Qin Official

The market in Anlu is not along a street with stalls selling casually on both sides, but a closed place, similar to the vegetable market of later generations, surrounded by a market wall.

The wooden pole erected high is the city flag. It is three feet long and stands inside the city pavilion. Every morning, traders from all walks of life who come to trade wait outside the city gate. When the city flag is raised, they can enter one by one. .

In the past, as a city official, Yuan Bai only had to sit leisurely at the city pavilion, sitting in the shadow of the city flag, gesticulating, and letting the county guards manage market transactions, check documents, goods, and stamp them.

But today, he took matters into his own hands and slowly lowered the city flag, then chopped down the huge flagpole and asked a strong servant to carry it.

But to put it bluntly, the city flag is just an ordinary brown cloth, weathered by the weather, even a little dilapidated, and unfit for use.

"There are still too few flags."

Ji Ying shook his head and said: "Especially the big flag, it should be brighter and more conspicuous!"

"How about using my cloth?"

A voice sounded, but it was "Sui Yichi" known to everyone in the store.

He was originally from Suixian County and specialized in selling cloth. He also ran a small dyeing shop at home and had cloth of all colors. Now he personally carried several pieces of bright cloth out of the cellar.

Adversity teaches people's hearts. In the past half month, Anlu people's impression of Sui Yichi has been greatly changed. He used to be a very small person. When people in the county bought cloth, they would care about every inch and inch. They would use a ruler to measure it every day. As a result, he was nicknamed "Sui Yichi".

But after a large number of villagers were driven into Xicheng and had no food and clothing, Suiyichi changed the normal situation. If there were old people and children who were cold, they would take out the brown clothes and Geyi at home for free.

Now, all the remaining colorful cloths are donated to make flags for those who uphold justice.

He bowed to Ji Ying and said: "When I was working as a hawker in the market, Marquis Wu Zhong was still a public servant. He came with Ji Jun to buy cloth and even forgot to take the deed. For more than ten years, Junhou's family often protected the merchants in the county. People with low status, so we were spared from moving south to Luliang to do hard labor. The prince also specially took care of the business of the people in the county. He also purchased the winter and summer clothes for the southern expedition from me, so that my family could be rich to a hundred gold. "

"Now it is not only the Junhou family who are in trouble, but also Anlu County. Even ordinary traders like us have to be forcibly moved away. The kama garden, weaving room, and dyeing workshop that I have worked hard to run for so many years are all gone." Throw them all away!"

For the property owners, if their property is to be taken away, their attitude towards revolution will become more positive than that of the proletarians!

This is why Yuan Bai is so enthusiastic.

Sui Yichi gritted his teeth and said, "Didn't the disciples sing it when they went on the road? How can they say that they have no clothes and share the same robe with me! Wen Mou has no weapons or armor, let alone the ability to kill thieves, but how much does this piece of cloth cost?" How many! How can you say that there is no flag, and you have the same banner as Zi!"

As he said this, he asked his family to carry all the cloth over and cut it to make flags, but then he looked around and said, "It's a pity that the flagpole is missing."

"The flagpole is here!"

Someone came over again, but it was "Yu Zhao", the county's meritorious officer.

Yu Zhao used to be a miser in the warehouse, and Hei Fu was the one who was in charge of performing the dance with his sister-in-law.

As an official, Yu Zhao's family lived in a corner of Xicheng, with a large courtyard and a high pavilion with white walls. He was quite leisurely, and planted a lot of bamboos in his yard. He built a fence outside the wall on weekdays to prevent people from the county from stealing his tender bamboo shoots.

But today, after seeing the beacon smoke in Huyang Pavilion, he took out his hidden sword and asked his servants to chop down all the bamboos. The large bamboos were used as flagpoles, with dozens of them, and the small bamboos were used as spears, enough to arm hundreds of people!

"If the skin is gone, how will the hair be attached?" Not everyone knows this sentence, but almost everyone understands this truth.

Almost all the Anlu people who were imprisoned in Xicheng and regarded as "relocated captives" participated. The old, weak, women and children sewed the flag and fixed it on the bamboo pole. If there were no iron or copper needles, then bone needles, wooden needles, or even It is a sharp thorn, threading a needle and thread, as skillfully as before.

Once upon a time, they sewed clothes and made armor for their father, brothers and children, and sent them to the battlefield to unify the world for the Qin Dynasty and open up territories for the emperor...

Fathers, brothers and children who have gone far away rarely come back, but what awaits them is the unreasonable transfer orders and harsh treatment from the court!

So today, the little people who bow their heads to Ru Ziniu do not follow the emperor's orders or laws, they only follow their own hearts!

The men have to go out and work hard, and the women have to do something too.

With the efforts of countless weaver girls and beautiful women, in a moment, a bright red flag woven from several pieces of red cloth was firmly tied to the flagpole!

The red color is like blood, more like the injustice of the Anlu people, and like their will.

"This is the banner of the Anlu people."

"Everyone can see it and follow it."

Ji Ying is thin and frail, but he is still using all his strength to carry the banner. As the first township party to follow Wu Zhonghou, he must take the lead in this critical moment.

Immediately, a pair of hands came up: there were veterans who had participated in two expeditions against Chu, there were also young people who had grown up listening to the legend of Wu Zhonghou, there were usually humble and humble sons-in-law, and there were butchers with greasy hands. Even the gray-haired old man would reach out and touch it, as if this could transfer his power into it.

In this way, the bright red flag was delivered by countless hands to the wall where the fierce battle was raging...

Main Street, the central axis of the county, where the banquet was once a lively place, has become a ruin.

The wall that took away the freedom of the Anlu people was mostly demolished by everyone.

The men in the city range from fourteen to sixty. Nearly ten thousand people have gathered here, and the crowd is crowded.

Individually, they were inconspicuous Guizhou leaders. When they were driven out of their homes, everyone was angry, but soon they habitually obeyed the authorities and were silently locked in cages, eating chaff and drinking water, waiting for the court's judgment.

Even though they wanted to resist, when they looked at the heavily armed Guanzhong soldiers outside, they immediately shrank their heads and lost their courage.

But when the news of Wu Zhonghou's resurrection came, and when the beacon smoke ignited in Huyang Pavilion, they were inspired. With the contact of Ji Ying and others, they became a rope again and became united as never before!

The people know who is good to them. The Heifu family needs to repay Anlu for ten years of kindness. The home where they were born and raised also needs to be protected!

All the weapons have been taken away? It doesn't matter, since we have raised the pole as the flag, let's cut down the wood and turn it into a soldier!

In the past, the veterans held long bamboo spears in front, and behind them were simple bows and arrows made by the hunters in the countryside. Countless people, under the command of a few dog butchers, carried bricks and tiles and shuttled through the streets they were familiar with. In the alley, they hit the "thief soldiers" on the head, killing and maiming one of them, and then went to seize their weapons and crossbows.

It doesn't matter if you don't have armor, there are armors everywhere in this city!

The vendors living on the street took off their door panels to use as shields to withstand the waves of crossbows fired by the regular troops on the opposite side. More people, under the command of Ji Ying, piled up the bricks, wood, stones, and debris on the street again.

They have torn down the walls that imprisoned freedom.

A barricade was built to symbolize resistance!

…

Huge shouts of killing filled the small town of Anlu.

All the turbulent waves are rushing to one place: the county temple, where Heifu and a group of Southern Expeditionary Army captains and Sima family members are under house arrest. The Anlu people want to recapture them, but Feng Jing wants to hold on to the only remaining hostage. .

The sound of walls collapsing, the chants of the county people charging, and the drumbeat of Feng Jing mobilizing troops and generals can all be heard clearly here.

These people were locked in a small hall and watched by hundreds of soldiers. The swords and guns in their hands could be used to attack them at any time.

Taking the lead sincerely, everyone gathered around a couch, and Hei Fu's mother, the "sugar lady" of the Anlu people, was lying on it.

She was ill, but she managed to hold on after learning that her son had "died in battle" because the old man didn't believe the news at all.

But since being imprisoned in the county temple, the old mother has been even more saddened to see the people in the county leaving their homes and suffering due to their own reasons.

Today, she is terminally ill and somewhat delirious.

"Why is it so noisy outside?"

Awakened by the loud noise, my mother opened her eyes and murmured.

There was a little more white hair on the temples, and there was also a hint of white in the beard under the chin. He leaned over and said with a smile: "Mom, it's thundering outside."

Well-intentioned words seem like lies to coax a child to behave.

Mother believed it.

She closed her eyes again.

"Thunder, spring rain is coming?"

Zhong held back tears and held her mother's cold hand: "It's almost time. After a winter of drought, the spring rain is coming."

"Spring rain is more precious than oil."

My mother woke up and seemed to realize that the noise outside did not seem to be thunder, but what old people are best at is pretending to be confused.

She just turned over and sighed:

"But the villagers haven't had time to plant their seedlings yet..."

…

Although the number of Anlu people is slightly larger and they are familiar with the roads in the county, after all, the equipment, weapons, and order are far from those of the regular army.

After being caught off guard, the elite Guanzhong soldiers quickly stabilized their position.

Their long barbarian spears are much longer than the bamboo spears of the mob. Those improvised bows and arrows and thrown bricks cannot penetrate the thick armor, and the powerful crossbows of the official army are not so thin. Can the door panel block it?

Many people charged bravely, trying to break into the county temple and rescue Tang Guo, but they all died.

"Moths fly to flames." Feng Jing on the city wall lamented.

"Hei Fu is so able to reassure the people of Lu. It seems that your Majesty's policy of relocating the people is right."

Feng Jing felt some emotion and admiration in his heart, but he issued the order to attack without hesitation. The mob must be dispersed and the hostages in the county temple must be allowed to withdraw. There was not much time left for them.

In this way, with the help of crossbows and spear formations, the barricades were broken down one by one. The flags made of variegated cloth and bamboo poles were uprooted one by one. The Anlu people who stayed inside were ruthlessly slaughtered. , but before they died, they also killed many enemies.

The roads were filled with corpses. On the barricades, dirty blood and innocent blood mixed together and flowed to the middle of the street, which was particularly bright red...

Just like the blood-red flag standing at the last barricade.

Protecting the flag was Yuan Yong and his companions.

Ji Ying was injured, Wang Gua was rescued, and Uncle Dong Kui died in the battle...

Many familiar faces were frozen forever, and hope was getting slimmer. Most people retreated to the West City. After several charges, they already understood that they could not fight the regular army with their passion and bare hands.

But Yuan Yong insisted on not retreating.

"If I quit, even if I have to survive, I will look down on myself for the rest of my life!"

There is a breath in his chest, unwilling, unyielding, not angry, not afraid!

The common people's hair is like a leek, cut off and reborn.

The head is like a chicken, it crows again after being cut off!

But this energy alone cannot reverse the situation.

In a dense formation, carrying oars and shields, Feng Jing's fresh troops transferred from the city wall were advancing towards the final barricade little by little!

Yuan Yong and his companions gritted their teeth and prepared for the final desperate counterattack.

In this most desperate moment.

At the tower, Feng Jing's expression suddenly became extremely panicked!

On the wall, the officers and soldiers who were originally aiming their crossbow arrows at the city suddenly turned around and pointed their crossbow arrows at the outside of the city amid a burst of rapid drumbeats!

In front of the barricade, the officers and soldiers also hesitated to move forward...

And outside Anlu City, there was also a burst of thunder that was louder than inside the city!

Thunder sounded at the north gate, at the west gate, at the east gate, at the south gate, everywhere it could be heard!

"Marquis Wu Zhong has arrived!"

Boom!

The spring rain is coming as expected!

…

ps: Chapter 2 is at night. m.