Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 649 Containment

These people who live on the edge of a knife are sometimes more terrifying than bandits.

When the villagers saw that these grain transport soldiers did not simply ask whether they had seen anyone, but also insisted on breaking into every house to search, they became more and more uneasy.

As the sun set, the investigation progressed at a pace as slow as an ox pulling a cart. The leading flag officer lashed out with his whip in frustration and cursed, "All of you, disperse! Go ask yourselves!"

Several canal soldiers responded and searched in several directions.

The flag officer himself was not idle either. He walked into the nearest house, unfolded a portrait, and asked, "Have you seen these people? They are all serious criminals registered with the court. If you dare to conceal them and not report them..."

He smiled sinisterly, revealing two yellowed teeth, and his voice grew increasingly cold: "I'm afraid your humble family can't afford to be charged with the crime of 'collaborating with the rebels'!"

The family hurriedly explained, "Sir, we really haven't seen him! We've been working at home all this time and haven't left the village."

"Yes, yes, yes. If you don't believe me, you can ask the people in our village. They all know..."

Seeing that their expressions did not seem fake, the young flag officer took the portraits and started walking around the rooms. Whenever he came across a cabinet or box, he would ask them to open it and take a look. He even checked the cowshed.

While checking, I suddenly heard a woman from next door screaming, "You can't take this! This money is saved for my son's education..."

The sound was so sharp that it hurt his eardrums, and the already irritable flag officer's temples throbbed even more.

He turned around and kicked the wall, "Stop it, damn it!"

The shout was so loud that several nearby houses fell silent. The soldiers who were checking shrank their necks. The soldier next door who was trying to force the farmer to take the money felt as if his hands were burned by fire and he immediately let go of the purse.

"You're a bunch of idiots. Check them all out carefully and don't let them take even a needle or thread!" The flag officer was almost mad. It was already late and he might even lose his head, yet he was still thinking about the silver needle!

After getting angry, the flag officer walked out of this house and went to the next one.

This family was obviously well-off. There was a cart standing under the eaves against the wall, and a large jujube tree planted in the corner of the yard.

The flag officer turned his head and looked in all directions to prevent anyone with ulterior motives from hiding in the trees.

Seeing that there was no one there, he was about to go in and ask questions and search. At this moment, the sound of hurried horse hooves came from the direction of the village.

The flag officer stopped and turned to look. He saw a familiar canal soldier galloping towards him on horseback. He asked, "Old Wang, where is your flag officer?"

This is obviously an urgent matter.

Without waiting for his subordinate to reply, the flag officer said, "I'm here. What's the matter?"

"We have a clue!" Because of the presence of the villagers, the messenger spoke very subtly.

The flag officer was excited and trotted over, lowering his voice: "Found it?"

The canal soldier also lowered his voice, almost leaning close to his ear, and said, "Someone in Lijia Village said they saw Zhang Renzhi and one of his guards."

"Lijia Village?" The flag officer was stunned. "This is outside the territory of Dongchang Prefecture. How could they run so fast?"

The messenger nodded, "On horseback."

The flag officer hissed and cursed, "Hasn't the carriage and horse dealer been checked? They said they didn't buy any carriages or horses. Where did they get the horses?"

"The commander has already sent people to investigate. Now we have to rush over and catch up with them."

The flag officer nodded repeatedly: "You lead the way!"

As he said this, he jumped on his horse, called his men, and followed the canal soldiers over!

Seeing them leave, the family that escaped the search was overjoyed. The man clasped his hands together and said, "Thank you, Bodhisattva, for your blessing! It must be that I did a good deed today that moved the Bodhisattva..."

The sky was getting light, and a hint of dawn appeared in the east.

Suddenly, there was a chaotic sound of horse hooves and the collision of iron tools from the front. The next moment, a group of horse-riding soldiers blocked the road ahead.

Zhang Renzhi was startled and suddenly pulled the reins. The old horse under him neighed and stood up.

He pulled the reins and was about to turn around and retreat when he heard a rhythmic sound of horse hooves from behind.

Zhang Renzhi's heart sank to the bottom.

"Editor Zhang, how are you?" A hoarse voice pierced through the mist. Scar slowly rode his horse forward. The scar on his face looked even more hideous in the dim light.

He raised his hand and waved, and seven or eight more canal soldiers emerged from the willow woods on both sides, with their bows and crossbows strung, blocking all retreat routes.

"You are a noble poet, you should just stay in the Hanlin Academy and write your articles, but you have to get involved in this matter." Scar sighed, "Although I am a rough man, I have always respected scholars like you.

You passed the examination for scholar at the age of eleven, the examination for juren at the age of fifteen, and the examination for jinshi at the age of twenty-two. You are a well-known figure among scholars.

It's a pity for such a talented person to die like this. How about this, as long as you hand over the account book and point out the location of the other people, I will ensure that you return home safely!"

Zhang Renzhi sneered, "You are selling firearms to bandits and pirates. You are treasonous and must be punished!"

Many soldiers turned pale when they heard the word "treason". This was a serious crime that would result in the confiscation of property and extermination of the entire family.

One young soldier's eyes immediately turned red as he angrily said, "We were also forced to do this. If it weren't for you, the Beijing officials, who were so cruel and embezzled our military pay, leaving us with no chance of survival, we wouldn't have wanted to come to this point!"

The soldier's words resonated with many people, "That's right, we are here today because of you!"

"You dog officials, you have black hearts!"

"People are starving to death, why would anyone care about selling out the country..."

"Ridiculous! According to the Ministry of War's inventory, your monthly salary is one ounce and two cents, your winter clothing is three meters of cotton cloth, and you even get an additional subsidy for food rations from the grain transport..."

Before he could finish his words, the young soldier who had spoken earlier became even more angry. "What's written in the payroll isn't what we get. We only get six, seven, or eight cents a month, and they often delay our payments. We haven't seen any pay in three months! It's been three whole months!"

Zhang Renzhi glanced at Scar and said, "Why don't you ask your captain about this? Why didn't the imperial salary be distributed to you?"

"What do you mean?" The young soldier frowned. "If it didn't reach us, it must have been withheld by the higher-ups!"

Zhang Renzhi said nothing, just looked at Scar.

The young soldier was stunned for a moment before he slowly reacted and couldn't help but look at Scar.

"Boss."

He called out, but didn't know what to say next.

Knowing they were intimidated by Scar's threat, Zhang Renzhi added, "The court allowed you 30% of the salary to be wasted, out of sympathy for your hard work in the canal transport. But you dared to use 60% or 70% of the troops for nothing? If the Japanese pirates attacked now, who would defend this thousand-mile canal?"