stubborn thief

Chapter 334
If someone can stand at a high altitude and look down, he will definitely find that the Hehuang Valley is burning.

From the source of Huangshui River to the mouth of the Yellow River, in this catastrophe caused by the marshal's mansion grabbing grain and the Shaanxi blockade, the anger of the people turned every manor into a smoldering relic.

But the perpetrators of the catastrophe never seem to care about their anger, just marching in.

On the one hand, the Marshal's Mansion is rushing from west to east, collecting the looted people from all over the place, and there is only one dead end for stubborn resistance. People can only flee eastward in order to survive.

On the other side, Mo and Jing, the deputy generals of Xining, marched from east to west. The veteran generals under his command were about to kill all the thieves to eliminate the people's troubles. , Drive the bandits westward.

The peasant army in the entire Hehuang Valley was squeezed by both sides. Except for those who were willing to surrender to the Marshal's Mansion, the rest of the rebellious people fled to Nianbo and other places, inciting the Nianbo garrison to rebel, forming a large force .

Huang Cheng, who had joined the army in the Gaodianzi camp, was among them, and his actions went smoothly.

With the assistance of twenty veterans from the Marshal's Mansion, and equipment support through Li Wanqing, he captured several manor enclosures with ease and gathered hundreds of experts.

But within a few days, the chickens flew up the branches and turned into phoenixes.

But Huang Cheng was very dissatisfied with this result. If it weren't for the advice of the "advisor" placed by his side by the Marshal's Mansion, he would have joined forces with other leaders to form a rebel army of tens of thousands.

Doesn't that mean you can rob whoever you want?
However, the veterans around him unanimously suggested that he should not annex others, but only recruit battalion soldiers, flag soldiers or post soldiers with military experience, and strong men from the people.

This group of people from the Marshal's Mansion ate and slept with him all day long, and they wanted to refute but did not dare to resist, so they could only be led by the nose.

But the opportunity to join forces with others came in a blink of an eye.

Originally, he wanted to go to attack Lu Tusi near the West Datong River Fort. He was a descendant of the Yuan Dynasty. ran over.

It is said that the Xining army of the imperial court marched into Huangshui, and the bandits who were chased away on both sides were backlogged in Nianbo. Leaders from all walks of life three hundred miles from Huangshui gathered together and elected a man named Ma Anbang. The leader came to the conclusion that the combined troops ran south.

Because Qi Guoping and Liu Chengzu competed for the power of the Zhenhai camp and bought the vaccination doctor, more than 100 soldiers in the Zhenhai camp died of vaccination.

Ma Anbang was one of the officers who left the Zhenhai camp at that time. He was a member of the brigade.

When the chaos was settled, he seized the opportunity to capture Nianbosuo, and became known as the King of Manan, becoming the leader of the Han Pan in the Hehuang Rebellion.

Huang Cheng wanted to persuade him to join Liu Chengzong, but Ma Anbang had his own ambitions.

"The imperial court is in the east, and the commander's mansion is in the west. Who doesn't want to occupy Hehuang? This will go to the commander's mansion, what will happen to us, will the marshal stop here, or put us in a place? A pawn, a pawn who fought with Mo and Beijing .”

"There are Lu chieftains and Gansu frontier troops in the north who can't go there, but thousands of us can go south to Shenjiaxia, and retreat to cross the Yellow River to enter the south of the Yellow River. Sit back and watch the success or failure of the two armies, if the commander-in-chief wins, we will surrender to the commander-in-chief to attack the court, if the court wins, we will be recruited to attack the commander-in-chief, isn't it better than surrendering now?"

Huang Cheng was dumbfounded: Can it still be like this?

Thinking about it carefully, even Huang Cheng agreed with Ma Anbang's plan, not to mention the other people in the rebellion. A team of thousands of battalions, bannermen, peasants and craftsmen rolled up the dust and rushed to the Shenjiaxia River Valley in the south. , also not so easy to go.

Because the Shenjiaxia River Valley is backed by mountains and facing water, there is a grand building complex similar to the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, called Qutan Temple.

The largest and most powerful temple in Fanmin at the junction of the three places was established in the 20th year of Hongwu.

At that time, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty settled in the Central Plains, and the Ming army drove the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty to flee in Qinghai. The Fanbu who did not know the truth also ran around. He wrote letters to appease the various ministries, and made contributions to Ming Taizu.

After that, Sandan Luo went to Beijing to pay tribute, and asked Emperor Taizu to give a name to this small Buddhist hall, so he decided on the grand name of Qutan Temple, and imitated it according to the regulations of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. It took 36 years before and after. The master of the temple has been one of the leaders of Xining Seng Gangsi for generations, and is also the chief of the Fan tribe.

Ban Zhuerling, the owner of Qutan Temple, is really a great national teacher conferred by the imperial court, and he is the most powerful person among the Fanmin in this land.

He himself is the head of the Sinah clan among the thirteen clans of Tsongka. Tsongka means Hehuang.

King Manan led his army into the valley of Shenjia, which inevitably made Banzhuer Lingzhen feel threatened. He immediately mobilized hundreds of monks and soldiers from the monastery, and called all the soldiers from various tribes to set up an ambush for King Manan. The soldiers were defeated.

Immediately after, Ban Zhuer Lingzhen led the troops to the north again, with the intention of cutting off the rebellion for the court, and recruited the bandit Fanbing in Nianbo and other places. With the monks and soldiers present, the Fanbing encircled, and the Fanmin passed on information, the scattered rebels organized once Another knockout.

When Liu Chengzong saw Huang Cheng again, this guy finally understood the reason why the "Advisor of the Commander's Mansion" did not let him join forces with others, and he was convinced by the veterans who were killed in the Northern Shaanxi Rebellion.

King Manan's troops were defeated and it was difficult to gather, and they didn't know where they went. However, even though Huang Cheng participated in three defeated battles, he could command the troops to withdraw from the battlefield smoothly each time.

After hearing the battle, Liu Chengzong couldn't help wondering: "So can monks and soldiers fight?"

"It's not like we can fight." Huang Cheng actually couldn't figure out how to lose the battle: "They always know we are there, attack when they are resting, and even dare to attack at night, and they haven't even started yet."

At this moment, one of the chieftains who accompanied the army stood up, clasped his fists and said to Liu Chengzong, "Commander, I am very familiar with Banzhuoer's real national teacher."

The speaker was Ye Bingqian, the younger brother of the Chieftain Ye among the fourteen chieftains.

The ancestor of the Ye family returned to Xueduerding with his head wrapped around the Western Regions. He made great contributions in the battle against the Red Scarf Army and became a fourth-rank military officer in Gansu. Awarded to the chieftain, the official worship... a small flag.

The kind of small banner officer in charge of ten people in the guard.

From then on, Xue Xiaoqi lived in Milagou for the rest of his life, governing Qingshiliu Gorge and Yehou Mountain, and passed down to the fifth Xiaoqi.

One after another, he was accounted in Changmu Gorge, beheaded the head of the thief in Rentoudun, and retreated the pirates in Ganzhou. With outstanding achievements, he was promoted to be a commander, and officially changed his surname to Ye.

Passed down to this generation, Tusi Ye Guoqi was transferred to Changping as a lieutenant general in the 48th year of Wanli.

The Ye family has more than 300 households and more than 48 men and women. According to the regulations of the imperial court, they pay 250 shi, 25 bundles of grass and [-] soldiers every year.

However, Ye Guoqi ignorantly gives 48 grains of grain and 250 bundles of grass to Liu Chengzu in Xining every year. His official position is not high, and he is old. .

On the contrary, this younger brother, Ye Bingqian, is a folk teacher and is very prestigious in the local area, so Liu Chengzong invited the chieftain, and Ye Binggan came.

He introduced to Liu Chengzong: "Commander, it's not that the monks and soldiers of Qutan Temple can fight, it's just that Banzhuoer's leader Zhen Guoshi has a great reputation among the people, and the people of Fanmin are all eyes and ears. To win, why don't you ask me to write him a letter, maybe I can persuade him to teach the people to be healthy."

After Ye Binggan finished speaking, he glanced at Huang Cheng again, and said to Liu Chengzong again: "But General Huang's soldiers, it's best not to march towards Shenjiaxia, otherwise they will inevitably fight."

Ye Bingqian really understands Zhu Erling, the leader of the Qutan Temple, not because they are all civil leaders, but because Ye Bingqian can look down on the monk Gangsi from the perspective of a court official.

In the Tang Dynasty, Huihui was a foreigner who was arrogant because of his wealth. In the Yuan Dynasty, he was the master of the ruling class. In the Ming Dynasty, he was a commoner who was prohibited from intermarriage by the Ming Dynasty, and had the same power as the common people in the imperial examination.

Therefore, the leader of the Fanmin people will be awarded the ninth-rank official position of the Monk Gangsi.

Liu Chengzong didn't agree with Ye Bingqian's words, and asked: "Who is stronger and who is weaker between them and my hunting camp?"

Ye Bingqian knew that Liu Chengzong had misunderstood him as soon as he heard it, and shook his head and said: "Commander, General Huang is not allowed to enter because he is worried about looting. The commander does not need to march, just recruit him. Qutan Temple has a total of five hundred or so There are only a hundred monks and soldiers, so they are not considered a threat."

"Will he be willing to come and surrender?"

Ye Bingqian didn't know how to explain it for a while, so he could only say: "The commander-in-chief asked me to write a letter and ask him to surrender. If Ban Zhuerling can really be used by the commander-in-chief, it will be easier to occupy Hehuang."

He found that Liu Chengzong regarded the monastery as an independent force, which may be related to Liu Chengzong's understanding of Xiao Lazun, but Ye Bingqian had never been to the west and southwest, and only knew the details of the Qutan Temple in Xining.

Qutan Temple actually has dozens of monks and soldiers. The so-called more than a hundred monks and soldiers are because Liu Shizi deliberately increased the number of people after he entered Xining.

Monks and soldiers are not the main force to protect the monastery in wars. For monasteries that recruit believers widely, it has always been the feudal lords and the imperial court among the believers that provide military protection for the temple.

Peace and stability are the most beneficial to the monastery. When the monastery needs monks and soldiers to protect themselves in war, the monastery will soon be finished.

In Ye Bingqian's view, it should be Qutan Temple who came to seek Liu Chengzong's support, not Liu Chengzong who went to conquer Qutan Temple... It is not necessary at all.

Monk soldiers are only one of the channels for monasteries to select monks' aspirations and talents.

In places where Uzang or Fan people live together, monks can account for [-] to [-]% of the population, which means that [-] to [-]% of the men are monks. The monastery is a society, and the existence of monks and soldiers is the same as postmen in folk society. , in order to maintain stability.

Fanmin sent their seven or eight-year-old children to the temple, and the boring life of the little novice continued throughout his childhood. Most monks had no choice, and they would not feel dissatisfied because of it.

They abide by temple rules, read scriptures that are not too difficult to understand, and do various chores in the temple. Many people spend their lives peacefully like this, even if they use a knife to carve scriptures on wooden boards, a moment is a lifetime.

But there will always be people who feel that all this is the source of pain and suffering. Some young monks seem to like provocations and fights more than others, and they yearn for worldly happiness, but they cannot give up the financial and prestige support brought by the monastery.

As the head of the temple, I wish that everyone would be monks, and I would not let such people leave the temple, they would become monk soldiers.

Most of the time, monk soldiers are responsible for building new houses, making tea, and doing business in various places. They are the maintainers of order in the puja, and they are responsible for pushing away the crowded crowd to open the way.

More often, monks and soldiers will serve as teachers for children who are new to the monastery. They will use their identity between the secular world and the temple as the guides for the monks. This life will continue until they are 40 years old, ending the status of monks and soldiers.

There is indeed some force, but at best it is between a good fighter and a martial arts master. Even in Uzang, no feudal lord would like to see a pile of armored guns in a temple.

Therefore, the main job of the monks and soldiers is to prevent thieves and collect debts in peacetime, or to make people "believe" that the temple has force.

As the proverb goes, they are the ones who don't know loyalty even if the Buddha appears in the sky, and don't know sympathy even if all sentient beings are perverted.

Not long after Ye Bingqian wrote the letter on his behalf, Banzhuo Erlingzhen sent the iron monks from Qutan Temple with a few monks and soldiers to reply the letter and presented a gold Buddha statue weighing seven catties. Liu Chengzong saw that these people were neither loyal nor sympathetic. people.

The costumes of the monks and soldiers are all similar, with hair braided behind the ears, black eye shadow with tea pot bottom ash and ghee, and cassocks that are different from monks.

Monks wear cassocks like belts, while monks wear cassocks like scarves, with folds all over their bodies. There are long knives hidden in the robes, fake keys and a few stones hidden in the sleeves. They are strong and well-nourished, and they look like they have A person with outstanding fighting ability.

Liu Chengzong's evaluation of these monks and soldiers is... good soldiers.

But it doesn't stop there.

Ban Zhuerling really responded to the letter, which was similar to what Ye Bingqian said. In fact, when he read the letter, Huang Cheng, who was standing aside, stared. He even suspected that Ban Zhuerling had really captured King Manan.

Because the letter stated that Qutan Temple did not want to see the war, let alone participate in the war. They hoped that the Generalissimo would understand the difficulties of the Qutan Temple and present a golden Buddha statue. .

Ye Bingqian had a satisfied smile on his face. He thought Ban Zhuerling was very practical, and his reply did not disappoint his expectations. He said to Liu Chengzong: "Marshal, there is no need to beat him. There will be more after the war is over." Much gold."

Unexpectedly, Liu Chengzong shook his head, looked at Basang and asked, "Basang, there are all your brothers from the same clan, what do you think?"

Basang shook his head coldly: "Commander, give me an order. My slaves and I are not of the same race as noble monks. My people are suffering for them."

"The Great Master is sensible, Basang, when the war is over and the monastery is closed, you send someone to send them to Uzang."

Liu Chengzong shook his head and said: "What I lack is not gold, what I lack is a Hehuang without them... To capture Nianbo, Mo and Jing are waiting for me in front."

　good evening!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)