With Liu Muchiu's answer, Zhilian Mountain was completely in Zhang Rui's possession.
While Zhang Rui and Liu Muchiu were learning various data about the cottage, Liu Shitou and others followed Zhang Rui's orders, and each of the nine bandits suffered more than ten stab wounds to death.
The next thing Zhang Rui has to face is the bandits outside. The first to bear the brunt were the second master Zhong Wuliang and the fourth master Guo Jiatang, as well as the twenty-six subordinates they brought out. Sixteen of these bandits are experienced bandits.
"According to Liu Muchiu, they should be back in the next few days." Zhang Rui thought to himself.
Although this group of bandits seems to have much fewer people than Zhang Rui's bandit suppression team, fighting on the battlefield has never been determined by more people since ancient times. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, a few hundred officers and soldiers dared to confront a peasant army of tens of thousands, and a few dozen Qing soldiers dared to confront a Ming army of hundreds. This is not unreasonable.
His own anti-bandit team are all untrained villagers. Although they usually had some courage in fighting, there were no casualties.
Zhang Rui believed that once the number of casualties exceeded a certain number, the bandit suppressors would definitely retreat. The casualties will further increase by then.
An army that can fight to the last man like the Red Army of later generations is unlikely to appear in this era.
This group of bandits, who were much smaller in number, had enough fighting power to compete with villagers like myself who had just put down their hoes. Once his bandit suppression team fails to defeat them and retreats with a large number of casualties, then all of his efforts these days will be in vain.
The top priority is to step up the training of his bandit suppression team when these bandits return, and at the same time block the news that Zhilian Mountain has been captured by him.
They still don't know the situation of Zhilian Mountain being captured. It's the enemy in the open and I in the covert. Once they find out, they will join Zhou Tongtie and his gang of bandits. With so many bandits, the enemy is still in the dark and we are in the open, so everything will be difficult to deal with.
But before doing that, there is one more important thing to do—distributing the silver reward.
The reward silver is taken directly from the spare silver in the village. Zhang Rui also listed the specific rewards list one by one for Liu Muxiu, and asked Du Mu to help him prepare the silver reward.
After arranging the relevant matters in the village, Zhang Rui took four people back to Datong Village.
…
The sun is scorching in the sky, and the weather after noon is the hottest time of the day.
Zhang Rui and others returned quickly. In such hot weather, they were not in the mood of literati and poets traveling around.
When Zhang Rui and others returned to Li Si's house, they found that Li Laibao, the owner of the town's blacksmith shop, was sitting at Li Si's house waiting for his return. It turned out that Li Laibao had sent over the spear that Zhang Rui mentioned yesterday.
When settling the bill this time, Li Laibao still made a miscalculation and was short of two taels of silver. However, it did not affect the continued pleasant transactions between the two parties.
Although the long gun this time was rushed, the quality of the gun barrel had some flaws. However, the gun tip passed the test and there was no problem in killing the enemy. So Zhang Rui also placed an order for Li Laibao again: in three days, the place to get fifty long sticks would still be here in Datong Village.
Li Laibao happily accepted the order of one hundred taels. When I left, I promised Zhang Rui again and again that the quality and quantity would be guaranteed.
…
When he returned to the village this time, Zhang Rui never expected that the attention he received would rise to a new level again.
It is said that those who followed Zhang Rui in fights and got money were all praised by their women, and they all laughed from ear to ear. However, the men who did not go with Zhang Rui were scolded by their own women and became disgraced, making them depressed all day long.
So this time Zhang Rui returned to the village, the villagers came over and told Zhang Rui that as long as there was a fight, they would call him out no matter what. If they didn't call him out, they would look down on themselves. Even if there is no money to distribute, when people in one's own village fight, how can people from other villages take the lead?
Zhang Rui could only respond to the enthusiasm of the villagers one by one and expressed his gratitude to them for their enthusiasm.
With Zhang Rui's various praises and promises, the villagers were persuaded to go back one by one. Seeing the villagers' enthusiastic love for Zhang Rui, the team members of the anti-bandit team all felt that something was wrong with their faces.
Time flies by, the sun is already setting in the west, and it’s afternoon in a blink of an eye.
Zhang Rui decided to leave Li Si, Wu Lei and Li Niushi behind, and explain the relevant matters to them. At the same time, they were also given a reward of ten taels of silver each, and asked them to finish their farm work at home first.
When no one was aware, Zhang Rui led the remaining bandit suppression team members back to Zhilian Mountain Village.
…
The bright moon is in the sky, and the moonlight is like water. The sky is clear and cloudless, with stars dotted all over it.
That night, a grand feast was held at the mountain village.
A big pot of oily mutton soup, a big jar of wine, a big plate of lamb in sauce, a big plate of boiled chicken, a big plate of roast duck, and some vegetables and tofu to relieve the greasiness. These ingredients, cooked by the original chef of the cottage, exude an alluring aroma, making those who smell them salivate and want to swallow them immediately.
The servants of the cottage were busy serving food between the tables. After getting Zhang Rui's personal promise that as long as the remaining bandits were dealt with, he would let them go down the mountain and give them ten taels of silver each as wages, they are now extremely active in their work.
Everyone in the cottage can attend the dinner, including the seven women who were rescued from the dungeon. Because of the comfort and care provided by Mrs. Liu Muchiu and the maids, their mental state was much better at this time.
The whole dinner was still explained by eating like a wolf, even the bandits who turned over were no exception. Such a rich dinner is not something they can eat whenever they want. Normally, they can only have a full meal. Unless you are a master or an old gangster, you should eat meat according to the time and quantity.
When the dinner was approaching, facing the light of the torch, Zhang Rui said to everyone: "Has everyone eaten?"
"It's ready." Everyone replied in unison
"Are you ready to drink?"
"Drink." Everyone replied in unison again
"Okay, let's start giving out silver rewards now." He said and clapped his hands. At this time, six servants came out carrying three large boxes, placed them in front of Zhang Rui, and then left.
Zhang Rui opened the box, revealing the white money.
"Now the reward money begins. Anyone who hears the name now comes forward."
Zhang Rui's words made everyone excited. Especially the bandits who had defected, their worries that were still on their minds were now completely relieved.
"Sure enough, Sixth Brother is a man of his word."
Everything is new to them. This feeling is very strange. Although I can't describe it, I feel an unprecedented sense of security and comfort. And you don’t have to worry about being taken away by old gangsters even if you get the money like before.
…
These bandits haven't been able to understand what happened when they got the money. When Zhang Rui asked them if they wanted to leave or stay, all fifteen of them chose to stay without hesitation and said with confidence.
"No matter what happens in the future, I will stay and follow Brother Six."
