Chapter 263: People Don’t Fight Bandits
Wan Dahe kept shaking his head, "Master, we really didn't spend any money, yes, yes..."
"What is it? Tell me quickly!" Yan Shilei's face turned pale.
This was the first manor he brought Zhou Yunshu to see, but such a big mistake occurred in the first manor. Isn't this a slap in his face, telling Zhou Yunshu that he didn't know how to judge people and it was his dereliction of duty!
"It's the pirates who came to collect protection money. I dare not refuse to pay it!" Wan Dahai said to Zhou Yunshu and her group with his eyes closed.
The people do not fight against officials, and even less dare to fight against bandits.
If the fields belonged to them, they would definitely try their best to protect them, but everything on the farm belonged to the master, and they were the master's people, so... it would be good if they could just survive.
Zhou Yunshu also understood Wan Dahe's psychology. She looked at Wan Dahe, who was trembling and kneeling on the ground, and said to Yan Shilei, who had a gloomy face beside him, "Let everyone in the village gather at the big banyan tree."
"yes."
Yan Shilei left, and Wan Dahe stealthily raised his head to look at Zhou Yunshu and shouted, "Master."
"Do you know where the pirates who came to collect protection money are from?"
Wan Dahe nodded.
As the saying goes, if one soldier is incompetent, the whole army will be incompetent.
A coward like Wan Dahe cannot continue to be the head of the village no matter how high his seniority is in the village. She must re-arrange the personnel.
When all the people in the village gathered beside the big banyan tree in front of the village's paddy fields, Zhou Yunshu stepped onto the two-story wooden boxes brought by Yan Shilei and Peng Tianhe, and looked down at the farmers in the entire Qishui Village.
"Did you know about the pirates who came to the village to collect protection money?"
The people at Qishui Manor looked at each other in confusion. Then some of them turned to look at Wan Dahe, who was standing next to Zhou Yunshu with drooping eyebrows. Others shouted to Zhou Yunshu, "Sir, we don't know."
Most of the people who came to see Wan Dahe were from the village with the surname Wan, while those who responded to Zhou Yunshu were basically the people who had followed Yan Shilei to fight in Heishui Village.
"Then tell me who knows."
Seeing that some people below were afraid to look at her, Zhou Yunshu simply sat on the box, which made her look less oppressive.
She still has high expectations for the people of Haizhou, especially for their bloodiness.
"master."
A man in his early twenties walked out from the crowd.
Zhou Yunshu gave him a warm smile, "You say."
"Seven days ago, on the morning of the 19th, a man claiming to be the second-in-command of Tongshui Village came to the village with six or seven people pulling a donkey cart to collect protection money. The village head, Wan Village, was afraid that these people would cause trouble for the village, so he brought his men to escort the protection money to them."
After the man finished speaking, Wan Dahe quickly explained to Zhou Yunshu, "Master, those people were holding knives, and I gave them the knives to protect the people in the manor!"
"What else?" Zhou Yunshu didn't look at Wan Dahe, but looked at the man who came out to confess and continued to ask: "Is this bandit from Tongshui Village famous?"
The man shook his head. "It's the first time I've heard of it."
Zhou Yunshu's eyes darkened slightly. "A little-known bandit village scared you so much? What's the matter? Aren't all the men and women in the village a match for six or seven bandits?"
"If I hadn't come early this time, would you have handed my farm over to the pirates next time?"
"Or..."
Amidst the silence, Zhou Yunshu looked at Wan Dahedao, whose legs were trembling and he could barely stand. "Just wait for the farm to be seized by pirates. Then you can become bandits and no longer be farmers with restricted freedoms."
As soon as Zhou Yunshu finished speaking, Wan Dahe couldn't stand anymore and knelt on the ground. When many farmers in Qishui Village saw Wan Dahe kneeling down, they also knelt on the ground in panic.
Zhou Yunshu took a quick glance and knew that most of the people kneeling on the ground had the same surname as Wan Dahe.
"What's your name?" Zhou Yunshu asked the man who came out to talk to her.
"My name is Gan Zhiyong, sir." Gan Zhiyong changed his name when Wan Dahe kept calling him "master".
"Do you know where the Tongshui Village is located?"
Gan Zhiyong shook his head.
Zhou Yunshu looked at the other people in the village and asked, "Does anyone know the location of Tongshui Village?"
Amidst the silence and bewildered stares, a child who looked only six or seven years old walked out from the crowd to the front. He looked up at Zhou Yunshu who was sitting on the box and said, "Master, I know."
"You know the grown-ups don't know?"
The little boy pointed to Wandahe and said, "When my uncle and his men went to deliver money and food, I hid in the grain barrel. I've been to Tongshuizhai before."
"What's your name?"
"Master, my name is Wan Quaner."
Zhou Yunshu got up from the box, walked down, touched Wanquan's little head and said, "Do you want to follow me in the future?"
"Can I read?"
"sure."
"Can you bring my mother with you?"
Zhou Yunshu looked at Wan Quan in front of her with confusion.
Wan Quan turned around and pointed at the anxious woman in the crowd and said to Zhou Yunshu, "Sir, please bring my mother with you. My mother cooks delicious food. She can be your cook."
"What about your father?"
"My father died a long time ago."
Wan Quan bravely pinched the corner of Zhou Yunshu's clothes and said, "Sir, I'm already a little man. I promised my father to take good care of my mother. Can I take my mother with me?"
"A Quan!" The woman's voice was shaking as she called Wan Quan.
She never imagined that her son, who was only seven years old, would dare to betray the clan leader in front of his clan members and master.
Yes, Wan Dahe was the tribesman nominated by them.
"Master, please, take my mother with you!" Wan Quan ignored his mother's shouts and knelt directly in front of Zhou Yunshu.
"I know where Tongshui Village is, and I also know where my uncle is..."
Before Wan Quan could finish his words, Wan Dahe rushed towards him from the side with a ferocious face.
It’s a pity that before he could get close to Zhou Yunshu and Wan Quan, Chunque who was standing beside him kicked him away mercilessly.
Zhou Yunshu looked at the tense Wan family members kneeling on the ground, and raised her hand. Yan Shilei and others around her all drew their knives.
Not only that, the farmers who had been standing in their original places also surrounded the people kneeling on the ground, making a clear distinction.
Wan Quan's mother was pulled out of the Wan family by Chunque. She stood there uneasily looking at her son beside Zhou Yunshu, and then looked at the Wan family members kneeling on the ground with knives pointed at them in panic. She didn't know what to do now.
"I'll give you one chance."
Zhou Yunshu placed her hand on Wan Quan's small shoulder, looked at the Wan family members kneeling on the ground and said, "One, I will separate you as families, but you will still be mine."
"Second, I will break the man's legs and separate you, men, women, young and old, and sell you off again. Whether you end up doing hard labor or going to a brothel depends on your own luck."
"What do you think?"
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