Chapter 49: The Old Master is the King's Law

  The sound like thunder startled everyone in the hall who was eating and drinking, and the four men who were about to sneak away were even more frightened, their legs softened and they almost couldn't stand up. The leader of the men's heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

  He turned around and saw the officer in charge standing up, staring at him with piercing eyes, his left hand pressing on the hilt of his sword, striding towards him with a majestic gait.

  "Mil...milord! Are...are you yelling at me?" The man asked in a trembling voice, pointing to himself with a glimmer of hope.

  "Exactly!" Pang Gang strode forward, carefully sizing him up with a glance, and asked with the corners of his mouth slightly raised, "What kind of people are you? Where are you headed? What do you plan to do? Quickly report to this official."

  The middle-aged Han man said with a strong self-control: "This... this military officer, dare to ask if you are, are the patrol invited to patrol the streets? I am a good citizen!"

  He was suddenly a bit embarrassed by this question. As a garrison soldier, he didn't have the right to inspect merchants and travelers, but earlier he saw these people carrying sharp objects and wanted to ask them about it. He didn't expect to be countered with such a firm yet gentle tone by this man.

  Pang Gang's face turned red with rage, "You scoundrels, are you interrogating me or am I interrogating you? Bring the map to me immediately, otherwise I'll have you arrested and sent to the prefecture!"

  Several middle-aged men, although strictly speaking also considered rascals, were also seasoned and lawless characters in Yangzhou. At this time, seeing the military officer's words reach this point, he also spoke out, "Sir, only the patrol inspector and the police have the right to check the road, sir seems to have no such duty."

  After hearing this man's words that didn't give him any face, Pang Gang didn't get angry but instead smiled: "Good good...... originally I only wanted to ask a few questions, didn't expect to have misjudged you, you actually have such guts." After finishing speaking, a surge of murderous aura rose up on Pang Gang's face, and he lowly shouted: "Come, prepare for battle!"

  "Buzz! Buzz!"

  A clear sound was all that remained, and the crowd of soldiers who had been standing behind Pang Gang suddenly drew their blades, seven or eight unsheathed Yan Xiang waist knives emitting a cold light in the great hall.

  At this time, the national fondness for excitement immediately appeared, and people eating and drinking in the hall immediately gathered around.

  Pang Gang sneered and said, "This official is counting to three. If you don't bring out the road guide, don't blame this official for being impolite."

  "You... you... you!" This man had dealings with the officials in Yangzhou on ordinary days, but he had never seen such unreasonable soldiers and officials. As soon as they disagreed, they immediately drew their swords at each other. For a moment, he couldn't help but feel indignant, "You are so unreasonable, is there still justice under heaven?!"

  "Royal law!" Pang Gang's face grew even darker, coldly laughing, "Royal law? I am the royal law! Now this official is counting to three. If you don't surrender, don't blame this official for being ruthless! Come, when this official counts to three and they still haven't surrendered, treat them as bandits and kill them without pardon!"

  "Yes!"

  The small flags beside and behind them immediately swarmed up and surrounded the four men.

  "Ah!"

  Two!

  "Alright, we admit defeat!" The thugs were indeed just thugs. Although they dared to speak harsh words on ordinary days and sometimes even killed people for money, when it came to fighting against the government soldiers, they absolutely did not have the courage. Before Pang Gang had finished counting to three, the middle-aged man in charge instinctively covered his head with both hands and squatted down by himself.

  Several soldiers immediately came forward to search them, and soon they found three short knives, a dagger, and several road permits. The soldiers presented the items to Pang Gang. Pang Gang placed the knives and dagger on the table, picked up the road permit and looked at it, sneering: "Well, Yangzhou's road permit, coming to Qingzhou to do business but carrying deadly weapons, are you doing a business with no capital? What else can you say now?"

  He knew that the man he had carried this time was also quite bold, and closed his eyes without answering. At this moment, another commotion came from the entrance, and several catchers walked in. It turned out that the shopkeeper saw that things were not going well, so he sent an apprentice to report to the official, and the catcher heard that there were government troops involved, so they didn't dare to slack off and immediately came over.

  The leader of the captors cupped his hands and said to Pang Gang: "Li Yiping, the humble head of Qingzhou Prefecture, has seen your lordship. May I ask how to address this noble?"

  Pang Gang said faintly: "This official is Ling Shan Wei's hundred households Pang Gang. Just now, I saw these few villains carrying deadly weapons. This official came to investigate, but they pushed and pulled, only to be subdued by this official later. The guests here can all testify! Li Hu Tou, how should this be punished according to the Great Ming Code?"

  Li Yiping saw Pang Gang and others with fine armor, all of whom looked like evil spirits, and hastily said, "According to the Great Ming Code, civilians carrying deadly weapons will be flogged 50 times and serve hard labor for three years. Please rest assured, sir, we will report it to the governor and give them severe punishment."

  Pang Gang had just insisted on finding trouble with these few rascals because he saw that they were carrying hidden weapons and looked suspicious, so he insisted on searching them. Now that the constables have arrived to handle it, naturally he has no interest in meddling further.

  "Then I'll have to trouble Captain Li, and the official won't keep you for a drink!" Pang Gang smiled and nodded at Li Yiping, waving his hand, and several soldiers handed the man over to the catchers who had followed Li Yiping.

  "Thank you, sir, for helping me catch these scoundrels. I'll take my leave now!" Li Yiping said, and led several of his men to drag the few Han men out of the inn.

  Pang Gang sat down again and continued drinking his wine. After all, on this cold winter day, there was nothing more comfortable than warming up with a few cups of wine. As for the few knife-wielding thugs earlier, they could only be considered an unexpected interlude.

  However, although he was drinking wine, his mind was still constantly thinking about the development plan of Wang Haibao. This time, from Wei Tongnian and Song Xinghe, he "borrowed" 2,000 taels of silver, which is already a huge sum for ordinary people, but for Pang Gang's upcoming business, it's just a drop in the bucket. According to Pang Gang's estimate, at least 5,000 to 8,000 taels of silver are needed to put the mine and cement plant into production smoothly, and the silver needed for spring plowing after the beginning of spring is even more staggering.

  The reputation of Wang Hai Castle for accepting refugees has gradually spread to Qingzhou. Although it is now in the severe winter, under the pressure of hunger and cold, there are still refugees coming to Wang Hai Castle one after another. In this way, the originally harvested grain will not be enough, and other ways must be thought of to raise grain.

  At this time, Pang Gang, who was sitting aside thinking about his heart affairs, did not notice that there were two pairs of eyes staring at him.

  "Kui Shu, look, that official doesn't seem as incompetent as you said. Those few rascals who've been following us all the way were caught by this very official."

  Kui Shu was also surprised at what had just happened, he didn't expect those village guards to be so meddlesome, and they immediately caught those few scoundrels.

  The young master continued: "Uncle Kui, now that those few scoundrels have been caught and taken away, but we don't know if they have any accomplices. I think it's necessary to discuss this with the military officer. If we can persuade him, our goods will definitely be able to return to Yangzhou on time!"

  "Alright! However, Master Shao Dong, these soldiers are always arrogant and unreasonable. You must be extremely cautious when negotiating with them!"

  "Uncle Kui, rest assured, I understand!" The young man was still very respectful to Uncle Kui, nodding vigorously before shifting his gaze towards Pang Gang.

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