Chapter 256 County Government Officials Don't Treat the People Like Human Beings

Several other prison guards, including the jailer, also appeared and joined Li He's camp.

A warm feeling welled up in Li He's heart. "Thank you so much, brothers!"

The actions of the jailers both surprised and angered the officials and yamen runners.

During the battle, some people cursed them, denouncing them as traitors and rebels.

The jailer, following the sound, approached and stabbed the man through the neck. Staring into the man's terrified eyes, he gritted his teeth and said:

"I've tolerated you for too long! My fellow jailers and I work in the county government just like you, but you've never treated us like human beings, much less like your own people. What makes you call us traitors? As for rebels, ha! If we no longer have to suffer under your oppression and the people of Ying County no longer have to endure hardship, then we are acting on behalf of Heaven. What's wrong with becoming rebels against the government!"

Several jailers loudly echoed:

"Boss! Well said!"

"That's right, what the boss said is exactly what we've been thinking!"

"kill!"

In an instant, several prison guards charged even more fiercely than Li He and his group of hot-blooded teenagers.

Seeing this, the other officers couldn't help but become a little intimidated.

As the fighting continued, they found themselves increasingly at a disadvantage, not to mention that the county magistrate's head was right there in the courtyard. Gradually, some of them began to consider giving up the fight.

The officials and yamen runners, who outnumbered the rest of the troops, were instead forced into retreat.

The cunning Constable Zhao noticed this and, without hesitation, jumped out and shouted, "My fellow constables, listen to my advice! The jailer is right! He's right, acting on behalf of Heaven! We must also follow the will of Heaven!"

Upon hearing this, several constables who were Zhao's henchmen immediately sheathed their swords and ran behind him.

The attitude is quite clear.

The jailers and Zhao the constable's gang all sided with Li He, and when you add in the officials and yamen runners who were injured or killed in the battle just now, the numbers on both sides were almost equal.

Clang—

The officers helplessly dropped the knife in their hands.

Then came the sound of knives, bows, arrows, and shields being dropped one after another.

The remaining yamen runners and officials finally chose to surrender.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the clerk hiding in the shadows, along with several other civil servants, tried to sneak away.

But before they could take more than a few steps, Li He and Fang Hui noticed them and rushed after them, blocking their way with their swords.

Several civilian officials and yamen runners were paralyzed with fear on the spot.

The advisor knelt on the ground, trembling and begging for mercy.

Li He slowly squatted down, hooked the clerk's chin with the tip of the knife, and said to him with a smile, "If you weren't still useful, I would really like to stab you to death."

The fact that the magistrate of Ting County has ruined the area to this state is undoubtedly due in no small part to the cunning schemes of his advisor.

But now, the county government still needs someone to manage things for Li He.

In particular, this so-called bandit suppression was ordered by the prefect, and the county magistrate was dead. When the prefect sent someone to investigate, the secretary had to take the blame to avoid the prefect discovering the situation.

"Thank you, young hero... thank you for sparing my life!" The advisor quickly pledged his loyalty, "From now on, if you tell me to go east, I will never dare to go west; if you tell me to urinate backwards, I will never dare to take off my pants upright!"

Li He ordered, "I command you to take these men and inventory all the grain and valuables in the magistrate's house and the county government's warehouse, and distribute them according to the number of people so that they can be distributed to the people of Ting County."

The clerk quickly agreed, "Yes, yes, yes, this humble official will certainly take care of it!"

Li He sheathed his knife. "Get lost."

The clerk scrambled to his feet and led several civil servants away in a hurried, stumbling scramble.

"Gentlemen," Li He looked around at the group of constables, "you're all done standing around here. Clean up the yamen, those who are supposed to patrol the streets, go patrol the streets, those who are supposed to guard the city gates, close the city gates. But remember this, if anyone bullies the common people again, I will definitely take their life!"

Now no one dares to doubt or belittle him.

The once arrogant and domineering officials and yamen runners suddenly became extremely obedient, bowing their heads in unison and replying "Yes, sir," before carrying out their orders.

——

Several days later.

The anti-bandit team that set out from Ting County arrived at Blackwater Bay.

The army consisted of over a thousand officers, soldiers, and able-bodied men, who traveled on dozens of boats of various sizes, creating a spectacular scene.

However, the men were riding in dilapidated fishing boats that the yamen runners had forcibly requisitioned from the riverside villages around Ting County. Some of them were considered good if they had a roof. Many of the fishing boats even had half of their hulls missing, and some didn't have oars. The men could only poke them with long sticks or push them with their hands.

Only the ten boats carrying the officers and soldiers were proper official boats, large and sturdy, with sails and cabins, and each group of twenty people was spacious and comfortable.

The eight hundred able-bodied men had been driven all the way here and were practically living corpses.

The officers and soldiers gave them only a small amount of rations each day, just enough to keep them from starving to death while keeping them in a state of constant hunger.

Hunger and cold, coupled with continuous physical and mental torment, can cause people to lose their ability to think, becoming numb and submissive.

So much so that right in front of them was a sharp bend in the turbulent current where a tributary merges into the main channel of Blackwater Bay, yet the able-bodied men still rowed forward blankly.

Seeing that the lead boat was about to be swept away if it didn't stop, the officers and soldiers finally shouted the order, "All ships stop!"

As soon as the sound rang out, all the able-bodied men stopped the boat in unison.

On the largest official ship, a soldier entered the cabin, cupped his hands, and reported to their leader, "Sir, we have entered Blackwater Bay."

The county magistrate, who had been dozing under the covers, slowly opened his eyes, leisurely picked up the wine warming on the stove beside him, took a big gulp, and then asked, "How is the environment?"

The officers and soldiers said, "In most places, the water flow is gentle, and the swamps and marshes are frozen. Many muddy areas have also been frozen solid. However, because we haven't been here for so long, the crisscrossing tributaries have changed the terrain, and we can no longer distinguish the routes we took when we were apprehending the water pirates."

The county constable looked up. "You remember the direction, don't you?"

“I remember,” the officer added, “but a large amount of silt has accumulated to form mudflats, which are also covered with reeds and thorns, making it impossible for boats to pass. If we were to detour, we would not know where we would end up.”

The county constable retorted, "Are these able-bodied men conscripted for nothing?"

The officer bowed his head and said, "Your subordinate understands."

Before long, hundreds of able-bodied men were ordered to disembark, wade through waist-deep, icy, muddy water mixed with ice fragments, and walk to the mudflats to dig with the tattered farm tools they had brought.

Those without farm tools used oars, sticks, or even planks salvaged from broken fishing boats.

If even that wasn't available, they dug with their bare hands.

The eight hundred or so able-bodied men painstakingly dug through the mudflats to clear a path for the official boats behind them. Many of them were frozen purple and were covered in cuts and bruises from the reeds and thorns.

The officers and soldiers on the official ship watched with great interest.

When they see someone accidentally fall and frantically struggle to get up in the mud and icy water, they laugh so hard they bend over.

These guys, who used to be in charge of suppressing unrest among the people of Ting County, treated the people even less like human beings than the officials and constables in the county government.

Two hours later, the mudflats blocking the way were cleared.

The anti-bandit team continued its advance deeper into the heart of Blackwater Bay.

The fleet sailed smoothly for about an hour. As noon approached, the thick, cold clouds dispersed slightly, and beams of pale light shone through the gaps in the clouds, adding a touch of brightness to the world.

The county magistrate came to the bow of the boat, looked at a seemingly calm body of water in the distance, thought for a moment, and then ordered the boat to stop.

Because he remembered that there should be traps and mechanisms set up by Blackwater Village ahead.

When a boat passes by, it will trigger the vines and ropes hidden underwater, which can easily snag the bottom of the boat.

"Send twenty strong men to dive and inspect the area. If there are any vines or ropes entangled in the water, remove them immediately," the county magistrate instructed.

So the twenty people on the dilapidated fishing boat at the front were driven into the water.

The water was deep, and they quickly went silent after entering the water. Even after the ripples on the surface disappeared, no one surfaced.

The county constable frowned. "Send another twenty!"

Another boatload of people dived into the water.

The same thing happened.

A soldier next to the county constable asked in confusion, "Sir, I remember that when the noose is triggered, it will pop out of the water. If someone who just went into the water touched the mechanism, there should be a reaction. The situation here is very strange."

Another soldier said, "Could it have been dragged away by a crocodile?"

The county constable thought for a moment and shook his head slightly. "It's deep winter now. Even if the crocodiles are awakened, they will move very slowly. The person bitten will not die immediately and will definitely struggle. But there is no splash of water from the struggle, and there is no blood spreading. I think the person must have been swept away by the underwater currents and whirlpools."

"What should we do then?" the officers and soldiers asked in astonishment.

The county constable laughed, "Now that there's an undercurrent vortex capable of swallowing forty people in a short time, how can the pirates continue to set up noose traps? Even if they did, they would have been swept away long ago."

"I see," the officer immediately flattered, "You're so clever, sir."

The county constable waved his hand, "Alright, let's go straight ahead. Our boat won't get caught on the bottom."

The fleet set sail again.

Just as he said, all the ships passed through this area of ​​water, which had once been equipped with traps, without any accidents.

He couldn't help but reveal a smug smile.

Even the heavens were helping this bandit suppression; he believed that the bandits of Blackwater Village were doomed.

Little did they know that as the fleet gradually sailed away...

Heads popped out from the nearby reeds, totaling more than eighty people.

Forty of them were civilians who had been driven into the water by the soldiers.

The rest were none other than the bandits from Blackwater Village.

They had been waiting there for a while, and as soon as they saw an opportunity to rescue them, they secretly took action and dragged the people away from the bottom of the water.

"Hold on," the leader of the pirates reassured them. "We'll protect you until you reach the shore. Follow me, we'll go together!"

Someone asked tremblingly, "Who...who are you?"

The leader of the bandits replied, "In any case, we wouldn't do anything to harm you. Otherwise, why would we suffer to rescue you right under the noses of the government troops?"

Although the people had doubts, they found his words reasonable and kept quiet, following the group of strangers as they waded away.

On the other side of the fleet, a dense forest appeared ahead, growing out of the water.

The county constable squinted and sneered, "Blackwater Stronghold is indeed no good. I've come all this way and haven't been discovered by the river bandits yet."

Just then, the shadows of boats began to appear in the dim forest.

One after another, there were so many that it was impossible to tell how many there were, and the figures on the ships moved like ghosts.

The people of Ting County had never seen such a scene before, with dozens of dilapidated fishing boats positioned in front of the official ship.

It was obvious without even thinking that those were the Blackwater Village bandits that the county magistrate wanted to wipe out.

The instinctive fear that arose within them brought these people, who had been conscripted into labor, back to their senses. They immediately and involuntarily began to push off with their oars, trying to retreat and escape.

Upon seeing this, the county constable's face instantly turned cold. "It seems the training wasn't enough; he actually wants to desert his post."

The soldiers around him casually drew their bows and nocked arrows.

Whoosh!

An arrow flew out and pierced the arm of a commoner, terrifying those around him who trembled with fear.

The archers shouted and threatened, "Anyone who tries to escape? The next arrow will be aimed in the chest! All of you, get over there and kill the river pirates! If anyone is still not afraid of being killed by me, your elderly parents or young children will also be implicated!"

These words struck at the very heart of these poor people.

Even though they were afraid of the river pirates, they would rather be shot dead by government soldiers than have their families implicated.

Driven to desperation, someone let out a painful and mournful roar and frantically rowed the boat into the dense forest.

The rest of the people had no choice but to take action as well.

Soon, shouts of battle erupted from the woods.

The county constable watched with amusement as his able-bodied men entered the dense forest one after another, a smile appearing in his eyes.

"That's right. After you are all killed by these river pirates, the pirates will be more or less injured and their strength will be severely depleted. Don't worry, I will lead the soldiers to avenge you and wipe out the Blackwater Village without leaving a single survivor."

The bay was filled with noise, with overlapping figures and boats rocking.

The fighting looked particularly fierce.

The officers and soldiers watched from a distance, waiting patiently.

However, the reality was not what they thought at all.

As hundreds of people from Ting County, resigned to their fate and suppressing their fear and indignation, roared and vowed to fight the river pirates, the pirates, while dodging them, explained that they had come to rescue them.

Both sides have about 800 people, so it's basically one-on-one.

The shouts and explanations mingled together, no wonder the soldiers outside the woods couldn't hear them clearly.

The members of Blackwater Village still put in a lot of effort.

Some people, though not entirely convinced by the explanation, calmed down when they saw that the river pirates had not attacked them.

However, many of the people were agitated and refused to listen to anything the pirates said, so the pirates had no choice but to knock them unconscious and drag them onto the Blackwater Fortress's boats to take them away.

In short, the scene was chaotic.

It wasn't until about half an hour later that the noise gradually subsided, and then it became unusually quiet.

The soldiers outside the dense forest in the bay strained their eyes to look out, but could only make out some broken boats bobbing on the water; there seemed to be no one in sight.

"No way?"

"Did these strong men perish together with the river pirates?"

"Is it because their fighting power is too strong, or have the pirates of today become so weak that they are easily defeated?"

The officers and soldiers were astonished and discussed it amongst themselves.

The county constable, however, felt that something was amiss.

Just as he was pondering whether to lead his officers and soldiers in to take a look, he suddenly noticed a small boat drifting leisurely out of the woods.

All the officers and soldiers raised their bows and arrows, aiming them all at the small boat.

As the boat drew closer, they looked down and discovered that there was no one on board.

There was only a bunch of strange things they had never seen before...