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"Not in harmony?" Xiao Huan asked.

"It's not just that the hearts of the people are not in harmony," Zhong Xingpu said. "Tens of thousands of people with their families and children poured in at once. These days, there are constant disputes every day. We only need to surround the city. The gentry and the rich have enough food, but the city The small and medium-sized people are suffering, and the grain merchants will definitely take the opportunity to raise prices. There are also vegetables and meat, which cannot be transported in."

Zhao Han already understood.

The enemy in the city is the reactionary forces headed by 28 gentry families and supplemented by more than 1000 good families.Not only did they come by themselves, but they also brought their families with them, and they were even accompanied by servants. The total population of all kinds was tens of thousands.

The gentry couldn't live a hard life, and the good families followed suit. Tens of thousands of people couldn't be resettled, so they simply occupied the magpie's nest and drove many residents out of the city.

Why do tens of thousands of people escape, but only more than 1000 townships defend the city bravely?

Because they brought too much property, they not only had to guard against enemies outside the city, but also had to watch over their homes to guard against robbery in the city.

It's good that there are no bandits besieging the city. Once the city is besieged, all conflicts will erupt inside.Especially the original residents of the city, those hooligans in the city, have long hated the outsiders in their hearts, and they may set fire to robbery someday.

Moreover, the gentry also had conflicts with each other. In the past, feuds were caused by robbing water and land.

"Then continue to siege the city, and the siege equipment must be stepped up," Zhao Han said with a smile, "You can't just expect chaos in the city."

Two days later, the city began to run out of supplies.

What is missing?

Firewood!

As you can imagine, the whole city was cut off from gas supply by Zhao Han.

Some residents who did not have enough firewood reserves began to dismantle the door panels to cook on fire, and one door was enough for them to burn for several days.

There were gangsters making trouble one after another, Zhou Ruixu simply distributed money to recruit soldiers, and organized all the jobless people in the city into a city defense army, and the city defense force was close to [-] at once.

Seeing that there are more and more guards on the city wall, instead of worrying, Zhao Han became happier.

The 28 gentry commanded the bravery of the country, which was already chaotic enough, and now they are temporarily recruiting soldiers in the city-don't they die fast enough?

"Speak up!" Zhao Han ordered.

More than a dozen missionary officers, holding paper trumpets, stepped forward in turn to shout.

"Old cousins ​​in the city, don't give your life to the landlord. How much food do you get as soldiers? Mr. Zhao is here, everyone can share the land!"

"Listen, brothers and sisters. Mr. Zhao used to be a slave, and Mr. Zhao's soldiers are called Nuerjun. Mr. Zhao said that no more slaves are allowed in the future. As long as you open the city and surrender, the slaves can return to the village and distribute them. Tian. For those who are willing to join the army, Mr. Zhao’s personal soldiers are also recruiting people, and they will be given good rice for a month and a half stone!"

"Mr. Zhao said that the night raids and killing of peasants a few days ago only killed the chief culprit, not the soldiers!"

"Listen, good families in the city. Some of you are small landlords, and some are self-cultivating farmers. Some of you come from big clans, but you can only get monthly money, and you have no land at all. Help the big landlords fight, and you can exchange for What? Mr. Zhao will not divide your fields, but will also reduce your taxes and taxes, and will not charge any exorbitant taxes in the future!"

"..."

As the main force for defending the city, the morale of the more than 1000 townspeople was instantly shaken.

What is a good family?

In fact, they are owner farmers and small landlords, and only a few come from large landlord families who have not yet separated.

They were brainwashed by the big landlords, saying that the thief Zhao had come and wanted to confiscate everyone's land, and they would be killed to divide the land, so they fled to the county with the gentry and their families.

Since Zhao Han doesn't divide their fields, and wants to cut taxes and taxes, and slaughtering farmers is only to punish the culprits, then they are still guarding the city?

Perhaps, a well-known son of a good family is unwilling to be a thief for the sake of the imperial examination.But those without fame have no psychological burden, and they are even more afraid of being killed by rebels after breaking through the city.

As for the newly recruited young men in the city, they are even more eager to move.

They belonged to the local residents of the county and joined the army purely for money.If you can go to the countryside to divide the fields, the military pay given by the gentry is nothing!

"Don't listen to rumors," Zhou Ruixu yelled hastily, "The rebels are cunning, they keep their promises, once the city is broken, the rebel army will kill everything in the city!"

The other gentry also restrained their subordinates one after another, and they just said a few words back and forth, saying that the words of the rebels were not credible.

However, the defenders on the tower couldn't help pricking up their ears, wanting to hear what the rebels had to say.

Anyway, there is nothing to lose, and there is no money to listen to it.

"Listen up, old cousins. Mr. Zhao has come to Fucheng twice, and the south of the city is still bustling. Mr. Zhao has kept his word and never looted and burned. The homeless people in Fucheng are all waiting for their land to be distributed!"

"We are teachers of benevolence and righteousness. The residents who were driven out of the county were all resettled by Mr. Zhao. The houses built near the city, Mr. Zhao demolished and attacked the city, and there was compensation for that. You can see it even if you are not blind. .”

"..."

The city guards looked at each other, wanting to find out what other people were thinking, but they didn't dare to defect to the enemy first.

The people who were resettled and demolished houses were also organized by the missionary officers to appeal to the city about their situation, which further enhanced the credibility of the propaganda.

Xiao Huan praised: "The general town's plan is brilliant, attacking the city is the bottom, attacking the heart is the top, how can the soldiers in the city have the heart to resist?"

"Most of them were originally deceived," Zhao Han said with a smile, "Except for those big landlords, how could I have treated good families badly?"

East of the city.

Li Musheng said in a low voice: "Brother, do it. If you don't do it, these brave men will rebel."

"Wait a little longer," Li Chun'an said, "when the rebels start attacking the city, we will turn our backs, and we will surely seize the door and sacrifice the city with ease."

Li Musheng said: "Looking at this, the rebels haven't planned to attack the city yet, and they probably will shout at the city for several days. I'm afraid that if they shout and shout, Xiangyong will sacrifice the city spontaneously, and we will lose the merit of dedicating the city by then." .”

"Wait a little longer, wait a little longer." Li Chun'an felt that it was too dangerous, for fear that half of Xiancheng would be killed by the gentry.

"Kill it!"

Suddenly there was a shout of killing from the north of the city.

Li Musheng was shocked: "Brother, I'm afraid the Liu family has dedicated the city, we are already one step too late!"

"These bastards surnamed Liu were still gnashing their teeth at the rebels yesterday." Li Chun'an was furious.

"Don't talk so much, it's important to dedicate the city to grab credit." Li Musheng said anxiously.

While they were talking, a section of the city wall near them, the gentry of the Zou family suddenly shouted: "My sons and daughters, the court is not benevolent and unrighteous, and they all follow me!"

The Zou family is also a big family. There is an ancestor named Zou Shouyi, Wang Yangming's favorite disciple, the Jishui Zou family moved from Anfu County.

Li Musheng became even more anxious, and suddenly raised his sword and shouted: "My uncle is a rebel...he is Mr. Zhao's high-ranking official. Come and kill the official and rebel with me. From now on, he will definitely seal his wife and son!"

In a blink of an eye, three of the 28 gentry families defected, all of whom were not stained with the blood of the peasants that night.

These guys are not sincerely following the thief, but out of the consideration of continuing the family.At this moment, the morale of the army is floating, how can they defend the city?Then simply do it in advance and save your own people.

The three gentry families in the area, in terms of quantity, naturally cannot beat the remaining 25 families.

However, there were more than 1000 recruits temporarily recruited in the city, and they turned against each other under the leadership of a few gangsters and the head of the workshop.

The soldiers who turned against the city have surpassed the soldiers who defended the city!

Zhong Xingpu rushed out of the city in a hurry, snatched the cardboard trumpet from the missionary officer, and shouted loudly: "Father, brother, I am Xingpu. I have already surrendered. Hurry up anyway, don't let the Zhong family have The catastrophe of extermination!"

Looking at the messy city wall, Zhao Han smiled and said, "Siege the city."

Chapter 137 [Master]

Zou Mengyan charged forward with his sword and shouted: "Jin Qing, you are rebelling too!"

Liu Tongsheng looked around in a daze. The rebels hadn't reached the city yet, but more and more gentry turned their backs.Even the Xiangyong recruited by himself shouted "Kaicheng" one after another, and a few Xiangyong even surrounded him.

"Clan brother (Master), turn it back!"

The tribe and slaves surrounded Liu Tongsheng. If he dared to say no, he would be tied up immediately.

Most of these tribesmen are small landlords and self-cultivating farmers, and only one is a big landlord.These house slaves are also waiting to surrender to the thieves to divide the land.They were just thinking about their old relationship, they didn't take action directly, they wanted to coerce Liu Tongsheng to lead the crowd to defect.

"That's it, that's it!"

Liu Tongsheng, who was supposed to be the champion in three years, was forced to throw his sword at the ground at this moment. Now he can only save his family first.

The Zou family, the Liu family, and the Li family all defected and quickly occupied an entire section of the city wall. There was also a Liu family defecting to the north.As long as they are not attacked, they will not continue to attack. They are all villagers, who is willing to fight to the death.

Therefore, don't see the lively fighting everywhere, in fact, the casualties are negligible.

Zou Mengwen's grandfather was Zou Yuanbiao, who was Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials during his lifetime. After his death, he was given the posthumous posthumous title of "Zhongjie" by the Crown Prince Taibao and Minister of the Ministry of Officials.

And Liu Tongsheng is Zou Yuanbiao's student and Tang Xianzu's son-in-law.

Although this group of gentry had conflicts with each other, they formed a huge network of relationships.

Even if they follow the thieves, their minds are not pure, and they have three thoughts: first, if the Zhao thieves can succeed, these gentry will form gangs and become the heroes of the new dynasty; second, if the Zhao thieves are defeated First, these gentry will look for opportunities to jump back and turn around again through the relationship with the court; third, temporarily hold on to the lives of the whole family, and cannot ruin the future of the family.

Even Wang Siren, who was suppressing bandits in Duchang, was a disciple of Liu Tongsheng's (deceased) father.

Liu Tongsheng looked around and found several gentry committing suicide.They all slaughtered farmers with their own hands. They wanted to use their own lives to preserve the continuation of the entire family.

The family is bigger than itself, bigger than the land, bigger than money, bigger than the court!

Zhao Han is not a Tartar, but a rebel, they don't need to ruin the whole family.Only when a foreign race like the Manchu Qing came, many gentry would raise their families to rebel and donate all their properties to recruit soldiers to fight against the Qing.

Of course, there are also those who are greedy for life and afraid of death, and rely on the Qing court to keep their wealth.

For example, in history, Li Musheng’s father, Li Yuanding, defected to the Manchus in the second year after Li Banghua died for his country, and his uncle (Li Banghua) was still alive—the Li family published several ministers in the Qing Dynasty!

"Welcome Mr. Zhao!"

The gates of the city were wide open, the shameless ones knelt down to greet them, and the shameless ones stood and bowed.

There were also some guys whose hands were stained with the blood of the peasants, who wanted to commit suicide but could not do so. They all knelt in front of Zhao Han, hoping to save a dog's life by luck.

Zhao Han stood at the gate of the city, glanced at him and said, "Please stand up and go to my left!"

A total of nine people got up one after another and stood on Zhao Han's left.

Liu Tongsheng wanted to violently assassinate, but he was afraid of hurting his family, so he could only stand in line with resentment.

"I heard there are Jinshi?" Zhao Han said with a smile.

Zhou Ruixu stepped forward with his head held high, cupped his hands and said, "Zhou Ruixu, the word length."

Zhao Han asked, "What job did you do before you returned to your hometown?"

Zhou Ruixu said: "Wenxuan Division Doctor."

"This is a fat vacancy." Zhao Han said with emotion.

Wenxuan of the Ministry of Officials, the doctor of the Ministry of Officials, can appoint local officials below the fourth rank without the approval of the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, including the appointment of prefects from all over the country!

Zhou Ruixu replied: "Ding You returned to his hometown just after taking up his post and before going to work."

This person's official career is bizarre. Before he became the doctor of Wenxuan Division, he was just a small county magistrate.Suddenly, he fell into the eyes of the emperor, and he was personally promoted to be the doctor of Wenxuan Division, but he went home to attend the funeral without sitting on his buttocks.

Zhao Han asked, "You took the lead this time?"

"Yes."

Zhou Ruixu bit the bullet and admitted that, in fact, it was only because of his high official status that he was publicly elected as the leader in name.Including the attack and killing of farmers that night, many gentry discussed it, and then forced Zhou Ruixu to take the lead in sending troops.

Zhao Han asked, "Did you get blood on your hands that night?"

"I did, but I didn't." Zhou Ruixu replied.

Zhao Han scolded: "Say it clearly!"

Zhou Ruixu said: "I can't bear to kill innocent people. But if my soldiers killed more than a dozen civilians, it can be counted as my own killing."

What the hell is this?

Zhao Han said that he only punished the culprit, but the culprit did not kill anyone.

Zhao Han asked those juren again: "Who has blood on their hands?"

One of them came out, glared at Zhao Han and said, "If you want to kill or cut into pieces, it's up to you, just let my people go!"

"Chong!"

Zhao Han drew his saber out of its sheath, a flash of saber light flashed, and Juren fell down.

All the gentry were horrified, this is Ju Ren, who actually said to kill and killed.If it's other rebels, it doesn't matter how many people they kill if there is one person who joins them.

Zhao Han sneered and said, "Don't look at me violently murdering people, I'm helping him, otherwise the whole family will end up in a public trial! Whoever has blood on their hands should stand up and don't force me to interrogate one by one. If you are tried, the whole family will be taken back to the public trial, and the common people will drown you with their saliva!"

Two more gentlemen stood up, and some hid in the crowd trembling.

"Leave your whole body and stop chasing your family members. I, Zhao, will do what I say." Zhao Han said to the two.

Four soldiers quickly stepped forward, strangled the two of them with ropes, and strangled them to death in front of countless people.

This time, the gentlemen were really frightened, and some even lost control on the spot.

"Evil thief, you are so cruel that you kill gentry without any restraint, and you will never want to win the world in this life!" Among the remaining eight Juren, one suddenly yelled.

Zhao Han smiled and said, "What's your name?"