Liu Qi put on his tiger-skin cloak and watched the soldiers happily cleaning the battlefield. He imagined that he would take control of the new territory tonight, and felt the pleasure of commanding the country and scolding Fang Qiu.
A gust of cold wind hit, and Liu Qi suddenly remembered what the thieves said. The Xinye County government office has been controlled by the bandit Du Chang who was beheaded on his horse. Most of the gate guards guarding Xinye County must have been taken over by bandits. I am afraid it was night.
It is impossible to enter the city, and it is unrealistic for two hundred soldiers to attack the city. This is a very difficult matter.
Liu Qi ordered Huan'er to take Huang Wudie back to the luxurious carriage to rest for a while. The bandaged monkey followed Huan'er happily, and ordered Wen Dai to protect the maid in the mansion, Madam.
The four guards, Chen Chun, Chen Xia, Chen Qiu, and Chen Dong, were on guard five steps away from Liu Qi. In order to ensure that Liu Qi was not attacked by surprise, the four guards had divided their work, cooperated closely, and made adequate security plans. Chen Chun
Responsible for the danger situation in the east, Chen Xia is responsible for the danger situation in the south, Chen Qiu is in charge of the danger situation in the west, and Chen Dong is in charge of the danger situation in the north. They must be protected on all sides, never leave their armor, and never leave their swords. They can always attack and subdue attacks from all directions.
enemy or assassin.
With Chen Chun and other four generals providing professional security, Liu Qi basically did not have to worry about his own safety. When Huang Wudie and Huan'er got on the carriage, Liu Qi called Chen Wen aside, told him what he was worried about, and discussed it with Chen Wen.
Should I go into the city tonight?
This is a problem. Nine out of ten Xinye City will be occupied by bandits. If they forcefully enter the city, there may be casualties. If they do not enter the city, the new county magistrate Liu Qi is blocked by the bandits and dare not enter the city.
Isn't it ridiculous?
Chen Wenluo thought for a while and said: "Sir, I see that the morale of the soldiers is at a high level. They can reach Xinye in half an hour by marching in a hurry. I have an idea. Is it possible?"
"Brother Wen, there's no harm in talking."
"Tear off the clothes of the corpse of the bandit, use the eight fast horses of the carriage, pick up eight strong warriors, carry the 'Du' flag, pretend to be Du Chang's thieves and enter the city, quickly control the city gate, and you can fight without any blood.
.”
Liu Qi said happily: "What Brother Wen said is exactly what I want. I ordered General Wu to lead the team and select eight warriors to act as thieves to falsely open the city gate and enter the new field tonight."
"Yes, Young Master." Chen Wen felt complacent for a moment as his suggestion was adopted, and flashes of wisdom appeared frequently. "At this moment, you can also go into the village and ask the villagers about the situation in the city to confirm whether bandits are controlling the city. How many officers and soldiers are there in the city?"
"Okay, Brother Wen and I are entering the city." Liu Qi wanted to ask, what should he do if the city gate guards discovered that he was pretending to be entering the city? Seeing Chen Wen's excitement, he didn't want to dampen Chen Wen's interest.
Asked, and Chen Wen happily entered the village, but they were thinking about how they could enter Xinye County tonight if they couldn't deceive the city.
Walking to Chen Wu, Chen Wen explained that Chen Wu pretended to be a thieves and entered the city.
Follow closely.
The village was lifeless. The mud-roofed houses of the villagers were tightly closed. Except for the occasional pheasant jumping and barking, it seemed deserted. When the thieves entered the village, they clearly saw many people running around and shouting.
They were trying to avoid the horse thieves. At this time, the officers and soldiers killed the horse thieves, but no one came out to greet them. This phenomenon is very abnormal.
Puzzled, Liu Qi and Chen Wen came to the village and knocked on several doors. They found that the doors were bolted inwards. Naturally, there was someone in the house. They refused to answer the door and refused to open the door. This made Liu Qi very depressed.
Chen Wu told the soldiers to take off the thieves' clothes and hurriedly followed Liu Qi into the village. When he saw that every house would not open the door for Young Master Liu Qi, he immediately got angry and couldn't help but said: "Young Master, kick me."
When Liu Qi saw Chen Wu coming, why not kick the villagers' houses open? However, considering that it was unbecoming for the county magistrate to kick people's houses, he just held back and did not get angry.
Liu Qi cursed in his heart that these villagers were too ignorant. If Liu Qi hadn't made a noise to distract the thieves when they entered the village, and led the guards to risk their lives to kill them, the villagers would probably have survived under the ravages of the thieves.
Not a few.
"General Wu, no." Chen Wen habitually stroked his long beard and explained: "Young Master first became the county magistrate, and his image is related to his future. If you love the people, you will be obedient, and if you abuse the people, you will rebel. The villagers dare not open the door.
There will definitely be a seesaw, so there is no need to worry about it.”
Chen Wen said a word, when Liu Qi's face turned hot, it was so dangerous. Fortunately, he didn't kick the doorman, otherwise the reputation of the Three Kingdoms I would be destroyed by an angry kick. It seems that the ancient philosopher said, "Why do people who get angry easily?"
Become a big deal?" It makes sense.
"What Brother Wen said is absolutely true. The people's will is determined by the will of the people. The people's hearts are like water, water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. When you serve as an official, you benefit one party and obey the government. This is the way to be an official." Liu Qi
He spoke loudly and analyzed the situation, "The villagers did not dare to open the door. This is really strange. But if you think about it carefully, it makes sense."
Chen Wen nodded, picked up what Liu Qi said, and said: "The words of the young master are the words of the sage. I think there are two things that are strange about the villagers. One is that they are afraid of being caused by bandits; the other is that they don't know that the young master is a teacher of justice.
Confused."
Liu Qi once again looked back at the village at the foot of Fenghuang Mountain where the villagers could not distinguish between good and bad, and sighed: "Let's go, I just want to ask the villagers about the situation in the city. I didn't expect that the villagers are already in trouble, and they are afraid of thieves.
It’s gone to the core. Our officers and soldiers are not allowed to disturb the people, and we will not be allowed to disturb the people in the future. When I take control of Xinye, Brother Wen will give these villagers a good propaganda. I am the master of the country for the people, not for tyranny.
of."
"Yes, the young master is benevolent and righteous, and he also serves as the new wild order, which is really a blessing to all the people." Chen Wen responded. For the benevolent and righteous heart of the eldest son Liu Qi, the sworn brother, the timidity of the villagers is not worth mentioning.
Liu Qi walked out of the village with Chen Wen and Chen Wu with some regrets. Seeing that the soldiers had stripped Du Chang and others of their thieves' gear, he ordered Chen Wu to call all the soldiers to dig a big hole on the ridge of the field next to them and remove all the stolen goods.
The robber's body was buried on the spot.
With more people and greater strength, it didn't take much time for two hundred soldiers to dig a big hole. After throwing all the thieves' corpses into the pit, Liu Qi ordered Chen Wen to briefly mourn, push the soil in, and pile up a new grave.
Bao, then he led the generals and soldiers to attack new territories.
After burying the bodies of fifty or sixty thieves, it was already dark and the soldiers lit pine nut torches for lighting.
There were bursts of chill in the night wind, and half of the crescent moon hung alone on the branches of the plum trees in the sky. Occasionally, a few scattered dim stars in the sky accompanied the moon. Judging from the stars and moon, Liu Qi felt that this time should be the Yuan Dynasty in 191 AD.
It's almost the month of the month, and the Lunar New Year is coming soon, but judging from the villages and people we saw along the way into Xinye City, we can't see the atmosphere of celebrating the New Year. In these years, people don't even have enough to eat, and there is famine everywhere.
, soldiers, bandits, diseases, who of the common people still has the heart to celebrate the New Year?
Chen Wu led eight warriors who had already changed into banditry outfits and put up a broken "Du" flag. They were waiting for Liu Qi's order to pretend to be bandits and deceive them into the city at night. At this time, they saw an old man standing in the distance.
Holding a lantern and staggering over, a young strong man supported the old man as he walked along. The old man's old voice came from the wind: "The official stays, the official stays."
Liu Qi saw an old man and a young man staggering in the night, so he stepped forward quickly. Chen Chun and other four guards still kept a five-step distance from each other and followed Liu Qi's steps in the night to prevent an accident. Who knew what would happen?
Which villager in the outskirts of the city is not an assassin?
When the young and old came to Liu Qi's team, they saw clearly that Chen Wu and other thieves were dressed as thieves, and there were broken "Du" flags fluttering in the wind. Without saying a word, they turned around and ran away in fright.
"Grandpa, stay here. Grandpa, stay here." Upon seeing this, Liu Qi hurried forward and realized that the old man had seen the robbers' attire of Chen Wu and the other eight knights, and thought that the robbers were still alive, so he was naturally frightened.
The old man heard that Liu Qi's voice was not violent, so he stopped and waited anxiously for Liu Qi, Chen Wen and several guard generals to come over.
Liu Qi approached and saw that the old man had a look of fear on his face, but the young man who was supporting the old man had clear eyes and no fear, with a hint of suspicion in his eyes.
Liu Qi stepped forward, saluted, and announced his home: "Grandpa, I'm frightened. I am Liu Qi, the new commander of the new field. I was ordered by the governor of Jingzhou to suppress the bandits and bring peace to the people. On the way, I met a group of horse thieves who wanted to enter the village to do evil, so I happened to kill them.
"
Seeing that the old man was still looking at Chen Wu and other officers dressed as thieves in fear, Liu Qi said again: "These are my soldiers. They want to pretend to be thieves and open the city gate. Attacking the city at night may hurt the soldiers and disturb the people. It is a last resort."
"Grandpa, don't be surprised."
As soon as the old man heard this, his face began to feel comfortable, and he was about to bow down tremblingly, "I am ignorant, I didn't know that the county magistrate was here, and he deserved death."
Liu Qi hurriedly supported him: "Grandpa, there is no need to be polite. Just now, the soldiers and I went into the village and knocked on the door. We just wanted to inquire about the situation in the city. Unexpectedly, the villagers were so afraid of bandits that no one opened the door. Alas."
"I have offended you so much, and I hope the county magistrate will forgive me." The old man straightened his waist slightly, "It is true that as Magistrate Liu said, the villagers are too afraid of bandits. They have been robbed by bandits several times, and they are afraid of bandits when they see soldiers.
.”
Chen Wen answered from the side: "Grandpa, you don't have to be afraid from now on. Magistrate Liu is the eldest son of Jingzhou governor. He comes specifically to suppress bandits. When thieves enter the village, they are afraid of hurting the people.
Regardless of his own safety, the young master stepped forward to lure the thieves away."
"Ah, the eldest son, the high official, the blue sky." The old man was panicked. Jingzhou's reputation was really not small. Hearing that the eldest son, the governor of Jingzhou, had personally come to suppress the bandits, the eyes of the young man who supported the old man couldn't help but light up.
But I saw the old man burst into tears, "I saw the scene when the eldest son came forward. I also saw the eldest son burying the body of the thieves. He did not remember hatred and treated the dead kindly. He knew that the eldest son was compassionate and a good county who made decisions for the people.
It is also a blessing for the people of Xinye."
Liu Qi stood aside quietly, unable to bear to interrupt the old man's emotional talk. After praising Liu Qi, the old man intermittently explained the situation in the city recently. It turned out that a group of defeated thieves came from the north not long ago and suddenly rushed into the city.
He entered the unprepared small county of Xinye, violently killed the county magistrate, took control of the county by force, and forcibly recruited civilians to defend the city. This caused panic in the city, and the people did not dare to leave their homes. He also heard that several surrounding counties
There are also thieves and bandits. In the village at the foot of Fenghuang Mountain where the old man lives, many young and strong men have taken refuge in Xiangyang, and the fields are deserted.
After listening to the old man's narration, the situation in Xinye County was similar to what Liu Qi had estimated. He was just worried about what the old man said about the fact that all the young men in the village had taken refuge in Xiangyang. Since all the young men had run away, how would they recruit troops in the future? Where would the sources of troops be?
Unlike Liu Qi's idea, Chen Wen became interested in the young man supporting the old man and asked: "This strong man, all the young and strong people have taken refuge in Xiangyang, why do you stay in the village?"
The young man was calm and calm, and replied: "There are old people in the family, so it is not suitable to travel far away. The soldiers and bandits are in chaos, how can Xiangyang be peaceful for a long time? I hate that the world is muddy, and it is rare to meet someone who can clean it up."
The young man's answer made Liu Qi's heart move. He looked directly into the young man's sharp eyes and asked: "You are such a loyal and filial man. How dare you ask the strong man his name?"
When the young man saw the excitement on the face of the county magistrate Liu Qi, he was moved in his heart and said without being humble or arrogant: "I, Deng Zhi."