Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 56

In fact, there is no need for the disciples of the Xiang family to deliberately spread the word under the request of Xiang Kang. There is no impenetrable wall in the world. In just a few days, the news that Qin II ordered the fourth round of soldiers to be recruited quickly spread throughout the lower ministers. The townships and pavilions in the county also immediately caused a huge sensation.

There are no people who are not complaining. In the first two rounds of recruitment, all the recruits were criminal officials, son-in-laws, businessmen, and adult men who had been son-in-laws and businessmen. Most of the people were not affected, and most of them did not say anything.In the third round of recruitment, people whose parents or grandparents had been sons-in-law and businessmen were recruited. Although those who were recruited felt wronged and many fled, most of the people with innocent ancestors could bear it.However, the fourth round of recruitment was to start with the remaining half of the ordinary people, and the innocent people could no longer bear it.

In addition, the corvee is too heavy. In order to build the Lishan Mausoleum, Afang Palace and expand the Xianyang Palace, countless people have to bring their own food and travel expenses to Guanzhong to work as free coolies, and have to transport food and fodder from all over the country to Xianyang to feed rare birds and animals. Beasts, ordinary people have been miserable for a long time, and now Qin II will force the remaining half of the adult men to go to the frontier to serve as soldiers and coolies. It is strange that ordinary people can bear it any longer.So after the news spread, before the officials at all levels officially started recruiting soldiers, men of the right age who belonged to Zuolu had already started to flee, and signs of chaos quickly appeared among the people.

Under such a background, after the Xiang family's children spread the rumor that Qin II would soon recruit the fifth round of soldiers, the Dongxiang area of ​​Xiaxiang County, which was first affected by the rumors, was of course even more panicked. Everyone is in a state of panic. For example, there is no family with an adult man who is not worried. He is afraid that the backbone of the family or the main labor force will be forcibly taken away by the government, which will affect the livelihood of the whole family. Innocents were buried in the bitter cold of the northern border, and sacrificed in the miasma in the south.

During this period, even though the village scumbags, the elders, and the chiefs of the pavilions all stood up to refute the rumors, saying that the imperial court had absolutely no plans to recruit the fifth round of guards, but because of the frequency and intensity of the enlistment of the garrison corvee, the common people They still prefer to believe that there is something, and they can’t believe that there is nothing. The worried people continue to add fuel to the story, spreading the rumors more and more wickedly, and expanding the area of ​​spread. It even affected the hearts of the people in the surrounding counties, and the atmosphere among the people was panic.

Then, when the Xiaxiang County Temple officially began to recruit the fourth round of guards, the people of Xiaxiang were of course even more chaotic. The bandits gathered in the mountains, forests and swamps, turned grass into bandits, and the Maling Mountain bandits who were once exterminated by Xiang Kang, Feng Zhong and others also reappeared in the rivers and lakes, and they also developed rapidly, with a scale far exceeding the past, seriously threatening the two counties of Xiaxiang and Xiapi social security and people's livelihood security.

It was beyond the expectations of Xiang Kangtie's brother Feng Zhong. During this period, not only did not one of the Xiang family's children who had countless opportunities to escape early escaped, but several Xiang's children who were to be conscripted to the frontier to serve in the military were still there. Under the leadership of Xiang Kang, they came to him on their own initiative and told him clearly that the children of the Xiang family would not embarrass his good friend. Don't let the garrison soldiers escape on the way, so as not to implicate Feng Zhong who is in charge of escorting.

For this, Feng Zhong was not only overjoyed, but also grateful, he took Xiang Kang, Xiang Guan and the others by the hand and said repeatedly: "Brother, good brother, thank you, thank you so much, brother, I really don't care." Thinking that you are so reasonable, not only do you not make me difficult, but you also help me like this. Don’t worry, don’t worry, as long as we can come back smoothly, I will definitely thank you, brother. I dare not say more. You can walk sideways if you want, brother, I will support you."

"Brother, you're offended when you say these words. Our Xiang family will remember how much you have helped our Xiang family during this period of time. Now you need to use us for something. Is there any reason for us to stand by and watch?" Xiang Kang smiled and waved his hands again and again, expressing that he didn't need Feng Zhong's thanks, and asked curiously: "Brother, how many people are we going to recruit to serve in the military this time? How many soldiers are there in Dongxiang?"

"If all the recruits are in place, there should be more than 800 garrison soldiers in Xiaxiang County, and more than 500 soldiers in Dongxiang." Feng Zhong replied truthfully, and then said: "But you also know, brother, that there are too many garrison soldiers. It is estimated that only 300% to [-]% of those who can really be recruited, Dongxiang is amazing and can go to more than [-] people.”

"Brother, can we go through the back door and arrange Baichang and Tuenchang for my brothers?" Xiang Kang asked again, and said: "I remember that the garrison's establishment is five people to one army, two teams to one tenure, There are five tithe villages, one village head, two villages and one hundred head. If there are 300 people in Dongxiang, there will be three hundred heads and six village heads. Can these positions be given priority to my brothers? ?”

"No problem, leave it to me." Feng Zhong patted his chest and said, "Actually, you don't need to tell me, brothers, I will give priority to assigning the Baichang and Tuenchang to your Xiang family brothers, and your brothers will watch over for me. Those garrison soldiers, I dare not close my eyes when I'm sleeping."

"Then it's settled." Xiang Kang said with a smile: "I'll take the brothers back to prepare first, and make sure to arrive on time when the garrison soldiers are assembled, and I will ask you to take the trouble to arrange it when the time comes."

He was overjoyed and thanked the Xiang family brothers for their great help again. Feng Zhong felt relieved a little, knowing that he was escorting the soldiers to serve in the north this time, and finally had a few capable helpers available to complete the task smoothly. Hope is much greater than before.However, after sleeping soundly in the pavilion with peace of mind, just before dawn the next day, Feng Zhong was woken up by his not-too-ugly wife, who said that the servants in the pavilion had something urgent to report.

"It's probably someone who escaped." Feng Zhong yawned and said to himself as he put on his clothes and got up, "Run away, run away, anyway, it's the village coward and Li Dian, the corporal chief, Such a long responsibility has nothing to do with me, as long as you don’t run away on the road.”

"Brother Feng, are you up yet? Get up quickly, something serious has happened, something strange has happened." Feng Zhong's soliloquy was interrupted by the anxious shout of the pavilion guard outside the door, and after he opened the door angrily, he was still there. When Feng Zhong opened his mouth to question the situation, Ting Zu couldn't wait to say: "Brother Feng, go to the Temple of God, something strange happened there."

"What strange things can happen to the temple?" Feng Zhong asked, yawning.

"Last night there was a fox screaming at the temple of the society, what a big Chu Xing, Qin should die." The pavilion soldier said nervously: "Also, today there are countless ants crawling on the wall of the temple of the society, lined up The six words Da Chu Xing and Qin Dang died!"

"What?" Feng Zhong almost suspected that he had heard it wrong, and asked in surprise, "Countless ants climbed onto the wall of the temple and formed the six characters Da Chuxing and Qin Dangde? Is it true? Is there such a miracle in the world?"

"It's absolutely true!" The pavilion soldier replied loudly, and then said: "Brother, go and have a look, the people in the pavilion have heard the news, and countless people have gone there."

Dumbfounded, he looked at the pavilion soldier who came to report the letter, and confirmed that his flustered expression was not deliberately pretending to tease him. Then Feng Zhong yelled, and before he even had time to eat, he immediately threw his legs at the god of society in the pavilion. temple run.As a result, when I arrived at the scene, it turned out that the area around the temple was already crowded with people. Countless people were gathering and discussing, and some people were kowtowing to the temple. It was much more lively than when holding sacrifices.

Pushing away the crowd in a hurry and walking closer, Feng Zhong just took a look at the wall of the temple, and Feng Zhong suddenly felt a cold feeling all over his body—there were indeed countless black ants crawling on the wall of the temple , using the body to form six characters that are constantly changing—Da Chuxing, Qin Dangde!

Rubbing his eyes hard, he took a few steps forward, carefully looked at the six big characters Da Chuxing and Qin Dangzhu, and confirmed again that these six characters were composed of ants. I couldn't help trembling, and murmured in a low voice: "Da Chu Xing? Qin Dang died? What does this mean? Could it be that Da Qin is about to end?"

At this time, Xiang Kang quietly appeared beside Feng Zhong, and said in a low voice, "Brother, what's the matter? How did the ants crawl into these six characters?"

"How do I know?" Feng Zhong replied in a daze, "Could it be ghosts and gods who made the ants form these six characters?"

"Brother, this matter is not a joke." Xiang Kang said kindly: "If the county knows what happened here, I'm afraid it won't let it go. When the time comes, the county will investigate and investigate. You can't escape responsibility first. Don't worry about it." It is said that if you go to jail, you may even be beheaded."

Knowing how serious the matter was, Feng Zhong nodded quickly, and asked in a low voice, "Brother, what do you think should be done about this matter?"

"You have to suppress this matter quickly." Xiang Kang pointed out kindly, and said: "Ask your people to fetch a few buckets of water, wash the ants down the wall, and then tell the people here not to talk nonsense, maybe this matter will not happen. Pass it to the county."

Feng Zhong nodded hastily, and hurriedly ordered the pavilion guards and retainers he had brought to carry water to wash the ants, but the pavilion guards and retainers were all out of their wits and said, "Brother Feng, this is what the ghosts and gods asked the ants to do. If we wash away these ants with water, the ghosts and gods will ask us for sin, how can we afford it?"

"Stop talking nonsense! Hurry up and fetch water!" Feng Zhong, who is usually mild-tempered, rarely gets angry, stomping his feet and roaring: "If you don't carry water again, I will punish you now!"

Unable to withstand Feng Zhong's repeated urging, several pavilion guards and doormen had to follow the order to find poles and wooden barrels to carry water. During the period, more and more people came to watch after hearing the news. In the end, almost all men, women and children from Shiling Pavilion came. When we arrived at the scene, countless overly superstitious people burned incense and prayed for ghosts and gods to bless them.And when the pavilion soldiers brought the water, these superstitious people stood up to prevent them from watering the ants, and said one after another: "You can't wash it with water, it's the work of ghosts and gods. If you wash it with water, the ghosts and gods will not let you go." , and will not let everyone in our Shiling Pavilion go."

He didn't have the guts to offend ghosts and gods, but when he was stopped by superstitious people, Feng Zhong's servants and pavilion guards were of course even more afraid to step forward. When the peasants and elders in the village hear these words, you can’t speak them clearly even if you have a hundred mouths to speak.”

Fearing that he would be implicated, Feng Zhong, who was still serving as the head of the pavilion, could only speak quickly, shouting sharply, forcing his subordinates and retainers to act quickly.However, what Xiang Kang and Feng Zhong didn't expect was that, being forced into a hurry by Feng Zhong, several pavilion soldiers and doormen simply knelt down to Feng Zhong and begged with tears: "Brother Feng, we dare not, Ting We are wronged as pawns, and we don't eat your food, but we really dare not offend ghosts and gods!"

"Useless dog, get out!" Feng Zhong was also forced into a hurry, so he simply stepped forward to carry a bucket of water, kicked away the people who tried to stop him from watering, and rushed to those ants with big strides, full of water. The bucket of water was poured directly on it.

The rushing water instantly washed away the ants, and they could no longer write words. However, after the ants were dispersed, Feng Zhong, who was terrified deep in his heart, felt a chill rise from his feet and rushed directly to his chest. Above the head, the body couldn't help shaking a little.Seeing that the situation was not good, Xiang Kang who was next to him hurried up to support Feng Zhong, and asked anxiously, "Brother, what's wrong with you? Are you okay? Don't scare me, don't scare me!"

"I..., I'm fine."

Feng Zhong's trembling answer did not receive any effect. After carefully looking at Feng Zhong's expression, and concerned about putting his hand under Feng Zhong's nose to try to breathe, Xiang Kang suddenly yelled, "Brother Feng, take your breath away!" It’s over! Brother Feng is overwhelmed! Come quickly, help me carry Brother Feng to his home for rescue! Hurry up!”

Not to mention, Xiang Kang, a good brother, is indeed a bit loyal. After carrying Feng Zhong up with the help of several pavilion guards and doormen, Xiang Kang really rushed to the pavilion of Shiling Pavilion. Feng Zhong, who was poisoned by feudal superstition, was lying on Xiang Kang's back dying. Nowhere in his body felt comfortable. , don’t settle accounts with me.”

The person involved, Feng Zhong himself, was so frightened and fearful, let alone the people of Shiling Pavilion who were watching nearby. Xiang Kang just walked away with Feng Zhong on his back, and immediately in front of the shrine was densely packed with superstitious people. Kowtowing desperately and praying continuously, the news that ants formed the six characters Da Chu Xing Qin Dang died appeared on the wall of Shiling Pavilion, and it soon spread to all townships and pavilions in Xiaxiang County as if they had grown wings. It caused a huge commotion and panic among the people who were generally superstitious about ghosts and gods.

On that day, the township officials who heard the news, such as the poor man and the old man, went to Shiling Pavilion to visit Feng Zhong and inquire about the specific situation. Feng Zhong followed Xiang Kang's suggestion and killed him, saying that the ants were just crawling on the wall In fact, the six taboo characters are not formed.Although the village coward and the elders knew that Feng Zhong was lying and were afraid of being implicated, they did not dare to report the matter to their superiors because of the fact that they were under their control, and they tacitly helped Feng Zhong deceive him. Keeping the truth in mind, Feng Zhong comforted the dying Feng Zhong with kind words and left with a few words.

That night, Feng Zhong was still bedridden, and Huanglian Po and several young children were crying beside him. In a trance, Feng Zhong would read those six words from time to time, saying in his heart: "Da Chuxing, Qin should perish? Could it be that Da Qin is really about to perish? If so, what should I do? What should I do?"

When Feng Zhong lay dying on the bed and frightened himself, of course all the children of the Xiang family were laughing in low voices in his good brother Xiang Kang's dilapidated courtyard, praising Xiang Kang's clever plan-the words written with six honeys are Can cause such a big sensation.And when the Xiang family's children asked about the next step plan, Xiang Kang replied: "The most important thing for the next step is to find a way to lead Zhou County magistrate from the county town to Shiling Pavilion on the day when Dongxiang garrison soldiers gather. Win, if we succeed in this matter, we can hope to win Xiaxiang County directly before the Xiaxiang County Temple reacts. If not, our matter will not be so easy."

"Then how to attract him?" Xiang Zhuang asked.

"I have to think about it again." Xiang Kang replied: "I have thought of several methods, but they are not too sure, so I have to think about it carefully to see which method can attract him with the greatest certainty."

Knowing that no one is Xiang Kang's opponent who plays with their brains, the Xiang family children shut their mouths together and waited for Xiang Kang to come up with a solution. After thinking about it, Xiang Kang suddenly smiled at his nephew Xiang Ta and said: " Xiang it, I have to wrong you this time, I wronged you to get sick."

"Uncle Ji, are you making me sick? What's making me sick?" Xiang it asked inexplicably.

"It doesn't matter what kind of disease it is, as long as it's a disease that can't go to the frontier." Xiang Kang said with a smile: "Then I will go to the county to meet the county magistrate Zhou and say that I am willing to serve in the military for you."

(End of this chapter)