Niangzi Pass, one of the eight Taihang Jingcheng Road Fortress, this is the throat road from the north Zhili into Shanxi, the west of Niangzi Pass is the boundary of Pingding Prefecture in Taiyuan Prefecture, Shanxi Province - Beijing Division is more than 1,000 miles away from Taiyuan, Li Yu according to the instructions of the Ministry of War, out of the Beijing Division all the way south to Baoding, Zhending, and then turn to the west, through Jingcheng, Niangzi Pass through Taihang Mountain into Shanxi. After the Niangziguan garrison checked the text of the military department, he told Li Yu with a smile on his face that he would reach Taiyuan Mansion in two days after passing Pingding and Shouyang to the west.

The soldiers who have been running for more than ten days are excited, out of Niangzi Pass to speed up the march to the west, Li Yu looked back at Niangzi Pass while walking, and couldn't help but praise: "Shanxi is really a good place, there is the Great Wall in the north, there is Taihang Mountain in the east, and there is the Yellow River in the south and west, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack on all sides, here the river valley and Pingchuan can grow grain, and some corn and yam eggs can also be planted on the hillside, which will definitely feed many people, but it is much better than our Fengzhou!" ”

"I think it's better for us to be in Toyosu, there are prairies everywhere, you can run as far as you want on a horse, there are mountains everywhere, it's not fun at all." Meng Ke shook his head vigorously and said, nodding to the side.

From time to time, groups of ordinary people appeared in front, they took packages to help the old and the young staggering, found that there were officers and soldiers appeared, and immediately fled to the mountains and forests on the side of the road in horror, Li Yu shook his head, looked at the empty fields in the distance and said to himself: "The crops in the pass have summer and autumn seasons, at this time the autumn grain has been put into storage, the field should be planted summer grain, but there are not many crops in the field, what do the people go to the mountains for?" Don't they want to farm? ”

"In this year, natural disasters and man-made disasters, there is not much grain grown in the field, the people can't afford to pay taxes, and they abandon the famine, and they go to find a way to live, and our hometown Yansui is also like this," Bai An sighed, worriedly continued, "I heard that the imperial court will pay another three cents of silver next year, and the Liao salary per mu of land is one and a half cents of silver, which doesn't sound much, but it can make the dog officials and evil officials exploit layer by layer, and it will fall on the heads of the people more than ten times, Beizhili and Shanxi have a bad harvest in this year's drought, and the people's lives are even more sad, along the way, I don't know when to crack down on the thieves this time, we don't have much money, and the military department kicks us out of the Beijing Division, and we have to plan for ourselves, my lord, when you see the governor of Shanxi, you must ask him for money and people, or these two hundred people will not last long and will disperse. ”

Zhou Yuji also came over, and said with a sad face: "Along the way, the prefectures and counties along the way have blocked us from the city, neither pay nor food, and only five hundred taels of silver have been spent on the three thousand taels given by the military department, and the weather is getting colder and colder, and the brothers have no cotton clothes for the winter, and if the governor of Shanxi doesn't care, we will have to flee the famine." ”

Bai An and Zhou Yuji are honest people, Li Yu discussed with everyone, and handed over all the silver given by the military department to them to manage, this is not a good errand, Li Yu gave each person five taels of silver when he set off for settling down and preparing for the trip, which took more than a thousand taels, and there was no supply on the road, and the rations and horse materials had to be spent by themselves.

"What are you afraid of, if the court doesn't give money, Lao Tzu won't do it, it's a big deal to cross the Yellow River and go back to Yulin's hometown," Hu Dawei said nonchalantly on his horse, he pointed at Ding Qiming and shouted, "Lao Ding, don't play your thing, you said that if you break up, where are you going to go?" ”

"This is a large lifting gun made by me, and it can hit a five-dollar gun, you know what!" Ding Qiming was sitting in a carriage and was carefully rubbing two thick pipes more than one zhang long, glanced at Hu Dawei and said, "Lao Tzu has skills, and I can eat rice wherever I go, so I'm not afraid of breaking up, I discussed with Lao Zhou and Lao Jin, but I really have nowhere to go, so I went to Fengzhou with the deputy general, and I still have food and drink." ”

The gang of people brought out by Li Yu out of Beijing each have small abacus, Bai An, Hu Dawei and Meng Ruhu are all from Yulin, and they are happy to go to Shanxi, which is close to home, and they don't want to mix in Shanxi, so they can cross the Yellow River and escape back to their hometown, as for whether they will continue to be officials or thieves in the future, it doesn't matter; Ding Qiming's ancestors were craftsmen, his grandfather's generation made military merits as guns, and transferred to Beijing to become an officer, and when he arrived at Ding Qiming's generation, his mind was full of thoughts about making military merits and becoming a big official, he finally hugged Li Yu's thigh, and never wanted to give up easily, as long as Li Yu didn't fall, he would follow it, and he could still run away if he couldn't do it. When the officers got together to discuss, Jin Guoding, who was born in the Shenyang Zhongwei military household, slapped the table, and sought wealth and danger since ancient times, anyway, everyone is a single person, and there is nothing to worry about, so a group of people took refuge in Li Yu, but Zhou Yuji's friend Huang Degong hesitated for a few days, and decided to stay in Beijing to continue to stay in Beijing and wait for the opportunity, and since then they have parted ways.

"Lord Song, the governor of Shanxi, is my old official, he is a good man, and he will not ignore us." Li Yu was also a little upset about the dilemma in front of him, and casually comforted everyone.

Everyone thought about their own thoughts, all the way to the boundary of Pingding Prefecture, and the fierce tiger who explored the way came back to report that the Zhizhou of Pingding Prefecture was taking the errand and the people to set up a card on the official road in front to intercept the displaced people, and the Lord Zhizhou asked Li Yu to go to see him quickly.

When Li Yu saw him, he was directing his subordinates Ding Zhuang and the messengers to drive the fleeing people back with sticks and iron rulers, and at the same time ordered the lieutenants and grain chiefs of each village to escort the people back to their hometowns, but his people were too few to take care of, and many people still took advantage of the chaos to escape.

The governor of Pingding Prefecture carefully read Li Yu's military department, and said expressionlessly: "Vice General Li, since you came to Shanxi to aid in suppression, this official just borrowed your soldiers, and the local Diao people fled the taxes of the imperial court, intending to abandon the wasteland, and you have many cavalry, so this official sent someone to lead the way for you, and quickly went to arrest the Diao people who fled everywhere." ”

"My lord, the last general was ordered to help suppress Shanxi, he came to clear out the thieves, and the last general had to rush to Taiyuan to report to the governor, arresting the people is a local matter, and the last general can't help the adults." Li Yu shook his head unhappily and said.

"Nonsense, these Diao people are homeless people today, and they may be thieves tomorrow, if you don't control these Diao people, how can you exterminate the thieves?" Lord Zhizhou pointed at Li Yu and scolded angrily, then waved his hand and said, "You have arrived at Taiyuan Mansion, this official will send someone to inform the governor, you will do what the official says, the grain and grass in these days are indispensable to you, and Lou will reward you with two big fat pigs." ”

Li Yu was still hesitating, Meng Ke, Hu Dawei and Meng Ruhu were excited when they heard that there was meat to eat, and they vigorously encouraged Li Yu to take over the job, and the others also looked at Li Yu with their eyes - the days of clear soup and little water on the way are indeed too sad, and it is also a good thing to have a mouth of meat to eat, Li Yu sighed helplessly, waved his hand, and the soldiers happily followed the people who led the way and scattered, Lou Zhizhou smiled proudly, and pointed at Li Yu to take the horseless people to pacify the people outside the city to take care of the displaced people who were captured, It seems that Li Yu, the second-grade deputy general, is just a miscellaneous errand and errand.

Meng Ke, Hu Dawei and Fierce Tiger were thieves, and it was easy to catch the fleeing people, and they rushed back three or four thousand people within three days, and pacified a large number of men, women, and children in the city, Lou Zhizhou appeared again at this time, standing on a big car, letting go of his voice and scolding at the people.

"You are all my Ming people, the Ming Emperor was ordered to the sky to nurture the world, there is no Ming how to wait, my emperor loves the people and the people to pay a light tax, the Ming Tian Fu is only according to thirty to take one of the levy, to you and so on to send Liao pay is only nine cents of silver per mu, now I have thieves in the Ming Dynasty, there are Jianyi raging outside, it is a time of many disasters, this is also a helpless move, you and so pay the emperor's taxes, should be the court's errand is also a matter of course, but you and others fled with their families to escape from tax service, let the fields be barren, If this goes on will cause the land to rot and bring calamity to all directions, and it is a great sin, and if it is not dealt with strictly and the other people follow suit, who will plant this vast land? Where did the taxes of the imperial court come from? Where does the pay come from? The more Lou Zhizhou spoke, the more excited he became, pointing to the tiger who was grinning on the side, fierce as a tiger, and shouted to the people, "Since this official took office and pacified, he has always been honest and honest, and the taxes and commissions collected have the laws and regulations of the imperial court to follow, and he has never collected an extra bucket of rice or a penny of silver from you, and this is how he repays this official!" Don't think that the official is soft-hearted and easy to fool, the imperial court has sent a brigade of officers and soldiers, if you are obsessed and refuse to pay grain and taxes, you will be severely punished by the law of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Lou Zhizhou's scolding frightened the people, the people's cries shook the sky, the black pressure overwhelmed a large area, and people cried and begged Lou Zhizhou.

"My lord, it's not that I don't want to pay food and taxes, it's that I really can't afford to pay, and the whole family will have nothing to eat after paying the food, and I can't live anymore, so adults will pity me and wait, let me wait for a way out."

"The government will distribute the barren land that no one has planted, as well as the land endowment and exemption of official land and preferential and exempt fields to every household, and an acre of land will pay a few cents of silver, and the grain grown in the field cannot be sold at a price, and if the grain is handed over to the government, the whole family will starve to death, and there will be no way to live if they do not leave home and flee!"

"My lord, this year's drought harvest is not good, and the government still wants us to pay the tax arrears, we really can't get food, please give us a way to live!"

Lou Zhizhou replied coldly, "The land endowment of the states and counties of the Ming Dynasty has become customized, this is not done by the official, you abandon the field and do not keep the industry, resulting in no one cultivating the land, these taxes will also be added to other people's fields, do not punish you, etc., other good people who are safe and keep their own will be harmed, the official is appointed by the court as the official side, and the tax must be levied according to the laws of the court, and if you do not pay, you will fight against the court, and the official is not to blame for being ruthless." ”

The people's cries were louder, and they kept kowtowing and begging, Lou Zhizhou was unmoved, and continued to shout to the people: "This official ordered you and others to immediately pay taxes and increase the distribution, and the village chiefs and grain chiefs listened, even if these Diao people pay the grain, they must be strictly controlled in the future, and they must not be allowed to leave the land without permission. ”

"Don't give people a way to live, this emperor is a fart!" Lou Zhizhou didn't wait for the people's response, but he heard such a rebellious sentence coming out of nowhere.

"Who said that? Take this rebellion down. Lou Zhizhou looked around, but he couldn't find anyone to speak, only to see a few bald soldiers not far away smiling at him indifferently.

Lou Zhizhou was a little angry, and ordered the people to be strong and the servants to find out the men in charge of each family and put them in a flail to show the public, and those who did not pay the grain were not allowed to go home, and the scene immediately became chaotic.

Lou Zhizhou gritted his teeth and shouted at the tiger: "If these Diao people don't die, they will be lawless, you go to arrest people, and those who dare to oppose the government will beat me hard." ”

Li Yu didn't want to meddle in things, so he hid from afar to watch the excitement, but his face was red with anger, and he felt that he had seen the scene of Anshan Station again, that time it was Zhu Shen who killed the Han people in Liaodong, but this time it was the Ming government that dealt with the people of the Ming Dynasty, and his hand involuntarily pressed on the handle of the knife.

"Lord Adjutant General, if you don't get it this time, something will happen, Yan Sui forced out the people's rebellion in this way, let's run," Bai An quietly leaned over and pulled him, and persuaded him in a low voice, "Your Excellency, don't act rashly, there are not many people in that dog official, we have disrupted the scene, and the people will naturally flee." ”

Li Yu suddenly woke up and ordered Chen Erzhu to blow the trumpet and withdraw quickly, the horn sounded, Li Yu got on the horse and fled westward, Liu Shi held the black eagle flag and ran away, Li Yu's gang was at a loss, and when they heard Chen Erzhu's strange trumpet, they immediately pulled out their legs and ran, and the people were also in a mess.

Hu Dawei and fierce as a tiger have been pretending to scare people next to Lou Zhizhou, and they were about to bargain with Lou Zhizhou, when Meng Ke shouted at them, "The wind is tight, you two are stupid donkeys!" The two of them looked up and saw that the Black Eagle Flag was moving away, and they immediately pushed Lou Zhizhou away and ran, shouting in their mouths, "Run for your life, the government is going to kill someone!" ”

Li Yu and his gang fled in a hurry, and the people and soldiers in Pingding Prefecture did not have the support of officers and soldiers, and they were at a loss for a while, and the people also reacted, pushing away the people who were still in a daze, and scattered and fled in a chaotic manner, and the city of Pingding suddenly became in chaos.

Lou Zhizhou looked at the back of Li Yu and his party, and scolded.

Li Yu ran out of more than ten miles in one breath before stopping, and the brothers also came back one after another, everyone covered their stomachs and laughed loudly, Li Yu waved his hand and said, "Brothers, let's go to Taiyuan." ”

At this time, the day was already cold, a gust of wind swept by, rolled up sand and fallen leaves, outside the city in a leeward grove, the Ming army soldiers hurriedly set up the camp tent, the middle of the camp of the Ming Dynasty to help suppress the deputy general flag and the black eagle battle flag in the wind hunting - according to the Ming military law, the battalion soldiers are not allowed to enter the city without the permission of the civil officials stationed in the city, if they do not live in the camp tent before dark, there can be a crime at night.

In the yamen of the governor of Shanxi, Song Tongyin sat behind the desk in the study and looked coldly at Li Yu standing in front of him.

"It's great that the emperor let the adults be the governor of Shanxi, the last general is happy in his heart, the Beijing division is full of evil spirits, the last general has long been unable to stay, as soon as he received the will of the imperial court, he hurried to Taiyuan, this way the last general and his party can encounter a lot of trouble, the text of the military department is useless to the state capital along the way, the local see us close the city gate, not only do not let us enter the city, even a meal is not given to us to eat, fortunately we prepared our own rations on the road, horse feed, this is all the way to here, now good, When you get to the adults, you'll almost be home. My lord, you said that we are also the official army of the Ming Dynasty, we marched within the territory of the Ming court, but we were guarded by local thieves, what is this! ”

"What's so strange about this, this time the officials and troops from all walks of life have entered the Weiqin King, and the places where they go are erosive, and it is better to harass the people than the Dongyu, of course, the local government must guard against you," Song Tongyin replied disdainfully, he didn't plan to continue to listen to Li Yudong's nonsense - this guy seemed to have learned how to learn oil after a few months in Beijing, and asked seriously: "Aid the deputy general, the edict said that you led troops into Shanxi to aid and suppress the thieves, so where are the troops you bring?" The imperial court won't just give you two or three hundred people to exterminate the thieves, right? ”

"Just these people outside the city, others don't want to come to Shanxi with me, the military department asked me to obey the dispatch of the adults after I arrived in Shanxi, and the soldiers and food and salary also obeyed the arrangements of the adults," Li Yu blushed and said in a low voice, seeing Song Tongyin's face change, he hurriedly explained: "My lord, most of the people I brought this time are officers, all of them can fight, and they are definitely not here to eat, and Lord Shangshuliang of the military department also gave me three thousand taels of silver." ”

"Stupid, you have been calculated by others, what is the use of three thousand taels of silver, you have to give five taels of silver to recruit a bare-ass soldier, and the military department will push everything away, is this to call you a thief or to send you to death, you dragged the official into the water, where did you ask the official to find soldiers for you? Where do you get paid? You're going to me off! Song Tongyin couldn't suppress the fire anymore, stood up and stepped forward, Li Yu hurriedly covered his head and squatted on the ground, Song Tongyin's anger became even greater, "Look at your appearance, you have been in Jingshibai for a few months, people give you some benefits, and you will be trapped, do you know how big your official is?" Zheng Erpin is the right governor of the capital, the military generals in Shanxi have the highest official rank in Shanxi, and the imperial court only gave you more than 200 people and 3,000 taels of silver to send you away, so you don't know if Lai is in the military department or not? ”

The more Song Tongyin spoke, the more angry he became, and he couldn't help but kick Li Yu's ass twice, and a young man in a green cloth Confucian costume sitting next to him hurriedly stepped forward to dissuade him: "My lord, stop being angry!" Which of the courtiers of the various departments of the Beijing Division is not a human spirit, and Vice General Li is a kind person, and he can't play with them. ”