Chapter 90: Nine Villages and Thirty-Six Villages

Meng Hu said: "We are soldiers of the empire."

"Soldier?" Zhang Xingba looked at the barbarians wandering around him and asked suspiciously, "These barbarians?"

Meng Hu said: "Yes, these savages are also my soldiers."

"Your soldier?" Zhang Xingba suddenly changed his face and asked in a low voice, "Are you their general? What's your name?"

A few days ago, Zhang Xingba had heard that, not far from Qingniu Mountain, a general named Meng Hu led a group of barbarians to fight a battle with the Mingyue bandits, but ended up defeating the Mingyue bandits. It is said that they killed tens of thousands of light cavalry, and killed them in a dark and blood flowing into a river.

Zhang Xingba also heard that this general named Meng Hu had killed the fierce general of Mingyue Situ Biao in front of Tianlang Pass, and defeated the more with fewer than 20,000 Mingyue's army with less than 20,000 light troops. Zhang Xingba was so excited that he wanted to immediately surrender to Meng Hu's command to join the army.

Meng Hu said calmly: "I am General Meng Hu."

"Meng Hu?" Zhang Xingba was stunned at first, and then said happily, "You are really Meng Hu!"

"Bold and unruly!" Qi Diaozi, who was on the side, suddenly stepped forward and shouted in a daze, "It's so unreasonable to call the general's name!"

"General, forgive me." Zhang Xingbang knelt on his knees and said excitedly, "The grass man Zhang Xingba bowed to the general."

"Get up." Meng Husu said, "You have injuries on your body, so there is no need to salute you."

"General." Zhang Xingba not only did not stand up, but instead shouted more excitedly, "Caomin has long heard of the general's reputation. General, just take Caomin away, I want to join the army!"

"No." Meng Hu shook his head and said coldly, "I can't take you away."

"ah?"

Zhang Xingba was tragic when he heard this, and his face was full of disappointment.

Meng Hu smiled faintly and then said, "Because we want to stay in Qingniu Tun, you can only stay. From now on, you will be a soldier of the Fifth Division!"

"Really, it's great!"

Zhang Xingba was so happy that he bounced up and accidentally touched several injuries on his body. He couldn't help but snorted and fell to the ground, and his facial muscles twitched in pain. Qi Diaozi, Dunzi and Leopard on the side couldn't help laughing. Meng Hu smiled slightly and said to Dunzi: "Dunzi, let someone make a stretcher and carry him away."

"No." Zhang Xingba struggled to stand up with his halberd pillar, and said stubbornly, "I can leave myself."

Meng Hu nodded slightly, and a faint look of admiration flashed through his eyes. It seemed that Zhang Xingba was indeed a tough guy. Seeing that he had fought with a whole squad of Mingyue Empire soldiers alone for a long time, his martial arts were not far from that. It seemed that he was really a powerful general with few talents. This was also an unexpected gain from this trip to Qingniu Tun.

On the way back to Tun, Zhang Xingba briefly introduced some of the situation in Qingniu Tun to Meng Hu.

It turns out that besides Qingniu Tun, there are more than 30 villages of similar size nearby, known as Jiuzhai Sanshiliu Tun. Because the 36 villages are deep in Qingniu Mountain, there is very little farmland. Therefore, the villagers in the village also rely on hunting to supplement their family income in addition to farming. The people in this area are brave, and almost every household is a good snatcher.

Hearing this, Meng Hu couldn't help but lit up his eyes. If he could gather all the hunters from Jiuzhai 36 Villages, there would be tens of thousands of archers. Moreover, these archers all came with their own weapons and had extremely rich hunting experience. They could be pulled onto the battlefield with just a little queue training.

Qi Diaozi suddenly asked, "Brother Xingba, there are fields and land in Qingniu Mountain and can be hunted. The villagers should have a good life, right?"

Meng Hu couldn't help but give a glimpse of praise at Qi Diaozi. He knew that Qi Diaozi was deliberately bringing up this topic.

"What."

Zhang Xingba shook his head and said with a heavy expression, "The life of the villagers is very hard. Lord Qi, you don't know that the mountain fields in our Qingniu Tun area are all the farmlands of Mr. Luo's family, and the villagers in the village are all tenants of Mr. Luo's family. Most of the food they harvest every year is paid for the rent, and the rest is not enough to eat."

Qi Diaozi then asked, "Isn't there Qingniu Mountain? The villagers can hunt. The fur of the prey should be sold at a good price, right?"

"Oh." Zhang Xingba sighed and said with a wry smile, "It was like this. No matter how much the land rent is, everyone can still rely on hunting to make a living. But since last year, the county's priest suddenly said that Qingniu Mountain is a holy mountain. If you don't let you go up the mountain, you will have to pay the tax on the mountain if you have to go up the mountain. Most of the prey you have caught has been returned to the priest. Now the Mingyue bandits have entered again. I heard that these days are robbing food everywhere outside the mountain. Alas, you really can't live this day."

Qi Diaozi smiled slightly and suddenly said, "Brother Xingba, the hard life of the villagers is over."

Zhang Xingba didn't understand for a moment and asked blankly: "What does it mean?"

Qi Diaozi took out a volume of official documents from his arms, faced Zhang Xingba and spread it out, and smiled and said, "Look at what this is?"

Zhang Xingba was literate, especially the seal on the end of the official document was even more familiar. When he went to the county town several times, there was such a large seal at the end of the official document posted outside the city gate. At first glance, he couldn't help but say: "The official document of the Governor's Office? Huh, the Governor wants to share the land for the villagers?"

"Not only do we have to divide the land, but we also need to cancel the tax on the mountain."

Qi Diaozi said this and then said, "But there is still a problem in front of you. The Mingyue bandits are rampant outside the mountain and may go to the mountain to grab grain at any time. It takes time to clear the land and divide the land according to Ding. Therefore, this work cannot be carried out for the time being. The Mingyue bandits must be defeated and driven away first."

"Understood."

Zhang Xingba said excitedly, "The villain turned around and sent the tun Dian to the other tun Dian to deliver letters, and asked the thirty-five tun Dian to bring all the tun Dian to Qingniu Dian to gather."

"Only the Tun Ding can't do it."

Qi Diaozi shook the official document in his hand and continued, "All the strong men over 18 and under 50 in Sanshiliu Tun will come to Qingniu Tun to gather. You ask the Tun Dian to tell all the strong men in Sanshiliu Tun that fighting with the Mingyue bandits is not for others, but for themselves. As long as you defeat the Mingyue bandits, clear the land and divide the fields according to Ding's work, and everyone can truly live a good life."

"Um."

Zhang Xingba pointed at the key point, "Since the Governor's Office has all the documents released, what else do you don't believe? Just send a message and the strong men from Sanshiliu Village will definitely come here immediately."

While speaking, Zhang Xingba, Meng Hu and others have returned to the village.

At this time, most of the mountain people in the village had escaped into the depths of Qingniu Mountain. Only the elderly stayed at home because they couldn't walk. There was no way. Meng Hu had to send someone to support Zhang Xingba into the mountain to find the mountain people. At the same time, he ordered Dunzi and Leopards to lead more than a thousand barbarians to camp on the mountain roads on the north and south foothills.

Qingniu Tun's geographical location is extremely important, and Meng Hu has decided to build it into the base camp of the peasant army.

Since Qingniu Tun is to build a base camp, only a few hundred dilapidated huts in the village are not enough. At least ten big villages must be built on the mountain roads on the north and south foothills. Each big village must be able to accommodate at least tens of thousands of people!

Meng Hu knew very well how heavy the land was in the hearts of the people. For ordinary people, land was the foundation of their lives and everything about them. As long as the land division notice was posted with the Governor's seal, not only the mountain people in Thirty-Liu Tun, but also the civilians within hundreds of miles of the north and south of Qingniu Mountain would come.

It won’t take long before Qingniu Tun will gather a large army of peasants of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people.

Walking south from Qingniutun, you will see Sanjiang, and the official road leading to Xiling in the east, follow the official road to the northeast, and walking two hundred miles along the official road to the northeast is Xiling, the capital of the western province.

Outside Xiling City, the bright moon camp.

Amid the rapid footsteps, Yan Changkong hurried outside Situ Rui's central army tent. The guards guarding outside the tent immediately stepped forward to block the door and whispered: "The Governor has already fallen asleep. General Yan, please come back later."

Yan Changkong said hurriedly: "If you have an emergency military situation in a low position, you must report it to the Governor."

When the Guards were in a dilemma, Situ Rui's voice suddenly came from the tent: "Is there General Changkong outside? Please come in."

When the guards heard the sound, they made way. Yan Changkong hurriedly lifted the tent and entered. Situ Rui had just stepped up from the soft couch on the marching couch. Yan Changkong hurriedly held his fists and bowed, "I am not good at the position of the governor."

Situ Rui waved his hand and said calmly: "What happened again?"

Yan Changkong nodded and said solemnly: "I just received a quick horse return. A heavy infantry brigade sent by the Third Division to Qingniu Tun to collect grain suddenly lost contact. Tuoba Ye, acting division commander of the Third Division, sent two light troops to the mountains to search for it, but there was no return, and there was no news."

"Qingniutun?"

Situ Rui couldn't help frowning, walked to the table and spread the map. After finding the location of Qingniu Tun, Situ Rui was shocked and his face immediately became solemn. He had not paid attention to this small place, but now he suddenly found that Qingniu Tun was actually tightly chaining Sanjiang, and the official road leading to Xiling in Hedong is very important.

After frowning and meditating for a moment, Situ Rui asked, "What do you think about this?"

Yan Changkong had obviously thought about it on his way, and replied immediately: "It was Meng Hu who fled into Qingniu Tun with the three or four thousand barbarian cavalry who broke through. The brigade of the Third Division who entered the mountain to collect grain may have been completely destroyed. The two light troops that followed the mountain would probably be in danger."

"Not possible."
Chapter completed!