The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 33 Ransom Payment

"Uncle Jiang, shall we go up?"

Yu Chengye stood beside Jiang Han, holding a whistle stick in his hand, his eyes shining.

Jiang Han raised his hand and slapped Yu Chengye on the head, taking the whistle stick from his hand and cursing irritably:
"You brat, stay put! Just watch your Uncle Shao Yong and the others beat people up, it's not your turn to do it!"

"Ouch, have mercy!"

The sound of the baton being swung mingled with screams.

The group of thugs that Li Lihui brought seemed to have a large number of men, but in front of Shao Yong and his group of battle-hardened border soldiers, they were like a bunch of chicks.

Faced with the burly border soldiers before them, these local thugs who usually only bullied men and women had no chance to fight back.

Shao Yong and his men were seething with anger, and they showed no mercy, swinging their sticks with great force, aiming specifically for vital points.

In the blink of an eye, the group of thugs were routed, fleeing in panic, their cries of pain echoing everywhere.

"What's going on? How come these people are so powerful!" Li Lihui's expression changed, clearly not expecting Jiang Han's subordinates to be so formidable.

Seeing that things were going wrong, Zheng Hong, who was standing next to him, quickly stepped forward to protect Li Lihui and whispered:
"Young Master Li, the situation is not good, let's retreat!"

"This group works together very well and is clearly not an ordinary guard. Our men can't hurt them at all."

Li Lihui gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with resentment, and spat fiercely:
"Retreat? No way! I'm going to kill that Jiang bastard with my own hands today!"

But before he could finish speaking, Shao Yong had already rushed in front of him, his whistle stick carrying a strong wind, heading straight for Li Lihui's face.

"Young Master Li, be careful!"

Seeing this, Zheng Hong knew something was wrong. He quickly drew his sword, held it horizontally in front of him, and bravely charged forward.

Although he had learned some martial arts and was quite skilled, he was still very nervous when facing Shao Yong.

There was no way around it; a seven-foot-tall, burly man standing in front of you was so imposing that it was hard to breathe, not to mention that this man was a former elite vanguard of the Ming Dynasty's border army.

As expected, the moment the knife and staff clashed, a crisp "clang" rang out, sparks flew, and Zheng Hong felt a numbness in his hand, almost dropping the knife.

Shao Yong snorted coldly and took the opportunity to smash down with his stick.

Zheng Hong was unable to dodge in time and was struck squarely in the chest. He groaned and fell to the ground, spitting out blood.

Li Lihui then came to his senses, realized that something was wrong, and turned to run away.

But he had only taken two steps when Li Laowai blocked his way.

"Want to run? It's too late!"

Old Li grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and mercilessly smashed the whistle in his hand towards Li Lihui's knee.

"what!"

Li Lihui screamed and collapsed to his knees, his face filled with terror and pain.

Jiang Han slowly walked down the stairs, looking at Li Lihui who was slumped on the ground, his face full of mockery:

"Young Master Li, why are you doing this? I've already let you off the hook, but you insist on coming to my doorstep."

"If that's the case, then don't blame me."

Li Lihui raised his head, his eyes filled with resentment and venom:

"You, surnamed Jiang, don't be so smug! My father won't let you get away with this!"

Jiang Han shook his head, his tone laced with sarcasm:

"Your father? Heh, we'll talk about that when he comes to ransom you."

After saying that, he waved his hand, signaling Li Laowai beside him to tie up Li Lihui.

"Lord Jiang, what should we do with these people?"

Shao Yong pointed to the thugs on the ground who had been beaten black and blue.

Jiang Han looked at the wailing crowd and roared:

"Who's in charge? Come out and speak!"

A stir ran through the crowd. A thug, trembling, pointed to Zheng Hong, who was lying not far away, coughing up blood, and said in a trembling voice:
"Sir, our leader is over there." Jiang Han looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that Zheng Hong's chest had collapsed, his clothes were stained with blood, and he was barely breathing. He was obviously beyond saving.

Shao Yong's blow probably broke several of his ribs.

Seeing that Jiang Han didn't say anything, the thug knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly:
"My lord, spare our lives! We were forced into this situation. Li Lihui is ruthless and vicious, and we brothers dare not disobey him."

"We dare not do it again! Please, Your Honor, spare our lives and let us go to the City God Temple to treat our injuries!"

Jiang Han snorted coldly and cursed:
"A bunch of good-for-nothings, all they do is bully men and women."

"roll!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd, who were lying on the ground groaning in pain, felt as if they had been granted a pardon and scrambled out of the inn.

Jiang Han shook his head and was about to return to the inn when he noticed several constables standing not far away.

The group watched Jiang Han trembling, unsure whether to run or stay.

These yamen runners were no ordinary thugs; they were well-informed and, judging from their skillful coordination, the men before them were clearly soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, they weren't ordinary garrison troops; to grow so strong, they must at least be soldiers from border towns.

"Which military garrison has rebelled again? I haven't heard anything about it. Are these people here to attack the county seat?"

Jiang Han waved to them, and the group came running over eagerly, bowing and scraping.
"General, General, spare our lives! We brothers are willing to be your inside men."

"What inside man?" Jiang Han didn't react for a moment.

One of the constables quickly spoke up:
"An inside man to attack the city! As long as the general gives the order, we brothers will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

The others nodded repeatedly, fearing that Jiang Han might kill them all if he got upset.

Jiang Han was both amused and exasperated; these yamen runners were putting on quite a show.

He shook his head:

"Who told you we were going to attack the city?"

“We are just small business people. We wouldn’t have taken action if the Li family hadn’t gone too far.”

He paused, then squinted and asked:
"I ask you, what kind of business does the Li family mainly do in Ansai County?"

The constable lowered his voice and answered cautiously:

"The Li family in Ansai mainly runs businesses within the military."

“Anse is a vital transportation route to the north. All kinds of military supplies have to pass through the Li family, transit through here, and be sent to the black market at the border.”

Jiang Han was somewhat surprised:
"How do you know so clearly?"

The bailiff continued to explain:
“Recently, banditry has become serious, and the Li family often sends us brothers to escort goods to Yulinwei.”

"The underlings will find out after a few trips."

Jiang Han looked at the group of men with suspicion. Yan'an Prefecture was plagued by bandits. How could these few yamen runners be able to transport goods to Yulin Guard?
He knew about the black market in Yulinwei when he was a border soldier; it was a place specifically responsible for reselling various supplies issued by the imperial court.

It's possible that the military supplies Wu Zimian resold were also sold through the Li family.

But he couldn't be bothered with such things now, so Jiang Han waved his hand:

"Okay, get out!"

The constables breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly slipped away.

Back at the inn, Jiang Han called Li Laowai over and began to guide him step by step on how to demand the ransom:
"Old Li, take Young Master Li's jade pendant and go to Master Li. Tell him to bring ten thousand taels of silver to ransom the man!"

"Otherwise, his second young master can forget about going back alive!"

As he spoke, he ripped the jade pendant off Li Lihui's waist and threw it to Li Laowai.

Li Laowai accepted the jade pendant, grinning from ear to ear:
"Don't worry, Lord Jiang, we will definitely get the ransom back!"

After saying that, he called to several border soldiers and headed straight for the Li family's residence.

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(End of this chapter)