A few months ago, in order to cooperate with the strategy of the Jingzhou Righteous Army to counterattack Nanyang County, Zhang Zhai, the envoy of Nanyang Canal of Anping Road, led a group of like-minded righteous men to secretly infiltrate Nanyang County, preparing to carry out a series of sabotage against the Nanyang Army.

At that time, Zhang Zhai's target was Wancheng Military City and Nanyang Military Army Tuntian.

The military market is located in Wancheng City, and it is easy to get it, but the military tuntian of the Nanyang army is outside the city, and the chances of success are obviously higher, so Zhang Zhai united a group of like-minded righteous people to prepare for an appointment at the same time, and at the same time launched a surprise attack on the Nanyang army tuntian in Huyang, Shuyang, Chaoyang and other counties, and burned down the tuntian and grain storage warehouses of the Nanyang army.

Around the end of September, when Zhang Zhai and others were gradually preparing to launch this key strategic operation, Zhang Zhai suddenly received a news that in Pheasant County and other places in Nanyang County, someone called himself the Jingchu Righteous Army and encouraged the local people to defect to the Righteous Army, which attracted the attention of the local government.

Hearing the news, Zhang Zhai was shocked and angry.

Before his righteous army was about to launch a key strategic operation, someone dared to act in the name of his righteous army, alarming the government of Nanyang County.

Who is it?! Who the hell is acting in the name of his rebels?!

Realizing that the situation was not good, Zhang Zhai immediately contacted the righteous soldiers lurking in various counties, temporarily made fun of the surprise attack plan against the Nanyang army's Tuntian, and then he went straight to Pheasant County with full anger.

He wanted to see who was acting in the name of his rebels and ruining his rebels' plans!

On September 23, Zhang Zhai quickly rushed to Pheasant County to secretly inquire about information to see who was acting in the name of his rebels.

But unfortunately, the group of people who created the rumors this time seem to have already retreated, but the Pheasant County government is still arresting the Jingchu Righteous Army in the city, which almost exposed Zhang Zhai's people.

The clue was interrupted, and those who pretended to be his rebels were nowhere to be found, and even those who the other party was.

That night, Zhang Zhai pondered about this matter at the foothold.

He had no way of knowing which force was pretending to be in the name of his rebels, but why the other party was doing this was really worth pondering.

You must know that it is not a smart thing to pretend to be in the name of his rebels, after all, once the fake rebels are caught by the government, it is very likely that they will be treated as rebels, unless......

Unless the identity of the other party, it is not much better than his rebels.

Following this line of thought and in-depth analysis, Zhang Zhai gradually had some clues.

In his opinion, that unknown force acted in the Nanyang Army in the name of his righteous army and spread rumors, which was most likely to divert the attention of the Nanyang Army and Wang Shangde.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhai immediately instructed the righteous soldiers under his command: "Go and inquire and see if there are any signs of the Nanyang Army being dispatched recently." ”

About two days later, Zhang Zhai received the news: around September 12, Ji Rong, a partial general of the Nanyang Army, led 2,000 troops to leave Wancheng and go straight to the northeast.

A day later, Zhang Zhai got the news again: Wang Shangde ordered Ji Rong to go to Kunyang to encircle and suppress the black tiger thief.

"Black Tiger Thief?"

On this day, Zhang Zhai remembered the name.

In fact, it was not the first time he had heard of this name, after all, during the time he was lurking in Nanyang County, he had always used the identity of a foreign merchant as a disguise, so naturally he would inevitably bump into other merchants who rushed to Wancheng to do business.

Like the Luye Freemasonry, or even the newly established Kunye Mutual Benefit Association in Kunyang, Zhang Zhai has heard of it, but he has not paid attention to it.

The same is true for the Black Tiger Thief.

A group of thieves who are nesting in Kunyang County to rob houses and houses, what is worthy of his attention?

Unless the other party has tens of millions of people, then he can consider contacting that group of bandits to see if he can win them over and make them allies who jointly overthrow the tyrannical Jin.

But when he learned that Wang Shangde had sent an army of 2,000 people to encircle and suppress the black tiger thieves, Zhang Zhai became a little interested in the black tiger thieves.

It stands to reason that a group of thieves who are in trouble in Kunyang County will not alarm Wang Shangde, besides, Kunyang County is located under the jurisdiction of Yingchuan County, and Wang Shangde is the general of Nanyang.

Not to mention sending an army of two thousand men.

Two thousand Nanyang soldiers, this can try to attack a small county, don't you think it's useless to use such a force to encircle and suppress a group of bandits?

Under all kinds of puzzlement and curiosity, Zhang Zhai took a few people and went straight to Kunyang to see what was going on.

On September 28, when Ji Rong, a partial general of the Nanyang Army, tried to attack Heihuzhai on the first day but failed because of the narrow passage of cobwebs, Zhang Zhai and others entered the county seat of Kunyang County in a low-key manner.

After entering the city, Zhang Zhai came to a wine shop in the city, ready to inquire about some information here.

At this time, the partial general Ji Rong had just led the Nanyang Army to the north of the county, but the indignation of the people in the city against the Nanyang Army had not faded, Zhang Zhai and the others had just sat down, and they heard two drinkers sitting next to them talking about the Nanyang Army while drinking and eating, and their tone and attitude were enough to show their disgust with the Nanyang Army.

This person from Kunyang County actually dares to speak ill of the Nanyang Army in public?

Zhang Zhai thought it was quite interesting, so he called the guys in the wine shop and added wine and food to the two drinkers.

After the guys in the wine shop served the wine and food to the neighbor's seat, Zhang Zhai moved to the neighbor's seat, and said with a smile: "The two eldest brothers, Zhang Zhai is a merchant from the east, and he arrived in your place at the beginning of today...... Hearing the two of them mention the Nanyang Army, they were curious, and they didn't want to take the liberty of disturbing, so they asked the guy to add wine and food, hoping to ask the two eldest brothers about something. ”

"What's so embarrassing?"

The two drinkers got the benefits, so they naturally would not refuse Zhang Zhai.

Seeing this, Zhang Zhai asked: "The Nanyang Army that the two of you are talking about, isn't it the garrison of Nanyang County?" ”

Hearing this, the older drinker sneered, "Isn't it! …… I heard that this army came to suppress thieves, but I ran to Kunyang, and instead of suppressing thieves, I sealed more than a dozen workshops of the brotherhood, and I was really full of food. ”

"Brotherhood?" Zhang Zhai pretended to be surprised and asked, "What is that?" ”

The older drinker then introduced: "The brotherhood is the brotherhood, and it is said that it was established by Chen Hu Chen, a great benevolent man in Kunyang, and it is intended to help my Kunyang people...... Chen is a good man, in the early years, Chen Da Cai's father left Kunyang to travel to business, hard work for most of his life, when he was dying, he thought of returning to his roots, so he asked his son to return to Kunyang with his ashes, oh, the son of the old man Chen, is what I just called Chen Hu Chen Da Cai. …… The rich man Chen returned to Kunyang with the ashes of his deceased father, and saw that many villagers were poor, so he built the Black Tiger Righteous House and provided people with meals free of charge every day......

At first, Zhang Zhai didn't dare to be interested in what Chen Hu was, but he couldn't interrupt so he reluctantly listened, until he heard the words 'Black Tiger Yishe'.

Black Tiger Righteous House? Black Tiger Thief? Isn't there anything to do with the two?

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhai said quietly: "This eldest brother, on the way to your land, I heard that there is a thief named 'Black Tiger' in your land...... Could it be that it has anything to do with the black tiger thief? ”

Hearing this, the older drinker smiled and said, "That's all a rumor, what is the connection between the Black Tiger Yishe and the Black Tiger Thief?" Master Chen Hu named the righteous house 'Black Tiger Yishe', but because when his mother was pregnant with him, he dreamed of the black tiger in his arms, so Master Chen has always regarded the black tiger as his own auspiciousness. ”

On the side, the younger drinker also smiled and said, "Zhang Lao Jia must have heard some rumors when he entered the city, right?" That's all hearsay, and some people said a while ago that the Brotherhood was built by a black tiger thief? It's just rumors that aren't easy to believe. ”

"Huh?"

Zhang Zhai was slightly stunned, and asked: "As the saying goes, there is no wind and no waves, since some people rumor that the Brotherhood was built by the Black Tiger Thief, there must be something strange behind it, right?" ”

The young drinker shook his head and said, "I'm afraid Zhang Laojia doesn't know about the brotherhood, right?" …… In order to improve the poor situation of my Kunyang people, Chen Cai's chief steward united the merchants of Ye County, opened more than 20 workshops in the city, and reached a tacit understanding of cooperation with nearly half of the shops in the city. …… To put it mildly, does Zhang Laojia feel like a thief below? Down there is the Brotherhood. ”

"......" Zhang Zhai was stunned, and then asked again: "That...... Why do some people say that the Brotherhood has something to do with the Black Tiger Thief? ”

"I guess it's a Luye Freemason." The young drinker pouted and said: "Zhang Laojia is a foreigner, I'm afraid I don't know, the president of the Luye Freemasonry, named Lu Kuang, this person is not good at running the Chamber of Commerce, and the businessmen under his Chamber of Commerce have many grievances, such as Huang Fu and the Huang brothers. The Huang brothers were at odds with Lu Kuang, so they broke away from the Luye Freemasonry and cooperated with our brotherhood to jointly establish the Kunye Mutual Benefit Association. After a pause, he held the wine bowl and said with a smile: "Zhang Laojia, let's imagine, if my brotherhood really has anything to do with the black tiger thief, will the county government sit idly by?" ”

"Yes." Zhang Zhai smiled and nodded, but the doubts in his heart became stronger.

Regardless of whether the Brotherhood was related to the Black Tiger Thief or not, the two Kunyang locals in front of him spoke bluntly about the Black Tiger Thief and did not shy away from it, which made him feel very surprised.

It stands to reason that most of the locals will show fear when they mention the thieves in the county and township, and even talk about the thief's color change, but these two Kunyang people don't seem to be afraid of the appearance of the black tiger thief.

Is it just the exception of these two people, or is this the norm for Kunyang people?

After thinking about it, Zhang Zhai asked quietly: "The thieves in your county have even alarmed the army in Nanyang, so it must be a big trouble, right?" ”

"Huh? Yes. ”

Under Zhang Zhai's careful observation, the old drinker was stunned for a moment, and then nodded and said, "I heard that it is indeed a big trouble......

"Aren't those two afraid?" Zhang Zhai felt more and more strange.

Hearing Zhang Zhai's words, the young drinker smiled and explained: "The thieves in our county, how to say it, those people do not hurt the civilians, but businessmen like the foot should be careful......" Saying, he lowered his voice and kindly reminded Zhang Zhai: "I say something that I don't like, Zhang Laojia is not strange, if Zhang Laojia is going west, it will naturally be fine, but if you are going north, in case you bump into the black tiger thief, don't resist, honestly hand over a road money, those people will not embarrass you." If not......"

He lowered his voice again: "I heard that there were once a few disobedient merchants who refused to pay the road money, and they were slaughtered by the black tiger thieves in the end. ”

“…… Thanks for the reminder. ”

Zhang Zhai pretended to be grateful, but he was more and more surprised in his heart.

A bandit who is so ferocious that he will slaughter the entire caravan that can alarm the Nanyang army, but in the county where it is a disaster, the locals are not afraid and talk casually after dinner......

What kind of bandit is that?

A moment later, Zhang Zhai said goodbye to the two drinkers and came to the street with a few righteous men accompanying him, and saw many plaques with the words 'Brotherhood Cooperative Store' hanging in front of many shops along the way.

"You go out on the streets, and half of the shops on the side of the road are in partnership with the Brotherhood...... Four out of ten pedestrians on the street are from the Brotherhood......

Recalling what the two drinkers said, the surprise in Zhang Zhai's heart could not be dissipated for a long time.

『…… If behind this brotherhood is indeed the black tiger thief, then this bandit ......

He didn't know how to describe it.

He'd never encountered anything like it.

In the afternoon of the same day, Zhang Zhai sent his accompanying righteous men to inquire about the Black Tiger Thieves and the Brotherhood in the city, and he himself walked the streets and alleys, waiting for an opportunity to ask passers-by about the situation.

Around dusk, the crowd gathered at an inn in the city to gather the information they had discovered.

At that time, a priest said: "Envoy of the Canal, according to my inquiry, the Brotherhood has an excellent reputation in this county, even if there are all kinds of rumors that the Brotherhood is controlled by black tiger thieves, but the people in the city almost do not believe it......"

Another person said: "Envoy, I see that 'behind the brotherhood is the black tiger thief manipulation', I'm afraid it's not a rumor, today I went to the black tiger house, and asked the people who live near the house, someone told me that after nightfall a while ago, as long as you walk around the alley near the house, you can see a person in a cloak, this person will give out a token of the black tiger thief, as long as you rely on the token, you can go to the black tiger thief in the north of the county......"

Zhang Zhai was secretly surprised when he heard this, and asked, "Kunyang County Ya doesn't care?" ”

The priest shook his head and said: "There was once a head catcher of the county government who took charge of this matter and led someone to arrest the person, and it is said that he still got the stolen goods, but later, Chen Cai, the chief steward of the brotherhood, personally went to the county government to ask for someone, and the county government released that person...... Since then, the head catcher of the county government has stopped catching black tiger thieves in the city. ”

"The county government released the suspect?" Zhang Zhai asked in surprise.

"It is estimated that it is forced by public opinion." The priest explained: "When the county government released the suspect, nothing happened, but a few days ago, there was a riot among the people in the city, according to my inquiry, it was because Ji Rong, the general of the Nanyang Army, seized the Black Tiger Yishe, and seized more than a dozen workshops in cooperation with the Brotherhood, which angered the Kunyang people, and I heard that thousands of Kunyang people surrounded the county government that day, and asked the county government to come forward to expel the Nanyang Army and cancel the seizure of the Black Tiger Yishe and the dozen or so workshops...... In the end, Yingchuan County sent a post supervisor named Xun Yi, who came forward to negotiate with Ji Rong, Ji Rong then withdrew from Kunyang County, led the army to the north of the county to suppress thieves, and those who were arrested by him, that is, the Black Tiger Yishe and the Brotherhood's officers, stewards, were released by the Kunyang County Government on the same day, it is said that the county order Liu Bi also pushed the guilt to the Nanyang Army, so the Kunyang people were very disgusted with Nanyang County. ”

"That's a ......"

The more Zhang Zhai listened, the more frightened he became.

In the following days, Zhang Zhai and several sergeants accompanying him continued to inquire about the Brotherhood and the Black Tiger Thieves in the city.

As they investigated, more and more evidence proved that behind the Brotherhood was the Black Tiger Thief, but for some reason, the Kunyang County Ya ignored this and ignored the development of the Brotherhood; And the people of Kunyang have special respect for the brotherhood, which leads to the fact that in just a few months, the brotherhood has become an unshakable force in Kunyang County.

At this time, Zhang Zhai realized that he had underestimated the black tiger thief.

The Black Tiger Thief is not a bandit with only a few hundred people at all, it is more ...... than most bandits in the world Terrible!

Right!

To describe the black tiger thief as powerful, Zhang Zhai thinks it is just right.

Because the black tiger thief is a bandit, it has achieved the point of 'the people are not afraid' and 'the officials are not raised', and it seems that it only nests in Yingshan in the north of the county, and only attacks the caravans passing under the mountain all day long, grabbing a fortune to buy roads, but in fact, these people have already extended their hands to the county seat, wearing the coat of 'brotherhood', and controlling most of Kunyang County.

It's really ...... Amazing!

『…… If I guess correctly, then what kind of good man Chen Hu, as well as Chen Cai, the chief steward of the Brotherhood, and Ma Hong, the steward of the Black Tiger Yishe, these people are all black tiger thieves...... Even, even in the county government of Kunyang County, there are people who are black tiger thieves, otherwise the county government will not ignore the black tiger thieves...... Could it be that the black tiger thief secretly controlled the local county magistrate, the county lieutenant and the county magistrate?"

In the inn where he stayed, Zhang Zhai paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, thinking about this matter.

"This is a bonus."

Zhang Zhai rubbed his hands, feeling a little excited.

Originally, he came to Kunyang just to see how the black tiger thief He De could actually alarm Wang Shangde, so that Wang Shangde sent an army of 2,000 people across the county to encircle and suppress this group of bandits, until he found out about the black tiger thief, he realized that this group of bandits he had never seen before.

Who would dare to believe the bandits who secretly manipulated a county?

Thinking of the excitement, he immediately summoned a few sergeants accompanying him and asked, "He Xuan, you said yesterday that Chen Cai, the chief steward of the Brotherhood, mostly stays in the Brotherhood workshop in the south of the city on weekdays?" ”

"Yes." The righteous man named He Xuan nodded, and then asked, "Envoy, do you want to see him?" ”

Zhang Zhai nodded and said in a deep voice: "I want to meet the leader of the Black Tiger Thief, Zhou Hu, through this person." …… This person is not simple, quietly controlling a county in his hands, have you ever seen such a bandit? If we can persuade that Zhou Hu to fall to the righteous army, our righteous army will be able to get a general! ”

Hearing this, a sergeant said: "Although the idea of the envoy is good, but right now, Ji Rong is leading two thousand soldiers to surround and suppress the black tiger thief's lair, and I heard that there are only a few hundred black tiger thieves......"

As if guessing the mind of this famous soldier, Zhang Zhai shook his head and said, "What if the black tiger thief's lair is broken by the Nanyang army? Its foundation is still there, and the Brotherhood is the foundation of the Black Tiger Thief, and as long as the Brotherhood is still there, the Black Tiger Thief cannot be completely defeated......"

On the same day, Zhang Zhai wrote a letter by himself, and immediately took He Xuan and several other scholars to the brotherhood workshop in the south of the city.

At this time, the Chengnan Workshop had resumed operation, and when Zhang Zhai and others walked into the workshop, he saw hundreds of local people working in the workshop, sewing leather or sewing flags, very busy.

Noticing Zhang Zhai and the others, a man with a scar on the corner of the workshop immediately stepped forward: "What are you doing under your feet?" ”

Glancing at the scar on the other party's forehead, which seemed to have been injured by a weapon, Zhang Zhai said quietly: "In Xia Zhang Zhai, he is a businessman who has just arrived in your land, and he heard the name of the chief steward of Chen Cai Chen of your association, so he came to pay a visit. ”

Seeing Zhang Zhai claiming to be a businessman, the man immediately had a smile on his face, and raised his hand to invite: "The chief steward is in the compartment over there, I'll lead you there, please." ”

"Please."

Under the guidance of the man, Zhang Zhai and the others came to a compartment not far away, only to see the man push open the door and shout towards the house: "Old ...... Uh, the chief steward, there's a businessman surnamed Zhang who has come to visit you. ”

"Please come in."

After getting permission, Zhang Zhai led people into the house, and at this time he saw a slightly thin man greet him warmly, and bowed his hand and said: "In Xia Chen Cai, I don't know what to call the honorable driver?" ”

Zhang Zhai hugged his fists and said: "In Xia Zhang Zhai, he is a businessman from a foreign country, and when he first arrived in your place, he heard the name of Steward Chen, and he came to visit him, hoping to cooperate with the brotherhood." ”

"It's easy to say, it's easy to say." Chen Cai laughed, and enthusiastically stepped forward to hold Zhang Zhai's hand, as if he was about to pull the latter to the seat and sit down.

instinct made Zhang Zhai subconsciously break free.

“……”

Chen Cai was stunned, glanced at Zhang Zhai a few times meaningfully, and then looked at He Xuan and the others behind Zhang Zhai, then slowly took a few steps back and returned to the table, and said with a smile: "I guess Zhang Laojia, I'm afraid it's not an ordinary person......

Seeing that the other party was obviously wary, Zhang Zhai changed his hand to a fist, and said with a chuckle: "Please don't be surprised, Zhang has no malicious intent." ”

“…… Have a seat. ”

After taking a deep look at Zhang Zhai, Chen raised his hand to invite Zhang Zhai to take a seat, and immediately, he sat down opposite Zhang Zhai and asked with a little caution: "I don't know what you have to do when you come to see Chen?" ”

Seeing this, Zhang Zhai didn't hide it, took out a letter from his arms, and placed it on the table in front of the two.

Chen Cai glanced down, and immediately caught a glimpse of the letter's cover with the words 'Zhou Hu, the leader of the Black Tiger Village'.

Chen Cai's color changed slightly, but he quickly returned to normal, and said, "I don't understand." ”

Seeing that although the other party's complexion changed slightly, he could finally calm down, Zhang Zhai slightly improved his overall evaluation of the black tiger thief, and he smiled and said: "Please don't doubt it, Zhang has no malicious intentions, but sincerely wants to meet this person and cooperate with him." ”

Looking at Zhang Zhai and then at the letter on the table, Chen Cai lowered his voice and asked, "You...... Who is Zunjia? ”

Zhang Zhai smiled and said deliberately: "You waited in Nanyang County to spread rumors in our name, but today you asked me who I am?" ”

“…… Nanyang County? ”

Chen Cai was stunned, and after reacting, a look of horror flashed in his eyes, and he lowered his voice and said, "Are you ...... Jingchu rebels? ”

"It's the rebels."

Zhang Zhai smiled, corrected Chen Cai's words in an irrefutable tone, and then got up and said goodbye: "Please tell your leader that Zhang is not here to investigate some of your previous behaviors, but to make friends with your leader, please be sure to take time to meet Zhang, maybe you and I can cooperate to do something...... Zhang waited for the good news of Steward Chen's 'Changji Inn' in Yangliu Lane in the city and said goodbye. ”

“……”

Chen Cai's face was tense, and he watched Zhang Zhai and the others leave.

In the afternoon of the same day, Chen Cai left the county seat, returned to the main village with Zhang Zhai's letter, and handed the letter to Zhao Yu.