I

Yang Jiamo and Xie Longwen also worked hard, even eating and lodging on the tower.

Xie Longwen even took out all the property and personally led people to distribute it to the soldiers to avoid being deducted by some ghost again.

It's a pity that he has only been the county magistrate for two and a half months. If it hadn't been for the money collected from the autumn grain collection, he would not even have the money to recruit soldiers now. But there is still not enough money and food. There is no need to pay any more money this month, but food is being consumed every day.

"We are almost out of food," Xie Longwen whispered. "We can only last for two or three days at most. No big family in the city is willing to donate food."

Yang Jiamo frowned and said, "Don't these big families know that they will be finished after the city is broken?"

Xie Longwen sighed and said: "In the summer, the rebels came in once. They didn't rob any big households. Instead, they maintained law and order and killed some who took advantage of the situation. The big households in the city were not afraid of the rebels. They were just afraid that after donating food and salary, they would be beaten in the future. The rebels will liquidate and take revenge.”

The last time Huang Yao raided Fengcheng County, because there were too few troops and it was during the war, he didn't even force big families to release their slaves.

Yang Jiamo asked: "Which grain merchant in the city has the most grain?"

Xie Longwen replied: "The Zhou family and the Wan family."

"These two families must be colluding with the rebels," Yang Jiamo said, "I will lead the troops to search the Zhou family, and you will lead the troops to search the Wan family. We will start at the third watch tonight."

Xie Longwen said: "Don't leak the news. Among the county officials, there are children of these two families. I have only been in office for less than three months, and many relationships have not been sorted out. I don't know which of the soldiers are involved with these two families." "

On the other side, the county magistrate, chief registrar, and dianshi were also discussing.

"This Yang Jiamo is too cautious and can't poison him at all. He doesn't drink the wine he was sent and only eats with the soldiers."

"Not only that, my military power was also taken away!"

"The magistrate still won't go down to the city tower?"

"I never went back to the county office. I only ate and slept with the soldiers in the city tower."

"Why don't we just set fire tonight? As long as the fire is lit, there will be chaos in the city, and the rebels outside the city will be able to come in."

"It's not a good idea to set fire to it. They're all neighbors, so a big area will be burned."

"Otherwise, what else can we do? The three of us have all been transferred away from the city gate. It is impossible to take dozens of confidants to seize the city?"

"Think about it again, what if the governor comes with troops to rescue and defend Fengcheng County?"

"The governor is coming. He has been here for a long time. It has been five days and there is no sign of the officials or soldiers."

"If we wait one more day and the governor still doesn't come to rescue us, then we will set fire to the city."

"..."

outside the city.

Li Zheng and Huang Yao were injured, and Fei Yinggon was temporarily promoted to commander-in-chief.

Although Huang Shun and Jiang Dashan have more seniority, everyone knows that Fei Yinggong is the fourth uncle of Zhao Han and Fei Ruhe. Moreover, Fei Yinggon himself was capable, and other generals were convinced of him.

"Boss Zhao, there are rebels coming to surrender!"

Fei Yinggon immediately walked out of the camp and went to greet the rebels in person. This was already the second group.

The people in Fengcheng County were miserable. In the summer, they were plundered by officers and soldiers in turns. Seeing the autumn grain harvest, the new county magistrate began to exploit again. Not to mention the tenants, many small landowners could no longer survive.

At this moment, a scholar led thousands of farmers and used animals to carry a lot of food, standing outside the camp and waiting quietly.

Seeing the generals of the rebel army coming out, the scholars immediately raised their hands and said: "Luo Gongqin of Fengcheng has seen all the generals. The court is unjust, corrupt officials are exploiting, and the landlords abuse the people. When I heard that the rebel army was besieging the county, I dared to kill the landlords and revolted, and I was willing to sacrifice my life to follow. Mr. Zhao from Luling!”

"Everyone, please come in quickly!" Fei Yingcong said happily.

The rebel army of less than 3,000 people, after five days of siege, increased to 5,000 people. It was the people of the county who spontaneously rose up and surrendered!

Just after Luo Gongqin was settled, before Fei Yinggon had time to rest, another peasant army suddenly defected.

This time there were only about a hundred people, but their identities were very strange. There were actually eight clan members, and they even brought their families with them.

Descendants of the Zhu family!

When they heard that a clan member had surrendered, everyone including Fei Yinggong was very surprised, and they all came to watch.

The leader is called Zhu Yirong. His name was wrong. The last word should be next to "金". As for the other seven clans, they don't even have names like "Zhu Gui" and "Zhu Fu".

Huang Shun asked curiously: "Brother Zhu, you are from the clan, how come... why do you come to rebel?"

It is undeniable that these rebel leaders feel guilty and can't help but feel awe when they meet the clan king, let alone the feudal lord.

Zhu Yirong sighed: "I would like to teach you all to know that my ancestors belong to the lineage of King Huai and the king of Dexing County. Emperor Taizu has rules. The clan cannot farm, take the imperial examination, do business, or be a craftsman. Anyway, I He also studied, changed his name, and secretly went to the countryside to work as a private school teacher to make a living. But this brother Zhu Gui," Zhu Yirong pointed to a clan member, "he worked as a coolie at the dock carrying bags for others."

Another clan member sighed: "I have been a beggar for two years."

Everyone looked at each other with incredulous expressions on their faces.

Huang Yao asked: "Shouldn't the clan be supported by the government?"

Zhu Yirong replied: "The prefect of Raozhou allocates all the money and grain to the Huai Palace. The county prince will definitely receive food and salary, but the generals and lieutenants (clan titles) below may not receive rice and grain. My uncle is serving as a priest. The lieutenant of the state has a salary of two hundred shi, but his whole family never has enough to eat. The lower-level clan members are not even as good as tenants. Our rice has been stolen by King Huai!"

These words completely subverted everyone's three views and made them sympathize with these clans.

In fact, this situation was already very common during the Zhengde and Jiajing years. At the end of the Zhengde period, some clans had no food for several years, and countless dragons, dragons, and grandsons begged for a living. After Jiajing ascended the throne, they joined forces and went to sue the emperor.

Zhu Yirong added: "Some time ago, the people of Raozhou revolted, broke through the city, and occupied the palace. Many of our clans also joined the rebellion, but unfortunately we couldn't defeat the officers and soldiers. After hearing about Mr. Zhao's benevolence and righteousness in Luling, we fled all the way, along the We walked down the river. On the way, we learned that there were rebels in Fengcheng County, so we came over to join some generals."

Fei Yinggong sighed: "Oh, the imperial court is unruly, and even the clan has rebelled. How can the Ming Dynasty not be destroyed?"

These clan members were all like beggars, so Fei Yinggon entertained them well and finally gave them a good meal.

In the afternoon, someone sent a secret message, but he refused to tell his origin.

There were only two sentences in the secret letter: "The governor has no plans to send troops, and beware of officers and soldiers sneaking into Jishui along the Wu River."

Fei Yinggong summoned the generals to discuss matters, and Gujian Mountain also came ashore.

"Could this letter be fake?" Huang Yao asked.

Fei Yinggong said: "It should be true. The governor was frightened out of his wits, and the general did not dare to rescue him when he was surrounded."

They surrounded Fengcheng for several days, but did not plan to attack the city. Instead, they laid siege to the city for reinforcements, hoping to eliminate the governor's reinforcements.

Gu Jianshan said: "The main force of our navy is here. If there are enemies coming along the Wujiang River, I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with them. They can plunder villages and towns, and it will be difficult for the Jishui defenders to catch up."

"Navy, please go back. If anything goes wrong, I will take the responsibility." Fei Yinggon said.

Huang Shun said: "I also agree that the navy will go back. Even if the governor leads troops to rescue Fengcheng, we are not afraid. Maybe after the navy leaves, the governor will dare to come and die!"

Li Zheng was hit by an arrow in the cheek and lost two teeth. He was temporarily unable to speak. He clapped his hands in agreement.

After everyone agreed, Gu Jianshan immediately evacuated with the navy, but left behind the hundreds of pieces of armor.

That night.

Yang Jiamo and Xie Longwen led troops to raid a large household. All the men of the Zhou family were killed, and the Wan family was taken to the county jail.

The charge is colluding with rebels!

All the big families in the city were frightened, but they didn't dare to move, so they could only communicate in private.

"What are you waiting for? Are you waiting to die?"

A young man shouted: "The rebels don't know how long the siege will last, and there is no movement from Nanchang reinforcements. If Yang Jiamo runs out of food, you and I will follow in the footsteps of the Zhou and Wan families!"

"Keep your voice down, keep your voice down!"

Another older gentleman said: "I think we can donate some money and food to the officers and soldiers. If they have food, they will not kill people. What's more, the food stolen from Zhou and Wan families is enough to feed the city's defenders for a month or two. .”

The young man said angrily: "In my opinion, it's better to just become a thief!"

"I have fields outside the city," another gentry said. "Thousands of acres of land have been lost by the thieves. Then the thieves of Zhao want to divide the fields!"

"Extremely short-sighted," the young man said sarcastically, "Do you think that Fengcheng County can still be defended? Once the city is broken, no matter whether you are willing or not, you will all share the land. Sooner or later, sooner or later, we will all share, why not Are you going to dedicate your life to the city now?"

A gentleman sneered and said: "Your Tu family is not afraid of dividing the land. There are only two or three thousand acres of land outside the city."

Many gentry broke up unhappy. They were weak when facing the rebels, and they were also weak when facing the officers and soldiers. They could only harden up when facing the common people.

Tu Changhan returned home and took out a copy of "Datong Collection" from under his pillow.

He had no objection to dividing the land because the Tu family made profits from business affairs. At the same time, Tu Changhan was still a scholar with the ambition to help the world, and he admired the content of "Datong Collection" quite a lot.

While sleeping until midnight, Tu Changhan was awakened by the noise.

But there was a fire in the city. When this thing burned a large area, the nearby neighbors took the initiative to put out the fire.

Tu Changhan took the opportunity to summon his servants, raised his sword and shouted: "The court is unruly, Mr. Zhao of Luling will conquer the world. You slaves can also be favored by Mr. Zhao. Now that there is a fire in the city, Mr. Zhao must be responsible for the internal affairs, and all follow me to seize it." The city has made meritorious service! Come here and get one tael of silver for each person!"

"Young master, you can't do that," the housekeeper said in shock. "My master's body is still cold. If the master behaves like this, it will definitely bring disaster to the Tu family. I will not be able to rest at ease!"

Tu Changhan was furious: "If you continue to make noise, I will kill you!"

Not long after, Tu Changhan led more than 20 domestic slaves and rushed to the city gate with sticks, shouting along the way: "The rebels have entered the city, the rebels have entered the city!"

"Don't panic, don't run away!"

Yang Jiamo and Xie Longwen, as well as Yang Jiamo's two remaining servants, guarded the four walls in the southeast, northwest and northwest respectively.

However, Fengcheng County has twelve gates!

When many of the city guards saw a fire in the city, they were afraid that their homes would be burned, so they wanted to go home and help put out the fire. Then they heard shouts one after another, thinking that the rebels had sneaked into the city, and they all ran away.

Yang Jiamo killed several people in succession, but still couldn't hold back and fled.

At this moment, even before troops were sent outside the city, these city defenders were already frightened.