"Jianyuan Xin, it is ordered that all the officials of the old dynasty in the world, who are above the eighth grade in Beijing, are not allowed to stay and renew. Where three generations, five suits within the kinship, not allowed to work in a new position. So the families and wealthy families in the world all put the separation first,。。 ”

"Taiping New Book. Senior Ministers》

。。。。。。。

"Taiping is good, Taiping is wonderful, the Taiping army has come to Taiping."

"All the corrupt officials and corrupt officials are buried, and the local tyrants and shoddy gentry have no escape."

"I joined the rebel army to fight the imperial court, and I was well fed and clothed with less worries."

"Taiping is good, Taiping is wonderful, the Taiping army is good in the world."

"All the excesses and miscellaneous taxes have been erased, and the taxes and servitudes are frivolous."

"Everyone is full of ploughing and weaving, and the poor and the poor are all laughing."

"Taiping is good, Taiping is wonderful, the Taiping army will be fair."

"Don't rob, don't kill, don't hurt people, and don't spare people as traitors."

"Shinong, industry and commerce are safe, and people who buy and sell fairly are good."

Such a childish nursery rhyme faintly rippled on the streets of Xinyu County, Yuanzhou.

However, as most of the Jiangxi provinces that have been eroded now, there are only a handful of imperial court officials who are still in office; Yuanzhou Xinyu County Ling Hu Wenliang, the word Wushan. He was also worried and worried and drunk a little wine, and he did not even dare to send out his servants and servants to arrest or expel the children who sang the ballads.

Because he knows his own affairs, he is basically hopeless and has nowhere to retreat. It is the big family with the surname of the local people who are unable to hold each other, and he is recommended to sit on the table of maintaining the place, and the power is used as a link to coordinate everyone's interests and advance and retreat.

He was originally a servant of a minister in the imperial court, although his name was good and martial arts, he was actually literate and knew a little arithmetic, and his saber was always decorated.

The head of the family let him take charge of the money and food of the generals and subordinates because of his arithmetic, and later killed the Kunlun slave loved by the head of the family, and was sent to the Jiangnan official army to atone for his crimes; As a result, the only killing in the army for three years was for Liwei to smash the colonel who stole one of his chicken legs with an inkstone.

Then one day, inexplicably, under the critical situation, he replaced the former county commanders, county officials and county lieutenants who abandoned and absconded one after another, and became the "Baili Hou" of this place, and he actually got the appointment letter of the imperial court.

And his old master also remembered that there was such an unexpected idle hand, and sent some people over, so that he was not the kind of situation where he had nothing but a bare pole. However, all this has not improved or benefited his current situation in the slightest.

Although he has the honor and authority of the county order, the corresponding order is only originally from a dozen towns and villages near the outskirts of the city, and the rest of the county is the world of those local tyrants and squires who raise their own armed forces to protect each other.

Especially a few days ago, after the grass thieves led by Huang Wei defeated the Huainan army in Xinzhou in the east, it can be said that with the vastness of the Jiangnan Provinces, there is not much that can restrain and block their existence; As a result, even Fuzhou, which is close to the east, Hongzhou to the north, and Jizhou to the south, has become no longer stopping.

As for Hengzhou and Tanzhou in the west, they are the active places of those Taiping thieves who like to liquidate and slaughter large households, and confiscate their wealth and property; As one of the few officials in Yuanzhou, he was caught in an extremely desperate situation during this period.

Not to mention that now since they can hear these blatant rebellious words and songs for thieves outside the walls of the county government, it also means that these grass thieves with the name of "Taiping" have also seen a lot of holes and sores for the spying and infiltration of the city. Even if he sends out all the people he can command now, in order to prevent the fate of the future, I am afraid that they may not be willing to kill again.

And the big clans in the city, who are his most powerful supporters, have already given up their plans to make up for and redeem themselves, and they are busy transferring their food and wealth and their families from the city to the countryside to hide from their old acquaintances for a while.

And he, an official who is still sitting in the county government, is obviously the one who delays time on the table and bears the brunt of it, acting as a ready-made target and haystack for grass thieves to settle accounts and vent their anger; Didn't you hear the one in the grass thief song that is straightforward,

You must know that the so-called "Shinong, industrial, and commercial people are safe" in the Taiping thief's words, but the word "official" at the head of the five people is missing. This is a posture to kill everything that belongs to the government, or to liquidate the unused.

As for the so-called "corrupt officials, local tyrants and inferior gentry" and the like, it is not these bitter and hateful mud legs who have the final say; And in the process of accumulating this wealth and wealth, who can guarantee that there is no omission that attracts hatred and resentment. If you really have to think about it one by one, there is really no big family in this world that can be alone.

So since the day before yesterday, they have pretended to be sick and made excuses, and they no longer come to the county government to discuss and discuss matters. Even the earth masses and strong men gathered by various hedgehogs at the city gate have become a little unclear and suspicious. Therefore, Hu Wenliang can only count one day here as a day, and continue to make a deaf and dumb Bodhisattva-style hall decoration.

He thought so self-deprecating and self-pitying, and slowly drank himself drunk; Then he stood up with a drunken body, ready to go to the local newly-picked concubine for recreation and relieving, and then heard a faint noise and shouts in the distance.

"It's not good for the county, it's not good."

After a few breaths, a stumbling figure broke in, and he shouted loudly in the side hall of the second hall of the county ya:

"There are thieves. Thief... The thieves have entered the city through the east gate. ”

"What... The day has finally arrived. ”

Hu Wenliang, who was covered in cold sweat, suddenly woke up when he heard the sound, and then asked loudly with a lamentation.

"Have you ever seen which way these thieves are?"

"Small. . . The little ones didn't see how much.,I saw flags everywhere.。。 ”

The person who came also changed his voice in a panic

"It's over, I'm afraid this formation is the home of the thieves in the east."

Hu Wenliang's last bit of luck was completely wiped out; Since he is not one of those who robs by fire under the banner of grass thieves, he is obviously fortunate to be rare.

"Xingniang, take out my suicide note and...

When he staggered back to the back house with a heart full of grief and despair, he cried out; I happened to catch a glimpse of the little concubine who had changed her face blackened and changed into a cloth skirt and was carrying a small package, and it was she who walked out of the side door of the county government in a panic.

Hu Wenliang is not in the mood to stop or intimidate the other party, so that he can stay and live and die with him or something; Instead, he stepped into the messy bedroom that he had been rummaged through, and began to try to emulate the sages and martyrs who died for his country, leaving a relatively heroic and decent result for himself.

After arranging the suicide note in a conspicuous place, he first tried to kill himself with a knife.

However, in the heat of the moment, he could not find a suitable knife, and finally found only an inch-long bone-handled knife used to cut letterheads; It's just that when he looked at the bronze mirror of the concubine's makeup, and cut a line of skin with the tip of the knife and a little force on his neck, he was so weak that his hands and feet were so weak that he couldn't hold the handle of the knife anymore.

Then he began to try to dig out a concubine's private Yueluo and drape it over the beam, wanting to do the thing of hanging his neck and begging for death.

However, before he had suffocated and struggled for a few breaths, he heard the sound of tearing cloth and tearing silk, and even the person with the belt fell to the ground; But it was this transparent and light Yue Luo, who couldn't bear his overly fat body and fell off.

So, he changed his tune and began to prepare to commit suicide by throwing himself into the water, and tested the deepest part of the pond with a pole to make sure that it would not easily float up.

As a result, the moment he lifted his foot and fell, he was so excited by the bitterly cold water that he struggled and thrashed, and finally when he came back to his senses, he was already on the shore; Well, all he could tell himself was that the water in the pool was too cold in the winter, and he would have to suffer more before he drowned.

Next, he thought of the self-cutting method of drinking medicine recorded in the ancient books, but in the meantime he found there poisons that could kill people quickly; So he remembered another similar alternative - self-refereeing.

It's just that he rummaged through all the inner houses, but found that the gold and silver objects of little value were all taken away by the concubine; In the end, only a polished brass hairpin was found; It's just that the thought of breaking this thing into several pieces and swallowing it hard, he Hu Wenliang couldn't help but hesitate. After all, on weekdays, he eats fish only after the concubine picks it clean by himself.

Then he thought of trying to hit the pillar, hit the wall, and bite his tongue, but finally gave up because of the fear of pain and unbearable bleeding.

"Let me die a hunger strike for the country."

Hu Wenliang finally made up his mind, and the porter sat on the rope bed and closed his eyes.

At this time, the gate of the county government that had escaped was finally knocked open, and many thieves in armor rushed in, smashed and copied them in all directions; smashed through the door again, saw him can't help but say, dragged down, kicked over the ground, beat him violently, and dragged Hu Wenliang, who was wailing and rolling on the ground, out like a dead dog.

And in the process of escorting them through the streets and alleys, Hu Wenliang, who had his hair scattered on his face, also saw the chaotic scene of fireworks in the city and grass thieves looting and raging in all directions. Lots of goods that had been rummaged through were piled up haphazardly under the eaves and the tiles.

From time to time, people were crying, begging, and struggling, dragged out of homes and shops, mainly women of all stripes, and family members who struggled to drag and hold them, and cried out. Then, there was an impatient grass thief who took the knife and fell, and it was another tragic incident of separation.

He even saw his concubine, who had escaped, stumbling out of a street in a panic with no clothes and crying; Then he was stopped by several grass thieves wandering on the street, Bai Shengsheng struggled to expose his body on his shoulders and cried loudly, which made these grass thieves laugh more and more, talking and laughing with each other and walking towards the alley.

At this moment, his courage and determination to die on a hunger strike also disappeared, and he suddenly understood the basic truth that life has been difficult to die since ancient times.

Immediately, he was dragged to a large cloud bed of mica snails placed at the corner of the street with his legs crossed, and he was holding a roasted red and black mottled leg of lamb in his hand, and the stubble, placket, and cuffs were full of greasy and minced meat.

"Deputy Xie Jun, this guy is the local county order."

The leader of the grass thieves who escorted him over arched his hand and said:

"The brothers just copied the county treasury, and the empty ones are almost starving to death. The whereabouts and involvement of it,I'm afraid it's going to fall on this guy.。。 ”。

"Well said,"

The grass thief army at the top waved the unfinished lamb leg bone in disbelief, and threw it behind him, which suddenly caused a scramble.

"Give him a set of eight slashes first, and then let's light the five-color lamp again."

Seeing those fierce grass thieves who came forward, Hu Wenliang was suddenly frightened and his soul flew out of the sky and burned inside, but he threw the last bit of determination and oath that he was willing to die for the country to the clouds.

"The king spares his life, let me explain."

Before Hu Wenliang's cry for mercy fell, a huge commotion erupted again on the city wall. Then there was a faint roar one after another

"Someone is coming in again."

"Simon's brother can't stop it."

"Hurry up and gather and go to support."

"How can this be reasonable, the sons and daughters come with me."

Hearing this, the deputy of the Liberation Army couldn't help but kick down the cloud bed screen fan with a murderous face.

"I want to see it, it's the shameless and lifeless person who dares to come to my Liberation Army Continent."

Then, one after another, the shouts of killing came one after another, one higher than the other, but they approached the location of Hu Wenliang in the city. There was also a faint flicker of shouting and scolding:

"It's all a misunderstanding."

"We're the Rebels."

"I'll talk about it after the fuck."

Then Hu Wenliang, who knelt on the ground, saw that the grass thief general named Xie Junzhou was already full of depression and panic, and with the other grass thieves who had broken down, they strode wildly and crossed Hu Wenliang's location without looking back, and ran towards the east gate with all their might.

After a while, Hu Wenliang, who was kneeling on the ground and still unable to figure out the situation, heard the direction they were going, and broke out again with a burst of shouting:

"You're brewing, there's an ambush here."

"The door is surrounded by people."

"It's not going to give us a way to live,。。"

"Everyone's up, fight him one by one."

"It's bad, the deputy of the army is gone, what should I do...

After another while, Hu Wenliang only felt that the people who were guarding him had fled without a trace, and cautiously wanted to stand up and move his ghost's painful and numb legs and feet; Then the sound of crowds running in the street not far away made him so startled again that he quickly fell to his knees and trembled.

Then many pairs of legs and feet wearing brown leather boots and thick cotton shoes rushed in front of Hu Wenliang, who did not dare to look back, and with these rushing steps, there were also loud neat slogans rippling in the air.

"On the orders of the Taiping Army. Come and settle the place."

"You are not allowed to bully women and children."

"No murder and fire."

"You are not allowed to be a traitor."

"Those who dare to recidivist will be punished on the spot."

After listening to it several times, Hu Wenliang stood up again with some trepidation and looked at the situation around him.

I saw these soldiers in blue and gray robes, patrolling and shouting back and forth in the streets, and tying up or dragging the grass thieves who had rushed into the people's homes and plundered them one by one; Groups of dejected escorts kneeling down the street have become a new landscape nowadays.

Some of them tried to resist forcibly, or tried to negotiate with their own knives and guns in hand, but they were surrounded and shot with crossbows, and they were killed on the spot. Some children led the way, and broke into more shady places, identifying the fish that had slipped through the net in disguise.

On the east gate tower of Xinyu County, Lin Ming, the general of the New Ninth Battalion of the Taiping Army, who was born with the appearance of a man from the north, was also looking at the situation in the city and giving orders. With his orders, batch after batch of captured captives were sent over one after another.

"Isn't there something wrong?,These are also related to other rebels.。。 Will there be any hindrance and trouble if you deal with it on the spot? ”

Beside him, Li Yuyuan, the captain of the garrison regiment who was temporarily added as his deputy, was a little hesitant and persuasive.

"Why don't you take it first, and then ask the upper authorities to do it later."

"Do you remember what the leader said in the professor "Telling the People and the Song"? The Taiping Army has always taken loving the people and protecting the people as its own responsibility. I've never been afraid of any trouble. ”

However, Lin Ming shouted with righteous and stern reprimands.

"It doesn't matter if he is an officer, a local army, a rebel army, or some other source; As long as it is a bad seed and scum who dare to bully and wreak havoc on the people, you must not hesitate to fight against it, and kill him without leaving a piece of armor. ”

。。。。。。

At the same time, outside Yongxin County in Jizhou, Bo and Zhu Cun, the lord of Tanzhou, as one of the leaders of the partial division, were also negotiating something with a familiar rebel.

"Song Laobao, I gave you this opportunity to negotiate face-to-face because of my old friendship."

"As long as the big families in the city are cleaned up for me, the Taiping Army will naturally allow you to retreat with your subordinates."

"But in addition, you must not kill indiscriminately, you must not set fires, and women cannot move, at most you can take away the wealth that you have copied out."

"But if there is a difference in the above, then don't blame me for not saving your face, so that you can do a show here."

"I'm going to save it, I'm going to restrain those killers."

The general named Song Laobao also responded without hesitation.

"Discipline the old brother Zhu if he is satisfied."

In Fenning County, Hongzhou, Gao Jichang was teaching several newly attached leaders of the rebel army:

"I need you to do this well before I can make a contribution to my army."

"Wash me all the powerful families in the city, and leave the men without leaving the women unmoved; Then you can relax and hand over your troops, take the money and goods you have saved, and go to Guangfu to enjoy the blessings. ”

"It's easy to say, it's all good to say."

Everyone responded in unison

At the Nagisa Palace pier outside Gangneung City, the drum music is noisy and the people are buzzing. The envoy from the Raozhou side and his entourage from the Heavenly General's Mansion had just gotten off the boat

"It's Yang Junshi. It's really splendid, and I can't ask for it. ”

Zhou Huai'an said in a tone of surprise to the past, and grabbed the other party's arm first.

At this moment, he has a great desire to talk and perform. After all, this one can be regarded as someone who has helped him, and is one of the few people in the General's Mansion who has three views that are more correct and can be said.

After I have this situation and weather, I also wish there was someone who could stand in an equal position and communicate normally, so I could pretend to be forced again.

Feeling the other party's enthusiasm and eagerness, Yang Shigu couldn't help but cry and laugh, and couldn't help but smile bitterly. Because, among the subordinates of the Great General's Mansion who came with them, they already showed a certain "sure enough" expression. This is undoubtedly another kind of gossip, a dark and speculative about himself.

Another big chapter, tired (⊙_⊙; )

(End of chapter)