Chapter 64: Encounter with Bandits at the Ferry Crossing

  Liu Ze let out a deep sigh, famous scholars are indeed famous scholars, their mental quality is much stronger than ordinary people. Yesterday's events were earth-shattering, but now they can remain calm and composed, even if Mount Tai were to crumble before their eyes, they wouldn't bat an eyelid.

  However, he didn't know that Jia Yu was sleepless all night, thinking for a whole night. Although he fell into Liu Ze's trap, didn't he also give himself 100 taels of gold every year? 100 taels of gold is not too much or too little, it can solve the problem of a family's livelihood. Now his home is empty and bare, waiting for rice to be cooked, so yielding a bit is not impossible.

  However, the clever Liu Ze must have had ulterior motives for himself and did not just value his language skills. Jia Xun was quite confident in his own literary and military talents, but unfortunately, the current world was not a place where he could put them to use. It's unlikely that Liu Ze truly had the ability to recognize talent and saw through his potential clearly. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to set up this trap for him to fall into. From this trip to the Western Regions, it can be seen that Liu Ze was not a simple merchant, but rather had an air of a king who ruled over the world, and being under his command was either good or bad fortune.

  However, Jia Yu still deeply resented Liu Ze's tactics. He secretly made up his mind that since the contract only specified being a translator, he would have nothing to do once they arrived in Zhongyuan. Every day, he could eat and drink without doing any work, enjoying a carefree life. Let him throw away 100 taels of gold every year; if he wanted Jia Yu to come up with strategies for him, he'd have to wait.

  The main idea is settled, Jia Yu naturally calmed down, as the saint said, "Since you've come, then be at ease." Let's put our minds at peace and enjoy the outcome. Liu Ze was also a clever person, how could he not know what Jia Yu was planning? The two of them tacitly understood each other, and they chatted idly for a while.

  Pan Feng came over to report that everything was ready and asked if they should set off immediately.

  "Set off at once!"

  Liu Zeke didn't have the heart to linger here, and as he walked away for nearly a year, many things in Zhongyuan were still waiting for him to do, and it was unknown whether Jian Yun could handle them alone.

  The merchant team went east, still walking in the Hexi Corridor, but at this time the Hexi Corridor was not a peaceful place. Although the Xiongnu had been defeated and migrated westward, many powerful bandits emerged from somewhere, frequently robbing passing merchants. Liu Ze's merchant team also suffered from the robbery of many strong bandits on the road.

  But these robbers were blind, they were the opponents of this team, and after a slight fight, they were killed and their bodies were scattered all over the field. However, the thousand horses were like a big tree attracting wind, which attracted the mountain bandits to come one after another. Liu Ze didn't worry at all, he didn't even put the 100,000 Huns cavalry in his eyes, let alone these few robbers. But he was very curious, within just one year, where did so many robbers and bandits come from? He remembered that when he walked through the Hexi Corridor last year, he didn't encounter any robbers.

  Liu Ze had brave generals and strong soldiers, so he didn't take the bandits seriously. However, other merchants who passed by were not so lucky. Once they encountered bandits, they would either lose their goods or even their lives. At that time, the Hexi Corridor was plagued by thieves, and everyone was in danger.

  That day, Liu Ze and his party arrived at the Yellow River ferry, but saw a group of robbers robbing unarmed travelers. This kind of thing can't be ignored, having seen it, how could Liu Ze stand by and do nothing? He immediately charged forward on horseback.

  There were about forty or fifty robbers, and there was a large crowd of people waiting for the ferry at the crossing. The robbers began to loot wildly at the crossing. The robbers held shiny steel knives in their hands, threatening the pedestrians to hand over their valuables. Although there were many pedestrians, most of them were women, children, and the elderly who were unarmed, and they knew that these robbers were ruthless killers, so no one dared to resist. Most people handed over their valuables obediently, hoping that the robbers would leave quickly. Many children were frightened and cried loudly.

  A bandit with a pockmarked face, apparently the leader of the gang, spotted a handsome young man in the crowd. He reached out and yanked off the youth's hat, revealing a head of beautiful hair that cascaded down, and to everyone's surprise, it was a lovely maiden. The bandit let out an evil laugh and said: "This little girl is quite pretty, she'd make a great concubine for me."

  Several robbers around echoed in unison, frightening the girl pale, retreating again and again. An old man beside her, presumably the girl's father, blocked in front of him, begging bitterly: "Good gentlemen, my daughter is the old man's lifeblood, please show mercy and spare her, money - all the money will be given to you."

  The bandit leader knocked the old man's copper coins to the ground and shouted: "It's your daughter's good fortune that I've taken a liking to her, don't be shameless, get out of here quickly!"

  The old man stood in front of them, begging: "Good sirs, have mercy and spare her."

  The leader of the robbers flew into a rage and raised his knife to strike him down.

  Just then, Liu Ze had rushed over on horseback and saw the urgent situation. With a wave of his hand holding the whip, he lashed it at the wrist of the bandit leader. The bandit leader let out a pained cry as his steel knife flew out several feet away. Liu Ze's whip was swift and ruthless; his right hand was probably crippled.

  The leader of the robbers was both startled and enraged, shouting: "Who is it?"

  Liu Ze jumped off his horse and said coldly: "Under the bright sky, openly robbing and killing people, where is the king's law?"

  The leader of the robbers was shocked to find that Liu Ze was alone, with no other weapons in his hand except for a whip. He became furious and shouted: "You don't take the road to heaven, but instead come to the gate of hell! Brothers, kill him!"

  That group of robbers rushed up and surrounded Liu Ze all around.

  Liu Ze sneered twice, and the several bandits dared to fight him. With three punches and two kicks, he beat them until they cried out for their fathers and mothers, rolling and crawling away. The leader of the robbers saw that Liu Ze was not easy to mess with, so he hastily retreated, shouting as he left: "You wait - you just wait!"

  Liu Ze didn't chase after them, but instead turned around and said to the old man, "Sir, you've been startled."

  The old man was so excited that he knelt down in front of Liu Ze and kept kowtowing, saying: "Thank you, sir, for saving my life."

  Liu Ze busily helped him up, saying: "Sir, there's no need to be so polite. Just now it was just a case of righting a wrong on the road. But these robbers are too arrogant, daring to openly plunder in broad daylight. This place is not far from Jin City Prefecture, why haven't we seen even one government soldier?"

  The old man shook his head and sighed, "These trivial matters, the government is too lazy to manage. If it weren't for the numerous taxes and levies that make life unbearable for the people, there wouldn't be so many bandits! Yuer, come quickly to thank the benefactor."

  The girl responded with a sound, came forward and gave Liu Ze a salute, Liu Ze saw that the girl was born with clear eyebrows and eyes, and had some charm.

  At this time, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei rushed over from the rear team. Seeing that the group of bandits had already escaped, Zhang Fei said with some regret: "These rabbits, they ran quite fast, otherwise I would have let them taste my old Zhang's fist."

  Liu Ze smiled and said: "You've been fighting for a year, aren't you tired of it yet?"

  "That's it, I haven't exercised my arms and legs for several months, it's really frustrating. Ah, big brother, how did you let them escape?"

  "A few bandits, originally also ordinary people, only because of the pressure of life, had to become thieves. Alright, give them some lessons, no need to kill them all."

  "Big brother, I've never seen you so soft-hearted towards the Xiongnu people."

  "The Xiongnu are a different tribe and the enemy of our great Han, to be kind to them is a crime, while these fellow countrymen of the same root and ancestor cannot bear to kill them."

  "Although that's the case, it's not necessarily true that these people will change their ways after they escape. They may still continue to rob and harm innocent civilians and traveling merchants." Guan Yu interjected at this point.

  "With bandits rising all over the world, how many can we control with just our own strength? But after this incident, I actually have an idea to set up a security bureau." Along the way, Liu Ze really had plans to build a security bureau.

  "What is a pawnshop?" Zhang Fei was very curious.

  "It's about organizing some martial arts practitioners to provide protection for merchants, commonly known as escorting, but it's not free, and they charge a certain fee based on the distance of the route and the value of the goods."

  Guan Yu nodded and said, "Good, if we can provide safe protection for merchants, in today's world, it will surely make all the big businessmen flock to us. I think this escort agency business is bound to thrive."

  Zhang Fei laughed and said: "Big brother is always full of ideas, even in a small matter he can find business opportunities."

  As they spoke, the ferry had approached the dock, and people were rushing onto it. The terrifying scene just now was still vivid in their minds, and everyone wanted to escape as far as possible. Liu Ze said to the old man and his daughter: "Please, sir."

  "Let's have the master go first." The old man said with a mixture of fear and respect.

  "There are still large teams of merchants behind, wait a bit to cross the river, please go first, old man." The old man thanked him profusely, Xiaoyu glanced at Liu Ze with a blush on her face, wanting to speak but stopping herself, and followed her father onto the boat, but couldn't help sneaking another glance at Liu Ze.

  Watching the ferry leave, Zhang Fei chuckled and said: "Big brother heroically saved the beauty, didn't you have any other ideas?"

  Liu Ze glanced at him and said, "Third brother, what are you thinking?"

  "I see that little Jade girl has a crush on you, Big Brother. Why don't you keep her and give her the chance to repay your kindness with her body?" Zhang Fei laughed lewdly.

  Liu Ze pointed at him and said: "You... I admit defeat to you." When did Zhang Fei become so glib? Liu Ze was truly convinced by him.

  Zhang Fei listened to Liu Ze say something that made no sense, his eyes widened in confusion. He really couldn't understand what he was saying and shouted: "What?"

  Liu Ze ignored him and walked over to greet the merchant group. Zhang Fei turned his head and saw Guan Yu, who also looked bewildered, shrugged his shoulders, and spread his hands, indicating that he didn't understand either.

  After crossing the Yellow River, the merchant team headed to Long County. Along the way, there were still many bandits who wanted to take advantage of Liu Ze's merchant team, but without exception, they ended up with a loss. Because Liu Ze ordered his men to only punish them and not kill them, most of the bandits retreated as soon as they knew it was hopeless, thus saving their lives.

  As for some of the die-hard bandits, they all died at Zhang Fei's hands. Would they still have their lives if they provoked Zhang Fei's anger? Liu Ze pondered on the road for a long time, and his idea of setting up a security bureau was also becoming more mature. It seemed that as soon as he returned to Luoyang, he would have to seize the time to make preparations.