After coming down from the mountain, the Xinghua County Government confirmed that the mountain people were rebelling. Song Guangdou did not hesitate and burned the bamboo pontoon bridge that had just been built for the convenience of tax collection without saying a word. At first, some people in the surrounding villages had heard the news, but they were still hesitating in their hearts. After hesitating for only one day, the path they wanted to take was gone.
The water in Nanxi River is fast and deep. It is more difficult to cross the river than to climb to the sky. You can only walk along the lower reaches. There are no mountain roads in the lower reaches. To cross the river, you have to climb over mountains and ridges. The villagers would rather stay at home than go to the mountains. In the mountains It is the territory of the mountain people.
Unable to escape, the villagers could only continue to guard their one-third of an acre of land. The food harvest on the north bank has basically stopped, and everyone can only continue to eat the remaining food from Liangchuan. Many people have finished eating their own food, and originally planned to go to the city to buy food. After many inquiries, they found out that the price of food in Liangchuan's family has changed. Low. In this way, not only can everyone eat with peace of mind, but they can also eat more happily.
By selling grain, Liang Chuan almost quadrupled the money he spent to buy grain and returned it to his own pocket. Of course, the money has not been recovered yet. Now that he has made money, he is not happy at all. There is a thorn in his heart and a knife hanging over his head. He doesn't know when it will fall. He has no life to spend the money. This is the most difficult thing in life.
Under the camphor tree, Liang Chuan told the villagers of the four villages and Baozheng how serious the current situation was with emotion and reason. He spoke in a clear and logical manner, and all the possible consequences of family destruction and death were mentioned. Unexpectedly, There was still a village whose villagers turned a deaf ear and did not believe what Liang Chuan said. This village was Chihe Village.
Chihe Village used to be the most powerful among the four villages. Now the tigers are no longer as good as dogs. The people in the village are living in disgrace, but the spirit is still there. The person they looked down on the most in He Lu is now How could they be willing to obey the orders of the Helu people? The people in this village are also quite stubborn. It turned out that the three villages wanted to work together to build a waterwheel. A large part of the reason was because many villagers in this village did not want to follow the crowd, so they failed. This time Liang Chuan wanted to unite the power of the four villages to resist. The mountain people rebelled, but they didn't expect that they would eventually drift away from the organization.
Since they would rather fight alone and face this group of mountain people than unite with other people, if nothing else, they will suffer losses sooner or later. Any strong fortress can be broken from the inside.
After the meeting under the camphor tree came to an end, the villagers of Chihe Village were the first to leave. Their temperament made it impossible for them to accept the leadership of He Lu, a poor villager.
Liang Chuan said to Baozheng and the villagers of the three villages: "Folks, you go back first. This matter must be explained clearly to your family. Please inform everyone that Nanxi's retreat has been cut off in the county. , it’s not an exaggeration to say that everything is going downhill, from now on our three villages don’t have the blessing of the court, we have to rely on ourselves to survive.”
Since the typhoon, the villagers of Helu have followed Liangchuan's lead and have no second thoughts. The other three villages did not follow Liang Chuan in taking typhoon prevention measures before the typhoon. Look at the disastrous consequences.
Only those who can survive in troubled times, Liang Chuan is good at catching tigers, and he is even better at leading everyone to make a fortune. It goes without saying that he usually listens to him, but at this juncture, is it possible that he will not listen to him and go his own way? The villagers immediately expressed their stance: "You have given your orders, Sanlang, to go up the mountain and fight under the fire. All of us Helu people will follow you without blinking an eye!"
The Baozheng of Huangtu and Chen Qiyou villages originally did not have enough prestige in the village, and his words could not represent all the villagers. The villagers looked at me and I looked at you, and everyone was hesitant. At this moment, Chen Qi said the final word: "What you are eating now is still Sanlang's rice. How many people did Sanlang persuade to buy rice? Only the people in Helu listened. Now look at our two villages." Don’t you understand the difference between you and He Lu?”
The villagers did not care whether they were eating or not. When they talked about the current miserable days, they felt a desire for a better life in their hearts. This was the key point for them.
The young men from the two villages gritted their teeth, looked at the miserable appearance of their relatives, and said, "Brother Liangchuan, the people from our two villages are also willing to follow you and listen to your orders!"
The words of the old Baozheng of the two villages may not be very effective, but fortunately, one generation is better than the other, and the young forces have finally gained the upper hand, and they are still sensible. At least today, they are still preparing to resist the mountain people. sane.
"I still say the same thing, everyone go back first and tell the news to your family. If there are two men in the family, one will be born. If there are no men in the family, or the family is not willing to let you defend the home, there is no need to come back. , after lunch, everyone gathered at my house, do you understand what I said?" This incident may be the first crisis Liang Chuan has encountered since he came to this world. Liang Chuan paid special attention to it and asked in a heightened tone.
The people in the two villages still had some worries, that is, they were worried about using their morality to blackmail them, which would give them a bad reputation. In the end, they reluctantly worked for Liang Chuan. Unexpectedly, Liang Chuan spoke up before the matter was done. All this happened. With voluntariness, you must protect your homeland and your own homeland.
"I understand!" The crowd dispersed like water.
He Baozheng asked distressedly: "Sanlang, I heard that all the people in the government were killed by the mountain people when they went up to the government. Is it true?"
Liang Chuan knew that this kind of thing was far away from them. Every honest farmer didn't want to encounter this kind of thing, but reality is reality. If you don't face it, bad luck will only spread to yourself: " it is true."
"Ah!" He Baozheng exclaimed, "Sanlang, I know the character of the people in these three villages. Their hands will tremble three times when killing a chicken. The mountain people on the mountain are all hunting wild beasts. With them, If you go for it, is that not trying to hit an egg against a rock?"
The sky in autumn is exceptionally blue, and there are white clouds flowing in the distance with the wind. It's a pity that I don't know how many times I can enjoy this beautiful scenery.
Liang Chuan raised his head and took a deep breath of the sweet air, as if he was enjoying this moment of peace for the last time. After regaining his composure, he said to He Baozheng: "It is true that an egg will perish if it touches a stone, but if an egg does not touch a stone, it will destroy itself." , are you waiting for this big rock to come and smash us to pieces?”
He Baozheng was standing under the camphor tree, looking at his ancestral property and the He family's ancestral hall. He had lived his entire life, and it was only at this point that he felt like a human being. How could he understand that if I don't offend, everyone will offend me? My reasoning.
The most painful thing in life is to be like Wu Dalang, live your life well, but others are always scheming against you, and in the end you end up losing your life, the same principle.
When Liang Chuan returned home, he asked Yi Niang to clear out the entire main hall of his home. All the tables and chairs originally arranged in the middle were removed, leaving a large meeting hall empty.
Just after noon, the working men from several villages walked over in unison and gathered around the courtyard of Liang Chuan's house.
"Hey, Huang Mazi, you are the only one in your family, why don't you come too? What will happen to your parents if something happens to you?" Even most of the young people in the former village know each other and they all play in the mud together. Whose family situation is better? They are all familiar.
Huang Mazi said generously: "My family owes Third Brother a lot of food. I've said that, not counting this as food debt. Without Third Brother's food, our family would have starved to death. Now Third Brother calls on everyone to defend together." Home, I have to give this life back no matter what, I thought my mother's words were definitely correct, so I came here."
"You're here too, Erzhi?" "Yeah, I was hiding at home and peeking through the crack in the door. Damn it, you guys came quietly without telling me. How can I face you after you leave me behind?" "
What was originally a rather tragic mobilization meeting turned into a competition meeting to show personal integrity. The people in Helu Village were basically the same as the last typhoon day, and basically every family had a strong labor force. The people in the other two villages were almost the same. After everyone pointed out each other, people came from basically every household.
The people were almost here. The three guards bumped heads and walked into the room and said to Liang Chuan: "Sanlang, the people are here."
"Okay!" Liang Chuan walked out. The courtyard was filled with people's heads. They were all strong young men. However, they had not eaten well these days. Many people's faces were yellow and yellow, and they were crowded with people. It was almost impossible to stand in the courtyard, and many people could only stand outside the door.
"Oh! So many people!"
Liang Chuan was overjoyed. His plan originally did not count on the other two villages to contribute much. The main force was still counting on the dozens of people in He Lu. People are valued for their loyalty rather than their quantity. Rather than being able to use them smoothly, if people If you are too disobedient, things will go wrong. People in He Lu share weal and woe now, and they are loyal and reliable. However, apart from the money they owe themselves, these two villages still have a lot of contact with themselves. However, it is very commendable that so many young people are willing to come out today.
Everyone first looked at Liang Chuan's house curiously. There were not many big houses like this on the North Shore. Some of them were passed down from ancestors. Who else could afford to build such a big house now.
It was not convenient for the women of the Liangchuan family to show their faces in such an occasion. They stayed in the house and went to school as usual. It was the first time for the children to see so many people, but the people from the other two villages were also surprised. They did not expect that He Lu's children were so lucky, but they were reading and learning knowledge in such a nice house. . After this generation, the gap between several villages will become even greater!
Liang Chuan came out, and everyone looked at Liang Chuan with bright eyes. They thought there would be a kind of heroic heroism, but they didn't expect that everyone saw the large crowd, and suddenly felt an inexplicable confidence, looking forward to Liang Chuan leading them to do it. After a big career, the man who had been wallowing in the mud all his life could do something big one day, and everyone couldn't help but feel a little excited.
Liang Chuan called everyone into the room. The main hall was a bit smaller than the courtyard. Everyone gathered together tightly, like making dumplings. Liang Chuan gestured to close the door, which was quite mysterious.
