The third year of Yuanxing is also the eleventh year of the beginning of the Yue Kingdom.

The five princes are vying for the crown prince, which is already known to the whole country, and there is constant friction in the court, the civil and military forces supported by the command attack each other, and the fire of war is ignited between the fiefdoms, but it is still restrained, after all, the father and the emperor are still pressing.

Even so, the five princes were still secretly expanding their troops, which meant that they had to accumulate grain and grass and build weapons and armor, and the cost of the need was huge, and it was impossible to meet it with that little food alone, and in the end it all fell on the people.

Just like those Wu people on the Wu-Yue border at the beginning, the excessive taxes fell on their shoulders, and the rich families were okay and could barely survive, but the common people faced heavy and onerous taxes, which made many already poor families even worse.

"I can't live this day anymore."

In a village twenty miles outside Yongnian County, Linzhou, there are more than 30 families, who have lived on hunting and farming for generations.

Many people have only a thin layer of rice in their homes, and in the following winter, they are afraid that they will starve to death.

"The dog baby died yesterday, and he was forced to die by the official who came to collect taxes, and in front of his baby and his mother-in-law, he hit his head on the door frame, and he went like that."

Outside the earthen thatched house, the man sat in front of the earthen stove, the flickering fire at the stove was reflected on the rough old face, and he said to the old wife on the other side of the earthen stove in a daze: "Run, take the child and flee into the mountains." ”

The wife on the other side of the stove lowered her eyes, and in the dim light, she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes while the man was not paying attention, and pretended to be nothing.

"Where can I escape, it wasn't that no one in the village escaped last month, but they were still arrested, and the two of them were beaten."

The man was silent for a while, put the last handful of firewood into the stove, patted the dust on his hands, got up, and said, "I'll go to the village to visit you and the children to eat first." ”

There is not much to eat at home, he eats less, and the mother-in-law and children will be able to eat more in the days to come, and it will be almost the winter moon, and he will have to find a way to get through.

"Then you come back early."

At the sound of his wife's advice, the gentle Ruan Liangyong came to the entrance of the village, and every night fell, the village would usually build a fire, and after dinner, the villagers would come here to chat and brag, and the women would sew and mend their clothes and pants by the firelight.

Recently, few people have come out, he came to try his luck, to see if anyone was talking at the entrance of the village, he didn't think about coming, there were already a lot of people gathered here, he stepped forward to say hello, then found a place to lift his trouser legs, and squatted down.

The flames burned.

A group of old and young masters in the village squatted or sat around the bonfire, speckled sparks rose into the night sky with the heat wave, Ruan Liangyong squatted in the corner, listening to the people in the village, originally to relieve the boredom, but now listening to it is becoming more and more frightened.

In the flickering flames, he noticed a tall man in the crowd, wearing only a single shirt with bare arms, but the outline of the muscular knots in the clothes could be seen.

As a half-hunter, Nguyen Liangyong's first impression of him was that he was a stranger, and he was certainly very brave.

It's not that there are no tall people among the Yue people, but they all appear in the homes of dignitaries, after all, it's good for ordinary people to stutter in this year, and they still want to keep up with nutrition?

In this mountain wilderness, he has seen many people, and there is no one in his memory who can compare with the other party's strong physique, but why he appeared in the village and roasted the fire with everyone, then there are doubts, but Ruan Liangyong has a smart place, that is, he is not in a hurry and does not open his mouth to ask, but chooses to wait quietly.

Ruan Liangyong didn't hear how they spoke in front of them, but what he heard now probably spelled out an outline.

"Those princes are vying for power and profit, what does it have to do with our common people? This time it's tax collection, will next time you have to go door-to-door to fight? ”

"If you fight with Wu Guoren, Lao Tzu will tearfully send one of the sons of the family over. But if we fight with ourselves, we don't have our share if we win, and if we lose, we will die in a foreign country, who cares about us?! ”

The first to speak was the respected village elder in the village, black and thin, about six feet tall, but his body bones could be seen to be very tough. The person who answered his words was another person, the hunter in the village, the long ox is tall and the horse is big, and he can eat a few mouthfuls of the boar's water every once in a while, but now it is about to enter winter, the temperature is gradually dropping, and many wild animals have begun to hibernate, and they are quite anxious.

"Rip the skin of his melon!" A man slapped his knee: "Just follow it up!" ”

"Don't talk nonsense, Uncle Li, you come and get an idea!"

Everyone gathered at the entrance of the village looked at the old man with black scabs. The old man did not speak, but looked at the man with a strong physique beside him.

There are no rules for speaking in the village, and he still talks nonsense:

"It's not like you're going to die!"

"It's better to fight for the family at least once than to commit suicide by hitting the head like a dog."

"Alas, leaving such a pair of orphans and widows, how will the family live in the future, I heard that the dog baby died and his mother-in-law and children still have to pay taxes."

"It's really a way to live!"

"Uncle Li, I'm analyzing and analyzing for everyone, and getting an idea, what should I do next? You can't starve to death together. Push to death. ”

The old man still didn't speak, and after a while, he said, "Let this big brother talk to everyone." ”

The burly man beside the old man, the big brother in his mouth, has a thick beard and big eyes, a rough face, and a thick Yue accent when he speaks.

"Before I say that, I want to ask you, whose mountain is it? Who owns this land? ”

"All of us have lived here for generations, the mountains are naturally ours, and the fields are flowing with the sweat of our generations, of course, it is also ours!" Someone shouted.

The man clapped his palms, his eyes swept over the firelight, and his face was looking at him: "Well said, our ancestors are here, and our roots are here, so they are all ours."

But you also know that these lands actually belong to the emperor, and the entire Yue country belongs to the emperor, including each of you, and your life is his. ”

"Why?!" Some anxious villagers stood up suddenly, and some spicy women helped beside them, and their eyes widened: "Isn't this too bullying!" ”

The man smiled: "It's not bullying, it's a fact, but if you think about it, are the ancestors of the Emperor of Yue all emperors?" It's not because I can't afford to eat, I was forced to have a fight with the government, I found out that it was wrong, the government is majestic on weekdays, bullying people everywhere, why is it like paper paste at this time, and a few people are scared when they die? ”

Everyone was silent: "......"

“…… Hehe, actually, I want to tell you that you have to fight for your own life, not rely on other people's mood to give you alms, to tell the truth, I am a rebel army on the side of peace! ”

The man's eyes were majestic, and he stood up from the wood lying on the ground, "Now that the head of my family has gathered thousands of people, ready to be the masters of the house, you want to live a good life, you want to think about future generations, so that they can live without worry, you might as well follow the incident." ”

The man's words were not heavy, but like a hammer, he smashed heavily on the hearts of the men in this village, all of whom were people facing the loess with their backs to the sky, where had they done anything rebellious, but for some reason, they were reluctant to leave like this, so they hung their heads one by one, staring at the swaying bonfire and were silent.

"I've already brought the words, whether I want to follow or not, it's all up to you, but if I succeed, I will let you live a good life, if not, you will have a gap in the future, just go in the direction of the capital, bow for us and bow to it is my practice!"

The man's figure slowly stopped in the firelight, raised his hand, and bowed his hand to everyone present. Immediately, he walked around the campfire, walked through the crowd, and disappeared straight into the night path at the entrance of the village.

The night fell silent.

Ruan Liangyong didn't know how to get home, the food was still warm in the cauldron, his wife was passing firewood at the stove, and when she saw her husband coming back, she quickly lifted the lid of the pot, brought out the warm food inside, put it on the shabby table, and beckoned him to come over to eat.

But the man who came back sat directly under the eaves, and his seven-year-old son came to talk to him and ignored it.

The wife came over, squatted down beside the man and held his hand, and asked gently, "What's wrong?" What went on outside? ”

"I ......"

Ruan Liangyong stopped talking, hesitated for a moment, looked into his wife's eyes, and said in a low voice.

"There may be trouble with the rebels, the men in our village may follow the rebels, you are at home, take good care of the children."

……

The night passed, the autumn night still had a bright moon, the ground was full of barren grass, and the rocks seemed to be covered with a layer of silver frost, and a tall figure walked through the 'silver frost' and came to a nearby hill.

There were already people waiting for him there.

"Meet the Digong!"

Over there, dressed in a black robe and with a sword hanging from his waist, Zhang Bao rode a brown and yellow war horse, looking at the mountains under the moonlight, "It's all done?" ”

"Yes."

Soon, more people returned, all from other nearby villages, some of whom succeeded in convincing the villagers, and some of whom did not choose to follow because of the vigilance of the other party.

But it can be seen that many people under the heavy pressure of taxes are ready to move.

"Let's go, go to the next place, finish it early, it's time for General Gong to make trouble!"

(End of chapter)