Chapter 6 Grandpa Jiang Qin

  The setting sun is low in the west, and the smell of blood fills the nostrils.

  The lucky soldiers who survived lay on the ground, their faces pale and gasping for air.

  Everyone saw blood in this fierce battle.

  Once they overcome the horrors of war, these soldiers will undergo a true transformation.

  Not far away, Ting Chang led hundreds of civilians to clean up the battlefield and bury the dead.

  Zhou Wu led nineteen attendants and was rushing to rescue the wounded on horseback.

  As a special soldier, you must not only know how to kill people but also understand the way of self-preservation, and deal with some superficial wounds, which is just the most basic common sense.

  Zhou Jian may not have understood internal medicine, but he had plenty of experience in treating external injuries. Apart from some knowledge limited by the era, he taught all the skills he knew to his 20 followers.

  These pirates are indeed very fierce, although they were captured, their eyes are still very sharp and full of arrogance.

  Zhou Jian swung his sword and cut off the rope on a sturdy pirate's body, standing with his hands behind his back.

  This pirate was the first one he had captured alive, and the other pirates called him Second Master.

  The man jumped up, but instead of turning around and running away, he stared straight at Zhou Jian.

  Zhou Jianxiao smiled and said, "Go on, what's his name."

  Zhuang Han said with a stern expression: "Jiang Qin is here, whether to kill or behead him, it's entirely up to you."

  "Jiang Qin?"

  Zhou furrowed his brow, vaguely recalling something, but couldn't quite place who it was.

  "That's grandpa."

  The strong man's eyes gleam with a fierce light, his neck stretched out in front, his head held high waiting for the blow.

  Zhou Jian's face sank, and he said coldly, "Do you want to die or live?"

  Jiang Qin said calmly and loudly: "What is a real man afraid of? Only seeking a quick death."

  Zhou Jian's eyes gleamed with delight, and he nodded slightly: "I see you're a man of honor too, so I'll spare your life. Are you willing to follow me closely?"

  Jiang Qin hesitated for a long time before saying: "If you can spare the lives of these brothers, I am willing to serve as your humble servant."

  "Good, this is no problem."

  "The little man greets the general."

  Jiang Qin knelt down and loudly paid his respects.

  "Get up!"

  Zhou Jian waved his hand, but his eyebrows furrowed unintentionally.

  These water bandits are fugitives, they can't clear themselves just by saying so, it's not easy to exonerate them!

  Moreover, these water bandits are individually valiant and skilled in battle, much stronger than the soldiers at the county yamen. To kill them all would be a bit of a waste. If I could recruit this bandit as my subordinate and give him some training, he would make an elite soldier.

  If it weren't for bringing twenty personal guards this time, how could the government soldiers be a match for these water bandits?

  It seems we still need to think of a way to keep these more than 200 water bandits behind.

  When I returned to the county town, it was almost dark.

  Zhou Jian and County Magistrate Chen Dian handed over the soldiers and locked up all the captives in a large prison.

  As for Jiang Qin, he had Zhou Wu take him to another courtyard, so as not to be recognized by others.

  Jiang Qin is a bandit leader. If he were handed over to the county government, there would be no way for him to stay alive and he would definitely be beheaded in public.

  Zhou Jian came to the back courtyard of the county government office to see his father Zhou Shang and reported in detail the process of pursuing and suppressing the water bandits.

  Zhou Shang listened with great joy, nodding his head repeatedly: "My son is brave and resourceful. This time he greatly defeated the water bandits, using a small force to attack a large one, annihilating over 300 of them. Although the leader escaped, it's still a great achievement. From now on, this group of water bandits will not dare to come to Anhui County again."

  Zhou Jian also talked about the situation of the county government soldiers.

  Zhou Shang furrowed his brow and said in a deep voice, "Chen Dian is an incompetent official. These years, he has embezzled military funds, and I have been keeping track of it. If he didn't have a relationship with the governor, I would have investigated him long ago."

  "Can't always be so indulgent, can it?"

  Zhou let out a sigh and didn't say anything.

  "Father," said Zhou Jian, "I have a request to make of you."

  "My son, if you have something on your mind, just say it."

  "Son requests father to spare those more than 200 water bandits. Although these bandits have many capital crimes on their hands, they are not the main culprits. Now that the leader of the bandits has already escaped, if we behead these bandits, the remaining bandits will surely use revenge as an excuse and gather again to cause trouble; but if father can pardon these bandits, he will gain a reputation for kindness and benevolence. At that time, even if the bandits gather again to cause trouble, they will remember father's kindness and certainly will not come to Anhui County to plunder and cause disaster again. This move is beneficial in two ways, please father consider it clearly."

  Zhou sank into deep thought for a moment, then nodded and said: "My son's words are reasonable, let's follow his advice."

  Zhou Jian secretly let out a sigh of relief, after all, he hadn't wasted his breath and had managed to save those more than 200 water bandits.

  Zhou Shang said, "To prevent these water bandits from gathering again to commit crimes, sparing their lives is acceptable, but they must be strictly controlled and not allowed to gather again to cause trouble. Currently, the county government's soldiers are insufficient, so select the strong and able-bodied ones to join the army, and have my son take charge of guarding them, do not let them cause trouble."

  Zhou Jian was overjoyed and hastily said: "Yes, son obeys."

  This is even better, being able to openly and honorably provide special training for these water bandits, no need to sneak around anymore.

  Moreover, by incorporating water bandits into the military, all expenses would be borne by the government, and they would no longer have to worry about their own food and financial problems.

  Zhou Jian walked out of the county government office with a great mood.

  Jiang Qin was anxiously waiting for news at another courtyard.

  "Sir, has the county magistrate ever pardoned a humble man's younger brother?"

  As soon as he saw Zhou Jian enter the door, Jiang Qin hastily asked, with a look of anxiety on his face.

  Jiang Qin originally called Zhou Jian a general, but when he arrived in Wan County, he learned that Zhou Jian was still a commoner and had no official position, so he changed his title to "young master".

  "Don't worry, Father has already agreed and let me enlist those more than 200 brothers of yours into the army, I'll be in charge of training and taking care of them. You and Zhou Wu go to the prison to pick people up, select two hundred strong and capable ones for me to conduct special training on. The rest can go to cultivate wasteland, those who want to get married will be given money, let them behave from now on."

  "Thank you, young master."

  A hint of gratitude flashed across Jiang Qin's eyes, and it wasn't until now that he truly returned to his senses.

  These bandits were all homeless wanderers, living from hand to mouth. Now that they have been captured by the authorities, not only have their death sentences been commuted, but they also have land to cultivate and even the opportunity to marry and settle down, which is already a very good fate.

  Zhou Jian said calmly: "There's no need to say more about gratitude, just do a good job for me from now on!"

  "Yes, sir."

  Jiang Qin responded with a "yes" and followed Zhou Wu to the prison cell to fetch the person.

  Before long, more than 200 pirates were released.

  Zhou Jian chose two hundred robust men, leaving dozens of seriously injured or disabled ones to be sent back to their hometowns. He also gave each of them a sum of money, so that they could find wives and live a good life, without any other thoughts.

  Two hundred water bandits, each with several lives on their hands, and a fierce murderous aura about them.

  Zhou Jian divided the two hundred water bandits into twenty groups under his followers, with each person leading ten people, responsible for training and discipline.

  However, ordinary training is really hard to achieve much effect in a short period of time.

  It's less than a year and a half before the Yellow Turban Rebellion breaks out.

  Time waits for no man.

  Zhou Jian thought for a few days and decided to personally give special training to these two hundred water bandits.

  Wan County, in the suburbs of a large piece of land unattended.

  Two hundred pirates stood in a neat and tidy formation, standing solemnly and silently.

  Within ten paces to the side, more than two hundred backpacks and a pile of ropes were neatly stacked. Among them, twenty-one backpacks were much larger than the others, with the largest one being several times larger than the rest.

  Twenty attendants were lined up in a row, controlling two hundred pirates.

  Zhou Jian wore a short tunic and was tightly dressed, with a belt around his waist. His tall and powerful physique stood majestically, his hands clasped together as he stood at the front of the formation.

  Jiang Weng stood beside Zhou Jian, a look of confusion on his face, somewhat unclear about the situation.

  "See those backpacks?"

  Zhou Jian pointed at the backpack beside him and asked loudly.

  "I've seen it!"

  Two hundred otters responded in unison, their voices loud and clear, but slightly out of sync.

  Zhou said coldly: "Speak louder, I can't hear you."

  "I've seen it!"

  The two hundred bandits could only loudly respond once again.

  Zhou Jian said loudly: "I didn't hear that, are you guys hungry or a group of useless people?"

  "I've seen it!"

  All the water bandits shouted in unison, almost overturning the sky.

  Zhou Jian nodded in satisfaction and ordered: "Zhou Wu, Zhou Xiong, get me the backpack."

  "Yes, young master."

  Zhou Wu and Zhou Xiong immediately rushed out of the ranks, carried over the largest backpack, lifted it onto Zhou Jian's back, and took a rope to tie it tightly so that it wouldn't fall off.

  Zhou Jian's waist didn't bend at all, still standing upright like a mountain, coldly saying: "Everyone, put on your backpacks."

  Zhou Wu and Zhou Xiong responded immediately, directing two hundred pirates to tie backpacks on their backs.

  Zhou Jian himself put on the largest backpack, and the water bandits had nothing to say. Even if they were unwilling, they didn't want to be looked down upon or scolded as cowards, so one by one, they quickly tied their backpacks onto their backs.

  Two hundred and twenty-two people, two hundred and twenty-two backpacks.

  Zhou Jian's backpack was the largest and heaviest, weighing a full eighty kilograms.

  Jiang Qin and 22 attendants' backpacks followed, all weighing sixty catties.

  The backpack of two hundred bandits at most weighed only forty kilograms.

  "You can make any demands you want, and I'll do my best to satisfy them. However, I don't want anyone to disobey my orders. Anyone who dares to defy me will be made to remember what discipline means."

  Twenty attendants were expressionless and unmoved, as if they had long been accustomed to it.

  Two hundred water bandits were all with different expressions, but none of them showed a hint of fear.

  "Departure."

  Zhou Jian waved his hand and led the way westward with a big bag on his back.

  "Keep up!"

  Zhou Wu and others gave an order, two hundred pirates immediately ran away with their legs open.

  Jiang Qin followed closely behind Zhou Jian with a large package on his back, and gradually felt a sense of clarity in his mind.

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