February 15th.

An auspicious day is good for breaking ground, traveling far, and launching an expedition.

On the south bank of the King Kong Creek in Baimafang, large groups of horses and carriages were transporting supplies and equipment into the mountains.

In the battle between Shi'e and Xuetuo Luo, both sides displayed their weapons and revealed their identities. Because of the suppression of the so-called secret agreement of the three religions, both sides took a step back. Lu Yi easily got his family's land deed and house deed from Ma Qianli.

Lu Yu's work style is quite military-like and he is swift and decisive.

After obtaining all the deeds to a piece of mountain forest on the south bank of King Kong Creek, he immediately spent a lot of money, hired tens of thousands of workers, and purchased a huge amount of construction supplies. Within just a few days, a lot of materials had been transported into the mountains.

Today is a good day.

Lu Yi, Lu Yu, Shi E, Pan Man and others gathered together. Early in the morning, Shi E set up the altar and prepared to break ground.

Lu Yi also met the other disciples of Vajra Temple except Shi E.

Relieve difficulties, resolve calamities, resolve misfortunes, resolve disasters!

Like Shi E, these five masters of the previous generation of Vajra Temple were all tall, skinny, and stern, giving Lu Yi a strong sense of oppression and danger.

In addition to Pan Man, there were dozens of other princes and sons from the Southern Barbarian State who also secretly came here.

Like Pan Man, these princes were disciples of Shi Nan and others.

Lu Yi had just learned that the main gate of the Great Vajra Temple was located in the Million Gods and Demons Mountain in the southernmost part of Nanman State, close to the border between Nanman State and the Southern Wild State.

Incense smoke and three animals as sacrifices.

Shi E and five other bald old monks chanted scriptures and incantations, danced around the altar and made a lot of noises. They held shovels in their hands and gently moved the soil on the top of the hill.

The hired workers cheered in unison, carrying all kinds of tools, and attacked several villas near the hilltop. After a lot of beating and smashing, several originally beautiful villas became ruins, and all kinds of construction waste were transported out like water.

At the same time as the construction of the outer courtyard of the Dajingang Temple in Haojing began, eight thousand miles southwest of Haojing, surrounded by mountains, there was Anping Prefecture, Changping County, and the county seat Changping City, which stretched for tens of thousands of miles.

A year's plan begins with spring. Spring ploughing is undoubtedly a very important matter for the Dayin Dynasty and its aristocratic families.

Early in the morning, Zhuge Lu, the governor of Changping County, had summoned all his subordinates to gather at a piece of prime farmland outside Changping City.

Drums and trumpets sounded, gongs and drums roared, and beside the ridge of the field, Zhuge Lu ordered people to set up an altar for the gods of agriculture and crops, and offered sacrificial animals, fruits, wine and other sacrificial items.

After kneeling and praying, Zhuge Lu took off his official boots, rolled up his trouser legs, and, accompanied by a dozen personal guards, walked barefoot into the fertile field of a hundred acres in front of him. Holding the plow with his left hand and the whip with his right hand, he drove a fat and strong bull and plowed two acres of the field in a proper manner.

There was thunderous applause in private. The officials from various government offices in the county, the accompanying yamen runners, guards, village heads, farm heads, etc., all had ruddy faces and were in high spirits. They applauded and praised Zhuge Lu for being "diligent in farming and sericulture", which was quite similar to the style of the great sages of ancient times who "diligently cultivated the land". He was a true gentleman of culture and education, and a "good minister and capable general" of Dayin.

Around this fertile field, tens of thousands of farmers with half-dressed clothes and pale faces gathered in a black mass.

These farmers, regardless of gender, age or status, were all lifeless, standing there like wooden stakes, staring with dull eyes at Zhuge Lu as he pretended to be doing things in the fields.

When the officials, village heads and farmers applauded and cheered, these farmers did not move or make a sound, as if they were a group of dead people standing there motionless.

The vast Changping County is endless, with fertile plains as far as the eye can see, without even a small hill or mound.

Thousands of miles of fertile land have been developed into good farmland, including the best paddy fields, mulberry fields, pastures, fish ponds, etc., with a total area of ​​hundreds of millions of acres.

Outside the city of Changping alone, there are no less than 30 million acres of top-quality farmland.

But in the entire Changping County, all the land belonged to the Zhuge family, and all the farmers were serfs of the Zhuge family!

Zhuge implemented the "Baojia System" in Changping County, which was a system where "if one person gets into trouble, the whole baojia group will be held responsible." All serfs were only allowed to move around on their own fields and were strictly prohibited from leaving the three miles surrounding their own fields. Violators would be beheaded.

Farmers farmed, and no matter it was a good year or a bad year, they were only allocated food rations according to a fixed amount, and all other harvests belonged to the Zhuge family.

That’s not all.

During their slack season, farmers would build palaces, towers, gardens and parks for Zhuge to provide for the enjoyment of his clansmen.

Among the farmers' daughters, if they were pretty, they would be sent to the Zhuge family's mansion to be enjoyed at will by the masters.

Once the elderly people in farmers' families lose their ability to work, they are regarded as useless people who only waste food. Then the village heads and farm heads bring thugs to drive these elderly people to the wilderness and leave them to fend for themselves.

There were even young masters from various mansions of the Zhuge clan who, out for a spring outing, were so bored that they formed groups like bandits, breaking into towns and villages, raping and looting, killing and burning, and treating farmers as their prey!

Just like Zhuge Lu's eldest son, who went on a spring outing one year and successively broke into three farms, and led his personal soldiers to kill nearly 10,000 "bandits". He returned triumphantly and was awarded the title of General Suppressing Bandits in Changping County for his merits. With Zhuge Lu's recommendation, he was promoted to Gaojing and entered the Gaojing City Defense Army Captain's Office. This year, I heard that he has become a powerful general commanding an army of 100,000!

There are so many unbearable things like this, too numerous to count.

Zhuge Lu gathered tens of thousands of farmers to watch him start the first plowing of spring. He and a group of Zhuge officials had a lot of fun, but the farmers were disheartened. Who could laugh?

Zhuge Lu, who was plowing the field, had a gloomy expression on his face and looked around.

In the peasant team, the henchmen and thugs of the farm leaders and village heads immediately shouted in low voices: "What a bunch of lowly bastards! Hurry up and applaud! Hurry up and cheer for the county magistrate!"

"Everyone who shouts loudly and well will receive a mixed-flour steamed bun!"

"Quick, quick, applaud, cheer... Anyone who dares not to follow my instructions will have their legs broken!"

Following the encouragement of these people in the crowd, the farmers with pale faces and numb expressions began to applaud.
There was applause everywhere, and someone took the lead in shouting slogans praising Zhuge Lu, and then the farmers followed suit.

Zhuge Lu smiled complacently.

He turned around and smiled at the officials who were helping him plow the fields: "My precious sword has not yet... eh?"

Zhuge Lu saw that not far behind him, the gate tower of Changping City suddenly caught fire.

One soldier after another wailed and fell from the city wall with blood gushing out of their bodies. In the distance, one could see many big men in armor holding sharp knives, chasing and hacking at these soldiers madly.

Flagpoles were erected on the city walls, and then white flags were hung.

In the middle of the white flag made of burlap is a red lotus surrounded by red flames.

"Puff~~~Pah!"

Fireworks rose into the sky, exploding into red balls of flames that looked like lotus flowers.

A high-pitched roar came from the direction of the city gate tower: "The Red Lotus appears, and peace reigns. The Red Lotus descends, and the world is at peace!"

Zhuge Lu and a group of officials turned around at the same time, staring blankly at the city gate tower surrounded by flames and thick smoke.

'red lotus'?

What red lotus?

They racked their brains and frantically searched their memories, but even the most well-read among them could not remember where they had seen any records related to the 'Red Lotus'.

The faces of tens of thousands of farmers who were gathered around the farmland and were summoned by Zhuge Lu to act as a background suddenly became extremely strange.

Their numb expressions gradually became lively, and in their eyes, as dull as those of the dead, wisps of crazy flames emerged out of nowhere.

'red lotus'!

Someone was shouting in a low voice.

'red lotus'!!

Some people raised their hands.

'Red Lotus descends to the world, demons are driven away; Red Lotus appears, peace is enjoyed'!!!

A group of men who were no more than 40 years old but looked as haggard and old as those in their 60s or 70s suddenly jumped up with a roar.

Like crazy men, they hugged the village and farmer heads' trusted thugs around them, opened their mouths, and bit the large blood vessels on their necks fiercely.

Blood spurted out and the thugs howled in pain.

The farmers who were called over roared and raised long and short hoes or other farm tools.

They waved their farm tools wildly, and dug up the strong and powerful thugs around them, who were dressed in fine cloth, dressed neatly, and kept strong.

The terrible sound of bones breaking came from all directions, and thousands of thugs were beaten into meat paste in an instant.

The farmers roared and shouted the slogan "Red Lotus Appears, Enjoy Peace" and rushed towards Zhuge Lu and other officials of Changping County from all directions like crazy beasts.

"Civil uprising!" Zhuge Lu was so frightened that his whole body was shaking. He hysterically yelled out a word that had never appeared in his nightmare!

'Civil uprising'!

How dare these lowly creatures from Anping Prefecture, these inferior species who were destined to work like slaves for the "Six Saints, Nineteen Wise Men, and Sixty-Three Great Men" families who were dedicated to culture and education for generations, rebel?

Who is it?

Who is it?

Who is behind this?

"Charge out!" Zhuge Lu no longer had time to think about the mystery here. He grabbed the guards around him tightly, roared hysterically, and ordered them to protect him and rush out.

Tens of thousands of peasants rebelled, but there were also thousands of soldiers accompanying them to protect them.

Perhaps it might not be possible to suppress this sudden rebellion, but there should be no problem in protecting Zhuge Lu and rushing out!

An armored general rushed over with a group of soldiers. He swung his sword and easily chopped down a dozen of the fastest farmers. "Uncle Jiu, follow me and rush out. These peasants will have a hard time later!"

Before he finished speaking, a sharp sound of breaking through the air was heard in the air.

An iron bullet, with a white trail clearly visible to the naked eye, whizzed through the air and blasted the general's head into a ball of bloody mist.

"Zhuge Lu, where are you going?"

February 15th, night.

Hundreds of messenger hawks flew into various districts of Gaojing in a disorderly manner.

'Anping Prefecture, Rebellion'!