Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 434 Beheading in public display
Ever since Qu Shaoyang took his men to Weizidang, the Huang father and son have been waiting at home.

At the beginning, the father and son were full of confidence and thought they could definitely get away with it this time.

But as time went by, it was getting dark and the third brother and those people hadn't returned yet, so the father and son became increasingly worried.

Just as he was thinking about it, a guard suddenly ran in from outside and said, "Master, it's bad. The group of people from this morning are back."

The person who came might have been running in a hurry and was breathing heavily.

"You're back, so why is it still not okay? Where's Third Master? When Third Master comes back, can't he just lead them in?"

Huang Wanfu hadn't come to his senses yet. He thought that Huang Wanqing had led people to wander around the reed marsh, but didn't find any trace of Tuanzi and came back just in time for dark.

"No, no, the Third Master was tied up, and the Second Master was also tied up.

That gentleman brought no less than five or six hundred people, saying that our family was colluding with bandits and wanted to break in and arrest people."

The guard finally caught his breath and finished speaking in one breath.

"What?" Huang Maotian and Huang Wanfu were shocked when they heard it.

And at this moment, there was a sudden loud noise outside.

Immediately afterwards, I felt the ground shake violently twice, and mud fell from the roof.

"Here, what's going on?"

Huang Wanfu was so frightened that he could hardly speak. How could ordinary people go through such things?
Just at this moment, a gunner stumbled in from outside.

"Master, sir, there are cannons outside.

Half of our front door was blown open, and the people outside said that if we didn’t surrender, they would blow our compound to the ground.”

These gunners were hired by the Huang family at a huge price. They might be OK at dealing with bandits or something, but asking them to deal with regular troops with cannons, isn't that nonsense?

Just as the gunner was speaking, there was another loud noise outside and the ground shook violently again.

At Huang Maotian's age, how could he withstand such stimulation?

His eyes rolled back and he fell backwards, hitting the ground with a thud and lost consciousness instantly.

Huang Wanfu was young and didn't faint, but he was almost there. His crotch was wet and he actually peed his pants out of fright.

"Master, what should we do? Surrender. Saving your life is the most important thing."

The gunner was brave enough not to be frightened and quickly reminded Huang Wanfu.

At this point, what else can we do but surrender?

With the way their cannons were firing, the entire Huang family's home would be reduced to ruins in a short while, and everyone inside would be dead.

Huang Wanfu was so frightened that he could not think. When the gunner said surrender, he nodded. "Yes, surrender, surrender."

The gunner was waiting for these words, and when he saw Huang Wanfu nod, he ran out immediately.

As they ran, they shouted, "Surrender, surrender quickly, the master said, surrender."

At this time, the main gate of the Huang family compound had been destroyed by cannon fire, and part of the wall had also collapsed.

The guards and gunners were all so frightened that they didn't dare to fight back.

When they heard about the surrender, the gunners tore out a piece of white cloth from somewhere, picked it up with their guns, and waved it on the wall.

Outside the Huang family compound, Qu Shaoyang looked at the white cloth sticking out from the wall and snorted.

“They’ve got some sense. Chuanyong, Tiezhu, take people in and arrest all the men in the Huang family. Put the women and children in solitary confinement.

The Huang family colluded with the gang, not only tipped off the gang members, but also acted as the host. They found all the stolen money and goods, confiscated them and made them public.

"Yes." Zhou Chuanyong and others responded, and then rushed into the compound with their men.

The courtyard was in chaos at this time, with women screaming, children crying, and the gunners guarding the courtyard running away in panic.

After Zhou Chuanyong and others rushed in, they fired three shots directly into the air.

"Everyone, stay still, put your hands on your head, and squat down where you are. Anyone who dares to run around will be beaten to death."

Zheng Tieniu had a loud voice, and his roar scared everyone in the yard. They were all stunned. Then, one by one, they squatted on the ground with their hands on their heads, trembling.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Chuanyong and his team began searching throughout the compound.

Huang Maotian had four wives and concubines, and gave birth to three sons and five daughters. Huang Wanfu had three brothers, who also had many wives and concubines and many children.

The women and children were locked up alone in a large room, while the men were tied up and interrogated.

Relying on the geographical advantage of Weizidang, Dong Dabiao's gang committed crimes in Fuyu, Nong'an and other places, including kidnapping and smashing kilns.

The Huang family made a great contribution to this.

The Huang father and son helped provide intelligence, plant spies, and took the opportunity to eliminate many business competitors.

Anyone who is targeted by them will inevitably end up with their family destroyed.

Of course, through this cooperation, Dong Dabiao's gang and the Huang family accumulated a large amount of gold, silver and treasures, and most of them were hidden in the Huang family.

Based on the confessions of Huang Wanfu's brothers, Zhou Chuanyong and others carried out dozens of boxes of gold, silver and jewelry from the Huang family's cellar.

In addition to the things picked up from each branch of the Huang family, there were indeed quite a lot of things.

The busy schedule lasted until midnight. Everyone ate something and took a short break to rest.

On the morning of the fourth day of October, Qu Shaoyang ordered people to go to nearby villages and beat drums and gongs to gather the people.

Many people hid at home and dared not go out, but were also forcibly dragged here.

A temporary platform was set up in the open space outside the main gate of the Huang family compound. The four members of the Huang family, father and son, were all tied up with ropes and kneeling on the platform.

Didn't Huang Maotian faint last night? After being woken up by Zheng Tiezhu and his friends, his mouth was crooked, his eyes were slanted, and half of his body was out of control.

At this time, Huang Maotian was half lying and half kneeling on the stage, with a look of fear on his face.

Qu Shaoyang ordered his men to read out the confession from yesterday's interrogation in front of many people.

As the largest reed tyrant in the area, the Huang family cannot have clean hands. They have done many evil things over the years.

In the past, swordsmen and reed farmers dared not speak out due to the tyranny of the Huang family. But now that they see the Huang family fall, many of them weep and complain about what the Huang family has done.

Qu Shaoyang ordered people to record confessions and asked the Huang brothers to sign and seal their accounts. Then he announced that the four Huang brothers would be beheaded in public and all of Huang's property would be confiscated.

As for the guards and gunners hired by the Huang family, those who have committed murders should be killed, and those who have nothing to do can leave.

The women and children of the Huang family did not do anything wrong and will not be held accountable.

As for bandits like Dong Dabiao, needless to say, they were all beheaded and sent to Changchun and Jilin City for public display.

After these days of busy work, the issue between Dong Dabiao's gang and the Huang family has come to a temporary end.

However, Lao Dongbei and other gangs have not been caught yet, so Qu Shaoyang naturally cannot let them go and has to continue to suppress the bandits.

Qu Shaoyang asked people to pick out some rare items from the seized gold, silver and treasures and divide them into three parts.

One was sent to General Jilin, and the other two were sent to General Fengtian and Zhang Xiluan. This place was not far from the grassland, and Dong Dabiao got a few good horses from somewhere. Qu Shaoyang liked them very much, so he simply sent them to Fenghuang City as a tribute to Zhang Xiluan.

Apart from those given as gifts, the rest of the captured materials were distributed to the Dingbian Army, and the rest were escorted back to Maoer Mountain to be used to buy guns and ammunition to equip the Dingbian Army in the future.

After arranging all this, it was time for Qu Shaoyang to take his men away.

Before leaving, Qu Shaoyang asked someone to find Dayuhuan.

"I killed your man and ransacked your house. Do you hate me?" Qu Shaoyang asked casually while looking at Dayuhuan.

“I dare not. The Huang family father and son have committed many evil deeds, and this is their retribution.

Your Excellency was ordered by the court to suppress the bandits. It was your duty. Yuhuan does not hate you. "

Dayuhuan was dressed in plain white and looked haggard. She had lost her former brightness and charm, but instead looked somewhat pitiful.

"That day, I promised you that I would arrange a better home for you.

This is the case. I plan to open a restaurant in Jilin City. If you are interested, you can be the manager and help me run it.

I will give you 30% of the restaurant's profits. Wait two years, if you find a man you like, I can prepare a dowry for you and arrange your marriage."

In fact, Qu Shaoyang had been thinking about this matter since the bandit suppression campaign began.

Things are different now. From now on, Qu Shaoyang needs to have an accurate grasp of the major developments in Fengtian and Jilin provinces in order to make the most accurate and favorable judgments.

In Fengtian, with the Qu family's assets, it would be no problem to gather information there.

But as for Jilin City, there was no arrangement before, so we have to hurry up and make arrangements now.

After Qu Shaoyang talked with Dayuhuan that day, he felt that this was a good candidate.

Firstly, Dayuhuan has no one to rely on, and if she wants to live a good life, choosing Qu Shaoyang as her backer is undoubtedly the safest choice.

Secondly, Dayuhuan was a young woman, relatively less threatening, and it was easier to get information from her.

Qu Shaoyang could see that this was a smart woman and that she would be able to achieve something if she was given the opportunity.

The Huang family is now broken up, and the women in the family will not have an easy life in the future.

Others have children to support themselves, but Da Yuhuan has nothing, so she will definitely be excluded. If things go wrong, she might even be sold to a brothel by the mistress of the house.

Since Qu Shaoyang had made the promise, he must fulfill it and arrange a better home for Dayuhuan.

When Dayuhuan heard this, she was startled at first, but then she came to her senses, knelt on her knees and kowtowed continuously.

"Thank you for your grace, sir. I will never forget your care.

Please rest assured, sir, Yuhuan will do her best to manage the business and ensure that your restaurant will prosper."

"Okay, that's it. I'll arrange for someone to take you to Jilin City later."

Qu Shaoyang waved his hand and called the people around him, asking them to follow Dayuhuan to the Huang family, get the indenture, and then send it to the government to delete the file.

Then he took a large sum of money to Jilin City to purchase a house, a shop in a good location, and prepare for a restaurant.

After sending Dayuhuan away, things here are completely over.

It just so happened that Qu Shaoyang received news that a group of people from the old Northeast were appearing in Huaide, Lishu and other places.

So Qu Shaoyang gave an order and the Dingbian Army marched to Huaide and Lishu. At the same time, Qu Shaoyang sent a large number of spies to gather information.

In October, the weather in Kanto became increasingly cold.

The northwest wind howled across the fields, swirling around, rolling up dead grass and snow particles, and hitting people's faces, hurting them like being stabbed by a knife.

At times like this, the cat should stay at home.

Men of all ages sat on the warm kang, smoking pipes and reading small cards, while in the steaming pot, there was bubbling cabbage, frozen tofu and vermicelli. It was so relaxing.

However, Qu Shaoyang and others traveled against the wind and snow, quickly heading towards the Guojia store near Lishu.

"Sir, we have just received accurate information that the Old Northeastern Gang and several other small gangs including the Little Beihai have smashed the hard kiln at the east end of Guojiadian and the Liujia compound.

Right now, they should be enjoying themselves there." A fast horse came up and reported to Qu Shaoyang.

"The old Northeastern gang has been doing a lot of looting in the past six months. It is said that they got a lot of horses from Khorchin. No matter where they go, they ride horses like the wind and are very difficult to deal with."

"How far are we from Guojiadian now?" Qu Shaoyang asked the person opposite.

"Your Excellency, there are less than twenty miles to go."

The spy had already figured out the terrain of this area, and quickly took out a pre-drawn map and showed it to Qu Shaoyang.

Lishu and Huaide are both under the jurisdiction of Taochang Dao, Fengtian Province, and the two places are quite close to each other.

Going east from Guojiadian, Huaide is not far away. As soon as you enter Huaide, there is a place called Miaozigou, which is surrounded by mountains on all sides. It is a good place for an ambush.

While looking at the map and listening to the spy's report, Qu Shaoyang's mind automatically emerged with the surrounding terrain and he soon came up with a plan.

"Chuanyong, Tiezhu, you take your men to Miaozigou to set up an ambush. I will lead a team to Guojiadianer to alert the enemy."

"Sir, isn't this too dangerous? Let me take people to Guojiadian." Zhou Chuanyong said hurriedly, worried about Qu Shaoyang's safety.

“No need, those bearded men just broke into the kiln and are enjoying themselves.

I will lead my men over there. We will not engage in direct fire with them, but will just scare them and drive them towards Miaozigou. You just need to hold on."

Qu Shaoyang did not agree and selected about a hundred people to follow him and headed straight to Guojiadian.

Zhou Chuanyong, Zheng Tiezhu and others rushed to Miaozigou on horseback and set up an ambush in advance.

As Qu Shaoyang had expected, the gunners who had surrendered and surrendered in the Liu family compound were tied up and held solitary confinement in an empty house.

The men of the Liu family had their hands tied and were kneeling in front of the pig trough.

After a burst of gunfire, he fell headfirst into the pig trough and died.

The women in the Liu family compound had no time to be sad at this time. They were all driven by Hu Zi with horse whips and given food and drink.

Many of the nearby villagers were also kicked out of their homes. They first took down the pots and stoves and took them away, then pulled the women's hair and left.

There are too many bearded people and not enough people to cook.

In the pigsty, the three big fat pigs were all caught and killed by Hu Zi. The chickens, ducks and geese also did not escape his clutches and were soon slaughtered and plucked.

In the yard, rows of large pots were set up, with wooden blocks burning fiercely under the pots, and the flames were rising high.

The pig was cut up and the large pieces of meat were thrown directly into the pot to cook, rising and falling with the rolling waves.

Several old ladies from the Liu family, holding kitchen knives in their hands, did not care to be careful under Hu Zi's command and just cut out two large basins of sauerkraut.

Sauerkraut boiled pork, pork stewed with vermicelli, chicken stewed with mushrooms, goose stewed with potatoes, the dishes are stewed in several pots, and the aroma wafts out with the heat.

The greedy guys were drooling and didn't care whether the meat was cooked or not. They reached out to grab a piece, hissing from the heat and just ate it.

(End of this chapter)