Hearing the shouts of killing Zhentian outside the village, Xia Erduo and his party quickly looked outside the village. It would have been better not to look. But the sight immediately frightened them out of their wits. More than a thousand officers and soldiers like wolves and tigers were coming from outside the village. He rushed in and looked at the posture, as if he was looking for someone to fight for his life.
"This cannot be blamed on the three brothers of the Meng family. Their hometown has been taken over by thieves. Now it is a just battle. Can we not fight tooth and nail to regain our hometown?" More than a thousand Sichuan soldiers all had ferocious expressions on their faces, as if their own father had been killed and was eager for revenge. Their aura was truly terrifying.
Xia Erduo is not a warrior. He has never even stabbed anyone with a knife. When he was bullied by a playboy like the second young master of the Ma family in Xi'an Mansion, he did not dare to resist. He was a good old man. Now seeing more than a thousand ferocious officers and soldiers rushing towards them, their souls flew away from the sky.
However, the pirates under him who were responsible for teaching the people to grow corn were a bit brave. These pirates had fought with the great pirate Liu Xiang and Zheng Zhilong, and they were considered ruthless characters who licked blood with their swords. However, Liu Xiang's gang Doing things under the guidance of the Dutch was unpopular, so these people did not sell their lives to Liu Xiang, and became frustrated and became corn farmers. But this does not mean that we cannot fight desperately. Several pirates swept the ground and drew their knives in their hands. They protected Xia Erduo in the center and said loudly: "Master Xia, let's run quickly"
Xia Erduo¡¯s legs were weak and he could no longer run. He screamed: ¡°My life is at stake.¡±
Seeing Xia Erduo like this, the villagers of Mengjia Village surrounding them became hardened. These villagers had suffered countless hardships from hunger and cold in the past. This year, with the help of Xia Erduo, they planted corn and had a good harvest. , everyone was looking forward to living a good life, but when they saw the officers and soldiers coming to kill them, they felt a little unhappy.
A young man immediately shouted: "What a fool! I have finally looked forward to a good life. Why are the officers and soldiers who live in such a miserable life come back to you again?"
Another young man also agreed: "Yes, Mr. Xia has helped us a lot this year. Even the corn seeds were provided to us for free by Mr. Xia. How can it be done by the imperial court?" ?¡±
Everyone turned to look at the village chief of Mengjia Village. The village chief was in his sixties this year, but he was not old and stupid. He was an old and mature person. He glared and said, "Don't look down on me. We Sichuan people are simple. Whoever treats me well, I treat him well, and whoever treats me badly, go back and get weapons. We will protect Mr. Xia and fight his way out of the siege."
Mengjia Village is not big, only about forty families, and all the men from the families are brought out, so there are only a hundred people. But these Sichuan people are really brave. With this small number of people, they are not afraid of the officers and soldiers. Ten families all ran to their homes to prepare for the raid.
The three brothers of the Meng family in the distance saw this scene, but they didn't know what happened. They could only guess. The three brothers were overjoyed when they saw that the villagers had all run back to their houses, leaving Xia Erduo and his party in the village. : "It's a good thing that these thieves didn't kidnap the folks in our village, so that we wouldn't be accidentally injured."
Meng Changxing, the third child, laughed and said: "How dare they hold someone hostage? The people in our village are all bloody men. If they dare to hold someone hostage, I'm sure the whole village, young and old, will jump out and bite them to death."
The boss Meng Changshui nodded: "Yes!"
The three brothers of the Meng family knew the people in their village quite well. The people of Sichuan were indeed bloody. Later, when the Qing Dynasty invaded Sichuan, whenever a person in a village was attacked, the whole village would fight to the death. As a result, the situation in Sichuan was Formed in this way, I have to say that this bloody character is worthy of admiration.
The officers and soldiers rushed forward and finally entered the village. The three brothers of the Meng family were about to order an encirclement on three sides to drive Xia Erduo and his party to an end. Suddenly, they saw the villagers who had just dispersed back to their houses and rushed in again, holding everyone in their hands. They all held hoes, sickles, hatchets and the like.
The second eldest brother, Meng Changsheng, said happily: "The folks are here to help us"
Before he finished speaking, he saw more than a hundred villagers holding various weapons united around Xia Erduo, forming a circular formation. In the lead was a strong man who had grown up with the three brothers of the Meng family. A buddy who I grew up playing with is named Meng Tiedan. When the three brothers of the Meng family left the village to join the army, Meng Tiedan also wanted to go with him, but his father did not allow him and insisted on leaving him in the village. After not seeing each other for several years, Tiedan has grown into a real strong man. From a distance, you can hear him yelling angrily: "Guizi's officers and soldiers, I will dance you to death with a hoe"
The three brothers of the Meng family were immediately stunned: "That's not right. Why doesn't Tiedan want to kill thieves? Rather, he wants to kill us?"
The three brothers took a closer look and found that it was really like this. More than a hundred villagers from Mengjia Village all had their backs to Xia Erduo and his group, and the weapons in their hands were clearly pointed at the officers and soldiers What kind of trouble is this?
The boss, Meng Changshui, quickly called to his soldiers: "Don't rush forward in a hurry, surround us, and find out more before you take action."
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Five or six feet away, a large circle surrounded the villagers of Mengjia Village and Xia Erduo's group. After the circle was completed, Meng Changshui walked out slowly and said loudly: " What are you doing? Are you actually protecting the thief?"
He thought that Tie Dan would definitely recognize him when he appeared, but he didn't expect that Tie Dan didn't recognize him at all. You must know that when a wanderer returns home, it is easy to recognize his former companions, but it is often difficult for his former companions to recognize the wanderer returning home. Why? Because when the returning wanderers return to their hometown, they have been recalling the past in their hearts. When they see any face, they will try hard to recall what that face was like back then, so it is extremely easy to recognize it. But people in other villages don't look at an outsider's face seriously, so naturally it's not that easy to recognize him. In addition, Meng Changshui was wearing Wenshan armor and a helmet on his head, so it was really hard to recognize him.
When Tiedan saw Meng Changshui walking towards him, he immediately yelled: "You officials are the thieves!" He slammed the hoe in his hand towards Meng Changshui, frightening Meng Changshui to jump back. , almost falling to the ground.
"Hey, Tiedan, why are you so tender?" Meng Changshui shouted urgently: "You are dancing with your hoe against these brothers. If you kill me, your father will beat you to death for me." You can¡¯t stay with me.¡±
Meng Tiedan said angrily: "You fart, I beat a bitch to death, and my dad still doesn't praise me to the sky? Ehwait a minute, you know my name is Tiedan?"
Meng Changshui said angrily: "You idiot, your brothers didn't even recognize you?"
Meng Tiedan also said angrily: "Fart, when did I become brothers with the dog officer?" Although he cursed like this, his eyes couldn't help but look at the person in front of him carefully, looking left and right. After a few glances, he suddenly yelled: "Is your turtle Brother Dashui?"
Meng Changshui was overjoyed: "Gui'er, you finally recognize me as your elder brother. Look at the two behind me. These are your second-born brother and your third-born brother."
It turns out that in this small mountain village, Meng Changshui is called Dashui brother, Meng Changsheng is called Ersheng brother, and Meng Changxing is Sanxing brother. They are all older than Tiedan, and Tiedan recognizes them with glaring eyes. After a long time, they finally recognized them all, and with a cry of ouch, they threw aside the hoe in their hands.
The villagers behind also began to throw down their weapons, and everyone came up and said: "It's the three brothers of the Meng family. They are so stubborn that they are all officials."
The three brothers of the Meng family also kept saying hello: "Third uncle, seventh uncle, seventh uncle" The villagers of Mengjia Village have inherited the long tradition of the Ming Dynasty. Most of their names are numbers, such as Meng Laosan and Meng Chuqi. , Meng Baba and the like, so it is convenient to greet them. It is either the second uncle or the third brother, or the seventh master, or the sixth uncle. They are all numbers. If you change it to an outsider, you are sure to be beaten by them. The names of three, four and five are confusing.
Xia Erduo was very dizzy now. He saw that the villagers who were protecting him just now have now become uncles of officers and soldiers. What should he do? He was not very courageous, and he thought to himself: It's over, my life is really over now.
The three brothers of the Meng family recognized each other and the villagers for a long time, and finally got down to business. Meng Changshui pointed at Xia Erduo and others and said: "These thieves from Shaanxi are robbing you of your food. I am here this time." Bring people to kill them all, and then I will take the people in the village to escape into the mountains."
"Grain grabbing? You turtle made the wrong mistake!" Meng Tiedan quickly explained to him: "Master Xia is a good man. He allowed every household in our village to receive hundreds of kilograms more grain. Don't you turtle be wronged? Good people."
When he said this, the three Meng family brothers were stunned immediately, so people from both sides got together and began to exchange information. People in Mengjia Village all said how good Xia Er was and how good General Zhenxi was. They all spoke from the bottom of their hearts. The three Meng brothers grew up in this village and were very familiar with the people in the village. Of course they knew they wouldn't lie. They followed Tie Dan home and looked at the corn cobs harvested by Tie Dan's family. Now they had no doubts.
The three brothers looked at each other, feeling at a loss.
After a while, the boss Meng Changshui said: "What should I do? (What should I do)"
The second eldest brother, Meng Changsheng, said: "You are the eldest brother. If you say we should do it coldly, we should do it coldly."
The boss hesitated for a while, then gritted his teeth: "Go to Zhu Jun, damn, our hometown belongs to Zhu Jun. If we don't vote to Zhu Jun, can't we help the imperial court attack our hometown?"
"Yes!" the second child agreed.
The third child, Meng Changxing, hesitated for a while and said: "That bitch who chopped me up belongs to Zhu Jun. I still want to take revenge If I throw myself in, how can I get revenge?"
The boss, Meng Changshui, said: "Your turtle is not dead, Dou is just a little injured, nothing serious"
When the three brothers said this, they had no objections, so they came to Xia Erduo and talked together.He bowed and said: "Master Xia, please introduce us to General Zhenxi. We three brothers have decided to join General Zhenxi."
Xia Erduo's little sweetheart was jumping around. I wonder what Mengjiacun, the villagers, and the officers and soldiers will do to him after they join forces. Now I suddenly heard the three brothers of the Meng family say such words, A big stone finally fell to the ground, and I secretly screamed: Oh my god, I'm scared to death.
But he said: "That's natural. The three generals just come with me. If you are willing to defect to our general, the general will be very happy."¡ª¡ª
Xia Erduo returned to Guangyuan with the three Meng brothers and more than a thousand Sichuan soldiers and hurriedly came to see Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy when he heard that the three brothers of the Meng family had come to vote. There were two major benefits to these three men. One was that they brought more than a thousand native-born Sichuan soldiers, which was incredible. Fighting in central Sichuan, these more than a thousand Sichuan soldiers are comparable to two thousand more ordinary Zhu Jun soldiers. If each of them is given a black-barrel gun, they will be slightly strengthened in terms of discipline. With training, you can become a very elite force.
The second benefit is the propaganda effect brought about by the surrender of the three Meng brothers. You must know that Sichuan people are very xenophobic. It is difficult for them to believe that an outsider can sincerely treat them well. Therefore, it is not easy to accept the surrender of Sichuan people. Zhu Jun It took half a year to occupy only one Guangyuan and one Bazhou in northern Sichuan. On the one hand, this was because Yang Sichang was still eyeing the south with his army, and on the other hand, the Sichuan soil was untamed, and Zhu Yuanzhang did not dare to take too big steps. , for fear of slipping. Now that the three brothers of the Meng family have defected to him, it is equivalent to a wake-up call to other Sichuan people and Sichuan soldiers. It tells them invisibly that Zhu Jun has been recognized by some Sichuan people and is a person worth relying on.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy, so he met the three brothers at the Yamen in Guangyuan and entertained them well.
Naturally, all the leaders of Zhu Jun came to meet the three brothers. The Red Lady and Meng Changxing had a few words to resolve the grievances they had caused when Meng Changxing was injured last time.
After drinking for three rounds, Li Yan, an aide, actually opened his mouth and asked the three Meng brothers: "Three generals, I have been thinking hard about some strategic issues in conquering Sichuan recently, and I would like to ask you for advice." .¡±
When the three brothers of the Meng family saw that it was Li Yan who was speaking to them, they felt a bit respectful. After all, Li Yan was a legitimate official in the imperial court. This kind of scholar had a very high status in the hearts of the big men. He had something to ask. , all three of them put down their glasses and listened carefully.
Li Yan then said: "As the saying goes, the world has been in chaos before Shu was in chaos; the world has been in peace before Shu was in peace; the world has been in order but Shu has been in control." (Note, this sentence first appeared in "Shu" written by Ouyang Zhigong in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. "Warning Record", logically Li Yan should not have heard of it. This book can be borrowed and used casually, please do not take it seriously.) Li Yan said: "Wan Sheng really wants to know why this is? If we don't understand the key, let's Zhu Jun wants to occupy Shu and govern it. Which problem is the most important thing to solve?" As a scholar, he was very knowledgeable, but his understanding of Sichuan was limited, so he really couldn't figure out why Xi Shuhui had always been in such a situation, so they humbly asked the three brothers of the Meng family for advice.
"It's a pity that the three brothers are all big bosses. How can they understand these big principles? After hearing this, their faces were blank.
Seeing the three people being questioned, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and took over the words: "Well I know a little bit about it."
Li Yan¡¯s eyes lit up and he quickly asked for advice: ¡°General, please give me some advice on late students.¡±
Zhu Yuanzhang said seriously: "Since ancient times, Shu has been prone to chaos and difficult to govern. The main reason is that there are too many ethnic minorities here and the population composition is extremely complex. To govern Shu well, the most critical issue is to deal with each minority well. The relationship between the nation and its own army.¡±
"Huh? What's the explanation?" Li Yan asked curiously.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Sichuan is different from places like the Central Plains. There are relatively few Han people here, and various ethnic minorities live together. The customs and habits are very different. Take Chengdu for example. You can grab a handful of pebbles and point them at The crowd on the streets of Chengdu attacked and hit ten people, at least four of whom were not Han Chinese."
"Huh? That's such an exaggeration?" Li Yan didn't believe it.
At this time, the three brothers of the Meng family also came to their senses and said in unison: "What the general said is that the biggest trouble in Sichuan is that there are too many ethnic minorities here, and they all work in their own way. Most of them refuse to obey the imperial court. The imperial court treats these minorities. The nation adopts a laissez-faire attitude, which makes it very difficult to deal with the numerous separatist forces in Shu. Therefore, it is very easy to cause trouble in Shu In the past few years She Chongming, the leader of the Yi tribe, and An Bangyan fought against the 100,000-strong army. Destroying Yucheng and then attacking Chengdu almost changed Sichuan's master This happened before the Baishui Uprising Therefore, it is no lie to say that Sichuan will be in chaos before the world is in chaos."
The relationship between She Chongming and An BangyanThis rebellion had a wide range of implications and was called the She'an Rebellion. Most people in Shu knew about it. However, due to the complex terrain of Western Shu, it was difficult for the news to spread. Therefore, Li Yan, who was in Henan, had never heard of it. He couldn't help but wonder. Said: "Is this happening? It turns out that Sichuan was already in chaos before Brother Zhu Ba's uprising? I thought Sichuan had always been peaceful before the Thirty-sixth Battalion entered Shu. I didn't expect that there would be such a monster ¡Sure enough, Shu was in chaos before the world was in chaos, so what happened to She Chongming? Why didn¡¯t I see him when I followed Li Zicheng into Sichuan?¡±
The three brothers of the Meng family smiled bitterly and said: "It's funny to say that the Yi people She Chongming rebelled, and we Han soldiers were helpless. However, the Tujia soldiers came out and had a fierce battle with She Chongming in Chengdu. In the end, they defeated the Yi people and forced them to Returned to Yunnan and Guizhou Later, Zhu Xieyuan, the governor of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Huguang provinces, entangled soldiers and horses of various ethnic groups and invaded the hometown of the Yi people, and finally put an end to the She'an rebellion."
When Li Yan heard it, it was interesting! The Yi people rebelled, and the result was that the Tujia people went to defeat them, and then organized multi-ethnic troops to suppress them. This Sichuan style is really nonsense, and it has nothing to do with the Han people.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded beside him and said: "Yes, it does happen The imperial court has a headache for these ethnic minorities. If they want to fight, these ethnic minorities huddle in the mountains and use the terrain to hold on. The imperial court will take them over in a short while." No less, it is a waste of money and food. Therefore, the imperial court generally does not take action against these ethnic minorities. Instead, it appoints a chieftain to act for his own tribe. Each of these chieftains has become a native emperor. They do not accept the king's rule and segregate the mountains. The situation in Shu is very complicated. Only a very small number of chieftains can understand the righteousness and become the help of the imperial court."
When Li Yan heard this, he suddenly realized: "Then the famous general Qin Liangyu is such a chieftain?"