Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 53 Waiting for the Jianghu to Distant
"Tsk tsk!" Xu Wuliang leaned over to look at the multi-level dam diagram that Xu Huai had drawn on the cliff, and praised it, saying, "Xu Wufu is good at engineering, but he would never have thought of this. Why do you have to act stupid and let others look down on you——"
The Xu family has been settled in Tongbai Mountain for more than a hundred years. They have been able to withstand the local people's rejection of outsiders. Eight or nine generations have developed the mountains and have become one of the few major families here. This could not have been achieved without a pragmatic spirit.
Xu Wuliang was good at forging weapons. In fact, he had been an apprentice in the Beizhai blacksmith shop since he was a child to lay a solid foundation. After that, he joined the Jingsheng Army and had the opportunity to learn the forging methods in the army.
Regardless of whether Xu Wufu was vicious or good at flattery by nature, the fact that he was recommended to be an official in the provincial government and gained a foothold in Biyang City, spreading the Xu family's reputation and business to the entire Tangzhou was mainly because he was good at managing worldly affairs and was relied upon by the provincial officials.
In the past, Xu Wukun and Xu Wuqi followed Xu Wufu. They were not just warriors, but actually helped manage Xu's various businesses in Biyang and Huaiyuan.
Xu Huai drew a schematic diagram of the graded dam and explained it so thoroughly that Xu Wuliang and Xu Wukun were able to understand the subtleties of it.
Xu Wukun couldn't help but shed tears as he said, "If you tell others about this, who in the village will dare to call you stupid? I think it won't be long before your reputation spreads beyond Tongbai Mountain, and the heroes in Huaishan will all know that your father Xu Wuxuan gave birth to a heroic son..."
"..." Xu Huai sneered and said, "Others think I am stupid, but stupidity is good. You can all see the great benefits of it. How can I abandon such a disguise? Besides, what do I need these false names for? It is not enough for us to become bandits. We really need to raise the flag and enforce justice on behalf of heaven. Don't you think we are not dying fast enough!"
Now Xu Wujiang is secretly in charge of all matters, and Xu Wuliang and Xu Wukun have some opinions to some extent.
In their opinion, Xu Huaiwu's bravery is no less than Xu Wujiang's.
The money and food that allowed the people to settle down in Lion Camel Ridge were also provided by Xu Huai. Even in such a complicated life-and-death situation, it was Xu Huai who came up with most of the ideas and gave them a glimpse of hope.
More importantly, the former soldiers of the Jingsheng Army who returned to Tongbai Mountain were not just the sixteen or seventeen members of the Xu family.
Xu Wuliang, Xu Wukun and others knew that Wang Xiaocheng had recruited more than 300 bandits from Tongbai Mountain. After years of fighting, after Wang Xiaocheng's death, a total of hundreds of soldiers returned to Tongbai Mountain.
Xu Huai's father Xu Wuxuan was the commander of Wang Xiaocheng's personal guards and had the highest reputation among these people.
Most of these people are in . People like Xu Wukun and Xu Wuliang are around 40 years old. Some of them have a stable life, but a considerable number of them still live in poverty. Some of them might be willing to take risks and go back to their old ways.
In the view of Xu Wuliang and Xu Wukun, if they want to recruit more people to join in the future, pushing Xu Huai out will definitely be more effective than Xu Wujiang.
But Xu Huai didn't care about these things.
On the one hand, all the soldiers and their families followed Xu Wujiang's lead. If Xu Wujiang had not come forward to appease people and give orders at this time, but had listened to him giving orders, people's morale would have been dispersed long ago.
On the other hand, Xu Wujiang has taken good care of him over the years. No matter what, he is Xu Wujiang's nephew and should not argue over these trivial matters.
The most important thing is, there is no chance for a bandit to succeed in this world.
He doesn't want to be a bandit leader at all, okay?
It is said that killing people and setting fires is the way to wait for amnesty. Even if Wang Bing escapes this disaster and is able to make a comeback, in this era where culture is respected and military power is suppressed, how much wealth and glory can really be waiting for him in the future?
Looking at Deng Gui’s life trajectory, he knows that there are many things in this world that one should not have delusions about.
If we talk about what he is thinking, he naturally hopes that this dispute can be over as soon as possible. Then he will leave Tongbai Mountain, ride a horse, carry a sword and bow, and travel around the world first.
Perhaps the martial arts world is his destiny, or perhaps it is a yearning that has inexplicably sprouted in his heart over the past few days.
To achieve this goal, he has to pretend to be stupid and foolish, so that he can get away only after things are resolved.
Xu Huai erased the diagram of the graded dam on the cliff and said, "It seems feasible to build the dam in stages, but I have calculated in the past few days that it cannot be done without 10,000 or 20,000 strings of money and grain. It's just a thought at this time. If the situation eases, Lion Camel Ridge can also compete with the clan, then it can be done, but I won't worry about it."
Xu Wukun and Xu Wuliang were still puzzled by Xu Huai's choice, but since Xu Huai insisted on doing so, they didn't say anything.
After Xu Wukun and Xu Wuliang walked away, Liu Qiong'er stared at Xu Huai and asked, "Xu Wujiang actually has no expectations for Wang Bin's comeback. Don't you have any ideas at all?"
"Uncle Seventeen is pragmatic. What's wrong with expecting?" Xu Huai said with a smile, "Everyone has his own destiny. Lord Wang Bing doesn't care much about his own destiny. Why don't we just wait and see how the situation plays out?"
"Do you really think so? How old are you? Why do you say such old-fashioned words?" Liu Qiong'er said angrily.
"What does this have to do with age?" Xu Huai said, "Don't worry too much. I'm pretending to be stupid now, so it will be convenient for me to get away when the matter is resolved. When the time comes, I will take you away from this place of trouble and will not let you be a bandit's wife in the mountains for the rest of your life!"
"Really?" Liu Qiong'er asked in surprise.
She had no expectations of becoming a bandit, but she also knew that if she really went out, the best outcome would be to be sold to a wealthy family as a concubine. The more likely outcome would be that she would be charged with colluding with bandits and forced to become a government prostitute.
Of course, if Xu Huai took her out of Tongbai Mountain, things would be completely different.
With Xu Huai's skills and the cleverness of the two of them, if they forged an identity, there would be no place in the world that they couldn't go.
Thinking of this, all the worries of the past few days suddenly disappeared and I felt relaxed.
As for Wang Bing's life, death and fate, she seemed to have never met Wang Bing.
People really think more about themselves!
…
…
As the sun was setting, the huge bronze bell in the drum tower in the center of Lutaibei Village began to strike one after another.
"What happened?"
Xu Huai's vision was blocked by a corner of the cliff. He saw Xu Wukun and Xu Wuliang standing in the distance, looking towards the direction of Lutaibei Village with their brows furrowed.
"There is a group of people coming over from the North Village."
Xu Wuliang turned around and said.
"How is that possible? I've been sitting here for a long time and I didn't see anyone coming from the north!" Xu Huai asked in surprise.
Xu Huai's vision was blocked by a cliff, and he could not see the situation around Qingliu Creek Bridge north of Lutaibei Village, but the dirt road from Huaiyuan Town further north was within his field of vision.
He sat here in the afternoon thinking about the grading dam and was completely unaware of the approaching men and horses.
"They came from upstream of Qingliu Creek! They might be the troops from Xiema Mountain!" said Xu Wukun.
Xiema Mountain is located in the south of Jinshagou and southwest of Yuhuangling, with a straight-line distance of only 11 or 12 li, but there is no direct valley road from Xiema Mountain to the north slope of Yuhuangling. From Xiema Mountain and the valley road east of Yuhuangling, it takes more than 20 li to go around. From the upper reaches of Qingliu Creek, there is a dirt road that goes straight to the front of Lutai North Village. This is the shortcut for the Xiema Mountain bandits to harass Lutai Village.
Of course, if we look from the upstream direction of Qingliu Creek, it is possible that there is Jinjiazhai, which is about 30 miles away from Yuhuangling. It is the place where the Jin family of Jin Longquan, the head of the Inspection Office, lives together.
Xu Huai and Liu Qiong'er walked up to Xu Wukun and Xu Wuliang. From a distance, they saw dozens of soldiers armed with swords and bows gathering in front of and behind the Qingliu Creek Bridge north of the village gate.
Although it was impossible to see these people's faces clearly from such a distance, if it weren't for the bandits from Xiema Mountain, it was hard to imagine that the Jin family would send their soldiers to do something to Lutai Village without even saying hello?
"Let's take the horses over to take a look!" Xu Huai said, "According to the time, the people from Xiema Mountain should be here soon..."
Xu Huai initially thought that as long as Xu Wujiang and his men were established in Jinshagou and did not extort anything from the nearby villages, they would not attract the attention of the bandits in Xiema Mountain in the short term.
However, plans are not as fast as changes.
A few days ago, they heard the news that Xu Wujiang led his people to Hutouzhai and left after being rejected. Xu Huai thought at that time that it would be better for Deng Gui to stay out of trouble at this time. This news should have been spread intentionally by Zheng Hui and others.
This kind of news cannot be made public, but its hidden influence cannot be underestimated.
In addition to the impact on the government, which made county officials and local Tang Jin and other clan gentry more and more convinced that Xu Wujiang and his men had indeed surrendered to the bandits, the spread of this news among the Xu clan would inevitably weaken the Xu clan's sympathy and support for Xu Wujiang and his men.
Next time, if the officials really come to arrest the families of the soldiers, who among the Xu family will stand up to stop them?
Of course, there is another impact, which is what will the bandits in Xiema Mountain think when they hear the news?
The Xu clan members failed to take refuge in Hutou Village, so they fled to Jinshagou, north of Xiema Mountain, to settle down. The key point is that Lutai Village, where the Xu clan lived, was also nearby. Did the Xu clan have any conspiracy against Xiema Mountain?
Zheng Hui is killing someone with a borrowed knife!
