Martial Arts Crossover: My Wife is the Top Scholar

Chapter 209 Li Zhaoting; I came to Jiangling only to do three things

The robbers knelt on the deck of the pleasure boat.

Three leaders and a dozen or so henchmen.

The leader, nicknamed "The Three Evils of the Yangtze River," called himself "The Three Heroes" to glorify himself.

Fu Yongxiang, the notorious "Double-Knife Swordsman";

The two evil "Purple Gold Axe" Xue Jinying;

The three evil forces, known for their "guns that kill," fought with overwhelming force.

Fu Yongxiang was the first to board the ship, intending to kill the maids and servants to intimidate Li Zhaoting and extort money from him. Feng Suzhen was furious and killed him with her demon-subduing zither.

Water bandits and local bandits are different concepts.

Bandits are skilled at ambushes. Note the wording: bandits are skilled at "ambushes," not "ambush warfare."

Bandits dislike fighting because it results in casualties. If the casualties are too heavy, they are likely to be swallowed up by other strongholds. As long as a toll is paid, the caravan can pass through the stronghold. If a fight is necessary, they are more adept at plundering villages and towns and bullying the old, weak, women and children.

Pick the soft persimmons.

This is the highest level of code of conduct for bandits.

Profit is not the ultimate principle; survival is.

The bandits excel at "ambush warfare," and each attack inevitably results in a brutal massacre. They must inflict maximum casualties in the shortest amount of time, prioritizing the killing of maids, servants, sailors, and navigators on deck.

Bandits rely on intimidation to rob others.

River bandits robbed people of their wealth through killing.

The question is, what if it was a pirate attack?
The vast ocean stretches to the horizon, and not every raid yields a reward. However, each raid consumes a large amount of provisions and accumulates a tremendous amount of anger.

Therefore, when pirates strike, they will inevitably devour their targets alive, suck their marrow dry, and leave them with nothing.

This is a very simple rule of the underworld: the harsher the living conditions, the more ruthless the methods.

The bandits had mountain strongholds as their escape route.

Water bandits could escape by waterway.

Pirates had no choice but to fight for their lives if they wanted to survive.

Before his death, Fu Yongxiang felt that he had died unjustly. This was clearly the rule of the Jianghu, the rule of the river bandits, so how could he be blamed for killing innocent people indiscriminately?

Feng Suzhen was too lazy to reason with this kind of person.

He doesn't deserve to hear it!

He only deserves to go to the Yama's Palace to suffer the pain of being boiled in boiling oil and surrounded by knives
Where is your water village?

"Pah! Pretty boy! Do you know who I am? Do you know who's behind me? If you know what's good for you, release your grandpa right now, or my boss will kill your whole family."

Xue Jinying looked at Li Zhaoting with disdain.

What skills does this pretty boy have?
She's just a girl who plays the piano!
Li Zhaoting traveled by water, not on horseback.

Aside from being handsome, he had no other distinguishing features.

Who would have thought that the one who hijacked a luxurious pleasure boat and was listening to music in the cabin was the "Jiazi Tai Sui"!
"Who is your boss?"

"If I told you, it would scare the whole ship!"

"Then why don't you scare us to death? If you scare us to death, you can run away! I never expected that this man, who looks fierce, is actually compassionate."

Li Zhaoting mocked sarcastically, then suddenly clenched his hands into dragon claws and grabbed Xue Jinying's joints.

“I don’t like to torture people, but to deal with you cruel, wicked, bloodthirsty, and utterly wicked bandits, I should skin you alive!”

As they were talking, a cracking sound was heard, and Xue Jinying's arm joints were crushed by Li Zhaoting. Her two arms hung limply down, like two noodles.

Xue Jinying wailed in pain and cursed repeatedly.

Li Zhaoting slapped Xue Jinying across the face, knocking out half of her teeth, and asked with a smile, "Can you confess now? You still have half a mouthful of teeth, two legs, your family's heirloom penis, and a nine-and-a-half-pound head!"

Well known.

People with squinty eyes are all monsters.

This is a concept known to everyone in the martial arts world.

Spanning five thousand years of Chinese history, the earliest figure can be traced back to Xing Tian, ​​the God of War during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period.

"May I ask your esteemed name?"

Zhan Qili barely managed to maintain a degree of composure, knowing he had met his match and determined to die knowing the truth.

"You don't know who I am?"

Li Zhaoting thought to himself, "I'm so famous, how come you don't recognize me? You deserve to die. You don't even have this much sense. How can you be bandits!"
"We were blind to your greatness, and dared to offend you, sir. We beg you, for the sake of Zhu Datianwang of the Twelve Linked Docks of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, to show mercy and spare our lives. We are willing to offer ourselves up..."

"Zhu Shunshui's subordinates? Isn't your stronghold in the Three Gorges? When did you move to Jiangling? Even if you really are moving to Jiangling, the person in charge in Jiangling should be skilled in intrigue and scheming, how could he be an incompetent brute?"

Li Zhaoting guessed the identities of the bandits.

Among martial arts novelists, the Wen family is the most effective counter to the transmigrator's precognitive advantage. Not to mention in a crossover martial arts world, even if it's just a direct retelling of the original story with no changes to the plot, it can still leave transmigrators bewildered because there are just too many characters.

Any large organization has a group of characters with two, three, four, five, six, seven, or eight roles. A super-large underworld organization like the Power Gang has at least eighty or ninety named characters, and nearly a hundred scattered individuals.

Blackwater Gang, having repeatedly clashed with the Power Gang and held an absolute advantage, reaping all the benefits, has a large number of high-ranking officials. Among these officials, those numbered 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are the most powerful.

The Twin Gods are equivalent to the Eight Heavenly Kings of the Power Gang.

Among the seven elders, Zhang Canjin and Wan Suiyu were able to fight Li Chenzhou head-on and severely injure him by trading their lives for his injuries, making their achievements highly impressive.

The "Three Evils," "Four Sticks," "Five Swords," and "Six Palms" were basically just there to make up the numbers. The "Five Swords" once joined forces to besiege the "Sword King," one of the eight Heavenly Kings of the Power Gang. Even when the Sword King was seriously injured and exhausted, he managed to kill several of them and fight his way out of the encirclement.

The most perfunctory ones are the "three evils".

In the original storyline, their most outstanding achievement was becoming experience points for Xiao Qiushui in the beginner village.

In some ways, Xiao Qiushui's lifelong enemy was not Li Chenzhou, nor the Power Gang, but Zhu Datianwang of the Black Waterway. From the newbie village to the max level, and from the max level to the legendary epic, his enemy was always Zhu Datianwang.

It was truly a fight from beginning to end!
Li Zhaoting sneered: "If I break your arms and legs, you'll be bedridden for life and have no value. Do you think Zhu Shunshui will plead for you? To save your own lives, you need to be of use."

"King Zhu will not let traitors get away with this!"

“If you don’t betray us, you’ll die now. If you betray Zhu Shunshui, you might have a chance to live, or perhaps in a few days, Zhu Shunshui will be killed.”

"Just you?"

"You talk too much, you know? My patience is very limited. If your next sentence isn't about the location of the water fortress, I'll kill you immediately."

"This humble servant...is willing to guide you, young master!"

"Then lead me into a reef jungle? Or a treacherous rapid? Do you think I'm an idiot? I need the location of the water fortress; this is the price of trying to be clever!"

Li Zhaoting flicked his finger and unleashed a sword beam.

Zhan Qili's arm flew into the air.

"Spare me... Young master, spare me! I'll confess! I'll confess right now! Please give me a quick death..." "That's right. If you confess now, you can at least live until autumn. It's better to live a miserable life than to die. Living in prison until autumn is worse than feeding the fish in the water."

Li Zhaoting smiled warmly.

Xue Jinying and Zhan Qili collapsed in despair.

Li Zhaoting and Feng Suzhen took the pirates to different cabins and interrogated them separately. They broke through their dantian and dantian energy centers, tied them up with hemp ropes, and handed them over to Gongsun Ce after the pleasure boat docked. Looking at the crowd of onlookers at the dock, Li Zhaoting had a sense of familiarity.

Why does this scene feel familiar?

County magistrate...bandits...bandit suppression...

Should we get the local bullies to pay for it next?

"Buyi, you've finally arrived! Ling Tuisi has dug so many pits over the years, it's driving me crazy!"

Gongsun Ce wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Given Gongsun Ce's level of cultivation and morality, the fact that he was so angry that he called out Ling Tuisi's name and insulted him in the street shows just how many pitfalls Ling Tuisi has dug and how much trouble he has left behind over the years!
"It's alright, don't be impatient. With me here, the trouble will be over. With me here, the local bullies will have to run away. I've come to Jiangling to do only three things."

"What three things?"

"Kill people! Kill people! Keep killing people!"

Li Zhaoting smiled: "Gongsun Ce, I'm entrusting the investigation to you. I've heard that Bao Zheng cleared up backlogged cases at the Dali Temple, processing over 600 files in three months. All those involved in the cases were completely convinced of his abilities and he was hailed as the contemporary Judge Dee. You can't be inferior to him, can you?"

Gongsun Ce feigned anger: "Besides having a darker face than me, what do I lack compared to Bao Heitan? I've cleaned up three or four hundred files in Jiangling."

"Are there so many backlogged cases in Jiangling?"

Li Zhaoting's eyes widened. He thought to himself, Ling Tuisi was promoted by the court because of his outstanding political achievements. In order to avoid promotion, he was forced to bribe his superiors. Shouldn't he have achieved something by now? Why is Gongsun Ce so angry?

Li Zhaoting was unaware that Ling Tuisi had made the already beautiful place even more beautiful, making it look very impressive. Wasn't that a remarkable achievement?

Gongsun Ce was in his prime, full of youthful vigor and enthusiasm, eager to do practical things for the people. With this mindset, he examined the case files and found them full of loopholes.

Gongsun Ce had no way to express his bitterness, so he could only point to his heavy dark circles under his eyes: "Since taking office, I haven't taken a single day off. I've been working overtime at the yamen every day!"

"Did the local bully try to intimidate you?"

"There are too many small businesses and they are difficult to manage. If Shen Yumen were alive, I could directly discuss matters with him and let him balance the interests."

"Tonight, you will host a banquet, gather the biggest local bullies, and assign them tasks according to your planned profit-sharing arrangement."

"Would they agree?"

"Will."

“So easy?”

"Whoever disagrees, let him come talk to me!"

Li Zhaoting smiled broadly, and the constables who heard this were filled with schadenfreude, quickly spreading the word to all the gangs in Jiangling City.

The most important aspect of intelligence is its timeliness.

This intelligence is valid for no more than half a day.

The local tyrants of Jiangling City, including gang leaders, sect masters, and chief镖头 (chief镖头 is a term used to describe powerful figures in the city), were trembling with fear. Especially after receiving Gongsun Ce's invitation to the banquet, they wished they could fall seriously ill on the spot and be unable to get up for a while.

Serious illness is clearly not an excuse.

Because Li Zhaoting would personally visit them.

To monitor the patient's condition, we may stay at these people's homes tonight; please ask them to prepare guest rooms.

It wasn't that Gongsun Ce bullied the good and kind, nor that Li Zhaoting abused his power; they brought it upon themselves.

When Gongsun Ce first arrived in Jiangling, he made many contacts with these local bullies, promising them benefits and asking them to help suppress bandits and ensure smooth transportation in Jiangling.

These people readily agreed verbally, but getting them to actually do anything was incredibly difficult. When asked, they would cite the rules of the martial arts world, or the principle that the strong are respected. They were all third-rate figures in the martial arts world, how could they possibly be qualified to compete with the strong?
After this happened three or five times, Gongsun Ce realized that these people were trying to intimidate him, deliberately making him look bad, and looking down on Gongsun Ce, a weak scholar and pale-faced young man.

The rules of the martial arts world, right?

So, might makes right?
A martial arts master, right?

Things are difficult, aren't they?
If it's too difficult, then let's not do it!

If you don't appreciate kindness, then I won't give you any respect!
……

evening.

The "Ke Lai Xiang" restaurant was brightly lit.

Inside the largest private room, a dozen local thugs looked at the head of the table with worried expressions. They waited for an hour, until the food got cold, before Gongsun Ce finally arrived.

"I apologize, I am very busy with official duties and have to do everything by myself without any capable assistants. I have been working overtime until now, please do not take offense."

Gongsun Ce bowed respectfully.

The local bullies hurriedly got up to return the greeting.

We could look down on this little scholar before, but not anymore. He's invited the Grand Duke Jupiter of the Jiazi year. No matter how bold we are, we wouldn't dare to mess with the Grand Duke Jupiter!

In fact, in novels and historical fiction, there was someone who did this, and that person was Guang Chengzi.

When I first read "Investiture of the Gods," I was very curious about how Yin Jiao died. He was trapped in the mountains by the Five Directions Command Flags and plowed to death by the Heavenly Plow.

Why do you want to do this?
Because Yin Jiao was posthumously honored as "Tai Sui" (Grand Duke Jupiter).

This is what is meant by "dismantling on the head of the Grand Duke Jupiter".

Without Guang Chengzi's abilities, it's best not to provoke Tai Sui, as it's very bad for your life; you might easily be killed with a single blow, dying a gruesome death.

Previously, when Shen Yumen was the leader of the martial arts alliance in Jingxiang, the "Falling Flowers and Flowing Water" who had joined him had all settled in Jiangling. Relying on their connections with the Taiji Sect, they had become the local bigwigs, much like the four elders of the Sunflower Sect in the east, west, south, and north. They were quite aloof in Jingxiang, and with the arrival of Gongsun Ce, everyone looked at them.

Lu Tianshu clasped his hands in a respectful gesture: "Lord Gongsun, we heard that Hero Li has arrived in Jiangling. We have been waiting here for so long, but we have not seen Hero Li attending the banquet."

"This commoner is not good at socializing and does not like banquets. I am representing his opinion. Gentlemen, there are many dangerous shoals near Jiangling, and dozens of bandit groups are entrenched there, seriously affecting waterway transportation. I am ordered to eliminate the bandits and dredge the silted waterways. I ask you all to lend a helping hand."

"What are your thoughts on this, Master Li?"

"My opinion is his opinion. You commoners have just arrived in Jiangling and wiped out a gang of river bandits. It would be beneficial for everyone if you could settle down in Jiangling and make good use of the waterways. I don't ask for much. I just ask that you heroes contribute money and strength to fight the bandits together!"

"Lord Gongsun, we..."

Hua Tiegan wanted to argue, but was interrupted by Gongsun Ce, who had a fierce look on his face.

"I'll say it again, my opinion is Li Zhaoting's opinion, please don't mislead yourself, Mr. Hua!"

Gongsun Ce stared coldly at Hua Tiegan.

"...We firmly support you, sir!"

Hua Tiegan hurriedly changed his tune, his head covered in cold sweat.

　Thanks to book friend 20170911165816244 for the reward

　　
　
(End of this chapter)