I want to ruin the country

Seeing his brother-in-law's serious look, Qiao Si felt a little nervous and asked hurriedly,

"What did you hear?"

Ding said honestly,

"We were suppressing the bandits, Liu Heita was even skinned alive, you really didn't know?"

Qiao Si and his wife were both furious.

"What's going on? Tell me, brother!"

Ding said honestly,

"Two days ago, the government troops arrived at our place and it only took them one day to blow open Liu Heita's impenetrable den of thieves.

Hundreds of people were killed in the explosion, and the rest were all captured, not a single one escaped!"

"Yes?"

Qiao Si opened his mouth wide and couldn't close it.

"Who told you that? No way, is King Yan, who is so powerful, really so cowardly?"

Ding Laoshi was afraid that he would not believe it, so he gestured with his hands.

"Yesterday the Governor came to our place to hold a public trial and sentenced Liu Yanwang to death on the spot.

Before I even stepped down, I was skinned alive by the people. How could I fool you? "

His sister said,

"Ah, that's good, one more trouble!"

Qiao Si asked,

"But what does that have to do with Mantun?"

Ding said honestly,

"It does matter. Lord Chen said that all the bandits should surrender themselves to the authorities!"

His sister covered her chest,

"Oh my god, turning yourself in, isn't that courting death?"

Ding said honestly,

"The Emperor said that if no lives were lost and the crime was not extremely heinous, then no one will be punished. If someone has made meritorious service, there will be a reward!

I just came to take a look and let Mantun surrender himself!"

Qiao Si was a little confused.

"Why haven't we heard anything about it here?"

Ding said honestly,

"Where did you let anyone hear about what happened yesterday? If I were here, wouldn't you know?"

Her wife said quickly,

"Mantun's father, I thought I heard someone from the village banging a gong a while ago. We were burning charcoal in the mountains and not at home!"

Qiao Si sat down on the stool and said,

"Good news, bad news! If the government cheats us, Mantun will be dead!"

Ding said honestly,

"What are you talking about, brother-in-law? You've come all this way to harm my nephew!"

Qiao Si grabbed his hand and said,

"That can't be possible. Tell me what's going on!"

It turned out that Qiao Si's son Qiao Mantun accidentally injured a rich man a few years ago. Fearing a lawsuit, he was forced to secretly run to a bandit's lair in the mountains seventy or eighty miles away and join the gang.

The leader of this gang of bandits was called Wang Fuchang. Unlike Liu Heita, he never harmed the common people and was much more particular about what he did.

There were seventy or eighty people in their group, most of them were poor.

Because of these reasons, he was forced to become a bandit, which was a bit like being forced to take up arms.

In recent years, they have only robbed some landlords, wealthy bullies and businessmen.

Qiao Mantun is a small leader among them.

Why are there only seventy or eighty people? It’s not that there are no participants, but we simply can’t afford to support more.

Liu Heita had also tried many times to get people to join him, but Wang Fuchang refused because he thought Liu Heita had a bad reputation.

They are quite comfortable in the mountains, and when times get tough, they look for someone to do some work for them.

No matter how much money others have, they don't take more, basically half each.

Moreover, they never kill anyone. At most, they just scare people with knives, kick them a few times, or slap them a few times.

Over time, the landlords and wealthy people were no longer afraid of them. Since Wang Fuchang and his men could not find any culprits, they lived a peaceful life.

If you find them, just accept that you are unlucky and pay the money to avoid disaster. They will still keep half of it anyway.

Ding Laoshi saw what happened to Liu Heita. When he heard that he was a bandit and could surrender himself, he became discouraged.

My own nephew is a bandit. Although he has not done anything bad, a bandit is still a bandit. It is not nice to say it.

Being a bandit doesn't allow you to marry and live a normal life. Without a wife, you can't have offspring. Who will take care of you in your old age?

If you want to find a wife, you have to rob her. It is a serious sin to rob someone else's girl!

If you can take this opportunity to mend your ways and return home to live a good life, wouldn’t that be a great thing?

Otherwise, when my sister and brother-in-law are old and can no longer work, who will take care of my filial piety to them?

After thinking it over, he decided to do it, so he hurried to discuss it with his brother-in-law.

He told Qiao Si the whole story, and he was in an uproar.

When he couldn't sleep, he kept thinking about his son. There was no way this would go on!

How could a bandit appear in my family when I have been innocent for several lifetimes?

If what Mantun's uncle said is true, this is a good opportunity, but if it is false, the child will be harmed.

Seeing his wife sitting there with a sad face, Qiao Si said,

"No matter what, his uncle has to eat when he comes. What's the point of you standing here in a daze?"

Her wife came to her senses at once.

"Ah, ah, I'm going to knead the dough, and you go cut the leeks!"

"Okay, I'll go!"

After a long day of hard work, everything was ready. Mantun's mother fried some zucchini and eggs, and made some dried tofu skin. She also opened the two packs of snacks that Ding Laoshi had brought and put them on the table.

"You two have a nice drink, I'm going to make dumplings!"

The two men sat opposite each other and drank, and then talked about Mantun.

Qiao Si still didn't quite believe that the government would be so kind.

As he was talking, Ding Laoshi became a little anxious.

"Brother-in-law, look at the new emperor sitting on the throne. Don't we feel better now?"

Qiao Si nodded.

"That's true! No one starved to death during the lean season this year!

Last spring, out of the ten or so households in our village, six or seven died!"

Ding Laoshi slammed the table and said,

“Yes, isn’t that the Emperor’s benefit?

Take my family for example. We weren't the poorest. We could get by without starving, but the government gave us a dan of grain, so we didn't starve!"

Qiao Si said,

"That's right. In previous years, grain prices rose rapidly in the spring. This year, they did rise as well, but they came down after a few days. I heard that the government even cracked down on the grain sellers in the county town!"

Ding said honestly,

"I heard from the government that it was a special decree from the Emperor.

Any grain merchant who hoards grain, drives up prices, and seeks excessive profits will be punished.

Didn’t they even take care of the Kong family?”

Qiao Si said,

"How did Confucius' family offend the Emperor?"

Ding said honestly,

"The Kong family is the worst of them. They have mountains of grain piled high, but they haven't even pulled it out yet, just waiting to sell it for a high price. The emperor has issued an order, but they still refuse to obey. How can the emperor not punish them?"

Qiao Si said,

"A family of saints for so many generations, just like that!"

Ding Laoshi curled his lips.

"Brother-in-law, it sounds like you feel sorry for them!"

"Why should I feel sorry for them? I'm not related to them!"

Ding said honestly,

"That's right, you might not know this yet. The general from the Kong family is trying to murder the imperial envoy, so he's hiding on Liuheita Mountain. This time, the emperor is taking care of him!"

Qiao Si asked in surprise,

"The general is rebelling. Isn't that just because he has too much to do?"

Ding said honestly,

"What do you think? An old man in our village said that the Kong family is full of morality and justice, but they are full of thieves and whores."