usatvline Chapter 6 Where is all the money hidden? Confess!
Chapter 6 Where is all the money hidden? Confess!
Rock spent 200 taels of silver to recruit 10 guerrilla soldiers, intending for them to be responsible for exchanging gunpowder and food, and also to help him exchange for cheap muskets later.
In addition, they can also fight in some complex terrains. After all, they are more agile than cavalry. It would be a waste to use French cavalry as infantry if they dismounted.
"Thirty cavalrymen and ten infantrymen, all equipped with flintlock muskets, this configuration is sufficient for now!"
Rock smiled and did not continue recruiting other troops.
He doesn't need as many troops right now, and Rock plans to use the remaining silver and population quota as a reserve force in critical moments.
If a battle were to suddenly break out with someone, then cavalry that appeared out of nowhere on the battlefield from another direction could very well play a crucial role.
After the ten infantrymen ran up from a distance and reported to him, Rock strode towards a group of bandits still lying in the snow.
"Grandpa...Grandpa, please spare us! We were blind and didn't recognize your greatness. We accidentally offended you, Your Majesty. We deserve to die!"
When the bandits saw Rock walking towards them, they immediately burst into tears. While crying, they kept slapping themselves in the face, swelling their faces with a few slaps. They really didn't hold back at all!
Besides the bandits, the other refugees also squatted on the ground, trembling as they looked at Rock.
They suddenly realized that they didn't seem to recognize the little brother they had picked up on the road.
Some refugees, recalling their experiences along the way, couldn't help but want to curse in their hearts.
Damn it!
At first, they saw that Rock seemed to be educated and spoke with great eloquence, and they all thought that Rock was some kind of scholar, or perhaps some kind of strategist in the Nian Rebellion.
But looking back now, how could Rock be considered a scholar?
If a scholar raises his arm and calls out, dozens of elite cavalrymen will respond. If a scholar encounters bandits on the road, a group of cavalrymen dressed as foreigners will rush out and easily crush the bandits.
To the refugees, Rock was even more ruthless than a bandit!
Rock ignored the refugees and, surrounded by several cavalrymen, went to the bandit and gestured for the cavalrymen to lift him up.
After the two cavalrymen lifted him up, one of them seemed to remember something and quickly handed Rock a short musket.
Seeing this, the bandit who was already busy wailing became even more frightened. He thought that Rock was going to shoot him dead himself to avenge his previous grudge!
"Shut up, answer my questions!"
"Rock said coldly, pressing the muzzle of his gun against the bandit's head, but to his surprise, the bandit started bargaining with him instead!"
"Your Majesty, please feel free to ask any questions you may have, but let's make this clear beforehand: if I answer honestly, you must spare my life! Otherwise, I'd rather die than tell you!"
Damn it, you'd rather die than tell, huh?
Rock grinned, pulled the trigger, and a shot pierced his forehead!
Whether it was because he had a bloodthirsty streak in his bones or because he simply didn't consider these beasts as human beings, Rock found that after firing that shot, he didn't seem to experience the discomfort that people often talk about after killing someone.
If you had to say something, his hands were trembling slightly with excitement.
"If you'd rather die than speak, then don't speak at all. Just die!"
"Hey, is there anyone else among you who'd rather die than speak? Report in advance, or I'll send you all to meet the King of Hell one by one!"
The other bandits trembled violently, not daring to even breathe.
Rock had no idea that the person he had just shot was the third-in-command of this band of bandits, whom the leader had left behind.
When they met their third leader, he only managed to say one tough word before Rock shot him dead without hesitation. How could the other bandits dare to negotiate any further?
Didn't you see the third leader's head was smashed open, lying dead in the snow with his eyes wide open?
Seeing that no other bandits spoke, Rock signaled the cavalry to pull over another one and continued to point their guns at him.
It must be said that these cavalrymen actually had a pretty good eye for things.
Seeing that Rock was pretending not to understand the flintlock pistol, another cavalryman quickly came over, handed Rock a loaded gun, and then took back the gun that had been fired.
"Come on, tell me, what exactly is your background?"
As soon as Rock finished speaking, the bandit started babbling a bunch of gibberish, but because it was mixed with a lot of slang and things he couldn't understand, he really couldn't figure out where these bandits came from.
If he had to explain, he understood that these bandits seemed to have a leader called Black Whirlwind on Erlong Mountain, and that they had all pledged allegiance to him, meaning they had powerful backers.
Rock simply scoffed at this so-called powerful backer, completely unconcerned.
No matter how powerful he is, that guy is just a bandit. Besides, in this freezing cold, does he think that just because one of his men was killed, he can gather thousands of men to come and cause trouble for him?
Not to mention bandits, even the Green Standard Army and the Eight Banners of this era couldn't do it!
"Alright, now that we know you have powerful backers, the second question is: where are you hiding your money? How much silver do you have in total?"
As he spoke, a glint of light appeared in Rock's eyes.
With the help of the system, he can quickly build a team as long as he has money, but all of this is predicated on ensuring that he has money.
That's why his eyes light up at the mere mention of silver; he just wants to rob it as soon as possible.
"Silver, silver..."
When the topic came up, the bandit stammered, his eyes darting around, clearly indicating that he didn't want to tell the truth.
But before he could continue, Rock shouted to his cavalry:
"Grab two more people and take them aside for questioning, keep them away, we'll check the accounts later!"
"If they give a different location, kill all three of them, then arrest more people and interrogate them!"
You think you can fool him?
He directly adopted the Prisoner's Dilemma approach, wanting to see if these bandits were truly united and whether they believed others could utter the same lies as them in such a situation.
The bandit kneeling before Rock only needed a moment to think before he understood what was going on. His face turned deathly pale as he realized he could no longer lie.
If he were to reveal where he hid all his money in front of the other bandits, even if he managed to escape with his life, he certainly wouldn't want to continue associating with those bandits, or they would surely kill him.
Sure enough, the other bandits all glared menacingly at the guy who was being held at gunpoint by Rock, but no matter how much they winked at him, it was no use.
This guy spilled beans like beans from a bamboo tube, telling Rock several places in a row, which showed him what it meant to have three burrows!
"...Your Majesty, besides those in our village, Li Lao Er hides all his money in a tree hollow at the foot of the back mountain. I still go there every now and then to borrow a couple of silver dollars to spend! And Hu Guai Zi does the same thing; he hides all his money under the pickling jar in the backyard. Does he really think I haven't noticed?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than two bandits roared angrily:
"You bastard Xu Mazi! We always thought you were an honest and kind person, but we never imagined you'd steal our money!"
Rock almost burst out laughing; he hadn't expected these bandits to have such an exciting life.
"So, you're saying that most of your money is hidden in the village? Besides the village, don't you have anywhere else to hide it?"
"Don't tell me your boss trusts you all so much that he keeps all his money in the stronghold without hiding any secret stash of cash outside?"
As he spoke, Rock glanced regretfully at the corpse lying in the snow in the distance.
The bandit leader was dressed in a bearskin coat and rode on the strongest horse, making him too conspicuous.
When the cavalry charged in, they shot the guy dead the moment he arrived, so that Rock didn't even have a chance to interrogate him about his secret stash of money.
Regarding this question, the bandit kneeling in front of Rock shook his head repeatedly, and the other two bandits who were taken away also failed to reveal anything.
Judging from the looks of it, they probably really don't know where the boss's money is hidden.
Otherwise, their leader is dead now, and they've even been forced to hand over their money. Why would they still be so loyal to a dead man?
Shouldn't we let our brothers "share the joys and sorrows"?
Seeing Rock sigh, the bandit, whose head Rock still had a gun pointed at, almost went limp.
He thought that Rock was dissatisfied with their answer and wanted to kill them directly!
Then, in a moment of inspiration, he suddenly remembered something and quickly shouted:
"Your Majesty, please don't kill me! Although I don't know where the chief's money is hidden, someone else does!"
"The second-in-command in our village is in charge of the money. He keeps the accounts. He's also the head of the village's nephew. We're family, so he definitely knows where the money is hidden!"
"I can show you the way, I'll help you catch the second-in-command, I just beg you to spare my life!"
Wow, this person is quite something; their mind really works fast.
Rock didn't know if what he said was true or not, but it didn't matter; he could find out by asking the second-in-command.
After asking around, he learned that there were no more than five bandits left in the stronghold, and they only had one homemade gun. Rock breathed a sigh of relief.
The other two bandits who were interrogated separately gave the same answer, so it seems they weren't lying.
"Okay, I trust you. Lead the way!"
"If you behave yourself, I might consider sparing your life; otherwise... you know what to do!"
After saying this, Rock waved to the cavalry behind him and then shouted loudly:
"Keep those three here, kill the rest of the bandits!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the cavalrymen raised their guns, and a burst of gunfire rang out.