Delong

Chapter 192 Raising Arms (5)

From the fifth day of Juyi, Zhang Xing and Li Shu were completely separated.

The latter took Xiong Bonan, who was equivalent to a reserve team, and a thousand left behind soldiers to Jishui, trying to organize military forces to capture the southern half of Jiyin County, while the former began to patrol around the East County, participating in food distribution and leadership At the same time, it is necessary to organize and expand the army... The release of food belongs to the fundamental political commitment of the Dragon Gang, and it is the core expression of winning the hearts of the people. The appointment arrangement belongs to organizational construction, not to mention military construction, of course it cannot be said Not a big deal.

In fact, these tasks are not so simple.

For example, Zhang Xing had just left, but he had just passed Weinan and before he arrived at Baima, Niu Da was hit on the head, because Chief Wei, who stayed in Puyang, publicly asked Niu Da to take the lead in gathering the big households in the county and bringing them together on weekdays. Take out the money lender's debt and burn it in public!

In Chief Wei's words, donating food without burning debts means taking off your pants and not farting?
Niu Da's reaction was very interesting, and he didn't know who was instigating it. He stated on the spot that, as the leader of the Dragon Clan and the largest local tycoon, he was willing to take the lead in burning debts... and he also claimed to understand the truth behind it , It's nothing more than buying people's hearts... But he hopes to burn the debt in front of Zhang Longtou, not just because Chief Wei said a few words.

Wei Xuan was so angry that he was half dead, but found that he was helpless, and then unexpectedly restrained himself a lot.

In this way, I don't know if it was the original plan or chief Wei's impromptu intention. After the seven counties in the East County finished food distribution, the Dragon Gangfu began to carry out a large-scale debt burning operation in the East County.

And this move directly triggered the spillover effect.

Specifically, spontaneous riots occurred in the surrounding towns even though most of the military forces of the Dragon Gang went south, but it is worth mentioning that not all such riots brought good results:

For example, Weicheng, which was sandwiched between Dongjun and Jiyin, surrendered quickly, which is a matter of course;

Chanyuan, Jijun, which stands across the river from Puyang, directly broke the city defense and fell into the hands of local gangs and tyrants. Immediately, this city, which was not deployed by the Dragon Gang, immediately took the initiative to send people across the river to seek refuge. This is an accident. It's... But it's hard not to pick it up, but the military risk that comes with it also makes people feel numb;

At the same time, Fengqiu, which belongs to Dongjun but is next to Liangjun, failed in the riot. Fengqiu ordered Lin Zhun to stop watching after the riot, closed the city gate, and asked Zhang Shizhao, the man in Xingyang, for reinforcements.

When the news came, Zhang Xing immediately sent troops to seal Qiu with Xu Dalang and took over Chanyuan with Niu Da.

Then the family continued to burn debts.

On the third day of October, whether it was a coincidence or not, Li Shu took Wang Wulang, Shan Dalang and Shang Huaizhi on the southern front, Xu Dalang on the western front, and Niu Da on the northern front. Head-on conflict.

At the same time, Zhang Xing, who didn't know anything about it, led Jia Yue, a paralyzed fellow from the north, and two hundred soldiers to Lihu.

Lihu's place is the place where the Dragon Gang has arranged for a long time... It is located within the sphere of influence of Shan Tonghai, Wang Shuyong and Xu Shiying. In this way, Chai Xiaohe, the magistrate of Lihu County, was born in Kansai, and he was close friends with Li Shu's personal confidant, Du Caigan, who participated in Yang Shenmou's rebellion in the early years. Being drawn over... It is precisely because of this that the Dragon Gang did not allocate any additional forces when raising righteousness. They only sent Du Caiqian to join forces with Chai Xiaohe, and they easily took down the city.

"I've seen Zhang Longtou."

"Zhang Longtou has been working hard for days, please come in and rest first."

"You two have worked hard, and everyone has worked hard too."

It may be that one has been in exile for a long time, and the other is of a lower status (district magistrate, not even a county magistrate), or it may be that it is simply realized that Kansai people should not mess around here. Du Caiqian and Chai Xiaohe are unexpected Without the arrogance of a famous family, on the contrary, he has a proper posture and is neither humble nor overbearing.

And Zhang Xing had already been here once to inspect the grain storage before, so he was quite familiar with it.

One side brought two hundred soldiers, and the other side brought a group of local rebels. After exchanging greetings outside the city gate, they went straight in.

After entering the city, there was no revolutionary enthusiasm to take over the work regardless of everything. Instead, he honestly had a working meal with the accompanying soldiers and the city defense army... I had an experience once, and the locals seemed to know this temper , There is no whole moth coming out... The main course is also very suitable, it is fried bacon with pickled scallions, and it is served with a large bowl of noodles pulled from the new noodles after autumn.

Onion is a kind of thing similar to garlic, but it is more convenient to pickle vegetables.

After finishing the meal, Zhang Xing asked Jia Yue to lead the soldiers to make arrangements around the county government office, and then he got off the yellow puma horse, carried a scabbard sword, went to the county government hall, and took the seat of Chai county magistrate. formal work.

"Is there any explanation for the deficit in the accounts last time?"

"Yes, it should be during the previous three expeditions to Dongyi, the saint... When His Majesty passed by from the north, he inexplicably sent a group of people from Jing'antai to the south. It must be said that a big family here stole the imperial horse. There was a commotion, and the family was ruined, and that family has always been the key to assisting the two local townships in collecting food, but the official is a newcomer, and he was thinking about getting together before the autumn harvest, so he didn't have much thought about it. The higher ups, that's why there was a big mistake in the accounts... This subordinate is really ashamed."

"I see...Xue Taibao, he doesn't care about his head and his back, and his methods are rough."

"..."

"And that matter, what do you two think?"

"Mr. Zhang, let's think about it... Lihu is surrounded by places where we have successfully raised righteousness, and it is a small county. The next recruiting is nothing more than a thousand and five hundred troops, and five hundred will be used to defend the city. For public security, 500 people are the army, and when necessary, they can be dispatched to the leader of the gang for unified use, and there is no need to have the ability to lead the army... In this way, there is no need for a full-time leader, nor is there a separate list It's necessary to come... The two of us are in Lihu, so there is really no need to separate and transfer abroad."

"Have you thought about it clearly? With your status in the gang and the meritorious deeds you have made this time, as long as the situation ahead is opened, you can each live in a county, be a safe helmsman, dominate one side, and stay behind." Here, there is always someone to be the deputy."

"We've thought it through, and our subordinates are willing to be deputy."

"That's good, that's good, Du Weizheng and Chai are deputy, you can discuss the matter, just don't make mistakes in name... Actually, the future will have to be handled by experienced and qualified officials like you." To do... If you want to attack the city and conquer the land, it is the warriors who are in charge, and if the tide rises again, it may depend on your means."

"Mr. Zhang...that's what he said."

"Thank you Mr. Zhang for your generosity."

After some conversation, the two incidents from the previous visit were dealt with in a matter of seconds. Zhang Xing did not delve into the so-called serious organizational issues, but took the initiative to admit the two people's self-arrangement.

Think about it, a group of gangsters, even if there are a few educated people, can they really break away from the grassroots team?For those who are really capable, who will use the gang system to put the magistrates on it?And whose top leadership is too weak to remove the leaders below?

In fact, what Zhang Sanlang is doing at this moment is nothing more than imitating cats and cats, trying to get some organizational structure, hoping to have a starting point in the future storms, whether it is good or bad, whether it is in line with the times, I don't know.

But it doesn’t matter, if something goes wrong, it’s better to change it, and it’s better than nothing, so don’t worry about it, just lay the groundwork first.

Similarly, there are such things as food distribution, debt burning, and the subsequent investigation of the fields... Zhang Xing's mind is also very simple, doing it is better than not doing it well, right is better than wrong, and can win people's hearts It's one-sided.

You can't burn debts and burn people's hearts, right?
"Then you should know about this visit, right?" Zhang Xing didn't delay at all after dealing with the old matter, and continued to ask questions in the hall.

The local county magistrate, Chai Xiaohe, hesitated for a moment, as if he wanted to say something.

But Du Caiqian responded directly:
"I have received the text. Fifteen wealthy merchants in the city, three gangs that have always lent usury, one Taoist temple, and ten tyrants. None of them dared to violate the power of the rebel army. Now they have gathered with their debts and are waiting at the cross street. Now, just wait for Zhang Gong to deal with it... Leader Jia also led some soldiers to maintain order first, and there will be no mistakes."

Zhang Xing nodded in satisfaction, but without any delay, he got up with the sheathless sword and went outside.

Du and Chai hurried to follow.

After leaving the door, although it was only two or three hundred steps away, Zhang Xing got on the yellow puma horse, and then Du Chai and the two rode to follow, surrounded by a group of rebels with knives and guns, holding the red flag with the word "Depose", followed, A dog-like attitude of being separated from the crowd... But there is really no way to do this, this is Zhang Xing's experience gained from touring the base area for more than ten days.

This scene is really useful when facing many small tyrants and small gang leaders within the rebel army, and even many ordinary people.

Otherwise, they will really do some incredible things for you.

When they came to the crossroads, the people onlookers had already blocked the intersection, and they were discussing and full of emotions. They seemed to have great enthusiasm for everything about the rebel army, and they dared to point fingers at anyone and anything. Covering up everything for a while... Saying one thousand words and ten thousand, no matter how many problems there are, no matter how grass-roots the team is, the previous grain distribution is undoubtedly benevolent and good governance. If you can't get in or out, you have to force the dead to a higher level... Therefore, there is no doubt about the enthusiasm and recognition of the common people for the rebel army in the short term.

But Zhang Xing got off his horse, set up the banner with the word "拍", sat down behind the arranged table, cleared his throat slightly, and then politely shouted out to the group of people in front who were saluting to him. :
"Are you all here to burn your debts voluntarily?"

"Yes……"

"voluntary."

A few words were spoken weakly and sparsely from below, and then there was a burst of laughter from the onlookers. Isn't this nonsense?Who dares to say that it is not voluntary?If it is not voluntary, it will not be burned?Do you think the rebels' swords and guns are fake?

"It's fine if you volunteer." Zhang Xingci continued to speak earnestly, with kind eyes. "I also hope that you sages will not have any complaints. Since you can afford money, you have read some ancient novels, and at least you have read history books. You should also know that since the rebel army is raised, this kind of thing is inevitable. ...Moreover, in troubled times, giving up money and changing people's hearts is never a loss... After today, there will be some folks thinking of your loyalty, and when the time comes, I will give you a hand, so that your whole family will not be overthrown. "

"Yes Yes Yes……"

"I know I know..."

"What the big leader says is what..."

There was another burst of shouting and echoing, and Zhang Xing was vaguely resentful, but he didn't bother to worry about it, and nodded directly: "Then show me the debt note!"

I don't know if it's an illusion, but when this statement came out, the crowd watching was nothing but the following rich people who were about to burn their debts, and the two famous leaders from Kansai behind them, plus a group of small leaders of the local rebel army, they fell into a slight stagnation with hesitation.

Seems to be a little flustered.

"Bring it?" Zhang Xing was impatient for a while, and urged again and again.

"Zhang Dalongtou, didn't we burn it ourselves?" A man dressed as a rich businessman took a look at the red flag with the word "拍" and didn't hold back from stepping forward.

"Yes, Dalongtou." A leader of the local rebel army who seemed familiar also stood up with a sincere tone. "A group of loan sharks who harm the common people deserve to be killed. Why bother?"

Zhang Xing glanced at this theoretical subordinate who appeared from behind him, without saying a word, but a refreshing chill came out of his body in a literal sense, it was October sunny spring, and the afternoon sun was shining brightly, so the whole At the intersection, there was a sense of immortality almost instantly.

And this cold air is still expanding.

The leader of the rebel army stopped for a moment, his face turned pale, and he shrank back with several other little leaders, and Zhang Xing also turned around and waved to the rich businessman:
"Here, I've always liked to be troublesome, and I like to be serious about good things... I like to check accounts when I distribute food, and I like to read IOUs when I burn debts... To put it bluntly, if one of your family's interest rates are too high, who The family likes to let orphans and widows go, who likes to have their children pay off their debts... Do you really think that I dare not kill and shed blood?"

The wealthy businessman shook his head, his face was not looking good, but he still stepped forward and handed over a large pile of IOUs he had prepared in his arms.

Zhang Xing opened it to read it, but after halfway through it, he asked him to pick out a few IOUs that were directly given to women, and there were also several that stated that they would use their children as slaves to pay off the debts. Zhang picked it out alone and put it aside.

Then, he continued to look down, but there seemed to be no problem.

Even if I took out these few and compared them in such a pile, it seemed that the proportion was not too much, so I rolled up all the debt notes, prepared to reprimand him, and went directly to this person's account... But , when he raised his head, he was a little surprised to see that the wealthy businessman who was waiting for him was a little disappointed. Not only that, but the other wealthy businessmen seemed to be staring at him closely.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Xing suddenly looked back at the leader of the rebel army who had just spoken, only to find that this person was actually somewhat relieved and relaxed.

If Zhang Dalong realized something, he went to look through those IOUs again, and went through them three times, and then he was shocked suddenly, and picked out one of the IOUs, and then he was dumbfounded.

People around began to fight each other, and Du and Chai also looked at each other, bowed their heads deeply, and prepared for possible troubles.

"Who is Zhang Qingshui?" Zhang Xing turned his head and asked.

No one answered for a while.

"Let me ask you, who is Zhang Qingshui?" Zhang Xing's body was filled with cold air, and the off-white icy true energy was churning directly around him, which was even better than before. "That Zhang Qingshui who hastily borrowed twenty guanwen the night before yesterday is that hero?!"

A small leader of the volunteer army couldn't bear it, so he went out and bowed down on the spot, and then he said something amazing: "Big leader! It's not my leader. I heard that the debt was going to be burnt, and the leader of the gang borrowed it... According to the expansion of the army For the position, each team member borrowed fifty guan, each of our gang leaders borrowed [-] guan, and the Shichang and Wuchang also borrowed three to five guanwen!"

Hearing this, the leaders of the rebel army cheered and knelt for more than half, and the surrounding people also burst into laughter... Only then did everyone realize that this was because the leaders of the rebel army knew that they were going to burn their debts, so they gathered a crowd to borrow money temporarily.

When Zhang Xing saw this scene, instead of being angry, he smiled and just came to ask Du Caigan: "Just now in the county office, Chief Chai wanted to speak, but Chief Du pressed him over. Is it because of this?"

"Reporting to the leader, the law does not blame the crowd." Du Caiqian hurriedly stepped out, feeling embarrassed. "For example, there are [-] staff members, and there are exactly ten team generals, all of whom have contributed to righteousness. As far as my subordinates know, I heard that the North has begun to burn debts, and eight of them borrowed money overnight."

"Not bad, there are two more who know how to hold back." Zhang Xing continued to ask with a smile. "I was a little surprised just now, why Lihu is just a small county, but there are more rich merchants than powerful ones, which is slightly different from other counties... Now it seems that it is only because merchants are easy to borrow money?"

"Naturally." Du Caiqian was embarrassed for a moment.

"It's okay." Zhang Xing stood up and asked the leaders of the volunteer army in the county behind him. "Those who borrowed money, but there are still those who have not stood up, or have not come?!"

A few more people came out to pay homage, and some directly reported their names, saying that so-and-so was on duty and hadn't come. Zhang Xing was patient and only asked Du Caiqian to find someone.

After a while, about everyone arrived, and knelt down directly facing the county government at the crossroads.

Only then did Zhang Xing go to see those wealthy businessmen: "But there are still people who borrowed your money temporarily and are not here?"

The rich merchants have long since changed their previous posture. Some looked happy, some looked on coldly, and some showed fear, but when they were asked, they shook their heads a lot while looking at each other... There may still be fish that slipped through the net, but this posture doesn't matter anymore.

"I'll ask you a few more things." Zhang Xing nodded when he got the reply, and then went to look at the leaders of the rebel army, still kind-hearted. "Is it because the rewards haven't been issued, or the military pay hasn't been fixed yet?"

The rebel leaders also shook their heads a lot.

"So, it's because of lack of greed?" Zhang Xing was too late to ask.

"I see that other people have borrowed it, so I'm afraid of being squeezed out by others." Someone suddenly raised his head and shouted. "Da Longtou, I didn't sincerely ruin the name of the Dethrone Dragon Gang and the Rebel Army."

"Well said." Zhang Xing immediately reached out and nodded. "Speaking like this, how many people can still understand in their hearts that this is wrong. They didn't take the looting and extortion after the rebellion as a matter of course... If this is the case, why should we depose the Dragon Gang to rebel? Wouldn't it be good to follow the Wei court to oppress the people? What's more, you are still from the country? Let me ask you, now I ask you to return the money, are you willing to pay it back?"

"I am willing!" The man was relieved.

"I'm willing too..." Someone hurriedly shouted. "It's just that after I got the money, I donated money to the village and bought land. Yesterday I bought [-] acres of good land temporarily, but I really didn't have enough money..."

"How much is the difference?" Zhang Xing asked seriously. "Return [-] mu and keep [-] mu. Is the money enough?"

"That's still four or five times worse..."

"Then keep [-] acres, and the remaining five guanwenna officials' money will be given to you, which can be regarded as an advance military salary...Similar to him, you can advance half a year's military salary... If you still can't pay it, you can also tell me! "

Everyone was chattering, most of them were willing to give in and refund the money under Zhang Xing's coercion, but there were also a few people who kept their necks stuck and refused to speak, such as the one who spoke at the beginning.

"What's your name?" After waiting for a while, Zhang Xing finally lost his patience and ordered that person on the spot.

"My name is Shan Zheng!" The man raised his head on the ground and faced him proudly.

"No wonder... did you borrow money? Would you like to return the money?"

"I borrowed it, and I don't want to return it."

"why?"

"Because I contributed the most to the city's righteousness before, not to mention that my surname is Shan, this matter has to be dealt with, and it should be dealt with by my Dalang!" The man continued to talk, seeing Zhang Xing's expressionless face, Not angry or happy, but more courageous. "Besides, why do other places raise righteousness, and the treasury takes it casually, and we only reward [-]% of the money? Why can other volunteers distribute women's property after the end, and we can't even find some wealthy households to ask for some money? No? If the leader does this, he will lose his heart sooner or later! It’s hard to explain it to the front line!”

"Zhang Longtou!" Du Caiqian hurried forward to persuade him. "Shan Dalang is on the front line, why bother to break Shan Dalang's loyalty because of this?"

After Zhang Xing listened in a daze, he seemed to be in a daze, but suddenly turned his head to look at Jia Yue, and said sharply, "Why are you still watching? Didn't you hear? Even for Shan Dalang's reputation, he should be killed quickly." Everyone has Shan Dalang's loyalty?"

Du Caigan was stunned on the spot, and the man surnamed Shan was also a little dazed.

On the other hand, Jia Yue, obviously familiar with the road, although he was stunned for a while, he immediately rushed up with a dozen or so soldiers with cultivation level, held down the man in front of everyone's eyes, dragged him out, and easily killed him with a single blow This man cut off his head again and took it to see Zhang Xing.

"Why are you cutting off your head?" Zhang Xing was speechless. "The rest of them didn't say anything, and they were killed together!"

This remark immediately caused some commotion. Several leaders who followed the man in a confrontational posture immediately tried to draw their swords to fight, but unexpectedly, the surrounding soldiers swarmed, and many kneeling colleagues also rushed directly, subduing them in a short time , and then still one person, one knife, as easily dealt with as execution.

At this time, the people around to see the excitement had already been frightened and moved away, and several wealthy businessmen and powerful people were also shocked.

Zhang Xing just sat still and asked people to call the people back.

After a long time, as some of the onlookers came back, Zhang Dalongtou spoke again, but to those wealthy businessmen: "What do you say? Are there still grievances?"

The faces of the rich merchants had already turned pale, and they could only keep bowing, and the few who spoke were somewhat confused.

"That's good." Zhang Xing also nodded, but stretched out his hand again. "It's still early, let's continue to look at the IOU..."

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, but they could only continue to present the IOU.

This time, Zhang Xing only picked out the newly written IOU, continued to look at it, looked around, finally smiled again, and pointed to the Taoist priest to ask: "Does Qingdi Temple like lending usury so much? Do you still like to let people use their children to pay off debts?"

The Taoist didn't dare to say anything, so he could only grab the ground with his head.

Zhang Xing nuzzled his lips, and the next moment, Jia Yueqing was familiar with the road, and stepped forward again, easily killing the Taoist priest... as if he had returned to Zhang Jincheng when he was in front of him.

The next thing finally returned to everyone's previous imagination of today, the brazier was raised, and except for the entire Taoist temple that was to be confiscated, the rest of the families all took their own IOUs to burn in public.

And according to Zhang Xing's request, every time one is burnt, they have to shout out in public: "Destroy the Dragon Gang Enyi, how much money will be exempted in such and such a year and month!"

It is not enough to shout out of breath, but to shout again!Such a continuous process finally rekindled the enthusiasm of the onlookers, just like the food was released before, cheering and running to tell each other, so that the streets were blocked.

In contrast, the few corpses on the ground have long been neglected.

However, Zhang Xing could not turn a blind eye.

In the evening, the IOU had just been burnt clean, and the leader of the Dragon Clan also stood up, but he didn't turn back to the county government office behind him, instead, he jumped up to the case in front of him regardless of decency, attracting everyone's attention Finally, he spoke again to the brazier in front of him, the corpses, the leaders of the rebel army, the wealthy businessmen, and countless urban poor people who were still in high spirits and the peasants who had heard the news.

The voice is blessed with true energy, and it is full of energy:
"Today's burning of debts, there is a statement to tell the whole world. It's not that you are not allowed to be promoted, nor that you are not allowed to get rich. It's just that the Dragon Gang raised troops for the common people. Cutting off the violent Wei is also to stabilize the world and let the people of the world have a good life. Therefore, if anyone makes a mistake, puts the cart before the horse, and insists on going his own way, then before he dies, please don’t be confused... I have to trouble all the folks to tell you what happened today! For the people' this sentence is enough."

After saying that, Zhang Xing bowed to each other on the table, then jumped straight down, and led Huang Puma back.

The common people were at a loss at first, and then continued to cheer, not sure if they had heard it, but those rich businessmen and powerful people couldn't help but change their expressions, hesitated for a long time, and then bowed their heads and left.

As for the leaders of the surrounding rebel army, they naturally activated one after another, and followed Zhang Dalong to the county government.

When he walked to the county government office, Zhang Xing tied his horse and pretended nothing had happened, and looked at Du and Chai: "You said earlier that you want to take leader Du as the leader of the local rudder, and leader Chai as the deputy. Yes or no?"

The two quickly nodded and became nervous at the same time.

"Change it over." Zhang Xing patted the horse's back in public and ordered. "The two of you are the leaders of the left wing. It is reasonable to say that I shouldn't do it for you, but Chief Du is slightly inferior to Chief Chai. For the sake of the future, it shouldn't be a problem if you change your family?"

Du and Chai were embarrassed for a while, but immediately, Du Caiqian still bowed his head in public: "I am ashamed, and I would like to follow Zhang Longtou's words."

Only then did Zhang Xing walk in.

PS: good night everyone

(End of this chapter)