At the junction of Nangong County and Julu County, Lu Xiangsheng's army was stationed in the camp. Yao Dongzhao led hundreds of volunteers to venture outside the camp gate to see Lu Xiangsheng.
Yao Dongzhao saw that Lu Xiangsheng was determined, but he still did not give up. He took another step forward and said generously: "Sir, since the second year of Chongzhen, the Donglu have invaded the invaders several times, each time going deeper than before.
In addition to the martial law in the capital, the imperial court had no choice but to let the captives run wild and ravage Jifu. The state and county officials would only flee after hearing the news, and few people stayed in the city.
The wealthy local gentry all fled upon hearing the news and took refuge in the fortified city. No one was willing to think about the country and showed no loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, let alone calling on the people to protect their country.
Even if some officers and soldiers arrive, they are all as fearful of the captives as tigers and leopards, and as fierce as wolves towards the common people.
Every time the captives invaded, wherever they passed, houses were burned down, women were raped and humiliated, cattle, farm tools, livestock, property, and grain were all plundered, corpses littered the fields, and young men were also taken away.
We, the common people, cannot rely on the imperial court at the top or the government at the bottom. We are afraid of slaves and thieves as well as officers and soldiers.
But just being afraid is not the solution, so I called on my children from the three prefectures to rise up, defend their homeland, and vow to deal with the captives.
Now I see that the imperial court is afraid of the captives and has promised to make peace. Although the officers and soldiers from all walks of life are called Qinwang, they are actually disturbing the people. However, you are willing to fight with the captives. Therefore, I can't bear to see you sacrifice your life in vain and do no good to the country, so I came here to help you. , I hope you will not lose the support of the people of the three prefectures, and do not demoralize the people of the three prefectures! "
Lu Xiangsheng stepped forward with admiration and said: "Mr. Tunchu, since the first time the Tatars invaded, you have called on the people of Jifu to rise up and fight against the Tatars, so you are known as a righteous man.
However, it is inevitable that Xiang will be promoted to the national festival today.
The war is about to begin. Xiang Sheng only knows how to serve the emperor on the battlefield. Life and death have long been ignored. The elders of the three palaces love and care for him. Xiang Sheng can only remember it in his heart. "
"Sir, I have recently heard that the captives are wreaking havoc around Julu. Please lead your troops to retreat temporarily, avoid the fierce attack of the captives for a while, and then wait ten days to find the captives to fight again. How about that?" Yao Dongzhao said sincerely.
"Why is this?" Lu Xiangsheng asked with confusion.
"If you can temporarily escape the captives for ten days, Dongzhao and the elders of the three mansions can summon tens of thousands of their children to come and help you." Yao Dongzhao said with some excitement.
Lu Xiangsheng grabbed Yao Dongzhao's hand, pulled him, walked away a few steps, and looked at him excitedly with slightly moist eyes. After a while, he sighed and said: "Mr. Tunchu, Xiangsheng's current situation , you don’t fully understand, sir, you do have good intentions, but how can you expect me to treat you with him for ten days?”
"Why can't we treat each other?" Yao Dongzhao was also puzzled by Lu Xiangsheng's difficulties.
"First, the student has been deprived of the title of Shang Fangjian and Shangshu by the imperial court. I don't know when Tiqi will come to arrest him and take him to the capital for questioning. If the student is arrested and taken to the capital within ten days, it is better to fight with the prisoners here. , It is better to die for the country than to die in many imperial edicts and prisons.
Second, looking at the direction of the captive cavalry, they are likely to penetrate deep into Shandong, block the canal, and intimidate Jinan. If we do not meet it as soon as possible and dampen its ferocious flames, dozens of states and counties in Shandong may be destroyed. By then, not only the imperial court will be able to govern students, but also threaten Jinan. What will the students do to the people of Shandong if they commit the crime of allowing the enemy to penetrate deeply?
Third," after saying this, Lu Xiangsheng lowered his voice again before continuing:
"At present, the morale of the officers and soldiers is sluggish, and they are as afraid of the enemy as tigers. Especially now that food and grass are scarce, the morale of the army is even more shaken. There are now more than ten thousand hungry and exhausted troops. It is because of the loyalty and patriotism of the students that they can't bear to treat each other with sincerity in peacetime. Leaving, barely enough to fight.
If we wait a little longer, once the morale of the military collapses, even if the students want to fight, they will not be able to do so. "
"So, how about you wait for me for five days?" Yao Dongzhao looked at Lu Xiangsheng with earnest eyes.
"Five days?...No, no."
"If five days doesn't work, please wait for me for three days!" Yao Dongzhao grasped Lu Xiangsheng's hand, eyes full of hope.
According to the military reports in recent days, it is difficult to judge the movements of slaves and bandits, but several groups of captives have appeared around Julu. Each of them has a horse. Those armored soldiers, even one man with multiple horses, can gather in a sudden. Soldiers in one place.
Lu Xiangsheng was also unsure whether he would fight Luqi within three days. However, at this time, he could no longer refuse Yao Dongzhao's kindness, so he replied: "Okay, the old man will go back and call on the children of the three prefectures." Don't let the captives drive southward.
I'll have news here within three days. I see that the enemy's troops are in great danger, often like the wind and rain. I'm afraid that if the old man wants to help me, it will be too late.
Tomorrow, I will move the general's army slightly southwest and enter the territory of Julu, so as to support each other with the Guan Ning Army under the command of the Gao Jianjun. Julu is Mr.'s hometown. I hope that Mr. and I can meet again in Julu. "
He and Yao Dongzhao had finished speaking and walked back to the crowd hand in hand.
At this time, the fellow villagers who came with Yao Dongzhao took out the few grains they had brought with them and presented them to Lu Xiangsheng.
One of the elders said with a trembling snow-white beard: "Sir, the common people came in a hurry and didn't know whether they would meet the adults, so they didn't bring much grain. They only showed a little of the thoughts of the people in the three prefectures.
If your Excellency can move the army to Guangzhou and Shun, we, the people of the three prefectures, still have a sense of loyalty to resist the Tatar invasion. Although the life is difficult, we are willing to donate all the food we have for the winter. It is better than being attacked by the Tatars. After plundering it, it was much better. "
Many of them are poor villagers near Julu. Since the Qing army invaded, the wealthy and wealthy people have already fled to the fortified city, leaving only these poor people in the countryside who are unable to flee.
Originally, they all fled and hid in the nearby mountains, forests and grassy beaches. Recently, they heard that Yao Dongzhao was looking for Lu Xiangsheng's troops and horses, and wanted to persuade him to move his troops between Guang and Shun to deal with the Tartars.
I also heard that Lu Xiangsheng was determined to fight the Tatars, but was suffering from almost no food in the army. Yao Dongzhaozheng called on the elders of the three mansions to donate food to him, and they also buried the food on the bedside and hid it in the wall holes. All the grains hidden in the cellar were taken out and delivered outside the camp gate.
An old lady with a full face, holding a small rattan basket in her arms, with some red dates in it, followed everyone on crutches, panting.
With tears in her eyes, she held the dates in front of Lu Xiangsheng with both hands, and said with some choking: "Sir, there have been severe droughts and locusts in the past few years, coupled with the war and chaos, the common people are also struggling. Food shortage.
As a lonely old woman, I had nothing else, so I gave these red dates to the adults to cook and eat, and many of them were used to kill a few Tartars for us. "
"Old lady, don't you have a son?" Lu Xiangsheng asked.
"Oh, what a miserable life! The old woman has lost her two sons! The last time the Tatars came to this area, one son was killed, and the other was kidnapped by the Tatars who killed him with swords. There is no news yet!"
The old woman said with tears in her eyes.
"I have so many officers and soldiers in the imperial court who will only harass the common people. Who dares to fight against the Tatars?
The common people deserve to suffer, they are being robbed, what can be done? "
Lu Xiangsheng originally refused to accept her dates, but the old woman was unwilling to accept them, so in the end he had to stay.
Zhang Cheng had been by Lu Xiangsheng's side and witnessed everything. He thought in his heart: These ordinary people are indeed honest and sincere. As long as they can have enough food and clothing, they will accept the oppression safely.
Right now, they are willing to give everything to whoever can avenge them and kill the Tatars for them!
But at the same time, he remembered the curse of the past: all the disorder in the last dynasty was started by peasant uprisings, but peasant uprisings almost always ended in failure.
