When describing beautiful landscapes in China, the word "beautiful mountains and rivers" is often used. Pang Zi had no interest in literature, and as a rural man from the Hebei Plain, he believed that the beautiful mountains from a distance meant extremely barren land. In order to relax, Pang Zi followed the rugged path and climbed up the mountain behind. The soil on the mountain has a yellowish color that has no nutrients, either forming a hard crust like a stone, or it is like powder, and it is dusty as soon as you step down. With Pang Zi's poor farming experience, he also knew that the soil on the mountains could only be called "raw land", which required a long time of accumulation of fertilizer and repeated cultivation before crops could be grown. The current situation is not suitable for growing crops at all. Not to mention that there are still a few places with soil here, and more of them are all kinds of miscellaneous trees that grow hard in the bare rock crevices.

And this large barren mountain forest is Pang Zi's territory. Within a radius of thirty miles, there are four small villages that do not even have a village name. This is the full scope of Pang Zi's cottage that can collect tribute on a regular basis. Farther away, there are some relatively large towns, but where there are some teams organized by rich households, it is too difficult to go there to fight the autumn wind.

Pang Zi stood on the back mountain, looking at this "green mountain", only to feel a twitch in his heart. He used to think that he was a very lucky person, whether it was Geng Zinian in Beijing, or following Uncle Jing Tingbin, including later pulling the pole and doing it alone. Every time you encounter danger, you can escape death. However, if you think about it carefully, your life is a river going down. From fighting with the armies of various countries in the capital, to fighting with the Beiyang Army in Hebei, and then to darts in Nangong County. His range of motion is getting smaller and smaller, and the outcome is getting worse and worse. In this deserted and poor ravine in front of him, there were less than forty people under his command, and more than 500 people who regarded themselves as bandits. That's everything Pang Zi is doing now. And to be able to get these is already a great luck.

The second leader of this cottage is the Yihequan brothers Pang Zi met when he was in the capital before, and everyone is not very close. It was only later that he had some contact, and in desperation, Pang Zi had no choice but to go there to avoid the limelight. After arriving at the cottage, Pang Zi immediately saw greed in the eyes of the owner of the cottage. Although Pang Zi was down, the eight brothers who followed him also had twelve horses, and each of them had long and short spears. This is a great asset for the bandits.

The big boss of the cottage didn't know Pang Zi at all, but he just saw that he was young and came in trouble. Although he wanted to attack Pang Zi, he wanted to get the consent of the second master. Just such an oversight, Pang Zi was given time to think. Pang Zi knew that he couldn't wait any longer. He brought his brother to a clean and tidy "fire and Wang Lun". Although the strength of Pang Zi and his brothers could not deal with the Beiyang Army, it was more than enough to deal with a group of bandits. Nine people entered the hall and easily solved the big boss. The second boss is also very aware of current affairs, so he simply brought his own people to "abandon the darkness and turn to the light", and destroyed the subordinates of the big boss with Pang Zi.

The second boss has now become a big boss, and he recruited Pang Zi as his son-in-law. Pang Zi didn't have a place to go at that time, so he had to stay in the cottage temporarily. However, Pang Zi knew very well that either it was a second fire, or he would leave quickly after waiting for the limelight to pass. But the new boss was unlucky, and within a few days of being the head of the house, he accidentally fell and was seriously injured, and after he came back, he handed over the cottage to his son, and he died not long after.

The planned fire immediately erupted in front of the mourning hall. The so-called girl is outgoing, Pang Zi's wife is indeed towards Pang Zi. She revealed her brother's plan to Pang Zi, and Pang Zi easily won. This time he didn't kill anyone, but just drove away a few of his "in-laws" and people from their faction. Pang Zi finally occupied the cottage. After these two fires, the cottage, which originally had more than 40 people, was only in its early twenties. Four of them were Pang Zi and his brothers. The remaining dozen or so people are all old and weak people who have nowhere to go, and their purpose in becoming bandits is simply to eat with their mouths, and they are completely overwhelmed. Pang Zi himself had nowhere to go, so he simply became a "bandit" for the time being.

Looking at the mountains and forests for a while, Pang Zi sat on a stone and began to calculate. Just as I was thinking about it, I heard light footsteps. There are not many people on the mountain, just listening to the footsteps, you can know that it is Pang Zi's "wife" Gu Liangyu.

"Master, what are you thinking?" Gu Liangyu is desperate for Pang Zi, wherever Pang Zi goes, she can't help but follow him.

Pang Zi didn't have any feelings for his "wife", and agreed to marry her just because he had no choice. But Gu Liangyu was on Pang Zi's side during the second fire merger, and Pang Zi couldn't ignore this kindness. And although Gu Liangyu is rough-handed, her appearance is also very thoughtful, so Pang Zi tolerated her existence. Patting the stone beside him, Pang Zi said, "Sit down." ”

Hearing Pang Zi say this, Gu Liangyu jumped to Pang Zi's side in a few steps like a deer and sat down next to him. "Boss, I see you've been thinking about things lately, what are you thinking?"

Pang Zi replied casually: "I remember that a gentleman told me a lot of things before, but after a long time, I forgot a lot of things. ”

"Did I hear of that man?" Gu Liangyu asked.

After Pang Zi heard this, his heart immediately became unhappy. This is one of the reasons why Pang Zi doesn't want to see Gu Liangyu very much, people in the mountains don't know anything, so it's easy to ask nonsense. Gu Liangyu didn't want to think about it, how could she have heard of the names of Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua?

"You haven't seen it, both of these guys are southerners." Pang Zi didn't want to worry so much about his wife, so he explained with the greatest patience.

"What did they tell you, boss? Makes you so memorable. ”

"The way to raise earthworms, chickens and pigs is what they taught me."

As soon as he heard Pang Zi talk about this, Gu Liangyu immediately became excited, "Master, your method is really amazing." With this method, several people in the village admired it very much. This year, there were a few hundred more chickens. ”

Pang Zi was really desperate for his wife's knowledge, and when he was in Nangong County last year, he often ate hundreds of chickens a day. The hundreds of chickens in these little fart villages are nothing in Pang Zi's opinion. If Chen Tianhua is still here, there will be more than just these hundreds of chickens in these villages.

The emotions in his heart were immediately manifested in action, and Pang Zi pushed Gu Liangyu out, not letting her lean on his shoulder. Gu Liangyu was also used to Pang Zi's performance, and she was not angry, but continued to ask, "Then where does this gentleman live?" ”

"He seems to have gone to Shanghai."

"Where is Shanghai?"

"Shanghai is thousands of miles away from here, how can I be there!" Pang Zi said angrily.

"So far?" Gu Liangyu actually didn't know how far away thousands of miles was. She asked tentatively, "How far is that from your hometown?" ”

Pang Zi wiped his face with his hand, the last thing he wanted to mention was the matter of returning to Nangong County not long ago, and Gu Liangyu really didn't open which pot to mention.

After the beginning of spring, Pang Zi, who had been hiding for a winter, was finally able to get out of the mountain. He didn't want to be a bandit at all, so he took his brother back to Nangong County together. When he returned to Gaojiazhai in Nangong County, what he saw was a ruin. Someone from the rubble is starting to rebuild their homes. At that time, the peasant association organized everyone to evacuate Gaojiazhai, and the villagers took away everything they could. When Beiyang burned the village to vent his anger, he just burned the house. The richer the household, the greater the loss, and the loss of the people with thatched roofs is very limited. Pang Zi's home was completely burned down. Seeing that Pang Zi actually had the face to come back, Sun is very rich people immediately surrounded Pang Zi and scolded.

And the rest of the people just stood by and watched. Pang Zi looked at the yard where his house was burned to the ground, and he was already unhappy, where could he hear such an angry scolding. The angry scolding of the rich revealed a lot of news, intentionally or unintentionally. Whose family was kidnapped by Beiyang for ransom, and who sued the official to report Pang Zi.

Pang Zi still remembered that he was completely disappointed in these rich people, but the other people had received a lot of favors from him. He gathered the ordinary people together and swore to everyone that as long as these people supported him, Pang Zi would never let the blind dates down. Pang Zi even swore that as long as everyone gave Pang Zi another chance, he would give everyone the clan field. In the end, Pang Zi was disappointed. Many people looked at Pang Zi with contempt, and turned around and left without listening to what Pang Zi said. Pang Zi grabbed the people of the peasant association, hoping that they could help explain to the people, and Pang Zi saw with his own eyes that the peasant association's breeding farm was also being restored. Someone has already begun to continue working there.

Jing Side, a member of the peasant association, replied very simply, "If Mr. Chen is the guarantor for you, I may still be able to talk about it." Mr. Chen didn't come back, and I can't say anything. These words pushed Pang Zi into a desperate situation. He never expected that as a local, his credibility in the eyes of the villagers was not as good as that of a foreigner who had been here for less than a year. Back then, these people ate their own and their own, so they ate and drank for nothing?

When those rich families heard that Pang Zi was actually shouting to divide the clan land, they were even more furious. But after all, Pang Zi was with a few brothers on horseback with guns, and they didn't dare to provoke them head-on, so they immediately forced Pang Zi to give money to ransom those who were kidnapped by the Beiyang Army.

Pang Zi naturally didn't think about paying for those who were blackmailed, he was full of those who had reported him. On the same day, Pang Zi took him to find the tombs of those brothers who died in battle. At that time, the Beiyang Army killed hundreds of brothers, and they themselves refused to spend their efforts to bury them. I found some people, dug a pit casually, and buried the body. Some of the brothers were taken prisoner alive and later taken to the county to be killed.

found the place where the brothers were buried in Gaojiazhai, and Pang Zi did not stay at all. That night, he went to a small landlord's house surnamed Zhao more than ten miles away, and took his brothers to destroy the family's full family of fifteen. With these fifteen heads, Pang Zi ran to his brother's grave and cried. But this case was so big that Pang Zi had to leave Nangong County, and he had nowhere to go, so he had to return to the cottage temporarily.

This experience made Pang Zi know that thinking back to the angry and disgusted eyes of the poor and rich in the township, Pang Zi actually knew very well that unless he could have a strong team, the locals would be completely convinced, and he would definitely not be driven away by any force. Otherwise, he would never want to return to Gaojiazhai in Nangong County in his life. But he now has such an idea in his hands, and he has no time to take care of himself, where does he have the strength to deal with others. The eight brothers who followed Pang Zi back to Gaojiazhai on the way back to Taihang Mountain Cottage, three people said goodbye without saying goodbye, and two people said goodbye to Pang Zi. There were only three brothers left with Pang Zi.

For Gu Liangyu, following Pang Zi to Nangong County, Xingtai was already the farthest road she had traveled in her life, and she didn't know how far it was for thousands of miles, so she could only use this trip as a comparison. And this trip is also a desperate trip for Pang Zi. The last thing he wanted to mention was that. Pang Zi is not a background and has left his hometown, but is homeless.

After being silent for a while, Gu Liangyu asked again: "Master, it's good for us to stay in this cottage." You are so knowledgeable and capable. As long as it is managed well, this cottage will definitely be prosperous. We gave birth to a lot of dolls, and when they grew up, they inherited the cottage. ”

Listening to Gu Liangyu's vision for the future, although Pang Zi felt a little comforted, he didn't believe that he would have such a future at all.

Maybe I should go to Mr. Chen Tianhua? Pang Zi thought. Chen Tianhua will have a way. Or go to Wu Xingchen? No, it should be said that all those who follow Chen Ke will have a way.

was thinking about where to go in the future, but saw someone running over in a hurry, and when he looked at it, it was Qian Yujie, one of Pang Zi's brothers. He panted and ran closer, "Brother Pang, something is wrong." Gu Liangsheng, that guy came to grab land with us? ”

"What? Did they hit our cottage? Pang Zi asked anxiously.

Qian Yujie replied: "No, just now someone from the village came and said that Gu Liangsheng led people to the village and asked those villages to pay tribute to them in the future." The people in the village refused, so Gu Liangsheng started to injure the people in the village. Big brother, you have to hurry up and take a look. ”

Pang Zi hurriedly went to the cottage. He suddenly regretted it, if only he hadn't bypassed Gu Liangsheng with a single thought at that time, but cleanly cut the grass and eradicated the roots. But after thinking about it, Gu Liangyu was kind to himself at that time, and he couldn't be so ruthless at that time no matter what. Even this time, if it wasn't to the point where he couldn't kill him, Pang Zi wouldn't have been able to kill Gu Liangsheng. This is not just to give an explanation to Gu Liangyu, if Pang Zi is so ruthless, what will his subordinates think?

Entering the cottage, a young man covered his head with his hands, his forehead and face were covered with blood, and it seemed that the injury was not light. As soon as he saw Pang Zi, the young man shouted, "King Datong, you have to call the shots for us." It's not easy for us to pay tribute to you, but now let's have another batch, is this to force us to death? ”

After hearing this, Pang Zi felt a burst of disgust in his heart. He himself had no intention of being a bandit at all, and the so-called tribute was also set by the previous lord of the village. Since Pang Zi became the owner of the village, he not only did not ask for tribute, but also helped these mountain people build a chicken farm. Although this is Pang Zi's boring behavior, no matter what, Pang Zi thinks that he is kind to the people. Looking at the appearance of these people, Pang Zi suddenly had an idea in his heart, someone came to grab the land, this is not bad, he simply took the opportunity to leave the cottage. Originally, Pang Zi did not have the intention to be a bandit, he purely came to take refuge. Although there was a lot of trouble this time, Pang Zi already knew that Beiyang was no longer wanted everywhere. He went to Shandong to find Wu Xingchen, or simply went to Shanghai to find Chen Tianhua and Chen Ke.

What Chen Ke said to himself before, it was before Pang Zi was full of ambition and ready to do a career, Chen Ke's words Pang Zi still remembered very clearly, "What's a little trouble, Brother Pang, you can make trouble casually." Anyway, if there is a disturbance, the government will send people to arrest and kill you and your brother, and the end will definitely be death. So it's all about it. At that time, Pang Zi was furious. But the result of the matter was exactly the same as Chen Ke's prediction, Pang Zi had not had time to rebel, and the government put a hat of rebellion on Pang Zi.

Pang Zi still remembers that Chen Ke said something else, "If Brother Pang makes a big fuss, he will have to make a revolution in the end." Pang Zi wanted to see what Chen Ke had done so far, if Chen Ke really started a revolution as he said, then Pang Zi would simply defect to Chen Ke. A small fight is a death, but it is just an early death and a late death. Making things big and making a revolution is at most a death, so it's better to make a big fuss.

Thinking of this, Pang Zi was about to tell the villagers in front of him that he didn't care about it, and then he took his brothers and left. But looking at the anxious villagers in front of him, the fat man seemed to see Chen Tianhua evacuating the victims again, and the victims looked at Chen Tianhua's gaze. It was all the same panic, anxiety, and pleading eyes. And Pang Zi chose to completely ignore this appearance at that time, while Chen Tianhua was completely different. He led the members of the peasant association to hold out until the people were completely evacuated, and then left. Pang Zi also asked Chen Tianhua why he was working so hard at that time, and Chen Tianhua's answer was very simple, "We, the People's Party, can't let the people suffer." ”

If he left it alone at this time as before, Pang Zi knew very well what the consequences would be. He never wanted to go back to this poor mountain again. When the mountaineers here mention Pang Zi, they will only ignore it, or simply laugh at it. is also a retreat, and Pang Zi can no longer be accepted by the people of his hometown in Nangong County. But Chen Tianhua was not forgotten and rejected by everyone. At least the members of the peasant association are still willing to believe in Chen Tianhua and support Chen Tianhua. And these people ruthlessly abandoned Pang Zi.

Pang Zi had to admit that Chen Tianhua was more responsible than himself. When he was in Nangong County, Chen Tianhua seemed to be easily integrated into the life of Nangong County. The fat man once reflected on where this distinction was, and he only figured it out later. Chen Tianhua made friends with everyone through the labor of letting everyone live a good life together. But Pang Zi himself wanted to get ahead, so when Pang Zi was booming, everyone just didn't speak. When Pang Zi suffered, no one supported him.