A sharp sound of hoofbeats came from the city gate, and a fast horse ran into the city like an arrow. The knight on the horse hissed: "Get out of the way..."
The vendors and passers-by on the street hurriedly ran away, shouting curses at the knight's back. The knight ran all the way to the county government office, rolled his saddle and dismounted, and was about to rush in. The policeman on guard held him back with a gun and shouted: "Stop!
who?"
The knight stopped, raised his hands in a hurry and said, "I have urgent confidential matters to report to the county magistrate."
"You can meet the county magistrate whenever you want!" The policeman raised the gun in his hand and glanced at the knight: "Tell me if you have anything in advance."
The knight was frightened by the police and stammered: "The bandits from Longshanji are coming to Yongcheng."
When the policeman heard the name of Longshanji, he trembled all over, his voice changed, and he glared: "You are telling the truth. If you dare to lie about the military situation, I will not spare you!"
The knight said: "It's absolutely true, take me to see the county magistrate quickly."
The policemen looked at each other, searched the knight, and took him into the county government office.
…
Since Mei Changyuan married his new concubine, he has not gone to court early in the morning and has been coveting the pleasures of the boudoir every day. He handed over all government affairs to the secretary-general He Ruiliang. The police did not dare to disturb the county magistrate, so they went to the security room to find He Ruiliang and reported the situation.
Said. He Ruiliang did not dare to neglect the banditry when he heard about it, but he had not been in Yongcheng for a long time. He had only heard of the place name Longshanji in Anhui Province, but he had never heard of the bandits in Longshanji, so he asked the police: "This is Longshanji"
What's the situation like with the bandits gathered here?"
The policeman changed his tone and said: "The bandits in Longshanji were originally members of the Anhui Army. They rebelled because they could not pay their military pay. They occupied the dangerous area of Longshanji and often attacked cities and territories along the border between Henan and Anhui. The bandit leader's name was 'Zhensanguan'.
His real name is unknown, he likes to bury people alive for fun, and his reputation is very fierce. The bandits are said to have thousands of people, with guns and cannons, and strong soldiers and horses. The officers and soldiers have been defeated in many encirclement and suppression campaigns."
He Ruiliang frowned. It sounded like this bandit was much tougher than the Heifeng Village who besieged the city not long ago. He couldn't help asking: "Who is more powerful between the bandits in Longshanji and the bandits in Heifeng Village?"
?”
The policeman said without thinking: "How can Heifeng Village be compared to Longshan Ji? They are a serious Anhui Army. Fighting is a common occurrence. It's awesome! In the early years, when the reputation of banditry was at its worst, there was no need to send bandits.
Fighting, as long as you send a greeting card, no matter if you ask for money or food, you have to hand it over obediently."
He Rui's conscience was shocked. He could make people submit with just a greeting note. This bandit was too powerful. He hurriedly said: "Invite the messenger in quickly!"
The police brought the knight into the custody room. He Ruiliang looked the knight up and down, put on a smile and said, "I am He Ruiliang, the secretary-general of the county government. I would like to thank you for coming to report this. I don't know your name."
"I don't dare. The villain's name is Chen He, and he is from Qingkou Town." the knight said hurriedly.
He Ruiliang rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "Master Chen Zhuang, I don't know how you learned that the bandits were about to attack our Yongcheng."
Chen He said: "The villain is engaged in business and has friendship with all religions and nine schools. It was the green forest friends in Anhui who knew about the Longshan Ji going down the mountain. They were afraid that my property would be damaged, so they informed me about the Longshan Ji going down the mountain in advance and asked me to hurry up.
There is a precaution. After hearing the news, the villain did not dare to be selfish, so he came to inform the county magistrate and made plans to prevent bandits as soon as possible."
He Ruiliang kept staring at Chen He and saw that his expression was normal when he spoke. It didn't look like he was lying. Furthermore, lying about a crime was a serious crime, so he didn't dare to talk nonsense. However, he still had an extra thought and turned around to call a policeman aside.
Whispered: "Immediately go to the Qingshi Town Chamber of Commerce to find someone to inquire about the origin of Chen He. Tell me about his appearance and age. Come and report back as soon as possible!"
The police went to inquire. He Ruiliang returned to his seat with a smile and said: "I still need to report the gangster incident to the county magistrate. Chen Zhuangshi will wait a moment."
Chen He hurriedly waved his hand and said: "Secretary-General, please!"
He Ruiliang quickly came to the back house. As soon as he walked outside the county magistrate's house, he heard the sounds of flirting coming from the boudoir. He frowned, knocked on the door and said: "County magistrate, something happened."
After a while, Mei Changyuan came out of the door wearing a single coat with an unhappy look on his face, and asked angrily: "What happened?"
He Ruiliang whispered: "Someone came to report that the giant bandits from Longshanji, Anhui will invade our county. Please give instructions from the county magistrate."
Mei Changyuan didn't feel panic at all after hearing this, and said disapprovingly: "I'll take it as nothing. If there are bandits, I'll go to Xue Lin. If that doesn't work, I'll go to Han Baihang." After that, he went back to the house.
"County magistrate!"
He Ruiliang hurriedly grabbed Mei Changyuan and told him how powerful Longshan Ji was. He hesitated and said, "Should we issue a decree to announce the banditry so that people in all villages and towns can avoid it?"
"It's up to you." Mei Changyuan said impatiently, turned back to the house, and slammed the door.
"The county magistrate..."
He Ruiliang felt impatient, put his forehead on his forehead and let out a long sigh. Yongcheng was in troubled times, but the county magistrate was addicted to women. What should he do?
Returning to the deposit room with a heavy heart, Chen He was sitting uneasily. When he saw He Ruiliang walking in, he stood up and said: "Secretary-General!"
"Sit, sit!"
He Ruiliang calmed down and said with a smile: "I have already reported it to the county magistrate. The county magistrate highly praised Chen Zhuangshi's actions and wanted to reward Chen Zhuangshi with one hundred silver dollars."
Chen He's face was filled with surprise, and he said: "I just can't bear the bandits invading my hometown, so how dare I ask for a reward?"
"Hey, meritorious deeds must be rewarded, and delinquencies must be punished. These are the county magistrate's original words." He Ruiliang said seriously. He glanced at Chen He and suddenly asked: "What kind of business does Chen Zhuangshi do?"
Chen He said: "This villain travels between Henan and Anhui provinces, selling some medicinal materials."
"Since you are selling medicinal materials, you must have a good understanding of pharmacology. My tongue has been dry and my eyes have been astringent these past few days. I don't know what medicine to use?" He Ruiliang stared at Chen He and said.
Chen He gave out a prescription without thinking, even stating the dosage clearly. He Ruiliang knew he was an expert as soon as he heard it, and his doubts were slightly reduced, and he smiled and said: "I have written down this house. It will be more convenient to follow the prescription in the future."
Already."
Chen He smiled modestly.
At this moment, the policeman outside ran in sweating profusely and whispered in He Ruiliang's ear: "Secretary-General, I have inquired and found that there is indeed a person called Chen He. The age and appearance described are exactly the same as this person, but someone said
, Chen He encountered a wolf when he went to the mountains to collect medicine in his early years, and he had scars on his legs."
He Ruiliang waved the policeman to go down, turned to look at Chen He, and said: "Chen Zhuangshi, I saw that when you came in, you seemed to have some difficulty in your legs and feet. Did you suffer any injuries?"
Chen He looked surprised: "The secretary-general knew very well that when he was a child, he was stared at by a hungry wolf when he went up the mountain to collect herbs. He narrowly escaped death and only managed to survive. A large piece of flesh was torn off his leg by the hungry wolf. He was lying on the bed.
I lay down for half a year before getting out of bed."
He Ruiliang said: "I want to take a look at the wound. Mr. Chen, please lift up your trouser legs."
Chen He was confused, but he obeyed and lifted up his trouser legs, revealing the sharp scar on the face bone of his calf. He Ruiliang took a closer look, breathed a sigh of relief and said, "You will be blessed if you survive a catastrophe."
Since Chen He's identity was true, the conspiracy was probably true. He Ruiliang asked someone to bring a hundred oceans to Chen He and sent him out. Then he went to the militia headquarters in person to find Xue Lin. When he arrived at the militia gate, he was rejected.
, the regiment member standing guard told him that Xue Lin had left the city, and when he asked where he was going, he didn't know anything.
He Rui was worried. When he returned to the county government, he immediately drafted a government order in the name of Mei Changyuan and sent a horse to various villages and towns to report the banditry. On the other hand, he personally wrote a handwritten letter and asked his confidants to send it to Yong'an Town to invite Han Baihang.
Send troops to resist the bandits.
After doing these things, He Ruiliang was particularly worried. The shadow of the bandits' invasion of Yongcheng last time had not dissipated, especially when he faced the more ferocious Longshanji bandits this time. After much thought, he went to visit Ding Zuopeng.