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"So, you attack the villages along the river, kill a few farmers and run away?" Zhao Han was extremely angry.

Zhong Xingpu said: "It was Hu Zhengsong's idea. He said to kill more peasants. Killing the peasants will make them afraid, and those who are alive will not dare to divide the land."

Zhao Han asked, "Who is Hu Zhengsong?"

Zhong Xingpu has no psychological burden for betraying his teammates: "Hu Zhengsong's hometown is in Baishui Village, Luling County, and his family's land has also been divided. He also wants to lead troops to attack the villages and towns in Luling County at night, but the distance is too far, and others are afraid that they will not be able to return. Come on, just cross the river and kill a few."

"Does Hu Zhengsong still have family members in Luling County?" Zhao Han asked.

"Yes," Zhong Xingpu replied, "his father, his mother, and his two nephews all stayed in Luling County, and each left twenty acres of land."

"This is the landlord who volunteered to donate the land," Zhao Han said to the people around him, "Immediately send an order to Baishui Village to send all the Hu family's males over the age of 12 to burn lime in the mountains. The female relatives are in the town Labor reform, the children are brought up by the nursing home!"

Zhong Xingpu became more and more frightened when he heard it, trembling all over, and frantically kowtowed: "Your Majesty, spare your life, Your Majesty, spare your life!"

Zhao Han asked, "How many soldiers are there in Jishui County?"

Zhong Xingpu said: "There are more than a thousand brave people in the village, all of whom are slaves and sons of good families."

"How long have you practiced?" Zhao Han asked again.

"Thousands of brave men were recruited one after another," Zhong Xingpu replied, "some of them practiced for two months, and some only practiced for a few days."

Zhao Han asked again: "Who is the leader?"

Zhong Xingpu said: "Zhou Ruixu, last year he was the doctor of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and this spring Ding You went home to observe the funeral."

"Who is Zhou Mengyang?" Zhao Han asked.

Zhong Xingpu replied: "It's his clan uncle who died of illness last year."

Li Banghua recommended several talents to Zhao Han, including Zhou Mengyang.This person is an expert in water conservancy. In view of the mess of water conservancy across the country, he specially compiled a book called "Preparation for the Ministry of Water", which has become a must-have book for water conservancy officials in Ming Dynasty.

It's a pity that Zhou Mengyang died of illness, and his nephew and grandson took the lead in fighting against Zhao Han.

Zhao Han waved his hand: "Bring these people back to Jishui for trial."

"Your Majesty, spare your life, Your Majesty, spare your life!" Zhong Xingpu was dragged out, already so frightened that his liver and gallbladder were tearing apart, tears and snot poured out.

Zhao Han smiled and said, "Leave this person behind."

Zhong Xingpu lay limp on the ground, his crotch was already wet, lying there like a dog, looking at Zhao Han.

Zhao Han smelled urine, frowned and said, "Take it out and watch!"

Only one of us is left in the house.

Huang Yao knelt down and said, "General Town, I have neglected my duty, and I request punishment."

Zhao Han asked: "Where did you neglect your duty?"

Huang Yao replied: "More people should be sent to guard the river."

"It's not your fault," Zhao Han said, shaking his head. "In Jishui, the riverside line is very long. How can your people defend against it? Go back and tell Chen Maosheng and Xiao Huan to form the Jishui Farmers Association as soon as possible. Mobilize Jishui The local farmers, every family and every household have people watching by the river. Whether it is day or night, even children can watch the river. We have to rely on the people, and the people are the foundation."

"My subordinates will remember." Huang Yao said.

Zhao Han frowned and said, "Stand up, don't just kneel at every turn. If you make a mistake, you make a mistake. Why do you kneel? By the way, leave 500 people in Jishui, and the rest will follow me to attack the city."

"Siege?" Huang Yao asked suspiciously.

Zhao Han suddenly stood up: "Has killed hundreds of farmers, is this the case?"

Two days later, Zhao Han personally led more than 2000 soldiers and came to Jishui County on the opposite bank by boat.The navy of Gujianshan also completely blocked the pier.

Feng Zhang, the county magistrate, was so frightened that he almost surrendered in fright.

But this guy can't be in charge. Now it's those gentry with country courage who are in charge of the affairs.

As soon as Zhao Han landed, a large group of people rushed over.

"Mr. Zhao, you have to decide for us!" Countless people knelt in front of Zhao Han, and more and more people came to kneel.

Zhao Han turned his head and asked Zhong Xingpu, "What's going on?"

Zhong Xingpu bent down and replied: "Dozens of gentry fled to Jishui County with their whole families, money, food and valuables. It is not safe outside the city. They must live in the city. There must not be enough houses in the city..."

There are not enough houses in the city, so ordinary people will be driven out of the city, and they will temporarily rent their houses for a few months!

The people in front of them are all ordinary residents of the city. They were living a good life, but suddenly they became homeless.

Zhao Han said to Huang Yao: "In the houses that are far from the city, knock on the door from door to door, and let the refugees share a room with them. The rent is sufficient, and we will rent the house with the money. Anyone who makes trouble will be arrested."

Huang Yao immediately led the troops into action. In fact, it was the mission officers accompanying the army who actually did the work.

Above the city tower, the gentry and the brave are observing the enemy's situation.

Zhou Ruixu wondered, "What are the bandits doing?"

Li Chun'an looked at it for a while, then sighed and said, "We are resettling the common people."

Everyone was speechless, and those with a little conscience felt panicked on their faces.

The people these rebels are resettling are the ones who were driven out of the city by them.There are dozens of gentry, all big landlords, a large family, and countless money, food and goods.

If the people are not driven out of the city, where should they live?

Many gentry still feel aggrieved. They used to live in luxurious mansions, but now they can only live in ordinary houses.And in order to store the brought food, many houses were piled up, two or three people had to live in one house, what a miserable day.

Zhou Ruibao was at a loss at the moment, he is really a good official, in order to help the victims in Sichuan, he lost all his black hats.

It was not his idea to attack and slaughter tenants at night.Under the excitement of the crowd, Zhou Ruibao could only follow the crowd, but when he really killed people, he completely lost his mind and killed many farmers with his own hands.

After killing and returning to the city, Zhou Ruibao calmed down again and couldn't sleep for several nights.

His heart was tormented until he was haggard, and his whole body lost weight.Now that the thieves are actually resettling the common people, Zhou Ruibao's three views suddenly burst, he doesn't know what's wrong with this world.

Hu Zhengsong's face was grim, and he held the hilt of his sword and said: "Brother Zhou, the bandits dared to divide their troops and spread into the streets and alleys, why don't they take the opportunity to go out of the city and make a surprise attack?"

Zhou Ruixu shook his head and said, "Defending the city is paramount. We have enough money and food to last until the governor leads troops to rescue us."

Although there were some bastards outside the city, they were quickly suppressed by soldiers.

With the persuasion of the missionary officer, the rent was paid enough, and the residents outside the city were willing to vacate their houses and let the refugees in the city live with them.

Everything turned out to be orderly. Many of the refugees who had houses to live in spontaneously turned to Zhao Han and planned to help attack the city with simple weapons.They didn't want anything else, just to rush into the city, take back their own houses, and kill those bastards!

Seeing the people volunteering to join the army, Zhou Ruibao was completely disheartened. He couldn't figure out what he was doing these days.

Returning home in a daze, it was an ordinary small courtyard, now occupied by Zhou Ruibao.

The several rooms in the east wing are all piled with money, food and goods, which are the savings of several generations of the Zhou family.There are also a few confidant house slaves who did not go out to guard the city, and are all guarding the house at the moment.

"Bao'er, are the bandits really going to attack the city?" Mother Zhou came to the courtyard with a face full of horror, supported by her maid.

Zhou Ruibao comforted: "Mother, don't panic, thieves won't be able to break in."

After talking for a while, Zhou Ruibao returned to the bedroom, retreated from the servant girl, and sat alone in a daze.

Zhou Ruibao murmured to himself: "Confucius said to achieve benevolence, Meng said to take righteousness, only when righteousness is exhausted, so benevolence is the best. What have you learned from reading the books of sages and sages? From now on, the common people have almost nothing to be ashamed of."

This is Wen Tianxiang's "Desperate Words".

Zhou Ruibao smiled bitterly: "You have no shame at all? Do you have no shame?"

Zhou Ruibao felt that the mob was wrong and should not rob the landlord's property.At the same time, I also feel that the gentry are wrong and should not occupy the houses of the residents.I even regretted the night raids and massacres of farmers, and I was red-eyed myself, and I have been in torment all the time since then.

Nothing is right, but what is right?

Zhou Ruibao suddenly studied ink and picked up a pen, and wrote a suicide note, mainly telling his younger brother to take care of his family.

Then, he took off his belt and hanged himself.

Since the collapse of the Three Views, Zhou Ruibao has long been heartbroken, and what was alive before was nothing but walking corpses.

The next day, outside the city.

Zhao Han used semi-coercive means to persuade the residents who were closer to the city wall to pay them money and food, and then asked the residents to move out before demolishing their houses.

Seeing that the rebels were demolishing houses, it was obvious that they were preparing to attack the city, and the gentry and village braves in the city were even more frightened.

However, they still did not dare to go out of the city to attack and kill. They only threw rolling stones and logs to delay the demolition of houses by the rebels.

The gentry quarreled, some said to stick to it, some said to attack at night, and some said to kill directly.There were too many people leading them, no one could hold the scene, and they even argued endlessly over which section of the city wall to defend—Zhao Hanwei wanted to defend the missing section of the city wall.

night.

Li Musheng tried hard to persuade: "Brother, this county can't be defended anymore. When the rebels finish demolishing the houses, they will build siege equipment. Governor Li's reinforcements may not come until next year, so what's the matter with our Xiangyong?" Let’s open the door and offer the city. Uncle is a high-ranking official of the rebels, and the rebels seem to be able to accomplish things. We all go to serve the rebels, and we will be rich and prosperous in the future.”

"Your father is the head of the Department of Literature and Selection of the Ministry of Officials," Li Chun'an said with a sneer, "such an important position, how dare you follow a thief?"

Li Musheng said in a low voice: "This is the life of the whole family. I can only... I can only be sorry for my father." Suddenly, Li Musheng became excited again, "I sent my slaves to the capital last year, and I also wrote a letter to ask Jiangxi to inspect the censor. , but the imperial court didn’t take Zhao thief seriously. If the imperial court paid attention to it early, how could Zhao thief become so big?”

Li Chun'an sarcastically said: "You don't want a father, but I still want a father. My father is the prime minister of Dali Temple!"

Li Musheng sarcastically said: "In your eyes there is only father, and no mother and grandmother? Once the rebels break through the city, the whole family will die, and the whole family will perish! Can these village braves defend the city? Before the bandits attacked, one by one would die I was scared to death. Besides, one day when the villages were attacked at night, our boats and cannons scattered and were washed downstream by the river, without killing a single farmer. We didn’t have blood on our hands, and we made great contributions to the city, and our uncle was The anti-thief official will definitely be reused by the Zhao thief in the future!"

"I'll think about it again." Li Chun'an was also torn between whether he should have his own father, or his mother and grandmother.Of course, there is also his own life.

"What else are you thinking about?" Li Musheng asked anxiously, "If this continues, the rebels will attack the city, and the whole family will be wiped out!"

Li Chun'an's head hurt from the words, he hesitated for a long time and stomped his feet: "That's all, that's all!"

For the sake of the people, father, you go to die.

Chapter 136 [Saturation Dedication]

Outside the city, barracks.

Liu Fang, the government secretary, walked into the tent and handed a letter to Zhao Han: "General town, urgent report from Fucheng."

Zhao Han opened the letter, read it and put it down, frowning thoughtfully.

Everyone didn't dare to speak out, thinking that something big had happened in Fucheng.

Zhao Han thought for a while, and seeing the serious atmosphere in the account, he smiled and said, "What are you doing?"

Xiao Huan couldn't help asking: "But there are people in Fucheng who are in chaos?"

"It's not that people are in chaos," Zhao Han sighed. "It's that many homeless people are farmers who lost their land and went to the city. They heard that they can divide their fields, and now they are clamoring to go back to the countryside. Once these people leave, the city will be destroyed." If it is paralyzed, the pier may not even find a coolie."

Xiao Huan immediately smiled and said: "Congratulations to the town, congratulations to the town!"

"Speak if you have something to say, fart if you have something to say, you don't have to f*ck around me." Zhao Han couldn't help laughing and cursing.

Xiao Huan quickly said: "The homeless people in the city are eager to return to their hometowns. Don't they all want the general town, thinking that the general town can conquer the country? This is what the people want!"

"Congratulations to the town, congratulations to the town!" Civil and military officials shouted one after another.

Zhao Han was not in the mood to accept their flattery, because he said: "Cities around the world rely on homeless people to operate. Many homeless people have multiplied in cities for generations. Although they have no household registration, some are hawkers, some are coolies, some are The city cannot do without them. These people are clamoring to go back to the village to divide the land, and it is not good to agree, and it is not good to not agree. This is a big problem."

Xiao Huan also became serious, and thought carefully: "It's better to issue two types of household registration, one for urban household registration and the other for rural household registration. Only rural household registration can divide the land."

Zhao Han shook his head and said: "One person's wisdom is short, and everyone's strengths are considered. This matter needs to be brainstormed and discussed in detail in a future meeting. Today, let's discuss how to attack the city."

Huang Yao said: "Jishui County is so big, how can more than 1000 township braves defend it? First pretend to attack a few places, and then send people to attack other places and beat them down!"

"That would definitely cause a lot of casualties," Zhao Han said.

"How can anyone survive in a war?" Huang Yao muttered.

Zhao Han smiled, he was not afraid of death, but he felt it was worthless to die in a siege.

Jishui County is even more difficult to attack than Ji'an Prefecture.

To the west is the Ganjiang River, and to the south is the Enjiang River. The terrain outside the city is very narrow.Fortunately, the defenders did not have bows and arrows, otherwise they would not be able to display their troops at all. In that case, they would have to land and attack from a ship.

The east side is still close to Taiping Mountain. If there are three thousand regular troops in the city, two thousand will be used to defend the city, and one thousand will form a stronghold at the foot of the mountain. .

During the reign of Zhengde, a city was built here, and the earth wall became a masonry wall.

In the second year of Tianqi, urns were built outside the city gates, making it impossible to invade from the city gates.

Really, even if there were 5.5 regular troops in the city, Zhao Han would not dare to show off his might.The city wall here is 4.6 meters high and [-] meters thick, which is more terrifying than the city wall of Fucheng. No wonder the gentry fled here!

It's just a county seat, so it's necessary to make it so luxurious?

"Can I... a villain talk?" Zhong Xingpu, who was so frightened that he peed his pants, couldn't hold back his desire to commit crimes and make meritorious deeds.

"Let's talk," Zhao Han said with a smile, "Bringing you here for discussion is to let you tell more about the situation in the city."

Zhong Xingpu shrank his head and said: "In fact, there is no need to attack by force, just build siege equipment every day. If you spread the Tianzheng of the rebel army, at most ten days and a half months, someone will open the door to offer the city."

"Why?" Xiao Huan asked.

Zhong Xingpu explained in detail: "There were 28 gentry families who fled into the city. Each family had at least seven or eight people, and as many as two or 30 people, with maids and servants, and money, food and goods accumulated by several generations. There are more than 1000 township braves, and most of these township braves are sons of good families, and the whole family fled to the city, and they don't know how the rebel army is doing."