Hearing Chen Zikun say this, everyone seemed to understand, Liu Youjin high-fived and praised: "Wonderful, why didn't I expect that the bandit soldiers are coming to the city, we just use this to collect taxes and recruit soldiers, and we will definitely get twice the result with half the effort. ”

"Yes, just take advantage of this crisis, let's pull up the team first, don't we still have eighty guns, all of them will be issued, and it will not be so easy for bandits to attack the city!" Yan Su also became excited.

Liu Youjin said: "I'll arrange it, let the land guard shout along the street and wake up the sleeping people!" ”

He made a pun, others didn't understand, Gong Zijun said: "I still have four guns at home, and I will take them out to defend the county this time." ”

Chen Zikun said: "If there are ten hot-blooded young men like Staff Officer Gong in Nantai County, let alone a hundred and ten bandits, even five hundred and one thousand, why be afraid." ”

The young man couldn't stand the praise, Gong Zijun's blood boiled, and said: "Among my middle school classmates, there are also a few people of insight, and when they are in danger, I think they will all come forward, and there are also a few business friends of my father, and I am sure to persuade them to help." ”

Chen Zikun clapped his hands and said: "Okay, then we will act separately and gather the people to defend the county!" ”

The small Nantai County state apparatus began to operate.

On the street at night, there is no one, occasionally a few dogs bark, even more lonely, Chen Zikun took out his pocket watch to see, in fact, it was just eight o'clock, in Beijing or Shanghai, it was the beginning of the nightlife, but Nantai County except for a drunken immortal residence, a few small restaurants, basically no entertainment facilities, the nightlife is extremely poor, at night, the people go back to their homes, blow the lamp to sleep.

A few local guards who were temporarily called by the county magistrate cleared their throats, lifted their belts, carried the gongs, and began to shout, without fixed lines, in short, to convey a meaning: bandits besieged the city, Nantai was in danger, and the Protector Army Embassy and the county government jointly issued an order, requiring each household to produce a strong man and gather at the south gate.

Eight local guards shouted along the street, their throats were broken, every house closed their doors, there was no movement, and some people who were still with lights on heard the footsteps of the local guards approaching, and the house immediately went dark.

The ground guards continued to beat the gong and shout weakly, and their voices became lower and lower, until they simply found a place to cool off.

……

Gong Zijun rushed back home and began to rummage through the cabinets, Gong Jiaxuan hurriedly came to inquire after hearing about it, Gong Zijun told his father that he would donate the family's guns to defend against the bandits.

"Ridiculous, these four guns are stored in your uncle's house, how can they be used indiscriminately." Gong Jiaxuan sank his face and said.

Gong Zijun was anxious: "How can it be used indiscriminately to defend against bandits, more than a hundred bandits are outside the city, if they come in, the jade will be burned!" ”

Gong Jiaxuan said: "Who said that the bandits are going to enter the city, there are so many guns in the security group, is it because they can't be furnished?" ”

Gong Zijun said: "But they all quit." ”

"That's for others to see, as soon as Xia Dalong comes forward, the security team will immediately go to the city wall, and the bandits will immediately retreat, do you believe it or not?"

Gong Zijun was speechless.

The father sighed and continued to persuade: "Child, can't you see through such a simple thing, where is this siege by bandits, it is obvious that Xia Dalong is arguing with Chen Zikun, if the protector loses, I am afraid it will be difficult to turn over." ”

Gong Zijun said: "Then we have to help the army even more, we are on his side." ”

"Wrong, our Gong family doesn't occupy any end, we are riding on the wall, and we can't offend any side, do you understand?"

"But what did you say when the Protector was in our house?"

Master Gong persuaded bitterly: "After all, do it, two different things, yes, we don't deal with Xia Dalong, but we can't bet all the treasure on the surname Chen, my father valued him at the beginning, because he was standing behind Wu Peifu, and now it seems that if he can't solve this game, he is not worthy of our reliance." ”

Gong Zijun's face was pale, he didn't say a word, turned around and left.

"Where to go! Give me back! Master Gong said angrily.

"I'm going to the city on the night shift!" Gong Zijun didn't look back.

"Stop!" Master Gong roared angrily, finally stopped his son, walked over slowly, took out a red silk bag from his arms and handed it over: "Take it for self-defense." ”

Gong Zijun took it and opened it, and inside was a black and shiny horse card.

"Daddy......" The young man was speechless.

"Go ahead, Dad can't persuade you, and he can't pull your hind legs, it's dangerous in the city these days, you should be careful." Gong Jiaxuan helped his son tidy up the collar of his military uniform, and his smile was very warm.

"Dad, I'm going." Gong Zijun saluted and left.

He did not go to the city to work the night shift, but went to the house of his middle school classmate Sun Haoran, in the eighth year of the Republic of China, Gong Zijun returned to his hometown from the provincial capital to organize young students to burn Japanese goods, Sun Haoran was one of the activists, and threw away the Japanese basin and Japanese tooth powder at home, so he was the first to look for him.

The Sun family opened a coffin shop, this business was originally drought and flood to ensure income, coupled with the chaos of the world, dozens of thin-skinned coffins can be sold every month, and the Sun family is also the No. 1 rich family in Nantai County.

Knocking on the door, the servant of the Sun family led Young Master Gong to the door of Young Master Sun's house, and smelled a strange fragrance inside.

"Zijun is here, sit down, you can also incense." Seeing the visit of his old classmates, Young Master Sun was very excited, sat up and waved his little arms like dry firewood sticks and greeted.

Gong Zijun's eyebrows were upside down: "You smoke opium?" ”

"Hehe, I bought a good cloud soil from the relationship, don't you really want to taste it?" Sun Haoran was happy, as if he didn't know what was going on outside.

"Nope."

"Old classmate, you're really a rare guest, let's say, what's so funny?"

"Forget it, farewell." Gong Zijun turned around and left, confused Young Master Sun, touched his head and said, "Which one is this singing by Zijun, I was shocked." ”

After leaving Sun's house, Gong Zijun went to his father's friend Uncle Qin's house, Lao Qin ran a pawnshop, his family was well-paid, he hired two nursing homes, and he was also a figure in the county.

Uncle Qin is playing mahjong with a few card friends, all of whom are Gong Zijun's fathers, after seeing each other, Uncle Qin asked while touching the cards: "Virtuous nephew, what's the matter?" ”

Gong Zijun said: "The bandits are besieging the city, Nantai is in danger, Uncle Qin, why are you not in a hurry at all?" ”

"Three-of-a-kind? Lever! Uncle Qin opened the bar, full of spring breeze, and didn't seem to hear Gong Zijun's words.

Gong Zijun stood silently.

Uncle Qin took a card, didn't look at it, and directly touched it with his thumb and hit it: "Fifty thousand!" ”

The player on the opposite side laughed: "Huh! ”

Uncle Qin laughed, handed over a few chips, pushed down the mahjong tiles, shuffled the cards in a loud noise, and turned around and asked Gong Zijun: "What did you just say?" ”

"The bandits are besieging the city, and Nantai is already in danger." Gong Zijun said, at this time, he had no hope.

"Haha, the sky is falling, and Master Xia is on top of it, I'm afraid of hair!" Uncle Qin smiled heartily, without fear, and continued to build the Great Wall.

Gong Zijun left silently and came to the south gate, which was the forefront of resisting the bandits' attack, and everyone was there, but no one came to apply, let alone donate guns and food, and even the land security was gone.

Talking about his own experience, Liu Youjin sighed and said, "The people of the whole county are waiting to see our jokes." ”

Chen Zikun didn't say anything, and pedaled up the city tower.

……

In the middle of the night, the Xia family's mansion suddenly burst into flames, reflecting half of the sky, and dense gunshots rang out, so close that it seemed to be in the ears.

The bandits are in town! This was the first thought of the people, everyone locked the door and did not dare to come out, until the next morning, they heard the ground guard shouting outside to know that it was safe, so they went out in twos and threes, exchanged ears, and exchanged gossip with each other.

It is said that the fire was burned from the hay pile in the horse shed, and gradually spread to the firewood house and the wing room, and it was found in time, but just as people were putting out the fire, the bandits opened fire, and the two sides had a fierce battle, which delayed the firefighting, and the Xia family compound was burned by one-third.

The fire was set by bandits, they crawled into the city in the middle of the night to kill people and set fires, if it wasn't for the escort envoy to arrive in time, the Xia family would have burned to the ground.

This is something that everyone is convinced of, but there is another version of the legend circulating in private, that is, this fire was sent by the army envoy, but no one believed it, because Chen Zikun personally led the team to fight the fire heroically witnessed by many people.

Xia Dalong's lung tubes were about to explode, as the initiator, of course he knew that it was impossible for the bandits to come to his house, this fire was definitely set by Chen Zikun, but he had no evidence at all, so he could only knock out his teeth and swallow the blood in his stomach.

A fire burned the luck of the people, and the panic of the people replaced the insensitivity, and the Xia family was unlucky, not to mention the small family like their own, plus the local security guards beat the gong outside all day long, preaching how murderous the bandits were, and even the most determined people panicked.

Outside the south gate, the bandits who slept all night stretched lazily, and last night there seemed to be a fire in the city, and half of the sky was red, which disturbed their good dreams, and the quality of sleep of many people was affected.

The bandits unscrupulously unbuttoned their pants and peed, cursing each other with the most vicious foul language, and suddenly heard a piercing trumpet, and then saw the south gate of Nantai County opened, and a big man holding a red, yellow, blue, white, and black national flag walked out, followed by three horses, and the first one was sitting in a precarious position, and the golden hat and epaulettes could be seen from a long distance.

Liang Maocai rubbed his eyes and took a closer look, that's right, it was a golden hat hoop, and the Jiangbei Protector envoy personally went out of the city.

"The second master, kill him?" A one-eyed dragon raised his rifle.

"Wait, which one does he sing?" Liang Maocai said.

An officer cavalry came on a flying horse, stopped when he got close, and said proudly: "Master Liang, the escort envoy asks you to come and speak." ”

"Good!" Liang Maocai took two brothers and went over with a big grin, and the bandit leader and the escort envoy were in the open space at the city gate, and the two sides began to negotiate within range.

Chen Zikun didn't say hello, and said straight to the point: "Liang Maocai, you lead people to besiege the city, what do you want, let's say a number." ”

Liang Maocai said: "Okay, you are a cheerful person, I'm not welcome, I want a hundred rifles, 10,000 bullets, 100,000 oceans, 100 new hats, 100 pairs of cloth shoes, 500 catties of trough cakes, 500 catties of eggs and green onions, I will give you a three-day deadline, now there are two days left, take out these things, I will retire and leave." ”

Chen Zikun looked at Liang Maocai with a cold face.

Liang Maocai glared back at him without fear, yes, he was a lion who opened his mouth, but what the bandits did was extortion.

Suddenly, Chen Zikun laughed, tears of laughter came out, and Liang Mao, who was laughing, was inexplicable, and then became angry, and he was about to pull out his gun.

The laughter stopped abruptly, Chen Zikun recovered his cold face, and said, "Liang Maocai, are you here to ask for food or rob on a dog day?" The dignified Nantai county can only take out 100,000 oceans? You're so embarrassed to open your mouth! I'm so ashamed of you, and I still give my damn trough cake, eggs and green onions, you can still be a little good on a dog day, can't you? ”

Liang Maocai was as angry as a dog, and asked rhetorically: "Then what the hell are you talking about, how much oil and water can be squeezed in Nantai County?" ”

Chen Zikun said: "At least 500 guns, 100,000 rounds of ammunition, 500,000 cash oceans, 500 taels of gold, plus 100 silk and satin, 50 good horses with saddles, 50 mules, otherwise so many things are unlucky, and then 20 handsome little ladies are at the bottom, which is a bit interesting." ”

Liang Maocai's eyes lit up: "Really? Is there really that much money in the county? ”

Chen Zikun said: "Can I coax you? There is an old saying in our green forest: If you want to rob the emperor, you want to rob the mother every day, a manly husband will live a lifetime, how many times can he rob the county? Don't fuck him to death. ”

Liang Maocai burst into tears of excitement: "Brother, there is really you!" ”