Under Wang Dun'er's bitter pleading, he still got a "way to live" given by the other party, or Zhuang Shang.

Therefore, the next day, he rarely ate half full of boiled vegetable soup from a large vat of sour soybean meal dregs, and then put on a tattered robe that he didn't know where to pick it up, and still carried coagulated black blood; There is also a rusty and barely sharpened half-foot pig iron knife on his waist.

In his hand, he got a long pole with uncut bamboo knots, and the two big characters "Taiping" were written crookedly and twisted ink with straw tied on it, and the raw edge square cloth dyed green with grass juice was used.

Then a group of Tutuan soldiers came forward, urging and leading many villagers who were also dressed up to the west, all the way west along the river through the mountains and hills, and from time to time to stop to find the straggled, straggled, and lost people to get back and beat.

It wasn't until dark that I was given a few slightly half-baked taro, and after sleeping in the dark with banana leaves in the field for one night, I came to a low, overgrown red clay hill with dew and bites, and ate the last piece of rancid cabbage dumplings by the way.

By this time, they could already see a small mountain village with thatched huts and mud walls scattered in the distant mountain col; Then the leading Tutuan officer came over, and said undoubtedly to a few new faces such as Wang Dun'er, who was obviously at a loss,

"When you first come to this scene, just stand behind this slope tree and wave your flag and shout, and someone will naturally go down to act later."

Then he yelled at the other men who seemed to be familiar with the road and were wearing their heads.

"I have hidden all the buns, I heard that the thieves are all dressed up with hair that does not respect their parents and do not care for their hair."

"I know.,I'm not going to pull down anything.。。 It's all evil. The thief's deeds. ”

Someone suddenly salivated and laughed, and then his companion covered his mouth, and let the Tutuan officer quickly smoke a loud ear scraper.

"Just what you say."

"Wait a minute, this is the den of thieves who secretly colluded with Qiang Liang, and even more relied on many Orion families, insisting on resisting and destroying the lord and Xiao Langjun, and bent on breaking the family and calling for the thieves to defend the land. I have to give a good lesson. ”

Then the Tutuan official turned his head again and shouted encouragement to Wang Dun'er and the others, who were panicked or cramped and had nowhere to go.

"Now most of the men in this village have gone hunting and cutting down trees, and the rest are unusable old and weak. So later, if there are enough girls found, it doesn't hurt for you to wait for you to taste it when the brothers are finished. ”

"Speaking of which, do you want to ask a mother-in-law to be a Hun family, and you'll be used to it if you come a few more times. Maybe the dealer will point you one out of it in the future. ”

At this time, Wang Dun'er, who was standing in a crowd at a loss, was already cold and at a loss. Could it be that the women in the Zhuangzi over the years, the slaves, tenants, and subordinates who were given kindness by the lord and had wives and started a family, are all because of this?

At this moment, however, he thought of his mother, who was covered in scabies and skinny, and who carried him to death in front of the boiling dyeing vat; There is also a woman who went to steal mill materials for the sake of a hungry child, but was kicked down by a mule and clamped on the grinding plate and crushed to death, but it was more real and clear than ever.

However, in the ragged shouts that erupted, he was very whipped several times before he could shout; I could only watch as the "thieves" led by these Tutuan soldiers rushed down the hillside in a scattered manner, and easily knocked down and climbed over the fence that could only be used to keep out the beasts.

Then it raged in the sound of gold plates and a cry and scream in the village; Knocking on the door and breaking the house, the women or children who were struggling and moving were dragged out with punches and kicks. Or chase the loose skinny chickens and ducks around, and let out one wanton scream after another.

For he was powerless to do anything, and had no courage to resist, the Tutuan, who were close at hand and armed with swords and guns, watching over them; The biggest creature he had ever killed in his life was nothing more than a pika that was good at burrowing and hiding. He could only turn the awkwardness and sadness in his heart into meaningless roars and vent them in the air.

"I'm going down to play too. You're in this generation, and I'm optimistic about these goods. If you want to run any of them, I'll ask you. ”

And after seeing this scene and the smooth process, the Tutuan officer also proudly whispered to another companion beside him:

"What should I do then?"

The companion said with a frown.

"You'll take a look at it by the way to see if there's anyone bold and obedient.,You can make up for it.。。 I'll pick a few more that are really useless, and I'll take them to the next end later. The Tutuan official also disagreed:

"It's an evil thing done by a Taiping thief, how can it be possible not to leave a few corpses as evidence."

However, the earth-colored Tutuan officer did not hesitate to run back without hesitation, and he did not hesitate to obliquely past the villagers who had remained in the same place, and fled towards a distant land.

Because what gradually appeared on the other side of the col was a green flag held high in the wind. and then faintly swaying and flickering behind the treetops, into tiny tassels fluttering from the tips of the snowy spears and the little wind.

Then Wang Dun'er glanced at the shoddy flag that had been put down in his hand again, and someone exploded and shouted.

"The Peacekeeper."

"It's really a peace thief."

In an instant, everyone present was weak in their hands and feet, and their bodies were stunned like chaff; The earth-colored soldiers scattered in a panic, leaving these bewildered villagers especially on the hillside.

It's just that before they had time to run far, they were chased by some new horsemen and knocked down one by one and brought back. Dejectedly, they tied themselves up in strings and fell to their knees.

Soon after, Wang Dun'er, who was kneeling on the ground and trying to curl up, could only be the same as other trembling villagers; Full of despair and fear, he prayed in his heart for the blessings and grace of the gods and Buddhas, so that these thieves would not start killing from them first.

You must know that the Tutuan officer who was dragged back by the lasso on his waist was also the most promisingly important son of the chief steward, but at this moment, he was stripped of his armor and belongings like the other Tutuan soldiers;

Then, in those villages, the women who cowered and were brought over to identify them gave vent to their hands, feet, teeth, and nails.

And above the heads of the villagers, a somewhat strange outgoing accent spoke.

"Are these the thieves who deliberately pretend to be my Taiping Army and scourge the township? It's the first wave. ”

"And those who remain on the mountain have not yet joined in it; However, it is not excluded that some of them are responsible for watching the wind and detecting the sentry. ”

The other voice said with a slight respect.

Hearing this, these villagers suddenly lay on the ground with tears and snot, and cried and cried out as they grabbed the soil.

"We're not bandits,"

"It's all the Tutuan military master who asked us to come."

"Zhuangzi said that if you don't come, you won't be able to live."

"We've signed a lot of debt deeds. It's all said that it can be redeemed.。。 ”

Then, soon, a pair of half-worn black leather boots suddenly stopped in front of Wang Dun'er, who was already crying with regret and inexplicability, and then there was a very nasal voice:

"It turns out that he is still the uncle of Chashan. See you again again."

"You 。。。。。"

Wang Dun'er, who raised his head in a daze, immediately remembered this vaguely familiar face, which was the half-grown son who had asked him a few days ago.

For he really did not see what kind of evil such a boy with muddy hair and runny nose could be; I really can't bear to take it and sue it, and replace it with the little thing that Zhuang Shang was injured;

Therefore, according to the troubled thoughts of the report, he lent him the shed of the vigil to sleep for the night, and instructed him to leave quickly so as not to be seen by others.

But I didn't expect that I really looked away, this young man was still an out-and-out peace thief; Or one of the most courteous and respected little leaders among the thieves.

"I can show you the way to find food in the Zhuangzi. Just let me be a thief.,I can't live anymore anyway.。。 ”

At this moment, Wang Dun'er suddenly shouted out in his heart.

"But after you have been able to use Zhuangzi's food, don't use these poor Baba people who are covered in bones and don't grow a few taels of meat as military rations."

However, after hearing his words, the Taiping thieves present couldn't help but laugh one after another; And the young Taiping thief had a slightly ugly and helpless face.

- I'm the dividing line -

In the big tent of the Chinese army of the Eastern Expedition, which had moved to Changxing County on the west bank of Taihu Lake, Zhou Huai'an was also tasting the local tribute tea named "Gu Zhu Purple Bamboo Shoots" with Yang Shigu, Luo Yin and others.

The spring buds of the tea trees produced in the local Guzhu Mountain and Tanggong Mountain are purple, and they are rated as the first class of the "Book of Tea" by the tea saint Lu Yu. Therefore, the scale of the tribute tea house in the past dynasties is very large, and tens of thousands of workers are specially harvested and made the tribute tea "Gu Zhu purple bamboo shoots" every year.

At the peak of production in the past dynasties, it not only paid tens of thousands of cakes in the annual tribute, but also sold all over the southeast and became a major source of local wealth and an important source of tea tax for the imperial court.

Therefore, it is said that when making tribute tea every spring, the two states of Huchang are thorned in history, first worship the tea god of Jinsha Spring, and finally float in the Taihu Lake to paint more than a dozen ships, set up flags and curtains on the mountain, bring official prostitutes to feast, drink and have fun.

Just like Liu Yuxi's poem: "Where the world is like a fairyland, when Qingshan picks tea with prostitutes." "And for example, the seven provinces and sixteen counties that mainly produce tea today Note 1 are already under the rule of Zhou Huai'an, so they are just trying something new here.

(1. Yiling County, Xiazhou, Badong County, Guizhou, Yun'an County, Kuizhou, Hanyin County, Jinzhou, and Hanzhong County, Xingyuan Province in Shannan Province; Jinling County of Changzhou, Wuxing County of Huzhou, Xinding County of Muzhou, Changle County of Fuzhou, and Poyang County of Raozhou in Jiangnan Province; Lingxi County, Xizhou, Qianzhong Road; Shouchun County of Shouzhou, Lujiang County of Luzhou, Qichun County of Qizhou, Yiyang County of Shenzhou in Huainan Province and Lushan County of Yazhou in Jiannan Province. ）

However, the topic they discussed at this time was not so elegant and pleasant, but full of Iron Horse Jingo's strong meaning.

"The important thing in Huzhou and Changzhou is not in the city, but in Taihu Lake and waterways; The Taihu Lake waterway has changed hands, and there is not much room for them to wander freely, retreat, hide, and try to revive."

Luo Yin looked at the sand table that was constantly marked

"And now the lake is often light. Suzhou and Hangzhou, which are in the same wild land, are not far away. ”

"Suzhou and Hangzhou have always been rich in products and densely populated, and they are the first place in the land of fish and rice in eastern Zhejiang. Although it has been ravaged by several wars, it still has some spare strength. ”

Yang Shigu shook his head slightly.

"In Suzhou alone, there are five families vying for one side; The widows are thousands of strong, and the strong are more than 10,000 people, all of whom are local teachers who fought and fought in previous years. Naturally, they will not be willing to sit still. ”

In Hangzhou, there are also the remnants of the eight capitals of Dongchang in the past and the men and horses of Jiang Huan, a local tycoon in Qiantang. Although there is no shortage of defeated armies, it will be troublesome to work together because of this. ”

In some kind of memory, Zhou Huai'an still remembers the sentence in the Chinese textbook "There is heaven above, and there is Suzhou and Hangzhou below", or it is mentioned in history textbooks that "Suzhou and Hangzhou are familiar, and the world is full" during the Southern Song Dynasty.

And now in the battle of raising troops, it is inevitable to understand this.

The so-called pattern of a small underground paradise is nothing more than a comprehensive product of the humanistic and social environment that has been maintained and supported for a long time based on the rich material resources and population base for generations, and then gradually accumulated and emerged a long time ago.

"Dong Chang of Lin'an County sent someone to negotiate, willing to lose his sincerity to the governor of Dadu and lead him as a precursor to the invasion of Hangzhou, but he had to keep his land of two counties and three towns afterwards."

Li Shicheng, who happened to be in charge of foreign affairs, walked in at this time and spoke

"Then you don't need to see what gave him such confidence and ambition."

Zhou Huaian waved his hand.

"Just let people go back and tell me, hand over all the people and chassis, and go to Guangfu to be a rich housekeeper, which is the best result."

"Actually, I once heard a joke in my early years; It is said that as long as all the wicked people in this world are killed, the rest will naturally be good people. ”

After Zhou Huai'an dealt with this episode, he continued to say lightly.

"For most people in the world, isn't this a simple and crude way to the heart, and the easiest way to do it is not ?。。"

"It's just that the biggest question in this period is how to interpret and define this wicked man; And who should decide who will be in charge of it... ”

Yang Shigu didn't think so, and sipped the tea ceremony.

However, there are always some people in the world who take it for granted that their doctrines are correct and immaculate, and that those who oppose them must be wicked. And only by defeating and eliminating those different views can we make everything better."

Zhou Huai'an also meant something.

"Isn't this the case with the original Niu Li Party struggle, and the result is that the more they want to make a difference, the more the situation in the world is degraded and corrupted. With such generations, even if you are in it, you can't save yourself from great ability and ambition. ”

Luo Yin also sighed.

"Besides, once the killing in the name of eliminating evil has begun, and the means of eliminating dissidents have been used smoothly, it will be difficult to stop sensibly."

Yang Shigu continued to speak.

"So isn't the real key to cutting off and curbing this deformed and unjust cycle of the world, so that the originally good people will no longer be forced by circumstances and circumstances to become new evildoers?"

Zhou Huai'an finally concluded with a lot of understanding.

"Or is it to rebuild the law and ethics, so that those who have the heart to do evil in the world will never dare to do it, and those who have selfish desires will not dare to cross the thunder pool by half a step, and the world will naturally be peaceful."

"This is the reason why the Metropolitan Governor chose this path that seems to be the most difficult, and it is necessary to overcome obstacles and rebuild in the fire."

Luo Yin suddenly got up and arched his hand and said:

"Isn't the unforgiveness and harshness at this time the greatest mercy and forgiveness for the people to come?"

The other people present also stopped talking, but stood up and saluted in unison, showing a happy and sincere expression.

Tang remnant

Tang remnant