In the end, Xiao Bei did not talk to Chen Yaozu in private because Zhang Xiaobao had ordered him to settle the matter in Tonghua County as soon as possible and then meet up in Yizhou.
As for Chen Yaozu, his personal opinion was that he should be severely punished, which had nothing to do with the law he had broken. From the perspective of an older brother, he did not need to reason with anyone who had insulted his younger brother or sister.
"Excuse me, whose alfalfa is it? I'll buy it. "Xiao Bei's honor guard had trampled on someone else's alfalfa, so he had to pay for it.
"Sister Xiao Bei, it's his." A little girl slightly younger than Xiao Bei came over and pointed at Chen Yaozu while sniffling.
"Oh, you saved money." Upon hearing that it was the Chen family's property, Xiao Bei dismissed the idea of compensation and asked the little girl, "Sister, what's your name? How old are you this year?"
"My, my name is Feng 'er, six years old. Sister Xiao Bei, he … he's usually very bad. When he walks on the road, people have to stop when they see him. When he goes to other people's places to eat, he wants to throw soil and water. He also said that if he wants the sky to be blue, then it's blue. If he wants it to be dark, then it's blue …"
"Shut up, I didn't say that." Chen Yaozu, whose face was full of scars, still knew how to defend himself.
"I said it, I said it, I said it. Stare at me, I'll hit you." Feng 'er clenched her fists and kicked Chen Yaozu with her little feet. She accidentally fell and hit her butt. She patted her butt and stood up, shaking her head, "I'm not afraid of you now. Father said that your family should die."
"Feng 'er, let's not talk to him. The road is paved with soil, and the streets are splashed with clean water. What a big show. Take them away, let's go. Let's finish them quickly so that I can meet up with my brother and sister. "
As Xiao Bei spoke, he took out a mahogany box from his bag. It was inlaid with copper walls. He took out a wet towel and wiped Feng 'er's face and hands. He took her hand and walked to the county, not even taking the honor guard's car.
Style sniffed hard. There was a faint fragrance on the wet towel just now. While walking with Beibei, she jumped happily. Suddenly, she remembered what Beibei said and said expectantly, "Sister Beibei, can you stay in the county for a few more days? When the wild fruits on the mountain bear, I'll cook them for you. "
Xiao Bei shook his head regretfully. "That won't do. Brother and Sister need manpower. We have to go back and add the Vigorous Seedling Protection Team into the big team for Brother and Sister to use."
"Oh, are they very powerful?" Feng 'er turned around and looked at the guards with long and short spears. She was curious.
"It's not an ordinary level of power. In the entire world, no one can stop our charge. Let me put it this way. For example, right now, the entire Jiannan Imperial Court's army has arrived at our Tong Hua County. They want to surround and annihilate us. We can kill over ten thousand of them when we break through the encirclement." Lil 'Bei confidently said.
"Why would the imperial court's army attack you? Aren't you guys together? How many people were ten thousand? Can't you just not kill them? "Feng 'er shook his free hand, as if he wanted to count the number of ten thousand people with his fingers.
Xiao Bei felt like his head was about to explode. He gritted his teeth and said, "I've decided to invest 2,000 strings of cash into Tonghua County's education every year. When the time comes, you'll know how many tens of thousands of people are. We won't beat each other up. It's just a joke."
"How much is 2,000 strings of cash? Can you make me a new set of clothes and let me eat as much meat as I can? "Feng 'er licked his lips and asked.
"In a moment, when we enter the county, I'll immediately make meat for you to eat. Eat as much as you can." Xiao Bei finally realized the difference between children who went to school and those who didn't. The older children in Wenshan County's school wouldn't ask this kind of question.
Xiao Yuan worriedly reminded him, "We've used up a lot in the past few days. There's not enough dried meat left to treat others to a meal."
"Silly, we don't have any, but some people do. For example …" Xiao Bei indicated for Xiao Yuan to look at the Chen family members who had been beaten.
*****
The group walked very slowly for less than half an hour before they entered the county. The first thing they did was to get something from the Chen family. The second thing was to spend money to buy all kinds of ingredients. The Chen family couldn't possibly provide such a large amount.
Xiao Bei's group of nine sat in the main hall of the county yamen. Below them were the thirteen members of the Chen family. The youngest three didn't run away, but they weren't beaten. They were too young, so it wasn't easy to deal with them. Normally, the people in the county wouldn't see them, unlike the other members of the Chen family.
The old man of the Chen family, Chen Mutong, was also bruised and swollen, but he knew how to protect himself and didn't suffer any more serious injuries.
"Honorable Patrol Inspectors, my Chen family is guilty." Chen Mutong trembled as he fished out an account book from his bosom and held it up to Weiwei's head with trembling hands.
Someone brought the account book over. Xiao Bei's group of nine flipped through it and found that it wasn't a detailed account. Instead, it was something like a summary report.
It recorded the Chen family's wealth, as well as the overall income and expenses of the various shops. These weren't important. What was important was what was recorded at the back. In the transaction with Duoshi, they had purchased sixteen thousand sheep and six thousand five hundred cows. They had planned to sell three hundred stones of fireworks to Duoshi, but had already sold one hundred and sixty stones. They had purchased seventeen thousand catties of cast iron pipes, but had already sent nine thousand two hundred catties.
Later, they had dispatched people to various medical centers in batches to purchase finished medicines for typhoid fever and dysentery, which had already been sent to Duoshi's four thousand people. They had collected countless pieces of information related to Duoshi from the people of Jiannan County and the government, and exchanged them.
In addition, Duoshi still owes the family twelve thousand sheep, six thousand cows, and four thousand one hundred horses, among which were three hundred military horses.
The family owes Duoshi 13,000 stones of salt, five hundred stones of fermented tea, and three thousand portions of frostbite cream.
The account book was gently closed, and Xiao Bei's group of nine looked at each other in surprise.
"Our Chen family has already confessed everything, Patrol Inspector. Can you give us a way out?" Chen Mutong raised his head and asked dryly. He then found an excuse for himself. "When you were in Feng Zhou, you didn't kill the officials who made the mistake. When you were in Wenshan, you didn't kill the officials who made the mistake. We are only merchants, and we made a small mistake. Can you give us a chance?"
"A chance?" Xiao Bei stared at Chen Mutong in astonishment and laughed. "You want a chance from us? You … your Chen family dared to collude with the enemy, and you still want a chance? I … I won't say anything to you. Come, take them away. Remember not to let them die. We have to pry out useful information from their mouths. "
Xiao Bei didn't even have the heart to continue talking to the Chen family. He couldn't find an excuse for them. Apart from rebellion, there was no other crime in the world more serious than colluding with the enemy.
The people standing outside the yamen were just as shocked. They had thought the Chen family was usually acting like a tyrant in the county, bullying their neighbors, and so on. They never thought they would actually make deals with the enemy. The most hateful thing wasn't the enemy's fierceness and ruthlessness, but the betrayal that came from behind.
Xiao Bei's group of nine waited for the Chen family to be taken away. They sat in silence in the hall. The people outside didn't make a sound, and no one even thought about killing the Chen family. They knew the Chen family wouldn't get better, but they couldn't figure out why. So, they all looked sad.
After a while, Xiao Bei raised his head and clapped his hands. He smiled again and said happily, "OK, OK. Let's not think about them. It's already past mealtime, but no one has eaten, right? I'll treat them to food.
There'll be wine and meat, and there'll be sweets for the children. Let's first raid the Chen family and see how many things they have. Haha. Originally, the things we raid should be given to the imperial court, but it's too far away. It's not worth it. I'll keep them, okay? "
The people outside didn't follow suit and shout "okay" at the right time. They were all still in a state of silence.
Xiao Bei rubbed his hands, thought for a while, and continued, "It's just colluding with the enemy. What's the big deal? Everyone is sad that our Tang Empire has people who colluded with the enemy, but don't forget that our Tang Empire has iron-blooded men who will fight to the death, merchants who are willing to go bankrupt in order to support the frontline, and craftsmen who are unwilling to rest in order to provide logistics.
Our Maozhou's Tonghua County isn't very far from the frontline, so this place is very important. Don't keep thinking about the Chen family. Think about doing more work yourselves to provide more support to the frontline. The children also need to work hard to learn and help the adults count the goods and calculate the accounts.
It's not too late now. The war won't end in a short time. Why are we fighting? To bully others? We don't have that kind of thought. We want to take advantage of other people's things and use them for our own. The longer we fight, the more things we will take, right?
We, the people of Tonghua County, have to show the people of the Tang Empire that other than one family who colluded with the enemy, we also have other families who are contributing to the frontline, right? "
"Yes." Some of the people outside shouted.
"Then let's eat. After we're full, we have to work. Let's go. We have enough wine and meat today." Xiao Bei waved his arm and waved his small hand. He patted his official robe embroidered with the design of the traitor and walked out.
The adults outside helped to cook for the people of the county while the children cheered and ran around.
When everyone was busy, Xiao Bei wiped the sweat on her forehead and sighed like an adult. She said, "Oh my god, the Chen family colluded with the enemy and they are also sad. I'm so tired."
"Because the Chen family is in the same county as them, they feel ashamed and can't raise their heads in front of people from other counties. It's just like how the people of Sanshui County always walk with their heads held high." Xiao Yuan explained his understanding.
"Let's tell brother and sister and see what they do. We have never dealt with the crime of colluding with the enemy. Last time in Jiangnan, it was brother and sister who dealt with it." Xiao Bei found the problem, but she still couldn't make the decision herself.
*****
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's team had already passed the boundary of Wenshan. However, they didn't go west to Tonghua. Instead, they went straight down.
Because the team was huge, they moved slowly. They planned to let the younger brother and sister's team come out of Tonghua and force their way to catch up with them.
Many old men were sent out, as well as the children of the old men's families. They borrowed their reputation and ability to deal with trivial matters so that they could free up their own people to do other things.
They thought that the younger brother and sister's team were just dealing with a businessman in the county and could be dealt with quickly.
They didn't expect that the telegram sent over today was about evidence of collusion with Duoshi.
"I don't know if it's because our family's babies are lucky or because Tonghua's Chen family is unlucky. They were just going to a random place to sell cement and they actually caught them. It seems that Duoshi is also very hardworking. They even know to buy medicine from the Tang Empire."
Wang Juan didn't get angry after reading the report. It was only collusion. Which dynasty didn't collude with the enemy? Which country didn't have traitors? She just had to get used to it.
Zhang Xiaobao supported his chin with his hand and thought for a while. He said, "Colluding with the enemy is not bad. We should encourage it and promote this spirit of risking countless dangers to benefit the people of the world. Have Xiao Bei and the others hurry on their way after eating today and send the cement to Weizhou. Escort the Chen family over. I have great use for them. "
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