The sun is high and the summer wind is warm.
Three days have passed, and the streets in Guangchang County today are deserted.
Outside the east gate of Guangchang City, the stones that were thrown into the moat during the previous attack on the city were now used again. In a few days, stones were picked up from the river one by one and built in the open area outside the east gate. He built a stone platform three feet high, two feet wide and ten feet long.
There are several low tables placed on the high platform. On the low tables, there are pens and ink, and an open piece of cloth is spread on one end.
Under the high platform, large and small, blood-stained wooden cages collected from various wealthy families are lined up in several rows. Each wooden cage is filled with people. If someone comes up to carefully distinguish them, they can see that they were originally from various wealthy families in Guangchang City. There is no shortage of people from large households, all of them are among them.
In front of the wooden cage, hundreds of slaves were tied up and knelt on the ground in several rows. Behind them were groups of soldiers holding spears. Two or three feet away, a crowd of black heads filled the open space. At a glance, there were more than ten thousand people.
The people still came for that one liter of rations, and there were many people coming.
Great things can be expected!
After scanning the scene again, Zhang Sheng confirmed that there seemed to be nothing missing from his instructions. He walked up to the high platform and stood in the middle.
The noisy villagers in the audience immediately became quiet when they saw someone coming on stage. They knew that the so-called public trial was about to begin.
"Hello fellow villagers, I am Zhang Sheng. Thank you for trusting me, Zhang, and coming to the county." At this point, Zhang Sheng stopped talking and bowed deeply to the dark crowd below.
Quiet, absolutely quiet.
After all, thieves are thieves. For the sake of their own lives, the villagers looked nervously on their faces and silently watched Zhang Sheng's performance without responding to his actions.
"I'm sorry that I have toiled all my fellow villagers on this trip today. To express my apology, after the public trial is over, in addition to the one liter of grain mentioned in the notice, each household will be given an extra liter of grain." Zhang Shengya said. Bite, use the most affordable grain to make extra weight.
There can be no silence, the atmosphere must be stirred up.
At this point, Zhang Sheng was already speechless. Under the stage, there was a buzz among the crowd. Just one more liter of grain completely shattered the defenses in their hearts and made them let go of their nervousness.
Zhang Sheng stood on the high platform with a smile on his face, quietly waiting for the comments from the villagers below.
For a long time, the villagers confirmed to each other that what they just heard was true. Maybe they wanted to see what good things would happen next. They stopped talking and looked at Zhang Sheng on the high platform. However, they didn't know. At this time, the nervousness and timidity in their eyes faded a lot.
"Neighbors, I, Zhang Sheng, was once just like you. I was an ordinary citizen. I had a father-in-law, a mother-in-law, a sister and a brother in my family. My family farmed and hunted. Although my life was a little more miserable, I was happy in my heart. But , as I grew up slowly, our life became more and more miserable and difficult. Because he could not pay the rent to the rich family, my brother was forced to pay off his debts and become a slave, and was sent to the bitter cold outside the Great Wall in exchange for horses; My sister went to work as a slave for a wealthy family, but she was beaten to death just because she broke a clay pot. Ah Weng worked hard for the wealthy family, and finally died of exhaustion; I had an extra mouthful of food and secretly gave her share to me, but she starved to death. A good family was ruined." Zhang Sheng's story ends here, with mist in his eyes and sadness on his face. , choked with sobs, he stopped talking and made gestures to relieve his emotions.
The villagers in the audience felt the same, their faces were sad, and they stood there quietly.
After a while, Jiang Chou, who felt relieved, continued to speak.
"At that time, I couldn't understand why our life was like this? Now, I understand, it's because of the aristocratic family and the wealthy family. Aweng was busy day and night, hunting prey and growing grain for us If we don’t dare to eat it, we have to give it to them; if we don’t dare to use the cloth that my mother spun day and night, we have to give it to them; just like this, a year’s hard work of our whole family cannot offset a year’s tax calculation. Min, I have to turn my brothers and sisters into slaves to pay off the debt. In the eyes of others, my brother is not worth a horse; in their eyes, my sister is not worth an earthen pot. The source of all our suffering is Because of them, because of these wealthy families." After yelling about them, Jiang Chou stopped talking, his face full of anger, and pointed at the cage under the stage.
The rhythm still needs to be maintained, and the emotions still need to be brewed.
Zhang Sheng glanced at the audience with the corner of his eyes. Wherever he looked, everything was developing in the direction he guided.
The common people may be ignorant, but they are not stupid. They can quickly understand some simple truths under the deliberate guidance of someone.
There was some small commotion among the people in the audience. Their expressions gradually changed from sympathy to anger.
You can continue!
Seeing this scene, Zhang Sheng cursed in his heart and started his speech again.
"The wealthy families did not plant a field, hunt a game, or weave a piece of cloth; why should they eat our food, use our cloth, and have us take care of them, but not give them enough food and clothing?" How can we survive? Why? Because of our kindness, our weakness, and our tolerance, these wolf-hearted and dog-like things can taste the sweetness of getting something for nothing. They use the things we give them to raise evil slaves and stockpile crops. The dead warriors, after they became stronger, exploited us. They took away our food, our fields, our wives, daughters and sisters, and even made us work as slaves, cattle and horses for them. It is they who are greedy and greedy. We have no way to survive because of their excessive demands, preying on the common people, and wandering around the countryside. It is them who make us suffer from hunger, abandon our children, leave our wives and children, and destroy our families. All of this is because of them."
At this point, the excited Jiang Chou stopped talking, took a few steps to the high platform, and pointed angrily at the wooden cages under the high platform.
When striking, you must take advantage of the situation, and things cannot be abandoned halfway.
"My neighbors, these beasts are not as good as animals. They have done all kinds of evil and bad things, but they are still not satisfied. They use our wealth to make friends with nobles, buy officials and titles, and control the countryside. They use our wealth. They used goods to cultivate their power; they used our goods to rob us, and in turn occasionally gave us a little food, hanging on our lives, hoping that we would be grateful to them, so as to support others; they used our wealth They cultivate shameless literati who speak for them, sing praises for them, and try to cover up their sins, so that those gentle scum can erect monuments for them and leave their names in history. Because their subsequent plans are even greater, they want to hide their sins and become famous. We will become prime ministers, marquises and kings, so that they can continue to oppress us and enslave us for generations to come, and they want our children and grandchildren to be slaves and maids for them."
When anger has accumulated to a certain level, it's time to explode.
Zhang Sheng looked at the people below, his face flushed and his chest heaving. Knowing that the time had come for Tu Qiong to see him, he changed the subject and continued: "For my children, for my descendants, I, Zhang Sheng, will never let what happens to me happen to you." The tragedy that happened to me will happen again to my descendants. I, Zhang Sheng, will never let their plans succeed. Zhang decided today to expose their crimes, liquidate their crimes, and hold a public trial for these people who are worse than beasts. ." After a roar, Zhang Sheng raised his right arm forcefully.
The signal has been sent, and the prior arrangements have come as planned.
"Expose the crime and liquidate the crime!"
As Zhang Sheng raised his arms, Uncle Bao, Uncle Qiao and others in the crowd kept raising and lowering their arms, shouting "Expose the crimes and liquidate the crimes", from one, two, to ten, a hundred, and finally form a piece.
That's half done.
Zhang Sheng on the stage was shouting slogans and waving his arms, guiding this force. He knew very well that this was his guard of honor in the future...
