When Gao Chong came out of the county office, his face was a little ugly and he was a little dissatisfied with Lu Linghao.
Although he was only the county magistrate, he had a high self-esteem and had the mentality of a future public official. In Yanshi County, he did not compete with Lu Linghao for power. He almost didn't care about the land and taxes. He only focused on the Cao River and did not allow others to interfere.
To put it simply, he was in charge of a transshipment point on the smuggler's road in Fanzhen, Hebei Province.
He smuggled salt, iron, copper, silver and other goods to Fan Yang. At a small scale, it was just a case of the feudal town using his power to make some money; at a big scale, it depends on what Fan Yang Jiedushi thought.
As long as you don't guess Fan Yang Jiedushi's thoughts, it's really not a big deal. Lu Linghao has a kind of deception mentality. Sometimes he feels that he is giving Gao Chong convenience, and he also feels that Gao Chong does not fight for the power of the county because of him.
This county magistrate is capable.
In fact, Gao Chong looked down upon this small piece of land. He was someone who wanted to do big things.
It was fine if nothing happened before, but now that Xue Bai came, he felt that Lu Linghao was not generous enough, and was very unhappy about it. It was hard to express his feelings, so he had to put on a mean face.
Therefore, Gao Chong did not notice that the concierge Zhao Liu was looking at him furtively at the gate of the county office.
"Xian Cheng."
Gao Chong didn't seem to hear the call. He walked away vigorously and rushed to the post house again. He didn't see Zhao Liu waiting for him to leave and taking Du Wulang to find the county magistrate.
In the post house, the firewood has almost been piled up and is about to be lit.
"Wait a minute." Gao Chong instead gave an order first and said, "Let's form a formation and surround them first."
He has eighteen officers under him. They have been in the county office for a long time and have become naughty. They just shout and cheer and pretend to be thieves. They are not only afraid of meeting the palace ministers like Gongsun, but also afraid that the Zhang family is real. Cao Fu gathers one after another
Nearly a hundred people were gathered, most of them using whistle sticks, not because they didn't have knives, but because they didn't want to show off in the city, and they didn't expect to need to use knives. There were about 20 people from the Guo family's servants still present, with swords in their hands.
Those who have swords, if anything happens, these people will be the ones to blame.
In addition to this, there are six people who are specifically following Gao Chong to protect him. Just looking at their momentum, these six people are worth the hundreds or dozens of people in front of him.
If more manpower is needed, thousands of manpower can be mobilized if Gao Chong is given time. But how many manpower are needed to deal with a county captain who has only been in office for less than a month and a few liars? At first, Gao Chong only planned to
He used officers to capture people, but because he was worried that the officers would deliberately let people go, he brought the waterman.
There is another fact that has to be said. No matter how many people there are, Gao Chong will not be able to command them at all. The servants are naughty and the watermen are stupid. The Guo family's servants do not belong to him, but they are not as easy to command as the soldiers and horses in the border towns.
The kind of frontier soldier who only obeys orders with due diligence. His sworn brother is noble and can command one or two thousand people like an arm and a finger. He is confident that he can do it too.
To put it bluntly, tonight is still a brawl. Being able to command more than a hundred people to attack dozens of people, and being able to pass on orders and get them executed is already very, very powerful.
"Before you put out the smoke, make sure they don't escape!"
"Ten of you guard the gate; you lead a team to light the fire; you lead a team to fan the smoke; and the rest line up for me."
"Also, you guys go and tell all your brothers not to sleep and to obey my orders at any time until I avenge you."
"Prepare water and sand for me so that I can extinguish the fire at any time, and never burn it elsewhere!"
"..."
After the arrangements were made, Gao Chong came forward in person and shouted to the pavilion.
"Ms. Gongsun, maybe you have also been deceived by this group of demon thieves. Bring your disciples down and explain it to the county government office. You will be fine. Otherwise, if I wait for the smoke thieves to be released, you will be implicated innocently.
.”
To deal with the enemy, one must divide and win over him. He knew this very well. But after waiting for a long time, Aunt Gongsun did not respond.
"Block the door!"
Soon, the watermen brought a big vat, blocked the door, and started lighting it.
"call--"
The firewood was poured with kerosene, and the torch ignited immediately. The fire quickly spread along the kerosene to the entire firewood pile, and suddenly spread out, making a "crackling" sound, and the smoke immediately rose.
A large fan was opened, and smoke rose into the pavilion. The flames burned on the bricks and lit the windows.
…
"Cough cough cough."
In the attic lobby, some injured people were still lying on the ground, and there were three or five corpses.
Although both sides are dedicated to their lives, most of the ruthless men these days have gone to recruit soldiers, and the rest can only be described as brave and ruthless.
There are a total of thirty-eight people at Fengweilou here, twenty of whom were selected from the refugees. On the contrary, they are more generous than the original eighteen casino thugs. During the fight, they will use the knife at the slightest disagreement.
, more enemies were killed, and more were injured here.
The families of these people were raised by their bosses, and they were living a good life, but they looked down upon their own lives. At this time, they were smoked and felt that they could not escape, so they asked their companions to give themselves a good time.
"Come on... it's too uncomfortable to be smoked to death..."
"What's the rush? I just had a fever."
The situation was so chaotic that Shi Zhong couldn't control it. He quickly asked someone to get water and covered his mouth and nose with a wet cloth. He hurried up to the attic and asked Du Jin for instructions.
"Cough cough cough... Er Niang, what should I do?!"
Du Jin's eyes were still looking into the distance.
This place is not too far away from the county office. From a high place, she can see the movement of the county office... She has already seen the signal given by Du Wulang.
"Wait a little longer."
"But it's so smoky that it's going to burn to death soon."
"Look at the signal, it's coming soon."
"Okay." Shi Zhong asked, "Should I ask everyone to prepare for a breakout?"
"It's not a breakout."
"Cough cough cough..."
The fire outside had already wrapped around and burned the paper windows in the pavilion.
Shi Zhong couldn't open his eyes, but he didn't know what Du Jin was waiting for.
There is still a chance of survival if we fight out right now, but by waiting like this, isn't it like waiting to die?
The time was actually very short, but it felt very slow. Finally, a team of people from the county office came out with torches. Du Jin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Finally."
The fire got bigger and bigger, and the beams at the corners of the eaves were already on fire. The wind blew in and fanned the fire, carrying ashes with it. Sparks flew around, and the furthest ones reached the county school in the south before dimming.
Unfortunately, the fever did not reach the county school, but Du Jin had regained his composure, closed his eyes and said calmly: "Get out."
"Wha...what?"
"It's okay, you can go out now."
~~
"Be prepared, they are coming! Kill one of them for me!"
Gao Chong stared at the door, just waiting for the other party to come out.
The smoke also blew up to him, making him almost shed tears, and the firelight in front of his eyes was scorching.
suddenly.
"How dare you burn the daughter of Shangzhu Kingdom?"
"The old lady, Gongsun, is honored by the emperor and would like to go to the county office to ask questions!"
Gao Chong narrowed his eyes, raised his hand and rubbed it twice. He didn't know why, and felt like he was punched in the air.
It feels ridiculous. If these people are willing to surrender, why bother to resist in the first place? They are not timid and cowardly people, and even if they are fighting fiercely at this time, it is not so ridiculous.
He still didn't know why Xue Bai dared to let them pretend to be royal relatives, but he could use witnesses to turn the matter into a major rebellion case.
"Let them put down their weapons and come out one by one with their heads in their hands."
"Put down your weapons! Come out one by one with your head in your hands!"
"Cough cough cough...don't kill me!"
Soon, a group of people who were most afraid of death rushed out, indeed without weapons.
The watermen, servants, and especially the police officers outside also breathed a sigh of relief and quickly used the prepared ropes to tie up the people.
Gao Chong asked the people around him to protect himself, and told the Guo family's servants to be ready with knives to kill at any time.
Before Aunt Gongsun came out, an old man in his forties with a round face and no beard came out with a disgraced look. He was the so-called manager of the Zhang family.
"Get it!" Gao Chong needed the person in charge to testify against Xue Bai as an explanation afterwards.
"Don't move!"
Several officers were also extremely excited and rushed forward together, scrambling to hold down Shi Zhong.
"I..."
"You must be the mastermind, it's confirmed."
However, just at this moment, there was a loud shout from behind everyone.
"What are you doing?!"
"Why don't you put out the fire yet?!"
Everyone turned to look and saw Lu Linghao, Guo Huan and others being surrounded.
It was said that he was surrounded because Lu Linghao was accompanied by many guards, and there were even two guards wearing light armor.
Today, the Tang Dynasty still has a government army system in name. The government soldiers are composed of county soldiers. The county soldiers are composed of men of suitable age in the registered households. They usually work as farmers. They train for two months every year. The number of soldiers in Yanshi County is one thousand, and they take turns to guard the capital.
Or go out to fight, and the Sixteen Guards General's Yamen will be responsible for the world's soldiers and horses... But these are all things on paper.
The soldiers of the government had not fought for a long time, and Juntian collapsed, so they existed in name only. The border towns mostly recruited soldiers, and the military power was controlled by Jiedushi; the local governor used guards to maintain stability.
The same is true in the county. Lu Linghao is in charge of the household registration, and he and the General Office of Henan Prefecture enjoy the benefits of registering. He only occasionally hires some idle men to deal with inspections, and the only weapons in the entire county are the guards under the county magistrate.
.
Lu Linghao already knew that this water transportation area still needed to be armed, so he asked the guards to leave fifty troops. To be more vague, there were actually thirty-eight people under his command. They were usually only responsible for the city gates and the city.
Hao is on guard, collects some filial piety, and demonstrates the majesty of the county magistrate.
At this time, the county magistrate looked very unhappy.
"Quickly, put out the fire! Aren't you afraid of burning down the entire county?"
"Oh, Prime Minister Gao...don't you know that fire and water are ruthless? The houses in this county are all made of wood. Once the fire breaks out, it will burn down the entire county."
Along with Lu Linghao came two other powerful gentry, the Cui family of Boling and the Yanshi branch of the Zheng family of Xingyang, Cui Jun and Zheng Bian.
Gao Chong was a little confused, why did these two people come so quickly? He glanced again and landed on the person behind Cui Jun. That was Cui Youfu, the captain of Shou'an County.
He almost forgot about this person, because this county captain from a neighboring county had only been in office for a few months and did not actually have much prestige. But then he remembered that his identity as a descendant of the Cui Youfu family was extremely useful at certain times.
"Gao Xiancheng! Please answer me!"
Zheng Bian was very angry. It should be noted that the county school was directly adjacent to the south of the post house. It was he who funded the construction. Many of the teachers and disciples of the county school were relatives of his family.
"As a county magistrate, you openly set fire to a building and the fire particles flew in the wind. Have you ever thought about how dangerous it is?!"
"According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, anyone who loses more than ten pieces of silk by setting fire will be hanged! He will be hanged!"
"Quick, put out the fire!"
A group of servants shouted and surged up, disrupting the queue of watermen, and poured water from the wooden basins in their hands into the attic.
Cui Jun also rushed forward and cursed, spitting all over Gao Chong's face.
The Cui family has many shops in Nanshi, south of the county school, and the house to the west is also his property.
"Are you crazy? Are the fires set randomly? You, a county magistrate, don't understand the principle of playing with fire and burning yourself?!"
"Let me tell you, if this building burns down and the fire cannot be controlled, your whole family will not be able to afford to be hanged!"
Gao Chong almost raised his hand and slapped these old guys, but he held back.
A foreign county lieutenant was worshiped. He dared to kill. After killing someone, how could he explain to the Chang'an court seven hundred miles away? He had a month to confuse right and wrong. In front of Xue Bai, he was a local snake; but in front of these gentry,
, he is just an outsider.
"It's getting more and more lawless!"
One sentence after another, endlessly, it took a while before Gao Chong had a chance to explain. In fact, if he dared to set a fire, he would be prepared to put it out.
"Don't worry, everyone, you won't be burned..."
"You said it can't be burned because it can't be burned?! One lantern can burn down the entire county!"
Gao Chong had just wiped his face and was sprayed with saliva again. Murderous intent arose in his heart, and he decided to wait until the news of tonight's incident had passed, and then slowly drug Cui Jun to death.
"I am handling the case!"
"President Gao County." Lu Linghao said, "What case are you dealing with that you have to shout like this to Mr. Cui?"
"A major treason case." Gao Chong said, "The murderer of the Lishan stabbing case is here. Can Mr. Cui and Mr. Zheng afford it?"
Several gentry didn't know why, but they were shocked by him.
Lu Linghao's attitude also softened a bit.
Instead, Cui Youfu suddenly asked, "Is Aunt Gongsun the murderer of the stabbing case?"
Gao Chong was stunned.
If you think about it carefully, this is an extremely tricky question.
Although there was no royal law in Yanshi County, Gao Chong was allowed to smuggle, assassinate, and control the Cao River, but it was still in full view of the public. The gentry could not care about anything else, but they had to intervene in the arson and conspiracy cases. If Gao Chong really answered, he would be openly testifying against Gongsun. aunt.
"They are pretending to be from the Zhang family..."
"no!"
Shi Zhong suddenly shouted loudly and said: "I am not pretending, I am the steward of the Zhang family! My master is a cousin of the saint, Doctor Yinqing Guanglu, Grand Servant, and Lord Zhang of Shangzhu Kingdom!"
"Now that things have come to this, you still dare to talk nonsense?!"
"My master lives in Yanzhengfang, Chang'an. My late wife is Lady Dou of the State of Yan, the adoptive mother of a saint!"
When Shi Zhongcai said this, Zheng Bian was so frightened that he took a step back.
"Fu Jun's wife, Dou Shi, the head of Zhangyi County, has six sons and three daughters. The eldest son is Qing, who is appointed as the capital's water envoy and is married to the head of Daning County. The second son is Qian, who is often selected by the Ministry of History and is married to the head of Yanhe County. "The eldest daughter is married to a direct branch of the Li family in Zhao County, the second daughter is married to the current prince, but the third daughter is still waiting to be married."
Shi Zhong didn't say a word to prove that he was the real steward of the Zhang family, but his attitude in every word he said showed the style that a powerful man in Chang'an should have.
Once, his status was higher than that of the Zhang family steward.
When Concubine Wu Hui was still alive, he was the steward of Prince Shou's Mansion. At that time, even high-ranking officials had to be respectful in front of him. When it comes to being domineering, among the slaves in Chang'an at that time, there were not many people who were more domineering than him.
Later, King Shou lost power, his temperament changed drastically, and he was almost beaten to death. It was Daxi Yingying who saved him, saying that he needed help to collect money for King Shou. After that, King Shou could not see the King of Shou in the Ten Kings' House for a long time. He also wanted to draw a clear line with King Shou, so he became Da Xi Yingying's steward.
Unexpectedly, the publicity in the past could now be put to use.
"Fujun was born in Demen. He is fifty and six this year. He can still draw a bow with more than six jun guns, and he can drink up to one stone without getting drunk. In the early days of Jingyun Dynasty, he joined the army as a left guard and followed the dragon; in the early days of Kaiyuan Dynasty, he was granted the title of Zen retinue; in the middle of Kaiyuan period, he was sent as an envoy The Xiongnu specially gave me a purple gold fish bag and decorated it with the most royal crown of favor! I am the closest relative of the emperor and the confidant of the saint... You dare to attack me, what is the opposite? What is the opposite!"
The expressions of Lu Linghao, Guo Huan, Cui Han, Zheng Bian and many people on the scene changed drastically.
They no longer cared to think about whether this was the real steward of the Zhang family, their minds were filled with those words.
Gao Chong was furious, raised his hand and shouted: "The thief still dares to quibble, kill him!"
"stop!"
"Chief Gouxian, are you a rebel? Do you dare to kill the Zhang family?! The county magistrate is here, what else do you want?!"
"Kill him!"
"Stop it all!" Lu Linghao finally got angry and shouted at Gao Chong: "They were all captured without any effort. Is there anything else that can't be found out..."
"County Magistrate, if they had no conspiracy, why did they resist in the first place?"
Shi Zhong shouted: "Who took the knife first?! I serve the emperor's close relatives, can you let you kill people? I serve the emperor's close relatives, and the county magistrate is here, why should I not dare to put down the sword?"
"Did you hear that?" Lu Linghao shouted: "Put down your swords! Put out the fire, put down your swords, and this county will stop it! Whoever dares to attack again will be a traitor!"
Gao Chong was furious. After all, he couldn't do it in front of everyone, so he had no choice but to order: "Put down the knife."
Anyway, I already got someone.
"Quickly put out the fire!"
Following the order of the county magistrate, the plow workers also helped to put out the fire. The fire was gradually put out. Only then did Aunt Gongsun, who was hiding inside, lead her disciples out, and indeed they all put down their weapons.
At this time, everyone had just put down their weapons, and the Guo family servants also had a premonition that something bad was going to happen, so they quietly took a few steps back to the dark place on the edge to avoid falling into the eyes of the county magistrate.
Only the police officers were still detaining people in an orderly manner. They all thought they had to go to the county office to solve the problem through negotiation and questioning.
The thugs were all tied up, and when they were about to tie up Aunt Gongsun, a dispute broke out.
Lu Linghao heard that Guo Yuanliang said that Aunt Gongsun was real, and waved her hand so that she would not have to be tied up. When he glanced around, he saw that the women were all female disciples of sword dancing in red clothes.
He had met Zhang Sanniang and couldn't help but asked: "Why is there no Zhang Sanniang?"
"Still inside."
"Please come out quickly, don't burn it."
Suddenly three of the female disciples in red took out their daggers and waved them.
"Little lady, run! They are going to kill you!"
"Little lady, run!" Shi Zhongye shouted: "Only Lieutenant Xue County in Yanshi County can be trusted..."
"Don't make a move!" Lu Linghao exclaimed, "Don't even make a move."
He didn't have time to take a closer look just now. In short, he didn't see Zhang Sanniang among them. He must have ignored it and didn't let anyone pay attention.
At this time, everyone was only looking into the attic. The scene was chaotic. The two tall female disciples in red had already rushed out, protecting a petite one.
Only then did Gao Chong react and saw that their figures had disappeared into the night.
He was a little confused as to why he was doing this, but soon he realized that Zhang Sanniang was fake and couldn't stand trial... They had to be caught.
"County magistrate, it's okay to send someone to find them, right?"
"The county will send people to look for it."
"good."
Gao Chong seemed to have listened to Lu Linghao's words, but he thought that it was just him personally accompanying these county officials and the gentry to try the case together. Yanshi County was still controlled by his own hands.
Lu Linghao's arrival is just an additional interrogation process, and it is impossible for what is fake to become real.
Waiting for the county magistrate, Shi Shen turned around and walked towards the county office. Gao Chong stopped.
He also has six confidants who can really do things, and his chilling aura is incompatible with the other rabble in this county.
"What if it's really the daughter of the Zhang family... you two, prepare for the worst."
"Here."
Two people understood, one went directly to the dock, and the other went directly to the arsenal.
If things go wrong, they have to be prepared to wear armor and hold a knife for Cao Fu. Normally, Gao Chong would never dare to take this route, because in fact, nothing would happen if the smuggling case was discovered, and Cao Fu would only rebel.
Make things more troublesome.
This was just a way to intimidate Lu Linghao. Even if the Zhang family daughter was real, he would have to let Lu Linghao judge her as fake tonight.
"Sheep Fourteen, Shi Zhong, there is a secret passage in the secret house. Xue Bai doesn't know about it. Go and kill him."
There are only six veterans under him, and Hebei cannot send more people to this small dock. At this time, four of them were scattered. He was also a little worried about his own safety, and wanted to call back one. Thinking of Xue
Bai also had good hands around him, so he gritted his teeth and let both of them go...
~~
"Gao Chong has entered the county office." Du Jin, dressed in red, ran through the night, "Let's go to Cui's house."
She and Xue Bai calculated that Du Wulang could definitely invite Lu Linghao to protect "Zhang Sanniang" and "Gongsun Auntie". After all, accusing them was false and just a lofty one-sided statement.
Unexpectedly, the county office was so close, and Lu Linghao almost arrived late.
Fortunately, a fire alerted the Yanshi Shishen. In the eyes of the Shishen, all her people were captured and taken to the county jail. Xue Bai had no more force except a few guards around him.
In Yanshi County, only Gao Chong controls thousands of canal workers. He only does smuggling and killing officials with drugs. Tonight, he openly kills people, sets fires, attacks saint cousins, seizes worshipers in the palace, and hunts down new county captains...
Almost covering the sky with one hand.
Gao Chong had to set the fire because of their stubborn resistance, but in the eyes of the gentry, they only saw the Zhang family surrendering. Zhang Sanniang was afraid of being caught, and even the county magistrate did not believe it.
In this way, the situation has been ignited. It is easy to light a fire, but can Gao Chong extinguish it?