Chapter 49 Master, no, Ma Liu is dead
"A foreign treasure hunter wearing a bamboo hat and with a scar on his face?"
In the Yu family mansion, Yu Biao frowned.
All the servants under him looked at Yu Biao nervously.
"Yes, sir. We visited four villages: Shangtao, Xiantao, Zhongtao, and Xiatao."
"Among them, the villagers of Shangtao and Zhongtao villages said that they did not see this person coming down from the mountain. Only in Xiantao Village and Xiatao Village, almost everyone said that they saw a foreign treasure-hunting man wearing a bamboo hat and with a scar on his face."
"I feel that this matter cannot be groundless, so I was the first to report to the master."
Upon hearing this, Yu Biao took a sip of tea and his eyes gradually became sharper.
He waved his hand and said, "Well, you guys go down first. By the way, Li Si stays."
"Yes."
All the servants withdrew, leaving only the leader of the guards, Li Si.
"master?"
Li Si looked at Yu Biao and asked. Yu Biao pointed to his desk and said, "Go get the wanted poster on my desk."
"It's Master."
Li Si immediately went to get the wanted poster on the table, but when he looked at it, he was stunned.
Because there was a wanted poster portrait drawn on it.
The portrait shows a man dressed as a chivalrous hero, wearing a bamboo hat and with a scar on his face.
[Ni Manzi, 29 years old, from Ding County, Huangzhou Prefecture, was dissatisfied with the imperial court, joined a cult, killed officials and rebelled, and his crimes were extremely serious. A warrant for his arrest is hereby issued. Anyone who captures this person and sends him to the authorities will be rewarded with taels of silver, regardless of whether he is dead or alive. Anyone who can provide clues will be rewarded with taels of silver. This is specially issued by the Huangzhou Prefecture Office!]
"this?"
When Li Si saw the wanted poster, he looked at Yu Biao in surprise.
"Well, the one they reported looks very similar to this person!"
Yu Biao looked at Li Si thoughtfully.
Li Si said, "Master, are you saying that this thief has fled to our Mianshui County?"
"Yeah, almost. This wanted order was issued by the headquarters."
"Then sir, we must prepare more manpower, this guy looks difficult to deal with!"
Yu Biao looked at Li Si in surprise and asked, "Deal with? Deal with whom?"
"This is a wanted criminal!"
"Ha ha……"
Yu Biao sneered and said, "You don't know how to write the word death, do you? Do you know what this Ni Manzi did?"
"What did you do?"
Yu Biao said: "Killing officials is a rebellion! And he may have joined a cult."
"You mean, Zoroastrianism?"
Only then did Li Si react.
Zoroastrianism is a very terrifying existence.
The foreigners who established the Daqian Kingdom often suppressed the Han people. For example, they introduced a four-class system: first-class Mulan people, second-class Semites, third-class mixed ethnic groups in the north, and fourth-class Han people.
What hierarchy brings is policy oppression.
For example, the Han people were deprived of their right to take the imperial examinations, and the country was governed by Han domestic slaves instead.
In other words, if you are well-read and want to become an official, you will definitely not be able to pass the imperial examination. You can only find a herdsman to be loyal to, have him take you in as a slave, and recommend you to be an official.
This cut off the roots of scholars all over the world. There were also many harsh policies, such as the laws used by the Mulan people were different from those used by the Han people.
To give a simple example, if a Han Chinese kills a Mulan Chinese, he will have to pay with his life, and even his relatives may be implicated. However, if a Mulan Chinese kills a Han Chinese, he does not have to pay with his life, but only with a donkey.
Just think about this point, and imagine the situation into which the Han people will be oppressed.
But there is a saying that goes, where there is oppression, there is resistance.
The Han people never stopped revolting, the most powerful of which was the Zoroastrianism in the north.
Their followers often wore red turbans, so they were also called the Red Turban Army by the Han people. The people of Mulan called them the Red Haired Ghosts, and so on.
In order to stabilize the four directions, the imperial court once again ceded some power to the local governments, allowing the sects to help the Darughachi of the Mulan people to govern the local areas, and indirectly allowing warriors to obtain privileges.
This is how the current situation came about, achieving the so-called national policy of 'using the Han to control the Han' of the upper echelons of the Daqian Empire!
But to put it bluntly, these gangs are born traitors and they pretend to obey but actually do things against their will.
The Zoroastrianism was a real uprising organization that fought desperately with the Daqian, so the local gangs generally pretended not to see it. Unless it was related to their own interests, no one would be willing to provoke this group of lunatics.
Yu Biao looked at the wanted poster, then sighed and said, "Inform everyone not to investigate the matter of the red-eyed pheasant."
"Ah, Master, should we investigate this again? After all, he is not wearing a bamboo hat and has a scar on his face, so he must be this Ni Manzi. What if someone is pretending to be him, or even someone is deliberately spreading false information?"
Li Si was unwilling to raise questions.
Yu Biao hesitated for a moment and said, "No need to check."
"It's just a 30-year-old golden pheasant. It's not worth getting involved with the Zoroastrians. As for what you said about someone pretending to be him, or someone spreading false information, haha, at present, this wanted order is only circulated within the two major gangs in Mianshui County. In other words, the only people in Xiantao Town who know about this news are me and Wu Zhong!"
"Then there are only two of us who can spread the news. I definitely can't. This means it's most likely him."
"Then the question is, even if you know that he was the one who spread the news, what can you do?"
"In other words, even if you know that he has taken the golden pheasant away, can you still get it back?"
Yu Biao rubbed his brows and said, "Okay, let's leave it at that for now. Next, the most important thing for you is to find the ox-horned pomfret lurking in the Mian River. The medicinal power of that fish is no weaker than that of the red-eyed pheasant."
"Yes, sir. Our boat has been fishing for three days. Yesterday, we caught a grass carp with a big hole in its body. The old fisherman determined that it was hit by a horn pomfret. We should be very close to it now."
"Okay, we must hurry up on this matter. The election for the position of Baozheng will be held in just over a month!"
After hearing this, Li Si nodded.
Yu Biao said, "By the way, has Sanliu caused any trouble recently?"
"No, the young master is very well behaved!"
Yu Biao said, "You can talk to him when you have time. We cannot conflict with Wu Zhong right now. Let him calm down. We cannot control Xiantao Town with one hand."
"Yes, sir, I will persuade the young master."
Li Si answered.
At this time, in Yu Sanliu's yard, Yu Sanliu squinted his eyes and lay on a recliner. A beautiful woman was peeling a lychee and gently put it into his mouth. He took a bite of the lychee and his face was full of enjoyment.
Looking at the butler beside him, he asked, "Has Ma Liu not been found yet?"
The housekeeper said, "No, we have been looking for him all morning. Master, could he have run away?"
Yu Sanliu said: "Where are you running to? Keep looking."
"Yes."
The butler responded, and at this moment there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps.
"Master, it's bad... Ma, Ma Liu is dead!"
"What!"
Yu Sanliu jumped up!
(End of this chapter)