Chapter 81: A City of Troublemakers

Since the Sima County Captain was killed, the entire Anchang County has rebelled.

Those rebels attacked villages and towns, plundering food and people.

The wealthy households in the county were so frightened that they could only take their families and children and flee into the county town to ensure safety.

Naturally, the county government had to turn a blind eye. During this period, it sent out several teams to suppress the rebellion.

It's just that every time the people sent out, they either disappeared and were completely lost, or they were forced to escape just a few steps out of the city.

Dianshi, the three strongest masters in Anchang County, was seriously injured when he fell while riding a goose. They have not recovered yet and their strength is not as good as before.

The Sima county lieutenant was ambushed and killed by the rebels again.

Now there is only one most powerful county magistrate left, and he does not dare to leave the city rashly despite the county captain's experience.

Now Anchang County can only requisition civilians throughout the city and stick to the county seat, waiting for the county government or the Qingzhou Army to come to rescue.

Recently, many rebels have united together and staged a drama in which the Eighteenth Route Army rebelled against the king and allied forces attacked the county town.

The rebels drove a large number of civilians to attack the county town every day, and the walls of the county town were breached several times.

Fortunately, the county magistrate took action personally with the seriously injured Dianshi, and finally managed to secure the county seat.

In a secret room of the county government, there is a bronze mirror, which is a special magic weapon.

There were thousands of such bronze mirrors throughout the Zhou Dynasty, which were combined into a set of special magic weapons.

The only function of this magic weapon is communication.

Through this bronze mirror, the county government can directly contact the superior Sanyang County.

At this moment, the county magistrate stood in front of the bronze mirror and stretched out a finger to write on the bronze mirror.

"The anti-thief coalition forces are attacking the city, and the county is in danger."

As soon as he finished writing, the writing on the bronze mirror disappeared.

After a while, the bronze mirror lit up again, and a line of words appeared on the surface.

"Every county in Qingzhou is rebelling. We currently have no troops to send, so we are waiting for reinforcements."

The county magistrate, who had been a local emperor for decades, looked ashen when he saw this line of words.

Don't expect reinforcements anytime soon.

Now we can only hold on to the county seat and try our best to save ourselves.

At present, the county has a population of tens of thousands and there is still some food. With the city wall, it is still possible to defend with all its strength.

It's just that the more than 10,000 people in the city are all unruly people.

There is no good citizen who can keep his duty.

The city wall was breached several times by the rebels. It was not because the rebels were so powerful, but because the unscrupulous people in the city took the initiative to let go of their defenses and lure the rebels into the city.

For this reason, the county government has beheaded several groups of people, and the killings still failed to deter these unruly people.

Recently, these unscrupulous people have been clamoring for the government to open warehouses to release grain.

Diao Feng is becoming more and more popular.

As soon as the county magistrate walked out of the secret room, he saw several police officers escorting a group of unruly people in.

"Reporting to the Lord of the County, we have captured a few more spies who were trying to lure the bandit army into the city."

"Take him in and give him a beating first. I will interrogate him personally."

The county magistrate is now filled with hatred when he sees these unruly people. He can only relieve his hatred by killing them all.

But in this special period, these unscrupulous people are still needed to defend the city.

After only a while, these spies were beaten into shape and dragged into the lobby like dead dogs.

"Tell me! Who ordered you to act as a spy and lead thieves into the house?"

"I'm not under anyone's orders. I don't even have enough to eat. I don't want to work for you dog officials."

The man being questioned had been beaten to pieces, and now he dared to contradict the county magistrate.

"As a parent of a county, I have always loved the people like my own children. It seems that you, a troublesome person, still deserve to be beaten."

Several police officers immediately took action and sprinkled some coarse salt on the man's beaten flesh, which caused the man to burst into tears.

"Guan Guan, if you dare, kill me with one knife."

The man was also a tough-talking man. He was rolling on the ground in pain and still yelling and swearing.

"Keep fighting!"

Several government officials beat him again with paddles. After the beating, they sprinkled chili pepper water on the wound.

"Are you convinced or not?"

"Dog officer! I don't accept it!"

This man was famous for his harsh words. Even though his whole body was shaking with pain, he still refused to accept the words and cursed angrily.

Then various methods such as clamping sticks, bamboo sticks, and fire brands were used.

This man's bones were all broken, his skin and flesh were rotten, and all his teeth were pulled out. Only his mouth was still extremely hard.

Just refused to give in.

"Dog officer..."

When encountering such a cunning and unscrupulous person, the county magistrate could only consider himself unlucky, have his mouth blocked, and beheaded in public.

There is no sense of accomplishment at all in killing such a troublesome person.

But just a few days after the beheading was carried out in public, the unruly people in the city began to clamor to open warehouses to store grain and to eat.

Suddenly, Diao Feng rose sharply.

If they didn't expect these unscrupulous people to guard the city wall, none of them would even think about living.

He has already written down the troublemakers in his notebook.

There is no other way now. The county magistrate can only bear this breath for the time being and collect grain and money from the wealthy merchants in the city.

There were many wealthy businessmen living in the county, and their homes had hoarded a large amount of food, gold, silver, and silk.

Later, when the bandits broke out, wealthy landowners from various towns and villages took refuge in the city with their children.

In extraordinary times, extraordinary things are done.

The county magistrate asked Wang Baotou to lead a group of fierce government servants to collect grain and money from house to house.

If anyone disobeys even a little bit, they will lead people into the house, beat them, rob them, and line their own pockets by the way.

In a few days, 1,000 dan of grain and 5,000 taels of silver were collected.

This time, the officials of the county government were dedicated to the public.

Only 5,000 taels of silver were distributed, and the remaining 1,000 dan of grain was not touched. All of them were distributed to the civilians guarding the city.

These civilians came from poor families, and some were even beggars in the city. They had not eaten a decent meal in the past few years.

After the food was distributed, they were afraid that the bandits would come in and rob their food, and their morale was boosted for a while.

Recently, for more than a month, no matter how fierce the offensive of the bandits outside the city was, they could not get close to the city wall.

The county magistrate did not show much joy when he saw such a record, but only snorted coldly with his nose crooked.

"Humph... cunning people!"

But even if the civilians were frugal, the 1,000 dan of grain they distributed only lasted for one or two months before it was eaten up.

These unruly people had no food to eat, and they looked like they were dying, complaining day after day.

The county magistrate was angry when he saw this. There were such unruly people in the world!

He could only continue to collect grain from the rich.

This time, only 500 shi of grain was collected, but the officials did not share a single grain. They distributed all of it.

The county magistrate himself was very moved. He had been a county magistrate for decades, but he did not expect that he would be so honest as an official.

None of the unruly people in the city were sensible, and they did not know to send an umbrella for the people.

As for the minor officials under his command who slightly deducted some of it, it could be ignored.

The 500 shi collected this time only lasted for a month and was gone again.

Then he could not collect grain from the rich, and the unruly people in the city complained more and more.

There were even rumors that the court had allocated disaster relief grain, but it was divided up by the county magistrate, the registrar, and the county lieutenant.

The county magistrate was a little angry. I am so honest, but these unruly people are still not satisfied.

The reinforcements will not arrive in a short time. There are bandits outside the city attacking day and night, and the unruly people in the city are still making trouble with him.

The county magistrate was overwhelmed. He had no choice but to abandon the car to save the king. He had to find someone to take the blame.