Volume 1: Turbulent Times as a Bandit Chapter 47: Snakes and Rats in the Same Nest

  Just as Xiao Tianjian was busy preparing to set off to fight at Fanjia Fortress, in the county seat of Xieyang, a sedan chair was being carried by more than ten fierce-looking strongmen, hurrying towards the county government office.

  County Magistrate Liu Wencai personally welcomed him at the gate of the county government, standing in front of the door with a respectful attitude, waiting until the sedan chair stopped, Liu Wencai hurriedly stepped forward and walked to the side of the sedan chair. At this time, the curtain was lifted, and an old man with luxurious clothes, yellow face, but good spirit, coughed slightly and got out of the sedan chair.

  "The students respectfully welcome Old Master Li! What's the matter that requires you to personally come here, can't it be resolved by having someone else convey the message?" Liu Zhixian said with a smile on his face as he bowed and paid respects to the old man.

  "Magistrate Liu is being polite! I, an old man, wouldn't have come to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing! This time, I've come to report a case!" The old man, although not an official, had quite an air about him. He merely clasped his fists together in a slight salute and began speaking.

  Liu Zhi County was taken aback, thinking to himself: "What can't this old fellow settle on his own? Why has he come all the way here to report to the authorities?" Others wouldn't have bothered to inform him, and yet he's come to report something - what a joke!

  But Liu Zhi County did not dare to reveal what he was thinking, and hastily politely led the old man into the county government office. The several strongmen who came with him were taken to the gatehouse by a few yamen runners to wait. The old man walked into the county government office under the support of someone who seemed to be the steward, while Liu Zhi County followed closely behind, half a step back.

  "Governor Liu is our parent official in Junyang County! I have come this time to ask Governor Liu to take charge of the people in Junyang!" The old man said to Liu Zhixian after sitting down and having tea.

  "Oh? I don't know who is so blind, actually offending Old Master Li? Old Master Li speaks directly and the student will definitely think of a way to deal with it fairly!" Liu Zhixian didn't dare sit in the main seat, but instead carefully accompanied this old man on his right hand.

  It looks a bit strange, an official is so polite to someone who has no official position. This situation is rare, if ordinary people come to the county government to report something, they would have to kneel down and speak to the magistrate, but this old man's status seems to be higher, at least he is not someone that Liu Magistrate can afford to offend.

  Recently, I've heard that a gang of thugs has appeared in our local area, rampaging through the countryside, slaughtering innocent people and bullying men and women. They are capable of every evil!

  "A few days ago, two of my farmhands from the old manor suddenly went missing. After a thorough investigation, I found out that they were actually killed by that gang leader! He's really too arrogant! You should know that I value relationships and one of those farmhands was a distant relative of mine. You can't just sit back and do nothing about this, Magistrate Liu!" The old man said, seemingly furious, and he heavily tapped his cane on the blue brick floor.

  "What?! Is this really happening?! Who is the leader of these rebels?! How dare they commit such a heinous crime! Old Master Li, please give the order and I will dispatch troops to annihilate them at once! This is unbearable! It's truly outrageous!" Magistrate Liu feigned shock, his face stern and righteous, as he loudly declared.

  "Didn't the county magistrate hear about the incident in Gǔ Zhuāng a dozen or so days ago? That gang of robbers was really too arrogant, killing people and hanging their heads on the gate of Gǔ Zhuāng. If this scourge is not eliminated, it will become a major disaster sooner or later! Moreover, I also heard that this gang has been very rampant recently, not only did they commit the big case in Gǔ Zhuāng, but also killed more than 20 government soldiers in Zhaojiabao some time ago. Such bandits who dare to kill even government troops, if not eliminated as soon as possible, I'm afraid that Qīnyáng region will never have a peaceful day!"

  "Now, I've heard that Governor Chen of the five provinces is gathering troops from all over to suppress the rebels and has ordered a thorough cleanup of the rebels in each region. Doesn't County Magistrate Liu know about this? Don't let this gang cause more trouble! From what I know, this gang just arrived in our area recently, and their leader, Xiao Yifeng, is said to be ruthless! County Magistrate Liu must be careful!" The old man shook his head and warned Liu.

  Liu Wencai was greatly shocked after hearing the old man's words, he had also long heard about the ancient village incident, saying that two gangs were fighting in the abandoned ancient village, as a result, the gang occupying the ancient village was defeated, and a row of human heads were hung outside the gate of the ancient village, and the fire was set again to burn the ancient village.

  He also heard about the Zhaojia Fortress incident, where the entire village was slaughtered and more than 20 soldiers were killed outside the fortress. The leader of the group was almost chopped into minced meat. Later, two soldiers escaped with their lives and ran to Xinyang County to report the incident. However, they couldn't clearly explain the origin of the group that killed the soldiers, nor could they find anyone from Zhaojia Fortress. After Liu Wencai learned about this, he sent people to investigate for two days but couldn't find out what happened, and the matter was eventually dropped.

  As for Gu Zhuang's killer, Liu Wencai knew that this killer was notorious in the Quanyang area for his evil deeds, such as robbery and extortion. He could be described as a standard troublemaker, and many people had gone to the county town to report him to the authorities, asking them to send troops to eliminate him. However, this killer was very cunning, always on the move and rarely targeting large households, so the local gentry didn't pay much attention to him. Liu Wencai thought it was better to have one less problem, so he turned a blind eye to him.

  But how did this matter involve Old Man Li? Why would his servant also die in Guzhuang? There's something unclear about all of this.

  Liu Wencai is also a sensible person, he knows that the area under his jurisdiction is not peaceful, and there are many gangsters lurking around. However, behind these gangsters, they often have some connection with local tyrants, and have the support of these tyrants. Now that Old Man Li has spoken out, it's clear that this Killer Broken Sky is likely a gangster secretly supported by the Li family. Since the dog has been beaten, its master will naturally come out to help the dog get back on its feet!

  But what's between you and the pole, what are you doing, Li? If you have the ability, let your countrymen go find that Xiao Yifeng to avenge him. How did it end up being pushed onto me?

  Liu Wencai was somewhat annoyed with this old man Li, but he didn't dare to show it on his face. After all, the old man's son was a notable figure in the Ministry of Justice in the capital, and as a small official in this place, he couldn't afford to provoke him. If he offended the old man, his son would just have to utter a word, and Liu Wencai's official hat would be gone, not to mention that he might even be thrown into prison.

  So he could only respectfully reply to Old Master Li: "I see! Don't worry, Old Master Li. I will arrange for someone to investigate Xiao Yizhan's background. Once his whereabouts are discovered, I will definitely dispatch troops to eliminate him!"

  However, the students here are also in a difficult situation. I hope the old gentleman will understand that Junyang is after all a small place. At present, there are only more than 70 soldiers in the city, and the military strength is really struggling to make ends meet. If this group of bandits is really found, it would be necessary for the old gentleman to also send some militia to assist the students in pursuing and attacking them!

  Liu Zhi County agreed to this readily, without asking many questions. The old Li was very satisfied with this matter. He wanted to find an official presence for two reasons: one was to borrow the power of the authorities, and the other was to make a name for himself. When he sent his family members and village braves to intervene, it would be more convenient. After all, Sha Er Bao had helped him a lot in the past year or so, and the dead Zhuang Ding was also the son of one of his distant relatives. If he didn't get revenge, he would lose face on earth.

  "It's only right that we gentry help the government with things, so it's no trouble at all for us to take care of this matter! If there's any news, please let me know as soon as possible, Your Honor! I'd also like to send some village militiamen from my estate to assist the government troops in eliminating these bandits! This is just a small gesture on my part, please accept it with a smile!" The old man said, raising his hand.

  The servant who followed him hastily let the people outside send in a gift box, which was opened to reveal a tray of silver ingots, each weighing ten taels, totaling twenty ingots. This was equivalent to two hundred taels of silver, a considerable sum of money at that time. Liu Wencai's face lit up with joy as he thought to himself that this old man seemed to know what it took to get things done and that spending money was necessary. After some polite conversation, he accepted the silver ingots.

  After sending away the old man with the surname Li, Liu Wencai thought for a moment that he couldn't just take money without doing anything, so he sent someone to invite Zhang Baizong, who was garrisoned in Xinyang County, to come and discuss matters.

  After listening to County Magistrate Liu's words, Zhang Baotou furrowed his brow and said: "Magistrate Liu, this matter is probably not easy to handle! This Xiao Yifeng's name, I've only heard it for the first time, although the case he committed is indeed not small. However, my subordinates are just a handful of brothers, you also know that they can barely guard the county city, let alone have the ability to go out and suppress bandits? Moreover, my subordinates haven't seen their salaries for over half a year, how can I ask them to go out and suppress bandits? I'm afraid they won't be willing to do so!

  "This is also a kind of exploitation, without exploitation money, it's hard for brothers to say where they will be demoted!"

  This Zhang said that the overall situation is true, in recent years Shaanxi has been plagued by bandits and it's very severe. Everywhere there are large and small gangs of robbers. Although under the siege of government troops, some big gangs like Gao Yingxiang have fled to Henan, Hubei, Sichuan and other places, making the local situation slightly more stable. However, many small gangs still exist in various places. After Chen Qiyu took over as Governor-general of the five provinces, he even dispatched government troops to suppress Gao Yingxiang's rebel army, making the local defense forces even weaker.

  So these local garrison officers, as long as they can hold on to the county seat, it's already not bad. Where do they have the strength to go out and suppress bandits? Moreover, the lack of pay is even more serious in the local army. Less than a hundred old, weak and disabled soldiers, except for the fewer than ten family guards under the command of this battalion commander, basically can't talk about any combat effectiveness. Let them go out to suppress bandits, and it's likely that they will be suppressed by the bandits instead.

  Moreover, Zhang was not stupid at all. As soon as he heard that the fierce bandit had killed more than 20 officers and soldiers with one move, he knew it would be difficult to deal with him. Letting him lead people out to die, his head hadn't been pinched by a door panel before, so he wouldn't agree no matter what.

  "Haha! Director Zhang's words are reasonable, this matter is indeed a bit difficult for me to let you do it. However, this time the matter is easy to handle, although the county is poor, we must think of ways to raise some silver for the brothers' departure. Moreover, this matter is not just letting Director Zhang and his men go alone, as long as Director Zhang sends someone to find out about the bandits first, I will naturally ask the gentry to send some militia to join forces with you to surround and annihilate those rebels! In this way, Director Zhang doesn't have to worry anymore!"

  "This matter still has to be handled by Director Zhang, so tomorrow I can first allocate 100 taels of silver to Director Zhang as the opening silver for this trip. No matter what, we cannot make things difficult for Director Zhang!" County Magistrate Liu was unusually generous this time and agreed to give Director Zhang 100 taels of silver after explaining the situation.

  Zhang's face lit up with joy, and he quickly stood up to express his gratitude: "Thank you, Lord Liu, for your generosity! Since Lord Liu has spoken, what can I say? Please rest assured, as soon as I receive the silver, I will immediately gather my men to search for that bandit surnamed Xiao! I will definitely help you with this matter!"

  Liu Wencai still looked down on Zhang Ba in his heart, it's true that you can't see a rabbit without releasing an eagle! Before seeing the money, this guy seemed to be unwilling to make any effort! However, Li gave 200 taels, and he could still keep some for himself. Even if he shared some with County Magistrate and Chief Clerk, he could still get dozens of taels of silver! This deal was still worth it.

  Third watch has arrived! Collect!