Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 164: Wenwu Father and Son
"Just kid, why are you talking nonsense with a little kid?" The old man glared at Lao Nian unhappily.

Lao Nian smiled indifferently, "You are worrying too much, the leader is not a petty person. Besides, Ling Sun has read so many books at such a young age, which is really amazing!"

"Your leader is not a petty person, but are so many of you broad-minded?" the old man retorted with a frown.

The parties involved in some matters do not care, but their subordinates want to protect them. Therefore, those who are in the underworld know that everyone will carry the sedan chair, so you must never offend others casually.

Especially for people in high positions, it is best not to say bad things about them even behind their backs, otherwise you may die without knowing how.

The old man glanced at Lao Nian and asked, "I wonder why Mr. Liu came to my watershed?"

"Lao Yao's news is a bit out of date. My leader has already expanded his business outside the city of Luzhou, so he asked me to go up the mountain to ask Lao Yao if he is willing to take this opportunity?" Lao Nian said with a smile.

Luzhou is actually not far from Jiangjin. It can be reached in less than a day by fast horse. If you start from Fobao, it will only take two days to walk. Such a short distance is naturally within Lao Nian's detection range.

There are more than 200 households and nearly a thousand people above the watershed, and even the young and strong can be gathered together into 200 to 300. Because half of them are hunting in the mountains, the people are tough and have strong fighting capacity.

Lao Nian had sent people to contact us a long time ago, and even came here in person recently.

The old village chief of the watershed is called Zheng Yongqiang. When he was young, he was able to fight bears and tigers alone. Although he is nearly sixty years old now, he is still as agile as ever and can pull a strong bow and wield a spear.

Zheng Yongqiang's son Zheng Ming, the young leader of Fenshuiling, was also a very powerful figure. When he was fifteen years old, Fenshuiling and the imperial court had a falling out. Although the people of Fenshuiling were tough and powerful, they were defeated repeatedly in battles with the imperial court. In addition, it was difficult to obtain supplies, and the situation became worse and worse.

This made Zheng Ming realize that force could not solve their problems, so he went to Jiangjin County to study under an assumed name, and eventually he passed the examination and became a scholar. However, he failed the identity check, so he ran back.

When Zheng Ming returned to the watershed, he took advantage of the terrain and defeated the imperial army that had come into the mountains to encircle and suppress the enemy. After that, he led his men down the mountain to plunder several times, and each time he returned with a full load. At that time, the watershed developed very rapidly.

Unfortunately, after the Jinchuan Campaign ended, the court officials were returning and passed by Luzhou, where they helped to suppress the Watershed Rebellion. Zheng's father and son had no choice but to lead the remnants into the mountains. After more than 20 years of development, the Watershed Rebellion reached its current size.

Hearing Lao Nian's invitation, Zheng Yongqiang frowned and hesitated for a moment, then said, "Let's go to Zhongyi Hall and talk about this. You should talk to my son about this matter!"

Zheng Yongqiang knew that he was just a pure warrior. He was good at charging into battle, but when it came to negotiating terms, he was far inferior to his son.

The two walked along the main road towards the village. Zheng Ce was led by the old man. Along the way, he looked at Lao Nian curiously, but he paid more attention to Lao Nian's big mule. His eyes were full of envy and desire.

The fields on both sides of the road have been planted with autumn and winter vegetables such as radishes and cabbages, and they are growing very well. There are also many people working in the fields, some are cutting sweet potato vines and digging sweet potatoes, some are cutting regenerated rice, and some are digging fields to plant rapeseed.

It hardly snows in the Sichuan plains, so as long as you are diligent, you can be busy with farm work all year round. Of course, the more you work, the greater the harvest. For example, digging the fields to plant rapeseed is very hard work, but rapeseed oil can not only be used to light lamps, but also to cook.

Lao Nian thought for a moment and asked, "Last time I came here, I don't think I told you, Lao Yao, that my young leader claimed to be the leader?"

"What a powerful person your leader is. The Bai family in Jiangjin County is also a large family with more than ten thousand people. Bai Wencheng is even a scholar on government stipend. Your leader said to Bai Wencheng, 'Call me leader.' He is so arrogant!" Zheng Yongqiang said in a teasing tone.

Lao Nian couldn't help but laugh, thought for a moment, and asked, "I see, then, Lao Yao, have you heard of our leader's sixteen-character foundation for establishing a country?"

"Of course I've heard of it. It's people-oriented, equal distribution of land and low taxes, the emperor under the law, and pioneering and enterprising. It's all good. The key is that your leader has fulfilled his promise. Jiangjin County has already distributed land equally." Lao Yao said with some envy in his tone. He envied the people of Jiangjin County, and even more envied Chen Gu for getting things done.

Lao Nian couldn't help but frowned and said, "So Lao Yao is well-informed. Why didn't he know that our leader had led the army to Luzhou?"

"How do you know I don't know?" Zheng Yongqiang couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and said, "Luzhou City is under constant bombardment, and the people in the watershed are not all deaf."

Lao Nian was stunned. He originally wanted to ask why the people from the watershed didn't go down the mountain to provide support, or at least they should send someone down the mountain to contact their side.

We are all rebel forces. Shouldn't we be united in facing the powerful enemy, the imperial court?

"The imperial court only has two or three thousand troops. Your leader even swallowed up Delentang's army of more than 10,000 in one gulp. What are these few troops compared to your leader?"

A tall middle-aged man in his forties walked out. The man looked about 50% similar to Zheng Yongqiang, with three long beards. He gave people a very elegant feeling when he walked and talked.

"If even your leader can't handle the imperial army, even if these two or three hundred people from the watershed go, it will only be a drop in the bucket. Besides!" The middle-aged man smiled and continued, "It's not a good deal to take advantage of it!"

When the other party said this, Lao Nian understood, and bowed and smiled, "I guess this is the young leader of the watershed. We came to Luzhou this time without paying respects to the mountain first. We are rude."

Zheng Ming's meaning was very simple. Although the watershed might not be worth mentioning in your eyes, Chen Gu's eyes, but since you didn't invite me in advance, I couldn't just proactively deliver the goods to your door, for fear of being looked down upon by you.

"Sixth Master, you are too polite. Now that there is a young leader like yours in this world, I am afraid that no one from other forces will dare to call themselves a young leader in the future!" Zheng Ming said with a wry smile.

“Haha, Young Leader is joking. My leader is definitely not the kind of person who would convict people based on their words. But my leader really doesn’t want any more Young Leaders, nor does he want any more Old Yaos.

There was no other way before, but now everyone will have land to farm, the elderly will have someone to rely on, the young will have someone to support, and they will have books to read. No one has to hide in the mountains anymore!"

(End of this chapter)