Chapter 45: Shocked

  It's better to send the county lieutenant and the chief clerk out of the city to keep watch and see what news there is. The clerks at the prefectural yamen are even more timid, just standing at the gate looking around. Many people who have dealings with the salt merchants and businessmen who have requests for the salt administration are also waiting at the gate, after all, this is human nature.

  As the sky turned dark and gloomy, the county magistrate and the chief clerk had already given up hope. On the other side, Li, the owner of the Jinzhou warehouse, also looked somewhat unpleasant.

  At this time, whether they knew the inside story or not, everyone was secretly worried that Li Meng might really have no luck in becoming an official and would die halfway.

  Just as everyone was preparing to return to the city, a sharp-eyed constable pointed at the end of the official road that stretched out flat as far as the eye could see and shouted:

  "Look, look..."

  No matter whether the eyes were good or not, they all looked in the direction that the official was pointing at. A group of people appeared in everyone's line of sight. At this time, there were no longer any merchant caravans or travelers coming and going. Could it be Li Meng's? But why did Li Meng have so many people with him? At this point, everyone became a bit apprehensive, and one group of people simply ran back into the city. The city gate had already been closed, and a group of people were watching from the top of the wall, which was also a safe strategy.

  Before long, they had arrived at the city gate. At this time, the sky was still bright, and the people on the city wall looked at the more than a hundred people below, all of whom took a cold breath.

  It seems that they were indeed attacked, otherwise how could those three people be lying on the gate? However, are these people really the salt workers summoned by Li Meng? Each person is stern-faced, carrying a long gun, and often with several waist knives and iron rulers on their backs. The team is very neat, and there are some stains on the tip of each person's gun, which looks like blood when viewed from above on the city wall. This momentum, this appearance, even the soldiers stationed in the north do not have such a murderous aura.

  "Li Meng, the salt administration inspector stationed in Jizhou, entered the city to take office. It's still early, why have you closed the city gate? Open it, open it!"

  Someone stood out from the team and shouted loudly.

  The people on the city wall were already scared speechless by the over 100 people below, and no one responded for a long time. Then Li Zhuanggui was the first to come back to his senses, carefully sticking out his head, squinting his eyes to take a look at the people below, and suddenly felt a sense of relief, with a smile on his face, he turned around and said repeatedly:

  "It's Inspector Li, hurry up and open the city gate, open the city gate!"

  The crowd, coming to their senses, urged in unison, and the soldiers guarding the city gate cursed as they ran down to open the gate. The chief clerk, the prefect, and these merchants were not people they could afford to offend, and the inspector was also a big shot to them, so they had to be careful to serve them.

  After the door was opened, the county lieutenant and the chief clerk saw that Li Meng had nothing to do with them, so they didn't want to stay here. Their ranks were not lower than those of the patrol inspectors, and there was no intersection between the things they managed, so they didn't bother to entertain them.

  Looking at the more than 100 people behind Li Meng, they all felt their throats dry. The young men behind Li Meng were obviously from a wealthy family, with tattered clothes and collars stained with dirt. But there was something on these people that made one's heart tremble - those stains were clearly bloodstains. This wasn't salt, it was clearly the mark of soldiers.

  Of course, these people did not know that Li Meng was extremely dissatisfied with these salt sticks that made others tremble, and he would severely rectify them.

  "Mr. Li encountered some trouble on the way, which delayed his arrival and kept everyone waiting for a long time. He is truly sorry about this and will definitely make it up to you with a banquet another day."

  Li Meng bowed with his fists and greeted him, and the people who came to greet him all involuntarily bowed their heads and made a bow.

  "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, Lord Li is being polite."

  The shopkeeper Li of the Jinzhou warehouse hurriedly smiled and introduced everyone to Li Meng, having just introduced a few, Zhao Nai on the side shouted in a loud voice:

  "A few seniors, we brothers just left the Wei camp and encountered hundreds of thieves on the way. After a fierce battle, this is how we escorted you into the city to take office. Please, seniors, you must do justice for us!"

  The affairs of maintaining law and order and catching thieves are all the responsibility of the provincial governor. He hesitated before opening his mouth to ask:

  "Are there any casualties?"

  Zhao was able to put on a painful expression and said in a low voice:

  "Hurt six."

  The county lieutenant was choked with one breath, coughing repeatedly, and couldn't continue the conversation. He found an excuse to leave and return home. This is just a minor injury of six people, what's the big deal? There are still hundreds of thieves, who would believe it?

  After entering the city gate, he declined the invitations of several business owners to set up wine and dinner in the evening, asked Li Zhuang to help find a doctor to treat the wounded, and also found several households to pay for them to prepare food for more than 100 people. As for the accommodation, Li Meng had already made arrangements.

  Leading his men into a rather large courtyard, Li Meng turned around and said:

  "Everyone will sleep here tonight and there are other arrangements for tomorrow."

  There was already someone waiting at the entrance of the mansion. As soon as they saw Li Meng approaching, they quickly walked a few steps and knelt down with a thud, first kowtowing several times before speaking with a flattering smile:

  "The entire mansion has been cleaned and is ready to welcome Lord Li."

  Li Meng's face broke into a smile as he bent down and helped the kneeling person up, saying with a chuckle:

  "Luosi, from now on you are also a sworn brother of mine. Take good care of yourself. Li Mou has never treated his brothers unfairly. Ma Gang, give him twenty taels of silver."

  When he heard this, Luo Xi again knelt down with a thousand thanks and ten thousand apologies. If it weren't for his timely revelation to Li Meng about the ambush plan, how would they have gotten these benefits? It was truly the right choice. Li Meng didn't pay attention to him and walked towards the mansion, continuing to speak:

  "Tonight I'll be staying at the house of Mu Yan Wang. Oh, Luo Xi, tonight write up a statement detailing all the evil deeds and crimes committed by those bandits who attacked me today, and tomorrow send it to the government office!"

  "Don't worry, adults, I'll definitely get it done tonight."

  ……

  Those salt smugglers who were rejected by Li Meng and faced the danger of unemployment decided to rob Li Meng to maintain their current career, while others decided to reveal the robbery plan to Li Meng to see if they could get some benefits. Luo Xi did so, he was not favored under Mou Xun's command and could only mix his days in the vicinity of Chengxi, a place without any benefits.

  This time, passing on the news and plan of the ambush to Li Meng, and paving the way for Li Meng in the city were all done with great effort by Zhang Luo, but tonight it seems that doing so was completely worth it.