Zhaowenjun's fiefdom is located thirty miles southeast of the royal city. It is called Zhaocheng. It sounds like a city at first glance, but it is actually just a village with hundreds of households and a population of less than 3,000.
This is not surprising. The land area of Dazhou is small and pitiful, but there are so many princes and nobles that it is enough for one person to have a real city. Apart from Huang Tian, the person who owns the most land is the old lady Shi Fei
Cheng, he was just in charge of a small city with less than 10,000 households.
In comparison, Ji Jian is much worse. He has no fiefdom and only relies on the treasurer's meager salary. Even though he is also a direct descendant of the emperor, he still doesn't even have a wife.
The two rode horses to Zhaocheng, where the silence was filled with panic. It could be seen from the people's faces that they were at a loss what to do in the face of the threat of these bandits.
According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, princes, generals and ministers can have private soldiers equivalent to one-tenth of the households in their fiefdoms. That is to say, if there are ten households, you can raise one private soldier, but many lords have too many private soldiers.
There are more than that, and it is said that together they are more than the country's regular army.
However, when Ji Jie went to Ghost Valley three years ago, he disbanded the eighty private soldiers he had raised. His fiefdom was so close to the royal city, and the security conditions were relatively better. In addition, he was well-connected, and other lords
They would not send people to grab things, so they made the decision to disband.
In his opinion, without someone to manage the private soldiers, they would be able to prey on the common people. Furthermore, the private soldiers were originally established to protect the common people. As long as they were collected according to normal taxes, how could those common people resist food supply?
Woolen cloth?
Just after entering the village, a strong man was beating a farmer violently. The farmer's face was covered with blood. His child stubbornly held one of the man's legs. He raised his fist and was about to hit the child's head. How could a child do that?
Can withstand his sandbag-like fists.
"Stop!" Ji Jie shouted fiercely, and the big man subconsciously stopped punching his fist.
"Your Majesty is back!" Someone shouted, and the farmers hiding in the house came out one after another and saluted Jijie.
The big man who beat him was none other than the captain of the private army before it was disbanded, named Hei Kui.
"Heikui, why did you hit him?" Ji Jian also knew this person.
With a drunken look on his face, Hei Kui first saluted the two of them, and then said with a loud tongue: "I have met the Lord and the treasurer. I heard that the robbers from the Black Arrow Gang have said that they will wash out this place with blood. As a
The former captain of the Zhaocheng Guards, of course I have to take the responsibility of protecting this place. Your Majesty ordered us to be disbanded three years ago and also confiscated the weapons. I need money to buy weapons quickly. But they, outsiders, carried out the plan you made three years ago.
The rule is not to give, so I have to teach you a lesson!"
The people who were beaten were called migrant households, that is, farmers who had escaped from other countries. Although these people could be allocated some land for farming after arriving in the Zhou Dynasty, the taxes were much heavier than those of the local citizens. Due to the lack of
With local roots, it is natural that they are often bullied.
Before Ji Jie traveled through time, he had suffered from the cold eyes of the locals at his workplace, and he hated this. He raised the riding crop in his hand and shouted: "Where are the former members of the Zhaocheng Guard!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" After several responses, several people walked out of the crowd.
"Tie me up!" Ji Jie pointed at Hei Kui and said, "I made a rule before I left. Anyone who dares to bully the farmers in the Fish and Meat Township will be whipped fifty times and expelled from Zhaocheng. He will not be allowed to step foot here in this life!"
Execute immediately!”
Hei Kui was dumbfounded. Several former team members didn't know what to do. After all, he was their captain, but the Lord's orders had to be carried out. He quickly winked at Ji Jian with a clever look.
Ji Jian advised: "Jun Zhaowen, although Hei Kui violated the rules, he also had good intentions and there is nothing inherently wrong. This is also the time to employ people. I think I will spare him for the time being and allow him to perform meritorious service for his crime!"
"No, Hei Kui must be punished!" Ji Jie said with a dark face: "But since the treasurer begged for mercy, I will give you this face! The fifty lashes will be changed to thirty lashes to see the effect. If he does it again in the future, he will not be forgiven!
"
The farmer who was beaten was grateful and kowtowed repeatedly with his son Xiaohu.
Zhao Wenjun's mansion is actually just a slightly larger farm. The guards gathered here for the first time in three years. Hei Kui was stripped of his shirt and tied to a pillar. The two people in charge of whipping took out a bucket and soaked it till soft.
The whip struck him hard on the body.
Hei Kui screamed repeatedly and fainted just after twenty lashes were passed. He was joking. Ji Jie personally supervised whoever dared to let loose.
"Get down!" Ji Jie waved his hand, stood up and said loudly: "Three years ago, when I disbanded the guard, no one had any complaints. I thank you all for your understanding. Today, the robbers threatened to bloodbath our Zhaocheng.
We must stand up and resist. Of course, it takes a thousand days to raise an army before using it for a while. I haven't raised you in the past three years. So, those who are willing to rejoin will be given weapons to reorganize the guard. Those who are not willing to stay will never force it. It's still me.
A member of Zhaocheng!"
"We are willing to stay and fight the enemy together!" Seventy-nine people shouted at the same time.
Ji Jie was grateful and didn't know what to say. At this time, a man stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, if we wanted to leave, we would have left long ago. Looking at the entire Zhou Dynasty, there is no place where the tax is lower than ours in Zhaocheng.
No lord is more considerate of us people than you, Zhao Wenjun!"
"I want to join the army too!" The one who spoke was Xiaohu, who had an obviously childish voice.
"Haha, when you grow up, I will definitely approve you to join my guard!" Ji Jie said with a smile: "Go back and take care of your father, he is seriously injured!"
Xiaohu turned around reluctantly and went back. Ji Jian saw this in his eyes and felt warm in his heart. He volunteered and said, "Your guard needs a captain. Let me be the captain!"
"You do it?" Ji Jie waved his hands repeatedly and said, "You are the treasurer of my great Zhou Dynasty, how can you be the captain of the guard of Zhaocheng!"
"Why not!" Ji Jian said seriously: "I have long been tired of being the treasurer. The emperor owes a lot of debt, let alone my share of salary. I'd better hang out with you. At least I have a mouth.
Let’s eat! I said, you don’t think I’m not up to the task, do you?”
Just kidding, Ji Jian is a famous fast swordsman among the children with the surname Ji. Three years ago, Ji Jie couldn't even sustain three moves in front of him.
The weapons were distributed. Ji Jian picked two bronze swords and a set of armor. Ji Jie picked a sword and a spear. They couldn't find any weapons that were suitable for them, so they had to make do. Except for the two of them, the other soldiers'
The equipment is much simpler. You can only choose from bows and arrows, long swords and long swords, and there is no armor or horses.
In any case, a guard of eighty people is more effective than a group of unarmed peasants.
Ji Jie stood on the stage and announced an order: "Guard Captain Ji Jian, you choose eighteen warriors to join me, and we will fight against the bandits head-on."
"I have the order!" Ji Jian shouted profoundly.
"The remaining sixty-two people are scattered in the mansion and granary, using long bows and crossbows to resist the attack of the bandit cavalry!"
"Got the order!"
After everyone dispersed, Ji Jian asked with some confusion: "Jun Zhaowen, didn't the Black Arrow Gang say they would come over the night after tomorrow? Why did you let everyone stay in the granary tonight?"
Ji Jie smiled and said: "The Black Arrow Gang's large team has arrived. They didn't say they would start tonight because they were afraid that I wouldn't be able to make it today. As we ran all the way, the thieves they sent must have seen clearly.
Now that they have received the news that I have returned, why do they have to wait for another two days? Moreover, their leader must think that the attack tonight will be miraculous, because they have determined that we thought they would come the day after tomorrow, and they will relax their vigilance tonight!"
Ji Jian nodded and suggested: "Do you want me to go back and bring in reinforcements? It's a little bit uncertain for just a few dozen of us to fight against the vicious bandits!"
Ji Jie shook his head and said: "No, the army of the Zhou Dynasty is very weak in combat effectiveness. It's okay to let them bully the common people, but it is useless to borrow reinforcements! The private soldiers of the nobles do have combat effectiveness, but they will definitely refuse to borrow them. They will use them one by one.
Our private soldiers are more precious than our own sons, we can only rely on ourselves to do this!"
There is another reason that he did not explain clearly, that is, after the reinforcements are brought in, the bandits will choose to retreat temporarily and find another opportunity when they see the large number of people in Zhaocheng. In this way, Zhaocheng will never be peaceful. They should send back the reinforcements for fear of the bandits coming.
Guilty, don't let go. There are so many mouths to eat and drink. How can small Zhaocheng afford it?
Ji Jie's prediction was good. After Gu Feng got the information, he immediately decided to send troops to Zhaocheng tonight.
After nightfall, the robbers came out in droves and headed straight for this place.
The man with Gu Feng is named Cai He. This man is very powerful and is good at using two huge mountain-breaking axes. Each one weighs sixty kilograms. If an ordinary sword encounters such a heavy weapon, it will only be chopped into two pieces.
the result of.
Yesterday, Gu Feng led his men back in despair. He happened to meet his friend Cai He and told him about the matter. Cai He patted his chest and said that he would help him vent his bad breath. Gu Feng was overjoyed and promised to take care of Zhaocheng after the bloodbath.
He was given half of the stolen property.
The two hit it off immediately.
The cavalry stopped at the entrance of Zhaocheng, and just as they were about to walk in, a voice sounded: "Why are you here? Ji Jie has been waiting here for a long time!"
Gu Feng's heart skipped a beat. The decision to attack tonight had just been made. How could he, Ji Jie, know about it? It seemed like they had prepared a trap and were just waiting for us to get into it.
Cai He glanced at Gu Feng with disdain and said, "Brother, you are not frightened by this empty-name Zhaowenjun, are you? I don't believe there are capable people in the Ji family, otherwise Da Zhou wouldn't be able to do it."
As for what it is like today!”
"Brother Cai doesn't know, this Ji Jie is very naughty, it's better to be more careful!" Gu Feng said sincerely.
Cai He disagreed, shook the big ax in his hand, and said: "If you are afraid, just stay here and wait to see how I cut off his head, and then you can lead others to kill him! Drive..."