Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 51: Borrowing a Knife to Kill
The incident at Huolu Hall became such a big deal that Xu Zhongyu and others whose families had children injured were certainly unwilling to let it go.
They came to Xu Wufu's side, all wanting to arrest Xu Huaizhi and use clan law, but they didn't expect that the people who were watching Xu Huai, Xu Wuliang and others in the South Village came to report that Xu Huai was walking around in the South Village wearing wart armor:
"Xu Huai is wearing a set of wart armor and walking around the South Village showing off his might, saying that this armor is not afraid of swords and bows. Tomorrow he will wear this armor and come to Huolu Hall to cause trouble. Let's see how we deal with him!"
"Is it really Wart Jia? Wasn't that Jia buried with Xu Wuxuan a long time ago? That beast Xu Wuliang wouldn't instigate that rebellious son to open his father's coffin, would he? How could Yuhuangling tolerate such an unfilial thing to happen?" Xu Zhongyu cursed angrily.
When Xu Wuxuan returned to his hometown, he brought back a set of wart armor. It was no secret among the upper echelons of Lutai Village, but everyone also knew that the wart armor had been buried with Xu Wuxuan.
Opening the coffin of ancestors without permission is an act of treason. Xu Bosong, Xu Zhongyu and other clan elders were so angry that they were shaking all over.
"Bang!" Xu Wuqi slammed the table in anger and said, "It was that bastard Xu Wukun who ruined our plan!"
"What's wrong? What does this have to do with Xu Wukun?" Xu Wufu asked Xu Wuqi with a gloomy face.
"When Xu Wuxuan was buried, Xu Wukun and I kept watch one day," Xu Wuqi said with a wry smile, "He said it would be a pity to bury this precious armor with Wuxuan, so he secretly took it out and hid it! Unexpectedly, this bastard left in anger at the end of the night, and secretly gave the wart armor that he had hidden for many years to Xu Huai - this matter is difficult to deal with!"
Xu Wufu's face darkened, and after a long pause he asked Xu Wuqi, "How confident are you that you can take down Xu Huai?"
"Without this wart armor, I can only fight Xu Huai to a draw, but I can hold him back from the front, and with two people attacking from the side, it will not be difficult to hold him back," Xu Wuqi said with a headache, "Now Xu Huai is wearing the wart armor and is not afraid of bows and swords, and with Xu Wuliang and Xu Wukun protecting him, if we really want to fight to the death, I'm afraid even if twelve or thirteen people are injured, we may not be able to hold him back..."
Hearing Xu Wuqi say this, everyone took a deep breath.
Xu Huai made a big fuss yesterday, but no one took it to heart.
Not to mention people like Xu Wuqi, there have been constant clan fights in recent years, and the elders of the clans are also knowledgeable about the deployment of troops and know that it is difficult for a dictator to succeed.
No matter how strong Xu Huai was, it would not be difficult to subdue him given the bravery and well-trained Xu family farmhands. Therefore, when they learned that Xu Huai had gone to Huolu Hall to cause trouble again today, everyone only wanted to tie Xu Huai up and take him to the ancestral hall to punish him according to the clan law, and did not think about whether they could catch him.
Everyone thought that for such a fool, it would be no big deal to just break one leg and then let him live.
Governing a clan is like governing a country, one cannot be too merciful.
But unexpectedly, Xu Wukun was so blinded by lard that not only did he fall out with Xu Wuqi, he also ran away with Xu Wuliang, Xu Huai and others.
With Xu Huai's bravery and the protection of a precious weapon like the Wart Armor , if they wanted to take them down by force they would need to sacrifice more than twelve or thirteen skilled fighters, so everyone would not hesitate.
Although Yuhuangling can organize at most six or seven hundred militiamen, the only ones who can be considered good fighters are the forty or fifty farmhands stationed in Beizhai.
This can be said to be the foundation for the further rise of the Xu family in Tongbai Mountain over the past fifteen or sixteen years.
Now, just to deal with a stupid fool in the clan, we have to take such a huge loss. Who is willing to do it?
Even if Xu Wufu wanted to do it, they would have to dissuade him.
"Xu Huai is a bit stupid, but he was extremely fierce today in Huolu Hall, fighting one against fifteen. His bravery is no less than his father's. I'm going to say something that the Patriarch and Brother Wu Qi won't like to hear. Xu Huai's spear was slightly better. He is only sixteen years old this year. If he is given another three to five years to train his muscles and bones, who in Tongbai Mountain can be his opponent?"
Zhou Jing was born in Lutai Village with a small family. Even though he was trusted by Xu Wufu, he was usually cautious in his words and actions. Before, he saw Xu Huai arousing the anger of the crowd, and he did not say anything because he did not want to become the target of public criticism. Now that he saw everyone retreating, he stood up and said,
"In the final analysis, it is because Xu Huai has been living in the military camp with Xu Wujiang, Di Niang and others for the past two years. He is naturally a little stupid and has no scheming. He will naturally lean towards whoever he lives with, so he is used as a gun by them. However, everyone, think about it, if Xu Huai can be used by the entire Xu clan, who in Tongbai Mountain will dare to mess with the Xu clan in the future?"
"How can this killer embryo be tamed easily?" Xu Zhongyu was not happy to hear what Zhou Jing said and retorted immediately.
Zhou Jing smiled apologetically, indicating that he was just saying that and had no intention of arguing with Xu Zhongyu.
However, Xu Bosong and others thought about what Zhou Jing said and said, "Being too tough on this reckless guy may not be a good thing..."
The big clans in Tongbai Mountain fought over mountains, water and forests, and sometimes they fought each other.
The Xu family moved to Tongbai Mountain during the war at the end of the previous dynasty. One hundred and fifty or sixty years later, they were still regarded as outsiders and excluded by the Tang Jin family and other families. They even secretly condoned and colluded with bandits, specifically targeting the Xu family members and commercial goods and robbing them. No one knows how many such incidents have happened over the years.
Several mule and horse markets in Biyang City were fighting fiercely for territory; and if Xu wanted to get involved in other businesses in Tongbai Mountain and Biyang City, it was definitely not enough to just get an official letter.
Xu Huai followed Su Di's orders and felt extremely overwhelmed when things got messy. But then he thought, if this sharp weapon was in their hands, wouldn't others be more cautious from then on?
Originally, everyone had decided to send someone to arrest Xu Huai and punish him according to the clan law. But now, with this incident, everyone had different opinions. They discussed until midnight but still couldn't come to a conclusion. In the end, they just decided to prepare more people in Huolu Hall to prevent Xu Huai from making trouble again...
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In a canyon between the mountains east of Paomaxi Creek, you can still see traces of twenty or thirty people walking by.
Zheng Hui, Chen Zixiao, Dong Qifeng and others stood on a cliff protruding from the middle of the mountain, watching the canyon extending eastward between the mountains.
"Further east of this canyon is Jinshagou. Going east from Jinshagou and over two mountain ranges is Yuhuangling, where the Xu family lives. Going south along the stream is Xiema Mountain." Chen Zixiao is also an outsider, but he has been in Hutouzhai for five or six years after committing a crime. He is much more familiar with the situation in Tongbai Mountain than Zheng Hui, Dong Qifeng and others. "From the traces, Xu Wujiang and his gang should be hiding somewhere in Jinshagou, but they have many skilled fighters, so spies should not get too close..."
"I said Xu Wufu is not trustworthy. This guy is hiding in Jinshagou, and he must be colluding with people inside and outside Lutai Village!" Dong Qifeng said impatiently.
After hearing that Xu Wujiang and others disappeared from Qingxi Village and hid in Jinshagou not far from Lutai Village, Dong Qifeng thought that their previous plans had come to nothing. He believed that Xu Wufu not only did not cooperate with them, but it was even Xu Wufu's reminder that allowed Xu Wujiang to escape from Qingxi Village in time.
Zheng Hui did not respond to Dong Qifeng's question and asked Chen Zixiao , "Are you familiar with Pan Chenghu, the head of Xiema Mountain?"
"Pan Chenghu is good at using a horizontal sword and a long spear. I met him twice in Tongbai Mountain, but I can't say I know him very well. Pan Chenghu's father was a tenant farmer in Jinjiayu in his early years. He couldn't make it, so he took a dozen people to Xiema Mountain to join. Twenty years ago, when Wang Xiaocheng was appointed as the governor of Tangzhou, the forces in Xiema Mountain were wiped out, and only Pan Chenghu and a dozen others escaped from the mountains. After Wang Xiaocheng was transferred out of Tangzhou, the forces in the mountain stronghold were able to recuperate, and Pan Chenghu gathered people to retake Xiema Mountain. In recent years, he has gathered another 300 people, and their strength is stronger than the previous Hutou Village!"
Zheng Hui spread out the geomancy map of Tongbai Mountain drawn by the West Office of the Ministry of Official Affairs. Jinshagou was not very well-known in the government and was not marked on the map, but Yuhuang Ridge, Xiema Mountain, and the dirt road connecting Yuhuang Ridge and Xiema Mountain along the east bank of Baijian River from Huaiyuan Town were all marked.
However, Chen Zixiao was familiar with the geomancy map and pointed the direction of Jinshagou to Zheng Hui.
Zheng Hui frowned and thought for a while, then said to Dong Qifeng:
"You must know how serious a crime desertion is, and this is exactly where we can make a big move in the future. I think Xu Wufu wants to play tricks, so he can just keep his troops in place or wait and see. He will never let Xu Wujiang and his men escape from Qingxi Village easily. At this time, the state government has reported the matter of the Wu soldiers surrendering to the bandits to the Lu Division, and it will be reported to the Privy Council soon. We still have to wait for Guo Caoling to officially take office as the Huaiyuan Inspector, so that many deployments can be carried out calmly..."
"So we're not going to do anything now?" Dong Qifeng asked.
After Guo Caoling replaced Deng Gui as the inspector of Huaiyuan, they completely controlled Wang Bing. However, things became so complicated that they only succeeded because of Zheng Hui's strategy, which showed their incompetence.
"Xu Wufu couldn't have tipped off Xu Wujiang, and he couldn't have risked his life to collude with Xu Wujiang secretly. But Xu Wujiang and his men were willing to bear the crime of 'deserting' and get out of Qingxi Village at this critical moment. This shows that they have made an accurate assessment of the situation and we cannot underestimate them. There must be someone behind them," Zheng Hui said. "It will take at least a month for the Prime Minister to transfer Guo Caoling here. Whether it's Xu Wujiang and his men or the old soldiers of the Jingsheng Army in Lutai Village, they are all troubles left over from the early years. Since they have shown up this time, how can we not share the Prime Minister's worries?"
" We sneaked into Jinshagou and saw traces of people moving around, but we haven't found their exact hiding place yet. It shows that they are also very vigilant," Dong Qifeng said with a frown. "There is no ready-made road from Hutouzhai to Jinshagou. A small group of elite troops raiding there may not be able to wipe out the roots!"
Not to mention how many former soldiers of the Jingsheng Army were lured by Lu Xiong to secretly protect Wang Bing, it would be very difficult for them to get rid of Xu Wujiang's team of brave soldiers hiding in the remote and dangerous Jinshagou.
"Then let's borrow Pan Chenghu's knife and try to see how much edge the old soldiers of the Jingsheng Army have left!" Zheng Hui snorted coldly and said to Chen Zixiao, "First, spread the rumor that Xu Wujiang led his people to escape from Qingxi Village and surrendered to Hutou Village - first confirm their crime of 'surrendering to the bandits'; then spread the rumor that Xu Wujiang is ambitious and had ulterior motives as soon as he arrived at Hutou Village, and wanted to seek the position of the leader, but was driven out of Hutou Village by you. Let's see if Pan Chenghu dares to tolerate Xu Wujiang and his gang hiding on the side of Xiema Mountain?"
"Mr. Zheng, this is a brilliant plan."
There is no ready-made road from Hutouling to Jinshagou. Chen Zixiao is afraid that Zheng Hui will try to attack Xu Wujiang and his gang by force, and by then, it is unknown how many good fighters will be killed in Hutouzhai.
When it comes to killing someone with a borrowed knife, Chen Zixiao also got excited and offered some ideas.
"Pan Chenghu is a cautious but suspicious person. This is related to the fact that Xiema Mountain was once suppressed in the early years. Therefore, the Xiema Mountain group usually does not invade the surrounding villages and get along well with each other. But as long as Pan Chenghu knows that Xu Wujiang and his group settled in Jinshagou at the secret instruction of Xu Wufu, it will definitely hit his sore spot..."
"Your plan is even better!" Zheng Hui clapped his hands and laughed, "It is said that there is no room for two tigers in one mountain. What's more, the other tiger that just broke in has a group of wolves who eat meat and don't spit out bones backing it up. It's impossible for Pan Chenghu to tolerate one or two of them!"
