The surrounding villages had already known about the huge commotion caused by Liang Shan Po breaking into Xihou Village.
However, they were afraid of Liang Shan Po's power and did not dare to send people to Xihou Village to rescue them. Bao Zheng ordered the local soldiers to defend the village while praying that the Liangshan bandits would leave after breaking through Xihou Village.
After the people of Liangshan left, several villages sent people to Xihou Village to inquire about the situation. When they learned that Xie Baozheng had been beheaded, the faces of the other villages turned pale. They hurriedly rode fast horses and quickly went to Yuncheng County to report the case.
However, Xihou Village was even further away from Yuncheng County than Shijie Village. The actual distance was more than a hundred miles.
This wasn't the 21st century, where one could get there in an hour or two by car. Even if one rode a horse all the way, the horse would still need to rest and drink some water.
The messenger left early in the morning and only arrived at Yuncheng County the next morning.
At this time, Song Jiang, who had gone to deliver documents in Jeju City, had just returned to Yuncheng County and was reporting to the magistrate, Shi Wenbin.
Song Jiang was originally from the Song Family Village. His family had several hundred acres of land. In his early years, he was not good at literature or martial arts. He mingled in the martial world for a few years. Because he liked to help the heroes of the martial world, he got the nickname of timely rain.
Even so, Song Jiang was passionate about fame and was extremely envious of the civil officials of the Great Song Dynasty. He spent money to donate a small official and became a security officer in Yuncheng County.
There was a difference between officials and officials in the Song Dynasty. As a minor official, Song Jiang could only be a minor official for the rest of his life unless he had a great opportunity.
Even so, Song Jiang was willing to do so. After working hard for several years, he actually made some achievements and became a big nest owner in Jingdong.
The so-called heroes of the pugilistic world were mostly strong people who robbed and robbed. If some stolen goods were difficult to sell, they would go to Song Jiang and exchange them for some money.
As for how Song Jiang disposed of the stolen goods, it was none of their business.
In addition, Song Jiang also helped to cover up the private merchants in Jeju, such as Chao Gai who sold illegal salt in Dongxi Village.
One had to know that salt in the Song Dynasty was controlled by the government. Selling salt privately was illegal.
Chao Gai and the others received some benefits and gave a portion to Song Jiang. Song Jiang then made some arrangements. From the county magistrate down, even the ordinary officials of Yuncheng County received some benefits, so they naturally had to give him some face.
As a result, Song Jiang's reputation became even more resounding. All the Jianghu heroes praised him one after another. Shandong called Baoyi, hero Song Gongming.
Shi Wenbin had just arrived in Yuncheng County and knew Song Jiang's power. As long as he could win over this person, he would be able to do things smoothly in the future.
As Song Jiang and Shi Wenbin were talking, a man suddenly rushed in and said to Shi Wenbin,"Magistrate, Bi Zhuang, Li Zhuang and other places have sent people to deliver a letter. Two days ago, at midnight, the Liangshan bandits broke into Xihou Zhuang, killed Xie Baozheng, his wife, and son, and stole a lot of the Xie family's property. The leader was Xu Fengwu.”
When Shi Wenbin and Song Jiang heard this, they were both shocked. This Xu Fengwu was too bold. He had just killed the imperial court's envoy, and now he had brought people to break into Xihou Village.
Shi Wenbin asked the official to present the letter and hurriedly opened it. Who knew that the contents of the letter would make his heart palpitate the more he read.
By the time he finished reading the letters, Shi Wenbin was already drenched in cold sweat.
Song Jiang saw the county magistrate's shocked face and was curious. He couldn't help but ask,"Sir, could it be that the people of Xihou Village were massacred by the bandits of Liangshan?”
"The bandits didn't massacre the people!"
Shi Wenbin put down the letter and gritted his teeth.""Do you know what Xu Fengwu did? When this bandit broke into Xihou Village, he held up an apricot yellow flag with the words 'Justice for Heaven' written on it. He also held a public trial in front of the Xie family's mansion, asking the villagers to state the bad things Xie Baozheng had done and cutting off the heads of Xie Baozheng's family.”
"In the end, Xu Fengwu gave everyone in Xihou Manor two dan of grain.”
At this point, Shi Wenbin's expression changed again and again before he said sternly,"This thief is simply audacious! Enforcing justice on behalf of the heavens? Open the granary to release grain? Did Xu Fengwu want to learn from the Wagang Village?”
"Tile Gang Village!"
When Song Jiang heard these three words, his heart was instantly in turmoil. How could he not know that this Wagang Village was one of the three great rebel armies at the end of the Sui Dynasty and participated in the overthrow of the Great Sui Dynasty?
Shi Wenbin's 'opening the granary' referred to the Wagang Army breaking through the Luokou granary and then opening the granary to let the hungry people take the food at will.
Bandits and rebel armies were two different concepts. The former merely gathered in the mountains and forests and robbed people's homes for a moment of pleasure, while the latter were real rebels who were at odds with the imperial court.
Song Jiang gulped and said,""Sir, I have dealings with the father and son of the Xu family. They are usually kind and charitable, and they like to help the poor villagers. It is likely that Xu Fengwu distributed food because the people of Xihou Village are too poor.”
Shi Wenbin looked deeply at Song Jiang and said slowly,""I hope so. I just hope that this thief will stop for a few days and wait for the officers and soldiers of the state capital to arrive so that they can capture this daring murderer.”
However, Song Jiang was secretly laughing in his heart. Now that the father and son of the Xu family had gone to Liangshan, with eight hundred miles of water as a natural barrier, how could the government troops attack so easily?
If it was that easy, the Liangshan bandits would have been exterminated long ago.
At this moment, Song Jiang realized something and quickly asked,"Milord, the letter just now said that Xu Fengwu led his men to break into Xihou Manor?”
"Indeed!"
Shi Wenbin felt a little strange, but he quickly realized something. He picked up the letter and read it again, then sighed and said,"This Xu Fengwu is really ruthless. He seized the position of Fort Master as soon as he came up the mountain. I'm afraid that Wang Lun has long become a dead man.”
Shi Wenbin felt a little regretful. If the Fort Master was still Wang Lun, he only needed to send someone to write a letter to force Wang Lun to hand over the Xu family members. There would be no need for the government troops to step in.
Song Jiang sighed at Xu Fengwu's decisiveness and said,"Milord, now that Xihou Village has been breached, I feel that we should inform the various villages to raise their vigilance and be prepared.”
"What you said makes sense."
Shi Wenbin nodded his head and felt a wave of exhaustion. He had just arrived in Yuncheng County not long ago and had already encountered such a huge bandit. Could it be that his luck was bad this year?
He hoped that the moment the soldiers of the prefecture arrived, these bandits would immediately be annihilated.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。