"Regardless of the success or failure of this time, this Guangfu can no longer stay."

Zhou Shen added categorically, and then looked at the faces of these people one by one, this was already the last strength he could rely on.

They include old pirates who have accumulated years of fierceness, fierce and cruel outlaws or lone thieves, and even more battle-hardened soldiers and tooth soldiers in the army in the past; Over the years, he has done all the deeds of killing people and destroying his family in private, and he has committed many lives and bloody crimes in his hands.

"That's the end of our agreement. That's it, let's go our separate ways,"

To be honest, he secretly felt a little frustrated; has been operating and accumulating prestige in Guangfu for many years, but he can't resist the changes brought about by the "ghost monk" among the grass thieves in the past few months; Whether it is gathering people to settle in Tuntian or opening the sea for trade, or mining and construction; This kind of gradual and grandiose conspiracy method is also hidden in the dark corner, and these remnant resistance forces cannot stop and resist.

He can incite the other party's wealthy clans, gentry, and even the township officials to secretly confront and destroy, the grass thieves' measures to clear the fields and acres, and even incite the villagers to resist, harass, and destroy, those acts of enclosing the land; and even secretly make people deal with those who dare to claim to live with them, to kill a hundred people.

But it can't be changed, once the grass thief takes this matter seriously, gathers enough strength, and attracts enough mouths, whether it is obstruction and resistance on the surface, or private fights and disputes, it no longer has advantages and uses.

In particular, the fierce actions of the "demon monk" against the strong and big families in the ten counties of Chaozhou and Xunzhou also set a very bad example and precursor for the grass thief leaders who stayed there; It also frightened many local tyrants and clans who survived in the war in the township, or everyone was in danger. After all, the means of delaying and procrastinating in private and the blatant confrontation that may kill the whole family on the surface are completely different things.

Especially after the grass thief reorganized the post roads and checkpoints, he could no longer even deliver messages in most places, and even the remote control command in the shadows, but many of the messengers he sent out could not be heard from again; And without the leaders who gave them ideas behind the scenes, and the support of private force, these local tyrants scattered on the other side were like scattered sand and only had some passive means of coping.

Of course, he can also intimidate and attack the families of the merchants in the cities who try to trade with the grass thieves, and set an example by all kinds of cruel means in private; However, there is no way to stop those maritime merchant families and Shijia clans from seeking profit for the reopening of maritime trade; As the saying goes, if you kill your parents in the way of people's money, even if it is in the hands of some of the most humble mud-legged grass thieves, it is real money.

In fact, when the displaced people in Lingdong were displaced by the war, most of them were recruited by these grass thieves or forcibly contained and put into various workshops, workshops and mines; The space and opportunities that he and his men could take in the middle were greatly reduced, so that they could only be trapped in a corner of the city of Guangzhou. After all, without enough chaos as a cover, how can you talk about the opportunity to fish in troubled waters.

Now even the old subordinate officials are starting to be useless; For these thieves actually began to set up workshops in the city, and to train and teach their own men, to gradually replace the old subordinate officials at the lower levels of the places, so that they could carry out all kinds of new initiatives; On the one hand, the other officials who were originally unable to work were a little nervous and self-endangered and feared of losing their livelihoods, and became more or less diligent in some things instead of procrastination and prevarication; On the one hand, it has also led to a reduction in sources.

After all, it's one thing to be able to rely on their former origins to provide them with some information and convenience; But for the sake of the unattainable cause of the court to rebel against the thief, he did not hesitate to lose his generational livelihood and even his life, which is another matter entirely.

And of course, they can rely on the practice of public affairs that have been followed for many years, secretly coerce and lure water mill methods or set up a situation to buy and win over individual or even a small group of people, but they have no way to win over hundreds of people at once and turn them into their sympathizers and partners.

If they still had this kind of strength and resources, they would not have deigned to do the risky things of scheming and attacking in this city of Guangzhou, but would directly pull up a group of men and horses to openly expel and crack down on these grass thieves who invaded the territory.

Therefore, Zhou Shen only hated himself for not realizing and determining to cut off this seemingly inconspicuous scourge early; So that one wrong step has evolved into the current situation, even if he wants to get into all his net worth and connections, it is irretrievable. Now anyone with a discerning eye can see that the grass thieves have begun to divide their territory outside the mountains.

Therefore, even his former family and allies had to give up trying to find a way to leave Guangfu for a while; However, although others can easily go away, as a former local Confucian official and a mediator with multiple forces, he is too deeply involved and bound with the local area. Even if he can finally try to escape from the fallen Lingnan land with others, it means that he will put all his foundations and operations, and start again under the fence of a strange place.

What's more, those people did not inform themselves beforehand, and they could not wait to go to sea with the goods and men with the ship, and get out of this dangerous place where there is more and more inaction; It is also a kind of dissatisfaction and abandonment of his insistence on consistent behavior, disguised dissatisfaction and abandonment.

So he was a little unwilling, and wanted to make a final effort. At the very least, it is necessary to make these grass thieves unable to easily unify the five pipes of Lingnan, and always leave a place of containment and confrontation in the rear; As for the many casualties and swords that may be caused by this, it is also one of the costs that must be sacrificed to the imperial court as a citizen of the Tang Dynasty.

For this reason, he has secretly converted most of the industries that are still under his control, into ready-made goods that are hidden in many places for use; It's just because of the rush of time that many of them were almost the result of being robbed by the fire. Most of them were spent and promised to the rest of the people in front of them, if they still had a life to be used.

Zhou Shen said secretly in his heart, and then he heard a loud shout outside:

"Someone."

"There is no need for a man to serve here. I didn't ask anyone to bring food and drinks."

"If you go to the wrong person, don't get out of here."

"Wait..."

Zhou Shen's heart suddenly moved, and he commanded the people around him

"I went out and called people in, and I said that I wanted what I had sent, and I wanted to give a reward. And then.. ”

He gestured to his neck. After all, it was ready to shoot now, and there were only a few hours left before it got dark; In order to avoid extraneous branches, this one may reveal a flawed mouth.

"That little guy is very neat on his legs and feet, and after being scolded, he has slipped away with his things."

Then, I saw my subordinates re-enter and reply.

"It's because my subordinates can't intercept people."

Zhou Shen couldn't help but take a deep breath before resisting the urge to scold; Ever since he heard that he was going to leave Guangfu for the last time, these subordinates had begun to slack off to such an extent, and if they were to be of great use immediately, I was afraid that he would have a good seizure and a good fall.

"Then why don't you hurry up and clean up Changxing, and go to another place again."

"It doesn't have to be like that."

Among his subordinates, the former leader of the cottage, alias "Lai Long", couldn't help muttering.

"How long have we been born, and we can't stop yet."

"Please also ask the big officials to learn clearly,"

Seeing that Zhou Shen was about to be angry, another old bandit nicknamed "Bird Gong" also glanced at him and said slowly

"These days of traveling around the city, the brothers have accumulated a lot of fatigue. For the sake of the big things in the near future, let them rest for a while. ”

"Yes, yes, a certain self should know the painstaking efforts of the officials, but he only needs to set up the guard posts outside. What should I do if I have a long plate?"

Some people also chimed in, but it was Li Tong, a general who was born in front of the old festival commander.

"Even if you clean up the end of the hand, it will take some time."

And these three represent their respective forces under Zhou Shen, and the rest are even dead soldiers born in his family, so they don't speak much. He also had to hesitate, but nodded and said,

"That's fine."

Then, a few steps approached the inner chamber, and in the midst of exclamations and screams, he killed all the dying women and gave vent. Then, with the bloody air diffusing in this room, he picked up the leftover drinks and dishes that had been cold, and ate and drank by himself.

Although it tasted like chewing wax, he still forced himself to eat and drink well, knowing that his body was hot and his face was gradually swollen and red; The men also wrapped the corpse and stuffed it under the bed, and hastily wiped the blood-spattered furnishings with the torn curtains;

Suddenly, several dull bells rang out above their heads. I couldn't help but be shocked that these elite people stood up one after another, and each of them hurriedly pulled out the weapons that had been sealed and made a vigilant posture.

Then more clangs and clangs appeared on the roof above them one after another, and then the overwhelmed tiled roof suddenly burst open, and a scorching fireball of green smoke fell, and the acrid smoke that quickly dispersed made people choke on the song and breathe in their dizzy chests.

And the old pirate Bird was smashed by a fireball that fell on his head, and the sparks all over his body splashed and burned and spread, and he rolled to the ground screaming and knocked down and ignited many curtains, only to be stabbed by General Li Tong's eyes and hands, but the pain was relieved; I saw him staring at his reddened eyes and shouting hoarsely to Zhou Shen.

"It's a poisonous smoke ball."

"There's an enemy attack."

"Great officials, be careful."

With these angry shouts, there was a short and extremely miserable scream outside, obviously as a guard and sentinel, he had already encountered a poisonous hand.

"Get out, you can't stay here anymore."

The head of the cottage named "Lai Long" first waved his weapon and rushed outward, and then just opened the door, he was backslapped back by an invisible force, and suddenly turned his back.

"Come back. Watch out for the crossbow. ”

Zhou Shen covered his mouth and nose and shouted loudly.

"Quickly find something to cover."

Before he finished speaking, he saw arrows like flying locusts, easily piercing through the weak points of wooden buildings such as doors, windows, railings, etc., and aggressively nailed down on various furniture and furnishings in the room, and also shot down those figures who had no time to dodge or find cover, and fell to the ground.

Then, in the pungent smoke, a sparkling jar was thrown in, dripping and rolling on the ground several times, before the family life and death soldiers around Zhou Shen ventured forward and threw it out if they wanted to pick it up; Then he heard a sudden bang burst open in his chest; Suddenly, everyone, including Zhou Shen, was shocked to death on the spot by the loud roar and the impact of the dull drums.

(End of chapter)