I will lead the whole village to occupy the land and become the king.

Thinking of the tragic scene on the day when the border town was breached, Lu Yanzheng quickly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his eyes were cold and fierce. He turned his wrist and put his sword on Zhu Youcai's neck. "Tell me, where is the 60,000 dan of food and wages?"

"General, please spare my life!" Zhu Youcai was so scared that his legs were shaking, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, his lips were trembling, and he dared not move.

Lu Yanzheng put the sword close to his neck and said, "If you don't tell me, I will kill you right now."

"Believe it, believe it, I believe it..." Zhu Youcai looked at him in fear, his hands trembling uncontrollably, and he stepped back tentatively, "The food and money are here..."

Just as he was about to speak, the floor tiles under Lu Yanzheng's feet suddenly fell down, and he fell straight down!

Zhu Youcai took the opportunity to turn the vase at the door of the dark room, and the floor tiles closed again.

While the floor tiles were still closed, Zhu Youcai squatted down triumphantly, looked at Lu Yanzheng below and laughed, "Great Protector of the Nation? Hahahaha...it's just a title casually bestowed by Prime Minister Su. Do you really think you can go against Prime Minister Su?"

"It's two meters high down here. No matter how skilled you are, you can't get up there! General Lu, just stay down there..."

Zhu Youcai looked at the floor tiles that were about to close with pride, and felt relieved. He had finally solved the sword hanging over his head!

However, before he could finish his words, a sword tip suddenly appeared in the gap between the floor tiles, and the next moment, the floor tiles were shattered by the sword!

The flying gravel hit Zhu Youcai, causing him to step back violently in pain, and he cried out in pain, "Ah!"

In the blink of an eye, Lu Yanzheng rushed out from under the floor tiles. In the moment when the dust settled, Zhu Youcai didn't even see how he moved before the long sword was against his neck again.

"I don't know if I can go against Prime Minister Su, but I know," Lu Yanzheng looked at him coldly, "I can take your life right now!"

"General, please spare me! Please spare me!" Zhu Youcai was really scared this time. The rumors had misled him!

How could Lu Yanzheng possess such high skills? Wasn't he just from a farming family? And in a remote and impoverished area like Yongshan County, where even a single scholar wouldn't be born in ten years, how could they possibly have produced a master like Lu Yanzheng?

At this moment, Zhu Youcai was very skeptical about his life.

Lu Yanzheng didn't want to waste time talking to him this time. He lightly slashed his neck with his sword, causing blood to flow. "If you don't tell me the whereabouts of the 60,000 dan of grain and wages, I will immediately cut your head off!"

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you..." Zhu Youcai cried out in pain, trembling, "All the food and money has been transported to Qiongzhou Prefecture by Prime Minister Su's people!"

Lu Yancai frowned, "Qiongzhou Prefecture?" He looked at Zhu Youcai fiercely, "Have all the food and supplies been transported away?"

He didn't believe that a corrupt official like Zhu Youcai would not make a fortune from it. This old fox must not be telling the truth.

Sure enough, Zhu Youcai's eyes dodged slightly. "How dare I lie to the general? Those 60,000 dan of grain and money have really been transported away!"

If he is lucky enough to escape this disaster today, he can still find a way to bring the people from Qinggang Mountain out, and he will definitely be able to recover the lost 10,000 stones of grain and the silver. Those things must not fall into Lu Yanzheng's hands!

Lu Yanzheng sneered, "It seems that you really won't cry until you see the coffin. Then this general will grant your wish!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Yanzheng swung the sword in his hand quickly, and the next moment, Zhu Youcai's right arm was completely cut off!

Zhu Youcai stared blankly at his arm falling to the ground. He was dazed for a moment and looked at Lu Yanzheng in disbelief, "You...you..."

"Zhu Youcai, you've been in Yongshan County for three years. During that time, I've imposed countless exorbitant taxes on the people. I don't need to tell you all about them, do I? Besides plundering the people's wealth, you've also been secretly withholding rations and salaries from the imperial court to the border troops. From a thousand dan of grain annually three years ago, to an unknown amount today, do you think Prime Minister Su will protect you if I present this evidence to the court?"

Lu Yanzheng looked at Zhu Youcai as if he was looking at a dead person.

"I am an official appointed by the imperial court! How dare you, Lu Yanzheng?!" Zhu Youcai covered his wound and stared at Lu Yanzheng with bloodshot eyes. If looks could kill, Lu Yanzheng would have died countless times.

Lu Yanzheng curled his lips nonchalantly, "An official appointed by the imperial court? Zhu Youcai, if you don't tell me the whereabouts of the border troops' food and wages..."

Seeing Lu Yanzheng's sword raised again, Zhu Youcai was completely intimidated and retreated desperately. "I'll tell you, I'll tell you! Only 50,000 of the 60,000 dan of grain and wages were delivered to Qiongzhou, and the remaining 10,000 was robbed by me and the bandits from Qinggang Mountain..."

"Bandits from Qinggang Mountain?" Lu Yanzheng suddenly remembered the group that committed murder and arson in Dingshui Village tonight. "Their leader was a one-eyed man?"

"Yes, yes, it's him! His name is One-eyed King, and he has been working for me for the past three years..." Zhu Youcai knew that if he didn't tell her, he would die here immediately. If he told her, there might be room for maneuver, so he told her all about the deal between him and the One-eyed King.

After hearing everything he said, Lu Yanzheng's heart burned with rage. He swung his sword and cut off Zhu Youcai's other arm again. He squeezed out a few words from his thin lips, "You really deserve to die!"

But he would not let him die so easily. That batch of 10,000 dan of grain was too important to the border troops!

"Ah!" Zhu Youcai screamed again, lost the balance of his hands, and fell heavily to his knees, his knees making a slight cracking sound.

"General, please spare my life... I have already said everything..." Zhu Youcai endured the pain and kowtowed to Lu Yanzheng repeatedly, begging for mercy.

As long as he can survive, he must avenge today's revenge!

At this moment, Qin Shen rushed in with a group of yamen runners on New Year's Eve duty. "General, the entire county government office has been taken under control. Anyone who resisted has been tied up by our subordinates. What should we do next?"

"The corrupt official Zhu Youcai has been brought to justice. This general orders you to temporarily take over the county government office to ensure the normal operation of Yongshan County." Lu Yanzheng looked at Qin Shen and said calmly.

Qin Shen glanced at Zhu Youcai, who was still kowtowing despite having lost both arms. Although he really didn't want to be tied up in the county government office, with no one around the general, he could only immediately bow and say, "As you command!"

After saying that, Qin Shen said to the people behind him: "Tie up Zhu Youcai and lock him up in the worst prison!"

"This..." The bailiffs were a little hesitant to take action.

Lu Yanzheng glanced at them and said, "This general will take full responsibility for this matter. I will submit evidence of Zhu Youcai's corruption to the court today. He is now a wanted criminal of the court. If any of you want to let him go, you are aiding and abetting the evil. This general will never let you go easily!"

The bailiffs looked at each other before stepping forward and swiftly tying up Zhu Youcai.

Until he was taken away, Zhu Youcai kept begging for mercy, but Lu Yanzheng didn't even give him a look.

"General, have you found out where the food and wages are? The border troops are still waiting for the food to be cooked. I don't know how long the food that Lao Ying and his men brought back from Western Qiang will last..."