Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 658 Mountain Bandits and Water Bandits Not Yet Eradicated

After receiving Liu Huai's assurance, Bi Zaiyu naturally didn't immediately tell his lover the good news, but instead threw himself into official business.

The saying goes, "Settle down and start a career." I'm starting a family now, but whether I can start a career depends on how well I do in Yanzhou.

After Liu Huai left, Bi Zaiyu quickly got into the zone.

Liu Huai left Bi Zaiyu with a hundred Flying Tiger Armored Cavalry, which was already a considerable number of troops. He needed to establish a foothold in Qufu before Luo Huaiyan and other local officials arrived, so that the civil officials could start working as soon as they arrived.

To put it simply, it was equivalent to securing the beachhead for Luo Huaiyan and his men.

As Liu Huai's personal guard, Bi Zaiyu had been involved in the central government and had seen many ups and downs. He had experienced both political struggles and wars, so he naturally knew how to handle the situation at hand.

The first thing Bi Zaiyu did was not to argue with the Kong family elders, nor to win over the Kong family members and tenants, but to chat with the common people everywhere.

Kong Zheng and Kong Su didn't dare to offend so many armored cavalrymen, they just watched coldly as Bi Zaiyu acted, waiting for this young upstart to make a fool of himself.

At first, the people of Qufu were wary of Bi Zaiyu, and mostly fearful. After all, he was dressed in full armor and looked like a fierce warrior, which would frighten anyone.

But a few days later, Bi Zaiyu, with his excellent eloquence and ability to chat, blended into the community.

Despite the different accent, Bi Zaiyu insisted that his ancestral home was Yanzhou, Shandong, and that his father went to Jiangnan with the Zhao Song emperor after joining the army.

Now that his father has died fighting against the Jin, as his son, he naturally has to bring his father's remains back to Yanzhou for burial. However, the world has changed drastically over the decades, and life is unpredictable. His hometown is hard to find, so he will have to trouble you elders. He will be very grateful when the time comes.

In addition, Bi Zaiyu occasionally gave away small amounts of money to help the elderly and widowed, and within ten days, he had already been accepted by some people.

At this point, the conversation could finally delve deeper.

However, Bi Zaiyu still didn't mention the issue of dividing the land, but instead boasted about his martial prowess everywhere.

He boasted about how many heads he had amassed under his command, how many enemy troops he had defeated on the battlefield, and how he claimed to be able to break through enemy lines and kill enemies as if they were nothing. He dared to exaggerate anything.

As expected, this whistle elicited a response.

Young general, you're so powerful, do you think the bandits in Qufu will take care of you?

Bi Zaiyu immediately perked up.

Furthermore, bandits and river pirates were unavoidable in feudal society.

Given the population density and productivity, and the terrain, it's natural that people will gather in the mountains, it's just a matter of how many.

Like the Black Mountain bandits during the Three Kingdoms period, and the Taihang Mountain rebels who resisted the Jin dynasty in Hebei during the Jingkang and Jianyan periods, their numbers often reached hundreds of thousands.

Even in a dynasty with a clean and efficient government, there will always be people who cannot survive in feudal times. Moreover, there are many bandits and thugs who truly thrive on chaos, which makes it impossible to eradicate mountain bandits and river bandits completely.

Let's go back to Qufu.

Qufu is surrounded by mountains on the north, east, and south sides, with more than a hundred hills including Phoenix Mountain, Jiuxian Mountain, Shimen Mountain, Fang Mountain, and Ni Mountain. The central and western parts are alluvial plains of the Si River and Xiaoyi River. It is located in the transition zone from the hilly area of ​​central and southern Shandong to the North China Plain, forming a basic terrain that is high in the northeast and low in the southwest.

This terrain meant that Qufu could be protected to some extent during times of chaos, but it also meant that there were many places to hide.

The abundance of hiding places also indicates the large number of bandits.

Throughout history, bandits around Yanzhou were repeatedly defeated, but they kept gathering again until the founding of the People's Republic of China, when the bandits near Qufu were finally wiped out.

The largest band of bandits in Qufu was Li Qian, known as "Touching the Sky," from Shimen Mountain.

Not all bandits are the same. Some are hunting dogs kept by wealthy families, some are local forces that collect protection money, and some are unlucky guys like Li Xiu who temporarily went out to hide after the failure of the East China Sea uprising.

Overall, this group is a mixed bag; there are indeed heroes, but most are brutal, treacherous, and fickle bastards. Take Li Qian, for example; he's the kind of lawless person who's willing to do anything.

His most infamous act was kidnapping the son and daughter-in-law of a wealthy family in Sishui County and demanding a large sum of money from them.

The wealthy family had only one son, so they naturally couldn't neglect him. They didn't even dare to report him to the authorities, and they quickly sold their possessions to raise the ransom.

However, even after the ransom was paid, it took three days for the son and daughter-in-law to be carried down from the mountain village in buckets.

They couldn't be lifted without a bucket, because both of them had been chopped into pieces and couldn't be lifted by hand.

The wealthy man couldn't catch his breath and died of anger.

Li Qian had done this kind of despicable thing many times: going back on his word, taking money and then killing the hostage. In addition, he would often lead bandits down the mountain to plunder, and even double-cross them, making him a scourge of Qufu.

However, although Shimen Mountain is not high, it is extremely dangerous, so much so that the government troops tried to clear it out several times, but in the end, they all gave up.

After inquiring about the matter indirectly through casual conversation, Bi Zaiyu did not immediately agree, but instead laughed it off.

The villagers assumed the young general was afraid, so they weren't angry and moved on to other topics.

But this matter did not end there.

Five days later, Bi Zaiyu finally scouted the terrain around Shimen Mountain. Under the cover of night, he led fifty armored soldiers and stormed into the mountain stronghold. He not only killed several bandit leaders but also dragged Li Qian, nicknamed "Touching the Sky," out of his bed, broke his legs, and then took him to Qufu County along with more than two hundred bandits.

This caused a complete sensation throughout the county. Many people, young and old, came to the county town to see the excitement, and many others came looking for their abducted family members.

Most of those rescued by Bi Zaiyu from the bandit stronghold were women. Some of them were able to find their families, while others were family members who had traveled far away to visit relatives and did not even know how to return to their hometowns.

The scene of the family reunion was filled with deafening cries.

Bi Zaiyu, dressed in full armor, led more than two hundred bandits through the streets, not only displaying them in Qufu County, but also in the villages and towns of Qufu, in order to proclaim the policies of the Jingnan Army.

After three days of touring, Bi Zaiyu personally presided over the public trial, which was also attended by former county magistrate Kong Su and other officials from Qufu. In full view of everyone, Bi Zaiyu read out Li Qian's crimes, and then beheaded him along with 150 other heinous bandits.

The whole county erupted in cheers. Taking advantage of the situation, Bi Zaiyu executed the county magistrate of Qufu County on the spot on the grounds of his incompetence in suppressing bandits. He then took out Liu Huai's warrant and temporarily assumed the position of county magistrate as a general of the Flying Tiger Army.

If Bi Zaiyu had seized power from the beginning, Kong Su would certainly have caused some trouble. However, given that the people of the county were grateful for Bi Zaiyu's kindness, even with Kong Su's prestige as a county magistrate for many years, he ultimately dared not act against everyone.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Bi Zaiyu announced that he would gather the registered local militia and use the spoils seized from the Shimenshan stronghold as rewards to sweep away the mountain bandits and river pirates around Qufu and restore a bright and clear world to Qufu.

With such a generous reward, there are bound to be brave men. Soon, tempted by the promise of fifty coins per person and a meal of dry rice and meat every day, more than five hundred archers from Qufu volunteered.

Bi Zaiyu selected twenty men from the Flying Tigers to serve as officers among the local militia, leading them in training.

Before Kong Shu could react, Bi Zaiyu's dazzling maneuvering completely stripped him of control over the county's military forces, leaving him only able to slap his thigh and sigh in despair.

When Gao Chang and Luo Huaiyan arrived in Qufu with a group of officials in early February, they were greeted by this vibrant scene of life and everything thriving.

"Luo Erlang, I think if we had arrived a little later, Bi Dalang might have already taken care of everything." Gao Chang looked at the neatly arranged militia camp and said with a wry smile, "Your friend is truly remarkable."

Luo Huaiyan pinched his chin, his eyes darting around a few times: "Bi Dalang is certainly extraordinary, but all he can do is ensure that government affairs can proceed. In the end, government affairs still need to be handled by Prefect Gao."

Faced with such high praise, Gao Chang waved his hands repeatedly: "Luo Erlang, we can talk about this in private. If it gets out, it will become a joke."

Luo Huaiyan said, "Prefect Gao, do you believe that when we meet Bi Dalang, he will say the same thing?"

(End of this chapter)