The arguments at the tea party at the foot of Guzhu Mountain on the shore of Taihu Lake quickly spread throughout the Taiping Eastern Expeditionary Army and the places that had been occupied by the Taiping Army, along with the pamphlets and concise notices published in the Taiping Army.

"This is the atmosphere and mind of the new dynasty."

After hearing such news, Huang Pu, a celebrity and Confucian who was living in Suzhou, was also sighing to the disciples and children who followed him all the way.

"Originally, I wanted to persuade the Governor with my own opinion, so that there would be less gratuitous killings and local resistance, but this Grand Governor obviously has a plan and a heart, and he will definitely not be easily moved by foreign things."

And those ministers and subordinates have never spoken out, and they have already understood and agreed with the corresponding truth, and even become accustomed to it. On the contrary, it made my generation do such a lot of effort and thought in vain. ”

"Since what the Metropolitan Governor said is right, of course it is those of us who are more or less selfish or have a wrong position. It is the so-called truth that if the mountain does not come, I will go to the mountain. ”

"Then what should I do next?"

Another gentleman with a worried face whispered.

"Let's do our best. Those former relatives and old ones, those who can be persuaded are still persuaded,"

Huang Pu shook his head and said.

As for whether you are willing to listen or not, and whether you are willing to take chances? It's up to them. Or is there anyone who is willing to give up his position and future in the new dynasty for them? ”

"No matter how rude you think the Taipings are, at least some of what they say is right. If we don't get rid of these stubborn diseases that are intertwined in the local area, then we will have more fame and room for the future."

"Even if you are from a native background and a well-dressed family, are you willing to be a magistrate or a pro-people official who is controlled and constrained by others? This is not only from the common sense of people, but also the due meaning of the new atmosphere. ”

In fact, it didn't happen overnight that he came up with this idea. You must know that Huang Pu's ancestor is also the surname of the well-dressed Nandu. When he was studying in the hometown of the Marquis of Fuzhou, he was named by the thief leader Huang Chao who crossed the border, courtesy and respect;

Although in the end, he insisted on not being requisitioned and solicited to take his family to live in the mountains, but the deeds of being a thief also caused him a lot of trouble afterwards.

Zheng Yi, the Fuzhou observation envoy who happened to take office later, wanted to take him, a Confucian who was quite popular in Fujian, and set an example for killing chickens and monkeys; So I had to leave my hometown and run to the relatively peaceful eastern Zhejiang to visit the museum, but I still couldn't escape the fire.

After seeing too many human tragedies, as well as self-sufficient or short-sighted people who spin up and down, he is also tired of this world that makes people precarious and unwilling to study and teach;

It's better to retreat and just hope that there can be a hero who can protect one side. Originally, he still pinned his hopes on Chen Yan, the Fuzhou regimental training envoy who had unified Fujian and observed the five states; But then Chen Yan's rapid defeat and rout made people feel disappointed.

Later, there were these Taiping thieves who raided Jiangdong, which brought him many different perceptions and experiences.

- I'm the dividing line -

At the foot of Hangzhou Tianmu Mountain in eastern Zhejiang,

On the way back, Wang Dun'er tore the sweet and hard dried sweet potatoes in his mouth, and finally believed that these Taiping thieves would not eat people. I don't like the idea of cannibalism at all.

After all, if you can take this sweet food every day and treat it as a snack in the army, why do you need to harm people and eat meat. In contrast, even those officials and officials are not necessarily better off.

You must know that even the staff and stewards of the village are only boiled on the night of the New Year's Day, and the solemn three animals are used as offerings to the ancestors;

Then only the relatives of the family who participate in the ancestral hall sacrifice are eligible to share one or two. As for those slaves and maids, they can only secretly lick a mouthful of used utensils when they are helpers, as a show off among their kind.

As for the sweetness he knew in his life, he could only find a trace of sweetness in the crisp juice when he set aside the reed root to eat it in the summer. The governor made him a little regretful; Although he made up his mind to surrender to the thief temporarily, the other party had no intention of accepting it.

He didn't even need to take the road back to the village, because someone had already drawn a simple road map and marked the corresponding precautions and key points; What made him even more envious and hot was that the outfits and equipment of these Taiping thieves were very good, so it only took more than half a day to see the stone barrier of Zhuangzi in the distance again.

And the process of breaking Zhuangzi is also surprisingly fast and easy. There were the few remaining Tutuan soldiers who were beating those who were standing in flail outside the Zhuangzi Gate, and the Zhuang Ding didn't dare to stop or say anything, so they were taken down and subdued by the Taiping thieves who were also dressed in the same costume.

Wang Dun'er, who stayed outside the Zhuangzi to look at it, didn't even finish the second piece of dried potatoes in his mouth, and everything was almost over when it happened on the periphery; Only the owner's mansion was left surrounded by clusters; And most of the families in Zhuangzi haven't even figured out what's going on.

Wang Dun'er also noticed one thing, these Taiping thieves really neither plundered nor set fire to the village after breaking the village, and they didn't come back like Tutuan soldiers to find women. They just guarded the entrances and exits and the condescending points, and just began to clean up and screen the people stranded on the streets.

The subsequent owner of the village, Ma Yuanwai and the stewards, still inexplicably thought that the Tutuan soldiers had rebelled and rioted. Standing on the wall in person, he tried his best to make a promise of an increase in rewards and other families in the Zhuangzi, to appease and persuade them to "go to each one in peace", "go together", and "have no other nuisance".

However, after seeing the majestic Ma Xiaolangjun, cursing and threatening loudly on the wall, these "ungrateful" and "untainable" cheap dogs, and then being shot off the wall by an arrow, Wang Dun'er was even more inexplicably happy.

Although the horsemen then angrily cursed and swore an oath, and then the unity soldiers of Sun Sima in the county came, they would "cramp and peel" these own thieves, and anyone who dared to obey would bury the whole family alive. However, no amount of mouth cannons can change it, and the gate of the house was smashed open by the collision cone found by the Taiping thief;

It's like an anthill filled with water, and it's like a pika hole smoked out of fire. The first to run out were those who were usually angry and commanding, fierce and vicious, like pigs and sheep that had been pulled out of the barn, screaming and running for their lives, scurrying around, and being killed and captured on the spot by the Taiping thieves who happened to be below.

Then the stewards, the bookkeepers, and the clerks in all kinds of clothes were also collected from all over the place, and they laughed and begged for mercy or scolded and made all kinds of noises.

Although these high-ranking old men in long shirts, sending a few Zhuang Ding on weekdays can make most people afraid of disobeying and resisting; But in front of the shining knives and guns, they are only crying and crying continuously, and they are no more decent and awe-inspiring than ordinary people.

In the end, while letting the eldest son rush out with the idea of a die-hard family's son, the horse who claimed to commit suicide in the ancestral hall was also found in a filthy pit;

He was trying to climb out in the tattered clothes of a slave, only to be caught by the hook of the rotten wooden beams because of his fat body, which was not good at walking. And then he was so sad and inexplicably soaked in filth, accepting wave after wave of people who came to visit.

After that, Wang Dun'er was also able to return to the firewood shed where he slept, and wanted to put away the only tattered object that had not been taken away and was left by his parents as a souvenir, but he heard the small movements of rats and insects;

He couldn't help but move slightly in his heart to remove the messy stacks of firewood and grass, and saw a blackened face hidden in the grass, and a female voice as thin as a mosquito pleading:

"Alright, alright,"

Wang Dun'er also heard it at this moment, it was the little daughter-in-law of the owner's family from the official eunuch's family, but she usually didn't let them get close, for fear of filthy and smelly of her own nobles in the back house.

"My brother is from the county, as long as he escapes this, he will be rewarded in the future."

I saw that she was dressed in splendid jewels and jade on weekdays, and at this time her hair was scattered and she was wearing ill-fitting old slave clothes, and her face was covered with dust and pot ashes, which looked very ridiculous and continued to be miserable and miserable.

As if sensing Wang Dun'er's surprise and hesitation, she further ripped off her clothes, revealing a somewhat full and delicate placket and a dazzling whiteness, pitiful and shy.

"I can only cover up the past for me. You can do anything. Even if it's for my unborn child, please. ”

On the second day, in the midst of the noise and noise of the number of house raids, the interrogation of these owners and their stewards, Zhuang Ding, Tutuan soldiers and other related people also began in full swing.

These Taiping thieves even found many witnesses overnight. And let them wear hoods and cloaks that cover their faces and figures, and begin to correct and confide in public one by one, the many evil deeds that these people have done, and the origin of the instructions behind them.

Then, in the midst of the cries and shouts of the crowd at the scene, the offenders who were guilty of the crime were sentenced in batches to be beaten to death with a cane, hanged on the wall, and assigned to hard labor; Everything seems to be a breeze, not like it's the first time I've done it.

As the selected witness, Wang Dun'er, who was full of thoughts, looked at the family members of the owner of the village who were dragged out by the last batch of cloaks, and knelt on the ground crying and grabbing the ground, there was still some faint unbearability on his face, and asked carefully.

"Dare to ask, what does the army want to do with them?"

"Do you think they're pitiful?"

The young Taiping thief who was in charge of supervising the scene shook his head a little as if he had seen through his thoughts.

"Where do you think they can be pampered, dignified and well-dressed? It is not their fathers and brothers who have been scraped out of the bones of the poor for generations. ”

"What's more, do you really think that if they stay in the deep mansion compound all day, they won't be able to do evil, and no one will have their lives in their hands? Sometimes unintentional evil is more terrible than doing evil unintentionally, because they really think that things in the world are just right. ”

"You have seen a cricket that has been forced to jump into a well for the sake of a fun-amusing cricket; or for an inadvertent angry remark, which caused a family below to be ruined; It's even a small mistake in a bad mood.,It's a matter of losing your life to the death.。。 ”

Wang Dun'er suddenly thought that in the house, there was almost a slave who died when he returned home with a "violent pawn" or "sudden illness", as well as some rumors in Zhuangzi, and suddenly stopped talking. However, the young thief continued:

"Of course, we are not only here to raid the big households, but also to expose their true faces and ugly faces hidden behind the humble and virtuous religion in front of everyone."

"Therefore, we not only want to burn debts, release land, and confiscate homes, and arrest those who work for the tiger, but also release slaves and maids, and let them be dismissed, so that they can support themselves."

"But before that, I will let them show up for everyone, how do those old men, ladies, little ladies and gentlemen treat and deal with these poor people with low status."

Speaking of this, the Taiping thief boy smiled disapprovingly.

"It's not that we haven't seen before, the so-called roommates who grew up together and claimed to be like sisters and family members; But once you encounter the joints of the Respect and Inferiority Religion, who will take it seriously, and who cares. ”

"Not to mention that after the other generation has lost the support obtained by exploiting others, the so-called sharing of weal and woe, mutual support and solidarity is just a self-righteous, a matter of course, and finally a poor fool who makes people laugh."

"So of course, the Taiping army will not kill women and children indiscriminately, but they must also accept supervision and labor, and learn to work with their hands to support themselves."