Chapter 54 Old Jiang

In March, Zhu Bashiyi's troops arrived at Wujiazhuang and defeated him in one go.

As for how long this drum was played, it is unknown. Anyway, those secretly inquiring about the news sent by the Fortress from the far and near docks, whether they arrived early or late, they saw a broken gate and a bumpy brick wall. Wujiazhuang was already broken, and the owner of the manor Wu Youcai didn't even have time to send a messenger for help!

After the news spread, the forts that had refused to pay money and grain to Xuzhou within two hundred miles north of the Yellow River, which had refused to pay money and grain to Xuzhou Red Turban immediately changed their minds. According to the amount requested by the Xuzhou army, they doubled the copper coins and grains and sent them to Sesame Li's camp at night. At the same time, they sent their confidants to carry generous gifts and rushed to Wujiazhuang to congratulate Zhu Bashiyi. In order to prevent the latter from fighting and turning around, they would also stew off their fort.

However, what made the fortress and the village masters very nervous was that no matter how thick the confidants they sent out could not see Zhu Bashiyi himself. They were just blocked by a personal soldier named Xu Hongsan, asking everyone to put down the gifts and then go home to wait for the disposal. As for whether General Zhu would come to fight, how to let everyone go, and how Wujiazhuang's owner Wu Youcai and his sons ended up in the end, they would not respond.

"It shouldn't be killed!" Liujiazhuang, forty miles away from Wujiazhuang, the instructor of the gun stick Liu Er, while wiping the dust on his head, reported to the village leader Liu Laoquan uneasy, "I took a few more glances at the entrance of Wujiazhuang today. The building on the left of the gate collapsed, and there were five or six places on the courtyard walls on both sides of the gate that were blown up. However, no blood was seen on and under the walls. After entering the yard, the bloody smell did not smell too strong.

If it is not too strong, it means there is bloody smell! If there is bloody smell, it must mean that it has been killed! Otherwise, how can the power of the Xuzhou army be displayed? Besides, if the bandit breaks the village, how could it be possible to give the miserable master a chance to try firewood and gall to seek revenge? Thinking of this, Liu Laoquan, the owner of Liujiazhuang, sighed and shook his head and said, "Oh--! My Brother Wu has lived so smoothly in this life, so I don't know that I have to bow my head when I should bow my head. This time, if I die, I'm afraid there will be no one incense in front of the grave in the future! Alas--!"

"Oh, who said no?" Liu Er, the coach of the gun stick, sighed with the owner of the manor, and whispered, "If he had been convinced before the Red Thief came to the door, it wouldn't have been like this! Unfortunately, the tens of thousands of wealth in the family have fallen into the hands of the Zhu this time!"

"I'm afraid that the surname Zhu doesn't want to give him a chance to give in!" Liu Laoquan sighed again and continued to shake his head gently. "The richest among the forts in the north bank are Wujiazhuang. The leaders of the red scarf thief are all from poor people, and they are worried that they can't find an excuse to wash them. Isn't it just their wishes to take the lead in not paying money and grain to them? Alas, it's a pity that after a military disaster, the copper and iron smelting furnace in the farm can be left with 20% of the copper and iron smelting furnaces. I want to restore the scale of the past, but I don't know what year or month to wait?"

Speaking of this, he suddenly remembered something again. Looking at Liu Er, the instructor of the dusty gun and stick, asked in a very low voice, "When you went, did you see the smoke from the chimney behind Wujiazhuang? I mean, the red scarf thief did not destroy all of them?!"

"This-?" Liu Er frowned and thought hard. When he went to Wujiazhuang during the day to find out the next move of the Red Thief, he really didn't pay attention to whether the thick and large stoves behind the village were still smoking? However, when the head of the family asked, he could not report truthfully that he had not paid attention. After pondering for a moment, he also replied in an extremely low voice, "It should be that the stove is smoking. You always know that the biggest feature of the Wujiazhuang area is that smoke and dust are rolling all year round. If the copper and iron smelting stoves are no longer smoking, people will find the difference at a glance!"

"That's a strange thing. Could it be that Zhu Thief wanted to occupy Wujiazhuang himself and open the furnace and refine the mines there?!" Liu Laoquan was slightly stunned when he heard it, and his face immediately showed a confused expression. "How can you snatch it? Besides, he is the only one alone in Hebei. Since the government in Tengzhou dares not provoke him, the imperial army will not allow him to continue to sway in Wujiazhuang one day? Could it be that they broke the farm, captured the Wu family's father and son, and then released the four father and son, forcing Wujiazhuang to continue to smelter copper and iron for them?!!"

"Impossible!" Liu Er, the instructor of the Guns and Sticks, immediately denied, "We are forced to helplessly, and it is one thing to secretly send money and food to Sesame Li. After all, even the government does this himself, and even if the court knows about it, it will turn a blind eye. But if it is openly working for the Red Turban Army, the court will not tolerate it no matter what. Maybe it will be the next disaster in Pei County. In order to survive for a while, the Wu family father and son have all the entire clan and thousands of men and women in the village. Wouldn't it be too short-sighted!"

"Who knows?" Liu Laoquan shook his head vigorously. No matter how he shook it, he could not shake it. With his life experience, he would rather be killed by the Red Turban Army than offend the Yuan Dynasty. If he was killed by the Red Turban Army, at most he would be just a few father, son, brother, and family. If he offended the Yuan Dynasty, he would be lucky to even kill the clan. If he couldn't do it well, the neighbors, the entire village, and even all those related to Wujiazhuang in the neighboring villages would be dead.

However, Liujiazhuang and Wujiazhuang had been married before. His second son Liu Yong married Wu Yinggu, the eldest daughter of the second wife of the Wu family! Thinking of this, Liujiazhuang sighed again, grabbed the bell at his hand and shook it, and called in the relative who had been serving outside the door, "Go and find a few strong women, go to the second son, and temporarily send the second son's family to the small courtyard next to the ancestral hall to settle. When the exact news about Wujiazhuang comes, I will send her back to the second son."

"This -?Yes!" The followers showed a hint of unbearable expression on their faces and agreed in a low voice. Everyone knew that the so-called resettlement was actually to wait for the news. If the Wu family father and son were killed by the Red Turban thief, then the second young master's grandmother could still be considered a loyal and wise man, and she could still have a bowl of rice in the Liu family. If the Wu family father and son really joined the Red Turban Army, the second young master's grandmother would probably be sent back to the Wu family, or would be locked in the small yard next to the ancestral hall forever, and would never be able to stand out again!

"A farmer of such a big life, thousands of people have lived! What can I do?" Maybe it was to explain it to Liu Er, or maybe it was to calm himself down, Liu Laoquan said to himself like a **.

"Or, the younger one will go around Wujiazhuang again. Anyway, the red scarf thief has not blocked the road. If the younger ones go around, they may be able to find out more news!" Liu Er, the instructor of the gun stick, was also very unbearable, so he approached Liu Laoquan and whispered to him.

"Go! Go to the account first and pay ten hangs of money and take it on the road to defend yourself. If there is any news, come back and notify me immediately!" Liu Laoquan thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. "By the way, if you see the Red Turban Army coming to our house, you will send me a letter in advance no matter what. Our Liu family cannot follow the Wu family's footsteps!"

"Yes, I understand!" Liu Er bowed and walked backwards out of the study room. Then he went to the account room to collect a copper coin, rode a horse, and went out to inquire about the news.

It's strange that this time, he had been moving around Wujiazhuang for three days. For three days, the mine-making furnace in Wujiazhuang should be smoked and turned on, but it never stopped for a moment. In addition to the farmland around the farm, there were people who drove buffaloes to continue to go to the ground, as if nothing had happened in the farm.

The more Liu Er, the coach of the gun stick, became more and more surprised. In the end, he couldn't help it. He took the courage to come to a farmer who was going to the field and lowered his voice to inquire, "Hey, my brother! Are you from this farm?"

"Why isn't it?" The farmer raised his head, gave him a fierce look, and responded loudly, "Aren't you the coach Liu from Liujiazhuang? Why don't you go in and sit in the gate of the village? You squatted in this wild all day long. Don't you feel that insects are biting?!"

Unexpectedly, the other party knew him. Liu Er's face turned red when he was said, and he explained embarrassedly, "I, our owner is worried about the safety of Wu and Wu Zhuangzhu. I will send me and send me to inquire about his old man's news. May I ask, brother, is Master Wu still alive?"

"How do you, a young man, say, you?" The farmer was furious when he heard this, glared at the sight, scolded, "Of course the Lord Wu is alive. He has never done anything that is harmful to the world. How could he be a short-lived person? But some people, hum, even if they don't help him, they will be punished sooner or later!"

"Yeah!" Liu Er was scolded and blushed with his neck. For the safety of his own village, he had to swallow his anger. "Brother, brother, leave some verbal virtue and some verbal virtue. We, the owner of our family, had not waited to send people over, but heard that Wujiazhuang had been broken by the Red Turban Thieves. Why? The Red Turban Army did not make it difficult for the Old Master Wu? Then how could Zhu Bashiyi suddenly develop kindness?!"

"Why is it not difficult? It's not difficult. Do you think they are living Bodhisattvas?!" The farmer seemed to have known that Liu Er would have this question for a long time, and responded loudly according to the answer prepared in advance, "Our master of the manor was captured in battle, and was originally planned to show his ambitions by death. Unexpectedly, Zhu Laonian was too cunning and robbed all the savings of the owner of the manor's family. He also threatened the owner of the manor with the lives of the old and young people of the manor, and asked the owner to sign a city alliance with him. He had to pay a large sum of copper and iron for them every year. Otherwise, he would kill all the people of the manor!"

"Damn it!" Liu Er empathized with it and cursed loudly. After scolding, he felt that something was wrong. He forced the Lord of Wu to surrender with the lives of tens of thousands of men, women, and young people in the village to force the Lord of Wu to surrender. The Lord of Wu was convinced by the Hongteng thief, which was understandable. The court later asked about it, but it could not pursue it too ruthlessly. However, what can a mere alliance under the city do? After the Redteng thief left, the Wu family just did not continue to pay copper and iron to them. What can they do?

While he was confused, he heard the farmer say loudly, "Not only that, the evil thief also took the eldest son to be hostage. He said that if he could not receive the second wave of copper and iron in two months, he would cut the eldest son off with one knife! Alas, it's a pity that our owner of the manor has accumulated virtue and done good deeds in this life. When he is old, he ends up like this! Alas!"

He even plundered Wu Liang, the next owner of Wujiazhuang, to be a hostage. Zhu Bashiyi's methods were really vicious! When Liu Er heard this, he felt sympathy for the Wu family. But this was fine. The Wu family had an explanation to the court, and the Red Turban Army did not kill the whole family of the Wu family. Those daughters who were married outside of the Wu family would not be divorced by their husband's family because their parents had a relationship with the Hong Turban thief, or were detained to hand them over to the government at any time. Everyone took the needs and ended up in peace in the world.

Compared with those villages that were washed away by bandits in the past, Wujiazhuang's ending is not the worst. After sighing with the farmer for a while, Liu Er finally jumped on the horse and ran back like a flying man to report to his owner.

"Stupid pig!" The farmer saw his back far away, and immediately abandoned the buffalo and ran back to the farm. Together with other farmers who came out to spread the news, he found the butler Wu Fu to report the results and received the bounty agreed in advance.

"The master has known why they came!" The butler Wu Fu curled his lips after hearing the farmers' reports, and then ordered the account room to pay the rewards immediately. He sorted out his clothes and ran back to the study to report the news to the head of the family Wu Youcai.

When I entered the study, I found that the eldest son Wu Liangmou, the second son Wu Liangtian and the third son Wu Liangfang were all there. My brother's eyes were red and his face was full of tears. Looking at the old owner Wu Youcai, he had just wiped his tears. When he saw the butler coming in, he waved his hand and forced a smile, "Three brothers, hurry up and bring a chair for Uncle Fu. The past few days, thanks to your Uncle Fu's efforts to help us, our family has passed this level."

"I dare not, I dare not!" Wu Fu immediately waved his hand like a windmill, "Little man, the villain will do it according to the master's instructions. Master, if you and the young master have something to do, the villain, the villain will come in later!"

"No need!" Wu Youcai stood up and pulled Wu Fu's sleeve, "Uncle Fu, please sit here! Today's matter, our father and son want to give you a testimony!"

"Ah!" Wu Fu, the butler, was stunned when he heard Wu Youcai speak solemnly, and sat on half of the chair with his butt. Wu Youcai smiled at him, suddenly straightened his body, and said loudly: "Our Wu family has never divided the family since they came here. It's been more than seventy years since they came here. Today, I gave the boss to Governor Zhu as a hostage, but in fact I was going to have the idea of ​​spreading the branches and leaves!"

"Ah--!" The butler didn't expect that he would hear the big secret that was related to the rise and fall of the family, and was stunned for a moment, and suddenly stood up and was about to walk out.

"Sit down!" Wu Youcai glanced at him and ordered without refusal, "I can't hide these things from you if I don't say them. The reason why I asked the eldest brother to go and let the third brother stay to take over the position of head of my family is not because of my father's heart, I think the third brother is better than his elder brother. Uncle Fu, you have to keep these words in your heart. Once I am gone one day, remind the second brother and the third brother at any time! Let them, let them remember forever that the eldest brother was handed over for this family!"

"Yes, yes" Butler Wu Fu did not dare to leave anymore. He stood there, his eyes red and sweating profusely.

"The reason why I let the boss be a hostage is that the boss is a reckless person, suitable for progress, but not for success. The third brother's personality is just the opposite of the boss, and he has more than success, but his intention to be enterprising. Boss, you follow General Zhu, although you are a hostage, the family must remove you from the list in order to protect themselves. But given that I will send him more than 20,000 kilograms of copper to him in the future, Zhu Bashiyi can't really treat you as a hostage. If you follow him, if one day you soar into the sky, don't forget, don't forget that there are two brothers here by the Shanyang Lake!"
Chapter completed!