Chapter Thirty-two Mutation

  Zhao Dahai saw Zhang Guan's family suddenly change color, and he turned back to see that a wolf smoke was rising from the top of the Zhangjia Fort, and then there were faint sounds of killing coming from the top of the city, and everyone was shocked by this sudden change.

  Lv Shi reacted quickly, "Not good, the village guards are rebelling and someone has reported to the authorities. Quickly collect the current military equipment and occupy the old mansion." As he shouted, he took a big step forward, pinched Zhang's neck with one hand, this is what they called catching the thief first catches the king, grabbing the last person in charge of the Zhang family now, other small fish and shrimp without a leader would be easy to deal with.

  Zhang Guan's regret, at the time of surrender, was that Lv Shi and others acted swiftly, and Zhangjiabao was unable to send out a warning signal or call for help from the allied landlords. At the time, there were no strong troops within Zhang's household, nor any powerful reinforcements outside. In order to protect his own family and children's lives, he had no choice but to order surrender. Now that the wolf smoke has risen, Chen Jia, who is closely related to Zhang's family, will certainly come to their aid without hesitation, as this fortress contains his only grandson. As long as they hold on for a while, it will be an internal and external response, and one battle can defeat these wandering refugees, preserve the foundation of the Zhang family, and also account for the eldest son of the Zhang family who is outside.

  But now it's a wrong step, where is the chance to turn over? Lü Shi's big hand was already pinching his own neck while he was still in shock, and a big knife was placed on his neck, where was there any chance of resistance? Looking at that situation, as long as he made half a move, it would be a head falling to the ground.

  With a sidelong glance, several Zhang family descendants saw the wolf smoke rising and reignited their hopes. One of them, who had been anxious, jumped up and rushed towards the pile of knives and guns on the ground.

  But Guo Tianxing had already reacted to Lv Shi's loud shout, seeing several Zhang family children rushing towards the pile of knives and guns, he shouted loudly: "Release the arrow."

  The longbowmen who were always on high alert immediately fired a hundred arrows, and before those few brave men could even touch their swords, they had already turned into hedgehogs.

  The other Zhang family members saw their companions' miserable state and immediately cried out for mercy, kneeling on the ground with their hands clasped together in grief.

  A group of men immediately stepped forward with knives and guns to coerce them, only then was the situation brought under control.

  Lü Shi pushed the housekeeper to a pole, ordered him tied up, and then hastily told Zhao Dahi: "I'll go take a look at the city wall, you lead everyone to rush into the yard, be sure to restrain them not to kill anyone, so as not to provoke an accident."

  "Don't worry, I'm here." Zhao Dahi shouted and led over a hundred rods into the Zhang family's old mansion to search for valuables.

  Lü Shiyue pulled over the heavenly star and rushed straight to the city head with the remaining pole.

  When everyone rushed to the top of the city, panting, the wolf smoke had been extinguished. There were several corpses wearing militia uniforms on the ground, and several pole corpses lay in between. Some poles were wrapped in wounds, while other militiamen knelt aside, shivering with fear.

  Seeing that the situation was under control, Lü Shi and Guo Tianxing finally let out a sigh of relief.

  "What's going on?" Tian Xing was scowling at a small leader.

  The little head who was asked to report stepped forward and said: "We followed the arrangement, rushed up to the city gate at the first time, and it went smoothly. We didn't encounter much resistance, after all, we were unexpected. Under your shout, those country braves were knocked down and surrendered. However, everyone was momentarily negligent, and during this time, a distant nephew of the Zhang family came forward and got close to us, saying that although he was a member of the Zhang family, he was also bullied, and asked about our troop numbers. He then volunteered to join us, and at the time, I thought his words were sincere, and his clothes were indeed tattered, so I let him move around, hoping to recruit some country braves through him. Who would have thought that this guy had ulterior motives? Taking advantage of our attention on the city, he suddenly revolted and set fire to the beacon tower. When we discovered it, he had already colluded with several Zhang family country braves to protect the beacon tower. Fortunately, the master sent people to reinforce us, and we knocked him down. Now it's like this, please punish me, sir."

  Guo Tianxing snorted and kicked a seriously injured militiaman: "Is that skinning order really worth risking your lives for?"

  "Although he was a cruel man, but...but...I am after all a descendant of the Zhang family, a relative by blood." The militiaman had already died after speaking.

  Lü Shiyin sighed helplessly, and could only comfort Tianxing: "Things have already happened, regret is also meaningless. Arrange for the brothers to prepare for the upcoming Lianzhuang attack."

  Beacons are lit together, thinking of transporting Zhang's family property smoothly is even more difficult, and it may be necessary to fight against the village warriors on Zhuangzi who are connected with Zuo Jin and Zhang's family for mutual protection. This is indeed a constant change of circumstances.

  The star regretted returning with regret, things had already gone wrong and could not be remedied. The little leader was severely reprimanded and that was the end of it.

  He turned to ask Lü Shidao: "Sir, what's the next step? Should we hurry up and transport the supplies and grain back to the mountain?"

  Lv Shixiang said, "It's not possible. If our army transports grain and supplies back to the mountain, we will inevitably move slowly along the way, and with insufficient manpower, if we are ambushed by local militia halfway, we can escape without a problem, but the grain and supplies we have worked hard to obtain will be destroyed in an instant. After all, the allied forces that are about to be formed still rely on these things for replenishment."

  "Are there many local heroes in Zuoqiang?" Tian Xing asked with a puzzled expression.

  "I had previously asked Zhao Dahan about this matter, and he also understood the situation. According to him, the Zhang family has been evil in the village for many years, relying on their son's extensive connections in the provincial government. Even the local landlords and powerful families didn't take them seriously, and some small landlords were bullied and exploited by them. Although everyone had agreed to mutually protect each other at first, they were ultimately not of one mind and heart. When something happened, most people were unwilling to help. There were even those who wished for the Zhang family's downfall and took pleasure in their misfortune."

  Guo Tianxing finally let out a sigh of relief and said with joy: "This is good. As for those village braves, each family's landlord has carefully selected the strong and capable ones from among their clansmen, tenants, and even vagrants to form them into groups. They are also well-equipped with knives, guns, and other weapons, and are fed with rice and grains. If we were to fight against them in equal numbers, I'm not sure who would emerge victorious. As long as they don't gang up on us, it will be easy to handle."

  Lü Shi looked at the relaxed expression of Guo Tianxing and couldn't help but smile wryly, then said: "Although it's true, according to Zhao Dahai, what's most worrisome isn't other local landlords or powerful families, but rather the Zhang family relatives, the Chen family twenty miles away."

  "What's worrying about the Chen family?"

  Lü Shì then told Zhao Dà Hǎi everything he knew.

  The Chen family was different from the Zhang family. They never engaged in business, but only did what was considered most respectable at the time - being a landlord and scholar, passing down their legacy through farming and reading.

  The Chen family, although not as wealthy and powerful as the Zhang family, is not like the Zhang family with a small number of people. The Chen family is one of the few big families that are highly respected, with many branches and leaves, and just among the close relatives, there are nearly six hundred young men.

  As the family grew, the land left by their ancestors became increasingly insufficient. In order to expand their living space, they began to use every means possible to take over other surnames in their village, using clever tactics and forceful seizure, until they had completely squeezed out all the other families with different surnames over several generations.

  But even so, it cannot truly satisfy the Chen family clan's desire and longing for land, and they begin to encroach on or openly seize the surrounding small landlords and small farmers. However, other families are not willing to show weakness either. As a result, armed fights between clans over land, mountains, forests, and rivers continue to erupt, with several lives lost every year.

  The county government was also frustrated with the infighting between these big families, but after all, the Chen family had great power and the Zhang family had strong financial resources. Local officials could only turn a blind eye, and it wasn't until things got out of hand that they would arrest a few scapegoats to take the fall. However, the real problem couldn't be solved, so the clan feuds continued unabated, with no end in sight.

  The Great Ming implemented a disguised village autonomy system in rural areas, with some things being maintained and handled by village elders, large households, and clan leaders. Sometimes, the county government would also have to follow the lead of local wealthy families and gentry. As a result, in some places, the wealthy and powerful families became the de facto "local emperors", while small households could only swallow their anger and move away quietly.

  Here is the translation:

  In this way, the Chen family has been prosperous for generations, and the area around Chenjiazhuang has become a true "Chen surname world". Since Chen Lao Yuanwai married his legitimate daughter to Zhang Lao Dizhu's only son, there has been strong external support in this region. The Chen and Zhang families have indeed become intertwined, with one prospering together and the other declining together. As the two families' powers developed together, they became even more overbearing. Fighting over mountains, forests, fields, and outsiders was a common occurrence, and as their territory expanded, so did the frequency of these battles. On the one hand, this allowed them to continuously expand their family's territory; on the other hand, through constant clan warfare, they also trained a strong army.

  What's even more valuable is that this strong army is mainly composed of family members, extremely united and warlike. Within a hundred miles around here, except for the financial comparison with the Zhang family being slightly insufficient, if only considering military strength, it would be second to none.

  Lü Shì finished introducing the situation of the two families, Zhang and Chen. At that time, Tiān Xīng took a deep breath, feeling a chill run down his spine. If things were really like this, then his own 500 men were indeed no match for the brave sons of the Chen family. After all, most of his men were just refugees who had recently fled to the mountains and had not received any training. They were only able to fight because they were driven by the desire to survive, but in reality, very few of them had actually seen bloodshed. In a battle in the wilderness, they would surely be defeated without a chance of winning. Just a moment of chaos and disorder was all it took for them to fall apart. Lü Shì himself also felt uncertain, and looking at the performance of his men now only filled him with disappointment.

  Just now, Zhang's family made a disturbance with only a dozen or so village braves. At that time, the city head was occupied by more than 100 poles, and it wasn't until the reinforcements arrived that the rebellion was finally put down. Looking at the dead and wounded on the ground, they were similar to the other side, and it seemed that there were even a few more. Such fighting power made Lv Shidao begin to suspect how they survived.

  "What should we do then? Can't just go to Zhangjiabao for nothing and return empty-handed?" Tian Xing asked Lu Shi with a worried expression.

  Lü Shi saw Tian Xing's hesitant expression and was even more worried in his heart.

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