The sound of the stream echoed among the crowd.
This single act stirred up a great deal of emotion, creating waves in the hearts of these people.
These people included some who were truly loyal to Ge Liang, but more than half of them were not his devoted followers.
They only followed Ge Liang because of self-interest, a desire for support, or fear.
Some of the locals had been harassed by bandits, and some even had their families slaughtered, and their female relatives kidnapped, raped, and murdered.
Upon hearing that the cavalrymen with Ge Liang were actually bandits disguised as militia, an uproar immediately broke out.
"Really? Are they really bandits?"
"I don't think it's fake. Who else has the ability to have so many horses and so much ironware?"
"I think so too. That unshaven guy over there looks familiar to me."
"They must be bandits."
It may be a problem if one person has doubts, but when many people have doubts, even if it's not, it is.
At this moment, someone shouted, "We will not serve the bandits, kill the bandits!"
When Ge Liang and his trusted followers realized that things were not going well, they immediately shouted: "They are not bandits. Don't fall for this girl's scheme to sow discord. These people are all militia."
"As for so many horses, they were obtained by chance from a traveling merchant."
No matter how it was explained, the emotions that had been stirred up were difficult to quell. The people's hatred for the bandits stemmed from the burning, killing, and looting they had suffered at the hands of the bandits over the years.
“Township chief, please don’t lie to us. I recognize that bearded man. Although he was wearing a mask at the time, I remember his mustache very clearly. He killed my sister.”
Someone directly said that the bearded man was a bandit.
Another person chimed in: "Yes, yes, the one with the red mole at the corner of his eye is also a bandit."
If no one points it out, many people wouldn't notice the details, since they were in a state of panic when attacked by bandits, and the bandits were all masked.
However, after someone pointed it out and examined it more carefully, and with Chenxi's words playing a role, it was natural to be able to compare it with the impression and recognize the most distinctive bandits.
At this point, faced with the choice between listening to Ge Liang and arresting the "fake leader" versus capturing the thieves, the vast majority of people chose to capture the thieves.
Whether the leader was on leave or not didn't affect them, but the bandits had been ravaging the village for years and were already deeply hated by the locals.
So, cries of condemnation rang out: "Kill the bandits and avenge our grievances!"
"I swear I will not rest until I kill the thieves. Father, Mother, Sister, I can avenge you now."
Through continuous training, ordinary people learned some martial arts, and those with blood feuds were the first to charge at the cavalry.
The cavalry's advantage is greater in open areas, but the location chosen for Chenxi is relatively narrow, making it impossible for all cavalry to charge at the same time.
With a large number of ordinary militiamen and civilians nearby, the cavalry's formation was quickly thrown into disarray.
At this point, no matter how great Ge Liang's abilities were, he would find it difficult to exert them. Even if he had accumulated prestige and had loyal followers, the anger of the masses would be hard to quell.
They intended to use these people to deal with Chen Xizhe, but instead they dug a hole for themselves.
Ge Liang was filled with regret.
There's no medicine for regret; by now, it's too late.
Seeing the situation, Shenxi took advantage of the loudspeaker's amplification and loudly proclaimed, "Whoever kills a bandit will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver by this chief."
Upon hearing this, the crowd became even more excited. Even those who had no connection with the bandits but were transferred in from elsewhere couldn't resist joining the battle because of the promise of a large reward.
One hundred taels! Nowadays, an ordinary person's job only pays ten coins a day, and a good job might include one or two extra meals.
One hundred taels of silver would take many days of work. With that money, a family wouldn't have to worry for many years.
Some of the more clever ones teamed up with a few others to deal with a single bandit. No matter how powerful the bandit was, he couldn't fight off four opponents, and they were all knocked off their horses.
Some people still had doubts about Shen Xi's identity, and asked loudly, "Are you really the leader?"
"Of course," Chen Xi said with an air of authority. "Could it be that someone impersonated the commander before?"
"Yes, there are indeed people impersonating high-ranking officials to swindle money, but not in our area, it's in my wife's hometown."
What? Shenxi had some doubts about why most of these people initially believed she was impersonating a leader, which is why she asked this question.
At this point, someone else said, "Indeed, someone is impersonating a leader. I went to Maoxian a few days ago and had the opportunity to meet the impersonator. He looks somewhat like you."
It seems someone really is impersonating her; this is outrageous.
If the leader who swindled money is proven guilty, how will she ever face anyone again?
Take advantage of this cleanup crew to clean up all the scum in the crowd.
Without a stable rear base, expanding territory becomes extremely difficult.
As the territory expands and more people join, management will become even more challenging.
If we can take advantage of this opportunity to purge the scourge and purify the ranks, that would be the best course of action.
At this moment, Zheng Ankang, carrying a large sword, asked Shen Xi, "Commander, shall we participate?"
Shen Xi nodded: "Of course I'll participate. Following the previous plan, we'll work in groups of three to ambush and kill the bandits!"
"Yes, sir!"
The guards were full of vigor. They hadn't been discouraged by being overwhelmed earlier, and now that they had the upper hand, they were even more excited.
When ordinary people hear such a powerful voice, those who already had some faith in the leader become even more convinced.
Chenxi mounted her horse and took up her spear. Now that she could take advantage of being on horseback, how could she not?
Previously, she was demonstrating to the guards how to ambush and kill bandits, but now that she didn't need to demonstrate, it would be much more enjoyable to mount a horse and kill the enemy.
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