Liujia Gorge is not a big place, it is just a cliff formed between two river valleys. The cliff is quite flat, but the path up is narrow and very difficult. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Naturally, it is also called the place where bandits sacrifice themselves.
Although it is called Liujiaxia, the nearest Liujiazhuang has completely disappeared. Only the elderly can have a slight impression of it. The banditry was so severe that no village could survive nearby. Liujiazhuang was one of the earliest villages to be affected.
The leader of the bandits, Yan Sandao, is very famous in Hehuang. Many people call him "King Yama". It is said that this man is eight feet tall, good at using long swords and has a cruel nature. The people around him admire his power and dare not offend him.
Especially after Yan Sandao robbed the nearby villages, it was like a hell on earth.
As for the government, it is not that they have not taken care of this matter, but the Jishi Army, which has a little combat power, cannot be transferred to the prefecture offices of Hehuang and Huangzhou. And the garrisons in the two states, except for the big city where the state is located, are all Xiang troops.
Neither the equipment nor combat power can match it.
The governors of both states were unwilling to risk defeat by sending troops. Victory would not be a great victory, but a defeat would definitely result in a disastrous defeat. Once they suffered a disastrous defeat, it would be the biggest stain on their political performance.
Under this embarrassing situation, the prefectural government offices in Hehuang and Huangzhou could only reach a "tacit agreement" with most of the local bandits, and the two sides "non-aggression". The government did not care about the bandits' oppression of the people, but also warned them not to
They bullied people so much that a civil commotion broke out, and the bandits also understood this, and when they cornered people, who would they rob?
In fact, the "rent" collected by the bandits was much less than the government's summer and autumn taxes, but it was still a huge burden on the people of Hehuang.
Who is willing to give the food they have grown so hard to others? Farmers would rather use their own blood to irrigate the fields than to let their crops suffer drought. Every grain of food is cultivated with their sweat and sweat, facing the loess and back to the sky!
The hands for taking people are short, and the mouth for eating people is short. Naturally, it is difficult for Ye An to just pat his butt and leave. Even if he eats coarse grains that hurt his throat and drinks mud, Ye An still decides to return this "favor".
Chen Lin knew that Ye An was going to take action against the Liujiaxia bandits, so she changed into black clothes and stood in the shadows late at night, waiting.
Ye An found that this old guy was becoming more and more humane. He knew that it was better to sympathize with the weak and the people at the bottom of society than to always care about the Tian family who had no worries about food and clothing. This was a good thing.
"What is Mr. Chen doing?"
"When you receive kindness from others, you should keep it in your heart and repay it; when you give kindness to others, you have a kind heart and ask for nothing. If you want repayment, you ask for it in return, which is worse than a stranger!"
Ye An looked at Chen Lin in surprise. He didn't expect that he had such philosophical thoughts, which were comparable to Confucian classics. He couldn't help but nodded: "The high official has a great opinion and can explain the mystery with one word! But don't steal Liujiaxia's people."
Kou thought he was a miscellaneous soldier, but I inquired about it. Yan Sandao from Liujiaxia is said to be able to kill a horse with three swords. Even if it is a lie, it shows that this man is really capable. He has been operating in Hehuang for more than ten years and it is the largest in the area.
Among the bandits, in addition to Yan Sandao from Liujiaxia, there is also Taoist Zhang from Shiziling. The money from Nanya Cave is not fertile. The three of them are sworn brothers. They are each other's horns and help each other!"
Chen Lin's eyes narrowed slightly: "So it's no wonder that the two prefectures of Hehuang and Huangzhou can't do anything to them. They can affect the whole body with one move. They have to be quick and they have to capture one place before the other two have time to react.
Otherwise, when the bandits from the other two places come to support us, we will be surrounded. I didn’t expect these bastards to know the art of war!"
Ye An nodded slightly, then sighed and said: "Does the official know why I want to attack Liujiaxia? Why now?"
Chen Lin asked strangely: "Isn't it because the people of An Village were forced into a desperate situation?"
Ye An shook his head, but nodded: "Yes! It's because they were forced to a dead end, but they couldn't bear to see them fall into trouble!"
"Hmm?!" Chen Lin was shocked and looked at Ye An with a face filled with disbelief: "What do you mean by that?"
"Although Ma Juren didn't say it, didn't you feel that something was wrong after entering this village?"
Ye An's words made Chen Lin frown slightly. She looked at the dark village and suddenly said: "There are very few men appearing! Where have the young men in this village gone?"
Ye An smiled bitterly and said: "Of course they have been gathered together. If you want to turn the grass into bandits, you must have a strong force. There is a lot of land in An Village, right? The fields are full of crops. Could it be that these old and young people are all here?"
Planted by women and children? Why are young men missing? Naturally, they are ready to go! If they are really forced to have no choice, Ancun Village will move the village to Daba Mountain, but it will become an out-and-out mountain dweller. Both Hehuang and Huangzhou are on the roster.
This place will never exist again, so there is no need to pay taxes! The mountain people have no land and can only live by looting. By then, there will be another bandit family on the land of Hehuang..."
Following Ye An's words, Chen Lin's face became even more ugly. She didn't expect that the people of Hehuang and Huangzhou had been forced to such a desperate situation!
Mountain people are not easy to be. They have no normal status. It is difficult to even enter the city. They can only get the things they need for life through robbery. The life of the mountain people who are short of salt and iron is much better than that in the Song Dynasty.
The common people are much sadder, but why do they still want to become mountain people?! Chen Lin naturally knows the answer.
This was not just the case for An Village, there were many villages in Hehuang that had become like this. He could not even imagine the consequences if things continued like this.
Ye An is not stupid enough to plan to attack the unfamiliar gorge at night. Liujia Gorge is easy to defend but difficult to attack, especially at night. How many lives will be swallowed up by the dark cliffs?
The largest courtyard in An Village is the mud house of Ma Shou's family. At least this house still has bricks and stones as its foundation. The outside is smeared with hemp poles and straw ropes together with yellow mud. Over time, the yellow mud wall peels off and is exposed.
The bricks and stones on the road make the house even more dilapidated.
But even so, this is the best mud house in An Village. Other houses don't even have courtyard walls, just isolated mud houses.
The only good thing is that there are several well-maintained granaries. The grain in the granaries has bottomed out. The period before the grain in the fields is harvested is always a lean period for farmers.
Ye An looked at Ma Shouguan opposite who was so nervous that he was shaking unconsciously and smiled and said: "You don't need to be so nervous. I have no intention of punishing Yuan Village. It's not your fault that you can't survive. If you want to fall into the trap, you will become a bandit."
It's not your fault, people. People have to live after all, and it's not up to you to choose how you live."
"The Heavenly Official already knows about it, and I don't dare to quibble. I just ask the Heavenly Official to let the poor people in An Village, my village, have a way out. I am willing to take the consequences for you!"
Ye An shook his head: "You don't need to take the blame, but I want you to perform meritorious service. I want you to anger Yan Sandao from Liujiaxia. They are not many in number, only about three hundred people, but these three hundred people are extremely tough and occupy
The Liujia Gorge is so dangerous that it is very difficult to capture them all at once, so I want you to come up with an idea to anger them and lure them out of the gorge to attack Ancun Village. I believe that with Yan Sandao's strength and pride, I will not send any troops to deal with you.
All the men, right?"
Ma Shouquan looked at Ye An as if he were a fool. Could this kid's head be broken? He actually planned to use his own strength to fight against Yan Sandao and his men?!
Seeing that he was looking at him blankly and not saying anything, Ye An sneered and said: "In order to enter the desperate situation, life or death, Ma Juren should know how to choose!"
At this time, Ma Shouguan noticed that the young noble official in front of him had changed his temperament. Although his face was gentle, his eyes were full of murderous aura, and he nodded unconsciously.