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Chapter 970: The Tai Sui
"Uh... I have to ensure the safety of His Majesty first..." Xiao Si knew that something bad was going to happen, but he didn't dare to abandon the emperor halfway and make arrangements on his own.

"There are not thousands of troops here, and the Warrior Battalion is enough to handle it. Just go and do your job, and don't worry about me. Pingtou, take some people to scout out the situation, be careful and don't be careless!"

If it were in other places, such as Yarkand, Shalian Port, Enniao Port, or even Manila and Da Nang, Hong Tao would not dare to be too arrogant. After all, there are a lot of people there, and it is not certain that only a few thousand land guards can defend everything.

But on Xiaoliuqiu Island, you really don't have to be afraid of anyone. In other words, there is no time and no need to conduct a detailed search in the mountains. Otherwise, if you take hundreds of warriors with you for half a year, there will be no indigenous people left.

Those who are willing to surrender will go down the mountain and board the ship, and be transported to Liaodong, Inner Mongolia and other places as new immigrants; those who are unwilling to surrender will return to dust and return to the embrace of mother mountains.

"Your Majesty, a body worth millions should not be put in danger easily... How about I lead people to clean up the rebellion, and Your Majesty stays here in command of the central army." Upon hearing that the emperor was going to the attacked farm in person, Xiao Si no longer cared about etiquette. He stepped forward to block the way and put forward a new suggestion.

"Get out of my way! Wang Chengen, you'll be the last one to leave. Anyone who disobeys orders will be punished by military law!" Hong Tao didn't want to listen at all. He stretched out his arm and pushed the man away, then walked quickly down the stone steps.

Wang Chengen blocked the stone steps with a smirk on his face, and invited Xiao Si with a provocative look: Come on! Come on! You are still so confused, you can recite the formula so fluently, why don't you stay in the confinement room for a few more days.

The place where the smoke came from was less than 20 miles away. Dozens of cavalry warriors and Marine guards were divided into three columns, moving forward in unison with a distance of meters. The temperature here was still over degrees in winter. There were lush forests and shrubs along the way, as well as scattered cultivated farmland, but no crops were seen.

Half an hour later, there were more and more farmlands and fewer and fewer forests. When we were still a few miles away from where the smoke came from, the farmlands had been connected into large areas, with rice, sugarcane and sisal, as well as canals and water wheels for irrigation and drainage, but there were no people to be seen.

"Your Majesty, the bandits have already fled into the mountains. I heard from the local immigrants that there are dozens of them. After being discovered, they bluffed for a while, but when they saw that there were more people here, they retreated on their own."

At this time, the flat-headed brother who was in charge of the front reconnaissance led the team back and roughly described the situation he had learned, waiting for the emperor's further orders. The Warrior Battalion did not take this kind of threat seriously at all, and could immediately go into the mountains to pursue and suppress it if necessary.

"Weren't all the indigenous people driven into the mountains? How come there is still such a large scale!" Upon hearing this, Hong Tao did not give orders immediately, but turned to ask Xiao Si.

"...Your Majesty, please calm down. I did lead a team to clear the nearby mountains at the beginning of the year, and did not find any large-scale gatherings of indigenous people." Xiao Si was stumped by the question. He couldn't understand why a large number of indigenous people would suddenly come down the mountain to harass farms and plantations.

"Go and call the person in charge here!" Seeing this, Hong Tao did not arbitrarily think that Xiao Si was deceiving the emperor. It was useless to just listen to one side's words to know whether he was lying or not. There must be supporting evidence, and it was not difficult.

The flat-headed brother went there for more than ten minutes and brought back two men in their fifties. They were both from Zhejiang and had served in the Marine Corps. One voluntarily retired after serving his term, and the other was forced to retire due to serious injuries and disability.

Whether they were willing or forced, both of them were eligible for land rewards and settled near several naval bases. After much deliberation, they chose this place. Although the new supporting facilities of the base were not perfect, the land was fertile and it was close to their hometown in Zhejiang.

"…I, Huang Zhongwang, greet the Grand Marshal! Long live the Grand Marshal!" The veteran with a disabled left hand had once served as a trial centurion of the Lu Zhanwei. When he arrived here, he became the village chief, managing more than 30 households with hundreds of new immigrants. Although he had retired from the army, he had been out and about before. When he saw the Flathead Brothers and the Warrior Battalion, his eyes looked a little strange. When he got closer and saw the shoulder straps of the middle-aged man next to Xiao Si, he knelt down with a plop. But his upper body still saluted, but his hands and lips were trembling a little.

"Fortunately, you have retired, otherwise you will be punished by military law. Get up, I called you here to ask what happened just now and why the mountain people attacked so heavily."

After thirty years of constant emphasis and habit, the kneeling ceremony has not completely disappeared in the court or among the people, but the army has long reached a consensus that anyone who kneels will violate military law. Hong Tao did not dwell on this little thing, but only cared about why the smoke of war started.

"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, this incident is not entirely the fault of the mountain people. We went too deep into the mountains for money and injured their people, so we were retaliated. From now on, we will never dare to cross the restricted area again. As the village chief, I accept the beating and punishment without hesitation."

Although he got up, Huang Zhongwang was still not calm. As a commoner living on a deserted island, he could actually see the emperor at such a close distance and have a face-to-face conversation with him. It was quite stimulating.

"You are really out of your mind. You have land but don't take good care of it. Instead, you want to get extra money. Damn you!"

Xiao Si was also very nervous, fearing that the mountain people would come back, and he would not be able to explain himself. After hearing this, his heart finally settled down, but his anger flared up again. He dismounted a few steps and walked to the front, grabbing Huang Zhongwang by the collar. If the emperor had not been present, he would have beaten him up. It was too worrying.

"Come, sit down and answer. Why did you go deep into the mountains? Is there any business in the mountains that can make money?"

Since the danger was over, Hong Tao did not plan to chase the mountain people. After running for half an hour, he took a break and dismounted, walked to the side of the road, found a fallen tree trunk and sat down. He took out a cigar and lit it, while patting the tree trunk to signal the two village chiefs not to stand in front of him.

"...I also heard from my fellow villagers that they cut down camphor trees in the mountains of Tamsui Port, refined them into oil, and then a Fujian merchant bought them to make medicinal incense to repel mosquitoes. The price was very good.

There are also many camphor trees on the mountains here, but they are not very old and cannot produce much oil. We thought it would be better to go deeper into the mountains, where there are bigger and older camphor trees. If we cut them down and transport them back, we can produce more and better oil.

As a result, we accidentally went beyond the boundary post and walked further and further, and ran into some mountain people. They couldn't understand what we said, and we couldn't understand what they said either, so we started fighting and injured several of them.

I thought I would be safe if I ran back, but they called more of their fellow villagers to come and retaliate. I was afraid that I would suffer losses if I delayed until night, so I lit a beacon to warn them. When they saw the cavalry coming, they immediately retreated.

The two village chiefs squatted on the tree trunk tremblingly, one person spoke and the other supplemented, and soon they explained what happened today.

(End of this chapter)