Zong Yuan then added fuel to the fire: "The bandit leader wants us to retreat two streets."
He knew that the advisor was deliberately setting him up.
Who would willingly go to a bandit's den to deliver messages? He had a conflict with the clerk, but the magistrate had to listen to the clerk.
Of course, he would stir up trouble if he could see Old Qi. Judging from the situation, Old Qi did not know in advance that the county magistrate was going to negotiate with the bandits.
Old Master Qi was so angry that he threw an inkstone, and the expensive inkstone was smashed to pieces.
The clerk was startled and heartbroken at the same time; he couldn't afford such an inkstone even with a lifetime's salary.
Zong Yuan snorted inwardly, preferring to smash such an expensive inkstone rather than use the money to help ordinary people.
If it weren't for the bandits' excessive burning, killing, and looting of the aristocratic families, the Qi family wouldn't have spent money, manpower, and effort to resist the bandits.
Old Master Qi angrily pointed at the advisor: "This is the good thing you arranged! Didn't I tell you that if there's anything, you should tell me in advance and wait for my decision?"
How was I supposed to know that you and the magistrate hadn't discussed this?
The advisor only dared to mutter to himself, not daring to say it aloud, but instead smiled and pressed closer: "Old Qi, please don't be angry, it was my mistake, I admit it."
Old Master Qi couldn't really do anything to the clerk, since although the clerk wasn't officially in the system, he was still an official.
Moreover, the county magistrate valued this advisor highly.
These aristocratic families usually had a lot of dealings with the clerks. Now, because of his merit in resisting the bandits, Old Master Qi was able to sit on equal footing with the county magistrate for the time being, and even had the air of surpassing the county magistrate.
But Old Qi wasn't stupid. He couldn't afford to offend the magistrate and his advisor too much, because he would still need to rely on the government after things calmed down.
They are all minor aristocratic families. The major aristocratic families, apart from some unimportant collateral branches, have long been based in the prefectural city and the capital. Why would they shrink to a small county town?
Moreover, most of the collateral branches of the great families fled when the turmoil first broke out.
These collateral branches have the support of truly powerful families, while they are just small, local families in the county town, and can only rely on the county magistrate.
Seeing that the clerk had admitted his mistake, Old Master Qi could only let it go: "Clerk, it's not your fault."
I just have some plans. If the bandits don't know the true intentions of the troops in Bian'ai County, they might think they are our reinforcements.
This will make them more wary of us, and they might even take the initiative to cease hostilities.
Upon hearing this, the advisor realized what was happening.
That makes sense.
After all, the troops from Bian'ai County were nominally government troops.
But now that things have come to this, we certainly can't agree to the bandits' unreasonable demands.
"If we don't agree to their demands, they won't think about the benefits of a truce; they'll only focus on our shortcomings and will definitely intensify their attacks. What do you think, Elder Qi?"
Old Qi waved his hand: "If the bandits want to fight, let them fight. I reckon by the time the troops from Bian'ai County arrive in the county town, they won't be able to wipe us out."
As for the troops in Bian'ai County, I don't think they'd wipe us out like they wiped out the bandits, would they?"
Because Xiahe County was without a magistrate, the officials were either killed or fled, so Qi Xiuwu did not encounter the problem of how to deal with the officials.
But Old Master Qi knew that Qi Xiuwu's attitude towards aristocratic families was relatively gentle.
They are far superior to bandits.
He had already discussed it with the elders of the clan, and they would seek peace with Qi Xiuwu once the bandits were wiped out.
They could welcome Qi Xiuwu into the county town, but the Qi family had no intention of bringing the county magistrate and other officials.
Besides, could Qi Xiuwu really kill an official?
I haven't heard of any real rebellion in Bian'ai County!
Although there are many rebellions in various places now, how can a small Bian'ai County compare with those large forces?
Besides, I've never heard of Bian'ai County having any close relationship with any powerful family, nor any connection with any prince.
The troops from Bian'ai County came here, surely just to gain some benefits, taking advantage of the chaos caused by bandits and refugees.
If you want benefits, just give them to them.
Just give them some gold, silver, and food, and they'll be sent on their way.
If they want to take over this place, that's fine with them, since they've treated our aristocratic families quite well anyway.
As long as this place isn't ruled by bandits, that's fine.
That's why Old Master Qi was so angry when his advisor sent someone to make peace with the bandits.
Can bandits be persuaded to make peace?
It would be best to keep the bandits completely baffled by the arrival of troops from Bian'ai County.
Seeing Qi Lao's attitude, the advisor relaxed considerably, realizing that Qi Lao still had the ability to resist the bandits.
In that case, just reply to the magistrate.
Once the advisor and Zong Yuan were outside, the advisor sneered, "Zong Yuan, you're something else, trying to put a bad word to me in front of Elder Qi. You'll regret it later."
Zongyuan was naturally indignant: "You're the advisor, and I'm just an instructor. No matter how much you're trusted by the magistrate, you can't keep taking advantage of us, can you?"
The advisor wasn't afraid of Zong Yuan at all. Although he couldn't kill Zong Yuan, he could at least deal with him.
“Zongyuan, I only occupied a little more land and played with a few more women. Do you have to make people criticize me? Do you think I’m afraid of those students? I advise you to behave yourself in the future and be a good instructor.”
Zongyuan had long been disgusted by the advisor's outrageous behavior. If it weren't for Geng Tianrong's constant protection, how could he be so lawless?
Zong Yuan, with a cold face, flung his sleeves and stormed off.
Before leaving, he threw out a sentence: "Those who commit many evils will surely be punished!"
"Whether you suffer retribution or not is not up to you, but you will definitely get your retribution sooner or later." The advisor wished he could crush Zong Yuan, this tough nut to crack.
After gathering his anger for a while, the clerk returned to the county office and reported back to Geng Tianrong.
Upon hearing the bandit leader's demands, Geng Tianrong was furious: "A bunch of bandits, they think they can fly to the sky? No way, no way! Where would we get so much gold and silver? Even if we did, we wouldn't give it to them. And they want us to retreat two streets? What are they thinking?"
The main reason was that Qi Lao's words, "It can withstand it," gave Geng Tianrong some comfort.
"What if the troops from Bian'ai County come?"
The advisor wasn't worried: "Don't worry, the bandits will have to fight back whether they want to or not. The troops in Bian'ai County are specifically there to kill bandits."
"When the time comes, sir, you should negotiate with them. After all, they are government officials, which is much better than negotiating with bandits."
Geng Tianrong was still worried: "You need to organize more people. We can't just rely on the Qi family."
"The Qi family can run away, but if we run away too, even if we manage to escape with our lives, it won't be easy to explain to the prefect."
It's you who's hard to explain. I'm just a secretary, not an official appointed by the court. I can just run away.
The advisor thought to himself, if it really came down to running away, he would definitely run.
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