At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 101 Assassination
Dian Wei was so cautious, and Zhou Qi naturally knew why.

On land, regardless of whether he harbored evil intentions or not, Dian Wei could use the pair of iron halberds in his hands to lead Zhou Qi to fight a bloody path.

However, both Dian Wei and Xiang Hong belong to the north and are not good at water.

If the other party has evil intentions on the river, they may not be able to protect themselves, let alone protect Zhou Qi and Zhou Zhan.

The captain had tattoos on his arms, and the evil spirit that occasionally emitted from his body showed that he was by no means a kind person.

The rest of the crew are also capable young people, not easy to get along with.

Zhou Qi glanced at the vast river surface, then looked at the four horses and luggage behind him, and couldn't help but frown slightly.

These four horses were all gifts from Gai of Dunhuang. Even in the north, they were considered good horses and were worth a lot of money.

In the south where there is a severe shortage of horses, these four horses are even more difficult to find, and Zhou Qi never wants to give them up so easily.

But the owner of the boat is not a good person. If the other party gets into trouble on the boat, Zhou Qi will not only lose his horse, but may even lose his life.

Seeing that Zhou Qi and the others refused to board the boat for a long time, the man immediately showed displeasure, and said: "Will you sit on this boat or not? If you don't sit on it, don't delay our livelihood."

A gentleman does not build a dangerous wall, and Zhou Qi will not use force to make him stupid.

After thinking about it for a while, he finally refused and said, "I'm really sorry, we still have things to do, so let's cross the river first."

The captain's face darkened when he heard the words, his eyes were fixed on Zhou Qi like a wolf, and he said coldly: "I really didn't expect that there would be people who would dare to entertain me on this breaking water."

"Since you have found me, you can sit on this boat today, whether you want to or not."

The owner of the ship whistled, and a dozen crew members drew out their sharp knives. Several small boats wandering in the distance also quickly approached the shore.

The captain picked up a strong bow and stared at Zhou Qi unkindly.

"Sure enough, I met a thief."

Seeing this, Zhou Qi couldn't help sighing secretly.

Although he had long expected that security in Anfeng County might not be very good, he never expected that it would be so bad.

You know, thieves usually commit robberies in remote places, but this place is only across the river from Anfeng County. It is simply shocking that these thieves dare to be so unscrupulous.

Facing the threat of thieves, Zhou Qi was not afraid at all.

Among the four of them, except Zhou Zhan, Zhou Qi, Dian Wei, and Xiang Hongke have all seen the big world, and they are not afraid at all even if they face nearly a hundred thieves.

They haven't boarded the ship yet, how can they be afraid of these water thieves?
Zhou Qi saw that the boat owner bent his bow and pointed an arrow at him, but he still said flatly: "The so-called business can't be done with righteousness. We really don't plan to cross the river because we have something to do. Please let us go."

Upon hearing this, the captain narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Zhou Qi in surprise, and then suddenly let go of the bowstring.

"Chirp!"

The arrow came through the air and pointed directly at Zhou Qi.

"Snapped!"

Unexpectedly, just when the arrow was about to hit Zhou Qi, he was caught by a powerful arm.

"Chirp!"

Dian Wei grabbed the arrow with his bare hands and threw it towards the boat with all his strength. The arrow shot at the captain at a faster speed than when it came.

"clang!"

Seeing this, the captain's face changed slightly, and he hurriedly swung his knife to block.

Although the arrow was shot down, the captain was shocked by the huge force on it and took a few steps back, with a look of horror in his eyes.

Dian Wei snorted coldly, and said, "If you hadn't just aimed at my young master's crown, this arrow would have taken your life."

At the same time, Xiang Hong also took out the strong bow hung on the horse's back, bent the bow and set an arrow at the head of the thief, with a cold light in his eyes.

The thief leader looked at the four of them in amazement, and suddenly seemed to think of something, and said in a voiceless voice: "Could it be that Your Excellency is the new county magistrate of Anfeng, Zhou Ziyi?"

Zhou Qi raised his eyebrows slightly, but he didn't expect that this mere water thief was so well-informed that he actually knew that he was coming to Anfeng County to take up his post.

Zhou Qi could also see that the thief chief just shot the arrow just to intimidate him, but he had no intention of killing. He immediately said loudly: "This is the new county magistrate of Anfeng, may you let us go?"

The man was overjoyed when he heard the words, and hastily threw away the weapon in his hand, jumped out of the boat in a panic, knelt down in front of Zhou Qi, and said: "Crassman Zhou Jin, I pay my respects to the county magistrate, and I hope the magistrate will forgive me!"

Zhou Qi and the others were a little confused by the sudden change in the attitude of the thief leader.

"Mr.Zhou?"

Zhou Qi seemed to have remembered something, and said, "Your surname is Zhou, so what is the relationship with the Lujiang Zhou family?"

The Zhou family in Lujiang, as a noble family in the county, has branches all over the county, and people with the surname Zhou are probably from the same clan.

The Zhou family of Lujiang was also descended from the Zhou family of Peiguo, and there was a relationship between the two that was constantly in turmoil and confusion.

Zhou Jin showed bitterness when he heard the words, and said: "In Lujiang County, most people with the surname Zhou originated from the Zhou family of Lujiang. any connection."

"The Lujiang Zhou clan, of course, don't look down on us and the head of Guizhou."

Hearing this, Zhou Qi couldn't help but secretly sighed.

As a branch of the Zhou family in Peiguo, he can naturally understand Zhou Jin's mood, but he still said: "I see that you have an extraordinary conversation and a dignified appearance. Even if you can't climb up to the Lujiang Zhou family, you won't become a water thief."

Zhou Jin kowtowed and said, "If you can live innocently, who would be willing to become a bandit?"

"But the county magistrate doesn't know that since the imperial court started donating officials, the newly arrived Anfeng County magistrate has colluded with powerful families and spared no effort to squeeze the people. Countless families have been broken up and people have died."

"My brother from the same clan worked in the county government. He was framed because he refused to have sex with corrupt officials, and his wife and children were separated."

"Someone was so angry that he led his fellow clansmen to attack the dog officer, but he escaped by chance."

"Officer Dog was frightened and didn't dare to stay in Anfeng any longer. After signing the wanted document, he spent money to buy official positions in other places."

"We had no choice but to live in exile on the river. We only robbed wealthy businessmen to make a living, and never dared to kill people."

"A certain Yi Bo Yuntian, the county magistrate of Zhou who has heard about it, learned that the county magistrate is coming to serve in Anfeng County. He has been looking forward to it day and night, and even asks the county magistrate to be the master for us!"

Having said this, Zhou Jin bowed to the ground and could not stand up for a long time.

The rest of the crew also jumped off the boat at this time, followed Zhou Jin and knelt beside Zhou Qi, with fear and anticipation in their eyes.

Zhou Qi sighed slightly when he heard the words.

When the emperor of the dynasty sold his officials to earn money, he thought he had cheated the aristocratic family, but he didn't expect that it was the common people who really suffered.

When Zhou Qi was born in the state of Pei, with a cruel official like Wang Ji in power, his feelings were not so profound.

When I met Zhou Jin and others today, I was able to catch a glimpse of a leopard and see the great harm caused to the people by the emperor's betrayal of his official position.

He stepped forward to help Zhou Jin up, and said, "I will investigate this matter in detail. If it is as you said, the county magistrate will help you solve the wanted matter."

"The premise is that you have never killed anyone."

Zhou Jin was overjoyed when he heard the words, and hurriedly said: "The grassroots can swear that since blocking the river and robbing the road, they have only asked for money to support their brothers, and have never dared to kill anyone."

Zhou Qi helped Zhou Jin up and said, "In that case, would you like to take us across the river?"

Zhou Jin burst into tears of gratitude when she heard the words, and said: "The county magistrate doesn't think I'm despicable, but he is still willing to take the boat knowing that I am a thief. This kind of trust and tolerance, I will definitely remember it for five years, and I will never forget it in this life!"

Zhou Qi helped Zhou Jin up again, and said: "As long as you don't do evil, you will be the people of Anfeng. Since I am the magistrate of Anfeng, why don't you dare to take your boat?"

Looking at the grateful Zhou Jin, Zhou Qi couldn't help sighing secretly.

With fame and official position, as long as you show a little kindness to people like Zhou Jin, others will be extremely grateful.

He recalled that before he became famous, even if he confidant to Xu Chu and tried his best to make friends with him, he failed to recruit him to his command, and he couldn't help feeling a little bit embarrassed.

The four of them boarded the big boat, but Dian Wei was always next to Zhou Jin with his right hand in his waist.

Whenever the other party made any changes, Dian Wei would immediately kill him with a flying halberd.

Zhou Qi seemed unaware of Dian Wei's little tricks, and talked with Zhou Jin kindly.

"I first arrived in Anfeng, and I don't know much about this place. You have lived here for a long time, can you tell me a little bit?"

Zhou Jin hesitated a little, and suddenly gritted his teeth and asked: "The county magistrate will be like those dog officials in the past, colluding with powerful and merchants to oppress the people and amassing money wantonly, or does he really want to govern Anfeng County well?"

After asking this question, Zhou Jin's eyes flickered.

If Zhou Qi came here for the former, even if he risked his life, he would sink Zhou Qi and others into the river.

Before Zhou Qi could answer, Xiang Hong, who was standing by his side, immediately reprimanded him: "My son is loyal, filial, righteous, wise and trustworthy, how can he be confused with those dog officials?"

Zhou Qi looked at Zhou Jin carefully and said seriously: "I am here to bring peace and prosperity to thousands of people. If I can't make their lives better, I will never leave this place!"

Listening to Zhou Qi's unequivocal promise, Zhou Jin thought of the oppression he had suffered over the years, and immediately with tears in his eyes, he kowtowed to Zhou Qi several times.

He said solemnly: "If it is true what the county magistrate said, then the county magistrate's trip must be extremely difficult."

"The situation in Anfeng County is intricate and complicated, and it is difficult to describe in detail. Many things can only be understood after the county magistrate has seen it. I am inconvenient to say more."

"If the county magistrate can still maintain his original intention five days after arriving in Anfeng County, he can send someone to come secretly to find me."

"At that time, I may be able to provide some assistance to the county governor."

Zhou Qi frowned slightly when he heard this, but didn't ask any more questions.

After crossing the river, Zhou Qi watched Zhou Jin and the others leave by boat, frowning, feeling that there must be many changes in this trip.

But soon, Zhou Qi adjusted his mentality and took Dian Wei and the others towards the county.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they arrived at the gate of the county seat, they were stopped by the soldiers guarding the gate. They looked at the horses they were riding with greedy expressions in their eyes.

Zhou Qi is such a character, he can tell at a glance that these soldiers have evil intentions.

He didn't want to waste time here, let alone do those tricks where he was first stopped and asked for a bribe, and then revealed his identity and slapped the gatekeeper in the face.

Zhou Qi didn't wait for them to speak, and directly took out the appointment documents and seal ribbon, and said: "I am the new Anfeng County Magistrate. You can lead the way and take me to the county government office."

The gatekeepers were shocked when they heard this. Before they could react, they saw a sharp stone flying over, aiming directly at Zhou Qi's head.

"There are assassins!"

The gatekeepers were horrified and hurriedly drew their swords to protect Zhou Qi.

　If I had known earlier that no one would have guessed right, the timeline is too early now. Those famous generals in Soochow in history were either not born or were kids, so they couldn't be them.

　　The collection of dragon sets and supporting roles is suspended, and the existing ones will be changed according to the needs and even the surname. Forgive me, brothers, everything is based on the needs of the plot.

　　Finally, I would like to thank the book friends "Xie Xiu", "Hundred Years Apprentice", and "Yue Yewen" for their rewards.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)