Daming kill

Chapter 27
While waiting anxiously, Zhao Jin, who had disappeared for many days, came back first.

Zhao Jin went out for five days on this trip, and the original number of 60 people suddenly became more than 300.

Although the newly added 200 people are old and young, and the real young men are less than half, it can still be said that they have gained a lot.

However, the high-spirited Zhao Jin became very embarrassed when he saw Li Ping. He could get a general idea of ​​what he had gone through in the past few days, but Li Ping just stayed in the city obediently and made a fortune in a crooked way. It made him even more envious, it was really unpredictable.

But even Zhao Jin came back, but there was still no news of Ma Lan who left first.

Then Shi Ming and Wang Chengwu were still missing, and Li Shengcai, who followed him but came back only three days later, only knew that Shi Ming and Wang Chengwu were probably safe.

Amidst the unease that had gradually begun to pervade, Ma Lan finally returned eight days after his departure.

In addition to their original group of nearly twenty people, Malan actually brought back nearly 200 men and women, and even some food, 5 mules and 8 donkeys.

Considering that among the people Malan brought back were more than 130 middle-aged men, and about 30 young women, and the rest were old and young, the quality of his men was obviously better than that of Zhao Jin.

It turned out that the countryside in Xiangyang has been completely chaotic these days. There are hordes of officers and soldiers going around to collect food and recruit soldiers. The looting has long been out of control.

At this time, Malan's rather well-known team in the name of visiting relatives became one of the choices of some desperate young people.After all, the subordinates of General Zuo's own son are quite bluffing, and the name of visiting relatives is better than public solicitation.

In addition, Ma Lan, the leader of the team, is very brave, and the army is quite handsome, and he is more polite to ordinary villagers, neither pulling nor grabbing, and then there are local soldiers who are familiar with him to speak out, so in the Under China's tradition of trusting acquaintances, some young people finally chose to join in order to save themselves from suffering.

At this time, the increasingly chaotic countryside also made Ma Lan not dare to take it lightly.

Although the number of people gathered little by little, he did not let his subordinates go back together one after another, and resolutely kept everyone together tightly, only seeking security and safety.

On the way back and forth, they also had a fight with a few small groups of people who couldn't tell whether they were officers, soldiers or bandits. A small half of the people and most of the young women brought back were actually the spoils of war and belonged to those people. Loot the fruit.

However, only two of Malan's soldiers were slightly injured.No one can tell whether it is the officers and soldiers or the bandits of those small groups that are basically broken up after seeing the real chapter, which also shows the weakness of the current rebellious army.

However, Ma Lan would never touch those large groups of troops.No matter how much he has been wronged and disliked, he just avoids it quickly, and stays far away, and he is not stupid.

Of course, Zuo Menggeng's name also gave him a lot of help.

Li Ping couldn't wait any longer for Malan's return. At this time, his strength had improved rapidly, but food was also in serious shortage.

What's worse, the sudden increase of so many people made the already crowded place even more unbearable. He had to do something.

So, on the second day after Malan came back, Li Ping ordered 150 people and took the fat woman's family out of the city to find food in the mountains to the west. As for the family, he entrusted Zhao Jin and Song Baolai to help take care of it.

Passing through Yanggu Mountain and Wanshan Mountain, which are adjacent to Xiangyang, all the way to the west, the endless mountains soon appeared in front of their eyes. Its vastness and vastness are really daunting.Some people say that it is impossible to go to the end at all, and some people say that if you can really go out, you will be in Sichuan thousands of miles away.

But on the other hand, these mountains are definitely a nightmare for those who try to cross, and they are definitely a good place to hide things
The fat woman didn't lie. After walking around the mountains for half a day, they found food in a small mountain village at the foot of the mountain.

The food was hidden in a small cave, and the entrance of the small cave was hidden in a yard. The yard was also full of worthless lean ore and a small amount of collected small animal leather, whether it was camouflage or crossing the sky. All did an excellent job.

Thanks to the ingenious structure of the small cave and the careful design and measures of the custodians, these grains have been preserved very well, and the quantity is also amazing. More than 200 stones of grain can fill up Li Ping's camp and eat a few. months.

Without seeing it with his own eyes, no one would have imagined that there would be a large amount of food preserved in this impoverished mountain and in this humid and cold environment. Li Ping also had to feel the wisdom of the ancients and the instinct to survive in troubled times.

After finding the food, the death date of the Fat Lady's family also came.

Li Ping had to kill them. This was an attitude he had to express and for his own safety.

In order to show his attitude towards good and evil and establish the righteousness of the troops, Li Ping had to kill them; in order to prevent future troubles such as being bitten, retaliation, and possible subsequent collusion between officials and businessmen, Li Ping had to kill them.

Li Ping is very clear that the grain merchants in a big city like Xiangyang must have the help of officials to do their business. Now maybe there is something wrong with their relationship network or they are broken, so there is no officialdom for so long. More people come to catch them, but it's hard to say what will happen after a long time.

But as long as a person dies, everything will be over. After all, unless their caretaker in the officialdom is a close relative, it is impossible to keep an eye on this matter.

It's just that killing people can't be done casually. Without publicizing it and creating an atmosphere, it is easy for people to misunderstand that it is indiscriminate killing, and it is more likely to have a counterproductive effect. So Li Ping thought of a public trial meeting.

But going back to the city to hold this public trial meeting is not appropriate no matter how you think about it.

In order to avoid the trouble of talking badly, I simply found a spacious place in this mountain to organize myself, and sent people to pick up some of the neighbors who had been persecuted by this family.

After everything was ready, Li Ping made all the criminals kneel in a row on a high slope, following what he had seen in the movies.

A long wooden stick was also inserted around the neck of each dying person, and crimes such as murderer, adulterer, and accomplice were scribbled on the wooden stick.

Those who can take care of the food for Lao Cai in this mountain must be very close people, so naturally they can't stay. Li Ping also charged them with crimes such as being a minion and doing many evils.

Down the slope, more than 200 Li Ping's subordinates and neighbor representatives sat cross-legged in a semi-circle.

After the start of the public trial, a famous neighbor and suffering master came to the stage one by one to make tragic complaints, and several servants also made sad and indignant identifications (of course, the work has been done in advance, the condition is that they behave well).

This form is too new for this era, and Li Ping found that he didn't need to add any atmosphere at all, because the ups and downs soon became a cry.

For most people at the bottom of this era, this kind of dramatic trial is too easy to arouse the resonance of the tragic past.

Some people kept standing up and shouting angry slogans such as "blood for blood" and "kill them", and some people tried to rush up to beat them, and the climax was almost constant.

The effect of this form is really good. No wonder Li Ping was reluctant to change it for a long time after it was used in the founding of the country.

When all the testimonies are completed, Li Ping estimates that if the fat woman's family is not killed, the people below will have to rebel.

It took a lot of effort before Li Ping calmed down the crowd, and then he stood in the middle of the slope, listed the crimes of the fat woman's family one by one, concluded that they deserved to die, and finally ordered them to be executed.

In an instant, there was cheering up and down the slope.

Giving the fat lady's family a good time is the only civilized thing Li Ping can do. Many people have suggested to Li Ping to use a lot of cruel punishments such as soaking pig cages and lighting sky lanterns, but Li Ping firmly insisted. It was rejected, he really couldn't accept it.

Soon, the fat woman's family, her old servants, the old woman and her close friends in the mountains were beheaded one by one by the good-behaved activists selected by Li Ping.

It was the first time for Li Ping to be beheaded at such close range. Although he had seen a lot of massacres these days, he was a little numb to blood.But just looking at a person's head rolling like this, Li Ping still felt very uncomfortable, so he remained expressionless, unlike many people around who were full of interest.

The stupid Liu San was also picked up and had his head chopped off.

After beheading the man, the kid muttered and stood beside Li Ping.Li Ping was a little surprised and asked him what's the matter, unexpectedly the boy said: "It's really a waste of those good bodies, it's very comfortable to use."

Li Ping was so angry that he slapped Liu San's head several times, cursing: "Damn it, you steal it too."

Liu San didn't dare to fight back, but continued to insist in a low voice from there: "If you don't get this kind of bad guy, isn't it a waste? It's still so fat and comfortable. I'm also avenging everyone..."

As for the rest of the servants, they didn't know about the money and food, and there was no serious evil. Killing them would easily cause confusion among the soldiers in the army about the right and wrong standards. Li Ping released them all to show his grievances.

After the public trial and beheadings were all over, Li Ping clearly felt that something was different among his subordinates, especially those small leaders and activists.

His back seems to be a little more straightened, and he speaks more confidently.

How should I put it, it seems that there is an extra layer of special energy, and it is less dull and numb.

However, after all these troubles, the hidden food storage place has lost much value, and the food still has to be transported back.It's just that it took Li Ping a lot of thought and several days to move these grains safely.

Fortunately, the conscription of soldiers and food gave him a good cover, so he simply carried out a sweep in the mountains by the way.

Although the plains and water towns north of the Han River, east of the Han River, and south of Xianshan Mountain are richer and more populous, there are too many people robbing them, and he may not get much benefit if he rushes in.

It's just that there are mostly small villages in these mountains that are far away from each other, and the road is very difficult. Although he is prepared, the poverty in the mountains is still far beyond Li Ping's imagination.

The life of people in the mountains is generally very difficult. Most of them are thin and short, numb and shriveled, with ragged clothes, unkempt hair and bare feet. Very few people have shoes and buns, and even fewer households can have some surplus food.

Especially considering that the rice outside the mountains is about to mature, and now is the most difficult time for ordinary people to get food.

If it weren't for the back and forth wars that made many people flee here to avoid disaster, the population in the mountains would not only not wither, but rather prosper. In Xiangfan, where the water and land transportation routes extend in all directions, few people would be willing to eat so hard in the mountains.

Looking at the scene in the mountains, Li Ping couldn't bear to push hard, and only used propaganda methods and the principle of voluntary.It's not that he is pedantic and weak, but that Li Ping is afraid that after doing this, his soldiers will really become like bandits, and instead he will let himself suffer in the future.

Therefore, Li Ping strictly ordered the troops to camp not to enter the village, not to burn, kill and loot, not to rape prostitutes, and to trade fairly, and even executed a soldier who robbed the people privately.Although this was very inefficient, Li Ping didn't mind.

Of course, everything has two sides.

Ma Yong and Duan Qiang and a considerable number of small leaders and many activists, after experiencing this, became more and more respectful to Li Ping and more determined to carry out orders.

A few days later, as other officers and soldiers went into the mountains to try their luck after robbing nothing outside the mountains, the mountains quickly became chaotic, and gunpowder smoke began to rise everywhere.

In some of the villages that Li Ping and the others passed by, there were often young and middle-aged people chasing after them, and even those villages that they had never been to began to seek refuge.

This made Li Ping have to sigh again why the ancients had multiple "righteousness".

Simple folk customs are only one aspect. In this era of extremely underdeveloped information, once a good deed is spread, it will often quickly evolve into a loud reputation and generate a crowd effect, often bringing unexpected benefits.

Of course, on the other hand, evil deeds can also rapidly expand fear and produce deterrent damage.

The food for the fat woman's house had already been transported back, but Li Ping still spent ten days sweeping through the mountains. He did not know how many mountains he had climbed and how many villages he had passed.

Although basically no food and grass were recruited in the end, Li Ping was not surprised to get more than 200 young men, especially many young men who took the initiative to seek refuge in the last few days.

Li Ping had no choice but to go back because of the surge in the number of teams and the rapid bottoming out of food and grass.

In the past ten days, Li Ping's battalion consisting of a large group of recruits was like a wild group on an outing. Their poor performance was no longer a headache for Li Ping, but an eye-opener.

Their confusion, their ignorance, their recklessness, their stupidity, their innocence and their simplicity often amazed Li Ping and broke Li Ping's heart.

Without the guidance of righteousness and the violent suppression of the soldiers who followed him south, Li Ping was sometimes really worried that he would lose control of the troops, and sometimes he was worried about how this group of ignorant sheep formed an army.

"They have to learn the rules and practice hard." Li Ping kept admonishing himself along the way.

While repeatedly thinking about the drill methods, Li Ping was also constantly observing the little leaders he appointed, and constantly sorting out the ideas and priorities of the army in the future.

(End of this chapter)