When Chen Long and the county magistrate arrived at the bandit leader's residence, the county magistrate had planned to surround the bandit leader first before launching a surprise attack. However, he was now a general without an army. The Dragon Martial Army wasn't familiar with the terrain and could easily get lost. As such, he could only choose to break through from the main entrance. Even if he couldn't capture the bandit leader in his residence, as long as he sealed all the city gates, the bandits wouldn't be able to escape.
"Just returned? How many people? "
The county magistrate looked at the frightened gatekeeper and asked.
Chen Long, on the other hand, led his Dragon Martial Army into the backyard.
From the expression of the gatekeeper, the county magistrate knew that the gatekeeper must have discovered something unusual. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so shocked.
"A total of five people. Other than Alang, there are four very strong young men. They look very fierce."
The gatekeeper said.
"You haven't seen these young men before?"
The county magistrate asked.
The gatekeeper nodded and said, "I haven't. This old man has worked here for two years and this is the first time I've seen these four young men. Alang usually comes back alone. At most, he would bring back the bookkeeper and the shop assistant. He has never brought back these fierce-looking people. Aiya! Could these people be bandits who kidnapped Alang to take his belongings? "
The gatekeeper's brain was quite slow and the conclusion he came up with was wrong. His Alang wasn't kidnapped by bandits. He was the bandit leader himself. This was something he would never have thought of.
"Idiots, your Alang is a bandit and he's the leader. None of you are allowed to leave. All of you have to go to the yamen."
The county magistrate said.
Their master was the bandit leader. Even if these servants were innocent, they would be implicated. After all, they were the bandit leader's servants. Of course, they might not be punished. As long as they didn't commit any crimes and didn't know anything about the bandit leader, there wouldn't be much of a problem. However, they had to go to the yamen to cooperate with the investigation. Moreover, it would take a long time. At the very least, they had to repeatedly tell everything they knew. Moreover, they had to convince the yamen runners that they were telling the truth.
"Aiya! County Magistrate, we are all honest and dutiful people! How could we servants know anything about Alang? We don't know anything, we don't know anything! "
The servant guarding the door was eager to distance himself from the matter. The rest of the people who had heard the conversation also gathered around, looking a little uneasy.
"There are only a few women in the back. The pirates came back to take the valuables and have already escaped from the back door. They are not familiar with the terrain, so they do not dare to chase after them."
Chen Long returned from the backyard and said disappointedly.
The county officer looked up at the fireworks in the distance and said, "Don't worry, Lieutenant Chen. The four city gates have been sealed. Since the pirates are in the county, they won't be able to escape. We will definitely capture all of them."
Chen Long nodded and said, "That's good. Assistant Minister Li should be here soon. I have to go to the docks to welcome him. Go inform the County Magistrate and let's go together!"
The county officer naturally did not dare to delay. He quickly took a horse from Shopkeeper Liu's stables and rode it to the county office.
In order to prevent the pirates from returning, Chen Long left four soldiers of the Dragon Martial Army at Shopkeeper Liu's house. He had them temporarily guard the pirate's residence and wait for the bailiffs to come and take over.
Not a single one of the nine pirates managed to escape the county. Their movements were too slow. The first four pirates to escape had the opportunity to escape the county, but they were carrying three hundred jin of copper coins. This greatly slowed down their escape speed. As a result, by the time they reached the city gate, the city gate was already completely closed. No one could pass through, and even bribing was useless. As such, they could only quietly turn back and look for a place to stay in the city.
The pirate leader and his four brothers hurriedly escaped from their residence. They originally wanted to escape the county in one go, but they were also blocked at the city gates. The city gates were already closed. Unwilling to give up, they continued to go to the other city gates. Naturally, they were also closed.
"What's going on? You guys didn't go out either?"
The pirate leader's group of five met up with the four from before, and they gathered together.
"The city gates were closed as soon as we reached the city gates. We went to three city gates in a row and they were all closed. Why is the west gate closed as well?"
The pirate replied.
"Yes, the west gate is also closed. All the city gates are closed. They are trying to catch us like turtles in a jar!"
The pirate leader said.
"Boss, why don't we climb over the city walls and escape?"
One of the pirates said.
The pirate leader glanced at the city walls and sighed. Although the city walls weren't high, if he didn't have a stable ladder, he wouldn't be able to climb up no matter what. Even if he threw a rope at the top, he wouldn't have the ability to climb up. Most importantly, there were already bailiffs patrolling the city walls. Every section of the city walls had four or five bailiffs patrolling it. A section of the city walls was only two li long. Four or five people were enough to keep a close eye on the city walls. As long as someone tried to climb up the city walls, they would immediately be able to see it. Not to mention four or five people, even if it was only one person, as long as he stood in the middle, he would be able to see everything clearly.
The fighting strength of four or five bailiffs was naturally no match for them. If they forcefully broke through the city walls, they could definitely kill their way out. However, they were worried about the bailiffs and soldiers' reinforcements. If the reinforcements arrived quickly, they would be finished. They were all on foot and there were no horses outside the city walls. Even if they broke through the city walls and reached the outside, as long as the soldiers and bailiffs in the city knew that they had escaped from the city walls, they would immediately chase after them.
The bailiffs and soldiers all had horses. If they desperately pursued from behind, they felt that they wouldn't be able to escape at all. Only death awaited them. Most importantly, they had large amounts of gold, silver, soft goods, and copper coins. The amount was relatively large. With so much wealth, it wasn't possible to run fast. Even if the soldiers didn't have horses, they would be able to catch up to them on foot.
If they abandoned these cumbersome treasures, then their escape speed would naturally increase by a lot. The success rate of their escape would also greatly increase. However, they had taken the risk to enter the city for these treasures. If they were to casually abandon them, then they might as well not enter the city and go directly to the mountains.
At this moment, these pirates had already lost their foothold and had large amounts of money on them. They really didn't know what to do. If they delayed any longer, it was very likely that they would be caught by the soldiers.
"The bailiffs are patrolling the city walls. How can it be so easy to escape from the city walls? It seems that we have to wait until nightfall."
The pirate leader opened his mouth and said.
In broad daylight, there was too much light. As long as there was one person, they would be able to see everything clearly. Once they escaped from the city walls, it would be easy to be seen and there would be nowhere to hide. After leaving the city, it would be difficult to shake off the soldiers' pursuit. However, it was different at night. They could completely use the cover of the night to suddenly escape in a situation where there was insufficient light. This way, the possibility of escaping would be greatly increased.
However, it was still early in the morning. There was still half a day before nightfall. With such a long time, if they couldn't hide well and were discovered by the soldiers, then they would be completely finished.
How to silently hide for an entire day without being discovered by the soldiers was extremely important. As long as they weren't discovered, they could easily escape at night. However, if they were discovered by the soldiers, then they would really be finished. Even if they had hidden weapons in their hands, they wouldn't be able to fight against a large number of soldiers.
"Boss, the soldiers are about to start a county wide manhunt. How can we stay in the county for a day? It's better to escape as soon as possible. "
One of the pirates said.
"Everyone wants to escape as soon as possible. However, it's broad daylight and the soldiers are already prepared. It's really too difficult to escape. Moreover, we don't even have a ladder now. If we want to escape, we have to prepare a ladder."
The pirate leader opened his mouth and said.
"Boss, these copper coins are too heavy. Carrying such heavy copper coins is really a burden. If it weren't for the fact that we have to carry these heavy things, the four of us would have escaped long ago. If they were gold pancakes, it would be much easier to carry them."
The pirate who was carrying close to a hundred jin of copper coins said.
The pirate leader thought for a moment and said, "Now, let's split up. Two of you go find a ladder. Two of you go find a foothold. The four of you go exchange the copper coins for gold coins. Go quickly. Split up and prepare."
After saying that, the pirate leader tidied up his beggar's clothes and squatted in a hidden corner in a daze. He really did look like a beggar.
He had bought this beggar's clothes from a beggar for a small amount of money. His purpose in buying the beggar's clothes was naturally to deceive people and disguise himself well. The county was only so big and there were too many people who knew him. If he didn't dress up as a beggar, he would be easily recognized. Many of the county officers and bailiffs, as well as the merchants and citizens on the streets, knew him. As long as he was recognized, he would be in trouble.
However, the pirate leader was grasping at straws. The population of Xipu County wasn't large and the number of beggars in the county was also limited. There were only a dozen of them. The sudden appearance of a beggar would inevitably arouse suspicion. He was aware of this, so he didn't run to a crowded place to beg. Instead, he hid in a secluded corner to bask in the sun. His face was dirty to avoid coming into contact with people he knew and avoid more suspicion.
The height of the city walls of Xipu County was only about four meters. Therefore, the ladder only needed to reach the corresponding height. It wasn't difficult to find such a ladder and it wasn't difficult to buy one from the market. The difficult part was how to transport it to the foot of the city walls. At this moment, the bailiffs on the city walls were carefully observing everything below. As long as they found someone carrying a ladder over, they would immediately be closely monitored. If they carried a ladder close to the city walls, they would attract even more vigilance. This might even expose the pirates' whereabouts and cause them to be discovered by the soldiers.
In comparison, it was much easier to find a place to stay. It was inevitable that there would be people in the county who had multiple houses. One house was enough for them. The extra house could be rented to others as long as they were paid.
However, renting a house usually required signing an agreement and providing proof of identity. If one couldn't provide proof of identity, the owner might not really dare to rent it. However, there were also bold people who didn't care about this and rented it as long as the money was paid.
The two pirates brought a lot of copper coins and chose a relatively secluded place. Then, they successfully rented the house. It was the most successful group among the three.
The two people who bought the ladder also bought a ladder, but the ladder was too short. It was only three meters long. They bought two ladders. As long as they tied the two ladders together, they could still use them. The word "rope" could be found everywhere and it was easy to obtain. This wasn't difficult.
However, even a three-meter ladder was very conspicuous. It had to be transported carefully to avoid being noticed.
The four pirates who wanted to exchange for copper coins were undoubtedly the unluckiest. They went to many places but no one was willing to exchange for them. Either that or the exchange rate was especially bad. It wasn't a condition that they could accept. In the end, they could only leave helplessly.
In fact, the shopkeepers of these exchange shops were also worried about causing trouble, so they deliberately made things difficult for them. They were all thieves. How could they not know that something big had happened in the county? Who knew what these guys were doing and whether these copper coins were clean? If these were all dirty money, then after they exchanged, wouldn't they get into trouble? At that time, the authorities wouldn't reason with them and directly confiscate them. Then, they wouldn't even be able to find a place to cry.
Ang Lee's main fleet had many transport boats. Naturally, their speed was much slower. Therefore, they only arrived at noon. Chen Long, the county magistrate and the county magistrate were all at the pier to welcome them.
"Assistant Minister Li, the pirates are in the county. The city gates are already closed. They can't escape."
Chen Long opened his mouth and said.
Ang Lee looked at the county magistrate and said, "I was just passing by. I didn't expect to find pirates on the water. I killed more than ten of them, but more than half of them escaped. What we found now might not be all of the pirates. But since the leader is here, then we must capture all of them."
"Yes, this humble official has temporarily recruited more than two hundred bailiffs to surround the county. There are twenty bailiffs on horseback stationed at the south and north gates. The bailiffs on the city walls have also increased by three times. There are more than fifteen bailiffs on each side of the city walls, and some even have twenty bailiffs. They are all equipped with bows and swords. It is impossible for a mere few pirates to escape."
The county magistrate said.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Very good. You have done well. Chen Long, mobilize two hundred soldiers to enter the county and cooperate with the county bailiffs to search the streets and alleys of the county. We must find these pirates. At the same time, mobilize the cavalry to patrol around the county. If you find any suspicious people, investigate them thoroughly. Do not let the pirates go."
"Yes, I understand."
Chen Long replied.
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