Chapter 1344 Thirst for Land and House

Chapter 1344 Thirst for Land and House

Those Wuzhong villagers who surrendered in the Linchuan Palace, although they were stubborn before surrendering, became very enthusiastic after surrendering. They actively acted as guides, leading the Tang army to wander around the village, searching and arresting those village tyrants who had previously followed the Linchuan King.

Those tyrants thought that they could hide in the village by quietly returning to the village. The main force of the Tang army would be attracted to the south by the big target of the Linchuan King, and they could lurk in the village and wait for the right time to move.

If the war in Kuaiji goes smoothly, the Linchuan King and Hou An can successfully intercept the Tang army and successfully launch a counterattack when the spring flood comes, then they can naturally rise up and drive the Tang army out of Wuzhong with the advantage of fighting at home.

But if the war in Kuaiji does not go smoothly, the Qiantang River is easily broken through by the Tang army, and the Linchuan King and others have to continue to fight and evacuate, then they can only stay in the village for the time being.

As long as they were submissive enough, the Tang army would not pursue them strictly in order to stabilize the situation in Wuzhong. After all, they had only responded to the call of King Linchuan and had not really fought against the Tang army. It was not too late to turn back, and the Tang army also needed them to establish rule in Wuzhong. If they were more proactive and diligent, they would not only be forgiven and treated leniently, but they might even be appointed as officials.

However, just as these people were waiting for the situation to develop further with such calculations, the subsequent developments were far beyond their expectations. The Tang army accurately locked onto their respective homes, and then launched an attack without explanation. When they were caught off guard, their wives, children, and family members, including themselves, became prisoners.

"General, spare us! We are all good families in Wuzhong. We are law-abiding and live in the countryside. We have never colluded with bandits or plotted rebellion in the countryside!"

Some of the captured tyrants cried out for injustice and tried to argue for themselves, but soon a Tang army sergeant handed them a record, which clearly recorded how many times they entered and left the Linchuan Palace, participated in meetings and discussions, and the number of troops they had.

It is not a crime for these people to have close contacts with the Linchuan King, but when the Southern Chen court had already issued a manifesto, the Linchuan King Chen Qian still openly clamored to resist the Tang army from coming south to capture Hou Andu, and now he is fleeing south. The evidence of collusion with Hou Andu is conclusive. And these people actually colluded with the Linchuan King and even cooperated in military operations, so they could naturally be captured and charged.

Although these tyrants were great figures who dominated the countryside and each had a large number of clan members and disciples, they were still not enough to fight against the elite troops of the Tang army. Especially under the leadership of the Wuzhong villagers, the Tang army was more active in capturing the tyrants in Wuxing.

Originally, these tyrants led their troops to gather in the Linchuan Palace, and they did not dare to be enemies with the Tang army. Now they are scattered in the countryside and fighting each other, and the information exchange between them is not smooth. It can be said that when they gather together, they are like a pot of sand, and when they are scattered, they are like soil.

The Tang army soldiers who stayed in Wuxing took only a few days to basically eliminate the Wuxing tyrants who had gathered in the Linchuan Palace. This is certainly not all the local tyrants in Wuxing, but it also ensures that a group of uneasy elements who are most hostile to the Tang army and dare to take action are eliminated.

This process is naturally accompanied by killing, but because the Tang army's action goals are clear and precise, the impact on ordinary Wuzhong villagers is not great. The main casualties are still those tyrants and their subordinates.

Along with these actions, the bandits and robbers active in Wuxing were also cleared. In some cases, these two things overlap, and can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

The smooth and effective operation was naturally inseparable from the strong support of the surrendered Wuzhong villagers. When these people participated in the relevant operations, they also felt deeply about the strict discipline and strict discipline of the Tang army.

In the past, in their impression, the Tang army was brutal and cruel, and once they entered the village, it was a disaster for the people of Wuzhong. Now it seems that some people have indeed suffered a disaster, but most of the ordinary villagers did not deliberately become enemies of the Tang army, and the Tang army soldiers did not harm them.

Ask yourself, even when those Wuzhong villagers held swords and guns in their hands, they were afraid that they could not be so disciplined, and they could not help but harm the village for their own convenience and greed.

As the time spent together increased, they gradually became familiar with each other, and some Wuzhong villagers could not help asking why these Tang army soldiers were so stubborn and rigid in obeying military orders.

It should be noted that after breaking through the walls of those powerful manors, when seeing the various properties seized in the manors, the Wuzhong villagers couldn't help but want to steal some of them. When seeing some powerful manors that were not on the target list were built very magnificently, those villagers couldn't help but imagine that if they could break into them, they would definitely get a lot of money.

However, these Tang army soldiers rarely kept the spoils for themselves. Even if they inevitably consumed some of the spoils during the operation, they would clearly record them and collect the spoils and turn them in. As for those manors and villages that were not on the target list, no matter how magnificent and wealthy they looked, the Tang army soldiers turned a blind eye to them and did not enter.

Faced with such questions, the sergeants of the Tang Army often said with a smile: "Who is not greedy for profit? The reason why we abide by military regulations is naturally that it is more beneficial to us to abide by the regulations! Abuse of property on the battlefield is unreasonable. How much can you keep secretly after you pick it up? What’s more, you are still on the road and carry too much property with you, making it inconvenient to move and fight. After entering the battle, it will attract the enemy to attack, and your money and lives will be lost on the battlefield..."

The reward standards of the Tang army were so generous that these Wuzhong villagers could hardly imagine. In addition to basic military achievements such as siege of cities and territories, killing and capturing, all materials captured on the battlefield will also be converted into money and silk materials and given back to the officers and soldiers in proportion, and the recipients will be based on one battalion as a unit.

In other words, what they captured on the battlefield belongs to the soldiers of the whole battalion. If anyone intercepts and hides them privately, it will harm the interests of all the soldiers of the whole battalion. In addition to inconvenience in their own operations, they will also be criticized by the soldiers of the whole battalion. Despise and despise. These people are close comrades fighting side by side on the battlefield. If they are isolated in the group, they can basically be declared dead.

"The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty treated his meritorious men so favorably. No wonder he allowed his superiors and subordinates to use their lives to defeat powerful enemies! Who in the world can be his enemy when he shows such kindness to warriors?"

After hearing the stories of the soldiers of the Tang Army, all the Wuzhong villagers could not help but sigh with envy. In the past, they were full of hostility and hatred towards the Tang Kingdom, but now they hate themselves for not being the people of the Tang Kingdom. The change of mind can be said to be very complete.

"That's not all! Our dynasty upholds equalization of land, and all cultivators have their own property. As long as they are registered as household members, they can enjoy the land. If you can be a nobleman in various prefectures, you can all share the fertile fields and the beautiful industry. A few games If you are lucky enough to survive and still have merit after the war, a dozen hectares of fertile farmland will be enough for you to settle down and farm and weave for your family!"

The officers and soldiers of the Tang Army became even more proud after hearing the Wu people's emotional comments, and encouraged the Wu people: "You and other countrymen can be considered lucky if they can surrender to the king early. As long as you can work diligently and accumulate wealth, you will be lucky." Thanks to your hard work, if a military mansion is established in Wuzhong in the coming year, you will definitely be included in the mansion, and the powerful houses that have been confiscated recently will be given to you first!"

"Is there such a beautiful thing in the world? As long as we work hard, we will be able to get a big house and fertile land in the future?"

After hearing this, all the Wuzhong village disciples suddenly widened their eyes in disbelief.

Although there have been changes in political power in the Southern Dynasties, there has never been a large-scale land equalization reform. Land, especially fertile land, has always been concentrated in the hands of the rich and powerful. Although Wuzhong is a land of plenty, the situation of land concentration is also particularly high. Serious, so if they can obtain a piece of fertile land and inherit a good family business, it is nothing less than the ultimate dream in life for these rural people.

After learning that the Tang State actually had extremely generous regulations such as conferring military merit on land, the passion of these Wuzhong villagers was once again triggered, and they wanted to dig deep to dig out all the powerful men who were hostile to the Tang Army. . Some people even felt that just clearing up personnel in the countryside would be too little, so they all asked to go to the front line to fight.

Since it was still at war, the Tang army had not directly established any ruling order in Wuxing. After most of the personnel in the village were cleared, Shuofeng sent soldiers to guard everywhere to ensure the smooth flow of logistics roads.

At this time, the order of people's livelihood has not yet been re-established, so naturally there can be no announcement of any political reform, but the content related to military merit and land conferment has been circulated.

Therefore, more and more rural people from Wuzhong came to join the Tang army. Some even came together with fathers, sons and brothers. Just outside Wucheng City in Wuxing County where Shuofeng was stationed, there were tens of thousands of such people. Other parties include villagers who heard the news later and are rushing to Wucheng day and night.

The nostalgia in Wuzhong was so warm that it made Shuofeng a little distressed for a while. At present, the Tang army is still operating in Jiangdong in the name of the Nanchen court, and the war has not yet come to an end, so it cannot get rid of the Nanchen court and directly establish administrative rule in Wuzhong.

So for the time being, he could only temporarily appease these villagers. At the same time, he sent orders to the rear to quickly arrange for civil servants to come south, and notified Shi Ning, who was fighting on the front line, that if he could break through the Qiantang River and capture Kuaiji, he could immediately declare the war in Wuzhong. The decree was issued and order was restored.

Even if the Nanchen court had any objections by then, the Tang Dynasty had the advantage in force, actually occupied the land of Sanwu, and had the support of the people, so it was natural that the attitude of the Nanchen court could be ignored.