coobybook Chapter 540: Is the mayor the mastermind?
Chapter 540: Is the mayor the mastermind?
"The common people obey the decree!"
The official bowed quickly and said,
"Two years ago, I bought a piece of Feng Shui-rich land in the southwest of town for a cemetery, which is perfect for burying this hero."
"Well, thank you for your hard work. I won't use your land for nothing. I'll have someone give you the silver later."
"Working for Your Majesty, how dare I, a commoner, covet gold and silver?"
Yan Fuyao stood up and said,
"My fellow villagers, I hope you can build a temple for this veteran so that your descendants will remember his spirit.
He is a veteran, a good soldier who protects the country and the people.
His spirit of courage in resisting and never yielding to evil forces is worthy of everyone's learning and eternal remembrance!
"The common people obey the decree!"
Shen Changgong walked towards the bandit leader, took a dagger from Tu Queling, and stabbed it hard in the bandit leader's leg.
The bandit leader screamed in pain.
"If you dare to scream again, I will cut off your nose and ears, and cut off your flesh inch by inch, leaving you unable to live or die."
The effect was immediate, and the bandit leader stopped shouting immediately.
Shen Changgong asked,
"Tell me, how did you collude with the mayor to rob the people and passing merchants?"
"We...we are not colluding with the mayor."
"There's none?"
Shen Changgong stabbed his thigh again.
"Ah! Stop it, I'm telling you, I'm telling you! We're not colluding with the mayor, we're the mayor's people."
The bandit leader screamed.
When the people heard this, their faces changed drastically and they looked at the bandit leader in disbelief.
"Oh? Tell me everything you know in detail."
"I…"
The bandit leader hesitated.
Shen Changgong sneered,
"Have you forgotten who I am? I am Shen Changgong, the Lanling Prince of Great Yan. If I want, I can search your ancestors for eighteen generations. I can search according to your family tree and kill them one by one. I can even dig up your ancestral graves for you."
"Don't...don't dig up my ancestors' graves. I say..."
The bandit leader said with a bitter face,
"I am the third in command of Shuanglong Mountain, but actually I am the fourth in command, and the first in command is actually the second in command.
The town mayor, Hong Qiushan, is the boss. We used to be bandits in other places and made a lot of money by robbing houses.
But the boss said that making money this way was too slow and unsafe. He said that his hometown was at the junction of four countries and there was frequent trade. If it could be renovated, he could make more money by relying on merchants.
If you want to live long, you must clean yourself up. You can't keep doing the business of robbery, otherwise you will be killed by the government sooner or later.
He took us back to Luyao Town.
At that time, Luyao Town was extremely poor, so he let us occupy Shuanglong Mountain and returned to the town himself, taking the robbed money and claiming it was money he earned outside.
He said he wanted to vigorously develop his hometown, build bridges and roads, erect houses and shops, and attract merchants from other places to come here to trade and rest.
In the early days, he asked us to go down the mountain to plunder from time to time, so that the local people would be afraid of us.
Then he would come out and mediate with us, offering money to buy us not to invade. He would come two or three times a year, and we would take the money and leave without hurting anyone. The people would then feel that he was capable and could protect them, and would be more convinced of him.
As for the merchants passing by, as long as they come into the town to trade or rest, we will not rob them.
If they don't enter the town, we will rob them of all their money, but we won't kill them, so the next time they pass by, they will know to go to the town to spend money to trade.
The money earned in the town is all laundered money and can be spent openly.
Our money is black money, so we have to be careful when spending it.
Gradually, the town became famous, and more and more merchants knew that it was safe here, so they came here to rest and trade.
The town's commerce is becoming more and more prosperous, so there's not much for us bandits to do. We just scare the merchants occasionally.
The boss also helped the villagers live a good life, so the people here called him the great good man Hong. "
After hearing what the bandit leader said, the people around him felt their hearts turn cold, and they all felt that their world views had collapsed.
The mayor who has always protected them and led them to a good life is actually a murderous bandit?
Those bandits outside who robbed and killed their families were actually raised by the mayor?
Shen Changgong waved his hand to quiet the noisy voices, and then asked,
"Then why did they rush into the town and rob again this time? Why were they so brazen?"
The bandit leader stammered,
"When you entered the town, our people were watching you. You only had a carriage but no goods, so you must have a lot of cash and are here to buy goods.
Of course, the main reason is that you don’t have any guards, and there are so many beautiful women that we have never seen before. The mayor is a little tempted, thinking that you don’t even have a guard, and you don’t have any background...”
"Oh, they're treating us like fat sheep."
Shen Changgong chuckled and said,
"It seems that over the years, many fat sheep like us have been harmed by you."
Just then, a sound came from the north, and the guards came over with a well-dressed middle-aged man.
"Your Majesty, this man is the mayor."
The mayor looked at the bandit leader, who quickly looked away and lowered his head, not daring to look him in the eye.
The guard shouted,
"Your Majesty!"
"Yes Yes Yes."
The mayor knelt down immediately.
"I pay my respects to the prince."
Shen Changgong smiled and said,
"Mr. Mayor, there's no need to be so polite. Please stand up quickly."
Shen Changgong's politeness made the mayor a little at a loss, and he stood up again.
"You answer whatever the king asks. Do you understand?"
"understand."
"What's your name?"
"Hongqiu Mountain."
"Where are you from?"
"native."
"Do you know this person?"
Shen Changgong pointed at the bandit leader.
After identifying it, the mayor said,
"I know him. I've dealt with him before. He's the third in command of Shuanglong Mountain, named Zhao Hai. He came to the town to rob people before. I treated him to drinks, gave him gold and silver, and begged him to leave.
I’ve dealt with them a lot over the years.”
Shen Changgong frowned slightly and said,
"But he said that he was your man, your subordinate, and that you ordered him to rob and scare the villagers.
How is this going? "
The mayor knelt down in fear and said,
"Your Highness, this is slander, this is a frame-up, this is a confession forced upon me.
I'm absolutely not that kind of person. I swear to heaven that I would never do such a thing! They're framing me!
Shen Changgong smiled and said,
"Mayor, please stand up quickly. Don't worry, I will not wrongly accuse a good person, nor will I let a bad person go.
The king has already sent troops to the mountains to suppress the bandits, and they will bring them back alive soon.
We arrived suddenly, so they should not have time to collude with each other. We will know the answer after we interrogate the other leaders.
Someone, please ask the mayor to go into the restaurant to rest and protect him."