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

Chapter 65

In Xiangxian County, there is a rumbling sound.

Ever since Zhou Qi sent people to investigate the evidence of Wang Ji's crime, it caused an uproar in the entire Xiang County. Those who had been associated with Wang Ji, the prime minister of Pei State, were all panicked.

However, for the former victims and their families, they were naturally happy and took the initiative to appeal, so that those former minions of Wang Ji could not hide.

In just a few days, the government arrested countless Wang Ji's minions. Even Wang Ji's wife and children, who had not been killed by Zhou Qi, were arrested and imprisoned.Some of them tried to resist, but were killed mercilessly by the officers and soldiers.

With the passage of time, Wang Ji's criminal evidence has basically been collected, and it seems that this turmoil will gradually come to an end.

In the county office, Zhou Qi summoned Lieutenant Liu, rubbed his tired brow, and said with a smile: "Lieutenant Liu is indispensable for the successful collection of the crimes committed by Wang Ji."

Lieutenant Liu hastily said humbly: "I'm ashamed of Zhou's words. If I didn't rely on the majesty of Captain Sili and rely on Zhou's talent, how could the case be settled so smoothly?"

Zhou Qi did not continue to be polite, but said: "Now that what Yang Shijun ordered has been completed, we are going to leave Xiangxian County and rush to Luoyang tomorrow. Before leaving, I want to entertain Lieutenant Liu and his generals at the Xia Ke Restaurant , to thank you all for your help these days, what do you think of Lieutenant Liu?"

Lieutenant Liu was naturally overjoyed when he learned that Zhou Qi and others were leaving, and immediately said: "Zhou is working for the imperial court and arresting lawbreakers. How dare you let me spend money on this?"

"If Zhou doesn't give up, how about this banquet being hosted by someone?"

Zhou Qi shook his head when he heard this and said, "I must invite you to this banquet."

"To be honest, in addition to thanking Lieutenant Liu for hosting this banquet, I also have some personal matters to ask for."

Lieutenant Liu's eyes brightened when he heard the words, and said: "What request does Zhou Zong have, but please tell me, how dare you not try your best to help?"

Zhou Qi got up, bowed and said: "To be honest, I don't know when I will be able to return to Luoyang. The elders in the village have taken good care of me before, so I would like to ask Lieutenant Liu to take care of me."

Upon hearing this, Lieutenant Liu immediately patted his chest and said: "It's just a trivial matter, why bother? Since Zhou Zhichen has given instructions, I will definitely help you with all my heart."

The smile on Zhou Qi's face became brighter and brighter, and he said: "In that case, Qi would like to thank the lieutenant in advance."

"In addition, I also plan to purchase some mansions and properties in my hometown, and I need my servant Zhou Gu to take care of them. Now that his injury is no longer serious, I wonder if Lieutenant Liu can let him return home?"

Even though Zhou Qi has been pretending very well, Lieutenant Liu has always been wary of him.

Lieutenant Liu not only detained Zhou Gu as a hostage on the grounds of recovering from his injuries, but also wore armor every time he traveled, and also brought many county soldiers with him.

If someone asked, Lieutenant Liu would say that Wang Ji's party feathers were rampant, and in order to avoid being attacked by assassins, he only went out wearing armor, even his personal guards did the same.

The armors of Lieutenant Liu and his men are not like those knights under Zhou Qi. Most of them wear cloth armor, and not many even wear leather armor. They all wear iron armor.

This is not because Zhou Qi's knights can't afford iron armor, but because it's not a time of war. Carrying iron armor will require a lot of logistics and luggage, and it will greatly slow down the marching speed, which is contrary to Yang Qiu's original intention.

The reason why they wear armor is actually to build momentum.

Although cloth armor has poor protection, it is very light. Wearing it with a red cloak looks majestic without slowing down the marching speed or increasing the burden on the knight.

Zhou Qi had fifty cavalry and did not dare to touch Lieutenant Liu rashly. In fact, he also had this consideration.

Most of this cavalry is stationed in Luoyang. Even if they occasionally follow the Sili captain to patrol nearby states and counties, it is just to build momentum. If they really confront the armored county soldiers in the city, they basically have no chance of winning.

As for forcing Lieutenant Liu to rebel and then fleeing back to Luoyang to report to the emperor, only a small official like Yang Zuoshi who lacked a sense of the overall situation could come up with such a rotten strategy. Although Zhou Qi would not directly dismiss Yang Zuo Shi face, but will definitely not adopt this strategy.

When Lieutenant Liu heard this, hesitation flashed in his eyes.

Before that, he was going to release Zhou Gufang to express his kindness to Zhou Qi, but he was dissuaded by his staff, so he put Zhou Gu under house arrest until now.

But now, Zhou Qi was already preparing to leave Xiangxian County, and asked himself to help take care of his township party. Lieutenant Liu felt that there was no need to keep Zhou Gu in custody, otherwise Zhou Qi might be angered, and the gain outweighed the loss.

Thinking of this, Lieutenant Liu immediately smiled and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Zhou. After I return, I will send someone to send Zhou Gu back to your mansion."

Zhou Qi smiled, and immediately finalized the detailed number of people and the specific time for the banquet with Lieutenant Liu.

It wasn't until Lieutenant Liu left that Yang Zuoshi, who had never said a word, said, "Zhou is planning to imitate Xiang Yu and hold the Hongmen Banquet?"

Zhou Qi tapped the table with his fingers and said with a smile: "I am not Xiang Yu, and he is not Gaozu."

However, after Lieutenant Liu returned to the mansion with all his personal guards, he immediately summoned his confidantes and staff, and said with a smile: "That guy Zhou Qi will leave Xiangxian County tomorrow, we will have no worries!"

The close aides also looked happy when they heard this and said, "Is the news credible?"

Lieutenant Liu said with great certainty: "This is what Zhou Qi told me personally. How could there be any mistake?"

The confidant staff stroked their beards and said: "If this is the case, it is indeed a beautiful thing."

Lieutenant Liu put down the big stone in his heart and immediately said to his confidants: "Go and tell the guards in the mansion to take off their armor. They have been wearing armor these days and they are really suffering. Then inform some of the generals and let them take off their armor at night. Come with me to the Xia Ke Restaurant for a banquet."

"By the way, send someone to take Zhou Gu back to the Zhou family's mansion, and also send the two maids who took care of him."

After the staff heard this, the smiles on their faces gradually disappeared, and they said: "The lieutenant who can make Zhou Qi afraid is nothing more than the military power and Zhou Guer in his hands. At this time, Zhou Gu was sent away, and the guards were disarmed. Go to the banquet with your confidants and generals. If he suddenly gets into trouble during the banquet, what should we do?"

When Lieutenant Liu heard this, he suddenly woke up, but then he said with a slight hesitation: "Zhou Qi has not conducted an in-depth investigation of me since he entered the city. And even if he sent someone to investigate secretly, he would never find any evidence. .”

"After all, I'm an official of Two Thousand Stones. How could Zhou Qi dare to arrest me without any evidence?"

A confidant reminded: "The so-called nip in the bud, Wang Ji's lessons learned from the past are right in front of him, and the lieutenant must pay attention to them."

Hearing this, Lieutenant Liu felt cold sweat dripping down his back. He paced back and forth in the room several times and said, "Zhou Qi is a very deep man in the city. You can't trust him too much. But I have promised him before. If he suddenly goes back on his word, I really want to kill him." Wouldn’t it be self-defeating to be irritated?”

When the staff heard the words, they laughed and said, "This matter is easy."

Lieutenant Liu asked hurriedly: "If you have any clever ideas, please come to me quickly."

The staff shook his head and said: "Zhou Gu is just a servant, it doesn't make much sense to continue to be detained in the mansion. If Zhou Qi really wants to deal with the lieutenant, why would he care about the life of a servant? So in my opinion, Zhou Gu can be sent back to the Zhou mansion. "

Lieutenant Liu asked: "How can the generals under your command refuse to go to the banquet?"

The staff laughed and said: "It is impossible to shirk everything, but it is not difficult to let one or two confidants shirk it on the grounds of illness or personal leave. The lieutenant can order his generals to wear leather armor and broad robes, and carry weapons to attend the banquet. The weather is a little cooler today, and even though I look a little bloated in such clothes, it makes sense."

"When the lieutenant goes to a banquet, he can have his two trusted generals secretly lead troops to ambush them. If there is a dispute in the wine shop, the generals wearing swords and leather armor can delay the attack until the soldiers arrive. This will ensure that the lieutenant is safe. .”

Lieutenant Liu heard the words, but hesitantly said: "Although I have served as Lieutenant of Peiguo for many years, I am quite sympathetic to my subordinates, and the generals and soldiers are willing to serve me. However, after all, Zhou Qi is an official under the command of Sili Xiaowei. His presumptuous use of warfare is no different from treason, how will the officers and men obey his orders?"

Lieutenant Liu was not wrong to worry.

This is not an era when the Han dynasty has collapsed and princes have emerged. The majesty of the imperial court cannot be offended, and no one dares to commit the crime of rebellion easily.As long as the soldiers under Lieutenant Liu didn't have a seizure, they would never dare to kill Zhou Qi.

But the staff laughed and said: "If he uses real evidence to arrest the lieutenant, the officers and men will not dare to disobey the court's decree. If Zhou Qi arrests people indiscriminately, what's wrong with the officers and men defending the superior?"

"Instead, we can arrest him, report to the emperor, and tell him to assassinate two thousand Shi Peiguo's angry ministers, colluding with Sili Xiaowei to bring disaster to the local area, and frame Zhongliang in the future."

"If you want to get to the bottom of the assassination of two thousand officials from the imperial court, let alone Zhou Qi himself, even Yang Qiu is to blame!"

If they had no other choice, Lieutenant Liu and the others were unwilling to make enemies with Yang Qiu, and now that Wang Fu was in decline, they didn't need to fight Yang Qiu, a member of the imperial court with a strong family, for the sake of the dead Wang Ji. deathmatch.

But if Zhou Qi really wants to deal with Lieutenant Liu, then the two sides will have no choice but to completely break up.

At that time, it is still unclear who will win.

But it was said that Lieutenant Liu followed the advice of his confidants and first sent Zhou Gufeng back to Zhou's home in glory, and then began to make secret arrangements.

That night, Zhou Qi, Yang Zuoshi, Xu Chu, Zhou Cheng, Chen Wen and others headed towards the Xiakexing wine shop in a mighty way.

As soon as they arrived at the entrance of the restaurant, the shopkeeper greeted him with a smile all over his face, and bowed to Zhou Qi: "You guys are here, it really makes the small shop flourish!"

No wonder the wine shop owner is so enthusiastic.

Ever since Zhou Qi killed someone at the gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion and wrote a poem on the pillar in front of the restaurant, the business of the entire restaurant has become extremely hot.

Now that the author of "Xia Ke Xing" comes to drink in person, how can the shopkeeper not be overjoyed?

Zhou Qi asked with a smile, "Is the banquet properly arranged?"

The shopkeeper said hurriedly: "But please don't worry, the shop has already made arrangements, and we will never disappoint Zhou Lang!"

Zhou Qi nodded, then greeted everyone and walked into the wine shop.

(End of this chapter)