Chapter 111 Here comes the one who collects the protection fee
Song Wen got off the carriage and looked carefully at the intersection leading to Qingshan Village.
It's pretty good. Although it's spacious, it's not conspicuous, and there's no sign of traffic... As for my lair, the more hidden and low-key the better!
After passing this intersection and walking fifteen miles into the mountains, you will find the stone monument and gate of Qingshan Village. Song Wen first took a trip to Taoshan County and went directly to the county magistrate of Taoshan County with a letter from Butler Liang Shicheng.
Sure enough... Song Yinxiang's post was very useful even if it was written by a butler. Song Wen successfully registered the household registration of more than a hundred refugee teenagers.
In this era, population always represents taxes! In fact, the rich and powerful have a lot of things to do to collect some labor, and most of them hide it and don't want to pay the small tax. It is indeed rare to see people like Song Wen who report the tax directly and truthfully.
The county magistrate was very happy and encouraged Song Wen... Song Wen also realized what he was doing and directly paid the taxes of more than a hundred people for a whole year! The magistrate was so happy that Song Wen struck while the iron was hot and gave him another box.
Money, the county magistrate is almost close to becoming a brother-in-law with Liang Shicheng's confidant.
After leaving the extremely poor Taoshan County, Song Wen took his carriage and horse back directly to Qingshan Village... He hadn't been back for a while, and Song Wen suddenly missed the old nest he had built with his own hands.
After turning a mountain col, you can see the village gate and the stone monument on the roadside from a distance... Song Wen happily looked at what was in front of him... huh?
In front of the village gate, there was a circle of people standing inexplicably. About a dozen men were standing outside the village gate shouting something!
what's the situation?
As soon as Song Wen waved his hand, An Chun stopped the carriage and jumped out immediately. Daruch even rode a mule and pulled out the heaviest saber from his back... "Oh, there's a fight?"
Song Wen quickly asked the two young men who were driving the carriage to pull the carriage to the nearby mountain col and let Daruch guard it. He led An Chun up the nearby slope and slowly approached the village gate.
More than ten feet away, Song Wen and An Chun hid their figures. When they took a closer look... they saw these dozen men, each of whom looked like a poor ghost, holding tattered knives, wooden sticks, and wooden forks in their hands.
That thing... The leader, a black man in his thirties, was shouting and cursing at the gate of the village with his hands on his hips.
"Don't think that you have become more arrogant after changing the master. Grandpa wants to see where the thieves came from to show off their wealth in Bailipo, Taoshan County. Those two little lambs were beaten by grandpa. How about they come out to bite grandpa's eggs?
Huh? Let me tell you, if you don’t kowtow to grandpa this time and pay fifty thousand dollars to make amends, it won’t end...be careful grandpa burns down your bird village!"
A group of men yelled and screamed, laughing and cursing, but the gate of Qingshan Village was still closed. Only a few pairs of eyes and the tip of a spear were peeking out from the wall next to the village...
Perhaps the tall and strong wall and the sharp spear points acted as a deterrent. These men just yelled and cursed, but did not dare to climb up the wall and smash the door... Song Wen was puzzled that even if he and Lin Chong were not there, they would still be there.
Are people like Li Erlang and Li Yan guarding Qingshan Village? How could they just let a dozen or so bumpkins block the door and yell at them?
And hearing this, these people even beat up the young man in the village?
Song Wen was immediately furious...these young men who were so easily rescued were his darlings. In these troubled times, what chance would there be to cultivate a team that was so loyal to him?
What do Li Yan and Li Erlang do for food?
Song Wen immediately wanted to call Daruchi, and he would lead these two people to knock all these rogue idlers to the ground...
An Chun's eyes were very sharp, and he suddenly pulled Song Wen's sleeve quietly and pointed to a platform above the village gate that resembled an enemy platform. Song Wen took a closer look...it seemed to be Li Yan's big horse with a golden sword.
He was sitting back on a chair, relaxing and watching the fun.
Song Wen wondered, what is this old guy doing? Is there no one in the village? There shouldn't be? Logically speaking, these are just these country bumpkins. Li Yan is afraid that if he goes out alone, he will knock them all to the ground. What tricks is he playing?
Suddenly, a young man from the wine shop stood up and shouted condescendingly to the group of people outside the village gate: "My village owner is not here, what on earth do you want to do?"
When the black man heard that the village leader was not there, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief...
There is not much money here, so these guys can just steal some crops, chickens, dogs, etc. The tenants here have always been angry but dare not speak out.
Who would have thought that this year this place would suddenly become special. The gangster who didn't know where he came from actually bought all the poor villagers and built Lao Gao's village wall.
The leader of this gang of scoundrels happened to be captured by the county captain and punished with a cane and a board. As a result, the tyrannical bumpkin around him didn't dare to come over to provoke... Now that the elder brother has come out, he doesn't have much trouble except that he walks with a limp.
Hindered. So these people started to make plans for Qingshan Village again.
First I tried to sneak in, but they didn't open the door at all. Later I found pairs of young men quietly coming out of the village and wandering around.
This group of scoundrels who were half thieves and half bandits suddenly got the idea and wanted to capture a few teenagers to find out what was going on. Not only did they not catch them, they were even beaten up by the teenagers with bruises and bruises on their noses and faces...
The teenagers fled back to the village and could not come out. The eldest brother, who was nicknamed Li Di Toad, was disgraced and felt that these villagers were incompetent. I am afraid that the rich proprietor had already left! It would be better to go and have a look.
, if you can knock a little money, knock a little... If you have a chance, it's not impossible to grab a big ticket in this barren mountain!
The toad immediately shook its short legs and cursed angrily: "Call your master out and hurt grandpa's brother. If you don't pay, grandpa will attack!"
The young man seemed a little scared, and he hesitated before replying: "My master is really not here, but the person in charge said that if you dare to compete one on one... let's have a bet! If you win...
...I will compensate you fifty thousand dollars..."
The toad was stunned when he heard this, but the dozen or so scoundrels behind him began to make noises... "Really fifty strings? These people are really rich!"
"Brother, promise! It's just a few boys, and I knocked them down with one punch... I'll give them a hundred punches when the time comes!"
"Brother, aren't you afraid of them?"
Li Di Toad was not a fool. He suddenly became suspicious of this young man who did not follow the rules and asked: "A gambling competition? Are you sick... How do you want to compete?"
"No iron weapons are allowed... play seven games, three against one on one, three against three against three, and finally one against ten against ten... If you win three times, you will lose your money!"
"Huh?" The toad suddenly felt a little hairy. Not to mention that they still have so many years to dare to come out to compete. What's the point of giving themselves 50 coins for winning three games? Could it be that they think that they are not twenty or so big men at all?
Their opponent?
Li Yan, who was hiding on the wall of the village, cursed in a low voice: "It's so easy to attract a living opponent, don't let me scare you away! Otherwise I won't be able to spare you..."
The young man immediately changed his words and said: "That's wrong. If you win five games, I will give you the money..."
The toad was hesitant on the spot, but a few rogues behind him shouted: "Come out and beat them immediately! My brother doesn't need to take action, grandpa will kill you chicks alone... Hahahaha!"
The young man seemed to be scared and shrank back.
The village door opened with a creak, and when Toad was about to poke his head in to see what was going on inside, he saw a boy of thirteen or fourteen standing timidly outside the door...
The young man's body looked quite strong, his red face had a hint of childishness, but his expression looked very panicked.
The toad on the spot frowned: "Lao Liu, go up and try this guy...see if there's anything weird about it!"
A guy who looked like a skinny dog bared his teeth and replied: "Don't worry, brother, I'm going to try this guy's quality..."
The open space in front of the village gate has always been empty, and rogues are not stupid. It would be a disaster if the villagers had bows and arrows, so Zha Hehuhu did not dare to attack directly.
The young man was holding an oak stick in his hand and looked nervously at the tall and thin man who was walking over in a pretentious manner...
"Little chicken! Kneel down and kowtow to grandpa three times, and grandpa won't break yours..."
Before he could finish speaking, the young man suddenly shouted and swung the wooden stick and hit him!