A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 117: Shenheyuan Mutiny

On the banks of the He River, harvesting is in full swing.

There is a boss in Luojiabao who is very kind and generous. He pays more wages than other employers and provides better food. Even the elderly and children can have food to eat. This news has spread by word of mouth, and now many people come to Luojiabao every day to ask for work.

There are too many people.

At first, Li Yi was asked to work as soon as he arrived. Within a few days, more than 100 acres of rice fields at the foot of the plateau and more than 100 acres of millet and soybeans on the plateau were harvested.

Threshing in the threshing ground, drying and storing in the warehouse,
In just a few days, all the grain from more than 300 acres of land was harvested.

However, more and more disaster victims came to seek survival. They set up simple straw huts on the beach of the Hehe River, dragging their families, the elderly and children with them, looking very pitiful.

"The work is done, the wages have been paid, but these people are getting more and more. What should I do?"

Luo Er and other village chiefs all looked worried.
There are already more than a hundred households of disaster victims on the other side of the Hehe River in Luojiabao, hundreds of people.

These people are now looking for work everywhere, but ordinary people only have a few dozen acres of land at home. They can only work hard for their own family, so why would they hire others?

Even if they are a large family with more land, they still have permanent workers. During the busy farming season, they can just hire some temporary workers, and they don't need many people.

"Yesterday, the people from Sanjia Village got into an argument with those people, and there was even a fight. At night, a hungry person went to the fields and directly picked up rice. When he was discovered, he was beaten and had his head broken and bleeding."

There were only three families in Sanjia Village before, but now there are only seven or eight households, living on the south bank of the Hehe River, also in Xingshengli.

"These hungry people will definitely steal when they are desperate. Yesterday, a man tried to steal our dog, but luckily Cunxiao saw him and knocked him over with one punch."

These hungry people caused many conflicts.
In order to survive, they were so hungry that they stole chickens and dogs and even plucked other people's rice from the fields, but the local people certainly didn't want that.

"Village chief, we have to think of a way, otherwise we will have to fight every day in the future. What we are most afraid of is that there will be more and more of these people, and we may not be able to defeat them." Luo San said bluntly.

Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes, and when they are extremely hungry, they will fight to the death.

Li Yi thought about it and realized that this was not entirely because he hired the disaster victims to work in good conditions. It was because these disaster victims came over on their own initiative when they saw that the rice was ripe, so he, Li Yi, recruited people from among them.

Whether he recruits people or not, these disaster victims are all here for the golden rice.

"The young and strong people in our village have all returned, but every family is still busy harvesting. I think we should contact the big families in our seven villages and sit down together to discuss countermeasures.
I suggest that the big players should take some responsibility at this time. Those who have people should provide manpower, and those who have money should provide money. We should form a team to patrol the seven villages in Benli, especially at night, to prevent these thefts and fights from happening.

Furthermore, these disaster victims have had a hard time, and wealthy families looking to recruit long-term or short-term workers, or to recruit tenants, can also take this opportunity to recruit some."

"Also, learn to take the lead and bring out some food. We will go to Weiqu to set up a porridge stall to distribute porridge and lead the victims away from Xingshengli."

Dong Qilang said with a smile: "Principal, you are trying to divert the blame. The people in Weiqu will not be happy about this."

"Isn't there a big fair in Weiqu? If we give out porridge there, it will also help to raise the reputation of Weiqu."

"They definitely won't let me."

"Then we'll have the soup kitchen over in Weyburg."

Weibao is the northernmost village in Xingshengli. It is also the boundary between Chang'an and Wannian County. The village is divided into two halves by a ditch.

The eastern half belongs to Xingshengli, Yusu Township, Wannian County, and the western half belongs to Chang'an County.

Li Yi wanted to raise a militia, or call it a village group or a patrol team. This proposal was strongly supported by village heads such as Guo Erlang.

The seven village heads are all wealthy families in the village.
They are most annoyed by these foreign disaster victims who steal and cheat, and even try to take over the host position. The wealthy families should stay away from them.
They also heard that when hungry people gather together, they are likely to get out of control. When those hungry people are desperate, they will not just steal chickens and dogs, or pull some rice from the fields.

These people were so hungry that they dared to "borrow grain" from the rich. Of course, borrowing grain was just a nice word, because in reality they were eating the food from the rich.

Dozens or even hundreds of people rush into your house, eat up all your food, and some are even lawless and rape your women.

Finally, eat up all the food and grab everything, then go to the next big restaurant.

This situation is the most terrible.

We must take precautions before it happens.

As soon as Li Yi made the proposal, everyone agreed and was willing to contribute some money and food.

Even wealthy families had some wooden spears, hunting bows, long swords, etc., so it was not difficult to form a team.

Then,
Under the leadership of Li Yi, the Xingshengli Security Corps was established with the aim of protecting the country and the people.

Li Yi sent out a group of five people, including those who were filial, fraternal, loyal, righteous and polite, plus Liu Heizi, and each of them had a Qiang dog.
The six village chiefs, including Guo Erlang, also sent several servants. Feng Xiangzuo and Dong Xiangzuo of Fengjiabao also expressed their support and sent long-term servants.
In addition, there are children of wealthy families like Li Yi,

The Xingshengli Security Team has thirteen young men and thirty servants, almost a team of people.

However, Li Yi announced to the public that there was a group of people in the Xingshengli Security Group.
Normally, a regiment should have two brigades, and a brigade should have two teams.

But in fact, the security group is temporarily organized into a brigade, and this brigade is temporarily organized into a team. This team is not yet fully staffed.
But we tell others that it is a group.

The equipment is relatively simple, made up of local tools from various families, some bought with money, and some made at the blacksmith shop.
So now everyone has a red cherry spear, a shepherd knife, a hunting bow or a slingshot.

The Shedao is actually a hatchet, a relatively crude knife made by a blacksmith shop. If it is equipped with a short handle, it is a hatchet. If it is equipped with a long handle, it becomes a Pudao with amazing lethality.

This knife weighs several pounds and has a thick blade. It is very sharp for felling wood and firewood, and it is naturally even more effective for chopping people.

As for hunting bows, although they are not as sophisticated as the bows and arrows used in the army, they are also long-range weapons that can be used to shoot rabbits, birds, and people. However, in the security team, only a few children of wealthy families know how to shoot birds and shoot arrows, and no one else can.

But it doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to do it. You can carry a bow and a pot of arrows on your back and immediately become very intimidating.

There was no armor, no matter iron or leather, only Li Yi had a pair of rhinoceros leather armor.

It is strictly forbidden to keep this thing privately. Anyone who keeps it privately will be killed. There is a saying that goes, "One armor is worth three crossbows, and three armors are damned."

But the actual law stipulates that if you secretly possess one set of armor and three crossbows, you will be exiled for 2,000 miles; if you possess three sets of armor and five crossbows, you will be hanged!

Private possession of spears, large shields, and crossbows is also prohibited.

But it's okay to get some small wooden shields.

However, Li Yi still went to report to the township and Wannian County.

In any case, this is also an armed force, although it is quite simple, with only about thirty security guards, just like playing house.

The county neither supported nor opposed it. It just asked Li Yi to lead the team well and not to do anything rash.

Li Yi took office as the head of the Xingshengli Security Corps, which was registered in Wannian County. He was not called a captain, as that was an official title and one could not give it to oneself. It was okay to be called a captain.

When Li Yi formed a security team and began to train them near the shacks of the disaster victims on the beach of the He River to deter the lawless,

A real army also marched from Xianyang in the north of the Wei River to Yusuchuan in the south of the city and stationed in several places including the General's Camp.

These are three thousand Qiang people, led by their chieftain Pang Yidi.
They had previously been attached to Xue Ju, and were transferred to Guanzhong by the emperor after the Battle of Jingzhou. Now the court officially appointed Pang Yidi as General of the Cavalry.
His three thousand Qiang cavalry will be organized into three cavalry headquarters and stationed in the area of Yusu River south of the city.

Later, their families will also be moved to Guanzhong and settled in the garrison.

Pang Yi was wearing a scarlet robe and riding a horse in the team, but his eyes were full of dissatisfaction. He found it difficult to accept that the emperor only appointed him an official of the fourth rank, without even a title, and sent him to garrison in the south of the city.

At the beginning, Xue Ju invited him to lead his troops to fight, but he appointed him as a duke, appointed him as a general, married his niece to him, and promised that he would get half of the money, livestock and women for any city, village, etc. he captured.

To put it bluntly, the purpose of sending troops to rob is to commit suicide.

As a result, he finally arrived in Chang'an City, but as a captive surrendered soldier, and was finally given the rank of General of the Cavalry, a fourth-rank official.
The three thousand men under his command were even divided into three parts, and he could only command one thousand people in the future.

The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The autumn air is clear and crisp, with light clouds and gentle breeze.
The marching army startled birds, causing them to fly high and hares to flee in all directions.

With a shout from the side, he galloped on his horse, drew his bow and arrow, and chased birds and rabbits.

The three thousand Red Qiang under his command also galloped away on horseback.
Soon they were no longer confined to the roads, but were charging into the fields.

At the head of Shenheyuan, fields of millet were golden, and the people were beginning to harvest. The three thousand cavalrymen rushed into the valley without restraint, chasing rabbits and birds.

Later on, horse racing became more of a way to vent my emotions.

Large tracts of crops were trampled and destroyed.
Some villagers stepped forward to stop the horses, but were not only whipped, some were knocked down, and some were even trampled by the horses because they had no time to dodge.

This group of red-collared Qiangs galloped across the land, roaring.

Many villagers were injured, and even a child was trampled to death. The angry villagers immediately went to find the village chief, who reported the matter to the township chief. Upon hearing the news, the township chief also hurried on horseback to Chang'an to report.

After receiving the report, the Wannian County Court did not dare to delay and reported it immediately.

quickly,

The news that was reported through various levels was finally delivered to the emperor.

Li Yuan was very dissatisfied when he saw the news. "How dare a bunch of uncivilized Qiang barbarians be so lawless? Send people to bring this emperor back to Chang'an to be punished. All those who hurt others will be arrested!"

"Send another officer to take charge of the 3,000 Qiang cavalry."

A deputy minister of the Ministry of War rushed to Shenheyuan with several of his men and finally found the barbarians. After having a good time, they let their horses graze in the millet fields of the common people and ate their crops. Then they barbecued in the fields.
The roasted mutton was also directly stolen from the people's grazing land.

When the official arrived, he loudly rebuked them for their lawlessness and read out the emperor's order.
The person next to him was still eating lamb skewers.

"Pang Yidi, follow me back to Chang'an immediately for interrogation!"

"As for the Qiang cavalry who trampled to death or injured people today, all of them must be brought back for questioning."

He finished his mutton skewers in a daze, looked up and sneered, "Is this the order of your Emperor Li Yuan?"

"How dare you address the saint by name."

"Bah, that's your emperor, not our emperor. We want to return to our homeland in Longyou and not fight for Li Yuan."

"You bold lunatic, take him down." The official shouted angrily.

He dropped the remaining willow branch and drew his sword, without saying a word, he stabbed the official in the abdomen.
Yuanwailang opened his eyes wide, unable to believe it. How dare this Qiang slave dare to do this outside Chang'an, at the feet of the emperor!
He killed the Yuanwailang by mistake, and his men rushed forward and killed all of the Yuanwailang's followers.

"Return to Longyou!"

Pangyi planned to go to Hanzhong from Zhongnan Mountain via Ziwu Road, and then take the detour back to his hometown in Longyou.

"Anyone who dares to stop me will be killed!"

The three thousand Qiang cavalry had been suppressed during this period. They had followed Xue Ju and his son, fighting and robbing, and had a carefree and happy life. But after surrendering to the Tang Dynasty, they had bad food and bad accommodation. There were all kinds of rules, and finally they were not allowed to go home. They had to stay in the suburbs of Chang'an for a long time, and they might even be sent to the Central Plains battlefield at any time.

The official position he was given was too low, and he didn't even have a title, so he simply returned to Longyou.

He stuck the body of the unfortunate military official and the bodies of his followers into the millet field, then, after eating his fill, he climbed onto his horse.

"go home!"

Three thousand Qiang cavalry howled excitedly and headed along the Guanma Avenue towards Yusuchuan, then to Nanshan and then to Hanzhong via the Ziwu Road.

(End of this chapter)