Chastity Layman

  Chapter 866 One out of ten

   Early morning.

  The red sun rises, the morning sun sets, the clouds clear and the fog clears.

  The Manzhai hidden in the deep mountains only appeared in shape. On the hillsides, the earthen houses and wooden buildings are low and scattered, and they live in clusters. Although looking from a distance, one mountain is next to another, and one village is next to another, but outsiders often can't even find the way to enter the village.

  Some villages are built on slopes, as if shrouded in a sea of ​​clouds, next to their terraced fields.

  In the mountains, among the lofty mountains, hundreds of households and men live here. There are layers of terraced fields under the stockade, and the morning sun is shining brightly. Each layer of the terraced fields is full of fine and delicate ripples.

  The arrival of a team broke the tranquility of the morning in the mountains.

  The bullhorn sounded, and the men in the village hurriedly stood up, picked up hunting knives, bows and arrows, with anxiety and fear on their faces.

  Standing in front of the village, you can clearly see the approaching team in the mountain. Under the rising sun, the armor is shiny and murderous.

  The young villagers held spears and machetes in their hands, but their hands and feet were trembling.

  During this period of time, these Iron Armored Army with the Sanchen Banner were circulating everywhere on both sides of the river. Various rumors let everyone know how powerful this Iron Armored Army is.

   "The best?"

  The men all looked at an old man dressed in green felt. Under the thick head cloth of the old man was a face that had experienced vicissitudes of life. There were ravines and creases, and every furrow and crease seemed to hide a glorious past.

  A man couldn't help but said from the side, "Songshu Village was beaten yesterday, Zuima was beheaded on the spot, and the black iron army confiscated all the land of Zuima's house in Songshu Village..."

  His tone was terrified, "You haven't seen the tragedy of Songshu Village. Dozens of men died, all young and strong..."

  Old Zuma sighed, standing in the sun like a statue, he looked at the Tang army in black iron armor, bright red burqa and jacket, and the banner of the sun, moon, stars and three stars, and his heart turned back and forth.

The young and strong men in the village couldn't help speaking and arguing. Normally, no one would dare to behave like this in front of Zuma, but now everyone couldn't help it, and they didn't even care about thousands of years. Here comes the old rules.

   "We fought with Iron Man."

"What are you going to fight for? Just a few hundred of us? Songshu Village is much bigger than us, with more than two hundred households. In the past, when we competed with Songshu Village for hunting grounds and water, we couldn't beat them. Now Songshu Village The village is defeated, shall we go up again?"

   "Then what do you say, do you just obediently obey the orders of the man in iron armor?"

  ······

  Lao Zuma listened to the disputes of the villagers, and understood that the people in the village were in a state of confusion. In the past, they were rivals with Songshu Village, and they often caused gang fights because of some things, but although they lost more than they won, every time as long as Su Ma raised his arms, all the men in the village would rush forward, and no one would frown. frown.

  But today, my heart is disturbed, and my heart is not in harmony.

Some people in the village called Tang Jun the Iron Armored Man, some called the Black Iron Army, and some called the Red Shirt Army. The elderly Suma was the leader of the village, and he was well-informed about outside news. In fact, he was the last Ma, this is the biggest landlord in this hundred-and-a-half households and Ni village. Nearly half of the terraced fields around the village are actually owned by his family.

At the same time, he also asked one of his sons to often bring some prey fur, medicinal materials, and grains to sell outside, and then exchange them for salt, iron, cloth, etc., basically monopolizing the trading in the stockade, and even many of the surrounding Zhaizi also often goes to trade regularly.

  So the old man knows more about the outside situation than ordinary people.

  Generally, he would not easily disclose these information to the villagers, because this would allow him to maintain a high, wise and wise image, which his father had taught him little by little.

  The old man had known for a long time that these outsiders in iron armor and red robes holding the Sanchen flag were Han people from the distant Central Plains, and they were sent by the emperor of the Tang Empire.

  Even the Cuan family, which had ruled Yunnan for hundreds of years, could not stop them from going south.

  The Juding Liaozi tribe in the east, and the Meng tribe, who are also their Heni people, have been defeated by these Tang troops. Countless villages were abandoned and fled all the way south to the river.

  And they, the Honi people who live on the side of the big river and close to the land of Yunnan, are now in a worrying situation. In the past, they accepted the rule of the Cuan clan, and they would pay some tribute regularly, and occasionally they would be called out to fight or something, but basically their lives were peaceful.

  But now that these Tang people came, they sent someone to send a letter.

  Zima’s son, who was running a business outside, translated the letter for him, but it was an official document addressed to Zhuman Village. It is said that now their place and many other villages belong to the newly established Tonghai Dudu Mansion by the Tang Dynasty.

  The newly-appointed inspector, Tonghai Metropolitan Governor, Cheng Chu, silently read the texts of the various ministries, asking for registration of household registration, tax payment, and military service.

  The Cheng Dudu also asked the heads of the villages, no matter if they were the Heni tribe or some Judingman or other barbarian tribes, to go to Tonghai City, Qilu Lake to meet them.

  At the same time, the villages were also required to hand in money and food for military supplies.

  When the official document was first received, Lao Zuma was silent for a long time, and finally did not throw the official document into the firepit for burning, but folded it up and put it away.

   But did not intend to respond to the order.

Although the Tang people sounded extremely powerful, Lao Zuma still believed that the Tang Dynasty in the Central Plains could not control this remote Yunnan, and their village had been attached to the Cuan family in Kunming for more than 400 years. The reason is that now he ran to pay money and food to the Tang people.

  The old man told his son to ignore the matter, and he didn’t need to disclose it to the people in the village, but he also asked his son to pay close attention to the Tang people’s movements outside and collect their news in time.

  I thought, just ignore it.

  Who knows, Tang Ren really ran into the mountains.

  Songshu Village, not far away, and Dazhai, with hundreds of households, were defeated in the blink of an eye.

  A hundred miles away from Qilu Lake, these Tang troops are already everywhere.

  The sound of horseshoes beating on the ridges of terraced fields hardened by frost in winter made a crisp sound, and Lao Zuoma came back to his senses.

  Looking at this Tang army again, the team meanders on the not-so-wide terraced fields. There are about 200 people, all of whom are armored and sharp-edged, and the leader even rides a horse.

   And behind this line of Tang soldiers, there were about a thousand people, black and white, some in green felt, some in white cloaks, and even some with flowered headscarves. It was very mixed. The old Zuma looked familiar. These are all ministries living in the mountains near the Jiuxi River.

  The people living here are not only the Heni people, but all kinds of barbarians coexist.

  In the Qilu Lake area, Han Chinese have even settled and done business there.

  Perhaps among these barbarians, there are people from Songshuzhai.

  Lao Zuma sighed in her heart, the sky has changed.

  For thousands of years, in this Jiuxi Dajiang mountainous area, although you fight with each other, the general pattern remains unchanged.

  The Jiuxi River stretches for hundreds of miles, and finally merges into the Nanpan River. In their section, the Heni people also call it the Yanjiang River. It is said that when they first moved here, there were still lions here.

  However, it is said that it has been a long time since anyone has seen this legendary beast that eats tigers and leopards and likes to smoke and sit. The Nijiang River gradually became the Jiuxi Dajiang River, and other tribes often called them the Qujiang Dahe River.

  Old Zuoma thought to himself, maybe twenty years earlier, he might have resisted the Tang people like the young Zuoma in Songshuzhai, but after all, he was old.

  He used to be able to cut wolves with swords and shoot leopards with arrows. He was also young and vigorous. He led the village to resist the bullying of Songshu Village more than once.

   is old after all.

  Looking at the iron-armored team, Lao Zuoma adjusted the green blanket, hesitated at last, but still made a decision.

Lao Zuma's prestige in the village is still very high. Although the arrival of the Tang people made the people in the village panic, but when Lao Zuma spoke, everyone still listened respectfully, and no one dared to intervene talk.

   "The great ghost lord Cuan Hongda in the city of Kunzhou by the Dianchi Lake has assigned the area south of Zhalu Lake to the Tang court, and now it is under the rule of the Tonghai Dudufu."

  The villagers all looked at Lao Zuoma.

   "The Cuan family in Dianchi Lake has all surrendered to Li Tang. Naturally, our small Shanqian village can't resist Tianwei, and they all follow me to meet the heavenly soldiers and generals!"

Lao Zuma called his sons and told them to go to the barn in the backyard of his house, but he brought back the good things he treasured, tiger, leopard and bear skins, and the best honey, and asked him to fetch some gold and silver .

  In front of the village.

The leader of the team was a regiment captain. He looked relaxed when he saw the Heman who opened the gate to welcome them. In fact, it didn’t matter if the Manzi didn’t come out. A regiment of Tang troops in full armor, plus a thousand Man Ding, it is easy to take down this stockade.

  But since these people know each other, they can save some hands and feet.

  After all, the governor of Cheng also explained when he came, try to recruit and appease, don't make a big fight, and the brothers will be stationed in Tonghai in the future.

   Regarding the gift presented by the old man, the school lieutenant, dressed in bright armor, asked the accompanying army to record his military service, and then read the official document of the Dudu Mansion to the old man.

   "General Cheng, the inspector of the Tonghai Metropolitan Government, reads to you and others the order of Tongping Zhangshi Prince Zhan Shilingnan Economic Strategy Envoy Guangzhou Metropolitan Governor and Tonghai Governor Wei Guogong..."

  After the announcement, the translator next to him loudly conveyed it again.

  Although the gift was accepted for the time being, Xiaowei Han told Lao Zuma that he needed all the villagers in the village to come to a meeting immediately.

   Point to the head.

  The villagers gathered in the drying yard a little uneasy.

  The military leaders counted the population in the village, the number of men, women, old and young, and the number of men among the strong men.

   "What is this for?"

   "This is a census, and it's just a preliminary check and registration. There will be more detailed verification and registration later."

   "What does census registration do?"

"After the census is registered, you need to register your household registration as Qimin. From now on, you will no longer be barbarians, but good citizens registered in the Tang Dynasty. In the future, the household department of the Tang Dynasty and the local government will have your files, and taxation and labor will be collected based on this. .”

  Han Xiaowei had people call out all young men between the ages of twenty-one and forty.

"There are one hundred and twenty households in your village. According to the order of the Dudufu, ten households will draw one man. Now we need to select twelve strong men from your village. Those who are selected will become the Tuanjun of the Dudufu, and they will go to the military towns for training. Garrison guards serve the imperial court and serve for three years. During this period of service, the Dudu Mansion provides food and clothing, and pays food allowances on a monthly basis..."

  Han Xiaowei was quite polite, but both the Shanqian village and the nun's queen couldn't help being agitated.

  (end of this chapter)