh environment, the population is sparse. For example, Linzi County has only more than 3,000 households and a total of less than 20,000 people.
The lower half is a flat plain, a large lush plain where the county town of Yidu and the two Wang counties of Shouguang and Linqu are located.
80% of Qingzhou's population and fields are in the lower half.
Yidu County alone has more than 80,000 households in the counties and towns under its jurisdiction, totaling more than 400,000 people.
In Han Zhen's plan, he first occupied the three counties of Linzi to accumulate strength, and then gradually took control of it.
Although he currently has a small manpower, with only a hundred or so soldiers, once a rebellion is really launched and swept under the influence, his power will quickly expand rapidly.
This is the same principle as snowballing. A small snowball thrown from the top of the mountain will turn into a giant in the blink of an eye.
The difficulty is not rolling a big snowball, but how to refine and compress it to make the snowball denser.
Otherwise, no matter how big the snowball is, it will fall apart when touched.
This is the case for many peasant uprisings. There were only a few hundred people at the beginning, but they soon gathered hundreds of thousands. However, when they encountered regular troops, they were instantly dispersed.
In order to consolidate power, in addition to a leader with brains and prestige, a group of management talents are also needed.
Management talents are exactly what Han Zhen currently lacks.
However, he has always felt that there are not many talents, but they just lack talent and a stage.
Peixian County is the best example.
Without Liu Bang, Xiao He would have been just a scribe until his death, Cao Shen would have been a prisoner all his life, and Fan Kuai would have been just a butcher in the countryside.
A thousand-mile horse often exists, but a bole does not always exist.
It's impossible for the entire Qin Dynasty to just have these three talents, all of them happen to be in Peixian County, and all of them happen to be close to Liu Bang?
It doesn't make sense.
Therefore, he deliberately trained the people around him and gave them opportunities.
Currently, the only one who stands out is Monkey.
In a short period of time, the lime kiln was managed in an orderly manner, and dozens of workers were kept obedient.
As he was writing, Han Zhen suddenly paused.
On the paper, in the logo of Linzi County, the words Changzhi County were written.
Should I kill this person or not?
He hesitated.
Although this person from Changzhi County is a little cautious, the cooperation between the two parties has been quite pleasant so far.
But, after all, he is an official of the imperial court...
(End of chapter)
