What, Huang Yi was beaten?
Yuan Yao could hardly believe that a mere member of the Peng family dared to use violence against a member of a family with a military position!
Don’t they know that Huang Yi works for me, Mr. Yuan?
Yuan Yao slammed the table, stood up and said angrily: "It depends on the owner to beat the dog. This Peng family is too presumptuous!"
"Call five hundred elite soldiers and lead me forward!"
It was summer flood season and the river water surged.
Yesterday, scouts reported that the bridges upstream and downstream of the Xiushui River had been washed away and damaged by the flood, and the Jindu crossing was also impassable due to the raging water.
Although Yuan Yao intended to bypass the Peng family, it seemed that only Dongjin Pavilion controlled by the Peng family could cross the entire Xiushui River.
As the commander of the former army, Huang Yi took a group of soldiers to Dongjin Pavilion early in the morning to investigate to see if the crossing bridge could carry the horse infantry and baggage convoys.
Yuan Bao was sent out by Yuan Yao yesterday to investigate Peng's power here.
On the way to Dongjin Pavilion, Yuan Bao also reported to Yuan Yao the results of his overt and covert investigation.
According to an eighty-year-old man, the Peng family was attached to Haihunhou's food town as early as when the first generation of Haihunhou moved here.
The first generation of Haihunhou, Liu He, the deposed Han emperor who was deposed by Huo Guang, initially had four thousand households.
Because Liu He's deposed emperor's status was really special, the imperial court ordered Haihun County and Haihun Kingdom to run in parallel, and the two were not under each other's control. In addition to the Haihun State Minister appointed by the imperial court, who has the responsibility to monitor Haihun Hou, the Haihun County Magistrate also secretly monitors Haihun Hou.
At this time, more than two hundred families with the surname Peng were incorporated into the food towns of Haihun Marquis State and were no longer under the governance of Haihun County.
But within a few years, Liu He was suddenly deprived of 3,000 households, and the Peng surname accounted for nearly 30% of the remaining 1,000 households. The Peng surnamed clan, who was well versed in the way of reporting to the group for warmth, suddenly rose to the top. The patriarch began to serve as the concubine and family minister of Haihunhou.
Because of the special preferential treatment given by the Han Dynasty to the Haihun Kingdom, the Haihun Kingdom basically did not need to pay taxes to the central government. On the contrary, it often received rewards from successive emperors.
After all, he got his throne from the Haihun Hou family, so being rewarded with treasures and money is really nothing.
This also led to the great archaeological discovery of later generations - the tomb of Haihunhou.
But for Peng, this is a rare development opportunity!
Ordinary households in counties and counties need to pay land taxes, capitation taxes and miscellaneous taxes every year. In many cases, the thirty-one tax will turn into a tithe.
But in the Kingdom of Haihunhou, there are so many treasures and money in Haihunhou's warehouse that they can't even spend them all! Or maybe there are no flowers in this remote place!
In short, Marquis Haihun doesn't care much about how much food, clothing, rent, and rent his kingdom can collect. Anyway, the food collected is enough.
As for Peng, who became the chief minister of the family, he would just take a piece of horseshoe gold from the warehouse and sell it every year, which would be enough to buy back several years of food.
Peng simply stopped collecting rent from other households in the food town, and immediately won the heartfelt support of all the people in the food town, and quickly secured his position as the Prime Minister of the family.
Other officials, including Prime Minister Haihun, saw that Peng could always bring in plenty of food from outside on the days when rent and taxes were collected, and they were happy that they no longer had to go to the trouble of organizing rent collection and tax collection.
Even many farmers who originally belonged to Haihun County privately approached the Peng clan leader and asked for personal attachment after hearing about it.
The Peng family accepted everything as ordered, although the county magistrate of Haihun soon discovered something was wrong. The number of Ding households under his rule was getting smaller and smaller year by year, while there were many more Ding households named Peng in Haihun out of thin air.
Although he knew what was going on, the Haihun County Magistrate had no law enforcement power over the Haihun Marquis State. After filing a lawsuit, there was no conclusive evidence. Those households who evaded taxes only had to insist that their surname was Peng and that they belonged to the Peng clan of the Haihun Marquis State. People, even the governor and governor, can't do anything to the Peng family.
After all, the Haihun County Chronicle clearly remembers that when one county was governed by two counties, all the Peng families in Haihun County were assigned to the Haihun Marquis. However, there have been no Peng families who have moved out in recent years, so in Haihun County, In Hun County, anyone with the surname Peng can only be from the Marquis of Haihun.
Relying on the special characteristics of the Haihun Kingdom, the Peng family became prosperous, and the size of the entire clan began to expand rapidly.
Although the Haihun Marquis Kingdom only lasted for four generations, and was abolished and re-confessed in the middle, the Peng family has always served as the family minister of the Haihun Marquises for all generations.
Until the 16th year of Yongyuan in the Eastern Han Dynasty, that is, in 104 AD, the Haihun Kingdom was completely abolished. The Peng family had grown to thousands of households. It was already a powerful family and a surname that the Haihun County magistrate could not afford to offend!
Although the Peng clan was incorporated into the jurisdiction of Haihun County, with the corruption and decline of the Han Dynasty, the Peng clan became even more unscrupulous, embezzling the population and occupying fertile land and mountains.
In the past ninety years, the Peng family has developed into a behemoth, with more than 10,000 clan households, which greatly exceeds the household registration under the jurisdiction of Haihun County.
These people don't know what the county magistrate is called, and they don't care about the reign of the state governor or the emperor. They only follow their own clan leader!
The Peng family even used their young men to build a city, Shangliao City, at the strategic location of Jidu in the north and south!
It is like a country within a country!
People coming and going must pay a river crossing fee to Peng in order to cross.
According to Yuan Bao, Huang Yi was slapped in public because he had a dispute with the Peng clan members who were guarding the bridge because he refused to pay the toll for crossing the river.
But Yuan Yao didn't believe it. No matter how powerful a local snake was, he couldn't help but know that he was a fierce dragon crossing the river, right?
There is no Gongqing noble family in Yuzhang County. Even if a powerful surname like the Peng family does not know the power of the wealthy noble family in the county, has it not even heard of the Runan Yuan family, the fourth generation and the third Duke?
Isn't it possible that even Yuan Shu, who is divided into one side and has tens of thousands of armors, is not afraid?
Or do you really think that a few country folk can resist thousands of armored and elite troops?
Yuan Yao didn't believe that there would be such a stubborn local snake who would slap a nobleman's son in public and offend the son of a prince who had thousands of soldiers behind him.
Therefore, Yuan Yao only thought that Huang Yi did not reveal his identity or acted too arrogantly and domineering, which was why he had conflicts with the Peng clan.
Passing by a pavilion, there is an inscription with the three characters "Dongjin Pavilion" written on it.
This place is in the southeast of Haihun County and has Jin Ferry, so it is named Dongjin Pavilion.
But the stone monument was already in a state of collapse, the house was in dilapidated condition, and the pavilion chiefs were missing.
Yuan Bao pointed not far away in the south: "Five miles ahead, we will reach the crossing bridge!"
Yuan Yao urged his horse to gallop forward, and led more than a dozen of his own riders to get rid of the large group of infantry and rush to the crossing bridge first.
The further we walked, the more pedestrians and convoys were on their way. When we reached the ferry bridge, there was already a long queue.
But Yuan Yao didn't see the crowd gathered together, nor did he see Huang Yi.
"Didn't you say that Huang Yi was detained by the Peng clan? Where is Huang Yi now?"
Yuan Bao scratched his head and looked around but did not see Huang Yi or the group of Yuan's soldiers.
He stood up on the horse again and looked towards Shangliao City in the distance, and asked suspiciously: "Is it possible that he was captured by the Peng family?"
"I'll take someone up to ask!" Yuan Bao said and immediately went up.
"Hold on!" Yuan Yao's ears were very sensitive, and he suddenly heard a cry for help.
Looking around in the blink of an eye, I saw Huang Yi and a dozen soldiers from Yuan, splashing in the river in the distance, shouting for help!
"There!" Yuan Yao's face instantly became extremely gloomy.
Even if Huang Yi offended this group of Peng clan members, there was no need to throw them into the river.
And even if you want to throw people into the water, you can just push them into the water from the shore. Why tie the people to the middle of the river in a boat and then throw them into the water?
Huang Yi and other soldiers who fell into the water suddenly saw a small sailboat next to them, with several young people on top still laughing wildly.
Yuan Yao squinted his eyes and saw the word "Peng" written on the sail of the ship!
At this moment, Yuan Bao quickly ordered to his men behind him: "If you know how to swim, quickly take off your clothes and armor and follow me into the river to save people!"
Although recent heavy rains have caused the Xiushui River to swell and become turbid and turbulent, fortunately, the Xiushui River diverts not far upstream here. The river is divided into two, winding and the water is relatively gentle.
This is also the reason why Peng built several wooden bridges here.
Ordinary floods can be diverted here, and it is difficult to damage the bridge.
And because the river is shallow and winding, the water flow will slow down and will not affect normal boating and ferry boating.
It is indeed an important place for ferrying!
Yuan Yao patted the horse and walked forward. The pedestrians in the queue were frightened by the horse's cry and were pushed away.
Everyone wanted to scold the person who jumped in line, but when they turned around and saw several cavalry wearing armor and holding swords, they immediately shut their mouths and gave way obediently.
The children of the Peng family at the bridge entrance were collecting bridge tolls one by one.
There are several dedicated people each holding a bamboo pole and measuring pedestrians according to their height and weight. If they are too tall or too fat, they will have to pay double the bridge toll.
There are also a few dedicated people counting the coins or weighing the grain and cloth used to pay for the money.
If the number was wrong, with a look, thugs would pull the person aside and beat him with fists and kicks.
And the man who was counting the coins felt like his hands were cramping from counting the coins.
Suddenly, there was a commotion among the crowd at the entrance of the bridge, with some pushing and cursing. Someone accidentally stumbled and threw the man who was counting the coins to the ground.
The man counting the money was furious and immediately shouted: "How dare the little thief steal the money?"
"You, Uncle Peng, don't know how to fish in troubled waters?"
"Hold his hands down!"
The man from the Peng family on the other side immediately grabbed the man tightly, ignoring the man's cries of begging for mercy and apologizing, and directly pressed his hands to the ground.
The man counting the money took out the saber from his waist and started to chop.
But before the knife fell, a black shadow appeared in front of his eyes, and then there was a burning pain on his face.
The man was in pain and took a few steps back. The pain was so severe that he dropped the knife in his hand.
Looking up, he saw a young man in fine clothes, holding a riding crop in his hand, looking at him with an extremely cold look.
"If you dare to resort to lynching in broad daylight, I will be beaten!"
"How dare you slap you, Uncle Peng Bao? You are so tired of living!"
Peng Bao was so angry that he picked up his sword and went forward to chop it off.
Peng Bao? The name is so uncreative? Zhang Bao, Zheng Bao, Yuan Bao, and Peng Bao, the four treasures of the study?
Yuan Yao was too lazy to pay attention to Peng Bao, who was charging at him with a knife. Someone would help him deal with the trouble.
A pro rider stepped forward on his horse and simply wiped Peng Bao's neck.
Blood spurted several meters away, splashing all over everyone.
"Assaulting the imperial captain is the same as conspiracy to commit treason! Ask him to be executed on the spot!"
Although Yuan Yao did not kill the person, Yuan Yao could only say the pretentious words.
But no audience paid attention to Yuan Yao's words. Everyone looked at Peng Bao who was kneeling on the ground and dying with an expression of disbelief.
How dare someone kill someone from the Peng family?
How dare someone kill Peng Bao, the fourth young master of the Peng family?
After a while, someone among the people who were queuing up to cross the bridge shouted: "Killed!"
"Run quickly, the Peng family is dead!"
Then they all ran back, leaving only Yuan Yao at the bridge entrance and a few riders around him, as well as a dozen Peng family disciples who had not yet recovered from their stunned state.
Yuan Yao looked at these people and couldn't help but wonder, were these Peng family members scared, or did they not expect that people would die?
Indeed, no one among the Peng family could have imagined that someone from the Peng family and the Peng family would actually be killed?
You know, this was the last time since the last time a Peng family member was killed.
Which time did it happen? Why can't I remember it for a moment?
By the way, the last time was ten years ago!
Some bandits from Liling Mountain crossed the border to kill people and buy goods. As a result, they lost their way and went to the wrong place. They mistakenly killed a farmer who was attached to the Peng family.
Although the next day, the leader of this group of bandits knew that he had killed the wrong person, so he quickly led people to kidnap the lost guys, and apologized to Peng with generous gifts to admit his mistake.
But before he could lead his people to Shangliao, Peng had already sent people to destroy the bandits' lair.
The foolish head of the family knelt down and kowtowed under Shangliao City to admit his mistake. Peng Cai, the eldest young master of the Peng family, just ordered the heads of hundreds of men, women, and children to be thrown off the tower.
And said to the big boss, if you recognize ten of the more than one hundred heads, I will let you go.
The big boss picked up the bloody heads on the ground and saw that they were all his brother Pao Ze. Even the heads of his sixty-year-old mother and a pair of three-year-old children were thrown in front of him.
The head of the family collapsed on the spot and scolded Peng Cai for not being benevolent and righteous, for bringing harm to his wife and children, and for being worse than a beast. Even if he turned into a ghost, he would avenge his parents, wife, children, brothers!
Peng Cai kept his word. When he saw that the master called out more than ten people to avenge them, he kept his promise and let the master go.
He only asked his younger brother Peng Hu to shoot everyone else under the city tower one by one, leaving the headmaster alone to let go.
Two days after the big boss escaped, he was beheaded by another group of water pirates who wanted to attach themselves to the Peng family and brought them back as a gift to the Peng family.
Peng Cai was furious and sent Peng Hu to kill all the water pirates and hang their bodies upside down at the Shangliao City ferry for people to watch.
Peng Cai declared that he had made a huge promise, and he would kill anyone who dared to break his oath!
This is the whole story of what happened when a member of the Peng clan was killed ten years ago.
In short, after Peng Cai, the eldest son of the Peng family, came of age, no one dared to lay a finger on the Peng clan for ten years!
But today, a stunned young man suddenly appeared!
I don't know how long it took, but just when Yuan Yao thought that these Peng clan members were frightened and would run away immediately.
These Peng family disciples all drew out their sabers and swords, picked up axes and spears on the ground, and rushed toward Yuan Yao and the others with strange screams.
He looks so brave and unafraid of death!
