In March of the third year of Chengtian, there was a massacre in Wuwei County.
In the middle of the drying field, a military official with an upright face and a powerful look stood on the top of a pile of grass, raising his arms and shouting to the nearly a hundred farmers below:
"That man surnamed Xin came to us and didn't stand up for us. He also colluded with those big surnames. Those big surnames want our fields, and that surnamed Xin wants our lives. He usually drives us like cattle and horses. But even cattle and horses want it. We are given a morsel of food, but what about him? If we don’t allocate any money or food, we can live on our own. Yes, we had a share of the land in the past, but how can we survive now?”
The person who said this was Zhang Heng, a clerk at Xiutu Reclamation Station.
The settlement office is an institution under the dual leadership of the central and local governments. The settlement office in each county has a peasant captain, who is administratively led by the local county prefect, while the settlement affairs are led by the chief agricultural officer in Kyoto.
Therefore, there was the post of official, who was responsible for delivering official documents from Wuwei to Luoyang.
During this period, the journey was three thousand miles, not only hard and tiring, but also constantly violated by thieves along the way. It can be said to be a first-class bad job. Zhang Heng took this bad job that everyone avoided, and he did it for six years.
Moreover, because of his frequent travels, Zhang Heng was from all over the world and had many friends in the three thousand miles from Hexi to Kyoto. He himself is also a prestigious person in the Xiutu Tuntian Department. Not only does he have a broad field of vision, but he can also help carry things to the people who are isolated in the Tunbu.
So when Zhang Heng started agitating from above, hundreds of people gathered around him in a short time. And this number is growing.
At this time, as Zhang Heng said above, the villagers below became more and more impatient.
They all yelled and cursed the man surnamed Xin. This man was the Nongdu Lieutenant of Xiutu. The Xin family came from Didao, Longxi. He was a general with two thousand stones.
Originally, according to the provisions of the Three Mutual Laws, the Nongdu Lieutenants appointed as Hexi were generally from the Guandong area.
But later the two capitals were separated, and the Nongdu Lieutenant who had been killed was replaced by a descendant of the Xin family in Guanxi. At first, everyone thought that someone could make the decision for them, but who would have thought that this Xin family was even more greedy and violent than his predecessor.
No matter how greedy his predecessor was, in the final analysis he was still an official from Guandong. He was unfamiliar with the place and had no contacts with the local wealthy families, so even if he wanted to be ruthless, he would be unable to do so.
But the Xin family is different. Behind him is a wealthy family in Longxi, and his family has an old relationship with the Duan family, Yin family, and Suo family in Wuwei County.
Even twenty years earlier, more than one of the Xin family's descendants were serving under the command of the old Taiwei Duan Jue. Although the old Taiwei is dead now, his younger brother Duan Yan is now serving as a minister in the same palace in Chang'an as the young master of the Xin family. Naturally, there is no need to say anything more about this relationship.
With the support of local nobles and the tribe of servants brought from his hometown in Longxi, Captain Xinnong no longer had any scruples and acted more and more cruelly.
He often does violent things that harm other people's families just to occupy a little bit of their land.
But although this kind of thing aroused the dissatisfaction of many farmers, no one took the initiative to resist.
People are selfish, or love has limits. No one will sacrifice his life for the happiness of others. When Captain Xin did those things that harmed the people, other people would curse him secretly, and let them come out to fight against Xin, which was absolutely impossible.
In fact, the one with the surname Xin is a tribe of 200 people, and the Xiutu Reclamation Department is the largest settlement in Wuwei County, with 3,000 households, accounting for one-third of the county's household registrations.
If so many people can unite together, can someone named Xin still dominate? But it's a pity that if they don't kill themselves, this person will not be able to unite.
But now, he finally has an opportunity to put this knife on his own head.
That is, the valley water stopped flowing.
Valley water is the river of life that the entire Xiutu Reclamation relies on for survival and irrigation. Once the valley water stops, it will be a problem for the three thousand households in the Reclamation Department to eat.
But Valley Water is inland water formed from the melted snow water in the Qilian Mountains. It has never stopped flowing. How come it stopped flowing so suddenly?
Therefore, several prestigious settlers from Xiutu Reclamation Station took their companions and friends to the south, that is, upstream of Gushui, to check the situation.
And this investigation really revealed the problem. It turned out that upstream of the Xiutu Reclamation Department was Weiwu City, the county seat of Wuwei. When these settlers arrived at Weiwu City, they found that the powerful people in the city had actually set up a dam, built pavilions, pavilions, and water rafters in the upper reaches of the Valley River.
This is not bad, the angry settlers immediately went to argue with these right-wingers.
But those powerful people were also confused. They told these farmers that these waterside pavilions and water channels have been built for decades. What does the current lack of water downstream of you have to do with me?
Is it not your fault? Is it because you are immoral?
Naturally, the angry farmers couldn't bear to hear this explanation and wanted to make trouble again. In the end, the powerful rightists didn't bother to explain, so they just let the powerful slaves beat them up.
In the end, the injured farmers were sent back to the Reclamation Department by their fellow villagers in the city.
Knowing that they could not defeat the powerful people, the settlers wanted to find someone named Xin to provide grain, at least to get through this spring first, and then think of a solution later.
But the man surnamed Xin refused to release the grain at all. He only said one sentence to everyone:
"These grains are sent to Wuwei. Are you worthy of eating public grains?"
The farmers had no choice but to go back, holding back a sense of sullenness. The more people thought about it, the angrier they became, and the angrier they became, the more they wanted to find someone to take advantage of.
At this time, the Xiutu Reclamation Department was like a pile of dry firewood, just waiting for a spark to ignite a raging fire.
And this Mars is Zhang Heng.
Before Zhang Heng came to Kyoto, he was often bullied by the cunning officials in Kyoto. Because he is from the Hexi Farming Station, he is humble.
Once, while eating cakes outside Da Sinong's temple, he accidentally soiled the road outside the temple, and was whipped three times by the people inside. To this day, the whip marks are still imprinted on Zhang Heng’s body and soul.
After that, the country rushed westward, the two capitals were separated, and the people of Kansai stood up.
At that time, although Zhang Heng was sad about the civil strife in the Han Dynasty, he was still happy that the Kansai people were gaining power. After all, he was a Kansai person.
So when he went to Xijing Chang'an as a messenger, Zhang Heng still felt a bit like a turned serf.
But reality shattered his naivety.
Yes, the people of Kansai have stood up, but what does it have to do with your settlers in Hexi? You are just humble pigs and dogs like serfs. Guandong and Guanxi are just disputes between scholars. What does it have to do with you?
As a result, Zhang Heng finally understood the world.
If he was still depressed outside, then with the arrival of Xin, Zhang Heng became even more depressed.
I don’t know why, but Xin targeted Zhang Heng as soon as he arrived, and asked Zhang Heng to bear all the hardships, tiring things, and disasters. Later, Zhang Heng and a member of the Xin family drank together and found out the reason.
It turned out that the man named Xin hated the man named Zhang, and he said that the leader of the bandits who brought trouble to the world was named Zhang.
Kill this family member, and everyone in the world will be safe.
Zhang Heng just felt that all this was so funny. I don't even know who the leader of the chaos you mentioned is. Who would have thought that he would suffer for this?
But because of this, Zhang Heng took the initiative to inquire about this person, and finally found out that his name was Zhang Chong. A great hero who was born in Licheng, Jinan, roared in Mount Tai, and finally brought chaos to the world.
Because of this, Zhang Heng learned about what Zhang Chong had done and what their Taishan Army stood for.
Those four words "do justice for heaven" directly made Zhang Heng's soul tremble.
Yes, the world has been unfair for a long time. Since the Han Dynasty cannot bring justice to us, and the Guandong people cannot benefit us, then we should use the plow and sickle in our own hands to find justice ourselves.
Just like Zhang Chong, he used the rake in his hand to plow away the silverfish that harmed the people.
Therefore, Zhang Heng began to unite his friends as relatives and form a secret society, saying:
"Today, injustice has been going on for a long time. We are busy all day long and have no food to survive, while the country's beetles drink and sing every day. I want to imitate the Taishan bandits, do justice for heaven, and seek justice for our Hexi farmers."
So the secret society with Zhang Heng as its core took root in the Xiutu Reclamation Department and gradually expanded its manpower. Everyone advised Zhang Heng to kill Xin Chaqi, but Zhang Heng always said there was not enough time.
Until this time, the flow of grain water stopped, and the man named Xin did not release grain. Zhang Heng knew that the time had come.
Under the instigation of Zhang Heng and other social residents, more and more farmers gathered in the drying field.
They were excited and shouted:
"Since Xin won't let us go, let's go and rob him. There are so many of us working together, what can he do to us?"
Until this time, most of the settlers still had the mentality that the law should not be punished and did not really want to rebel.
After hearing what everyone said, Zhang Heng knew that he had to do something powerful.
He winked at a person in the crowd below, and then began to continue his bitter speech.
Zhang Heng himself is a Xiitu man, so of course he knows what everyone hates. So every word he said spoke to everyone's hearts, making their anger reach a new climax.
At this time, seven or eight slave-like members of the Xin family came over angrily.
They carried big sticks in their hands and smashed them against the gathered crowd. The settlers were scurrying away with their heads in their hands, but they dared not speak out in anger.
The leading official looked at Zhang Heng standing at a high place and cursed:
"Well, Zhang Heng, it turns out you are the devil. Seeing as I have had wine with you, you come down and restrain yourself. I will plead with Mr. Lang on your behalf."
The leader also knew that Zhang Heng would have to be stabilized.
But he didn't know that he could come here because Zhang Heng wanted to lend him a hand.
Just as the man finished speaking, Zhang Heng jumped down from the haystack like a bird.
With this jump, the official was directly under his knees. The man was stunned and was stabbed to death by Zhang Heng before he could resist.
When Zhang Heng killed the officials of the tribe, his companions and relatives also emerged from the crowd, holding a dagger and thrust it into the heart of the frightened Xin tribe.
Looking at Xin's tribe lying on the ground, all the field officials were stunned for a moment, but soon, under the stimulation of blood and the encouragement of others, they raised their arms and shouted.
At this time, Zhang Heng had already cut off the head of the official. He asked a familiar one to find a bamboo pole and lift it up.
Then, Zhang Heng raised the knife in his hand and shouted to everyone:
"Knife in hand, come with me, let's kill Xin Gou!"
The companions in the crowd shouted:
"Open the warehouse and put grain in it."
Then all the settlers shouted enthusiastically:
"Open the warehouse and put grain in it."
For a time, the entire Xiutu Reclamation Department was emitting endless heat like fireworks, and all the insects were turned into powder in this heat.
……
The riots in the Xiutu Reclamation Department soon had a chain reaction.
First, the nearby Jincheng County's Lingju Tuntian Department killed the peasant captain in response to the uprising, and then the Fanhe Tuntian Department of Zhangye County in the west also killed its chiefs in response. Later, Juyan and Jiuquan also raised anti-flag.
Only the Dunhuang Reclamation Department was the farthest away from Xiutu. By the time the news reached there, the local officials and powerful men had already reacted and killed all the prestigious people in the department.
Originally, there were three main Tuntian districts in Dunhuang. One was Dajianduhou outside Yumen Pass, which fell in the east of Yulinquan Basin; the other was Yihe and Yuzehouguan Districts under the jurisdiction of Yihe Duwei, which fell in Anxi and Dunhuang. County boundaries; one is the west bank of Wowa River under the jurisdiction of Yangguan Duwei, just south of Dunhuang County.
These areas are fertile oases with flat terrain, sufficient water sources, and suitable for farming, with extremely high grain yields. But the settlers, like the settlers in the Xiutu Reclamation Department, did not have enough to eat.
The grain produced either fell into the hands of powerful people in the county, or was transported to Hecang City beside the ancient Shule River Road.
This city is a military granary for Dunhuang County to store grain. It is mainly used to supply the life and combat needs of the beacon guards at Yumen Pass, Yang Pass and along the Great Wall.
But Dunhuang's defenses have long since rotted away. How could these grains really reach the hands of the Feng Sui officials on the front line? They were all ended by greedy ink by the guards at Yumen Pass.
But even though the leading figures were killed, the remaining settlers in the three districts of Dunhuang still raised their flags to rebel. It can be seen how deep the resentment in these people's hearts has reached.
They gathered together and headed towards Hecang City, hoping to obtain more food.
But in the end, these people were defeated by the joint strangulation of the Dunhuang heroes and were defeated in Hecang City. In the end, except for some who fled eastward to Zhangye, the rest were hanged along the Silk Road.
It is said that the hemp rope used to hang the person was not enough, so he had to be buried in the end.
Although the settlement in Dunhuang was suppressed, the settlers in the other three counties achieved great development.
Especially Xiu Tuzhong from Shouyi, led by Zhang Heng, killed all the way to the southeast.
The first important city they captured was Wuwei County, which was governed by Wuwei County.
Zhang Heng chose the right time to cause trouble. In fact, the Liangzhou Rebellion has been going on for two years.
Three years ago, Beigong Boyu, Li Wenhou and other Qiang powerful chiefs led the Huangzhong Yi Cong to revolt. They successively killed Ling Zheng, the captain of the Qiang Guards, and defeated Jincheng, and their power increased greatly.
Especially after receiving the help of Han literati Bian Zhang and Han Sui, they began to invade the Longxi and Hanyang areas.
Historically, these Qiang rebels would soon invade the Sanfu area. But now, because Liu Hong moved west to Chang'an, the Kansai generals were in full power.
They no longer need to rely on the Qiang people to transform into armies to gain political status as they did in history. Therefore, under the alliance of the generals from Guanxi, the Qiang people with backward weapons could only stop in Longxi.
In order to restrain the Qiang people from rebelling, Wuwei's powerful men almost devoted most of their troops to the Jincheng area in the southwest.
So when Zhang Hengshen took the lead and defeated hundreds of Duan's old soldiers outside the city, Wuwei finally fell.
After entering the city, Xiu massacred the city for three days. After killing all the powerful party members, he burned all the waterside pavilions on Gushui.
Afterwards, Zhang Heng led the Xiutuzhong straight to Jincheng, and joined forces with the local settlers at Lingju Field.
At this time, their number had reached 30,000, and with the help of Han Sui, they formed an alliance with the Qiang army.
Things have developed so far that the entire Liangzhou has been in chaos, with smoke and burning and looting everywhere.
Yu Xi, who went straight to Chang'an, Xijing, flew all the way along the Anding Road. It only took eight days to deliver the military report of the chaos in Hexi to the desk of Duke Yanyan in Chang'an.
At this time, Chang'an was praying for their emperor Liu Hong.
I hope this Western Territory Lord can live for a few more days.
In fact, I understand what everyone is saying. Let me write more about Zhang Chong. It’s not that I don’t listen to advice, but I wrote this book with a dream in mind, which is to write about the real world. If everyone is patient and supports Xiao Chen's willfulness, all these branches will soon be explained. When that time comes and you come back to write about Zhang Chong, you will find how this world is so vivid.