Although he set the short-term goal of 'eradicating the black tiger thief', Yang Ding also understood that this matter should not be rushed, after all, that gang of bandits ......

It's not that simple!

In the afternoon of the same day, Yang Ding invited the county Cheng Guo Zhi and the county lieutenant Gao Chun to his house and explained to the two his development plan for Ye County.

The general plan was twofold: first, to find a way to bring back another Freemason founded by Weipp; Second, eradicate the black tiger thief.

After hearing this, Guo Zhi and Gao Chun looked at each other.

Although after listening to Yang Ding's story, the two of them could also see that the new county magistrate was trying to revive Ye County, but the two of them were really not sure.

Needless to say, the eradication of the black tiger thief has been suppressed in Kunyang County for more than two years, during which General Zhang Jing who coincided with this incident participated, and even, a while ago, Wang Shangde, the general of Nanyang, directly sent 2,000 soldiers to Kunyang to suppress the thieves, but even so, the black tiger thieves still could not be eradicated, which shows the difficulty of eradicating this bandit.

Compared to the eradication of the Black Tiger Thief, it is even more difficult to return to another Freemason founded by Weip.

No, Guo Zhi shook his head and said: "Although the idea of the adults is good, but I think that Wei Pu may not return to Ye County, and Lu Kuang will not tolerate Wei Pu's group of people returning to Ye County......"

Hearing this, Yang Ding remembered the conversation with Lu Kuang in the morning, and explained to Guo Zhi: "The county Cheng doesn't know, when I invited Lu Laojia to come to the county government in the afternoon, I mentioned this matter to him, and he said that if the county government can eradicate the black tiger thief, he is willing to think about it." ”

"Huh?"

Guo Zhi was stunned, then shook his head with a smile and said, "If it's just this level of commitment, I advise adults not to expect too much." …… Adults may not know that after the death of Zhao Ergongzi, Lu Kuang and Wei Pu fought and turned against each other in order to compete for control of the Freemasonry......" He sighed and continued: "At that time, the county government also came forward to dissuade him, but at that time, Mao Gong also passed away, and without Mao Gong in charge, the two did not listen to the county government at all. …… Today, Lu Laojia made a promise to the adults, I think it was probably out of fear of the Black Tiger Thief and the Kunye Mutual Benefit Association, and when he calmed down, he would probably regret it. ”

From the side, Gao Chun also shook his head with emotion and said, "Then Lu Kuang, it is absolutely impossible to ask Wei Pu and those people to return to Ye County." ”

Hearing this, Yang Ding realized that the contradiction between Lu Kuang and Wei Pu was far beyond his imagination, and he thought for a while and asked, "If Old Madam Mao comes forward, can't she persuade Lu Laojia and Wei Laojia to come forward?" ”

Guo Zhi shook his head and said, "Unless Mao Gong is reincarnated, or the second son of Zhao is resurrected...... Lu and Wei are the only ones who are in awe of these two, but adults also know that whether it is Mao Gong or Zhao Ergongzi, they are no longer alive, so they are ...... Lu Wei and the others had no scruples. ”

Hearing this, Yang Ding nodded slightly: "Since this is the case, this matter ...... Shelving it for the time being, and waiting for the long-term consideration in the future. There is also a crusade against the Black Tiger Thief, Yang wants to hear the views of the two, I heard that the county lieutenant Gao once joined forces with Kunyang County to crusade against the Black Tiger Thief, and once captured the thief village? ”

"Leave it at that...... Sort of. Gao Chun smiled bitterly when he heard this.

After all, he brought more than 500 officers and soldiers to Kunyang, but when he returned, there were only more than 100 people, and the families of the officers and soldiers who did not know how dangerous the thieves had gone through were resentful of him.

However, Yang Ding didn't know what was going on, and asked, "Then, has the county lieutenant ever seen that Zhou Hu?" ”

As soon as he heard this, Gao Chun knew that Yang Ding had misunderstood, so he shook his head and explained: "When I was humbly assisting Kunyang County to encircle and suppress the Black Tiger Thief, the leader of the Black Tiger Thief was not Zhou Hu, but Yang Tong......"

Speaking of this, he suddenly remembered what Zhang Jing said to them back then, and after frowning, he hesitated and said: "Speaking of that Zhou Hu, I suddenly remembered that General Zhang Jing had said a sentence back then, he thought that there was a 'strategist' among the black tiger thieves, and this person's eyesight and strategy were not weaker than him, but I didn't know who it was at that time. Looking back now, what General Zhang Jing suspected at that time was probably that Zhou Hu. ”

"Oh?" Yang Ding's face froze when he heard this: "Eyesight and strategy are not weaker than General Zhang Jing?" ”

Gao Chun nodded slightly, and then, he hesitated, clenched his fists and said: "General Zhang Jing did say so at that time, but according to what I saw from my humble position, I am afraid that Zhou Hu will be better than General Zhang......"

"......" Yang Ding looked at Gao Chun in disbelief.

Seeing this, Gao Chun told Zhang Jing about the most critical 'Xiangcun Battle' in the battle against thieves that day.

In his opinion, the battle of Xiangcun can be described as the fiercest battle between the officers and soldiers of his three counties and the black tiger thief, and it should also be the most fierce battle between Zhang Jing and that Zhou Hu in the secret battle of wits, it is no exaggeration to say that this battle is the key and turning point of the entire thief matter.

In that battle, Zhang Jing, known as the Five Tigers of Chenmen, made a serious mistake in judgment, on the one hand, he insisted on concluding that Ma Gai, the county lieutenant of Kunyang County, was the internal response of the Black Tiger Thief, and forcibly put him under house arrest, causing the officers and soldiers to lose a general in charge; On the other hand, Zhang Jing insisted that the black tiger thieves would attack the main village of officers and soldiers at night as he thought, so he did not send troops to support him who was stationed in Xiangcun at that time, causing him to lead 500 Yexian officers and soldiers to fight against the black tiger thieves pouring in from all directions in Xiangcun, which was almost defenseless, and only then did there be huge casualties.

Fortunately, at that time, there were Ma Gai's subordinates, and the head catcher of Kunyang County, Shi Yuan, led the supporting officers and soldiers to intercept Yang Tong, who wanted to return to the cottage, and defeated him with ease and waiting, and even Yang Tong died in this battle, otherwise, the officers and soldiers of his three counties may not be able to raise their heads that day.

Fortunately, Yang Tong died, and the black tiger thieves were in chaos, although Zhou Hu replaced Yang Tong as the leader of the thieves, he was unable to turn the tide, so he could only flee with the rest of the people.

Although this result seemed to be a great fortune in misfortune at the time, what if Zhang Jing had not made a mistake in judgment?

If Ma Gai was present that night, Gao Chun believed that they would be able to defeat the Black Tiger Thief in one fell swoop that night, cut the grass and eradicate the roots, and how could they give the Black Tiger Thief a chance to make a comeback?

He has always been obsessed with this matter, although he keeps saying that he has honored Zhang Jing, but he really can't have any respect in his heart.

After Gao Chun's last word fell, the room was silent, Yang Ding looked at Gao Chun in surprise, and then fell into deep thought.

After a while, he nodded and said: "Listening to the words of the county lieutenant, the black tiger thief is really not simple, but even so, Yang still wants to eradicate it, and he must not sit back and watch it infringe on the interests of my Ye County." …… If the county lieutenant doesn't mind, Yang hopes that the county lieutenant can recruit villagers and train them, and when the time is ripe for the spring next year, I will personally organize the matter of fighting thieves, eliminate the black tiger thieves, and return Ye County to a peace! ”

Yang Ding insisted on the attitude of suppressing thieves, which was quite in line with Gao Chun's appetite, and the latter immediately clenched his fists and said: "Humble duty!" ”

After a while, Guo Zhi and Gao Chun said goodbye and left.

At this time, Wei Dong, Wei Chi, father and son, who had been standing aside, finally spoke.

Wei Chi spoke first: "Young master, I didn't hear it wrong, right?" Zhang Jing? Zhang Jing of the Five Tigers of Chenmen? He couldn't clean up a group of bandits, but fell for the thieves' scheme? ”

Without waiting for Yang Ding to speak, Wei Dong stroked his beard and chuckled, "Fool! …… Zhang Jing's five people, who are the righteous sons of Chen Taishi, have followed Chen Taishi since childhood to learn literature and martial arts, and fought in the south and the north. If that Zhang Jing only had this ability, he would not be worthy of being called the Five Tigers of the Chen Gate. ”

"But ......"

Wei Chi pointed outside the house, and immediately, he suddenly said, "Isn't it that the county lieutenant Gao has any prejudice against Zhang Jing?" ”

Wei Dong stroked his beard and said, "I guess it is." As for the reason, it is probably as he said, Zhang Jing did not send troops to support him in Xiangcun that night, which caused heavy losses to the officers and soldiers of Ye County led by him......" nodded, and he added: "Gao Chun resents Zhang Jing because of this, but it is reasonable." ”

Wei Chi nodded as if he didn't understand, and then asked Yang Dingdao: "Young master, what do you think?" ”

Yang Ding frowned and pondered, until Wei Chi opened his mouth to ask, he said in a deep voice: "The old man is right, I don't think it's Zhang Jing's misjudgment, but ......"

After a pause, he explained: "Although there are only a few words from the county lieutenant Gao, I can roughly guess what Zhang Jing thought that day. Zhang Jing must have caught some flaw in Ma Gai at that time, and concluded that the lieutenant of Kunyang County was the internal response of the black tiger thief, so he set up a plan in the middle of the plan, deliberately divided the troops, and lured the black tiger thief to attack the main camp of his officers and soldiers...... By making such a move, it is clear that he should have concluded that Ma Gai would report to the Black Tiger Thief. But I didn't expect things to go wrong, either Zhang Jing guessed the wrong identity of Ma Gai, and Ma Gai was actually not the internal response of the black tiger thief; Or, Zhou Hu was a step above his skills, and immediately realized that Zhang Jing had identified Ma Gai, so he went his own way and attacked Xiangcun instead of attacking the main village of officers and soldiers. …… Personally, I think it should be the latter. ”

Wei Chi was surprised and asked, "Young Master, do you also think that Ma Gai is the internal response of the Black Tiger Thief?" ”

Yang Ding shook his head and explained, "I'm not sure about this matter. But as the old man said, the five tigers of Chenmen are by no means in vain. Since Zhang Jing believes that Ma Gai is the internal response of the Black Tiger Thief, what reason do I have to doubt the judgment of a general? ”

"Yes...... But according to Gao Chun, didn't Zhang Jing admit his mistake in the end? If that Ma Gai is really the internal response of the black tiger thief, shouldn't General Zhang take him down and torture him to force him to find out the truth? Wei Chi asked in amazement.

Yang Ding shook his head and said: "The five tigers of Chenmen are all people who are upright and keep their promises, they will do what they say, since Zhang Jing did not find evidence that Ma Gai secretly communicated with the black tiger thief, then he will definitely keep his promise and apologize to Ma Gai, even if he still insists in his heart that Ma Gai is the internal response of the black tiger thief...... As for the rest, I guess Zhang Jing was probably squeezed out by the county magistrate of the three counties at that time, and he was unhappy, so he simply ignored Ma Gai's affairs, anyway, the black tiger thief had already escaped into the mountains at that time. ”

Wei Dong glanced at Yang Ding and said in a condensed voice: "In other words, that Zhou Hu has a vision and strategy that is no less than Zhang Jing's?" ”

"Hmm."

Yang Ding nodded and said, "If this is the case, then the victory of the three counties to encircle and suppress the black tiger thieves that day is probably deliberately done by Zhou Hu......"

"Take the opportunity to get rid of Yang Tong, magpie nest dove occupy?" Wei Dong asked with a solemn face.

Yang Ding nodded slowly, paced a few steps in the room with his hands behind his back, and said in a deep voice: "That Zhou Hu, nine times out of ten, is the 'plotter' in Zhang Jing's mouth, and Yang Tong, I heard that he is just a brutal outlaw, since Zhou Hu's talent is no less than Zhang Jing, how can he be under Yang Tong for a long time?" ”

Speaking of this, he shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I didn't expect that it was such a fierce roadblocker." ”

No wonder he smiled wryly.

This morning, after listening to Lu Kuang's story about the Black Tiger Thief, he was full of interest and wanted to use the exploits of eradicating the Black Tiger Thief to gain the support and support of the Yexian County Government and the people in the county.

Especially that Zhou Hu, he actually had the intelligence to rival Zhang Jing!

A small Kunyang County, a small black tiger thief, there is such a talent hidden deeply?!

Seeing Yang Ding shaking his head and smiling bitterly, Wei Chi said disapprerovingly: "Now that the young master is here, I don't believe that Zhou Hu can still play any tricks." The young master may wish to borrow some soldiers from Wang Shangde, and when the time comes, I will personally tie the Zhou Tiger to the young master. ”

Yang Ding smiled slightly, and was noncommittal to Wei Chi's words.

It is true that he can indeed borrow troops from Wang Shangde, after all, he is a disciple of Wang Ying and Wang Taishi, and Wang Shangde is Wang Taishi's nephew, and both of them are valued people in the 'Wang family's party', Wang Shangde will naturally sell him this face, even if it is to borrow him 5,000 soldiers.

But the question is, if he borrowed 5,000 soldiers to exterminate the Black Tiger Thief, would it still be his Yang Ding's credit? No matter how you think about it, the people of Ye County will be grateful to Wang Shangde, not to him.

What's more, a while ago, there had been an incident of 'Nanyang Army crossing the county border to suppress thieves', which caused strong dissatisfaction from Li Min, the county guard of Yingchuan.

Of course, as long as he explains it to that Li Junshou well, I believe that Li Junshou will also give him a face.

At the same time, Zhao Yu had also returned to Kunyang County with Jingnu, Niu Heng and a number of black tigers.

After returning to the Baiji Inn in Kunyang County, Zhao Yu immediately wrote a letter, sent someone to Luyang County, and handed it to Liu Wei, the county commander, and asked the latter to find a way to go to Ye County to confirm it, and see if Ye County really had a new county lieutenant, and whether it was Yang Ding that Liu Jian had seen that day.

On the envelope, Zhao Yu wrote the word 'Zhou Zhong', which was his second fake identity after 'Zhou Hu', which was specially used to exchange letters with Liu Wei.

Originally, Zhao Yu didn't want to involve Liu Wei, Ding Wu and others in Luyang, and he had kept a certain distance from them before, but in view of the fact that 'Zhao Bing, the second son of the Zhao family in Linzhang, succeeded Luyangfang', Zhao Yu had to rely on the power of Liu Wei and Ding Wu, so when they met in Luyang a few days ago, he made an appointment with Liu Wei and exchanged letters with Liu Wei in the name of Zhou Zhong.

In this way, even if the letter accidentally falls into the hands of outsiders, the relationship between them will not be immediately exposed.

In just two days, this letter was delivered to Luyang County and to the county commander Liu Wei.

Seeing the 'Zhou Zhong' on the letter, Luyang County Ling Liu Jian immediately realized the owner of the letter.

He opened the letter and looked at it a few times, and his face showed a little surprise.

"The second son met Yang Ding in Ye County?"

Surprised, Liu Wei immediately sent someone to invite Ding Wu and handed the letter to the latter.

Ding Wu looked at it and said: "This is easy to do, I have a relationship with Gao Chun, I will find a reason to go to Ye County, but I don't know that Yang Ding." ”

Liu Yi thought for a while and said: "In this way, you go to see Gao Chun first, and ask him if there is a new county order in Ye County, if you get a definite answer, you come back and inform me, and I will go to Ye County again...... Luyang and Ye County have always had a friendship, even if Ye County has a new county commander to take office, I went to Ye County to visit, but it will not arouse suspicion, I have seen Yang Ding, even if I can't recognize him after more than ten years, I can also wait for the opportunity to test with words. ”

"Good!" Ding Wu nodded, and immediately took a few county guards to Ye County to visit Gao Chun.

At that time, Gao Chun was recruiting Xiang Yong, and suddenly a county magistrate came to report, saying that Ding Wu, the county lieutenant of Luyang, came to visit him, Gao Chun was very surprised, and immediately returned to the county government to meet Ding Wu.

After seeing Ding Wu, Gao Chun asked in surprise: "Ding Wu, what kind of wind blew you to my Ye County?" Do you have something important to do here? ”

Ding Wu casually lied and said: "It's nothing, recently Liu Gong thinks I'm too idle, and ordered me to practice the county guard, I'll come to see you, anyway, I have to practice, or let's get it together in the two counties again, how about it?" ”

Hearing this, Gao Chun was quite envious.

Envy what? Of course, he was envious of Ding Wuluo.

After all, there are no bandits in Luyang County - to be exact, there is no one in Taye County, but the problem is that the caravans in Taye County are frequently robbed by black tiger thieves when they pass through Kunyang, and those merchants who have been robbed and exploited always put the blame on him, and he is very annoyed about this.

In addition to envy, Gao Chun said happily: "It just so happens that I want to recruit a group of villagers to practice, can you share some of it for me?" ”

"Recruit the villagers?"

Ding Wu suddenly became suspicious, and asked puzzledly: "What are you recruiting Xiang Yong for?" ”

Gao Chun didn't doubt him, and sighed and explained, "It's not because of the black tiger thief? ”

As he spoke, he took the initiative to reveal to Ding Wu: "You don't know, there is a new young county magistrate in Ye County, who looks quite ambitious, probably wants to make some achievements, and was instigated by Lu Kuang, so he decided to recruit the black tiger thief in Kunyang, and ordered me to recruit the township brave to pretend to practice, and wait for the thief next year...... I'm supportive, but I'm afraid of death and injury. ”

"Ye County really has a new county magistrate."

Secretly saying a word, Ding Wu pretended to be surprised and asked Gao Chundao, "What?" Does Ye County have a new county order? I don't know what this prefectural order is called? ”

"The surname is Yang Mingding, the word Yanting, and a native of Handan." Gao Chun shrugged and said: "As far as Old Madam Mao knows, it seems to be a disciple of Wang Ying, the imperial master of the court. ”

The surname is Yang Mingding, the word Yanting, a native of Handan, and a disciple of Taishi Wang Ying, this new Yexian county magistrate, his identity is consistent with what Liu Wei said, Ding Wu was slightly surprised, and pretended to exclaim: "Such a big thing, you don't know me?" No, I have to go back and tell Liu Gong. ”

"What's the hurry?"

Gao Chun grabbed Ding Wu and said with a smile: "It's all here, stay at my house tonight, let's have a good drink." ”

Ding Wu couldn't refuse, so he stayed at Gao Chun's house that night and drank wine with Gao Chun in the middle of the night.

Early the next morning, Ding Wu set off to return to Luyang and told Liu Wei the news he had found.

After hearing the details of Yang Ding, Liu Wei was sure that this Yang Ding was Yang Ding, and it didn't matter if he went to Ye County or not, but since Ding Wu had already opened his mouth to Gao Chun, in order to avoid arousing suspicion, Liu Wei still went to Ye County on purpose.

Knowing that Luyang County Commander Liu Jian was visiting, Yang Ding, the new county magistrate of Ye County, was very surprised.

In addition to being surprised, he also realized his rudeness - with the friendship between Ye County and Luyang, he, the new official of Ye County, should take the initiative to go to Luyang to visit Liu Wei.

What's more, Liu Wei is much older than him.

Therefore, after seeing Liu Wei, Yang Ding bowed and saluted, and said to Liu Wei with apologies: "It should have been Yang who went to Luyang to visit Liu Gong, but it was really rude to bother Liu Gong to visit. ”

I have to say that, putting aside other factors, Liu Wei had a good impression of such a humble Yang Ding, waved his hand and said with a smile: "Yang County's order is serious. …… I don't know if Yang County Commander ever remembered that about ten years ago, when Liu was seeking an official in Handan, he had seen the county order from afar......"

"Huh?"

Yang Ding was stunned, with a little embarrassment on his face.

It's no wonder that he was famous in Handan back then, and I don't know how many people had seen him, but he remembered very little.

And the Liu County Commander in front of him is obviously not in his memory.

Fortunately, Liu Jian didn't care, anyway, he didn't come to appease this Yang Ding.

After some exchanges, Liu Wei got up to say goodbye, and Yang Ding personally sent him out of the county office.

At this time, Liu Wei has confirmed that this Yang Ding is the Yang Ding he saw in Handan, the beloved grandson of the former Situ Yang Tai, and after returning to the county government in Luyang County, Liu Wei immediately wrote everything he knew about Yang Ding's origin in the letter, and then sent his henchmen to Kunyang and handed it over to Zhou Gongzi of 'Zhou Zhong' of Baiji Inn.

Including Yang Ding's preparations for the crusade against the Black Tiger Thief, it was also vaguely written in the letter.

On October 28, after a light snowfall, Zhao Yu received a letter from Liu Wei, and at this time he was sure that the Yang Ding he saw that day was indeed the newly appointed county magistrate of Ye County, and at the same time, he also roughly understood how noble Yang Ding's identity was.

Putting aside the grandson of the former Situ Yang Tai, just being a disciple of Wang Ying, the imperial master, is no less than Zhang Jing, who is the righteous son of Taishi Chen.

This kind of character, Zhao Yu didn't want to provoke him, but unfortunately, the tiger is not harmful, and the tiger is harmful, looking at the news that Ding Wu found out from the mouth of the county lieutenant Gao Chun of Yexian County, it is obvious that Yang Ding has already targeted him - to be exact, he is targeting the black tigers.

"Want to use me as a stepping stone? This noble son from Handan is still confident enough."

Humming softly, Zhao Yu lit Liu Wei's book candle and watched the paper gradually burn to ashes.

When he met Zhang Jing, he could escape with his brothers in the village, after all, in his eyes, the Black Tiger Village was just a dead thing, and he gave up if he gave up, but now, his Black Tiger has set up many workshops in Kunyang County in the name of the Brotherhood, and it has taken root steadily, how can he stop because of a Yang Ding?

This is the foundation he has accumulated with great difficulty!

"Imminent...... What?'

Looking at the snow scene outside the window, Zhao Yu exhaled slightly.

At present, he can only hope for a large-scale counterattack by the rebels next year, and hope that his Black Tiger can take this opportunity to absorb refugees and grow rapidly, only in this way can he have the qualifications to play with Yang Ding, Wang Shangde, and Li Min, the commander of Yingchuan County.

He was thinking about it when suddenly someone helped him put on his coat.

Immediately, Jing Nu's gentle voice whispered: "The wind is cold, the young master is careful of catching a cold." ”

Zhao Yu smiled and nodded at Jingnu, and in an instant, a pair of plain hands passed under his ribs, and then, Zhao Yu felt as if something soft was pasted behind his back.

"Then again, next year, Jingnu will be sixteen years old......

He glanced back at Shizunu who was leaning on top of him.

Since the beginning of winter, Jingnu has shown a look of wanting to speak from time to time, and she will stick to him from time to time......

Hmm......

"That's what is imminent......

Zhao Yu frowned, realizing that things were not simple.