Fenghou

Chapter 182 The Zhou Family
Standing in front of the third defensive wall on the top of the mountain was an old man with white beard and hair. His back was a little bent, and he was leaning on the stone wall with both hands. He watched the big flag fall, his eyes full of anxiety.

What he was worried about was not General Song's superb arrow skills, but the strong warning contained in this arrow.

My two brothers went further and further on the road of arrogance, which would bring disaster to the family.

"Dong Gong, it's windy outside, it's time to go back to the house!" The two strong men behind him reminded coldly.

It sounded like he was concerned, but his tone was actually extremely cold.

The white-haired old man looked at the flying flag and sighed, then turned around and staggered towards the house.

The white-haired old man is Zhou Tong. He is nearly seventy years old. He has left his hometown since he was in his twenties and wandered around. He also admired his reputation and hired him as the chief instructor of the archery class.

But he couldn't resist the invasion of time. After the Jingkang Rebellion, Zhou Tong returned to his hometown where he had been away for [-] years. He was the eldest son of the first wife, but because he had been away from the family for too long, the family was actually controlled by his two brothers. with.

Zhou Tong also has no intention of fighting for power. He has no children, so he lives alone in the backyard farming the land for the elderly. But after a faint two years ago, his body completely collapsed. I couldn't even lift the stool, and my legs seemed to be filled with lead, so I could only stagger.

Last autumn, Zhou Tong witnessed his nephew Zhou Qing occupying a married woman with his own eyes. He couldn't understand his fourth brother Zhou Xintu's emperor-like demeanor, wantonly bullying the people of Zhoujiabao, so he severely reprimanded them at the clan meeting. Zhou Xin was annoyed, so he put Zhou Tong under house arrest in a small courtyard above the mountain top.

There are two cave dwellings in the small courtyard, with high walls on both sides, usually only a mute old man takes care of his daily life, and Zhou Xin sends a confidant to monitor Zhou Tong's every move at all times.

When Zhou Tong returned to the dark room, seeing the strong man watching him also came in, his face darkened immediately, "Who told you to enter the room, get out!"

The strong man stood at the door and ignored him. Zhou Tong was furious and slapped the table hard, "Did you hear me, I'll tell you to get out!"

"Brother, why get angry, it's not good for your health!" A cold voice came from outside.

Immediately after, a thin figure appeared at the door. This was Zhou Xin, the fourth brother.

Zhou Tong has five brothers, the second and third have died of illness, the fourth and fifth were born to concubines, and there is a big difference in age. Zhou Tong is almost seventy years old, but Zhou Zhouxin is only in his early fifties. The fifth brother, Zhou Jian, is even less than fifty years old.

Zhou Xin is currently the actual ruler of the Zhou Family Fort. He is small in stature and does not know martial arts, but he is vicious and vicious, and he can buy people's hearts. Everyone in the Zhou Family Fort is not afraid of him, but many people support him.

Zhou Xin walked into the cave and sniffed it. The musty smell in the room made him feel a little uncomfortable, so he asked his subordinates to move a chair and sit at the door.

"Song Jun came to provoke today, I think my brother knows it too!"

"I only saw the Zhou family banner blown away by the wind!" Zhou Tong said coldly.

"This is just an accident. It doesn't explain anything. This General Song is called Chen Qing. I've heard of him. He was a formidable guy when he faced Jin Bing at Jiandao Pass. But it doesn't explain the problem either. Move Zhoujiabao."

"In that case, what did you come to see me for?"

"I don't want to go against the imperial court yet, so I'm here to ask my brother to go out of the mountain and live in Chengji County for a while. At the same time, I told Chen Qing that as long as he doesn't come to interfere with Zhoujiabao, I'm willing to make some compromises."

A sneer appeared on the corner of Zhou Tong's mouth, he really thought that Zhou Xintian was not afraid of anything, it seems that he is still afraid of the imperial army!

"What compromise do you want?"

Zhou Xin laughed dryly and said, "I heard that Chen Qing's army is short of food, and I'm willing to give them a thousand shi of grain as military rations."

"and then?"

"Then I can promise that after the harvest every year, I will pay half of it as land tax, which is also in line with the imperial court's [-]th tax rule."

"Any more?"

"The other thing is to sacrifice my brother, and implore my brother to put the family first and move to live in Chengji County. All the expenses of my brother will be borne by Zhou Jiabao!"

Zhou Tong immediately understood that Zhou Xin wanted him to go to Chengji County as a hostage.

Zhou Tong thought for a while and said slowly, "I can go to Chengji County to be your hostage, but I want to remind you that your conditions are not sincere enough to impress Chen Qing."

Zhou Xin smiled faintly, "I know I can't impress him, but let's talk slowly! Wouldn't it be nice to let him attack Lengfanzhai and Zaojiaobao first?"

Looking at his brother's cunning eyes, Zhou Tong suddenly understood his brother's plan. He deliberately showed weakness to confuse Chen Qing, and asked Chen Qing to attack Lengfan Village and Zaojiao Fort, which were also heavily guarded, while Zhou Jiabao watched the strength of the Song Army, and then determine their next course of action.

"Let me go, you don't regret it?" Zhou Tong laughed mockingly.

"Actually, elder brother is in the way of my affairs. The fifth brother persuaded me more than once to bring you a glass of poisoned wine to send you on the road, saying that you were old and died of illness. With your current body, no one would doubt it, but I always feel that elder brother What else can I do for the family? That’s why I have never agreed. Whether it’s going to Chengji County for the elderly or being a hostage this time, I just hope that my elder brother will put the interests of the family first, and not ruin the family because of the grievances between our brothers. Otherwise, we would have no face to meet the father of Jiuquanxia and the ancestors of the Zhou family."

A big family hat was cast down, leaving Zhou Tong speechless for a while.

"What do you want me to do?"

Zhou Xinxin was secretly happy, and quickly said: "If you can agree, pretend to agree. In a word, try to delay as far as possible, so that Zhoujiabao will fade out of Chen Qing's sight."

This is Zhou Xin's cunning. There are hundreds of forts in Qinzhou. Let Chen Qing solve the other forts first. After half a year, when the war between Song Jin, Song Qi, and Song Xia broke out, Chen Qing would not take care of the Zhou family. fort.

Anyway, Chen Qing didn't understand the situation in Zhoujiabao, and thought that Zhou Tong was very important in Zhoujiabao. With this hostage, he agreed to some conditions that would not touch the reality of Zhoujiabao, such as taxes, Chen Qing should He will let the Zhou family castle go.

The key is that the elder brother should not talk nonsense, that's why Zhou Xin came to persuade the elder brother today.

Zhou Tong looked at his brother for a while, and suddenly realized that it was not himself who really destroyed the family, but this brother's misbehavior. It was his ambition to be an emperor who should not have ruined the family.

Zhou Tong said coldly: "I didn't destroy the family. I am not ashamed of my father and the ancestors of the Zhou family. I only do what I should do. Your little tricks and tricks have nothing to do with me. Don't let me see you." I cooperate with you!"

Zhou Xin was furious, staring at Zhou Tong viciously and said, "Since that's the case, shut up and stop talking nonsense. If your nonsense makes the Zhou family fall into disaster, you will be the family's sinner!"

"I want to take a look, who is the sinner of the family in the end?"

Zhou Xin was very annoyed, snorted heavily, turned around and hurried away angrily.

When Zhou Xin returned to Dazhai in Houshan, his brother Zhou Jian hurriedly greeted him, "Did that old man agree?"

Zhou Jian and Zhou Xin are compatriots from the same mother, but it is the opposite of Zhou Xin. He looks extremely strong, has high martial arts skills, and is especially good at archery. He has a simple mind and is basically Zhou Xin's thug. Zhou Xin ordered him to be in charge of commanding the Zhou family. Elite Archer.

Zhou Xin said with a gloomy face: "He's just dissatisfied with me. I used the family to suppress him, so he had to agree."

"It's a pity that this old thing is cheap!"

Zhou Xin saw a clansman next to him, so he said hypocritically: "You can't say that, after all, he is the eldest son of the concubine, and he is well-known in the world. Let him be a hostage on behalf of the Zhou family, it can be regarded as his doing something for the family!"

"Goodbye, brother!"

Zhou Xin snorted, and then ordered: "Let Guanshi Jia come to see me!"

(End of this chapter)