When the gong was sounded as a warning, the servants who reacted fastest were the servants who picked up the weapons around them, found their own horses and mounted them, ready to face the enemy.
Some servants had no time to mount their horses, so they all picked up their weapons and appeared in formation at the front of the army.
Two thousand households, Wang Tong and Chen Yusheng, brought chain armors, but the weather was too cold and they did not wear them. Faced with the sudden appearance of the enemy from Dongshan, it was too late to try to wear them, so they hid behind the servants.
"Don't do it, don't do it, we are the guards of Xujia Ironyard." With less than 200 steps left, someone from the Dongshan direction shouted loudly, "I am Xu Laosi from Xujia Ironyard."
"Xujia iron yard?"
After Chen Yusheng and Wang Tong looked at each other, he said, "I'll report it to you, sir. You can keep an eye on me here."
The news spread quickly.
Li Huaixin, who was protected by the soldiers, looked at Guo Binchang who was not far away and said: "Master Guo, there should be someone among the police officers who knows the people from the Xujia Ironyard. Why don't we send them over to see if those people in front of us are from the Xujia Ironyard?" people."
This was not the time to refuse. Guo Binchang shouted to the police officer who was following him: "Captain Shi, please find a few people who know Mr. Xu to come over and take a look."
Shi Baotou, who sat back down and nodded, found a few servants who had seen Xu Laosi and walked to the front of the team with him.
Arriving in front of the servant, Mr. Shi shouted to the people in the direction of Dongshan: "I am the chief of the county government. Let Mr. Xu come out and speak."
"I am Xu Laosi." Xu Laosi stepped out from the crowd and shouted, "Please tell Mr. Li from Capt. "
"It's Xu Laosi, that's right." A guard whispered.
Shi Baotou also saw Xu Laosi, recognized him, and said, "Okay, you wait, I will answer."
After saying that, he left a few servants behind and went back to deliver the message.
After listening to Shi Baotou's words, Guo Binchang said to Li Huaixin on the side: "It seems that the Xu family has spared no effort in destroying the bandits in Hutou Village, so let them go with the army!"
"Sir, I think it's better to bring people over first to ask and find out what's going on at the iron yard in Dongshan, and then take them to Hutou Village." Li Huaixin expressed his thoughts.
As a general in charge of the army, if a group of people suddenly appeared, he would naturally not let these people join his team at will, even if these people were really sent by the Xu family.
Guo Binchang hesitated for a moment, and felt that what Li Huaixin said made sense, so he said: "That's fine, just follow Mr. Li's wishes."
Shi Baotou returned to the front of the team. It didn't take long before he came back with Xu Laosi.
"Common man Xu Si, I have met two adults." Xu Laosi knelt on the ground and kowtowed his head to the ground.
Guo Binchang said: "Get up!"
"Thank you, sir." Xu Laosi got up from the ground.
Guo Binchang asked: "How many people did you bring?"
Xu Laosi replied respectfully: "Most of the guards at Xu's iron yard were brought by the common people, a total of one hundred and sixty people."
It is not a big deal for an iron yard proprietor like the Xu family to have one or two hundred thugs. Guo Binchang asked again: "What is the situation of the iron yard in Hutou Village?"
Xu Laosi replied: "According to the response of the people sent by the grassroots to keep an eye on the place, they seemed to know something. Today, the iron yard did not start a furnace to make iron. Instead, security was tightened inside the iron yard. Miners are not allowed in or out."
"It seems that the other party is prepared in advance." Li Huaixin said, "Mr. Guo, why not send some people to Dongshan Iron Field now to solve the problem at the iron field, and the large team of people will continue to rush to Hutou Village."
Xu Laosi immediately said: "The common people are willing to follow the two adults to Hutou Village."
In order to deal with the bandits in Hutou Village, the Xu family could be said to have used all their armed forces, just to cooperate with the government in exterminating the bandits in Hutou Village.
"Since you are going to Hutou Village, let the people you bring go in front of the army and not attack the army." Li Huaixin ordered Xu Laosi.
There will always be casualties in a war, even if the opponent is a group of bandits, especially if there are hundreds of bandits in Hutou Village, they will never be willing to surrender.
When Li Huaixin saw that the Xu family was willing to send people to help suppress the bandits, he unceremoniously treated these people as cannon fodder for the army. It was better to kill the Xu family than the people guarding the camp.
The officers and soldiers were on the road again and divided into two groups. The large group continued to the direction of Hutou Village. The police officers of the Yamen and the officers and soldiers of the two general banners went up to Dongshan.
………………
"Manager Huang, what's going on? There's no fire in the stove, and we're not allowed to leave the iron yard. We can only stay here in the house." A miner asked Huang Huai beside him.
When the iron yard received news that the government troops were out of the city to suppress the bandits, the furnace fires were extinguished. All the miners were detained near the houses, and teams of iron yard guards patrolled the iron yard.
Huang Huai glanced at the miner who was speaking and said, "Don't ask around. I'm not satisfied with getting paid for nothing if I don't work."
If anyone looks at him carefully, he can see his right hand trembling slightly unnaturally.
"It seems that none of you know what's going on outside." A miner not far away said.
"Han San, you're so fucking young," Huang Huai glared at the miner who spoke.
Han Sangan frowned and said, "A lot of people are spreading this matter outside, so we in the iron field are the only ones who are being kept secret."
The miners on the side came up and asked, "Tell me, what exactly is going on?"
Huang Huai greeted: "Don't listen to Han San's nonsense here. It's nothing. It's just that my boss doesn't want everyone to work too hard and gives everyone a day off."
Han San glanced at Huang Huai and said, "Okay, Huang Zhanglu, please don't lie to everyone. The news has already spread in other iron fields, and everyone knows that the army is going to Hutou Village to suppress the bandits."
"What does suppressing bandits have to do with us? We are just a group of miners." Some miners looked puzzled.
"How about you being stupid?" Han San said, "Who is the owner behind our iron yard? He is the boss of Hutou Village. Do you think it has anything to do with us working in his iron yard?"
The miner said disapprovingly: "We are just miners, not bandits."
"It's not true if you say no. If you work as a miner in an iron yard run by bandits, the government can say you are a bandit." Han San sneered.
This time Huang Huai was speechless and lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking.
"Han San, is everything you said true?" The miners in front of the house a little further away also came over.
Han San said: "This is still false, that is, our iron yard does not know about this matter. Other iron yards have already spread the news. By then, not only Hutou Village, but also our iron yard will be a wanted target of the government."
"Then what should I do?" A miner cried, "I came here just because I saw the wages in the ironworks, so why did I become a bandit?"
Many miners came here because of the high wages in the ironworks, and now they all looked worried after hearing Han San's words.
