Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 10, Gambler Li Sheng

One day, a villager named Li Sheng heard about Fang Yong's reputation for being altruistic and righteous, so he came to him and asked to borrow two taels of silver to treat his mother's illness.

When others saw this, they all tried to dissuade Fang Yong from lending him money.

It was because this man named Li Sheng was nicknamed Li Dagui in the water village and was a well-known bad guy in the village.

He spent his days eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, living in a daze, making himself emaciated, neither human nor ghost. However, he had a tall frame, so people nicknamed him the Big Ghost.

If Fang Yong lent him the money, this guy would lose it all within a day.

After hearing everyone's concerns, Fang Yong said:

"I know you're worried. If it was something else, I definitely wouldn't lend money to this person. But I heard that Li Sheng's mother is really seriously ill and the family is in urgent need of money. How can I just ignore this situation?"

So Fang Yong ignored everyone's dissuasion and lent the money to Li Sheng.

However, within a few days, Li Sheng lost all his money.

The villagers all accused Li Sheng of his outrageous behavior, but Li Sheng was completely unaware. He was not afraid of the itchiness when he had too many lice, he had long been used to it.

Having tasted the sweetness, he even ran to Fang Yong again to borrow money, still for the reason of treating his mother's illness.

Fang Yong questioned him why he used the money for gambling when he lent it to his mother for medical treatment last time?
Li Sheng lowered his head and replied: The money Fang Yong lent him was not enough, and he went gambling just to pay for his mother's medical treatment.

After hearing this, Fang Yong was silent for a long time and asked him how much more money he needed.

Li Sheng glanced at Fang Yong secretly and answered bravely:
"Five... um, ten taels?"

Upon hearing this, the people around stood up and angrily accused Li Sheng of being shameless.

It actually costs ten taels?
Everyone said: Don’t lend money to Li Dagui, he is a bad guy and he will definitely lose all the money.

Fang Yong did not answer after hearing this.

Li Sheng seemed to feel that his request was too much, so he lowered his head and prepared to leave in dejection.

Fang Yong looked at Li Sheng's back and thought to himself:
Although this person is a gambler, he has a sense of shame. He doesn't look like a gambler. He must have some unspeakable secret. Money is just a thing outside of my body. What's wrong with giving him ten taels?
"Stop, I'll lend it to you, but remember, don't gamble again..."

Li Sheng didn't know how he got back home.

Everything seemed like a dream.

The monthly food and salary of the ordinary bandits in the village who were responsible for fighting was only 500 coins. If there was no spoils, they could only save 6 taels of silver in a year without eating or drinking. And the logistic personnel like him only had 300 coins a month. He couldn't save 10 taels of silver even if he was given 10 years.

But even so, the third in command actually lent him ten taels of silver.

"Cough cough cough, cough cough cough!"

Bursts of violent coughing were heard from the dilapidated room.

A middle-aged woman was lying on the bed, coughing constantly, as if she was having trouble breathing.

Li Sheng half-knelt forward and hurriedly poured water for his mother.

Unfortunately, drinking water did not alleviate the old woman's symptoms, but instead made her wheezing worse.

The old woman looked at Li Sheng and opened her mouth to say something, but her throat was breathing so hard that she couldn't speak at all.

Li Sheng showed a look of pain.

There was one thing he lied about again. He had consulted a doctor and was told that his mother's illness could not be cured with just ten taels of silver. That would require an astronomical figure for him, a figure he did not even dare to ask the Third In Command for.

Li Sheng tightly held the ten taels of silver in his arms. The Third In Command's instructions were still ringing in his ears, and a look of struggle flashed in his eyes.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough..."

Li Sheng closed his eyes.

He knelt down and kowtowed to his mother.

"Mom, just wait. I will definitely be able to turn the tables this time. I will definitely be able to raise enough money to cure you!"

After paying respects to his mother, Li Sheng turned around and kowtowed respectfully to the door.

"Third Master, if I, Li Sheng, succeed this time, I swear to be at your disposal for the rest of my life to repay your kindness; if I lose, I can only repay your kindness in my next life..."

For several days, there was no news from Li Sheng.

Fang Yong also forgot about this matter.

He has recently been studying a military book called "Jixiao Xinshu". The author's name is not written in the book, and he has never heard of this book in his previous life, so he guessed it is not very famous.

But even so, he had gone to great lengths to get this book from Gan Ba. Gan Ba treated it as a family heirloom, and if Fang Yong had not agreed to teach Gan Ba underwater kung fu, Gan Ba would not have let Fang Yong read it.

[Talent: Military Strategy (Normal)]

【Progress: 3/100】

【Effect: Deploy troops and have a proper balance between tension and relaxation. 】

At the same time, in the outside world, the matter of Fang Yong killing an official caused quite a stir.

The grain collector that Fang Yong killed was a minor official. He was an official in name but had no rank.

This incident happened in Sanhe County, which should have been under the jurisdiction of the Sanhe County Magistrate. However, after investigation, the Sanhe County Magistrate found that Fang Yong had fled to Hongze Lake and joined the Hongze Water Bandits. The Hongze Water Bandits were notorious in this area, especially in recent years, with more than 10,000 bandits under their command, running rampant in the Hongze area. All the surrounding merchants and gentry were terrified. How could a small Sanhe County Magistrate dare to provoke them?
So the magistrate of Sanhe thought about it and reported the matter to the governor of Huaizhou.

When the prefect of Huaizhou learned about this, he was furious and pushed the matter over to the Huaizhou garrison, asking him to find a way to send troops to subdue the bandits.

This is really a difficult situation.

Although the Huaizhou garrison commander also holds the position of a fifth-rank garrison commander, the Daxi Dynasty has been peaceful for a long time, and as a military officer he has no real power. There are 3,000 soldiers on the list, but only 500 in reality, and he has not been in charge for many years.

In order to survive, these soldiers had no choice but to work as guards for the wealthy merchants in the city. After they received the money, officials at all levels would take a share of it...

In the armory, the swords were rusted, the armor was damaged, the cannons were misfired, and the bows and arrows were broken.

The only few large ships he could use couldn't even find sailors to control them. In this situation, how could he fight the notorious Hongze bandits?

So after considering for a long time, the Huaizhou garrison used its traditional skills to subdue the bandits.

He sent someone to find a passerby who was similar in stature and appearance to Fang Yong, chopped off his face, and then handed him over. In this way, the incident of Fang Yong killing an official was hastily settled.

Although this simple and unpretentious method of defeating bandits is extremely efficient, it also has obvious shortcomings. That is, if this pirate named Fang Yong causes trouble again in the future, it will be troublesome.

The Huaizhou garrison did not care about this.

What big trouble can a small pirate cause?
Can you still rebel?

One day, Fang Yong was sparring with a dozen of the villagers. With the wielding of his sword, all the weapons of the dozen of them were knocked down in an instant.

Everyone was convinced and praised: "Third brother is really a god!"

Suddenly, a man ran over, looked at Fang Yong, and looked a little hesitant.

Fang Yong immediately asked:

"What happened?"

The man was silent for a moment and then replied:
"Third brother, I heard that... Li Dagui went to gamble again. Not only did he lose all the money you gave him, but he also owed a large sum. Now people want to chop off his hands and feet."

Outside the casino, Li Sheng, with disheveled hair, was being held on the street by the casino staff.

A sturdy man stepped on Li Sheng's head with a ferocious look on his face and waved a machete at Li Sheng.

Li Sheng's eyes were dull and he showed no reaction at all.

"Li Dagui, why are you doing this? If you have no money, you can go and borrow it. Doesn't that guy called Fang Yong like to lend you money? Just make up any excuse and that big fool will definitely lend you the money!"

After hearing this, Li Sheng struggled violently.

"You are not allowed to insult the Third Master!"

Seeing that Li Sheng still dared to resist, the sturdy man immediately became ruthless and stepped on him hard, causing Li Sheng to spit out a mouthful of blood.

"You are such a shameless person. I gave you a good way but you didn't choose it. Since you don't know how to appreciate my kindness, I will teach you a lesson!"

As the sturdy man spoke, he raised his long knife and slashed at Li Sheng's wrist fiercely.

"stop!"

There was a loud shout.

The sturdy man paused for a moment after hearing the sound, but soon continued to chop with the knife.

The next moment, there was a whoosh sound, and a sharp arrow broke through the air, accurately passed through the gap in the crowd, and hit the strong man's wrist.

"what!"

The sturdy man held his hands and screamed, and the knife fell to the ground with a clang.

Fang Yong put away the bow and rushed over with a dozen people.

"I told you to stop, why didn't you listen!"

Fang Yong shouted.

The sturdy man covered his hands, looked at Fang Yong fiercely, and said:

"It is only natural to pay back debts. Li Dagui can't pay, so what's wrong with me cutting off one of his hands?"

After hearing this, Fang Yong grabbed the sturdy man's clothes with one hand and lifted him up, then stepped back half a step, gathered his strength, and punched out.

With a loud bang, the sturdy man's body was knocked flying and hit the sign of Tianlun Casino, smashing it to pieces.

"I'm asking you, I told you to stop, why didn't you obey my orders!"

Fang Yong asked again.

The sturdy man spat out blood without paying, staggered to his feet, pointed at Fang Yong and said:
"You, you dare to hit me, I am the nephew of the big boss..."

"Damn it!"

Fang Yong glared and kicked forward fiercely.

(End of this chapter)