I don't know how many years ago, the people of Baoding Mansion and Hejian Mansion, which are the main places in the Gyeonggi Plain under the feet of the Son of Heaven, are the most obedient and kind in the country. The folk customs of the Yan and Zhao era have already undergone significant changes with the changes of the times. Even in the late Ming Dynasty, there were very few man-made counter-uprisings.

At this time, even in the Shaanxi area of the late Ming Dynasty, where the burden of famine was heavy, more people were still "An'an was hungry", and only Wang Er, who was the prelude to the peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty, led hundreds of people to deal with the government. Don't talk about Li Zicheng, even Wang Jiaqian hasn't pulled the flag yet.

Therefore, despite the exploitation of the people here, there are still not many people who are willing to "take the risk of "winning food and living in the life of the thief" from the imagination of the thief.

It wasn't until dawn that Zhang Lixin personally sent at least 20 people to personally go door-to-door to coerce and lure them, and only then did there be about 100 people who took risks and greedy for money among the thousands of nearby residents and finally stood up.

"Big brother! Haha, please bow down to my little brother! ”

"Yes! Whether it's going up the knife mountain or going down to the oil pot, a few of our brothers and his mother have broken out of the sky! ”

"From now on, no one will look down on us, if the fuck dares to look down on us, give him some color...

Many nomads from the village, who looked very powerful and had great courage, followed suit.

There are also some people who are not good at words, although they do not seem to be as proud as a prick, but their eyes are hesitant and excited.

Since ancient times, the hidden "spousal exploitation" has been very serious in the countryside, and there are many singles who can't get wives in normal years. In ancient times, when men had polygamy, the phenomenon of men not being able to find wives was even more serious.

In the past, Zhang Lixin, like many people, felt that most of the homeless elements were bad, or that intellectuals despised people like Guo Ah Q. But after more than a year of wandering, I have more understanding of the old lower class society and more thinking, and I am not as "hateful of poverty" as before.

Human nature is different, just like no matter how powerful an army is, everyone cannot be a heroic model. There are hard-working, lazy, brave and cowardly, bullying the weak and fearing the hard, and it is also the instinct to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. If the living environment is full of exploitation, overwork, and deceit, why should everyone be required to be either Yang Bailao or revolutionary?

is like Xiao Sanmao in "Sanmao's Record in the Army", when he dreamed of becoming a hero who killed the enemy on the battlefield of resistance against Japan and was decorated in his dreams, he also dreamed that he became an opium-smoking landlord, which is completely due to the social environment that can be understood with a tolerant attitude.

However, the only thing that relieved Zhang Lixin was that with these hundreds of people standing up, mobilizing more people to come out would have basic manpower.

Shortly after dawn, shortly after noon, more than 1,000 men, women, and children, including more than 350 young men, women, and children, together with the lower-level military households in the camp that had been screened, finally stood up under the "coercion and temptation" of Zhang Lixin and others.

Cheng Hai stood up on the makeshift table and faced a total of more than 30 men, women, and children who were escorted up, obviously not from poor backgrounds, and said according to the draft prepared by Zhang Lixin: "Folks, these people who exploit the people in the farmland, like most of the rich and noble people in the world, have been riding on the heads of the people to and pee for more than a day or two... Today, I'm ... ”

At this time, Cheng Hai looked at Zhang Lixin on the side, and found that Zhang Lixin raised two fingers after weighing and signaling the second option.

In fact, Zhang Lixin thought about it for a long time before: the peasant uprising in northern Shaanxi in history was a desperate rebellion of officials and people, and a few backbones of the army and folk heroes joined in, just like that: the initial combat effectiveness was not as good as the real soldiers in the army like Song Ming.

As far as these folk customs are far inferior to Qindi's tough "twisted melons"? Even if there is a few days of training time, and there is his own pressure formation, but no one is overwhelmed, when facing the real soldiers of the Ming Court, can he insist on facing two breaths of time in the head-to-head hand-to-hand combat without being defeated? If you don't submit the name, I'm afraid it's no score. . .

Cheng Hai continued to say loudly on the table: "Today: I will hand over the fate of these high-ranking old men to you: the real food and clothing parents of those rich and noble, and the real common people who feed all the rich and noble!" Do you know these people? Those who have grievances and hatreds can stand up! ”

According to Zhang Lixin's original idea: it is easy to find a trustee for this kind of public trial. However, if you do this, it will contradict your own advocacy of "clear conscience", "do the right thing", and "process over result". What kind of impact will it have on the values of the entire team in the future? Therefore, Zhang Lixin did not do so in the end. You can influence and lead yourself, but at least there must be procedural justice.

Fortunately, in the end, a soldier in Zhang Lixin's team was able to stand up, and he also had a direct grudge against this general's cronies: "Mother left the country because of this person's coercion!" I'm sure there are many others who have been bullied by these people like me! If you don't stand up today, then our team will really let these people go. Are you really going to do this ... ”

Cheng Hai also remembered Zhang Lixin's advice before, so he said without hesitation: "That's it: I can directly convict this person for Tianxingdao!" But how to sentence is up to you. If any of you feel that this person does not deserve to be punished, take a step forward. If you agree with my proposal: everyone takes a stone from us and takes turns to break that person's bones, then just stand at a distance and acquiesce! How is it? ”

"This..."

For a while, thousands of people didn't know what to say. But after all, no one dares to have other expressions, and when they are accustomed to silence, they can only choose silence...

"Haha! Come on, come on! That's it, everybody! At this time, many homeless people in the four townships also reacted and took the initiative to cooperate with Zhang Lixin and others to send the stones to everyone's hands. In this case, most people feel that Zhang Lixin and others deliberately want to submit their names...

In order to maybe someone fooled and pretended that he couldn't throw it, Zhang Lixin had already thought of it at night. Therefore, a deep pit about one zhang deep was dug long ago, and everyone who got the stone had to throw the stone into the pit.

In this way, more than 120 young people were finally selected through the method of submitting nominations, and they were able to obey Zhang Lixin's arrangement on the surface.

However, when these people knew that the team was not going to slip away as soon as they had eaten the big family and executed the more than twenty culprits, more than a dozen smart people soon slipped away.

In the subsequent labor and initial training of the queue, from Zhang Lixin's initiative to drive away to his own forced departure, more than 30 people who were not suitable for joining the army at all in terms of personality quit the team when they knew that they would not dare and would not be punished.

When Zhang Lixin told the rest of the people through Cheng Hai that not only did he not plan to leave, but he was also preparing to fight a bloody battle with the officers and soldiers who might arrive here in a few days that did not guarantee victory, and it was estimated that two or three percent of the people would be killed by themselves when they were lucky enough to die or flee, and when life and death were uncertain in the future, nearly half of the remaining people chose to leave...

"Why don't you go? Don't you believe we mean what we say? When it was approaching dusk, Zhang Lixin solemnly walked in front of these people in person, looked at the remaining forty-two people who were outside the team and were ready to stay.

"I Yang Tieniu believe in Brother Zhang... Oh no, believe the general! The general is a good man, and he can lead everyone to a peaceful and prosperous world. . . ”

"Yes! He Emperor Zhu was not also born in rebellion back then. I've heard a saying, how do you say it? 'The prince will have a kind of peace of mind'... A man named Li Fugui said with a smile.

Of course, there are some people who are not as good at words as others and seem a bit introverted. He was silent for a long time before he replied: "It is better to die a heroic death than to live a mediocre life." As someone in the general's ranks said: Collect debts for the poor of the whole world...

"In this world, my relatives are dead, and there is nothing to worry about anymore... A young man named Yang Yu'an said.

。。。

Most people who don't have much time to receive enlightenment education can't choose to follow themselves when they face the test of dangerous iron and blood, and this Zhang Lixin has actually expected it a long time ago. Especially in places like Baoding and Hejian, although there were also strong soldiers, they have never been known for their fierce folk customs. However, the deep oppression and even this era that was by no means friendly to the lower classes still existed after all. Even in such a place, there are still about 10% of people who choose to stand up and watch, and can pass the initial simple test, which is enough to make Zhang Lixin feel gratified.

Li Yi, who also had experience in leading troops in battle, did not think too highly of these more than 40 people. Privately whispered to Zhang Lixin: "General, don't report too much hope. I think that more than half of these more than 40 people will not be able to withstand the test of real bloody battles. If you really encounter a tough battle at that time, don't talk about these people, even some people in the team may leave... ”

"I understand this!" Zhang Lixin is not impatient. Because I have long thought seriously: if you want to take a different path, you must be like a certain sentence: "It is better to have a good pear than a basket of rotten pears." "If your core team is too large and mixed, don't say anything else: the concealment and flexibility of the night walk and even the various operations are gone, which is secondary. There is also a natural law of combat effectiveness to develop and reproduce with relatively high quality, not to mention anything else: if there are too many people, then he and Wang Wei and other four people will not be able to master the team more solidly as an officer. . .

For a whole day after conquering the city camped by the Thousand Households of the Tun Guard in the river, the craftsmen who had been captured before were not idle. With the assistance of some experienced people in the team, including Zhang Lixin and even Guo Mugong, in addition to retooling iron tools, preparing more buckshot stone bullets, and manufacturing slightly larger trebuchets, they also used the captured gunpowder to transform about ten "Zhengzi spears" in one day with some preparations.

This kind of "Zhengzi spear" made by Zhang Lixin based on actual combat experience is only seven feet, about two meters and four meters in length, which is the most suitable length for people who do not have much experience in marksmanship. In actual combat, there are often many recruits who are not elite and do not have a firm grip on their guns, and they do not have much attack power when they shoot their guns. And if there is a handle like a bayonet rifle, it is completely different. At the same time, for soldiers who are too poor, they can also tie the front and rear handles between their wrists with small ropes to prevent various possibilities under panic.

However, the above alone is not enough to make Zhang Lixin feel that these more than 40 "small waves and sands" can play a role in the face of a strong enemy in the real sense. Zhang Lixin understands the difference between the "rabble" that has just formed an army and the real sense of decent armament. At least ten or more pairs of armor + a shield to protect the hand of the spear is very important. Even this is not safe, and there is a possibility that it will collapse at the touch of a button. So each of the spears was fitted with at least three "inverted bazookas": like the side barrels of gunpowder rockets of the era. There is a fire rope twist in front, and the lead wire connecting the fingers can be pulled from the back, and you can spray out more than three taels of gunpowder plus two taels of sand and stone chips, and at least extend the attack distance to a foot away from the tip of the spear.

Too weak soldiers, even if there are three nozzles on the gun that can be fired at any time, and there are "weapon guns" that can be pulled backwards and fire at the back, Zhang Lixin did not plan that these people could "decide the victory in hand-to-hand combat", and they could play the most basic role of delay in the opponent's skirmishers.

It was also after Zhang Lixin's death that he was once again in a busy preparation for war, on the first day of the second lunar month, the news of the attack by unknown thieves in the middle of the river also spread to the Fucheng and even the nearby camp dozens of miles away.