I

Several rattan players took the opportunity to change their weapons, throwing away the sickle and kitchen knife in their hands, and replaced them with the iron waist knife they had snatched.

"Not one left," Xiao Huan pointed at Second Master Liu, "must kill his whole family!"

The team leader was disobedient: "Mr. Zhao said, don't kill people indiscriminately, tie them all up and take them away."

Xiao Huan had no choice but to escort the prisoners, including the women and children of Mr. Liu's family, to Fei Ruhe, who was in charge of calming the chaos.

Immediately afterwards, Xiao Huan led these soldiers to look for other leaders of the gang.

In less than an hour, all the riots subsided, and more than [-] Da Xing and his family members were killed or captured.

Fei Ruhe personally wrote the Anmin Announcement, and asked his subordinates to post it in various streets. He patted Xiao Huan on the shoulder and said, "That's right, there are rules for doing things. I'll take you to meet the meeting leader."

"But Mr. Zhao?" Xiao Huan asked.

Fei Ruhe smiled and said, "That's him."

"Fix what you want." Xiao Huan cupped his hands.

government office.

Zhao Han pointed to various official documents, and said to a dozen scholars: "Find out all the ones within five years, and I will take them away in a few days."

Scholars dare not refuse, for fear of being hacked.

They are all poor scholars, really rich scholars, how could they stay in the prefectural and county schools?Although the student status is hung here, the place for daily reading is in Bailuzhou Academy.

Li Zheng ran in suddenly, and said in a low voice: "Chief, there is not much money in the treasury, but two boxes were found in the government office, probably containing tens of thousands of taels of silver!"

"This Prefect Xu is really a rich man," Zhao Han sighed with emotion, and ordered, "When Huang Yao comes back, immediately put the money on board."

Not long after, Fei Ruhe brought people over: "Chief, there is a talented person to join us. His name is Xiao Huan, and his style name is Jingming. He knows how to do things. He helped me put an end to the chaos in the south of the city."

Zhao Han turned around to look, only to see that this person was dressed in white, with a lot of blood on his body.

Xiao Huan cupped his hands and bowed: "Wan Sheng pays homage to Mr. Zhao."

Zhao Han asked with a smile, "Why do you want to be a thief?"

Xiao Huan's face was as usual, and he replied: "Even if you don't follow the thief, you are born late in the eyes of the world, and you are undoubtedly the same as the thief."

"Oh, let's hear it." Zhao Han was a little interested.

Xiao Huan said: "When I was born late, my family was poor, and because my father was seriously ill, I had no choice but to borrow loan sharks (usury). I had no money to repay the huge debts, so I had to join a business and make a living as a master litigator."

Fighting prevailed in the late Ming Dynasty, and it developed into a complete system in the Chongzhen Dynasty.

There are three grades for hitting the middleman——

First class, sons of officials and scholars.

The second class is the children of gentry and merchants.

The third class, street hooligans.

They are often the sons of officials and gentry, responsible for opening up the relationship between the upper class.The sons of merchants provide money.Xiucai acted as a litigator, responsible for litigating the lawsuit afterwards, and also offered advice on a part-time basis.Hooligans act as thugs, charging at the forefront of doing bad things.

Jiang Nan likes to go to court, and when he goes to court, he has to ask a lawyer for help.

Firstly, on the day of the court session, you are not afraid of being ambushed halfway; secondly, litigant lawyers are often litigants;

If it involves a fight for family property or a feng shui cemetery, the owner has to invite a foreign dealer, because the local dealers will be merciful to each other.

Gradually, the business of housekeeping and nursing homes was also monopolized by various local escort agencies, and some escort agencies were simply the headquarters of the agency.

Weddings and funerals, and blocking the way to beg for money, this kind of thing is not a problem.

There are even those who specialize in torture for others...

If the talented person in front of him was included in the movie "Young and Dangerous", he would be equivalent to a full-time lawyer of the Hongxing Gang.

Zhao Han laughed and said, "You can live comfortably as a litigator, why are you willing to risk your head to become a traitor?"

Xiao Huan said solemnly: "If you are a litigator, you will be a litigator for the rest of your life. If you are a rebel, you will either be hacked to death, or ascend to the court to worship the minister!"

"Do I seem to be able to make things happen?" Zhao Hankao asked.

Xiao Huan replied: "The wharf in the south of the city is the quintessence of the entire Ji'an Mansion. Mr. has already occupied the mansion, and the wealth and goods outside the city are easily available. But Mr. did not send troops to plunder, but sent soldiers to punish the vicious An people. Don't be moved by wealth. , this kind of great wisdom, how many of the rioters in ancient and modern times can do it?"

Zhao Han continued to ask: "Do you know how I do things in the countryside?"

"I've heard that killing landlords equals the land and equalizes the high and the low!" Xiao Huan replied.

Zhao Han asked, "Are you against this approach?"

Xiao Huan replied: "At the beginning of the incident, violence must be committed, and it is okay to be a hundred times more violent. The most urgent task is to defeat the governor Xie Xuelong, and the rest are trivial matters."

"How to defeat Xie Xuelong?" Zhao Han continued to ask, but he had no hope.

However, Xiao Huan said in a low voice: "Xie Xuelong has forcibly confiscated countless merchant ships in order to send troops, which is already disgusted by the rich and powerful families. If he does not return the merchant ships after the spring of next year, I am afraid that the impeachment memorial will be handed over to the emperor. Now, Mr. Zhao It will be easier to break through the Fucheng. Please use the wealth obtained from the Fucheng to bribe the eunuch guarding Jiangxi with a lot of money!"

Zhao Han smiled: "Go ahead."

Xiao Huan asked suddenly: "I don't know if Zhang Yin, the guard eunuch, has been chopped off by Mr. Zhao now?"

"It's still there, it's not dead yet," Zhao Han said.

Xiao Huan came up with an idea: "This man is very useful. You can recruit a group of gangsters for him to serve as his private soldiers. After Xie Xuelong returns to his division to rescue Fucheng, sir can leave immediately and hand over Fucheng to eunuch Zhang Yin. Let’s just say it was Zhang Yin who recovered the city.”

"Jiangxi guards the eunuchs, and Ji'an guards the eunuchs. They both shoulder the responsibility of guarding the land. The city of Ji'an fell, and they cannot shirk their responsibility. Mr. Ruo wrote another letter, promising not to occupy the prefecture and county cities, and secretly donating a lot of money. These two eunuchs In order to shirk the responsibility for the fall of Fucheng, he must bribe the middle officials to frame Xie Xuelong. And when the master leads the troops to retreat, the gentry and merchants will no longer be frightened, and they will impeach Xie Xuelong together, they just want to get back their merchant ships."

"At that time, there will be no need to fight head-on. Xie Xuelong will have to resign from office and return to power! How many Xie Xuelongs will there be in the world? The next governor will probably not even have the ability to recruit soldiers."

This scholar has a dirty heart, he is indeed a member of the mixed society!

Zhao Han asked again: "What do the merchants and gentry around Fucheng think of me?"

Xiao Huan thought for a while and replied, "Frightened, wait and see."

"Explain in detail." Zhao Han said unhappily.

Xiao Huan explained: "The fear is that they are afraid that they will be killed to divide the land. Wait and see, it is to see what the husband will do next. If the husband only stays in Xuanhua Township, they will not bother to meddle in other things. If the husband does not kill the landlord in the future Tian, ​​and the government is hard to destroy, they may secretly pass the song and choose to cooperate quietly with Mr.

This analysis is very interesting, and it has a thorough understanding of the landlord's mind.

Really, as long as it doesn't harm their own interests, even if the rebels turn upside down the neighboring village, the landlords here are not willing to spend money to train soldiers.

Once Zhao Han becomes big one day, as long as he doesn't kill the landlords indiscriminately, the things he has done can be ignored.

How ruthless Li Zicheng killed, compared to that, Zhao Han's methods are nothing.But when Li Zicheng came to Beijing, didn't the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty kowtow to welcome him?

Zhao Han asked, "Who else is in your family?"

Xiao Huan said: "There is an old mother, a wife and a son."

"Take them to the army and go back to divide the land with me." Zhao Han said with a smile.

This is not only a kindness, but also holding family members as hostages.

Xiao Huan cupped his hands and said, "Thank you sir for rewarding the land."

Zhao Han asked again: "Are you familiar with Bailuzhou Academy?"

Xiao Huan replied: "After half a year of listening, I didn't go again because I was short of money."

Zhao Han stood up and said, "Then come with me and see if the place is worthy of its name."

Chapter 111 [Madness? 】

Bailuzhou Academy is located on Jiangxinzhou, and there is a ferry to go there.

Xiao Huan followed Zhao Han to the ferry, and said as he walked, "Sir, if you want to get talents, you don't have to go to Bailuzhou, even if you go, it won't help."

"Why?" Zhao Han asked.

Xiao Huan explained: "In Bailuzhou Academy, the real heroes are Juren. Now these Juren are on their way to Beijing for the exam, and they won't be back until May next year at least."

"I was too busy rebelling, so I forgot about it," Zhao Han couldn't help laughing at himself, and asked again, "Aren't there any outstanding scholars?"

Xiao Huan asked back: "Even if there are, are they bound to rebel?"

"It's true, how can a family member follow a thief?" Zhao Han sighed, "Well, since I'm here, why don't I go and see it, it's the place where Prime Minister Wen (Wen Tianxiang)'s youth studied."

After stepping on the ferry, Zhao Han arrived at Bailuzhou in less than a moment.

Because Bailuzhou Academy is located in the middle of the river, it was destroyed by floods many times. The academy in front of us was rebuilt in the 19th year of Wanli.

This is a complex of buildings standing between mountains and rivers.

Entering from the main entrance, there are three squares in front of you, which respectively enshrine the Great Confucianism (Li De), Zhonglie (Li Jie) and famous officials (Li Gong).

Teachers and students from the tenth district of the school, and those who are still on the island, were "invited" to come.

A group of scholars stood there, glaring at Zhao Han.

Zhao Han ignored them, but bowed to worship the sages of Sanfang, and found Wen Tianxiang's tablet at the place where the ministers were enshrined.

"Bring a pen and paper!" Zhao Han said.

The soldiers had been prepared for a long time, and they stepped forward with pens, ink, paper and inkstones in their hands.

The scholars were extremely angry at being blocked by the rebels in the academy and could not leave.Seeing that Zhao Han worshiped the sages of Sanfang, everyone changed their minds a little, and felt that this rebel was not useless.

Now that Zhao Han was picking up his pen to write, many scholars were quite curious.

Putting down the brush, Zhao Han turned around and asked, "Where's the head of Bailuzhou Academy?"

A young scholar said with a smile: "I went to kill thieves with the governor, and supervised the transportation of grain and grass at Sanjiangkou. Rebellious officials and thieves, everyone can punish them!"

"That's unlucky, I'll look for him later," Zhao Han was not angry, instead he asked with a smile, "This man is quite bold, where did he come from?"

Xiao Huan introduced: "Ouyang Zheng, a Juren from Anfu County, was originally from Qianjiang, Huguang."

Zhao Han was a little surprised: "You even know his ancestral home? It seems very famous."

Xiao Huan explained: "This is a child prodigy and a crazy student. He has been famous in Ji'an for a long time. He took the prodigy examination at the age of 13, passed the examination, and has not been admitted to the Jinshi. He should have gone to Beijing to take the examination at this time, but I don’t know why I still stay in Ji’an.”

"What kind of crazy method?" Zhao Han asked.

"He wrote an article, and I can still recite it," Xiao Huan immediately recited, "I have been an old silverfish all my life, and I don't want to kill the desk firefly. I regret that the young and true scholars have never been Confucian scholars. , the party withers and protects the decay, so that it will never change into the past. It seems absolutely impossible!"

Translated into the vernacular, the general idea is: Confucian scholars are mostly conservative, form cliques for private interests, and have pedantic ideas.Poems and books are just a stepping stone to becoming an official, and the imperial examination is just for the convenience of making money.Foreign thieves and internal bandits all use this kind of scholars as an excuse, saying that they were forced to rebel by corrupt and mediocre officials.There seems to be no real scholars.

Zhao Han laughed loudly: "This is a real scholar!"

Xiao Huan immediately poured cold water on Zhao Han: "Sir, this person cannot be a thief, the Ouyang family is a local rich family."

Although Ouyang Zheng's grandfather was only a squire, he didn't even pass the examination as a scholar, but the officials who came to take office were tricked into marrying each other.The eldest son married the daughter of the Ti Xueshi, the second son married the daughter of the inspector censor, and the third son married the daughter of the magistrate.Ouyang Zheng's father was the fourth son. At that time, he married the daughter of a county magistrate. The county magistrate later participated in politics in Shandong.

A network of officials, gentry and in-laws was formed.

Zhao Han sent someone to pass the couplet he wrote to Ouyang Zheng, and asked, "Is this word still readable?"

"There is still a sense of righteousness that towers over heaven and earth, and a loyal heart forever remains." After reading the couplet, Ouyang Zheng tore it up with a sneer, "A traitor, is he worthy of inscribing Prime Minister Wen? Prime Minister Wen is like a well-known person in the spring, and he will never die with peace!"

Seeing that the couplets written by Zhao Han were torn up, all the students were terrified, fearing that Zhao Han would kill him on the spot.

Zhao Han didn't get angry, but asked: "I only started the incident in Huangjia Town, and didn't coerce it everywhere. Why did half of Luling County revolt in just a few months? I came all the way from Meitang Town, only killing a few A notorious landlord, why did the people in these places rebel?"

Ouyang Zheng didn't dare to answer, because he knew the reason.

"Hmph, I dare not tell the truth, you are a fame-seeker!" Zhao Han left after speaking, he just came to pay homage to Wen Tianxiang.

Feeling despised by a rebel, Ouyang Zheng couldn't help but said: "All corrupt officials and officials exploited the people too much. If scholars of my generation can be named on the gold list, they must work hard to practice moral government so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment."

Zhao Han stopped and asked, "Are tenants considered common people?"

"Of course the common people." Ouyang Zheng said.

Zhao Han sneered and said, "Tenants have no land, and they are squeezed by heavy rents and high interest rates from landlords. There are also many harsh regulations such as transplanting farmland, winter animals, bean cakes, and sending warehouses. Even if there are no exploits by corrupt officials, can they survive? You are diligent in cultivating moral government, allowing landlords to reduce rent and interest rates, and allowing landlords to cancel harsh regulations?"

Move the farmland, seize the tenant by depositing the rent, and take back the tenant if the rent is not paid in advance.

Winter animals, every winter solstice festival, tenants must give gifts to the landlord, mostly chickens, ducks, geese and other poultry.

Bean cakes, during the Chinese New Year, tenants must give rice cakes to the landlord.

It should be the landlord's responsibility to send the warehouse and transport the land tax to the county government, but it is all passed on to the tenants, who are asked to bear the loss of food and fire.

There are various ways to play these games. In the south of Jiangxi, tenants who marry their daughters have to give gifts to the landlord, which is suspected to be a civilized variant of Chuyequan.

Facing Zhao Han's questioning, Ouyang Zheng was speechless because his family was a big landlord.

Zhao Han sarcastically said: "You say that Confucian scholars are pedantic and pedantic, don't you? You are just sober, but you are just sober. What have you done for the common people?"

"I..." Ouyang Zheng clenched his hands tightly, trying to refute the traitor, but he couldn't find an excuse.