"Get out of the way, get out of the way!"
A fast horse galloped towards the city gate. Seeing that there were many vendors and pedestrians waiting to enter the city gate, it not only did not slow down, but also kept whipping the horse on the crotch.
The rapid sound of horse hooves alarmed the soldiers and pedestrians at the city gate. The vendors and pedestrians at the city gate hurried to both sides to avoid. In the panic, the baskets or carts in the hands of some vendors fell to the ground. Vegetables, eggs, and various kinds of gifts were thrown to the ground. The goods sold in the city were scattered all over the place, and many pedestrians even fell to the ground because they were too hasty to avoid, and they rolled and crawled to avoid being hit by the horses.
"Stop, you fucking stop." A young soldier shouted angrily in the direction where the horse was leaving.
An older soldier on the side hurriedly grabbed him and whispered: "Shut up, you kid is going to die. Do you know who that is in the past? That is a member of the Xu family. In Lingqiu, I would rather offend the county magistrate." , Don’t offend the Xu family.”
"Bah, the new magistrate will take care of the Xu family sooner or later." The young soldier spat heavily.
The old soldier said: "Okay, guard our city gate, other things have nothing to do with us."
The fast horse came and went quickly, leaving a mess under the city gate. And when they heard that the people riding past were the Xu family, the small traders and pedestrians could only consider themselves unlucky.
"Hey!" When they arrived outside the Xu family's gate, Manager Xu tightened the reins, turned over and jumped off the horse.
The servants of the Xu family who were cleaning fallen leaves in front of the door saw him and hurried over and said respectfully: "Fourth Master, you are back."
"Yes." Manager Xu hummed, handed the reins to the servant and said, "Take good care of the horse."
"Don't worry, Fourth Master." The servant took the reins, led the horse to the hitching post and tied it up, and went to prepare water and fodder.
Manager Xu walked into the door and walked all the way to the front hall.
When passing by the courtyard, Butler Xu came out. The two met and Butler Xu asked: "Butler, where is the master?"
"The master is having dinner with his wife in the side hall." Butler Xu said, "Why are you back? Something happened at the iron yard?"
Manager Xu nodded, and then said: "Take me to see the master."
The iron yard is the main place where the Xu family comes to make money. When he heard that something happened in the iron yard, Butler Xu did not dare to delay and led Butler Xu through several courtyard gates to the side hall on the west side.
As soon as they came in, they saw the madam there, said hello, and stood aside respectfully.
"After eating, go back to the backyard!" Xu Youcai put down the bowl and chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a silk cloth, and handed it to the maid waiting at the side.
Mrs. Xu left the side hall with the support of her personal maid.
"Evacuate everyone!" Xu Youcai ordered the servants beside him.
Several servants walked in, cleared away the leftovers on the table, and presented them with a cup of fragrant tea.
Xu Youcai picked up the teacup and blew on it, then looked at Butler Xu who was standing behind Butler Xu and asked, "Tell me, did you come to see me so early? Did something happen at the iron yard?"
After saying that, he put the tea cup to his mouth and took a sip.
Steward Xu took a step forward, stood up from behind Steward Xu, bowed and said, "Master, during the day we let people go to the iron yard to cause trouble, and at night the body of Die Six was thrown into our iron yard. It seems they already knew it was us. The Xu family is behind this and will not cause trouble to Fatty anymore."
"These bandits are so brave, they actually dare to kill people in Dongshan." Steward Xu on the side interjected, "Sir, why don't we unite with all the ironworks owners in Dongshan to drive these bandits from Hutou Village out of Dongshan? To take back the iron yard left by Chen Dafu, I think there are so many miners in Dongshan that a few bandits can't make trouble."
Manager Xu also said: "Yes, sir, we may not be able to defeat them in Hutou Village, but when we come to Dongshan, it is our territory. It will not be easy to deal with a few grass bandits."
Xu Youcai pondered for a moment and suddenly asked: "How long will it take for their iron yard to be able to produce molten iron?"
Unexpectedly, Xu Youcai suddenly mentioned this. Manager Xu thought for a moment and said, "No more than half a month at the latest."
"Then wait half a month." Xu Youcai said, "You have to keep an eye on it. You must find out when their furnace will produce molten iron."
Manager Xu didn't understand why he had to wait for the molten iron to come out of the other party's furnace, but he still nodded in agreement and said: "Remember, on the day when the molten iron comes out of their furnace, I will send a fast horse back to deliver the message."
"Yes." Xu Youcai nodded and said, "Go back to Dongshan. You don't have to do anything during this period, and don't embarrass them. Let them set up the stove smoothly."
"Yes." Manager Xu said, "One more thing, the wages offered by their iron yard are almost double that of ours. Some miners in our iron yard want to resign and work for them."
"Don't pay attention." Xu Youcai sneered, "A group of bandits also want to open an iron yard for business. It's a joke. How can the Ming Dynasty law tolerate them?"
After Butler Xu left, only Xu Youcai, Butler Xu, and two servants were left in the side hall.
"Master, if you wait for molten iron to come out of the iron yard of those bandits, could it be that the garrison has agreed to send troops?" Steward Xu said in a low voice.
Xu Youcai's face sank, and he snorted coldly: "Guardian Tangtang is greedy and allows bandits to cause trouble in the countryside. He is a fool from Lingqiu. He actually wants to take money from me to fulfill his big dreams."
When he mentioned Lingqiu's defense, Xu Youcai cursed excitedly.
Butler Xu on the side wisely did not answer.
The last time he and his master went to the garrison mansion to ask the garrison mansion to send troops to Hutou Village to suppress the bandits. Unexpectedly, the garrison master asked for two thousand taels of military pay.
This was difficult for Xu Youcai to accept, and the two parties broke up unhappy.
After Xu Youcai vented his anger and his mood became more stable, Butler Xu said: "Sir, how about we find the second master? Now that the second master is an official in Taiyuan, please ask the second master to come forward and persuade the military commander to issue a decree to suppress the bandits. The handwriting is here, I guess Li Shoubei will not dare to disobey Lord Bingxian's order."
"Don't you think that my clan brother cares about the Xu family's property?" Xu Youcai gave Manager Xu a stern look, "I beg him, he can let go of such a good opportunity, how can the Xu family's property be left to a side branch?"
Manager Xu shrank his neck and said in his mind, "That's also the old man's lineage, not a side branch."
Picking up the tea cup, Xu Youcai took a sip of tea and said, "We don't need soldiers from the garrison. There are still people who will kill the bandits in Hutou Village for us."
Butler Xu looked puzzled.
Xu Youcai said: "Our newly appointed magistrate is very ambitious and wants to make some political achievements. What will happen if he knows that there are bandits in the territory and actually opens an iron yard in Dongshan?"
"Then there's no need to ask, the bandits will definitely be suppressed." Butler Xu said, "But the bandits in Hutou Village are not easy to deal with. Can the magistrate do that?"
Butler Xu said confidently: "This county magistrate is not a simple man. He is a disciple of Governor Liu. We can't say that the garrison office cannot send troops. How can it be that the governor can't command a small garrison?"
"The master is wise, this trick of killing someone with a borrowed knife is really clever." Butler Xu praised.
You don’t need to guess to know the outcome. If the governor wants to clean up Hutou Village, he can crush it with just one little finger.
