Outside the window, snowflakes were falling in the darkness of the night. All the rooms (offices) in the front yard of Qianshan County Yamen had their doors locked, and only the ceremonial room still had the lights on.

At this moment, a middle-aged man in his thirties was carefully processing official documents under an oil lamp. This man was wearing a green eighth-grade official robe. He was the new county magistrate Meng Xuan of Qianshan County, whose pseudonym was Tingfang.

Meng Xuan is a native of Yushan County. He was born in Juren. He used to teach at Ehu Academy. He has an upright character and is capable in doing things. He is highly appreciated by the headmaster of Ehu Academy.

Last year, Sun Sui suppressed bandits in Qianshan County and dismissed the former magistrate who had neglected his duties. He promoted Wu Linguang, the county magistrate, to act as the county magistrate. As a result, the position of county magistrate became vacant. The head of Ehu Academy asked Sun Sui

Meng Xuan was recommended.

The county magistrate (eighth grade) is the deputy of the county magistrate. He is mainly responsible for paperwork and warehouse management. His actual power is not great and he has a role of sitting on the bench. Despite this, Meng Xuan has worked hard since he took office and will carry out his assigned tasks.

He handled everything in an orderly manner and was indeed a capable official.

However, the more capable a subordinate is, the more he or she will be appreciated by the immediate superior, and may even be feared because it threatens the superior's position!

The county magistrate Wu Linguang himself was born in Juren, and he only got the position of county magistrate through bad luck. Now that Meng Xuan was also born in Juren and was very capable, Magistrate Wu naturally felt that his status was in danger, so he kept ostracizing Meng Xuan on all matters big and small.

They would not discuss it with him, but instead put more emphasis on their boss, Bo Fang Tianlu (tea merchant Fang Jia).

Meng Xuan was an upright man with a bit of scholarly spirit, and was somewhat disdainful of sophisticated and smooth old officials like Wu Linguang. Therefore, although he was ostracized, he never took the initiative to flatter Wu Linguang, but did his job well and conscientiously.

Meng Xuan is only thirty-two years old this year. At this age, he is actually not that old. He can definitely strive for the title of Jinshi. However, Meng Xuan chose to teach in an academy, which shows that he is not enthusiastic about the career of a scholar. As the saying goes, no desire leads to strength.

That's why Meng Xuan didn't bother to please and flatter Wu Linguang. At worst, he would return to the academy as a teacher.

At this time, Meng Xuan had finished processing the last paperwork and was about to pack up and go home from get off work. The door was suddenly pushed open, and the arrester Li Ming flashed in with a gust of cold wind, and said in a panic: "County Prime Minister Sir, something serious has happened. The troops under King Ning have already arrived at the city and are asking us to open the city to surrender!"

Meng Xuan's expression changed sharply and he asked hurriedly: "How many men and horses are there in the bandits?"

The word "thief" is enough to show Meng Xuan's clear attitude towards King Ning's rebellion. Meng Xuan was an upright man, not a slick and sophisticated wall-rider like Wu Linguang. In his eyes, the rebellious King Ning was an out-and-out

The rebellious ministers and traitors will be found and executed by everyone.

Li Ming's eyes flashed and he replied: "It's dark and I can't see clearly. There are at least over a thousand people, maybe thousands!"

Meng Xuan frowned and said: "Let's go to the top of the city and have a look... By the way, have you notified the county magistrate?"

"We have already informed you, but the weather has changed, and the county magistrate's old habit has returned. He has a sore back and cannot get out of bed, so the county magistrate is solely responsible for the defense of the city." Li Ming's eyes were obviously a little weak when he spoke.

Meng Xuan's face suddenly darkened. He was not an idiot. If Wu Linguang didn't get sick early in the morning, he wouldn't get sick later. But when he got sick at this time, he was most likely pretending to be just to shirk responsibility. On the one hand, he didn't want to offend the rebels, and on the other hand, he didn't want to offend the rebels.

I don’t want to bear the crime of surrendering to the city. This cunning old man has really read the books of sages in vain. Bah, I am ashamed to be in the company of such people!

Meng Xuan flicked his sleeves and strode out of the official office. A flash of guilt flashed in Li Ming's eyes, and he quickly chased after him.

It is said that before Li Ming went to Meng Xuan, he went to ask Wu Linguang for permission. Wuzhi County was eating chicken stewed with mushrooms with his concubine. When he heard that King Ning's army was already at the gate of the city, he was so frightened that he was confused. However, the concubine gave him a trick.

With a bad idea, he passed the blame to the county magistrate Meng Xuan.

Meng Xuan braved the wind and snow to rush to the North City Gate. At this time, hundreds of government officials and people had gathered on the city head. When they saw Meng Xuan, they all saluted: "Your Excellency, County Magistrate!"

Meng Xuan nodded coldly, looked down from the crenellations of the city wall, and suddenly became convinced. There were probably about a thousand rebel soldiers under the city, and they didn't seem to be carrying any siege equipment, let alone now.

It's snowing, and just a few people want to break through the city gate. Dream on, the hundreds of officers and civilians on the top of the city are enough to defend the city.

At this time, Yang Qing and Wang Ru, who were waiting below the city, had long been impatient. When they saw someone looking over the city, and looking at the clothes on his head, he was obviously an official, so they shouted sharply: "Is this Wu Linguang, the magistrate of Qianshan County, above the city?"

"My official is Meng Xuan, the Prime Minister of Qianshan County. How dare you and other thieves show off their power outside the city? Quickly throw down your weapons and commit suicide." Meng Xuan said coldly.

Yang Qing and Wang Ru looked at each other in surprise. The first leader did not appear, but the second leader showed up. It seemed that his attitude was quite tough.

Yang Qing sternly threatened: "You ignorant dog official, I will only open the city and surrender within a cup of tea, otherwise I will order an attack on the city and kill your whole family!"

Meng Xuan sneered disdainfully and said: "It's just a wishful thinking. I am a dignified official of the imperial court. How can I surrender and offer the city to you and other rebellious officials and traitors? Stop talking nonsense and attack the city if you have the ability."

Yang Qing was furious, and the long bow in his hand collapsed with a sound, but he saw the arrow go like a meteor, directly towards Meng County Cheng on the top of the city.

"Lord County Magistrate, be careful!" Li Ming, the catcher next to him, quickly pulled Meng Xuan back.

The powerful arrow passed by Meng Xuan's forehead, sweeping away the black gauze hat, and inserted into a crossbar of the gatehouse with a loud sound.

Meng Xuan broke out in a cold sweat and awkwardly picked up the black gauze hat and put it on.

"Damn it, you're a bitch!" Yang Qing, who was under the city, cursed angrily and shouted: "Attack the city!"

A group of thieves immediately shouted and rushed towards the city gate, slashing with swords and kicking in an attempt to break open the city gate.

It is said that a guard of troops led by Yang Qing came to chase Sun Sui. They were lightly dressed and carried no siege equipment. In addition, the cold wind was biting and snowflakes were flying. It was impossible to climb the city wall.

Can attack city gates.

On the top of the city, Meng Xuan calmed down and immediately ordered all the government officials and civilians to throw rolling stones and rocks down. The thieves below who were trying to break through the door were immediately beaten to a bloody head and screamed. In an instant, more than a dozen people were killed or injured.

Yang Qing was about to order the archers to suppress the defenders on the city. Wang Ru said loudly: "Brother, it's not cost-effective to attack the city like this. Even if the city is broken in the end, I'm afraid it will cost the lives of hundreds of brothers."

Yang Qing was very angry at the moment. It was enough to chase Sun Sui and almost annihilate the whole army. Now even the attack on the city was not going smoothly, but Wu Sanba was so unstoppable all the way. Damn it, how could he be so unlucky?

!

"Third brother, what do you think we should do?" Yang Qing said in a deep voice.

Wang Rudao: "It is snowing now, the ground is wet and the walls are slippery, and we have no tools to attack the city. If we forcefully break through the city gate, we will only lose our lives. How about we go to deal with the Fei family first? Wait until dawn and the snow stops before attacking Qianshan."

County seat!"

Yang Qing thought about it and it made sense. There was no city wall in the Fei family manor, so it should be very easy to capture. The brothers also had a place to stay to avoid the wind and snow. The most important thing was to capture the Fei family. It was a great achievement, so he nodded and said: "Okay.

Then we’ll attack Fei’s family first, mother, and then we’ll attack Qianshan County and see if I don’t kill the whole family of the Gouxian Cheng.”

Yang Qing cursed angrily and ordered to go around the city and rush to the Fei family in Chaijiabu in the south of the city.

The bandit soldiers couldn't help but be overjoyed when they heard that they didn't have to attack the city. In this cold and snowy weather, attacking a county town with thick walls and high walls would simply lead to death. It would be better to attack the Fei family. I heard that the Fei family is a wealthy family and they must have a lot of money.

There is plenty of food and there are many maids and servants, which is great!

When the government officials and civilians at the top of the city saw how easily the rebels were repelled, they couldn't help but cheer in unison.

Meng Xuan did not dare to be careless, fearing that the rebels would attack other city gates, so he led all the government officials along the top of the city to keep a close eye on the rebels. Finally, he felt relieved when he watched the rebels move around to the south of the city and stay away.

Looking at the direction in which the thieves were leaving, Meng Xuan vaguely guessed that the opponent's target might be Mr. Fei Ge, but it would be good if they could hold on to the county seat. The other Meng Xuan was helpless and only sent a cavalry out of the city to Qianhu in the west of the city.

According to the report, Meng Xuan was not sure whether Xiong Qianhu would lead troops to rescue the Fei family.
Chapter completed!