More than a hundred police officers were already the majority of the Lingqiu County government's armed forces. It could be said that except for those officers who had to stay in the government office to handle errands, the rest were all led to Dongshan by the police officers.
Most of the police officers held water and fire sticks in their hands, and a few official arresters in the Yamen hung swords on their waists. As for the weapons in the hands of the white guards, there were all kinds of weapons, some held flails, some held chains, and some held weapons in their hands. A long stick like a pole.
There are many miners in Dongshan, and every ironworks owner is a prominent figure in Lingqiu. It is rare for county government officials to come, let alone so many officials at once.
Along the way, many miners craned their necks to look at these officers. Some well-informed miners had guessed some of the reasons for these officers' coming.
Before Liu Heng could reach the iron yard gate, the police officer had already arrived at the iron yard gate aggressively.
"The government is handling the case, and everyone who has nothing to do with it needs to get out of the way." The leading catcher said coldly, "What, you dare to fight against the government, do you want to rebel?"
The four spearmen in front of the iron yard leveled their spears and pointed their spearheads at the police officers who wanted to break into the iron yard.
Although the spearmen dared to use their weapons against the officers, their bodies were slightly trembling. They were not the first batch of refugee recruits and had never fought against the officers and soldiers of the Tiancheng Guard. It was the first time they saw so many officers and they seemed a little uneasy.
However, good discipline prevented them from taking a step back and resolutely guarded the gate of the iron field.
"Let them in." Liu Heng said.
The four spearmen took a few steps back to get out of the way into the iron field, but their eyes were still wary.
The catcher snorted coldly and led a group of police officers into the iron yard.
At this time, many miners gathered around the iron yard. Huang Huai, who was originally staring at the iron furnace, worriedly brought the miners over to the iron furnace.
In addition, many miners from other iron yards gathered outside the iron yard. Dongshan had never seen so many government officials at one time, and many miners from other iron yards were curious.
Manager Xu, who had just left recently, returned to the iron yard when he heard that officials were coming to the iron yard before he could go far.
He did not re-enter the iron yard, but stayed outside like the other miners.
Unlike many miners who didn't know what was going on, he learned from his proprietor that the proprietor behind the iron yard in front of him was from Hutou Village, and the boss was a man named Liu Heng, and these official officials were likely to Nine is here to arrest people.
What puzzled him was that as soon as molten iron came out of the iron yard today, the official came to the iron yard to pick up people. The timing was too coincidental.
"I didn't expect Manager Xu to be here, what a coincidence!"
Manager Xu was thinking about this in his mind when a disgusting voice suddenly came to his ears.
Xu Laosi, the steward of the Xujia Ironyard.
"You, Mr. Xu, are here, why can't I come?" Manager Xu replied coldly.
The Xu and Xu families have deep conflicts, and there are also overt and covert fights in the iron yard. Naturally, the relationship between the management of the two iron yards is not good, and cynicism is inevitable when they meet.
Xu Laosi sneered on his dark face. For the first time, he did not argue with Manager Xu. Instead, he sneered and looked at Liu Heng and others inside the iron yard.
Seeing Mr. Xu, Manager Xu's doubts were cleared.
The Xujia Ironyard is not close to here. As soon as the official mission came, Xu Laosi from the Xujia Ironyard arrived. Thinking that a batch of Xujia's iron goods was robbed in Hutou Village not long ago, today's incident is most likely to be related to the Xujia. , otherwise Xu Laosi would not be here by such a coincidence.
The Yang's Iron Yard and the Li's Iron Yard were both closer than the Xu's Iron Yard, but the stewards from both companies didn't arrive in such a short time.
Whatever the Xu family does has nothing to do with the Xu family. What Manager Xu is thinking about is that if the head of Hutou Village is captured by the government, the iron yard will naturally be sealed off. At that time, he can take Chen Hongtao and Huang one step ahead of other iron yards. Huai brought Xujia Ironyard back to master the secrets of regenerative furnaces and coke ironmaking. Maybe he, Xujia Ironyard, could use this to turn over and become the largest ironyard owner in Dongshan.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was a good thing that the official captured the owner of Hutou Village.
"Who is the owner of this iron yard?" the catcher shouted, but his eyes were on Liu Heng.
Behind Liu Heng stood Yang Yuan and several bandit guards. He was different from ordinary miners. It was obvious at a glance that Liu Heng was an important figure in the iron yard.
"I am the proprietor of this iron yard. I wonder what the officer is doing here?" Liu Heng did not have the panic that ordinary people would have when facing a government officer. His face was calm, as if the officer in front of him was just an ordinary miner.
"Just admit it." The catcher snorted coldly and said, "Come here, lock him up and take him back to the Yamen."
Two guardsmen holding stilts and chains walked toward Liu Heng with grins.
"Let's see who dares!" Yang Yuan drew out his sword and stood in front of Liu Heng.
Several bandit guards each drew their weapons to protect Liu Heng.
Such a turn of events caused the two officers who were about to capture the man to stop and hesitate. Facing the gleaming blade, the two men simultaneously turned back to look at the catcher behind them.
They are just ordinary white servants. It's okay to act arrogantly in front of ordinary people. But when faced with fierce people, they immediately lose their previous arrogance.
"You dare to resist arrest and want to rebel?" The arrester's face was ashen and he cursed the newly appointed magistrate in his heart.
He didn't want to come on this errand. Hutou Village was full of ruthless bandits. They even dared to rob the Xu family's goods. How could they be so easy to catch? But that bullshit county magistrate didn't understand. When he heard that the bandits from Hutou Village were there, When Dongshan opened an iron yard, he was forced to arrest people.
Although he was allowed to bring most of the police officers, facing a group of ruthless bandits in Hutou Village, it would be best if he could be intimidated and taken back to the Yamen, otherwise he would have to find another way.
"May I ask, Mr. Chai, what crime have you committed? I'm going to arrest you as soon as I come up." As he said this, Liu Heng knew in his heart that there was only one reason for arresting him. His identity as the head of Hutou Village was known to the government. But he couldn't admit it in public, otherwise there would be no room for change.
"Of course I'm here to catch you..."
Before the catcher could finish his words, he heard someone outside the iron yard say: "Proprietor, we are here. We heard that someone is coming to the iron yard to cause trouble. Do you want to fight them out?"
Jia Liu walked in from outside the iron yard with a group of bandits and surrounded the police officers inside the iron yard.
Seventy-six fire cannons were raised at the same time, and the muzzles of the guns were all aimed at the guards in the iron yard. All seventy-six match ropes were lit, and more than thirty spearmen formed a formation to block the gate of the iron yard.
Facing the sudden increase of more than a hundred people, the leader of the team trembled, especially the black holes of the guns that sent shivers down his spine.
"Are you here to cause trouble at the iron yard?" Jia Liu asked coldly, standing in front of the officers.
Most of the guards were stunned.
Ordinary white servants just want to earn a living. Faced with a situation where they can be beaten to death at any time, they can't be as aggressive as before.
The white servants were so frightened that they threw all the weapons in their hands to the ground. The formal police officers were a little better. They didn't throw away the weapons and still had them in their hands, but their bodies were honest and trembling slightly.
The head catcher was a man in his forties, and the situation was a little better. But seeing so many muskets, my heart went cold. I just felt that these bandits in Hutou Village were really vicious. Not to mention that everyone wore cotton armor, and they had such Fire guns banned by many imperial courts.
"Are you the leader of these people?" Jia Liu stared at the head catcher with an unkind look.
"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding. We only came to your iron field after receiving a report. Now it seems that it was a misunderstanding. It's all a misunderstanding." The head catcher has changed very quickly. He can never be a stupid young man who can hold the position of head catcher. .
When you see something is wrong, you immediately give in.
