Chapter 968, fight against road tyrants, road bandits
At the foot of Luliang Mountain in Shanxi, a spacious cement road winds from east to west to the end of the field of view. This cement road is the Beijing-Shaanxi Highway built with funding from the imperial court. It leads from the capital to Shaanxi, and then from Shaanxi to Shaanxi.
Gansu, going all the way to the west, may even be built to the Western Regions and the Hezhong area. It is currently the most important east-west artery of the Ming Dynasty.
Luliang Mountain is an important mountain range in western Shanxi. It stretches from Shuozhou, Shanxi in the north, to Longmen of the Yellow River in the south, and to Shaanxi in the west. The terrain is dangerous and has been extremely prone to breed bandits and road bullies since ancient times.
A convoy of hundreds or two four-wheeled carriages advanced slowly and hurriedly on the road from east to west. Although the convoy was large, it seemed that there were no special escorts, only some guys.
goods.
"Brother, do you want to do it?"
"More than fifty trucks of goods are heading west. They must be going to the Western Regions and the river. This is a big deal."
On a mountainside, more than a hundred bandits were watching the convoy moving at the foot of the mountain. They were the notorious Five Tigers Village on the Beijing-Shaanxi Highway in Luliang Mountain.
Wuhu Village was originally just an inconspicuous little bandit in the surrounding area. In the vast Taihang Mountains and Luliang Mountains, there were many bandits who specialized in occupying the mountains and becoming kings. They made a living by robbing passing business travelers and looting villages.
It's just that it never became a success in the past, and the imperial court also cracked down hard. But since the Beijing-Shaanxi Highway was built, the number of business travelers relying on this road has become very large and very dense.
The bandits entrenched in this area also followed suit. They relied on the same road and had no worries about food and drink, and they grew rapidly. The local government sent people many times to exterminate these bandits but failed, which only encouraged their arrogance.
Hearing the words of the younger brother next to him, Li Hu, the head of Wuhu Village, thought carefully, then gritted his teeth and said: "It's done, inform the brothers to copy the guy."
Fifty four-wheeled carriages loaded with goods, this is really a big deal. The key is that this fleet has not hired a special escort agency to escort the escorts. If there are escort agencies to escort the escorts, they are all from the world, and many of them are acquaintances. Give me some advice.
The road bandit passed by.
Li Hu is not stupid if he doesn't eat the duck that reaches his mouth.
Soon, following Li Hu's order, more than 100 bandits from Wuhu Village quickly gathered and ambush very skillfully in a dangerous place, waiting for the arrival of the convoy.
"Brother Li, do you think these bandits can come out?"
Here in the motorcade, Zhu Nan was riding a horse and whispered to the captain beside him.
"I'm not a bandit, how do I know?"
Li Mao rode his horse, looked at the surrounding mountains, smiled, shook his head and said.
Li Mao and Zhu Nan were actually Ming troops specially sent to suppress bandits. The entire army of more than 10,000 people was specifically responsible for suppressing bandits and road tyrants in the Taihang Mountains and Luliang Mountains. This time, Li Mao specially brought 500 people to disguise themselves as
Passing merchants came to kill the bandits and road bullies who blocked the road.
Despite the fact that there are only dozens of people pretending to be gangsters outside, these four-wheeled carriages are all filled with fully armed Ming troops. As long as you give an order, these people can come out immediately and kill the bandits and road bullies who are blocking the road.
Take a lesson.
"The bandits in Shanxi are somewhat different from those in other places. People from other places become bandits because they can no longer survive or because the government forces the people to rebel, so they become the king of the mountain."
"The bandits in this area are said to have been transformed by the villagers in this area, mainly because they can make a fortune by relying on the highway, so they became bandit road bullies and made a living by blocking roads and robbing people."
Li Mao said to Zhu Nan while riding his horse.
The imperial court was very determined to crack down on gangsters and evil this time. It did not let local officials take responsibility, but directly placed the responsibility of the factory guards and the Fifth Army Governor's Office.
The factory guard's fanzi was responsible for spying on the intelligence and finding out the details, and then the Ming army was responsible for clearing them out. Li Mao and the others had also been eyeing the Wuhu Village for some time, and they had almost wiped out the Wuhu Village.
Everything in Huzhai can be touched clearly.
"There are many unscrupulous people in the poor mountains and rivers!"
When Zhu Nan heard this, he couldn't help but said.
As soon as he finished speaking, a large number of people immediately appeared on the surrounding hills on both sides, each holding a sword and even some archers.
"I opened this road and planted this tree. If you want to pass on from now on, leave money to buy the road!"
Li Hu slowly walked out with his men, and someone had already shouted the slogan of Wuhu Village.
Seeing this scene, Li Mao, Zhu Nan and others deliberately pretended to be panicked. Li Mao even came to the front with some trepidation, cupped his hands and said: "Dear fellows, we are just business travelers passing by. Please come to us for your convenience."
.”
"Okay, you big-headed devil, didn't you hear our slogan?"
"If you want to pass by us, you can. It depends on how many vehicles you have. If you pay one hundred taels of silver for each vehicle, for a total of five thousand taels, we will let you pass."
Li Hu did not speak, and his subordinates shouted anxiously. He looked carefully at the convoy in front of him, and there was not much confusion due to the appearance of himself and others. Although everyone pretended to be a little scared, they looked
It seemed like they were all pretending, which gave him an ominous premonition.
"One hundred taels of silver?"
Li Mao immediately couldn't help shouting: "We can only earn a few taels of silver from one car if we go here and there. You are killing us."
"That's your business. Who told you that you were unlucky enough to fall into the hands of our Wuhu Village? Stop talking nonsense and get your money out quickly. Otherwise, not only will your cars be impounded by us today, but your lives will also be at stake.
Don’t even think about keeping it.”
The people in Wuhu Village were very arrogant, and some even started to find out what the goods were.
"Are you from Wuhu Village?"
When Li Mao heard this, he quickly opened his eyes and asked: "I have heard of your names for a long time. I don't know if you five heads are here, so I can let you know them."
"Haha, you know how powerful our Five Tiger Village is."
"Look, this is the head of our Wuhu Village, Black Tiger Li Hu, and this is our second in charge, Huang Hu Lulin. Tsk, it's such a pity that you don't have any female relatives in your team, otherwise the second in charge could be
It’s the groom.”
When they said this, all the bandits around them couldn't help laughing happily. It was obvious that this was definitely not the first time they had done such a thing.
"This is our third boss, White Tiger..."
The people of Wuhu Village were very proud to introduce the five village owners of their Wuhu Village to Li Mao, but they did not expect that Li Mao was overjoyed.
"The five tigers are all here, so we can clean it up together!"
"It's not good, it's a scam~"
Here, some bandits were about to look through the goods on the four-wheeled carriage, but a gun barrel was pressed against their heads. The bandits next to them screamed in fear when they saw it.
"Do it!"
Li Mao looked over and roared.
Suddenly, heavily armed Ming troops emerged from four-wheeled carriages.
"Withdraw~"
When Li Hu saw it, he turned around and immediately ran up the mountain without even thinking about it. They were all Ming troops. He felt something was wrong. They actually encountered a tough opponent.
"Li Hu, did you escape?"
Li Mao looked at the Wuhuzhai bandits scattered like birds and beasts, took the bow and arrow handed over by Zhu Nan, bent the bow and fired, and an arrow shot like a meteor, hitting Li Hu's thigh very accurately.
"kill!"
After giving the order, more than 500 Ming troops were like tigers descending the mountain, aiming their muskets at the fleeing bandits. Accompanied by dense gunfire, billowing white smoke rose, and figures fell down instantly.
After firing the gun, everyone took out the bows and arrows on their backs, bent their bows and shot arrows. A group of several people hunted down a bandit, almost like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
In just a short while, only a few of the Wuhuzhai bandits who had been extremely arrogant just now fled into the mountains and forests. The remaining bandits were either killed on the spot or wounded and captured alive.
As for the five heads of Wuhu Village, Li Mao only shot them in the legs and captured them all alive. These five people are still valuable and need to be put on public trial and then beheaded.
In Shilou County, Shanxi Province, all the prominent people in Shilou County were invited. At the same time, a large number of ordinary people from Shilou County gathered together, and everyone came to watch the public trial.
"Prisoners Li Hu, Lu Lin and others organized the Five Tigers Village to block roads, rob, murder and set fires. They committed all kinds of evil. On the occasion of their crimes, the county sentenced them to death and they will be executed immediately!"
"Prisoners Zhang San and Li Er have long organized Nanshan Village villagers to set up checkpoints on the Beijing-Shaanxi Highway, forcibly collect tolls, beat passing business travelers, seize business travelers' goods, extort money, and endanger the people."
"This county now sentences Zhang San and Li Er to death, and they will be executed immediately. All participating villagers in Nanshan Village will be distributed to Huangjinzhou!"
"Prisoner Sun Ermao has long organized villagers to open illegal shops next to the Beijing-Shaanxi Highway, forcing passing business travelers to enter the shops to consume, and forced them to buy and sell at high prices."
"Now this county has sentenced Sun Ermao, Zhang Biao, Liu Ermazi and others to death, and all the villagers involved in this matter have been sent to Australia!"
As the magistrate pronounced the sentence loudly from above, those below who heard that they were sentenced to death could not help but roar loudly.
"It's unfair, it's unfair~"
"I just collect tolls. I rely on the mountains and rivers to enjoy the water. How is it illegal to collect some tolls on the roads? Why should I be sentenced to death?"
"I was unjustly accused. I was unjustly convicted. I just wanted to do some business. Even if it was forced buying and selling, I wouldn't be beheaded."
However, no matter how they wailed, it had no effect at all. The Ming army pressed them to the guillotine. The executioner holding a tiger-head knife took a sip of wine, sprayed it again, raised the knife in his hand, and dropped the big heads on the ground.
However, this was not over yet. After these people were beheaded, their bodies were not allowed to be collected. They were all tied up with ropes by the government and hung on both sides of the Beijing-Shaanxi Highway as a warning.
