Ang Lee's group was dressed in casual clothes and carried a large number of weapons. However, this didn't arouse the vigilance of the caravan's people because these people could see that Ang Lee's group wasn't bandits. Bandits weren't so dignified. Whether it was their clothes or their mental state, they were very different from Ang Lee's group. The bandits' aura could be felt from far away.
On the other hand, Ang Lee's group was exuding a noble aura. Even the soldiers had a noble aura, which was obviously different from the common people. It could also be said that it was a kind of arrogance, a kind of arrogance that looked down on the world, a kind of arrogance that was proportional to one's own strength.
After the caravan left, a cavalry team rushed over from behind. From the sound of their voices, one could tell that they were the cavalry team of Yi Zhou City. There were a lot of them, at least several hundred cavalry.
Soon, several hundred cavalrymen arrived with a whistling sound. The one leading them was none other than San Lang of the Yang Family. He was also the son of the shrewd Yang Family's Patriarch. At this moment, all the cavalrymen under his command had come out. Judging from their equipment, they were indeed an elite cavalrymen. They should be the elites of the Jiannan Army.
The arrival of this elite cavalry team was obviously ordered to protect Ang Lee's safety. With the presence of such an elite cavalry team, Ang Lee's safety was no longer a problem. Even if all the bandits came out, they wouldn't be a match for this team.
"You are Saburo Yang?"
Ang Lee asked.
"Yes, this humble general is."
"I heard that you let dozens of bandits escape. Is that true?"
Ang Lee asked.
"Yes, that's true."
Saburo Yang didn't deny it and directly admitted it.
Ang Lee smiled and asked, "You admit it quite quickly. Why did you do that? Don't tell me that you colluded with the bandits?"
"How would this humble general dare to do that? I just have my own opinion."
Saburo Yang replied.
"Your own opinion? Tell me about it. "
Ang Lee curiously asked.
Saburo Yang said, "Assistant Minister Li, this humble general thinks that to deal with the bandits, we can't just rely on encirclement and suppression. Without absolute certainty, encirclement and suppression won't be very effective. As long as the bandits don't take the initiative to harm people and don't maliciously rob money, we should focus on pacifying them. If we can recruit them and make them work for us, that would be the best."
"Recruit them? That's a good idea, but how many groups of bandits have been recruited? "
Ang Lee asked.
"This … we haven't succeeded yet..."
Saburo Saburo Yang nervously.
"Oh, so you haven't succeeded even once. In your opinion, why can't you subdue them? How can we get these bandits to surrender? "
Ang Lee asked.
Yang Sanlang replied, "In this general's opinion, the main reason why the bandits refused the offer of amnesty is because they have nothing to fear. The Great Pagoda Mountain is high and dense, making it very difficult for the bandits to hide among the dense forests. Our Jiannan Army's main force is only thirty thousand men and is spread out widely, so we can only mobilize a few thousand men and horses. With such a small number of men and horses, not to mention exterminating the bandits, it would be very difficult for us to even discover the bandits. As long as our soldiers enter the mountain, the bandits will flee far away and return after our army withdraws. Our army can't stay in the mountain forever. The bandits understand this point, so they are certain that our soldiers won't be able to do anything to them. That's why they refused the offer of amnesty. Soldiers are disciplined, so how can they be as free and unfettered as bandits? If we succeed in recruiting the bandits, we must have more men and horses or give them more benefits in order to recruit them."
"There are so many difficulties. In that case, we can only watch as the bandits harm the people?"
Ang Lee asked.
Yang Saburo hurriedly said, "Our army's soldiers often patrol the trade routes near the mountain and have thwarted the bandits' attempts to rob us many times. We have also caught some bandits and advised them to turn over a new leaf. Now, there are dozens of bandits in the prison of Yizhou City. After serving their sentences, they will turn over a new leaf and won't harm people anymore. Moreover, not only will they stop being bandits, but they will also persuade their former bandits to leave the bandits. In addition, these bandits didn't jump out from the cracks of rocks. Most of them are ordinary people who couldn't find a way to survive, so they became bandits in the mountain. Many of them are not bad in nature and won't rob too much. As long as they have enough money to spend, they will stop robbing. So, to deal with these bandits who can be saved, we should focus on appeasing them."
After saying so much, the core problem was that they hadn't made up their minds. It was indeed a difficult thing to exterminate bandits in the mountain. Many bandits were forced to do this because they were forced to do it. However, no matter how many reasons there were, as long as the soldiers of Yizhou City made up their minds, they could still exterminate all the bandits. The more determined a person was, the greater their achievements would be. As long as they were determined, there was nothing they couldn't do.
With the same number of soldiers and the same weapons, some soldiers couldn't defeat the bandits in their lifetime, while others could. This was caused by the difference in determination.
Under normal circumstances, it was indeed very difficult to deal with the bandits hiding in the mountain if there weren't enough soldiers. However, the method was thought out by people. Since there weren't enough soldiers and the bandits were hiding in the deep mountain, why not think of a better way to deal with them?
If they just circled around the mountain and didn't see any bandits, then they would retreat. In that case, no one would be able to deal with the bandits. There were many ways to deal with the bandits. Directly encircling and exterminating them wouldn't work, so they could use other methods. For example, they could arrange for spies to infiltrate the bandits' inner circle and understand the bandits' inner circle. As long as they understood the bandits' inner circle and the bandits' hiding places, it would be much easier to deal with the bandits. In addition, they could also use strategies to divide and disintegrate many groups of bandits and let them fight among themselves. In this way, they could reap the benefits of the fisherman. When there was a great reward, there were bound to be brave men. They could also recruit bounty hunters from Jianghu and give them a corresponding reward for every bandit they killed. In this way, no matter how powerful the bandits were, they could still be exterminated.
For example, during the Great Ming Dynasty's Wokou Rebellion, a large group of soldiers couldn't deal with a small number of pirates. The Wokou Pirates easily broke through one county after another, causing a large number of people to suffer a lot. Many people were slaughtered by the Wokou Pirates and the losses were extremely heavy. The problem of the Wokou Pirates couldn't be solved for many years. The soldiers could only gather in large numbers to protect the important cities. The entire Great Ming Dynasty was in danger.
Could it be that the problem of these damned Wokou Pirates couldn't be solved? Could it be that the problem of the Wokou Pirates would continue to exist? Of course, it could be solved. As long as the imperial court was determined and allowed outstanding generals to recruit soldiers and provide sufficient financial support, then the problem could be solved. The facts also proved this point. After Qi Jiguang's recruitment and training, as well as sufficient rewards and punishments, a strong army quickly appeared and killed the Wokou Pirates until they cried for their fathers and mothers. It didn't take long for the problem of the Wokou Pirates to be solved.
In short, as long as the problem of the Wokou Pirates was taken seriously and treated as a priority, then a solution could be found. There were always more solutions than difficulties. This wasn't an empty phrase, but a real truth. If they just barely managed to deal with the Wokou Pirates, then the problem wouldn't be solved even after countless years.
Ang Lee naturally understood the reason why the local soldiers didn't do their best to encircle and suppress the Wokou Pirates and always emphasized the difficulty. How could they hide the thoughts in their hearts from Ang Lee? They more or less had the idea of raising the Wokou Pirates for their own sake. Even if they didn't collude with the Wokou Pirates, they would be more cautious when dealing with the Wokou Pirates. They wouldn't spend too much energy on this matter, nor would they be willing to use more resources to solve this problem.
Since ancient times, the soldiers and the Wokou Pirates had always liked to maintain this balance. The soldiers controlled the cities and bustling towns, while the Wokou Pirates controlled the secluded places in the mountains and dense forests. Neither side seemed to be able to do anything to the other, and neither side was willing to invest too much energy to fight the other side to the death. The soldiers wouldn't spend too much energy to eliminate the Wokou Pirates, and the Wokou Pirates also didn't want to confront the soldiers. They would steal the goods and run away, leaving the soldiers to slowly search for them. Most of the time, this balance could benefit both sides, but it also made the ordinary people and small businessmen suffer.
Ang Lee could see the selfishness of Ang Lee's Saburo, but he didn't intend to expose Yang Saburo. This phenomenon was everywhere in the Tang dynasty, and it was useless to criticize it. This was the characteristic of the times, and it couldn't be changed by Ang Lee alone. Even if Ang Lee had great ability, he couldn't solve this problem. Since this problem couldn't be solved, it was better to let nature take its course.
"Increasing patrols can indeed solve the problem of the Wokou Pirates. In this case, it's better to divide the troops to patrol everywhere!"
Ang Lee said.
"Yes, this general understands."
Hearing this, Yang Saburo divided the troops into three teams and patrolled in three directions. In this way, it was equivalent to opening up a protective umbrella on the periphery. Even if there was danger, they could deal with it immediately and solve the crisis in time.
Not long after they walked, they met another caravan. This caravan was relatively small, with only a dozen donkey carts. The goods on the carts were very clear, and it was actually charcoal. This product was very safe, and the bandits would shake their heads when they saw it. Bandits lived in the mountains, and the last thing they lacked was charcoal. When they needed it, they could get it by themselves. There was no need to rob charcoal. Those donkeys were good, and they could be used to make donkey meat or sold for money. However, bandits also had dignity. As long as they weren't starving, they wouldn't rob people of their livelihood. This was against the rules, and they would be despised by their peers.
These drivers who transported charcoal looked relatively simple. At first glance, one could tell that they were poor people. Their faces and arms were covered with black ash. From a distance, one would think that they had met Africans. The black ash was naturally not deliberately applied to their faces, but accidentally stained when they were working. This seemed to indicate that these people were charcoal burners, not a caravan that was responsible for transportation. This caravan was not a real caravan, but a transport team of the charcoal burners.
"Is this charcoal to be transported to Yizhou City?"
Ang Lee asked.
An old man answered, "Yes, it was shipped to Yizhou City."
"Where are you from? Where did you get this charcoal?"
Ang Lee asked.
"We are from Yizhou, and we live in a village not far from here. We burned the charcoal ourselves, and the wood was chopped in Tata Mountain."
The old man replied.
"Oh, it was chopped in Tata Mountain. Aren't there bandits in the mountain? Won't they rob you of your charcoal?"
Ang Lee asked.
The old man said with a smile, "Bandits don't lack charcoal, so they won't rob us. I have lived here for decades, and I have never been robbed by bandits."
"Then do you know who these bandits are? Where are they from? "
Ang Lee continued to ask.
The old man said, "Bandits are naturally local people. There are a few people in our village who have become bandits. It's embarrassing. Our family can't hold their heads up high. "
"Oh, then do you know why these people become bandits? For example, why did a few people in your village become bandits? "
Ang Lee asked.
The old man thought for a moment and replied, "Two of them were lazy and didn't want to work hard. They just robbed and robbed, which was much more convenient than working. The other one's family member was sick and borrowed a lot of money. Because he couldn't pay back the money, he was chased by people every day, so he ran to the mountains and became a bandit."
"Uncle, do you think that people who are lazy and don't want to pay back their debts should become bandits? Can they be forgiven? "
Ang Lee asked.
The old man shook his head and said, "Of course they can't be bandits. As long as they are still alive, they can't be bandits. They are lazy because their parents didn't teach them well. It's their parents' fault. If they don't have money to pay back their debts, they can slowly pay it back. It's wrong to be a bandit. When I was young, I also owed others money, but I still went to the mountains to chop firewood and paid back the money bit by bit. It took me three years to pay back all my debts."
There were unruly people everywhere. They would become thieves when they felt that their work was too hard. They would become thieves when they encountered difficulties. They would become thieves when they had nowhere to go. These were all excuses. For strong-willed people, no matter how big the difficulty was, they would try their best to solve it. However, for weak-willed people, they would choose to retreat when they encountered a little difficulty. They would do extreme things in the name of being desperate. There were so many desperate people in the world. Many of these so-called desperate people were just people who did not want to do difficult things and liked to do simple and easy things. It was an instinctive escape from reality. They were not really desperate. Since they were desperate, why didn't they jump into the river? Why did they choose to be thieves?
It was too difficult to work hard to pay back the debts for three years. Running away to be a bandit was not only free and happy, but also could directly repudiate all the debts. It was easy and simple to solve the problem. It was difficult to work every day to support oneself. As a bandit, he could just rob directly. It was simple and fast.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
