?
"Inspector, if you want to recruit people, as long as you get to Wuzhou, it would be easy for the brothers of Tian Di Hui to gather 20,000 to 30,000 people, let alone a village. We'll only take three days to get to Wuzhou at most, why spend an entire day going to a village? "Hu Chenghe tried to persuade Vézé.
Vézé laughed. He pointed at his 300 brothers who were continuing to clean up the battlefield and said to Hu Chenghe, "Commander Hu, let's not talk nonsense. I just want to ask you, are you a member of Tian Di Hui or a member of our Taiping army?"
Hu Chenghe thought for a long time before replying, "Naturally, I am a member of the Taiping army."
Vézé nodded. "Since that's the case, if Wuzhou's Tian Di Hui can gather 20,000 to 30,000 brothers, why should they listen to the orders of our 300 people?"
This question was asked very sharply, and Hu Chenghe could not easily answer. The logic of the jianghu was clear. Whoever had the biggest fists, the most experience, and whoever spoke was the law. The religion of God worshiping was a religion that had only appeared in the last three to five years and could not compare to Tian Di Hui. Tian Di Hui asked about the year, month, and day. The poem said, "My sworn brother asked me when I was born. The year is Jiayin. The auspicious moon thinks of the fifth day. The Jiayin years of the Qing Dynasty were the 13th year of Kangxi (1674), the 12th year of Yongzheng (1734), and the 59th year of Qianlong (1794). In 1674, Tian Di Hui had already been founded. Although it was loosely organized, it did not take the religion of God worshiping seriously.
As for whether their fists were big or not, although they had been in the Taiping army for a long time and were well aware of the abilities of Vézé's 300 subordinates, without real swords and guns, the brothers of Wuzhou's Tian Di Hui would not think that these 300 people of Vézé had the ability to command Wuzhou. Hu Chenghe himself knew that he wanted to make full use of his influence in Tian Di Hui to develop the Taiping army in Wuzhou. This would take a considerable amount of time.
Seeing that Hu Chenghe was beginning to understand, Vézé continued, "The front line of the Qing Army has already run away. Given their character, they will certainly harass this place. We can't control the Tu Clan's village, but we can't let the Guest Clan's village be destroyed by the Qing Army. No matter what, if the nearby Guest villages are harassed, we can't say that we're not involved. "
Seeing that Vézé was taking charge of everything, Hu Chenghe opened his mouth but did not know what to say. Logically speaking, Vézé and his men had failed to wipe out the Qing Army, and the fleeing Qing Army had harassed Vézé and his men. However, this was built on a concept. Even if the Taiping army was just passing by, they had to be responsible for the villages along the way. Hu Chenghe felt that Vézé was acting like a dog catching mice.
Vézé didn't care about what the moat thought. He took out the map and confirmed the direction. Then, Vézé led the team forward. After walking for more than two hours, they finally arrived at the Guest Village.
This village was called Li's Village. It was located near a valley. The village was not big and had a population of more than a hundred households. The houses they lived in did not look like much. This was the norm for the Guest Clan in Guangxi. The Tu Clan had long occupied the most fertile land in Guangxi. The Guest Clan could only try their best to find places to farm. They were like dandelions scattered across the land, living in small patches here and small patches there. Facing the Tu Clan, who had the support of the Clan, the Guest Clan was bullied.
Seeing Vézé and his 300 men appear in front of the village, the people in the village closed their doors early. However, a moment later, a group of more than 50 young men carrying all kinds of weapons rushed to the entrance of the village. They fearlessly confronted Vézé's troops.
Wei Changrong stepped out from the crowd. He did not carry any weapons and walked confidently to the 50 men. He cupped his hands at the villagers and said in Hakka language, "Dear villagers, we are from the Taiping army, not bandits! This morning, we fought a battle with the government officials and killed more than two hundred people. There are still more than two hundred soldiers who fled. The reason we came here is to see if the Imperial Army has escaped here. "
Just hearing Wei Changrong's Hakka language, the villagers' nervous expressions dissipated a lot. In these small Hakka villages, the only language that could be used was the Hakka language. This was the proof of identity when communicating with each other, as well as the basis of mutual trust.
A strong man in his thirties took a few steps forward and stood in front of Wei Changrong and said, "We don't see any soldiers coming." After saying that, he carefully looked at the black hair of Wei Changrong and the others, as well as the bun on their heads. This hairstyle was very unique in this era. It was not something that could be done in a day or two. "You are really from the Taiping army?"
"Yes. We are the Taiping army, Wei Jiandian's subordinates, "Wei Changrong answered proudly.
The Taiping army's official system was meaningless to the ordinary people in Guangxi. They had never heard of it, nor were they interested. In fact, most of the soldiers in the Taiping army did not understand the complicated system. Therefore, when faced with the indifference of the people to the official system, Wei Changrong could understand.
"If that's the case, can we rest outside the village for the night? It's getting dark, and we can't travel in the dark, "Wei Changrong said.
Although they were all Hakka, it was still very dangerous to have more than 300 armed outsiders spend the night outside the village. However, the villagers didn't dare to refuse. If they angered these armed men who were armed with guns, it would be a very bad thing.
The village chief came out and welcomed the Taiping army to stay outside the village. They also took out some food to "offer" to the Taiping army. According to the Taiping army's system, they had to pay for everything they sold. Lin Ahsheng, who was in charge of logistics, gave money to the village according to the amount of food. This time, the villagers immediately became excited. In Guangxi, it was very common to use force to force people to eat and drink for free. It was rare to see people pay for food. The village chief simply invited Vézé and the other commanders to the village as guests.
The houses were naturally not good, and the food was also very ordinary, mainly dried sweet potatoes. Vézé and the others ate better in Yongan than in the villages. When the Taiping army occupied Yongan, they mobilized the troops and the local people to urgently harvest the rice and other crops outside Yongan. In addition, with the rich people in Yongan, rice became one of the staple foods.
As a thank you gift, Vézé also gave the village chief a jin of salt. This time, the village chief and the village elders were all smiles.
During the meal, Vézé asked about the situation in the village and last year's harvest. The village chief naturally complained about the heavy taxes and poor harvests. Vézé didn't care whether these people were telling the truth or not. He said, "We have a song here, but I don't know if you have heard it."
"What song?" someone in the village asked jokingly.
"The upper class owes me money, the middle class has to sleep, the lower class follow me, it's better than renting cows to plow the fields!" Vézé sang in Hakka language. After singing, Vézé smiled and said, "Everyone, since this is the situation, why don't you rebel with us? We, the Hakka, will conquer the world and rule the world. So what if we are the lower class? If we conquer the world, we will also be the upper class! We won't have to be bullied by others anymore! "
These words didn't cause any surprise among the villagers. Guangxi was a poor place, and the conflicts between the locals and the Hakka were very fierce. Fighting and killing were the norm. The Hakka, who were in a weak position, were forced to organize to resist the persecution of the Hakka and the government. It often took more than half a month to prepare for a "big battle" in a certain place, because the Hakka troops that came from other places to fight often took ten days to half a month to arrive. The more courageous Hakka of Guangxi had long been used to a life of blood on the edge of a knife. For example, before Vézé and Wei Changrong joined the Taiping army, they were the backbone of the "regular Hakka army." According to Vézé's observation, the men in their thirties and forties who accompanied them in this Hakka village were all wounded, and one of them had a knife wound on his face. It was obvious that this village also had a "regular Hakka army."
However, not being surprised was one thing, and being willing to participate was another. The village chief said lightly, "But where are you going?"
"We are going to Wuzhou now," Vézé replied.
"Wuzhou? Just you people? "The village chief looked at Vézé with an amused gaze. It looked like the village chief had also participated in many battles and had probably run to Wuzhou. Just Vézé's 300 people did not have the ability to take down Wuzhou.
"Right now, the brothers of Wuzhou's Tian Di Hui are preparing to attack Wuzhou. They are waiting for us to join. Have the brothers of Tian Di Hui not sent our village a hero invitation? "Vézé said seriously. Finishing, he turned his head to ask Hu Chenghe, "Commander Hu, are the brothers of Tian Di Hui only recruiting people in Wuzhou?"
Hu Chenghe was skilled in dealing with accidents. In addition, before entering the village, he had discussed with Vézé how to answer. He immediately and respectfully said to Vézé, "Wei Jiandian, the brothers of Wuzhou's Tian Di Hui feel that it is enough to recruit people in Wuzhou. Other than waiting for our brothers of the Taiping army to go take the lead, they have not sent this hero invitation everywhere."
Hearing Hu Chenghe finish, Vézé turned his head and said to the village chief, "How about it? Do you want to join? If we join now, everyone will follow us to Wuzhou. Taking down Wuzhou will give us a lot more than taking down one or two Tu family strongholds! "
This group of "guest regular soldiers" from all over Guangxi could not move out for free. Each time they moved out, they had to be given money for moving out. After the battle, there would also be rewards for fighting. In some sense, the people running around in this group were more like "mercenaries."
The village chief thought about it and said, "How will it be divided? Divided first, or divided as you please? "
This was the special saying of the true heroes of each road. "Divided first" referred to determining the reward first. "Divided as you please" referred to how strong everyone was when they led troops to plunder. Half would be given to the leader, and the other half would belong to those who moved out.
"Then let's divide first," Vézé replied. The two sides haggled for a while. In the end, it was decided that these guests could move out together. Those who could fight would be given half a liang of silver for 10 days. Those who could not fight would wave flags and shout to show their spirit. They would be given 100 coins for 10 days.
By the time they finished talking, the sky had darkened. The village chief had Vézé and the others rest first. He still had to discuss this matter with the people in the village.
Vézé also made a request to borrow the straw and door planks from the village. Everyone had walked for so long and finally rested in the village. They wanted to stop sleeping on the ground and have something to use as a cushion for a good sleep.
The night was uneventful. When they woke up the next day, Vézé ordered the soldiers resting outside the village to tie up the straw and place it on the door planks for the villagers to carry back. One had to finish what they started. Tying up the straw again and putting up the door planks for the people were all small matters. However, the interactions between the Taiping army and the people were also these small matters. For the Taiping army and the people, these small matters were 100% contact.
As expected, seeing Vézé and the others do this, the people in the village treated the Taiping army even more warmly. After Vézé and the others had put up all the door planks and the straw had been put back in place, the village chief said, "This is the beginning of spring. We still have to plant crops. Even if we go, not many people will go. So this time, we won't go to the Wuzhou Heroes' Gathering. I hope the Wayne Brothers can forgive us. "
Vézé did not force the issue. He took his brothers to eat breakfast. The large group of people waved goodbye to the people and headed south.
They walked from morning to noon. Suddenly, a few young people came from behind. The scouts at the back immediately stopped them. They were people from the village. After being stopped, the young people immediately knelt in front of Vézé and the others. "Everyone, after you left, the government troops killed their way into our village and began to rob things. Everyone, please go back and save us."
After saying this, the young people who were drenched in sweat from running were afraid that Vézé and the others would not go back. They knelt on the ground and kowtowed. Some of the more straightforward young people kowtowed a few times and blood appeared on their foreheads.
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.
