The appearance of the name of General Lin Dengwan was undoubtedly Zhao Jiaren's bad taste, and after learning about the latest situation in Hebei through telegrams, when he told his judgment of the situation in Hebei at the morning meeting, Zhao Guanjia looked serious.

"I used to think that we probably didn't have any strength in Hebei, but I completely forgot about the problem of natural and man-made disasters......"

Listening to Zhao Guanjia's speech, the face of the important minister was a little delicate. Some of them have great admiration for the Zhao family, especially those from Jiangnan. Zhao Guanjia ordered the local people to launch a large-scale water conservancy project battle, which fundamentally changed the agriculture in the south of the Yangtze River.

There is also a small proportion of officials who feel that the Zhao official family is too arrogant. Natural disasters have always been a reason for scholars to accuse officials of immorality, and the Northern Song Dynasty was able to accurately predict solar and lunar eclipses, which shows that solar and lunar eclipses are already natural phenomena and have nothing to do with the morality of officials. However, the scholars still used this reason to accuse the officials of immorality. The reason is simple, if the scholars do not have this level of interpretation power, they will be completely overwhelmed by the officials. The Zhao Guanjia's attitude of treating natural disasters as natural phenomena has undoubtedly greatly reduced the voice of the scholars.

Zhao Guanjia didn't have the idea of taking care of the scholar's mood, and he continued to explain unhurriedly, "...... Natural and man-made disasters will exacerbate the already fierce contradictions between the Mongols and the Han Chinese. At this stage, we can no longer simply think that the Han people in Hebei are still firmly on the side of the Mongols. ”

"Just because the Han people in Hebei are not on the side of the Mongols does not mean that they are on our side. It has been more than 100 years since the Great Song Dynasty lost Hebei. If it is counted from the northern part of Hebei to the hands of the Khitan, it will be almost 400 years by now. Chief of the General Staff Zheng Jie said.

As a soldier, you always assume that the other party is the enemy, so as to reduce your own losses. Although Zheng Jie would not express such a view, there are many people who agree with Zheng Jie's judgment of the Han people in the north. Sun Qing, the head of the household department, followed suit, "Official, our Northern Expedition in the Great Song Dynasty has failed to get the support of the Han people in the north several times. How much can they change now? ”

Regarding such objections, Zhao Jiaren said with a smile: "There is only one criterion for the support of the Northern Han for the Mongols, and that is whether the Mongols are useful on the battlefield. In the past, the Mongols were very capable of fighting, and the Han people in the north followed the Mongols, and now there are people who are more capable of fighting than the Mongols. Who do you think the northern Han people will support at this time? ”

Hearing such straightforward words, Xiong Shang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Official, you say so, how different are the northern Han people from the barbarians at this time. ”

"Well...... anyway, there will still be some differences." Zhao Jiaren defended the Han people in the north.

If Hao Ren Wanhu heard the words of the Zhao Guanjia at this time, he probably would not support the Zhao Guanjia's opinion. Because the Red Turban Army has been operating continuously for more than ten days, it has been very ruthless.

This armed force first appeared in three ways to liberate the people who had been captured by the Mongolian magistrates north of the Yellow River. Hao Ren Wanhu didn't pay much attention to the news after learning the news, and the Mongols never paid attention to the Han people in the north. For almost fifty years, the Han Chinese in the north never caused any trouble to the Mongols. The trouble is the Nanban Song people, especially the current Nanban Song people.

Then Hao Ren Wanhu received detailed news. The ambushed Mongol army did not leave a living mouth, and the Mongol spies who went to inspect carefully examined the Mongol troops who were ambushed on the official road. Of the nearly 100 corpses, the dead were either killed by knives and guns or shot by crossbow arrows. A piece of the bark of a tree next to the pile of corpses was stripped off, and a line of words was written in blood on it, 'Hebei Red Turban Army Lin Deng Wananti'. So the name Lin Dengwan was officially known by Hao Ren Wanhu, and was sent to Dadu with Wanhu's official document a few days later.

Hao Ren Wanhu was not idle, and in a fit of rage, he immediately ordered to search for Lin Dengwan and the Red Turban Army. The people who have seen Lin Dengwan and others are undoubtedly the people who have been released. The Mongol army went to the village with the government soldiers, and sure enough, they saw some villagers who had fled and returned. Brought these villagers to Wanhu, and after torture, they got the news. From any point of view, these people are all Hebei locals, and the weapons they use are also cold weapons. Although Hao Ren Wanhu also doubted the origin of these people, Hao Ren Wanhu, who had been to the south, knew the huge gap between the southern barbarians and the northern Han people. Just an accent is not something that can be reversed in a short period of time.

Before Wanhu could make any judgment on this, new bad news came, another Mongolian army in the countryside was ambushed, this time a dozen Mongolian soldiers and more than 30 government soldiers were ambushed, and only a dozen people escaped.

Hao Ren Wanhu finally saw the arrows that killed and injured these people, which were relatively common short arrows in Dayuan, but I heard from those who escaped that these crossbow arrows, which were originally only used for close combat, burst into great power in battle. Knowing that the other side had a strong crossbow, the cavalry could only desperately flee after being ambushed. The Yuan troops who chose to fight bravely were all killed.

Wanhu was furious and immediately ordered to send an army of 300 yuan to that village. Some villagers in this village were arrested, and the magistrate was also killed on the way back to the county seat after leaving the village. If there really is such a Lin Dengwan, this village must know the news.

Seeing the arrival of the 300 yuan army in the village, Uncle Lu was so frightened that he was a little out of his mind. There were a lot of villagers in the village who were kidnapped by the magistrate, and when I asked, I found out that they were not released by the magistrate with kindness. Instead, a rebel army called the Red Turban Army rebelled and released the villagers.

After returning to the village, some villagers wanted to stay in the village and continue their lives, while others chose to leave the village and go south of the Yellow River to join relatives there. The county magistrate was killed, and the government would definitely not treat it as if he didn't see it.

Uncle Lu thought about it, and secretly called all the men in charge of each family, "Big guy, I'm afraid the village won't be able to stay." I think if we can get through this, let's go to Erlang south of the Yellow River to avoid the limelight first. ”

At this time, everyone didn't think Uncle Lu's words were so abrupt, and someone immediately responded: "The government has already tossed us, if they let them toss again, they will have to shed their skin if they don't die." ”

"Hmm. Before, the magistrate didn't have anything left for us, and if we stayed here, we would only starve to death. ”

Seeing no opponents, Uncle Lu ordered, "Everyone should be careful these days, if the officers and soldiers want to arrest people, each family will run by themselves." If they don't arrest them, let's leave as soon as they're gone. ”

"Why don't you go now?" Someone asked.

Uncle Lu smiled bitterly: "In the village, I'm afraid that the officials and soldiers are not very good at slaughtering villages and killing people." If these cavalrymen are seen in the field, they are afraid that their lives will be lost. ”

"This world is ......, and life is cheap!" Someone sighed.

No matter how you sigh, this world will not change in an instant. After making up his mind, Uncle Lu asked everyone to hurry up and prepare. Since the last time he was forcibly collected by the county magistrate, Uncle Lu's family has no food. went to the Kong family to borrow food, and the Kong family was mourning because Kong's father was killed in the attack of the Red Turban Army. So he coldly rejected the Lu family's request.

The Lu family and the Zheng family are enemies, and it is unrealistic to go to the Zheng family to borrow grain. Uncle Lu sent everyone out, and happened to see the Zheng family's people escorting a big cart, which was full of grain and several large strings of sausages. The last time I went south of the Yellow River, Uncle Lu had the opportunity to eat this sausage. Sausages are made by chopping pork, mixing salt and spices, and putting it in a casing to dry in the shade. It is best to use steaming methods when eating, and if you are steaming white rice, put some ...... on the rice bowl

Thinking of the steamed fragrance, Uncle Lu felt that he had saliva.

"Humph! Let the Zheng family and the government stick so close. I know it's amazing this time. Hundreds of people, eat them to death. Someone next to him looked at the Zheng family's grain cart and said viciously.

"Hmm!" Uncle Lu nodded emphatically. But I didn't have that viciousness in my heart. When the magistrate went to the village before, in terms of results, the Zheng family actually did a good job. If the Kong family could have obediently taken out the money and given it to the magistrate at that time, the magistrate would have gone satisfied, and probably there would not have been a tragic death of Father Kong. Uncle Lu is most concerned about the end, and the Zheng family did not let a poor person like Uncle Lu pay. If the Zheng family casually hinted at it at that time, Uncle Lu and they wouldn't be able to escape. At that time, Uncle Lu can only borrow money from the Kong family.

As for now, if the Zheng family didn't come up with something to treat these Yuan troops, probably the Yuan army would have to go into the village to search for food on their own. The Zheng family has its own big courtyard, and the Yuan army probably doesn't have much to do. However, if the Zheng family stayed out of the matter, the villagers would have to bear the fate of being ravaged by the Yuan army. As soon as he thought of this, Uncle Lu shuddered. Seeing the government's forced grain in the famine year, Uncle Lu didn't dare to think about it anymore. He only hoped that the Yuan army would be sent away by these foods, and give Uncle Lu the opportunity to escape south of the Yellow River.

That night, the smell of cooking wafted from the village. Maybe it's because after eating porridge for almost ten days, everyone's sense of smell has become extremely sensitive. The smell of food wafting from such a distance aroused everyone's appetite. The half-grown children couldn't help crying, and the adults quickly asked them to cover their mouths. If it catches the attention of the Yuan army, God knows what will happen.

As for the babies, reasoning is simply not enough. The mother can only stuff the shriveled ** into the baby's mouth and let them suck uselessly. Children want to cry, and adults can't help but want to cry. At this time, it was as if there was a mountain pressing on everyone's hearts, making everyone feel that they couldn't breathe.

During the day the next day, someone called Uncle Shang Lu and asked him to go with him to see the steward of the Yuan army. The steward sat high in a chair, surrounded by his men, as well as some local families and heads of more populous households.

The steward's eyes were slender, he glared at everyone, and then said in Mongolian Chinese: "This time the Red Turban Army rebelled, and a person named Lin Dengwan made the court uneasy. We're here to catch this guy named Lindenwan. Tell me what you know, and we'll let you go." ”

Uncle Lu hadn't eaten today, and after hearing the news, he only felt dizzy and dizzy, and felt the incomparable despair from his heart. He was now beginning to regret why he hadn't run away all night. If you escape, you can avoid such a threat. Yuan Jun said that if he kills, he will kill people. For the Yuan army, the only way to do this is to avoid them and never see them. Whether it is the Mongolian officials or the Mongolian soldiers, they are refreshing the lower limit of Uncle Lu's perception of them again and again.

In the past, the Mongols were fighting with the Great Song Dynasty in the south, so they didn't have time to deal with the Han people in the north. It's just that you need to pay the food on time. However, now that the Great Song Dynasty was forced to the edge of the Yellow River, the Great Yuan finally withdrew his attention and turned to the Han people in Hebei.

This is the reason that Uncle Lu listened to his nephew Lu Erlang when he went south of the Yellow River. At that time, Uncle Lu still felt that his nephew Lu Erlang's purpose was to let the Lu family stay south of the Yellow River, and he heard what his nephew said that they had a lot of farm work to do south of the Yellow River and lacked manpower, so he hoped that the Lu family, which had a large population, could stay.

At that time, Uncle Lu felt that Lu Erlang had no reason to command the Lu family, and the Lu family had no reason to go south of the Yellow River to work as a long-term worker. Now he really regrets it, at least being a long-term worker south of the Yellow River is just a contribution, and staying north of the Yellow River is to lose his life.

"Master, ask this slowly. If you know, you will definitely tell the master. Don't be angry. The head of the Zheng family said as if he hadn't heard the threat.

The steward glanced at the head of the Zheng family with slanted eyes, and then said proudly: "Phew! The surname Zheng is not your turn to speak here. On your knees. ”

The head of the Zheng family was not overly surprised by such an angry shout, and he didn't say much, and finally knelt down. Then the Mongolian military steward shouted to the others: "You all kneel for me, if you can't tell the news this time, you will kneel and die here!" ”

One after another, the Han people at the venue were called to kneel. The Mongolian steward looked at the person below and pointed at Uncle Lu with the horsewhip in his hand, "You, you speak first." ”

Swallowing his saliva hard, Uncle Lu felt that he was so unlucky. Why is it handed over and questioned first every time? He asked, "Sir, I'm ...... What should I say? ”

"Just tell me what you know about Lin Dengwan!" The Mongolian steward shouted.

"I ...... Last time, the magistrate came to collect grain, and before collecting grain, he arrested those who had no food. After we handed over this year's grain, more than a day later, the villagers ran back. We asked them how they got back. They said it was the Red Turbans who put them back. As for Lin Dengwan, we've never heard of such a person before. ”

"Haven't heard of it? How could I not have heard of it! The steward said angrily.

"We have many surnames in Hebei, such as Zhao Qiansun, Li Zhou, Wu and Zheng Wang, and very few people surnamed Lin."

"How can the surnamed Lin be killed, don't bluff me! Dare to talk nonsense! Kill immediately. The steward shouted angrily.