Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 439: God King Township

Chao Gai, Han Bolun, Yan Liu, Zhu Tong, Li Yun and Li Wang, who were in the bandit camp, led their troops to six villages under the guidance of county officials who knew the route. The key members of the church in the villages were easily captured before they could react.

Only the supervisor of Zhangkou Village had some martial arts skills and dared to resist when he saw the army. He was knocked down by Han Bolun with a stick. The rest of the people surrendered obediently when they saw the government troops.

Zhao Zhen led two battalions of cavalry and headed straight for Jiaozhuang, where a thousand cavalry surrounded Jiaozhuang.

Liu Xinmin was enjoying himself in the Heavenly King Palace, which was converted from the village office. When he heard that the soldiers had surrounded Jiaozhuang, he thought to himself, "Why are the soldiers here?" He immediately called out, "Please invite the four generals who protect the religion to the palace."

Liu Xinmin, the four generals who defended the religion, sat in the middle of the Heavenly King Hall and said, "The Heavenly King has issued a personal order: the officers and soldiers from the lower world are ignorant of their sins and have come to attack us today. You, the defenders of the religion, must resist them carefully and make every effort. If the Heavenly King is pleased, he will definitely enter your names into the immortal register. You must not neglect it."

Zhang Chi heard this and shouted, "Master, don't worry. With the four of us here, we are not afraid of any number of soldiers. The four of us and the other members of the village will drink the magic water and move forward together to kill all the soldiers without a single piece of armor remaining."

Ji Guang also said: "That's right, the four of us have received the grace of the headmaster, and we should contribute to repay the Heavenly King."

After saying this, the four men each held a weapon, led fifty or sixty people in the village, drank the magic water, and went out of the village to meet the enemy.

Zhang held up a solid iron staff and was the first to go out, shouting, "How dare you, you fool, come to my Duobao Heavenly King Buddha Kingdom? If you know what's good for you, leave now. If you provoke the Heavenly King to get angry, he will send you all to the eighteen levels of hell, where you will suffer endless tortures in the mountains of swords and seas of fire. It will be too late to regret then."

When Zhao Zhen looked, he saw this man: skinny as a jackal, his body erect, his head no bigger than a teacup, his eyes wide open, a few tiny whiskers, a pointed mouth and erect ears.

Zhao Zhen shouted, "Who can help me catch this guy?"

Tang Bin, who was beside Zhao Zhen, could no longer hold back his anger. After hearing what Zhao Zhen said, he got off his horse without saying anything, picked up a mountain-splitting axe, and rushed out to the battle line, heading straight for Zhang Chi.

Zhang Chi shouted, "Master Zhang Chi, Duobao Tianwang, the general who protects the religion, who are you? Tell me your name. I will not kill nameless people under my stick."

After hearing this, Tang Bin shouted, "Listen carefully, you idiot. I am the commander of the Right Brave Cavalry Battalion under the command of Liangshan Prefecture Governor Zhao Zhen, the Mountain-Moving Strength Warrior Tang Bin."

The two men were introduced by name and each held up the weapon in his hand.

The four people in Zhang Chi's group were all mountain people from Juye County, and they lived in Leshi Village between Qinglong Mountain and Baihu Mountain. They were all ordinary farmers, but they found four secret books from a corpse in the mountains, and ate an unknown mountain fruit from a tree next to the corpse.

This fruit is red like blood, and is the size of a longan. When you peel it open, you will find white kernels and green seeds, which are very bright. When you eat it, your cheeks will be filled with sweetness and fragrance.

The four people ate one each and fell into a coma for three days. Their bodies were covered in dirt and they smelled terrible.

After waking up, they hurriedly divided the secret book and went down the mountain to clean themselves. According to the secret book, they had practiced for three to five years, and the four people only thought it was the effect of the secret book. They never thought that it was this fruit, the Yijing marrow cleansing, the four people not only increased their strength, but also had a much larger appetite than ordinary people. Based on this, the four people guessed that what they encountered when they went deep into the fog was the remains of the immortal.

Afterwards, the four of them, either together or alone, went deep into the fog to search for the original cave, but unfortunately, they never found it.

Later, the four people met Liu Xinmin, who was preaching. He used a set of tricks such as communicating with spirits, inviting saints, and curing diseases with incantations to deceive the four people into becoming his followers and protectors.

The four of them were just ordinary farmers. They had only mastered the basics of the secret book and relied on their great strength. They thought they had the destiny to become immortals and ignored others.

Zhang was holding the iron stick and met Tang Bin's axe. With just one hit, the iron stick was almost knocked away.

After seven or eight rounds, Zhang's stick skills became chaotic and he could only block and dodge.

Tang Bin tested Zhang Chi's martial arts, and thinking of Zhao Zhen's instructions, he exposed a flaw, letting Zhang Chi attack with his long stick, raised his axe, and rushed forward, knocking Zhang Chi to the ground. Then, he took a step forward, picked up Zhang Chi, tucked him under his armpits, picked up the mountain axe and walked into the formation.

Ba Zeng, Ji Guang, and Lu Duo saw this and shouted, "Leave him here."

The three men, each holding a weapon, rushed forward to grab the person.

In Zhao Zhen's formation, [Mountain-Shaking Warrior] Wen Zhongrong, [Mountain-Mountain-Mountain-Mountain-Mountain-Splitting Warrior] Cui Ye, and [Mountain-Splitting Warrior] Me Gong saw this and each held up their weapons to meet him.

Six generals formed three pairs and fought in front of the battle.

How could Ba Zeng, Ji Guang, and Lu Duo be their opponents? After only ten rounds, they were all knocked down and surrendered.

When Zhao Zhen saw this, he ordered his men to shout: "Those who surrender will be spared."

The soldiers on the opposite side had already become weak in the knees and hands after seeing such a grand battle. When they heard the loud shout, the weapons in their timid hands fell to the ground without them noticing.

After hearing this, the others also quickly dropped their weapons.

Wang Tianba ordered his soldiers to come forward and tie up all the people.

He also sent people into the village to search for Liu Xinmin.

It was not known whether Liu Xinmin was ignorant and fearless, or he was confident that the four generals who protected the religion could repel the government troops, so he just sat carefree in the Heavenly King Palace.

Seeing Wang Tianba pushing the door open, Liu Xinmin said arrogantly: "You people from the lower world, how dare you prevent the King of Heaven from coming? If the King of Heaven gets angry and a flood comes, you will all go to the Avici Hell and receive endless punishment."

Wang Tianba didn't get angry after hearing this, he just raised the brush in his hand, passed it through Liu Xinmin's belt, and lifted him up. Then he threw it to the side, and Liu Xinmin fell out of the hall like a gourd.

The soldiers came forward, searched Liu Shimin, and tied him up. Wang Tianba saw the clay statue of Duobao Tianwang standing upright in the middle of the hall, and shouted to the soldiers to carry it to the yard. Several soldiers came forward and pushed together. The clay statue shook, but could not be moved. There were too many people, so they could not exert their strength, and too few people could not move it.

One of them said, "Li Laosan, call a few people over, and find a few thick hemp ropes. Have a few brothers outside hold them, and I'll wait inside to push them out."

Wang Tianba saw it, walked forward and shook the clay sculpture, estimating that it was only about 700 to 800 kilograms, and asked everyone to disperse. Wang Tianba took off his armor, pulled up his clothes, walked forward and hugged the clay sculpture, gently picked it up, and carried it outside.

When the soldiers saw this, they were all shocked: "The commander is no ordinary person! He is like a god."

When the farmers who were walking outside saw this, they all turned pale and lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at him.

A high platform was built, and Liu Xinmin and his men were tied up on it, and a clay statue of the Heavenly King was also placed on the platform.

After Chao Gai and others led the soldiers and brought the households from various villages to Jiaozhuang, Zhao Zhen began the trial.

Zhao Zhen asked questions and asked several soldiers with loud voices to convey Zhao Zhen's words to the farmers surrounding him.

"Evil Taoist Liu Xinmin, since you are known as the head of the Duobao Ruyi Tianwang case, and now you are imprisoned, is there any god to save you?"

Liu Xinmin sneered, "How can you, a corrupt official from the lower world, know the supernatural powers of the Heavenly King? The Heavenly King is merciful and wants our religion to influence you. Submitting to the Heavenly King now will not lose the blessing of ascending to heaven after death."

Seeing that Liu Xinmin was so stubborn, Zhao Zhen did not want to argue with him. He pointed at the clay sculpture and shouted, "This heavenly king of yours is just a figment of your imagination. He is a fake god. Look, I will strike it with thunder."

After saying this, he chanted a spell and pointed his finger at the clay sculpture. A bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck the clay sculpture of the Heavenly King. The clay sculpture was shattered and scattered all over the ground.

However, although Zhao Zhen learned the [Five Thunders Sutra] and activated the [Control Five Thunders] Tiangang Method, the power of the thunder method was not enough to smash the clay sculpture.

It was indeed Zhao Zhen who discussed it with Gongsun Sheng. Zhao Zhen pretended to do something, while Gongsun Sheng stood at a distance and secretly cast a spell, which smashed the clay sculpture in one fell swoop to shock and awaken these blind farmers.

Seeing the clay sculpture was smashed, Zhao Zhen continued to shout: "You common people are ignorant and have been deceived by the evil Taoist priests. Today, we will expose and report the evil Taoist priests' accomplices and identify those who killed the village head in each village. We will pardon their crimes. From now on, do not trust evil people and work in peace."

As he spoke, Zhao Zhen said to Zhang Chi and the other four generals who were protecting the religion, "Do you want to live or die?"

The four of them looked at each other, and Ba Zeng said, "Sir, we naturally want to live, and we followed Liu Xinmin just to fill our stomachs."

Zhang Chi and others nodded repeatedly.

Zhao Zhen said, "I have interrogated several supervisors. Although you four have not killed anyone, you have done a lot for the demon. I see that you four have strength, and it would be a pity to kill you. I will give you four a chance. If you go forward and kill this guy, I will pardon you."

Zhang Chi said: "Sir, I am willing to serve you."

Ba Zeng, Ji Guang, and Lu Duo heard this and shouted, "We are willing to kill the evil Taoist and submit to you, sir."

Zhao Zhen had the four men untied and a machete stuffed into each of them.

The four of them walked hesitantly in front of Liu Xinmin. Liu Xinmin saw them and shouted, "You idiots! If I hadn't brought you out, you four would still be eating bran and vegetables in the village. How could you eat meat and drink wine every day? The King of Heaven is in the upper realm, watching you and waiting."

Lu Duo shouted, "Bah. If it weren't for my four brothers protecting you, you wouldn't be able to come here to preach."

As he said this, he tightened the machete in his hand and stabbed Liu Xinmin. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but the knife avoided Liu Xinmin's vital points and only cut off his left arm.

Liu Xinmin screamed and wailed, unable to maintain his wise attitude, and begged: "For the sake of our acquaintance, please let me die quickly."

Zhang Chi and the others saw this and did not hesitate any longer. They stepped forward, raised their knives, and stabbed Liu Xinmin. Liu Xinmin was already dead, and the four men dropped their machetes and knives and knelt in front of Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen also ordered the village head's supervisor, backbone, and accomplices who participated in the killing of the village head to be brought up, and had the soldiers read out their crimes, and then gave them all a knife.

The key members with less serious crimes were also sentenced to hard labor and sent to the Heihu Temple coal mine for five years to dig coal to atone for their sins. The rest of the people were pardoned from death on the spot and sentenced to hard labor for ten days to dig canals in a place designated by the county.

For those who donated their wealth, Zhao Zhen returned half of it from the confiscated property, and the rest was confiscated by the public as a punishment for those who supported the evil.

If you commit the same offense again, you will be killed immediately.

Among the seven villages, only Zhang Zhuangli was about to report the news, but he was killed, leaving only his son Zhang Lei alive in the cellar of his home.

Zhao Zhen appointed him as the head of Shenwang Township, which was newly formed by seven villages. Shenwang Township was later under the agency of nearby Shouzhang County.

After reviewing the affairs of Shenwang Township, Zhao Zhen stayed for another day and gave instructions to the county magistrate Sun Zheng and the county magistrate He Chong who had rushed over from Shouzhang County. He also asked Hong Yan, who had come with them, to stay and take a group of soldiers with him to assist Zhang Lei in handling township affairs. Only then did Zhao Zhen break camp and return to Fan County.

Wang Lun, the magistrate of Fan county, and Gao Qiao, the county assistant, were fined one month's salary as a punishment.

After hearing this, Wang Lun and Gao Qiao also promised repeatedly that they would be careful in the future and not let the evil Taoist priests and traitors incite the people and cause trouble to the local area.

(End of this chapter)