Chapter Fifty-two: Eliminating Bandits

  Chen Qi left to make arrangements for the aftermath, and Wang Zhubu looked at Lu Qi with a serious expression: "Lord Lu, how did you know that bandits had raided Chen's mansion?"

  Lu Qi and Sheng said: "I didn't know, I just sent scouts to Wangjiangbao and here to monitor because of the heavy responsibility, and the scout Wang Dao found that there were dozens of merchants coming here, most of whom had an evil face. He reported to me in a hurry, and based on my experience in the army, combined with the fact that the main force of the official army went to Qili Township today, I would rather take a chance to come and see, and when I arrived here, two bandits outside Chen's house blew whistles in panic. I immediately confirmed that it was bandits robbing Chen's house, so I ordered the door to be broken open and rushed into Chen's house to eliminate the bandits."

  Wang Zhubu nodded and said: "It's my good fortune to have you."

  Lu Qi smiled faintly and remained silent, while Wang Zhu Bo was deep in thought for a moment before suddenly speaking coldly: "Director Lu, the bandits at Bawang Temple have always been cruel and vengeful. When the 200 government troops arrive later, you will personally lead 250 government soldiers to thoroughly eliminate the remaining bandits at Bawang Temple, to eradicate future troubles."

  Lu Qiyan was taken aback, and with a solemn expression, he bowed and said: "Lu Tianfeng obeys your orders."

  Wang Zhubu nodded in satisfaction, and Lu Qi continued in a harmonious tone: "Sir, I am willing to accept the order to suppress the bandits, but I would like to offer a suggestion for your reference."

  Wang Zhubu looked at him and said in a gentle voice: "Speak."

  "Your Excellency, to go to the Temple of the Eight Kings to suppress bandits, Lu Qi is only willing to be a vanguard, I would like to request that Your Excellency dispatch two other protectors, county lieutenants, to lead the great army and follow up to suppress the bandits."

  Wang Zhubu and Sheng Dao said: "You want others to take charge of this bandit-suppressing operation."

  "Yes, I don't want to show off too much." Lu Qi said calmly.

  Wang Zhubu nodded and said in a harmonious tone, "You are too sharp and easy to break, you understand the art of hiding your edge. Alright, I will immediately order the other two county lieutenants to come here. The three of you will work together openly but separately behind the scenes. You will lead fifty officials and soldiers as the vanguard, while Lei and Song each lead a hundred officials and soldiers in support. Remember, be cautious above all."

  "Thank you for your concern, sir." Lu Qi replied.

  Lu Qi disguised himself as a commoner, and he and Wang Dao each drove a cart with eight soldiers hidden inside. They left the city of Dongliu, followed by 500 meters behind by the remaining troops, who would soon be joined by the armies of Lei and Song.

  On the road, Lu Qi noticed that all the selected government troops were very dissatisfied. This task of disguising and inserting into the bandit's heart was straightforwardly a high casualty rate, but they didn't dare disobey orders after being chosen.

  Lu Qi knew the terrible state of the army's morale, so he deliberately said loudly: "Brothers, when we arrive at the bandits' lair and see the wealth, don't take too much. Take one or two gold bars and be content. If you take too much, the brothers who come later will be jealous and bite you."

  These words were like sixteen strong heart needles, and the canopy car was in an uproar for a while. After a while, the canopy curtain moved and an officer's head stretched out, saying respectfully: "Sir, is it okay if we take the goods?"

  Lu Qi calmly said: "Who says it's over, the bandits' property is to be confiscated, your own belongings are not under my jurisdiction, don't show up again."

  That officer and soldier responded with a loud "Yes, sir!" and withdrew their heads. Lu Qi smiled indifferently. Before going into battle, commanders would often promise that after capturing the city, soldiers could plunder and rape at will. This was a very base way to boost morale, but it was also the most direct and effective. If you lectured them on lofty ideals and asked them to sacrifice their lives for the country, they would all be timid and cowardly, like a bunch of useless soldiers.

  Bawang Temple is a temple dedicated to the river god, and later became a place name. There is a tributary of the Yangtze River that flows into the mountains, called Xiaolong River. The two banks of Xiaolong River are mostly hilly terrain, where for decades, a group of real bandits have been gathering, with only about 100 people. This group of bandits is very professional, only robbing wealthy families and merchants, committing crimes brutally and killing people to get rich, with an extremely bad reputation.

  Because the Eight Kings Temple is located at the intersection of counties, with complex terrain and cunning bandits, it has always been difficult for officials to make an effort to eradicate them. This time, the Eight Kings Temple bandits touched the core interests of Wang Zhongbo, and Wang Zhongbo made a ruthless decision to thoroughly eliminate them.

  Lu Qi was appointed as the protector of Hu Jun county, and naturally understood the distribution of bandits in Shi Dian county. There were roughly four groups of bandits within Shi Dian county: Ba Wang Temple, Qing Tou, Lian Yun Stockade, and Bai *. Among them, Ba Wang Temple and Bai * were long-standing old bandit lairs with few people but great harm. Lian Yun Stockade and Qing Tou were both gatherings of rioting civilians, each with over a thousand people. Qing Tou plundered everything, while Lian Yun Stockade only robbed the wealthy and grain, and rarely killed people.

  Lu Qi's plan to ambush the bandits was a risky move, he didn't expect to be able to reach the bandit lair, but rather to confuse them and delay their escape. The reason why the bandits in Ba Wang Temple were difficult to eradicate was that when the government troops arrived, they would scatter into the mountains and ravines, and when the troops left, they would gather again to form a gang.

  After entering the mountainous area of Ba Wang Temple, Lu Qi took out two gold ingots and a silk bag from his bosom. Each gold ingot weighed ten taels, and inside the silk bag were ten three-tael heavy gold nuggets. Suddenly, he had fifty taels of gold, and Lu Qi's heart was excitedly racing with thrill. Being a thief is indeed a quick way to get rich.

  He carefully picked up the gold and only took a ten-tael golden treasure, lowering his head to examine it in his hand. In fact, this was just a distracting move, his mind was highly vigilant, and his ears were keenly aware of the surrounding movements.

  "Hey, what's that in your hand?" someone suddenly asked, standing up from a clump of grass to the side.

  Lu Qi was startled and jumped down from the carriage, turning his back to the person who was shouting. He hastily hid the golden treasure in his bosom. The man saw him running out of the grass thicket and arrived at the front of the carriage, calling out: "Hey, you have gold in your hand, is it a successful trip? Why are there only two carriages, where are the others?"

  Lu Qi let out a sigh of relief, his acting skills were quite shallow and he hadn't expected to deceive the bandits' scouts, it could only be said that today was smooth sailing, running into a simple-minded bandit.

  He suddenly turned around, his right arm violently stretched out to grab the bandit's neck, and his left arm followed to grab the bandit's belly. With a loud shout, he lifted him up and threw him into the carriage. He growled: "Ask him where the bandits are hiding? How far is it? Are there any other bandits on the way?"

  After the order, a loud whistle was heard from inside the carriage, and after a moment, an officer poked his head out to report to Lu Qi. Lu Qi listened and said decisively: "Everyone get ready, I'll drive the carriage through two checkpoints and strike directly at the bandits' lair." After finishing speaking, he got on the carriage, whipped the horses and drove straight forward, with the target being the Eight Kings Temple.

  The car was speeding along the mountain road, and in front of it, a river gradually came into view. On the hillside beside the river stood a temple complex covering dozens of hectares. The people on both sides of the Yangtze River revered the Water God Spirit, and the scale of the incense temple was no less than that of the Taoist temple. Now, however, the Eight Kings Temple had been occupied by bandits, because every time the government troops came to suppress the bandits, they dared not damage the temple.

  Just a hundred meters away from the Temple of Eight Kings, dozens of bandits suddenly rushed out, each holding weapons, some even holding bows and arrows at the ready. Lu Qi took one look and knew things weren't looking good - this must be the result of the secret signal alerting the bandits to be on guard. But he was confident that with his exceptional martial arts skills, even if he couldn't wipe out the entire gang, he could still make a safe escape.

  "Master Shan, great fortune has arrived!" Lu Qi shouted in an excited tone, and this shout had some effect, as most of the bow-wielding bandits lowered their bows and looked around.

  "Everyone, shoot the bow and arrow first, then drop." Lu Qi gave a low command, and the officers and soldiers in the car had already been instructed by Lu Qi beforehand. After hearing the order, they immediately jumped out of the car from the rear canopy, each holding a bow with three arrows on it.

  Two horse-drawn carriages rushed towards the bandits, who also sensed something was amiss and hastily raised their bows to fire arrows. Lu Qi stretched out his hand from inside the carriage to grab a prepared bow and arrow, swiftly drawing the bow and firing three arrows in quick succession. The soldiers who had gotten off the carriage behind him also pursued the carriage closely, estimating they were within range before raising their bows to fire arrows together. The two sides clashed with a hail of arrows, but the soldiers gained the upper hand, killing seven or eight bandits on the spot. Meanwhile, the soldiers were well-prepared and the carriages charged forward to block the way, so only three of them suffered minor injuries.

  Lu Qi jumped off the horse and rode two horse-drawn carriages to charge at the bandits. Standing in place, he fired arrows in quick succession, almost every arrow hitting its mark. The bandits suffered heavy casualties, forcing the survivors to retreat in disarray towards the Temple of Eight Kings. A few tried to escape to the sides but were shot and killed by Lu Qi and the government soldiers. In the first round, more than 20 bandits were eliminated, leaving the government soldiers amazed at Lu Qi's divine archery skills.

  They took action, and the reinforcements arrived. More than 200 officers and soldiers rushed forward, shouting and killing. Lu Qi was taken aback, thinking to himself that they had come quickly. He didn't know that Lei and Song, the two county magistrates, were afraid of not getting the credit, so they hastily drove the government troops to pursue them. Especially since Song, the county magistrate, had made a mistake before, he was even more eager to make up for it.

  Lu Qi waved his hand and ordered the 16 government soldiers to follow him in a hurry towards the back of the temple. He judged that the bandits would definitely flee when they saw the large number of government soldiers, and indeed, when they turned around to the back of the temple, they saw the bandits rushing out of the back door to escape. Before Lu Qi gave the order, the government soldiers shot and killed five bandits with a barrage of arrows. The bandits retreated in panic back through the rear door, but three of them still managed to escape.