Chapter 37: Killing Zhang Yang and Getting Rich

  "The bandit leader is dead! Those who surrender will not be killed!" Zhao Xing picked up the hatchet that Zhang Binglin had dropped on the ground, chopped off his head with a swing of the knife, and stuck it on the tip of his spear. He shouted loudly in the crowd. The county soldiers, who were already somewhat exhausted, saw that Zhang Duwei was dead and did not dare to resist again. They threw down their weapons and surrendered one after another.

  "Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao sent men to bind these fake bandits with ropes, who had been causing trouble in the countryside, and brought them back to Wotou Village to await their fate!" After finishing speaking, Zhao Xing mounted his horse and rushed towards Changzi County.

  Walking halfway, they encountered a real "gust of wind" - Guo Zong and Hu Che'er were leading the Flying Tiger Camp back and forth, but General Guan Yu was nowhere to be seen.

  "Where is Guan Ying now?" Zhao Xing asked with concern.

  "Report to Master Zhuang, Guan Yingxue said he would personally take the head of Zhang Yang Xiang who escaped to Jin Yang before coming to see you!" Guo Changzi replied.

  "Good, I wonder if that million-dollar head has been taken down?!"

  "Zhu Xia's and Zhang Baiwan's heads are here, Master, please take a look!" Hu Che'er ordered his men to bring forth the two bloody heads.

  "Good! After we return to the school, I'll reward the brothers according to their merits!" Zhao Xing said coldly.

  Zhao Xing was a killing machine in his past life, accustomed to the cycle of life and death. In this life, he found himself in an even more chaotic era of war and strife. Arriving in the Three Kingdoms period, he knew that he would either kill or be killed, and to protect more people, he could only repeatedly wield his butcher's knife, "with a Bodhisattva's heart, carrying out the work of Yanluo".

  "How was Zhang Baiwan killed?" Zhao Xing asked again.

  "Zhang's mansion was breached by us, and Guan Yingxue gave the order not to slaughter innocent people indiscriminately. We only caught a few servants and dragged out Zhang Baiwan from the rear garden of the mansion, killing him with one knife. However, Guan Yingxue ordered us to move all the treasures in Zhang's mansion back, including the land deeds." Zhao Xing finally had time to look back, and saw that the crowd of mounted bandits dressed as Fei Hu's men were carrying loads on their shoulders and in their hands, with the horses almost unable to move under the weight.

  "Haha, you wanted to outsmart me? Now you've lost both your wife and soldiers!" Zhao Xing was secretly delighted. "Let's go, we're returning to Wohu Manor!" Looking at the distant Longzi County city with fires burning everywhere, Zhao Xing said somewhat dispiritedly.

  The various troops returned to the manor under the leadership of their respective leaders, and soon the loss situation was reported by Li Jin-si. After this night, Wohu Manor lost 97 soldiers, including 35 deaths, 62 serious injuries, and uncounted minor injuries. They killed more than 300 county soldiers and officials, captured Feng, Zhu Mu-yu, and Zhang Gong-cao alive, beheaded Zhu Xia-shui, Zhang Biao-lin, and Zhang Biao-kun, and the county governor Zhang Yang was unknown whereabouts. The treasure searched from the Zhang family's warehouse was worth four million taels of silver, and 700,000 mu of land deeds from various places were a huge income! Enough to offset the loss of Wohu Manor, and greatly increased its strength.

  Inside the council hall, everyone was rejoicing over this windfall when Guan Yu burst in, his entire being exuding an aura of murder that left people speechless.

  "Brother Guan has worked hard, hurry up and sit down to have a cup of tea!" Zhao Xing did not ask if Guan Yu had killed Zhang Yang because he saw that Guan Yu's hands were empty when he came in.

  Seeing Zhao Xing didn't ask himself about the murder, but instead invited him to drink water, Guan Yu felt a warmth in his heart. "Zhang Yang and several of his personal soldiers were all killed by me, their bodies were thrown under Mount Taihang, and their heads have been buried."

  "Brother Guan is indeed reliable!" Zhao Xing couldn't help but praise in his heart. He wasn't a "romantic fool", as long as he killed the scourge and didn't leave any future troubles, that was enough. Since Guan Yu said to kill him, then he must be doomed to die. In his impression, Brother Guan had never been in the habit of deceiving people, even if he let Cao Cao go, it would still be a straightforward admission!

  "This time, although it was a thrilling kill, it also made a huge hole!" Jia Yu reminded Zhao Xing on the side.

  "I suppose Mr. Wen already has a plan in mind, I'll just share my own thoughts and see if they match yours." Zhao Xing wasn't panicked at all, before taking action tonight, he had already thought through the consequences and countermeasures. In his mind, Zhang Yang and others were doomed to die, otherwise, the development of Wotou Village would be restricted in the future. If these people didn't come to provoke him, after the new year, he would take the initiative to kill them!

  "I want to ask you, sir, to hurry to Luoyang and bring enough good wine and wealth with you. Use them to grease the wheels from top to bottom, and turn a bad situation into a good one!" Zhao Xing continued.

  "Oh, I wonder how to turn decay into magic?" Jia Xian asked with a smile.

  "When today's son loves money like his life, selling official positions has become a common practice. Not long ago, I heard that Cao Song (Cao Cao's father, the adopted son of eunuch Cao Teng) spent 100 million to buy a high-ranking position as one of the Three Dukes. The emperor's attendants, the 'Ten Constant Attendants', all regard money as their parents, and even the Minister of Works, He Jin, is insatiably greedy. As the saying goes, 'Any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem at all!' The Sleeping Tiger Mansion is now rich, with plenty of money to spare, but what it lacks is prestige and status, what it lacks is official position. With your intelligence, strategy, and means, sir, you can go to Luoyang and secure official positions for everyone, resolving the crisis of today!" Zhao Xing replied confidently.

  "What were those official positions in Guo Changzhong's mind?" Jia Yu continued to ask.

  "The posts of Shangdang County Magistrate, Shangdang Regional Inspector, and a multitude of officials in the county government office, the title of Zhangzi County Magistrate, and several filial and incorrupt titles!"

  "Is there anyone who can make arrangements?" Jia Yu asked

  "The governor of Shangdang County should be Mr. Mo, the chief officer should be my elder brother Mo, and the county magistrate can be held by my uncle Li Qing. As for me, I'm still too young to take office, but I can be a filial and incorruptible official, it's best to hold a position that doesn't require attending the emperor in Luoyang." Zhao Xing was lost in thought.

  "What Guo Chang thinks is what I think, and I deeply admire him!" Jia Yu said with a serious expression. In this era, as an advisor, although he hoped that his plans would be adopted by his lord, he absolutely did not want his lord to be a "yes man" who only nodded in agreement. With Jia Yu's ability to protect himself well in the chaotic world of the Three Kingdoms, he was delighted to see that the person he had pledged allegiance to was comprehensive in ability and decisive in strategy, and not a self-willed waste.

  "Things should not be delayed, delay will bring changes, I request to rush to Luoyang tomorrow!"

  "Also want to trouble Mr. Labor, Guo Chang is very uneasy. I want to arrange Li Jinsi and Zhou Cang to follow the journey, bring 'Dormant Tiger Camp' hundred good hands to protect Mr. safe all the way, do not know if possible?" Zhao Xing asked

  "Excellent!" Jia Yu replied.

  "Zhang Bo, bring wine! Let's take advantage of today's great victory and give a hearty sendoff to Mr. Wen He!"