Chapter 156: An old friend visits

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. This day, Jiang Jinshi was tinkering with fried chicken, wanting to make some KFC-style chicken to eat, but unexpectedly received a report from his subordinates.

"Report to the Great Leader, there is a man covered in blood outside the city who says he wants to see you!"

Jiang Jinshi looked at the brother guarding the city gate today and asked in confusion: "Did you ask what the other party's name is?"

"He said his name is Xiexiezi!"

"Hiss! Why did he come?" Jiang Jinshi was very surprised. He had fought side by side with the other party before, and if you really counted it, he still owed him a favor!

Jiang Jinshi just wanted to let his subordinates let him in, but then thought about it and decided to go out and see for himself!

When Jiang Jinshi arrived at the city gate, he saw Xiexiezi covered in blood on the horse's back.

Seeing Jiang Jinshi, Xiexiezi tried hard to squeeze a smile onto his pale face.

"Great Leader Jiang, I think I have nowhere to go. I just don't know if you are willing to take me in!"

Hearing this, Jiang Jinshi was stunned in place. Looking at the dark red bloodstains on the other party's body, plus these words, he could probably guess what had happened.

"Let's talk about anything after you come in!" Jiang Jinshi didn't hesitate and immediately invited the other party into the city.

Xiexiezi dismounted with difficulty, accidentally pulling on his wounds, and the whole person winced.

Jiang Jinshi saw that there was also a lot of blood on the horse's back, and was still marveling at how serious the injuries the other party had suffered were.

The next moment, Xiexiezi said: "The wounds are not deep, otherwise you wouldn't be able to see me. This was caused by the bumpy journey."

Walking to the city gate, Jiang Jinshi said to his subordinates: "Call Huasheng and bring the golden sore medicine."

"Yes!"

Xiexiezi was a bit surprised; the robbery of the city by Yangguangzhai seemed a bit different from what he had imagined.

When he came just now, he noticed that many thatched huts had been built outside the city gate. Although they were just simply topped with four pieces of wood and covered with some dry grass to block the sun, they looked very orderly and well-planned.

There was no one in the thatched huts at the moment, and there were no refugees outside the city gate. This was the cleanest city gate Xiexiezi had seen in recent years.

Jiang Jinshi saw Xiexiezi's confusion and signaled him to look at the city wall not far away.

"Those refugees were all called by me to move stones to repair the city wall!"

At the beginning, these refugees thought they could have something to eat without working, until Jiang Jinshi really dismantled the porridge-giving point, and they started to panic.

Subsequently, the attitude of the refugees was the exact opposite of the beginning, and they all signed up saying they wanted to earn money to eat, but Jiang Jinshi was not a kind person to begin with.

The dozens of people who chose to enter the city to work at the beginning could now live in the city, while Jiang Jinshi only allowed these wavering fence-sitters to live outside the city.

Although simple thatched sheds and latrines were built for them, the differential treatment was extremely obvious. The refugees outside the city did the most tiring work like moving, while the refugees who entered the city had it much easier.

For manual labor, Jiang Jinshi would no longer give thin porridge, but a bowl of dry rice with pickles, and sent people to supervise and record.

Those who were lazy were removed from the team, and those who worked steadily were recorded in the register, and they would be on the list for entering the city next time.

As for those who ate human flesh mixed in with the refugees, they were secretly cleared away by Wang Hou, and their disappearance didn't cause a ripple.

Xiexiezi was very confused: "Why repair the city wall?"

"Better safe than sorry!" Jiang Jinshi didn't explain too much.

Xiexiezi didn't ask again, but followed Jiang Jinshi into the city to experience it for himself.

Just after entering the city, someone greeted Jiang Jinshi from far away.

"New City Lord! Come and slurp some noodles!" The noodle shop owner waved enthusiastically at Jiang Jinshi.

Jiang Jinshi waved slightly in response: "Not slurping! The meat in yours gets stuck in my teeth!"

The old man pulling the donkey cart stood by and laughed uncontrollably: "The noodles in his are okay, but the meat is really bad, wasting the ingredients."

"Old man, out for a stroll again!" Jiang Jinshi secretly winked at the old man.

Now the old man was no longer pulling the donkey cart, after all, the previous donkey cart had long been sold to Jiang Jinshi, but his life was better than before.

His child was cured of his illness and was fortunate enough to be selected to join Yangguangzhai, so now he could be considered to be living a happy old age.

Seeing this, Xiexiezi was even more confused. Wasn't it said that Yangguangzhai had robbed two cities? The city should be in a mess, so why did it look so prosperous?

And how could Jiang Jinshi be so loved by the commoners, calling him the new City Lord? Wasn't he a mountain bandit?

When he came, he headed straight for Lianhuan Shan, but was told that Jiang Jinshi lived in the city. At that time, he was confused, and now he was even more stunned.

The two walked to the place where Jiang Jinshi lived; the former Liu Residence had become the Jiang Residence.

At first, Jiang Jinshi lived in the County Magistrate's residence, but later Feng Chunsheng came to manage Jiangcheng, so it was used as an office space, and he and Li Xinyue moved to the former Magistrate Liu's residence.

The two had just entered the door when Huasheng also arrived with a medicine box on his back.

Knowing that Xiexiezi had many doubts in his heart, Jiang Jinshi didn't explain, first letting Huasheng apply medicine to him.

Xiexiezi's injuries were not serious, so it didn't take too much time. After applying the golden sore medicine and simply bandaging it, he was fine.

"Great Leader Jiang, you are..."

Jiang Jinshi smiled: "My situation here is a bit complicated. Let's talk about you first! How did you end up like this?"

Xiexiezi's eyes dimmed, and he told Jiang Jinshi about what happened at Menghuzhai.

Jiang Jinshi didn't say much throughout the whole process, only when he heard about Bai'e Hu's death at the end did he gently comfort him: "My condolences!"

"Actually... I thought a lot along the way. Perhaps it was really because of all the evil deeds that led to the consequences of Menghuzhai today!" Xiexiezi exhaled, and fatigue and decadence covered his whole body.

"Hey! That has nothing to do with it. It's just like a gambler. Before sitting at the table, everyone thinks about winning money, and if they lose, they regret that they shouldn't have gambled. Isn't that nonsense?"

"According to Great Leader Jiang, what should I do now?"

"Accept the bet and admit defeat, be more open-minded, at least you are still alive!" Jiang Jinshi knew that this topic shouldn't be discussed for too long, as the person had just lost his father not long ago, so he cleverly changed the subject.

"Hey! What do you think of my Jiangcheng? Give me some suggestions!"

Xiexiezi smiled bitterly: "Great Leader Jiang, don't make things difficult for me. What suggestions do I have? I was stunned by what I saw along the way!"

After thinking about it, Xiexiezi still asked the question in his heart: "But I really want to know, the news I heard when I was in Shuo Fang Jun was that Great Leader Jiang had robbed two cities, so why is it a bit different now?"

"What's different? I did rob two cities, besides this one, there is also the neighboring Licheng." Jiang Jinshi was also very curious about how the outside world talked about him.

Xiexiezi rarely showed a difficult expression, stammering: "It's... it's just the city! It's completely different from being... robbed."

"Oh! You mean this!" Jiang Jinshi understood now. The other party was very surprised that Menghuzhai had also robbed a city, so why was the gap between it and Yangguangzhai so big in the end.

"How much money can you make from robbing? Basically, you're just sitting and eating away your savings! The economy must circulate to have an inexhaustible supply of gold and silver!" ===== CHAPTER 157 =====