Chapter 67: The Magistrate of Quyang County

  Liu Ze was still most concerned about Ma Jun's situation. With a lot of free time, Ma Jun's talent for inventing and creating became even more prominent. The bumper harvest of grain in the pioneering camp had an inseparable relationship with his invention of a tipping cart.

  Although Fenghuang Valley has several rivers with considerable water volume, they are all at the bottom of the valley. It is difficult to transport these waters to the terraced fields above by manpower alone. Ma Jun invented a kind of flip cart, using human feet to step on a giant wheel, and the wheel rotated, with countless bamboo tubes tied around it, which could easily irrigate the farmland after drawing water to high places.

  Ma Jun can now invent a dump truck that will only be available in later generations, making Liu Ze extremely happy. It seems that we need to open up more small stoves for Ma Jun and teach him modern mechanical and physical knowledge. Who knows what other astonishing things Ma Jun will create?

  As for the placement of these Akhal-Teke horses, Zhang Shi Ping was somewhat at a loss. Over the past year, Su had sent over many more fine horses, and the stables were already overcrowded. The area around Feng Huang Valley was all steep cliffs, with very little suitable pastureland available. Adding another thousand Akhal-Teke horses would put too much pressure on the grazing land.

  Liu Ze thought to himself that he had to find a suitable location as soon as possible. He checked the map, and based on Liu Bei's future development direction, first in Qingzhou Pingyuan State, and then in Xuzhou, it seemed that the new location couldn't be too far from these two places.

  Liu Ze's most favored place was Mount Tai, where the terrain was treacherous and the area was vast, hiding an army of 100,000 would not be a problem, and it would be difficult for the government to control this land. But thinking about it, in the future, the Yellow Turbans of Mount Tai were so powerful, Liu Ze could only give up, after all, he had worked hard to accumulate some family property, and it was not easy to let these Yellow Turban rebels die unjustly.

  Liu Ze searched on the map for half a day, suddenly saw the words "Mangdang Mountain", and his heart moved. Han Gaozu Liu Bang beheaded the white snake in Mangdang Mountain to revolt and have the world. This Mangdang Mountain is exactly where the Han family originated from.

  Mangdang Mountain is located at the intersection of four states: Yu, Yan, Qing and Xu. The terrain is treacherous, with an area of about 100 miles in circumference. Historically, Zhang Fei also fled to this place after being defeated in Xu State and occupied the mountain as a king. It can be seen that Mangdang Mountain has not been intervened by official power, so it seems that choosing this place to settle down is quite suitable. If conditions permit, Liu Ze is even prepared to move all of Fenghuangshan's forces to Mangdang Mountain. After all, two years later, Hebei will become the main battlefield of the Yellow Turbans, and whether Fenghuang Valley can be spared from the war is really unknown.

  At this time, Guan Hai came in to report that the magistrate of Quyang County had sent an invitation. Liu Ze was puzzled, as he had no particular relationship with the magistrate of Quyang County, and apart from sending gifts during holidays, there were no other interactions. In fact, Liu Ze himself had only met him once when he opened the mountain at Fenghuang Valley, and they hadn't seen each other since then. What could he want?

  Liu Ze muttered to himself, and then asked Guan Hai again. Guan Hai also said he didn't know, only that the county government sent someone to deliver an invitation card and left, without mentioning anything else.

  Liu Ze thought it would be better to go to the county office and take a look. Liu Ze took a look at the invitation, the time was tomorrow afternoon at 4 o'clock, and then settled down for the night. On the second day, early in the morning, he brought only Jia Xun and four guards to the county government.

  Fenghuang Valley and Quyang County Town are separated by dozens of miles, Liu Ze and others did not ride the sweat-blooded horses, but rode four ordinary Wuhuan horses. Liu Ze chose to travel in a low-key manner once again. Before the fourth watch, they had already arrived at the county government office entrance.

  As soon as Liu Ze arrived at the gate, he felt that the atmosphere here was very unusual. There were many people gathered at the county office gate, all of whom were dressed in official attire, and next to them were sedan chairs or horse-drawn carriages, each discussing in a low voice.

  Liu Ze dismounted his horse and a man dressed as a teacher hurried over, bowed and said: "Is that Master Liu?"

  Liu Ze nodded, and the teacher said: "The county magistrate invites Mr. Liu to wait in the main hall for a while!" Liu Ze entered with Jia Yu, leaving the four guards and horses outside.

  They entered the main hall, but saw that there were already many people waiting in the main hall, all dressed in brocade and finery. At a glance, they were the local gentry and wealthy families of this county. The teacher couldn't help but introduce them one by one:

  "This is Zhang Yuanwai from the east of the city... This is Li Gongzi from the south of the city... This is Wang Xiangshen from the north of the city..." As for Liu Ze's identity, Master only introduced him as Liu Gongzi from Fuyuan Village.

  Liu Ze was puzzled, why did Cheng County Magistrate gather so many rural gentry and wealthy families?

  Those rural gentry were quite familiar with each other, but among the guests invited by County Magistrate Cheng today, there was a strange face, and no one had heard of a merchant named Fuyuanzhuang from Quyang. However, since he was a guest of County Magistrate Cheng, they had to show some respect, so they all bowed and exchanged greetings, considering themselves acquainted.

  At this time, the county magistrate of Cheng hurried over, and everyone stood up to pay their respects. The county magistrate waved his hand for everyone to sit down, and he himself sat in the main seat, which was just a mat beside several tables. Wang, a gentleman from the north of the city, had once been an official in Luoyang, so among the crowd, his status was the highest, and he took the first seat as the guest of honor. Zhang, an official from the east of the city, sat in the second seat, while Liu Ze sat at the very back.

  The county magistrate didn't even bother with the usual pleasantries, and directly said: "Gentlemen, I have invited you all here today to discuss an important matter. A few days ago, the son of Zhang Guoxiang was kidnapped by bandits on Sleeping Tiger Mountain. Zhang is furious, and has ordered our county to capture the bandits and rescue his son."

  "But isn't he the young master of Zhang Chun and Zhang Guo Xiang from our own country?" Wang Xiang Cen asked cautiously.

  The county magistrate nodded and said, "That's right."

  "Wotoushan is not in the territory of Quyang, but in the adjacent Changshan State's Zhen Ding County. Why didn't Zhang Guoxiang report to the local government and ask for help? Moreover, Zhang Guoxiang has a strong army, why did he need to send troops as the county magistrate?" This question was raised by Zhang Yuanwai.

  The county magistrate sighed and said, "Although the Tiger Mountain is within the borders of Changshan and Zhengding, this time they kidnapped Zhang Gongzi in Quyang, which is under our county's jurisdiction. That's why Zhang Guoxiang urgently summoned me to go to Lulou to discuss a rescue plan. Because these bandits have threatened Zhang Guoxiang that if he doesn't deliver 500,000 taels of gold within ten days or dares to send even one soldier from Zhongshan State, they will immediately kill the hostage. Zhang Guoxiang is afraid of being tricked, so naturally he doesn't dare to act rashly."

  The county magistrate of Cheng didn't say anything, but the crowd could completely see from his iron-green face that Zhang Chun had severely reprimanded him. After all, it was an incident that occurred in Quyang, and as the county magistrate of Quyang, he failed to maintain law and order within the county's borders. Such a big thing happened, and if they didn't hold him accountable, who would they blame? It's likely that Zhang Chun even threatened him, saying that if he couldn't rescue Young Master Zhang, his position as county magistrate would be at risk. This was also why the county magistrate of Cheng urgently summoned the local gentry. The county magistrate only had a group of yamen runners and catchers, as well as several hundred city guards under his command. They could intimidate ordinary people, but Mount Wohu was home to several thousand bandits. Even when the national preceptor of Changshan sent troops to quell them multiple times, they were defeated and forced to retreat. If he brought those yamen runners and catchers there, it would be like throwing eggs against rocks. Therefore, the county magistrate invited all the prominent figures in the county to gather in the main hall to discuss a plan together. He hadn't thought of Liu Ze initially, but his teacher reminded him that as a member of the imperial clan and the younger brother of Lu Zhi, the governor of Jiujiang, he should be included on the guest list.

  After hearing the county magistrate's words, the people below started discussing and arguing with each other.

  "The strong man of Sleeping Tiger Mountain is really something, even daring to move against Young Master Zhang Guo Xiang."

  "It's no wonder, nowadays the world is full of thieves and robbers as numerous as hairs on an ox, even the imperial court can't do anything about them."

  "The powerful men on Sleeping Tiger Mountain are not easy to deal with, the bandits number in the thousands, relying on the mountain for defense. The state of Changshan has sent troops to quell them many times, but all have returned without success."

  "With just our strength, if we were to fight those bandits, I'm afraid we'd be killed off before even reaching the foot of the mountain."

  "Five hundred thousand taels! Those robbers really have a big appetite, who has that much money?!"

  “……”

  The county magistrate heard these people's discussions and his face turned pale, then said: "Wang Lao, I don't know what your high opinion is?"

  Lord Wang, a former high-ranking official, although retired to his hometown, was also not dared to be slow as the county magistrate. Lord Wang had just narrowed his eyes and did not speak, seeing County Cheng ask him, he cleared his throat twice before saying: "County Magistrate Cheng, it's not that we didn't try our best, but this matter is beyond our power. Several thousand bandits and soldiers cannot be eradicated, and we have no troops or soldiers under us, how can we rescue by force? Moreover, those are ruthless bandits who kill without blinking, if we forcefully send troops, I'm afraid it would not be beneficial to Young Master Zhang. Therefore, in my humble opinion, military rescue should be done with caution."

  The county magistrate also knew that military force was not feasible, and said: "Now the only plan is to pay a ransom to rescue Zhang Gongzi." He spoke while casting his eyes towards Zhang Yuanwai, who was the richest man in Quyang City.

  Zhang Yuanwai took one look at Cheng Xianling staring at him and couldn't help but panic, hastily saying: "The ransom is indeed 500,000 taels, Quyang is a poor and small county, with sparse population and poverty. Although I bear the name of the richest man in Quyang, I don't have much cash on hand. Even if I could take out a few tens of thousands of dollars, it would be just a drop in the bucket. It's not just me, other wealthy households are probably also in this predicament." Zhang Yuanwai was indeed cunning, as soon as he heard that he had to pay money, he immediately started crying poor and inciting the crowd. Those people were mostly tight-fisted, seeing Zhang Yuanwai cry poor, they cried even louder, so poor that they might not even have pants to wear.

  The county magistrate's face became increasingly gloomy. If he couldn't save Zhang Gongzi, his position as county magistrate would be taken by someone else. He was thinking about whether to give these rural gentry and wealthy households a show of color.

  At this time, a loud and clear laughter came from under the hall, and everyone looked at it, it was Liu Ze, who was puzzled.

  Liu Ze said loudly: "A few insignificant bandits, how can they be worth mentioning? Don't worry, County Master, I'll take care of Zhang Gongzi's matter."

  The county magistrate was overjoyed and hastily ran to Liu Ze's side, saying: "Liu Gongzi really has such confidence?"

  Liu Ze smiled slightly and said: "When traveling the world, without a few trusted bodyguards, it's difficult to take a step. Rescuing Young Master Liu is as easy as turning over one's hand."

  "How many guards does Master Liu have?" The County Magistrate of Cheng was overjoyed upon hearing this.

  "There are several hundred people." Liu Ze didn't want to expose his true strength,

  The county magistrate said in a puzzled tone: "Several hundred people - there are several thousand people on Sleeping Tiger Mountain..."

  Liu Ze smiled and said, "The several hundred guards under me are all highly skilled in martial arts, capable of taking on ten opponents at once. As for those few mountain bandits, they're just a ragtag bunch, nothing but a flock of chickens and dogs, not worth mentioning."

  The county magistrate was overjoyed and said, "Liu Gongzi is indeed a divine person. If he can save Zhang Gongzi, Liu Gongzi's name will be exempt from paying taxes on his property for ten years."