There are not many Wei Han people in Shizhou, and a few families in the Wei Institute are the largest families of the local Han people. Among them, the surnames Liu, Yan and Shuiqiu are crowned.

The ancestors of these three surnames are all from Nanzhili and Zhejiang. Although Shizhou Wei has always been self-governing by the natives, the two serious official cities of Shizhou Wei and Datian Qianhu are mostly made up of outsiders. Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang started in the southeast, so after the founding of the country, there were many local health officials appointed by Jiangdong Sangzi, among whom there were Tong who were also named guard officials. In the year of Yongle, Tong Fu was transferred to the commander of Shizhou Wei and was the ancestor of Shizhou Tong. Later, the hereditary commander of the guard post was promoted to another place because of his military exploits. The three surnames of Liu, Yan, and Shuiqiu were the ones who came to Shizhouwei with Tong Fu.

Liu Xiaohong's father was highly respected, and he occasionally contracted a cold in the past two days and was sick in bed. He also has an elder brother who inherits the family business and makes a living from farming. The parents of Yan and Shuiqiu, who came with him, were all in their fifties.

Although these Han people of Shizhouwei have lived in the "wild land" for a long time and live together with the natives, they do not fall into their own style and are willing to go with the barbarians. On the contrary, in order to show their Han identity and highlight the nobility of Han culture, they fought vigorously against the native families, uncompromising, gathered financial resources and manpower, purchased schools, and propagated education. When it comes to the level of education and the popularization rate of writing, even some counties and towns in the interior of the Central Plains are not comparable.

Since Liu Xiaohong's grandfather, the Liu family has always been the head of the Wei Han people in Shizhou. Not only did he set up teaching, encourage reclamation, and give relief to the poor Han people, but he even organized several battles to thwart the attacks of the natives who were hostile to the Han people one by one. Because of this prestige, although the parents of Yan and Shuiqiu are older, they are still willing to follow Liu Xiaohong, who is more than ten or twenty years younger than him.

The three families are the leaders of the Han family, and of course their style of action is also strictly in accordance with the rules of the Three Platforms and Five Constants, but how can they be humble and polite, regardless of their integrity, and kneel down to greet Zhao Dangshi, who is a rogue?

At the end of the day, it's just self-preservation.

When Deng Zongzhen left, he didn't have time to take away the grain stored in the warehouse, and he was afraid that he would leave behind the enemy, so he simply burned the grain of more than 2,000 stones. As soon as he left, he suffered several big families in the city. As we all know, thieves plunder are nothing more than two things: money and food. If the cangyi is there, the thieves will get it, and it may not be very difficult for the residents in the city. But once it is discovered that the government has nothing, the plundering of the residents will inevitably intensify, and perhaps in anger, they will become angry with the ordinary people and massacre the city.

After Zhao Dangshi's surprise, he also had doubts. When I sat down with Liu Xiaohong and others to chat, I knew that he was painstakingly lonely. Liu Xiaohong is strong-blooded, and according to his nature, he will never stoop down to negotiate with thieves like Zhao Dangshi. But his father, Liu Gong, was not. Since the beginning of their ancestors, the Han families of Shizhouwei have been diligent and conscientious for more than 100 years before accumulating today's weather. This hard work, Liu Xiaohong is young, he can't feel it fully, Liu Gong has worked hard for most of his life, and no one understands it better than him.

Whether a family has a long history of energy and endless growth depends not only on whether the family has outstanding people and glorious lintels, but more importantly, it can understand the current situation and follow the trend. Shizhou Wei's Liu family can be based on a hundred years and flourish, not blindly relying only on toughness, but more often relying on the family's improvisation and flexibility, so that they can perform many dangers.

In Liu Gong's view, Liu's hard work for a hundred years, the family is prosperous, if he is obsessed with loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness, and follows the line of grasshoppers, he will only end up with a ruined family. If everyone's business is ruined, it will not be a plan in the end. The eldest husband can bend and stretch, keep the incense, and there will be opportunities to wash away the shame in the future. What's wrong with the surrender of the enemy? In the Tang Dynasty, Wei Zheng Wei Wenzhen abandoned the hidden prince and descended to Tang Taizong, and finally entered the Lingyan Pavilion and lived through the ages? The former Han Li Zuoche first Zhao Wang Xie, and then returned to the Han Gaozu, which is still known as the people. Therefore, simply following those rotten wood carving insects, once they die, they just lose their lives in vain.

Liu Xiaohong is pure and filial, and under the persuasion of his father, he still took the initiative to welcome Zhao Dangshi in a low voice. It's one thing to meet, it's another thing to have an opinion. In his eyes, Zhao Dangshi is still just a despicable and lowly rogue, and he can only be false and wronged with this generation, and he must not have a deep friendship at all.

Confucianism's prejudices, Zhao Dangshi knew it. No matter how brutal and unkind the officers and soldiers are, they are also officials, and they are trustworthy and reliable; No matter how benevolent a thief is, he is still a thief in the end, and he must not be contacted and believed. These people don't know, not to mention thieves, compared to most of the officers and soldiers, Zhao Ying's military discipline is already excellent. If the army and the army cannot bring good governance and peace to the people, how can they be different from thieves? If you don't distinguish between loyalty and treachery, you will only help officials and thieves to extort money and poison the people. It's a pity that under the influence of Confucianism and Taoism for hundreds of years, most of the Confucian students have lost their self-awareness, in their hearts, there is only one emperor surnamed Zhu in the world, for the old Zhu family, all they can do is to do their best, and all they can do is to do their best, and everything else is false.

Liu Xiaohong made three requests to Zhao Dangshi: First, no innocent people should be killed indiscriminately. 2. Do not humiliate the reader. 3. No arson and plunder. In return, the Liu family and Yan, Shuiqiu, and other families in the city collected 500 stone of rice and grain, and 100 taels of money as the cost of the army.

After the request was made, Liu Xiaohong had no bottom in his heart. The thief in front of him seems to be young, but he exudes a steady and mature atmosphere, and from time to time there is a killing atmosphere, which is very different from the vulgar and formless image in ordinary imagination. Because it was a little unexpected, Liu Xiaohong was unexpectedly apprehensive about him.

To be honest, there are more than 2,000 soldiers in the middle battalion, 500 stone grain, and 100 taels of money is really not enough to stuff the teeth. Zhao Dangshi heard Hou Dagui muttering in a low voice: "Do you want to call Huazi?" ”

He smiled slightly and said, "Mr. Liu is too worried." Although my Zhao Ying has a bad reputation, he is not the kind of vicious person. My Zhao camp kills people, and I have always been only on the battlefield, and I have killed all enemies. Thinking that the people in the city have no enmity with me, how can we poison them? ”

Liu Xiaohong was silent, and the Yanjia parents sitting next to him were busy saying: "Yes, yes, the general is benevolent, and it is the blessing of the people in the city." ”

Zhao Dangshi continued: "A few people don't know. My surname Zhao is a Tubaozi, but he is the most important reader in his life. There are many gentlemen in my camp who have taken the initiative to surrender, all of them are well born, and there is no grievance. If you don't believe me, I'll take a few of you to meet you later. ”

Liu Xiaohong secretly sneered: "What took the initiative to surrender, it sounds good." It's not for you to be taken captive into the camp. Flattery: "This is the best." The general's character, if we can trust it, we won't bother the general. ”

Zhao Dangshi smiled at him and continued: "I, Zhao Ying, am not an unscrupulous army, I behave and do things, and I have always believed in 'doing the right thing for heaven'. I will take the ill-gotten gains of corrupt officials and wicked gentry. I don't want the people's hard-earned money! ”

After Zhao Ying entered Shizhou Wei from central Sichuan, there was not much surplus food, and Zhonglu funded a batch earlier, but it was still a drop in the bucket. Yesterday, He Kewei came to report, saying that the military rations were urgent, and it was only enough for the whole battalion to consume for half a month. Therefore, Zhao Dangshi is not short of food, but knows that just robbing the people in the city will not squeeze out much food. Instead of punching the air, it is better to do a personal favor and stop it completely.

Liu Xiaohong and others didn't know about this kind of inside information, but after listening to what he said, he believed it a little. Among them, the parents of the Yanjia family have done some bad things on weekdays, and when they heard the words "ill-gotten gains", their hearts were shocked, and they were shocked, so they just nodded and said: "What I said was ...... said."

Liu Xiaohong took the opportunity to say: "The general is well aware of the righteousness, and we are ashamed." The general agreed to three articles, and I gave a few small gifts, please laugh and accept it. All the money, food, and things were placed in front of the hospital. ”

Zhao Dangshi knew that if he didn't accept these, Liu Xiaohong and they would always be at ease, not to mention that although the five hundred stone grain was small, it could be used for about ten days, and it was better than nothing, and with a wave of his hand, Hou Dagui went down to the court to settle the settlement.

Taking advantage of the time of settlement, Zhao Dangshi said: "I agreed to a few conditions, and I asked a few people to also agree to one condition, so that it is fair." ”

The head of the Yan family was shocked and stumbled: "Then, those money and food, aren't they ......?"

Zhao Dangshi's eyebrows jumped, and he pretended to be surprised: "Huh? Didn't a few people say that the money and food were just a meeting gift? ”

"This, this ......" The head of the Yan family was speechless, bowing his head down.

Liu Xiaohong saw the scene and immediately said, "Yes, yes." Yangong is old and a little confused. On the one hand, he was rounding the field for the parents of the Yan family, and on the other hand, he thought: "This thief is really cunning, and he is not guarded, and he is in his way." And slowly deal with him. He added, "If I can help, I'll do my best." ”

Zhao Dangshi touched the hard stubble under his chin, and looked around at the people present: "The conditions for the surname Zhao are simple. My camp is new to your land, and it is difficult to figure out a thousand things, so I ask a few families to send some capable children to my camp for guidance. As he spoke, he turned to Liu Xiaohong and the others, "Mr. Liu is talented, and the people in my camp need to be urgent, please condescend to one or two." ”

As soon as these words came out, not only did the Yan family and the Shuiqiu family look at each other, but even Liu Xiaohong, who has always been calm, also looked frightened, saying that he was helping to give advice, who didn't know that he was asking for hostages?

In the face of the Shizhou families in the hall, Zhao Dangshi has his own plans. He knew that Liu Xiaohong and others came to give gifts just to protect themselves. There is no trust between the two sides. At the moment, they seem to be compromised, but they are resigned, and it is really difficult to guess what they will do in private after they go back. A few months ago, in Jianzhou City, there was a matter of officials and clans secretly obstructing, and there was a lesson from the past, and Zhao Dangshi couldn't help but be on guard now.

"If you can't decide on it, I've prepared a banquet here, so it's okay to take your time." Zhao Dangshi seemed to smile and added. The meaning of the words is clear: if you don't send the hostages, don't think about leaving.

Liu Xiaohong was more anxious than anyone else, he never imagined that Zhao Dangshi would come to this hand, and the countless rhetoric he had prepared before was useless at this time. He pleaded in a low voice: "General Meng is wrong to love, but he is only a shallow learner, and it is really difficult to take on a big responsibility. ”

Zhao Dangshi ha: "Mr. is too modest." You are filial piety in the year of Guiyou, and you can be nominated for the laurel list, how can you be 'shallow in learning'? "The year of Guiyou is the sixth year of Chongzhen three years ago, and filial piety is the common name of the people. That year, Liu Xiaohong and several classmates went to Wuchang Mansion to participate in the township test, and the entire Shi Zhouwei was one of them, and he became famous. Then in the spring of the following year, he went to Beijing to take the examination, but he caught up with the military rebellion, missed the trip, and failed the exam, so he had to go home and continue to study for the re-examination.

Liu Xiaohong's heart was tight, and he didn't want to be in a short period of time, Zhao Dangshi had already found out his details, and said urgently: "But my father is sick......

Zhao Dangshi waved his hand: "Your brother is at home, he can take care of your father, and there is no need to worry about it." Then you will come to my camp in peace, and I will be rewarded when the work is done. ”

"......" Liu Xiaohong really wants to cry without tears at the moment, his own life is small, but once he enters the thief camp, he will be turned out in the future, which will affect the exam and career. Zhao Dangshi saw that his delicate and handsome face was slowly pale and bloodless, and he just couldn't see it.

Zhao Dangshi waited for a while, and saw that the five or six people in the hall had not yet come up with a result, so he said impatiently: "It's not early, if you haven't thought of a candidate yet, let's eat first." ”

The people were speechless, neither to say anything about handing over people, nor to agree to eat. At this time, Hou Dagui came from outside, and when he arrived at the door, he said loudly: "Envoy of the capital, there are two thieves who have blatantly violated military regulations and intended to bully women, and they have been punished. As he spoke, his hands shook, and the two objects were thrown to the ground.

The bones of those two things rolled to the hall, and everyone looked at them intently, and they were frightened - the cloak was scattered, and the blood was stained, wasn't it just two heads?

The two heads happened to roll to the feet of the Yanjia patriarch, and he screamed, pulled his feet up like an electric shock, and raised his sleeves to hide his face. The whole person is like a monkey and seems to be curled up on a chair, which is very funny.

Zhao Dangshi stood up, faced everyone, and said loudly: "I promised a few people, I will definitely do it, and I will ask a few people to give face, and I will also do my request!" With their heads held high, everyone in the hall was ashamed of themselves and sat restlessly.

Si Xu, the head of the Shuiqiu family got up and said to Zhao Dangshi: "The old man will write a letter and send someone over." ”

Zhao Dangshi smiled: "This is the Duke of Laoshui Qiu." At the same time, he ordered, "Come, prepare pen and ink!" ”

He took the lead, and the rest of the people also relented one after another, and drafted letters in court. The parents of the Yan family trembled and couldn't use the pen, so they were written by others. After the letter was sent, Zhao Dangshi was kind and pleasant, and invited everyone to have a meal, everyone was broken, how could they still eat, and they refused again and again, but Zhao Dangshi did not force it. Soon, several hostages were delivered. After identifying each other, the parents were able to return home.

Among these hostages, they are all blood relatives of those parents, most of them are children, and the youngest is only a young man. Zhao Dangshi ordered someone to take them down to settle down under house arrest and return to the court. was shocked to see Liu Xiaohong holding a clothes knife and stabbing him in the chest.