The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 229 Burning, Killing and Looting
Haimen County is a county under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture. It is located at the estuary of the Yangtze River. It is also a major salt-producing county and has large salt fields such as Lusichang and Jinshachang.

Due to the long days and short nights in summer, although it is already about six o'clock in the evening, the sky is still bright. A red sun hangs slanting, burning the sky and clouds in the west into colorful colors. But I see the sea where the sky meets. There are several small black spots, which look like birds looking for food on the sea.

This hour is the peak of the high tide. The surging waves are hitting the shore one after another, making a deafening noise. The rising tide is destroying large tracts of grass and depressions near Lusi Field at a speed visible to the naked eye. Devouring, spectacular and terrifying.

For the kitchen households in Lusi Field, the scene of rising and falling tides is already commonplace, just like the rising and setting of the sun, so they do not panic or pay attention to it, but continue to be busy cooking salt. They have to catch up. Boil the last pot of salt before it gets completely dark.

Boiling salt is the Zao household's job and the only job. Although the income is meager and they are squeezed, if they don't do this work for a day, the whole family will starve, so the hard-working Zao household must I have to work day and night every day, and I don’t even dare to get sick, and I don’t dare to treat if I get sick, because I have no money and can’t afford treatment!
"Look, what is that?" A young man suddenly pointed at the sea and shouted.

This boy was estimated to be eleven or twelve years old. The yellow fuzz on his lips was still clearly visible. He was very immature, but he had already participated in heavy physical labor. He stepped on the salt-alkali soil with his bare feet, and his hands and feet were all cracked. His face It was also wrinkled by the sea breeze.

The iron pot for boiling salt was very large and heavy and required more than a dozen adults to operate it together. This was the critical moment for producing salt, so the adults ignored the boy and just continued to operate the iron pot sweating.

Seeing that everyone ignored him, the young man could only continue to add firewood to the stove. From time to time he stretched his neck to look at the sea in the distance. At this time, the black spots on the sea became more and more clear. They were clearly several large ships. There are still black spots emerging from behind.

Seeing this, the young man shouted again: "Boats, so many boats!"

At this time, the adults finally couldn't help but look at the sea, and their expressions suddenly changed. Some people shouted in horror: "Pirate ships, there are so many pirate ships, run!"

bang bang bang...

The rapid sound of the gong was like a thrilling reminder. The farmers who had been immersed in boiling salt just now were like a herd of frightened antelopes on the African prairie. They dropped all the salt-cooking tools and fled in all directions. In the salt field, the officials and servants in the Salt Transportation Department's office were also running away.

The pirate ship at the head of the three bows filled up its sails and rode the wind and waves. Taking advantage of the rising tide, it rushed to the shore like arrows. Then hundreds of pirates screamed and jumped from the ship, waving a variety of weapons and rushed into the salt field.

These pirates were like a group of evil spirits rushing out of hell. They smashed things when they saw them, chopped down people when they saw them, and threw down women when they saw them. Several old and weak people who ran slowly were killed on the spot. The entire Lu Si scene was filled with excitement. Falling into chaos, there were strange sounds, laughter, screams, and cries, and then flames shot into the sky, and the resident Yunsi Yamen fell into a sea of ​​fire.

At this time, more pirate ships docked. The entire beach was densely packed with pirates. There were thousands of them. The momentum was so huge that it was rare!

Kang Dayong jumped from a large ship with a long knife in his hand. Surrounded by his minions, he walked forward majestically. Seeing that the Salt Transportation Department's Yamen was caught in the fire, his face showed He smiled happily and said loudly: "Well done, brothers, this is just an appetizer, the hard food is still to come, haha, in the past we were just fighting in small quantities, but this time we are doing something big, and we will go to Haimen County to eat and drink. Go!"

The pirates waved their weapons and cheered in unison, like a group of demons dancing wildly. The few pirates who knocked down the woman were even more excited and moved wildly, while the woman's painful wails were completely drowned in the fierce laughter of the beasts.

Kang Dayong waved his hand, and thousands of pirates swarmed towards Haimen County. Among them, a vanguard composed of Japanese pirates was the most eye-catching.

There are about a hundred people in this Japanese pirate vanguard. The average height is probably only 1.2 meters, but they are quite tough. Most of them are barefoot, and a few of them wear wooden clogs. They move very fast, and each one of them has a fierce look in their eyes. Here, even a little puppy was killed by you.

As the saying goes, thieves are like combs, and the destructive power of thousands of pirates is too terrible. Villages along the way suffered disasters one after another. They were robbed, burned, and killed. There were fires along the way, and corpses were buried along the way. It was so cruel that it was like purgatory.

One hundred Japanese pirate vanguards took the lead in reaching Haimen County. At this time, the gate of the county seat had been closed. After receiving the news, the Haimen County Magistrate immediately mobilized officials and civilians to defend the city against the enemy.

The county magistrate of Haimen County is named Wu Minneng. He is as incompetent as his name suggests. He is an uneducated guy. He also donated money for his post as county magistrate. After taking office, he only wants to make money to return to his original position. He does not usually build city defenses, so what preparations are there? None. Standing on the top of the city and seeing the dark pirates rushing towards him, he was so frightened that he almost peed his pants.

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together, and the county magistrate is incompetent. None of the county magistrates and county lieutenants below can fight. Seeing that the thieves are so powerful, they immediately lose their mind. As a result, the thieves shoot a wave of random arrows at the top of the city. The assistant official was so frightened that he hurriedly slipped down the city wall, leaving only the government servants to defend the city and not even a commanding officer.

This is also a bad thing. The fighting ability of those government officials and civilians was originally at the level of fighting against the fifth scum. Now there is no one to direct them, and they are making a mess. They don’t care whether there is anyone in the city. They just throw stones outside and shoot arrows and guns randomly. The result is naturally that the thieves are gone. Hitting a few of them quickly consumed the limited defensive supplies, and even accidentally injured one of his own. "Hai!" A Japanese pirate who wielded a samurai sword took the lead and climbed up to the top of the city. With a strange cry, he swung his sharp blade and charged into the crowd. It was as easy as chopping melons and vegetables.

The government officials and civilians who were guarding the city had no intention of fighting. Seeing the brutality of the thieves, they immediately dispersed and ran away, leaving the Japanese pirate looking confused.

Soon, more Japanese pirates climbed onto the city wall, and within half an hour, the city gate was broken.Kang Dayong obviously did not expect that he would be able to defeat a county magistrate so easily. He was so excited that his blood boiled and he laughed loudly: "Brothers, go to the city and eat meat, and enjoy it to your heart's content!"

Thousands of pirates roared into the city, burning, killing, looting, smashing and destroying like crazy, releasing all the evil in their hearts.In an instant, the entire Haimen County town turned into a purgatory on earth.

Seeing such a scene, Li Hongji couldn't help but frown. Although he was an extreme angry young man, he was only hostile to the bureaucracy. Seeing Kang Dayong burning, killing and looting the people indiscriminately, he instinctively refused in his heart, but told the pirates The truth obviously doesn't make sense, and Kang Dayong is a cruel and murderous person. He was stunned by the death of his father and brother. At this time, trying to persuade him not to kill innocent people indiscriminately is just asking for trouble. If not, it will anger him. So Li Hongji could only remain silent.

Kang Dayi is a dandy, his character is not as strong as his second brother Kang Dayong, and he is even a bit cowardly. But at this time, he was also infected by the crazy atmosphere, his face turned red with excitement, and the evil in his heart was released. His minions captured a pretty young woman, saying she was the concubine of the magistrate of the county. They immediately became excited and imitated the pirates and began to humiliate her in public. The surrounding pirates cheered and applauded him.

"The third boss has been captured by the county government!" Suddenly a pirate leader came to report.

Kang Dayong laughed proudly and led his people into the county government office through the mess on the ground. The county magistrate Wu Neng and his family members were all captured by a group of thieves. In addition, the county boss, county captain, etc. were also captured one after another. Only one county magistrate was left.

Kang Dayong had all the local officials including the county magistrate, county lieutenant, chief executive, bailiff, and head catcher escorted to the city gate, and then brutally chopped off their heads and hung them on the top of the city on a bamboo pole to show their authority.

Kang Dayong smiled triumphantly and said: "Haimen County is just the beginning. Sooner or later it will be the turn of those dog officials in Yangzhou. Father, brother, you are waiting in heaven. I will kill all those dog officials to avenge you."

Li Hongji took the opportunity to say: "Master Dao, I'm sorry for my blunt statement. Yangzhou has high walls and thick walls and is heavily guarded. It is not comparable to a small place like Haimen County. It is absolutely impossible for us to take over Yangzhou with thousands of people." of!"

The golden-toothed dog glared at Li Hongji and cursed: "Fart, you know nothing, why don't you close your buttocks and eyes, don't bother me here to squander Dao Dao."

But Kang Dayong waved his hand and said: "This guy Li Ji (pseudonym) is right. Yangzhou City is indeed difficult to defeat. We just don't have enough people."

A trace of surprise flashed in the golden-toothed dog's eyes, and he smiled and said, "Xiaoji, do you have any good ideas?"

Li Hongji said: "To attack Yangzhou City, we must have enough manpower. A small fight will not work."

Kang Dayong frowned and said: "Fart, who knows that it is easy to do things when there are many people, but where will the manpower come from?"

After all, Li Hongji had read a book and said with a smile: "It's not easy. You need to distribute food and money, but are you afraid that you won't be able to recruit people? From ancient times to the present, strong men who have risen up have done this. They have tried everything. Now we have taken over a county and opened up the county's granary to provide food, ensuring that a large number of people will come to join us. The more people there are, the greater our momentum will be."

Kang Dayong nodded and said, "That's a good idea. Let's do it this way. You, Li Ji, will be responsible for opening warehouses and stocking up food and recruiting people. If things are done well, you, Li Ji, will be the tenth leader of Dulong Island from now on."

Li Hongji was secretly happy and said hurriedly: "But Mr. Dao has made a three-part agreement to prevent the brothers from killing people at will. Otherwise, even if they have food and money, no one will dare to defect."

Kang Dayong waved his hand and said, "Okay, but you have to kill a lot of people for me."

(End of this chapter)