Song Zhang, a commoner in the tea fields, is Guo Xiao disguised.
Long before the Northern Expedition, after understanding the dire waters in Shu based on the few words he heard from King Shou, Guo Xiao stayed up all night and had ambitions. Princes and generals are never determined by heaven. Looking at the history books, how many founding monarchs were born emperors? Nothing more than the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. The world of the Great Zhou Dynasty was also seized from the previous dynasty. Why could Gaozu raise an army to rebel, but he couldn't
The people of Shu were suffering, and the imperial court had no time to divide the troops of Liao in the north, which was a good opportunity for rebellion.
When it is done, he will be the new emperor of the Central Plains, and his father will not turn against him because of the dead Zhao family. As for his cousin, Guo Xiao feels ashamed, so he will give his cousin two options. One is to continue to follow him. He is willing to give his cousin the honor of the queen but he does not favor him. The other is to reconcile, he will choose someone who is worthy of his cousin. Her good man, continue to enjoy the princess privilege.
In case of defeat... He still has a way out.
"Song Zhang, come here, eat first, and then pick it up after eating." A tall man with a dark face called out in front of the tea field.
Guo Xiao took the dustpan and strode over.
There were two families sitting on the ground. The black-faced man who had just called Guo Xiao was surnamed Wang and given the name Wu. He was a tenant farmer in Weijiang Town, Qingcheng County. There are more than 200 households in Weijiang Town, but the nearby fields are all in the hands of a large landlord. The remaining people used to have land, but because of their poorer life, they had to sell the land to the landlord, and then rent it from the landlord. for a living. Among the many tenant farmers, Wang Wu had the highest prestige because of his cheerful and helpful personality.
The woman in green sitting beside Wang Wu was his wife, Mrs. Li, and the couple had a ten-year-old daughter named Liu Er. Another sturdy man is Li Shun, the younger brother of Li's family. Because his family was dead, his elder sister, who came to marry, has been living with her brother-in-law Wang Wu. He is twenty-three this year. He has a fiancée who lives in a neighboring village. The two plan to get married after selling this batch of summer tea.
"Brother Xian, work hard, and let your sister-in-law give you a daughter-in-law next year." Wang Wu said to Guo Xiao vaguely while chewing. In Wang Wu's eyes, Guo Xiao was a disaster victim who had escaped from the famine. He was taciturn and seemed difficult to get along with. In fact, he was diligent, capable, and very sincere. In order to repay his kindness, he was willing to be the servant of the Wang family. Wang Wu couldn't bear it, and seeing that Guo Xiao had nowhere to go, he accepted Guo Xiao as his righteous brother.
Guo Xiao smiled, lowered his head to eat, and his eyes fell on the tea field beside him. This year is another drought year, and the tea harvest is not good. He likes Wang Wu's prestige among the tenant farmers, but Wang Wu has a simple and honest temperament. For the time being, he has no reason to persuade Wang Wu to revolt...
"Li Shun, Li Shun! It's not good, go take a look, Zao'er was bullied by their village chief and forced to commit suicide by hitting the wall!"
The tea field was planted on the mountain, and at the foot of the mountain, there was a sudden shout from the villagers, and the anxious voice came over and continued to echo in the empty valley. Wang Wu was so shocked that he forgot to chew the wowotou. His wife Li looked down the mountain in disbelief, and Guo Xiao was equally surprised. Only Li Shun threw the wowotou in his hand and ran down like the wind.
"Look at Liu'er, brother virtuous follow me!" In response, Wang Wu instructed his wife in a deep voice, and he called Guo Xiao and ran away.
The three big men rushed all the way to the neighboring village three miles away, but they only saw the bloody corpse of Li Shun's fiancee Zaoer, a girl of seventeen or eighteen years old, thin and small, with blood on her face, only that His eyes were full of fear and despair, and he could also see a bit of beauty.
"Zao'er!" Li Shun rushed over and snatched his fiancee's body with residual warmth. He cried with his head lowered, his shoulders visibly trembling, and he was indescribably sad.
"I'm going to sue the official!" Zao'er's father roared with red eyes, coughing and staring at the closed door of the village chief's house.
Remembering the enemy, Li Shun suddenly raised his head and rushed over to kick open the door of the village chief's house, but the village chief raised several strong men, and they united to stop him. If the fight failed, Li Shun and Zao'er's family went to the county seat to sue the officials. The village chief naturally refused to admit it, and secretly gave the magistrate ten taels of silver, so although the tenant farmers all testified for the Zaoer family, the county magistrate still sentenced Zaoer's parents and Li Shun to false accusations, and one person hit twenty big boards.
The yamen's board was hit hard, and Li Shun was carried home by Wang Wu and Guo Xiao in turn.
At dusk, before the heat dissipated, Li Shun was lying on the head of the kang, with his face buried in his arms and crying non-stop. His elder sister, Mrs. Li, picked the herbs and cried to help her brother with medicine. A few punches to the wall.
"Big brother, the tyrants oppressed the people, and the government helped Zhou to abuse. Today is the second sister-in-law who died. If we continue to endure it, the one who will die unjustly tomorrow may be Liu'er, the sister-in-law."
There was a voice that was holding back his anger from behind, and Wang Wu froze in his heart, turned around slowly, and looked at his righteous brother with complicated eyes. He knew that what his brother-in-law said was the truth, not alarmist, but what else could they do besides forbearance? I can't beat the landlords and gentry, let alone the government officials...
"Brother, let's do the opposite." Guo Xiao stared at Wang Wu's eyes and said, his voice was low, but it pierced Wang Wu's heart like ice.
Wang Wu was horrified, and subconsciously looked to the left and right, afraid of being overheard. After confirming that no one was there, he realized that he was sweating profusely, approached Guo Xiao, and asked worriedly, "Does Brother Xian know what he is talking about?"
Guo Xiao clenched his fists, and the long-suppressed anger flashed in his faint eyes: "Big brother thinks I'm crazy? Does big brother know why I am living here? Up to now, I don't hide it from big brother, I am a fiancee like my second brother. I was bullied, but I couldn't take this breath. When the beast was alone, I wiped the opponent's neck with a knife, and then fled here. I wanted to remain anonymous and live in peace, but what happened? Second brother... "
Before he could finish speaking, he slammed into the wall with a punch.
Only then did Wang Wu know the bitterness in his righteous brother's heart. The two younger brothers were forced to kill their wives. After listening to the cries of his wife and daughter in the house, he thought that his daughter might also be targeted by bullies when she grew up. Gritting his teeth, he made a decision in an instant, pressing down on Guo Xiao's shoulder and said, "Don't be sad, wise brother, tomorrow eldest brother will go to contact other tenants, but eldest brother has not read a book and doesn't understand anything, how to act, I still need wise brother to advise me. ."
"My life is saved by my eldest brother. As long as my eldest brother gives an order, Song Zhang is willing to be the vanguard and attack the city and conquer the land for my eldest brother!" Guo Xiao said decisively.
The two hit it off immediately, and then went to discuss with Li Shun. Li Shun died of his fiancée. Next, Guo Xiao, the "third child" who has read books, began to act as a military adviser, first persuaded Li Shun to recuperate in peace, and he and Wang Wujing waited for the opportunity.
A few days later, the official uniform came to collect tea, and the price was 10% lower than last year. Due to the severe drought in the land of Shu, the number of tea leaves to be picked this year was very small. The government kept lowering the price while not allowing the people to sell it privately. Four of the tea leaves grown by the tea farmers were sold to the landlords, and the rest were sold, and they even bought half a year's rations. No, it's simply impossible!
At this time, Guo Xiao suggested that Wang Wu and Li Shun could secretly win over the tenant farmers, and also helped them think of a lobbying word: "My illness is uneven, and now it is for you to balance it."
Officials, businessmen and landlords rely on plundering us to get rich, but we are getting worse and worse. Today I want to revolt for the people, and the other day’s gains will be shared equally by everyone!
The tenant farmers are all worried about this meal, and they can share the money when they hear it. Plus there are so many people, it seems that it is easy to rob a landlord in the town, and they all express their willingness to join. It only took two days for more than 200 tenant farmers in Weijiang Town to take refuge in Wang Wu. That night, Wang Wu held up a torch and led his crowd into the landlord's house, killing the landlord's family and sharing the money equally.
He opened the bow and did not turn back the arrow. Since he killed people, he must continue to kill, otherwise he will be arrested by the government sooner or later, so he rested for the night and had enough food and drink in the morning. Wang Wu and Li Shun brought another hundred and ten strong men. to the next village. Life was difficult, and the tenants in each village had already accumulated a lot of grievances. When they saw that someone took the lead in fighting the landlord, Wang Shun and others did not need to persuade them. They took the pick and started fighting together.
In just ten days, all the villages and towns under the jurisdiction of Qingcheng County were owned by Wang Wu and Li Shun.
The insurgent army was led by Wang Wu and Li Shun, but few people knew that the real planner was actually their righteous brother and counselor Song Zhang, who was also the well-known heir of the Duke Wei's residence in the capital, Guo Xiao.
In the Qingcheng county government office, Guo Xiao called Wang Wu and Li Shun to the map, pointed to a place east of Qingcheng, and said, "Big brother and second brother, what do you think about the attack on Qiongzhou tomorrow?"
"We will fight wherever the third brother says to fight!" Wang Wu laughed wildly. After gaining the sweetness and being hailed as a handsome man by thousands of people, Wang Wu had already gained enough courage, and he no longer had the hesitation and sway during the initial uprising, and the two brothers' trust in Guo Xiao became more and more firm.
Just as the uprising army madly attacked the county towns far and near, the memorial of the officials of the Shu region about the rebellion of the people was quickly spread to the capital.
At the same time, the Empress Dowager Xiao of the northern Liao Kingdom, after stabilizing the internal affairs, also personally led the army to the south to avenge the revenge that Da Zhou took the initiative to provoke.
Internal and external troubles, the imperial court is in a hurry!