Chapter 47 Backlash
The common people who came back with Mr. Yan wanted to follow the county seat at first, but were stopped by General Li's troops. The reason is irrefutable: who knows if there are thieves’ spies among the crowd, and they can take advantage of the chaos to sneak in and attack the officers and soldiers! The person who made the loudest noise is the one who is the most suspicious and needs to be taken away for further investigation!
A few people in the crowd took the lead in making noise unwillingly, and were dragged out by General Li's soldiers and taken away for interrogation. Seeing that the officers and soldiers were actually arresting people, the people who had been agitated just now shut up and retreated. Yes, everyone is unlucky, but don't catch me. The interrogation was very efficient. In the time it took half a stick of incense, several soldiers picked up the heads with long poles and announced: These are all thieves who have done their work carefully. They have all confessed in person and have been executed on the spot!
Master Yan climbed onto a cart and made a loud and clear promise to the people: Please go back to your homes, don't be incited by the rebels, and have faith in the court! I am an official with a salary from the imperial court. As a parent, I will definitely make decisions for the people.
The people then dispersed one after another, and Lord Yan led his hundred or so people, proudly entered the city to find Li Changfa and his general.
Li Changfa was shocked and a little scared when he saw Yan Wenlong.
General Li is not afraid that local civil servants will settle accounts with him - no matter how long his arms are, Yan'an Prefecture cannot control Yulin Prefecture, and besides, he has brought troops here to help you "suppress bandits"! What's the matter, a dog bites Lu Dongbin, doesn't he know a good heart? Mr. Xiao will never stand idly by in a lawsuit like this! What's more, how could Lord Yan, who is a fifth-grade magistrate and co-magistrate, be so stupid as to make trouble for himself for a few dead people?
What Li Changfa was afraid of was that since officials from the Yan'an Prefecture had already arrived in Yanchuan, someone should have arrived earlier in Yanchang - it was much easier to go down the river from Yanshui than to go over the mountains and over the mountains by land. If order has been restored in Yanchang, the benefits of this trip will be reduced by half - Master Xiao and Deputy Commander Wu will never forgive themselves for this!
So he reorganized his troops and horses as quickly as possible, leaving one of his battalions to escort the loot to Yulin, while the other three battalions prepared to rush to Yanchang with semi-light equipment. Semi-lightly equipped means that each soldier carries three days of rations, his livestock and his women. It is not only impossible for the soldiers to leave the latter two behind, but it is also likely to cause a collective mutiny. Even though General Li Shen had hardly fought with real swords and guns, he had been in charge of the army for many years, so this truth couldn't be clearer.
As expected, Mr. Yan was very knowledgeable. When they met, he didn't say a word that was embarrassing. He first thanked General Li for his generous help, and then expressed his gratitude that he could fill in his name in the memorial of "Great Victory" to prove it - this was done by Mr. Yan himself. Witnessing General Li unleashing his mighty bloody charge to crush the rogue bandits, let’s see which villain in the court dares to chew his tongue!
Of course, Li Changfa was loyal enough. He modestly stated that his modest victory could not have been achieved without the selfless support and help of Lord Yan and other local officials. Not only did he reward the warriors who charged and killed the enemy with silver taels, which greatly stimulated morale, but also organized local officials. The people transported grain and grass to raise supplies, thus ensuring this hard-won victory. Yulin Mansion's good news to the Holy Emperor will definitely record this contribution in a colorful way to Master Yan and all of you! The people in the local area are also good. They use everything they have to help the government and army suppress thieves. This is because Master Yan has taught them well in daily life - Master Yan said the word "destroy the family to relieve the trouble" in time, fearing that The illiterate General Li couldn't remember it at the time, so he wrote it down in his own hand. Li Changfa took the matter into his arms solemnly, and then expressed on behalf of Magistrate Xiao that Yulin Mansion would definitely support Mr. Yan's reasonable request to apply to the court for exemption from land tax.
After the scene was finished, both sides agreed on the same tone and felt relieved, so they said goodbye.
Most of the people outside the city have dispersed. Although everyone hopes that Mr. Yan can make decisions for the people, they also want to go home first and see how destroyed it is. By the time the crowd gathered again to look for Master Yan, Li Changfa's team had already gone dozens of miles away.
Mr. Yan went up to the court in an amiable manner, saying that he would not let down the trust of the people, and that he would throw away this black gauze hat - oh, okay, he only remembered that he was wearing a square scarf when he raised his hand, so he took advantage of the opportunity to stroke a few strands of his beard. , and then slapped the gavel hard, expressing his firm determination - he will definitely seek justice for everyone! The people were deeply moved by Master Yan's sonorous words, and calls of "Master Qingtian" resounded through the sky one after another.
Several old men disagreed and shook their heads and said it was useless, but they were unanimously scolded by everyone: "Are you blind? Look at Master Yan's sincere words and firm attitude!"
Believe in the court!
Master Yan asked for orders for the people, and of course he had to make detailed statistics on the losses of each family. Don't be anxious, everyone, come one by one. Not to mention Master, Mr. Yan and other adults will personally go into battle whenever they have time, listen to the people's cries one by one, and record them in detail. Finally, they will read them word for word, check that they are correct, and then let the sufferer draw the signature. Please politely invite the next person...
Two days later, someone finally understood: It will probably be next spring when Mr. Yan finishes counting the grievances of tens of thousands of people and compiling them into a book!
But Mr. Yan’s reasons are absolutely irrefutable - how can one redress his injustice if he doesn’t understand the reasons? You can't just grab any military master and say, "Give me justice!"
This is called making trouble unreasonably. There must be thieves behind it, and they will be prosecuted and severely punished!
Right? Therefore, the only way is for you to complain, I will record it, then report it, and wait for a reply.
The people dispersed crying again.
Several old men shook their heads: "Don't count on extravagant wealth. If you have lost a woman, you should look for it yourself, collect some money, and extend it. When the military men get there, it's time to replace a group of women. With luck, there will be more women. There is a chance for redemption.”
Li Changfa hurried on in a hurry, but was still a step late. By the time the team reached the outskirts, Mo Hantao had already "recovered" the two-day extension.
Anyone else would have had no choice but to return in frustration at this time, but Magistrate Xiao and Deputy Commander Wu could safely let General Li take on this important task independently - is General Li Changfa an ordinary person?
The south of the city was blocked by Yanshui. Li Changfa placed three battalions in the west, north, and east directions of Yanchang to form an encirclement. He only brought a few dozen personal guards into the city to visit Lord Mo.
Mr. Mo was really surprised when he saw General Li: You, a Yulin general, have come all the way to our Yan'an mansion. Are your arms stretched a little too long? Normally, Mr. Mo wouldn't even look at a general, let alone a military officer in a foreign government. However, the current situation is chaotic, and if something unexpected happens, it will be a trouble that no one can explain. So, the greeting was lukewarm. However, General Li didn't seem to notice it at all. He said carelessly that since the adults from Yan'an Mansion have come over, it seems that he has nothing to do. He will rest for the night and return tomorrow.
Since he said so and he still had the order from the Dusi Mansion in his hand, Mo Hantao had nothing to say. In the evening, I asked someone to prepare some dishes, and I drank a few drinks with General Li nervously. During the dinner, I secretly stuffed a small bag into General Li, saying that two hundred taels should not be too little, and I would buy some drinks for the brothers to quench their thirst on the way. Li Changfa refused with righteousness, saying that everyone was loyal to the Holy Emperor, and suppressing bandits and bringing peace to the people was their own business, and this was definitely not allowed.
If he hadn't been a long-time official, Mr. Mo wouldn't have believed General Li's heroic words. Mr. Mo had already sent people to check the garrison situation of General Li Shen's troops. When he fell asleep, he sighed in his heart: Those villages should be destroyed - fortunately, the thief Gu Baihua did not cause much harm to the countryside or the city. , seeing the government troops approaching, many people from the surrounding suburbs fled to the city.
When fire broke out everywhere in the city in the middle of the night, General Li, dressed in gold armor and like a god, led four personal guards straight to Lord Mo's bedroom and shouted: "The thieves attack at night, protect Lord!" Mo Hantao then understood. Come here: I underestimate this general!
Mr. Mo made a formal request to General Li on the spot: On behalf of the Yan'an Prefecture and the people of this area, I sincerely request the general's help to enter the city and put an end to the invaders!
Um. That's right.
Otherwise, in vain, if a "thief" breaks into the government office and kills the court official, this is not completely impossible! Moreover, if something unexpected happens to Mr. Mo... Now the biggest official in Yanchang County is General Li. Needless to say, he can only be responsible for solving the case and chasing the murderer!
In the next two days, Yanchang County was thoroughly cleaned.
Although he arrived a little late, Li Changfa's harvest was more than three times more than that of Yanchuan - the food and settling-in allowance given by Gu Baihua to recruit soldiers were a mountain of ironclad evidence of being "complicit in thieves"!
Faced with the ferocious military master, the common people rushed to testify which neighbors had received benefits from the thieves. Of course, these neighbors could not escape the disaster, but the testifiers themselves, after other families were destroyed, would naturally become the focus of the next round of "searches". .
Want to avoid disaster by biting someone? Haha, the pattern is broken - of course the one bitten will be unlucky, but when those unlucky ghosts can no longer squeeze out money, who should the officials look for next? Figure it out for yourself!
The only hiccup was that Zhong Ayi's good luck came to an end in the extension.
I had almost grabbed it, and I was about to return to camp with my men in the evening. I passed by an alley and glanced inadvertently. I saw that the door of a courtyard inside was open and the gate was gone. Although this meant that he had been robbed by others at least once, Zhong Ayi, who was still not satisfied, hesitated and turned in.
The yard is not big, only two families live there. Zhong Ayi had long been accustomed to the people's begging on their knees, and he was a little too arrogant. He gestured to his subordinates to go to the west room, and then he kicked open the door of the east room and broke in. The east room has two rooms, an inner one and an outer one. On the ground floor of the outer room are crushed baskets, broken scale beams and messes all over the floor. It looks like they are a small business owner, with an old man and an old woman looking at him in horror. The door curtain of the inner room must have been torn off, and now it is barely covered with a rag hung on the lintel. Hearing the movement outside and a few soft sounds coming from the inner room, Zhong Ayi was happy: If a man lived in the inner room, who would need to hang this broken curtain? He lifted his feet and walked inside. As expected, the old man and the old woman both knelt down, holding Zhong Ayi's legs and begging while kowtowing. Zhong Ayi had seen this attitude many times, and he put a kick in the heart of the old woman, so the old man let go and shook the old woman.
Zhong Ayi pulled off the rag. Sure enough, there was a young man and woman inside, about seventeen or eighteen years old. Obviously, this is a family of four, an old couple and a young couple. Zhong Ayi became even more happy: the guys who came earlier were still young, they only robbed money and spared people. Pooh! These days, whoever has good intentions is a fool, everything matters! Zhong Ayi pointed a knife at his young husband and threatened him to go into the yard. At this moment, he seemed to hear something was wrong behind him. Before he could completely turn his head, the weight in the old man's hand hit him hard on the temple. !
The young husband was standing in front of his wife, protecting her slightly bulging belly. When Zhong Ayi fell down, he saw his mother lying upright on the ground of the outhouse with eyes wide open. With red eyes, he snatched the tightly held scissors from his wife's hand, stepped over Zhong Ayi, and pinched her chest hard! Zhong Ayi, who had a large piece of his temple collapsed, opened his mouth and struggled silently. The stern look in his eyes had long since turned into pleading, but he knew in his heart: it was too late.
The struggle became weaker and weaker, and Zhong Ayi gradually became motionless, with his head tilted to the side, and a tear slowly flowed from the corner of his eye, which was almost exactly the same as the death of Lao Liangtou. There were more than a dozen holes in his body, and blood was pouring out.
There was a loud commotion at the neighbor's house to the west. The elder and the younger looked at each other, and the younger handed the scissors back to his wife. The father and son looked out and saw that the noise from the other side was even louder.
The father and son tiptoed out of the house and walked into the kitchen on the south side. When they came out again, one person was carrying a kitchen knife and the other was holding a rolling pin. Just as I walked to the door of the West House, I bumped into my neighbor. The neighbors were a couple in their forties. The woman was crying in the house, and the man came out. In his hand was the knife of the soldier who had just broken in. Blood was dripping from the knife.
That night, three men from two families were busy in the kitchen all night, and Zhong Ayi and his men disappeared. The floor in the kitchen felt like it had been turned over, and it felt a little weak when you stepped on it. The water in the well in the yard was very muddy - experienced men all know that it will be like this if you throw a lot of excavated soil into it.
In fact, it turned out later that both families had worried too much, and no one came here to check anything at all.
When the team officer discovered that Zhong Ayi had not returned to the camp that night, he naturally reported it to the battalion officer, who also reported it to Li Changfa. However, when General Li arrived here, he did not remember the three words "Zhong Ayi" in his mind. They were just one of a line of numbers that the master wrote down afterwards: three people from a certain battalion were missing in Yanchuan and five were missing in Yanchang.
Don't look at Zhong Ayi who claimed to be an official and a soldier when he was alive and represented the imperial court with majesty in front of the people. From Li Changfa to the battalion officer, no one cared about him at all and didn't even know his name at all: Zhong Ayi doesn't care about you, Zhong Buyi is just a nobody. What a heartless bastard, a talking tool!
Privately, everyone guessed that this guy had robbed enough and took advantage of the chaos to escape. He publicly reported his sacrifice in suppressing bandits - and that would come with a pension! Who can have trouble with money? The old rule is, wait until the batch is approved and everyone will divide it. The only thing that makes General Li Shen a little regretful is that these people are really lost. Otherwise, this kind of head will definitely be able to exchange for a level of decapitation skills and get double money!
The happiest person was Huang San, who was promoted to Xiaoqi Officer. I thought to myself: Don’t this guy suddenly show up to take back his position again! If you see him, you must definitely confirm that he is a deserter and kill him with a knife!
The "suppression of bandits" work was successfully concluded, General Li Shen came to say goodbye in high spirits, and Mo Hantao, who had been always on tenterhooks, finally felt relieved. When General Li solemnly handed over the confiscated one thousand taels of "thief's stolen goods" to Master Mo, Master Mo regretted his naivety: Why didn't he let the river water wash the boat? If he had enlightened himself early and openly invited General Li to the city to suppress the bandits upon meeting him, would there be any need to scare himself half to death? Needless to say, there will definitely be hundreds more taels of "thief's stolen goods"!
Well, that’s what I’ll have to do next time. This is valuable experience.
Mr. Mo, who has read the books of sages and sages, naturally understands the principle of giving me peaches in return for Qiong Yao. So the two adults reread the conversation between Yanchuan and Yan, and General Li also patted his chest again and said that in the future, Yulin Mansion's success report to the Holy Emperor will definitely not forget to write down the great support of Mr. Mo. …
When General Li waved his weapon and marched westward, Master Mo also rose to the throne just like Master Yan and began to investigate the grievances of the people in a rigorous manner.
