Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 123 The Arrival of the Supervisory Kingdom
Eight hundred miles away from Taihu Lake, across Zhejiang Province.

The lake covers an area of ​​48 hectares, with 72 islands and [-] peaks in it.

The pearl-like Taihu Lake is surrounded by countless small towns in the south of the Yangtze River. Small bridges and flowing water, fields of lotus leaves, and dawn colors on the edges of the continuous roofs and corners of the Jiangnan water towns by the lake outline the oriental sky in a patchwork order.

Amidst the crowing of the cock and the barking of the dog, a brand new day has ushered in.

This was another ordinary morning in midsummer, but a sudden noise broke the tranquility, and a team of hundreds of people suddenly arrived.

A Gu family flag was held high in the team, and a green flag was next to it.

The leader of this team is called Gu Mazi, who was originally a fisherman in Taihu Lake. Later, he was struggling to make a living and joined Taihu Lake as a water thief, robbing his family and houses. The guerrilla simply accepted the Qing army's recruitment again, transformed himself into an officer of the Qing Dynasty, and even became a member of the army.

However, apart from getting a green flag and a letter of appointment, Gu Mazi didn't even get his official seal. The Qing army recruited and surrendered too many people in the south of the Yangtze River, and even if they rushed to work day and night, it was too late to engrave the seal. The official gave a temporary wooden seal made in a hurry, but the others didn't even have a wooden seal.

Gu Mazi is entrenched on an island in Taihu Lake, and there are hundreds of brothers under him, including hundreds of family members. Although he has become a general of the Qing Dynasty, he has neither a flood defense area nor money, food and military pay. He also recruited many people.

The Qing army had no money and food to supply, so they could only resume their old business, driving boats along the lake to collect food.

The so-called grain hunting is actually robbery.

The town they came to today is Sanshui Bay between the two prefectures of Suhu. Gu Mazi knows this place well. It is close to the canal and backed by Taihu Lake. , also grows mulberry, raises silkworms, reels silk and weaves cloth, and the handicraft industry is also very prosperous. This small town has a population of more than 1000 households.

Last night, Gu Mazi had already dispatched his men to enter the town ahead of time, disguised as business travelers. He knew the terrain of the whole town, and even the situation of the wealthy families in the city. Then they swaggered into the village at dawn.

The town was full of chaos, and Gu Mazi led his people to start looting the entire village and town, not only ransacking the rich and big families, but also the small doors of the poor, from gold, silver, silk, to cloth and food, everything Let it go, grab whatever you see.

Those who dare to resist will be chopped with a knife.

After a whole morning of robbing, all kinds of gold, silver, cloth, and food piled up like a mountain on the drying ground in front of the village, but Gu Mazi was still not satisfied. He asked people to arrest people from the rich and powerful families in the town according to the list, and kidnapped a few young men from each family. , Then set up a pyre and threatened each family to pay gold and silver to redeem people, otherwise they would be burned to death directly.

"I know that you guys are dishonest. You must still have hidden gold and silver calligraphy and paintings. Now take the silver to redeem people, otherwise I will set them on fire after noon."

Everyone begged hard, but Gu Mazi didn't pay any attention.

After beheading a few villagers who came to tear them apart in public, the other villagers had no choice but to retreat in fear and go home to find a way.

In the end, some people brought out the gold hidden in their homes, others brought silver, and still others brought out jewelry from their wives and daughters.

Some people really ran out of money, so they had to bring antique calligraphy and paintings, and even pigs and cattle from home to make up for it. Some people even had to use land deeds to redeem people.

What's more, they couldn't get anything out, so they had to exchange slaves and even daughters.

Gu Mazi proudly picked and picked, and in the end he knocked out a lot, and then he returned satisfied.

The villagers who were brutally looted hated it, but there was nothing they could do.

Chen Yanzong, a student in the village, said to his father, "We can't just let them be slaughtered like this. These people robbed this time, and they will definitely come again next time. We will not be able to live in Sanshuiwan in the future."

Chen Shiyong was a silk merchant who worked hard for half his life. He was usually cautious, but he dared not speak out when he was robbed today. Hearing this, he sighed, "They are bandits, we are common people, how can we fight?"

"I heard that General Wu Zhikui stationed troops in Taihu Lake, and my son would like to go to General Wu's barracks to ask for orders to borrow troops to act as a guide for the officers and soldiers to suppress Gu Mazi and his group of water bandits."

Chen Shiyong sighed again and again, "Wu Zhikui Wu Zongbing you mentioned was originally an officer of the imperial court, but now that the Ming Dynasty is gone, these officers and soldiers have long since become rebels. I went to Suzhou to sell silk before, so I heard that Wu Zhikui's subordinates are not much stronger than that Gu Mazi, and they are also extorting food and salaries everywhere, so if you go to them, isn't this going to be a sheep into a tiger's mouth and a trap?"

"Son, in today's troubled times, soldiers are bandits. There is no difference between bandits and soldiers. Don't take the initiative to provoke them, otherwise there will be endless troubles."

"But what if Gu Mazi comes again?"

"Relying on others is worse than relying on oneself." Chen Shiyong stroked his beard, "There are more than 1000 households in Sanshuiwan, many of them have silk machines, and many of them do business. To provoke those soldiers and thieves, we might as well raise funds by ourselves, build watchtowers, sentry towers, bell towers, build walls, buy knives, guns and firearms, convene the young and strong in the village for training, and usually send more people to watch the wind. When the horse crosses the border, we immediately close the village gates and guard the village with knives and guns."

Chen Yongshi is also quite prestigious in the village. At this time, he expressed his idea of ​​self-defense, which was actively approved by the villagers. These days, there is a lot of chaos. One day the thief will come and the other will scrape the land once when he comes. Those who are greedy and cruel, even want to smash the bones and suck the marrow to scrape the ground three feet before they are willing to be satisfied.

If this continues, everyone will not think about An Sheng.

So it was agreed that according to the law of Baojia, the people's bravery should be compiled, and the rich would pay and some would pay. Everyone pooled money and asked Chen Shi to use Chen Yanzong and his son to purchase knives, guns and firearms.The villagers took out the silver coins that had been hidden in the dark underground, a little bit and a little bit.

With the expectation of the villagers, the father and son took their servants and a dozen youths from the same village on the road.

They pretended to be cloth merchants and headed south from home. The first stop was Zhenze Town. When they entered the town, they found a tea shop and asked for some tea, then ate the dry food they brought. As a result, the town was in chaos.

Someone yelled that the bandits were coming, and they were scared to run around.

Soon, a large group of people rushed into the town, and they quickly took control of this bustling town by the canal.

"Which way is this?"

The tea seller whispered, "It seems to be Gu Biao, the striker general under General Wu's command. This Gu Biao was originally from the vicinity. He has a lot of power in the land. He secretly sells private salt and has a huge fortune. He usually colludes with the government and bullies others. He likes to use lawsuits to oppress the people, causing countless families to be destroyed.

After Wu Zongbing led his troops to the south, he took the initiative to lead his salt dealers to serve, and he got the post of guerrilla general, so he became more and more lawless. "

"Since you are a local, why are you leading troops to surround the town now?"

"Hey, you don't know, these people are more powerful than bandits. Yesterday, Gu Biao had a soldier who was originally a salt dealer. He brought a few of his men down to the town to drink, and after drinking, he went to the brothel and talked to the town. The son of the big Zhao family got jealous and got into a fight. The Zhao family has never been a cheap lamp. There are people in the court who are officials, and they are also salt smugglers. In the past, the Gu and Zhao families often fought over salt sales.

"Yesterday, Gu Biao's subordinates lost to Mr. Zhao's crowd, and were beaten with bruises and swollen faces. Then Mr. Zhao deliberately made a noise all over the city, and then tied up some of Gu Biao's soldiers in the Wu Zongbing barracks, saying that they raped people , Robbing property, let me give an explanation."

That Wu Zongbing was originally from Wuju, a native of Huating, Songjiang. He was once famous in the capital. It is said that he was a god-man who could bear seven hundred catties of iron and drank a stone of wine a day. , Nanjing fell, and Huang Fei, the general soldier, supported the king of Yiyang to supervise the country Chongming, worshiped Su Song as the general soldier, and after hearing what Mr. Zhao said, he ordered the army sticks to punish those people, and they were beaten to death directly.

Gu Biao was annoyed when he found out, he didn't lead troops to encircle Zhenze Town, and wanted to ask Mr. Zhao Xingshi to question him. "

Chen Yanzong was also very shocked when he heard this, how could Zongbing Wu's subordinates hide their filth, and why did Zongbing Wu beat his subordinates to death without asking indiscriminately?Even if this Gu Biao wanted to ask for an explanation for his subordinates, he couldn't directly lead troops to surround the town. How could the merchants and people in other towns be blamed.

"This is the way of the world!"

"There is no difference between soldiers and bandits."

"Everyone hide it carefully, don't show your face, I hope this Gu Biao only troubles the Zhao family and doesn't implicate us."

It's just that things didn't work out, the Zhao family is also powerful in the local area, otherwise how dare they trouble Gu Biao's subordinates like that. After the man was beaten to death yesterday, they also knew that things were troublesome, so they made preparations early.

Gu Biao led troops to besiege the town, and the Zhao family had already contacted many salt sellers, thugs, gangsters, etc. The two sides disagreed, and soon a fight broke out in the town, and then many rascals in the town began to take advantage of the fire to rob.

For a time, the whole town was in chaos.

Chen Shiyou, his father and his son hid behind the tea shop in fright, and soon after, another group of people came and they recognized that it was Gu Mazi and others who had robbed them not long ago.

Gu Mazi and his men launched an attack on Gu Biao's men. It turned out that he was hired by the Zhao family to help.

The two sides fought chaotically.

The entire town of Zhenze was engulfed in flames of war, and many people took advantage of the fire to loot, rob and rape everywhere, and many fires broke out in the town.

"A sin!"

Seeing that the situation was out of control, it suddenly changed again.

Suddenly a larger force arrived, with more people, better equipment, even better military discipline, and a more organized army. When they came, they surrounded Zhenze Town on all sides.

In less than half a day, the chaos ended.

Chen Jizong and his group hiding behind the tea shop saw cavalry marching to the streets to beat gongs to appease the people, and infantry began to patrol the streets, searching for defeated soldiers, capturing rascals who took advantage of the chaos, and organizing the people to fight the fire.

"Could it be that Mr. Wu led his troops here in person?"

The tea shop owner who quietly went out to inquire about the situation slipped back, and said to everyone excitedly, "It's not Zongbing Wu, it's Jian Guo."

"Isn't Jian Guo on Chongming Island? Why are you here?"

"It's not the one from Chongming, it's the Jianguo from the east of Zhejiang, Lu Jianguo, who just entered the city, with soldiers and horses like dragons, swallowing mountains and rivers with anger, and Gu Biao, Gu Mazi, and Mr. Zhao, who led the chaos in the war, have all been arrested. The newly entered prison sent troops to attack, and all the soldiers under them surrendered."

The villagers in Sanshuiwan Village are still at a loss, why is there a prison country in Zhejiang, and they are here?

"Zhenze Town is located in the canal, and the news can be communicated easily. If you want to talk about Lu Jianguo, it will be terrible. His deeds, if you really want to talk about it, you can't finish it in three days and three nights."

Chen Jizong looked at the streets where order was quickly restored. Although he hadn't met him, he was in awe of the Lu Jianguo. He always thought that soldiers and bandits were inseparable, but he didn't expect to see the real master Wang now.

"Father, I want to see Lu Jianguo."

"What?"

"Lu Jianguo killed Gu Mazi. I'll see if I can get back some of the money and food that Gu Mazi robbed us. Even if the money and food don't come back, the female servants who were taken away will definitely be able to get back."

"Also, I want to abandon my pen and join the army, and enlist in the army of the State of Lu Jian, so as to help the world and the people, and help the country! This world needs a savior like Lu Jian Guo, a wise king and savior, and our generation of scholars should vote for this Ming Lord!"

　Thanks to Yantou Mie and Kun Zhi for their rewards, thank you!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)