Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3282 Good Leeks

In the dark night, the wilderness is already a regional scene.

Under the crazy surge of people, the remaining camps were like small islands in the storm, struggling to hold on. The camp where these soldiers were stationed was originally very carelessly set up. The trenches were hastily dug for a while, but when no one urged them, they were just thrown over there. The fences and walls of the camp were also randomly placed, and there were no defensive facilities. nothing.

After all, we are in troubled times, and there is no military discipline and discipline. If there is no tomorrow, who would want to do better? If you have wine today, you will be drunk today. Who is going to take all the trouble to make a good camp?

As a result, I now bear the consequences of my previous laziness.

Under the surging crowd, countless people rushed down the trench and were trampled under their feet. The not-so-deep trenches were unable to withstand the crowds running around like crazy. After the trenches were filled with human flesh, they crashed directly into the simple camp fence.

The leader of the mixed soldier camp that was hit by the crowd had some experience. When the crowd first started, he summoned an array of soldiers and guarded the village wall. But when the surging crowd really came rushing over, the mixed soldier camp Two or three rounds of arrows were fired from the ground, but they had no blocking effect at all.

The main reason is that in the dark night, the sounds of injuries and screams around him can only arouse more crazy fear, but cannot awaken reason.

If it was during the day when there was enough light, seeing arrows falling down one after another and death before our eyes, it would probably scare the people running around. But in the dark, because we couldn’t see clearly at all, it felt like the rear was miserable. The fear brought by the roar was obviously greater than the arrows from the camp ahead, so the defense of the camp was like raindrops falling in the tide, with no effect at all.

The crowd hit the fence so hard that it immediately became loose.

Dozens of spears were thrust out from the gaps in the stockade fence, and many people were stabbed to death immediately. However, the people who were stabbed to death were stuck on the spears, and they were so stuck that they could not even withdraw the spears!

After a while, a creaking sound was heard, the fence collapsed, and the crowd swarmed in, drowning the soldiers directly under their feet.

Another mixed soldier camp collapsed...

Behind the crowd, Zhang Xiu actually did not bring many cavalry.

A small group of cavalry, probably one or two hundred, drove the huge crowd in a certain direction just like shepherd dogs driving sheep.

Zhang Xiu led most of the cavalry and followed slowly.

Along the way, most of the corpses were exploded...

Is it pitiful?

Pitiful.

Such a large number of common people could easily bulldoze the camps of these soldiers when they surged up, and now they trampled under their feet those shouting Cao soldiers.

But why, these people in Hedong, who had been obedient all the way before, would rather be humiliated, raped and killed than remain silent?

When people are crazy, the power that surges out is very terrifying, but after this breath is exhausted, they will enter a relatively long period of exhaustion, and it is impossible to run endlessly.

Even with the control and guidance of Zhang Xiu and others, more and more people fled to the surrounding wild areas, causing the forward momentum of the crowd to gradually slow down. Some people who ran to the edge gradually stopped when they saw that no one was pushing or shouting behind them, panting in a daze, as if they were still in a nightmare and had not woken up.

"mob. 』

Zhang Xiu murmured in a low voice, and then sighed.

The guards following Zhang Xiu looked at each other and said nothing.

The horse's hooves were all stained with blood, which looked purple-black in the firelight of the night.

When the crowd surged, those who were wrapped in it could not stop at all. Once they stopped, they would be pushed down and trampled by the people behind them. In just half an hour, countless people died!

To save people, you must first kill.

A small number of people died, and most of them ran away.

In troubled times, saving people and killing people seem to have become an indistinguishable ashes.

Even so, most of these people would not flee far, and would be recaptured by Cao's soldiers, just like lost sheep.

"General!" ” A hussar soldier circled around, pointed to Lu Zhao’s camp in the distance and said, “There is a Cao army camp over there. It is very strong and looks like it is an elite camp. 』

Zhang Xiu nodded and waved with his hand, "Let's go and take a look." 』

Amid the sound of horse hooves, a group of people headed towards Lu Zhao's camp.

Lu Zhao's Cao Jun camp obviously withstood several waves of crowds, but firstly, it was far away, and secondly, the number of people was not infinite. Therefore, except for the first wave of people who crashed into the trenches of Lu Zhao's camp, The rest of the crowd was not flowing so fast, and even actively split into two lanes, running around Lu Zhao's camp and into the distance.

Without him, the trenches and high walls of the Lu Zhao camp were solid fortifications.

The trench is wide and deep, as tall as a person. In addition, the high and low walls learned from fighting with the hussars, that is, all the soil dug out of the trench is piled on the ground behind the trench, forming a gap between the upper and lower sides. If you fall in, even if you are not stabbed to death by a wooden stake, it is really difficult to climb up without any tools.

After this trench, there is a second trench, and then the wall.

The sentry towers on the left and right sides of the village wall were already filled with archers, who were staring at Zhang Xiu and his party under the firelight.

Zhang Xiu stood outside the shooting range, raised his hand, clenched it into a fist and shook it a few times.

"Stop!" Stop! The whole army stops! 』

the messenger shouted.

"It's just as my lord said," Zhang Xiu sneered, "This guy is just waiting for me to bump into him!" 』

In such a heavily guarded camp with well-equipped fortifications, if Zhang Xiu had not slowed down and forced the crowd to attack the camp, it is hard to believe that he would have run headlong into it!

After all, the military camps near the Emei Mountains are shabby and shabby. Without Fei Qian’s previous reminder, who would have thought that there was such a hard lump lurking behind these messy camps?

If I accidentally bumped into Lu Zhao's camp, I would have thought it was just like any other military camp. These defenses alone would be enough to give Zhang Xiu and others a headache. Imagine if Zhang Xiu was so proud of himself that he sent out his troops to drive away the crowd, and then he hit such a hard rock so hard that even chipping his teeth would be considered minor. Lu Zhao might seize the opportunity to launch a counterattack. beat!

The cavalry is not invincible, they are also made of flesh and blood.

Fortunately, Zhang Xiu followed Fei Qian's reminder when he came this time, and did not blindly pursue victory or war at all costs. He just wanted to drive away the population brought by Cao Jun and delay Cao Jun's attack on Wenxi. Therefore, It would be best if we could gnaw down Cao Jun's camp in one go, but if we can't defeat it, we can still think of achieving our initial goal.

It is inevitable that the Cao army's miscellaneous soldiers are poorly equipped and lacking in equipment. They are more old and weak than strong and strong. However, it is still enough to attack a small county like Wenxi. So if Zhang Xiu doesn't care about anything and allows Wenxi to be defeated, what can he say? Not quite right either.

On the other hand, if Zhang Xiu worked hard to defeat Cao Jun, and then the people who heard the news came to watch a play in the city, this would also be inappropriate.

That's why Zhang Xiu appeared at this point in time, but now it seems...

It seems that it is still within Cao Jun's expectation?

Otherwise Lu Zhao would not have built such a strong camp.

What is this going to do?

Is Cao Jun preparing to hold on here?

What does Cao Jun want to do here?

Zhang Xiu was thinking, somewhat confused.

Don't look at Zhang Xiu's chaotic charge tonight. It seems to be a joint force of horses and horses, which is very refreshing, but in fact it does not cause much damage to Cao's army. Because there was almost no loss of the elite of Cao's army, the dead were all miscellaneous soldiers and the people from Hedong who were trapped.

Oh, if Pei Jun can be regarded as Zhang Xiu's victory, then he is just a small fish.

And Zhang Xiu doesn’t know yet.

These Cao Jun soldiers and the people who are kidnapped will be captured by Cao Jun again after dawn. I can’t say that all of them will come back, but at least 60 to 70% will still be there...

The simple reason is that there is nothing to eat.

All the local gentry and gentry in the Yuncheng Basin of Hedong are polarized. Some, like Anyi Wenxi, do not surrender, and the other part have changed their families, but no matter which part they are, they will not be united at this point in time. With these miscellaneous soldiers and civilians, the only ones with food in this area of ​​the Yuncheng Basin are still Cao Jun.

"Look," Zhang Xiu pointed to the camp behind the trench, "Did you see the wall?" 』

??????????.??????

The guard nodded from behind, "I saw it." It looked like it was made solidly and seemed to be covered with a layer of mud. The walls of this village don't even work well with kerosene. It’s hard to say that I’m even on guard against the Rhubarb Crossbow. 』

"Um. ” Zhang Xiu snorted, “It’s because I have a better memory after suffering a loss. It's hard to fight. If we don't fight, they will come back again as soon as we retreat. It's really troublesome. 』

"General," the guard asked, "then why don't you take these people to Emei Mountain like last time?" 』

"Do you think these are all ordinary people? Zhang Xiu thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "Those were ordinary civilians before... I suspect that most of the people now are tenant farmers in the families of those who have taken refuge in Cao Jun... Squire tenant farmers are different from ordinary people." . right! This is different! Someone come! Go catch a few who are alone and ask them back! 』

"Then this camp...should we still fight?" ’ asked the guard.

Zhang Xiu waved his hand, "We can't fight now." Send the order, withdraw the troops! 』

…

…

Sharecroppers and homesteaders are indeed different.

The most important difference is, of course, that tenant farmers do not have the means of production, but rent land from landlords for farming.

Homeowners have their own land.

This seems to be the biggest difference, but is it really that simple?

Zhang Xiu felt that Fei Qian's previous special warning told him to analyze the specific problem in detail instead of taking it for granted. There must be a certain reason, so he cautiously led his troops back to Emei Ridge, and then discovered that Some interesting questions...

The four or five people captured alive by the hussars' subordinates include young and old, and most of them are old.

This is not surprising, after all, young people have more endurance and can run farther and faster.

Aren’t the rest just the old and infirm?

Zhang Xiu called these people together, and after checking that they were indeed ordinary farmers and not spies of Cao's army, he released them from their bonds and brought them some water and food. After they had all eaten and drank and their emotions had stabilized, he Then he brought them in front of him for questioning.

As he expected, those who came to attack Wenxi were indeed not the farmers in Yuncheng, Hedong, but the tenant farmers under the gentry and gentry who had surrendered to Cao Cao.

The tenant farmers were very honest, perhaps because Zhang Xiu gave them food, and they answered whatever they asked. Even if they stuttered sometimes, it was not to conceal or deceive, but because they themselves were not good at it. Express.

But what Zhang Xiu didn't expect was that these tenant farmers, perhaps because they had a good conversation with Zhang Xiu, started to complain about Zhang Xiu, asking why Zhang Xiu wanted to fight...

"How about beating us?" Zhang Xiu scratched his head, "How about we let them hit us on the head?" 』

"But... but they were sent by the emperor..." The old tenant farmer opened his slightly cloudy eyes with a serious expression, as if he was speaking the truth in the world, "The emperor is God!" 』

"This...the emperor is now...forget it, even if you say it, you don't understand." ” Zhang Xiu scratched his head, but for a moment he didn’t know what to say.

The old farmer lamented, "Yes, I don't understand either, but General, many older people will die in this battle!" In my village, Lao Zhangtou, Lao Ma Tou, and the whole family are all dead, dead... Hey, they all have this fate..."

"Life? How can this be said to be fate? Zhang Xiu said, "This is Cao Jun's fault!" If Cao Jun didn't come, how could anyone die? 』

The old farmer looked at Zhang Xiu, smiled reluctantly, and said nothing.

"What's wrong?" ” asked Zhang Xiu.

"They said it was you who did it, and you said it was them. ” The old farmer said with some courage, “To put it bluntly, you are the same as them, you don’t treat us as human beings. 』

"..." Zhang Xiu was silent for a moment, "No, we are different from them." Forget it... If according to your idea, we and them are all bad people, then who is the good person? 』

"Who is the good guy?" "The old farmer thought for a moment, and then gave Zhang Xiu an answer that he couldn't understand, "Wang Laolangjun is a good person! 』

"who? ” Zhang Xiu asked.

"Lao Langjun Wang. 』

The old farmer said with certainty.

He clasped his fingers and counted Mr. Wang's various "good deeds" in detail.

Roads were built, bridges were built, canals were built, sheds were built...

Zhang Xiu was stunned.

Could it be that these rural gentry families in the Yuncheng Basin in Hedong are all reincarnations of good people from the ninth generation, and they really treat these tenant farmers as warm as spring?

But after asking carefully, Zhang Xiu couldn't help but laugh.

Building roads is not about building roads in front of farmers’ homes, but building roads between landlords’ homes and the main square.

Is this really for the convenience of farmers?

No, that is for the convenience of showing off Zhuanghe!

Similarly, building bridges, canals, etc. are all so that farmers can work better, not to provide benefits to farmers!

Because the most fundamental thing is that these guys occupy land in various names!

On this issue, the gentry, country gentry and landlords will not give in at all...

At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, most farmers were homesteaders, owning their own land and their own means of production. However, due to natural and man-made disasters that caused problems in continuous farming, they had to mortgage their farmland to landlords for loans. This kind of loan Although on the surface it is possible to pay off and then redeem one's land, in the actual process it is often impossible to repay the loan sharks, and eventually lose one's land and have to become the landlord's tenant and a tenant farmer.

From this perspective, the tenant farmers should have a sworn feud with these Hedong squires. After all, cutting off people's financial resources is like killing their parents. Landowners not only cut off their financial resources, but also make their parents and children also die. Having lost their freedom, they have become the cattle and horses of landlords for generations.

But here is the interesting thing. When Zhang Xiu asked about these tenant farmers, all the tenant farmers expressed their "love" for their landlords, "spoken" for these squires, and "worried" for these Hedong gentry!

"Lao Langjun Wang is such a good man! ” The old farmer opened his cloudy eyes and said seriously, “Really! 』

He said it very sincerely.

Strictly speaking, Zhang Xiu's attack did make them riot in the night and trample on each other, resulting in many deaths and injuries. Therefore, it is understandable that the old farmers do not think Zhang Xiu is a "good person", but Zhang Xiu cannot understand why they think that Is the so-called Mr. Wang a "good guy"?

"They took your land!" Zhang Xiu stared and said, "Isn't it?" They make you work all day long, and most of the output goes to them, and you can only get very little! 』

"Ah... you don't understand, Mr. Wang has a hard time..." the old farmer said with emotion, "He has to pay taxes for us, do calculations, and do the official labor... all of this costs money." Money... Besides, you have to have a conscience and be considerate of others..."

"conscience? ” Zhang Xiu was stunned!

"That's right!" "The old farmer seemed to have started talking, and the more he spoke, the more fluent he became. "Tell me, if you were to be on Wang Laolangjun's level, wouldn't you still have to collect rent? I don't believe you don't want to rent a house? ! Right, besides, Mr. Wang also needs to eat. If they don't have us to farm the land for him, what will they eat? So they will also be kind to us. This is all mutual and conscience! 』

A tenant farmer is concerned about how the landlord will live?

This really made Zhang Xiu really admire this old tenant farmer.

But this also made Zhang Xiu understand why the general Fei Qian had specially called him over to give him some advice before the war.

Indeed, if Zhang Xiu still thought that these tenants were the same as the refugees before, and then casually gathered these refugees to Emei Mountain, there would inevitably be big problems...

The refugees before were basically self-cultivating farmers in Hedong, so they did not receive the protection of the landlords and gentry. During the first wave of invasion, these tenants hid in the manors of the landlords of the gentry in Hedong. They were not invaded in the first time, and they saw the misery of the self-cultivating farmers, so they more or less developed a "grateful feeling" for the landlords and gentry who "sheltered" them.

After all, in the eyes and hearts of these old tenants, it was Mr. Wang who gave them a bowl of rice and a place to live. As for them being driven out later, it was Mr. Wang who had no choice, right? People should be conscientious...

Zhang Xiu's head was buzzing after hearing this, and naturally the communication could not continue.

He really couldn't understand it, so he wrote a letter to report the situation in Wenxi to Fei Qian...