Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 718 A Story in the Battle of the Pearl River

Under this blow, Sai Qingxia's sales team was once again in trouble.The news that the Kun bandits had arrived at Jiangmian, not far from Sanliang City, plunged the entire Sanliang City and surrounding areas into a state of panic. The horror and strength of the Kun bandits made people panic all day long.Even the Mid-Autumn Festival lost interest.Of course, I am not interested in seeing what horse racing sells solutions.Not only can't make money for travel expenses, but also keep paying for board, lodging and medicine.The whole team was caught in a dilemma.

Seeing the chaos in the town, many rich households and gentry from the village dragged their families to Sanliang City for refuge. The vacant houses in the town were filled up in no time, and the inns were also full quickly.The price has increased tenfold.The owner of the inn has such a great opportunity to make money, of course he doesn't want the dozen or so of them to occupy three or four houses and a stable.An ultimatum was given to them immediately: the rent will be raised from now on.Not only has the price of the house increased, but even the stables where the horses are tied up have to be counted—this money is several tenths more expensive than a big north house in the past.

"The stables also charge rent, how can there be such a rule in the world!" Jiang Suo said indignantly.

"Rules? The rules here are set by me. How many people are begging to live in my stable with a lot of money." The innkeeper said nonchalantly with a sweaty face——crisis is an opportunity for some people, For the innkeeper, this sudden chance of getting rich made him very confused.Now who wants to hinder him from earning this windfall, he even has the heart to kill.

No matter how much Jiang Niang and Uncle Zhou said good things and begged for a few more days, the innkeeper just said: either pay the room rate at the new price from today, or pack up and get out immediately.

Jiang Suo was young and energetic, and wanted to argue with the inn. Qingxia knew that it was useless to talk to them, so she agreed to move out.

It's just that the town was already full of people in a while, so I had no choice but to move to the Guandi Temple in the east of the town, which was already full of poor people from the four townships who came to take refuge.A group of people barely occupied a corridor and settled down.

That is, it can't be sold, and it can't calm the nerves.Although Qingxia's father's condition didn't get worse, it didn't get better either.A group of people are trapped in a dilapidated temple with no income, and gradually have to sit and eat.Everyone sighed -- they were real visitors from afar, with no relatives or reasons here, and their hometown was far away in the Central Plains.Not to mention returning to my hometown now, it is impossible to go to Guangzhou to revive.

After Qingxia's father fell ill, Qingxia became the class leader.She was very depressed.In addition to their father and daughter, Jiang Niang, Zhou Shu and Jiang Suo, the whole team also had three and a half children.They are all from the same village, and this time they are a little related.The safety of this group of people seems to be on her body.

She was afraid that the people in her class would be in a hurry, so she would go out at dawn every day, fight in the open space, practice martial arts, and walk the horse.Although this Mongolian horse is not a steed, it was her good partner when she was selling her clothes.Even if there is no horse feed, only grazing weeds on the wasteland will make the horses lose weight quickly.This made her very distressed.But the money in hand is bit by bit, can it be reduced, let alone buying horse feed, even eating is becoming a problem.

Qingxia knows that everyone regards her as the backbone, and she can't openly show her anxiety, but every night when she wakes up in the middle of the night, she always cries secretly—the life of being a performer is a life of struggling to survive, but now she is caught in such a predicament It made her feel more and more uncertain about the future.

Jiang Niang also had a secret idea: No matter whether the travel expenses are enough or not, let’s leave a piece of Jedi first, hire a boat with some money on hand, and everyone go to Guangzhou, as far as they can go, and change to a more peaceful place. Business, maybe I can earn some money to maintain the travel expenses all the way to Guangzhou.But Qingxia was afraid that her father would not be able to withstand the bumps on the road, and the news of the Kun thief's approach made them dare not leave easily.

In the team training bureau, the gentry were startled three times a day.The guards in this town and nearby villages and towns are often alerted by the sound of gongs and cannons when a boat suddenly appears or a few outsiders come nearby to collect firewood.

In this way, the Mid-Autumn Festival was passed in a panic.On weekdays, Luo Zhai and other large households must have some festive decorations for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and they have to buy all kinds of moon cakes and bait from Guangzhou.Now no one cares about these few festivals.

After another seven or eight days, the latest news finally came: the Kun thief had arrived in Shigang, which is a Lianbao village in Sanliang City.After receiving the urgent news, Luo Tianqiu immediately ordered Yuan Kaibang and several newly recruited Xiangyong teachers to take [-] Xiangyongs to reinforce Shigang.Other villages and towns participating in the UNPROFOR also sent reinforcements.

In the early morning of the next day, fierce gunfire came out from the direction of Shigang—the common people had never heard such a violent roar of gunfire.The sound of gunfire lasted for almost an hour.The committee members of the regiment training bureau were all worried. Besides sending people to inquire, they simply went up to the watchtower to see if there was any new movement in the distance.

At noon, the first batch of Xiangyong appeared in sight. They were exhausted one by one, some walked, some took a boat, and retreated from the direction of Shigang in disorder.Everyone was downcast, some were supported or lying on the boat, many were unarmed, their clothes were torn, and their bodies were bloodstained.

The village braves who retreated from Shigang not only brought back the news of Shigang's defeat, but also brought back Yuan Kaibang's body.Half of the head and one arm of this strong man who called himself "The Great Wall" were knocked off, and the remaining torso was half-burned.This is the result of a graze from a 12 lb grenade.

More than 50 of the [-] Xiangyong who went to Shigang for reinforcements did not come back. In addition to Yuan Kaibang, seven or eight "Liantou" and Xiangyong teachers who went with him also died.Those who came back were devastated one by one.

It is known from the people who fled back that the UNPROFOR team finally assembled more than 800 people to face the Kun bandits in Shigang.There were only 200 thieves, but their gunboats were very powerful, and a large number of gunboats were killed when they came over.The township warriors were routed from the river bank without even having time to fight.Then the thief used a ladder to quickly board the unguarded river bank. The two sides had a face-to-face battle at the gate of Shigang. The Kun bandits were defeated.

"Everyone will be relieved of their hearts—" a frightened Xiangyong said to the committee members, "Seeing how many of us there are, they will blow us up with a wave of their hands..."

All kinds of terrible legends about the Kun thief spread in the town at once.In particular, the news of the extremely long range of the Kun Bandit's blunderbuss artillery made the members of the regiment training bureau realize that their precautions were probably useless.If the enemy was able to fire beyond the range of their own firearms and bows, they could disperse the defenders from a distance, and then dismantle or pass the fortifications with ease.This is what the kun thieves did in Shigang.

Luo Tianqiu convened a meeting of the gentry, big households, card players, students, chambers of commerce, and chief clan chiefs in the town to discuss how to resist the attack of the bandits—after Shigang was conquered, Sanliang was definitely the next target. up.

Although Sanliang claims to be the "iron bucket country" of the Luo family, the internal conflicts are actually very sharp. Not only are the rich gentry always at odds, but the common people are also extremely dissatisfied with the Luo family and the big families attached to them in Sanliang.It's just that due to the Luo family's lustful power, they dare not show it too much.When the enemy of the Kun thief is present, this kind of contradiction begins to emerge.Many people think that resisting the Kun bandits is useless and nothing more than death in vain.As for the deck armor and the merchants, they have long heard that the thieves deal with big gentry.As long as the people don't resist, they will be safe and sound if they pay a little "burden".Of course they are unwilling to pay extra. The problem is that under the rule of the Luo family, in order to "fight against the thieves", apportionment and compulsory "fundraising" have fallen on them more than once.Everyone felt that since Xiangyong, who spent a lot of money to arm and build fortifications, could not resist the thieves, it would be better to accept a "reasonable burden" and make the thieves happy and safe, at least without killing anyone.

At the meeting, everyone had their own ghosts, no matter how eloquent Luo Tianqiu was, everyone still lacked interest in the new countermeasures.After Luo Tianqiu repeatedly reminded everyone what would happen to the big gentry after the fall of the other villages that had fought against the bandits, the big gentry reluctantly responded to his request and agreed to continue to prepare for defense.

After barely reaching a consensus, Luo Tianqiu took action again.In order to win the support of ordinary people, he ordered that the rent of the people living in the Luo family's property be exempted for three years, and the rent of the merchants who rented the shop of the Luo family be exempted for one year. .Four taels will be given to those who suffer the lottery, and 20 taels to each family that died in battle.All households who are out of Ding are rent-free for one year to cultivate the land of the Luo family.Not only did he do this himself, but he also asked other big families in the Luo family to follow suit.At the same time, it is recommended that other large households do the same, so as to win the hearts of the people as much as possible.

A few wealthy households cried poorly in front of him, Luo Tianqiu sneered sinisterly and said:
"Don't you all cry about poverty and distress. The thieves can't stay here every day. After they leave, it will be a bright and bright world. Don't mudlegs grow as long as they want them to grow, or short as they want them to? Eat it Tell him to spit it out!"

In order to win over scholars, as a senior in the examination room, he called together the students and students from the town and the nearby villages, said a lot of good things, and made a lot of stories about the so-called "evil deeds" of the so-called thieves playing tricks and defaming the way of Confucius and Mencius. Rumors also talked about the "difference between Hua and Yi". At the same time, they pointed out that the Kun thief claimed that the descendants of the Song people in Yashan were first of all unfounded. In fact, the so-called "Yi people into China will become China, and China into barbarians will become barbarians".Use this set of "Discrimination between Hua and Barbarians" to arouse the "defensive" thought of scholars.It boiled the blood instigated by a few young scholars with little knowledge.Immediately, a student made a suggestion: The only way to reach the thieves is to block the river.

The thieves rely entirely on boats to maneuver, not to mention that there is almost no land route here.The Kun bandits cannons are heavy, as long as they block the river.The thieves could only approach Sanliang City on foot. Without the support of cannons, no matter how sharp their blunderbusses were, they would not be able to break through the walls of the village. .

The nearest place where the wooden stakes were laid and the blockage was sunk was about two miles away from Sanliangzhai, and each river course was blocked by at least three.Make sure that the thieves cannot pass.

Although this method has been criticized by some people as a "last resort" - no one is sure that the obstruction in the river can be removed after the thieves are gone.After the river is blocked, what will happen to the boats in the river in the future.But the regiment training bureau was already in a hurry to go to the doctor. Luo Tianqiu felt that this method was very good, so he immediately mobilized the peasants to lay wooden piles in the rivers leading to Sanliang Village, and sink the broken boat full of sand and gravel.

Luo Tianqiu also ordered temporary housing for the fugitives who flooded into Sanliang—the method is very simple, that is, apart from the temples in the town, let the big households open the surplus houses of the ancestral temple for the poor people to live temporarily.He also planned to dictate rice to appease the refugees.Originally, the people in the training bureau believed that the refugees were factors of instability and should be expelled. However, Luo Tianqiu believed that these refugees were local people from their hometown and were familiar with the local conditions. Expulsion would force them to seduce the thieves.It's better to stay in the village for the time being, or to increase some defensive manpower -- fortunately, there is a lot of food in the town.

With such a series of work going on, the already shaken public opinion in Sanliang City stabilized again.The guards everywhere became tighter and tighter. The villagers nailed wooden stakes and threw stones in the river day and night, and at the same time sent many spies to investigate the movements of the thieves.

Qingxia and her group also benefited from Luo Tianqiu.Luo Tianqiu knew that this group of people had some real kung fu, and they spoke with a Central Plains accent, so they would definitely not be the spy of the gangsters. Right now there is a shortage of skilled teachers from the village, so he tried his best to win them over and ordered someone to deliver medicine to them.He also arranged for them to live in an empty house in the Luo family ancestral hall, and sent some money and rice to help them from time to time.The condition is also very simple: help the village to practice bravery.

Qingxia originally wanted to say that she is a woman who sells solutions and is not worthy of being a coach.Repaying with one's own martial arts is better than other methods.So Qingxia, Jiang Niang and Uncle Zhou all became teachers of Xiangyong, teaching martial arts on the threshing ground every day.Jiang Niang is not good at archery, but she has a kung fu of throwing knives, and Uncle Zhou is also very good at single knives.

Only Jiang Suo felt that the Luo family had come up with another bad idea, deceiving people to work for him.I don't want to be a village teacher.Qingxia didn't force it: her father hadn't recovered yet, and the team needed to take care of her, so she left him to take care of everything at her residence.

I don't know if it's the Luo family's medicine or the disease is about to be cured. Since moving to the new residence, Qingxia's old man's health has gradually improved. This made Qingxia's initial suspicion and fear of Luo Tianqiu become grateful stand up.Especially when I saw that Master Luo was busy every day for the defense of the town, went to various places to inspect the projects in person, and supervised the training of the soldiers, but also took care of the resettlement and relief of the refugees.

Qingxia is from Henan. Henan in the late Ming Dynasty was one of the provinces with the most serious banditry in the Central Plains.There are as many gangsters, big and small.She has seen a lot of local big families building villages and recruiting villagers to bravely defend the village and fend off bandits.However, after Luo Tianqiu's running and rectification in Sanliang City, the streets were full of traffic and chaos, and the streets crowded with refugees became orderly.Various defensive measures were carried out in an orderly manner.What she admired the most was that in just a few days, the courage of the country who had been defeated and frightened like a bird could be revived.This made her admire Luo Tianqiu very much.

Since then, Qingxia has become more and more concerned about coach Xiangyong.Although at the beginning everyone held a sneer mentality towards a woman who is running a horse and selling solutions, some people still made some frivolous jokes during the period.However, Qingxia's hundred-step archery gradually changed the views of the townspeople.Admire her.This gave her a certain prestige among the townspeople.On weekdays, Qingxia often went to the walls of the village and watchtowers.One is to check whether there are any loopholes in the defense, and the other is to find a suitable shooting position.Cannibal's salary, loyal to others.The concept of a traditional martial arts family occupies a major position in her heart.Even though this master Luo had done many evil deeds, it became indifferent to her at this moment.She even had a little bit of admiration for Master Luo deep in her heart.

On this day, she was on the watchtower, visually measuring the distance from the watchtower to the river outside the wall.Luo Tianqiu and his men happened to climb up the watchtower, and asked the watchman Xiangyong's defense plan.He asked very carefully, and considered many details that she had never thought of.It can be called thoughtful, and she couldn't help but praise in her heart: "What a capable person!" She saw that Luo Tianqiu was much thinner than when she first saw him 20 days ago, but the brows were still vigorous; Although the whites of his eyes were bloodshot, he was still full of energy, and he couldn't help but look a little crazy.

Speaking of which, Master Luo is only in his early forties, in his prime.On weekdays, he practices boxing, foot and sword skills, and his body is strong.Unlike ordinary landlords and big households, they are either puffy and swollen, or skinny.The appearance is of course also called dignified.Especially his demeanor: calm and decisive, and very tough in his words and deeds.This made this Qingxia, who was already called an old lady at that time, over twenty years old, slightly moved in love with him.

Qingxia used to arrange a marriage in her hometown.But she has been traveling around with her father to perform art.When I returned to the village at the age of 16 to find someone to talk about, the fiancé had already died in the scuffle when the bandits attacked the village.Although she had never seen this husband before, she actually cried a few times for him.

Since then, she has never thought about the important things in her life: she is already a pillar of the team, a cash cow, most of the livelihood of the whole class depends on herself, and she can no longer do this job after she gets married; There is no fixed place, and ordinary people are unwilling to be engaged to her.

(End of this chapter)