Fifty-one, fighting for rice is an enemy

  Yu Guozhen is quite sympathetic to the original historical fate of Liu Ruzi, although she was actually a woman who had read too many books and became foolish and infatuated. In fact, she has some rare qualities among her contemporaries.

  However, Yu Guozhen took in Liu Ruzi and even sent a considerable amount of silver to Wujiang Shengze to redeem her. Yu's purpose was not for charity or to enrich himself, but because of certain qualities that Liu possessed.

  She is a literary young woman, but not the kind of hopeless stupid Wen Fu. She has a fairly quick acceptance of new things, most importantly, she has a deep love for this nation that is no less than Yu Guozhen's.

  So in her original ending, when Ming was defeated, she advised Qian Yi to die with her for the country, and after being blocked, she advised Qian Yi to secretly contact the anti-Qing forces, and even passed on messages for Zheng Chenggong. She was not afraid of death, so after Qian Yi's death, she immediately died by herself, but only because her heart did not want to die.

  Among the countless readers of sacred books, a considerable number of whom were Donglin Party members who prided themselves on their integrity, knelt down to sing the praises of the wild boar skin. At that time, this weak woman from a brothel background did such a thing!

  Yu Guozhen hopes that Liu Ruzi can help herself in the future, and after her initial misunderstanding, she is now very enthusiastic about learning the practical knowledge taught by Yu Guozhen. She also has a strange infectious power, which can bring people around her to study with her. Yu Guozhen thinks that at least she can serve as the principal of a girls' school in the future.

  Jiang Youzhong was different from Liu Ruzi, this young man, in the original history, was just a nobody, Yu Guozhen only took him in because of his father Jiang Quan. Although he also showed some craftsmanship talent, Yu Guozhen didn't think much of him at first.

  But after half a year, Yu Guozhen's attitude had undergone a fundamental change. He knew he had picked up a treasure.

  This kid is the kind of treasure that will read science and engineering in the future, with spatial imagination, abstract thinking ability and logical reasoning ability, as if it were an innate talent, or perhaps he has been dealing with his father's tools since childhood, which makes him progress extremely fast in mathematics and basic physics, a thousand miles a day!

  Yu Guozhen now has a plan, after the Chinese New Year, he will start teaching him Newton's three laws!

  In Yu Guo Zhen Xin's heart, Liu Ru Shi and Jiang You Zhong are both temporarily irreplaceable existences, they are even more important than the captain of the juvenile home guard!

  "Two pillars, I'm leaving that guy to you, I don't care what methods you use, find out his identity in the shortest time possible."

  Yu Guozhen untied his own cotton-padded jacket, wrapped it around Liu Rushi, and then half-supported and half-carried her back two steps until he handed her over to Xiaolian, before turning back to instruct.

  Two pillars responded to the sound, and their faces were also gloomy and frightening. Yu Guozhen let him be responsible for Xiang'an Town's news, but this group of people infiltrated, and he didn't get any wind. This is a responsibility that he cannot push away! He nodded, and even before taking the captive back to the other courtyard, he walked over and kicked his little finger with one foot.

  The captive suddenly let out a mournful cry, and the second pillar still exerted force to twist his foot again, and the captive's mournful cry grew louder.

  "I say, we are from Taihu, come to avenge Ge Erge!" The captive wailed and begged for mercy: "Give me a quick death, give me a quick death!"

  "Da Zhu, take the men back and bring back mats and wooden boards. Let's collect our people's bodies properly. As for those thieves... behead them." Yu Guozhen ignored the wailing from that side and gave orders to Gao Dazhu again.

  Three young Home Guards died in this battle, although the number of enemy deaths was the same. Yu Guozhen estimated that at least two more people would have to drop out of the Home Guard later on. Moreover, medical means were lacking in this era, and if wounds became infected, it was highly likely that there would be further casualties.

  Find a good doctor, and also master the technique of distilling alcohol. With alcohol for disinfection, the infection rate of such injuries will be further reduced. Fortunately, it's winter now, so the possibility of wound infection won't be too great.

  Thinking of this, Yu Guozhen's mood became a little more relaxed.

  Daejong soon returned, and Yu Guozhen personally oversaw the burial of the three deceased boys. Just as the aftermath was being handled halfway, the families of the dead and injured came crying and wailing, followed by Yu Yikun and Yu Yixuan who rushed over upon hearing the news.

  "Guo Zhen, how should we deal with this?" Yu Yiqin's face turned pale as he saw the three young corpses. Since the establishment of the Youth Guard, there had never been any casualties, so he had no experience in handling such matters.

  "There is already a rule, just follow the rule." Yu Guozhen said in a low voice: "The deceased will be compensated with 60 taels of silver per household, and after the parents turn 60, they can receive 3 taels of silver as pension every month."

  In this era where human life is worthless, sixty taels of silver is a huge fortune, not to mention the pension for supporting parents! Yu Yiqin listened and felt that Yu Guozhen was too generous, but now that Yu Guozhen was in charge of the family's finances and he only handled the money, he nodded and said: "Since it's like this, I'll go take care of it now."

  "I'll go with you." Yu Guozhen sighed: "After all, I chose him to be the house guard, and I won't be able to explain myself if I don't show up."

  Yu Yiqin glanced at him, this was just a superficial reason, in fact, it was also an important move to comfort the military's heart, if it were him, he wouldn't casually hand over the matter to others.

  Yu Guozhen knew he had misunderstood and let out a small sigh: "Second Uncle, you see how the bandits are getting more and more brazen these days. Xiang'an is considered a peaceful place, but still we have bandits coming to attack us three or five times. These family guards risk their lives to protect us. If such things happen again in the future, I'm afraid it will be hard for me to get them to obey my orders as easily."

  "That's it, that's it." Yu Yiqin smiled and said.

  Yu Yixuan, who was also wearing a "Xiang'an Patrol Inspector" hat to comfort the families of the deceased, naturally had to go. Comforting the families of the deceased went relatively smoothly, but when Yu Guozhen found that they were still thanking him profusely, he felt rather guilty.

  "Guo Zhen, do you know what kind of people these thieves are? They seem to be more ferocious than the previous ones." After settling these matters, Yu Yixuan took the opportunity to say to Yu Guozhen: "I heard that one of them escaped, if we can't eradicate them completely, I'm afraid there will be future troubles!"

  He knew the strength of the young Wei family, and now the young Wei family had been training for nine months, with some having only five or six months. However, in a situation where they were outnumbered, their casualties were still more than those of the enemy, which made his face turn pale. If that bandit hadn't ambushed outside the town but instead stormed into Yu's house in the town, he feared the casualties would be even heavier.

  "They claim to be the Taihu Water Bandits, but I don't quite believe it." Yu Guozhen said in a low voice: "The Taihu Water Bandits are indeed ferocious, but that's only towards the powerless common people. Against our family guards, they're not even worth looking at!"

  "So you think..."

  "There are two groups of people who might be involved. One is the Salt Gang, our private salt business has been exposed. The other group is the Fragrance Sect."

  "Xiang Jiao Sect?" Upon hearing this name, Yu Yi Xuan's body trembled and a hint of fear appeared in his eyes: "Weren't they already exterminated?"

  "A centipede's bug, dead but not stiff, and just over a month ago, I met with the people of Wenxiang Sect and confirmed one thing: the leader of Wenxiang Sect, Wang Haoxian, is not dead." Yu Guozhen's voice became even lower: "Among the five bandits this time, one was the leader. When he was killed, a bandit accidentally shouted 'Director Fan', 'Director' and 'Transmission Head' are titles used in Wenxiang Sect. Although the captured one insisted they were Taihu Lake pirates, I think Taihu Lake pirates have lost their courage. Now that Fifth Uncle is holding the position of Xiang'an Patrol Officer...the possibility of salt bandits is greater than that of lake pirates, and the possibility of Wenxiang Sect is even greater than that of salt bandits!"

  As they spoke, they arrived at the gate of another courtyard. Before entering the gate, Yu Guozhen saw someone kneeling in front of it. When he approached, the few people who were kneeling immediately crawled forward on their knees, but were immediately blocked by Gao Dazhu and Luo Jiuhe, who were following behind Yu Guozhen.

  "Have mercy on us, young master! Have mercy on us, young master! Spare our lives this time, we beg of you, young master, have mercy!"

  Yu Guozhen glanced at them, and these were the two young men who had fled in a panic from Ye Wuyue's side, one of whom had family members with him. He stopped in his tracks, silent for a moment, and the young man's father seemed to sense hope, desperately kowtowing: "Young master, have mercy, this child will never dare again, never dare again!"

  "To kill a thief and yet not have the guts, to stop in one's tracks and still have some justification, but to lose one's sword and turn tail to escape, abandoning one's own companions without a care - this kind of person, our Yu family does not need." Yu Guozhen said slowly: "Dazhu, take them away. Tell your mother not to be too soft-hearted, she dares to come up with any idea!"

  The voice of the command was not loud, but Gao Da Zhuang heard it and felt a chill in his heart, blaming his mother. It was probably because of the successful plea for Jiang Quan last time that made Gao Shu feel very proud, so some things had to be done with force, like kneeling at the gate and begging. Yu Guo Zhen could guess that it was most likely her idea, otherwise these people would not have been able to approach the gate!

  Gao Dazhu nodded at two accomplices, who came over and dragged the kneeling man away. The man was still begging for mercy, but Yu Guozhen showed no signs of changing his mind. His words became increasingly irrelevant, even threatening to report Yu Guozhen's treachery.

  Yu Guo's eyebrows furrowed slightly: "Dazhu, wait a minute."

  Gao Dazhu originally wanted to slap the man's mouth, but stopped when he heard this. The man seemed to think that he had grasped Yu Guozhen's weakness and his expression was no longer as respectful as before, and he also got up.

  "You mean to go to the government office and accuse me of plotting against you?" Yu Guozhen stared at him, his lips curling up into a cold smile: "Well said, if you hadn't reminded me, I would have forgotten. Originally, I just wanted to get rid of this matter, but... why were these thieves able to approach our other courtyard without being discovered? It seems that there must be their spies in the other courtyard."

  "What does this young master mean?" The man's face changed instantly.

  "It doesn't make sense, because of the traitor, which caused casualties among the guards at home. We must find out this traitor." Yu Guozhen smiled: "Dazhu, first tie up this evil slave and his family, and then send them to the county government with the bandits' corpses later."

  "Ah…… spare my life, young master, I won't dare again, spare my life!" The man heard this and immediately knew he was in trouble. He had originally wanted to use false accusations to threaten Yu Guozhen, but now Yu Guozhen was using the same tactic against him!

  Which one will the government believe? The servant or the master? It's obvious what the outcome will be without even thinking about it!

  This time, Gao Dazhu didn't give him another chance to speak, directly stripping off his clothes and covering his mouth. He found that he was still wearing the padded jacket distributed by the Yu family, which made Gao Dazhu even angrier: "I've seen people without conscience, but I've never seen a white-eyed wolf grow up to be as vicious as you!"