Walking along the path through a wheat field, a small river appeared in front of Song Ganlai.

He took a few quick steps, came to the river, put down his farm tools, and washed his hands and feet comfortably. The river water was clear and the amount of water was large, but it was still fine this year. It would not be as severe as in previous years, so the crops were growing well.

There are wheat fields along the river bank, one by one. Depending on the situation, it is estimated that the wheat between the fields will be fully harvested in the next month.

Among these wheat fields, there are more than twenty acres of Song Ganlai's fields. However, when looking at their own fields, Song Ganlai was always unhappy, and even a trace of resentment flashed in his eyes.

"Why are these bandits and thieves constantly? Even the bandits in the village, even their neighbors, are really careless!"

Song Ganlai was from Fengshan Village nearby. The river flowed through the bottom of Fenghuang Mountain and poured into the Bulao River in the southwest. Fengshan Village was built along the mountains and along the edges of the mountains and rivers. A small village with only about a hundred families.

Song Ganlai was a farmer in the village. Sometimes he would do some woodcutter's work, chop some firewood, and pick it up to a steak store more than 20 miles away to sell it.

He is in his thirties and has been like this every year, but he always feels he is getting less and less able to survive recently.

Not to mention the heavy taxes, the imperial grain and national taxes always have to be paid. If you can't afford it, you will be abandoned and fled. There is always a barely excuse.

But what if the bandits come to collect taxes?

There are too many local bandits.

This area of ​​Huaibei, from Xuzhou to Pizhou, and then to Huai'an, has been frequent floods since the Yellow River "taken Si and into Huaihuai", and has caused constant natural and man-made disasters, which has also developed the local people's courageous character. There are many thieves and bandits all over the ground and village.

How many bandits are there?

Almost every village and every village has people who work as bandits or part-time bandits.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, some missionaries said: "There are too many bandits in these places in Xuzhou. There are very few villages without bandits. Being bandits is like doing other livelihoods. In some families, the profession of bandits has been passed down from generation to generation. Some people are born as bandits, and the whole village knows this, but no one talks about them."

There are reports from the Republic of China: "There have been a lot of kidnaps in rural bandits in Xuzhou and other villages. Those with a little bit of information often live in the city. However, no one has been solved whenever a huge case occurs."

After hundreds of years of this, being a bandit has become a profession, kidnapping, robbing villagers, and doing all kinds of evil.

People say that rabbits do not eat grass near the nest, but bandits in Huaibei develop to the future and specialize in eating grass near the nest.

Many village bandits specifically collude with foreign bandits to plunder villagers, or even tribe members. Anyone in the village who has a little money will be stared at by a pair of evil wolf-like eyes. Kidnap and blackmail are pretty good, but they are usually killed directly, kill all the people, rob all the money, and then burn them all.

For the sake of interests, the bandits became increasingly disregarded relatives and became more and more crazy. Although Fengshan Village is small, there were also many tragedies. On New Year's Eve this year, the village bandits seduced the bandits and wiped out a wealthy family.

There was a neighbor in Song Ganlai who was considered rich by bandits because he raised more than 30 sheep, so he entered the village in the middle of the night and wiped him out.

In March this year, a household in the village was colluded with bandits by his clan brothers, and more than a dozen people in the family were killed. Another household was so scared that they fled into the state city and never dared to come back.

While Song Ganlai and others were shocked, the village had no households, and they had to face the tax collectors who were like wolves and tigers by themselves in the future. They were frightened when they thought about it.

However, the households were now dealing with tax collectors in various places in the Ming Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, the tax was responsible for the grain chiefs in various places. After the "One Whip Law", the tax was reduced to silver. In order to avoid trouble and deal with tolerances, the people recommended more powerful people from all over the country to pay for it.

This is what the owners of the local area are mostly gentry and small landlords, or some powerful young men in some places. As long as they can speak in the county and prefectures, they can generally become owners of the company.

Of course, if you take over the household, you will collude with your own benefits, but the people can also talk to them about the price. For example, the county magistrate or the county magistrate Dianshi believes that the "private expenses" this year will be reduced, so the proportion of rice consumption should be increased.

Or if the tax collector and official officials think that there is less oil and water, they should add more items, and the contractors can also bargain with them.

Then the people came to bargain with the contractors.

There is always someone who can talk to you. After all, the people in the countryside do not know the tricks of the county and prefectures?

But now one household is dead, and the other is so scared that they run away. They take over the taxes and payments in the village. Although they can get some benefits, they must have the life to enjoy it, right? As soon as they run away, they will ask the people to face the men who are like wolves and tigers in the city.

This is not only the common situation in Fengshan Village, but also in surrounding villages.

The strong and wealthy ones fled into the city, and the remaining villages were mostly people of the elderly, weak, poor and sick. They also built villages to protect themselves, and the big clans and surnames all built earth encirclements, high walls and deep villages. In many cases, the force of force was stronger than that of ordinary county towns and prefectures.

Then the bandits could not rob the big landlords and powerful villages, and they became more aggressive in attacking some poor and weak villages, and they would often rob the people of chickens, ducks, cattle and sheep, or some miscellaneous grains for the New Year.

Now we have to put away the aid tax.

This is a nice saying, the fact is blackmail or door-to-door blackmail.

In March, the thief team of Qingshan went south and looted, and issued a notice to most villages in Pizhou, asking them to help with food and pay, and even carefully consider how much silver and rice for a certain household and how much silver and rice for a certain household. They will settle the money within a deadline of seven months, otherwise they will be killed without leaving any chickens and dogs.

Song Ganlai's family was also given a considerable number.

According to such extortion fees, he paid the tax and fees for the state's land tax and service silver. I'm afraid his family would not be able to eat another full meal.

Without a contracting household, I don’t know how much the extra fee will be when paying taxes.

If you have money, you are targeted. No one is willing to be a contractor, nor does you have the ability. Those two contractors are the only gentry in Fengshan Village, and their ancestors have produced scholars. They fled to death and there are no more people in Fengshan Village who can talk to the state.

Looking at the wheat fields in front of him, Song Ganlai felt extremely regretful. He was not full or warm in the year of disaster. Do he also had to eat bark and eat grass roots in the year of good fortune?

How many kids at home hope to have a meal of white rice and a few white flour buns.

Song Ganlai hated the beasts who were bandits in the village even more. People say that they are helpless when they become bandits. They are not. Their ancestors have been in this industry for generations. For hundreds of years, men and women in the family are all thieves, and they are also thieves when giving birth to children.

I won’t talk about the harm of neighbors on weekdays. Without these people assaulting tigers and colluding with inside and outside, how can the thieves in the green mountains understand the situation of each village and household?

With resentful and confused thoughts, Song Gan came to pack up the farm tools and walked back to his own fields, but the more he looked, the more he became, the more bitter the crops grew, no bucket of rice would be his own.

When he walked by the river, he met some villagers, who were all frowning and said heart-wrenching words to each other: "As long as I can live a stable life these days, I will be willing to have a meal a day!"

This is a luxury. In the North Bank, there are few big bandits, but small bandits are like hairs, poles are like clouds, all kinds of floods and droughts are as frequent, and the lives of the people are also extremely difficult.

Now there is oppression from the thieves in the green mountains.

"I heard that some gentry went to the city to seek justice and told the old bandits in the state. I wonder if the officers and soldiers will come to suppress them?"

Some villagers have hope.

After the Pizhou Guard Commander "met bandits" last year, the officers and soldiers attacked each other once, which made the situation in various places much better, although the old ways were resurfaced soon after.

But another villager shook his head again: "Now the bandits are smart and no longer harass the rivers, and the officers and soldiers who protect the grain will no longer pay attention to them. Local affairs are just the affairs of the state. Moreover, the garrison is still transporting grain, so it would be good if the people are strong and they will not be suppressed by the bandits."

Another villager said, "Or why we go to ask for a nearby village, and we will recognize it even if the fields are hung up."

But his words were refuted by another villager: "They are too lazy to care about these matters. Now it is not a peaceful and prosperous era, and the fields are not worth it. You see that there are abandoned fields everywhere, and no one wants them. Even if there are many large villages with a little farther away from the fields, they will still be abandoned and not farmed, and they are afraid of being kidnapped by bandits."

Everyone was silent. In this world, the rich are afraid of robbery, the poor are afraid of starvation and robbery, and the poor are worried about their lives.

Song Ganlai also had a bitter face and was silent, with wrinkles all over his face huddled together.

He is thirty-five years old this year, and he is as old as fifty.

He heard the words of the crowd and seemed to be unable to do any road, and the only way was to wait for death, be abandoned, and be forgotten.

"But..." a villager said, "There is a way. We can abandon the wasteland and go to Xin'anzhuang. There is definitely peace there. I heard that many villagers from Bayiji have fled there."

Everyone was excited and everyone heard about Lord Yang He’s reputation even in the remote Fengshan Village.

They successively wiped out the Jiaoshan bandits and the Tongshan bandits, and also won two great victory against the bandits. Even in many remote villages in Pizhou, they were still well-known.

Besides, Fengshan Village is not very far from Xin'an Village.

Everyone heard that even when Lord Yang crossed the Yellow River to fight, bandits kidnapped the villagers under his rule. Although he was accused of the village war, the archers who maintained public order were there. With just fifty people dispatched, the entire bandit camp where the bandits gathered were killed without leaving any other.

The head hung around the surroundings was stinking like a skeleton, and no bandits dared to attack them in the future.

Indeed, Xin'anzhuang is in a definite security, and no bandit dares to exist.

However, many people's eyes faded afterwards. Not everyone was willing to leave their hometowns and fields, especially when the crops were about to be harvested.

Song Ganlai is also a member of the inner circle. He has been in Fengshan Village for half his life and is really reluctant to abandon the fields.

However, the last villager's words caught Song Gan's attention.

"Have you heard that? Lord Yang will soon be the General Manager of Pizhou. I heard that he hates bandits the most. Whenever he goes to a place, he will kill all the local bandits and thieves. It would be great if he came to Pizhou."

His words aroused the excitement of the villagers, and everyone said what they heard.

"I have also heard that Lord Yang seemed to have his family been harmed by bandits on his way to escape, so he hated bandits especially. Whenever he arrived at a place, he would kill all the bandits."

"Yes, it seems that he went to Suining, and even half of the Qingpi and half of the tolerances in the city were killed by him."

"I hope Lord Yang will come to Pizhou soon and kill all the bandits in our places."

"Yes, recently some bandits have gathered in our village. Our village has become a nest of thieves, these people who kill thousands of swords..."

Song Ganlai listened to the excitement of his hometown, and his eyes were filled with hope.

...

With the sound of hooves, a group of people and horses walked along the winding road.

When Xin'an Village goes north, there are Baishan Society, Jiaoshan Village, Huangshan Society and other places along the way. Now these places are busy. Farming and farming land and building roads, there are teams of workers.

The current gravel road has been built on the edge of Baima River, with an outpost here. After crossing Baima River, you will leave the Suining boundary and enter the territory of Pizhou.

Or not far to the west, it is the boundary of Xuzhou.

As I saw along the way, it was very busy, and Yanghe’s farming and farming land entered a intensive stage.

But it is also very peaceful. Women and children can walk on the road with confidence and boldness.

There are also some villagers in the village who are busy in the fields, watching the growth of wheat seedlings in various places, and they can also harvest next month.

The peaceful and stable scene is always pleasing to the eye. Qian Sanniang and her group couldn't help but smile on their faces.

At this time, they were twelve of 10 cavalrymen from the cavalry team, including Li Ruwan, Uncle Wan, Tan Ge'er, "Big Brother", and Pei Pochuan of the sentry team and Ling Zhanyun met out to send out a sentry, with a total of twelve people.

Everyone rode war horses because they were out of the day and day. In addition to each of them, there were also some mules that prepared horses and carried baggage, twelve people, and a total of twenty horses.

At this time, everyone was riding on the horse, each with gray felt cloaks, iron and cotton armor, and a buckle, and various weapons were also provided. For example, Qian Sanniang not only had strong bows and heavy swords, but also had leather hoods on the left and right sides of the saddle, but also had two winged tiger guns for riding. At the same time, the saddle was lined up with a rocket's integrated bag in the right front.

Then there were two three-eyed flintlock guns around her waist, which could be said to be armed to the teeth.
To be continued...