A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 937: The sound of the golden gong rises in Wansheng Village, Xuzhou is in chaos, Bai Zhubu

"Boom, boom, boom!" The sound of golden gongs echoed in Wansheng Village.

Wansheng is located in Zhongmou County, between Zhongmou and Yangwu counties, far away from the county seat. It is a natural village with clan autonomy and no powerful people.

"Hurry, someone from the county is coming, the clan leader wants us to gather under the locust tree."

In the fields, farmers picked up their farm tools, cleaned the mud off their feet, and walked towards the village in groups of friends.

The entire Wansheng Village has hundreds of households and more than a thousand people, making it a large village in the county.

There are several clans in the village, and the five surnames of Liu, Wang, Zhang, Li and Lu account for the majority. Therefore, each of the five surnames has its own ancestral hall, and each selects a respected clan leader and elder to manage the affairs of the clan.

Therefore, people from other families are just dependents in the village and have no status.

After the Xuanwu Army seized Zhengzhou from Qin Zongquan, they stationed troops there and brought Zhengzhou under the rule of the Xuanwu Army. The imperial court was powerless and had to accept it.

Fortunately, the pass leading to Luoyang from Zhengzhou is still in the hands of the imperial court, otherwise the emperor in Chang'an would not be able to sleep peacefully.

Because Zhengzhou was newly established, there were too few officials at its disposal.

Therefore, the Xuanwu Army mostly employed surrendered officials in the local area, otherwise there would be a large number of troops stationed here.

I'm afraid he had already been instigated by the powerful and wealthy families to respond to Liu Yuanwen in the east.

Just last month, the Xuanwu Army officially started the war against Liu Yuanwen of Xuzhou.

When Liu Yuanwen learned that the Xuanwu army was well prepared, he killed the envoy who came to invite him to the city for a banquet. He then launched an uprising that day and captured Luliang to the west of Pengcheng.

After waiting for the powerful men on both sides to gather together, he headed straight for Pengcheng, the capital of Xuzhou.

Zhao Xiwen, the governor of Xuzhou, was well prepared and closed the city gates. The rebels were unable to capture the city after a long siege and went around the city to attack Xiaoxian.

Xiao County also made preparations, but to no avail, so they turned to attack Pei County.

Pei County was the ancestral home of the Liu family in Xuzhou. Liu Yuanwen gained the support of local powerful people. Liu An, the county magistrate of Pei County, killed the county magistrate and surrendered the city. The rebels were able to obtain supplies in Pei County.

A few days later, Fengxian and Tengxian were captured, and the entire northern part of Xuzhou fell.

Within a few months, the rebels had swept across half of Xuzhou, with a force of over 100,000.

Zhao Xiwen could only barely hold the city with the Xuzhou army, and the bandits were rampant in the countryside.

Turning back to Wansheng, under a centuries-old locust tree in the village, nearly a thousand people from Wansheng village, led by the three elders and the five clan leaders and elders, gathered in the square under the tree.

The head of the Liu family squatted on the ground, boredly scribbling on the muddy ground with a branch, as if he was practicing calligraphy.

The other four clan leaders gathered together, whispering to each other and discussing recent events.

"The military government is attacking Xuzhou, and the imperial court is not doing anything about it. There are wars every day, and taxes are getting higher every year. When will this end?"

The Lu clan leader was holding a cane, with his long beard touching the ground, and he sighed worriedly.

"That's enough. Haven't you seen the villages in Luoyang, Xishan? The taxes there are really high. Ninety percent of the harvest from one acre of land must be paid. You can't even survive if you sell your children."

The head of the Wang family is about forty years old, but he looks like he is in his fifties. It is obvious that he has seen the world.

"That's right. It seems that it is better to live under the rule of Xuanwu Army." The other heads of the Zhang and Li families nodded one after another.

"He~tui." After hearing this, Patriarch Wang spat a mouthful of thick phlegm on the ground and said unhappily, "You don't know, a few years ago when I went to Luoyang to purchase goods, damn, the great Eastern Capital of the Tang Dynasty has simply become a gathering place for killing talents."

"If I hadn't run fast, they would have chopped me up for food."

"I heard that those soldiers were Zhu Quanzhong's soldiers. Damn it. I heard that he was originally a subordinate of King Huang, but later betrayed King Huang and defected to the court."

"In today's world, even low-income thieves can enjoy a good life and gain official positions, while good people like us cannot even get enough food. God is blind."

"In this court, a bandit is in charge. If we don't overthrow him, what are we waiting for?" Patriarch Wang seemed to have a lot of opinions about the court, and his words were full of disrespect.

"Be careful with your words, be careful with your words." Patriarch Lu pounded his cane on the ground, and said to Patriarch Wang with a frown:

"The saint is still here. If he were gone, the world would be in chaos. If anyone knew about this, Wansheng Village would be in great trouble."

After hearing this, Patriarch Wang turned around and snorted, "What saint? I thought it was the emperor back then. Old Lu, your Lu family has been in decline for a long time, and you still think you are the original Five Surnames and Seven Families?"

"you."

"Okay, okay, stop arguing. People from the county are here."

Seeing that the two were about to fight, the people on the side hurriedly tried to stop them and pointed at the official road in the distance and shouted.

Everyone looked and saw a clerk sitting on a horse on the official road, followed by four yamen runners, slowly arriving at the village entrance.

"The man who came is Bai Zhubu from the county. I heard that he graduated from the Bianliang Academy. He is a well-connected person. Don't offend him."

Chief Lu ignored the people around him and quickly reminded.

Then he brought everyone to the presence of Bai Zhubu.

"It is our honor that Master Bai can come to our Wansheng Village. I just don't know what order the county has given that would trouble Master Bai to come here in person."

Patriarch Lu was all smiles, as if he had seen his distant nephew, and with the support of his left and right companions, he quickly walked over to him.

Bai Zhubu had already dismounted, and when he saw the old Patriarch Lu coming towards him, he smiled and said:

"Old Patriarch, please forgive me. You are the elder and a good omen for the county. How can I let you wait here for so long? Please forgive me, please forgive me."

"Master Bai is still as polite as ever."

After a few more pleasantries, everyone came under the locust tree, and Patriarch Lu finally asked what was on his mind:
"I wonder if the county lord has any important instructions for you when Master Bai comes here?"

As the patriarch of the Lu family in Wansheng Village, and having lived for more than 60 years, it is natural for him to have smooth access to information.

Otherwise, he would not be ranked above the three officially appointed elders and be the implicit leader of Wansheng Village.

This can be seen in the welcoming team just now.

The five clan leaders were in front, followed by the three elders, and then the clan elders and villagers of each clan.

It is very common for clan power to suppress imperial power and official power in local areas.

The reason why Patriarch Lu mentioned the County Monarch was naturally because everyone in Zhongmou County knew that Bai Zhubu was the County Monarch's confidant.

When the county magistrate first took office, the entire Zhongmu County was controlled by the county chancellor who came from a prominent family in the county.

Bai Zhubu made great contributions to the current situation.

Soon, in order to stabilize the situation, the state parachuted in another county lieutenant to take charge of the county's one hundred soldiers.

With the yamen runners and county soldiers at his disposal, the county magistrate would naturally be cautious and no longer oppose the county magistrate.

It was with the help of Bai Zhubu and the county lieutenant that the county magistrate was able to suppress the local county magistrate, so everyone could not help but pay attention to him.

"I came here for good news. The military government has issued an order to set up an official school in each state and county. Zhongmou County will be called Zhongmou County School, and students will be selected from the county."

"Anyone who passes the provincial examination held by the special personnel sent by the county and the state can enter the county school to study."

"You, the scholars of this generation, are blessed."

(End of this chapter)