"What exactly is this place? Why is the government unable to protect itself?"
Taking a deep breath, when Pei Wende spoke again, a faint Sanskrit sound appeared in his voice.
Under the influence of this Sanskrit sound, the gangsters suddenly lost their minds, and even the horses under their crotches became strangely quiet.
"This is Jiangnan East Road, the western suburbs of Runzhou..."
"Since the evil spirits caused chaos last year and the Nandu embankment burst, Runzhou's harvest for the whole year was ruined."
"It just so happened that those bad officials in the government office colluded with profiteers to drive up prices. At one point, rice was more expensive than silver."
He couldn't help but frown, and Pei Wende was a little surprised.
Runzhou is a peripheral area of Yangzhou, also known as Zhenjiang in later generations.
Nandu refers to the Yangtze River, so the bandit leader's words can simply be understood as the Yangtze River's dykes, which led to a rare disaster year in Zhenjiang, the "granary".
"If the local government doesn't act, does the court just ignore it?"
Hearing Pei Wende's question again, the bandit leader who had his mind controlled actually showed a look of disdain.
"The imperial court? If the imperial court wants to control it, it must be able to control it."
"Those dog officials not only colluded with profiteers, but also deceived the superiors and deceived the subordinates. They did not report the breach of the Nandu embankment at all."
As soon as these words came out, Pei Wende suddenly understood.
Let’s not say how true the “collusion between government and businessmen” mentioned by the bandit leader is, but it does seem like local officials did not report the breach of the dike to the police.
After all, the new emperor had just ascended the throne and his control over the local area was not that strong yet.
Local officials may be trying to put the matter off until the big issue is reduced to a trivial matter in order to protect themselves.
"That's not right. Even if last year's harvest was ruined, since this place is so close to Yangzhou, isn't there any extra food and grass for disaster relief?"
"The matter has reached this point, and you even dare to rob the officials. No matter how stupid the court is, it's impossible that they don't know about it, right?"
If things are really as the bandit leader said, and local officials are trying to collude with each other and deceive the superiors and subordinates, there is no reason for the matter to become such a big deal.
Using the extra food from previous years for disaster relief is the only way to truly reduce big and small problems.
"Haha, those dog officials naturally don't want things to get so big."
"But God doesn't give them a way to survive. This year's Nandu embankment burst again. How can they have food and grass to provide disaster relief?"
He laughed unabashedly. Even though the bandit leader was in a controlled state of confusion, he still couldn't hide the resentment in his heart when he said this.
"Dike bursting two years in a row?"
After knowing the ins and outs of the entire incident, even Xiao Qing couldn't help but poke his head out and complain.
"How perfunctory are those stupid officials? Didn't they seriously build the dam?"
Glancing down at Xiao Qing, Pei Wende explained in a low voice.
"Maybe it has been repaired, but it's not their final say in this kind of thing."
"Based on last year's situation of 'rice being more expensive than silver', it seems that some people want to take advantage of the situation to make money while the country is struggling."
Hearing the sound of the string and knowing its elegant meaning, Xiaoqing instantly understood the reason.
Local officials wanted to hide it, so they must have built dikes immediately and provided food for disaster relief.
But it seems that some people didn't want to let the matter go just like that, so they deliberately drove up prices, and then tampered with the construction of dams. That's why this year's situation happened.
"Is the person who did this a human? Or a demon?"
Facing Xiaoqing's question, Pei Wende just shook his head helplessly.
"Whether they are humans or monsters, their purpose is to cause chaos and disaster."
In fact, Pei Wende really wanted to think positively about this matter, but he knew very well that if the information obtained by the bandit leader was correct, there was a high probability that these things were done by some people who were greedy for profit.
"leader?"
While Pei Wende and Xiao Qing were whispering, the refugees armed with sticks finally caught up with the bandits on horseback and surrounded them.
Then they noticed the strange behavior of the bandit leaders, and each of them showed a surprised look.
"ha?!"
It wasn't until one of the refugees gave the bandit leader a tentative push that the leader woke up from his daze and looked at the calm Pei Wende with a horrified expression.
"You monster monk! What kind of magic did you cast on me?"
Following the bandit leader's loud shout, the other bewildered gangsters also woke up from their daze.
The next moment, these gangsters looked at Pei Wende with frightened and horrified eyes, not concealing their inner shock.
"Magic?"
Seeing this, Pei Wende smiled disdainfully.
"If this is considered 'demon magic', then there is no right way in this world."
Before he finished speaking, Pei Wende suddenly flicked his monk's robe, and the sword in his hand flew straight towards the bandit leader on horseback.
——Sword Control·Hundred-Step Flying Sword!
At the critical moment, the instinct of survival caused the bandit leader to turn over and roll off the horse in time.
However, the horse under his crotch was not so lucky, and was beheaded directly by the sharp sword.
"Come on! Come on everyone!"
"Whoever can kill this monster monk, I will make him the second master immediately!"
Seeing such a terrifying scene, the bandit leader, who was sprayed with horse blood, still had the courage he had before, and shouted loudly to his nearby subordinates in panic.
As the saying goes, there must be a brave man under a heavy reward.
Although these gangsters were still afraid of Pei Wende's "demon magic", they still had the courage to rush towards the opponent after seeing that the sword was no longer in their hands.
Especially the gangsters on horseback launched a charge with the intention of splitting Pei Wende in half in the shortest possible time.
"snort!"
With a slight cold snort, Xiao Qing, who was under the collar, was about to take action when Pei Wende reached out to stop him.
"Let me do it!"
Pei Wende, who didn't want Xiao Qing to be implicated in too many killing sins, said this, and a flying insect that looked like an ant flew out of his sleeve.
Then the second one, the third one...
Buzz!
Although these iron Gus forged from steel only have simple spirituality, it does not prevent them from becoming the most useful "weapons" in Pei Wende's hands.
Automatically identify, automatically lock on enemies, automatically kill enemies...
Pei Wende just stood there quietly, without even making too many operations or commands. The gangsters who swarmed up were bitten to death by the iron poison one by one.
Only when occasionally encountering one or two gangsters who are not afraid of death, will the suspended sword fall down on their own initiative and behead them.
"Amitabha!"
In just a few breaths, these gangsters who dared to block the road were slaughtered by Pei Wende.
Then Pei Wende walked up to the bandit leader with a sword in hand, swung the knife decisively amidst the other party's continuous begging for mercy, and cut off the other party's head.
Before the bandit leader's head fell to the ground, the last thing he heard was a low, compassionate death curse.
——Vajra’s angry eyes cut off karma and protect the path.
——The Bodhisattva lowers his eyebrows and transcends to the next life.
—Recommendation ticket—/—Monthly ticket—
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