Chapter 48

In the dense forest on the slope outside Qingping County, several scouts stepped on the dry grass covered with snow and ran towards the army hidden in the pine forest.

"General! A group of imperial soldiers are heading towards Qingping County!"

The young general from Chongzhou who was waiting here for orders was overjoyed when he heard the noise: "Is it the flag with the Wei character on it?"

The scout replied: "I didn't see the flag with the Wei character on it. The flag I was flying was the flag of Jizhou."

The young general's expression was a little unpredictable for a moment, and he asked again: "Who is the leader of the troops?"

"An old general and a young general."

The young general muttered, "Could it be that Wei Xuan and He Jingyuan came together?"

The people below asked him: "General, should we still ambush those rebels surrounding Qingping County?"

The young general shook his head and said, "The soldiers from the Jizhou Prefecture have arrived. Let our people lead the rebels to continue making trouble. It would be best if we could kill them in the county town. In this way, no matter who comes from Jizhou, this army will have no choice but to fight against the rebels."

Once the rebellious county residents entered the city, the more casualties the people in the city suffered, the more crimes they could put on the Wei Party's head.

Their prince's original plan was to withhold the military rations collected from Qingping County. Given Wei Xuan's temper, he would surely be furious and lead the army to collect rations himself. If he encountered the rebellious county residents who were at the peak of anger, it would be a fight between the two.

If the news got out that the imperial court forcibly collected grain to force a county to rebel, and the army massacred the unarmed county residents, it would inevitably cause an uproar.

-

The current situation at the city gate is not optimistic at all.

Qingping County was only a small county town, and the city defense military pressure had never been taken seriously. Even the city wall made of rammed earth was too low. Apart from a bare gate tower, there were no city walls, arrow towers, or horse-faced walls.

Captain Wang had received the news in advance, and he took a group of yamen runners with him to close the city gate. He also found some bows and arrows and placed them on the watchtowers above the city gate, but the crowds still looked pitifully sparse, and the heads could not even fill up the city walls.

It is absurd enough to let a group of constables guard the city gate.

It was also because there were no troops stationed in Qingping County, and apart from bandits, it had never experienced war in the past few decades.

The farmers who were blocked below the city wall looked like a black mass. Each of them held a hoe or a rake in their hands. Their faces were no longer as honest as before, but ferocious, as if they wanted to eat the constables standing on the city wall alive.

Not to mention the young constables on the city wall, even Captain Wang felt frightened when he saw this. If these thousands of farmers gathered together really wanted to enter the city, what could this small gatehouse stop them from doing?

Now Captain Wang can only hope that the Jizhou Prefecture has heard the news and quickly sends troops over.

He remembered what Fan Changyu had told him, and he stood at the gate and looked at the people below and said kindly: "Fellow villagers, what are you doing? Don't be so confused as to commit such a heinous crime that will result in the extermination of all your clans!"

Most of the farmers who followed here were still afraid of the bows and arrows on the city walls and did not dare to move forward. Although they were outnumbered, no one wanted to be the first to die.

Everyone knows what crime rebellion is. It is one thing to know it in your heart, and it is another to hear others advise you against it.

Most of them have lived on the farm all their lives and have never even left Qingping County. They only know that the highest official in the world is the emperor, and the highest official in Qingping County is the county magistrate.

If you offended the county magistrate, you would be beaten and sent to prison; if you offended the emperor, all your relatives within the nine clans would be beheaded.

Normally, I was terrified just by seeing these detectives. Now, hearing what Captain Wang said, I couldn't help but feel sad.

Seeing this, the leader's eyes became fierce, and he shouted at Captain Wang on the city wall: "While you dog officials are showing off your power, we farmers are just the lowly people ordered around by you. We are all forced into a dead end, and you call us fellow villagers again? Bah! I don't deserve to be called fellow villagers by a running dog of yours! Exterminate all nine clans? We have no grain to grow, and there is no need for the emperor to exterminate all nine clans, we would have starved to death first! We are going to die anyway, so we might as well go into the city and grab Pan Nai and go to Chongzhou to seek refuge with the rebel king, there is still a way to survive!"

The farmers who were still a little hesitant at first became determined after hearing his words, and shouted: "The government won't give us a way to survive! We will find a way to survive on our own!"

The leader raised the farm tools in his hands and said, "Let the dog county magistrate come out and die!"

The farmers behind him also shouted: "Let the dog county magistrate come out and die!"

Seeing that the situation was out of control, Captain Wang hurriedly said, "Fellow villagers, please be patient. The grain seeds... will be returned to everyone. Everyone can go home. The government will not pursue this matter of rebellion any further."

The leader sneered: "Did you see that? Before we rebelled, these dogs didn't care about our lives. They killed people and took our seeds. Once we rebelled, they wanted to return the seeds! All the suffering and pain we have endured in these years is just because we are easy to bully!"

These words made the farmers even angrier.

The leader took advantage of the situation and said, "We can't retreat! If we retreat, it will be the turn of these dog officials to show off their power! Which of the rich people in this city is not a dog who looks down on others? In the past, when we went to the city to catch a market, those people looked at us as if they saw a dirty thing! Kill them in the city! Kill the dog officials, rob the gold and silver, and get back at them for the humiliation they suffered in the past!"

He gave a look to the people behind him, and they understood and started shouting:

"That's right! We are not born as bastards, we are just not as good as those people in the city at reincarnation!"

"Fellow villagers, don't be fooled by this lackey of the county magistrate! He coaxes us to go home, but what awaits us is the same fate as the Ma Village!"

"It has come to this, why should I retreat? I will be a playboy even if I die! I heard that the women in the city are so tender that you can squeeze water out of them! Their skin is as white as dough. Brothers who haven't found a wife, don't you want to be the bridegroom of those rich girls for one night?"

With the tragic incident in Majia Village in front of them, no one dared to retreat. There were so many temptations in the city. The farmers behind them were so angry that their eyes almost turned red. They panted in the mud and shouted, "Kill them in the city!"

It was only when Captain Wang arrived at the city gate that he heard the reasons for the rebellion of these farmers. First, the officers and soldiers who went to collect grain from the county government were cruel and tyrannical, and did not regard the farmers as human beings. Second, the people of Majia Village wanted to go to Jizhou Prefecture to make a big deal about this matter, and they actually ordered people to massacre the entire village on the way.

He didn't even have the position of a police chief, and he didn't have the confidence to return the seeds to these people. Now seeing the rebellious peasants with ferocious faces like beasts, he could only urge them earnestly: "Fellow villagers, don't be confused! How big is Qingping County? If you rebel in Qingping County, can you really escape to Chongzhou? Even if you can escape, can your wives, children and mothers escape?"

Those who shouted the loudest were the village folks with no parents or children.

After Captain Wang's words came down, the farmers who were causing the trouble had different expressions on their faces.

Some farmers who were simply forced into a corner wanted to follow the troublemakers and shouted, "Do you mean what you said before about returning the seeds to us?"

Captain Wang was still unsure whether the government would return the seeds. He hesitated for a moment and said through gritted teeth, "Of course it counts!"

Those who have relatives in Majia Village said in hatred: "Hand over the corrupt officials and soldiers who killed all the villagers of Majia Village to die, otherwise this matter will not end!"

Captain Wang said hurriedly: "The government will investigate the tragic case in Majia Village and give the villagers an explanation."

The ringleaders saw that the rebellious forces were divided by Captain Wang's words, and they all exchanged glances.

The person who had been shouting the loudest earlier continued to stir up trouble, saying, "Strictly investigate? How to investigate is up to you bunch of shit officials! If you turn around and say that he was killed by bandits, what can we do then?"

This is not impossible. The crowd, which had calmed down, started to stir again.

"Yes! Hand over those damned officers and soldiers now!"

As the group of people talked, they approached the city gate.

Captain Wang shouted, "Don't come any closer! If you do, I'll shoot you!"

The detectives beside him had pulled their bowstrings to their full length, but their hands holding the arrows were shaking slightly.

The crowd below cursed even more fiercely: "This Wang is the head of the county police. The people who killed the villagers of Majia Village might be his men. How could he hand them over!"

The peasants who followed the rebellion became even more angry at the noise and looked at Captain Wang with even more hostility.

Captain Wang was just getting anxious when he heard a strange noise behind him. The newly appointed bailiffs came up to the tower with gloomy faces and waved them away. They said with gloomy faces: "A bunch of dismissed people are worthy of wearing such clothes!"

Captain Wang and his detectives all looked gloomy and angry.

When a leader saw the new yamen runners, he had a look of triumph in his eyes and shouted, "When did these dog officials ever regard our lives as human lives? Shoot them! If they shoot me to death, don't forget to avenge me, folks!"

After he roared this, he walked forward, and the "yamen runners" on the city wall who had seized the bows and arrows shot a wave of arrows at the people below.

Those who roared the loudest were not shot at all. Instead, the ordinary farmers who were provoked and stepped forward were killed by one arrow.

Someone had died, and the noise from below the tower suddenly became louder.

Someone who recognized him started crying: "Erdan!"

The person who fanned the flames continued, "You can see, these government lackeys never thought of giving us a chance to live! Go in and fight them!"

The man who was crying while holding the farmer who was shot dead must be a brother. He immediately shouted fiercely: "I will fight you bunch of dog officials!"

The farmers, who had lost all their minds due to anger, were about to break into the tower regardless of anything else, when suddenly there was a loud "bang" and blood splashed under the tower.

The farmers looked at the yamen runner who fell to his death on the city wall, looked at each other, stopped moving forward, and looked up at the city wall again.

A man wearing a green ghost mask stood on the tower and said coldly, "Whoever shot the arrow is the one you want to settle the score with."

That mask had been seen everywhere at the New Year's Lantern Festival before, but when it was worn on his face, it had an indescribable coldness and weirdness.

The person who started the trouble was inexplicably confused and shouted, "Who are you?"

Xie Zheng replied: "Kill the corrupt officials."

The real and fake yamen runners on the city wall finally came to their senses at this moment. Captain Wang and others had no idea what was going on at the moment, and the fake yamen runners drew their swords and slashed at him.

Xie Zheng did not even fight back. The cold wind filled his wide sleeves as he stood on the tower with his sleeves fluttering. As he leaned sideways to avoid the swinging swords, he grabbed the collars of the yamen runners and threw them off the tower, killing another one.

While Captain Wang was stunned, Xie Zheng threw down another fake yamen runner from the tower with a wave of his hand and said to him, "The county magistrate has been detained. These are all fake yamen runners. Let your people do whatever they want."

Captain Wang came to his senses. Although he didn't know who the person wearing the green ghost mask was, he immediately understood what was going on when he thought about the unusual behavior in the county government office. He quickly ordered his group of yamen runners, "Catch these fake yamen runners!"

The detectives, who were unaware of the situation, saw their leader rushing forward, and suddenly they didn't care about anything else and confronted the fake bailiffs with their knives in hand.

The farmers below looked up as if they were watching a big show, and asked in confusion: "Why are those officials fighting among themselves?"

The farmer nearby replied, "It seems that Captain Wang's men are beating up the constables who shot the arrows."

"Although the county magistrate and his group of people are not good people, Captain Wang is a good one. A long time ago, my family's cow ran away to the next village and was taken away by Chen Laizi from the next village. It was Captain Wang who went to get it back for me."

Seeing the situation getting out of control, the troublemakers continued to fan the flames: "Is Captain Wang more powerful than the county magistrate? These lackeys are willing to kill their former colleagues just to protect themselves. Our lives are worthless in their eyes! If we want revenge, we have to break through the city gate and kill the county magistrate!"

Many farmers were clearly hesitant, not knowing whether to simply enter the city or wait for an explanation from the government.

Soon the fake yamen runners on the city wall asked Xie Zheng to lead his men to jump off the city wall. The peasants who had never killed anyone were still a little scared when they saw the dead bodies lying on the ground in front of the city gate.

Xie Zheng stood on the tower with his hands behind his back and said, "Those who are willing to take the food back, today's matter will be put to rest and the government will not pursue it any further. For those who are stubborn, the Jizhou army is on the way to Qingping County. If you break through the city gate today and take any life on your hands, there will be no way back. Do you want to continue farming with your wife, children and parents for the rest of your life, or do you want to drag your whole family to death? It's up to you to choose."

When the farmers who had been farming all their lives heard that the Jizhou army was coming, they were still very scared.

Combining kindness and severity is still effective. After all, compared to returning to a stable life as before, entering the city to plunder and then being executed by the soldiers and officers is obviously a choice that even a fool would not want to make.

The troublemaker said, "You have no right to speak, but where is the food?"

Captain Wang was about to help when he suddenly heard a voice from the tower: "Food is here!"

It turned out that the employees of Yixianglou were carrying food up to the city wall.

Under the current circumstances, the city gates must not be opened, and some food was lowered from the city wall in hanging baskets.

Several farmers came forward to untie the sacks and check them. They grinned, but couldn't help wiping their eyes with their sleeves: "Food, it's really our food!"

When they heard that the food had been sent back, most of the farmers who had joined in the riot felt relieved.

Captain Wang stepped forward and whispered to Xie Zheng, "Thank you, great man, for helping Qingping County out of its difficulties. But if you just return the collected military rations to the farmers, the military commanders in Yangzhou... and the county government will have no way to explain this!"

Xie Zheng said: "The county magistrate will go and explain."

The order to abolish the grain collection had long been sent to Jizhou Prefecture along with the military order ordering Wei Xuan to return to Huizhou to defend it. It was impossible for Jizhou to collect grain again, but he did not need to explain so much to a constable who was completely unaware of the situation.

Captain Wang was originally very worried, but when he heard Xie Zheng's words, he made up his mind.

Indeed, he had done all he could to appease these rebellious talents and prevent them from entering the county town.

This is the only responsibility an old man like him can take. If he can't bear it, the county magistrate will take it.

He said: "It is still a wise man who thought of using the Jizhou army to scare these rebels, and finally saved the people in the city from disaster."

Xie Zheng said nothing. He said that the army from Hezhou did not come to scare the rebellious peasants under the city wall. Such a big thing happened in Qingping County, and it was impossible that Hezhou Prefecture did not hear any news.

As long as the person who came was not Wei Xuan, the army would not be able to fight with these farmers who were being led by the nose.

Seeing that the peasants who followed the rebellion were pacified, the troublemaker thought that his high position and generous salary would be lost, and continued to make trouble with a gloomy face: "What about the lives of dozens of people in Majia Village?"

Captain Wang looked at Xie Zheng for help.

The green ghost mask covered his entire face, making it impossible to see his expression. He only said, "Delay time."

Captain Wang was dumbfounded, and then he realized that there was no way to find out anything about the tragic murder in Ma Village at the moment, and he couldn't give an explanation to these people on the spot.

We can only wait until the officers and soldiers from Xiezhou arrive and stabilize the situation.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and tried hard to deal with the troublemakers and peacemakers downstairs in the building.

Xie Zheng's gaze fell silently on those people who repeatedly made provocative remarks.

They are not asking for justice, they just want to stir up hatred among all the farmers and make the matter as big as possible.

But if things get out of hand, what good will it do them?

The real farmers who work hard in the fields are not good at speaking. They are led by the nose by this group of people with hatred and are fanned by the flames to drive these farmers to do evil. The farmers cannot escape. They dare to be so fearless, and the backers behind them are somewhat interesting.

When those troublemakers continued to stir up trouble, blaming the government for not being able to give an explanation for the tragedy in Majia Village, and reignited the hatred between the farmers and the government, Xie Zheng was about to secretly deal with those troublemakers when a voice suddenly came from the tower: "The county magistrate is here--"

The people below the tower fell silent and looked towards the tower with hatred.

Xie Zheng narrowed his eyes, thinking that someone behind the scenes had forced the county magistrate to show up. He turned his head and saw the county magistrate walking in front with an air of wealth and wealth, and a group of servants followed behind him, holding down the bound soldiers.

Fan Changyu was wearing a maid's uniform that didn't fit her well, and she was holding someone in her arms, with a boning knife against that person's neck. Because her sleeves were too short, half of her frosty white wrist was exposed.

The person she was escorting had several shallow bloody scratches on his neck, and it was obvious that he had not been very honest along the way.

Xie Zheng's gaze fell on the man's face. He was stunned at first, and then the expression under the green ghost mask became as exciting as it could be.

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There will be another update in the afternoon~ 100 red envelopes will continue to drop in this chapter~