"Is it difficult to walk on the road?" Feng Haijiao asked after waiting for the servants to clear away the leftover food and replace it with tea.
Bi Xuansheng had just been eating and drinking, but now he came back to his senses and gasped: "What a close call! I almost lost my life!"
"Is it so dangerous?!" Feng Haijiao knew from the look on his face that this journey would not be peaceful, "Don't be anxious, tell me slowly."
Bi Xuansheng ate and drank for a while and regained his energy. Only then did he tell the truth about his contact this time.
When he left Qinglianwei, he was still dressed as a scholar and took a dozen or so servants with him without concealing his identity. However, after only half a day's journey, he encountered the "Joint Patrol Team". At first, Bi Xuansheng didn't take it seriously, thinking that it was a local hero who was under the command of some local powerful man. With Bi Xuansheng's identity, there was no need to be afraid, and he could just say hello. When I got closer, I realized that although the opponent was local, there was also a small group of Australian soldiers mixed in.
At this time, the distance between the two sides was only more than a hundred feet, and the men led by Bi Xuansheng were still wearing Feng Haijiao's uniforms. The local Yong shouted and rushed up to capture them. Bi Xuansheng rode his horse and ran away first. Finally, he was not "captured alive". However, most of his men were captured and only a few escaped.
"Which family? Are you so bold?" Feng Haijiao was surprised. Although the situation has taken a turn for the worse in the past few days, as far as the surrounding area is concerned, the powerful people have not publicly broken up with him, and now some people are directly attacking his troops!
"I didn't see clearly which family's men and horses, but on the left are the powerful and powerful families from the surrounding families." Bi Xuansheng shook his head with a wry smile, "Now, not only the National Army is patrolling the county, but also the heroes of the major families are coming out. There are notices posted everywhere…”
"Notice? What notice?" Feng Haijiao asked hurriedly.
"Here." Bi Xuansheng pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his arms, "I asked my men to pull it from the market."
Feng Haijiao opened it and saw that it was a proclamation from the female county magistrate. Speaking of which, this was considered a reward notice, because it clearly stated a reward for him and the main gang leaders under his command, including Bi Xuansheng, Zhan Zhekun, Xin Laonan and others, not one of them, but all of them were listed on it. Densely packed, there are thirty or forty names.
Looking at the rewards again, Feng Haijiao was so angry that he, the three hegemons of Yangshan, and the Liman female county magistrate only offered a reward of three taels and five cents of silver. Not only that, he also ranked second, behind Zhan Zhekun. Behind: The reward is four taels of silver. The next ones are nothing more than one tael, two taels, and the lowest is only five yuan. Bi Xuansheng was actually rewarded with three taels of silver.
"Master, don't read the reward, please read the text." Bi Xuansheng reminded him quickly when he saw him gritting his teeth as he stared at the wanted list.
Feng Haijiao hurriedly read the text. It turned out that "a reward is offered for arrest, regardless of life or death" was only the first article of the notice. There were several more articles that followed, all of which were directed at the local big businessmen. They were asked to "rectify the Baojia and conduct patrols day and night" and strictly prohibited " "Collaborating with bandits" not only strictly prohibits wealthy households from having any dealings with bandits themselves, but also their families, relatives, tenants, slaves... as long as there is evidence of having any dealings with bandits, the whole family will be prosecuted for being "collaborating with bandits": severe cases include beheading and confiscation of family property. Exile the "evil soldiers from far away states" and punish them with light fines and work penalties.
The second article is for the gangsters themselves. It tells the ordinary gangsters who are willing to abandon the dark side and turn to the bright side. If you can bring the whereabouts or head of the gang leader, there will be rewards.
Feng Haijiao watched all the way, and the more he looked, the more shocked he became. He didn't care about the reward, but the following items made it clear that he wanted the local big business to "cut off ties" with him, which dug his roots.
Since ancient times, the relationship between gangsters and big business has always been quite delicate. Especially in remote mountainous areas like Lianyang, bandits and big families are not only "secretly connected", sometimes they are also "allies": in common local clan and local tribes fighting, big families often hire bandits to increase their combat effectiveness. , gangsters are also willing to act as thugs for big families, thereby obtaining additional income, safe havens and channels for transportation to the government. In particular, the large quantities of grain, cloth, and salt needed by the bandits were almost all supplied by large households that collaborated with the bandits.
These articles issued by the Australians were worded harshly - the most important thing is that they took advantage of the power of the Dalangwei World War. No big family in the county dared not to take their words seriously: Sun Dabiao's family's heads were all hung up. Still sitting.
No wonder the first thing Bi Xuansheng did was to show him the notice. This is a matter of life and death!
He shook his head, put the notice on the oil lamp and burned it, and then asked: "Have you seen Mr. Zhan?"
"I saw it," Bi Xuansheng said, "I and my followers didn't dare to go on the main road, so we only took a detour - hell, even the small roads were full of village warriors from big families. There were people on guard in every village and every village. When someone approaches, I will beat the gong and summon the local warriors for questioning. Finally, I brought a lot of dry food, so I didn’t starve to death..."
Feng Haijiao was not interested in listening to his story of adventures and interrupted him: "What did Mr. Zhan say?"
"Master Zhan means the same thing as I said last time. Please give up Qinglianwei immediately and join forces with him with your troops before making further calculations. The terrain of Xinjiazhuang is dangerous and easy to defend but difficult to attack. Kun Thief Yi Time will not go there..."
"I know that Zhuangzi in Xinlaonan is very dangerous, but Zhuangzi is a place as big as the palm of your hand. Where can we live with hundreds of brothers and family members?"
"We can only ask everyone to build a shack to deal with it. There is no danger in Qinglianwei." Bi Xuansheng advised, "The Kun thieves have a strong naval force on the river. They control all waterways, and the ships can be used at will." Back and forth. If the Kun thieves attack by land and water, we will not be able to withstand it..."
Although so far, the Australian fleet and patrol boats have only reached the county town and have not yet gone up to the Qinglianwei area. But uplinking to the local area is just a matter of time.
Qinglianwei is surrounded by water on three sides, and Feng Haijiao's ability to stay here depends entirely on the power of the water. However, the Australian gunboats are a hundred times more powerful than their own rowing boats. If Bi Xuansheng said it true and the Australians advance by land and water, Qinglianwei will be the best!
Thinking of this, Feng Haijiao sat down in the Grand Master's chair and remained silent for a long time.
Bi Xuansheng knew that these words had moved him, and he secretly admired Mr. Zhan's clever calculations, so he followed what Zhan Zhekun had taught him beforehand and said: "I looked at the place in Xinjiazhuang. Zhuangzi is smaller, but there is more land on the mountain. There are few people, so we can first build a shack for a few months, and then slowly build a house - the brothers will naturally have a place to live..."
Feng Haijiao trembled, and he remembered: Xin Laonan's village was very small, with only about twenty households: either his relatives or his cronies. There were only about twenty people among them. Zhan Zhekun and Bi Xuansheng came to Yangshan and brought more than thirty followers with them. In other words, there are currently less than a hundred people in Xinjiazhuang...
He immediately recalled the appearance of Xinjiazhuang: he had been to this place many years ago, and his impression was already very vague. But I probably remember that it was among the mountains. Zhuangzi was on the flat land at the top of the mountain. To go up the mountain, you had to go through a rugged mountain road, and there were several dangerous passes on the way. It does have the meaning of "one man can block the barrier and ten thousand men can't open it".
There are dozens of acres of fields on the top of the mountain with water sources. I also stocked up on a lot of food and grass and took it all up the mountain, where hundreds of people could hide there and eat and drink without any worries. No matter how powerful the thief is, he can't pull the cannon up the steep mountain road...
Feng Haijiao was moved. As long as he brought his troops to Xinjiazhuang, Xinjiazhuang would be named "Feng". Even if Zhan, Xin, Bi and others had any complaints, they would not dare to make a mistake - if they really disobeyed, they would all be slaughtered! Xin Laonan has been doing robberies in Lianjiang for many years, so he probably has a lot of good things.
Thinking of this, Feng Haijiao nodded and said solemnly: "It seems that this is the only way!" He shook his head pretending to be sad and sighed: "What a pity, Qinglianwei is the capital of my fortune, and now I have to Throw it to the thieves!" After saying that, he squeezed out a few tears.
Bi Xuansheng advised: "Master, please don't be sad. A man is capable of bending and stretching. Now let's go to the mountain to avoid the limelight. When the imperial army counterattacks, Master, when I come down from the mountain, Qinglianwei will return to Zhao intact?"
Although it was an empty talk, Feng Haijiao found it useful and said with a smile: "Master Bi is indeed a scholar, he is so good at talking!"
"Wherever we are, we all have to rely on the master's blessings." Bi Xuansheng said respectfully, "Sooner or later, this Yangshan will not belong to the master?"
Feng Haijiao pretended to be coy, and immediately ordered the leaders of the various gangs and the gangsters in charge to pack their belongings, collect food, grass, gold and silver, and prepare for the whole gang to retreat to Xinjiazhuang.
However, it is not easy to escape. Feng Haijiao has been in Qinglianwei for many years, and there are two to three hundred family members of the gangsters living there. Including those who have joined in recent months, there are five to six hundred people. There were also many women and children among them. Bring supplies and accessories. Xinjiazhuang is seventy or eighty miles away from here, and most of it is a mountain road. Since my team has family members and a lot of supplies, it is considered good if they can walk twenty miles a day. Even if everything goes smoothly, it will take at least four or five days to get there. If they were attacked on the way, such a team with their families and their families would be defeated in an instant.
After much thought, he decided that he could only risk taking the waterway connecting the Yangtze River and avoid encountering Australian patrol boats, which would save half of the road. Once in the mountains, it would not be easy for the Australians to intercept them.
So while he ordered the ships to be prepared, he also sent people to monitor key points along the river near the county seat. Once he discovered that an Australian ship was coming to Qinglianwei, he would immediately light a beacon to call the police.
"If that doesn't work, then take the night boat." His men suggested.
It is extremely unsafe to sail at night. Neither locals nor Australians sail at night. Feng Haijiao has been "draining on the water" all year round and is very familiar with the hydrological and geographical conditions of Lianjiang River, so he can barely make the risky night voyage.
"That's it!" Feng Haijiao said, "Send the order and tell everyone to pack up and prepare to move!"
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