Across the Water Margin: Officials of Ximen

Page 321

"Yu Baosi has always been greedy for life and afraid of death, it is very unusual to be able to say these words this time! Has that fellow met any strangers recently?" Ximen Qing asked Brother Qiao Yun.

"A senior official knows things like a god. I found out from the eyes of the Imperial Army that Yu Baosi had indeed met a man named Li Xiaoer a few days ago. Ever since he met Li Xiaoer, Yu Baosi has I spent some money in the Goulan Washeri in Dongping Mansion on the same day, and obviously got a windfall. I guess it was given to him by Li Xiaoer." Brother Qiao Yun said to Ximen Qing.

Li Xiaoer, this name sounds familiar, where did I see it?From Yu Baosi's uncharacteristic statement that he wanted to conquer the Liangshan bandits, Ximen Qing smelled a hint of conspiracy.If there is no accident, then Li Xiaoer should be sent by the Liangshan bandits.It seems that he has successfully bought the unscrupulous Yu Baosi, and he wants to cooperate with Yu Baosi to defeat Dong Ping's Imperial Army.It's ridiculous that Dong Ping was kept in the dark, and regarded Yu Baosi as his confidant general.

Ximen Qing turned his head to Lu Xiaoyi, and asked him: "Brother Xiaoyi, what impression do you have of Li Xiaoer, I guess he should be a robber from Liang Shanbo, but he can't remember the origin of that fellow at the moment."

Lu Xiaoyi thought about it for a while and replied: "Brother Ximen, what you said, brother, I remembered that Li Xiaoer is indeed a robber in Liangshanbo. Two years ago, when I came back from Jiangzhou with my brother, I happened to meet The flood in Cangzhou brought many disaster victims to Yunzhou. At that time, I, Ximenbao, helped the poor and took in many Cangzhou disaster victims. The imperial army in Dongping Prefecture also recruited many people from the disaster victims to join the army. The robber Yu Baosi used the imperial court to provide disaster relief At that time, there were still a small number of desperadoes among the victims who went to Shuibo Liangshan to become robbers. Li Xiaoer was the one who went up the mountain at that time, and it seems that he was appointed by the robbers on the mountain to manage the mountain. The little boss of the hotel. Thinking about it now, Li Xiaoer and Yu Baosi are both from Cangzhou, so they must be old acquaintances."

After Ximenqing heard Lu Xiaoyi say that Li Xiaoer came from Cangzhou to join Liang Shanbo as a robber, he finally remembered who Li Xiaoer was.That guy should be Li Xiaoer, the "baby of wine" who runs a hotel outside Laochengying, Cangzhou!That guy was an old acquaintance of "Leopard Head" Lin Chong, and had a close relationship with Lin Chong.

"Wineborn" Li Xiaoer is not a good person either. When he was in Tokyo, he once stole property from the owner of the shop and was caught and sent to court for questioning.But Lin Chong rescued him, and sent him some money to make him run to Cangzhou to settle down.

That guy Li Xiaoer was a thief, and he lived an honest life, but after all, he went to Liangshan to become a robber.Presumably that guy wanted to vote for Lin Chong, but unfortunately Lin Chong was eliminated by himself in Jiangzhou.The Liangshan bandits made him a small boss and asked him to buy Yu Baosi. Could it be that they coveted Dongping Mansion in Yunzhou?

Ximen Qing temporarily put aside the intentions of the Liangshan robbers, and said to Lu Xiaoyi: "I heard that today's officials spend huge sums of money to build gardens in addition to painting and writing. How could he suddenly pay attention to these bandits in Liangshanbo? Xiao Brother B, do you have any news related to this?"

Lu Xiaoyi replied: "Brother Ximen, the news of brother Xu Ning in the capital has not yet come back. I don't know the exact news from Bianliang in Tokyo. However, I suspect that this matter is related to the imperial court's collection of taxes in Liangshanbo this year."

Chapter 5 Fifteen A tax-induced war

In the past year, Ximenqing traveled back and forth between Liaodong, Dengzhou, Jiangnan Jiankang and other places, intervening in the important event of the alliance between Song and Jin, and he himself made a lot of money through cross-sea trade between the two countries.As for the management of his various manors, Ximen Qing paid much less attention because his brothers took care of them very well.

Now Ximenqing is inextricably linked with the officials of the prefecture and county government, and many interests are tied together, so any exorbitant taxes from the court will not fall on the heads of the officials of Ximenqing.This time, Ximenqing inevitably felt a little belatedly aware of the court's tax increase.

It turned out that in order to build his royal garden, Genyue, Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty carried out extensive construction work, and searched for flowers and stones from all over the country, and transported them all the way to Bianliang City, Tokyo.This move spent all the money in the treasury, making Song Huizong's luxurious life unsustainable.Already 72 years old, Cai Jing, the prime minister who was proficient in economics and good at making money for Song Huizong, exhausted all kinds of means to promote the development of the commodity economy in the Song Dynasty. The redundant illness and Song Huizong's extravagance were also helpless, so he submitted a letter of resignation to the court a few months ago, and went home to retire as an official.

Cai Jing, the prime minister who can make money, is gone, but Song Huizong's luxurious life with artistic taste cannot be affected by this!In order to solve the financial difficulties, Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty appointed many trusted ministers to make money for him.

These favorites of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty were different from Cai Jing, who was born as a scholar-bureaucrat and had a gentle approach.Among them, the eunuch Yang Jian did an outstanding job.

Yang Jian was the eunuch beside Song Huizong Zhao Ji, who served Song Huizong for many years.After Song Huizong came to the throne, he favored Yang Jian very much, appointed him as the military governor of Changhua Army, and was finally promoted from the chief inspector to the grand master.

In order to cater to Song Huizong, Yang Jian forced the people to rent abandoned dikes, barren hills receding beaches, and river silts in prefectures and counties in areas such as Jingdongxilu and Huaixixilu, so as to increase rent and tax. Disasters are not reduced or exempted, and the local people suffer greatly.

Almost all the land in Yanggu County, Yunzhou was under the names of Ximenqing and Dulonggang Zhujiazhuang and Hujiazhuang. Therefore, the people in the county were protected by the local tycoon Ximenqing and were not harmed by Yang Jian's chaotic politics.This is also one of the reasons why the people of Yanggu County spontaneously came to Ximen Fort to deliver New Year's goods to the officials and officials of Ximen Qing.

Other states and counties on the East and West Roads of Beijing do not have places protected by such a powerful Ximen Qing, and the poor and poor people have been victimized by that fellow Yang Jian.

Lu Xiaoyi told Ximen Qing that Yang Jian promulgated the imperial decree, announcing that the entire [-]-mile water area of ​​Liangshanbo would be taken as "the imperial court's public property", stipulating that people who went to the lake to fish, pick lotus root, and cut cattails would be taxed heavily according to the size of the boat.Anyone who violates the rules and regulations will be punished as a thief.

That fellow Yang Jian was so superior that he didn't even know that Liang Shanbo had already been taken over by Chao Gai and Song Jiang's gang of thieves.The profits from fishing, lotus root picking, and cattail harvesting in the lake all belong to the Liang Shanshui army of "Jianjiang Dragon" Li Jun. Which of the surrounding people would dare to go fishing in Liangshan Po?Back in the day, no tyrannical village ruffian like the three Ruan brothers dared to go fishing in Liangshan Po, let alone the timid poor people and fishermen?

Since Liangshan Po was occupied by robbers, the fishermen by the lake lost their clothes and food, and sold their useless boats long ago.When Yang Jian's chaotic government came to search for the people's fat and anointment, the few people who had boats by the Liangshan River also dragged their boats ashore or sank the lake, and they really didn't dare to go into the water.

It was a big move that I thought was clever, but Liangshan Po, which is eight hundred miles away, failed to collect any taxes.This way, the dignified Taifu Yang was confused.Yang Jian sent people around him to inquire carefully on the east and west roads of Beijing, only to find out that a group of robbers had occupied Liangshan Po. They were fishing, picking lotus root, and cutting cattail in the lake with great fanfare, but they did not pay a penny of tax to the court.Of course, local officials in Jeju and Yunzhou around Liangshanbo did not dare to collect taxes from these bandits.

"Under the Putian, is it the land of the king; on the shore of the land, is it the king's ministers." The products of the five hundred miles of Liangshanbo belong to the emperor's house, how can robbers be allowed to get their hands on it?What a group of daring grassroots, dare to compete with the imperial court for profit!

Tai Fu Yang Jian was furious, and after reporting back to Emperor Daojun, he immediately issued an order to the four prefectures of Jeju, Yunzhou, Puzhou, and Yanzhou, asking them to mobilize the army and horses in their management, and within three months to clear Liangshanbo and wipe out Liangshan bandits. .

A battle to suppress bandits triggered by taxation is about to start on the land of the East and West Roads of Dasongjing.

……

Although Ximen Qing, Lu Xiaoyi and Qiao Yun didn't know how Taifu Yang Jian was loyal to the king's affairs, the surrounding area of ​​Liangshanbo suddenly became tense.However, based on what happened around Liangshanbo recently, it is also deduced that it is almost inseparable.

It seems that the court is going to compete with the robbers on Liangshan this time.Ximen Qing was not optimistic about the lack of training of the state guards, so he naturally had to secretly prepare to attack the robbers at the right time.Hey~ Song Huizong, the bird emperor, actually came to cause trouble around me, a senior official in Ximen, so he really didn't want me to live a smooth and good year, a senior official?

How did Song Huizong and his favorite minister Yang Jian know that when they dismissed the grassroots bandits in Liangshanbo and ordered local officials to send troops to fight against them, the bandits on Liangshanbo were also getting more and more fledgling. , Hebei made a big fuss.

Although the Liangshan bandits at this time were repeatedly defeated by Ximen Qing officials overtly and covertly, they lost many leaders and young men.But after more than a year of recuperation and mergers and expansions, another 20 to [-] desperadoes and more than [-] leaders have gathered.In Shandong and Hebei, it can be called the biggest group of thieves.

When the bandits have grown to tens of thousands, fishing in the lake and robbing passing merchants can no longer support the team. It is bound to need to attack states and counties to rob enough money for the bandits to enjoy themselves.

Seeing that the Chinese New Year is coming again, the robbers in the cottage also want to eat meat, drink and play with women. Have a happy and peaceful New Year!Therefore, the bandit leaders on Liangshan gathered together in the Juyi Hall to discuss how to go down the mountain to rob.

In the Juyi Hall, Chao Gai, the village leader "Tuota Heavenly King", Song Jiang, the deputy village leader "Timely Rain", Wu Yong, the military advisor, and Gongsun Sheng, the "Ruyunlong" sat in the middle, and the other leaders sat in two rows on the left and right.

These leaders are "Little Whirlwind" Chai Jin, "Pushing Eagle" Li Ying, "Winged Tiger" Lei Heng, "Huangjiang Dragon" Li Jun, "Moyun Golden Wings" Ou Peng, "Magic Operator" Jiang Jing , "The Demon King" Fan Rui, "Nezha with Eight Arms" Xiang Chong, "Flying Sage" Li Gun, "Sage Scholar" Xiao Rang, "Jade Arm Craftsman" Jin Dajian, "Jade Banner Pole" Meng Kang, "Iron Fan" Song Qing Dynasty, "King Kong in the Cloud" Song Wan, "Touching the Sky" Du Qian, "Ghostface" Du Xing, "Smiling Tiger" Zhu Fu, and "Wine Born" Li Xiaoer, plus Chao Gai, gathered in the Juyi Hall There are 22 bosses in total.

Chapter 5: Little Whirlwind's Ambition

In the Juyi hall, although the leaders still ate large pieces of meat and drank in large bowls together, when discussing the future of the cottage, they had already divided into two factions with different opinions.

The village owner "Tuota Heavenly King" Chao Gai still insists on the old way of running the cottage. What he wants is to go down the mountain from time to time to find rich people to "borrow money and borrow food". Happy on the mountain.

To be honest, although the village owner Chao Gai is known as Yi Bo Yuntian, his knowledge and goals are still at the time when he first robbed the birthday gang and went to Liangshan.His pursuit is not too much for a bandit village with only a few hundred people, but when Liang Shanbo has grown to more than 2 leaders and [-] or [-] horses, it is no longer suitable.

First of all, it is impossible for the [-] to [-] brothers in the Liangshan village to live quietly in this pool of water for a long time.Such a large anti-imperial force will sooner or later be discovered and detected by the higher-ups of the imperial court. This time, Taifu Yang Jian's unexpected attention to Liangshan is a clear proof.

Secondly, for the big households in the counties of Jeju and Yunzhou, there are too many robbers in Liangshanbo. Even if they are forced to "generously" borrow food, they cannot support so many robbers who are in their prime and want to eat hot food. .If the Liangshan bandits still only rob the big households in the counties by the lake, they will only rob them of their fortunes and go far away.The chickens are all dead, where are the eggs to eat?Therefore, the road to robbing the big households around Liangshanbo is almost impassable.Besides, in Yanggu County of Yunzhou, there are such tycoons as Ximenbao, Zhujiazhuang and Hujiazhuang in Dulonggang. There are many fewer big households.

Another point is that the leaders on the mountain are no longer the first few people from poor backgrounds.

After Chao Gai and others went up the mountain fire and Wang Lun won the cottage, Chao Gai was a local rich man, and Wu Yong was just a rural private school teacher. The three brothers Liu Tang and Ruan and the original Song Wan and Du Qian All the leaders are from bitter backgrounds.The only ones with a little more knowledge were Lin Chong, who was the coach of the Imperial Army in Tokyo, and Gongsun Sheng, the apprentice of Luo Zhenren, the god stick of Liao.The overall knowledge of this group of people is low, their ambitions are small, and they are only satisfied with occupying the mountain as king, eating and drinking well, of course there is no problem.

However, with the growth of the cottage and the addition of new leaders, the later leaders were not satisfied with just eating in this puddle and waiting to die.Chao Gai's ideals and goals gradually became unconvincing to all the leaders, and some differences inevitably arose among the leaders on Liangshan because of the struggle for the future.

Although Chao Gai's vision was a bit short-sighted, there were still some leaders who supported him, and he was not reduced to a lonely family.

"Ruyunlong" Gongsun Sheng, as an old friend of Chao Gai, puts friendship first, and chose to side with Chao Gai.

The former owner of the Mangdang village, the "devil king of the world" Fan Rui was surrendered by Gongsun Sheng, and he also worshiped Gongsun Sheng as his teacher. Therefore, he and his two brothers "Eight-armed Nezha" Xiang Chong and "Flying Sage" Li As a small hilltop, Dagon chose to follow Gongsun Sheng to support the village leader Chao Gai.

"King Kong in the Cloud" Song Wan and "Touching the Sky" Du Qian are elders on Mount Liang. Their eyesight and knowledge are not as good as Chao Gai's, so they naturally chose to side with the village lord Chao Gai.

The "smiling tiger" Zhu Fu is the brother of Zhu Gui, the elder of Liangshan, and Li Xiaoer, the "child of wine", went up the mountain because of Lin Chong, the elder of Liangshan. May oppose Chao Gai.

At this time, in the Juyi hall, it was obvious that Chao Gai was the leader, there were nine people in total.

The other faction in the Juyi hall is of course the deputy head of the village, "Timely Rain" Song Jiang, some leaders who came up the mountain later.Among these people are "Little Whirlwind" Chai Jin, "Pushing Eagle" Li Ying, "Winged Tiger" Lei Heng, "Mixed River Dragon" Li Jun, "Moyun Golden Wings" Ou Peng, "Magic Operator" Jiang Jing , "Jade Banner" Meng Kang, "Iron Fan" Song Qing, "Ghost Face" Du Xing, there are ten people in total.

These leaders headed by Song Jiang, "Timely Rain" Song Jiang was born as a county magistrate, and at the same time he was a mafia boss with charisma in the rivers and lakes; Li Ying was born in a large manor in Dulonggang, Yanggu County; "Winged Tiger" Lei Heng was the head of the county; "Golden Wing" Ou Peng was born in a military family, and was originally the head of the Huangmen Mountain Dazhai;These leaders came from higher backgrounds than those from Chao Gai's faction, and were more knowledgeable and ambitious in comparison. They were not willing to die in this Liangshan Poshuipu, and wanted to lead their brothers to find another way out.

"Jade Banner Pole" Meng Kang and "Iron Fan" Song Qing were all cast up the mountain by Song Jiang, and "Ghostface" Du Xing was the follower of "Popping Eagle" Li Ying, so the three of them also stood by Song Jiang.

The goal proposed by Song Jiang's faction was to take advantage of the opportunity of Taifu Yang Jian's violent expropriation on Jingxi Road and Huaixi Road to send troops to attack the prefectures and counties in these two places, inciting people to rebel, occupying the prefectures and counties, and cracking the soil to become king.

In the words of "Little Whirlwind" Chai Jin, a descendant of the former royal family, do princes and generals have kindness?Zhao is the designated surname in this world?The world of the Zhao family was not stolen from my Chai family in a clever way back then, so how could it be against him?Now that the Shanzhai soldiers have enough fine food, it is the time to rise as the times require.As long as the prefectures that seized the Beijing East-West Road and Huaixi North Road are used as bases, and they raise their arms, the people in the world who are dissatisfied with the exploits of the dog emperor Zhao Ji will definitely respond.Our brothers might not be able to take advantage of the situation to break into Bianliang, Tokyo, overthrow the Zhao family's rule, and become emperor ourselves.

At this moment in Liangshan, if we talk about the appeal among heroes of the underworld, apart from "Timely Rain" Song Jiang, we should count "Little Whirlwind" Chai Jin, compared with Chao Gai, Wu Yong and others.When Chai Jin was in Cangzhou, in order to cause trouble for the Zhao family, he harbored various rebels and prisoners for a long time.It can be said that as long as there is a chance to stab the Zhao Song court, Chai Jin will definitely do something behind his back.

Chai Jin and Song Jiang are good friends, and they have always known that Song Jiang is not a person who is willing to be a robber in the cottage.Therefore, when he learned that Yang Jian was doing mischief around Liangshanbo in order to collect money, he immediately seized an opportunity to make trouble and persuaded Song Jiang to take this opportunity to expand his foundation.Under Chai Jin's fanning, Song Jiang's faction, which was unwilling to be mediocre, became ambitious.

As for what Chai Koukou said about entering Bianliang, Tokyo and becoming the emperor, who is he referring to? Chao Gai, who has more seniority on the mountain?Or is it Song Jiang, who is more prestigious in the arena?I am afraid that only he himself understands it in his heart.

In the Juyi Hall, after hearing Song Jiang and Chai Jin's ambitious plan, all the bandit leaders were shocked and each had their own thoughts.