The sky-high fire lit up the night sky, and also made the people in the camp see the faces of the attacking enemy, all of them were local natives wearing strange costumes and combing strange hairstyles, they were armed with long knives, and they cut down people when they saw them, their faces were hideous, and everyone had blood on their bodies, and they looked like evil spirits in hell under the light of the fire.

The leader of the team shouted: "Everyone is scattered, if you can run one by one, you must spread the news and let the adults avenge us." The people around him saw him surrounded by four or five natives, slashing with knives, and his voice became weaker and weaker.

When Li Dongsheng received the news, it was already noon the next day, he hurriedly called Pei Sheng to take people to the camp, at this time it was already the evening of the next day, and the surrounding road repair team and the workers of the tea plantation who arrived in advance had already set up warning points around, and the scene was still unchanged from last night's situation, and it was necessary to wait for Li Dongsheng to come and see before making a decision.

When he saw the tragic situation at the scene, Li Dongsheng's heart hurt as if he was being burned, his blood seemed to be boiling, and he muttered in his mouth: "If you don't take revenge, you won't be a man!" ”

There was blood everywhere in the settlement, and on the walls, by the wells, and on the roads, the pools and patches of red were so dazzling, and where a large number of flies gathered, a black cloud buzzed when people walked by. Dozens of corpses were scattered in various parts of the camp, their heads all cut off and piled up into a Jingguan, and many of them had round eyes and did not look dead. Li Dongsheng's tears flowed down directly, walked over step by step, and then said to Pei Sheng beside him: "You have also seen that their killing of us, since they started, it is not up to them to decide how to end it." ”

Pei Sheng was also stunned by the cruel methods of these natives, and now that Li Dongsheng has spoken, he will carry it out, but he didn't expect that Li Dongsheng's official position is actually the head of the Tea Department of the Ministry of Households, and he does not directly have local jurisdiction, that is to say, although Li Dongsheng has done so much work, he has no right to really transfer troops to fight. Pei Sheng's inspection has a good relationship with Li Dongsheng, but the order to transfer troops to attack the natives must be issued by the governor of Jiaozhou, Qiuhe, otherwise it is a big crime, and a little more serious is a rebellion.

After burying the bodies of these road builders, Li Dongsheng returned to the Yamen of the Tea Division, convened a meeting of various county commanders, and wrote a letter to the Jiaozhou Governor's Office, asking the Governor's Office to send troops to suppress it.

In the office of the tea department, Li Dongsheng sat on the main seat in official uniform, Chai Lingwu and a few of them sat at the bottom, and several nearby county commanders were on the guest seats, and the entire yamen was fully armed with guards, standing at the door with murderous spirit. Seeing this situation, several county commanders knew that Li Dongsheng was in a bad mood and were a little panicked, and they all sat upright, not daring to make a sound.

Li Dongsheng saw that the time was almost up, and said softly: "When everyone arrives, let's start the meeting." ”

After looking around at everyone, Li Dongsheng said: "The night before yesterday, thieves attacked the settlement of the tea and drink division road repair team, killing a total of 57 innocent workers, causing a horrific tragedy, which has never happened in the history of the Tang Dynasty. It is a serious provocation to the imperial court, and it is also a serious attack on my tea division, this thing happened in Pazhou, the Wang County Order of Pazhou? Li Dongsheng's voice was not high, but his tone was smooth and emotionless, but the ruthlessness in his words still made the county commanders feel empty.

"The lower official is here." Wang Xianling of Pazhou stood up and returned in a trembling voice: "Lord Hui, Xiaguan has been in the county office the night before yesterday, but because the incident happened at night and it was in the mountains far away from the village, Xiaguan only learned about the situation after receiving a report the next day. ”

Li Dongsheng sneered: "You mean it's none of your business?" ”

Wang Xianling could only reluctantly say: "With such a big case, our county government really has no choice, there are many thieves, even if the officials are all in us, we are not opponents." This matter must be quelled by the Metropolitan Governor's Office. ”

Li Dongsheng looked at him, nodded and said: "Listening to what the county order said, it's not bad, there are at least a hundred thieves, and there are not so many ordinary county officials and officials." What do you think? ”

Chai Lingwu and the others didn't speak, and the rest of the county orders all nodded yes, and there was no warning, and there was no intention at night, this kind of thing was really impossible to start.

Li Dongsheng knew that he didn't blame the county magistrate for this, and asked the county magistrate to sit down. Then he looked at him and said, "Lin County Order, I heard that the thieves escaped from you the night before yesterday, and now there is no news at all, what do you have to say?" ”

Lin Xian Ling was startled, and hurriedly stood up and said: "Lord Hui, we only got the news the next day, and we also sent people to the mountains to look for it, but we didn't find any trace of the enemy!" ”

"Where did the thieves go?"

Lin Xian Ling hurriedly said: "Where did those thieves go, where do you know?" ”

"Do you know who the thief is?"

"I heard the officials below tell the workers who survived that they are natives, and the specific stockade is not clear!"

Li Dongsheng looked at him quietly and didn't speak, seeing that he was terrified, sweating all over, and looked around at the surrounding county orders before asking: "You tell me the truth, do you collude with these thieves?" ”

"How can my lord say this, we are all officials of the imperial court, how can we collude with these thieves?"

"Absolutely not!"

"If I collude with a thief, I will be punished by any adult!"

Li Dongsheng looked at the people sitting and said that he did not collude with the thieves, and he smiled: "How can I punish you, I am not from the Governor's Mansion." ”

The county commanders slandered in their hearts: Although you are not from the Governor's Mansion, you are a six-grade official, and you are an official of the household department, the kind that can reach the sky.

"It is not trivial that some of the Datang subordinates escaped after openly killing everyone. If they cannot be apprehended, it is inevitable that the whole of Lingnan will be panicked. You are all close to the people in the same place, and you are familiar with the geographical figures, which village do you think those thieves will be? ”

The county commanders glanced at each other, but no one spoke. They are not stupid, they can do such a shocking case is those villages, some time ago they all knew that the leaders of the natives came to the tea division to make trouble, but now no one dares to say it, who knows if those natives will retaliate. These guys are used to running rampant in Lingnan, and I heard that there is also a backstage, so it is better to be silent and golden.

Seeing that they didn't speak, Li Dongsheng said slowly: "This matter is now open to the sky, no one can hide it, I just want to seek justice for the workers under me, and no one wants to stop me." When you go back, you will give me a reward, and if anyone knows or can find the camp of these thieves, I will send 5,000 yuan for the tea division, and our tea division will send people to arrest them. ”