"Come on, Brother Ma, let's drink." The speaker was a tall man with a beard. He held a wine bowl in his hand, raised his head, and poured the wine in the bowl into his mouth.
Some of the drink trickled down his beard.
There was a person sitting under him, who also picked up the wine bowl and said, "I respect the big cabinet."
"Hey..." The bearded man waved his hand and said, "There are no fucking big cabinets anymore, called Mr. Tiger. Now we have established a firm foothold in Daliang Mountain. Although there are not as many people as before, there can be hundreds of people. brother."
"Yes, Mr. Hu." Ma Yunjiu raised the wine bowl and toasted Shi Yunhu with a bowl of wine.
"Damn it, if you hadn't protected me from escaping in the first place, my head would have been hanging on the city gate tower three feet high." Shi Yunhu grabbed a piece of mutton leg meat in the basin and threw it to Ma Yunjiu.
Ma Yunjiu took the leg of lamb and said, "Master Tiger, recently two brothers froze to death on the mountain. Why don't you go down to the mountain and find a village to rob them? Otherwise, it will be difficult to survive this winter."
Shi Yunhu dropped the half-gnawed meat bone in his hand and said: "What a damn evil. During this period, there have been a lot less caravans passing by at the foot of the mountain. I wanted to let my brothers have a good year. If I don't come to do business again, I will We’re all going hungry.”
Ma Yunjiu said: "Why don't you agree to what shopkeeper Li said last time? Two hundred taels of silver is not a small amount. You may not be able to earn so much if you grab it from a nearby village."
"It's a lot of money." Shi Yunhu said, "But we are a little far away in Lingqiu. Unlike here in Daliang Mountain, we can escape back to the mountain when we encounter the army. We are unfamiliar with the place in Lingqiu, so something will happen. , brothers are easily damaged over there."
Ma Yunjiu said: "It only takes two days for a fast horse to go from Daliang Mountain to Lingqiu. The person who killed him was just the proprietor of the iron farm. I will take my horse team to go and be back in six or seven days. Even if I encounter danger, I can still do it." Can escape with the help of horse power.”
Shi Yunhu looked hesitant.
Ma Yunjiu continued: "Master Hu, if this deal is completed, the brothers will also have a good year. This deal is a good one."
Shi Yunhu hesitated for a long time, and finally picked up the wine bowl and took a big sip. Then he put the wine bowl down hard and said, "Okay, you can do this, but no matter whether it succeeds or not, nothing can happen to you and the cavalry."
Ma Yunjiu nodded heavily.
They were not the only bandits in Daliang Mountain. The reason why they were able to establish a foothold in Daliang Mountain so quickly was due to the strength of the cavalry. Without the cavalry, they would have been swallowed up by several groups of bandits in Daliang Mountain.
………………
"Sir, Li Shoubei is here." Master Jia said to Guo Binchang who was sitting in the back hall.
Guo Binchang rubbed his eyebrows and said with annoyance: "Let him in."
Master Jia gave instructions to the Yamen servant who came to the back hall to report the news.
After a short time, Li Huaixin came to the back hall accompanied by the Yamen servants.
"I have met the magistrate." Li Huaixin clasped his hands and bowed to salute.
"Master Li, you don't have to be polite, please take a seat." Guo Binchang pointed to the seat next to him, "Come here, serve tea to Master Li."
A servant came over and offered a cup of hot tea.
Li Huaixin put the tea cup aside casually and said: "Xia Guan's official document has been sent to the county government for three days, and there has been no reply from your Excellency. Could it be that Your Excellency does not agree with Xi Official and has other ideas?"
Guo Binchang pursed his lips and said: "Mr. Li, I have been hesitating for the past two days. If I really want to use my seal on the official document, even if we have completely offended the Xu family, how did those heads come about? In our hearts It’s all clear.”
Li Huaixin said: "Your Excellency, we have offended the Xu family. Since we beat our heads and brought them back to the county, the people of Lingqiu have already known that your Excellency and your subordinates have annihilated the Hutou Village bandits. At this time, even if you regret it, Your Excellency, the Xu family will still hate you, Your Excellency." , Sir, don’t forget, we signed a document in Hutou Village.”
"It is because of this incident that I am so anxious that I cannot sleep well every day." Guo Binchang said, "Do we really want to cooperate with the bandits? If this matter spreads, my reputation will be destroyed."
Hearing this, Li Huai felt contemptuous.
I signed the document in order to survive, but in the blink of an eye I wanted to deny it. Why did I mention my reputation at this time? These civil servants are all virtuous and sanctimonious.
However, these were all psychological thoughts, so Li Huaixin naturally would not say them out loud, so he asked, "Do you still want to go to Hutou Village to suppress the bandits?"
"I have thought about it carefully. There are thousands of bandits in Hutou Village. If they are allowed to cause trouble to the place and word spreads in the future, I will become a faint official who allows bandits to cause trouble." Guo Binchang said with awe-inspiring righteousness.
Master Jia, who was standing aside, said at this time: "Sir, if you want to wipe out the bandits in Hutou Village, I am afraid that you will have to invite the border troops to Lingqiu. Moreover, the presence of such a group of bandits in your office will be detrimental to your official reputation. .”
Master Jia, who was able to get Zhijing from Hutou Village in three quarters, gave a timely word to the bandits on the mountain of Hutou Village.
And I had a beautiful thought in my heart, as long as I could persuade the county magistrate to give up the matter of suppressing bandits, I would like to pay tribute to Hutou Village.
Li Huaixin echoed: "Sir, Master Jia's words make sense."
Guo Binchang said nothing.
Of course he knew the possibility mentioned by Mr. Jia, otherwise he would have gone to the governor's office to see the governor long ago. He was worried that such a large group of bandits would appear during his tenure, and his performance evaluation would fluctuate in the future, which would not only damage the official reputation, but also If not, he might even lose his position as magistrate of Lingqiu County.
But he was not willing to let him be threatened by bandits like this, especially the document he was forced to sign, which was simply a stain on his official career.
Li Huaixin said again: "My lord, all the soldiers and generals under the lower official are waiting to report their merits and ask for rewards. Now that Hutou Village has been destroyed, my lord should seal the list as soon as possible."
"Is Hutou Village really destroyed?" Guo Binchang glanced at Li Huaixin.
In my heart, I wanted to strangle Li Huaixin to death. Even before he got the 10% promised by Hutou Village, he had already begun to work for the bandits of Hutou Village.
But he didn't know that the reason why Li Huaixin was so anxious was entirely because many people died in the garrison camp. He was waiting to claim their merits with their heads so that he could get pension money to appease the hearts of the garrison camp.
At this moment, the yamen servant outside ran in, knelt down in front of Guo Binchang, and said, "Sir, a few people came outside, saying they were delivering things to you, and they said you know this."
"Sending something to me?" Guo Binchang was stunned for a moment, with a puzzled expression on his face, and then said to the Yamen servant, "Bring them in."
"Yes." The officer retired.
Li Huaixin stood up at this time and said: "Since your Excellency has something to do, I will resign first. I also ask you to post the notice as soon as possible, so that I can send the official document to the military commander as soon as possible."
"Let's go on, I still need to think about this matter." Guo Binchang did not agree.
Li Huaixin frowned, showing a hint of dissatisfaction.
Just as he was hesitating whether to persuade him or not, the Yamen servant had already taken him to the back hall.
When Guo Binchang saw the man who was taken to the back hall by the Yamen servant, he stood up from his seat in panic, pointed at the person, and stammered: "You, why are you here."
Li Huaixin, who had his back to the back hall door, was startled and turned to look over.
