Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 277 Division of Labor
"Dong Dong Dong!!!"

It was just noon when I heard the sound of gongs and drums coming from the street.

Someone in the restaurant curiously looked down through the window and saw the official beating a drum in front and a bald nun walking forward behind him.

Everyone was also surprised by this scene. They had seen adulterous couples being paraded through the streets, but they had never seen a nun being paraded through the streets.

But wait until they take a closer look.

"Hey, isn't this... the hostess of the Tieshan Niangniang Temple, Master Long Yin? Why is it him?"

"Yes, how could the abbot of the Iron Mountain Goddess Temple end up like this? Is the prefect of Ruzhou crazy? How dare he attack the people of the Iron Mountain Goddess?"

People were talking about this matter and thought it was incredible. At the beginning of the year, the prefect of Ruzhou personally led people to the Niangniang Temple to burn incense.

This matter is known to everyone, how come they turned so ruthless in the blink of an eye? ?
No wonder everyone was surprised.

In this era, there were no mobile phones or newspapers, and the spread of information depended entirely on foot. A letter might take months or even years to travel back and forth. Information was poorly spread. Even though the Temple of the Goddess of Tieshan was not far from the suburbs outside the city, the news that the Goddess of Tieshan was crushed by Emperor Guan had not really spread.

In addition, the Niangniang Temple deliberately concealed the truth, so many people still don’t know what exactly happened this time.

I saw the yamen runners along the way, while walking, they stuffed a notice into everyone's hands.

Many people cannot read, so they take the books and look for people who can read.

When he picked it up, he saw that it was clearly written in plain language that the new governor had killed the evil Goddess Tieshan in the inn.

Below are the confessions of the innkeeper and Master Long Yin, which explain in detail how they helped Lady Tieshan defraud money.

All signatures and seals are complete, leaving no room for denial.

Everyone was in a panic now, as murder and robbery in this inn were all punishable by death.

The inn's proprietress Qin Huairu has been sentenced to immediate execution.

As for this Master Long Yin, she was willing to redeem herself for meritorious service and took the initiative to expose the crimes. Now she has been sentenced to parade through the streets for three years, where she has to explain to people on the streets every day those so-called evil ways of making money.

"Okay!"

When some people learned of the verdict, they couldn't help but applaud.

Some people have long been fed up with those evil people who deceive the people, but unfortunately they are powerless and no one would believe them if they speak out. Now, if they let this Master Long Yin explain to those ignorant fools, the effect will be a thousand times better than what they can do.

"It seems that our governor is no ordinary man. He arrived only yesterday, but he was able to destroy the evil spirit, Lady Tieshan, with lightning speed. Wow... He is amazing."

Ruzhou was a prosperous city with developed commerce, so there was naturally no shortage of well-read people who were well aware of the harm that the evil ways were doing to the villagers. However, the government had been slow to act, and some even went to burn incense and pray for blessings themselves, which made these scholars extremely angry. At this moment, they all applauded and some even went from street to street with the notices issued by the runners, explaining them to people everywhere.

Some people are happy about this, while naturally some people are worried.

For example, at this moment, on the top floor of Tai'an Building not far away.

All the local gentry were invited, including some wealthy families, such as the Zhang family and the Lu family mentioned earlier.

Xiao Ran invited them in the name of Gao Bing, also known as Lu Cheng. Who among these people dared not give face to the governor? Naturally, the head of the family came in person.

"Everyone, my master has just arrived and should get close to you guys. Unfortunately, I am busy with official duties and cannot spare the time. I can only do it for you. I will prepare some wine for you. It is not a respectful gesture."

Xiao Ran held the wine glass, looked at the expressions of these gentry, smiled knowingly, picked up the wine glass and drank it all.

The others followed suit and echoed.

It is said that a new official will make three big moves upon taking office, and they have naturally heard about the first one.

Even people like the Zhang and Lu families were inside the Iron Mountain Goddess Temple at the time and saw with their own eyes how a huge foot dropped from the sky and crushed the Iron Mountain Goddess to pieces.

Nowadays, it is said that it was the new governor who took action. Whether it is true or not is not the point for now, but one thing is certain, this governor must have a powerful background behind him.

After greeting everyone, Xiao Ran stood at the window and called everyone over.

He pointed forward and said, "Everyone, look."

When everyone looked ahead, they saw that Caishikou was not far ahead. At this moment, the inn's proprietress and a group of people had been taken to the entrance of Caishikou. They would be executed after the executioner read out the charges.

"Puff puff……"

In an instant, bloody heads rolled down. Some people with poor psychological quality could not bear it even though they just watched from a distance, and their faces looked very ugly.

But Xiao Ran didn't give them time to digest it: "Everyone, when you came here to take up your post, you were attacked by these bandits, and there were evil spirits ambushing and killing you. It was obviously premeditated. I was furious and ordered me to investigate who was colluding with these evil spirits. I have a list here, written by Master Long Yin of the Iron Mountain Goddess Temple, with signatures and seals on it."

As he spoke, Xiao Ran took out the list. Everyone came over to take a look. When they saw their names on the list, they were so scared that they almost fell to their knees.

"Sir, we were also coerced by the Iron Mountain Goddess Temple, so we had to ask her for help to escort the caravan. We really didn't have the slightest intention of doing anything bad to the governor."

Some people quickly spoke up to defend themselves.

Others followed suit.

"Yes, sir, you don't know that if the Ruzhou caravan wants to enter and leave Ruzhou safely, it must pay tribute to these evil demons. It's not that we intentionally communicate with the evil, but we really have no choice."

"Sir, we have long hated this, but we have no one to support us. Now that you have returned to your true position, it is like the sun in the sky, saving us from the water and fire. We are deeply grateful for your kindness, and we only hope that you can finish your official duties as soon as possible and let us meet you to relieve our admiration in our hearts..."

Look at these people, how good at talking, Xiao Ran had to admit defeat by their flattery, but the atmosphere had become so tense, if Xiao Ran didn't speak up, it would be a bit disrespectful. "I know what everyone means, and I understand everyone's difficulties, but everyone has their own difficulties. Your Excellency has just taken office, and it is time to prepare for military affairs. The root cause of the chaos in Ruzhou is that military affairs are neglected and no one is in charge. Only by strengthening the army and maintaining public order can we all live a good life, but...?"

When Xiao Ran said this, he began to look embarrassed.

In fact, we are all thousand-year-old foxes and we all know what Xiao Ran means, but we all have to maintain our dignity, so we have to speak in a roundabout way.

Since Xiao Ran has given us a way out, how can we not appreciate it?

"Yes, yes, Master Gao has just arrived and has to reorganize military affairs. Military funds must be tight. We merchants don't have anything else, but we can give you a gift of filial piety so that you don't have to worry about anything."

The master of the Lu family quickly expressed his opinion: "Let's all make a donation. Our Lu family... um... is willing to give out two... three hundred thousand taels!"

Everyone looked at each other in surprise when they heard this. This was different from the number they had agreed upon when they came here before.

But they can't care about so much at the moment. After all, the other party has taken out the list, and the meaning is very clear. If you give me the money, I will give you dignity. If you don't give it to me, I will help you to be dignified.

They immediately gritted their teeth and started to donate.

The Lu family alone had 300,000 taels of silver, and naturally the other big families behind them had to do the same amount. Those who were not so well-off also gritted their teeth and took out most of their cash. While Xiao Ran was drinking, he had collected 3.4 million taels of silver.

This made Xiao Ran sigh at these local rich people: "How rich are they?"

Three million four hundred thousand taels of silver, plus the silver and real estate looted from the Tieshan Niangniang Temple, is not a small sum of money when added up. This money is enough for Lu Cheng to squander.

The goal was achieved, and Xiao Ran felt much more relaxed about the next things.

After eating, drinking and having fun with everyone, when Lu Cheng came back in the evening, the two reported the results of the battle to each other.

Compared with the smooth progress on Xiao Ran's side, the situation on Lu Cheng's side is not optimistic.

There are a total of six military settlements, but all the troops added up do not even amount to five thousand people.

Excluding the elderly, the weak and the disabled, there are less than three thousand.

You have to know that a fully equipped Jiedushi must have at least 10,000 to 30,000 soldiers under his command. The number of people in the military settlement now is not even as many as the servants and soldiers guarding the city of Ruzhou.

But the good news is that although there is a shortage of manpower, there are many veterans among them who have experienced battlefields and retired here to retire.

Moreover, there are a total of 8,000 sets of soldiers' armor and 2,000 bows and crossbows in the Ruzhou warehouse, which only need to be repaired and used.

All that’s left is to recruit soldiers here.

Anyway, Xiao Ran got the money for him.

Not counting the properties and land, more than four million taels of silver are enough for Lu Cheng to build an army of about 20,000 soldiers, and they are fully armed to the teeth.

Another advantage they both have is that they are both modern people.

When it comes to fighting, military strategies, and tactics, the two men understand nothing, but they naturally have a unified view on war. In a word, one sulfur, two nitrate, three charcoal, and a little sugar, Big Ivan.

Lu Cheng also made some special inquiries. Although there is gunpowder nowadays, there are no cannons. At most, they can put some gunpowder on bows and arrows, but the lethality is pitifully small.

There is no shortage of craftsmen in Ruzhou City, so it is definitely too late to make rifle shells.

But making muskets, homemade cannons, or even the simplest homemade bombs is not a difficult task. The only difficulty is probably the sugar.

This thing is more expensive than gold.

The two of them ate potato chips and drank milk tea and discussed for half the night. In the end, they concluded that they now had two difficulties.

First, there was a shortage of people, but not soldiers, but trustworthy generals.

Second, there is a lack of time. Lu Cheng’s friend told him that he only has three months at most, and the yellow disaster will hit Ruzhou in about three months.

So within three months, Lu Cheng must train a strong army that can fight, otherwise he will have no choice but to run away.

"So what are your plans?"

"My friend told me that there is a sect called Tianji Sect in Ruzhou City that is good at mechanical engineering. If we can get their help, many things will be much simpler. So I have to trouble you with this matter."

Xiao Ran rolled his eyes: "Come on, let's not be polite. I'm here to do your dirty work."

"Hehe." Lu Cheng grinned.

The two of them quickly agreed on the division of labor. Xiao Ran would deal with the Tianji Sect, while Lu Cheng would be responsible for recruiting soldiers and cultivating confidants. They would first recruit enough people and try to take control of the entire Ruzhou City within a month. After that, they would slowly figure out the rest of the things.

The two of them completed the division of labor, and on the other side, in a small town further north of Dengzhou, the sound of camel bells was heard, and a skinny old man wearing a Taoist robe was seen riding on a donkey, followed by two fat guys, humming a tune as they walked.

When the three entered the town, they saw nothing left except bones all over the ground.

"Hmm..." The old man counted on his fingers, a look of melancholy appeared on his face, and he sneered, "Zhonghu'er, Zhonghu'er, why did you run so far away? The ghost pill in your body has not changed at all in such a long time. Master can't wait for you that long."

As he spoke, the Taoist pulled out a black jade ruyi from his sleeve and said, "Well, let me give you a helping hand."

The black jade ruyi waved gently, and wisps of green light emerged from it. The green light flew into the town, and soon countless shrill screams were heard from all around. The whole village was boiling with resentment, which turned into a haze in the air, and then turned into a black wind and went westward...

(End of this chapter)