Wang Zuoguan finally decided to "surrender".

Overnight, more than ten people died in the valley, all of them starving to death. Refugees have been sneaking out of the valley at night, surrendering to the army, or fleeing. During the day, fights over food occurred from time to time.

, even he, the boss, can't stop it.

All this means that we can't hold on much longer. And the lamplighter Zhao Sheng came again and brought the emperor's imperial edict. The three previous requirements were met, which also gave Wang Zuogai the steps to surrender.

.

Wang Zuoguan led the crowd out of the valley, knelt in front of Lu Xiang's horse, and raised a long sword high.

"Your Majesty is merciful. I think you are making trouble out of helplessness. I will not hold you accountable for your past sins, but you must behave yourself in the future and never be evil again." Lu Xiangsheng warned, reaching out to take the knife in Wang Zuoguan's hand.

"The guilty people will remember your teachings and thank you for your kindness." Wang Zuogao said with shame.

Li Hongji knelt behind Wang Zuogao and took a peek. He saw that the surrounding officers and soldiers were neatly arrayed and heavily guarded. His thoughts of taking advantage of the surrender to launch a sneak attack immediately disappeared, and he honestly handed over his spear.

The refugees walked out of the valley one after another. They were all in ragged clothes, with dusty faces and dull faces. Under the scolding of the officers and soldiers, they all put their weapons on the ground, with fear in their expressions. The weapons quickly piled up in a pile.

, in fact, most of them are agricultural tools such as hoes, sickles, axes, and guillotines. There are very few real weapons such as swords, guns, swords, and halberds.

This is also a characteristic of the early peasant army. Their weapons and equipment were extremely poor. When faced with attacks by elite government troops, they could only flee. This meant that Lu Xiangsheng did not want to kill a large number of people, otherwise he would have invaded the valley and slaughtered them all. Of course, there were also a few peasant soldiers.

Some of the elites, such as the two to three hundred cavalry, were mostly deserters from the frontier army and gathered under Wang Zuogai's banner.

During the continuous war in Liaodong, the imperial court mobilized troops from all over the country to aid Liao. To the north and northwest of Yan'an were the two towns of Yulin and Gansu. Due to arrears of military pay and long journeys, many of the border soldiers aiding Liao in the two towns were deserters and did not dare to return to their guard posts, so they gathered in northern Shaanxi.

All over the country, people make a living by robbing people.

For the two to three hundred frontier soldiers, Lu Xiangsheng only ordered to collect their horses, but did not do anything to them personally. They still stayed with other refugees.

The refugees who surrendered their weapons continued to move forward, and when they arrived at an empty plateau, when they saw dozens of cauldrons boiling thick porridge, their panic finally calmed down, and they all took out pottery bowls from their arms.

Rushing towards the porridge pot.

"Everyone has lined up, lined up one by one, waiting to eat!" Beside each pot, there were several officers and soldiers shouting loudly with a Henan accent.

Seeing the swords and guns in the hands of the officers and soldiers, the refugees did not dare to crowd any more, and they lined up in a long line, waiting to be given porridge.

"It's almost ready, please wait a little longer." Beside the porridge pot, a cook with a big head and thick neck said to the eager refugees, stirring the pot vigorously with a large wooden spoon.

"My lord, my rice bowl was broken. Can't you lend me a bowl?" In front of the porridge pot, a refugee begged pitifully to the officers and soldiers beside him. He looked towards the porridge pot where there were piles of piles.

pottery bowl.

The officer smiled slightly, reached out and picked up a pottery bowl and handed it to him, and said kindly: "Don't call me officer, I am a soldier committee member of the Imperial Guard. My surname is Ren. Just call me committee member."

Seeing that the officers and soldiers were not as vicious as expected, the refugee boldly asked: "Master Ren, what is the official position of this committee member?"

The committee member surnamed Ren shook his head and patiently explained: "The committee members are not official positions, they are representatives elected among the soldiers. They are usually responsible for the payment of wages and silver to the sentries, supervising the food and food in the camp, and mediating conflicts among the soldiers. If there is a general

If an official dares to corrupt and oppress soldiers, I, the committee member, will come forward to negotiate with the generals and report it to the superiors."

The refugee said in shock: "Then what if the generals retaliate and punish you? How can you do anything that offends the superiors?"

Commissioner Ren smiled and said: "How could it be possible? If the generals dare to retaliate against the soldier commissioners, and the superiors find out, they will be removed from their posts without any discussion."

Seeing that the refugees around him were confused, Commissioner Ren patiently explained:

"We are the Imperial Guards established by His Majesty himself. We are completely different from other officers and soldiers. Here..."

Following his words, the refugees murmured from time to time. When they heard that the soldiers of the Imperial Guard were paid two taels of silver and were never in arrears, and that their families were tax-free, performed meritorious service, and divided their fields, many people screamed in surprise.

Such a generous treatment is enough for a family to live comfortably, and there is no need to pay taxes on the family land. This is a treatment that only country gentlemen have!

"Commissioner Ren, can I join the Imperial Guard? I am very strong and can easily carry two hundred kilograms of grain." A refugee said impatiently.

Commissioner Ren looked the refugee up and down and nodded: "Looking at your physique, you should be qualified to join. But it doesn't matter what I said."

"Then who should we look for?" the refugees asked impatiently.

A good man doesn't want to be a soldier, but he doesn't want to be a soldier. Most of the refugees are naturally unwilling to go to Yulin to be frontier soldiers who are poorer than themselves. But if they want to be a guard beside the emperor, just like this committee member,

That’s really great!

"Don't worry, everyone. I heard that His Majesty will recruit a lot of soldiers in northern Shaanxi. Just wait and see." Commissioner Ren said with a smile, "Of course it's good if you can be selected. It doesn't matter if you can't be selected by then. Your Majesty has already reduced the number of soldiers."

You pay taxes for three years, and then allocate land to the landless people, and everyone will soon be able to live a good life."

"Divide the land, but the land in our village is given to other people with money, so there is no free land at all?" Some refugees asked in confusion.

Committee member Ren smiled coldly: "Of course I will give you the money to raise people's land."

"How is this possible? That's the Master of Juren!" Some refugees exclaimed. Although they had vaguely heard about what happened in Qingjian County, many people still didn't believe it. The Master of Juren was integrated with the government, so how could they divide their land?

The truth for the poor and humble?

Commissioner Ren sneered and said: "It's impossible for you to have the final say. Whether Qian Juren has robbed your fields before or bullied you, you can write down the bullying you suffered before in a petition, and His Majesty will make the decision for you. According to the Ming Dynasty

He will be punished according to the law. If the offense is serious enough, his house will be confiscated and his head will be executed. His land will no longer belong to him, and it is not up to His Majesty to decide how to deal with it!"

"So that's it!" The refugees suddenly realized, some were doubtful, some were excited, and some gritted their teeth and clenched their fists.

"It's time to eat!" a fat cook shouted in front of the porridge pot, instantly attracting the attention of the refugees.
Chapter completed!