Speaking of his descendants, Chen Zikun couldn't help but think of the twelve bandits locked up in the county jail, he himself was born as a horse thief, and his feelings for bandits were not as disgusting as ordinary people, but he had an inexplicable sympathy.

"Someone!" Chan slapped the table.

"Yes!" Adjutant Zhao jumped in.

"Ascension, the envoy is going to interrogate the bandits."

"Yes!"

It didn't take much effort, the Yazhengtang of Nantai County cleaned up and stopped, forty big-headed soldiers lined up from the top of the hall to the bottom of the hall, holding their chests and waists, holding a big gun in one hand, and the eight-sided majesty was awe-inspiring, and the twelve gray-faced bandits were tied with their hands tied, like a string of grasshoppers tied to the rope were signed to the hall, ordered to kneel, and no one dared to raise their heads.

"Mighty~~~~" The soldiers rhythmically tapped the ground with the butts of their guns, and they were still chanting words in their mouths, Wang Degui and Li Changsheng came up from the back hall with a guillotine, swung to the ground, and stood on the left and right with their waists crossed, quite like the meaning of the dynasty Mahan.

This guillotine is used by farmers in the countryside to cut pigweed, the blade is extremely wide, the cold light is shining, if it is used to cut people, it is definitely a knife or two sections, much better than what ghost head knife, most of the bandits are from Zhuanghu, they know the power of the guillotine, and they are suddenly scared and trembling, and a few timid people urinated on the spot, and the court was stained with water, filled with the smell of urine, but there was no joke about them, everyone knew that blood was going to be seen in the court today.

"Ascension!" Wang Degui and Li Changsheng howled at the top of his throat, Chen Zikun wore a black cloak with the chief of staff, and swaggered over from the second hall.

A brand new yellow cloth was laid on the public seat of the county order, on which were placed pen holders, signature holders, startling wood, and cinnabar pens and other highly professional objects, Chen Zikun came to the public seat, shook his shoulders, the cloak fell, Adjutant Zhao put it away, he went to the mountain, sat on the chair, but involuntarily glanced at the top of his head.

On the head is the four big characters of "Mirror hanging", which have not been cleaned for many years, accumulating a layer of dust, and there are cobwebs in the corners, which slightly disturbs the scenery.

"Smack" Chen Zikun slapped the shocked wood, and there was a bandit on the spot below, who was lying on the ground foaming at the mouth and convulsing, Zhao Yufeng hurriedly asked people to drag him down.

Chen Zikun shook his head secretly, this is not the kind of bandit he wants to recruit, what he wants is an unruly and strong bandit, this kind of person who can faint at the slightest shot, even if he takes a gun, he will be sent to death.

Before the interrogation, half of the interest was lost, Chen Zikun was not interested in holding the shelf, and asked lazily: "Where are you all from?" ”

No one dared to talk, and the murderous aura in the court today was too strong, which frightened them.

"Damn, give Lao Tzu his head up." Chen Zikun slapped the stunned wood again, and a row of faces suddenly rose up below, numb and hesitant, afraid and helpless, and he knew by looking at his face that he was an honest farmer.

"You talk back." Chen Zikun ordered an old bandit who was the oldest and had the deepest wrinkles on his face.

"Yes, if you go back to adults, we are all villagers from Xiamapo, Nantai County."

"Nonsense, you are bandits!"

"Yes, yes, we are bandits...... My lord, the people are wronged! The old bandit was still submissive at first, and when he saw the bright guillotine, he suddenly shouted again.

"Where does the injustice come from?" Chen Zikun softened his tone a little.

The old bandits told the story, it turned out that these people were all villagers in the Xiamapo area, and their lives were quite passable, but since the beginning of the seventh year of the Republic of China, there has been a drought for three consecutive years, and last year there was another flood in the Huaijiang River, and the crops were not harvested, and the people had to pay two rents, one of the bandits, and one of the government, and if they couldn't hand it over, they would be locked in prison.

After speaking, there was silence in the court, and even the big soldiers standing in the hall lowered their heads, and Chen Zikun said gloomily: "How old are you this year, and who else is in the family?" ”

"Back to my lord, I am forty-five this year, I originally had three sons, the eldest could not pay the son, let the security team arrest him and beat him to death, the second child became a soldier and died in other provinces, the third child got a violent illness, and there was no money to invite Langzhong, and it was gone."

Chen Zikun waved his hand: "You go to rest first, next." ”

Then the arraignment was a man in his thirties, his experience was different from the former, just because the mother-in-law at home was a little beautiful, was robbed by bandits, and when he scraped together enough money to redeem people, people were already in a trance, and he hanged himself in two days, and he was empty of people and money, and he also pulled a lot of debts, so he had no choice but to become a bandit.

After interrogating a few more, Chen Zikun's mood became worse and worse, and he no longer had the heart to ask them about their original intention of becoming bandits, these so-called bandits are essentially different from the Kwantung horse thieves, that is, they all really can't survive to embark on this road.

"Who are you bosses?" Chan asks another question.

"Our leader is Chen Shou from Chenjiadian." One of the bandits replied.

Chen Shou, this name is very familiar, he came to attack the county seat yesterday, and was not the one who was shelled away by the security regiment.

"This Chen Shou, what is the origin?"

The old bandit replied: "Back to the adult, Chen Shou is the third in line, brave since childhood, at the age of sixteen he killed the landlord's cow, ran to Shaolin Temple to learn boxing, returned to his hometown a year ago, avenged his parents, pulled up the pole to rob the rich and help the poor, the poor people within a radius of dozens of miles, as long as they can't survive, they all vote for Chen Shou." ”

Chen Zikun nodded and said to himself: "In this way, this Chen Shou is still a righteous bandit. ”

He thought about it, made up his mind, and said, "Come on, pull all these bandits out!" ”

There was a burst of crying, and according to the usual understanding, the meaning of pulling out is usually "pulling out and killing".

Chen Zikun added: "Pull out of the city." ”

The bandits were even more sure that the time of death was near, and the Protector had just taken office, and he was determined to kill them to make a fortune.

The brigade escorted the bandits out of the city, and the little bandit Shuangxi, who had not yet healed from his injuries, also carried it over with the door panel, and the other two injured bandits also carried them out, but they had already turned into corpses.

……

In the east of the county, in the Xia family's mansion, Qiu Fuzhao came in upside down, and before he entered the living room, Master Xia's thunderous voice sounded: "What are you doing in a panic?" ”

"Master, the escort envoy went to the court today to ask about the case, and just now he escorted the captured bandits out of the south gate, I'm afraid I'm going to shoot them." Commander Qiu wiped his sweat and said, he had just seen it in the city, so he hurried to report to the owner.

Master Xia turned the two iron galls unhurriedly and said, "How do you know that you are going to be shot?" ”

Qiu Fuzhao blinked and said, "Murder is powerful, everyone knows it." ”

Master Xia snorted: "I think this Lord Chen, it's not that simple, you go quickly, see what kind of drama he sings, just send someone to report something, don't come in person, it's a head of the regiment, and you have to be a little decent." ”

"Yes, yes, the old man is taught, and the little ones will go and see." Qiu Fuzhao turned around and went out, and saw a female student in white clothes and black skirts coming in, and immediately stood aside, nodding and bowing: "Hello, eldest lady." ”

The female student didn't look at him at all, and flew into the courtyard happily: "Dad, I heard that there are two beautiful wives in the county, I want to go and see them." ”

Xia Dalong smiled kindly: "Good daughter, those are the two wives of Chen Hujun's envoy, another day my father will hold a banquet in the mansion to invite them, and you will be able to see them then." ”

The schoolgirl was very happy: "Dad, what day?" ”

Xia Dalong's eyes narrowed into a slit: "Good, you say that day will be the same day." ”

"Okay, okay, just today."

"Not today, it's too urgent, Dad wants to have a treat, the pomp is big, and it's too late to prepare for three or five days."

The female student pursed her lips and said coquettishly: "Daddy will deceive people, it's okay in a few days, I want to invite my classmates to the banquet." ”

"Good! You can invite as many people as you want, except for the kid surnamed Gong. ”

The female student's face suddenly changed: "Dad, he is my classmate, why can't he be a guest?" ”

Xia Dalong said: "The family surnamed Gong is not authentic, and they have always been against their father, and I feel sick to my stomach when I see them." ”

The female student said: "People are still disgusting when they see you, local tyrants and inferior gentry!" ”

Xia Dalong still had a smile on his face: "Good daughter, what did you just say about your father?" ”

"Isn't it a local tyrant and a bad gentleman?" The schoolgirl squinted her neck and squinted at her father, and the air became tense.

Xia Dalong suddenly laughed, and the tears and snot of laughter came out: "Good daughter, you are so bold, good!" Follow me, if others say this, I will put him in a sack and throw him into the Huaijiang River to feed Wang Ba, that is, you dare to be so presumptuous. ”

The female student snorted, twisted her body and ran away, Xia Dalong looked at her slender back, and couldn't help but think of the fifth aunt Tailai, who had been dead for many years, that was his favorite woman, and the only woman who gave birth to a daughter for him, he had several children, but only this daughter survived, and the others either died prematurely or died violently, the fortune teller Huang Blind said, this is retribution.

It was the retribution of Xia Dalong who forced the county to die in the Xinhai period.

……

Outside the south gate of the county seat, the bandits stopped in front of a dirt slope, Chen Zikun rode on a horse, looked around, and said, "It's right here." ”

The soldiers untied the bandits and made them stand in a row, and the bandits knew that the time of death was coming, but no one cried, no one begged for mercy, so they stood numbly.

Zhao Yufeng walked over, took out a handful of silver from his pocket, stuffed a piece in each of them, and Shuangxi lying on the door panel was no exception, and said after handing out the money: "The Lord Protector said, you are desperate bandits, so you will not be guilty of the past, and you will all go home." ”

The bandits looked at each other, holding the heavy silver ocean at a loss, didn't they say that they were going to be shot, why did they suddenly release it, the gap was too big, but they couldn't believe it.

"If you don't leave, are you going to let me keep you for dinner?" Chan said.

The bandits dispersed in a hurry, and a few good-hearted people carried Shuangxi away.

Qiu Fuzhao at the head of the city saw this scene and gasped in shock: "Which one is this singing, hurry up, report to Master Xia, wait, or I will go in person." ”

Ran to the Xia family's mansion again, Xia Dalong is practicing martial arts in the yard, the Xia family has been a soldier for generations, his grandfather and his father are both soldiers of the green battalion, only Xia Dalong has a future, and the martial arts of Guangxu in the examination are mixed with the pipe belt of the patrol battalion, and to this day, he is already the most powerful man in Nantai County, but he has not left his martial arts, and the two iron galls are pointing where to fight.

Seeing Qiu Fuzhao coming in, Xia Dalong didn't look at it, and waved at a sparrow in the treetops: "Go!" The iron gall flew out, and the sparrow fell to the ground.

"Master is good kung fu!" Qiu Fuzhao tucked the big-brimmed hat under his armpit and slapped it in praise.

Xia Dalong glanced at him, returned to the Taishi chair placed under the corridor and sat down, picked up the small teapot and took a sip, and the little maid stepped forward and beat her back with a very good look.

"What's the matter, say."

"Back to my lord, the protector has released all the bandits."

"What? Say it again. ”

"He, he, he, he let all the bandits go."

"Hmph, this surname is Chen, this is for me to stand up." Xia Dalong sneered.

Qiu Fuzhao scratched his head, and his numb face was full of puzzlement: "Master, killing people is Liwei, how can you release people?" ”

Xia Dalong said: "Killing, that's killing for Chen Shou, releasing people, it's for me to show someone Xia." ”