At this time, General Du had not yet realized how hard it would be when Mu Yexiao said that it would be hard work.
I just took it as words of comfort and replied with a smile: "It should be."
"But I don't understand. Why are the people here running? Aren't those who run away when they see soldiers a threat a thief?"
Qian Jiujiu handed the stopped villager to General Du: "General Du, ask him."
General Du was a little curious, but since this was something the princess had instructed him to do, he still took him down for questioning.
Only then did he realize that the officers and soldiers in this place were just like the bandits, and he couldn't help but frown.
"Go and inform all the people to come down. We will not steal your things and will protect you."
"As for those officers and soldiers who violated laws and discipline, we will definitely arrest them and punish them severely."
The villager was stunned by what General Du said, but he soon told everything.
It turns out that this place actually collected taxes twice, once by the imperial court.
One time was to offer tribute to local officials and soldiers.
In the beginning, the collection was not much, and although everyone had complaints, it became more and more excessive later on.
No one dared to rebel, so they could only run away. Once, someone discovered that hiding in the deserted hills opposite was useful.
So it has become like this now, as long as they see soldiers coming, they just run away.
After hearing this, General Du was furious: "These scumbags are simply unreasonable."
"Where are they stationed? Let's go and capture them now."
Seeing the villagers still somewhat unbelieving, General Du patted his chest and made the assurance.
"Don't worry, we are an army from Kyoto, and we are going to build a fortress here."
"When we manage this place in the future, we will never let something like this happen again."
When the villager heard that the person was from Kyoto, he was a little dazed, obviously he had not expected this.
General Du thought that he didn't believe it, so he pulled his people in front of Qian Jiujiu and Mu Yexiao.
"Do you see who this is? He is our Great Zhou's co-king, the one who cares the most about the people."
"I certainly wouldn't dare to say anything in front of the prince and princess."
The villager was already in shock, and now he didn't know what to say.
I was even a little scared, and then extremely happy.
The prince, he was still alive. She actually saw the prince and knelt down in front of Mu Yexiao.
"I have met your Highness. I didn't know you were his wife before. Please forgive me."
Mu Yexiao looked at the man with some amusement, and reached out to help him up.
"Get up, and cooperate with General Du to arrest those who exploit the people."
Since the prince has spoken, we naturally have to obey, so the villager gritted his teeth and spoke.
"Okay, I'll go call everyone back now. We'll talk about their locations later."
"Those are the soldiers from the city ahead! There are several hundred of them. There are also troops stationed in the city."
Government soldiers? Hundreds of them? They are planning a rebellion. Only the larger cities have county magistrates.
It’s so small that there isn’t even an official there. This place is so remote, how far is it from the city
The soldiers in the city? And the garrison troops? General Du was also a little puzzled: "Okay, go and call them first."
"Your Majesty, have you found a place for us to stay? We can't stay in this village."
Mu Yexiao hummed and said, "I've found it. I was going to go there after you guys arrived."
"For now, let's deal with the issues in this village first. After that, we will go to the front to find a place to stay."
"Speaking of which, how long does it take you to get to the city on your way here?"
It took them about fifteen days to get to the nearest city.
Moreover, those soldiers look very regular. You can't tell at all that they would actually come out to take private jobs!
While we were talking here, the villager also ran happily to the place where everyone was hiding.
"Everyone, you can follow me back. The soldiers coming this time are not the same as before."
"It's the army brought by the prince, the king and the princess. They want to build a new border fortress here and station troops here."
When this news came out, everyone was shocked. The King of Side by Side, he was a person who was high and mighty.
"Are you serious? The king and princess side by side?"
The reputations of these two men were very great, and the villagers had never thought that someone would dare to pretend to be the King of Side by Side.
So they all swarmed back.
General Du was waiting here with his men, and soon many villagers were seen coming back.
He greeted them with a smile: "Everyone, please wait a moment, I have a question to ask."
"Are you sure that the people who came to collect the second wave of tribute were the city's guards and soldiers stationed in the city?"
The villagers were stunned, but they quickly answered: "General, we don't know that either."
“After all, the people who came in the first and second waves are different people.”
"We were able to escape so quickly this time because those people were coming to collect the confession soon."
"So we were well prepared and everything in the house was hidden."
Hearing this, General Du found it a little funny, but also felt helpless. This is the life of ordinary people, full of hardships.
"That's good. I guess those people won't come here soon."
"After all, they also know that we are coming to station nearby."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a man next to the adjutant rushing in on horseback.
"General, the deputy general asked me to report that we have captured a group of strange soldiers."
"Each of them is wearing armor, but they are not from the court. General, please go back and make the final decision."
Strange soldiers? General Du found it interesting. He just said, they are coming.
Those who collect offerings will not come. As soon as he finished speaking, he was slapped in the face.
It's really interesting, it's really infuriating.
"Would you like some of you to come out and help me check if these people are the ones who usually come to collect the offerings?"
"Don't worry, I brought 50,000 soldiers with me, and I'm not afraid of ordinary troops."
Fifty thousand! Several villagers stared with their eyes wide open, startled. They didn’t dare to say anything at this time, and could only nod.
So General Du took a few people and walked towards the strange pair of soldiers.
When we arrived outside the town, where the soldiers were stationed, we could only see the armor before we got close.
The villagers were able to confirm: "That was the army that came to collect the tribute."
General Du knew that this was no small matter. This armor was not the armor of the imperial court.
General Du did not allow the villagers to get closer, but sent soldiers to send them back.
I walked towards the team. It was a huge team, and it looked like there were at least five or six hundred people.
These people are here to move things, right
It was obvious that these people were not from the previous city, because the city officials knew they were coming.
They would not be so foolish as to send people over to collect offerings, which means that the origins of these people are unknown.
He came to the group of people with a smile and asked: "Whose soldiers are you?"
Whose name is it? No, where did these people come from
They just came here to collect offerings as usual, who would have thought that there were so many people here.
They were all captured as soon as they approached. Looking at this dark group of people, there were really a lot of them.
General Du looked at these people in silence. It seemed that it was not convenient for them to speak. It was interesting.
Could it be possible that there would be some unexpected gains on this trip
He smiled and pulled these people: "Let's go, detain them first, bring two or three people, and come to the prince for questioning."
When they heard that people were being taken away to the prince for questioning, several soldiers around them rushed over very quickly and took a few people away.
"General, let's go."
General Du's mouth twitched: "Let's go."
These guys are really smart. They took a few escorted soldiers and headed into the town together.
At Qian Jiujiu's residence in town, Fang Xiaoxi was in the kitchen, preparing delicious food for Qian Jiujiu and others.
After all, it has been a long time since I last tasted Fang Xiaoxi’s cooking, and Qian Jiujiu was really craving for it.
He took out a lot of things and let Fang Xiaoxi use them.
When General Du came over again, the whole kitchen was filled with delicious fragrance that made people salivate.
Qian Jiujiu and Mu Yexiao also noticed General Du coming over, bringing with him a few strange soldiers.
Mu Yexiao came forward and asked, "Who is this person?"
General Du felt like answering, "This is the man who came up to collect the tribute. Judging from his armor, he should not be from the court."
"There might be an army hiding here, but I don't know whose army it belongs to."
This is a great discovery. Mu Yexiao looked at these people and asked, "Who are you?"
At this time, the man in the armor snorted arrogantly and didn't answer at all.
As a result, the soldier next to him kicked him angrily and said, "This is our King. Our king asked you a question and you dare not answer."
When the man in the strange armor heard the words "Shoulder to Shoulder King", he was stunned for a moment.
No way, they just found a place to be bandits, how could they attract the great god King Bingjian
"Are you really the King of Side by Side?"
Mu Yexiao nodded: "Of course, have you seen other kings who stand shoulder to shoulder with you?"
No, after all, once it is discovered that you are pretending to be the King of Side by Side, it is a serious crime and the entire clan will be executed.
Besides, everyone in the government has seen the portrait of King Bingjian, so no one can impersonate him successfully.
Mu Yexiao sat on the chair: "So you have to explain your origins yourself!"
"Let me personally interrogate him!"
The bandit was instantly intimidated. This King of Side by Side was said to be so powerful, so his methods must be extraordinary.
They didn't want to try it, so they confessed it immediately.
"We, we are just ordinary bandits."
Bandits? Qian Jiujiu and Mu Yexiao looked at each other in bewilderment: "Why did you become bandits?"
Is it possible that these days, there are still people who are forced into having no way to survive
This shouldn't be the case. With the two of them here, and so many inspectors, who would dare to force the people into a state of having no way to survive
Several bandits were trembling with fear, and then they gave an answer: "We, we are simply lazy."