Chapter 3 Shannan Shanbei (2 below)

After eating the mutton meatball soup and white flour buns, Zhang Songling officially became an officer of the Iron and Blood Alliance. The main responsibilities are to transcribe various notices for the Lianzhuang Association, as well as to write the speeches needed for formal occasions for the big boss Wei Zhankui, and by the way, to help the hunchbacked master take care of the account books, so as to avoid corruption, embezzlement of public funds and the phenomenon of eating food in the Lianzhuang Association.

The big boss Wei Zhankui has only studied private school for half a year, and the number of words he knows is limited, and he hates to read the speech according to the text the most, so he rarely bothers Zhang Songling, the adjutant. is a hunchbacked teacher, who always pulls Zhang Songling to help him do this and that, and at the same time guides the country with him.

Zhang Songling was originally a very smart young man, and the hunchbacked teacher was very fond of chatting, and he always knew everything about the problems mentioned by Zhang Songling. Therefore, after only a few days of hard work, through the mouth of the teacher, Zhang Songling has already felt the general situation of the team around him clearly.

The full name of this team is, "Iron and Blood Anti-Japanese Association, Defending the Family and Defending the Country, Villager Autonomous Lianzhuang Association", referred to as "Iron and Blood Lianzhuang Association" or "Iron Blood Association". At present, it is composed of four large villages and more than 800 households. There are more than 300 young people in the club, more than 40 backbones, and more than 20 cooks, grooms and other miscellaneous servants.

Except for the four presidents and vice-presidents, the hunchbacked teacher, and a small team of members who took turns patrolling, the other members were scattered in their respective villages to farm. Only when he saw the smoke rising from the old beacon tower on the mountain behind Weizhuang, he carried shovels and wooden sticks and rushed to the empty field in front of the monk temple in Weizhuang to gather.

The big boss of the Iron and Blood Alliance is called Wei Zhankui, who was born in a family of butchers. When he was young, he made a living by killing cattle, slaughtering sheep and cutting pigs for the villagers in the vicinity, because he could always fall into the water with some bloody necks and other people's unwanted livestock before and after the knife, so he was very burly. With his bold personality and brute strength, he successively subdued more than a dozen dilapidated and second-rate people in his village and neighboring villages, and became a local tyrant. And was favored by Wei Shijie, the largest landlord within a radius of 100 miles, and was accepted as the son of the moth.

The second leader of the Lianzhuang Club is called Xiao Guotao, a well-known mason. No matter who starts a house within a radius of more than ten miles, he will be asked to come forward and take a hand. Because he is helpful and soft, he has a nickname called "Little Mao Peach". The meaning is loved by everyone, and anyone who wants to bite can take a bite.

The third master, Lu Fang, and the fourth master, Yang Dashun, are both carpenters. Although he served as the vice president of the Iron and Blood Association, he was actually the mouthpiece sent to the Iron and Blood Society by Luzhuang in the east and Yangzhuang in the south. What really counts is that it is Lu Dahu of Luzhuang in Dongtou and Yang Dahu of Yangzhuang in Nantou, but Lu Dahu and Yang are both decent people who eat fast and recite Buddha, and they are unwilling to get too involved with butchers like Wei Zhankui, so from their respective Zhuangzi, they assigned honest and reliable juniors to come to meet the situation.

As for the hunchbacked teacher, his surname is Wei, and his single name is a T-character. According to himself, he said that he was a talent in the Guangxu period, and he originally had the strength to win the top three in the provincial examination in the 31st year of Guangxu, but who expected that the traitor Yuan Shikai would write a letter to abolish the imperial examination that year. The old ladies of the Empress Dowager Cixi agreed in a moment of confusion, and as a result, together with the scholars all over the world, their future was completely ruined. From then on, he was disheartened and hid in the countryside to seek refuge with his cousin Wei Shijie. Away from the red dust, he lived a secluded life of "picking chrysanthemums under the east fence and seeing Nanshan quietly". (Note 1)

Four years ago, Wei Shijie was worried about the current situation, so he entrusted all the land to his godson Wei Zhankui and the housekeeper Wei Ding to take care of it. He took his own son, daughter-in-law, daughter, son-in-law, grandson, grandson and grandson and other younger generations to move into the British Concession in Shanghai. He only sends someone to collect the land rent once a year, and he does not care about other miscellaneous matters. Seizing this opportunity, Wei Zhankui, with the support of the old housekeeper Wei Ding, organized the tenants and long-term workers of the Wei family and set up a team to protect the village to deal with the nuisance of the rout, bandits, and rogues.

In recent years, the world has become more and more chaotic, more and more people have not been able to eat, and the ranks of bandits and rogues have also sprung up like mushrooms after the rain. Several large-scale rogues tried to eat big households in Weizhuang, but they were all beaten away by Wei Zhankui and the team guarding the village. After coming and going, the surrounding Xiaojiazhuang, Lujiazhuang and Yangjiazhuang also followed suit and organized their own teams to protect the village. lest the bandits and rogues be deflated in Weizhuang, and as soon as they turn their heads, they will sprinkle their anger on them.

Seeing this, Wei Zhankui and the old housekeeper Wei Ding simply sent people to send letters to the three nearby Zhuangzi, inviting everyone to form an alliance to jointly protect the township. The strength of Xiao, Lu, and Yang is not as strong as Wei Zhuang's, and there is no "fierce general" like Wei Zhankui who is good at rushing and killing.

The size of the team has expanded, and if you call it "Guardian Team", it will be a small family. Wei Zhankui and the other three Zhuangzi captains sat down to make a calculation, and simply renamed the Zhuang Guardian Team as the "Iron and Blood Lianzhuang Association", officially raising the banner. And according to the suggestion of the old housekeeper, who is now the hunchback teacher Wei Ding, he took the initiative to submit documents to the Yamen of Yizhou County, asking the county to give recognition and support.

Several leading figures in the county are worried about the trouble everywhere. Seeing that someone is willing to pick the head out to take care of things, it is too late to be happy, how can he speak out against it. Directly in the name of the "Iron and Blood Lianzhuang Association", the ten words "resist Japan, protect the family and defend the country, and villager autonomy" were added, and the team was approved as a villager self-government organization.

In this way, the Iron and Blood Association was officially recognized, and occupied the commanding heights of the righteousness of "resisting Japan and defending the country". There is a basis for calling on the people of all families to contribute money and efforts. Under the Zhang Luo of Wei Da, Xiao Er, and the teacher Wei Ding, they bought guns and knives, dug ditches and fortified villages, and were very busy.

Last autumn, Liu Laoqi, a bandit on the Great Black Mountain, was afraid that the Iron Blood Society's power would threaten his survival after it grew, so he secretly sent people to Cui Zhuang to step on the plate, preparing to kill chickens and monkeys. Who expected that Master Wei was old and sophisticated, and just by relying on the contemptuous tone that the spies inadvertently showed when they were eating at the villager's house, they expected that they were not good. In time, he set a trap with Wei Zhankui and others, and killed Liu Laoqi and more than 40 elite bandits brought by him, and wiped out the whole army.

In this battle, "iron-blooded resistance against Japan, defending the family and defending the country, and the villagers' autonomous association of villages" completely played its own name. Not only did the heroes and heroes from all walks of life in the vicinity come to show their goodwill, but even Commissioner Qin, who was living in Huluyu, also sent his right-hand men to invite Wei Zhankui to the Peace Hotel again and again to discuss how the neighbors could help each other.

Wei Zhankui is a character who would rather be a chicken head than a cow queen, knowing that once he gets involved with the old Qin family, he will be subject to the control of the other party, and he will no longer be able to be a big boss. Therefore, the invitation to Qin Degang was only vague and perfunctory, and he resolutely refused to visit in person. Qin Degang gave Wei Zhankui a few faces, but he didn't receive a grateful return from the other party. I despised this kind of local pretence, so I no longer sent people to invite him, but only told the Lianzhuang Association to do some trivial things for Huluyu every once in a while, so as to show that he had absolute control over the place.

There is a huge disparity in the strength of the two sides, and Wei Zhankui didn't dare to really provoke Qin Degang to turn his face. All the errands assigned by the other party, as long as they are within their ability, they will be completed with quality and quantity. In this way, Qin Degang really couldn't find anything wrong with him, and over time, he simply forgot about the "Iron and Blood Lianzhuang Meeting" completely. "Neither support nor suppress" and let it fend for itself in the mountains.

"The plan of the surnamed Qin is very great, and for a while, I'm afraid I won't be able to take care of this side of the mountain!" Regarding the strong neighbors separated by a mountain, the hunchbacked teacher Wei Ding commented, "Even if he takes care of it, on the territory of the 29th Army, he doesn't dare to make a move with the iron and blood of the court." After all, we are also registered in the county, and we are not a nameless grass platform team! ”

"If he really tears his face, leads the team to block the door, and asks the Lianzhuang Association to accept his reorganization, what should we do?" The blood debt of the railway station in his heart was owed by Qin Degang, and Zhang Songling had to make the worst plan in advance.

"Those people in charge of the county may not watch him cross the line. Besides, if he dares to tear his face, let's retreat southwest with the men and horses. There was also a central army over there, which had just driven over for a short time. I need local refuge! The old military master Wei Ding pursed his lips and said very disdainfully.

"But we can't do that unless we have to!" Seeing that Zhang Songling's face showed an eager expression, the old military advisor quickly added, "One is that our fields and families are here, and our homeland is difficult to leave." Second, between the Central Army and the 29th Army, after all, they are still a family. It's okay to stumble with each other, and it's common to kick a black foot or something. But it will definitely not really tear the face, especially for our small team of hundreds of people. One day, when we were used up, the two brothers sat down and drank together. We're just going to be motherless children, and whoever sees them is bullied! ”

The old man saved a belly to assist the emperor's knowledge, but he was born at the wrong time, and his learning was useless. So when I have the opportunity, I want to show people my peerless talent. Zhang Songling has read a lot of books, and he looks like a loyal person, just the best audience in the eyes of the elderly. Not only did he carefully analyze the current situation in the world, but also told him the specific reasons for each conclusion and the variables that may arise in the future.

"The current situation in North China is just like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The Japanese were Cao Wei, brutal and powerful, and the 29th Army was Liu Bei, who was defeated repeatedly, but won the hearts of the people. The Central Army is Soochow, which has a good family background, but it has not been burned into its own yard by the war, and it is unwilling to fight with the Japanese immediately. Anyway, even if you work hard, this North China will be Song Zheyuan's after that, and the central government will neither be able to collect taxes nor send officials, so you have to put a lot of money into it every year. I was replaced by Chairman Chiang as a staff member, and I did not suggest that he immediately transfer troops to North China......."

"But what if Liu Bei can't support it and surrenders Cao Cao? I mean, what if?! Zhang Songling didn't dare to agree with the old military teacher's high theory, looked at the other party's face, and asked tentatively.

"No whatever!" The hunchbacked veteran military master Wei Ding shook his head and responded very confidently, "That will make Song Zheyuan leave a thousand years of infamy and go to the Japanese, how can he continue to be his own feudal official?!" At most, it's a false name, and in a few days, you have to be like Liu Cong, who doesn't even know how to die! (Note 2)

Note 1: The thirty-first year of Guangxu, that is, in 1905. At the request of Yuan Shikai, the Manchu court abolished the imperial examination and established a new school.

Note 2: Liu Cong, everyone knows it. Liu Biao's son, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, said that after he sacrificed Jingzhou, he was killed on the road by Cao Cao's orders. In the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, the cause of his death and the specific time of his death are not indicated.