The magistrate is a money-crazed man who can't afford to spend money, "Mr. Yang, the court will definitely pay for the annihilation of the Southern Party, but water from afar cannot quench the thirst for nearness. We cannot allow the Southern Party to wreak havoc. We must take action first. Don't worry, we will wait for the court's money."

Take it down, half of our family will never break our promise."

Yang Yi'an also knew that asking the county magistrate to get money would be more difficult than going to heaven, but he was not afraid of the magistrate's default. He collected many donations and taxes, and it was only natural that they would be deducted when the time came.

Everyone had their own plans, and after the two of them had discussed it, someone came to report it, and the person who was aware of the situation came back.

Recruit him quickly and listen to the report.

The three people who came in showed their shrewdness. They first saluted Yang Yi'an and then knelt down to the magistrate.

The first person to report was a middle-aged man in his forties. His name was Luo Sheng, who was obviously the leader of the three people: "...the three of us arrived at Wan Gong and divided the labor. I will touch those above Wan Gong.

Next, Wang Cheng went to touch it, and Ding Haoran was responsible for inquiring about the news in Wan Gongchang."

"I learned that Xiadaoyan has become their home base, and the bandit leader Xia Ping is hiding in Xiadaoyan."

"The Xia bandits deceived and lured the people by dividing their land, resisting taxes, reducing rent and interest, etc. Some people were afraid of Uncle Yang and the government and did not dare to agree, but some were bewitched and joined his gang."

"Some villages did not want to join his gang, but there were people in the village who were involved. They were afraid that when Uncle Yang came to call, it would bring disaster to the village, so they joined the gang.

"When I came back, a total of 13 villages were under his ownership, with about 200 households and a population of more than 800 people."

"They have also set up a security team. The number is said to be more than 30 people. I saw that there are only more than 20 people. The others are said to have gone home to farm. They have set up sentries at Chaomeigang. I saw this when I came back today.

them."

Wang Cheng, who was in charge of Wan Gong and below, reported: "Some people in Daping and Erping participated in the fight against Deng Shoulu. They were afraid of your revenge, Uncle Yang, so they joined their gang."

Ding Haoran, who is fat and fair, has the air of a boss. He added: "I learned in Wan Gong that people in Wan Gong are in panic now. No one is in charge. If anything happens, they go to Mr. Zhang to solve it. I hope Mr. Yang will send someone to take charge as soon as possible.

In addition, the Xia bandits not only formed an alliance with the entire village, but some villages were unwilling to join forces with them, so they went to individual farm households to join the gang. I don't know how many specifically there were, but there were at least a dozen households."

"And their security team has five foreign guns, which were paid to Deng Shoulu, ten crossbows, and twenty-two spears. It is obvious that the Xia bandits have long been rebellious, and they have made careful preparations. Except for the Xia bandits,

No other outsiders were found to be involved."

The staff are very capable and the reports are very detailed.

Yang Yi'an asked Luo Sheng and three others to go down to receive the reward. He turned around and said to the county magistrate: "Sir, they have already aimed their knives at us. Twenty-two spears and ten bows and crossbows can't be finished in a few days."

The county magistrate said: "I am just a clown. Once you and I arrive, we will be reduced to pieces. I will go back tomorrow, and the sergeant will arrive soon. Then we will see what the Xia bandits are capable of."

…

Xia Ping has been extremely busy these days and only sleeps three or four hours a day.

He had never done anything like this before, but fortunately, he followed what the great men in the past had done.

He divided things up and only provided guidance on methods, leaving them to do the specific work.

After all, they are the ones most familiar with the local people's conditions.

Originally, in order to deal with Yang Yi'an's revenge, he made corresponding preparations, but the other party did not move, which made him uneasy.

What is Yang Yi'an doing? What is he thinking?

The personnel sent to Fulin for reconnaissance did not bring much useful news when they came back. They only heard that after Young Master Yang gathered hundreds of people, there was no follow-up.

This made him uneasy, as the enemy must be preparing for a bigger move.

You can only do your own thing well if you can't control others. Only when you are strong can you have the strength to fight.

It is also good that the enemy does not come, because it gives you time to carry out your work.

In the past few days, people in the Seven Village Alliance also knew that time was running out, so they tried their best to win over other villages to join the alliance. They played out the emotional cards, family cards, interest cards, and hatred cards one by one, expanding the number from seven villages to thirteen.

There are also many casual guards joining the village alliance, and now there are 222 households and nearly 1,000 people in the alliance.

The establishment of the security team was not smooth. After the sign was erected, only about 30 people were recruited, only 20 people were able to be on duty, and 10 people were busy farming.

Moreover, each village had to provide food for these twenty people, and each village complained a lot.

Some people who entered the security team saw that they were eating red potatoes, but the potatoes went out again. You can't stop them, otherwise the conflict will deepen.

Treat the security team as a vegetable market, come and go as you please.

Xia Ping had no good way to deal with this, so he had to settle for the next best thing. If something happened, he could recruit people.

How about taking down Wan Gongchang? He shook his head and rejected the idea. With the current strength, it was still possible, but once a stalemate formed in the deep-walled compound of the Yang family and Deng Shoulu family, and they were attacked from behind by Yang Yi'an, these villagers would definitely

If they are coaxed to disperse, the alliance will be broken without attack.

Land reform is the best way to unite people's hearts, but before the masses are fully mobilized, land reform is just a joke.

As long as Yang Yi'an can be defeated in one battle, the confidence of the masses will be raised, the thinking will be easy to do, and the land reform can proceed smoothly.

While he was deep in thought, Uncle Zhou walked in and said, "Sir, someone is coming to join the gang. I'm afraid you should go take a look."

"Who are they?"

"Come down from Huangmu Mountain."

"bandit?"

"No, they are people who seek refuge in mountains."

Seeing that Xia Ping was confused, Uncle Zhou hurriedly said: "I'm not very clear either. You might understand if you go and take a look."

Xia Ping came to a courtyard and saw more than ten people sitting on benches. Seeing Uncle Zhou arriving with Xia Ping, one person stood up and cupped his hands: "Mr. Xia, my name is Li Ruifeng, these are my brothers."

Guys, we came to seek refuge with Mr. Xia, I wonder if we can take him in."

"Everyone here is a brother. You are older than me. I call you Brother Li. Brother Li, I heard Uncle Zhou say you are from Huangmu. What's going on?"

The sentence "Brother Li" made Li Ruifeng have a good impression of Xia Ping. Xia Ping had the temperament of a scholar at first glance, and being called "Brother" by the scholar showed that Xia Ping was different from other scholars.

Feeling that Xia Ping was trustworthy, he told the truth about his life experience, "We are all from Jiading Prefecture. We fought against foreign religions in the previous riots, and later fled to Wan Gong to avoid trouble." He pointed to a young man, "My brother

We couldn't stand Xiang Yong bullying others, so after saying a few words, he was severely beaten by Deng Shoulu. We even asked Mr. Zhang to make peace with them and served them a drink and compensated them for their money before letting us off the hook."

Speaking of this, Li Ruifeng was still indignant.

"We, Wan Gong, couldn't stay any longer. We went to Huangmu under the guidance of Mr. Zhang. We were not afraid of our brothers' jokes. After several years in Huangmu, the money we had brought out was gone. It was so cold in the mountains that we really couldn't stay.

, last year a brother couldn't bear it anymore and returned to Jiazhou, but he was caught and beheaded by the government."

"We brothers have homes and cannot go back. Some time ago, we wanted to find some money on the road. As soon as we got it, Zhang Mazi took it away and warned us not to look for money on Huangmu Mountain. We couldn't go back to Huangmu's home because we were looking for money on the road.

We have gone. It just so happened that the gentleman was causing trouble here, so we came to seek refuge with him, hoping that he would take him under his wing."

Xia Ping called him Brother Li, but he didn't dare to call him Brother Xia Ping directly.

These people are all on the road, and they are not Xia Ping's favorites, but currently facing the pressure from Yang Yi'an, one more person will bring more strength.

They had conflicts with Deng Shoulu, and that was enough. In his heart, Xia Ping still wanted to use them for the time being, and wait until he had passed this hurdle before talking about it later.

"Brother Li, I welcome you, but now I eat red sweet potatoes and potatoes every day, can you bear it? Besides, our purpose is to "serve the people" and we do not allow bullying the people, can you do it? Next, we have to fight Yang Yi'an, very soon

There may be casualties, aren't you afraid?"

"We have thought about these things. Now that we are here, we must abide by your rules and not cause any trouble to you. Now that we have joined the gang, everyone's affairs become our own. How can we not work hard? If something happens

If you are killed or injured, it's your own fault, don't blame others."

"Brother Li, do you think this is okay? I will arrange a meal and rest for you tonight. Brothers, you can experience our life first. If you think it is okay, we can officially join the team tomorrow. If you feel it is not suitable, just leave. I don't want to force others to do anything.

."

Although Xia Ping wanted them to join the gang, he still had to think about delaying it for a while. He would go to the bench tonight to find out about their situation. If it was true as they said, he would agree to it.

Xia Ping acted cautiously, fearing that they were spies sent by Yang Yi'an. If they were to attack behind his back at a critical moment, it would be like how they beat Deng Shoulu. Who could bear it?
Chapter completed!