The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 75 Laiyang Bandits
Why does time fly by like lightning in the blink of an eye?

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

Qi Jiguang is training his troops...

Spring plowing and sowing are in progress...

The gunpowder workshop is under construction...

The blacksmith worked hard to forge weapons...

The transportation of grain, coal, ore and salt to the county town is also underway...

The Jimo rebel army was very busy.

Meanwhile, the rebel scouts were constantly moving around the villages they controlled, "infiltrating" further afield. The county seat was difficult to operate in, as it was under government control and the rebels' reputation there was poor. However, the surrounding villages were much easier to target, as the rebels' reputation was not so bad there. With the promise of food, many villages were willing to accept the rebels' "protection."

Occasionally, the rebel scouts would encounter Wu Jialiang's men in the village. At first, the two sides were on the verge of a fight, but both sides were concerned about each other, and the fight ultimately did not break out.

After running into each other again and again and failing to get along again and again, they got used to each other's existence.

Occasionally, when we bump into each other in the village, we will greet each other and call out, "Hey, you guys are in this village today too?"

At noon that day, in Mengjiazhuang, northeast of Jimo County, at the border with Laiyang County, the rebel scouts and Wu Jialiang's men met again.

The rebel scout couldn't help but ask, "What did the village chief say? Is he willing to submit to the government?"

Wu Jialiang's men shrugged. "Damn old shrews! They're bargaining with us, saying you're exempt from taxes for a year, and they want our government to show some sincerity. At least they can't collect taxes like in previous years, then they'll consider submitting to the government. Otherwise, they'll surrender to you."

The rebel scout laughed.

Wu Jialiang's men said angrily, "What are you laughing at? Who was the lunatic who came up with the idea of ​​tax exemption? Don't you need food? If we really exempt all villages from tax for a year, I wonder how you will survive the winter."

The rebel scout said: "We have the gods' protection, so we don't have to worry about food. The gods said that they will support our rebel army this year, and next year when the immortal grain is grown, we can collect a small tax. Even if it is half of what your government taxes, it will be enough for us to eat."

Wu Jialiang's people: "What nonsense! Immortal food, even half of it is enough to eat? You're dreaming."

The rebel scouts did not explain, nor did they dare to explain. Before the immortal grain was grown, they were also skeptical.

Wu Jialiang's men kept muttering, "I must be crazy, chatting with thieves here."

The rebel scout laughed, "I feel like I'm crazy too, chatting with government officials."

Wu Jialiang's people: "What on earth are you thieves trying to do?"

Rebel scout: "We are only fighting against the Jin."

Wu Jialiang's people said: "Then if you accept the amnesty and join the Xiang army, won't you be able to resist the Jin army?"

The rebel scout shook his head. "You've accepted the amnesty, but you're still fighting against the Jin. What kind of a jerk is the imperial court? Don't you have any idea? If the Xiang army could resist the Jin, how could the two emperors be captured?"

Wu Jialiang's men shook their heads: "Do you think you can resist the Jin just like that? The last time the Jin invaded, your leader was killed by them."

The two sides talked about this and ended up talking about nothing...

The head of the court, that is, the emperor, was captured by the Jin thieves and used to perform the sheep-leading ceremony.

The leader of the rebel army, Gong Yi, was killed by the Jin bandits and their heads were hung on the city gates as a protest. A pair of noobs! No one should look down on the other.

The two sides simply sat down side by side, looking towards the north, muttering to each other: "What should we do to defeat the Jin thieves?"

At this moment...

Suddenly, a man dressed as a villager rushed in from the north of the village, holding a bamboo tube in his hand. He ran and knocked on it, making a "kong kong kong" sound, and shouted, "Run away! The Laiyang bandits are coming!"

As soon as they heard the sound of bamboo tubes, the few twenty or thirty households in the village all came out of their houses, men, women, old and young, carrying the few valuables they had in their homes, and ran towards the mountains and forests in the south.

The rebel scout Da Qi was surprised: "Huh? The people in this village are so quick to escape. As soon as they heard the sound of knocking on the bamboo tube, they all ran away in the blink of an eye."

Wu Jialiang's men were also stunned. "They must have packed up their valuables long ago, which is why they were able to run so quickly. This shows that this village is often robbed. The villager who just ran into the village to report the news must be one of their long-term sentries on guard outside the village to prevent thieves."

The two were still chatting awkwardly when they saw the captain of Mengjiazhuang running over and shouting, "What are you two still doing here? Run! If you die here, the government and King Gong must not blame us, Mengjiazhuang."

The two men listened to the advice, jumped on their horses, and fled slowly beside the captain.

A dozen militiamen armed with sticks and spears quickly gathered around the captain, but they were not there to fight, but to protect the villagers behind them.

The rebel scout asked, "Captain Jia, what's the situation in your village?"

As the captain ran, he answered, "Our village is close to Laiyang County, and we are often visited by Laiyang bandits. It happens all the time."

Wu Jialiang's men belonged to the county lieutenant system, specifically responsible for public security. Hearing this, they naturally asked, "Is there no one dealing with these Laiyang bandits? Doesn't the Laiyang County lieutenant do anything about it?"

Captain Jia: "It's impossible to cure them. If the Laiyang County Magistrate sends troops to suppress the bandits, these people will flee to Jimo County and become Jimo bandits. Similarly, if the Jimo County Magistrate sends troops to suppress the bandits, they will flee to Laiyang County and become Laiyang bandits."

After saying this, the captain glared at Wu Jialiang's men and said, "Three months ago, this group was called the Jimo Bandits. It was only because of the arrival of County Magistrate Wu and the vigorous crackdown on bandits in the past month or two that they heard the news and fled to Laiyang County. That's when they became the Laiyang Bandits."

Wu Jialiang's people: "..."

This is a bit embarrassing.

Laiyang County is not under Wu Jialiang's jurisdiction!

The group fled far forward, ran up a small hill nearby, hid in the woods, and looked down at Mengjiazhuang from above. They saw that a large group of thieves had poured into Mengjiazhuang at the foot of the mountain. There were no less than 500 thieves, and the scale was quite large.

After entering Mengjiazhuang, the group kicked open the door and rushed into the room...

Then you can see all kinds of wooden furniture being thrown out of the house, and someone cursing, but it's too far away to hear clearly.

After a while, the group found that they had found nothing in the village, so they left to the north in disappointment.

Wu Jialiang's men said, "Thank goodness no one set the fire."

The rebel scout said, "Wouldn't setting the fire drive the villagers away? They won't be able to come back anytime soon, so they won't be able to rob us again. Besides, there are a lot of mountains and forests around here. If a big fire starts, and the mountain winds fan the flames, they might even burn down their hiding places."

The captain said, "What Gong Da Wang's brother said is right. This group of people just rob people. If they can rob, they rob. If they can't rob, they won't kill or set fire. They just come every once in a while, as if they are collecting protection money..."

The last part of this sentence was said in a strange tone.

It turned out that when the Jimo rebels came to persuade them to join, they also talked about "protection", which made them seem not much different from this group of bandits.

(End of this chapter)