Hui'an County.
When Ruji saw that his colleague Wu Kang had brought people there in person, he was moved to tears.
Can you not be moved? The person here is Wu Kang, one of our own, not that scary guy Gu Zhengchen.
Ever since he learned that Zhang San was Gu Zhengchen, the new prefect of Quanzhou, and that Tang Xian was banned from participating in government affairs, Shi Ruji felt that the sky was about to collapse.
My godfather has been pushed to the ground and rubbed, so how can I, my godson, still mess around?
He couldn't eat well and sleep well. Seeing that Gu Zhengchen didn't move day by day and there was no movement in the government office, his appetite was just right and he could sleep more. But who could have imagined that Gu Zhengchen directly beat the general judge Yang Baiju to death. , and his family property was confiscated and confiscated into the treasury.
Yang Baiju was the general magistrate, one of the top figures in the Quanzhou Prefecture, and he was beaten to death when he was told to. I heard that Wu Kang tried to persuade him in front of him, but it was useless. Such a domineering and powerful magistrate would definitely not forgive others.
Shi Ruji didn't want to be beaten to death, nor did he want to be tortured or skinned, but he had no countermeasures and was in panic all day long when Wu Kang came.
When Wu Kang saw Shi Ruji, he winked quickly and directly introduced Zhang Pei: "This is the guard sent by Gu Zhifu. If you have anything to say, just say it directly. There is no need to avoid any taboos. Don't say anything." hide."
Shi Ruji was a veteran, so he naturally understood what Wu Kang meant, and immediately agreed: "That's natural. Please go to the county government to explain it."
After arriving at the county government office, Wu Kang asked directly: "Where are the pirates, how many are there, and have the city defenses been deployed?"
Shi Ruji glanced at Zhang Pei and replied respectfully to Wu Kang: "The pirates robbed Chongwu and approached Hui'an County for twenty miles last night. They disappeared during the day. They probably hid in the mountains and forests and waited for the night. Take advantage of the darkness to attack the county town. The number of people is not certain, but there are at least eighty or ninety people."
Eighty or ninety pirates were not a large number, but they were enough to make the county town nervous.
After all, the armed forces of a county are very limited. The total number of government officials and inspection departments is only forty or fifty people. These people are militiamen, not sergeants. They have limited fighting power and low courage. It is very difficult to face the vicious and brutal pirates. It might break up.
Wu Kang looked solemn and said in a deep voice: "How are the people in the city?"
At that time, you lamented and said sadly: "What else can we do? People are uneasy. Yesterday, someone took advantage of the chaos and robbed the grain store. The people stayed behind closed doors for fear of pirates coming into the city."
When Wu Kang heard this, he solemnly said: "Trouble is most likely to occur when people's hearts are unstable. Now you immediately send the government officials to beat the gongs and go along every street to shout and tell the people that Quanzhou Guard Commander Zhou Yuan has set off with his sergeants. Hai Kou Ding I won’t enter the city to let the people feel at ease.”
At that time, you responded and arranged for the county magistrate to handle it.
Zhang Pei looked at the leaving county magistrate, the chief clerk who was leisurely drinking tea, and the motionless Dianshi, and the corners of his mouth moved slightly.
This group of people is really kind-hearted. The pirates are not far outside the city gate, and they are likely to attack the city tonight, but none of them are very nervous. This is indeed a lot of courage.
After sunset, darkness came over.
The sky is cloudy and the night is a little dark.
Although it can't be said that I can't see my fingers, I can't see beyond twenty paces.
Wu Kang stood on the east city wall of Hui'an County. The torches on the city wall made the darkness in the distance darker, making his vision even weaker. Shi Ruji didn't know where he got a suit of armor and wanted Wu Kang to put it on, but Wu Kang yelled: "How many people don't wear armor? Am I, Wu Kang, someone who is afraid of death? As long as the pirates dare to come , we will fight them to the death here!"
These words made the servants and inspectors guarding the city gate excited.
Zhang Pei held a knife and looked outside the city with cold eyes.
Will pirates attack the city?
meeting.
This must have a premise, that is, it must be sudden and unexpected.
Once the people in the city are on guard and the city gate is closed, it will be too difficult for the pirates to enter the city. After all, the city cannot be climbed by high jump, not to mention that the people on the city are condescending, and the people below the city have their backs raised, so they must be on guard against arrows. , and you need to use your hands and feet to climb the city. Small groups of pirates usually don't do this, and it's easy to kill people. .??m
But something happened unexpectedly.
moment.
There were shouts of killing outside the city, followed by a burst of torches.
Shi Ruji pointed to the outside of the city and shouted at the top of his lungs: "The pirates, the pirates are coming, prepare to shoot arrows."
Wu Kang also shouted: "Get ready to fight, people are in the city!"
Zhang Pei looked at Wu Kang, Shi Ruji and others, then raised his hand and touched his chin.
The master said that there are idiots in this world, but not many, especially those pirates who should have died but have not yet died. They must be good at something, such as running fast, rowing fast, like loaches, and the navy can catch them. You can’t catch them all. For example, if you have some brains and know where to rob and where not to go...
No matter how hard the Fujian pirates tried, they would not dare to go to Fuzhou. Even if the Quanzhou pirates came to Chongwu, they would not dare to go to Jinjiang City.
They know where the dangers are and what to do and what not to do.
The pirates in front of us obviously don't seem to have any brains. You are a sneak attack, and the torches on the city wall are very bright. It is understandable that you shout a few times under the city, and your broken voice can scare people, but you light a fire. Expose yourself from the darkness. Is this a fool?
Thinking of this, Zhang Pei snatched the bow and arrow from the handyman on the side and raised his hand to see that the bow was full.
call out!
The arrow pierced into the darkness and then into the light, hitting the chest of a pirate holding a torch!
The pirate immediately fell to the ground.
"what are you doing?!"
Shi Ruji became anxious and shouted sharply.
Zhang Pei looked at the somewhat confused pirates. Without saying a word, he took out two arrows from the sergeant's quiver, bit one in his mouth, put the other on the bowstring, and shot out suddenly!
"The pirates deserve to die!"
Zhang Pei took out an arrow from his mouth and when he was about to shoot it, Wu Kang appeared in front of him.
Wu Kang scolded in a deep voice: "The pirates are now like a battlefield! On the battlefield, you obey orders, how can you go ahead without orders! If you were in the army, your head would be lost!"
Zhang Pei put away his bow and arrows, looked at the fleeing pirates, and sighed helplessly: "Prefect Gu ordered to ensure the absolute safety of Wu Tongzhi, but now the pirates suddenly came out, and two pirates took aim with bows and arrows. Wu Tongzhi had no choice but to take action in a hurry, without having time to wait for your orders. If it were too late, Wu Tongzhi would probably be hit by an arrow and die. By then, I would be unable to deliver."
"you!"
Wu Kang gritted his teeth.
People have given out all the reasons for protecting their own safety, so how can they blame him? You can't tell him that you'll wait until I take an arrow next time before you take action, right?
Wu Kang looked outside the city, two arrows, two lives, just killed!
Zhang Pei didn't care. He threw his bow and arrow to the inspection sergeant and said to Wu Kang: "I thought that I could order someone to carry the corpse of the pirate to the city, and then search for his portrait and find out his family."
When Shi Ruji saw this, he wiped his cold sweat and said quickly: "No way, maybe the pirates are luring the enemy deeper. Once we open the city gate, the pirates will come out from the darkness and the city will not be protected." "
Zhang Pei looked at Shi Ruji, are you an idiot or am I an idiot? The pirates have all run away, and each one of them is running much faster than you. Are you still worried about an ambush?
Wu Kang nodded in agreement: "The Shizhi County is right. Protecting the city gate is the first priority. As for the corpse, we will send someone to carry it out early tomorrow morning. There is no need to take risks at this time."
Zhang Pei saw that the two men were breathing out from the same nostril and simply stopped talking.
Outside the city, there is a dense forest.
Tang Bahu was so angry that he kicked the tree trunk and gritted his teeth: "What does it mean above? We were promised to act in a show to scare us, but they are going to kill us directly! Lao Qi, Lao Jiu died like this!"
Lin Qingtang was frightened and felt a little dazed. It wasn't until he was pushed that he came back to his senses and shouted angrily: "Mom, it's true that we are working hard for them, but we can't be manipulated by others without knowing it." Unjust death! Tang Bahu, do you think Shangfeng intends to eliminate us to avoid future troubles?"
Tang Bahu was stunned for a moment and sat down: "What do you mean?"
Lin Qingtang did not shy away: "Ever since Tang Hu's incident, the Tang family has begun to purge our group of people. Tang Xing and the others have all had their heads chopped off. Do you really think it's Zhang San or any pro-soldier?" Were the people in the Wei Mansion present and had no choice but to do this? Tang Tongpan was in Hui'an County. He knew that the court could not tolerate pirates and knew that exposure of Tang Hu's affairs would be fatal, so he took the opportunity to get rid of us and kill us. Everyone!"
Tang Bahu clenched his fists.
Once officials collude with pirates, if there is even the slightest sign, they may suffer a devastating blow.
And these brothers were originally either bandits or pirates, or they had committed crimes and escaped and were taken in. No one's hands were clean.
Now the new Magistrate Gu is too powerful. Big figures like Yang Baiju have been killed. In order to avoid disaster, they will probably clean up their tail.
In order to eliminate this permanent problem, the best way is to kill everyone.
Tang Bahu was filled with uneasiness and some luck: "It's impossible, Tang Tongpan would not treat us like this. We have served him a lot over the years. If he wants our lives, he can send an army to kill us all." Kill, not just two arrows.”
Lin Qingtang was very angry: "Why did we only fire two arrows? If we hadn't run fast, everyone would have been there! According to me, they no longer regard us as their own, and they wish we could shut up forever! 8 Brother Hu, let’s go to sea, let’s go to the beach, grab a boat and go to sea to be pirates, it’s better than being tricked to death by them!”
Tang Bahu shook his head: "We still have family members, so we can't leave here easily."
Lin Qingtang kicked a stone away and shouted: "Our family members have a way to live if we run away! If we stay, they will either be killed by those people in Tang Tongjing, or arrested by Magistrate Gu, and the whole family will be unlucky!"
Tang Bahu knew that what Lin Qingtang said was right, but he still held out hope: "When the contact person comes tomorrow and ask, if they really want to harm us, then kill them and run away!"
