I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

It was precisely because he was sure that he would be safe that Ye Zhao was so calm and not panicked at all: "Don't worry, Black Tiger Mountain is not in the territory of Feicheng. When the time comes, we can just say that we couldn't catch anyone. Could it be that Wang Yuanxu would make things difficult for us because of such a small matter?"

However, just as he finished his words, the gate of the county government office was pushed open from the outside, and a group of soldiers as ferocious as wolves and tigers rushed in.

A young general stepped out from among the soldiers, his eyes were like knives, and he quickly locked onto Ye Zhao: "Are you the magistrate of Feicheng County?"

"How dare you! How dare you trespass into the county government office? You are disrespecting the law. Are you planning to rebel?"

Ye Zhao relied on his background and was the first to file a complaint.

On the contrary, Huan Zhi, seeing this scene, was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground and almost peed his pants.

Taishi Ci first glanced at Huan Zhi, and then at Ye Zhao. His eyes were filled with anger, and he was too lazy to continue talking nonsense. He immediately ordered the soldiers behind him: "Come here, tie him up!"

"How dare you! I am the magistrate of Feicheng County, an official appointed by the imperial court with a seal!"

Ye Zhao still wanted to use his power to intimidate Taishi Ci.

However, Taishi Ci came with Wang Jing's order, and ignored Ye Zhao's words. He sneered and said, "County Magistrate? You are no longer a county magistrate."

"take away!"

"I don't accept it! I want to see Marquis Qi!"

"Oh, stop shouting. You are about to die. You should think about how to arrange your funeral."

In Taishi Ci's eyes, Ye Zhao was already a dead man.

There are countless aristocratic families in Yanzhou. Their long-standing privileged status has made them accustomed to being superior and self-centered.

Many people don’t even realize that times have changed!
Although Wang Jing was born into the Wang family of Taiyuan, a prominent family with a good pedigree, the Yanzhou under Wang Jing's rule was no longer the Yanzhou of the past.

Do you want to continue to abuse your power by relying on the glory of your ancestors?
That's a dream!

Precisely because he was born into the Wang family of Taiyuan, Wang Jing knew very well that the aristocratic families had become the greatest harm to the world. They did not produce anything, but were insatiable in their demands, exploiting the common people of the imperial dynasty and squeezing them to the point of making life miserable for the lower classes.

Therefore, in order to consolidate his rule, Wang Jing never showed mercy to the aristocratic families and powerful clans, and even Wang Yun recognized this.

After all, it was not the Taiyuan Wang family that was suppressed. Because of Wang Jing, the Taiyuan Wang family no longer had to dig for food in the fields like they did in the past.

How can the profits from farming be as high as those from opening a workshop?
What's more, Wang Jing drew a world map. If you want land, it's everywhere overseas. There is no need to fight among the people at home for a few petty gains. This is already the core consensus of many members of the New Party.

It’s a pity that in Yanzhou, many aristocratic families and powerful clans have not yet completely changed their mindsets. They think that Wang Jing is just making three big changes after taking office, and after that, Yanzhou will definitely return to its old state.

But this time, Ye Zhao miscalculated. He thought Wang Jing was just making a political show, but he didn't expect that Wang Jing was serious about it.

Soon, Ye Zhao was escorted away, and what awaited him was a one-stop service ranging from dismissal from office, investigation to property confiscation and execution.

After dealing with the arrogant Ye Zhao, Taishi Ci turned his attention to Huan Zhi. He glanced at Huan Zhi's office and recalled Huan Zhi's behavior of shielding and condoning bandits to kill passing merchants. Taishi Ci's tone was filled with disgust: "Are you Huan Zhi, the county lieutenant of Feicheng?"

Being stared at by Taishi Ci, Huan Zhi felt a chill rising from the bottom of his heart, his limbs were cold, and his brain was almost paralyzed to the point where he could not think.

"Do you have anything to say to me?"

Taishi Ci's tone was calm, but his eyes were getting colder and colder: "Think carefully before answering this question, because if you answer it wrong, the next time someone asks you, it will be someone from the secret guards."

"Secret Guard!"

Huan Zhi was so frightened that his lips went numb and his whole body was shaking.

How could he not have heard of the reputation of the secret guards?

In particular, the interrogation techniques of the secret guards had somehow spread from Luoyang. Huan Zhi had heard a lot of related rumors and was very familiar with some of the torture methods used by the secret guards.

Because of this, he became even more frightened and afraid.

If he falls into the hands of the secret guards, the only outcome would be a life worse than death.

"I said, I said anything!"

Afterwards, the county lieutenant Huan Zhi reported how he and Ye Zhao colluded with the villagers of Heihu Mountain, provided them with intelligence, and then allowed them to commit crimes across the border.

Among them, Ye Zhao also used his connections to help the people from Heihu Mountain sell the stolen goods. In addition, Ye Zhao also asked the people from Heihu Mountain to come to Feicheng County to commit crimes many times, killing many rich farmers and small landlords, allowing Ye Zhao to take the opportunity to embezzle these people's land.

There were too many crimes to list, and Taishi Ci was so indignant after hearing them that he wished he could beat Huan Zhi to death with a hammer on the spot.

Huan Zhi spilled all the dirt on Ye Zhao, and then cried and begged for mercy: "Captain Yingyang, I have already told you everything. Please spare my life for my voluntary confession."

"Spare you?"

Taishi Ci laughed in anger: "If a person like you doesn't die, then God is blind."

"You can't do this, I've confessed everything!"

When Huan Zhi heard that he was still going to die, he became furious and knelt down in front of Taishi Ci, trying to hug his thighs.

Taishi Ci kicked him away and said, "You want to be exempted from the death penalty? It is impossible. At most, I can plead for you to exempt your whole family from the punishment of exile."

Huan Zhi collapsed completely to the ground. He knew that he really wasn't going to survive this time and he immediately regretted his decision.

Taishi Ci reported the case. With Huan Zhi's confession and a bunch of evidence found, Ye Zhao's guilt was proven beyond doubt and he would be sentenced to death.

When Wang Jing heard the details of the case, he was filled with hatred: "Officials are like tigers, and clerks are like wolves. They want to eat people."

Afterwards, Wang Jing ordered Taishi Ci to lead his troops to Heihu Mountain to arrest people. The main culprit Ye Zhao had already surrendered, but all the accomplices must also be brought to justice.

Heihu Mountain is located in the eastern suburbs of Feicheng County, close to the border of Mount Tai. The bandit leader Liu Heihu is one of the bandits in Mount Tai, with thousands of men under his command. Therefore, Wang Jing allocated 500 new troops to Taishi Ci, all of whom were Qingzhou soldiers who had just completed initial training.

Taishi Ci rode without stopping and led his soldiers to attack Black Tiger Mountain. He took advantage of the fact that the news of Ye Zhao and Huan Zhi's capture had not spread and attacked them directly.

As the old saying goes, poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people.

There is also a saying that goes, live by the mountain, eat by the mountain; live by the water, eat by the water.

The villagers near Heihu Mountain, because it is close to the official road of Feicheng County, started to target the passing merchants. After all, farming is hard work and they have to pay taxes to the government. How can it be easier to make money by robbing passing merchants?

What’s even better is that this kind of illegal income does not require taxation. You just need to find someone to help with it, and the rest is all yours!

Therefore, under the leadership of Liu Heihu, the villagers of the three nearby villages soon tasted the sweetness of robbery, and then one by one they actively engaged in this no-cost business.

Liujiazhuang, located at the foot of Heihu Mountain, is a well-known village of sin.

The men, women, old and young in the whole village were habitual robbers and murderers, and they committed crimes frequently on the official roads for many years, not only robbing all the goods and money of passing merchants, but sometimes even kidnapping and selling people.

Many lone merchants and travelers were mostly killed. There were occasionally some lucky ones who managed to escape their clutches, but when they ran to report to the police, they were thrown into jail by Ye Zhao instead.

As a result, the matter was covered up. The superiors and subordinates were deceived in this way, and even Wang Jing had no idea that there was someone in Yanzhou who was so cruel and daring that he didn't even take him seriously.

It can only be said that Ye Zhao's domineering character was related to the former Yanzhou governor Liu Dai.

This man was a waste, and his decrees could hardly leave Changyi City, let alone extend to Jibei State. This led to Ye Zhao and Huan Zhi's repeated success, so that their appetites and courage grew, and they acted more and more unscrupulously.

Even though Wang Jing occupied Yanzhou, Ye Zhao, after being quiet for a while, started to go back to his old ways, and did not take the new governor of Yanzhou seriously at all. This is why he ended up like this today, and he can't blame anyone else.

Taishi Ci led his troops to surround Liujia Village. The village chief pretended to be innocent and asked, "Sir, I wonder if you have any advice for us when you pass by our village? If we have been negligent, please forgive us. After all, rural people are not very polite."

The village chief is a kind-looking old man. You can't tell at all that he is the one who supports a group of villagers who commit murder and robbery behind the scenes and commit countless murders.

Seeing Taishi Ci's face as gloomy as water and not saying a word, the village chief panicked and immediately said in a flattering way: "If you want some money, we can give it to you. Everything can be discussed."

The village chief thought Taishi Ci was a soldier who wanted to extort money from him. This situation was very common these days.

Ordinary villages would be robbed if they encountered thieves, or robbed again if they encountered government soldiers. It was not uncommon for the entire village to be massacred if they were not careful.

Unexpectedly, Taishi Ci did not respond to his words at all. Instead, he said with a stern face and murderous eyes: "You have not neglected me, but you have neglected the law." After that, he shouted: "Go in and arrest them. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed on the spot!"

"kill!"

The Qingzhou soldiers were all surrendered soldiers of the Yellow Turbans. They were accustomed to killing people, so without saying a word, they picked up their weapons and rushed into the village and started arresting people.

Regardless of gender, age or status, anyone who dared to resist would be chopped to the ground without any explanation.

"Ah! The soldiers killed people!"

"Do you really think we are made of clay?"

"This is forcing us to rebel. Let's fight them!"

The villagers of Liujia Village had followed Liu Heihu in doing evil for many years and had long known that once they were caught, there would be no way for them to survive. Therefore, they became more and more daring and took up weapons to resist violently.

"If you don't let us live, then we'll rebel!"

The three villagers who had been following Liu Heihu for many years and had learned martial arts set their sights on Taishi Ci, and wanted to catch the leader first: "Kill this leader first!"

Although these three people were born as villagers, they have always been brave and fighting. When they followed Liu Heihu, they practiced martial arts hard and mastered Liu Heihu's self-created Black Tiger swordsmanship to a high level. Now they have even entered the third realm of martial arts. Their swordsmanship is honed through killing people, and when they wield it, there is a faint flash of blood and murderous aura.

The three men, one on the left and one on the right, swung their swords at Taishi Ci using a combined attack technique.

"You idiot, you don't know whether to live or die."

Taishi Ci was sitting on horseback, wearing the Fulei Tianqiong armor, his eyes were as sharp as an eagle. He bent his bow and drew his arrow, the string was like a full moon, and three streams of light flew out. In the blink of an eye, the three people were shot to the ground. Three white feather arrows pierced their hearts and nailed their bodies firmly to the ground.

Three shots and three hits!

This extremely accurate archery skill shocked the whole audience, and the morale of the officers and soldiers was high: "Kill the bandits to serve the country, protect the country and the people!"

A group of Yellow Turban rebels who had entered Yanzhou more than half a year ago and committed all kinds of atrocities such as burning, killing, looting and so on, were now shouting slogans of serving the country, each one louder than the other.

How could a bunch of bandits be a match for an organized and well-organized regular army?
Soon the shouting and screaming in Liujia Village gradually subsided. There were corpses lying everywhere and blood flowing everywhere, as if the village had been massacred by bandits.

However, the villagers in the village were the bandits, while Taishi Ci and the five hundred Qingzhou soldiers he led were the law enforcers who were ordered to suppress them.

"Captain, no trace of Liu Heihu has been found!"

"Keep searching. Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, you must dig the person out for me."

Taishi Ci then looked at the village chief. He had no intention of respecting the elders and the virtuous for such a villain, so he directly called a few scouts who were good at punishment and said, "Take this old man away and torture him severely. I want to know where Liu Heihu is."

"As ordered!"

"Hey, old man, if you're smart, just say it earlier, so that we don't have to do anything."

"I bah~"

The old man was obviously a tough guy and did not choose to surrender.

"Okay, you have guts. I hope you can still be so tough later."

Not long after, the scout, covered in blood, came to Taishi Ci and reported: "Captain, the old man confessed. I thought he was so powerful, but I just broke five of his fingers and he confessed everything."

A merciful army is not suitable for generals. Taishi Ci is also a decisive killer. In the current chaotic world, he will not talk about procedural justice with a group of unruly and bloodthirsty villagers: "Take 300 people with me to capture Liu Heihu."

"Then what should we do with this village?"

Taishi Ci thought for a moment and said, "Just keep them under guard for now. Someone will come to deal with them later. Although they are criminals, you have memorized the military regulations. Don't do something wrong and force me to use military law."

"My subordinates dare not!"

A few old soldiers from Qingzhou who still wanted to massacre the whole village were immediately covered in cold sweat and bowed their heads in fear when they were glanced at by Taishi Ci.

Taishi Ci was disdainful in his heart. Although these surrendered soldiers who were born from the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou were respectful on the surface, it was obvious that they still had evil intentions. If it were not for the use of military law to suppress and control them, they would probably go up to the roofs and cause trouble every day.

It is true that the armies of this era, whether bandits or government troops, were accustomed to robbing money and food, playing with women, and venting their feelings after winning a battle.

But Wang Jingjun's military discipline has always been strict, and such evil deeds will never be allowed. Whoever commits the crime will be killed, no matter who your backers are, there is no room for negotiation.

Taishi Ci is not stupid, so he naturally wouldn't open this loophole.

Of course, blindly suppressing the enemy could easily lead to a mutiny in the army, so Taishi Ci had to give a sweet reward after a blow. In order to boost morale, he announced in public: "According to the rules, you can get 30% of the spoils captured in this battle!"

"This is true!"

When the Qingzhou soldiers heard that there were spoils of war to be taken, their eyes widened.

Liujia Village has been strong for so many years and has accumulated a lot of wealth. There is no doubt that Taishi Ci's words completely calmed the entire army.

"Come with me to catch Liu Heihu. If you catch him, you will get a big reward!"

"I am willing to die for the lieutenant!"

The Qingzhou soldiers raised their weapons high, their morale high, and volunteered on the spot, expressing their willingness to follow Taishi Ci into battle.

"set off!"

Taishi Ci finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the army's morale was good.

Three hundred government troops rushed straight to Heihu Mountain. According to the villagers' confession, Liu Heihu was hiding in this mountain at that time.

Liu Heihu had long anticipated that something would happen one day, so he secretly built a village in the mountains early on, hoping to use the terrain to deal with the government troops.

In addition to the villagers, he also secretly gathered a group of desperate criminals around him. All of them were famous bandits in the Taishan area. They had human lives on their hands and were very brave in a fight to the death.

But a thief is a thief. If Liu Heihu encounters a useless county lieutenant like Huan Zhi, he might really be able to turn defeat into victory.

But he was very unlucky. This time he met Taishi Ci, a first-class general who was famous in history, and he also met a group of Qingzhou soldiers who wanted to exchange his head for rewards.

Therefore, the stronghold was breached in just half a day. Although Liu Heihu himself was a master who had entered the fourth realm of martial arts, there was a huge difference in strength between those who were in the fourth realm of martial arts.

Facing Taishi Ci's "Six Wonders of the Sky Eagle", Liu Heihu's so-called Black Tiger Sword Skills was nothing but a joke. In less than a few rounds, he was slain by Taishi Ci's wild singing iron halberd and died with his eyes open.

At the foot of Heihu Mountain, Liujia Village.

All the villagers had been taken away. Those with murder charges were hanged in the market after the public trial. Those with less serious crimes were arrested and sent to serve heavy labor, such as building bridges and roads, and digging rocks in mountains. There were many places that needed labor.

As for the women, many of them were directly assigned to be wives of the single Qingzhou soldiers, and the matter ended there.

The village, which was once full of people, has now become deserted and was forcibly requisitioned by Taishi Ci as a temporary military camp.

Wang Jing brought fifty medical soldiers to the outside of the village.

Taishi Ci came out upon hearing the news, and when he saw Wang Jing, he couldn't help but reveal a look of surprise: "Why would you bother your lord to come in person to see a mere Liu Heihu?"

Wang Jing stepped forward and patted Taishi Ci on the shoulder, praising him generously: "Ziyi is truly brave. In just a few days, he wiped out the Black Tiger Mountain bandit den. You really didn't disappoint me."

Taishi Ci invited Wang Jing in and told him the details of the battle: "Liu Heihu is quite capable. He knows how to gather people and hold on. But it's a pity that he doesn't know the art of war. He is just an ordinary man after all."

As the two were chatting, a groaning sound was suddenly heard.

It turned out that when attacking the Black Tiger Mountain stronghold, many Qingzhou soldiers were wounded by arrows and knives, some of whom were seriously injured.

Given the medical conditions of the Han Dynasty, very few soldiers who were injured in battle died on the spot. More than 80 percent died after the battle from various complications caused by wound infection.

Taishi Ci sighed: "Alas, these are all veterans who fought bravely, and I don't know how many of them will survive."

Wang Jing had a serious expression on his face: "That's why I came here. My soldiers, Wang Jing, will die on the battlefield, but how can they die from a mere external injury?" (End of this chapter)