stubborn thief

Chapter 209 The Way of Heaven

Li Laozhen's ass made Zhenyuan magistrate Xu Zongxian miss the best opportunity to be loyal to the country.

On the day of the siege, Shiziying controlled three city walls and the southern female wall, and Zhenyuan County fell.

However, Liu Chengzong did not let the army enter the city. Instead, he took Liu Chengzu's troops as the advance troops to enter the city, controlled six streets in the city, set up a list to calm the people, and immediately set up a porridge factory in the east of the city, announcing the city's destruction to the rural people, and summoned the hungry people inside and outside the city. eat porridge.

Afterwards, Ma Tun was stationed on the east and west sides of Zhenyuan, and only a small number of troops entered the city. Liu Chengzong entered the county government and issued a series of orders.

First, he recruited doctors from the city, purchased medicines in the city, and joined the two wounded and sick battalions set up by Chengyun in the east of the city to treat the wounded soldiers on both sides of the war.

Then recruit the craftsmen and their families in the city, and organize them into my craftsman posts according to their occupations.

Secondly, people with a certain level of education, such as students, scholars, painters, and school teachers in the city, were recruited to surrender.

Their resistance was much greater than that of the former, and the process was not gentle, because no one came obediently, those who could hide, those who could hide, were all caught in the end.

In the yamen hall, Liu Chengzong asked the magistrate Xu Zongxian: "Why didn't you surrender?"

Xu Zhixian was in a state of distress. First, his forehead was broken by a cannon, and then he was tripped over by Li Laozhen's buttocks. He knocked out half of his teeth on the city wall. At this moment, his words leaked: "Xu is an official of the court, and he has the responsibility of guarding the land. Now that the city is broken, you can kill if you want, don't say much."

Liu Chengzong glanced at him, then turned his head and asked Sunday Qiang, who deliberately took off his official uniform, "Zhou Zhizhou, will you kill him?"

Sunday Qiang's eyes widened, ten thousand beautiful words from his hometown came to mind, and finally he sighed and cupped his fists and said, "General Liu, it is his responsibility to defend the city of Xu Zhi County, you can't blame him for this!"

Liu Chengzong didn't intend to kill anyone, so he said with a smile, "Well, I'll listen to you."

Now it was the turn of Xu Zongxian and the students in the hall to stare, Xu Zongxian stretched out his hand and said, "You, Zhou Zhizhou, have you voted for a thief?"

"I'm not, I didn't!" Zhou Riqiang categorically denied: "Governor Yang sent me to recruit General Liu."

Xu Zongxian didn't speak, and recruited to Zhenyuan City to beat me?Now I am a prisoner, and you, Zhou Zhizhou, sit down next to the head of the thief like a teacher.

Liu Chengzong smiled and didn't say anything. He suspected that Zhou Riqiang didn't want the county magistrate to live anymore.

Chengyun walked into the lobby of the yamen, delivered a report on the wounded soldiers, and said, "Brother, the matter of the wounded soldiers is over. My people are checking the supplies in the county treasury and the reserve warehouse. It may take two hours."

Liu Chengzong took the report and glanced at it.

Li Laozheng's team killed 32 people, and Feng Lushao killed seven people. The direct deaths were basically shelled. Corresponding to the very few casualties, there were many minor injuries.

The defenders didn't have much fighting spirit or fighting skills, so they didn't dare to fight in close quarters after ascending the city.

Therefore, almost all minor injuries were caused by rockets from a distance, so it was not a big problem, except that one artilleryman was hit around the bridge of the nose by a rocket, and he might not be able to recover.

He put down the report and said to everyone in the hall: "The city has fallen, and you are all leaders in Zhenyuan. I, Liu Chengzong, am willing to do good. Don't force me to do evil. If you are willing to vote for me, you will be rewarded. If you don't vote for me, It’s okay for everyone to have their own aspirations.”

After all, Liu Chengzong adjusted his sitting posture and said: "But if anyone is against me, don't blame me for killing your whole family. I can do what the Zhu family emperor can do."

"There is also Xuzhi County, the city you defended has been destroyed, you have done nothing wrong, I will not kill you, but the court will punish you, and the court will punish you if the court wants to surrender. The world is so unfair, why not vote for me ?”

Xu Zongxian looked at Zhou Riqiang, then at Liu Chengzong, and sighed.

He was bewildered.

In fact, when the city was broken, he wanted to jump off the tower, but was tripped by Li Laozhen with his butt pouted.

After that, I never thought about surrendering. When I really had no other choice, let alone whether I could accept it emotionally.

To put it bluntly in terms of benefits alone, in Liaodong and on the side wall, even if you vote for the eastern captives and the northern captives, there is a place here. Even if you are notorious for a lifetime, at least your family will be safe, and you will have a future, whether you are good or bad.

What's the matter with defecting to the thieves?

After grabbing the east and grabbing the west, one day the thief is finished, and he is also finished.

But what Liu Chengzong said made him very angry again.

The imperial court really had no way to punish Liu Chengzong, but there was a way to punish him.

Originally, his official career was pretty much over, and the seventh-rank magistrate had been thinking about finding an eight-rank mansion. Now that Zhenyuan City has been breached, there is absolutely no hope of being promoted, and if he fails, he will be imprisoned.

In this case, there was no way for him to survive for a while.

With Liu Chengzong's previous vaccinations, none of the students in the back dared to speak, for fear of implicating their own children in other people's affairs.

So much so that Xu Zongxian was isolated in the yamen lobby full of people.

Seeing his hesitation, Liu Chengzong was delighted, and said while the iron was hot: "If Mr. Xu votes for me, Liu will get a place in the future, and he will entrust him with important tasks."

Xu Zongxian looked at Liu Chengzong. Liu Chengzong had the idea of ​​laying down a foundation, which made him feel a little relieved, but he really couldn't think of a possibility that a thief could earn a foundation.

So he cupped his hands and said, "General, let me think for a while."

"it is good!"

Liu Chengzong applauded joyfully, stretched his fingers to the back and said: "Then Mr. Xu, please go to the back hall to rest first."

There is a professional persuasion team composed of Mr. Yang, his father and others in the back hall. As long as Xu Zongxian goes to the back hall, Liu Chengzong feels that the matter is more than half successful.

After Xu Zongxian left, the resistance of the students in the class was obviously much weaker, and the magistrate was moved, what are they doing so stupidly?

Several painters and storytellers surrendered one after another, and a scholar named Chen Yingxuan stood out from the crowd and asked, "Does the general plan to stay in Zhenyuan permanently?"

Liu Chengzong shook his head and said: "I will stay here for a while and leave soon. If you vote for me, bring your family with you when you leave. I will protect you from food and clothing."

Chen Yingxuan asked again: "Then what does the general mean when he said that if we don't join the general, we will have nothing to do with us after Zhenyuan?"

"Is there even a question? If you don't go to me, I naturally don't need to think about you. The city has fallen, and so many people outside the city have no food and clothing. The wealthy households in the city must do more to help the poor."

Liu Chengzong's words were gentle, but they were murderous in people's ears: "I still have my military rations. Where can the poor get it? The rich have it here."

As soon as this remark came out, there was an uproar in the hall.

Chen Yingxuan cupped his hands and said anxiously: "I hope the general will see clearly, we are all good people, and we have never owed the common people for repairing bridges and roads."

Liu Chengzong changed his face: "The world has always had rich and poor, which has nothing to do with good and evil. The poor have scoundrels, and the rich have good people, but thousands of poor people starve to death, thinking that this has something to do with good, are you Health worker?"

"Yes, Chen Yingxuan, a native member of Xiazhen."

Liu Chengzong raised his finger and pointed at them and said: "When you attacked the city, all of you were on the city and shot arrows at my people. You were kind to the emperor of the Zhu family. No matter how good you are, you can't be used by me. What am I doing?"

After that, he said to the crowd: "When you walk out of this door, according to the Dingkou of your family in the city, a Ding's family wealth is more than ten liang, the grain is more than ten stones, the field is more than fifty mu, the shop is one shop, and the livestock is one head. Take all."

Liu Chengzong felt that what he said was low enough, but he did not expect that someone in the hall was relieved.

At that moment, he was so angry that he nodded to those who breathed a sigh of relief: "The imperial court made you poor to such a virtue, how long will it be if you don't vote for me?"

At that moment, someone gritted his teeth and turned to the gall, came out and bowed down: "Student Zhenyuan Tong was born Wu Panlong, and he has no money or family members. He is willing to vote for the commander-in-chief."

Liu Chengzong got up and helped them up, pointed at the two soldiers and said: "You follow Wu Tongsheng, go back and tidy up his house, and move him into the county government. From today on, Wu Panlong will be the county magistrate of Zhenyuan."

Wu Panlong worshiped again, got up and took a look at the people in the hall, and walked out with the soldiers of the Lion Camp.

Afterwards, a few people also bowed down and defected, all of whom were unsatisfactory children.

Sunday Qiang was by Liu Chengzong's side, and when he came out alone, his expression turned ugly.

He felt grief and indignation in his heart for the low consciousness of the local students in the imperial court!
Zhou Riqiang already knew that Liu Chengzong was also a scholar in the past, and he loved talents very much. Even if these students did not join him, they would not have any fear of their lives, but these people still rushed to join him.

It made him wish he could take out a small notebook and record all these traitors, so that he could go back and sue Yang He in the future!

There was also a scholar who came out and bowed and said: "Marshal, there are seven students in their family, four hundred acres of land outside the city, four huts in the city, thirty stones of grain storage, no shops, and eight big animals. I didn’t dare to go because of diarrhea, and I didn’t do right with the commander.”

After finishing speaking, the scholar said: "If there is nothing else, I will go back. When the soldiers come to the door, I will donate a horse to the commander."

This guy accepted Liu Chengzong's arrangement very freely.

Liu Chengzong couldn't do anything about this kind of guy, so he called a sergeant and said to him: "Wait a minute, someone will take you back, the street is still under martial law, don't run around."

Zhou Qiang's complexion changed for the better, right, that's how it should be, if you don't want to be strong!

Is defecting to bandits a good way to get promoted?It is to tie the head to the waist, and when Cao Wenzhao comes, I will chop it up for you.

Others were not so comfortable, especially Chen Yingxuan, who seemed to have a lot of wealth in his family, so he asked: "Commander, then I vote for you, and I will follow after the army leaves, and the wealth will not be kept!"

Liu Chengzong raised his eyebrows and said: "You talk a lot, even if you vote for me, you still have to donate if you have too much money in your family. But if you vote for me, you can earn more than this in the future. Don't talk so much if you vote for me or not!"

Chen Yingxuan bowed his head, thinking that he would not be able to count on others in this life, he gritted his teeth and bowed down: "Student Chen Yingxuan, in fact, the family doesn't have much money, but he is very interested in making up for the loss. I would like to join the commander in chief."

The master book of Zhenyuan County has been settled.

In a short while, everyone in the hall voted and walked, and in the end almost half of them stayed and left.

Those who stayed behind were taken home by soldiers, took their family members to the magistrate's office, took over the sixth room of the county office, and under the leadership of Chen Yingxuan, counted the wealthy households in the city. After that, whether to pay more food or lose money.

Cui Cong, the supervisor who made Liu Chengzong miss him, also surrendered. The reason was similar to Xu Zongxian, the county magistrate, because he was worried about his subsequent crimes.

The more than 2000 war horses in Qingpingyuan were almost wiped out by Zhang Tianlin and Yang Yao, one from the west and the other from the east.

When it comes to guilt, Cui Cong is much bigger than Xu Zongxian, which made him no chance to choose.

Chen Yingxuan proposed a better equalization plan to Liu Chengzong: "Marshal, there are many rich households in this city, but there are also many poor people. The land, money and food are easy to be equalized. I am afraid that there are not so many things in the city. Even."

"Therefore, I suggest that according to the confiscation that the commander-in-chief said, only the money and food will be equalized, and the land will be distributed according to the rich and poor of the people. Those who have no shops will be ignored, and the extra livestock will be used for military use. This way our work will be easier."

Liu Chengzong thought for a while, nodded and said, "Then do as you said."

At the same time as the statistics are calculated here, the carrier also has results, and the results are gratifying.

The city's county treasury didn't have much silver, but it had a lot of grain, especially horse grain, and there were two full granaries.

The most meaningful addition to this is gunpowder.

"Brother, there are more than 8000 catties of gunpowder in the city after counting. This is because the supervisor took [-] catties to make landmines in Wengcheng, trying to blow you up while entering the city."

Chengyun said this, smiled and clapped his hands and said: "Fortunately, the soldier who was arranged in the house at the gate of the city is a coward. Seeing Feng's soldier go down, he flicked the fuse with a trembling hand."

Speaking of landmines, Liu Chengzong still has lingering fears.

The ground of the Wengcheng was paved with stone slabs, and a large amount of gunpowder was buried. If Cui Cong's soldiers were more elite, he might be blown to the sky today.

He frowned and said, "Why is there so much gunpowder in this city?"

"It was reserved for the Guyuan camp, but the Guyuan camp mutinied the year before last and had no soldiers. The gunpowder was said to be transported back, but there were not many soldiers in Guyuan, so they stayed here."

That night, the chiefs of the Lion Camp and the Yuzi Camp gathered in the yamen, above the sentry chief, to summarize the gains and losses of the siege and discuss the next move.

Even Li Laozhen, who was lying down, was moved here.

Liu Chengzong didn't know whether to say that Li Laozhen had good luck or bad luck. Among all the wounded and dead soldiers in the siege, no one was hit twice by the artillery.

Only Li Laozhen was shot in the leg first, and then in the buttocks.

Ordinarily, this luck was very bad, but a piece of flesh was scraped off his leg by the iron shot, and his buttocks were pierced by the iron shot, all of which were skin trauma.

There is nothing wrong with the bones, and after two months of raising them, they are alive and kicking again, and they will not even become crippled like Liu Guoneng.

And he was still wounded in the battle, and won the first achievements including being the first to climb the city wall of Zhenyuan and capturing the magistrate alive.

Liu Chengzong was too embarrassed to quarrel with him, so he just asked, "Why don't you use wooden curtains?"

"I didn't know that it was so useful, and my people didn't know it either. Oh man, don't bother me, I'll know how to use it next time."

In their siege plan, the casualties could have been reduced, but Li Laozhen was the only one who did it.

But he was really brave.

Seeing that he knew he was wrong, Liu Chengzong sighed and uncovered it, and immediately said: "We will keep a team and station in the county, and the wounded soldiers will recuperate in the city. Brother Dahe will stay here, and the food that is unlucky will be released first." In the city, the rest of the people will follow me to Guyuan, instead of besieging the city, they will rob several horse gardens in the north and south of Guyuan, and come back and wait for Cao Wenzhao!"

(End of this chapter)