Vow to die at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 42 Yao Huaisheng and Li Jiusheng

Forty miles northwest of Tongbai County, there is a mountain called Dafu Mountain.There is a group of bandits entrenched on the mountain, there are about four to five hundred people, old and young.

At the end of Ming Dynasty, the world was in chaos, and the chaos in Henan, the hinterland of the Central Plains, was even more chaotic.After escaping the war and chaos, many people either went south to flee, or went to the mountains to rely on bandits.As a result, the number of bandits in this Henan land increased dramatically.Xiaoshanhu is one of the bandits in Henan that are as numerous as a cow's hair.

Before becoming a bandit, Xiao Shanhu's real name was Liang Liujin, and he was originally a farmer. Not only was he a farmer, but his family's ancestors had also been farmers for more than a dozen generations. Apart from farming, he never thought about doing anything.Daming had very strict control over household registration, and farmers seemed to have nothing to do except farming.As for the matter of the imperial examination, Xiao Shanhu didn't even dare to think about it.Just when Xiaoshanhu thought he was going to plant the land for a lifetime, the peasant army came.As soon as the peasant army came, the official army also came.The people in Henan suffered from this random beating.Xiaoshanhu's land could not be planted anymore. After his village was taken by the peasant army, all the people were dragged into the peasant army.

After a few years, all the people in the village died, only Xiao Shanhu survived, and was promoted to the old camp because of his military exploits.However, this is not the life Xiao Shanhu wants to live.There are no relatives of him, no friends of his, and no one who has anything to do with him in the peasant army.So, after the team was broken up during an outing to fight, he took the opportunity to escape.It's just that the world is so big, and Xiao Shanhu is an ignorant person, and he can just distinguish the south, east, and north. There are so many prefectures and counties in Ming Dynasty, how do we go home?Moreover, even if he returned to his hometown, it was already deserted, and he could not find a home when he went back.Just like this, he walked aimlessly, digging grass roots and eating bark all the way to Dafu Mountain.In the end, he didn't want to leave anymore, so he stayed in Dafu Mountain.

At that time, some people had already settled in Dafu Mountain, and they were all people who had difficulty living in the face of heavy taxes, burning, killing and looting from the imperial court and peasant army.They gathered in Dafu Mountain just to steal every day.

It's just that life in Dafushan was not easy. When the imperial court and the army of the peasant army crossed the border, they scattered and fled.This made the people in Dafu Mountain very eager for a team to protect themselves, at least not to be bullied by those bandits.

Therefore, Xiaoshanhu, who had just joined Dafushan not long ago, worked in the peasant army for a few years because of his strong looks, especially when other mountain bandits came forward a few times ago, he was particularly good at fighting. He was elected by everyone to be the leader of Dafu Mountain.In order to intimidate others, Liang Liujin became known as the Screaming Mountain Tiger.So, Dafu Mountain also has bandits.

Today, this group of bandits is arguing fiercely about whether to recruit them.

Xiao Shanhu, the head of the family, only wants to recruit security. He has been fighting and killing for more than ten years, and he is tired of it.Today, Xiaoshanhu is 40 years old, and it is time to take care of him.He also had sons and daughters under his knees, and he was satisfied, and really didn't want to live in such a trembling state.

However, Yao Huaisheng, the second master, and Li Jiusheng, the third master, did not want to recruit.Yao Huaisheng and Li Jiusheng were both scholars, and their family had a small amount of property. When the Tartars went south, they also dispersed all their wealth and gathered a crowd to resist. In the end, they were defeated by the surrendering Ming army without even meeting the Tartars.So, they took the rest of the team up the mountain to join Xiaoshanhu, and became the second and third masters respectively.

It's okay to ask them to recruit security, but to recruit security from the court of the Tatars, they think it is a vote for Tartars, and they are resolutely unwilling.Therefore, it was Xiao Shanhu who contacted the magistrate of Tongbai County to seek security.

Now, after learning that if he wanted to recruit security, he had to lead a team to exterminate the bandits entrenched in Chushan Town.Xiao Shanhu can no longer hide it.So, he took out the letter from the magistrate of Tongbai to discuss with the second and third masters.

"Brother, surrender is absolutely unacceptable. Whether the Tartars are my race or not, their hearts must be different. If we take refuge in the past, we will definitely die without a place to die!" Yao Huaisheng, the second master, said.

"That's right, how can we descendants of the Yellow Emperor kowtow and beg for mercy to the filthy disciples? Don't mention this matter again!" The third master resolutely objected.

"However, there are many old and weak women and children in our village, and the weather is cold and food is scarce. If we don't call for security, how many people will starve to death in the early spring!" Xiao Shanhu said helplessly.

"I swear to the death that I will not eat Tartarus." Yao Huaisheng and Li Jiusheng said in unison.

Seeing this situation, Xiao Shanhu felt a little helpless.He had to continue talking.

"Whether to recruit or not will be discussed later. Two virtuous brothers, what do you think of Chushan Town? They are not far from us! Are we going to merge them? Or do we not violate the river?"

"I think it's better to get in touch! Let's talk about their routines. If they are all anti-Tartars, we might as well work together. If we can conquer the county, then we will not be short of food and clothing." Yao Huaisheng said after a moment of thought.

"Okay, I'll listen to Brother Xian." Xiao Shanhu also nodded and agreed.In fact, he still thought in his heart that if he couldn't reach an agreement, he would annex the other party.Just send the troops of the second and third brothers to go, if they can fight for all three losers, then it will be fine, then they can seek security.At this time, Xiao Shanhu, who is already old, is wholeheartedly wanting to recruit peace, he really wants to live a peaceful life.Facing the butcher's knife of the Tartars, he has lost his fighting spirit.

"Then let's set off tomorrow, um, bring three hundred brothers! Second brother, third brother, bring all your old subordinates, we can't let Dafushan lose face in front of this group of new bandits! "

(End of this chapter)