Guo Cai was shocked. Before he could speak, two account books were thrown in front of him.
"We found these in your study. There are also Yellow Turban Strongmen created by the Yellow Turban Bandits. You colluded with the Yellow Turban Bandits. The evidence is conclusive. Don't even think about defending yourself. Confess quickly! "Bai Xiaowen shouted.
Bai Xiaowen chose to be direct in order to quickly break through Guo Cai's psychological defenses.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the internal organization of the Yellow Turban Army was not strict. It could even be said to be very loose. Before the uprising, some followers secretly reported to the government, causing the army to be hastily mobilized.
Later, when the various vassals attacked the Yellow Turban Army, they often won with fewer people and easily captured thousands or tens of thousands of people. The captured Yellow Turban Army soldiers, regardless of whether they were soldiers or generals, were mostly willing to accept reorganization.
Unexpectedly, Guo Cai was a tough nut to crack.
He glanced at the account books. After his expression changed dramatically, he quickly calmed down. "This commoner does not know what Sir is talking about."
"How dare you be so rude, thief!" Wang Lie shouted angrily. Then he asked for instructions from Bai Xiaowen. "The thief is stubborn. If we don't torture him, he probably won't confess."
Bai Xiaowen nodded slightly. Wang Lie immediately ordered the soldiers to swing the big clubs. After dozens of hits, Guo Cai's buttocks were bleeding.
Wang Lie said, "Guo Cai, do you confess?"
Guo Cai panted a few times and said calmly, "This commoner does not know what Sir is talking about."
Wang Lie was even angrier, but he could not do anything.
Bai Xiaowen nodded slightly. "This person is stubborn. It seems that he has been deeply influenced by the Yellow Turban Bandits. Don't interrogate him. Take him to prison. When the Yellow Turban Bandits are defeated, send him to Jizhou with the bandit chief to await punishment. "
Wang Lie said, "Young Master, the Yellow Turban Bandits are usually skilled in demonic arts. If we release him and send him to prison, I'm afraid he will escape. Why don't we chain his shoulder blades? No matter how skilled he is, he won't be able to do anything. "
Bai Xiaowen was amazed. It seemed that the Three Kingdoms of the Spirit Realm had some methods for capturing people.
This way, at least they did not have to worry about the captives escaping.
Bai Xiaowen nodded in agreement, and the soldiers escorted Guo Cai away.
Bai Xiaowen then proceeded to interrogate Guo Cai's attendants, including the servants of the Guo Manor in the seven alleys. They were all escorted over to be interrogated.
As expected, Guo Cai's attendants and servants did not have such a tough bone. Under Wang Lie's coercion, a few of them quickly confessed.
Bai Xiaowen checked the testimonies and had a preliminary understanding of the Yellow Turban Army hiding in Liaodong.
The Yellow Turban Army of Liaodong had escaped from Jizhou. There were about two thousand of them.
This figure was similar to the conclusion Bai Xiaowen came to when he studied the money and food expenditure in the account books.
The Yellow Turban Army was currently hiding in the Big Snow Valley in the north of Liaodong County, about a hundred li away from Xiangping City.
As for the commander of the Yellow Turban Army that Bai Xiaowen was most concerned about, these attendants and retainers did not know. They only said that every time the convoy was sent over, the Yellow Turban Army's leader would come over to deliver the goods, while Guo Cai would go to the main tent and report the situation to the Canal Commander alone.
As for who the Canal Commander was, these attendants had never seen him before.
Bai Xiaowen waved his hand and had the soldiers escort these attendants away. He frowned and pondered.
"The Canal Commander of the Yellow Turban Army … Although you've hidden yourself well, you've exposed yourself."
"You being so careful makes me even more certain of your identity. After all, apart from one person in the Yellow Turban Army, there's no one else in the Yellow Turban Army who can make a leader like Guo Cai loyally follow him. "
In the hall, Rui Yuan and Wang Lie each had their own thoughts.
Seeing Bai Xiaowen's gaze, Rui Yuan said, "Since Young Master already knows the whereabouts of the Yellow Turban Bandits, we should make a decision as soon as possible."
Bai Xiaowen stood up and said, "The Yellow Turban Bandits are the enemies of the world. If we want the four counties of Liaodong and the entire Youzhou to be peaceful, we must eliminate them. Pass down the order to all counties in Youzhou to strictly guard against the Yellow Turban Bandits' invasion. "
That's right. Bai Xiaowen had to fight to the death with the Yellow Turban Army.
Some people might say that secretly communicating with the Yellow Turban Army's leader, such as Zhang Jiao, was more in line with Bai Xiaowen's interests.
However, Bai Xiaowen was more far-sighted.
Compared to the Grand Unification Mission, the Dragon Pattern Golden Box was only secondary.
The identity of Yuan Xi, the second son of the Yuan Family, was the foundation of Bai Xiaowen's unification.
He could not afford to lose this clean identity.
Once he got involved with the Yellow Turban Bandits, it would be over.
As for secretly colluding with the Yellow Turban Bandits … There was no such thing as an impenetrable wall.
Therefore, Bai Xiaowen was willing to give up the Dragon Gold Box mission to ensure that Yuan Xi's identity was clean. This was the choice he had to make.
"This …"
Wang Lie frowned and said, "Young Master, this is a bit inappropriate. The Yellow Turban Bandits only have two thousand people. Why should we shake the hearts of the people? We should wipe them out quickly and pacify the people. "
Bai Xiaowen smiled and said, "You're right. However, I have other plans for this, so you don't have to say anything. Go back and rest. Tomorrow, you can deal with the county's affairs as usual. "
Wang Lie and Ming Yuan were full of doubts. However, Bai Xiaowen had given them the impression that he was a sensible person, so they did not try to persuade him. They bowed and left.
Although there were only two thousand Yellow Turban Bandits in the snow valley and they were defeated, they were all elites of the Yellow Turban Army who had survived hundreds of battles. Moreover, there were many Yellow Turban leaders. If the boss of the Yellow Turban Army, Zhang Jiao, who Bai Xiaowen guessed, was here …
His strength was not to be underestimated!
Gongsun Du originally had a group of people under his command, but they had just surrendered and had not been reorganized. They could be used for security and city defense missions. However, if they were to fight a large number of Yellow Turban Bandits, they would not be useful.
To wipe out the Yellow Turban Bandits, they had to mobilize the Youzhou Army.
Leaking the news of the Yellow Turban Bandits in advance was one of the steps in Bai Xiaowen's game.
"Before the battle, if the winner is calculated, he will take more; if the loser is calculated, he will take less …"
Bai Xiaowen's eyes were as deep as a pool.
… …
The next morning.
When Zhao Rong heard that Bai Xiaowen had annexed the four counties of Liaodong, he rushed to Xiangping overnight to meet with Bai Xiaowen.
"Young Master, you've done a great job!" Zhao Rong bowed as soon as he saw him.
"It's just a small test," Bai Xiaowen said modestly.
"Young Master's bravery and strategy will be known throughout the world after this battle …" Zhao Rong praised first and then said with a smile, "Young Master, Gongsun Du must have accumulated a lot of money from managing Liaodong."
Bai Xiaowen shook his head and said, "Not at all. Gongsun Du and his son are not good at management. Liaodong is barren, so their treasury is empty."
Zhao Rong was shocked and said, "Young Master, you must be joking."
"I'm not joking." Bai Xiaowen coughed and changed the topic. "Of course, I'm poor, but I should be able to gather ten thousand strings of cash."
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