The rude are slapped, the cunning are commanded.

Chapter 91 The rude are slapped, the cunning are commanded.

Bian Xiang also shouted, "Be a hero, not a dead hero!"

Looking at the jubilant crowd, Song Jiang secretly wiped away a tear!

Bian Xiang walked up to Song Jiang and said, "If we're talking about danger, it's far more dangerous for you in Dancheng than for us, brother. With Bian Xiang not by your side, you must take good care of yourself!"

Song Jiang, holding Bian Xiang's hand, laughed and said, "The day the city falls is the day I die! I want to live a few more years, so I certainly won't lose my life in the city."

Time flies, and three days passed in the blink of an eye. At the Chen family's house, the Chen family was very nervous. Song Jiang comforted him, saying, "Don't be nervous. It's the first time the thieves have come to our door. There won't be too many of them. With Captain Wu and Captain Zhu here, the thieves won't dare to cause trouble."

Previously, Song Jiang had made arrangements. Apart from the head of the Chen family and the steward, everyone else in the Chen family, including the servants, had temporarily gone to the county government office to hide. Now, apart from Wu Song and Zhu Tong, there were only ten soldiers disguised as servants in the Chen family. If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't replace the steward and the head of the Chen family, Song Jiang would have wanted them to go to the county government office to avoid trouble, so they wouldn't be trembling here, causing trouble for him and giving away their secret.

An hour later, someone knocked on the door. When the door was opened, three people appeared at the Chen family's door. Judging from their appearance, they must be from Qingyun Mountain. One of them was holding a knife and had an arrogant look on his face, as if he was afraid that no one would know their identities.

Upon entering the Chen family residence, the man with the knife, seemingly unconcerned about the stares and scrutiny around them, picked up a cup of tea, took a sip, and then casually sat down in a chair with his feet propped up on the table. He arrogantly declared, "Is the fifty thousand taels of gold ready?" He then tossed the knife aside with a clang, seemingly intending to intimidate the wealthy Chen.

Chen, the wealthy man, was somewhat afraid. In the business world, he was a shrewd and capable talent who dominated the scene, but in the underworld, he was a fat sheep with plenty of meat on his body, and everyone wanted to take a bite, especially this kind of mountain bandit.

Qingyun Mountain has a notorious reputation for its cruel practices, so it's impossible to say that Master Chen is completely unafraid.

Seeing that Mr. Chen remained silent, the man slammed his hand on the table and said impatiently, "I'm asking you a question! Are you mute?"

Chen the landlord stammered and hesitated for a long time without managing to utter a single word. Song Jiang was very disappointed. How could Chen the landlord be so timid?

His performance was really terrible. I had seen Wu Song and the others' skills before, and I was really afraid that this thief would eat him.

The man continued banging on the table, shouting, but Song Jiang yelled, "Enough!"

The man, used to being arrogant, paused for a moment upon hearing Song Jiang's rebuke, then overturned the table and cursed, "You short, dark fellow, are you tired of living? How dare you speak like that? You're really courting death!"

Song Jiang waved his hand and said, "Since he can't even speak human language, let's teach him a lesson for his parents, show him what manners are, and slap him." Wu Song and Zhu Tong slowly walked towards the man, carrying an invisible pressure. The man panicked and shouted, "I'm Chief Di's brother-in-law! Are you people from Yuncheng really not afraid of death?"

His response was a barrage of slaps from Wu Song and Zhu Tong, especially from Wu Song, who was incredibly strong. However, Wu Song held back, afraid of killing him. Unfortunately, Zhu Tong's teeth weren't so lucky; he spat out several bloody teeth. As for the two henchmen beside him, they were completely at a loss. They never expected Song Jiang to attack them so readily, showing no regard for Qingyun Mountain. They had never encountered anything like this before when they went to other places to collect money.

The two men were also sharp-eyed and knew that they were no match for the two burly men who had slapped them. Since they weren't the ones getting hit, they decided to pretend they hadn't seen it. Otherwise, it would be bad if they got beaten up too.

Di Lei's brother-in-law was still able to spout some arrogant words from time to time, but later his cheeks were numb from being slapped and his speech became unclear. It wasn't until his hands kept struggling that he showed that he had given in that Song Jiang signaled Wu Song and Zhu Tong to stop. However, Wu Song was still a little unsatisfied. He didn't expect that slapping someone's face would feel so good.

The man dared not speak, hiding to the side and touching his swollen face, letting out a painful sigh. The henchmen beside him, fearing that Song Jiang would be displeased, quickly spoke up: "We are here on the orders of Chief Di Lei to collect the 50,000 taels of gold that Master Chen owes us."

Song Jiang glanced at Chen the landlord, then at the henchmen, and asked, "When was this debt incurred? Do you have an IOU or any other proof?"

"This..." The henchman was speechless. He hadn't expected Song Jiang to be such a serious person. They had come to ask for money, so where would these things come from? But thinking about how Di Lei's brother-in-law had been beaten into a pig's head, it was obvious that this person either didn't take Qingyun Mountain seriously or was a fool. He definitely couldn't use force, otherwise he was afraid he wouldn't be able to leave the city.

The henchman said with a fawning smile, "We don't have any of that, but Master Chen does owe us 50,000 taels of gold."

Song Jiang had never seen anyone so shameless, and said, "Fifty thousand taels of gold is not difficult to obtain, but..."

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Seeing that Song Jiang's tone had softened, the henchman breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "But what?"

Song Jiang laughed and said, "But I remember that Di Lei owed Chen, the wealthy man, 60,000 taels of gold, and Shi Wenbin, the county magistrate, 30,000 taels of gold. So, you should owe us 40,000 taels of gold."

Since the conversation had broken down, there was no need to continue. The henchman stood up and said, "In that case, I'll go back and talk to Chief Di about his gold debt, and let him make the decision."

Song Jiang inwardly praised him, thinking that this little henchman was quite quick-witted. He knew that turning against them now would be disadvantageous, so he simply thought of getting away first. He didn't forget to threaten him, telling Di Lei to come and talk to him.

Song Jiang didn't mind and laughed, "In that case, go."

The henchmen were overjoyed. If Song Jiang had forced them to stay, no matter what the outcome would have been, even if Qingyun Mountain had captured Dancheng County, they would have certainly suffered. Being able to escape now was the best outcome.

Unexpectedly, Song Jiang spoke up again: "But one person is enough to deliver the message, so let him go. You and that brother-in-law of Di Lei should stay and be guests. You can experience the hospitality of Yuncheng. If you happen to meet Di Lei in the future, you can talk to him. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

The henchman was inwardly groaning, but Song Jiang ignored him and said to another henchman, "Go back and tell that leopard with the wormwood leaves that if he wants to ransom his brother-in-law, he'll have to bring 40,000 taels of gold. Otherwise, he'll never see his brother-in-law again in this lifetime." With that, he raised his hand to indicate that the henchman could get lost. The other henchman had never seen anything like this before—being blackmailed in return for extortion—so he didn't dare linger and hurriedly left to return to Qingyun Mountain to tell him everything that had happened in Yuncheng.

Watching the henchmen leave, Wu Song said, "Brother's methods are indeed ruthless."

Chen, however, said with a hint of loss, "Offending Qingyun Mountain will probably bring disaster to my whole family."

Just now, Chen Da Hu's performance disappointed not only Song Jiang, but also Wu Song and Zhu Tong. No matter what, he didn't have the guts a man should have. No wonder others dare to ride roughshod over him.

Zhu Tong said, "Master Chen, there's no need to be nervous. Now that you've reported it to the authorities, it's our responsibility to protect your safety. Relax!"

Thinking of Di Lei's furious reaction, Song Jiang smiled faintly and said, "The storm is brewing."

Having said that, Song Jiang also had to do what he said. He looked at the two bandits and told the yamen runners to take them to a secluded place and not let them escape. Then he led Chen the landlord, Wu Song, and Zhu Tong back to the county yamen.

Inside the county government office, Shi Wenbin saw Song Jiang return and hurriedly went up to ask, "How did things go, Gongming?"

Song Jiang nodded and said, "We've already let one of the henchmen go."

Chen, the wealthy man, didn't know what to say, but he had offended Qingyun Mountain and was truly afraid that his entire family would be wiped out.

Seeing the restless Chen, Song Jiang comforted him, "Calm down. We already told Young Master Chen not to return to Dancheng for the time being, right?"

Chen, the wealthy man, nodded and said, "I have already sent someone to tell him that unless I or his mother go to look for him personally, he should not believe anything anyone says."

Song Jiang said, "Then there should be no problem. Someone, take Master Chen to get some rest. We have important matters to discuss."

Now that there were no outsiders in the county government office, Shi Wenbin spoke up: "Gongming, why don't you just say what you're thinking?"

Song Jiang already had a plan in mind, but he still wanted to hear other people's ideas, so he asked, "Wen Yuan, do you have any good ideas?"

When Zhang Wenyuan heard Song Jiang call his name, he was stunned for a moment, but couldn't utter a word for a long time. Indeed, having spent years trying to live off women and wallow in their company, how could he possibly have any strategic acumen?

Seeing his frustrated expression, Song Jiang shook his head and asked the others, but after discussing for a long time, no one could come up with anything, which made Shi Wenbin extremely anxious.

Song Jiang sighed and asked, "Lieutenant Liu, approximately how many soldiers do you have under your command?"

This Captain Liu was the only military officer in Dancheng. Of course, according to the Song Dynasty system, he was still half a rank lower than Shi Wenbin. However, Shi Wenbin was easygoing, so there was no discord between the civil and military officials, but the two were not very close.

After thinking for a moment, Captain Liu replied, "I have two hundred soldiers and fifty horses under my command."

Song Jiang then asked, "May I ask if you have any crossbows?"

Captain Liu shook his head and said, "We only have bows, but no crossbows."

Song Jiang knew that the chances of local armies having crossbows were extremely low; they were usually only issued to the Imperial Guards or during foreign wars. Song Jiang was just trying his luck by asking.

Crossbows are extremely lethal, especially repeating crossbows, which can fire multiple bolts at once. They are strictly prohibited from being owned by ordinary people. Armor is also strictly controlled, and private ownership of these is not allowed openly. Relatively speaking, the control of bows is also extremely strict, just not as strict as that of crossbows and armor. Sometimes, hunters use inferior bows, so they would rather set traps to avoid danger from wild animals.

Song Jiang calculated that Captain Liu had two hundred men, and the county government, including all its yamen runners, had one hundred men, making a total of three hundred. Adding the militia from the villages that followed, a small force of five or six hundred men would be enough. If they really wanted to defend the city, they could pull out some able-bodied men and hold it more than enough. But simply defending the city wasn't enough; they had to defeat Qingyun Mountain, and that would be the real victory.

Song Jiang revealed part of his plan, which drew frequent nods of approval from the crowd. Song Jiang then requested absolute command of the military forces in Juncheng County. Shi Wenbin had no objection; after all, Song Jiang had recently brought him too many surprises. Handing the reins to Song Jiang might not only allow them to defend Dancheng but also wipe out some of the Qingyun Mountain bandits, which would greatly enhance his political achievements.

However, Shi Wenbin was also puzzled. Qingyun Mountain belonged to Yizhou Prefecture. Instead of plundering the many wealthy people and counties in Yizhou, they came to Dancheng, which was not close to them, to cause trouble. He really didn't know what kind of brain circuit they had.

But now that I'm here, I can't just sit here and wait to die.

Although Captain Liu hesitated for a moment, seeing Shi Wenbin's quick agreement, he figured he would likely be defeated by Qingyun Mountain as well. Since Song Jiang wanted it, he would give it to him. In any case, if they lost, Song Jiang would take the blame, and if they won, he would get credit. Having made up his mind, Captain Liu agreed to let Song Jiang take control of the military!

If Song Jiang knew that Captain Liu thought this way, he would just laugh it off with disdain. In fact, he didn't take these things that seriously.

After discussing the matter, Song Jiang thought for a moment and then said to Shi Wenbin, "To prevent the nearby villagers from being harmed by bandits, I also arranged for them to come to Yuncheng for temporary refuge in the next few days, which will also increase the defenses of Yuncheng."

Shi Wenbin was at a loss. Song Jiang's actions had increased the population of Yuncheng by several thousand. He frowned, unsure of how to respond.

To everyone's surprise, the wealthy Chen said, "I didn't expect that Clerk Song would be so kind to the people. Feeding several thousand people is not a problem. I can pay for it, as long as my Chen family is protected."

In fact, Chen the wealthy man did the math. Based on three thousand people, each person only needed half a catty of grain per day, which was almost enough. That was less than five shi (in ancient times, one sheng was about three catties, ten sheng was one dou, and ten dou was one shi) of grain per day. As for vegetables, pickled vegetables would be enough. It was impossible for them to eat meat. These people were not his own people. He should be grateful for the food he gave them.

As for whether they have enough to eat, that's not their business. There's a saying that half-grown boys can eat their fathers out of house and home. What Chen the rich man hates most are these teenagers who eat an extraordinary amount of food but can't do anything. They're just gluttons. As long as these people don't starve to death, that's fine.

Ancient merchants were like that; they would often do good deeds, but ultimately, it was still tied to their own interests. This is quite normal, since not everyone can be a saint, otherwise there wouldn't be so many wars in the world.

In fact, Chen the wealthy man had his own ulterior motives. He agreed so readily for two reasons: first, to build up his reputation; and second, because he knew that the villagers had worked hard for a long time and possessed a certain strength, which would at least increase his family's chances of survival. Moreover, this amount of money was nothing compared to 50,000 taels of gold and 5,000 shi of grain.

Song Jiang was surprised that Chen, the wealthy landowner, agreed so quickly. He was quite impressed with Chen. Originally, Song Jiang wanted to discuss with Shi Wenbin about having the county pay for it and him contribute as well. But since Chen had agreed so readily, Song Jiang could save himself some money. Why not?

Seeing that the matter had been discussed, Song Jiang decided to go to the blacksmith's shop in the city first. Next, they would need a lot of equipment to deal with the bandits. He didn't know if the blacksmiths in the city could forge it, but he believed that with a little effort, it shouldn't be too difficult.