No one expected that the things inside the sack would be antique bronze artifacts.
"Second Uncle, be careful taking them out."
"These things are worth a lot of money," Liu Tiezhu warned.
Second Uncle pulled out three censers, then several bronze wine cups.
After carefully laying out these antiques, he reached back into the sack, only to freeze, his body trembling uncontrollably.
"Zhu... Zhuzi... it's... it's..."
"Gold, so much gold..."
Gold?
Liu Tiezhu was stunned and quickly took the sack.
Seeing no other fragile items inside, he turned the sack upside down.
With a clatter, everything inside spilled onto the ground.
Over a dozen small, golden lumps gleamed harshly under the light.
These golden lumps were gold, each weighing over ten grams.
Besides the gold, there were thumb-sized pearls, creamy white Hetian jade, and silver ingots.
Staring at the treasure scattered across the floor, everyone was shocked.
"Zhuzi, the three bandits you killed must have been heading to some deal."
"Otherwise, they wouldn't have carried so many valuables on them," Second Uncle said.
The locals around here couldn't come by such treasures, so the possibility of them being looted from villagers was ruled out.
The only explanation was that these treasures were brought out of Tiangang Stronghold by the bandits.
Er Gouzi said, "Who cares what deal they were making."
"Now that the treasure's in our hands, it's ours."
"With this, we could do nothing for a whole year and still not starve."
At current prices, one lump of gold could sell for 700 yuan.
All the gold together would fetch over 20,000 yuan.
What did 20,000 yuan mean?
With meat at two yuan per catty, that could buy 10,000 catties of meat.
The pearls and silver ingots could sell for nearly 10,000 yuan.
And the Hetian jade was worth about 7,000 yuan.
The bronze artifacts were even more valuable.
If sold, they'd likely be worth more than all the gold combined.
Unlike Er Gouzi's optimism, Liu Tiezhu frowned.
"Losing such a fortune and three bandits, Tiangang Stronghold is going to go berserk," Liu Tiezhu said.
"So what if they do? It's got nothing to do with us."
Er Gouzi still didn't grasp the severity, grinning.
"When those Tiangang Stronghold bandits go crazy, what won't they do?"
"If all hundreds of them come out of the mountains, will the villages around here have any chance of survival?" Liu Tiezhu said.
At this, Er Gouzi's smile vanished, his face turning pale.
Second Uncle and Big Brother's expressions also darkened.
Liu Tiezhu's analysis was right. Normally, losing a few bandits or some grain was trivial to Tiangang Stronghold.
But now, these treasures were priceless.
Losing them was like cutting a chunk of flesh from the bandit leaders—wouldn't they go mad?
"Zhuzi, what do we do now? We can't return these treasures, can we?" Second Uncle asked.
"Of course not. That would be like confessing outright."
Liu Tiezhu thought for a moment and said, "Second Uncle, you said yesterday that Zhang Jingyang was setting up a militia outpost in our village. Is that true?"
"It's true. Zhang Jingyang and seventeen militiamen are stationed at Liu Jingshun's house as a temporary base."
"You want Zhang Jingyang to wipe out the bandits?"
"If that's your idea, I suggest you drop it."
"Zhang Jingyang's a bastard. He doesn't have the guts to fight bandits, but he's got plenty of nerve to use it as an excuse to line his pockets," Second Uncle said.
Liu Tiezhu said, "Second Uncle, you misunderstand."
"I want to shift the blame. Zhang Jingyang is the perfect scapegoat."
"You want Zhang Jingyang to take the fall?" Second Uncle's eyes widened, then he waved his hand. "No, that's like walking yourself to the gallows."
"Zhang Jingyang's the militia leader. If he finds out you set him up, he'll have a hundred ways to finish us off."
Zhang Jingyang was indeed the ideal scapegoat—his position meant the bandits wouldn't dare act rashly.
But Zhang Jingyang wasn't someone to mess with.
If he discovered Liu Tiezhu was behind it, their whole family would suffer.
"Second Uncle's right. We shouldn't provoke Zhang Jingyang."
"Let's think of another way," Big Brother Liu Tieshan said.
Liu Tiezhu said, "Big Brother, do we have a better option?"
"Don't worry. I've already figured out the plan to shift the blame."
"Zhang Jingyang will never suspect we'd dare make him the fall guy."
"Zhuzi, tell us your plan. Let's all take a look," Second Uncle said.
"My plan is..."
Over ten minutes later, Liu Tiezhu laid out his entire plan.
After hearing it, Second Uncle and Big Brother fell silent.
Er Gouzi said, "Zhuzi, men die for wealth, birds die for food."
"That bastard Zhang Jingyang, who even dares to skim relief grain, will definitely take the bait."
With the plan set and the hour late, they each went to their rooms to rest.
The next day, Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi left early.
They drove a mule to the foot of the mountain and took out the prepared pearls and Hetian jade.
Liu Tiezhu divided a small pouch and handed some to Er Gouzi.
"Gouzi, we'll split up and scatter these in the weeds."
"Remember, don't just toss them carelessly."
Er Gouzi winced in pain—this was all hard cash.
Seeing his expression, Liu Tiezhu kicked him.
"Hurry up. You can't catch a wolf without risking the bait."
"Don't you want to keep the treasure at home?"
Er Gouzi gritted his teeth and took the pearls into the weeds.
Half an hour later, they regrouped and drove the mule home.
Once home, Liu Tiezhu told Er Gouzi to stay put while he headed to Liu Jingshun's house.
In Liu Jingshun's yard, steam billowed.
Zhang Jingyang and his militiamen were split into three tables, gathered around hotpot stoves.
These militiamen were Zhang Jingyang's own recruits, funded by the higher-ups.
They didn't look like militiamen at all. If not for their uniforms, Liu Tiezhu would've thought he'd walked into a bandit den.
Seeing a stranger at the yard gate, the whole yard fell silent.
Zhang Jingyang flew into a rage, pointing at Liu Tiezhu and cursing, "Where the hell did you come from, barging into a military post? Looking to die?"
"Guotai, arrest him."
A burly militiaman stepped out, raised his rifle without a word, and aimed it at Liu Tiezhu's forehead.
"Get over here yourself, or I'll blow your brains out."
"Brother Zhang, let's talk this out."
Liu Tiezhu put on a fawning expression.
Zhang Jingyang snarled, "Talk my ass! Who's your brother?"
"Say one more word, and Guotai, you shoot him dead."
Damn it, is this what a militia leader is like?
Liu Tiezhu clenched his fists, took a few deep breaths to suppress his anger, and pulled out the prepared silver ingot.
The moment he saw the silver, Zhang Jingyang's eyes lit up with greed, and he immediately waved his hand.
"Haha, little brother, don't be nervous. I was just joking with you."
"Guotai, put the gun away. Have the little brother sit over here."
Hearing this, Liu Tiezhu knew Zhang Jingyang had taken the bait.