Zhou Tong rode his horse and galloped on the official road leading from Lingshui County to Yang County, his face was solemn, and he did not dare to stop at all.

In the Hare Mountain cottage, all the members of Hare Mountain gathered in the conference hall and did not disperse, listening to Xiao Jiu's next arrangements, and after the general plan was settled, Xiao Jiu dismissed everyone and went back to their residences to rest.

Xiao Jiu has already informed Zhou Tong of all the conditions he can accept, and now he is only waiting for him to return to the county town to report to the county shou Wenjie, if the county guard agrees to his conditions, it will be fine, but if he does not agree, the cottage will usher in a new round of encirclement and suppression.

Xiao Jiu's conditions were also the answer given after weighing it many times in his heart.

The so-called Zhao'an, Xiao Jiu did not trust the imperial court, but in the face of the county guard's pressing step by step, he could only give up part of his interests and exchange it for what he needed as much as possible.

Now that Wen Jie is interested in the distillation method that can be realized in Xiao Jiu's hands, he will inevitably have some scruples.

Xiao Jiu promised to give all eighty percent of the profits to the county guard, as long as he allocated a sufficient amount of wine to Lijiazhen, and after selling the soju, he would pay all the money he earned, but he made it clear that he would not directly hand over the brewing method to the other party.

The second point is to accept the imperial court Zhao'an, but to lead an army stationed in Lingshui County's Hare Mountain, during the period do not need the imperial court to allocate money and grain, if the county town has a call, then lead the troops to listen to the tune, but will not lead the troops to the county town, that is, as the saying goes, listen to the tune and do not listen to the announcement.

In addition, it is necessary for the imperial court to order the release of Li Gui's family, and he will preside over the production of raw materials for liquor and subsequent sales.

Previously, Xiao Jiu sent people down the mountain to Lijia Town to inquire about the situation, and after learning that Li Gui's family was taken away by the official officials, he had been feeling guilty, and if he could fish out Li Gui at this time, he Xiao Jiu would naturally not let go of the opportunity.

Of course, after that, Xiao Jiu could no longer act like before, levying annual grain or killing landlords and wealthy households, and could only rely on selling alcohol or other methods to support himself.

At present, the members of Hare Mountain have been relieved from their initial doubts, and if Zhao'an's deeds can be accomplished, they can all take off their hats as mountain bandits and return to their status as ordinary people.

It's just that the New Year's grain can't be collected, but it cuts off the income of the cottage, and the profits of his own wine business will be taken by the county guard, and the rest of the money will be shared with Lijiazhen, but I'm afraid it will be difficult to feed this big cottage.

But since Xiao Jiu has made a decision, everyone has no objection, after all, this cottage was built by Xiao Jiu led by them, since they accepted Zhao'an, they believe that Xiao Jiu will inevitably have a way to support the cottage.

Everyone had different thoughts, and Xiao Jiu couldn't know everyone's thoughts, so he simply didn't think about it anymore, but he didn't dare to guarantee whether the Lord Wen could accept these conditions.

From Wen Jie's point of view, as the lord of a county, there is really no need to negotiate conditions with a small mountain bandit of his own, if he directly sends troops to fight, he is afraid that his hare mountain will be leveled in an instant, and he and his hare mountain members will inevitably continue to die in the world and be intercepted and chased by the imperial court.

On the evening of the second day, Wen Jie in the county guard mansion listened to Zhou Tong's report, frowned and pondered, as if he didn't expect that a small mountain bandit would dare to talk to him about the conditions.

After weighing the pros and cons, Wen Jie's frowning brows relaxed, the letter he sent to Zhou Tong before was already tentative, and if it was really a big army, the money and food consumed would not be a small amount.

This Xiao Jiu's various conditions just hit his own weakness, if he really Zhao'an Hare Mountain bandits, he would definitely not be at ease if he stayed in the county town, it was better to live in Lingshui County, if he used troops to directly transfer them as cannon fodder, the most important thing was not to give them military funds.

Thinking of this, Wen Jie felt that it was not too much for Xiao Jiu to keep 20% of the profits, and even made many concessions to himself.

And the last of the conditions is to release the Li Gui family in Lijia Town. It is enough to prove that Xiao Jiu is a loving and righteous person, and Wen Jie is also quite appreciative of this.

After making a decision in his heart, Wen Jie did not rush to let Zhou Tong go to Lingshui County to deliver the letter, but gathered a group of subordinates and staff to discuss together in the city lord's mansion, preparing to finally issue an amnesty to Xiao Jiu and officially edict peace.

In the hall of the county guard's mansion, the literati and military generals sitting upright had different expressions, but most of them were puzzled by Wen Jie's decision, and even a few military generals showed disdain.

In their minds, there is no comparison between the mountain bandits and the regular army, they have no rules, the good and the bad are uneven, and some of the mountain bandit gangs are not even fully equipped with weapons.

However, a few staff members dressed as literati pondered after hearing the decision to operate soju, weighing whether it was necessary to cooperate with the mountain bandits.

Wen Jie already had an idea in his heart, and it was just a formality to gather everyone at this time, although some people didn't understand, but in the end, the county government still issued a notice for Hare Mountain.

Pardon Xiao Jiu and other Hare Mountain bandits accepted Zhao'an, formed an army and incorporated into the Yang County Government, listened to the order of the county government, and if there was any trouble and disturbed the people, they would be directly killed by the rebels.

The edict personally issued by the county government was soon sent to the county government of Lingshui County, and the county magistrate Liu Hong looked at the Zhao'an letter with the official seal, his face was full of disbelief, and he never understood why the county guard would choose Zhao'an Xiao Jiu instead of sending troops to exterminate it.

But looking at the edict in his hand, Liu Hong could only raise his head and sigh in the end, and ordered his subordinates to prepare to release Li Gui's family who were detained in prison.

And Li Gui and his two sons, who were imprisoned in the prison, had been tortured to the point of not being able to make soju before, and when they saw that the jailer who usually took care of them actually opened the prison door, they thought that they were executing themselves, and their eyes were instantly closed, and they seemed to accept their fate.

But the jailer's subsequent words broke all their assumptions, and they only heard the jailer say: "Prisoner Li Gui, Hare Mountain has been ordered by the imperial court, you can also go out." ”

When Li Gui's father and son heard this, they instantly opened their eyes, a little incredulous.

Later, Li Gui slowly got up with the support of his two sons, but immediately walked to the jailer to ask about the whereabouts of his family, and the jailer just waved his hand impatiently, saying that the female relatives of the family were waiting outside.

After Li Gui's father and son left the county government prison with their families, they directly hired an ox cart to return to Lijia Town.

When the ox cart arrived at the entrance of Lijia Town, he saw a large group of people gathered there, and when the ox cart slowly drove towards the town, Xiao Jiu, who was standing in front, was already walking forward quickly, holding Li Gui's dry palm, and said slowly: "Brother Li has suffered. ”

Looking at the villagers of Lijia Town and the members of Hare Mountain gathered here, Li Gui, who had suffered a great disaster, could no longer hold back his emotions, and two lines of turbid tears slowly flowed down his cheeks.