“Thank you, Big Brother!”
The small leader respectfully picked up the token, leaving with a beaming smile.
Though they were all bandits, Tieguan Mountain’s bandits were not only larger in scale than the former Maomao Mountain bandits but also far more organised.
The Maomao Mountain bandits were a group of desperados, living only for today with no thought for tomorrow. Their stronghold had no women and little stored grain.
When they ran out of food or wanted women, they went down the mountain to rob.
After satisfying themselves, they killed the women they took, as keeping them required food.
But Tieguan Mountain’s bandits were different. Their main business was collecting annual tributes, not randomly abducting women. Instead, they privately bought women who couldn’t marry, forced them to take sterilisation drugs, and kept them captive on the mountain. If a bandit performed well, the boss would reward them with one or two women, like objects.
Of course, this reward wasn’t permanent. Like with the small leader, the women were “loaned” for a period and had to be returned when the time was up.
This was one way the bandits won loyalty.
Once the small leader left, the second-in-command clasped his fists again, pleading, “Big Brother, I’m willing…”
But he was cut off before he could finish.
“Let others make a fuss, but you’re joining in the nonsense!”
With no outsiders present, the boss dropped the “Second Brother” title, speaking coldly. “Have you forgotten Master Zhou’s instructions?”
At the mention of Master Zhou, the second-in-command instinctively shrank back.
As the second-in-command, he knew Tieguan Mountain’s current scale and strength were entirely due to Master Zhou.
Though Tieguan Mountain was easy to defend and hard to attack, it wasn’t impregnable.
Before they took over, another sizable bandit group occupied the mountain. For some reason, they offended the county magistrate, who stationed government troops at the mountain’s base for two and a half years, starving the bandits to death.
But with Master Zhou, the government troops only made a show of attacking Tieguan Mountain, shouting a bit before leaving.
Back in the county, they’d even collect a bandit-suppression tax from the people.
For years, this cooperation had held, with Master Zhou as the link and bridge.
The last time he and Liu Jiang visited the county and met Master Zhou, Zhou instructed them to deal with Jin Feng but repeatedly stressed not to harm him.
“Shuanzi was our envoy, and that bastard Jin Feng beat him. That’s slapping the face of every brother in Tieguan Mountain! Yet we can’t touch him. It’s too frustrating!”
The second-in-command asked glumly, “Big Brother, isn’t this Jin Feng just a mountain villager? Why is someone like Master Zhou so cautious about dealing with him?”
“What do you know? Jin Feng has a close relationship with Qing Huai.”
The boss explained, “Qing Huai stayed at his house for days, took him to the battlefield, and even sent his personal guards to escort him back. Clearly, he values Jin Feng highly.”
“Qing Huai from Qingfeng Villa?”
The second-in-command asked, shocked.
The boss nodded. “Who else in Jinchuan County could make Master Zhou so wary?”
“Big Brother, Lord Qing is a military marquis with thousands of soldiers under him!”
The second-in-command asked worriedly, “Since this kid is tied to Lord Qing, why is Master Zhou having us provoke him? Is he unhappy with us and wants us to court death?”
“What are you thinking?”
The boss said, “Though Jinchuan is Qing Huai’s fief, he can’t gather troops here, or it’d be rebellion. His focus is on warfare, and he rarely involves himself in county affairs, so he has little influence in the county office.
Master Zhou said factional struggles in officialdom are normal. We’re Master Zhou’s men, and Jin Feng is Qing Huai’s. Threatening Jin Feng is just a subtle clash between two factions.
As long as we don’t harm Jin Feng’s life, Qing Huai can’t touch Master Zhou or trouble us. It’s a common unspoken rule in officialdom.”
“Military men have hot tempers. What if Qing Huai ignores the rules and comes for us directly?”
The second-in-command was still uneasy.
“Then he’s flipping the table because he can’t play the game. No one would work with him, and he’d be done in officialdom. Master Zhou says Qing Huai is cautious and won’t make such a basic mistake.
Besides, do we have any choice but to follow Master Zhou’s orders?”
The second-in-command sighed, lowering his head.
“Don’t worry. Master Zhou relies on us to make money for him. He won’t abandon us easily.”
The boss patted his shoulder, reassuring him. “Let’s think of ways to force Jin Feng to hand over the spinning wheel.”
To the mountain folk, they were fearsome bandit leaders, but to Master Zhou, they were merely tools for gathering wealth.
This was also their confidence.
In their view, the large sums they sent to Master Zhou yearly ensured he wouldn’t abandon them.
But they didn’t know that once Master Zhou got the spinning wheel, he’d immediately curry favour with the Zhou family in Bianjing, caring little for their fate.
The reason for not harming Jin Feng was that Master Zhou knew Qing Huai came from Duke Qing’s household and feared that killing Jin Feng would provoke Qing Huai to fight to the death.
In officialdom’s unspoken rules, power struggles were fine, but killing was a line no one could cross.
Otherwise, everyone would train assassins, killing rivals when they lost, and the game would end for all.
If they only took the spinning wheel, the Bianjing Zhou family, seeing the profit, would protect Master Zhou. Otherwise, no one would work for them in the future.
But killing Jin Feng changed the nature of the act.
Even as a gesture, Qing Huai would retaliate fiercely, or no one would follow him later.
If the Zhou family backed Master Zhou then, they’d have no excuse.
If Master Zhou knew of Jin Feng and Qing Huai’s battle at Qingshui Valley or that Qing Muluan was in Xihewan, he likely wouldn’t have acted.
Unfortunately, communication in this era was too slow, and as a mere advisor in a remote corner, restricted by Zhou Changlin, he knew none of this.
Master Zhou didn’t know, and the Tieguan Mountain bandits knew even less.
With negotiations failing, the boss and second-in-command had to find other ways.
“Have the storehouse prepare a hundred jin of cured meat, a thousand jin of rice, and ten zhang of fine cloth.”
The boss said, “Jin Feng says we lack sincerity? Let’s show him sincerity!”
“And if he still doesn’t budge?” the second-in-command asked.
“Then we’ll have to teach him a lesson.”
“But didn’t Master Zhou say we can’t touch him?”
“There are many ways to deal with someone without touching them!”
A glint of menace flashed in the boss’s eyes.
