Chapter 3 3. Occupying Haozhou, Guo Zixing recruited troops

Guo Zixing is a well-known local tyrant in Dingyuan County, whose ancestral home is Caozhou.His father used to make a living as a fortune-teller and wandered around. He was called Guo Banxian, and when he arrived in Dingyuan one year, he married the blind daughter of a landlord, got a fortune, and had three sons, Guo Zixing was the second child.The father made a divination for his three sons, and it appeared that Guo Zixing was the most successful, so his father also favored him the most.The three brothers of the Guo family were not fond of reading, and were fond of wielding guns and knives, but they were all good at running a business, and soon became well-known local landlords.But Guo's father came from a humble background, and no one in his family was an official, so he was often exploited by local officials.The government cannot be trusted, and the Guo family has made friends with a large number of heroes from the rivers and lakes through their wealth.

Although these Jianghu people and the three brothers of the Guo family are all good, Guo Zixing is the one who convinces them the most and wins the hearts of the people.Among these people, members of the White Lotus Sect accounted for the majority, and Guo Zixing joined the White Lotus Sect along with them. The eldest brother Guo Ziwang is actually a little dissatisfied with the behavior of his second brother Guo Zixing. In his opinion, it is not a good thing to be entangled with those people in the world.That night, he waited in the living room for Guo Zixing, who had gone out, to come back. He waited until his family members fell asleep, and then he saw Guo Zixing returning with a face full of excitement.

"Zixing, you're not doing your job properly, you can't fool around with those people. I think you should run the business with me and avoid causing trouble. The world is in chaos now, and we only want to be safe, so you don't let your family worry about it." "Brother, don't be confused. You don't remember how the government oppressed us, and then look at how they oppressed the people. Only in troubled times can we be successful." Guo Zixing has always hated his brother's obedience. "What can you do? You haven't read much, and you can't talk about martial arts. Even if Bailian taught you, which one can you count?" The elder brother became more and more angry.

"Brother, the Liu Futong we worship is not also a commoner. He has such virtues and talents, and he has achieved a great career. He is recognized as a hero today. I am not willing to be bullied like this in this small place. One day I will Let those officers and soldiers suffer." Guo Ziwang was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to persuade Guo Zixing, and at the same time his heart was disturbed by Guo Zixing's words. Seeing this, Guo Zixing said earnestly: "Brother, you have to trust me and support me. You all know Sun Deya, Yu Zhiming, Cao Siqi, and Pan Shuanglong, and you usually praise them a lot. We have decided to resist the imperial court. In the recent action, thousands of people in the county have responded, what is needed now is financial support, big brother, you..."

Guo Ziwang showed panic when he heard this: "This... this... is so sudden, no wonder you have been in a hurry recently and your whereabouts are erratic." After calming down a little, he continued: "This is the end of the matter, are you My brother, I can only support you. No matter what, you must save your own life." The time was February of the twelfth year from Yuan to Zhengzheng, and the Huaihe area was still warm and cold.On the evening of the 27th, three big men, Sun Deya, Cao Siqi, and Yu Zhiming, led hundreds of people, disguised as a group of merchants, and entered Haozhou City silently in several groups.It was Guo Zixing's idea to pretend to be a businessman. The Guo family's business has developed in Haozhou, so they can make contacts in the city to deceive others.

In the middle of the night, the gates of Haozhou City had already been tightly closed, and the soldiers guarding the gates were also casually drinking baijiu given by a group of merchants during the day because of the cold night. These merchants were none other than Sun Deya and the others.At this time, Guo Zixing and Pan Shuanglong brought thousands of people outside the city gate of Haozhou, and sent a person to send a code to the city. In fact, the code was very simple, just learning a few cock crows.Guo Zixing and the leaders in the city had already discussed that if everything outside the city was calm, they would crow a rooster to signal the city, and if it was calm inside the city, they would reply a few times.Hearing the rooster crowing in the city, Guo Zixing immediately ordered the teams to get ready to attack the city.At the gate of the city, there were noises of shouting and fighting. It turned out that Sun Deya led a group of people to kill the officers and soldiers guarding the gate, and quickly seized the gate. As soon as the suspension bridge of the gate was opened, Guo Zixing rushed in with thousands of people. .Guo Zixing, Sun Deya and others cooperated inside and outside, everyone held torches and weapons, and Guo Zixing led several people to rush into the state government office and killed several people. It was difficult to distinguish which were officials and which were servants.Seeing the chaotic situation, some officials in the city fled around without giving orders to resist.

Guo Zixing, Sun Deya and others cooperated from inside and outside, and occupied Haozhou city overnight. In the early morning of the next day, the rebels who entered the city yesterday gathered in the Yamen.Guo Zixing, Sun Deya, Yu Zhiming, Cao Siqi, and Pan Shuanglong also rushed to the state government office early, all of them full of energy and ambition. Guo Zixing first let the brothers take their seats in the state government hall, and then he took his seat immediately. The five leaders of the uprising decided to conspire together for a major event, regardless of priority, and named each other Marshal of Temperance.

In fact, Guo Zixing felt that he had made the greatest contribution. From his point of view, his family contributed money, and he led thousands of people into the city. Of course, he also understood the importance of other people.This fashion requires everyone to work together, and he just has some thoughts in his heart, which he has not shown. Several Temperance Marshals arranged some matters and began to discuss the plan for the next step. Sun Deya thought: "Haozhou has already been captured, and now we should take advantage of the victory to attack nearby counties, so that our power will expand rapidly, and we will not worry about having no troops."

Both Yu Zhiming and Cao Siqi also thought it made sense. But Guo Zixing had other plans. Haozhou was conquered, but how to defend Haozhou was still a problem.Besides, there are no two tigers in a mountain. If five people are in charge of a family, it is really difficult to achieve great things. He has to stabilize his strength here. After all, Haozhou is a place he is familiar with. Here, his Guo family has some prestige, and Guo Zixing, who is full of business This account will not be counted. Guo Zixing, who was silent for a long time, said: "Brother Sun is right, but now we attack other places immediately, I am afraid that we are not strong enough. Besides, the rebel forces around us are also very powerful, and our actions will definitely arouse their dissatisfaction. "

"Then what's your opinion, brother Guo?" Sun Deya said sullenly. "In my opinion, it is the best policy to keep the base camp and develop slowly. This can not only avoid the siege of the court, but also avoid the attention of other rebels." Everyone was speechless for a while, and the joy of victory was accompanied by worries about the future. At noon, two volunteer soldiers came to report that court officers were arresting people in nearby villages. The five Temperance Marshals were stunned for a moment, not knowing what the court was up to, and worried whether they were arresting the villagers to deal with them, so they hurriedly sent a few more volunteers to investigate.The report of these volunteer soldiers returning in the evening made the volunteer soldiers in the city extremely excited and strengthened their confidence in dealing with the imperial court.It turned out that the Imperial Army's military camp in Haozhou was 30 miles south of the city, and the ten thousand households did not spend the entire area. They restrained 10,000 soldiers and horses. When they heard the news that Haozhou had been captured by the rebels, they did not dare to attack. He was also forced to lead troops to suppress them. In desperation, the Wanhu sent troops to nearby villages to arrest people, wrapped the captured villagers in red cloth scarves, tied them up, and pretended to be rebel soldiers to hand over to the court.

As soon as this information came back, it immediately became a joke in Haozhou City.The five marshals burst out laughing and triumphantly. At this time, Sun Deya also agreed to take advantage of people's hatred of the imperial court to recruit troops here to expand their strength. The city of Haozhou was still in a mess, so the temperance marshals issued military orders and posted safety notices everywhere in the city.Not long after, there was a saying in the city: "The city is full of fire, and the government officials are scattered and hiding. There is no soldier in the city, and the Red Army sits in the house." This saying was spread by Guo Zixing, and it gained a good reputation. , I am not afraid that no one will rely on me.Although he doesn't read much, Guo Zixing understands the importance of propaganda and knows how to buy people's hearts. Sure enough, many nearby villagers came to seek refuge soon. These villagers could not bear to be chased by Yuan soldiers. They hated the harshness of the court. After hearing the rumors in the city, they all felt that it would be better to do something with the rebel army than to die innocently. More than a thousand people were recruited in Kuaicheng, and Haozhou's momentum grew even stronger.And Guo Zixing and Sun Deya did not forget to treat themselves kindly, they drove away the rich families in the city, occupied the mansions of those rich merchants, and set them up as the marshal's mansion. Although there are five marshals in Haozhou City, they are friendly and equal on the surface, but in fact they have their own ideas, and everyone wants to be the one who is the most in charge.And everyone in the uprising knew that Guo Zixing spent a lot of money and effort in occupying Haozhou City, and the Guo family was always willing to do good things and was very popular with the people, so Guo Zixing's influence was invisible than the other four.For important incidents in the city, those soldiers also reported to Marshal Guo. That night, the Red Turban Army in Haozhou City was patrolling around the city.Suddenly a young monk came, carrying a burden on his back, and kept saying that he was coming to join him.It is very rare for monks to join the army. These soldiers have strange looks when they see this person, and their eyes are not calm like ordinary people. No matter what they ask, they just say that they are here to join the army. They are a little impatient and worried that he is a spy sent by the Yuan army. Just tie up this monk and take him to Guo Zixing's Marshal's Mansion. Guo Zixing was having dinner with his family. He heard that a monk brought here might be a spy. He wanted to execute him, but his wife was kind and advised him to have a look. Guo Zixing went to the main hall of the Marshal's Mansion and saw that the bound monk was dressed in ragged clothes, but he was tall and strong, with a strange appearance and a determined and calm look in his eyes.He thought, if the Yuan army had all these soldiers, Haozhou might not be able to capture it.He was overjoyed and quickly asked, "Are you really here? Haozhou City is still surrounded by the Yuan army." After thinking about it, Guo Zixing said sharply: "If you are really a spy, you can recruit yourself. Let you live, otherwise you will be discovered later, and your life will be gone." The monk raised his bright head, looked calm and fearless, and said calmly: "My brother Tang He wrote me to come." When Guo Zixing heard that Qianhu Tanghe had invited him, he was already interested in this monk and was overjoyed, but he didn't let his inner emotions show. "Then you take out the soup and the letter for you." "I'm afraid that the Yuan army will interrogate on the way, and the letter will be burned." The monk still said calmly and calmly. "Burn it? I think you are a spy of the Yuan army!" Guo Zixing was quite dissatisfied. He wanted to see how capable this young man was, so calm in front of the marshal.He thought in his heart that if he was really recruited as a soldier, he might be able to reuse it in the future. The monk was speechless for a moment, and there was no complaint or excuse in his eyes. After a long time, Guo Zixing had no choice but to send someone to call Tang He. As soon as Tang He arrived, regardless of the presence of the marshal, he shouted excitedly: "Chongba, you are really here! That's great!" This Tang He followed Guo Zixing earlier, and now he is a senior official. Seeing this, Guo Zixing felt at ease, and at the same time was very happy.If there are more soldiers like this, I am not afraid that they will not be able to overwhelm those four rough men in the future.From Guo Zixing's point of view, the other four marshals were nothing more than peasants, and apart from being rude and arrogant, they were not made to be leaders at all. The monk who came to join him was Zhu Yuanzhang who really helped Guo Zixing a lot in the future.It was under Guo Zixing's subordinates that Zhu Yuanzhang gradually displayed his military and management talents.It should be said that Guo Zixing's greatest achievement in occupying Haozhou and recruiting troops did not lie in his own success, but in the process of recruiting troops, he recognized talents with insight and accepted and trained Zhu Yuanzhang.