vrcanaries Chapter 434 Old Man Yan
Chapter 434 Old Man Yan
"This group of bandits were interrogated separately, and all of them said that there was no blood on their hands. It was difficult to tell the truth from the false."
"But the money is clearly there before our eyes. Judging from the amount, they must have committed no less than a hundred crimes."
"There are more than 30 people. Keeping them will consume our supplies. Why don't we go to the next port and hand them over to the local government office?"
"Then let's follow Xiao Ran's wishes and let the government sentence them to exile. As for how long they can live, it depends on their own luck."
If you want to kill them, just sink them into the river. This way, you can be seen as letting them go.
Chen Ji did understand Luo Xiaoran, but he didn’t understand everything.
"Your Highness, you don't think that I am merciful and let them go just because of the money, do you?"
"No, I want to make full use of their talents and exile them to the Chui Mine to contribute to our Daliang ash burning business!"
"Your Highness, Miss Luo."
Before the two of them discussed how to deal with Yan Kui and his son, the guards guarding them brought an unexpected news.
"Old Yan claimed that he had something to give to Your Highness, and he only asked Your Highness to spare the lives of him and his son."
……
"You fool! You don't even know who passed the message to you, and yet you dare to hijack the ship!"
"Not only will you lose all the treasure your father has saved his entire life, but you will also lose our lives!"
"If I had known you were such a jinx to me, I would have strangled you to death when you were born!"
"Dad, I was wrong! Ouch! Dad, please hit me gently! Don't hurt your waist!"
When they arrived at the cabin where Yan Kui and his son were held in solitary confinement, they heard a commotion through the doors and windows.
Chen Ji and Luo Xiaoran looked at each other silently. After Old Man Yan stopped beating people, they asked their guards to open the door and walked in side by side.
"Greetings to His Royal Highness Prince Yan, and greetings to the young lady!"
Old Man Yan knelt down on the ground with a bang and pulled Yan Kui with him without any hesitation.
At this time, Yan Kui had new injuries on his face. In addition to the panda eyes left from the night of the ship hijacking, there was a black bruise at the corner of his mouth, and his two ears were twisted purple and red.
Sixty years old was considered a long life in ancient times. Judging from the noise in the cabin just now, this old man Yan was still in pretty good health. Luo Xiaoran looked at him with some curiosity.
Unlike Yan Kui's burly figure, old man Yan is as thin as a bamboo pole. He has dark yellow skin, a hunched back, and his white hair and beard are slightly sparse.
Taking a general look at him, he doesn't look like a bandit, but more like a farmer digging for food in the soil. Only the gleam in his eyes that occasionally flashes shows that this old man is not simple.
"I am very curious about what you have in your hand that can make me change my mind." Chen Ji said coldly.
The cabin where the prisoners were held was not cleaned. Old man Yan was sweating when he beat his son, and after a bang, a layer of dust was on his forehead.
"I have deceived Your Highness! I do not have the thing that was reported!"
The guard who went to pass the message: ???
What about trust between people?
If you didn't say it so seriously, I wouldn't help you report it!
If you want to die, don't take me with you!
"But I know where that thing is, and it will surely satisfy His Royal Highness the King of Yan!"
Next, Old Man Yan told about his previous experience.
Anyway, the days on the boat were boring, so Luo Xiaoran decided to listen to stories to kill time, and Chen Ji naturally accompanied her.
Six years ago, Old Man Yan was not active in the north. He was the ninth in command of the largest bandit nest in Jiangnan, Qianlongzhai!
Their leader was said to be a descendant of the last emperor of the previous dynasty. Therefore, many people who cared about the previous dynasty secretly provided financial support, and soon Qianlong Village became the number one village in Jiangnan.
"In fact, he is just a nameless beggar who can't even read a few words. I have begged for food with him before, how could I not know his background?"
Old man Yan pouted. When he went to join Qianlong Village, the village was not that big. He thought that based on their past relationship, he could at least be the second in command, but he ended up being ranked ninth!
Although Old Man Yan was dissatisfied with the arrangement of his position by the village chief, he admired the village chief from the bottom of his heart. He not only managed Qianlong Village successfully, but also got along well with the surrounding bandit dens of all sizes.
Originally, bandits from all over the Jiangnan region were causing trouble constantly. Every month, there were no less than a hundred cases of bandits killing people and robbing their property, which caused the government a lot of headaches.
If we send troops to suppress the bandits, not to mention the time, money and effort it would take, the bandits' dens are all built on steep mountains, which are easy to defend but difficult to attack, and it is not certain whether we can successfully eradicate them in the end.
Later, the village chief stepped in to mediate and the bandits made an alliance and swore an oath to divide the territory, not to kill anyone, and to give priority to robbing the personal belongings of wealthy and tycoon businessmen.
Since it does not hurt their foundation, most wealthy and powerful businessmen do not want to bother with it and rarely bring it to the government.
"Six years ago, a subordinate of a high-ranking official in the imperial court secretly found the village chief with a letter from the high-ranking official, saying that he would help him achieve his great cause."
"At that time, the village chief not only led the Qianlong Village with thousands of people, but also the bandits in the Jiangnan area responded to his orders. Even the government officials respected him. For a time, he was the most powerful person."
"I guess he must have been so proud of himself at that time that he forgot that he was just a beggar and really thought of himself as a descendant of the royal family of the previous dynasty."
"He actually agreed to that senior official's request to unite all the bandits in Jiangnan to revolt!"
"Just as the Yangzhou prefect's case of embezzling salt tax had just come to an end, the village chief used this as a reason to rise up against the court, angrily accusing the court of employing the wrong people and allowing local officials to plunder the people's wealth."
"Initially, only a few bandits who were on good terms with the village chief were willing to join the uprising. Later, after the village chief easily occupied an entire county, bandits willing to join the uprising began to increase in number like weeds..."
Old Man Yan seemed to be reliving the experience of that year again, and a strange excitement appeared on his face.
Luo Xiaoran expressed her understanding that in a person's life, there will probably be one or several highlights.
For people like Old Man Yan who came from the lower class, words like rising up in rebellion, dividing the land and becoming a noble, getting a hundred responses to one call, changing the world... these words have a fatal appeal.
"The idle garrison troops in the government office were defeated and fled when they met the strong and warlike bandits."
"When the war spread to Yangzhou, the new governor of Yangzhou had no choice but to petition the court to send troops to support... I don't need to tell you what happened later, I'm sure His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan knows it all."
"A high-ranking official named Lin led his troops to suppress the bandits. This time, the common people faced off against a well-trained army, and the common people were defeated miserably."
A surge of heat suddenly surged on Old Man Yan's dark and thin face. He looked up and straight at Chen Ji, with a strange madness flashing in his eyes.
"But no one knows that the instigator of this rampant banditry is precisely the one who eliminated the banditry - Lin Xiaotian!"
After hearing this, Chen Ji and Luo Xiaoran both changed color!