Chapter 44

As he watched his team take shape day by day, Liu Jun felt an indescribable joy in his heart.

That evening, Li Chunjiang returned, bringing his group of servants back to Queen City in a hurry. Liu Jun had last seen Li Chunjiang three days ago. As soon as Li Chunjiang saw Liu Jun, he said with a heavy face, "Jiye, gather the troops and prepare to set out."

"Set out? Where to?"

"Last night, Lin Family Village was massacred."

"Lin Family Village? The Lin Family Village near Zhongguan Post?" Liu Jun exclaimed in shock.

Li Chunjiang nodded, "Not a single woman, child, or elderly person in the village survived. Over a hundred people were killed, and the scene was horrific."

"Who did this?" Liu Jun couldn't help but feel his anger rising. Bandits robbing was common, but to massacre a village after robbing was inhumane and infuriating.

"It's the same group of bandits that have been committing crimes in the area recently. They were always very careful, and we couldn't catch them. But this time, they acted so brutally, massacring over a hundred people in the village, leaving behind some clues. I have already discovered their movements, and Qian Gu and the others are keeping an eye on them. I came back to gather the troops. Jiye, can our team set out?"

"Of course, no problem."

"Good, gather the troops immediately. We'll set out tonight." Li Chunjiang's eyes were bloodshot. After seeing the gruesome scene in Lin Family Village, he couldn't forget it. He even felt it was his fault; if he had found and eliminated these bandits earlier, this disaster wouldn't have happened.

Such a tragedy should have been investigated by the Magistrate of Macheng County, the Prefecture of Huangzhou, and the troops of Huangzhou Garrison. Even if the local militia were to be mobilized, it should have been a large militia like the one in Meizhihuan Baosheng Fort. However, Li Chunjiang believed that since Lin Family Village was near Queen City, and he was the commander of the local militia cavalry, he had the responsibility to protect the villagers. After the massacre in Lin Family Village, he felt it was his duty to eliminate the bandits as soon as possible.

The late Ming Dynasty was indeed plagued by natural disasters and human misfortunes. The court imposed various taxes, and local governments levied additional taxes. Most of the peasants had no land of their own and relied on renting land from landlords for a living. They couldn't afford to pay the additional taxes imposed by the government, and the landlords kept increasing the rent. Life became harder and harder.

As the bandits roamed around, many peasants who were already struggling to survive joined the bandits, killing officials and rebelling. Some even went to the mountains to become bandits and claim the land as their own.

Although these people were forced to become bandits or outlaws, they did not become revolutionaries or think about leading the poor to a better life. Most of those who were oppressed and became bandits quickly turned into true bandits, committing all sorts of atrocities.

The longer they stayed with the bandits, the more ruthless they became.

However, in general, even these bandits would still have some sense of hometown sentiment. They would not massacre a village in their own hometown.

The bandits they were facing were a group of inhumane beasts.

"Who are these bandits?" Liu Jun asked solemnly. Knowing the enemy and knowing oneself is the key to victory. Since the enemy was a group of ruthless bandits, they needed to be cautious and not act out of anger, which would be a grave mistake.

Li Chunjiang's investigation over the past few days had yielded some results. Especially after the bandits brutally massacred Lin Family Village, he finally traced their movements.

It turned out that these bandits were locals, former postmen from Zhongguan Post. Zhongguan Post was located twenty miles southwest of Queen City. It was an important post station on the road from Huangzhou Prefecture in Huguang to Guangzhou in Henan, established during the Tang Dynasty. The post station had many postmen, but after Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, the court reduced the number of postmen and cut funding.

Most of the postmen from Zhongguan Post were laid off. Their lives were already hard, with little pay and heavy work, and now they had lost their jobs. Many postmen who relied on their meager wages to support their families were left with no choice. Coincidentally, a famous figure emerged among the postmen in Shaanxi, Li Zicheng, who joined the bandits and became a rebel leader, later known as King Li.

Li Zicheng's example inspired the unemployed and underpaid postmen from Zhongguan Post to follow his lead and rebel.

These people went to join Li Zicheng, but unfortunately, Li Zicheng was soon defeated by the government troops and fled into the Shangluo Mountains with only a dozen riders, and most of his followers scattered. Some of the bandits from Zhongguan Post survived and eventually returned to their hometown with some of the defeated soldiers.

They then became bandits in Huangzhou, robbing and plundering. At first, they were cautious, but gradually they became bolder. One of the bandits, a former postman from Zhongguan Post, had once been interested in a girl from Lin Family Village and had asked for her hand in marriage, but was rejected because of his poverty and mocked by the girl's father.

Yesterday, the girl's brother was getting married. The bandit, upon learning this, led a group of bandits to Lin Family Village in the middle of the night, surrounded the village, and killed the family that had rejected his proposal. He also raped and killed the girl who had returned for her brother's wedding, and then raped and killed her brother's new bride. Not satisfied, he massacred the entire village.

"The bandits are now staying at Xing'an Temple."

Liu Jun clenched his fists, angry at the inhumanity of the bandits.

"Tell me, how many are there?"

"The bandits who massacred Lin Family Village last night were led by the bandit chief Ma Gui, and there are about fifty of them."

Hearing that there were only fifty bandits, Liu Jun felt a bit relieved and asked, "What kind of equipment do they have?"

"They all have horses, no firearms, but many have bows and arrows. The rest have spears and large knives. They are all desperate men."

"Xing'an Temple is just a temporary base. Do you know where their hideout is?"

"暂时还不知道，但我估计应该就在龙华山中。"

Liu Jun decided to support Li Chunjiang in the campaign against the bandits. The militia had been training for over a month, and it was time to put them to the test. Especially since these bandits had committed such a heinous crime, the surrounding villagers were angry and fearful. By launching this attack, they could both train their troops and establish the reputation of their Nine-Headed Bird Cavalry. Eliminating these bandits would also earn the gratitude of the surrounding villagers.

After the bandits massacred Lin Family Village last night, they did not immediately retreat to their hideout. They were arrogant and perhaps had looted a lot of valuables, making it difficult to leave immediately. So they cleverly occupied Xing'an Temple, not far from Lin Family Village, to wait out the initial panic before returning to their hideout.

Generally, when the authorities discover such a massacre, they will send troops to search for the bandits. The bandits, carrying a lot of loot, would not be able to travel far and would be reluctant to abandon their loot. So they would hide near the scene of the crime, a place where the authorities might not think to look.

Fortunately, Li Chunjiang had been investigating the bandits for some time, and they were unaware that their movements had been completely exposed.

"Xing'an Temple is a small temple. There was only one monk living there, and it was not a popular place. The bandits occupied it without anyone knowing." Li Chunjiang took out a hand-drawn map of Xing'an Temple.

From the map, it was clear that Xing'an Temple was very small, like a small house, surrounded by a mud wall. Inside, there was a main hall and two side rooms, and that was all.

"If we can quietly approach the temple and occupy the wall, we can have the advantage of height and trap them inside. If our movements are detected, the wall will become a significant obstacle." Liu Jun said, looking at the map.

After all, the bandits had bows and arrows. If they defended from the wall, a bow battle might not be in their favor. Moreover, the bandits had horses, and if they were alerted, they could easily escape.

"I say we quietly approach, block the door, and throw torches to burn the place down," Li Chunjiang said with hatred.

Liu Jun pondered for a moment and said, "Why don't we bring the tiger-squat cannons? Six cannons should be enough to give these bandits a taste of their own medicine. Besides, we have many firearms and a numerical advantage."

"Also, I have an idea. We have eight monks in our team. We can quietly approach the mountain. If the bandits don't notice us, we can send a monk to knock on the door, pretending to be a traveling monk. If we can trick them into opening the door, we can rush in and fire our guns and arrows."

"Good idea. Let's do it. We should gather the troops and set out immediately. If we wait, the bandits might escape," Li Chunjiang said urgently.

Liu Jun finally asked, "Shouldn't we inform Mr. Mei or the county authorities first? If we hand over the situation to them, the government troops or Mr. Mei's militia, with their numerical advantage, can easily eliminate these bandits."

Li Chunjiang shook his head. "The prey is right in front of us. Why should we give it to someone else? I've spent so much effort and money building this cavalry team. This is our chance to do something. We can't let it slip away."

Liu Jun understood Li Chunjiang's intentions and nodded. "Alright, I'll gather the men. We'll set out tonight and hang these beasts at the city gates of Queen City by dawn."

Li Chunjiang patted Liu Jun on the shoulder. "Good brother!"

(Brothers, while reading, please don't forget to cast your recommendation votes!)

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**End of Chapter**