Banzai! ”

"Hooray!"

When they learned that the county government had finally acquitted Chen Cai, Ma Hong, and other key members of the brotherhood, and when they saw the innocent people coming out of the county government, the people of Kunyang, who were crowding on the street in front of the county yamen to protest, rushed to tell each other, exclaiming in surprise, as if they had won some kind of victory.

Looking at the overcrowded street in front of him, Chen Cai was very emotional.

It is true that the reason why the people in the county are rioting, and even make a slightly radical behavior to surround the county office, is that there are indeed people behind them who are stirring up public opinion, but even so, the happy faces of the people on the street still make Chen Cai feel a lot of emotion.

Once upon a time, as a small leader in the Black Tiger Village, he never dared to imagine that he would be able to walk out with his head held high after being arrested by the county government, let alone that countless local people would cheer happily for his acquittal.

"Ahem, Steward Chen......"

Just when Chen Cai was full of emotion, Liu Bi pretended to cough from the side county order.

Chen Cai realized that now was not the time to sigh, only to see him bow to the people present, bow deeply, and then said: "Thank you folks, fathers and elders for Chen, and for the many innocent people who were arrested by the Nanyang soldiers...... Whether I am a brother of the Brotherhood or not, I would like to express my sincere and heartfelt gratitude. ”

Hearing this, the people on the street cheered, and I don't know who was the first to applaud their hands, and immediately, this applause seemed to infect everyone, so that the whole street burst into applause.

At this time, the headcatcher Ishihara stood on the side and watched coldly, and when he saw this scene, his face was quite ugly.

I have to say that when he learned the news and learned that the county order Liu Bi ordered the release of Chen Cai, Ma Hong and others who were imprisoned, Ishihara's mood was quite complicated, and at this moment, seeing that the people on the street supported Chen Cai so much, his mood became more and more complicated.

You must know that Chen Cai and Ma Hong are the leaders of the Black Tiger Thieves that he can confirm, and getting rid of these two people, even if he can't let the Black Tiger Thief break one arm, he can at least cut off one of his fingers.

However, the cruel reality is that in order to appease the people in the city, the county government had to release the two leaders of the black tiger thieves, and use their prestige to help the county government stabilize people's hearts as soon as possible.

The government actually asked for a thief, which is really ironic in Ishihara's opinion.

He looked at Chen Cai with a complicated expression, pressed his hand with a smile on his face, and motioned for the people on the street to calm down temporarily.

After everyone quieted down, Chen began to speak for the county government: "...... For some reason, I and Ma Hong, who took over the Yishe in my place, were innocently arrested by some foreign soldiers, but fortunately, Liu County Commander, Li County Cheng, Ma County Lieutenant, and many righteous head catchers and county guards of the county government were protected from words and deeds, and we were not tortured by words and deeds, and tortured into tricks, and I would like to thank Liu County Order, Li County Cheng, Ma County Lieutenant, and all the officials and officials of the county government......"

Liu Bi stood up quite timely to gather public opinion: "Steward Chen has said it too much, the brotherhood has great contributions to my county and the people, and these Liu Mou are all standing in his eyes." Liu's ambition in life is to be the head of a county, to protect the people of one party, to protect the good, to fight crime, so that the guilty will be punished and impunity, so that they can have peace of mind! ”

Hearing this, the people on the street applauded, and most of the eyes that looked at Liu Bi were full of reverence.

Seeing this, Liu Bi endured the secret joy in his heart, and said to the people present: "Recently, the righteous house has been sealed, and many workshops related to the brotherhood have also been seized, so that more than 1,000 people, nearly 2,000 people have lost their jobs......

As he spoke, he made a gesture of invitation to Chen Cai and Ma Hong.

Chen Cai and Ma Hong arched their hands towards Liu Bi, and then glanced at it.

"Come on." Ma Hong said in a low voice.

Chen Cai smiled, and then said to the people on the street: "Presumably you folks also know that this righteous house, as well as many workshops related to the brotherhood, have suffered a lot of losses, I want to temporarily suspend work, and wait for the county to return me to justice, but Liu Gong has persuaded me to do justice, so I decided to resume the workshops in the city tomorrow......"

As he spoke, he pointed to Ma Hong and added, "Over there, it will return to business as usual tomorrow......"

Hearing this, the people in the streets cheered.

In the midst of this cheer, Chen Cai persuaded the people on the street to go back to their respective homes, not to affect the public order in the county, and not to add trouble to the county government.

Under his persuasion, the people on the street gradually dispersed with smiling faces.

The restless public opinion on the street in front of the county yamen was calmed down in this way.

When Xun Yi, the governor of the northern post, persuaded the partial general Ji Rong to return to the county again, he obviously felt that the restlessness and resentment of the public opinion in the county had been effectively curbed, and the people who came and went on the street were talking about Liu Bi, the county commander, and Chen Cai, the steward of the brotherhood, praising the former as a good official who thought about the people, and praising the latter as a good person for the benefit of the villagers.

I have to say that Xun Yi is really a little crying and laughing when he sees this.

Although he is pedantic, but he is not stupid, how can he not see that Ji Rong was actually designed by a cunning black tiger thief leader?

But what surprised him was that it seemed that the county government was also involved in this matter?

Although it is not clear what the reason is, in Xun Yi's view, it is clear that the brotherhood and the county government have joined forces to set a trap for the Ji general, first the county government deliberately allowed Ji Rong to destroy the righteous houses and workshops related to the brotherhood, and then the brotherhood took the opportunity to stir up public opinion, and then the county government pushed the boat down the river to report to Yingchuan County, asking the county guard Li Min to come forward to support.

During the whole process, the cooperation between the two sides was simply impeccable.

In the end, the brotherhood and the county government joined forces with a tacit understanding to push the guilt of this matter to the Nanyang Army, and at the same time took the opportunity to earn a wave of good fame and reputation, which was amazing to see.

In the evening, Xun Yi still stayed at the post house in the city, sitting at the table in the house to write the official documents to be submitted to the county guard.

I don't know how long it took, when Xun Yi was engrossed in writing the official document, suddenly there was a knock on the door outside the door, and then, an unforgettable voice came in from outside: "Is Xun Du Post here?" ”

『…… Zhou Hu."

Xun Yi put down the pen in his hand, got up and walked to the door, and opened the door.

When he opened the door, he saw two people standing outside the door, both of whom were not tall, and both were wearing gray cloaks, and a tiger mask was faintly visible on their faces covered by the cloak.

These two people are undoubtedly Zhao Yu and Jingnu.

“……”

Glancing at the person in charge, Xun Yi looked at both sides of the corridor outside the house.

As if he had guessed Xun Yi's thoughts, Zhao Yu said with a smile: "Xun Governor Post and rest assured, Zhou sent someone to put a soothing medicine in the wine and food of the two guards of the Inspector Post, I believe that at this time, your guards have been sleeping in the house......"

"There are indeed black tiger thieves in this inn."

Xun Yi glanced at Zhao Yu and raised his hand to make a gesture of please.

Zhao Yu was also not polite, and slowly walked into the house with his hands behind his back, and Jingnu followed closely.

Out of caution, Xun Yi glanced at both sides of the corridor outside the house again, and saw that there was no movement, so he closed the door.

At this time, he lowered his voice and immediately questioned Zhao Yu: "Zhou Hu, this time the people in Kunyang County are boiling and almost rioting, you must be behind it, right?" ”

"It's wronged." Zhao Yu spread his hands and said: "In fact, Zhou doesn't want this to happen, the loss when the Yishe and the workshop were seized is still secondary, and the work is suspended for several days, and the loss is immeasurable......"

"Humph!" Xun Yi interrupted Zhao Yu's words with a sneer, lowered his voice and said, "Don't think I can't see it, this time it's clear that you are conspiring with the county government to calculate that Ji Rong......"

It was night, and the room was dimly lit, except for the oil lamp on the table.

Therefore, Zhao Yu saw at a glance that there was an official document half written by Xun Yi on the table, so he stepped forward, took it in his hand with great interest, and glanced at it twice.

He could see at a glance that this was Xun Yi's official document that was prepared to be submitted to the county guard Li Min in the future, and the paper recorded in more detail the causes and consequences of the 'Kunyang people's riot', and the interesting thing is that this official document did not involve the black tiger thief, but only told the story very objectively, if it is summarized in one sentence, that is, Wang Shangde's reckless behavior of Ji Rong, a partial general, regardless of the people's feelings, caused the public resentment in Kunyang County.

"Phew." Zhao Yu whistled lightly.

"Smack!"

Xun Yi snatched the official document from Zhao Yu's hand, and slapped the unfinished official document on the table in annoyance.

Zhao Yu didn't want to irritate this pedantic and upright superintendent, so he shrugged his shoulders and pretended that nothing had happened.

Seeing this, Xun Yi's face turned slightly pale, and he looked at Zhao Yu and said in a deep voice: "Don't be complacent, it's just that Xun hasn't seen you do evil for the time being, and I don't want to implicate too much ......."

"Uh-huh." Zhao Yu nodded again and again very cooperatively, seeing that Xun Yi was angry but had no place to lie.

I saw him glaring at Zhao Yu fiercely, and then said in a deep voice: "Zhou Hu, although you haven't done evil for the time being, your behavior is very dangerous...... You're stirring up public opinion. He looked at Zhao Yu, lowered his voice and said, "Don't you want to rebel?" ”

Turning his head to look at Xun Yi's serious expression, Zhao Yu also understood that this was not a joke, he shook his head and said, "Of course not, I'm just trying to protect myself." ”

Zhao Yu's words, of course, were true, but he didn't say it completely.

The Black Tiger Village and the Brotherhood are complementary to each other.

In the early days of the development of the Brotherhood, Zhao Yu secretly used the money looted by the Black Tiger Village from the past caravans to feed the Brotherhood, and used various good deeds to buy people's hearts, and at the same time, he also used the Black Tiger Village to put pressure on the merchants of the Luye Freemasonry, and gradually stripped off the merchants under his name, so that the latter had to cooperate with the Brotherhood for various reasons.

Now, the Brotherhood is beginning to take shape, with twenty or thirty workshops in the city, so its potential surpasses that of Black Tiger Village.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Brotherhood has gradually become the foundation of Black Tiger Village.

Therefore, when he learned that Wang Shangde sent a partial general Ji Rong to lead two thousand soldiers to Kunyang to encircle and suppress his Black Tigers, Zhao Yu's first concern was not the main village, but the workshops related to the Brotherhood in the county, because these workshops were the most critical existence for his Black Tigers to survive in the future.

Some people may ask, since those workshops related to the Brotherhood are so important, why did Zhao Yu sacrifice them and let Ji Rong arbitrarily seize them?

In fact, there are two reasons, one is to force Yingchuan County to send someone to come forward, because only Yingchuan County can barely fight against Wang Shangde; Second, Zhao Yu wanted to take the opportunity to try the status of the brotherhood in the hearts of the people of Kunyang.

The result was very smooth, the Yingchuan County sent the superintendent Xun Yi, and the people of Kunyang here also united to put pressure on the county government - although there was certainly an element of his black tiger thief to stir up public opinion, it was enough to prove that the people of Kunyang were supportive of the brotherhood.

After clarifying this point, Zhao Yu can gradually take follow-up actions, for example, using the reputation of the brotherhood to gradually improve the fierce image of the black tiger thief, and make the black tiger thief get rid of the hat of the 'thief' as much as possible and become an existence similar to the head snake of the ground.

And Zhao Yu didn't want to reveal these to Xun Yi for the time being, so as not to let this pedantic superintendent think wildly.

After all, to a certain extent, he really wanted to control Kunyang, and even control the neighboring counties later, and these were something that Xun Yisuo would never tolerate.

This Xun Du Post can't even tolerate his black tigers secretly stirring up public opinion.

No, after hearing Zhao Yu's explanation, Xun Yi said angrily: "In order to protect yourself, you can stir up public opinion?" Do you know what the consequences will be if this mess gets out of hand?! ”

Zhao Yu smiled and said with relief: "Don't worry, Xun Duyou, since Zhou has made this decision, he will definitely keep an eye on the situation at all times, and will never cause a riot in Kunyang, and if there is a riot in Kunyang, it will not be good for us." Although it is difficult for us to stop in the north of the county for the time being, but in the county, we will be a good citizen who abides by the law, guards to myself, obeys the instructions of the county government, and obeys the instructions of the county......" As he spoke, he glanced at Xun Yi, who was sneering, and said: "I finally have a legal and reputable identity, Xun Du Post will not think that I will give it up at will, right?" ”

“……”

Xun Yi glanced at Zhao Yu and didn't say a word.

If he sneered at Zhao Yu's first half of what he said, then he more or less recognized the second half of what he said.

After all, the Brotherhood was the black tiger thief's cloak of hypocrisy, and he didn't feel that Zhao Yu would give up that cloak casually.

After thinking for a moment, Xun Yi looked at Zhao Yu and asked, "For that Ji Rong, what is your next conspiracy?" ”

"Conspiracy...... That's too much. ”

Zhao Yu smiled, but he didn't hide Xun Yi, spread his hands and said: "If Ji Rong doesn't have a follow-up action, I naturally won't provoke him, but I don't think he should stop there...... I heard that Xun Duyou has already met that Ji Rong, I don't know what his plans are? ”

"Hmph, you're well-informed."

Xun Yi sneered, but still revealed to Zhao Yu the process and result of his conversation with Ji Rong: "He finally said that each other took a step back, and he asked Kunyang to hand over a part of the grain and grass to be used to encircle and suppress the thief's nest in Yingshan in the north of the county, unless I can persuade General Wang to order the withdrawal of the army when I go to Wancheng next." …… I hope you don't cause Ji Rong's 2,000 troops to suffer too many losses that I can't convince General Wang! ”

"Xun Duyou thinks so highly of Zhou, do you think I can defeat that Ji general? That's a partial. Zhao Yu asked with a little surprise.

Xun Yi sneered and said: "I once heard the officers and soldiers who participated in the encirclement and suppression of your black tiger thieves mentioned last time that even General Zhang Jingzhang, one of the five tigers of Chenmen, never defeated you with a strategy, I don't believe that a partial general can deal with you." ”

“……”

Zhao Yu glanced at Xun Yi with a little surprise, after all, there were only a few people in Kunyang who knew about Zhang Jing's matter.

He asked with interest, "Who told you that?" Isn't it also the head catcher named Ishihara? ”

Probably worried that Zhao Yu would attack that Shi Yuan, Xun Yi said coldly: "You don't care where I got it, you just have to promise me ......"

"I can't guarantee that."

Zhao Yu shook his head and said with a smile: "Someone beats me, aren't you allowed to fight back?" ”

Xun Yi said slightly angrily: "Your fight back is bound to anger Wang Shangde!" ”

Zhao Yu stretched out a finger and shook it in front of Xun Yi, and then said with a smile: "Xun Duyou doesn't know that General Wang, do you think that if I back down in this matter and give up the main village, I will be able to make that General Wang stop?" No! That General Wang is always conceited, what he wants to do, he must do it, unless Xun Duyou can take advantage of the power of Li Junshou to make that General Wang stop, otherwise even if I retreat from that Ji Rong, it will be useless......"

Saying that, he didn't wait for Xun Yi to speak again, and added: "Of course, I can promise not to be ruthless to those soldiers, so as not to increase the difficulty of Xun Duyou to persuade Wang Shangde, but I will still do the necessary counterattack, otherwise I will not wait for Xun Duyou to persuade General Wang to withdraw his troops, and we will invest a lot of manpower and material resources to rebuild the main village, I am afraid that it will be destroyed again." ”

Xun Yi thought about it and felt that this was probably Zhao Yu's bottom line, so he didn't persuade him again, but he still mocked Zhao Yu: "Could it be that you also pay attention to people in the village?" But I've heard that it was destroyed once last time. ”

Zhao Yu smiled and didn't care, until he left, he deliberately teased Xun Yidao: "Then this time, do you need Zhou to find a few women to sleep with Xun Duyou?" ”

Hearing this, Xun Yi's face changed suddenly, and his face turned red, quite annoyed and angry.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu said with a smile: "Considering that the superintendent is going to leave for Wancheng tomorrow, I think the superintendent should rest in peace tonight, and when he returns to Kunyang on the other day, Zhou will make arrangements......"

Xun Yi angrily drove Zhao Yu and Jingnu out of the room.

Ignoring Xun Yi's slamming the door shut, Zhao Yu deliberately knocked on the door and said, "Don't worry, Zhou will definitely arrange it." ”

In the room separated by a wall, Xun Yi was ashamed and angry when he heard this, and opened his mouth to say something.

However, in the end, Zhao Yu didn't hear any movement from inside the house.

"That's a ......."

After being slightly stunned, Zhao Yu's face under the mask showed a little strange color.

God is pitiful, he is really just a joke to tease Xun Yi this time......

In the early morning of the next day, Xun Yi left the county seat in a carriage with two guards and headed for Wancheng.

Soon after Xun Yi left the city, Zhao Yu also took Jingnu, Niu Heng and a number of thieves from the county seat to the main village of Black Tiger.

After returning to the main village, Zhao Yu immediately summoned Guo Da, Chu Jiao, Chen Mo, Wang Qing, and Chu Yan to discuss countermeasures to resist the attack of the partial general Ji Rong, but did not invite Liu Heimu.

After all the leaders arrived, Zhao Yu Zhengse said: "Over there in the county seat, it should be okay for the time being, the development of the brotherhood in the county is very smooth, and it is becoming more and more difficult to strip it from the county seat, as far as I know, that Ji Rong is asking Kunyang County to allocate grain and grass, so that he can lead the army to attack our main village...... " He said, he glanced around at the leaders present, and asked: "Whether it is a war or retreat, I want to hear your views first." ”

As soon as the words fell, I heard Wang Qing pretend to be a big grin and say: "Just fight!" Fleeing without a fight, that is not Wang's character. Or is the big boss afraid? ”

Of course, Zhao Yu knew that Wang Qing was not completely convinced of him, and he didn't care about the tone of Wang Qing's words, but looked at the rest of the people.

Compared with a bold guy like Wang Qing, Guo Da and Chu Jiao tend to be relatively conservative, the former frowned and said: "It's really inappropriate to retreat without a fight, but that's two thousand soldiers......"

Chu Jiao also stroked his beard and frowned: "If it is only two thousand officers and soldiers, then there is nothing to worry about, two thousand soldiers...... It's not easy to do, it's not easy to do. ”

Think about it, the first few times he surrounded and suppressed his black tiger thieves, they were all officers and soldiers from Kunyang County, Runan, and Ye County, although they are all officers and soldiers to say it nicely, but in fact, most of them are composed of some rangers and village warriors, and as the backbone, they are only the county soldiers of the three counties.

However, this time it was the regular army of Nanyang that came to encircle and suppress, not only was it fully armoured, but its combat ability was not at all the same as that of ordinary rabble.

And his Black Tiger Village, how many people are there in total now? There were only seven or eight hundred people who died.

And at least 100 of them are women and children who are incapable of fighting, and only 500 or 600 can really be used.

With a mere five or six hundred people against two thousand regular soldiers, what is this not a mantis arm as a car? Only a bold guy like Wang Qing would conceitedly ignore the disparity in strength.

"Then let's think it's a military training."

In the case of controversy among the leaders, Zhao Yu said with a slight smile: "Take advantage of the part of the 'spider web narrow road' that has been completed at the foot of the mountain, train the brothers in the village, and test the training results of recent months, it is not bad, after all, it is not easy to get treatment to be able to fight with the regular army." As for whether it can resist it...... If we can resist the Nanyang army, our road will be wider in the future, first of all, Runan will not dare to act rashly; On the contrary, if you can't resist it, then give up the main village, anyway, it's not the first time......"

Hearing this, Guo Da complained with tears and laughter: "Ah Hu, I have only repaired the main village ......"

Of course, complaining is complaining, Guo Da still expressed his support.

To be precise, since learning Zhao Yu's true identity, Guo Da has always supported Zhao Yu unreservedly.

Following Guo Da, Chu Jiao nodded and expressed his support: "It's a small matter to abandon the main village, I'm afraid that those soldiers will destroy the 'spider web narrow road', and it is not easy to build that thing." ”

Compared with Guo Da and Chu Jiao, who were concerned about gains and losses, Chen Mo didn't value those, and said with his arms crossed: "Although we are outnumbered, and our equipment conditions are far inferior to the Nanyang Army, we are not unable to fight. ”

He has confidence in the people he has trained by himself in the past few months.

"Okay."

Glancing around at everyone, Zhao Yu Zhengse said: "Since there is no objection, let's compete with the Nanyang Army." ”

"Yes!"

At the end of September, at the behest of Zhao Yu, Kunyang County ordered Liu Bi to deliver grain and grass to Ji Rong.

After getting enough grain and grass, Ji Rong immediately led his two thousand Nanyang soldiers to Yingshan in the north of the county, and ordered the soldiers to set up camp on the flat land southeast of Yingshan.

『…… Let's get rid of this bandit before winter begins.'"

Looking up at the Black Tiger Main Village on the top of the mountain in the distance, General Ji Rong thought secretly.

As a partial general of the Nanyang Army, and with 2,000 soldiers, he didn't take the bandit on the opposite side in his eyes at all.