PS: Well, next time I'll just use the 'leave slip', will there be a bit of a formula?"

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Mao Gong has served in Ye County for more than 20 years, which can be described as a real 'parent official', compared to Yang Ding, the newly appointed county commander, where is the prestige not high, so when the rumor of 'Mrs. Mao was driven out of the rear office by the new county commander Yang Ding' rose in the county, the people in the county were angry.

That momentum was no less than the public opinion riot in Kunyang County last year because of the Nanyang Army.

Yang Ding could see at a glance that this was the Black Tiger Thief deliberately stirring up public opinion in order to retaliate against his hostility.

"It seems that the content of my conversation with Liu Bi, Ma Gai, and Li Xu is likely to leak to the Black Tiger Thief......

Yang Ding thought secretly.

After thinking about it, he tried to refute the rumors as soon as possible.

After all, no matter how prominent his identity is, public opinion is still his foothold, if he can't be accepted by the people of Ye County, then in the end, nine times out of ten it will be the end of his transfer - although after being transferred, he will go to other places to serve as a county commander, but it is enough to be easily succeeded by the conspiracy of the black tiger thief, Yang Ding naturally can't accept it.

Of course, although the public opinion in Ye County temporarily misunderstood Yang Ding, fortunately, the county government is still quite stable, because there is an old lady Mao who supports Yang Ding - although the old lady does not like Yang Ding, the descendant of the 'Wang family's party', but aside from this political position, she is not dissatisfied with Yang Ding's conduct, after all, in general, Yang Ding is still very good, and his conduct is also good.

In view of the support of the old lady, the Ye County officials headed by the county lieutenant Gao Chun and the county Cheng Guo Zhi naturally supported Yang Ding more firmly, and on the day the rumors broke out, Gao Chun led the county guards to patrol the streets to arrest the rumor-mongers who spread the rumors.

It is easy to arrest the rumor-mongers and quell the rumors, but it is not easy to put them into practice.

After all, the Black Tigers who were ordered to spread rumors were not fools, these people spread rumors in the city, often they escaped with one blow, spreading a few rumors that were unfavorable to Yang Ding, but they immediately escaped, and when the county officials of the county government knew about it, these people had already run away, leaving only a group of people who were suspicious of the rumors and talked about them - they couldn't arrest these people, right?

Because the rumors could not be caught in time, the rumors intensified, and the county lieutenant Gao Chun ran back and forth with people every day, but to no avail.

Because with the appearance of Gao Chun and others, the rumors immediately escalated, saying that the county lieutenant Gao Chun and other people in the county government had been bought by the new county order.

As a result, this fire burned to the head of the county government again, and burned to Gao Chun, Guo Zhi and other officials who had been promoted by Mao Gong, and the local people angrily scolded the county government officials, making the county government officials headed by Gao Chun and Guo Zhi miserable.

Or someone says that 'rumors stop at the wise', that is just self-comforting words, where are so many wise men in the world?

The vast majority of the people do not even know their own names, and their minds have not been enlightened, so it is natural that the crowd will follow the clouds, and once they are deliberately instigated by people with good intentions, the public opinion that originally tended to be good will be easily exploited.

In the end, Yang Ding could only ask Mrs. Mao to come forward, and through Mrs. Mao's face-to-face explanation, this gradually calmed down the hearts of the people of Ye County, who were in anger.

But soon, the rumor-mongers had a new trick, they claimed that Mrs. Mao had been controlled and threatened by Yang Ding, so even if Mrs. Mao came forward in person, it could not completely quell the rumors in Ye County, and it could only be said that it curbed its intensifying trend.

I have to say that it is in response to that sentence, spreading rumors with one mouth, refuting rumors and breaking legs.

The Black Tiger crowd only spread a few rumors, and Yang Ding was beaten to a rather unfavorable trough of public opinion, in this situation, where did Yang Ding still have the energy to think about a specific plan to crack down on the Black Tiger Thief? It's too late to refute the rumors.

It is worth mentioning that during this period, Wei Chi beside Yang Ding put forward an idea similar to 'treating others in the way of others', that is, sending people to Kunyang to spread rumors that were not conducive to the Black Tiger Thief and the Brotherhood, prompting the people of Kunyang to be suspicious of the Black Tiger Thief and the Brotherhood.

I have to say that Yang Ding and others really lack understanding of Kunyang and the Brotherhood - if you say bad things about black tiger thieves on the streets of Kunyang, it's nothing; But if you want to speak ill of the Brotherhood on the streets of Kunyang, you can only say that you are thinking too much, because on average, at least four out of ten people in Kunyang County are members of the Brotherhood.

In the end, the dozen or so Ye County County Guards who were arrested in Kunyang County Ya reported their identities in desperation, although the Kunyang County Ya maintained Ye County Ya on the surface, and did not comment on this, but in private, this matter spread in the city in just half a day, Yang Ding and others smeared the Black Tiger Thief, the Brotherhood, and the Kunye Mutual Benefit Association, but instead of achieving the goal, the prestige of the Ye County Ya fell in Kunyang County.

Of course, this matter is not completely without benefits, at least through this incident, Yang Ding can already be sure that the Brotherhood has secretly controlled the public opinion in Kunyang, and this means that if he wants to eradicate the Brotherhood in the future, he must have a legitimate and convincing name, otherwise, the situation of Ji Rong, the partial general of the Nanyang Army, that day is his future fate.

On the twenty-fifth day of the first month, when Ye County fell into a rumor that was extremely unfavorable to Yang Ding, Xun Yi, the governor of the western part of Yingchuan County, arrived in Ye County by carriage and met Yang Ding, the county commander of Ye County.

When he learned of Xun Yi's arrival, Yang Ding immediately guessed that this was the envoy of Li Min, the guard of Yingchuan County, so he had a lot of respect for Xun Yi.

I have to say that Yang Ding didn't know that this Xun Duyou was also friendly with the black tiger thief in private, so he still had a good impression of Xun Yi, but Xun Yi didn't have a good impression of Yang Ding.

It is also interesting to say, if Xun Yi had met Yang Ding a year earlier, I believe Xun Yi would have admired Yang Ding very much, because Yang Ding has the label of 'Wang's party' on his body, and his other conduct and etiquette are commendable, and he is much better than Zhou Hu, the leader of the black tiger thieves who 'makes a friend' at every turn.

But the bizarre thing is that after contact, Xun Yi felt in his heart that Yang Ding's charm was not as good as Zhou Hu.

It's no wonder, after all, good people, good officials, Xun Yi has seen a lot, but he has never met a person full of contradictions like Zhou Hu.

You say Zhou Hu is evil, right? He is evil!

Born as a thief, he forced Xiangcun, Fengcun and other villages in Kunyang County to submit to him, even he supervised the post, and the envoy sent by the county to supervise the township and county, that Zhou Hu dared to use a very, very cruel means to persecute him, forcing him to sign a confession of collusion with the black tiger thief.

But under this layer of malice, Xun Yi also saw the good side.

For example, in Xiangcun and Fengcun, which were controlled by the Black Tiger Thieves, the living conditions of the villagers were actually better than most of the villages in Yingchuan County; The brotherhood secretly established by the Black Tiger Thieves united with the Yexian merchants to provide a lot of stable jobs for the people of Kunyang; Even he ...... Well, that doesn't matter.

All in all, Zhou Hu is a very contradictory person, a bad party who can do good deeds, and a person who wanders between the right path and the wrong path.

And what Xun Yi hopes for is to pull this capable but misguided bandit leader back to the right path from the wrong path.

He personally feels that this matter is still very promising, after all, at present, not only is the Kunyang County Ya interested in recruiting Zhou Hu, but Zhou Hu is also willing to be recruited by the Kunyang County Ya, the only obstacle is that Zhou Hu takes care of the liquidation of the government and the imperial court, as long as this person's concerns can be dispelled, then the matter of recruiting An Black Tiger Thief will be a matter of course.

Considering that the black tiger thief does not hurt the people and disturb the people, nor does he offend the county seat, in fact, Xun Yi is not in a hurry, and waits patiently while persuading Zhou Hu.

However, at this moment, the new Yexian County Commander Yang Ding, a fledgling hairy boy, intervened in the internal affairs of Yingchuan County with his noble background, and asked Yingchuan County Warden Li Min to assist him in eradicating the Black Tiger Thief, which not only destroyed the tacit understanding between the Black Tiger Thief and the Kunyang County Ya, but also destroyed the Kunyang County Ya and his Xun Yi's purpose of recruiting the Black Tiger Thief, how can Xun Yi have a good impression of Yang Ding?

Driven by this emotion, Xun Yi didn't have much feeling about the public opinion riot in Ye County.

Of course, he could guess that this must have been provoked by Zhou Hu ordering the black tiger thief, but he didn't have any resistance in his heart, but felt that Zhou Hu was excusable for doing this-if he didn't use rumors to contain Yang Ding, what else could Zhou Hu do? Recruit troops and do it face to face with Ye County?

In view of the fact that the black tiger thief once resisted the encirclement and suppression of the officers and soldiers of the three counties, and even severely injured the officers and soldiers of the three counties, Xun Yi did not think that Zhou Hu was afraid of Yang Ding, on the contrary, he felt that Zhou Hu was restrained because he wanted to abandon the dark and turn to the light.

Therefore, Xun Yi admired Zhou Hu very much in his heart, as for Yang Ding...... It's even less favorable.

On the same day, Xun Yi handed over the letter from Yingchuan County Shou Li Min to Yang Ding, although he did not refuse Yang Ding's invitation to set up a banquet for him, but he did not show any enthusiasm, he ate casually with a cold face, and then left immediately, as if he first came to Kunyang County.

This made Yang Ding feel very puzzled, and asked his hometown general Wei Dong in private: "Old man, did I offend this Xun Du Post somewhere?" ”

Wei Dong frowned, and he couldn't say why.

Although the meeting with Xun Yi was not pleasant, the letter from Li Min, the commander of Yingchuan County, brought good news to Yang Ding.

In the letter, Li Min said that he acquiesced to Yang Ding's encirclement and suppression of the Black Tiger Thieves across the county border, and also promised to send troops to support Yang Ding if necessary.

Although between the lines, Yang Ding could also see that this Li Junshou was a little unhappy, but the latter finally agreed to his plea and made a promise to 'send reinforcements if necessary'.

It is undeniable that Li Junshou has done his best.

"I owe Li Junshou a favor this time."

When putting away the letter, Yang Ding said to Wei Dong with emotion.

The acquiescence of Li Min, the warden of Yingchuan County, meant that Yang Ding could finally use troops against the Black Tiger Thieves who crossed the county border against Kunyang without worrying about offending Yingchuan County, but unfortunately, the Black Tiger Thieves' trick of spreading rumors made it impossible for him to immediately send troops to encircle and suppress them.

Fortunately, it's only the first month of the year, and he still has time.

At the beginning of February, in view of the appearance of Old Madam Mao, the rumors in Ye County were effectively contained, although the black tigers lurking in Ye County were still sparing no effort to make up rumors that were unfavorable to Yang Ding, but in general, the craze of rumors had gradually receded.

This is also something that can't be helped, after all, the most prestigious old lady Mao in Ye County is now on Yang Ding's side.

The craze of rumors gradually subsided, and the dissatisfaction and hostility of the people of Ye County towards the county government gradually dissipated.

There was no problem with money and food, and Lu Kuang of the Luye Freemasons promised to bear all the expenses, as long as he could eradicate the black tiger thief - at least severely damage the black tiger thief.

It is worth considering the aspect of troops.

In fact, generally speaking, Yang Ding actually did not lack troops, as long as he wanted to, he could borrow troops from Nanyang General Wang Shangde at any time, and I believe that Wang Shangde would sell him face to some extent; In addition to this, he can also implore Yingchuan County to send troops, after all, the county guard Li Min has promised to send reinforcements if necessary.

It's just that once the Nanyang army is invited, or the army of Yingchuan County is invited, then the priority of encircling and suppressing the black tiger thieves this time has changed, and he still hopes that this time the thieves can be mainly in Taye County.

After learning of Yang Ding's considerations, the county Cheng Guo Zhi offered a plan: "This time to encircle and suppress the black tiger thieves, if the adults intend to focus on my Ye County, then it is better to invite Runan and Xiangcheng counties to participate." …… Runan is similar to my Ye County, and is also deeply harmed by the black tiger thieves, so when Kunyang County invited Runan to participate in the suppression of thieves, Runan did not refuse, and I think Runan should not refuse this time. ”

From the side, County Cheng Gao Chun hesitated for a moment, and also said: "What Guo County Cheng said is extremely true. The black tiger thief occupies the main road in the north of Kunyang County all the year round, and what it infringes on is not only the interests of my Ye County, but also at least Runan and Xiangcheng. ”

After a pause, he said again: "In fact, the adults may also be able to invite Luyang County. ”

"Luyang County?"

Yang Dingwei frowned and asked, "If you remember correctly, Luyang is located to the west of Yingshan, there should be no black tiger thieves there, right?" ”

Gao Chun nodded and said: "Yes, there are no black tiger thieves in Luyang County, but Luyang has a very deep friendship with my Ye County, especially after Zhao Ergongzi proposed 'Lu Ye Gongji' back then, the relationship between the two counties is even closer......

Yang Ding pondered for a moment and asked, "What is the strength of the county guard of Luyang County?" ”

Gao Chun swore and said: "My lord doesn't know, Luyang is located in the three mountains, although it is located in the middle of nowhere, the county's finances are far inferior to my Ye County, but the people are fierce, there are still black tiger thieves in the east of Yingshan, but Luyang in the west of Yingshan, but there is no place for thieves to stand on, and its county lieutenant Ding Wu is even more outstanding, ten times more than my ......"

Hearing this, Yang Ding nodded again and again: "Okay!" Then invite Lu Yang to participate in the suppression of thieves. ”

On the same day, Yang Ding sent messengers to Luyang, Runan, and Xiangcheng counties respectively, but Kunyang was missed.

It's not that he excluded Kunyang, it's just that he didn't want to startle the snake when he considered that Kunyang County might have the internal response of the black tiger thief - wait until Luyang, Runan, and Xiangcheng counties agreed to this matter, and then inform Kunyang I don't know.

With the acquiescence of Li Min, the guard of Yingchuan County, does Kunyang County dare not obey?

I have to say that Yang Ding's consideration is quite careful, but unfortunately, he never thought that it was not only Kunyang County Ya that had something to do with the Black Tiger Thief.

A day later, Luyang County was the first to receive Yang Ding's letter.

After receiving the letter, Liu Jian immediately summoned the county lieutenant Ding Wu to discuss the matter.

Ding Wu thought for a while and said: "Luyang and Ye County have an agreement to 'help each other in the same boat', this matter is known to both counties, and now Ye County advocates crusading against the black tiger thief, if I Lu Yang refuses, I may be suspected by someone with a heart, and Liu Gong cannot be refused." …… It is better for me to lead my troops and act at the opportune moment. ”

"Hmm." Liu Wei nodded.

On the same day, Liu Wei wrote two letters, one was sent to Ye County and handed over to Yang Ding, expressing his willingness to help; The other letter was quickly sent to the Baiji Inn in Kunyang and handed over to Zhao Yu's other pseudonym 'Zhou Zhong'.

What is quite interesting is that at the same time that Runan and Xiangcheng counties received Yang Ding's letter, Zhao Yu also received Liu Wei's letter, and learned that Yang Ding wanted to gather Yexian, Luyang, Luyang, Runan, and Xiangcheng counties to encircle and suppress the black tiger thieves.

If you are facing a big enemy, it won't be, after all, Yang Ding's so-called 'five-county coalition', in the end, it will only be Yexian, Runan, and Xiangcheng counties will do their best, but then again, this is a headache after all.

After thinking about it, he sent someone to inform the Black Tiger Main Village, and ordered Guo Da, Chen Mo and others to prepare to deal with the enemy, while waiting to see what happened.

Towards mid-February, following Luyang, Runan and Xiangcheng counties successively replied to Ye County.

As Guo Zhi and Gao Chun guessed, Runan was very much in favor of the encirclement and suppression of the Black Tiger Thieves, in contrast, although Xiangcheng agreed, there was a meaning to dissuade Ye County in his words.

After learning of this, Lu Kuang, the president of the Luye Freemasonry, said indignantly to Yang Ding: "It must be Huang Fu, Huang Shao and others who are behind the ghosts. ”

Originally, the Yexian businessmen headed by Huang Fu and Huang Shao also had a lot of influence in Xiangcheng, and these businessmen were also members of the Luye Freemasonry, so they were naturally safe, but now, the Yexian businessmen led by Huang Fu and Huang Shao had already reversed the Luye Freemasonry and founded the Kunye Mutual Benefit Association with the brotherhood in Kunyang, so Xiangcheng naturally became a battlefield for the two groups of Yexian businessmen.

There is a black tiger thief stuck in Kunyang, specifically targeting the Luye Freemasonry, where is the Luye Freemason merchant in Xiangcheng who is the opponent of the Kunye Mutual Benefit Association? Hit by the latter, the ground was defeated and retreated.

Fortunately, the reputation of the Luye Freemasonry is still big, or Yang Ding, as a disciple of Taishi Wang Ying, is too prominent, otherwise Xiangcheng County may not respond to Ye County's suppression of thieves.

On 15 February, Ding Wu, the lieutenant of Luyang County, led 500 county soldiers to Ye County, and Yang Ding led the county officials out of the city to greet them.

On 18 February, Yang Ding temporarily handed over the county affairs of Yexian County to Guo Zhi, the county leader, and led about 1,000 officers and soldiers from Yexian and Luyang counties to Kunyang County with Wei Dong and Wei Chi, Gao Chun, and Ding Wu.

On 20 February, officers and men from Yexian and Luyang arrived outside Kunyang County.

On 21 February, Huang Ben, the county lieutenant of Runan, arrived in Kunyang with 500 county soldiers.

On 23 February, Zou Bu, the county lieutenant of Xiangcheng, arrived in Kunyang with 500 county soldiers.

On 24 February, Yang Ding held a meeting to encircle and suppress the black tiger thieves at his station outside Kunyang County, and discussed the matter of encircling and suppressing the black tiger thieves with the county magistrates of Gao Chun, Ding Wu, Huang Ben, Zou Bu, and Ma Gai.

Zhao Yu, who learned of this, felt sorry.

If he hadn't met Yang Ding in Ye County, he was afraid that Yang Ding would recognize him, otherwise he really wanted to go in and listen to it and see what tricks Yang Ding, the so-called prodigy who was famous in Handan back then, had.