Jinting Han people

Chapter 147: Eliminating Three Bandits in One Day (4k)

After a century of war, the impoverished families on the empire's borderlands gradually understood that relying on the government to defend against border threats was hopeless; the only way to protect themselves was to build strongholds. Therefore, regardless of whether their financial situation was rich or poor, the nobles would do everything they could to build forts within their manors and gather their clansmen together. This way, no matter what they encountered, they could rely on high walls and numbers to withstand some attack.

The Dong clan's Shangzhuang fortress is a typical rammed earth fortress. Its walls are two zhang high and half a zhang wide, allowing for independent walking. Within the fortress, two watchtowers, each four zhang high, offer commanding views of the surroundings. Inside, a granary holds nearly a thousand dan of grain, and a well provides a year's supply of food for hundreds of Dong clan members.

If defending under normal circumstances, such a fort would cost a lot of money even if a force of thousands of people came to besiege it.

But this morning, there was an exception.

When Liu Xian arrived, the sky was still unclear and the autumn fog filled the entire land. Although it was not as ubiquitous as the winter fog, it came in gusts, and it was still impossible to see the foothills and roads in the distance.

In this tranquil moment, with the air still scented with dew, Liu Xian personally rode to Shangzhuang and knocked on the gate for the first time. The gatekeeper, upon hearing that it was the county magistrate himself, dared not neglect him and immediately opened the door to greet him.

Unexpectedly, when the door opened, five fully armed soldiers followed Liu Xian into the entrance hall. They quickly occupied the corridor and the gatehouse, drew their swords, and made murderous gestures. The servants were so frightened that their faces changed drastically and they asked hurriedly:

"What is the county lord going to do?"

Liu Xian did not answer, but just signaled with his eyes to the person next to him and nodded. Then the soldier immediately drew his bow and shot an arrow into the sky. The arrow had a bone whistle on it, and when it shot into the air, it made a sharp sound as if it was going to tear the sky apart. People from miles around could hear it.

The Dong clan members of Shangzhuang were in a state of chaos, many of them still asleep, completely unaware of what was happening. Suddenly, outside Shangzhuang, there was the sound of horse hooves, followed by the shouting of bandits, the clamor of hundreds of people, and the rebukes of officers.

In just the time it took to stick up an incense stick, about two hundred county soldiers surrounded Shangzhuangwu Fort, and the people in the village were panicked and trembling in the autumn wind.

At this time, Dong Chong received the news that Zhuangzi was surrounded. He did not even bother to wash up. He hastily tied his hair, put on a light white headscarf, and hurriedly led his sons out.

When he saw the fully armed soldiers at the door, he was horrified, but he also understood that the more such a moment, the more serious it should be, so he forced a smile on his face and said to Liu Xian who was standing at the door:

"Isn't this the county lady? You've come all the way here, why didn't you tell me in advance?"

In this state, the former county lieutenant could actually smile. Liu Xian couldn't help but feel a little respect for him. He said slowly, "Mr. Dong is an extraordinary person. If I had informed him in advance, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to see him."

"What are you talking about? I'm right here, why would you avoid me?"

"Because I want to ask Dong Gong for a precious treasure. I'm afraid that as soon as I open my mouth, Dong Gong will run away..."

Dong Chong heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that the request was for something. As long as there was room for maneuver, anything was negotiable. He immediately said with a wry smile, "Your Excellency, you're joking. As long as it's something you need, how dare we refuse? But I don't know what it is you want."

"Hahaha..." Liu Xian burst into laughter upon hearing this. His laughter made Dong Chong feel uneasy. After a long while, he restrained his smile and said word by word: "I want Hu Yanchang's head!"

This sentence was like thunder, shaking Dong Chong's whole body. He pretended to be calm, suppressed his trembling body, and replied: "Why are you still joking? I am just a commoner now, how could I have the brains of a horse thief..."

Liu Xian's expression had turned serious, his eyes as cold as a knife. He said, "Now that it has come to this, why is Mr. Dong still pretending to be confused with me?"

Without waiting for Dong Chong to explain, he turned around and said, "Bring that man up here!"

Dong Chong then saw his nephew, whom he had sent to communicate, being dragged up like a dumpling. He then saw Liu Xian pull out a letter from his bosom and said to him with a leisurely smile, "Master Dong, I don't need to read what's in this letter..."

Dong Heng and the others were already ashen-faced, but Dong Chong still tried to struggle, feigning ignorance. He asked, "What on earth is going on? I know nothing about it. If anyone in our clan has done something wrong and colluded with the bandits, the county lord can punish them on his own..."

Liu Xian, however, had lost interest in speaking and asked the county lieutenant Zhang Gu to come forward and say, "The county lord has long suspected that someone in the county is colluding with the bandits. He hosted a banquet yesterday to entertain Lord Dong, Lord Feng, and Lord Tong simply to see if anyone would tip off Hu Yanchang."

"As soon as you left last night, someone was watching you on the road. Now you've been caught red-handed, with witnesses and evidence. Do you still have any excuses?"

"This letter isn't written in my handwriting, we can compare it! How can it be used as physical evidence?"

"I didn't even tell you who wrote the letter, so why did Mr. Dong want to compare the handwriting directly?"

"You...you..." Dong Chong was forced into a desperate situation and almost wanted to draw his sword and kill someone immediately, but a group of soldiers blocked the gate of the village. He no longer had anyone to rely on. Whether he wanted to escape or fight, it became almost impossible.

Thinking of this, he was almost speechless. Finally, he sighed deeply, gave up resistance, knelt on the ground and said: "A thousand mistakes, all of them are my fault. I plead guilty and accept the punishment. Please don't implicate innocent people."

Only now did he realize the vast gap between him and the new county lord. No matter what he said or did, he was already in his opponent's grasp, with no room for resistance. In this case, any further struggle would only anger the opponent.

Just this one confession meant that the Shangzhuang Dong family was doomed.

Liu Xian saw his dejected expression and knew what he was thinking. He then slowly walked out of the crowd and said with a smile, "How should Lord Dong's guilt be determined? My words don't count. Lord Dong has to decide."

Dong Chong keenly sensed the room for maneuver and immediately said, "Please, my Lord, please explain clearly."

Liu Xian said, "I believe that Mr. Dong, as a native of Xiayang, still has feelings for Xiayang and does not want to see the horse thieves in Xiayang wreaking havoc."

"Yes Yes……"

"Then, as I said, Lord Dong, can you fetch Hu Yanchang's head for the people of Xiayang?"

"But, how do I get this?"

"Isn't Mr. Dong connected to Hu Yanchang? How come he can't get it?"

Dong Chong explained with a wry smile, "Between Hu Yanchang and me, he's the boss and I'm the subordinate. He won't listen to me at all. If there's anything, I'm the only one who can go to him. Getting him to come out and die on his own initiative is harder than climbing to heaven."

"You're the only one who can find him? How do you usually find him?"

"Either there's news from the county, and I'll send someone to inform him, like I did last night. Or maybe I've encountered something I can't handle, and I'll bring him a few carts of money and food to force him to kill someone."

"That's enough." Liu Xian heard this and clapped his hands, saying with a smile, "Write a letter right now, saying you want to kill someone and send him some money and food." "Kill someone? Who?"

"Of course, kill me! Is there anyone else to kill? Write it down!"

After saying this, Liu Xian found himself amused. Without even looking at Dong Chong, he said to the crowd behind him, "Where's Sun Caoyuan? Call him over!"

Sun Xi was still not used to this title. After Liu Xian mentioned it several times, he finally realized that he was being addressed. He stepped forward and asked, "County Lord, what do you want?"

"Would you Longmen thieves pretend to be dead? The kind that stays motionless for an hour or two?"

"How many are there? What is the county lord going to do?"

"Of course, we should emulate the patriotic figures of the pre-Qin period. Have you heard of Zhuan Zhu assassinating the King of Wu?"

Dong Chong on the side immediately realized that Liu Xian wanted to capture the leader first. He planned to use his connections to send people to hide in the grain cart and assassinate Hu Yanchang on the high platform.

What a vicious plot! He had thought Liu Xian's purpose on this day was to eliminate him, but he hadn't expected his target to be Hu Yanchang! Furthermore, the plot was so interconnected, and the speed of its implementation was so fast that it caught him off guard.

Dong Chong felt a chill in his heart and quickly wrote a letter according to Liu Xian's instructions. He also had people prepare grain carts, with four people driving the carts and four people hiding. At the same time, he hid swords and weapons in the carts.

The messenger chosen to deliver the letter was Dong Heng, Dong Chong's eldest son. Liu Xian smiled at him with great ease, "Don't be nervous. As long as you do a good job, the lives of the entire clan can be saved. If you do a bad job, you can imagine the consequences yourself."

Sun Xi, on the other hand, planned to sneak onto the platform and do it himself. He also said, "If you don't do a good job, the worst that can happen is that we all perish together. That's also a way out."

And just like that, the group set off on their journey.

The autumn mist had not yet dissipated, so Liu Xian left forty men behind to guard Shangzhuang while he escorted Dong Chong and the remaining hundred or so men. They headed southwest along the Lingshui River, crossing several high slopes and settling on a plateau. From here, he could overlook the high platform occupied by Hu Yanchang. If any disturbances occurred on the platform, they could immediately provide support.

When they arrived, the sun had just risen. The bright sunlight dispelled the already thin mist, allowing people to clearly see the Weicheng Terrace in the distance. They could also see that Dong Heng and his group had arrived at the entrance of the terrace.

Dong Chong's heart almost jumped into his throat when he saw this. He finally breathed a sigh of relief only after the group was successfully released.

He had some energy left now, so he looked back at Liu Xian beside him, only to find him looking on calmly, as if nothing had happened. He couldn't help but feel a little strange. Didn't this person in front of him know what fear was?

Liu Xian also noticed his gaze and asked with a smile, "Mr. Dong, are you scared now?"

"No... I was wondering if the county lord has any other tricks up his sleeve."

"Oh? Why would Mr. Dong think so?"

Dong Chong glanced at Liu Xian cautiously and expressed his speculation, "The county lord's plan is a bit too risky. If it fails, there should be other plans."

"Any other preparations?"

"Didn't the County Lord say yesterday that Wang Lin also planned to surrender to you? This place is only five miles away from Xieli Palace. Has the County Lord sent someone to invite them?"

"Ah! Master Dong, you're talking about that!" Liu Xian said with a casual laugh. "That was my trick yesterday. If I had really said I'd surrendered to Wang Lin, I wouldn't have needed to resort to all these tactics. I only came here because it's close to the platform and I don't want to be seen."

"If they fail to kill and cause chaos on the platform, we can defeat them by cooperating with them from inside and outside."

Liu Xian said this, but Dong Chong didn't dare to believe it. He could only look at the high platform and pray that his eldest son's journey would be safe. Every moment he sat there was extremely tormenting.

But in fact, only a quarter of an hour later, a big fire was lit on the platform, and then people could be faintly heard making noises.

That was the signal they had agreed upon in advance. Seeing this, Liu Xian couldn't help but shout loudly and said to the people behind him with a smile, "Everyone, we have won!"

Seeing this, everyone also shouted, as if Liu Xian could control their emotions. Then, with an order, dozens of riders rode in front, and dozens of people ran wildly behind. Although there was not much order, they all moved in one direction, which was the direction commanded by Liu Xian.

Hu Yanchang, who had been active in Xiayang for fourteen years, died suddenly.

When Liu Xian arrived at the foot of the platform, the people in the platform were still trying to retrieve their leader's head, but Sun Xi had occupied a narrow corridor, making it impossible for them to enter. The people outside the platform took advantage of the situation to seize the gate and announced their names. The lack of command made the bandits hesitate for a moment, but finally chose to surrender.

When Hu Yanchang's head was placed before Liu Xian, he looked at him and the wanted poster for a moment, then sighed, "Is a wretch like this fit to be a regional leader?"

Dong Chong took the opportunity to flatter her: "It is because of our shallowness that we cannot see the wisdom of the county lord."

Liu Xian, however, acted as if he hadn't heard anything. He wrapped the head in a silk cloth and handed it back to Sun Xi, saying, "Sun Caoyuan, please do me one more thing."

Hu Yanchang was the main reason why Sun Xi became a bandit. Now that his revenge was finally achieved, he was extremely happy. He was even more convinced of Liu Xian and said sincerely, "If the county lord has any orders, I will never refuse!"

"Don't be so serious, it's just a small matter." Liu Xian wiped his bloody hands and continued, "Please give this head to Wang Lin and tell him that he is from Hedong and I will not pursue the past with him. But if he doesn't go back to Hedong, Hu Yanchang's today will be his tomorrow."

After saying this, he waved his hand, signaling Sun Xi to do it quickly, while he led his men to count the prisoners and examine the spoils seized on the platform.

Upon hearing this, Sun Xi laughed and left, while Dong Chong, who was standing beside him, was stunned.

It turned out that Liu Xian had no other backup plan, and under such circumstances, he dared to force people to leave so fearlessly. If he failed, how would it end?

But just as Liu Xian had done before when he entered Xiayang, Wang Lin was completely terrified after receiving Hu Yanchang's head. After confirming that the Gaotai bandits were indeed defeated, he dared not slack off. That very night, he led his men out of Xieli Palace, hurriedly crossed the river, and returned to Hedong.

In just one day, Liu Xian eliminated the three bandits one after another, reducing the four bandits of Xiayang that had been in decline for more than a decade to only a hundred Liangshan bandits.

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(End of this chapter)