In March of the seventh year of Guanghe, the Yellow Turban Thief Qu Shuai in Runan County was captured and killed by the county guard Zhao Qian in advance, so the Yellow Turban Thieves of the uprising were scattered, and the goals of their respective strategies were different, and they could not become a general trend. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

However, there are quite a lot of believers in the Taiping Road in Runan, and there are thousands of people in each county. Although the goals were different, they were also quite difficult to suppress, and after several county towns were broken, they gradually converged into several large groups of thieves, most of whom were concentrated in the west and north of Runan County, accounting for half of Runan County.

Gong Zhang, the magistrate of Zhaoling County, was properly handled, and the leaders and backbones of the Taiping Dao thieves in all townships, towns, villages, Lu, and Li were captured and killed in advance, so the county was quite stable. However, the Zhaoling Land is close to Yingchuan County, and the Taiping Road in Yingchuan County has become a general trend, under the command of Qu Shuai Bocai, it is rampant, and most of the towns in Yingchuan County are broken.

Recently, I heard that Yang Zhai, the county of Yingchuan County, has been surrounded by 100,000 yellow turban thieves from the Bocai Department, and he will go down soon. The Yellow Turban thieves in Yingchuan Dingling and Yunxian also have the meaning of stupidly crossing the border to attack Zhaoling.

After the Han Emperor issued an edict allowing all prefectures, counties and counties to recruit soldiers at will according to the situation of thieves, Gong Zhang immediately went out to recruit volunteers, and immediately convened the chiefs of the counties to discuss the matter of helping money and food.

Gong Zhang sat in the middle hall of the county ya, Fang Yi mentioned the matter of helping money and food, and more than 20 patriarchs of the wealthy and scholar clans were immediately silent, and they lost the enthusiasm and politeness when they first entered the county government, and they closed their eyes one by one and sat firmly on the Diaoyutai.

Gong Zhang said unhappily: "If it weren't for the decisive decision of this official that day, Zhaoling would not know how many Yellow Turban Moth thieves would emerge." Now that the thieves in the county are a little quieter, you wait for a matter of nothing, which is too disappointing to the official. ”

Seeing that the patriarchs of the various ethnic groups still bowed their heads and refused to answer, Gong Zhang couldn't help but say angrily: "Okay, since this is the case, the official doesn't care, except for the protection of the county seat, all the other townships, towns, villages, Lu, and Li in the county are all abandoned." Let the Yellow Turban Moth thieves run rampant. ”

The patriarchs of all ethnic groups were shocked and told one after another, "County gentleman, don't ...... it."

Gong Zhang's left hand stroked his beard at this time, his eyes were closed, and he began to recuperate after learning the previous behavior of the patriarchs of various clans. Du Hui, the patriarch of the Du clan, the largest scholar clan in Zhaoling, coughed a few times, cleared his throat, and the patriarchs of each clan immediately closed their voices and listened to Du Hui's words.

Du Hui arched his hand and said: "Ah, the county gentleman, what the county gentleman said before about helping money and food is not that we deliberately should not do it, but that we and our families do have some difficulties. You also know that since the first month, there have been yellow turban moth thieves in various places, although Zhaoling has a county monarch sitting in the town and can be safe for a while, but the moth thieves are powerful, and the county monarch cannot guarantee peace. Therefore, since the beginning of February, the families have gathered the good people everywhere, and built dock forts in remote places in the mountains and hills, and recruited private soldiers to serve as a hiding place for the tribes in times of trouble. Now that the fort has been completed, and in the first two years it has been plagued by plagues, floods and droughts, and most of the money and grain collected over the years have been exhausted, except for the necessary household use, and there is really not much money to be paid. So ......"

Gong Zhang opened his eyes and scolded: "The country is only temporarily in chaos, you can't wait to build dock forts everywhere, ready to survive the troubled times, it is really unreasonable, you are really rebellious." ”

Du Hui's old face turned red and said: "This is just an ordinary means used by all clans to save their own families, if there is no vigilance, where can our families safely survive the troubled times at the end of Qin, Chu and Han and the two Han Dynasty." ”

When Gong Zhangchu came to Runan to summon the mausoleum, he knew that Runan and other wealthy clans in the Central Plains had an extremely keen sense of smell in troubled times, and seven or eight out of ten people could feel that the Han family was about to fall into the rhythm of chaos.

Therefore, the Yellow Turban Moth thieves together, in less than two months, the county was full of more than 20 dock forts. The fort was small but sturdy, without tens of thousands of troops, and with months of siege, it was impossible to easily break through any of them.

However, after all, the chaos has just begun, and the various ethnic groups have not made all preparations, at least in terms of food and weapons, they are not good enough, and they can't stop the attack of the Yellow Turban Moth thieves.

Gong Zhang snorted coldly and said: "This official has long advised you that blocking the enemy outside the county border during the chaos is the best strategy to use the law of war. Now, if you have no money and no food, how can you protect the safety of the county? ”

The patriarchs of the various ethnic groups didn't dare to speak, and Du Hui said tentatively: "This, the county gentleman, isn't there still two families in Zhaoling, their two families are scarce, and they live in the county seat, there is no need to build a dock fort, I want to come to the family and have a lot of money and food." ”

Gong Zhangqi said: "You are embarrassed to mention those two families, although the Zhu and Qiu families are from businessmen, their consciousness is not much higher than yours." At the beginning of the Yellow Turban Moth Thieves' rebellion, each of them raised a million dollars and a thousand stones of grain to send to the officials. If not, where did these thousand soldiers in the county come from? 1,000 stone of grain, you must know that the two of them do not have half an acre of land, and all this grain is purchased from the hands of you bastards, do you think this official does not know? ”

The patriarchs of the various ethnic groups looked at each other and smiled, and someone said: "Merchants have always been lowly status, and in times of war, merchants and criminal officials, sons-in-law, deceased, and slaves are all objects of labor or garrison. It is only natural that they can take the initiative to send money and food. ”

Gong Zhangyu asked, "They are the right thing to do, what about you?" What about you, the pillars of the country? ”

Du Hui asked hesitantly: "We and other ethnic groups really don't have extra money and food, I don't know if the county monarch can have another way to replace it?" ”

Gong Zhangfu stroked his beard and said: "Yes, yes, I'm afraid you shouldn't." ”

Du Hui said: "As long as the county gentleman is reasonable, how can we not be reasonable." ”

Gong Zhang nodded and said: "Early yesterday morning, this official had found the Zhu and Qiu families, and these two families have three conditions, as long as you and others agree, the two of them are willing to use their family resources to help the county." ”

The patriarchs of all ethnic groups were shocked and suspicious, not wanting the Zhu and Qiu families to have such great courage. The Zhu family is rumored to be after Tao Zhu in the pre-Qin period, but it is mostly a lie to whitewash his body. Qiu was a horse merchant from Nanzheng in Hanzhong, and settled in Zhaoling only two generations ago. These two are both local wealthy businessmen, and the combined property of the two families is afraid that it will be no less than hundreds of millions of dollars. can make the two families do it, and those three conditions are not easy.

Du Hui asked, "I don't know what the conditions of the two of them are?" ”

Gong Zhang said: "First, after the two of them have exhausted their family resources, the county government and your families must no longer regard them as businessmen, but must treat them equally, and also regard them as wealthy families. ”

The patriarchs of various clans discussed with each other for a while, and the Zhu and Qiu families wanted to transform their identities from lowly businessmen to wealthy families who could be officials, which was no less difficult than ascending to the sky in normal times. If it weren't for the fact that the various clans of Zhaoling were to build a dock fort, it was true that the money and food were almost exhausted, and it would be impossible for the two of them to ask for it again. At such times, in order to have money and food to ensure the safety of the county, he had to pinch his nose and nod in agreement: "Yes." ”

Gong Zhang said again: "Second, each of them wants 2,000 acres of land in the county for the heirloom of future generations, and they need to take it out from more than 20 of your families. ”

The patriarchs of the various ethnic groups had another discussion, since they were wealthy families, how could they be successful without land, and land was the identity symbol of the wealthy clans. If there is anyone in the family who can become a high-ranking official who eats 2,000 stones, then he can be called a scholar. Wanting land, this is also the right thing to do.

Zhaoling has a total of 250,000 acres of cultivated land, of which about 150,000 acres are in the hands of various ethnic groups, and each family needs about 100 acres of land, which is not much. The wealthy family with 2,000 acres of land is only the wealthy family with the least land in Zhaoling, which is acceptable.

In the end, Du Hui said: "Yes, but the two of them need to buy it at the market price." ”

Gong Zhang nodded and said: "Third, the newly recruited volunteers in the county are about 1,200 people, and although Zhu Mian, the son-in-law of the Zhu family, and Qiu Rui, the sister-in-law of the Qiu family, are young, they are both heroic and brave, so the main general will be selected by one of the two families to serve as the ......."

Du Hui shouted categorically: "No, the main general of the volunteer soldiers should be served by a member of my Du clan." ”

Gong Zhang said unhappily: "The two of them can recruit troops to defend the county, and the officials will naturally reward them. ”

Du Hui's old face was red, but he also said firmly: "The main general does not say that I am a Chinese from the Du family, but I can't let the Zhu and Qiu families serve as the two families, although the two of them are dedicated to the county, but with 2,000 acres of land and the identity of the wealthy family, they can already be rewarded for the merits of these two families." If you want it again, then you don't know how to advance or retreat, could it be that the Zhu and Qiu families think that the identity of the Hao family is so unmentionable. ”

Gong Zhang nodded slightly, but said seriously: "Patriarch Du's meaning, this official understands. The Du clan is the only scholar clan in the county, and if he wants to ensure his power in the county and fight for the military power of the volunteers, this official can also understand. But there are some words, the official remembered that he had a good time with Ling'er Du Festival, so he had to remind Patriarch Du one or two in advance. Your Du clan has occupied the position of Gongcao in the county for many years, if you get the position of the chief general of the volunteer soldiers, hum, this power is a little too much. The position of the official in Zhaoling will expire in half a year, and it doesn't matter if he will be transferred elsewhere. But if the newly arrived Zhaoling Patriarch thinks that your Du clan's power is too great, do you think this is beneficial to your Du clan, Du Patriarch? ”

Du Hui was stunned and said with a smile: "Haha, the county gentleman is too worried, Du just thinks that the sister-in-law of the Zhu and Qiu families is too young, although he is brave and extraordinary, he cannot be the main general, not to win the position of the main general for my Du family." ”