Down the mountain, suddenly there was a sound of firecrackers firing.
"Sorry, sir, the way down the mountain is blocked by bandits." Wang Tong hurried over.
"What? There are bandits at the foot of the mountain?" Li Huaixin looked shocked.
Wang Tong said with a grimace: "There are almost more than three hundred bandits at the foot of the mountain, more than a hundred of them use blunderbuss, and the rest use spears."
"What should I do?" Guo Binchang looked defeated.
If it weren't for the support of two servants beside him, he would have collapsed to the ground by now.
Li Huaixin bit his lower lip and said: "Why are there so many bandits in Hutou Village? Isn't it said that there are only five or six hundred people? Now counting the bandits on the mountain, the number will never be less than a thousand."
Guo Binchang on the side said loudly: "It's the Fan family, Li Weiming from the Fan family. He said that he had been to Hutou Village and saw with his own eyes that there were only five or six hundred bandits in Hutou Village. I believed what he said. Now that I think about it, It was all because he deliberately deceived me, and I suspected that he was colluding with the Hutou Village bandits and wanted to murder the imperial official."
"Master Guo, now is not the time to talk about this. The top priority is how to return to the county seat." Li Huaixin said with a wry smile.
After this battle, he found that the bandits in Hutou Village were different from ordinary bandits and grassroots bandits. They were only stronger than the soldiers guarding his camp. Only his servants could compete with the bandits of Hutou Village.
But he only brought more than a hundred servants, but there were thousands of bandits. Without archers, he couldn't let his servants block the blunderbuss with their flesh and blood, and even if they did, how many more than a hundred servants could block it? The volley of wheel-bird cannon fire.
The scene of the Xu family's thugs being beaten to death by gunfire still lingered in his mind. There was no way he would let his servants follow in the Xu family's footsteps.
"Master Li, you are the guard of Lingqiu. You must have a way to escape back to the county with your officers, right?" Guo Binchang grabbed Li Huaixin's arms and looked at Li Huaixin expectantly.
"Master Guo, please calm down and let me think about it." Li Huaixin persuaded him and took his arms out of Guo Binchang's hands.
"Sorry, sir, the bandits on the mountain are chasing me." A messenger flag ran over.
"They are trying to trap me here. Me, I cannot be a prisoner of the bandits. Mr. Li, you must find a way to take me away." Guo Binchang's body was trembling more and more.
Li Huaixin ignored him this time, but said to Wang Tong: "The army cannot be trapped here. You lead people to rush down the bandits at the bottom of the mountain and find a way to create a hole to give the army a chance to escape down the mountain."
"Yes, yes, yes, go and do what Mr. Li said." Guo Binchang seemed to be grabbing a life-saving straw and urged Wang Tong to lead his troops to fight the bandits at the foot of the mountain.
Wang Tong looked troubled and said: "My subordinates are incompetent. They have already led a charge once and lost a general bannerman and dozens of battalion soldiers."
"What should we do?" Guo Binchang looked bitter.
Wang Tong hesitated and said: "My lords, why don't we pretend to surrender and then find an opportunity to go down the mountain?"
"How dare you, how can I beg for surrender with the bandits!" Li Huaixin immediately shouted loudly.
Wang Tong shrank his neck in fright.
Guo Binchang also said: "The bandits are all ruthless people who kill without batting an eye. How can they spare my life? This matter should not be mentioned again. It is better to send more people to rush down the mountain. As soon as I return to the county seat, I will personally kill him." Please take credit for these generals.”
Naturally, no one would believe him if he asked for credit. After a defeat, there was no way he could get any credit. The garrison camp was defeated by a group of bandits. If the news was spread back, he would only be criticized.
Wang Tong said: "Two adults, we have also seen the bandits in Hutou Village. They are not comparable to ordinary bandits. Even if they force their way down the mountain, Hutou Village is twenty miles away from the county seat. The bandits on the mountain will chase them all the way. At that time, if we lose our troops and generals, we may not even be able to save the lives of the two adults."
At this time, Chen Yusheng came from behind and said with a worried look on his face: "Sir, we can't hesitate any longer. The bandits behind us are about to catch up. If we delay any longer, we really won't be able to leave."
Wang Tong said: "Sir, instead of letting the brothers die on the mountain, it is better to find a way to sit down and talk with the head of Hutou Village and find a way for the brothers to survive."
Li Huaixin looked hesitant.
How could he not know that what Wang Tong said was true. If he really had to fight the bandits, the soldiers and horses guarding the camp would surely suffer heavy losses. Even if he could return to the county town alive, he would definitely be imprisoned for questioning.
But he really didn't want to do such a thing like a bandit begging for surrender.
Wang Tong stole a glance at Li Huaixin and said cautiously: "Killing an official of the imperial court is a capital crime. Since the Hutou Village bandits went to Dongshan to open an iron yard, they must have established themselves in Lingqiu, so they will not embarrass the two adults too much, let alone the suppression. The banditry was secretly instigated by several ironworks proprietors in Dongshan, and Mr. Guo was just inadvertently fooled."
Guo Binchang blushed when he heard this. If he hadn't gone to find the governor, this bandit suppression would not have happened.
Guo Binchang turned to look at Li Huaixin and said hesitantly, "Master Li, why not just follow Wang Qianhu's wishes and send someone to the mountain to talk to the bandits?"
He knew in his heart that he was different from generals such as Li Huaixin. If they were in danger, these generals would be protected by their own soldiers and servants. He, the county magistrate, would become a target for bandits.
"My lord, you should make up your mind quickly!" Chen Yusheng couldn't help but urge.
The longer the delay, the more dangerous the army on the mountain will be.
"Are you sure the bandits on the mountain won't kill Master Guo and me?" Li Huaixin stared at Wang Tong's face.
Wang Tong's heart trembled, and he said bravely: "To be honest, sir, when we were surrounded, the bandits at the foot of the mountain sent people to see the official, saying that they were unwilling to harm the lives of the two adults, and were willing to sit down with them and be calm. Let’s talk.”
"You, are you actually a bandit?" Guo Binchang pointed at Wang Tong with his trembling finger.
Li Huaixin ignored Guo Binchang and seemed to have made up his mind, saying to Wang Tong: "Since the bandits in Hutou Village have had contact with you, it is up to you to tell the bandits that Master Guo and I are willing to talk."
Wang Tong breathed a sigh of relief, clasped his fists and said, "I accept your orders."
After Wang Tong walked away, Guo Binchang said hesitantly: "Master Li, you really want to sit down and talk with the bandits."
"Master Guo also agreed." Li Huaixin said, "I am going to accompany Master Guo to negotiate with the bandits. Master Guo still has the final say in everything."
One sentence put Guo Binchang in front. At this moment, he suddenly felt that it was not a bad thing to have a civil servant following him.
Guo Binchang choked up.
If you want to defend yourself, you can remember that Ming Dynasty has always used civility to control military affairs. He and Lingqiu Guards came together, and naturally he, the county magistrate, was the main one. There is no way to explain it.
Not long after, Wang Tong ran back, accompanied by a bandit.
Wang Tong said respectfully: "Two adults, the head of Hutou Village has agreed, but you need to go to the Dazhai on the mountain of Hutou Village in person."
"I'm not going," Guo Binchang exclaimed, "I'm not going to the bandit's stronghold. If you want to talk, we'll talk outside."
When Guo Binchang heard that he was going to a bandit's village, he was not willing to do anything. He was afraid that he would never come back after entering.
Li Huaixin ignored Guo Binchang, looked at the bandit who came with Wang, and said, "Can you allow me to bring some subordinates?"
The bandit nodded and said, "Yes, but no more than ten people."
Li Huaixin turned to look at Guo Binchang and said: "Master Guo, please. It's a knife to extend your head, and it's a knife to shrink your head. We have no choice."
Seeing that Guo Binchang still refused to leave, Li Huaixin had no choice but to let two servants carry him and follow the bandit to the bandit stronghold.
