There is a camp here, the Bandit Village. It used to be one of the eighteen villages under the rebel leader Wang Bo. It is now one of the few bandit gathering places in the Changbai Mountain area.
After Wang Bo's defeat, many of his men fled here to avoid being pursued by officers and soldiers.
Some of the rebels who followed Wang Bo did so out of helplessness, and Zhang Xutuo could spare them, but some of them were simply bandits, and they would definitely be killed if they were caught.
In the past two years, Shandong's main task has been to appease the people of aristocratic families. As for the bandits hiding in Changbai Mountain, they really have no time to deal with them.
Firstly, the scale is too small and not worth dealing with. Secondly, Changbai Mountain is a natural hiding place. If you mobilize people to go in and suppress the bandits, you may not be able to catch them.
So Zhang Xutuo naturally ignored such a small harm.
This village is called General's Village because the bandit leader inside, who calls himself General, rebelled with Wang Bo and killed many officers and soldiers. If someone like him is caught when he goes out, he will most likely end up in trouble.
Originally, my life was peaceful, but something has been a little strange recently.
Because more and more people are evading military service and serving in the army, they are fleeing to them, and there are more and more people.
Because Wang Bo rebelled in this place, the people of Shandong naturally believed that they had to run to this place if they wanted to avoid the officers and soldiers from arresting young men.
As more and more people came in from Changbai Mountain, Du Fuwei, the bandit leader of the General's Village, became more and more worried.
"Brother, it's not good to continue like this," Du Fuwei said: "In the past, we kept a low profile and the officers and soldiers didn't bother to deal with us. Now more and more people are fleeing to the mountains, which will inevitably attract the officers and soldiers, and they may take them with them.
Clean us up."
Du Fuwei is thirty-seven years old this year. He is also a great rebel leader in history. In the novel The Legend of Two Dragons of the Tang Dynasty, he is the adoptive father of the two protagonists. Yes, this man likes to adopt adopted sons, and he has already adopted four of them.
Already.
And the brother he spoke of was his hard-core and fellow rebel, Fugong Er.
The level of rebellion and the scope of influence of these two people in the late Sui Dynasty was not comparable to that of Wang Bo, but it has to be said that Wang Bo was the key figure who fired the first shot of the great chaos in the late Sui Dynasty.
Fu Gong'er said with an ugly face: "Brothers came to report that traces of officers and soldiers have been found outside. Zhang Xutuo is too powerful. He also has several fierce men. We are short of weapons and only have a few hundred men. Once
The officers and soldiers are marching into the mountain to encircle and suppress us, I'm afraid you and my brothers will be trapped here."
The adopted son Wang Xiongdan said at the side: "I sent people to inquire around. Zhang Xutuo should not have left Qi County. He is responsible for recruiting soldiers in Shandong. I heard that the war will start in April and May. Where can we escape?
What? It’s better to hide in the mountains and survive a month or two, and then everything will be fine.”
"This dog emperor recruits troops every three days, as if there are endless battles," said the adopted son Kan Leng: "I see, Shandong will be in chaos this time. Just look at these civilians who have fled from Shandong.
Everyone knows that Zhang Xutuo's recruitment is very unsatisfactory."
After saying that, Kan Leng said sternly: "Father, why don't we take advantage of the situation and make a big move? How are we different from savages hiding in the mountains all day long? Going out will mean death anyway, so why not take advantage of the situation to rise up vigorously, recruit refugees, and form a rebel army?"
.”
"My son's words are exactly what I want," Du Fuwei laughed loudly: "If Wang Bo can do it, how can I, Du Fuwei, not do it? But now is not the time, just as Xiong Dan said,
After the imperial troops from Shandong leave and all the county and county government offices are empty of troops, it will be the time for us to flex our muscles."
Fugong Er frowned and said: "Zhi Shilang was so powerful back then, but he still couldn't escape and was defeated and died. It can be seen that Shandong is not a suitable place for righteousness. In the future, we will still have to go south to hide far away from the imperial army."
"That's right," Du Fuwei nodded and said, "I followed Chishiro in the south and north, and I was defeated when I left Shandong and went to Hebei. It can be seen that these two places are where the government is strong, and the Jianghuai water system is crisscrossed.
If we anchor and defend it, why should we fear the officers and soldiers?"
Fugong Er said: "Right now, all the civilians in the mountains can be used by me. The network of people's hearts is at hand. We need to withdraw to the mountains as soon as possible to avoid encounters with the officers and soldiers."
"Okay!" Du Fuwei slapped the table: "Brother will be the long history of our Du family army from now on. Let's also give ourselves an official title."
These two people have been close friends since childhood. In fact, Fugong Er was tricked by Du Fuwei and became a bandit.
Du Fuwei was also a landowner, but his parents died early, and he was a prodigal, so everything was gone, and the young assistant minister Fa had been helping him, always stealing sheep from his aunt's house and giving them to Du Fuwei.
.
Later, Fu Gong'er's aunt reported to the government, and the two boys hid in the mountains and became bandits. Du Fuwei was only sixteen years old at that time. He was considered to be a group of people who had fallen into bandits in Changbai Mountain very early, and Wang Bo was among the latter.
Come.
It's just that Wang Bo was older and had unusual personal charm. He gathered a group of bandits who had fallen into captivity in Changbai Mountain under his command, and that's when Du Fuwei followed Wang Bo.
With such a strong relationship, Du Fuwei and Fugong Er still had problems in history. After the two surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, Du Fuwei took the initiative to apply for an audience with Li Yuan. He was named King of Wu in Chang'an, served as the crown prince's Taibao, and served as the Minister of the Southeast Road.
, the pacifying ambassador south of the Yangtze River and Huaihe River, ranked above Qi Wang Li Yuanji, and was the fourth in command of the Tang Dynasty.
Fu Gong'er, who stayed behind in Jianghuai, rebelled directly. Later, after being caught by Li Xiaogong, he lied that Du Fuwei had asked him to rebel, which even implicated Du Fuwei in Chang'an.
This is retaliation. When he was young, he was killed because of Du Fuwei and became a bandit. Later, Du Fuwei also died because of him.
Du Fuwei's epitaph records that his death was because Fu Gong'er "stayed in Danyang in order to provoke rebellion", which led to Du Fuwei's "feelings in his heart and his death."
........
Zhang Xutuo seemed to have aged many years in the past few months. This conscription was His Majesty's will. He knew very well that if he didn't do it well, Your Majesty could kill him.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! And Yang Ming also said in the letter to him, do your best.
The number of soldiers assigned to Shandong was not large, only 30,000, but there were still 300,000 civilians, and the grain supplies from various counties had also been requisitioned.
The people of Shandong are now distraught upon hearing about military service. Before the officials can tell them clearly, they are already preparing to flee with their families. They just experienced it three years ago, and now they are not living a stable life, and they are here again.
once.
How about playing?
"Alas... now it's all about catching the strong men. Fortunately, we are almost there," Fang Xuanling said: "Once the army leaves, Shandong will probably be full of rebels. The turmoil three years ago,
I'm just afraid it will happen again."
The reason why Fang Xuanling is here is that he is responsible for handling the hundreds of thousands of acres of exposed fields in Xuangan. If there had not been this year's Northern Expedition, everything in Shandong would be stable and moving in the best direction.
But once the conscription was launched, it was over. Bandits were everywhere, and the people were in dire straits. Now all the wealthy businessmen and wealthy families were holed up in the city and no longer dared to go out.
Zhang Xutuo let out a long sigh: "The general situation is like this, and it is beyond our power to change it. Even the prince can only sigh with regret."
"The Licheng Military Mansion must maintain a standing force of 3,000 men. Otherwise, once the army leaves, we may not even be able to protect the county government offices." The person who said this was Zhang Xutuo's new favorite general, Luo Shixin.
Luo Shixin's family was originally a wealthy family in Licheng. During the rebellion three years ago, his brother Luo Ming, the Prime Minister of Linji County, died at the hands of Wang Bo. Their family was very close to Zhang Xutuo.
Now he is fifteen years old. He has been out fighting bandits for a year. He is so brave and invincible that people in Shandong area give him the nickname, Xiao Meng Ben.
At the age of fifteen, he is as tall as a twenty-year-old.
Zhang Xutuo nodded: "In the name of recruiting military pay, I secretly deducted some food and grass and stored it in the Licheng treasury for future needs. This northern expedition will be over before the end of this year, and we are
If you get through this year, things will be better in the future."
"That's right," Fang Xuanling nodded: "But it's only a little better than this year. It's far worse than last year. Bandits together are just a spark. In the future, in Xuancheng, we will have to put out fires everywhere."
Zhang Xutuo almost doesn’t want to do this anymore. What the hell is he doing? Can’t Shandong live a stable life?
"After this year, Xuanling helps me talk to the prince and change my place," Zhang Xutuo said with a bitter smile.
Fang Xuanling said with a smile: "The prince once said that Shandong cannot be fruitless for a day. Here, we still have to rely on you. Shandong will be very difficult in the future, but the more difficult it is, the more the pillars of Xuancheng Hou will be revealed."
talent."
He didn't dare to agree to such a thing as Zhang Xutuo. You are of a higher rank than me and you are also a prince. Why didn't you say it yourself?
Zhang Xutuo smiled and said: "Xuanling, make preparations in the past few days and return to the capital as soon as possible. You have nothing to do here anymore. If you leave later, I'm afraid the road back to the capital will be bumpy."
Fang Xuanling nodded. He also wanted to leave quickly. If he didn't leave, it would be difficult to get out of Shandong. There were many young and old bandits blocking the road right now. Although he had dozens of followers around him, he couldn't handle the large number of bandits.
At the moment, the troops recruited from Shandong are on their way out. It is considered a relatively safe period. Once the army leaves, the official road will be full of dangers.
As for Fang Xuanling, he would cross the Yellow River from Qi County, enter Qinghe County, then take a boat south from the canal, go straight to Luoyang, and then return to the capital from Luoyang.
This route is the safest, because this route is full of large armies, and the Xiaoguo army who came to protect the children is taking the canal, and the link between Luoyang and Guanzhong is the safest official road in the entire Sui Dynasty.
Because there are always messages passing between the capital and the eastern capital, and there are constant postmen, no one dares to rob on this road.
Two days later, Zhang Xutuo and his generals personally sent Fang Xuanling's motorcade out of the city.
Looking at the cars and horses leaving, Luo Shixin frowned and said, "This man is a bit of a coward. The prince didn't ask him to go back. Look at how timid he is."
Zhang Xutuo smiled and said: "Those who are afraid of death have the advantage of being afraid of death, and people who are not afraid of death have the advantage of not being afraid of death."
"Then we shouldn't be afraid of death, right?" Luo Shixin said.
Zhang Xutuo nodded and said: "If we are also afraid of death, we will be completely useless people. Useless people will naturally be abandoned like nothing."
"I've learned a lesson from my humble position," Luo Shixin nodded.