The officers and soldiers fled all the way down the mountain.
At the foot of the mountain, all the officers and soldiers who had escaped from the mountain slowly gathered on the official road at the foot of the mountain. General Xu was also put down from his back by his own soldiers.
"Sorry, sir, something big happened." Xu You chased after him from behind.
"The bandits are coming!" General Xu was startled and glanced behind Xu You with lingering fear.
"It's not a bandit, no, it's a bandit." Xu You said, "Mr. Zhang was killed by the bandits. Although his subordinates tried their best to protect him, the bandits used a blunderbuss. They were dozens of steps away and beat Mr. Zhang with one blow. If I die, my subordinates will be defeated, so I have to bring the remaining people back to deliver the message.”
General Xu raised his brows and said angrily: "Do you know that Mr. Zhang is a supervisor sent by the governor? I asked you to stay with Mr. Zhang to ensure Mr. Zhang's safety. Now that Mr. Zhang has died in the hands of bandits, you Let me tell you how to explain this to the governor."
"Sir, I know that I have committed a crime, so please punish me." Xu You knelt down on the ground.
General Xu said with a sad face: "It's a pity that Mr. Zhang died in the hands of a group of bandits. I vowed to put an end to the banditry in Daliang Mountain in the future to comfort Mr. Zhang's spirit in heaven."
"Sir," said Wu Huai standing next to him, "this time the bandits have taken advantage of the weapons. After returning to Datong, your Excellency can ask the court for cannons. As long as our Fubiao camp has cannons, we will definitely be able to avenge our past humiliation and annihilate the army." Liangshan banditry, revenge for Mr. Zhang."
General Xu nodded and said: "When I return to Datong, I will write to the Ministry of War and ask the Ministry of War to dispatch some general cannons to our Fubiao Camp."
"That's what the adults said." Wu Huai agreed.
Chen Xinnan on the side said hurriedly: "Your Excellency, you must not write to the Ministry of War. The banditry in Daliang Mountain should be the responsibility of the East Route General. Now we have overstepped our bounds. If you write to the Ministry of War again, I am afraid the Ministry of War will reprimand you."
General Xu glanced at Chen Xinnan who was speaking, but said nothing.
Wu Huai, who was standing on the side, also took a look and said, "Mr. Chen, your temper is really... upright."
"What do you mean, Mr. Wu?" Chen Xinnan frowned.
Wu Huai asked back: "Does Master Chen still want to come to Daliang Mountain to suppress bandits again?"
"Of course I don't want to." Chen Xinnan shook his head and said immediately, "But didn't General Xu just say..."
Halfway through his words, he suddenly stopped talking.
He realized that as the commander of Fubiao Battalion, how could General Xu not know that Fubiao Battalion's responsibility was not to suppress bandits, and how could he submit a letter to the Ministry of War in such a disgraceful manner.
Seeing that Chen Xinnan understood, Wu Huai stopped reminding him.
General Xu, who was sitting on a stone by the roadside, stood up and said: "The deserters have almost returned. Send the order to collect the defeated troops and return to Datong immediately. As for Mr. Zhang..."
After hesitating for a moment, he added: "I will personally apologize to the governor."
"yes."
Wu Huai and Chen Xinnan bowed and responded.
As soon as the two left, Xu You took out a cloth bag and handed it to General Xu, saying, "Sir, I got this from those people from Guojiazhuang."
General Xu took the cloth bag, opened a corner, took a look, and weighed it twice with his hands. It was a full one hundred taels.
He knew in his heart that the few people who followed Guojiazhuang could not have so much money. Naturally, Zhang Wenhe got the money from Guo Juren in Guojiazhuang.
Now that the money fell into his hands, there was no reason to return it, so he handed it over to the soldiers around him.
It was almost getting dark.
Worried that the bandits on the mountain would go down the mountain to sneak attack at night, the officers and soldiers soon left from the official road at the foot of Daliang Mountain.
In the woods not far from the official road at the foot of the mountain, Marin and his men were hiding inside.
He stared at the officers and soldiers at the foot of the mountain through the gaps in the grass and blades in front of him. He didn't lead the people out of the forest until the officers and soldiers walked away and disappeared from sight.
When going back, Marin did not take the path down the mountain, but walked on the mountain path where the officers and soldiers went up the mountain.
"There's someone over there!" Someone in the team suddenly said, pointing his arm to a patch of grass on the outside of the mountain road.
Marin looked over and noticed a figure moving behind the grass there. Knowing that there was someone hiding inside, he said, "Come out. If you don't come out, we'll shoot."
On the mountain road, there were many gunmen who had already lit their match ropes, with the muzzles of their guns pointed at the patch of grass where ordinary people were.
"Don't, don't, don't fire the gun, the little one will come out right now."
As the words fell, two men crawled out from behind the grass, looking at Marin and others on the mountain road with horrified expressions.
"Put your hands up and walk over slowly. If you dare to be clever, these firecrackers will kill you right now." Marin looked at the two strange men in front of him with a wary expression.
The officers and soldiers had just been defeated, and there could be no common people on the mountain. Although the two people in front of him were wearing ordinary people's clothes, he was still wary.
"Good man, we will never dare to mess around. We must be careful not to get into trouble."
The two men raised their hands and walked step by step to the mountain road, and then were tied up by several gunmen with their own belts.
"Who are you? Why are you hiding here?" Marin asked, looking at the two men in front of him.
The tied man said: "The younger one is from Niujia Village at the foot of the mountain. He was caught by the officers and soldiers and taken to the mountain. Later, the officers and soldiers were all running for their lives. No one could care about the younger ones, so the younger ones took the opportunity to escape. Unexpectedly, he didn't have time. After escaping down the mountain, I met all the heroes."
The other person beside him nodded repeatedly, echoing his words.
"What are the officers and soldiers arresting you for?" Marin frowned.
It felt like the two people in front of me were not telling the truth.
"The officers and soldiers want me to lead them up the mountain." The man explained aloud, and then said, "Please let me go. I was captured and I don't want to go up the mountain at all."
The two men who were caught begged Marin for mercy.
Marin noticed that the eyes of the man who spoke were moving around, and he didn't believe his words more and more.
Then, he said in a cold voice: "Since you said you are from Niujia Village at the foot of the mountain, what are your names? I will send people to Niujia Village to find out. If I know that you dare to lie to me, you should know the consequences."
As he spoke, he grabbed the handle of the knife on his waist.
The two men who were arrested had panic expressions on their faces.
After Ma Lin noticed it, he became more and more sure that these two people were not telling the truth, so he shouted loudly: "I'm giving you a chance, why do you come to Daliang Mountain?"
The muzzles of several gunmen nearby were directly pressed against the bodies of these two men.
"I said, I said." One of the men said hurriedly, "I am not from Niujia Village, but from Guojiazhuang. Guo Juren asked us to protect a Juren named Zhang who came to Daliang Mountain with the army."
"I heard from people in the army that the person named Zhang is the governor's staff." Another man added.
Marin asked: "What about others?"
"Dead." The man said.
Another man added: "He was killed by a soldier named Xu."
"Dead! He was killed by the soldiers of the army!" Marin frowned, wondering why the army wanted to kill one of his own people, and also the aides around the governor.
Even though he was just an ordinary miner before joining the Tiger Banner, he still knew that the governor's staff was a big shot, and he was also a master of government.
