Lingzhou has a strong folk custom. Some idle young people gathered together to form many small gangs, especially the fraternity, which are more such gangs. The power of the fraternity has expanded to the sphere of influence of these small gangs. These young young people are also unconscious and think they have some skills. Their own small gangs are not worse than those of the fraternity. They either want to compete according to the rules of the martial arts world, or want to join the gang, and become the elder brother of the fraternity. Of course, Xiao Tianlei looks down on these small gangs. The basic policy is to break up and reorganize, use what if you can, and get out of it if you can't. Of course, those gangs will not be obedient. What should I do? One word, typing!

In particular, Xiao Tianlei discovered that smashing these small gangs can also get some gold coins, which is more interested. Compared to plundering big players, although there are fewer gold coins, they are both simple and fast. After all, there are only so many big players. So Xiao Tianlei led a group of brothers to carry wooden sticks and fought in every day. Of course, these small gangs are not as good as the weather, and they can be solved in a few strokes.

However, there are also gangs composed of adults. These gangs have no names in the world. They are basically some warriors and some rascals, and they join some farmers, craftsmen, etc. They don’t pay attention to the rules of the world. They are also relatively scoundrels, and they are similar in nature to the fraternity. At first, these gangs thought that the fraternity was just a few naughty children, and they could take down these naughty children, and then they could merge the fraternity and swallow the fraternity's property. As a result, these gangs were severely dealt with. For such guys, the fraternity usually took ruthless measures, broke their hands and feet, and were almost beaten to death.

Now that the Brotherhood is expanding, Xiao Tianlei also wants to earn gold coins and bring people to the door to smash the gangs' places. It is not enough to surrender directly, but he must fight. During this period, some people were bad and secretly supported these gangs in order to make profits. However, the Brotherhood's combat power is too strong and it swept all the way. When they learned that someone was secretly bad, they went straight to the door.

With such a mess, the reputation of the Brotherhood will naturally not be too good, and it will be rampant in the countryside and oppress the good.

"Sir, brothers will harm the countryside. You must make the decision for us! You must not ignore it!" Some gentry sued, and the matter finally came to the prefect Zhang Shibi.

Because of Qiongzhu's robbery, Zhang Shibi was deposed by the court and fined his salary. He also spent a lot of effort and money to ask people to deal with it. The counselors gave him advice and asked him to apologize for his own crimes. At least he did not lose his official position. He was relieved. However, the masked thieves started to make trouble again, which was even more rampant than before. Many wealthy families were victimized and said that they wanted to sue. If this matter was not handled well, they would really not be guaranteed. As for the matter of the Brotherhood, Zhang Shibi just glanced at the documents of the county government below, and felt that it was nothing. He was just a group of gangsters doing business, robbing some of the gentry's business. He didn't need to come forward to such things. He then ordered the lower party to pay attention to the place of Anjing and ignored it.

Zhang Shibi's main energy is still on the masked thieves. Recently, he heard that masked thieves were a group of masters, so he breathed a sigh of relief. If they were a group of martial arts masters, they would not have much to do with him, the governor.

For these warriors, the court set up institutions to handle related matters, specifically dealing with those strong men who rely on their high martial arts skills and ignore the laws of the king.

For this purpose, three martial guards were set up, namely the Longwu Guard, the Shenwu Guard, and the Xuanwu Guard. They checked and balanced each other and managed affairs in the martial arts world. There were not many people, but they were all masters, mainly from the famous sects in the martial arts world, and could mobilize the assistance of the martial arts world.

However, the Three Wu Guards did not take action casually. If they were just some thieves, they would inevitably be charged with making a big fuss. Therefore, Zhang Shibi planned to find someone and touch the details of the masked thief. After thinking about it, he wrote a letter and asked some friends to introduce talented people.

The letter was sent out, and after waiting for a month, a friend, Xie Jin'an, finally came.

Xie Jin'an is also an official, but he has been unemployed recently and has outstanding political achievements in office. He has also solved many major cases. Xie Jin'an is also a famous scholar in the sect. When he learned that he had come to Lingzhou, the literati from Lingzhou came to visit one after another. In a few days, there were endless visitors. Not to mention the welcome and sending people in the literati, Xie Jin'an and Zhang Shibi worked together to sort out the information on masked theft, but they did not find any useful information. They thought it was better to go to the scene to find some clues, so they planned to visit privately and personally investigate the case.

This matter was not only Zhang Shibi, but also Zhou Shizhi, the chief of Yuzhu Academy, heard about it, and went there together.

Several people brought some guards and pretended to be literati who had been robbed, and went to some of the big people who had just been robbed, and asked and investigated one by one to see if they could find clues. Unfortunately, every time the masked thief committed a crime, there were always many civilians who also mixed in to find the cheap ones. The scene was destroyed long ago. Those civilians got the benefits and were very vigilant about other people's inquiry. Moreover, Zhang Shibi and others who seemed to be outsiders at first sight, of course they didn't know anything about it.

"Oh oh oh, fight!"

"Zhang Laosi, you guys, you can't even beat a few dolls!"

“Wow!”

"If you call me Mao, you will be very verbose!"

…………

The group took a boat to travel. When they arrived at a small pier, they saw a large group of people surrounded by the pier. Two of them were teenagers and some men. They all fought with wooden sticks, and while they were scolding each other. The laughter of the onlookers was in chaos. Among the people watching the fun, there were actually some officials from the government, who also followed the others to make fun.

"What's going on?" Zhang Shibi asked. As the magistrate, he couldn't hold back his face as such a thing happened on his ground.

"Report to the Lord, this is a fight between some local gangs. This is a common thing. The government can't take care of it and can only let it go." A subordinate reported.

"Let it go! Is there any king's law? Go and disperse me!" Zhang Shibi ordered, but before his words could be finished, the melee had ended, and the younger side won and left.

"I have heard that the people in Lingzhou are strong, but I don't expect that they will come here. What kind of gang is that group of young people? I see others seem to be very afraid of them." Xie Jinan observed carefully and saw some problems.

"It should be a fraternity."

"Brotherhood...one of the three evils in Lingzhou?" asked Zhou Shizhi, the director of Yuzhu Academy.

"Three evils in Lingzhou?" Xie Jinan became interested when he heard this.

Zhou Shizhi replied: "I just heard it, and I don't know who spread it. The three evils in Lingzhou: masked thieves, brotherhoods, and strange beasts. Masked thieves are the most harmful, and brotherhoods are second. As for strange beasts, they only appear occasionally, which is nothing."

"What is the origin of the Brotherhood?" Xie Jinan asked.

A subordinate of Zhang Shibi replied: "It is said that the Brotherhood was originally just a small gang formed by some children. The members were all blood brothers. However, the Brotherhood was very good at doing business and made a lot of profits. Soon it became a big gang and competed for territory with other gangs."

"We can't find the masked thief, and we'll find it for a while. I'm afraid no one wants to see the strange beasts. Why not go to see the characters in the Brotherhood?" Xie Jinan suggested.

"That's the case." Zhang Shibi agreed, and he was also a little curious about what the situation of the brotherhood was.

"Since you two have such a good mood, I will sacrifice my life to accompany the gentleman." Zhou Shizhi said with a smile.

"Brother Shi Zhi was joking, the Brotherhood is not a tiger's den."

"Even if it's a dragon's pond, what's the fear?"

"Haha, Brother Shi Zhi is indeed heroic!"

...

Several people talked and laughed, and ordered the boatman to change the route and head to Cangshan Mansion, the brotherhood's nest.

When I arrived at Cangshanfu Wharf, I suddenly realized some differences. In addition to being busy, it seemed much cleaner than the docks in other places. The goods on the wharf were all packed in some wooden boxes of the same size and were stacked neatly. When I got off the boat and left the wharf, I saw some four-wheeled carriages pulling trucks of carriages. The road was wide and flat. I thought it was just like this on this section of the wharf. I called several carriages and walked through several miles. They were all the same roads. After listening to the handlebars, I realized that these roads were built by the Brotherhood to facilitate the transportation of goods. The four-wheeled carriages were also made by the Brotherhood. In order to transport more goods, those wooden boxes were for easy loading and unloading, etc.

When they heard what the Brotherhood did, Xie Jin'an, Zhang Shibi, Zhou Shizhi and others became more and more curious about the Brotherhood. They drove around the way and saw a crowd of people entering Cangshan Prefecture City. The streets were clean and shops were everywhere. Many vendors sold all kinds of goods, bustling, and they were no worse than some big cities.

At this time, it was getting late, so the group went to the government office of Cangshan Prefecture first and prepared to stay overnight.

When the magistrate of Cangshan Prefecture saw that the magistrate came, he kept complaining, saying how the brothers were rampant and arrogant in the countryside. He had no prestige at all, and was simply a blank stance. Zhang Shibi asked the reason carefully, and the prince told him that many minor officials in the government office had profits from the brothers' association, and he could not use anyone at all. Once there was something wrong, the officers would go to report to the brothers' association first.

Zhang Shibi was surprised that the power of the Brotherhood had reached this point, but he could not think of a countermeasure for a while and just waited to go to the Brotherhood Hall tomorrow to explore.

On the second day, the group had some breakfasts specializing in Cangshan Mansion and came to the street. It was still early and it was already very lively.

I took the bus to the entrance of the Brotherhood. Many carriages had already been parked at the door. Some merchants were smiling and greetings like congratulations on making money.

There were several guards at the door, some adults and some teenagers. They stood upright and looked around them. They didn't care about the people entering. If someone entered, there would be a teenager who would lead them.

Zhang Shibi, Xie Jin'an, Zhou Shizhi and others entered the gate and led by a boy to a living room. At this time, many businessmen had already sat down in the classroom. Several people sat down, and immediately someone served tea, and brought three white porcelain bowls with a support underneath, a lid on top, and some dried fruits and pastries. The three of them picked up the porcelain bowl and opened the lid to see that it was not a common tea, but a bowl of green tea, and a few green leaves rose and fell.

Zhou Shizhi is a tea-loving person. After taking a sip, he couldn't help but praise: "Good tea! The tea is green and elegant, bitter in the mouth, but sweet in the mouth, and the tea fragrance is long!"

When the other two men heard this, they took a sip. Sure enough, they felt that it was completely different from the tea I drank in the past, completely reflecting the original taste of the tea, rather than adding some spices.

Several people were even more curious about the brotherhood. They sat in the living room. Through the gap between the wooden windows on both sides, they could see the scene next door. There were several tables placed inside. Several teenagers were sitting at the table. The merchants were led to the table one by one. The merchants said how much goods they wanted and what price they were. The teenagers were discussing with the merchants while holding a goose feather in their hands and writing and drawing on a piece of paper. Soon, they stamped the seal. The merchants got a list and left happily.

"You are new merchants, what business are you going to discuss?"

At this time, a young man took a small notebook and came to ask.

"We won't talk about business." Zhang Shibi replied.

The young master was stunned and asked, "Why are you a business person coming in to do?"

"We want to meet the president of the Brotherhood."

When the boy heard this, he said disdainfully: "Brother, everyone can see you? Brother Bao, there are troubles again!" As he said that, he shouted at the inner hall.

"Ah! There is another troublemaker, what's the source?" A voice came from the inner hall, and then a young man rushed out. The young man had a round face and a little childish. He led a few people behind him and shouted, "What are you doing? How dare you make trouble at the brotherhood!"

"Uh, this guy, we just want to meet the president of the Brotherhood." Xie Jinan stood up and said.

The one who came out was Xiao Tianbao. In fact, there was news about these people yesterday, saying that some people came to the government, but I don’t know what they were doing, but the mansion was very attentive to these people, and they should be like high-ranking officials. Xiao Tianbao didn’t care about the high-ranking officials, but it was better to send it a few times, so he said, “I didn’t see that we were very busy here, so I didn’t have time to greet you idle people. I’m not here to cause trouble, so I’ll leave quickly.”

"Bold, how dare you be so rude to your lord!" One of Zhang Shibi's guards shouted.

"Ha! You are really right. This place only recognizes money, not etiquette. This is our business place. You are not doing business. You are so kind to drive you away. You are so kind. You are going to come from wherever you call and wherever you go. You don't want to greet idle people here, and you want me to ask someone to beat you!" Xiao Tianbao looked like he was about to drive people away.

"You dare, my lord..." the guard said angrily.

Before the guard finished speaking, Xiao Tianbao robbed him: "It's okay to be an official. If you become an official, you will go privately to a private house. If you want to see whoever you want, you think your emperor is, seeing that you are wearing casual clothes, even if you are an official, you will definitely do something shameful!"

"Sharp teeth, sir, let me teach this kid a lesson and let him know a little politeness!" The guard asked Zhang Shibi for instructions.

Xiao Tianbao was furious and shouted, "I'm afraid you are a turtle grandson. When we fight, we have never been afraid of anyone! Brothers, scout guys! If your kid doesn't dare to fight today, it's just a shrimp crawling!" He said that, rolled up his sleeves and wanted to fight.

"Ignorance children, I don't know the world is high!" Zhou Shizhi was a little angry, only to feel that these boys were too uneducated.

"It seems that you are knowledgeable. Tell me how high the sky is and how thick the earth is?" Xiao Tianbao asked back.

"Uh..." Zhou Shizhi was stunned. He had never thought about this problem.

"You can't answer it, but you don't know the result. You're so shameless to say to others! The guy over there, do you want to fight? Just hurry up if you want to fight. I have to do a lot of things and don't have time to hang out with you."

"Uh..." Xiao Tianbao was arrogant. Without Zhang Shibi's order, the guards did not dare to act rashly. They were so angry that their faces turned red. He also regretted it. At least he had some reputation in the world, and he fought with a stupid boy, and it was embarrassing to win.

"Since that's the case, let's go!" Xie Jinan said. He was a witness. The Brotherhood was just a group of gangsters who would fight when they said they would fight. They were completely lawless. They were definitely not good at fighting, and they all had some identities. If they really started fighting here and spread it, they would be disgraceful.

The few people had to leave the Brotherhood, and Xiao Tianbao did not stop him. He glanced at him and asked the others to do things quickly.

"Hahaha……"

After leaving the Brotherhood hall, Xie Jinan, Zhang Shibi and Zhou Shizhi all felt defeated. After looking at the Brotherhood gate for a while, Xie Jinan laughed.

"Why is Brother Jin'an laughing?" Zhang Shibi was puzzled.

"I'm laughing at us that we were actually being run by a young boy, and we still have no choice but to have not encountered such a thing for many years. It turns out that a hero is a young man." A famous scholar like Xie Jinan could see him by posting a post, but because he missed a few boys, he couldn't help but laugh.

"A naughty boy, a hero!" Zhang Shibi dared not agree.

"Oh--!" Zhou Shizhi sighed at this time.

"Brother Shizhi, why do you sigh?" Zhang Shibi asked.

"Sighing for these teenagers, I think these teenagers in the Brotherhood can do something at a young age and do things in a very orderly manner. If they can teach them well, they are all rare talents."

"Brother Shi Zhi actually became interested in love with talent." Zhang Shibi was stunned.

"Indeed, the climate of the Brotherhood has become. If it is trained, it will be a blessing for Brother Shibi to rule." Xie Jinan agreed.

When Zhang Shibi thought about it, he suddenly felt that it made sense. If the Brotherhood was conquered, the Lingzhou administration would be much more stable, but he was worried. These boys were lawless at first glance and didn't care about any officials at all. Maybe they could start with the president of the Brotherhood, but they couldn't even see anyone, so why not talk about anything else?

At this time, one of Zhang Shibi's men came down to report and said, "Sir, I'll ask someone to find out clearly. The president of the Brotherhood and others took a group of Brotherhood members and said they were going to find trouble for some gang."

Zhang Shibi, Zhou Shizhi, and Xie Jinan were stunned. Then they remembered that they saw the Brotherhood fighting with other gangs on the way. I guess the Brotherhood president and others were among them. This is really... They really couldn't understand these boys, but they were very interested.

Zhang Shibi looked at Xie Jinan and asked, "Where should I start with this matter?"
Chapter completed!