Chapter 39 Locust Tree
The city gate of Luoyang Shangdongmen
People coming and going in the city looked at the powerful eunuch, hanging like a dead dog at the city gate in public, and they were all silent.
This crouching tiger eats people, it is true.
Wang Fu's death shocked the world. Insightful people learned about this from the Di newspaper and vaguely felt that this would become a turning point in the battle between the eunuchs and the aristocratic families.
Everyone was silent and waiting for the two factions to decide the winner, including Zhang Chong, the governor of Jiyin County.
When he saw this news from the Beijing Di newspaper, he immediately knew that Li Qian could not be killed.
This is not cowardice, but wisdom.
This is also the scene we saw before, where Zhang Chong broke the knot and released Li Qian.
Li Qian was released in confusion.
The outside of Huiyu Temple was already crowded with Li clan members and guests. They hugged Li Qian and headed back to Cheng clan.
Following Li and others out of the city, there was another person.
His face was full of panic, and he looked hurriedly, wearing a scarf and burying his head in the road.
When he walked into a forest, several men with knives suddenly appeared and surrounded him.
The man pulled out the knife in a panic, with a sad expression on his face:
"I really know I'm wrong. I don't even do any errands. I just want to survive, can't I?"
The men with knives were local bad boys. They knew this man and they said viciously:
"Don't blame us, Mr. Dong. It's your fault for offending someone. It's true that the governor is not in a hurry to torture, but you are in a hurry."
Hearing this, Dong's face became even more bitter.
His intestines are now green with regret. Why did he humiliate Li Qian for no reason? What does this have to do with him?
Yes, he was the swordsman who whipped Li Qian in prison that day. His surname was Dong, his name was Dong Fang, and he was also a native of Dingtao.
He is still struggling now, trying to convince these evil boys again:
"Everyone, let's see if this works. In the past, when I was working as an official, I took great care of you. Now if you let me go, just say that you didn't block me. I still have some copper skewers here, and I'll give them to you."
It was okay if Dong Fang didn't say this, but when he did, those bad boys were very angry. One of them cursed:
"You idiot, one of our brothers was caught and whipped by you. You forgot."
Dong Fan suddenly remembered a scene:
"Dog slave, you'd better beat me to death, otherwise I will let you know when I get out..." A man with disheveled hair was hung up by him and whipped.
Damn it, I forgot about this.
But this time Dong Fan didn't have the chance to beg for mercy, as those evil teenagers had already pounced on him like wolves.
"Hey, I'm already on the run, and you still want to chase me."
Dong Fang had no choice but to raise the knife and chop down these evil young men in just one breath.
Three of these evil teenagers died on the spot, and one of them was too slow to rush forward and fell last.
When he saw the man surnamed Dong, he violently chopped off the heads of several of his brothers. One head even rolled to his feet, and he immediately collapsed to the ground in fear.
Dong Fang was also injured and was slashed several times. He walked up to the evil young man with bloody eyes:
"I told you, let me go, why are you so cruel?"
After he finished speaking, he swung his knife and beheaded the evil boy.
With a sigh, Dong Wang took off the linen clothes of an evil boy, bandaged himself randomly, and then disappeared into the woods, leaving only the stumps and broken arms on the ground.
——
Jiyin County, Chengyang County, Xuejiabi.
All morning, there were several watchmen, beating gongs on the field stems and singing:
"Young and old, young and old, Qu Kui is talking under the big locust tree. Those who go will have millet to eat."
The words were said back and forth several times, ensuring that all the disciples on the wall heard them.
There were a few smart people who excitedly guessed:
"Is the leader finally going to divide the land for us? Let's go, hurry up, go first and divide it first."
When everyone heard this, they rushed to the big locust tree.
Que felt happy, gestured to a few men in the crowd, and followed them all.
At this time, Zhang Chong was already standing on the wooden platform under the big locust tree. Next to him was Du Man and the Dutian officials below him.
When Zhang Chong saw that people were almost here, he raised his voice and looked at these eagerly awaited Xue family's songs. He said happily:
"Young and old, today is a good day. After the hard work of Mr. Du and a group of scholars, we finally managed to save all the land of the villain Xue.
Some people may have heard that we will distribute this field to everyone, but most people don't believe it and think how can such a good thing happen?
But today, I, Zhang Chong, assure you, young and old, that this is true. Moreover, I guarantee that everyone can get 40 acres. ”
As soon as Zhang Chong finished speaking, the disciples below exploded.
"Forty acres? Forty acres per person? Brother, pinch me, am I dreaming?"
Some people have cried with joy. They have been farming for others all their lives, and they have never owned their own land.
Seeing that everyone was excited, Que quickly signaled for someone to speak up:
A straightforward man asked tremblingly:
"Then how to divide this? Can you give me the land on the river bank?"
Zhang Chong laughed, waved his hand, and said:
"What this old man is asking is what I want to tell you next. There are good and bad lands in this land. Who will be given the good land and who will be given the bad land? There must be a charter and everyone must be convinced.
Everyone can be allocated forty acres of land, but if someone in the family joins the army, they can be allocated good land. If no one in the family joins the army, then the land can only be divided among them.
It is natural for others to have people who sell their blood and lives to me, and I share their good land. Do you think this is true? ”
The disciples below murmured mentally and thought it was reasonable. If you want good land, then go out and get it. If you don't want it, you can get forty acres of land. That's fair. There are many boys in the family, and they have already begun to discuss who will join the army. After all, this good land is so fragrant.
When the bird saw this scene, he cried out, and hurriedly gave some color to the others, but those naughty guys all avoided his eyes and refused to answer him.
I have no choice but to take action myself.
The bird scratched its throat and the duck cried:
"Qu Kuai was so kind and generous in allocating land to us poor men. I am the first to admire him. But I have a question. I want to ask Qu Kui. Will our team stay here forever?"
Zhang Chong looked at this person and knew that this person was the pusher, but he honestly admitted:
"No, actually, we divided the land for everyone, set up boundary stones, repaired it and left."
Zhang Chong's words caused an uproar among the disciples in the audience.
Everyone was whispering, obviously thinking about how to protect the land after the land was divided.
Que was proud of his ability to turn things upside down, and proudly questioned Zhang Chong:
"Since the leader of Qu can't keep him, isn't it true that the land given to us will cause trouble for us? When the time comes when the Xue family comes back, won't we be dead?"
These words directly pointed out that Zhang Chong appeared to be benevolent and righteous, but in fact he harbored evil intentions. These words could not be described as cruel.
Zhang Chong was not angry, he just asked Que Que one thing:
"Do you have hands?"
"Yes!"
"Can I hold a knife?"
"Why can't you!"
"If someone robs your land, you won't kill him with a knife? Is he the only one with a knife? Or will you just be killed?"
Que blushed due to being choked and was about to retort when Zhang Chong waved his hand to stop him.
He looked at the dark men in the audience, suddenly jumped off the stage, walked into the middle of them, patted this person on the shoulder, touched the other person's head, and suddenly looked solemn:
"We ordinary people are miserable. We work until we vomit blood all year round, but we only get three to five dou from the powerful family masters. What happens next?
He still can't afford a wife, he can't have children, and he has no one to inherit his legacy. When he dies, he can only be a lonely ghost.
Then some complained, saying that it would be great if they had a piece of land of their own.
With land, you can live a good life.
What now? I have allocated land to you, but now you are afraid of this and that.
You need to know that no one can protect you forever. All good days need to be protected and fought for by yourself. Otherwise, good days will always be behind you.
Now, I will give you the land and the sword. As long as you show courage, these will all belong to you.
If anyone dares to take your land, fight them to the death. Are you willing to fight for the land, for your children and grandchildren, and not to become a lonely ghost? ”
"I do!" This is Li Damu.
"I do!" This is Tian Jun.
"I do!" This was the response at the scene.
"I do!" This was everyone present.
Watching this scene, the bird trembled and murmured:
"You are all crazy, really all crazy. There are only a few of you, how many people there are. Crazy."
Que wanted to say more, but was suddenly grabbed by Zhang Chong and shouted:
"You are the one I think is crazy. You are also a poor man. Why do you want to be a dog for the Xue family? Will they give you land? Will they give you a future? Will they give you the dignity of a human being?"
When Que was exposed, he wanted to throw away Zhang Chong's arm and run away, but how could he withstand Zhang Chong's strength?
Zhang Chong's iron-like hands picked him up and threw him to the ground, fatally:
"Bring the Xue family."
Seven or eight people poured out of the tent behind the big locust tree, each dragging a son of the Xue family. They were the main culprits involved in the rebellion.
Zhang Chong asked Li Damu to tell everyone how the Xue family colluded with Que and others and how they wanted to destroy the land allocation.
Everything is to encourage everyone to fight with Zhang Chong and others, and then take advantage of the chaos to escape.
Everyone was enthusiastic and unanimously wanted to hang these people.
Zhang Chong estimated that these people were not really angry. The main reason is that after the land was divided, these people and the Xue family were already in an irreconcilable conflict of interests. Either you died or he died.
Not a drop of the affection that existed in the village in the past was washed away by this naked torrent of interests.
In this way, under the public discussion of everyone, these former tribes and disciples of the Xue family hanged their master on the big locust tree.
This big locust tree is really big.
Afterwards, Zhang Chong began to let everyone choose whether to go out and join the army to allocate good land, or to just get the guaranteed 40 acres of bad land.
Suddenly, there was a lively atmosphere under the big locust tree. Some volunteered to join the army, and some were embarrassed and just said they were greedy for their hometown, so forty acres of bad land was enough.
They teased each other, then lined up and left their names on Dumanna's field register.
For better or worse, these poor men finally have their own land.
Only the bodies of Xue's children and Que continued to float in the wind.
(End of chapter)