Li Qingshan, the Liangshan thief, Cai Naihan, the Wenshang thief, Ding Mingwu, the Shouzhang thief, Xue Zhenglu, the Cao thief, and Ma Jinzhong, who had left Zuo Liangyu and headed south, gathered here.
There were also bandit leaders who came from Puzhou, Caozhou, Fan County and other places, namely: Ren Qi, Zhang Qi, Liang Min, Huang Zhenshan, Wu Kanghua, Shi Kuiran, Zhang Cui and others.
Historically, they were collectively known as "Yuyuan thieves".
He first fought with the Ming Dynasty and then with the Qing Dynasty. After losing the battle, he went into hiding in the mountains and was active for more than ten years. He claimed to have millions of people, and the total number of people was probably between 200,000 and 300,000.
The crowd listed more than ten chairs and placed them in an open space on the hill. Li Qingshan said: "Today we have two distinguished guests, one is Mr. Zheng, the angel from Nanjing, and the other is General Ma who has sworn not to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. Mr. Zheng, please sit down.
Chief!"
Zheng Peiran was a scholar who fled from Shandong to the south. Now his family has divided their fields in Anhui, and he returned to Shandong half a year ago to work as a spy.
It was also Zheng Peiran who contacted this gathering, otherwise it would be difficult for the peasant armies scattered in various places to gather together.
Zheng Peiran did not refuse, walked straight to the main seat, turned around and said with his hands: "Brothers, I am also from Shandong. Three years ago, I took my whole family to the south, and now I have been allocated fields in Baoying County. Regardless of men, women, old and young, I went to the south.
, everyone can share the land. Men farm, women weave, children can read, girls can read, and those who can read can work as officials. Those days are so good!"
Most of these rebel leaders were from farmers, and they couldn't help but feel yearning after hearing these words.
Zhang Qi asked: "Can girls also study?"
Zheng Peiran said with a smile: "Of course girls can study. When His Majesty was still rebelling, his territory only covered half of the county, so he made a rule that children must study. Any parent who does not send their children to study will be fined by the government!"
"What should I do if my family has no money to study?" Cai Naihan asked.
Zheng Peiran explained: "You don't have to pay tuition fees to study in the south. If your family really doesn't have money, the government will lend books to students. As long as the books are not damaged, you can read the book and return it to the school. You can use the writing brush yourself.
Well, you can practice calligraphy by dipping it in water. There are very few people who practice calligraphy by dipping it in water. Life is getting better and better, and farmers can afford ink sticks."
Ding Mingwu, who had been an officer and was more knowledgeable, said with a smile: "Mr. Zheng, don't use these words to coax us. Since we are gathered together today, we are all willing to fight the Tatars."
Zheng Peiran shook his head: "I didn't want to lie to anyone, it's really like this in the south."
Xue Zhenglu suddenly interrupted: "I used to be a Cao citizen, and I heard the Cao army from the south talk about it. At that time, I even made a joke, saying that in Jiangxi, girls were forced to study, and if they didn't study, they would be fined."
The leaders of the rebel army looked at each other in confusion.
Zhang Qi exclaimed: "Is there really such a thing? Is Emperor Zhao of Nanjing not a Bodhisattva?"
Zheng Peiran said with a smile: "Farmers in several provinces in the south have many homes where His Majesty is worshiped, and they have to worship him sooner or later. Why should I escape to the south and go back to Shandong, where the plague is everywhere? Because I am from Shandong and I have lived a good life.
We must also let the elders in our hometown live a good life. As long as the Datong Army comes and kills the Tatars, everyone can live a good life from now on!"
Ding Mingwu asked: "If King Chuang comes and doesn't pay for food, will Emperor Zhao pay for it?"
"How can we raise an army without paying grain?" Zheng Peiran said, "Don't worry, the taxes are not heavy, and there are no corvees. Every household cultivates its own fields, so what is the small land tax?"
All the leaders were a little disappointed, but they still felt that Li Zicheng was better.
Especially Ding Mingwu. When Li Zicheng attacked Beizhili, Ding Mingwu proclaimed himself the deputy commander-in-chief of Shandong under King Chuang. He was probably Li Zicheng's wild fan.
After chatting about the policies of the south for a while, Zheng Peiran said: "I would like to invite General Ma to talk about how the Tatars treat the people."
"I don't need General Ma to tell me," Ren Qi stood up and said, "ever since the Tatars occupied Puzhou, life has been really difficult. Corrupt officials have changed the law to collect taxes, and Tatar soldiers have robbed people everywhere.
.Even the landlords’ homes were robbed of money and food, and many landlords fled to the south!”
Liang Min also said: "Yes, the Tatars are more ruthless than the Ming Dynasty, and they will not give us a way to survive at all. Last winter, when we were so hungry that we had no choice but to rebel with the Lu brothers in Fan County. The Tatars were very fierce and we couldn't defeat them.
Tens of thousands of people were beaten down to only two or three thousand, and Brother Lu was captured and beheaded by the Tatars. Fan County could not stay any longer, so we had no choice but to come to Shandong."
Zhang Qi said: "It's almost the same. Ren Qi and I rebelled and killed the Tatars, and there were only more than a thousand left from the 20,000 people. If we knew that King Zhao Tian would send troops this year, we would have endured it last year, and it would not be too late to rebel again this year."
."
"Ha ha ha ha!"
The leaders laughed, they really should endure it before rebelling.
Ma Jinzhong stood up and said: "You don't know that the Tatars did a lot of evil things in Beijing. Many gentry fled from the north, and they were also very miserable. The city wall of Beijing is divided into several sections, including the Forbidden City, the Imperial City, and the Inner City.
The outer city. The Tatars were not many in number, but they occupied the Forbidden City, the Imperial City, and the inner city. All the Han people were driven to the outer city. The houses, shops, money, and food in the inner city were all robbed by the Tatars.
Women were also snatched away and made into slaves.”
Shi Kairan said with a sneer: "The Tatars say we are thieves, but we only rob money and food, not houses and shops. The Tatars rob even these, don't they call us thieves?"
Ma Jinzhong continued: "All the land outside Beijing was occupied by the Tatars. The landowners were either killed or driven away, and the farmers and tenants became slaves of the Tatars. They did not have to pay rent or grain, because the farmers
All the food produced belongs to the Tatars, so how much you give depends on whether the Tatars have any conscience."
"Tatars have a damn conscience!" Wu Kanghua shouted.
Ma Jinzhong added: "The Tatars don't keep their hair. In the prefectures and counties around Beijing, all the people's hair is shaved, leaving only a small braid on the back of the head. The braid is very thin, as thick as chopsticks, and like a mouse's tail."
Pretty much. If the Tatars take over the world, all the Han people will have to shave their heads and keep their hair in braids."
"Go to hell!" Zhang Cui yelled.
Li Qingshan said angrily: "My parents' hair is not for Tatars to shave!"
Zheng Peiran suddenly added a rumor: "If the Han people in Beijing want to marry a girl or a wife, they have to go to the Tatar official to get the seal stamped. The girl should be presented to the Tatar official for inspection first. If the Tatar official is interested, the Tatar official must first
The bridal chamber, and then put it back to get married."
"I'm a Tatar ancestor!" Cai Naihan yelled.
The other leaders were also furious at these words.
To be careful, just throw dirty water on the enemy like crazy. Rumors like this are spreading everywhere in Shandong and Henan.
After angrily cursing, Zheng Peiran said: "General Fei will not sit idly by when Zuo Liangyu surrenders to the Qing Dynasty. He has sent troops from Xuzhou at this moment. Dear heroes, we are gathered in Liangshan today, and we will help General Fei kill him."
Tartars. Let’s make a three-part agreement. First, you must not burn, kill, and plunder the people; second, you must not rape or humiliate women; third, you must obey General Ma’s orders! If you are willing to revolt, come and make an alliance with your blood!”
Everyone joined one after another. Historically, they fought against the Manchus for ten years, and half of their leaders died or died in the battle.
The conditions were simple, so everyone gathered soil to make incense and vowed to gather righteousness in Liangshan League.
Ma Jinzhong has the largest number of soldiers, more than 6,000. The other leaders, some have four or five thousand, some have one or two thousand, and the smallest number is only a few hundred.
It is claimed that the total strength of the Han army is more than 30,000, and the number of people including dependents can be 70,000 to 80,000.
They did not dare to attack the big cities along the canal. After the uprising, they first attacked Yuncheng County.
The guard general of Yuncheng is called Cao Xing, who is Zhang Yingyuan's general.
Zhang Yingyuan first followed He Renlong and then Yang Sichang. Now he follows Zuo Liangyu. His main territory is Dongping Prefecture, and he can be considered a small Shandong warlord.
All the troops in Yuncheng were transferred away by Zhang Yingyuan, leaving Cao Xing with only 800 men.
The "Han Army" arrived here, camped for the night, held a military meeting, and began to attack the city the next day.
Zheng Peiran was about to send someone to persuade him to surrender, and Ma Jinzhong also decided to fill in the moat first.
Li Qingshan raised his arms and shouted: "Kill the Tatars!"
Tens of thousands of people rushed out one after another, leaving Zheng Peiran and Ma Jinzhong stunned.
Didn’t we agree on how to fight last night?
Especially the Cao troops under Xue Zhenglu jumped into the moat one by one and swam directly to the opposite side to attack the city.
The problem is, where are your siege equipment? You don’t even have simple wooden ladders!
Yuncheng guard Cao Xing was also confused. He was about to send people out of the city to investigate. If the Datong army was on the opposite side, he would directly surrender the city, but the army outside the city did not give him a chance at all.
"Dang-dang-dang!"
Ma Jinzhong ordered people to beat gongs frantically and call for gold to retreat the troops, hoping to call back the leaders.
The two sides struggled with each other for a long time, and many of the leaders could not attack, so they had to lead their people back to the outside of the moat.
Cao Xing breathed a sigh of relief and sent people out of the city to inquire. He learned that they were volunteers who had joined the Datong Army. He immediately opened the city gate to welcome them. However, each leader could only bring 200 people into the city. He was afraid that if there were too many people, there would be a plague.
The plague in Yuncheng County has gradually disappeared, and the prevention and control method is called "herd immunity."
In just over a year, out of the 45,000 people in Yuncheng, only about 6,000 died.
Zheng Peiran entered the city and said: "The general has surrendered to the Han family, his integrity is deplorable!"
Cao Xing returned the favor and said, "No, I just don't want to shave my hair and leave my braids."
Not wanting to shave my head is just an excuse.
The real reason is that Zuo Liangyu would benefit from surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, and Zhang Yingyuan would also benefit from surrendering to the Qing Dynasty. However, Cao Xing was only a subordinate of Zuo Liangyu's generals, and they did not take him with them when gathering troops to fight, leaving only 800 men to garrison Yuncheng.
What benefits can there be?
Anyway, this place is not far from Xuzhou. As long as we hold on for a while, the Datong Army will definitely be able to kill us.
Then just surrender to the Datong Army. Cao Xing is not stupid and knows how to get the most bang for his buck.
This situation occurs in many places in Shandong.
Zuo Liangyu's troops who stayed behind to defend the city joined forces with the rebel armies that had sprung up all over Shandong. Most of them were small in number and had little combat effectiveness, but they made Hong Chengchou, Duoduo, and Zuo Liangyu miserable.
They were fighting Fei Ruhe and Zhang Tieniu on the front line, when fire broke out all over the rear.
In some counties, although there were no rebels, the gentry found Zuo Liangyu's remaining troops and persuaded the generals to change their flags directly.
In the slightly remote county town, there were only about a hundred soldiers left, so a group of talented people rose up and led the city residents to drive away the defenders.
Even the county magistrate appointed by Zuo Liangyu led his government officials to declare an uprising!
