Chapter 1075: then title translation, then ===GLOSSARY=== with list of named entities appearing in these lines

Hu Xiaotian didn't take much liking to this Li Mingcheng; originally Li Mingcheng in Dongliang Jun was just a decoration for the deaf's ears, but now that Hu Xiaotian has arrived, the court hasn't made any other arrangements for Li Mingcheng, so Li Mingcheng remains in Dongliang Jun, only now he isn't even a decoration anymore.

Actually Li Mingcheng is quite an honest person, just weak and useless; after Hu Xiaotian had been here a month, he discovered this fellow had absolutely no opinion of his own, so it's no wonder he was being bullied by a group of merchants from Dongliang Jun.

Hu Xiaotian said, "Don't panic, what big deal is it?"

Li Mingcheng said, "A merchant convoy was robbed west of the city; it must have been those refugees, and twelve people from the convoy were killed."

Hu Xiaotian startled, "Which merchant convoy?"

"Da Yong... Da... Da Yong..." Li Mingcheng had already started stammering.

Hu Xiaotian then realized the seriousness of the matter; a Da Yong merchant convoy passing through his territory had been robbed and killed, and if mishandled it could very well become the spark of war. Given Dongliang Jun's current state, even self-defense is difficult, the newly formed army has no combat capability at all, and furthermore the reasoning behind this incident is not on his side at all.

Hu Xiaotian said, "Any survivors?"

Li Mingcheng nodded and said, "There... there is one wounded person; the others... have already fled, reportedly to get reinforcements." He lamented bitterly, "Sir Hu, this is a big trouble; if Da Yong gets the news, they will surely send troops to press the border and come demand justice. What do you suggest we do?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "First send that wounded person for treatment, take inventory of their goods, and as for the refugee camp, I will personally handle it."

"Yes... yes..." Li Mingcheng left anxiously.

After Li Mingcheng left, Hu Xiaotian said to Liang Da Zhuang, "Go find Xiong Tianba and have him bring five hundred brothers over."

"Yes!" Liang Da Zhuang agreed, then reminded Hu Xiaotian, "Young master, you haven't eaten your noodles yet."

Hu Xiaotian waved his hand, signaling him to hurry with the arrangements, then turned around and saw Zhu Guanqi standing not far behind him; Hong Lingxue had just woken up. Seeing his wife unharmed, Zhu Guanqi then remembered to come over to thank Hu Xiaotian, but he didn't expect to run into what had just happened.

Hu Xiaotian smiled at Zhu Guanqi and said, "Brother Zhu, did you hear all that?"

Zhu Guanqi apologetically said, "Sir Hu, please don't blame me; I came specially to thank you, but I didn't expect to overhear just that."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Brother Zhu, no need to be so polite; I'm leaving now, let's talk another day."

Zhu Guanqi said, "Sir Hu, do you intend to go to the refugee camp to capture the real culprit?"

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, "We must first get to the bottom of this. Dongliang Jun currently lacks the strength to confront them head-on."

Zhu Guanqi said, "The refugee camp now holds about thirty thousand people; for Sir Hu to try to find the culprit among them is like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Hu Xiaotian pressed his lips; Zhu Guanqi made a good point. After thinking, he said, "Finding the culprit may be hard, but locating the lost goods should not be difficult."

Zhu Guanqi said, "These soldiers under your command are all selected from the refugees. If it turned out the culprit was their own parents or siblings, do you think they would uphold righteousness and kill their kin?"

Hu Xiaotian startled at those words, wondering how he could be so muddle-headed on such an important matter.

Zhu Guanqi said, "This matter is indeed very thorny; I humbly suggest that Sir should not mobilize troops. A private investigation would be better, even if the refugees really did it. If mishandled, it will surely cause a disturbance; as for Da Yong, even if they hand over the culprit, it probably won't be easy to resolve the issue."

Hu Xiaotian humbly asked for advice, "Mr. Zhu, how do you think we should resolve this?"

Zhu Guanqi said, "Sir should make preparations; this place is not far from Da Yong's Nanyang Water Stronghold. Those Da Yong merchants are most likely to flee there for help. Nanyang Water Stronghold commands fifty thousand marines and, reportedly, two hundred warships. Even without saying more, when they sail downstream straight to Xia Sha Port, our Dongliang Jun's military strength alone could not possibly stop them."

Hu Xiaotian had been to Nanyang Water Stronghold before and had dealt with its commander Tang Boxi; he still had some understanding of the man. In a one-on-one contest, Hu Xiaotian would fear no one, but now he is not a lone lord; his decisions affect the life and death of nearly a hundred thousand people in Dongliang Jun.

Zhu Guanqi said, "Sir need not worry; what I said is merely the worst possible scenario. Perhaps things will not deteriorate to that extent; I only want to remind Sir to prepare early. As for the killing of Da Yong merchants, although it happened near the refugee camp, there is no definite evidence that it was definitely done by those refugees. If Sir immediately sends troops to investigate, it will surely cause panic among the refugees and even breed resentment toward Sir. Before any external enemy arrives, internal strife would already arise—this is certainly not a good thing."

The more Hu Xiaotian thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed; Zhu Guanqi was right. We cannot rely solely on Li Mingcheng's one-sided account; now no one can definitively say the refugees committed the robbery and murder. If he had from the start fixed suspicion on them, it would surely provoke the refugees' resistance. Moreover, even if the refugees had plotted this, finding the culprit now would be of no avail; it's not as simple as handing over the perpetrator to settle the matter.

Hu Xiaotian clasped his fists toward Zhu Guanqi and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Brother Zhu."

Zhu Guanqi said, "Sir need not stand on ceremony with me; I too am a member of Dongliang Jun, and naturally I do not wish to see war arrive."

At that moment, the sound of warhorses neighing came from outside the gate; it was Xiong Tianba who had gathered five hundred troops awaiting orders. Hu Xiaotian stepped outside, Liang Da Zhuang led his little gray horse over, Hu Xiaotian mounted, and the soldiers, unaware of what had happened, looked frightened. Only Xiong Tianba at the front of the troop appeared unusually excited, shouting loudly, "Third Uncle! Are we going to fight?" He clearly could hardly wait.

Hu Xiaotian saw the expressions of the soldiers behind him and inwardly sighed; with such morale, who still wants to go to war? They'd likely all turn into deserters at the first clash—no wonder, since these people originally came as famine refugees, and they enlisted not because they wanted a meal but because they had no other way to make a living; there's not a bit of willingness to go and die for nothing.

Hu Xiaotian waved his hand and said, "Leave twenty people here; the rest return to camp!"

"What?" Xiong Tianba widened his eyes, thinking, "Third Uncle, Third Uncle, are you sure you're not joking with me?" Although Xiong Tianba is extremely obedient in front of Hu Xiaotian—whatever Hu Xiaotian says, he does—he left ten confidants behind and let the others return to camp first. He rode up to Hu Xiaotian's side and whispered, "Third Uncle, we're not going to fight, are we?"

Hu Xiaotian glared at him and said, "Hit your head!" He pointed toward the west gate and said, "Let's go out for a walk."

As several people were about to leave, suddenly a voice came from behind: "Sir Hu, I'll accompany you to have a look!"

Hu Xiaotian turned around, and it was Zhu Guanqi walking out from inside. Hu Xiaotian showed a smile and said, "Sir, your willingness to go together is exactly what I hoped for!" He then had someone fetch a horse for Zhu Guanqi to ride, and a party of more than ten exited the west gate and headed straight toward the refugee camp.

The place where the convoy was ambushed is only a little over three li from the refugee camp. The site has already been sealed off by the soldiers who arrived first. Twelve corpses lie side by side by the road, their faces temporarily covered with white cloth. The Charitable Estate in the city has also sent vehicles, waiting for the authorities' word to transport the bodies back to the city for burial.

Li Mingcheng, accompanied by a few newly recruited constables, was there helping to examine the bodies; the coroner was temporarily filled by the owner of the Charitable Estate. Various goods were scattered around the scene. Hu Xiaotian came to the site, casually lifted the white cloth covering one corpse, and saw that the neck had been slit with a single knife; judging from the wound's shape, it appeared to be a fatal blow— the strike was both accurate and decisive.

Li Mingcheng said beside him, "Sir, basically they were all killed with one blow; the robbers must be experts!"

Hu Xiaotian nodded, looked over, and saw Zhu Guanqi dismount and come to the scattered goods, examining them carefully; the items left at the scene included a lot of rice.

Li Mingcheng said, "The convoy was carrying a lot of food and grain, intending to pass through Dongliang Jun on the way to Da Yong; surely those refugees got wind of it, organized people, and looted their goods here."

Zhu Guanqi picked up some rice from the ground, rubbed it in his hand, then put a few grains in his mouth to chew, without saying a word.

Hu Xiaotian came to Zhu Guanqi's side and whispered, "Brother Zhu, what do you think?"

Zhu Guanqi said, "Is the convoy leader still around?"

Li Mingcheng said, "The convoy leader has already fled, but I heard from the survivor that they had taken on a batch of grain at Xia Sha Port, intending to transport it to Yongdu; somehow the news leaked, so they were robbed here."

Zhu Guanqi said, "How many wagons in total?"

"Seven horse-drawn wagons."

"Why not take the route via Nanyang and go north by the canal? Shipping by boat would be cheaper and safer along the way. Yet they chose to come overland through Dongliang Jun—don't they know there are already thirty thousand refugees inside Dongliang Jun's territory?"

"Uh... this..." Li Mingcheng also felt it was a bit strange now.

Zhu Guanqi said, "Porcelain is of no use to the refugees; as for grain, Da Yong is not short of it—these years have all been abundant hauls. Transporting grain to Da Yong would be worse than selling it locally to Dongliang Jun's merchants; tell me, which merchant would willingly engage in a loss-making trade?"

Li Mingcheng's face fell; how could he have missed such an obvious point?

A smile appeared at the corner of Hu Xiaotian's mouth; although it was just a small matter, he could already see that Zhu Guanqi was absolutely a person of extraordinary wisdom and keen observation. Hu Xiaotian did not voice an opinion.

Although Li Mingcheng inwardly acknowledged that Zhu Guanqi made sense, in front of Hu Xiaotian he felt embarrassed and coldly said, "Who are you anyway? When is it your turn to speak here?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "Mr. Zhu is my good friend; Sir Li, you must not lose your manners."

Li Mingcheng's old face flushed with embarrassment; Hu Xiaotian obviously had no intention of giving him face, and Zhu Guanqi stood far higher in his esteem than he did. Well then, he'd better say less to avoid humiliating himself.

"Please cast a few more recommendation votes! (To be continued~^~)"