Ming Taizi's Total War

Chapter 294 The King Died in the Grass

"Haha, yes, you are now officers and soldiers of the Dashun court, not the former rogues, so you can't rob the common people." Hearing the conversation of the guards beside him, Li Zicheng's nervous mind relaxed a lot, and he started talking.

The days of fighting and marching made him a little overwhelmed.

After more than ten years of fighting, he is already a middle-aged man in his late forties. His body is no longer comparable to that of young people. In addition, the future of Dashun is uncertain, which has always made him worry about the country.

While Li Zicheng was walking and talking with these guards, a crisis was happening quietly where they couldn't see.

When Li Zicheng's horse team passed a small path, a young man suddenly stood out from an inconspicuous bush.

He is a villager from a nearby village. He went into the mountains because of hunting and chopping firewood. He did not expect to meet Li Zicheng and his party.

But he had never heard of Li Zicheng's name, he thought these people were just bandits and bandits.

It's no wonder that Li Zicheng and his party are dressed plainly, and they really don't look like people of status and status.

Soon, the young man ran back to the village where his family was located, and told the local gentry and gentlemen the news of the discovery of the bandits.

"Well, that's right. If you really found out about the bandits, you'll be considered a meritorious service." After hearing the news from the young man, a local gentry with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks said.

"Reward him with a penny first."

"Gather the country warriors quickly, and absolutely don't let them come to the countryside to plunder." After the gentleman finished speaking, a middle-aged man sitting at the head with a kerchief on his head said again.

His name is Wang Hairuo, and he is the most famous and powerful gentry in the local area. Although most of it is because of the square scarf on his head, it is also related to his decisive actions and the fact that his family has little influence in the local area.

Otherwise, if you don't have a reputation, you will inevitably become someone else's puppet in the end.

At Wang Hairuo's suggestion, local brave men from all over the country were quickly gathered together, and even many landlords and servants were mobilized to join the bandit suppression team.

In just half an hour, Wang Hairuo had around two or three hundred village braves armed with forks and rakes, and dozens of guards armed with knives, guns and firecrackers.

"Let's go, let's suppress the bandits." Seeing that it was still early and the sky was still so dim, Wang Hairuo immediately decided to take people into the forest to catch Li Zicheng and his gang.

He was misled by the news from the villager, and he also thought that Li Zicheng and the dozens of guards behind him were really rogues and bandits.

The hills and mountains in northeastern Hunan and southeastern Hubei are not tall. Wang Hairuo, with nearly 300 people, quickly spread out in the mountains and forests, and carried out arrests like casting nets.

The locals were familiar with the terrain, and with the help of hunters and woodcutters, they quickly discovered the traces of Li Zicheng and his party. After discovering that they were still taking a slow walk to observe the surrounding terrain, Wang Hairuo decided not to startle the snake for the time being.

He wanted to ambush Li Zicheng once, so that he could easily defeat these rogues and prevent them from escaping.

So, at the intersection where a small stream passed, Wang Hairuo sent fifty or sixty townspeople, and another twenty or thirty servants who followed him and held weapons.

Because those servants are strong in force and have certain combat experience, Wang Hairuo didn't let them hunt down Li Zicheng and his party, but kept following him to protect him.

After all, he is a Juren lord, and his life is much more valuable than these untouchables, and these townspeople and servants have no objection to this.

This time he was able to condescend to come to the mountains and forests to command Xiangyong, his servants to hunt down Li Zicheng and others, all because of the new policy recently promulgated by the imperial court.

There are people in the world who can catch thieves and soldiers and enter the government. The common people will reward money, rice and grain, and the gentry will reward civil and military officials. Those who, regardless of their origin, will be rewarded according to the size of their merits, ……….

This is because Zhu Cihong formulated this policy in view of the unsettled peasant uprisings in the world, and the fact that many stragglers fled to the countryside and cities after the three-party war between the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which had a very bad impact on social stability.

Don't underestimate those stragglers, they have martial arts skills and military experience, and some middle and low-level officers will even win people's hearts, and at least they will gather hundreds of people to scream in the mountains and forests to become bandits and robbers.

More importantly, they are good at mobilizing the people to revolt, and if they are not done well, it will be another vigorous peasant uprising.

Zhu Cihong did not dare to underestimate this, but it was difficult for the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty to go deep into the countryside and mountains, so he had to rely on the power of the people to protect themselves.

In fact, the military power of the Han people has always surpassed all ethnic groups in East Asia, and even in the world. Otherwise, in the Ming Dynasty, it would not have been possible to have millions of square kilometers of land, a population of billions, and countless ethnic groups with different customs under the rule of the Ming Dynasty. down life.

As long as the control over the people is slightly relaxed and the suppression of them is slightly reduced, the people can take up arms and fight against the bandits who invaded their homes.

From the beginning of the Qing dynasty to the pacification of the south of the Yangtze River, the successive uprisings from Liaodong to South China can be seen that the Han people are by no means a boneless and submissive nation.

Whoever invades their homeland or destroys their life must be prepared to face death.

And although Wang Ruohai already has fame and fame, his family is not the most powerful one in the local area.

Therefore, in order for the family's incense to continue, and for the family to prosper from generation to generation, he must let the family join the ruling class of Ming Dynasty, that is, enter the government and the court.

It is not enough for him to have only one job title. No matter how high the status is, he is not an official after all. If he wants to be an official, he has to wait for the vacancy to become available.

But he is not the only one who wants to fill the vacancy. He is a Juren who lives in a small place in Huguang, and his family has no influence. Why should he compete with those rich, powerful, and even Hanlin scholars who want to become officials? ?

After much deliberation, the only way to respond to the imperial policy would allow him to become an official as soon as possible and take care of his family. That's why Wang Ruohai mobilized Xiangyong and family servants to exterminate Li Zicheng and his entourage this time.

But Wang Ruohai never imagined that what he did today would change history.

Just as Wang Ruohai was lying behind a big tree to hide his figure, a young man with brisk steps suddenly ran from a distance.

"Keep your voice down, what's the matter." Fearing that his presence would startle the snake, Wang Ruohai hurriedly reminded him to keep his voice down.

"They're coming soon, and there's still time for a mile of flat ground." Hearing what Wang Ruohai said, the young man hurriedly replied, panting heavily.

(End of this chapter)