Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

409 Chapter 4
"What are your plans next?" Wang Rui asked softly.

This question stunned all the refugees.Looking at the piles of corpses at their feet, everyone was silent, feeling aggrieved, hesitant, and afraid.

They have become homeless.

Originally, Jiguan Mountain was their settlement, where they collected wild vegetables and dug tree roots and grass roots. If they were lucky, they could even catch a rabbit to satisfy the children. Although the life in the mountains was very bitter, they could barely manage it by tightening their belts. live on.But now the entire Jiguan Mountain has become the fiefdom of King Xiang, and they have killed so many officers and soldiers, they have become rebels of the court, and they have nowhere to go.The world is so big, there is no home!

Wang Rui sighed, and said: "If you really have nowhere to go, just follow me and go to Longshou Village. There is still some food there, and you can last for a few days." With a forced smile, he introduced himself: "I am Longshou Village. The head of the village."

"Longshou Village?" Peng Zhuang and the others hesitated.They knew that Longshou Village was a group of bandits who robbed homes and houses, and had a very bad reputation. They were all simple farmers, how could they keep company with bandits?
Sun Xiucai's old voice rang out.The old scholar was still holding a stone stained with blood and brains tightly in his hand. Just now, the old scholar, who had no strength, smashed the head of an officer and soldier with this stone.His voice trembled slightly, but his logic was relatively clear: "Pengtou, we have nowhere to go...the imperial court will soon send troops to destroy us, and we will only die if we continue to stay in Jiguan Mountain!"

Peng Zhuang gritted his teeth, bowed his hands to Wang Rui, and said: "Village Master Wang avenged our old and weak women and children who died tragically under the swords of officers and soldiers, and he treated us with kindness again, and now he even takes in hundreds of us old and young. Great virtue, there is nothing to repay, but in the future, if it is useful to us, just speak up!"

Wang Rui said: "Don't talk about it, hurry up and pack up your things, and then move away, and the officers and soldiers will really come over later!" His thick Shaanxi accent reassured Peng Zhuang and the others, and the history he made up also made them feel at ease. Let these refugees have a sense of identity - he said that he is also a refugee who escaped from Shaanxi and came here. Because he couldn't stand the exploitation of the government, he simply broke the jar and took a group of brothers to the mountains to become bandits.There are too many people who have been forced to become bandits these years, and now this group of refugees who were originally honest and friendly have no choice but to become bandits.Peng Zhuang was a little skeptical about this, because Wang Rui and his group were too skilled and well equipped, they were not like grassroots bandits at all, so they were a bit suspicious.But he didn't ask too much. It's a good thing that this group of people is well equipped. If the officers and soldiers really come to encircle and suppress them, their hope of survival will be a little higher... Besides, they have nothing now, and they are afraid that Wang Rui will covet them. What?
This group of bloody refugees returned to the mining area with the heads of their relatives and began to take care of the funeral.Wang Rui also followed. He saw that the entire mining area was in a mess. The shacks that had been built with great difficulty had been burned to pieces by the fire. Hundreds of corpses with their heads separated were placed on the ground. The old man Children surrounded these horrific corpses and cried loudly. A woman with disheveled hair knelt beside a little girl whose head was smashed and slapped the ground with her palms like crazy. Her hands were covered with blood and she made a hoarse cry. Weeping, as if his heart was being torn apart, Wang Rui felt sad for a while.Now that the heads of the deceased have been snatched back, they can finally keep their whole bodies. Amid the pitiful cries, shallow pits were dug out one by one, and the bodies were wrapped in a tattered straw mat and buried. Then fill in the soil to build a short grave.There are no tombstones, and there will be no offerings such as fruits, flower baskets, or wreaths. Except for these heartbroken relatives, no one will care about them. Maybe it will not be long before no one remembers them.No one would care how many people died here, there were too many such things, and it was impossible to remember them all.

But the families of the dead care.When burying the dead, they also planted the seeds of hatred in their hearts. The seeds of hatred will break out of the ground under the water of poisonous juice, and the poisonous flowers will bear bitter fruits. The tragedy of people swallowing.

After cooking, the survivors packed up their few belongings, helped the old and the young, and staggered to follow Wang Rui to Longshou Village.The dead are gone, and those who are still alive have to find a way to survive. If they are all dead, who will remember those who died under the butcher knife of officers and soldiers?
Jiguan Mountain is not far from Longshou Village, only about forty miles away.This stockade was built on Longmen Mountain. Longmen Mountain is high and densely forested, surrounded by swamps on three sides. There is only one path to go up the mountain. It is very dangerous. Therefore, the officers and soldiers encircled and suppressed many times, but they were defeated by them.When Peng Zhuang and others arrived, they were surprised to find that the size of Longshou Village had expanded several times, and the number of people had increased more than ten times. The original village had long been filled, and many people cut down bamboo and woods to build shacks, and used mud and Paste the gaps with hay, spread some hay inside, and it will be a new home.They were lucky. The new head of Longshou Village was really powerful. He got a large number of quilts, cotton-padded clothes, tents and other supplies from nowhere. When Peng Zhuang and the others arrived, they happened to see a burly man. The big man was leading a group of men up the mountain carrying heavy supplies.Seeing Wang Rui, the big man shouted happily: "Master, are you back?"

Wang Rui hummed: "I'm back. Lao Qin, how is the situation these days?"

Old Qin is Qin Mai, who is currently the second head of Longshou Village.Qin Mai said: "There are many more people, all of whom are miners who were driven out of the mine by the government... Those black-hearted guys really don't want to leave any way of life for the common people!"

Wang Rui sighed: "Why don't we say that they are black-hearted?" Turning to Peng Zhuang and the others, he said, "We bought a boatload of cotton pads and cotton clothes from merchants at a low price. Down the mountain. Let the old people, women and children go up the mountain first, and you come down with me, each of you will bring a bed of cotton pads and a few sets of cotton clothes."

Everyone is willing to do this job. Everyone knows that it is so cold on the mountain, without cotton pads and cotton clothes, life will be very difficult.Those strong young men handed the things in their hands to their families, and then consciously followed Wang Rui to the place where the supplies were hidden, praying all the time in their hearts... But don't let others finish it!

Probably because they felt that these refugees were being tortured too badly, God finally opened his eyes. When they arrived, there were still more than 100 quilts there.With so many quilts, everyone can barely survive the cold night if they squeeze together at night.It is a pity that there are only about [-] sets of cotton clothes left, which are seriously in short supply. Wang Rui has nothing to do about it, and said: "Forget it, let's carry these things up the mountain first, and buy them if there is not enough... By the way, the cotton quilt is relatively light. Let the weaker ones carry it, pick dozens of strong ones, and carry a bag of flour up."

Only then did everyone discover that this temporary warehouse contained not only quilts and clothing, but also hundreds of bags of flour.Without saying a word, these miners, who have been working with hammers and rocks for many years, each carried a bag on their shoulders and strode up the mountain.

In Longshou Village, Qin Mai was busy allocating accommodation for the newcomers.They are newcomers, and it must be too late to build a tent, so they have no choice but to vacate the tent for them to live in, and let's get through tonight.As for dinner, there is not enough fuel and cooking utensils, and I can't make anything good. I can only pour flour into the pot, cut some potatoes and wild onions, add some oil and salt, and make a pot that looks like a pot. For pig food, one bowl per person is dealt with.While eating, Peng Zhuang and Sun Xiucai paid attention, and found that most of the people in the village were just like them. They were miners driven out of the mine by officers and soldiers, and many relatives were killed by officers and soldiers as bandits. Well, it was a blood feud with the officers and soldiers. When they mentioned the government and King Xiang, they gritted their teeth, wishing to tear those dog officials and King Xiang alive.The entire Longmen Mountain is an active volcano. As long as one person raises his arms, this active volcano will erupt immediately. These thousands of red-eyed miners will follow him down the mountain without hesitation, fighting to the death with the officers and soldiers. It would not hesitate to crash and die under the city wall!

The question is, what exactly are Wang Rui and Qin Mai trying to do by gathering so many homeless miners here?
I'm afraid only they themselves know.

Now, Wang Rui, Qin Mai and others are sitting around the fire, drinking wine, discussing the next action plan.

Qin Maiha let out a sigh of relief and said, "Now there are more than 4000 people in our cottage, among whom there are no fewer than 500 young and strong."

Wang Rui asked in surprise: "How come young and mature people account for such a high proportion?"

Qin Mai sighed: "In this world, how can the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled survive?" Sighing heavily, he took a sip of strong wine, threw the jug to Wang Rui, and said, "I think 500 people are enough. It's over, we should do it right away...Damn it, I don't want to wait any longer, the more I look at it, the more breathless I get!"

Wang Rui said calmly: "I'm holding my breath too! Seeing those idiots walking down the mountain talking and laughing, holding the heads of civilians in their hands, as if they had made great contributions, I was about to explode! But, We must train them first, let them eat a few good meals, they are too weak, taking them to fight is tantamount to forcing them to die!"

Those miners were not necessarily weak, on the contrary, they were also very strong. They were all burly, muscular, with thick joints, and looked powerful.However, if you look closely, you will find that their skin is an unhealthy blue-gray color, and their joints are deformed to varying degrees.This kind of strength is bought at the price of overdrafting the body. Their nutrition can't keep up at all, and they have to do heavy labor, which will shorten their life span for many years.They may not be able to see anything when they are young, but after they are 35 years old, their bodies will have various problems. A series of diseases such as joint pain, rheumatism, stomach problems, and anemia will come to torture them. They rarely have Those who can live past 40 years old.

Qin Mai stopped talking.

Wang Rui asked, "When will the next supply fleet arrive?"

Qin Mai said: "Three days later. Not only will they send us enough warm clothes, bedding, and food, but they will also send us a large amount of iron materials for us to make weapons."

Wang Rui said: "That's good. I think the manpower is about the same. As soon as the iron materials are delivered, we will immediately concentrate on making weapons and train the young and strong... The good days of those dog officials will not be too long! "

Qin Mai said fiercely: "Yes, their good days are coming to an end! Damn, I'm really suffocated these days!"

Wang Rui said, "Why am I not..."

Baizong Yu Yang said in a dull voice: "If General Yang and Lord Fang are allowed to manage Yiling, or if the entire Huguang area is handed over to them, the common people will definitely be able to live well! I have seen it all. The products are very rich, but those bastards have a way to make people miserable!"

Qin Mai said: "The imperial court will not agree..." He chuckled, "However, we don't need them to agree! They refused to hand over Huguang to General Xiao Yang and Mr. Fang, so let us replace General Yang Take this fertile ground!

The young officers fell silent in unison.It hasn't been long since they left the Heluo New Army, but what they have seen and heard is enough to completely destroy their last trace of goodwill towards this court. This court is not worthy to rule this country anymore!They don't have the ability to overthrow the entire Ming Dynasty, but they can still overthrow the Ming Dynasty's rule in the Jianghan Plain, and then dedicate this fertile plain to General Xiao Yang!

You are already rotten. If you are unable to govern the country well internally to ensure that the people have enough food and clothing, and externally you cannot resist foreign enemies and expand the territory. Please step aside and let people with this ability come!

(End of this chapter)