After the old patriarch dies, he becomes the ancestral spirit of the clan. He does not end up in the underworld forever. It is not appropriate to make things big.
Therefore, except for a few people in the clan who are allowed to come to express their condolences, other clan members can only go to the clan temple to offer incense to express their condolences.
But the internal stability of the Zhou clan does not mean that there is no movement outside.
Taking advantage of the window period when the Zhuang Ding camp did not have to protect the grassland trade routes, Zhou Bai ordered a comprehensive annihilation of the Zhao family's forces. It was a literal annihilation, directly using force.
This armed revenge began at the manor.
As long as a family develops and grows to a certain extent, it will have different industrial distributions and pay attention to risk hedging.
Among these industries, the most basic ones are field production and manor economy.
Basic rice and wheat grains, as well as a wide range of fruits and vegetables, are the basis for a full stomach.
With a large enough number of manors, in addition to generating some economic benefits, they can also be free from the control of other families.
Without making any purchases, they can be self-sufficient and even store food to prepare for disaster years.
The Zhao family manor, which is located in the south of the county and close to the county seat, is okay. Zhuang Dingying will choose to go out at night in order to have a little cover.
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But in remote areas, especially in the northern part of the county, it is almost obvious.
Most manors are located in densely populated areas, far away from places where people gather, so they are mostly protected by manor walls.
The manor manpower consists of tenant farmers, long-term workers, handymen, etc., and will also be equipped with a certain guard force.
A northern manor of average size can accommodate more than a hundred people. It can be said that every manor is equivalent to a small castle.
Some manors failed to respond in time and were directly broken through by the cavalry led by Gao Hu. The manor guards had no choice but to surrender and let the Zhou family send people in large and small vehicles to transport the supplies away.
But during the day, more manors will detect the "robbers" coming in advance.
The young men of the manor urgently closed the gate, and under the leadership of the knife-wielding guards, strictly guarded the manor wall.
However, even so, the Zhuang Ding camp still had to fight, with a team of regular soldiers leading a team of reserve soldiers to practice their ability to attack difficult battles.
It's just that the fence and earthen wall, which is only about three meters high, is indeed not a strong fortress.
In addition, the quality of the people guarding the wall was uneven, and their equipment was backward. They often used bows and arrows to suppress them for two rounds, and then used human ladders to climb up the wall to attack, and the manor was destroyed.
If it weren't for the invasion of the Jin Dynasty last year, which made the people of Pingcang County, who had been in peace for many years, be a little more vigilant, repairing the village walls and replenishing weapons, I am afraid that the attack on the manor would have been faster.
After all, this Zhuang Ding camp is what Zhou Bai put his greatest efforts into to get started. They are not just some show-offs, but elite soldiers who have been tested by blood and fire.
But because the efficiency was too high, it could not be used to practice siege battles. Zhou Bai could only strictly order each team sent out to at least go through the process in accordance with the siege drills of Jingwu Essentials.
Scatter and approach, mass troops to attack, intermittent arrow rain suppresses the rhythm, ladders to attack the city...
Tunnel operations, moat landfill operations...
Anyway, no matter whether these manors have the conditions of a city or not, the performance must be performed again, and the bigger the formation, the better.
First, as a practical combat, you can gain some siege experience anyway, so that you won't be at a loss when you actually attack the city later.
The second is Zhou Bai's naked display of strength and a fight with the Zhao family.
For a time, beacon smoke was everywhere in the countryside of Pingcang. The unsuspecting people trembled, thinking that the Jin people or thieves were coming to plunder.
Those who know the people of the Zhou family, especially the people near Hongni Township, feel quite proud. No one thinks that the Zhou family is doing this and is fighting privately without the king's laws.
When the news reached the county the next day, a total of thirteen Zhao family estates had been demolished, including eight in the north and five in the south.
As the oldest county magnate in Pingcang County, the Zhao family only has twenty-three manors, and only ten of them near the county seat are still safe.
In fact, the loss was not much, at most a few thousand taels of silver and goods, and tens of thousands of shi of grain that had not yet been transported to the city from the summer harvest.
As for the casualties, the total number of casualties was only over a hundred, and they were all die-hard members of the Zhao family such as the manor stewards and guards.
But the key to this matter is that the Zhou family and the Zhao family completely broke up with each other, and they kicked the Zhao family hard.
Everyone's attention has now shifted to the Zhao family. The Zhou family's counterattack has arrived. What should you do?
The county seat, the Zhao family mansion.
The head of the Zhao family, Zhao Chun, looked at the information in his hands with uncertain expressions, while his younger brother Zhao Xian was extremely shy and angry, punching and kicking the embarrassed people kneeling below.
"You losers let the Zhou family ride on top of us to show off their power, and you dare to come back after losing the manor. Do you want me to assign you another big manor to manage?!"
"Come here, please follow the family law, beat your mother to death!"
"Second Master, please spare your life. That group of thieves is really too strong. Even if they attack the village wall, they can break it in one go."
"Uncle, uncle, please say something. My family has been servants for generations and we have been loyal. We cannot die unjustly like this!"
When a group of powerful slaves were summoned by Zhao Xian, the wailing of several people on the ground became more and more sad, and the noise made Zhao Chun have a headache.
Without thinking, he waved his hand and said angrily: "Tear off your clothes, drag me to the gate and beat me with ten sticks, and get out of here!"
"Thank you, uncle, thank you, uncle..."
These "loyal servants" thanked him with tears. Compared with the previous punishment, ten sticks was obviously a great kindness.
Soon, only Zhao Chun and Zhao Xian were left in the house.
Zhao Xian asked in confusion: "Brother, if we don't punish him severely at this time, the remaining ten manor stewards will also run away."
"Punishment, how do you punish her? Do you really want to beat her to death? Then Zhao Rong's mother is our nurse, and Wang Xi's daughter is your concubine. Do you want me to continue?" Zhao Chun shook his head helplessly and asked.
The Zhao family is a well-established county tycoon with a profound background and a complicated network of relationships in Pingcang.
Although this can easily push the Zhou family's business out of the county, it is also because of too many personal relationships that hinders the family's development.
People with a certain status are related to the family. If you make a mistake, you will not be punished. If there is a dispute, who will you help?
Zhao Xian was not stupid, he understood Zhao Chun's hidden meaning. This was a stubborn disease that the family could not eradicate for so many years.
After a long moment of silence.
Zhao Chun put down the intelligence compiled by all parties and sighed: "Oh, he is not only a heavenly being who achieved success through studying, but also Zhou Yunqi, who was knighted for his military exploits. We have to recognize this failure."
Zhao Xian also nodded: "Decisive, no one expected that he dared to be so explicit. Could it be that he was sure there was no evidence, or that he thought the county would not easily send troops?"
Nowadays, the governments in various places in Daxu generally assume that local powerful people have a certain number of private soldiers.
This is not only because the dynasty is entering the end of its lifespan and needs the support of local powerful people to stabilize its rule, but also because local governments have sufficient repressive power.
An ordinary conventional military force at the county level has three squads of government officials and patrol soldiers with more than 500 people, and two battalions of county soldiers with 1,000 people.
Not to mention the former, it is only used for ordinary security maintenance, and is nothing in the eyes of many powerful people.
But these thousand county soldiers are not just a mob. They are all well-prepared soldiers prepared by the Ministry of War. They are trained regularly and possess various forbidden weapons such as armored stomachs and powerful crossbows.
Even though the county soldiers in each county are a little neglected in armament, it is very easy to deal with uncooperative forces such as bandits and powerful servants.
As an important county town adjacent to Cangshan Mountain, Pingcang has the third battalion of county soldiers with 1,500 people.
Not to mention that the Zhou clan has five hundred rural patrols. Even if it were two or three times more, the government would have the confidence to suppress them at will with the county soldiers.
This is the confidence that Daxu has accumulated over three hundred years. Those refugee armies, bandits, and rebels have never defeated the officers and soldiers in an honest way.
Zhao Chun did not answer the question of whether Zhao Xian could send troops, because even if he and Shou Heng belonged to the same camp, the decision-making power could only be in the hands of the other party.
He said in a low voice: "From last year when we drove back the Jin people, and now we are destroying thirteen manors day and night, it is enough to show that the combat power of his rural patrol is not simple. He sent our group of dead soldiers to the remaining people outside the city." Ten estates.”
"At the same time, you should contact the Lord Shouxian immediately. We can no longer let the Zhao family take the responsibility alone. Please ask him to take action. Although Zhou Bai caught us off guard this time, he also violated a taboo. The name of the rural patrol must be Remove it, if it is not disbanded, the county soldiers will have a reason to send troops."
"To deal with heavenly beings, you have to start by clipping their wings and take your time..."
Heavenly beings who violate the laws of the imperial court cannot be punished directly by the imperial court. They must be punished by the heavenly court.
However, the heavenly beings rebelled directly, but the court could avoid the rules of protecting the heavenly beings and kill them as they pleased.
…
Three days later, the time scale of Xiangxing's forty-seventh year officially came to September.
In the past three days, the county magistrate Shou Heng and the Zhao family also took action without any shame.
When Zhou Bai ignored the county government's written notice, Shou Heng directly sent the chief clerk to the Zhou clan to reprimand, demanding an examination of a deal reached between Zhou Bai and the previous county government.
The position of chief registrar is the ninth rank, and he is in charge of household registration, arrests, and document processing. His official rank is not high, but he has great power.
Therefore, this visit can be regarded as a very official review. In this case, the Zhou clan needs to come forward to deal with it.
Zhou Bai can ignore it, but the family cannot.
The chief registrar of Pingcang County is called Chen Gu. He is an upright scholar from the Chen family of the county magnate, and is also an important pillar for the Chen family to stand in Pingcang.
Chen Gu was caught between the two parties and wanted to remain neutral, but he had to carry out the official tasks assigned by the county magistrate.
In front of the Tianren Archway, Chen Gu led the officials and servants to dismount obediently and remained humble and courteous all the way, without causing any dissatisfaction to the Zhou people.
This shows that Chen Gu's trip does not mean that the Chen family has turned to the county magistrate, and Zhou Bai is naturally willing to receive him.
"Editor Zhou, the county magistrate sent us to review the mountain farm transaction between you and your predecessor Ji County Zun. It was found that 100,000 acres of mountain farmland in Cangshan has now been turned into fertile land, which involved a low sale..."
Before Chen Gu could finish his words, Zhou Bai took out the ten-year mountain deed with the seal of the Ministry of Household Affairs. It was for the entire Cangshan Mountain, not just the 100,000 acres of mountain land for the previous five years.
"In exchange for my request as a Jinshi, you can go to the Ministry of Household Affairs to submit a written request."
Then Zhou Bai handed over the previous lease documents to Chen Gu and said calmly: "It's only been one year. I still ask the magistrate of Shouxian County to return the rent for the remaining four years. Otherwise, I will write to the court, saying that he has embezzled the county." Government bank."
"This, this...I will tell you on behalf of the editor." Chen Gu was a little speechless about Zhou Bai's preparation.
Did you expect that the environment in Cangshan Mountain would improve? Suddenly, he felt that there was more fog on Zhou Bai.
Zhou Bai asked with a smile: "Isn't Shouxian County Master more than capable?"
Chen Gu's heart skipped a beat and he could only nod silently, then took out an official document with the official seal on it.
"There are five hundred rural patrolmen of the Zhou ethnic group who have accomplished the feat of assisting in clearing out the bandits in Cangshan. The people of Pingcang are deeply grateful. However, now that the task has been completed, the rural patrol should be disbanded immediately so that the young men can return to the farmland."
There is another sentence in the lower right corner: This order takes effect immediately. If there is any delay, it will be regarded as a confrontation with the government.
Such a method is considered a conspiracy.
But Zhou Bai just put the official document aside calmly, nodded to Chen Gu and said: I understand. If Master Chen is fine, he can go back and recover on his own. "
Chen Gu was curious about how Zhou Bai would respond, but when he thought of a certain possibility, he didn't dare to ask and could only say goodbye and leave.
"If Mr. Chen is thinking about the family, he might as well take a stand in advance. I still have some friendship with your Chen Yun."
"Thank you, Chief Zhou, for reminding me!"
Shouheng was very angry when he learned that Cangshan Mountain belonged to him, because there was news circulating within the imperial court that famous mountains and rivers in various places had the possibility of producing spiritual veins.
Angry, Shou Heng quickly returned the excess rent the next day. He was afraid that Zhou Bai would use this as an excuse to refuse to disband the rural patrol.
However, on the third and fourth days, the Zhuang Ding camp was still attacking the Zhao family manor non-stop, and there was no possibility of disbandment.
Even if the Zhao family strengthens their defense forces and even sends dead soldiers to fight, they still cannot prevent their own manor from being lost one by one.
By the fifth day, all the Zhao family estates were destroyed, and the strength of the Zhou clan's rural patrols greatly shocked the various forces in the county.
Of course, on the surface, this team that ransacked the Zhao family manor always called themselves Cangshan righteous bandits, and they had never been caught alive.
The county captain finally couldn't bear the pressure. He had a thousand troops to inspect the school, so he was about to go out to suppress the bandits. He also stopped by the Zhou clan's residence to see if there was still a rural patrol force.
Shou Heng was busy with tasks such as rewarding the army's laborers and distributing bandit-suppression silver and mobilization silver, and finally sent off these big soldiers.
But within two days, the army returned to the city, and everyone claimed to have encountered the Jin army.
They fought hard all night, but fortunately they were assisted by Zhou's hometown patrol, so they won a great victory, killing more than a hundred enemies, including all their heads.
Returning to the county soldiers, all the generals from the capital and above, including the county lieutenant, advised Shou Heng that the Jin people invaded frequently, and that the Zhou people should be allowed to retain the rural patrol establishment and increase the number of posts.
Shou Heng was not a fool, and he couldn't detect any abnormality.
Upon inspection, it was found that the head was indeed a gold man's head, but most of it had been pickled and was not obtained in recent days at all.
Was it that the county soldiers were also infiltrated by Zhou Bai? But he doesn’t know that his backstage is the Sixth Prince? !
But soon, Shou Heng understood why Zhou Bo dared to be so unscrupulous.
On September 9, the forty-seventh year of Xiangxing, Emperor Xiangxing suddenly died in Shenjing, and a Taoist message was announced to the world.
According to the imperial edict, the prince inherited the throne, King Rui became the regent and assisted in the affairs of the country, and the other princes were sent to various states to take charge.
The sixth prince was guarding a large state, not Dingzhou, but the richer Lingzhou in the north.
The big changes don't stop there.
On September 10th, cracks were torn open in the sky, and blood rained down...
