diymy Chapter 99 Hunting Down the Thieves
Chapter 99 Hunting Down the Thieves
Chapter 99 Hunting Down the Thieves
Inside a courtyard house outside Shunyi County.
A dozen soldiers dragged the bodies out of the rooms and moved them to the woodpile in the middle of the backyard.
Then they moved over several cans of lamp oil that had been prepared in advance and poured them evenly over the corpse.
The notorious thief Guo Daozi, with his hands and feet bound and his mouth gagged, sat on a chair in front of a pile of corpses.
They could only watch helplessly as the bodies of more than a dozen members of their family were dragged over and carried upstairs, one by one.
"Hey, Lao Guo, didn't we already advise you against it?"
The military leader walked over, patted Guo Daozi on the shoulder, and said, "If you set off sooner, you won't see these sad things again."
He took out a box of silver-bearded tobacco from Yu Lian, put it in his mouth, and took a torch from a soldier next to him.
He lit the cigarette in his mouth, took a few puffs, and continued to say to Guo Daozi, "You've followed the Great Town Commander for so many years, helping him with so many low-risk, high-return deals."
You've done so much and made great contributions, even the Grand Marshal doesn't want to kill you. Blame a man named Zhang Kun!
That bastard insisted on launching some kind of massacre; he's the one who killed you!
He waved the cigarette in front of Guo Daozi's eyes a few times, "Want one last puff before you die? Don't scream."
Guo Daozi nodded, and the military leader ordered the soldiers next to him to remove the sesame ball from Guo Daozi's mouth.
"I'll kill you..."
"1
Upon hearing Guo Daozi start cursing, the military leader immediately shoved a silver-bearded cigarette into the man's mouth and forcefully covered it.
With a sharp crack, he dislocated Guo Daozi's jaw and sneered, "Fool, you're just indulging in a moment of verbal sparring. You won't even get your last cigarette before you die, and you've offended the one who sent you on your way."
Turning to the soldiers beside him, he ordered, "Sever his tendons and ligaments, tie him up even tighter, pile him on top, and burn him!"
After sealing off all businesses and temples in Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu that might have colluded with thieves.
Zhang Kun arranged for people to conduct interrogations in order to obtain more intelligence.
On one hand, troops were dispatched to attack various bandit dens based on previously obtained intelligence.
Some of the thieves' dens were already empty, which meant that the thieves had received advance notice or sensed that things were not going well and made a quick escape.
But not all thieves are so well-informed or so decisive.
His wife, children, house, and land are all nearby, making it difficult to part with them.
Moreover, there were already many thieves in the world who honestly farmed and worked during the day, even silently enduring beatings and scoldings from their masters.
At night, they would attack merchants traveling or passersby in packs.
They lack a proper sense of right and wrong, believing that robbery and murder are no different from farming or working—merely means of making a living.
These kinds of thieves can sometimes be even more ruthless, willing to kill for a little money or even a piece of clothing.
Goryeojang.
The place name originates from Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, who, during his eastern expedition against Goguryeo, settled the captured Goguryeo people here.
There is a temple called Gwangboksa Temple in the area, which was originally called Goryeo Temple.
Zhang Kun learned through overnight interrogation of the "wandering monks" at Guanyin Temple that the temple also colluded with many thieves.
Considering that Guanyin Temple yielded the most loot during the raids last night, Zhang Kun decided to personally lead his servants to search the place.
Meanwhile, Guangfu Temple was unaware that Guanyin Temple had been sealed off the previous night.
Seeing Zhang Kun suddenly arrive with over a hundred fully armored cavalrymen, in desperation, they could only have the monks sit at the door to block them.
Guangfu Temple also set up a soup kitchen outside the temple, where thousands of disaster victims gathered.
Unaware of the true situation, some of the bolder disaster victims even bent down to pick up stones and threw them in this direction, shouting and cursing as they did so.
"Sir, this is a sacred Buddhist sanctuary. Why are you..."
'
"Catch him!"
Zhang Kun pointed at the abbot of Guangfu Temple and shouted, and several servants rushed over and grabbed him.
He drew his goose-feather knife, gently spurred his horse forward two steps, and pressed the tip of the knife against the abbot's throat.
The host wanted to argue a few more points, but suddenly felt a pain in his throat. Zhang Kun had already ripped open his throat with the tip of a knife!
The monks and disaster victims nearby were astonished by what they saw, and even the bolder ones were too frightened to throw stones anymore.
"Go in and search!"
The gains from Guanyin Temple were not just money, but more importantly, a large amount of physical evidence and suspects.
Just like the Qi Zong commoner case in Nanjing before, there was Lu Shou, who was in charge of the Directorate of Ceremonial and concurrently the Director of the Eastern Depot.
And then there's Li Ruzhen, the commander of the Western Division of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who could easily solve major cases.
It's true that Guangfu Temple had a lot of dealings with Guanyin Temple, and suspects like Renhai also mentioned Guangfu Temple's name.
Even if he doesn't have it, he will if Zhang Kun wants it!
Yongle Store.
The place name here predates the reign title established by the Yongle Emperor, and means "to live in peace and prosperity forever."
In the first year of the Yongle reign, local officials submitted a memorial to the Yongle Emperor requesting his approval on whether the ban had been violated.
Emperor Yongle not only did not find it taboo, but also personally bestowed the name upon it.
On a high ground outside the market, Zhang Jingzhen put her horsebow back into her saddlebag, drew her sword, and observed the battle in the distance.
Several servants stood guard nearby, constantly observing the surroundings.
In the battle just now, she had already shot down five bandits and felt that such a massacre was meaningless, so she stopped there.
It was less of a battle and more of a hunt; the thieves on their inferior horses and without armor were less of a threat than the tiger.
She was more concerned about those heretics, and Zhang Kun had already informed them of the relevant information.
They also contacted this place privately, informing them that the heretics were more organized than those in the official reports, and that they must be very careful.
"Haha, brother, I personally shot and killed a thief!"
Zhang Zhiyuan, whose archery skills were terrible, led several riders up the high ground with great excitement and laughed loudly at Zhang Jingzhen.
Zhang Jingzhen ignored her and pulled a long tube out of her satchel.
This long tube was a gift from Zhang Kun; it's called a "telescope" and is made of copper tubing and turquoise.
Through the telescope, one could clearly see people and horses hundreds of paces away, and large groups of people several miles away.
Perhaps it was because of the previous battle at T-junction that he thought of creating this thing?
Zhang Jingzhen turned her binoculars toward the battle; the gang of thieves had been slaughtered, with only a few remaining struggling.
Seeing the mocking and playful attitude of some of the servants, Zhang Jingzhen frowned and ordered the steward beside her, "Tell them to finish this quickly; there are other battles to fight later!"
Huoxian County.
In a secret room of Tiangong Temple, an important figure of the Wenxiang Sect in Tongzhou:
Zhou Yin of the Bangchui Society, Long Lingxian of the Longtiandao Sect, and Gong Chang of the Jiugong Bagua Sect are arguing endlessly.
Although these groups are all branches of the Fragrance Scent Cult, they are not one entity and none of them have a sufficiently prestigious leader.
As a result, many problems arose in coordination, and the government troops preemptively struck.
This situation has caused many of them to back down.
"If we do nothing and just run away, we'll be laughed at!"
Zhou Yin, who had invested the most, advised the others, "How will our disciples view us? If we encounter danger again, won't they follow suit?"
"Senior Brother Zhou, we both knew this was a deadly situation, but we are making this sacrifice for the sake of the Holy Sect," the bow-bow master of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Sect advised Zhou Yin. "Keep your body useful and lead your disciples south to open another branch. Your disciples will understand."
"Consideration? That's just cowardice and a fear of death..."
'
"My fellow martial uncles!"
Long Lingxian, who had been silent all along and whose face was covered by a veil, suddenly spoke up: "I must remind you all, my fellow disciples, that the government troops are currently arresting and killing people!"
What's the point of continuing this argument?