After dispatching these two local bullies, how would the court collect taxes? What would happen to those rascals? Where would the illicit gains come from? What would happen to the county’s many affairs?
Furthermore, this Constable Liu is a close relative of this advisor, bone and flesh connected. If Magistrate Hao were to kill him, it wouldn’t just be losing this advisor’s face, but more importantly, how would this advisor explain it to his distant uncle?
Advisor Liu said, "Since Zhu Xiaosong could stir up such a commotion, he is likely no easy adversary. It is understandable for Constable Li to spend more time investigating."
"As for Constables Liu and Wang, they have been loyal retainers of the Master for many years. Even without merit, they have rendered hard service. Why doesn't the Master grant them a chance to atone for their past mistakes?"
Magistrate Hao snorted coldly, "If the Master gives them a chance to atone, who will give the Master a chance to atone? Hmm!?"
"Tomorrow is the twenty-ninth of the twelfth lunar month. After the Lantern Festival, His Majesty might embark on a southern tour. If we don't suppress Zhu Xiaosong now, how will the Master account for it then?"
Advisor Liu's eyes darted, he gave Magistrate Hao a knowing look, then bowed and said, "Master, please calm your anger."
Magistrate Hao grunted in exasperation, waved his sleeve, and roared at Constables Liu and Wang, "Get out! If you still haven't found any news about Zhu Xiaosong tomorrow, watch your skins!"
After Constables Liu and Wang retreated together, Magistrate Hao turned his gaze back to Advisor Liu, "Whatever it is, you can speak now."
Advisor Liu responded, bowed, and said, "Master, please be discerning. This student believes that killing Constables Liu and Wang is easy, but even if they are killed, it will not solve the current problem, will it?"
"The immediate priority is to have them thoroughly investigate Zhu Xiaosong's background. Even if we cannot suppress that fellow surnamed Zhu, when our superiors inquire later, the Master will have an explanation, won't he?"
Magistrate Hao also knew that he could not do without the assistance of these local figures, otherwise, he wouldn't have told Constables Liu and Wang to get out earlier. Now that Advisor Liu had spoken thus, Magistrate Hao graciously accepted the suggestion, grunted, and said, "Very well, considering their long service to the Master, if they have no merit, they have at least rendered hard service. For now, I shall spare them."
Advisor Liu quickly flattered the Master for his wisdom, then continued, "In this student's opinion, if we cannot pacify the rebel Zhu before the fifteenth, why doesn't the Master simply report this matter to the Yanzhou Military Preparedness Office?"
Magistrate Hao shook his head and said, "Don't you know that the Yanzhou Military Preparedness Office has no authority to deploy troops? Moreover, if rebels emerge under my jurisdiction, wouldn't that indicate my incompetence?"
Advisor Liu said, "This student naturally knows that the Yanzhou Military Preparedness Office has no authority to deploy troops, but what does the Yanzhou Military Preparedness Office's authority to deploy troops have to do with the Master?"
"Master, please do not forget, that rebel Zhu is surnamed Zhu—as long as it is stated that this Zhu is a remnant of the former Ming dynasty, then the charge of the Master's incompetence will be nullified, and the matter will then fall to the Yanzhou Military Preparedness Office?"
"If the Master conceals this report and it is later exposed by someone else during His Majesty's tour, that would be a grave offense!"
Magistrate Hao was somewhat swayed. After careful consideration, he quietly instructed, "You prepare two gifts for me first. The Master must make a trip to Yanzhou."
...
Meanwhile, Constables Liu and Wang had been accustomed to having their way in Ningyang County. Magistrate Hao had always relied on them, which inevitably made them feel a bit too pleased with themselves and lose all sense of proportion. Today, being suddenly berated by Magistrate Hao as grandsons and nearly receiving a 'thorough beating,' they felt their faces were somewhat tarnished.
After leaving the county yamen, Constable Wang said in a deep voice, "Head Constable Liu, Constable Li went in and never came back. He likely fell victim to the bandits of Jade Emperor Mountain. You must decide what to do about this?"
Constable Liu snorted coldly, gritted his teeth, and said, "What decision? Our faces were lost because of those bandits on Jade Emperor Mountain, so we should naturally get them back from them."
Hearing the killing intent in Constable Liu's words, Constable Wang couldn't help but advise, "Head Constable Liu, those on Jade Emperor Mountain could create such a large disturbance, even veteran Constable Li was defeated. If we rely only on us..."
Constable Liu shook his head and said, "Haven't you noticed? Although the bandits on Jade Emperor Mountain caused such a stir, they have only operated village by village. This indicates that the bandits on the mountain are actually not too numerous."
"If we count all the households in the villages that are mourning, it's only about a hundred households. That means there are only about a hundred people on Jade Emperor Mountain in total."
Constable Wang asked doubtfully, "The mourning households? What does Head Constable Liu mean?"
Constable Liu let out a cold laugh and said, "I believe that Jade Emperor Mountain has bandits, and I also believe that Zhu annihilated the entire families of many village gentry. But I don't believe that Zhu went on a rampage in every village, killing relatives of almost every household!"
"If each village had twenty or thirty households killed by Zhu, why didn't he wipe them out completely? Why didn't those families whose members were killed proactively report it to the authorities?"
"To put it bluntly, these people are feigning death to escape and have gone up Jade Emperor Mountain with Zhu!"
"Only about a hundred people, yet they managed to cause such a big stir. They do have some skill."
Speaking of this, Constable Liu couldn't help but grin sinisterly and said, "Gather all your men at West Gate. We will go and meet that Zhu Xiaosong today! Tell the men that as long as Zhu Xiaosong is eliminated, each person will receive at least ten taels of silver!"
Constable Wang hesitated, "Ten taels each? Our Ningyang County, if not for anything else, can muster three hundred or so men. That would be three thousand taels of silver?"
Constable Liu waved his hand carelessly, "Three thousand taels? What are three thousand taels? Zhu Xiaosong annihilated the entire families of over a dozen or twenty gentry and scholars. The money he plundered must be at least eight to ten thousand taels. If we take out three thousand taels to distribute, our brothers can still pocket two thousand taels."
Upon hearing of two thousand taels of silver, Constable Wang no longer hesitated and immediately went to gather the rascals and hooligans of Ningyang County.
Two thousand taels of silver! That was two thousand taels of silver! Even if Constable Liu was greedy, he would at least have to give me five hundred taels, right? For all my hard work and money-grabbing, I only make forty or fifty taels a year. Five hundred taels is enough for me to hoard for ten years!
Wang Ban Tou's heart burned with passion for the five hundred taels of silver, while the rascals and hooligans of Ningyang County had no such lofty ambitions as Wang Ban Tou. Even ten taels of silver were enough to make these rascals and hooligans roar with excitement.
Liu Ban Tou's originally gloomy expression finally improved a little when he saw the three hundred or so roaring rascals and hooligans.
The morale was usable!
Even if Zhu Xiaosong had deceived a hundred or so strong young men to go up the mountain with him, how could those hundred or so country bumpkins compare to three hundred rascals and hooligans who dared to fight and kill?
As long as Jade Emperor Mountain was eliminated, the money seized by Zhu Xiaosong would become ownerless. First, take out three thousand taels to distribute to these rascals and hooligans, then give two to three thousand taels to the Master, and the rest would be all mine? At that time, distributing three hundred taels to Wang Ban Tou would be almost enough.
Thinking that at least two thousand taels of silver were beckoning to him from Jade Emperor Mountain, Liu Ban Tou immediately led a group of rascals and hooligans towards Jade Emperor Mountain.
In order to get the silver as soon as possible, Liu Ban Tou and the rascals and hooligans didn't even plunder the villages along the way, and only stopped to rest when they reached the Wen River.
However, Liu Ban Tou, Wang Ban Tou, and the group of rascals and hooligans did not notice that near the big willow tree at the entrance of the village they had just passed, a plume of smoke had quietly risen.
Therefore, when Liu Ban Tou and Wang Ban Tou arrived at the foot of Jade Emperor Mountain with three hundred rascals and hooligans, Zhu Xiaosong had already received the news and prepared a welcoming gift for Liu Ban Tou and Wang Ban Tou.
The welcoming gift was the first batch of homemade hand grenades produced by Jade Emperor Mountain.
This batch of homemade hand grenades had many shortcomings, such as the use of gunpowder for explosives and the use of firecracker fuses for fuses, and other shortcomings had already destined these hand grenades to have low lethality. They were probably only slightly better than the "border region manufactured" grenades that Li Yunlong spoke of.
But it didn't matter. The Great Qing Dynasty's foundation was based on archery. They did not pay attention to the research and development of firearms. Even firearms experts like Dai Zi were exiled to Shenyang. Petty county yamen runners like Constable Liu had never even seen a firearm. Such suddenly appearing homemade hand grenades were enough to give Constable Liu a big surprise.
And the development of events was indeed as Zhu Xiaosong had predicted.
Constables Liu and Wang were just ordinary yamen heads. They were capable of bullying common people, but when it came to military operations, they were pure nonsense. There was no such thing as scouts, pathfinders, vanguard, central army, or rear army.
With the two leaders like this, it was natural to imagine the state of the three hundred rascals they led.
Relying on their superior numbers, these rascals and hooligans didn't even bother to conceal themselves and swaggered up the mountain.
Then, the hand grenades made by Zhu Xiaosong and a group of willing craftsmen were thrown at these rascals and hooligans by the bandits of Jade Emperor Mountain who had laid an ambush in advance.
As everyone knows, the quality of homemade hand grenades is not very reliable, and the detonation time cannot be precisely controlled. Moreover, it was the first time the bandits of Jade Emperor Mountain were using these things, so some hand grenades exploded in mid-air, while others exploded after hitting the ground.
The crucial point was that whether it was the hand grenades that exploded in mid-air or those that exploded after hitting the ground, they were all pre-grooved with shrapnel slots—if they were not pre-grooved with shrapnel slots, then homemade hand grenades would indeed split into two halves upon explosion, just as Li Yunlong said.
But how could the hand grenades made by Zhu Xiaosong's men not have pre-grooved shrapnel slots? The explosive part did not mix iron nails but only crushed stones, that was because Jade Emperor Mountain was very poor!
Therefore, a large number of hand grenade fragments and some small crushed stones flew everywhere with the sound of explosions, and the rascals and hooligans were directly stunned by the explosions.
If the shrapnel directly pierced vital points like the neck or heart, it would be better, and they might die quickly. The worst was being hit by shrapnel but not in a vital spot, in which case they could only lie on the ground and howl, and a few who were not hit tried to flee in all directions, only to be tripped by their companions.
Zhu Erdan and Liu Erniu watched this scene and were almost shocked off their jaws—are these the yamen officials who usually lord it over others? Just this? Just this?
The hot-tempered Liu Erniu even drew his saber and grinned, "Great Chieftain, why don't you let me lead men to give them a quick end?"
Zhu Xiaosong rolled his eyes and reprimanded, "What's the rush! If the problem can be solved with hand grenades, there's no need to draw swords and kill people, understand?"
This reflects the profoundness of the Chinese language—although Liu Erniu did not know what "hand grenade carpet bombing" meant, he could understand the meaning in Zhu Xiaosong's words.
Is it not magical?
However, what was even more magical was yet to come.
"My dear father! Grandfather! Ancestors! We surrender! We surrender!"
Perhaps they were stunned by the continuous explosions, or perhaps they were terrified by the tragic sight of the rascals and hooligans who were killed or wounded by the explosions, the group of rascals and hooligans directly knelt and surrendered!
They surrendered! Even if Zhu Xiaosong sent people to tie them up, not a single rascal or hooligan dared to stand up and resist.
Because, all the yamen runners of the three battalions in Ningyang County, except for those on duty in the county town, had all received their boxed lunches! Constables Liu and Wang had already died as a gesture of respect!