nashuaworldcup Chapter 229: When meeting the bandit leader, judge by his deeds, not his heart!
Chapter 229: When meeting the bandit leader, judge by his deeds, not his heart!
After Gu Jingzhi and a group of officials from Ningzhou Prefecture reached a consensus, Lin Feng and his team also returned with the surrendered bandits.
As soon as he saw Gu Jingzhi, Lin Feng said with some discomfort: "Cousin, it's all my fault. More than sixty brothers died in this battle, and more than four hundred were injured... It was all because of my poor command. I..."
"Okay! I don't blame you!"
Gu Jingzhi patted him on the shoulder and said, "There are bound to be casualties in war, but the casualties of the soldiers are worth it. They have solved the bandit problem in Ningzhou and restored peace to Ningzhou. The soldiers died for a good cause!"
"Tell the soldiers that I will never forget their sacrifice today. After the bandit suppression is over, I will definitely apply to the court for their commendation!"
"Ah! Lin, you did a pretty good job. I've seen that those bandits have been trained and their fighting methods are flawless. Ordinary armies are no match for them. If it weren't for their lack of training, our casualties today would be even greater!"
General Qiao standing by also sighed slightly.
Gu Jingzhi was stunned when he heard this and asked, "General Qiao, are you saying... these bandits have received the kind of training that only the military can provide?"
"Not bad!"
Qiao Zhen said, "I've fought in wars all my life, so my eyes can't be wrong. Their training methods are no different from those of the military. It's only because they've neglected their training that we've found some gaps!"
"They probably don't have enough food to sustain the strenuous training, otherwise we would have suffered even more casualties today!"
"Well!"
Gu Jingzhi nodded thoughtfully, then said, "I'm sorry to bother General Qiao today. Why don't you go back and rest first? I'll come visit you another day after I've sorted out Ningzhou's affairs!"
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter!"
Qiao Zhen waved his hand and said with a smile, "You can accept my two grandchildren... It is already the greatest favor to my Qiao family. I, an old man, can only do the best I can!"
"This Ningzhou Prefecture looks like a mess. There are so many government affairs that you can handle. You don't need to worry about me, an old man. Just go and do your own thing!"
"Ok!"
Gu Jingzhi nodded and said with a smile: "Then I will respectfully send General Gu off!"
"Ha ha!"
Qiao Zhen laughed, then left with his two sons!
……
After the three of them left, Lin Feng also told his subordinates to bring the people back. Seeing that only his own people were left around, Lin Feng handed a token to Gu Jingzhi.
"Cousin, this was found on the bandit leader. Look..."
Gu Jingzhi took it and looked at it. The token was longer and narrower than usual... with a word "Gu" in the middle.
His heart moved slightly and he asked, "What is this?"
"Cousin! This is the military order from the Gu family army!"
"Gu's army?"
Gu Jingzhi's heart suddenly shuddered, and he asked, "Are you saying that these people are from the Gu family army from the early years?"
"Ok!"
Lin Feng said, "Although I have never seen the military orders of the Gu Family Army, but considering what General Qiao said and the corpses we collected, these bandits are likely part of the Gu Family Army from the early years, or perhaps their descendants!"
This……
Many thoughts suddenly popped up in Gu Jingzhi's mind.
If these are really the Gu family army from the early years, then who is the leader?
Also, who brought them together, and who has been manipulating everything behind them all these years?
Could it be that their purpose in concealing the bandit problem in Ningzhou was to preserve Lianyun Village?
If this is true, then there will be a big problem!
The Gu family army was originally from a famous family, but now they have become bandits. If they were just ordinary mountain bandits, it would be fine, but they are bandits who secretly store armor and repeatedly oppose government soldiers.
This crime...
It’s not easy!
In addition...
Is there anyone from the Gu family here?
If there were anyone from the Gu family, would he personally send the Gu family to the guillotine?
Gu Jingzhi thought for a moment and said, "Where are these people being held?"
"Ningzhou Prefecture Prison!"
"Why are you still in prison?"
Gu Jingzhi frowned. These bandits were no ordinary bandits. There were many people in this prison and there were many eyes...
Lin Feng said, "Cousin, we don't have any other place to detain them! The Ningzhou prison is quite empty, so I had people lock these bandits up in there!"
"Don't worry, they are separated from ordinary criminals!"
Seeing that Gu Jingzhi was not too reassured, he deliberately said one more thing.
Hearing this, Gu Jingzhi said, "Okay, I'll go to the prison to check on this group of people. If you have nothing to do, come with me!"
"Ok!"
Lin Feng nodded.
The two men slowly came to the prison. The prison was guarded by soldiers. When they saw Gu Jingzhi coming, they wanted to salute immediately, but Gu Jingzhi quickly stopped them.
After entering the prison, Lin Feng said, "Cousin, the bandit leader is imprisoned in the innermost cell."
"Okay, let's go!"
……
Soon, the two came to the innermost cell, where a young man in chains was locked up. He was the second leader of Lianyun Village.
Gu Jingzhi looked at the man, and the man also looked at Gu Jingzhi.
When the man saw Gu Jingzhi, his pupils suddenly shrank and he asked, "Who are you?"
I?
Gu Jingzhi was a little confused.
Lin Feng scolded him, "This is the Marquis of Xiling, personally appointed by His Majesty. He was ordered to inspect the northwest and is now leading the Ningzhou prefect, Lord Gu!"
"Gu..."
When he heard this surname, he suddenly felt a little melancholy!
"You previously spread the news that you were a corrupt official who was trying to plunder Ningzhou. This was all... to lure us in, right?"
"Not bad!"
Gu Jingzhi nodded: "Ningzhou will not be at peace until the bandit problem is eliminated! For the sake of Ningzhou's overall situation, the bandits in Lianyun Village and even the entire region must be completely wiped out!"
"Eradication..."
The second leader was not angry at Gu Jingzhi's words. Instead, he said, "But they are all ordinary people. As officials... can you be so careless about their lives?"
"A country has its laws, and every family has its rules! Your existence has caused nine out of ten houses in Ningzhou to be empty. Isn't this your fault?"
"But that's also the inaction of the officials!"
As if he had thought of something, the second village chief's tone suddenly became fierce: "Ningzhou used to have a population of one million. What about now?"
"Daxia has only been established for twenty years, and now it has become like this. Isn't it because the Daxia government is inaction?"
"what!"
Gu Jingzhi smiled and asked curiously, "I'm curious, what kind of courage did you have to say that?"
"If you hadn't taken refuge in Lianyun Village, leading to the rampant banditry throughout Ningzhou, now even plundering the people's food, would Ningzhou have become like this?"
"I, Lianyun Village, only rob the rich and are not kind..."
"enough!"
Gu Jingzhi scolded: "The dynasty has its own laws. Even if there are many problems, they must be solved by legitimate means!"
"You, Lianyun Village, claim to be righteous, but what is the result?"
"The common people guard their land but dare not cultivate it, fearing that all their hard work will be lost to others. You, Lianyun Village, casually claim that you only plunder the rich and unkind, but weren't those mountain villages able to grow to their current size in the early years thanks to your protection?"
"A bandit is a bandit. Even if he has justice in his heart, this is the result..."
"us……"