Chapter 209 Zhong'anbao

Zhou Charter, Yao Xi and Guo Erpa went out of Fengtian City in the dark. Fortunately, the moonlight after the snow was good, and the road was bright. The three of them went west and walked out of the city for more than ten miles. A large market town appeared in front of them, and the market town was scattered and lit.

Yao Xi said, "Brother, in front of you is Bajiaotai, which is my younger brother's home. If you go north, you will find Zhao's Temple."

Zhou Charter nodded: "Then go home and have a look and bring 300 taels of silver to your daughter-in-law."

"Brother, how about you?"

"Guo Erwan and I will go to Zhaojia Temple and come back in two hours. Let's meet at the entrance of the village and go back to the city together."

Yao Xi said in a hurry, "Brother, how embarrassing..."

Guo Erpa said, "Brother Yao, go and do what you have to do with your sister-in-law. Two hours later, the young master and I will come back. If we can't see you, we will leave by ourselves. Don't go back to Zhangjun in the future and go home to hug your wife."

"Don't, don't, I must be sharp, must be sharp!" Yao Xi said and ran away.

"Hight!" Zhou Charter shouted.

Yao Xi stood wildly: "Brother, what's the matter?"

"Remember, we are crossing the river privately this time, and you must not reveal that you are the sixth grade of Zhang Jun. I can't tell your wife. The old lady's tongue is long. If we talk about it, we won't be peaceful all the way.

"Don't worry, brother, I must keep my mouth shut."

"Get out!"

Yao Xi ran away without a trace.

Zhou Charter and Guo Er pole went all the way north and walked out for half an hour, and a village appeared in front of them. The village is located by a small river. The river is frozen, and the village is dimly lit and noisy.

In winter, the northern villages are very quiet at night. When it is dark, the people close their doors early, turn off the lights on the kang, and surround the hot kang.

However, this Zhao family temple is very lively.

When the two entered the village, they saw people coming and going on the road, helping the old and the young. Many people carried big and small bags on their shoulders and walked to the north of the village. Everyone's faces were full of bad luck.

Guo Erzhuan stopped a middle-aged man and asked, "Brother, please..."

The middle-aged man carried half a piece of pork and shouted angrily, "Ask nothing, delay my time, get out of here!"

"Damn you..." Guo Er pole hasn't finished scolding yet. The middle-aged man has taken more than 20 steps and left.

A series of questions were asked by several people, and they were all the same result. These people were in a hurry, carrying heavy burdens, and did not bother other people's questions at all.

Guo Erpole was very dissatisfied: "Damn, the people in Zhao's temple don't know how to be polite!"

But there was a sigh on the roadside: "Tai Shigong said that the people are full of etiquette. How can you ask them to speak etiquette!"

Zhou Charter followed the sound and saw an old man standing under the eaves of a family by the roadside. The old man had white hair, dragging a snow-white braid, wearing a walking stick and a robe. He was quite elegant and seemed to be a private school teacher.

Zhou Charter hurried over and asked carefully, "Mr., the younger generation is a foreigner. I don't know the rules of the village. I'm sorry."

"Look at your hurry, you will know that you are foreigners. This soldier is in chaos. Why don't you stay at home and come to this place? I advise you to go quickly and don't get into anything. The old man said.

"The army is in chaos?" Zhou Charter was puzzled: "The old gentleman's words are wrong. The Qing Dynasty fought with the Japanese. It was in North Korea and Liaodong. Since Zhang Jun recovered Pyongyang, Fengtian has lifted the alarm. Speaking of which, Fengtian is the location of the imperial mausoleum of the Qing Dynasty. As long as the Japanese can't fight, this is a peaceful place. How can there be chaos?"

The old man shook his head and sighed: "The guests said that Fengtian is a place of peace. This was put aside a few years ago, but now it is a place of right and wrong! Guest, I advise you to go home as soon as you can.

Guo Erpole shouted, "Old man, you don't speak freely at all. You old man, make it clear. How can this not be peaceful?"

The old man took a look at Guo Erpole, shook his head and sighed, and said nothing more.

Zhou Charter had no choice but to accompany him and say carefully, "Old gentleman, my brother's words are abrupt and there are many collisions. I'm going to make amends for you!" I'm asking you about a family. Excuse me, where does Zhao Xiaoman live?

The old man suddenly looked up at Zhou Charter and asked, "What is your relationship with Zhao Xiaoman?"

"To tell you the truth, Mr. Zhao Xiaoman is my adopted brother. This time, I came here to visit his mother."

The old man looked up and down at Zhou Charter and said, "Zhao Xiaoman's family is in the east of the village, two grass houses, and there is a big elm tree at the door. However, there should be no one in his family now.

"I heard Zhao Xiaoman say that he also has an old mother and a sister at home. How can there be no one?" Zhou Charter asked.

The old man looked at the pedestrians on the road and stopped talking. For a long time, he said, "Zhao Xiaoman's mother and sister should be in Zhong'anbao."

"Zhong'anbao?" Zhou Charter asked.

The old man whispered, "I don't think you two are evil people, so I'll just tell you. This place is called Zhaojia Temple, five miles northwest, and there is a hill called Zhong'anbao. Over the years, Fengtian has become more and more uneasy. He has a lot of beards and robbed houses everywhere, and the government can't prohibit it. In order to protect themselves, the people set up some self-insurance organizations called large groups to maintain local security. There is a large group in Zhong'anbao. The owner of the group is Jin Shoushan, and there are 100 people under his men. It is the largest group in this area. Our Zhaojia Temple is the insurance area of Jinshou Mountain.

"With the protection of a large group, this place should be peaceful." Guo Er pole said.

The old man sighed: "The guests don't know anything. The people gathered some money and originally pointed to the big group to protect them from the beard. However, Jinshoushan, a large group, took the people's silver. There were guns in their hands, but they only did some things that bullied the people. The beard bullied the people. They always came secretly, but Jinshoushan and others It is the daytime that he blatantly bullied men and women, and did all kinds of evil! Well, I just paid a month's protection fee a few days ago. Today, someone is going to ask for money and food, saying that the Spring Festival is coming, and everyone has to pay him a New Year's birthday. They are paid three times a month, and if they don't have money, they will be deducted with grain cloth or other valuable things. More than a dozen villages within dozens of miles have been harmed by them.

"Damn, there is such a group owner! This is worse than a beard!" Guo Er pole scolded, "They are nonsense. You just don't pay. If you really can't, go to Fengtian Mansion to sue him!"

The old man hurriedly lowered his voice: "The guest whispered. If this is heard by Jin Shoushan, the old family will be over. Jinshoushan not only has a gun, but also has a good friendship with the governor of the new people. The government has always closed his eyes and let him do something recklessly. If we don't give money, we will be caught by him to do hard work in Zhong'anbao, and if we are locked in an iron cage at the gate of the castle to show it to the public. Whoever has a girl in the family will be robbed by him to be a Mrs.

"This is a mother of a bandit!" Zhou Charter scolded.

"Who said no?" The old man said, "Guest, you said you were Zhao Xiaoman's brother-in-law. Zhao Xiaoman went out as a ermai. He had been there for more than half a year without any communication. There was only one mother Qin and his sister Zhao Qiaoer left in the family. The two women had no strength and couldn't make money. They were already stammering. There was no money to honor Jin Shoushan. Poor thing.

Zhou Charter was shocked: "Sir, do you mean that Jin Shoushan and others arrested Zhao Xiaoman's mother and sister?"

"It's hard to say whether to catch it or not." The old man said, "They came to urge the New Year's Eve tonight. They must be sent to Zhong'anbao before dawn, otherwise, they will take people. You see, the pedestrians on this road went to Zhong'anbao to pay for food overnight. Qin and Zhao Qiaoer should also have gone, but I'm afraid that they can't afford it. I'm afraid Jin Shoushan won't spare them.

Zhou Charter bowed his hand to the old man: "Thank you, old gentleman." After saying that, he turned around and left.

Guo Erpao hurriedly followed and asked, "Young master, where are we going?"

"Zhong'anbao!"

When the old man heard "Zhong'anbao", he was scared and trembling. He hurriedly said, "Guests must not go. Hey, hey, if you really want to go, don't say that it's what the old man told you..."

"Don't worry." Zhou Charter has run a long way.

Zhou Charter and Guo Erpole followed those people who carried their shoulders to pay their respects. They came out of the Zhaojia Temple and soon arrived at Zhong'anbao.

Zhong'anbao is an earthen castle. In order to avoid bandits, people in the north often build a circle of walls outside the village where they live, open a dirt door, and it becomes a castle. The castle is not big enough for a villager to hide. When a bandit incident occurred, the people hid in the castle, blocked the earth gate, and the young and middle-aged climbed up the earth wall to confront the bandits. The bandits' equipment is poor. Generally, there is nothing they can do with these castles. After a few days, the officers and soldiers dispersed as soon as they came.

Now, Zhong'anbao has become a fortress for a large group. It was originally a fortress for the people to escape bandits and become a fortress for bandits.

A thin middle-aged man sat on a platform in front of the earth gate. The man wore a pair of glasses, a goatee and a man in a robe and horse coat, with a table in front of him, with a horse lamp hanging above his head, surrounded by more than a dozen regiments in black clothes and holding rifles.

The people carrying money and grain came breathlessly to the door and waited in line. Someone on the platform shouted, called one, went up, and sent the money and grain brought to the goatee. The two regiments checked the money and grain in full amount and sent a white note. The grain people accompanied them with a lot of gratitude. , was immediately overturned by the regimental men and beaten violently. The number was small. He immediately went back to make up for it. If it was much worse, he was immediately tied up by the regimental men and thrown into the iron cage next to the earth gate to show the public.