By this time, Ding Sheng and others had already started knocking on the door from door to door.
They used the knives in their hands to force these poor shantytowns to hand over their food.
There were even a few with bad tempers who had already kicked in the door, dragged the shantytowns out from the cave like dead dogs, and beat them with short sticks.
Suddenly, wailing, begging for mercy, and crying resounded throughout the small settlement.
"Stop it, stop it!"
Zhang Chong was chatting with the old man before, but unexpectedly the team fell apart.
Seeing this aggressive look, Zhang Chong was furious.
He quickly walked up to a man who was showing off his aggression and snatched his whistle stick.
Then, with a push of his knee, he broke the whistle stick.
Zhang Chong pointed towards the sky and roared:
"Stop it all."
This sound was like thunder, so frightened that Ding Sheng and others did not dare to move.
They looked at Zhang Chong in confusion, wondering why he stopped if he wasn't coming to collect food.
Zhang Chong ignored their confusion and just helped the cave dweller who collapsed on the ground.
Zhang Chong looked at this man, but he didn't know what to call him because there was no trace of his age on his face.
You can call him an old man, and it is true that this man has gray hair, an old look on his face, and even his voice sounds a bit old.
But when he saw a stooped old woman in the distance, naked and looking at him with sad and distressed eyes, Zhang Chong knew that this man was the woman's son.
The reason why Zhang Chong is so old may be caused by lack of salt.
When he picked up the little brother, he was trembling all over. He held his head in his hands and did not dare to raise his head or stand up at all.
Zhang Chong supported him with pity, and a smell rushed straight to his brain stem. Has this guy never had a bath in his life?
But I don't care about that anymore.
He waved to everyone to come, and asked the old man from before to come over.
The old man pointed at himself, and seeing that he was right, he tiptoed over.
Zhang Chong sighed first and said in a heavy tone:
"Why are you asking everyone to stop? Come on, Daqi, let's talk first."
Daqi, also named Ding Sheng.
Ding Sheng was usually the most lively and talkative person, but this time he was a little scared when he saw Zhang Chong losing his temper and thought of how he killed the sentry horse with one shot.
He answered slightly uncertainly:
"Because we beat someone up?" After saying that, he explained to himself again:
"That grain is their lifeblood. How can they honestly give it to us if we don't fight it?"
The others also had the same look, except the old man who blushed and murmured without daring to say anything.
Zhang Chong asked back:
"You also know that this is their lifeblood? Then why do you need to rush them for food?"
Then, without waiting for Ding Sheng and the others to reply, he pointed at the shantytowns who were barely clothed and said:
"Open your eyes and take a look, see what else they have. A family of seven takes turns wearing the same clothes and living in a pit. Tell me, what else do they have?
Yes, if we don’t urge them to eat, we will go hungry. So we would rather they starve and freeze than we should fill our stomachs first.
But what? But what?
If you are right to think so, then those powerful men who threaten us are also right.
Anyway, if we suffer a lot, their good life cannot be interrupted. Isn’t this the truth?”
Most of the people in Zhang Chong's team were from Guizhou, and every one of them was forced to serve by the local powerful.
Therefore, they were not convinced by what Zhang Chong said, but instinctively their faces turned red.
Zhang Chong saw their thoughts:
"Are you dissatisfied and think this is a thing?
One lives in a fish and meat town just for leisure and happiness, while the other lives out of necessity for survival.
But have you ever thought about how different it is to these shantytowns?
We and those powerful people have deprived them of their only hope. It’s shameful, shameful.”
As he spoke, Zhang Chong patted his chest again and said to everyone:
"My family, Shi Zaizi, is just like theirs. We are also a family of six. We also suffer from the cold in winter and cry out from hunger and cold.
At that time, I would vow to let my family live a good life.
And now, I have to swear that I will also let poor men like us live like human beings instead of like wild beasts hiding around.
For this reason, I will not let myself down and live up to them."
Zhang Chong's words were serious, but everyone listened in their hearts. In fact, he can sum it up as follows:
"Poor people don't rob poor people."
But there is still another problem, how to solve the problem of food.
"Brother Chong, I support you. But now we don't have enough food. What should we do?"
Zhang Dan saw the question on everyone's mind and asked it directly.
After hearing this, Zhang Chong smiled, pointed at the old man, and said:
"Our food should go to his head."
After saying that, everyone looked at the old man with eager eyes. The old man was so frightened that he fell to the ground again, crying and howling:
"It's really gone, not a drop left. Woo hoo hoo!"
———————————————————————
Jiyin County, Chengshi, Lishi Wubao.
In this world, this kind of Wubao originally appeared in the late Xinmang Dynasty, and was originally used as a frontier defense guard.
After troubled times came, the powerful powerful people in the mainland also began to build forts. For example, the famous Fifth Lun built forts in their own plane to protect their tribesmen and township parties.
However, with the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, such forts were being dismantled one after another to eliminate unstable factors in the countryside.
However, as the Qiang rebellion broke out, the imperial court imposed levies and taxes in an effort to quell the rebellion, and increased taxes every year, which aroused a swarm of thieves from all over the world.
This kind of fortress, which is suitable for farming and military, was built by powerful people again.
In this small kingdom, they were self-sufficient, oppressing the landless peasants, working as slaves, apprentices, and subordinates, doing whatever they wanted, and the court could not control them.
The Wubao of the Cheng family and the Li family is such a typical powerful Wubao of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
It's just that their scale is very large, comparable to a small county town.
Here, there are thousands of guests and slaves attached to the Li family. You should know that the number of households in a small county is only ten thousand.
In the former Han Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu designated Xiao He as the chief meritorious officer and granted him the title of Marquis of Fou, with the largest number of feudal lords.
How many are there?
It was only 8,000 households, but later I felt it was a little less, so I added another 2,000 households, making up 10,000 households, which is the number of households in a county.
And the princes are already the highest level among the twenty ranks of meritorious nobles. Unless they have determined military achievements for the country and the country, they cannot be awarded the title.
So, can we now know how famous the Cheng family is?
It’s Hou Billie!
However, it is still worse than Zhenliehou, because after Guangwu conquered the world, he ruled the world with softness. He was particularly generous in meritorious service. The former Han Dynasty gave food to one county, but he gave it to four counties.
Therefore, the Li family can be considered to be at the level of Xiao Liehou.
At this moment, the sky has brightened.
Both sides of the straight road leading to Wubao were crowded with working disciples of the Li family. They were tidying up the millet fields in their trousers.
From time to time, you can see five or six men lassoing oxen and plowing the ground.
At this time, a sentry horse galloped past the horizon in the distance, inspiring countless followers to look around.
From a fortress next to Wubao, I could see the sentry horse with the flag of the Li family in the distance, and immediately ordered the watchmen on both sides to lower the gate.
The sentry horse did not say hello, but dismounted directly outside the wall and ran inward as if flying.
The sentry horse found Li Qian, the head of the Li family, in the drying yard.
He first handed over Li Dian's talisman, and then handed over the letter written by Li Dian.
Li Qian opened the letter in confusion, wondering why he was sending Li Dian's talisman instead of Li Jin's.
When he saw the letter, Li Dian told him a cruel fact in his concise and beautiful cursive script:
Li Jin was killed, died in a meaningless battle, and the murderer was unknown.
Li Qian's eyes darkened and he was about to faint. Fortunately, his son Li Zheng helped him.
Li Zheng, like Li Dian, is the leader of the next generation of the Li family, and because he is the son of the patriarch, he is more important than Li Dian.
Li Zheng also saw what Li Dianxin said, but he was always cautious, so he held back his sadness and said to his father:
"Sir, please forgive me. Now we have to consider how to respond to Diandi's suggestion. Do we really want to send troops to pursue him?"
Li Qian regained his composure at this time, but tears still flowed out.
He had known that with Li Jin's violent temper, he would seek revenge from the eunuchs.
If he had known this, why would he have been prevented from entering the capital to assassinate him?
I am saddened by my sorrow for my younger brother.
You were supposed to leave your name in history, but why did you die in an unknown battle?
He pushed his son away and roared to the left and right in a hissing voice:
"Beat the drums, call the troops, no matter who they are, I want them to pay me the price."
After saying that, he covered his face and cried again.
Hearing this, he climbed up to the watchtower on both sides and beat two large cowhide drums.
The sound stirs all around, gathering bravery.
Three-quarters of an hour later, a team of 200 people, with flags flying, vented their anger towards the east.
———————————————————————
"Knife in hand, follow me."
At this time, Zhang Chong, who was walking at the front of the team, was so happy that he cheered everyone up.
The old man on the side said tremblingly:
"Don't you want to go? Or I can tell you where and you go by yourself. I don't want the borrowed food either. Good man, do you think it's okay?"
Zhang Chong hugged the old man and said with a smile:
"Don't call me a hero. It sounds like a green forest bandit. Just call me 'General Shi'."
And it’s okay if you don’t go. Think about it, even your millet seeds were taken away by that Xue.
Without seeds, what will you eat next year?
Oh, that’s right, you don’t have to wait until next year, you might starve to death this year.”
The old man was embarrassed and didn't want to talk anymore, so he could only continue to lead the way.
But the old man didn't want to talk anymore, so Zhang Chong kept asking:
"Old man, why does that local tycoon named Xue you mentioned take care of you? He's not a government official. If he says he wants to pay for food, why can't you run away?"
"Don't say goodbye, old man. I look old, but actually I'm only thirty-eight."
When Zhang Chong saw this man with a white beard and hair on his temples, he was only thirty-eight, and he couldn't help but gasp.
The old man ignored him and just sighed and said:
"We were all criminals who escaped from prison, and we settled here together to have a roof over our heads.
But about four years ago, a group of local tycoons discovered us and forced us to become their affiliates.
As for, why don’t you continue running?
There is really no place to run, it’s the same wherever I go.
Originally, the Xue family was not so harsh, maybe they encountered some difficulties."
Zhang Chong was angry that he would not fight, but he also knew that after being bullied for a long time, his psychology would become like this, otherwise he would not be able to live a good life.
But knowing it all, Zhang Chong still felt aggrieved. He was being exploited like this, so why did he think the master had any difficulties?
I didn't see my family crying and howling in the cold.
Just like that, the old man was still talking and kept saying:
"Don't hurt anyone, let's borrow it, they will definitely give it to you. After all, there are several people in our settlement who are apprentices there?