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Shandong, Liangshan.

Liangshan thief Li Qingshan, Wenshang thief Cai Naihan, Shouzhang thief Ding Mingwu, Cao thief Xue Zhenglu, and Ma Jinzhong who left Zuo Liangyu and went south gathered here.

There are also bandit leaders who came from Puzhou, Caozhou, Fanxian and other places, namely: Ren Qi, Zhang Qi, Liang Min, Huang Zhenshan, Wu Kanghua, Shi Kuiran, Zhang Cui and others.

Historically, they were collectively referred to as the "Em Garden Thieves".

First fought against the Ming Dynasty, and then fought against the Qing Dynasty. If they lost, they went to the mountains to hibernate, and they were active for more than ten years. It is said that there are millions of people, and the total number is probably between 200,000 and 300,000.

The crowd listed more than ten high-ranking chairs and placed them in an open space on the hill. Li Qingshan said: "Today, there are two distinguished guests. One is the angel Mr. Zheng from Nanjing, and the other is General Ma who vowed not to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. Please invite Mr. Zheng to sit down." Main seat!"

Zheng Peiran is a scholar who fled from Shandong to the south. Now his family has divided the land in Anhui. He returned to Shandong half a year ago to work as a secret agent.

This gathering was also contacted by Zheng Peiran, otherwise it would be difficult for the peasant army scattered all over the place to gather together.

Zheng Peiran did not refuse, went straight to the main seat, turned around and cupped his hands and said, "Brothers, I am also from Shandong. Three years ago, I took the whole family to the south, and now they have been allocated fields in Fengyang. No matter men, women, old or young, they went to the south. , Everyone can share the land. Men farm the land, women weave, children can read, girls can read, and those who can read can be officials. Those days are so good!"

Most of these leaders of the rebel army came from peasant backgrounds, and they couldn't help showing yearning when they heard this.

Zhang Qi asked: "Can girls also read?"

Zheng Peiran smiled and said, "Girls can of course read. When His Majesty was still in rebellion, his territory was only half a county, so he set a rule that children must study. Any parent who does not send their children to study will be fined by the government!"

"What should I do if my family has no money to study?" Cai Naihan asked.

Zheng Peiran explained: "You don't need to pay tuition fees when you study in the south. If the family has no money, the government will lend students books. As long as they don't damage the books, they can return the books to the school after reading them. Brushes can be used by yourself. What to do, you can also practice calligraphy by dipping in water. There are very few people practicing calligraphy by dipping in water, and life is getting better and better, and farmers can afford ink sticks."

Ding Mingwu was a military officer, so he was more knowledgeable. He sneered, "Mr. Zheng, don't try to coax us with these words. Since we are here today, we are all willing to fight the Tartars."

Zheng Peiran shook his head: "I didn't want to deceive anyone, it's really like this in the south."

Xue Zhenglu interrupted suddenly: "I used to be a Caomin, and I heard about it from the Cao Jun from the south. At that time, I even joked about it, saying that in Jiangxi, girls were forced to study, and if they didn't study, they would be fined."

All the leaders of the rebel army looked at each other in blank dismay, feeling incredible.

Zhang Qi was stunned and said, "Is there really such a thing? Isn't the Emperor Zhao of Nanjing a Bodhisattva?"

Zheng Peiran smiled and said: "Farmers in several provinces in the south, many of them worship His Majesty in their homes, and they have to worship once in the morning and evening. Why did I flee to the south and return to Shandong where plagues are everywhere? Because I am from Shandong, and I have lived a good life. We must also let the elders in our hometown live a good life. As long as the Datong Army comes and kills the Tartars, everyone will be able to live a good life in the future!"

Ding Mingwu asked: "Chuang Wang didn't pay the food when he came, did Emperor Zhao pay the food?"

"How to raise soldiers without paying food?" Zheng Peiran said, "Don't worry, everyone, the tax is not heavy, and there is no corvee. Every family grows their own fields, so what is the land tax?"

All the leaders were a little disappointed, but they still felt that Li Zicheng was better.

Especially Ding Mingwu, when Li Zicheng attacked Beizhili, Ding Mingwu proclaimed himself the deputy commander of Shandong under King Chuang, and he was probably Li Zicheng's wild fan.

After chatting about southern policies for a while, Zheng Peiran said, "I have invited General Ma to tell you how the Tartars treat the common people."

"Not to mention General Ma," Ren Qi stood up and said, "Since the Tartars occupied Puzhou, life has really been difficult. Corrupt officials have changed the law to collect taxes, and Tartar soldiers have also robbed the people everywhere. Even the landlord's house will be robbed of money and food, and many landlords have fled to the south!"

Liang Min also said: "Yes, the Tartars are more ruthless than Daming, and they will not give us a way out. Last winter, when we were so hungry that we couldn't help it, we rebelled with Brother Lu in Fan County. The Tartars are so fierce that we really can't beat them. Tens of thousands of people were beaten down to only two or three thousand, and Brother Lu was also captured and beheaded by the Tartars. Fan County couldn’t stay any longer, so they had to come to Shandong.”

Zhang Qi said: "It's all the same. Ren Qi and I rebelled and killed the Tartars, and there were only a thousand left over 20,000 people. If we knew that King Zhao Tianwang would send troops this year, we would have to endure it last year, and it would not be too late to rebel again this year." .”

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The leaders laughed out loud, as expected they should bear it and rebel again.

Ma Jinzhong got up and said: "You don't know that the Tartars have done very bad things in Beijing. Many gentry escaped from the north, and they are also very miserable. The city wall of Beijing is divided into several sections, including the Forbidden City, the Imperial City, the Inner City, Outer city. There are not many Tartars, but they occupied the Forbidden City, the Imperial City, and the inner city, and all the Han people were driven to the outer city. The houses, shops, silver, and grain in the inner city were all taken away by the Tartars. Women were also taken as slaves."

Shi Kuiran sneered and said, "The tartars say we are thieves, but we only rob money and food, not houses and shops. The tartars also rob these things, aren't thieves calling for thieves?"

Ma Jinzhong continued: "The land outside the city of Beijing was occupied by the Tatars. The landlords were either killed or driven away, and the farmers and tenants became slaves of the Tartars. They didn't have to pay rent or food, because farming The food is all from the Tartars, and how much is given depends on whether the Tartars have a conscience."

"The Tartars have a fart conscience!" Wu Kanghua shouted.

Ma Jinzhong also said: "The Tartars don't keep their hair. People in the prefectures and counties around Beijing have all their hair shaved, leaving only a small braid at the back of the head. The braid is very thin, as thick as chopsticks, and resembles a rat's tail." Pretty much the same. If the Tartars take over the world, the Han people will have to shave their hair and keep their braids.”

"Fuck it!" Zhang Cui cursed.

Li Qingshan said angrily: "The hair born by parents is not for the Tartars to shave!"

Zheng Peiran suddenly added a rumor: "If the Han people in Beijing marry a girl, they have to go to the Tazi official to get their seal stamped. The girl will first show it to the Tazi official. The bridal chamber, and then put it back to marry."

"I call him the ancestor of the Tartars!" Cai Naihan yelled.

The rest of the leaders were also furious at these words.

It's fine work, it's crazy to pour dirty water on the enemy, similar rumors are spreading around Shandong and Henan.

After some scolding, Zheng Peiran said: "General Fei will not sit idly by when Zuo Liangyu surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. I think he has already dispatched troops from Xuzhou at this moment. Heroes, I am waiting for the gathering in Liangshan today, so I will help General Fei kill Tartars. And there are three chapters in the agreement, first, you must not burn, kill and loot the people; second, you must not rape and humiliate women; third, you must obey the orders of General Ma! Anyone who is willing to revolt, come here and drink blood as an alliance!"

Everyone joined in one after another. Historically, they fought against the Manchus for ten years, and half of the leaders died in battle or were captured and sacrificed.

The conditions were simple, everyone pinched earth for incense, and vowed to gather righteousness in the Liangshan League.

Ma Jinzhong has the most soldiers under his command, with more than 6,000 soldiers. For the rest of the leaders, some had four or five thousand, some had one or two thousand, and the fewest had only a few hundred.

It was announced to the outside world that the Han family army had a total strength of more than 30,000 troops, and the number of those who took care of their families could reach 70,000 to 80,000, including family members.

They did not dare to attack the big cities along the canal. After the uprising, they attacked Yuncheng County first.

The guard of Yuncheng is called Cao Xing, and he is Zhang Yingyuan's general.

Zhang Yingyuan first followed He Renlong and then Yang Sichang. Now he hangs out with Zuo Liangyu, and his main territory is Dongping Prefecture, so he can be regarded as a small Shandong warlord.

All the troops in Yuncheng were transferred away by Zhang Yingyuan, and Cao Xing only had 800 troops in his hands.

At this point, the "Han Army" camped overnight on the same day, held a military meeting, and began to attack the city the next day.

Zheng Peiran was planning to send someone to persuade him to surrender, and Ma Jinzhong also decided to fill in the moat first.

Li Qingshan raised his arms and shouted: "Kill the Tartars!"

Tens of thousands of people rushed out one after another like this, stunned Zheng Peiran and Ma Jinzhong.

Didn't we agree on how to fight last night?

Especially the Cao army under Xue Zhenglu's command jumped into the moat one by one and swam directly to the opposite side to attack the city.

The question is, what about your siege engines? Not even a simple wooden ladder!

Cao Xing, the guard of Yuncheng, was also confused. He was about to send people out of the city to find out. If the opposite side is the Datong army, then directly surrender the city, but the army outside the city will not give the opportunity at all.

"Dang Dang Dang Dang!"

Ma Jinzhong made people beat the gong frantically, and called for gold to withdraw the troops, trying to call those leaders back.

The two sides tossed each other for a long time, and many leaders could not attack, so they had to lead people back to the moat.

Cao Xing breathed a sigh of relief, and sent someone out of the city to inquire, and when he learned that they were volunteer soldiers who had joined the Datong Army, he immediately opened the city gate to welcome him. But each leader can only bring 200 people into the city, fearing that there will be a plague if there are too many people.

The plague in Yuncheng County has gradually disappeared, and the prevention method is called "herd immunity".

In just over a year, only 6,000 people died in Yuncheng, a city of 45,000 people.

Zheng Peiran entered the city and said: "The general belongs to the Han family, and his integrity is lamentable!"

Cao Xing bowed his hand and returned the gift: "Where is it, I just don't want to shave my hair and keep my braids."

Don't want to shave your hair, just an excuse.

The real reason is that Zuo Liangyu's surrender can benefit, and Zhang Yingyuan's surrender can also benefit. But Cao Xing was just a general of Zuo Liangyu's subordinates, and he was not brought along in the war, and only 800 people were left to garrison Yuncheng. What good could there be?

Anyway, this place is not far from Xuzhou, as long as we stick to it for a while, the Datong Army will definitely come over.

Then just surrender to the Datong Army, Cao Xing is not stupid, he knows what is more cost-effective.

This situation happened in many places in Shandong.

The troops Zuo Liangyu stayed behind to defend the city joined forces with the rebels rising all over Shandong. Most of them were small in number and had no combat effectiveness to speak of, but they made Hong Chengchou, Duoduo, and Zuo Liangyu extremely battered.

They were fighting Fei Ruhe and Zhang Tieniu on the front line, but fires broke out everywhere in the rear.

In some counties, although there was no rebel army, the gentry found Zuo Liangyu's left-behind troops and persuaded the guards to change the flag directly.

In a slightly remote county town, there were only a hundred soldiers left behind, and it was simply a group of talented scholars who led the city residents to drive the defenders away.

Even the county magistrate appointed by Zuo Liangyu led the yamen servants to declare an uprising!