I have a fortune book

Chapter 146 Comprehensive Suppression

After the death of the old patriarch, he became the ancestor of the town clan, not eternally in the underworld, so it is not appropriate to deal with trivial matters.

Therefore, except for a small number of people in the clan who are allowed to come to condolences, the rest of the clan can only go to the clan hall to offer incense to express their condolences.

However, the internal stability of the Zhou clan has no disturbances, which does not mean that there is no movement outside.

Taking advantage of the window period when Zhuang Dingying didn't have to protect the grassland trade roads, Zhou Bai ordered an all-out extermination of the Zhao family's forces. It was a literal extermination, and direct use of force.

This violent revenge began from the manor.

As long as a family grows to a certain extent, there will be different industrial distributions, and a risk hedging is emphasized.

Among these industries, the most basic ones are field production and manor economy.

Basic rice and wheat grains, and a wide range of fruits and vegetables are the basis for a full stomach.

With a sufficient number of manors, in addition to generating some economic benefits, most of them can still not be controlled by other families.

Without any purchases, they can be self-sufficient, and even store food for disaster years.

The Zhao Family Manor, which is located in the south of the county and close to the county seat, is alright. Zhuang Dingying always chooses to go out at night in order to cover up a little.

But in the remote areas, especially in the northern part of the county, it is almost obvious.

Most of the manors are located in places with dense fields and far away from places where people live, so they are mostly protected by villa walls.

The manpower composition of the manor, in addition to tenant farmers, long-term workers, handymen, etc., will also be equipped with a certain guard force.

A normal-sized manor in the north can accommodate more than a hundred people. It can be said that each manor is equivalent to a small castle.

Some manors were unable to react in time, and the cavalry led by Gao Hu directly broke through, and the guards of the manor had no choice but to capture them without fighting, and let the Zhou family send people to transport the supplies away.

However, during the day, more manors would discover the "bandit" attack in advance.

The young man of the manor closed the gate urgently and guarded the wall of the manor under the leadership of the guards with knives.

However, even so, Zhuang Dingying still had to fight, with a team of regular soldiers leading a team of reserve soldiers to exercise their ability to attack tough battles.

It's just that the fence and earth wall, which is only about three meters high, is really not a stronghold.

In addition, the quality of the personnel defending the wall is uneven, and the equipment is backward. They often use bows and arrows to suppress two rounds, and then use the ladder to attack the wall, and the manor is also broken.

If it weren't for the Jin people's invasion last year, the people of Pingcang County, who have been in Taiping for many years, have been a little more vigilant. They are repairing the village wall and replenishing weapons. I am afraid that the speed of breaking through the manor will be even faster.

After all, this Zhuangding battalion was Zhou Bai's steadfast support. It was not just a bum, but an elite soldier who had passed the test of blood and fire.

But because the efficiency is too high, it can't play the role of practicing fortified battles at all. Zhou Bai can only strictly order each assigned team to go through the process at least once according to the siege drills of Jingwu Yaolue.

Scattered and approaching, gathering troops to attack, intermittent rain of arrows to suppress the rhythm, and ladders to attack the city...

Tunnel operations, moat landfill operations...

Anyway, regardless of whether these manors have the conditions of a city, the performance must be performed again, and the bigger the battle, the better.

One is that as an actual battle, you can gain some siege experience anyway, so you won't be at a loss when you turn around and really siege.

The second is that Zhou Bai showed his strength nakedly and challenged the Zhao family.

All of a sudden, the Pingcang countryside was full of wars, and the unaware people trembled, thinking that it was the Jin people or some thieves who came to rob.

Knowing the people of the Zhou family village, especially the people near Hongni Township, is quite a sense of pride. No one thinks that the Zhou family's actions are a private fight without a king.

When the news reached the county seat the next day, a total of [-] Zhao Family Manors had been demolished, including eight in the north of the county and five in the south of the county.

As the oldest county tycoon in Pingcang County, the Zhao family has only 23 manors, and now only ten near the county seat are safe and sound.

In fact, the loss is not much, the most money and goods are several thousand taels, and there are tens of thousands of grains that have not yet been transported to the city.

As for the casualties, the total number of casualties was no more than a hundred, and they were all loyal members of the Zhao family, such as the manor stewards and guards.

But the key to this matter is that the Zhou family and the Zhao family completely torn their skins apart, and kicked his Zhao family severely.

Everyone's eyes are now on the Zhao family's side, the Zhou family's counterattack has arrived, so what should you do.

The county seat, the Zhao family mansion.

The Patriarch of the Zhao family, Zhao Chun, looked at the information in his hand, and his expression was uncertain, while his younger brother, Zhao Xian, was extremely ashamed and angry, punching and kicking the few people who were kneeling in embarrassment.

"You trash, let the Zhou family ride on our heads to show off their power, and dare to come back after losing the manor. Do you want me to assign you another big manor to manage?!"

"Come here, let's go to the family law, it doesn't matter if you kill him!"

"Second Lord, please spare me. It's because the gang of thieves are too strong, even if they stormed the village wall, they would be able to break through it immediately."

"My lord, my lord, please say something. My family has been a servant for generations, and I am loyal. I can't die like this!"

When a group of slaves were called by Zhao Xian, the wailing of the people on the ground became more and more sad, and the noisy sound gave Zhao Chun a headache.

Without thinking, he waved his hands and said angrily, "Take off your clothes, drag them to the gate and beat them with ten sticks, all of them get lost!"

"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir..."

These "loyal servants" thanked them bitterly. Compared with the previous punishment, ten sticks is obviously a great kindness.

Soon, only Zhao Chun and Zhao Xian were left in the room.

Zhao Xian was quite puzzled and asked: "Brother, if you don't punish him severely at this time, wouldn't the remaining ten manor stewards also run away?"

"Punishment, how do you punish me? Do you really want to be beaten to death? Then Zhao Rong's old mother is our wet nurse, and Wang Xi's daughter is your concubine. Do you want me to continue?" Zhao Chun shook his head helplessly and asked back.

The Zhao family is a veteran county tycoon with a profound heritage and a complicated network of relationships in Pingcang.

This way, of course, it can easily force the Zhou family's business out of the county with one call, but it is also because of too many human relationships that hinder the development of the family.

People with a certain status are all related to the family. If you make a mistake, you will not be punished. If you encounter a dispute, who will you help?

Zhao Xian is not stupid, he understands Zhao Chun's hidden meaning, this is a stubborn illness that the family has been unable to eradicate for so many years.

After a long silence.

Zhao Chun put down the information gathered by all parties, and sighed: "Hey, he is not only a celestial man who achieved success by studying, but also Zhou Yunqi, who was knighted by military exploits. We have to admit this time."

Zhao Xian nodded in the same way: "Decide, no one expected that he dared to do it so clearly. Could it be that he was sure that there was no evidence, or that he thought the county would not send troops easily?"

Nowadays, the government in various places in Daxu generally defaults to the fact that the local tyrants have certain private soldiers.

This is not only the end of the dynasty's lifespan, which requires the support of local tyrants to stabilize the rule, but also because the local government has enough repressive power.

In the conventional military force at the county level, there are more than 500 people in three classes of yamen servants and patrol soldiers, and two battalions of county soldiers with 1000 people.

Not to mention the former, it is only used for ordinary security preparations, which is nothing in the eyes of many powerful people.

But these thousands of county soldiers were not mobs, they were all disciplined soldiers registered by the Ministry of War, trained regularly, and possessed various forbidden civilian weapons such as armor and crossbows.

Even though the county soldiers in all counties are a little lacking in armaments, it is very easy to deal with such uncooperative forces as bandits, bandits, and powerful servants.

As an important county town adjacent to Cangshan Mountain, Pingcang has three battalions of county soldiers with 500 soldiers.

Don't say that the Zhou family has five hundred township patrols, even if it is two or three times more, the government is confident that it can suppress it at will with the county soldiers.

This is the confidence that Daxu has accumulated for three hundred years. Those refugee soldiers, bandits, and rebels have never defeated the officers and soldiers with dignity.

Zhao Chun didn't answer Zhao Xian's question of whether he could send troops, because even if he and Shou Heng belonged to the same camp, the decision could only be made by the other party.

He said in a low voice: "From defeating the gold people last year to now pulling out my thirteen manors in one day and one night, it is enough to show that the combat power of his village patrol is not simple. Sending our group of dead soldiers to the rest of the city Ten manors."

"At the same time, you should immediately contact Shouxian Zun. You can't let my Zhao family stand alone anymore. Please ask him to take action. Although Zhou Bai caught us by surprise this time, it is also a taboo. Remove it, if it is not disbanded, the county soldiers will have a reason to send troops."

"To deal with celestial beings, you have to start slowly by clipping their wings..."

Celestial beings violate the laws of the imperial court and cannot be directly punished by the imperial court, but must be punished by the court of heaven.

Although heaven and man rebelled directly, the imperial court could avoid the rules to protect heaven and man, and killed them as soon as they killed them.

……

Three days later, Xiangxing's 47-year time scale officially came to September.

During these three days, the county magistrate Shou Heng and the Zhao family also made moves without shame.

When Zhou Bai ignored the notice from the county government, Shou Heng directly sent the chief bookkeeper to the Zhou family to reprimand him, requesting to review the deal reached between Zhou Bai and the previous county government.

The post of the chief bookkeeper is Zhengjiupin, in charge of household registration, arrest, and document handling. The official rank is not high and the power is great.

Therefore, the door-to-door visit this time can be regarded as a very official review. In this case, the Zhou family needs to come forward to deal with it.

Zhou Bai could ignore it, but the family couldn't.

The master of Pingcang County is called Chen Gu, a decent man from the county tycoon Chen's family, and also an important pillar for the Chen family to stand upright in Pingcang.

Chen Gu was caught between the two parties and wanted to remain neutral, but the official task assigned by the county magistrate had to be carried out.

In front of the Tianren Memorial Archway, Chen Gu led the civil servants and servants obediently dismounted, remaining humble and polite all the way, and did not make the Zhou clan feel any dissatisfaction.

This shows that Chen Gu's visit does not mean that the Chen family is on the county magistrate's side, and Zhou Bai is naturally willing to meet him.

"Editor Zhou, the county magistrate sent us to review the mountain farm transaction you made with your predecessor Ji Xianzun. After checking the [-] mu of mountain land in Cangshan Mountain has now become fertile land, which involves selling at a low price..."

Before Chen Gu could finish speaking, Zhou Bai took out the ten-year mountain deed with the big seal of the Ministry of Households, which was the entire Cangshan Mountain, not just the [-] mu of mountain land within the previous five-year period.

"I exchanged it at the request of a Jinshi. You can go to the Ministry of Households to inquire about it."

Then Zhou Bai handed over the previous lease documents to Chen Gu, and said indifferently: "It's only been one year, please ask Shou County Magistrate to refund the rent for the remaining four years, otherwise I will write a letter to the imperial court, saying that he has embezzled the county government office. Bank."

"This, this... I will tell the editor on behalf of the adults." Chen Gu was a little speechless about Zhou Bai's preparations.

Is it expected that the environment of Cangshan Mountain will improve?Suddenly, he only felt that Zhou Bai's body was more foggy.

Zhou Bai asked with a smile: "Shouxian Zun probably has more than that skill?"

Chen Gu's heart jumped again, he could only nod silently, and then took out an official document with the official seal on it.

"There are 500 village patrols from the Zhou family who completed the feat of assisting in the eradication of the bandits in Cangshan. The people of Pingcang are deeply grateful. However, since the mission is over, the township patrols should be disbanded immediately so that the young and strong can return to the farmland."

There is another sentence in the lower right corner: This order takes effect immediately, if there is any delay, it will be regarded as a confrontation with the government.

Such a method is considered a conspiracy.

But Zhou Bo just put the official document aside calmly, nodded to Chen Gu and said: I understand, if Master Chen is fine, he can go back and report on his own. "

Chen Gu was very curious about how Zhou Bai would respond, but when he thought of a certain possibility, he didn't dare to ask again, so he could only leave.

"If Master Chen is considering the family, you might as well stand in line in advance. I still have a friendship with your family's Chen Yun."

"Thank you, Patriarch Zhou, for reminding me!"

Shou Heng was very angry when he learned of the ownership of Cangshan Mountain, because there has been news in the imperial court that famous mountains and rivers in various places have the possibility of producing spiritual veins.

Feeling angry, the next day, Shou Heng returned the excess rent quickly. He was afraid that Zhou Bai would use this as an excuse to refuse to dismiss the town patrol.

However, on the third and fourth days, Zhuang Dingying was still attacking Zhao's manor non-stop, and there was no disbandment.

Even if the Zhao family strengthened their defenses and even sent dead soldiers to fight, they still couldn't prevent their manors from being lost one by one.

On the fifth day, all the Zhao family manors were destroyed, and the strength of the Zhou family's township patrol greatly deterred the forces of all sizes in the county.

Of course, on the bright side, the team that ransacked Zhao's manor will always call themselves Cangshan bandits, and they have never been caught alive.

The county lieutenant finally couldn't bear the pressure, and the inspector had a thousand troops, so he was about to go out to suppress the bandits. He stopped by the Zhou clan's place to see if there was still a village patrol force.

Rewarding the troops, distributing money for suppressing bandits, and money for mobilization, Shou Heng was busy, and finally sent away the group of leading soldiers.

But in less than two days, the army returned to the city, and everyone claimed that they had encountered an army of Jinren.

They fought hard all night, fortunately they got help from Zhou's hometown patrol, so they won a big victory with more than one hundred enemies, including all the heads.

The county soldiers who returned to the division, from the capital to above, including the county lieutenant, all advised Shou Heng that the Jin people invaded frequently, so please let the Zhou family retain the township patrol system and increase the number of posts.

Shou Heng is not an idiot, so he can't detect any abnormalities.

Upon inspection, the head was indeed the head of a golden man, but most of it had been marinated, and it was not obtained in recent days at all.

Is this because the county soldiers were also infiltrated by Zhou Bai?But he doesn't know that his backstage is the sixth prince? !

But soon, Shou Heng understood why Zhou Bai dared to be so unscrupulous.

On September 47th in the [-]th year of Xiangxing, Emperor Xiangxing suddenly collapsed in Shenjing, and the Taoism sent a message to the world.

According to the decree, the crown prince will inherit the Datong, and King Rui will be the regent to assist in state affairs.

The sixth prince's guarding state is not Dingzhou, but Lingzhou, which is more affluent in the north.

The big changes don't stop there.

On September [-]th, the sky was torn apart and blood rained down...

(End of this chapter)