Hundreds of spears stood in the sky, and the proud and motionless team of 300 people stood neatly in two rows, which made the scalps of those who saw it numb, and their hearts seemed to be weighed down by a huge mountain, and even breathing became difficult.
"Xiao Tou." When a villager saw Xiao Hu, he quickly called out.
Xiao Hu took a few steps to go behind a courtyard wall on the west side and asked in a low voice: "How is the situation with the bandits outside?"
"There is no attack for the time being." Zhuang Ding said, "I am afraid that the group of bandits outside are not pretending to be frontier troops. Such a well-organized team is rare among frontier troops. We, Zhuangzi, may not be able to defend it."
Xiao Hu lay on the edge of the wall and took a look outside.
Under the remaining light of the setting sun, a long line of bandits stood neatly a stone's throw away, with spears like a forest. The whole team was as motionless as a mountain, which was daunting.
Xiao Hu slowly retracted his head behind the courtyard wall and cursed in a low voice: "Damn it, when did the bandits become so strong? If you don't know, you think they are the army!"
A villager said eagerly: "Xiao Tou, you should have an idea. With just us and the tenant farmers who only know how to play with hoes, we can't stop the gangsters outside."
"What the hell do I have in mind?" Xiao Hu cursed angrily, and then said, "Wait until those gangsters attack. If we can't stop us, we'll escape. Our brothers can't be buried with that old man Zheng." .”
At this time, Liu Heng walked in front of the three hundred refugee recruits and stood a stone's throw away from Zhengjiazhuang.
"Archer!"
Following Liu Heng's shout, more than fifty archers quickly ran out from the direction of the forest and came to the front of the battle formation of hundreds of refugee recruits. They knelt on the ground, pulled out the bowstring, and aimed their arrows in the direction of Zhengjiazhuang.
The appearance of the archer startled Xiao Hu, who was lying behind the courtyard wall.
There are only a dozen archers in Zhengjiazhuang, but the bandits outside have more than fifty archers.
He had also been in the frontier army. He could tell whether the people outside the village were real archers by pulling the bowstring. Although the distance was a bit far, he could still vaguely tell that the longbows in the hands of the bandit archers were mostly of the military standard. longbow.
After recognizing these things, he became more and more certain that this group of bandits was extraordinary. If the clothes of the bandits were not so tattered, he almost thought that the people outside Zhuangzi were not bandits at all, but elites of the border army.
"People in Zhuangzi, listen up." Liu Heng shouted towards Zhengjiazhuang, "We are here to ask for money. Food and money will do. As long as we collect enough money to buy our lives, my people will leave immediately and will not disturb them." Your land, if not, the chickens and dogs of Zhengjiazhuang will not be left alive."
Liu Heng raised his right hand.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
The three hundred refugee recruits behind him shouted in unison.
At the same time, torches lit up in the forest a little further behind, and a long fire dragon appeared in the forest.
The shadows of the trees are thick, and there are a mixture of human figures in the middle of the forest. The torches are lit only after seven or eight steps. Looking from the direction of Zhengjiazhuang, it seems that the forest is densely packed with people.
When Xiao Hu, who was lying behind the courtyard wall, saw this, he was so frightened that he fell to the ground, muttering to himself: "It's over, Zhengjiazhuang is over, there are so many robbers..."
A village man holding a bow on the side said tremblingly: "Xiao, Xiaotou, that group of bandits said they came to seek wealth. Do you want to talk to the master and spend money to eliminate disasters?"
No one is willing to fight against the bandits. People will die in the battle. There are many enemies inside and outside the village, and there is no chance of victory.
"Yes, yes, spend money to eliminate disasters." Xiao Hu slapped his thigh and said, "You guys keep an eye here while I go see the master."
He got up and ran towards Master Zheng's house in large strides.
The shouts of killing just now filled the entire Zhuangzi. When Master Zheng, who was sitting in the study, heard about it, he hurriedly asked Butler She to come out to inquire about the situation.
Butler She, who had just walked out of the courtyard, saw Xiao Hu coming towards him and hurriedly walked over.
"What's going on with the gangsters outside the village? Have they already attacked Zhuangzi?"
"Is there anything else?" Xiao Hu shook his head and asked, "Where is the master?"
"In the study." Butler She pointed back to the direction of the study in the yard behind him.
Xiao Hu walked straight towards the study without saying a word, with Butler She following closely behind.
Pushing open the door of the study room, the two of them saw a fat butt exposed under the Grand Master's chair opposite the door, pouting and crawling under the chair.
The sound of the study door opening made Mr. Zheng panic under the chair. As he crawled inside, he cried: "Don't kill me, don't kill me..."
Xiao Hu and Butler She looked at each other. Butler She stepped forward quickly and pulled Master Zheng out of the chair while saying, "Master, don't be afraid, it's me and Xiao Zhuangtou."
Master Zheng turned his head and opened his eyes and took a sneak peek. He found that it was indeed Butler She. The other person standing in front of the door was Xiao Hu. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief and slowly crawled out from under the Taishi chair with the help of Butler She. Turn over and sit on the ground.
"Xiao, Xiao Hu, were those bandits beaten away by our villagers?"
Butler She helped Master Zheng stand up from the side and sit on the Grand Master's chair.
Xiao Hu said with a bitter look on his face: "Master, that group of bandits are still outside Zhuangzi. The young man leading them asked us to prepare money and food for them in exchange for their voluntary withdrawal."
After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Hu added: "Master, that group of bandits outside are probably frontier troops pretending to be soldiers. The longbows used by the archers are all standard longbows in the army, and there will not be less than a thousand people coming." .”
"These damn Qiu Ba actually dare to have an idea of Zhengjiazhuang. Damn it, they all deserve to be killed." Master Zheng cursed through gritted teeth, "Steward She, prepare some paper and ink for me. I want to write a letter to my virtuous son-in-law in Tianchengwei. Let him find out which group of Qiu Ba pretended to be bandits and came to my Zhengjiazhuang to rob."
Butler She on the side advised: "Sir, please calm down. Water from afar cannot quench your thirst. Now the bandits have surrounded our village. I'm afraid I can't stop them with the few people in Xiaozhuang. Do you think you should agree to the bandits' request first?" , just think of spending money to eliminate disasters.”
"This..." When he mentioned the silver, Mr. Zheng frowned and hesitated for a long time before saying, "Fifty... no, is one hundred taels enough?"
Xiao Hu's face turned dark when he heard this. He sent out more than a thousand people, how could he retreat just for a hundred taels of silver? Even gold would not be enough.
Butler She said from the side: "Master, I'm afraid one hundred taels is not enough. How about you give me some more?"
"One hundred and fifty taels?" Mr. Zheng hesitated and looked at Butler She, then at Xiao Hu. Seeing that both of them were speechless, he gritted his teeth and said, "Two hundred taels is the most, and there is no one more big guy." .”
Seeing this, Butler She advised: "Master, please calm down, calm down."
Xiao Hu also knew that the two hundred taels of silver was Master Zheng's limit, so he said: "Master, those bandits said that food is fine, why not give them more food."
"Food?" Mr. Zheng frowned and hesitated.
Butler She took the opportunity and said, "Sir, we still have the old grain from the past two years in our granary. I think those bandits are also owners who are used to poverty, so they will be satisfied with the old grain."
"But Chen Liang is also money!" Mr. Zheng was a little reluctant to part with it.
Butler She added: "Master, you have forgotten that we cleared out a batch of rotten grains two months ago. Some of the grains in the granary will rot if left unattended. It is better to give them to the bandits and let them retreat."
Mr. Zheng sat on the Grand Master's chair and hesitated for a while, then said with a pained face: "Then I'll listen to you. I'll exchange old grain for the rebels to retreat, but I'll give you less money. That's two hundred taels!"
Butler She's face darkened, and he thought to himself, "How long has it been since this happened, and I still feel sorry for that little money."
However, he still said: "Master, please don't worry. Let's try to take as little money as possible, and we can give more old grain."
"Then... I'll leave it to you to handle the matter. Make sure the gangsters retreat." After saying that, Mr. Zheng covered his chest and said, "Oh my chest, it hurts me so much. My money, my money." Food!”
Butler She and Xiao Hu looked at each other helplessly and exited the study together.
