Different audiences had different views on the pirate leader. Some people were soft-hearted. Seeing that the pirate leader was so pitiful, they felt that he should be given a chance to turn over a new leaf. Some people felt that they had to beat a drowning dog and execute the pirate leader and all his subordinates. Only in this way could they vent the hatred in their hearts.
In short, different people had different thoughts. These people were just ordinary people. What they thought was not very important at all. What was important was Ang Lee's decision. Only Ang Lee's decision was the most important.
As for how to deal with these pirates, Ang Lee had already thought about it. He would let these guys work hard. As long as they lived, they would have to work hard until all their remaining value was squeezed out. If he killed them all, it would be very satisfying. However, the Tang dynasty was currently lacking manpower. As long as there was no shortage of food, letting criminals join the ranks of labor was undoubtedly a win-win situation. This was also considered making the best use of everything and squeezing the last bit of value out of the pirates.
To the commoners, killing the pirates seemed to be a very satisfying thing to do. However, to Li An, venting his hatred was too emotional. The most important thing was to pursue the greatest benefits.
Killing the pirates was too easy. As long as he gave the order, he could kill all these pirates. But what would happen after killing them? It would only make the people feel good for a while. Twenty-one people would disappear.
Even if he did not kill these pirates, as long as they suffered enough, the people would not have any objections. As long as they saw the pirates suffer a terrible fate, it would be enough.
The Xipu County Lieutenant looked at the pirate leader with a smile and said, "You said it yourself. Then I won't be polite."
After that, he looked at the people below and said loudly, "Everyone, from today onwards, our Shopkeeper Liu will be in charge of pouring night incense for the whole city. The rest of the pirates will be escorted to the quarry and will be responsible for mining rocks. They will work for more than 12 hours a day. What do you think?"
"Alright …"
The onlookers all cheered. Although they didn't kill the pirates, using such a humiliating method was indeed better than killing the pirate leader. As for the pirates working in the quarry, their days would definitely not be easy.
The work in the quarry was very tiring, and it was very taxing on one's physical strength. If one wasn't very strong, they wouldn't be able to do it. Furthermore, the pirates had to work for at least twelve hours a day, and the intensity of the work was very high. It was needless to say how painful it was for the pirates to work in such an environment. These pirates were hated by the commoners, and when the commoners heard that they were going to the quarry to suffer, they naturally clapped their hands in joy.
With regards to the county magistrate asking him to pour night incense for the citizens of the city, the pirate leader's heart naturally crumbled. This job was not as good as staying in prison. Although this was also a job and he could see the scenery of the county every day, many people in the county knew him. Previously, he was a reputable merchant, but now he had been reduced to pouring night incense for the citizens of the city. Naturally, he couldn't keep his face.
Furthermore, many commoners would definitely hate him. When pouring night incense, there would definitely be all kinds of abuse and ridicule. If he encountered an agitated commoner, a bucket of dirty feces and urine might even be poured directly on him.
Although he might very well be subjected to unimaginable humiliation in the coming days, in order to survive, he could only endure this humiliation. He didn't want to die yet.
"County Lieutenant, how long will this night incense take?"
The pirate leader asked.
The county lieutenant smiled and said, "As long as it takes. If you don't want to work anymore, I'll chop off your head and hang it on the city wall."
"I'll pour, I'll keep pouring."
The pirate leader helplessly replied, his entire body trembling in fear.
Soon after, the county magistrate went on stage to give an explanation. He spoke of the Imperial Court's determination to protect the lives of the commoners and resolutely strike down the activities of the pirates. This allowed the commoners to have confidence in the Imperial Court. If they discovered any pirate activity, they had to report it to the county magistrate. They would immediately launch an encirclement and resolutely exterminate all the pirates in Wenshui and Xipu County to ensure the normal development of commerce.
An hour later, the county lieutenant dispatched thirty-some bailiffs to escort twenty pirates to a nearby quarry. As a portion of the pirates were heavily injured, after entering the quarry, they needed to rest for a period of time before they could work. As long as their injuries were healed, they would immediately begin work. If they dared to intentionally drag out their injuries and refuse to work, then they would be directly executed. Killing one as an example to the others, to see if any of the pirates dared to disobey.
"Assistant Minister Li, it's getting late. The banquet has already been prepared. Let's …"
The county magistrate smiled.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Okay, let's go eat."
After a busy day, it was time to have a good meal. Ang Lee would not stay in Xipu County for long this time. After spending the night, he would continue south the next day. As long as he passed through Chengdu County, he would arrive at Yizhou City.
Yizhou City wasn't very far from Chengdu. It was only a short distance of a few dozen li! Chengdu had once been a capital city. For example, during the Shu Han Dynasty, Chengdu was the capital city. However, during the Tang dynasty, Chengdu had been reduced to a county town. A brand new Yizhou City was built not far from Chengdu.
This kind of situation had been very common since ancient times. Many large cities had fallen, and many small cities had suddenly risen. There were many examples like this.
For example, Kaifeng used to be the capital city of the Northern Song Dynasty, but in later years, it had been reduced to a small prefecture-level city. However, the small county next to it had been upgraded by two levels and became a provincial city. Who could explain this to?
There were also some small fishing villages that had been at the village level. Because of the policies, they had directly become big cities. Ang Lee was not very clear about why Chengdu had declined in the Tang dynasty, but he guessed that it had something to do with the war.
In ancient times, sometimes because of the war, a city in a region would be so dazzling that it was unbearable to look at. However, the cost of refurbishing it was too high. For this reason, many people would choose to abandon it and build a new city not too far away from it. The original city would be abandoned, or part of it would be repaired, its level would be downgraded, and the capital city would be changed into a county town.
Xipu County was not very far from Yizhou City, so the commercial development was quite good. There were many restaurants in the city. Although they only had two floors, fortunately, the area was large enough and the business was not bad.
The county magistrate felt that the scenery in the county office was not good enough, so he chose a restaurant with the most elegant environment as the location of the banquet. Next to the restaurant was a small river in the county, which was also a tributary of the Wenshui. The river was very narrow, only five or seven steps wide, and could only accommodate small boats such as fishing boats. However, the scenery in the river was very good.
The water was very good, and the transparency was at least one meter. Many weeping willows were planted on both sides of the river, which added to the scenery of the river. There were also fish swimming in the river, which made the river look quite lively.
What made people linger the most were the pleasure boats in the river. There were many well-dressed girls on these pleasure boats. They were all girls from the brothels. Their purpose of playing on the river was naturally not to play, but to attract business and make more money.
"These girls are quite interesting. They are very eye-catching!"
Ang Lee said as he looked at the gorgeously dressed girls in front of the window on the second floor.
The county magistrate said with a smile, "Assistant Minister Li, you may not know this, but this is the specialty of our Xipu County. These girls are playing in the river. If a guest takes a fancy to them, they will get on the boat, and then the boat will push back to the brothel. This way of taking the initiative to find a guest is much better than waiting at the entrance of the brothel to invite guests. Basically, all the brothels do this."
These brothels were also doing this for survival and to make their business better. In ancient times, brothels were legal, but this led to fierce competition. After all, there were not many rich people in ancient times, and there were many brothels. If the limited number of guests went to other brothels, then the benefits would naturally belong to other brothels, and their sisters would starve. In order to survive and to make more money, many brothels were also thinking of ways to solicit guests. They had almost thought of all the ways they could think of. As long as they could attract guests, they were willing to do anything. After all, there were no restrictions in ancient times in this aspect.
"They are going out to let the guests choose! It's a good idea. "
Ang Lee was very sure of this behavior. After a pause, he said, "I've been watching for half a day. There are more than 30 girls, but there's not a single business!"
"This?"
The county magistrate hesitated for a moment, then said, "Assistant Minister Li, such a big thing happened in the county today, and they still haven't recovered from it. More people are paying attention to the pirates, so they don't have time to care about them. "
Ang Lee nodded and felt that it was true. The heads of the four pirates were hanging on the city walls, and the head of the pirates had already begun to busy himself in the city under the leadership of the person who had been pouring the night incense. As there had always been only one person in charge of pouring the night incense, he basically had to work for an entire day. He had to work for at least ten hours a day, and the intensity of the work was very high. Now that there was the head of the pirates helping out, the person who had been doing the work could lessen a lot of the burden. At the same time, this person was also in charge of guarding the head of the pirates to prevent him from escaping.
At this moment, the merchants and commoners who hated the head of the pirates very much surrounded the head of the pirates who were working. From time to time, they would attack the head of the pirates, throw vegetables at him, and use all sorts of unpleasant words to curse the head of the pirates. From time to time, someone would say a few insightful words, causing the surrounding people to laugh loudly.
"Oh, isn't this Shopkeeper Liu? Why did you change your job to pouring night incense? "
"Oh, this is Shopkeeper Liu. He really looks like him! Yesterday afternoon, we were drinking tea together. How did he end up like this today? "
"Hmph, this is retribution. He didn't do a good business and went to rob. Now you know what's good for him!"
"Say, since Shopkeeper Liu is doing this, shouldn't we take good care of him?"
"Take care of him, that's a must! Who asked us to know him? "
"Come, come, come. Let's take care of Shopkeeper Liu now."
A group of merchants and commoners all gathered nearby to make fun of Shopkeeper Liu. This was really called beating a drowning dog. In order to survive, Shopkeeper Liu could only constantly beg for mercy, asking everyone to spare him.
However, things quickly developed to a new stage. Shopkeeper Liu's three concubines were escorted to the streets. As the family of the head of the pirates, although they weren't directly punished, they became homeless after the bailiffs searched their residences and chased them out. Because of this, they fought with the bailiffs and even scratched the bailiffs' faces.
The bailiffs were angry and directly escorted them to the streets, preparing to throw them on the streets and let them fend for themselves. At least, they couldn't be allowed to continue causing trouble.
When the three concubines were escorted to the streets, the head of the pirates happened to be pouring night incense on the streets. When he saw his three concubines, he immediately felt ashamed. When the three concubines saw that their former husband had been reduced to such a state, they cursed and scolded him. Their scolding was especially unpleasant to the ears as they cursed out all their resentment and grievances.
The surrounding crowd immediately boiled over. From time to time, people would interrupt and make fun of this family of four.
"The men are thieves, and the women aren't any good either."
"Oh, isn't this Cui Xian Lou's Little Hong? I heard that you left a good life a few years ago. So you became a concubine of a night incense seller! You really have good taste! "
"Oh, it really is Little Hong. After so many years, you're still so beautiful. What, are you regretting it? Why don't you be my concubine? "
"There's no point in leaving a good life. Why don't you go back to Cui Xian Lou! In the future, everyone will support you together. I guarantee that you'll be famous again. "
"Don't fight with me. I want to be Little Hong's first benefactor after she left a good life."
"Hahaha!"
The group of people kept making fun of him, appearing to be very happy. The more the head of the pirates heard, the more pained he felt. The more he heard, the angrier he became. He wished that he could kill all of these people, but he no longer had any ability. If he knew that these people would humiliate him like this, he would have killed them all back then. Of course, this was only a momentary thought. The pirates quickly stopped being angry because the moment he revealed an angry look, it was seen by the passersby who provoked him. At this moment, if he continued to show his strength, a large group of people would very likely rush over. At that time, each person would be able to beat him to death with a single punch. The law did not punish the majority. Even if he was really beaten to death, no one would stand up for him because he was a pirate. His life was worthless, and no one would sympathize with him.
"No wonder he didn't have any children in his life. It turns out that he's full of evil tricks."
"The heavens are watching. Bad people will not have a good ending. Being a pirate will end his family line."
"Not only will he end his family line, but he will also go to the eighteenth level of hell after death."
"A cowardly pirate. I've never seen such a cowardly pirate."
The onlookers kept provoking him. No matter if the head of the pirates fought back or not, they would still be the victors. If he did not fight back, they would feel good. If he dared to have any reaction, they would go from bad to worse and attack even more fiercely. In short, they would not let the head of the pirates have an easy time. They would continue to torture the head of the pirates and feel good about it.
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