A group of people who repair the kiln and people from many mines under the jade mountain are gathered in the place where the accident happened, and there are hundreds of thousands of people in a mess, but there are many people to no avail, people can only use hoes and shovels to dig that small area, the vast majority of people can't even squeeze in, they can only surround that side and do anxiously, and those buried in it are suffocated to death even if they are not stoned to death.

The north wind is still howling, and the wind is carrying the howls of those who have lost relatives and friends, and it is a pure sad song on the white earth.

I don't know who shouted: "The government doesn't treat us as human beings, and sooner or later we will die in a foreign land, it's better to do the opposite!" ”

When everyone heard this, they stopped a little, and they all looked around and looked for something. The officials and soldiers in the mine were all outside the crowd, and they did not dare to squeeze inside; Naturally, people are not looking for the person in charge of the mine, but Cui Qigao, the eldest son of Cui Langzhong, who has died. At this time, everyone knows that they need a leader, so that they can get ahead. The slave exile was against the creation of the official government, and the believers still had children with background and knowledge, and Cui Qigao's identity as a scholar became the embodiment of wisdom and strategy in the hearts of everyone, and his identity was a prestige in itself at this moment.

Cui Qigao's relatives and friends gathered over, and a descendant said: "As long as Gongzi says a word, let's start an incident now, and we can pull up 1,800 people immediately!" ”

At this moment, Cui Qigao was calm, his expression looked very strict, and his face looked more resolute than when he was the son of a scholar, and the experience of suffering and the turbulent environment of Liaodong made him grow. He was silent for a long time, and then said to the people next to him: "As long as Juluo City transfers a regimental horse team, all of us here will be suppressed immediately!" Even if we dodge the first round of attack in Juluo City, there are still more than 10,000 elite soldiers stationed in Liucheng, plus tens of thousands of border troops from all over Yingzhou, our group of people will have to face a heavily armed official army before they can grow stronger, and there is no chance of victory. ”

The expressions on people's faces became darker and darker, and despair spread in the wind. A voice said, "Can we just wait here for death?" ”

Cui Qigao looked back and said: "The supervisors on the mine don't dare to clash with us at this time, but the only way to do this is to seize the opportunity to escape, and they can't stop it and don't dare to stop it." To the northeast, there are only two guard posts ahead; Out of Yingzhou, he ran in the direction of Liaoshui. The Gobezhou and Liaocheng areas are still the areas where the Hu people are active, and those Hu people only fought with Du Xian's army a few months ago, and they have a bad relationship with the Liucheng government, so they should not help the government arrest us. ”

Someone said worriedly: "Du Xian killed so many Hu people, we are Han people who ran to the territory of the Hu people, will they be cut down directly?" ”

Cui Qigao gritted his teeth and said: "I'll wait for a seven-foot man, even if I have a bamboo pole in my hand, if the Hu people want to kill us, we will have to exchange our lives!" Then he turned his head to look to the east, and there was no sun in sight in the gray east, only the sand and snowflakes blown up by the wind, and the vast expanse was like an unknown future.

"Let's go!" Cui Qigao and others picked up shovels and other tools to leave the accident site of the devastated coal mine, and immediately many miners who could not bear the hardships and harsh slave life followed.

The officials and sergeants who were arrogant before didn't dare to go up to block it at the moment, at first glance, it was a rebellion, there were so many people, and now they still want to go up and shout three or four to find death? The officers could only watch as their laborers swaggered out of the mines, and a large crowd drifted away in the desolate snow.

After half a day, a convoy of horses came from the city of Jura, and when they arrived at the place of the incident, the miners were almost finished. The captain who led the troops was a little surprised to see this situation, because it was not the first time he had led the troops to suppress the rebellion, and in most cases, the officers and sergeants at the place of the accident would be killed or flee in advance.

After asking about the situation and the time of escape, the captain with the troops thought that there was no need to chase it anymore, because this place was very close to the border of Yingzhou, and even if he walked for half a day, he would have already left Yingzhou; And leading troops out of the country to fight is not a matter that a lieutenant has the authority to decide, even if it is easier to chase after him now. They are officers and soldiers, so they have rules and a set of military laws, and what the lieutenant should do now is to report the situation to the city of Jura and obey the military orders of the guard.

The new governor is the emperor's confidant, Zhang Wulang, who has been crowned a marquis, and if he can get Zhang Wulang's appreciation, it will be a great benefit to the future. As for the matter in the mines, unless someone gathers a crowd to fight the city of Jura, he is only running away, and the guards plan to transfer the miners from elsewhere, and they cannot stop working for a day; In addition, the officials in charge of affairs were also questioned for their inaction when they watched people flee and did nothing.

His staff couldn't help but ask the generals who came to report: "Who is the leader?" ”

The general replied: "According to the oral account of the officials, this person's name is Cui Qigao, a descendant of Cui Men in Huazhou, whose father was a Langzhong in Shangshu Province, and was executed for being implicated in a conspiracy case, and his clan was exiled to Yingzhou, with a total of more than 1,000 people. ”

The staff hurriedly said to the guard: "The escaped criminals are not simple, they know how to avoid my edge, can bend and stretch, and let it go is probably a scourge. ”

Ru Luo Shou said disapprenously: "It was a thousand miles of snow in the northeast in winter, and there was not even a single grain outside, these Han prisoners could neither hunt nor nomadism, and he had no soldiers to loot, what did he eat in the field?" If he doesn't come back and surrender, he will starve to death, so what does he do? ”

The staff insisted, "At least send a small group of men to find out where they are." ”

After listening to it, he had to casually order the scout battalion to send a team out to search for information, and when he turned around, he left this matter behind.

Cui Qigao fled all the way to the northeast with hundreds of people, and after a few days, he did not find any pursuers, and the situation eased somewhat, but at the same time, the little dry food he brought from the mine was also eaten, and there were no tents and other things, and the biggest enemy he faced first was the natural environment.

He gathered his clan and a few older people to form a center and discuss his next steps. People were forced to be anxious, believing that only by robbing the Hu tribe near Liaoshui, tents and livestock could they solve the problem of survival. But someone admonished: "Even if you succeed once, the next thing is a desperate situation!" Offend the Hu people, soon they will gather troops and horses to attack, we only have a few hundred people, lack weapons and arrows, and are by no means the opponent of the Hu soldiers. ”

"Take food from the Hu population first, and then vote for the Khitans!" Cui Qigao said categorically, he looked back left and right and continued, "In this part of Liaodong, all forces are based on their own people, and the Han people only have a foothold in Yingzhou. We are Han people, but we can't rely on Yingzhou, we can't survive alone, people have to bow our heads under the eaves, and we can only live by voting for Khitan. ”

Someone interjected: "The Khitan is negotiating peace with Liucheng, will they escort us back, or simply cut us down, and we will become sheep into the mouth of a tiger?" ”

"Khitan Li will never be willing to send away Yingzhou and let the Han people gain a foothold in Liaodong. Peace? It's just an expedient measure, and they are now weakened and unwilling to engage in a large-scale conflict with the Jin Dynasty. Cui Qigao sneered, "As long as the Khitans see our value, we are not afraid that they will not be willing to take advantage of it." We can provoke a rebellion on the border of Yingzhou and create opportunities for the Khitan army to attack and disturb; If our people can return to Hebei and Henan, they can still start an uprising in the country. Didn't the Khitans want to recapture Yingzhou? Hebei is in chaos, and if the soldiers and horses of the three towns of Yingzhou are transferred to the south, they will not have a chance. ”

An older man nodded in agreement: "When I was escorted from Huazhou, I heard the rumor that the imperial court would build the Great Wall in Hebei in the spring of next year, and a large number of people would be needed. If Gongzi can take Huazhou as the root cause of the incident, and Huazhou is close to Hebei, which will be the heaviest conscription next year, the righteous army will be able to quickly advance to Hebei Province. ”

Cui Qigao said: "I am exactly planning to send people back to Huazhou to start an incident, and we can only rely on the help of the Khitans, and then borrow Daoxi's territory." Otherwise, there are many castles in the first line of Yuguan, and we will not be able to get through as fugitives. This is the second reason why you have to vote for Khitan (the first is to gain a foothold and survive).

Third, if the uprising is big in the future, the imperial court will definitely transfer a large army from Guanzhong to suppress it. The so-called difficulties at the beginning of everything, only by avoiding the initial difficulties and making the situation stalemate, can we take the name of the Xue family's unjust victory and tyrannical expropriation, and carry on the banner of restoring the Tang Dynasty, and further do great things.

The Khitan people also don't want to see a strong Jin pressed on their heads, and if the Khitan can recapture Yingzhou, we also have the credit for the response. In the future, the Khitan, Xi and other Hu people can be used to jointly contain the Jin army; It can also avoid the Jin army's advance and retreat to the outside of Yuguan, and gain a foothold in alliance with the Khitan. ”

Cui Qigao was bitter and silent when he was doing hard work, and today's words shocked everyone and made people look at him again. Saying a set of strategies, where to go, there was a premeditated plan in advance, in the hearts of everyone, isn't this a person who does big things? There is no doubt that he became the leader of the multitude.

Cui Qigao had never had such a big ambition when he was the son of the scholar clan, and he didn't want to make any substantive moves about the Xue family's seizure of the country, so it was a big deal to talk a few words verbally in private; But now that he is forced to live, his ambition has swelled exponentially...... Because there is nothing left to lose. When there is nothing to lose, it is the beginning of plunder. As for helping the alien race deal with the suspicion of "traitor" in the Central Plains, what is the significance of Cui Qigao at this time? There is no other righteousness in the fight, the meaning is only that either you die or I die. G