Twenty miles northeast of Yangzhou City, the small silver village is next to the canal.

Jiang Yougui, who was still free and easy ten days ago, never thought that as a village warrior, he would not only have to work with the officials and soldiers to prevent and block bandits, but also do such hard work as collecting soil and filling up rivers. The grain that the governor of Nanhe asked the local officials to help raise was still far away in Shao Bo, and he didn't know when it would arrive, but he was hungry but didn't dare to throw down the shovel to rest, so he could only continue digging hard.

"Second brother, I'm really hungry, do you want to stop for a while?" Xiao Liu, who had only supported the boat before being a Xiangyong, couldn't dig anymore, so he put down the shovel and said with a bitter face.

Jiang Yougui looked up at the Eight Banners soldiers who were riding on horses and supervising the work in the distance, stretched out his hand and said, "You think I'm not hungry, you think I don't want to rest, look at my hands, I have grinded several bubbles, don't you do it?" ”

Xiao Liu was lazy in the morning, he received a few whips, and when he mentioned those Eight Banner soldiers, he was angry, and bent down to turn his back to the Eight Banner soldiers in the distance and said: "Second brother, there are only six of them, there are so many of us, what is there to be afraid of?" ”

"What is there to be afraid of, it's easy to say!"

"It was meant to be!"

"There are only six here, what about the rest of the place? Surrounded by officers and soldiers, don't you want to live? Jiang Yougui said this, but in fact, he was depressed in his heart, secretly thinking that even if he couldn't do private salt trading, it was better to beg for food than to be such a villager.

Xiao Liu didn't know what he thought, and couldn't help but say: "Second brother, Yangzhou and Yizhen are occupied by bandits, and there are either bandits or officers and soldiers in the south, and there are no bandits in the north." Why don't we go north and continue to buy and sell salt, why do we have to come and suffer this sin? ”

A villager who was also hungry and tired echoed: "Yes, second brother, if you can't get salt from Huainan, we can go to those salt farms in Huaibei to collect it!" ”

"Collecting salt is costly, how can you collect it if you don't have it?" Jiang Yougui asked rhetorically, and then said: "Even if you have the capital to collect salt, you must have a ship." So many ships have been robbed by bandits, why don't you go to the bandits and snatch the boat back? ”

"But ......"

"But what," Jiang Yougui straightened up, rubbed his waist, picked up the shovel and said: "Even if you have the capital and the ship, you can transport the salt out of the salt field when you receive it, and who can you sell the salt to?" We used to take the waterway, and all the salt was sold to Huguang, and the north was the territory of the Cao Gang, so if we really transported the salt, even if the government didn't care about the Cao Gang, we wouldn't let us sell it. ”

Speaking of the Cao Gang, a villager said in a low voice: "Second brother, I heard that Li Zhaoshou is reversed." ”

"There's this."

"He can oppose us as much as he can, this day is really not human, those officials really don't treat us as people, anyway, they can't live anymore, it's better to go to the bandits."

As he was talking, a familiar voice came from behind him: "Surrender bandits, you can figure it out!" ”

Xiang Yong was startled, and hurriedly turned around and said, "Mr. Xu, that's what I said." We work and they watch, we are hungry and they have big fish and meat, and they don't let people complain! ”

Xu Lequn, who had just returned from Shao Bo's grain transport, raised his hand from afar to say hello to the Eight Banners, and immediately motioned to the brothers who picked up the soil to carry the grain on the boat ashore, and hurriedly went to find firewood to make a fire to cook rice, while taking out a notice from his arms, spreading it out in front of everyone and saying: "Do you think that if you defect to the bandits, the bandits will treat you as human beings?" ”

"Mr. Xu, what kind of notice is this, what do you mean by that?"

This is the proclamation of the bandits, which was brought out by the people in the city a few days ago when they escaped from the chaos, this proclamation is called the "Regulations on Treating the People", written clearly in black and white, no money, that is, no land and silver and grain, but the people's fields are all the fields of the king, and the grains are all collected and all belong to the king. Every year, a large mouth of rice is given a stone, and a small bite is halved for health preservation. ”

Xiang Yong, who was complaining about defecting to the Taiping Army just now, reacted and muttered: "What is this that doesn't need money, what kind of heavenly king does the harvest belong to them, a strong man only gives one stone of rice a year, which is more than the government receives!" ”

"I just knew." Xu Lequn looked at the crowd, and then said: "Also, the proclamation says that 'the men and women born also choose the king of heaven', that is, they all have to believe in foreign religions, and they are not allowed to worship the Bodhisattva and worship their ancestors." He also said, 'The shop will be bought and sold as usual, but the profit and interest will belong to the king of heaven, and the people will not be allowed to use it, so that the soul will ascend to heaven, otherwise it will be an evil heart, a demon, and the soul will not be able to ascend to heaven, and its sin will be great.' ”

Jiang Yougui also cried and laughed and said: "Even the principal and interest are all theirs, so what kind of business are they doing?" ”

"Not only do the profits and profits of trading belong to them, but the people in the city not only want 'everyone to know the king of heaven, return to the king of heaven, fight the country together, and share the immortal blessings', but also issued an order that 'men and women will be separated, and all workers will return to the line', that is, men and men live together, and women and women live together, whether they are husband and wife or not, they must be separated, and whoever dares to be together will violate their 'heavenly rules', and they will be lit with sky lanterns."

"This is too unkind, so who will submit to their heavenly king?"

"So they are unpopular, so they can't become the climate," Xu Lequn knew that these people who were used to being free and comfortable, liked to drink wine in big bowls and eat meat in large chunks, had never done such work, and had never suffered such hardships, and said step by step: "Brothers, the third master asked me to take the big guy to the imperial court, and naturally there is a reason for the third master." Do you believe that Yangzhou was occupied by bandits, Yizhen was occupied by bandits, and the waterways were blocked by bandits. ”

"Mr. Xu, this is the reason, but ......"

"It's nothing, I know the big guy has been wronged, but I have to endure it." Xu Lequn put away the Taiping Army proclamation that he wanted from Yang Yizeng, looked back at the canal and said, "It was not Lord Yang who asked us to fill the river, but Lord Qishan, the minister of the Qin Mission. Lord Qishan was worried that the bandits would go north along the river, not only to fill in the river, but also to dig up all the dams in the south and drain all the water into the river. ”

"Mr. Xu, do you want to go to the capital?" A villager asked in surprise.

Xu Lequn sat down and confirmed: "Didn't the bandits in Yangzhou City divide their troops a few days ago, the news is clear, and it is Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang, old thieves in Guangxi, who led the troops out of the city. ”

"They're going for the emperor!"

"It doesn't matter who they are rushing to, it's not a bad thing for us anyway, they divide their troops, there won't be many bandits in Yangzhou City, whether they can hold the city or not, let alone go out of the city to fight, we don't have to worry about being sent by Lord Yang to fight with them, just help fill the river."

"Fill the river and we'll have nothing to do?"

"Well, block this section of the six estuaries that lead to the canal, and we can go back to Shao Bo." Xu Lequn smiled, and then changed his words: "Yougui, I also heard the news, our enemy has been promoted again, and now it is no longer Taizhou Zhoutong, but the deputy of the Lianghuai Salt Transportation Division. ”

"The surname Han is the deputy of Shangyun, but what about the surname Zhang?"

"Zhang Guangcheng has not been promoted, and he is still in Taizhou."

"What about his surname Han being the deputy of Shangyun, he has a kind of don't be met by me!"

Xu Lequn understood Jiang Yougui's feelings, after all, his own brother died in the hands of Han Xiufeng and Zhang Guangcheng, but thinking of what Lord Yang said, he had to remind: "You can meet sooner or later, but you can't act rashly after you meet." Believe me, you have to think long term about helping your brother get revenge. ”

Jiang Yougui gritted his teeth and asked, "Mr. Xu, why can't you act rashly?" ”

"It is said that he is rebuilding the salt fishing camp, others don't know what we know, he already has a group of village warriors under his command, and he has also competed with bandits at Wanfu Bridge, how can the salt fishing camp be rebuilt, as long as he let his original villagers change into the clothes of the salt fishing camp."

"He has soldiers, and we have hundreds of brothers!"

"He is not only an official of the court of Wupin, but also an officer and soldier of the imperial court. But what about us, our top belts are all donated, all the errands are temporarily assigned by Lord Yang, and the brothers are all unjustifiable villagers, and fighting with them is a rebellion, and even if Lord Yang wants to help us speak, he will not be able to open his mouth. ”

"Then what should I do, is it possible that this sea of blood will not be avenged?"

"Revenge is naturally to be avenged, but it is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years, we have to think long-term, and we must not act recklessly." Xu Lequn patted him on the arm, and said in a low voice: "Lord Yang said, as long as we do our errands well, as long as we can make one or two military exploits, he will not only be able to promote us as real court officials, but also let us rebuild the Hebiao Middle Camp just like Guo Peilin asked the surname Han to rebuild the salt fishing camp!" ”

"What about the original river standard camp?"

"The original green battalion soldiers in the middle camp ran out as early as when the bandits invaded Yangzhou, and there was only one Du Si and one Qianzong left, but they were all dismissed."

Although Jiang Yougui was not a court official, he had been dealing with the officers and soldiers for so long before, and he not only knew that the river was marked with the middle camp, the left camp, the right camp, the Honghu camp, the reedang camp and the Qinghe City garrison camp, but also knew that the middle camp was the largest and most important battalion under the governor of Nanhe.

Thinking that he had the opportunity to be a court official with the right rules, and he didn't have to take the surname Han like now, Jiang Yougui clenched his fists and asked: "If the bandits don't leave the city, where will we go to kill the bandits?" ”

Xu Lequn said meaningfully: "If you want to fight for military achievements, you don't have to kill bandits. ”

"How can you fight if you don't kill the bandits?"

"The court not only wants to suppress bandits, but also to suppress bandits, and those bastards of the Cao Gang are not only doing mischief on the canal, but now they are also pulling flags and rebelling. Eat persimmons and pick soft pinch, and we will take them as long as we have the opportunity. ”

Jiang Yougui reacted: "Clean up Li Zhaoshou first?" ”

Xu Lequn said coldly: "If you want to talk about revenge, there are more brothers of the Salt Gang who died in the hands of him Li Zhaoshou than in the hands of Han Xiufeng and Zhang Guangcheng. The third master cleaned him up earlier, but he couldn't find a chance. Now that he has rebelled, we have voted for the imperial court, and we can justifiably exterminate him. Didn't he ask the third master to give an explanation, and wanted my Xu Lequn's head, I wanted to see who wanted who's head! ”