I

There are many famous families in Ji'an Prefecture, but which surname has the most people?

Liu family.

Liu Fa, the son of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty and King Ding of Changsha, gave birth to a total of sixteen sons, one of whom was granted the title of Marquis of Ancheng and had jurisdiction over Anfu, Yongxin, Taihe and other counties.

It has been reproducing from generation to generation and has spread throughout all counties in Ji'an and even throughout Jiangxi.

There are thousands of villages in Ji'an, and all the villages have the surname Liu!

At this moment, Chen Maosheng was in the home of the Liu family in Jizhoutang - the main clan and ancestral home of the rich family. It would definitely not be in the city, because the city simply couldn't accommodate him.

This family was engaged in business, so they moved to the city to settle down, but they also had land in the countryside.

"Your Majesty, spare your life, Your Majesty, please spare your life!"

They thought Chen Maosheng was here to loot, so they huffed and knelt on the ground. They even offered goods and food to satisfy the rebels' appetites and hoped that the rebels would not kill anyone.

Chen Maosheng said: "Mr. Zhao founded the Datong Society. What is Datong? Datong is in the countryside, where everyone has fields to farm, food to eat, and clothing to wear. There are few farmers in the city, but there are many domestic slaves in the city. …”

"There is no hierarchy in Datong. The gentry and merchants are human beings, but slaves are not human beings? Under Mr. Zhao's rule, there are no more domestic slaves, and all the domestic slaves have been released. We don't want money, we don't want food. Datong will make decisions for the poor. Yes, you quickly bring the slave’s deed of sale!”

Liu Dingzhong stared blankly at these rebels, thinking for a moment that he had heard wrong.

The rebels don't want gold, silver, or food, but they come here to free the slaves?

"Hurry up, get the slave's deed of sale, I have to go to the next family!" Chen Maosheng angrily yelled.

Liu Dingzhong trembled with fright and said quickly: "I...I'll get it right away."

The contract of sale has not yet arrived, but Chen Maosheng continued to promote: "Brothers and sisters of domestic slaves, don't be afraid. To be honest, Mr. Zhao has also been a domestic slave before..."

"boom!"

The whole courtyard was in an uproar, and the slaves were shocked. The leader of the bandits who occupied the city this time was actually a slave!

Apart from being shocked, there was also some excitement.

Chen Maosheng added: "Mr. Zhao is a domestic slave, I used to be an actor, and we are all bitches. But who in the world is not a bitch? Tenants are tenant slaves, farmers are serfs, workers are wage slaves, and soldiers are military slaves. That's it. Don't even those scholars work as slaves? If you become an official, you will be an official slave, and if you take the imperial examination, you will be a scholar slave. Who can be nobler than whom?"

"Those who are willing to follow us will be brothers and sisters from now on. If I want to farm, I will divide the fields for you, and if I want to work, I will find you a job. No one will dare to bully you anymore, no one will dare to beat or scold you anymore, you are your own masters. Look at the person behind me, Chen Huai, what did you do before?"

"actor."

"Liu Zhenzong, what did you do before?"

"Hey, I'm Mr. Liu's slave in Meitang Town."

"Liu Gao, what did you do before?"

"I am Master Liu's slave in Baisha Town."

"Xiao Zhong, what did you do before?"

"I am Master Xiao's slave in Huangqiao Town."

"Are you all well fed now?"

"Eat every meal."

"Does anyone dare to beat or scold you?"

"Fuck you!"

"..."

Looking at the majestic Chen Maosheng and his men, many domestic slaves began to feel envious.

Whether a domestic slave lives well or not depends purely on the master's character, and this is often the most unreliable thing.

Take Xu Xiake, for example. He is quite friendly to his domestic slaves, but what about other people? One of Xu Xiake's sons was later killed by domestic slaves in a riot.

When the small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty resisted the Qing Dynasty, countless domestic slaves revolted. They would rather join the Qing Dynasty than overthrow their masters!

Historically, the Shaanxi bandits only reached Huguang, and domestic slaves in Jiangnan provinces started revolting one after another.

The Ming Dynasty is full of gunpowder barrels, which will explode if they hit the slightest spark.

Finally, Liu Dingzhong found the slave's sale deed and gingerly presented it to Chen Maosheng.

Chen Maosheng read the names one by one. After reading them, he asked: "Who else has not brought the body deed?"

"I!"

A house slave stood up and said, "My body deed is no longer there."

Chen Maosheng smiled and said: "Mr. Liu, you are dishonest."

"Look for it, look for it immediately, it must be a leak!" Liu Dingzhong said quickly.

Not long after, several more status deeds were sent.

Chen Maosheng burned all the deeds of sale in public and said to the slaves: "Who is willing to follow me? I will no longer accept the hostility of the master!"

Three people stepped forward one after another.

Chen Maosheng said: "Have you ever had your monthly payment deducted?"

"I've been deprived of money every month," said a domestic slave.

Chen Maosheng pointed to the money on the ground: "Take back what was withheld from you, and don't take too much randomly."

The three servants immediately went to get the silver, and they only dared to get two or three taels more.

Seeing this, several more slaves came out, took money and stood behind Chen Maosheng.

There was actually a brother and sister among them. The older brother was twelve or thirteen years old, and the younger sister was only seven or eight years old.

"The rest don't want to leave?"

Chen Maosheng glanced at him and said, "It's okay not to leave. We are all brothers and sisters who are suffering. I will help you change your personal contract into a labor contract."

If the contract is remade on the spot, this thing will definitely be useless, and the owner will turn his back on it later.

However, as long as the master does not admit his fault, the slave will definitely be resentful.

Chen Maosheng took eight liberated domestic slaves and immediately went to the next house without grabbing money or food.

Liu Dingzhong sat stupidly on the ground, looking at the money and food around him and the domestic slaves around him, feeling as if he was dreaming.

After visiting all the big houses in the south of the city, Chen Maosheng took away a total of fifty-one domestic slaves. Most of the domestic slaves were still unwilling to leave their masters, even if they would be abused and beaten in the future.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Maosheng recruited more than ten actors.

He even went to a brothel, and six prostitutes were willing to go with him, and as many as nine turtle boys took the initiative to follow him - Chen Maosheng and those turtle boys were all cuckolds!

Zhang Tieniu went to the dock to recruit people, recruited more than 20 coolies, and took away more than 70 of the coolies' family members.

The two gentlemen, Xiao Huan and Ouyang Zhan, looked at the domestic slaves, coolies, prostitutes and turtle masters with strange expressions on their faces.

Ouyang Zheng sneered disdainfully: "Your hero relies on these people to conquer the world?"

"Alas," Xiao Huan sighed with emotion, "Sir is really a god. Who in the world can look down on lowly people? If you save them, they will follow you to death."

At this moment, countless people rushed to tell each other, and groups of people took the initiative to join the army.

These people are a special group and almost form a class in Ming Dynasty.

The homeless class!

A large number of farmers who lost their land flocked to the city to work and make a living. They are fugitives in the countryside and homeless in the city, and can only do some very menial jobs. Some joined the labor force, some became vendors, most worked as coolies, and many became beggars.

You can think of it as the Ming Dynasty version of migrant workers, and these migrant workers do not have ID cards.

Zhang Tieniu recruited coolies at the dock. The news spread quickly, and countless homeless people flocked to join the army. They were also real proletarians, and many of them were singles without families.

Zhao Han was shocked. There were more than two thousand people who surrendered to the army!

…

Anfu County.

The mob north of Heshui turned into rogue bandits. They traveled over the mountains and ridges to Anfu County, and managed to abduct tens of thousands of people along the way!

With so many people and strength, the bandit leader forgot his last name and went to attack the county seat.

Well, not really dementia.

Under normal circumstances, not to mention tens of thousands, thousands of people can take down the county seat.

However, the governor was very fast in his boat, and he led his troops to arrive first, and he had already rushed to camp outside the county town.

After the detective learned that a bandit had thrown himself into the trap, Jie Xuelong immediately sent the ship elsewhere. He led a thousand men into the city to hide, and sent another thousand, fifteen hundred men to hide in Menggang Ridge, and another thousand to ambush in the woods southwest of the county.

The bandit leader "Zhen Luoxiao" didn't even know how to dispatch spies, so he foolishly led tens of thousands of people to attack the city.

"Kill the thief!"

Suddenly drums sounded from the city tower, Jie Xuelong unfurled his handsome flag, Qian Xiangyong and the government officials put up countless flags.

Zhen Luoxiao was inexplicably horrified and shouted in fear: "There is an ambush, retreat quickly!"

Thousands of bandits immediately retreated in panic. Jie Xuelong personally led his soldiers out of the city to pursue him. The bandits were so frightened that they even threw away their food.

The southwest ambush suddenly came out, and the bandit collapsed completely.

Of the 1,500 ambushes in Menggang Ridge, 1,000 people have already circled to the south to block the bandits' retreat.

The bandit saw the flag from a distance and was so frightened that he ran eastward again, followed by five hundred ambush troops from Menggangling.

Many bandits knelt down and begged for mercy, and more bandits fled to the northeast, completely in a panic, because what awaited them was the Lushui River.

Tens of thousands of thieves were wiped out in one battle, with zero casualties among officers and soldiers.

"Commander Fu uses his troops like a god, as if Duke Yangming were still alive," Zuo Xiaocheng bowed and complimented him, "I admire you so much when you are young!"

Jie Xuelong frowned: "Why hasn't Thief Zhao shown up yet?"

Li Zongxue guessed: "They must have noticed the whereabouts of the officers and soldiers, and were so frightened that they hid in some mountain."

"I will feel uneasy if this thief is not eliminated," Xie Xuelong ordered, "Send more spies to search. Once traces of Zhao thief are found, we must go and exterminate them quickly even if they enter the mountain!"

Jie Xuelong captured thousands of thieves and did not kill them indiscriminately.

He sorted out the thieves and beheaded them, selected three hundred young men as village heroes, and waited for the rest to be put back for plowing next spring.

After another two days of waiting in Anfu County, spies rode around on mules and horses, but there was still no news about Zhao Han.

Jie Xuelong began to become impatient. This situation was really uncomfortable.

"Urgent military situation, urgent military situation!"

A speedboat came and stood outside the city shouting anxiously.

This man was taken to see the governor, and he knelt down and said: "Commander Fu, the city of Ji'an Prefecture is gone, and all the officials of Ji'an Prefecture and Luling County, big and small, have died for their country!"

"What?"

Jie Xuelong stood stunned on the spot, and several staff and generals were also dumbfounded.

Li Zongxue stood up and asked: "There are 800 guards in the city. The city is high and the pond is deep. How could it be captured by the rebels?"

The messenger cried sadly: "According to the escaped guards, the eunuch Zhang Yin forcibly took 750 people out of the city to defend his Chaoguan and mansion. The rebels attacked the Chaoguan military camp at night and deceived the city to enter. Kill all the officials en masse!"

"The eunuch is disgusting! He should be killed, he should be killed!"

Jie Xuelong was so angry that he was shaking all over. He suddenly drew his sword and slashed down a corner of the case.

There is no way to fight this battle. Once we return to the capital to aid, the rebels will definitely run away. If he did not run along the river, Jie Xuelong without cavalry would not be able to pursue him at all.

His soldiers were too few and poorly trained, so he couldn't carry out a large-scale siege.

Even if he knew that it would be useless to return to Fucheng, even if he knew that he would be led by the rebels. But Jie Xuelong still had to go back. The fall of Fucheng would be a serious crime. Once huge losses are caused, the gentry can conspire with officials to impeach him, which can easily put him in jail as a governor.

"Return to Fucheng to aid!"

Jie Xuelong felt so tired that he wanted to strangle the eunuch to death with his own hands.

In Yongxin County far to the west, Li Banghua, who was in charge of the Great Roundabout, wanted to strangle the county magistrate to death!