Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 133 Attacked
Time flies by, and in a blink of an eye it is the end of February in the sixth year of Apocalypse.

On the bank of the Keelung River in the east of Guandu City, a wooden house that looks majestic to the Basai people stands proudly. There are more than 30 large pillars used as support under the wooden house. Each one requires two people to hug each other.

It was the palace that Wulang, the King of Iron, recruited hundreds of young men from more than ten villages and took eight days to build. It should be the largest project in the history of Dongfan indigenous people, and it can be called a milestone in the history of Basai civilization. milestone.

The number and thickness of the pillars that support the house are used to distinguish the noble or humble owner of the house. This is the most important point in the etiquette system orally promulgated by the Iron King. No one can build a house beyond his or her status.

This was of course Lin Hai's idea, based on the common practices of many Southeast Asian countries in this era.

For example, there is the Majiudanao Sultanate on the island of Mindanao in the southern part of the Philippine Islands. The Sultan's palace is built on 180 large pillars, which is much higher than other local buildings. There are wide stairs around it. the climb.

Of course, Wulang's palace cannot be compared with those mature Southeast Asian kingdoms. He still governs only more than 20 villages and communities, with a total number of only 6000 people.

But his land area is quite vast. The western section of the Keelung River and the ten miles of the Tamsui River entering the sea have all surrendered to him.

At the same time, his army was advancing eastward along the Keelung River, and the Iron King's territory was spreading rapidly like a plague, so fast that even Wu Lang himself could not believe it.

This was due to the carrot and stick policy formulated by Lin Hai for him. All village communities that surrendered could obtain trade opportunities while paying tribute. However, as long as the village community resisted, all men, women, old and young would be reduced to slave.

Village communities that surrendered earlier or took the initiative to surrender could gain advantages in trade. For example, the Guirou community that surrendered the earliest, already had a lot of opportunities to obtain iron tools.

This is the treatment that only the people of the Iron King, the former villagers of Shabari community, have. Ironware is a symbol of identity and status in Wulang's kingdom, and it is among the most stringent trade controls.

Therefore, except for the group resistance that occurred in two village communities at the beginning, the other village communities without exception chose to surrender to the Iron King.

Wulang has recruited more than 300 standing troops from the surrendered village communities. These soldiers also serve as tax collectors. Each of them has short iron spears or sharp steel knives bought from Guandu City.

This standing army can fulfill the tasks of collecting tribute and expanding the kingdom very well. The process of expansion has become very simple. It is either a matter of actively requesting surrender or a matter of communication, and there is basically no bloodshed.

Therefore, it is relatively rare for the Iron King to lead his entire standing army on an expedition, unless it is to help the villages under his rule take revenge on the hostile villages on the south bank of the Tamsui River or Keelung River.

Most of the rest of the time, Wu Lang either took his bodyguards to tour the villages under his rule, or he governed from his palace, including demarcating the territory of each village community, mediating disputes between the village communities under his rule, Presiding over revenge ceremonies, etc., and judging civil cases involving nobles, disputes between ordinary civilians are still handled by each village community according to their original customary practices.

When Wu Lang concentrated on handling government affairs, Lin Hai would also come to his palace and listen in the room behind the Iron Throne, with Lun Yi acting as a simultaneous interpreter for him.

Whenever Wu Lang didn't know what to do, he would ask everyone to leave the room, then respectfully seek Lin Hai's opinions, and then follow them one by one.This situation is rare now, and most of the time he can handle government affairs independently.

After listening to Wu Lang's handling of government affairs, Lin Hai would also comment on his performance in handling government affairs in a timely manner and tell him some principles on how to be a good king.

On this day, Wu Lang had finished handling the government affairs, and Lin Hai was giving him daily education in the king's training class: "The so-called two pillars of a king are punishment and virtue. If there is only punishment but no virtue, your kingdom will not be able to maintain long-term peace and stability..."

The reason why he had to teach him step by step how to be a king was mainly because he was worried that the newly established kingdom would lose order.

There are still some fugitives in the two rebellious village communities. In addition to sending troops to continue searching, Wulang also offered a high head reward.These people are no longer qualified to be slaves, and only death awaits them.

It is precisely because of the existence of these people that residents of Guandu City are currently not allowed to go out alone.

However, there are fewer and fewer people on the run. After all, the Basai people are not hunters in the Paleolithic Age. Without collective cooperation in agriculture, hunting and gathering, it is difficult for individuals to survive in the wild for a long time.

These are all minor problems. What Lin Hai is worried about is that Wu Lang's misconduct in politics will lead to vicious incidents of group resistance in the village communities that have surrendered. This may cause a chain reaction and make the order of the kingdom difficult to stabilize for a long time.

This will pose a threat to subsequent immigrants. After all, the current people in Guandu City are basically armed personnel or slaves working collectively. The next batch of immigrants will be mainly farmers, and they need to spread out to cultivate fields.

If Wulang's kingdom cannot stabilize order, then the significance of Lin Hai's support of the Tuwang will disappear. It is better to use his own army to conquer nearby villages by force.In that case, they would be like the Spanish or Dutch later, who would not dare to leave the city if their numbers were too small.

Killing alone cannot solve the problem. What these natives are best at is escaping. Their villages can all move away without a trace overnight. They must be managed under the order of royal authority.

While Lin Hai was teaching "Han Feizi Erbang" to Wu Lang, a guard of the King of Iron suddenly ran in, knelt on the ground in a panic and reported: "King, many Lei Lang people are coming to the palace... …”

Wu Lang suddenly stood up from the Iron Throne: "What did you say? How many people are there?"

The guard said in panic: "This large, dark area is full of young and middle-aged men. There are at least a thousand of them."

Wu Lang was startled: "How is it possible? The largest village community of Leilang people only has two hundred young and strong men. How can so many people come at one time?"

"It's true. At least ten or more village communities have formed an alliance. They have already planned it!"

"Quickly, gather all the troops near the palace and follow me to fight!"

Wu Lang was about to go out, but Lin Hai grabbed him: "Wait a minute, what happened?"

Lun Yi first translated Lin Hai's words to Wu Lang, and then explained the situation to Lin Hai.

Wu Lang had already formed a conditioned reflex to obey Lin Hai's instructions. After hearing this, he immediately stopped and heard Lin Hai say in a deep voice: "First of all, let me ask you clearly, which direction did the Lei Lang people come from, and who saw it?" The so-called The Leilang people are an indigenous ethnic group in the upper reaches of the Tamsui River and south of the Keelung River. The number of villages and total population are slightly larger than those of the Basai people.

The Dongfan indigenous people in Taipei are mainly divided into two ethnic groups: the Basai and the Leilang. They are roughly bounded by the Keelung River and the Tamsui River after the Keelung River joins. The Basai occupy the northern coastal area, while the Leilang occupy the northern coastal area. Occupying the southern interior.

The languages ​​and customs of the two ethnic groups are basically the same. In fact, they are the same ethnic group. There are only some differences due to the natural separation of rivers. In later generations, some people called the two groups collectively the Ketagalan ethnic group.

Just like the Shabari Society and the Baliza Society, many village communities facing each other across the river have enmities between them.In the past two months, Wu Lang has led his troops across the Keelung River several times to help the Basai village community under his rule take revenge on the Leilang village community on the other side.

Unexpectedly, these Leilang tribes have now united to take revenge on the Iron King, and at least ten village communities are involved. This is an extremely rare situation among Taipei's indigenous people.

Lin Hai's first reaction was that the source of the information was unreliable. After all, these Leilang villages had a feud with each other for generations.

Even because there is no river to separate them, the competition for resources among these same ethnic groups is more intense and the hatred is deeper. This is similar among Basai village communities, such as Jinbaoli Society and Dajilong Society in Keelung. There are very few situations where people live in harmony and have a harmonious relationship.

If the Dongfan indigenous village communities want to jointly carry out military operations, it will require a series of religious rituals and political actions such as resolving feuds and exchanging hostages, which is roughly the same as what the Qiang tribe did when they wanted to reach a temporary alliance during the Han Dynasty.

If ten village communities form an alliance, then all hostile village communities will have to hold a grudge ceremony in pairs, and then all hostile or non-communicative village communities will have to send hostages to each other. This process cannot be completed in a short period of time. Completed within.

Wu Lang listened to Lin Hai's words and continued to ask the guard: "Tell me clearly, what happened? Who saw the large number of Lei Lang people, and which direction did they come from?"

"My subordinates saw it with their own eyes. I was at Guirou Society at that time. Wang, you know that I was engaged to a distinguished Guirou Society woman not long ago..."

The Guirou community was the first to join Wulang. The Guirou people basically enjoy the same status as the Shabari people, and this personal guard who spoke was selected from the village communities that were conquered later. This kind of marriage is performed every day on the north bank of the Keelung River. , the aristocratic class among the Basai people is gradually taking shape.

The guard continued: "I saw with my own eyes a large number of Leilang people paddling canoes across the river. I thought they were going to attack Guirou Society, so I quickly came down from the mountain to report to the king. But they did not attack Guirou Society. After attacking on the north bank of Tamsui River, they fought towards the palace..."

When the two of them were talking, Lun Yiyi picked up the key points and translated to Lin Hai. The person in front of him was a confidant who was personally promoted by Wu Lang. Since he saw it with his own eyes, the source of this news is quite reliable.

And since the Leilang people came from the direction of Tamsui River instead of Keelung River, the first one to bear the brunt was not Wulang's palace, but Linhai's Guandu City...

In fact, this was really carelessness of Lin Hai. He did not arrange any sentries around Guandu City because he did not expect that the Dongfan natives would gather an army of thousands of people.

What he doesn't know is that when drastic social changes occur in a certain area, the society in surrounding areas will also change rapidly.

In fact, there is a theory that the formation of the Xiongnu Empire is inseparable from the unification of the six countries by the Qin Empire. The nomadicization of the Mongolian grasslands began as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, but the formation of the unified regime was almost at the same time as the Central Plains. of.

Today, similar things are happening on both sides of the Keelung River. Of course, the depth and breadth of this change are far from being compared with the former. The Leilang people only quickly reached a short-term temporary alliance under a common threat, although this is their historical significance. Extraordinary first time.

"Assemble your troops as soon as possible and go to Guandu City to provide support." Lin Hai ordered Wu Lang, and then said to Lun First and the guards he brought: "Let's go back to the city first!"

In the west of Guandu City, when Lei Lang's coalition troops marched to about two miles away from Guandu City, the security forces training in the open space west of the city discovered them.

This was not because Feng Yidao had sent out sentries there, but because the Leilang people didn't know how to cover up their whereabouts or conserve their energy when marching.

Excited howls, sharp curses, and ubiquitous laughter echoed among the Leilang people. The entire team walked sparsely, but there were some pushing and shoving in some places. Thousand-person level The march was undoubtedly a disaster for them...

If they hadn't been so high-profile, given the lush vegetation on the north bank of the Tamsui River, Feng Yidao and others wouldn't have been discovered until they got closer.

"Brother Dao, it seems that there are a lot of barbarians here. They are coming to attack the city? Do we want to go up and kill them?" Viper asked Feng Yidao. In the security force, he was Feng Yidao's deputy and also served as The captain of the pacification team.

"I think it's better to go back to the city first. There are too many weeds. Can't you see how many barbarians there are?" said another member of the suppression team.

"Back to the city? Now that we're back in Dongfan, everyone has work to do every day. Just the two hundred or so of us have to eat hard food every day. Now it's our turn to work. Let's move back. What does Mr. Lin think of this?"

Feng Yidao reprimanded the person who spoke last, and then pulled out the knife from his waist: "March to drums and fuck him!"

The flag and drum team received the order. After a trumpet blast, Feng Yidao waved the flag, and each sentry commander responded. Then the five-square flag indicating the march direction waved, and the slow-paced drum beat began to sound.

The Police Department drove slowly westward along the Tamsui River at the pace of ten steps and one drumbeat. Each post was filed in front of and behind, and the teams inside the post were distributed in a plum blossom shape. There was only one person at the narrowest point, and there was a person in the middle at the widest point There are five people together with the whistle commander.

Walking at the forefront were the two columns of the first team of the first sentry. The captain was Jiuzhi, and the two team leaders were Shouhou and Xiaozhou. The other personnel were selected from the newly recruited fishermen.

As the Leilang people on the opposite side got closer and closer, the first team gradually saw the size of the people on the opposite side. The drums were still beating, and Xiao Zhou, who was holding the long sign, was heart pounding.

With a whoosh, a poisonous arrow passed by Xiao Zhou's ear and hit the formation of the third team at the first post on the right rear. I don't know who shouted: "Damn it, there are too many barbarians, I won't do it." ”

The man turned around and retreated, which immediately caused a chain reaction. Suddenly, about a third of the people in the Security Department began to retreat backwards.

(End of this chapter)