Qi Ling is a local tycoon in the east of Tugu County. He owns a dock and only has two hundred people. His voice is barely audible in Tugu County.
In the early morning of this day, Qi Ling was suddenly awakened by a dream.
He had a dream last night, in which a long-necked monster suddenly knelt down in front of a person whose face he couldn't see clearly. Suddenly, the long-necked monster uttered human words, and then cursed at the person opposite. Suddenly, the person
He took out a knife and cut off the head of the long-necked monster. Then the monster suddenly turned into a human, its four hooves turned into limbs, and the head turned into a withered human head. Then he looked again
, isn’t this head Qi Ling himself?
Qi Ling was frightened and quickly found a well-known witch in the countryside and begged her to interpret his dream.
The witch woman also looked at Qi Ling. At this moment, he was in a state of confusion, with dark circles under his eyes. She knew that this dream had really frightened him and made him unclear. The witch woman speculated in her heart that this man was probably killed after killing his father.
That's right, the man named Qi Ling in front of me probably killed his father last year and took over the family business this year.
Why is it called "should"? Because no one has seen it, so everyone just guessed it.
Last year, news suddenly spread that Qi Ling's father had died. It was said that he fell into a manure pit while going to the toilet and died. But everyone didn't believe it because they knew that although the Qi family and his son were father and son, the father was neither
A son is also unfilial. Qi Ling's father died so strangely, and it was probably Qi Ling who was responsible.
At this moment, the witch woman also believed this rumor, otherwise why would Qi Ling suddenly have this strange dream? But the witch woman naturally did not dare to say directly that it was your father who came to ask for your life. How can you not be afraid of such a vicious person?
What should I do? I can only tell him a lie to smooth things over.
The witch grabbed Qi Ling's head, then began to shake her whole body, then started gibbering, then rolled her eyes, and fainted.
Qi Ling was so anxious that he scolded the servants beside the witch and asked:
"How is this going?"
The servant said calmly:
"This is the witch asking for help. Please don't be impatient, Mr. Qi."
Sure enough, the witch suddenly stopped vomiting, the whites of her eyes stopped rolling, and she stood up straight, which startled Qi Ling. Then she heard the witch ethereally say:
"That long-necked beast is the holy beast Qilin. Your name is Qilin, so this Qilin deserves to be you. And your dream confirms that Confucius hunted to the west and caught the Qilin, so you have to be careful. If you meet a saint, you
You should avoid it, otherwise you will be killed."
As soon as he heard this, Qi Ling became angry. He was about to catch the witch and kill him when he heard the witch say again:
"If you can avoid it, then your dream will be auspicious, and the holy head will be in your arms, which is extremely precious!"
As soon as he said this, Qi Ling showed his face and praised the witch for her accuracy.
After that, Qi Ling left.
As soon as he rushed back to Wubi, Qi Ling saw the body of a strong man with a hole in his head still hanging on his big locust tree. Looking at the flying mosquitoes, he felt disgusted and hurriedly called for a disciple to help him.
The body was removed and thrown into the pit ahead.
Qi Ling's family is not ordinary people. His family has been working as road thieves for two generations. But his father's generation was still timid and just became thieves. But when Qi Ling started to take charge, they became more and more courageous.
He is so big that he dares to kill officials.
That was last year, when the former county magistrate of Tugu County returned to his hometown for his old age and passed by Qiling's Wubi. The Qiling family slaughtered pigs and sheep and entertained him with heart.
During the dinner, Qi Ling and the old county magistrate drank until their faces turned red. Then the old county magistrate's two maids came to drag the old county magistrate back to his house. At that time, Qi Ling fell in love with these two maids and said that he wanted to buy them.
.
Unexpectedly, the old county magistrate immediately cursed:
"You're like a dog slave, but I'm also worried about my concubine?"
At that time, Qi Ling was stunned, and then immediately took advantage of the drunkenness and apologized quickly. In the next few days, he even invited Qi to entertain him to express his apology. After that, the old county magistrate left, but at the farewell pavilion, Qi Ling gathered his children and
They violently robbed and killed the old county magistrate, not only taking away all his property, but also taking all his wives, daughters, and concubines back. The old wife wanted to live before she died, and also asked to be Qi Ling's maidservant. But Qi Ling was dissatisfied with her.
When he was old, he was hanged.
After that, Qi Ling began to pretend to be kind, entertaining business travelers here, and then plundering and killing people along the way. This is how the dead body hanging on the tree today came about.
These people were traveling traders. They were going to Dongpingling, but they were in a hurry, so they stopped by Qiling to stay overnight.
After that, they were attacked by Qi Ling, and he dragged back only that man. He wanted to use this man to test his new skill.
He has a thing called "punishment for punishing people".
Even though the words were very well-written, the content was actually very cruel. He took a big iron hook and tied it with a rope and hung it on a tree. Then he hung the strong man on the iron hook. The iron hook made a snap sound.
, it penetrated from his chin to the top of his head. The strong man's eyes were full of blood, he trembled twice, and then died.
This is the crime of punishing the people.
When Qi Ling entered the hall, he saw that his fellow brothers were all arguing together. His temper suddenly rose, he kicked over a horse and cursed:
"Why are you so noisy? We are noisy every day. Damn it, you are so noisy that your head is buzzing."
Then one of the black men with scabies, wearing women's clothes and a flower on his head, said rudely:
"Aling, we found a big sheep. It is said that he is an official from Dongpingling. What about the convoy of more than 300 cars? But I think the person with the knife is the man No. 100. You said such a big sheep,
We don’t want to eat?”
Someone in the crowd immediately objected, and he said:
"Let's not cause this trouble. These people are not easy to mess with. I'll let it go."
After he finished speaking, someone on the other side said:
"Forget it, the ruts are so deep, I'm afraid it's not gold, so why let such a big fat sheep go?"
As soon as the gold came out, Qi Ling's eyes straightened.
He moved a maza and immediately leaned next to the companion, hugged his neck and said with a smile:
"Agou, did you read that correctly?"
The companion named Agou nodded hurriedly.
Qi Ling clapped his hands and applauded:
"Then kill this fat sheep. After this is done, let's have a good rest!"
--------------------------
Zhang Chong was riding on his horse, reflecting on his actions during the Pinglingyi Incident.
On the way, Tian Jun kept complaining, saying that Qu Kuixian should stop showing off. He said that when they entered Dongpingling, they had an army of 4,000 to 5,000 people, and no one could be found.
Isn't it just to pick out a traitor? Why don't you go straight to it? You go into the city, find the person, pick off the head and then go back to the mountain. But now? You are in danger yourself. You can't escape safely all the time.
Zhang Chong turned a deaf ear to Tian Jun's question and was just thinking to himself.
Do you want to say it's dangerous? Zhang Chong must have had an estimate. For example, regarding the arrangements for this trip, he actually felt that it was very safe.
Enter the city, find people, weed out the traitors, and then leave the city through connections.
In doing so, he was worthy of Zhang Goudu and also explained his feelings to the old brothers. But gradually something went wrong.
First of all, Gou Donkey didn’t know anything, and he didn’t sell them Taishan Fang and Taiping Road. Is he a traitor? He must be, but Zhang Chong felt that he couldn’t follow the original plan of hoeing out traitors, because Gou Donkey’s crime was mainly in Shigu
Shan, because of the old brother's emotions, he wants to take the dog and donkey back and explain the punishment in front of his allies and brothers. Isn't this more convincing than his own assassination?
Secondly, he did not count Tang Zhou as a potential enemy. Because of Tang Zhou's obedience, he gradually lost his due vigilance. Sure enough, this Tang Zhou is a poisonous snake and will give you a bite at any time. This time, Tang Zhou
This taught Zhang Chong a good lesson: never relax or underestimate the enemy, but kill him as soon as possible.
Finally, there was the temporary attack on Dongpingling. He knew that this was done impulsively. Even though he had captured a lot of things now, in fact it would have endless consequences.
The most important thing about this is that a man of two thousand stones was killed, which is a huge event. It can be imagined that this matter will soon spread to Kyoto, and then the encirclement and suppression of Taishan will come like a storm. He Taishan can only do it
Are you ready?
Another one is the relationship with Taiping Dao. It can be expected that Taiping Dao will not give any support to the Han court's encirclement and suppression of Taishan Fang in the future. For Taiping Dao, good luck in the Year of Jiazi has always been the first.
Therefore, in the end, they have to rely on Taishan. Are they prepared?
Originally, this year, he was going to lead Taishan Fang to deepen the foundation, so that when they came out in the Year of Jiazi, they would be more confident in their uprising.
But what about now? It can be said that for the sake of a small immediate profit, long-term interests are harmed, which is a loss.
Do you regret that Zhang Zhang?
Touching the box containing the heads of dogs and donkeys, he felt no regrets. If dogs and donkeys could stand up to him, then he, Zhang Chong, should stand up to dogs and donkeys and live up to him. Why should those who killed him live?
So what if I kill someone for two thousand stones?
Anyone who bullies his brother, no matter who he is, must die.
However, Zhang Chong really had to think carefully about how to deal with the Han court's encirclement and suppression in the future.
While Zhang Chong was thinking about the important matter of life and death in Youguan Taishan, suddenly a group of villagers came ahead, holding water and rice in their hands and blocking the road ahead.
One of them had a simple and honest face, and he knelt down and shouted:
"Are they the officials from Dongpingling? My master specially ordered me to wait here, saying that he would guide you so that the officials can rest on the wall of our dock."
Seeing Zhang Chong thinking about something, Ren Yun took the initiative to step forward and asked impatiently:
"What's going on? Why don't you leave? Do you have to go to your home?"
The honest man said:
"My lord, I don't know anything. There is no place to stay if you go ahead. Our host is the most hospitable. Business travelers traveling to and from Dongpingling are used to resting in our dock. Moreover, we have our own home-made wine.
The wine is top-notch, and no one who has tasted it has disapproved of it."
Ren Yun thought for a while and asked:
"Do you want to spend money?"
The honest man immediately expressed his feelings:
"But we can't bury our master. How much does it cost to live in a place, and we still need money? But, it's not easy for farmers to make our wine. We have to pay some money, and if the nobles think that we
The wine is doing well, if it can help us sell it elsewhere, maybe we can do big business together?"
Ren Yun understood, these villagers were planning to sell illegal alcohol!
Then Ren Yun asked the honest man to wait here, and he went back to report to Zhang Chong.
Hearing that these people had private wine, all the brothers were greedy and clamored to go. Zhang Chong looked at the head of the honest man in front and smiled coldly:
"Okay, let's go try this private brew and see what it tastes like."