I

The chief bookkeeper of Yongxin County was cut off just last month.

I don’t know who did it, but it was a group of bandits, and there seemed to be women among them.

There are also black men, holding long sticks, with great strength, and their bodies are as black as ink.

This group of bandits came by boat, first robbed the county government, and then held the government servants hostage as coolies, and then swaggered away money and food from the government treasury. Then they went out of the city to seize several ships, and left in broad daylight with a clear view of the world.

Li Banghua led more than 200 village warriors, abandoned the ship and rushed here on foot. The county magistrate's first reaction was to close the city gate tightly.

After all the hard talk, Li Banghua was finally allowed to enter the city, but Xiang Yong was ordered to station outside the city.

This can be regarded as observing the rules. Guest soldiers are generally not allowed to enter the city.

However, Li Banghua used the governor's order to ask Yongxin County Magistrate to quickly send out grain conquest ships, but he was delayed and did not do anything.

There was no food in the county. As soon as some autumn food was collected, it was robbed by bandits.

The county magistrate promised Li Banghua that he would help raise food and grass, but the gentry all complained that they were poor. Even for ships, only two small boats were acquired, and no one was willing to lend the big boats.

"This is an insult to our military discipline!"

Li Banghua was left alone for several days, and finally he couldn't help but have an attack.

More than two hundred local warriors came all the way from Lushui, and they made no mistakes along the way. Under Li Banghua's constraints, even the crops were not trampled, and the straw borrowed from the people to make beds would be returned.

They are so peaceful and kind that no one is afraid of them!

"Qiang!"

The fifty-year-old former Minister of War suddenly drew his sword and said: "Follow me to the dock to seize the boat. Don't kill indiscriminately. Killing one person per boat will establish your authority!"

The local heroes had already suppressed their anger and followed Li Banghua to the dock.

Li Banghua allocates killing quotas, and only who can kill. The other village heroes did not dare to disobey, but they vented their anger in other ways. They rushed onto the boat and started punching and kicking them.

After seizing the ship, leaving some rural soldiers to guard it, Li Banghua personally led his troops to the outskirts of the county to seize grain.

The first person to be robbed was Qian Hu from the Yongxin Guard Qian Hu Station!

Then he robbed a landlord and killed more than ten people in succession in order to establish his authority.

Li Banghua got on the ship with provisions and grass, chose a large ship as his ship, stood on the bow and shouted: "Let's go!"

In this ridiculous world, nothing can be done by following the rules.

The magistrate stood on the city tower, his face pale with fright. He was not just procrastinating, but he really had no food to collect and was reluctant to pay for it himself.

Go down the river and arrive at Tianhe Town in one day.

There are mountains on both sides here, with a river running through the middle. Most of the villages and towns are at the foot of the mountains and along the river.

As night falls, I dare not continue sailing because the current in this section is fast and there are some reefs in the river.

In order not to disturb the people here, Li Banghua did not choose to stop in the town. Instead, they went a little downstream, anchored the big ship, tied the small boat to the big ship, and sent twenty Xiangyong off the ship to watch, while the rest of the Xiangyong stayed on the ship to rest.

This gentleman has a very high prestige in Ji'an Prefecture. With his own prestige and personal charm, he has convinced more than two hundred village warriors to obey him.

The military discipline of this miscellaneous army is not inferior to that of Zhao Han.

Outside the town, in the mountains.

In a large house.

"Fourth Master, the officers and soldiers are here! Several large boats and more than 20 small boats!"

Fei Yinggon stood up awkwardly, drew his sword and sneered: "How dare you come here to die and invite brothers to attack at night."

Fei Yinggong didn't have the idea of ​​great unity, but his approach was very similar to Zhao Han.

This guy first killed the landlord in the town, robbed the landlord's house and lived in it, and gave the landlord's female family members to his men as wives. Even the black brother Tie Slave was assigned a widow.

Then he divided the land. He himself was a big landowner and all his subordinates were small landowners. He also divided the land to many poor people who became yeoman farmers.

Instantly gain a foothold in Tianhe Town!

The terrain here is even more severe, with mountains bordering the river on both sides. The farmland is either among the mountains or along the riverside. If officers and soldiers come to attack, they can run into the mountains and switch between offense and defense easily.

At midnight.

Li Banghua was sleeping in the cabin when he was suddenly awakened by shouts of death and saw countless torches lighting up the shore.

A few of the Xiangyong who were sentrying on the shore were hacked to death by the bandits, a few were so frightened that they jumped into the river to escape, and a few were quick to escape back to the boat.

The local heroes were so horrified that they cut anchors, cut ropes, and sailed away from the place quickly.

In the darkness, a large ship ran aground on the rocks, and several small boats capsized in the fast river.

Li Banghua was very angry, but he had no idea what to do. He had to use a tracker to row back, but there was no tracker here.

Why?

Because the trackers were all Fei Yinggon's people, and they had already divided the land, they occasionally became thieves and went to Yongxin County to rob.

"Fourth Master, catch a alive one!"

A Xiangyong was brought to Fei Yingcong, who was already paralyzed with fear.

Fei Yinggong personally interrogated and asked, "Who led the troops?"

"Li Shangshu." Xiang Yong answered honestly.

"What is it? Shangshu?"

Fei Yinggong thought he heard wrongly. He just occupied a poor village. He just robbed the county government of money and food. Does the minister need to personally lead troops to suppress it?

Xiang Yong explained: "Master Li of Jishui, Li Shangshu."

Fei Yinggon looked strange. He had traveled to Bailuzhou Academy to study. At that time, Li Banghua was dismissed from office and was invited to teach in the academy. Fei Yingcong listened to him for a few months.

In other words, Li Banghua is Fei Yingcong’s teacher.

Fei Yinggon asked quickly: "Why did Li Shangshu lead his troops here?"

Xiangyong replied: "There are thieves in Luling County... there are righteous men who kill the landlords to divide the land, causing a big battle. The governor is leading troops to clear up, and Li Shangshu leads us to take the retreat."

Fei Yinggong couldn't believe it and murmured to himself: "What on earth did that boy do? He summoned both Li Shangshu and the governor."

After saying that, he killed Xiang Yong with a sword.

On the morning of the next day, Fei Yinggong arranged for his men to be on guard upstream and downstream around the clock. Once officers and soldiers were discovered, they would immediately pack up and go into the mountains.

As for Li Banghua, who was attacked inexplicably, he counted the number of people at dawn and was so angry that he wanted to go back and kill the bandits in Tianhe Town!

There were more than 230 local heroes, but now there were only more than 190 left!

After landing at Huangjia Town, Li Banghua immediately sent people to investigate the enemy's situation and led his troops to rest briefly on the river beach.

The spy soon returned to report that there was no one in or outside the town.

Li Banghua frowned. He led his troops in a big circle and spent twenty days, but he still came to nothing?

Li Banghua climbed up the stairs and came to the door of the inn, where there were still advertisements for corn and sweet potatoes.

When he led his troops to the outside of the town and passed several private houses, Li Banghua was thoughtful.

Those houses have earthen walls and plastered with propaganda slogans: Everyone has a field to farm.

Then we came to a private house: everyone had a house to live in.

Next, there are many slogans of all kinds——

Everyone has clothes to wear.

Everyone has food to eat.

The elderly have someone to see them off to death, and the children have someone to support them.

Widows remarry quickly.

If children are not allowed to study, they will be fined.

Equalize the land, equal the rich and the poor.

Li Banghua sat cross-legged on the ridge of the field, staring blankly at the words "equalize the land, wait for the rich and the poor".

Although the Li family is a wealthy family, Li Banghua was born into a poor family.

Both his father and his son were admitted to the Juren Examination, and they spent too much money studying. The more than ten acres of land at home were not enough to cover expenses, including traveling to Beijing to take the exam, so he had no choice but to walk with his father from Jiangxi to Beijing - all the acres in his village were occupied by several big local families, even though he Even though he was admitted to the imperial examination, no one came to donate land.

Li Banghua knows very well how hard it is for farmers at the bottom. He has also worked in the fields himself.

Suddenly, Li Banghua wanted to meet Zhao Han and talk to the rebel in person. He wanted to persuade the rebels that this was not how the world was unified. He should work hard to become an official in the imperial examination, and then unite the family to govern the country and bring peace to the world.

Looking around, the winter wheat seedlings were lush and green, and Li Banghua felt fond of them.

As he watched, Li Banghua stood up suddenly and yelled: "Don't trample the wheat seedlings!"

A local hero said: "Sir, these are the wheat seedlings of the rebels. It would be best if they destroyed them all."

"fart!"

Li Banghua said angrily: "Rebels are rebels, and crops are crops. How can we destroy the crops that have been planted? Whoever destroys wheat seedlings again will be punished by military law!"

The village heroes looked at each other, thinking that Mr. Li was too pedantic.

But no one dared to disobey, and everyone ran to private houses, trying to search for the belongings that had not been taken away.

Just when Li Banghua was about to withdraw his troops, a spy suddenly came to report: "Sir, the rebels have come down the mountain!"

Li Banghua was stunned, then he drew his sword and shouted: "Young men, follow me to kill the thief!"

…

Pang Chunlai has been leading people into the mountain for more than 20 days, and the villagers are clamoring to go back to weed and topdress the winter wheat planted before entering the mountain.

If you don't go back to work, the harvest will be delayed!

Moreover, the weather is getting colder and colder, and if there is any further delay, it may snow, and people and animals will definitely be frozen to death and frostbitten.

Since the officers and soldiers had retreated for many days, Zuo Xiaoliang had already returned with the villagers from Huangba Village on the opposite bank, slightly downstream. After making arrangements, he crossed the river into the mountains and ran to find Pang Chunlai.

Together, the two of them believed that the officers and soldiers would not come again, so all the villagers in Wuxing Town also began to go down the mountain.

The spies sent by Li Banghua into the mountains happened to collide with the spies sent down by Pang Chunlai.

The spies on both sides were only about ten steps apart, staring at each other with big eyes and small eyes. They were so frightened that they went back to report the enemy's situation.

"Don't panic!"

Although Pang Chunlai's eyesight was not good, he knew the contours of the terrain.

He immediately ordered: "We have families, food and livestock, and we will definitely not be able to outrun the officers and soldiers. We retreat to the mountain ridge behind and block the food and materials together to form a barrier. Quickly collect stones, the young and strong are here Come forward, women too, and protect the old, weak and livestock!"

Li Banghua, with more than 190 village warriors, hurriedly arrived in the mountains. What greeted him were simple fortifications.

Sacks and baskets filled with grain, as well as wheelbarrows and other supplies, were all lined up to form a barrier against the enemy. Both men and women, as long as they had the strength, picked up hoes and poles, and also brought many stones to prepare to throw them down.

Each family was assigned one young man to serve as a soldier, and Chen Maosheng's missionary team also removed some. There were very few young men left, and most of them were old, weak, women and children.

Pang Chunlai opened his eyes wide, trying to see the enemy clearly, but he only saw some shadows shaking.

Zuo Xiaoliang held up his hoe and shouted to boost morale: "Folks, the dog officer is here with his troops and wants to take away our land and food. Do you agree?"

"No, no, no!"

The old, weak, women and children shouted in unison. Although they were afraid, they were even more afraid of losing their land and food.

Moreover, the terrain was also favorable to them, so the officers and soldiers could only attack from the front.

Zuo Xiaoliang shouted again: "Kill the dog officer!"

"Kill the dog officer, kill the dog officer!"

The villagers roared louder and louder, and even children of several years old shouted together, as if this was a very interesting thing.

Li Banghua's face was extremely complex. He was loyal to the emperor, served the country, worked diligently and loved the people, but in the end he was dismissed by the emperor and returned to his hometown. He was scolded as a dog official when he conquered the rebels.

"Uncle, they are all old, weak, women and children, only three or four hundred young men. They don't have any serious weapons. As long as our soldiers use their lives, they can defeat them in one battle." Li Banghua's nephew suggested.

Li Banghua remained silent.

First, the opponent occupies a favorable location and has strong morale. Can he really win a battle?

Secondly, most of the opponents were old, weak, women and children. Would it be glorious to kill them all?

After thinking for a long time, Li Banghua said to his nephew: "If you go to persuade them to surrender, just say that as long as they surrender to the government, their past sins and responsibilities will be forgotten."

The nephew immediately climbed up the slope. Before he could speak, several rocks as big as his head rolled down.