Originally, after Liangshan's troops retreated, Bao Zheng and others were worried that Liangshan would turn back after stabilizing his mood and directly attack Cai Hezhuang regardless of the consequences.
If that happens, Cai Hezhuang will probably be defeated in a single battle.
It turns out that they thought too much.
In this battle, everyone in Liangshan was completely frightened by Cao Bin and the sedan chair.
Until they returned to Liangshan Dazhai, many leaders had not come back to their senses.
Song Jiang was even more disappointed. He lost all his energy and energy. He only felt that his future was bleak and he no longer had the high spirits he had before setting off.
In addition, Chao Gai was seriously injured and fell into coma. There was no possibility of Liangshan recovering in the short term.
the next day.
Luo Tongzhi, who was stationed in Qingzhou, finally arrived at Caihezhuang with his leading cavalry army.
Soon after, the Ma Bu Army, a total of 8,000 forbidden troops, also arrived one after another.
Seeing so many reinforcements arriving, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
In just two or three days, everyone was hovering on the edge of life and death, and the pressure they faced was too great.
Bao Zheng and Cao Bin also had to deal with the follow-up affairs of disaster relief, so they stayed with Cai Hezhuang for a long time and soon returned to Jeju.
"The Liangshan thieves are no small matter. Luo Tongzhi only needs to keep an eye on Liangshan here. Don't take the initiative to attack."
"I have already sent a letter to the imperial court, explaining the harm caused by the bandits in Liangshan. I believe that the imperial court will send troops to encircle and suppress them soon."
Before leaving, Bao Zheng warned Luo Tongzhi worriedly.
Although Luo Tongzhi disagreed with Bao Zheng's statement, he did not dare to disobey Bao Zheng's order and quickly nodded in agreement.
In the past few days, Shandong officials only knew that Chang Feng had failed in suppressing the bandits, but they did not know that he had been arrested by Bao Zheng.
After Bao Zheng and Cao Bin returned to Jeju, they realized something was wrong.
However, it was too late at this point.
Under Bao Zheng's order, Kaifeng government officials went around to hunt down corrupt officials according to the list provided by Cao Bin.
Suddenly, everyone in Shandong's official circles was in danger, fearing that they would become the next person to be arrested.
Chang Feng had been arrested, and they were leaderless and completely at a loss. They didn't even know where to get information.
For a time, Cao Bin's imperial envoy's journey became their only way out, and there was a lot of traffic every day.
Those who give gifts, those who ask for information, those who ask for help, those who intercede...
There are many kinds of them.
Cao Bin would not refuse them either. If they were on Bao Zheng's "must-kill" list, he would politely offer him a cup of tea and then decline politely.
If it is an insignificant person, he will accept the gift with peace of mind and then vaguely "make some pointers".
This creates the illusion that Cao Bin can save people under Bao Zheng's "sword".
Gradually, everyone regarded Cao Bin as a life-saving straw. As long as they escaped, they regarded themselves as Cao Bin's lackeys.
This was unintentional and a bit beyond Cao Bin's expectations.
He just wants to get more property from these officials...
In the past few days when Bao Zheng was trying the case, the officials were very nervous and uncomfortable.
The grain merchants and gentry were worse off than dead.
At this time, Cao Bin not only stopped collecting grain at high prices, but also sold grain to the people at low prices from time to time.
As soon as this underhanded trick came out, the price of food in Shandong plummeted like an avalanche.
The grain merchants were so angry that they wanted to peel Cao Bin's skin and cramps.
"Uncle Cao, what are you thinking? Please let us go!"
"If this continues, we will go bankrupt."
"We bought all that food with loans. Please, please leave us a way to survive."
Several gentry grain merchants could not bear the blow of the sharp drop in grain prices, so they had no choice but to come to Cao Bin to plead with him with runny noses and tears.
Cao Bin quickly helped them up and sighed:
"Everyone, I have no choice. I don't have the final say in the current granary. They are all scumbags..."
"He's staring at me right now. If I move even a little bit, he might catch me!"
Anyway, Bao Zheng doesn't have to worry about having too many lice. Cao Bin will blame the offending people whenever he can and will never cause any trouble to himself.
Regardless of whether they believed it or not, Cao Bin believed it himself.
"Mad, that's it, Bao Heizi, you bastard, he is harming us!"
One of the gentry couldn't help but cursed when he heard this.
Cao Bin nodded in agreement:
"Bao Heizi is just a lone star of evil, who is hated by people and ghosts."
"When he was in the capital, he almost killed me."
"Don't let me find a chance, otherwise, I will definitely kill him..."
Originally, these gentry grain merchants were a little skeptical of Cao Bin's words, but after hearing the last few words, their trust suddenly increased, and they all started to curse with the same hatred.
Cao Bin was also unambiguous, and he was not soft-spoken when he scolded Bao Zheng.
I don’t know how long it took, but after several people got tired of scolding, someone finally said with a bitter face:
"It was a good plan and an opportunity to make money, but it was ruined by Bao Heizi. It's so painful..."
"Uncle Cao, is there nothing we can do?"
"You are Taishi Pang's son-in-law, can't you restrict Bao Heizi?"
Cao Bin shook his head helplessly and said:
"Bao Heizi has three imperial guillotines. Not to mention me, even my old father-in-law would dare to guillotine him. Do you think there is anything I can do?"
After speaking, he said earnestly:
"If you really want me to make a decision, you'd better sell the food as soon as possible."
"Looking at the current trend, food prices will get lower and lower. By then, you will really have to lose your pants."
The gentleman nodded with a grimace and said: "As of now, that's all. Bao Heizi is really abominable..."
After finally sending a few people away, Cao Bin couldn't help but laugh.
"To this day, they are still kept in the dark."
"Uncle, you really have a far-reaching plan, the abyss is as deep as the sea!"
Chang Qinglian walked in with a tea tray and sighed.
Cao Bin frowned and looked at her and said, "This doesn't sound like what you said. What's the matter?"
Chang Qinglian knelt down on the ground, put the tea tray aside, kowtowed and said:
"I beg you to save my adoptive father. I am willing to work like a cow or a horse to repay my uncle."
Cao Bin shook his head and laughed:
"Why, he forced you to serve others, and you are still grateful to him and interceding on his behalf?"
"I thought you didn't have much affection for Chang Feng."
Chang Qing said pitifully:
"Qing Lian doesn't blame him for being able to serve my uncle."
"What...what's more, he is Qing Lian's biological father."
Hearing this, Cao Bin immediately sat up straight and asked in surprise: "Is this old guy your biological father?"
Chang Qinglian shook his head and said: "He doesn't know my true identity..."
At this time, Xia Laodao walked in with a Buddhist scripture and said with a smile:
"Uncle, this woman's identity is not simple. The scripture in her hand seems to have been compiled by the Khitan Emperor not long ago."
