On June 29, around the end of the hour, Le Gui, the small leader of the Black Tigers, led two hundred villagers to enter the city from the West City Gate of Kunyang County, and went straight to the Black Tiger Righteous House in the city.

At this time, the Black Tiger Righteous House had been temporarily closed due to Kunyang County's entry into 'wartime control', and it became a gathering place for the Black Tiger people, including Zhao Yu, the big and small leaders of the Black Tiger Village and the ordinary villagers all lived in this street.

In order to prevent frightening the people of Kunyang who lived on this street, Zhao Yu instructed the villagers to erect a sign at the entrance and end of the street to comfort the people.

Around the middle of the day, Kunyang County Wei Ma Gai took the head catcher Shi Yuan towards the Black Tiger Righteous House, and saw a group of people around this wooden sign on the way, while looking curiously, while listening to the people who recognized the words read the words on the wooden card word by word.

Ma Gai and Ishihara also squeezed in to take a look.

I saw that the top of the wooden plaque was carved with the silhouette of a prostrate long-tailed black tiger, although it was a little less domineering of the tiger, the 'black tiger' seemed to be hunting, which still made people instinctively feel dangerous.

Under the silhouette of the black tiger, rows of small characters are densely carved, and Ishihara takes a closer look, only to know that it is the village rules of the black tiger village.

These village rules stipulate that the villagers shall not betray the leader, shall not betray the cottage, shall not betray the brothers, shall not resist the order, shall not kill innocent people indiscriminately, shall not betray righteousness for money, and so on.

In particular, under the font of the clauses such as 'do not disturb the people' and 'do not kill indiscriminately', a horizontal line is deliberately drawn in black ink to emphasize it.

And at the bottom, there seems to be a friendly reminder from the black tiger thief to the neighborhood: Most of the brothers in the village are unruly, and they don't quarrel or quarrel with their neighbors, don't provoke, but the two are fine.

Just as Ma Gai and Ishihara looked at the words on the wooden sign, some onlookers noticed them and asked one after another.

"Lieutenant Ma, Shi Zhutou, why, why did those black tiger thieves (whisper) come to the city?"

“…… Aren't they bandits from the north to the mountains? Why did the county government allow them to enter the city? ”

In the face of the gossip of inquiry, Ma Gai pressed his hand and explained to everyone: "Fellow villagers and neighbors, this is the case. …… Recently, there was a rebellion in the south, and with the help of some green forest thieves, that group of rebels killed and looted along the way, raped and did all kinds of evil. Knowing that these murderers were approaching my Kunyang, Liu Gong and Li Xiancheng proposed to unite the black tiger thieves in the north of the county...... You have all heard of the Black Tiger Thief, although the Black Tiger Thief is a thief, but they do not kill indiscriminately, let alone rob civilians, and the most important thing is that they go up to the big leader Zhou Hu, down to the ordinary thieves, all have a belief in jointly defending Kunyang, and do not allow the rebel army to do anything wrong in my Kunyang, therefore, the county government decided to cooperate with the Black Tiger Thief to jointly fight against the rebel army and the Green Forest Thief. ”

Speaking of this, he also reminded everyone: "On this wooden plaque, there are engraved the rules of the Black Tiger Village, which must have been erected by the leader of Zhou Hu in order to eliminate the fear of the neighbors, as engraved by this wooden plaque, the Black Tiger Thieves also have the rules of the village, as long as the neighbors do not provoke them and insult them, I believe they will not be unfavorable to you." ”

"Really, really?" A neighbor asked in surprise.

"Of course!" Ma Gai smiled and swore solemnly: "Leader Zhou has made a promise to the county government that they attach the most importance to the credibility of the underworld, and they will never go back on their word. Moreover, Ma will always send people to keep an eye on them to ensure that no black tiger thief will violate the rules of the village and be detrimental to you. ”

Hearing this, the people present breathed a sigh of relief and exchanged their heads one by one.

Immediately, the men were involved in the rebels and the Green Forest Thieves, and Ma Gai explained to them for a moment before taking Ishihara out with him.

Seeing Ma Gai get out of the crowd with a somewhat tired face, Ishihara couldn't help but laugh, but he couldn't laugh at the thought that they were about to meet Zhou Hu.

He lowered his voice and said to Ma Gai: "County lieutenant, it is probably not a wise move to seek skin with the tiger." That Zhou Hu wanted to replace Liu Gong and replace the county government to control Kunyang, this ambition was clearly revealed yesterday, and he thought that the county government should think of countermeasures as soon as possible, otherwise, the county government would be enslaved by Zhou Hu in the future. ”

"How do you know that the county government has not been enslaved by Zhou Hu right now?"

Ma Gai glanced at Ishihara and said slowly: "Kunyang needs Zhou Hu, his resourcefulness, his foresight, his ruthlessness, and his means...... What you are thinking, when I Kunyang has the ability to stop the rebel army, it is not too late to think about it. ”

Hearing this, Ishihara nodded silently, after all, he also understood that now it is said that there are hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands of rebel troops and green forest thieves coercing the people to push the troops here, Rao is he had dealt with the rebel army in Jiangxia County back then, and he couldn't help but feel a little at a loss in the face of this number of enemies, not knowing what to do, and not knowing if he could resist the rebel army.

At this point, yesterday's Zhou Hu was calm and calm from beginning to end, and even talked and laughed, Ishihara had to admire: worthy of being the head of the black tiger thief!

Talking and chatting with Ma Gai, the group soon came to the Black Tiger Righteous House.

Originally, at this time, most of the people in front of the Yishe had lined up in front of the nearby people waiting for free food, but today, there are black tiger thieves everywhere near the Yishe, these people are leaning, standing, or squatting, with fierce faces and frivolous expressions, especially when they see their team of officers and soldiers when they play with a playful smile, and even whistle to show provocation, Ishihara stretched out his hand to hold down the hilt of the sword, and endured his temperament so that he did not have a seizure.

Fortunately, at this time, the leader of the black tiger thief heard the movement outside the house, and came outside the house to stop the provocation of those people: "Hey! ”

Immediately, the leader walked up to Ma Gai and Ishihara, and said with a smile: "Captain Ma, Shi Zhutou." ”

"Chief Stable."

Ma Gai and Ishihara hugged their fists and said hello, it turned out that the person was the chief steward of the Black Tiger Righteous House, or the head of the house, one of the 'Nine Thieves of Yingshan', Ma Hong, who was alias Ma Hong.

"Is Leader Zhou in Yishe?"

"In. …… The county lieutenant and the stone catcher please. ”

"Please."

After a few words of greeting, Ma Gai and Ishihara walked into the righteous house with a few county guards, only to see that at this time, there were black tiger thieves sitting everywhere in the righteous house, these people looked at Ma Gai and others in official uniforms with vicious and playful eyes, or laughed provocatively, or whistled a few times, Ma Gai and Ishihara did not see or hear.

Walking straight to the second floor, Ma Gai and Ishihara saw Zhou Hu with a tiger mask sitting at a table, holding a brush and writing and drawing on a piece of paper.

Ma Gai and the others took a closer look, only to find that the leader of the black tiger thief was drawing a map, a map containing Kunyang, Runan, Xiangcheng, Yexian, Wuyang and other counties.

"Lieutenant Ma."

Noticing the arrival of Ma Gai and the others, Chen Mo nodded towards the former.

Ma Gai nodded in return.

At this time, Zhao Yu, who was drawing a map, also noticed Ma Gai and the others, so he put down the brush in his hand and looked at Ma Gai, and asked, "Has the county government started to act?" ”

"Yes." Ma Gai hugged his fists and said: "Liu Tu and Chen Gui have gone out of the city to Xiangcun and other villages, and persuaded them to move to the county seat, He Feng and Yang Dang, two heads, also with the help of Chen Cai, led the crowd from the north city gate to cut down trees and bamboo, but it is easy to cut down forests, but it is difficult to move back to the city, relying on the brothers of the brotherhood alone, I am afraid that the date will not be too ......late."

"It doesn't matter." Zhao Yu shook his head and said, "When you go out of the city to recruit troops, you can draw some people to help carry them." …… You're here for recruitment, aren't you? ”

Ma Gai nodded and said, "Yes." ”

Seeing this, Zhao Yu turned his head to look at Chen Mo and gestured, "Grand Commander? ”

"Hmm."

Chen Mo nodded, and shouted at Wang Qing, who was lying in the corner to rest, "Wang Qing, let's go." ”

Wang Qing opened one eye, and immediately stood up scoldingly, and walked out of the house.

Watching Wang Qing, Chen Mo, and Ma Gai walk out of the house one after another, Ishihara glanced at Zhao Yu, who was still continuing to draw the map, with a complicated expression, and the thumb of his left hand holding the hilt of the sword unconsciously flicked it.

Once upon a time, Zhou Hu, the leader of the black tiger thieves he wanted to eradicate, was only a foot away from him at this moment......

"Is there anything else going on with the stone catcher?"

Inside the house, a woman's crisp voice suddenly sounded.

Ishihara turned his head to look, and Xuan even saw a woman beside Zhou Hu who was also wearing a tiger mask, her white hand already holding the hilt of the sword.

Seeing that Zhao Yu, who was drawing a map, also looked up, Ishihara lowered his head and said, "No, no." …… Farewell. ”

“……”

Zhao Yu and Jingnu watched him walk out of the room, and in an instant, the latter stammered down the stairs.

"Just now, he seems to want to be unfavorable to the young master." Jingnu whispered.

"Normal." Zhao Yu smiled slightly, and said with a smile while drawing a map: "But he didn't dare." …… Because he's a smart man, he knows that Kunyang needs me right now......"

"I'm afraid he will be bad for the young master in the future." Jingnu said worriedly.

"In the future?"

Under the mask, the corners of Zhao Yu's mouth raised a few smiles, shook his head and said: "Now he is sent by me, and he will not be able to leave my palm in the future, whether it is this Shiyuan, or Liu Bi, Ma Gai, Li Xu, or the entire Kunyang ......"

Yes, he has that self-confidence.

Not to mention that Zhao Yu relied on his memory to draw a map of Kunyang and the surrounding counties, but also Chen Mo, Ma Gai, Wang Qing, and Shi Yuan.

After leaving the Black Tiger Righteous House, they came to the south gate of the city and ordered the soldiers guarding the city to open the gate.

The heavy city gate slowly opened, and the movement was quite large, which naturally attracted many refugees gathered outside.

From yesterday to today, most of the refugees have spent the night starving outside the city, and of course, it is not excluded that some people have made a mess of the fields outside the city by filling their hunger with crops that are not yet ripe in the nearby fields.

Now, when they heard the city gate of Kunyang County open, these refugees were very excited.

Could it be that Kunyang County is willing to accept them?

In the excitement, the men and women stood up one by one and rushed to the city gate like a tidal wave, and then they suddenly stopped.

For they saw that from the slightly open gate came out two groups of soldiers, one dressed in the garb of a county guard, wearing armor and holding spears; The other team wore black scarves and armor, but these people did not serve neatly under the leather armor, and they wore everything in a mess.

And at the head of the walk is the county government head catcher Shi Yuan, and the leader of the black tiger thieves, Wang Qing's subordinate Le Gui.

“……”

After glancing at each other, Ishihara and Legui waved their hands behind them with a tacit understanding, and in an instant, several people from each side walked out carrying a table, one on the left and one on the right, on both sides of the city gate.

During this period, some people also put up a wooden sign on the ground outside the city, and three words were written on the wooden board: Recruitment Office.

After the preparations were ready, Ishihara hugged his fists towards the refugees in front of him, and said loudly: "I am the head catcher of the county government in the city, Ishihara, on the orders of Liu County and Ma County, I want to select a group of athletes from among you and others to resist the rebels and green forest thieves, and defend my Kunyang County together.......

Before he could finish his words, a group of strong young men rushed towards him, bluffing Ishihara into subconsciously holding down the hilt of his sword while shouting loudly, "...... Soldiers with experience fighting the rebels and county soldiers in other counties are preferred. ”

Immediately, someone shouted in the crowd surrounding him: "Me! I! I'm a county magistrate in Yang'an County......"

As soon as the voice ended, others rushed to shout.

"I'm the county magistrate of Guanyang County......"

"I'm a ...... from Pingyu County"

Almost in the blink of an eye, more than two dozen young people who were county officials enthusiastically signed up.

"Okay, okay, line up, come one by one."

While calming the agitated refugees, Ishihara turned to the table and began to recruit soldiers, recording the names, places of origin, and specialties of the recruits.

Seeing the 'hot' scene on the other side, Le Gui, who was responsible for recruiting troops on the Black Tiger side, couldn't hold back, after all, as a member of the Black Tiger Crowd, he was also in a hurry to be picked by the county government, leaving them with a group of crooked melons and cracked dates - how can this work?

However, unlike Ishihara, who can report himself without any worries, how he introduces himself is really a problem.

How so?

Said that his Black Tiger Crowd is actually a group of bandits who are about to become good?

This grade is inevitably too far away next door......

So Legui was clever and shouted loudly: "Come on, come on, there are few people here, you can also line up here, it's all the same." ”

“……”

Glancing next door, Ishihara forcibly swallowed back the scolding that was about to blurt out.

All the same? Who the fuck is like you?

But unfortunately, under the premise of 'unanimously fighting the rebel army', the two sides were not allowed to tear each other down, so Ishihara could only pretend not to hear.

Some people may ask, can Legui's gang of black tiger thieves who wear black scarves and don't look like good people no matter how they dress or behave in words and deeds?

Actually, there really is.

No, seeing that there was already a long queue at Ishihara's table, and it would not be his turn for a while, many strong young people ran to Le Gui's side and asked eagerly, "A few adults, are you also recruiters?" ”

"Of course." Legui nodded.

"Is it with that side?" Someone asked, pointing to Ishihara's side.

"It's together." Le Gui said with an oath.

Well, in fact, he didn't lie, after all, in terms of 'fighting the rebels together', his Black Tiger Village and the county army are indeed together, but the people who receive them are each their own.

As a result, dozens of young men were immediately fooled, and they were very happy to record their names, places of origin and other information on Legui's 'recruitment book'.

But as the saying goes, paper can't hold the fire, and soon the refugees all knew that the group of recruiters wearing black scarves on their heads were not the head catchers or county guards of the Kunyang County Ya at all, but a group of bandits named the Black Tiger Thieves.

Upon learning of this, the dozens of young people who had joined the thief's den due to a misunderstanding were shocked, came to Le Gui with a pale face, and said timidly: "This ...... King, Fang Cai is a misunderstanding, I ...... I want to quit ......"

"Okay!"

Seeing that Le Gui, who was still smiling just now, suddenly straightened his face, pulled out his sword and slashed it on the table, and said viciously: "The state has national laws, and the village has rules, and if you enter my Black Tiger Village, that is the person from my Black Tiger Village, and you want to quit?" That's a traitor! A traitor can only die! …… I don't want you to join until today, so let's take it lightly, leave an arm, and you can go. ”

Saying this, the group of black tiger thieves behind him slowly walked up one by one with swords in hand.

"Leave an arm?"

The dozens of young people who were deceived were frightened.

"What? Would you like to leave a leg behind? Le Gui bluffed with a straight face.

The young man was so frightened that he shook his head and said, "No, no, then I won't quit." ”

"That's right."

Le Gui changed his smile again, put his arms around the neck of one of the young people, and comforted: "What do you say you are trying to do?" Isn't it just a bite to eat, you can get it by joining my Black Tiger Village. …… We still have wine, as long as you behave well. Ask the bastards next door, do they have any wine? ”

“……”

Probably the tip of his ear, Ishihara, who was in charge of recruiting and registering, turned his head to look at the music room next door.

However, Le Gui didn't notice Ishihara not far away, and still hugged the young man to comfort the deceived people: "As for my Black Tiger Village, that's right, our group of people are bandits." What happened to the bandits? Who said bandits can't defend the county? Yes? Kunyang is our territory......"

Ishihara in the distance couldn't help it, and scolded angrily: "Don't go too far!" Who said Kunyang is your Black Tiger Thief's territory?! ”

Not to be outdone, Le Gui and the others sneered: "Who said it wasn't? You county guards still have to listen to the dispatch of our leader! ”

Ishihara and other county officials were furious, and started scolding with the black tigers next door, but fortunately, Chen Mo, Ma Gai, Wang Qing and others, who were observing from the city tower at this moment, saw that the situation was not right, and immediately spoke up, and only then did they return to the previous state of the well water not violating the river water.

At this scene, the nearby refugees looked at each other: this Kunyang ...... What's the situation?

It has to be said that although the refugees generally did not understand why a group of bandits could 'recruit' outside the city, in view of the perception of good and evil, they still favored the side of the county government after all, which made Ishihara quickly recruit more than 500 strong young men, and there was still a long line in front of his table.

On the other hand, on Le Gui's side, except for the dozens of young people who were coaxed to join at the beginning, they were still squatting aside in fear at the moment, and there was nothing else to gain, and the table on his side was also empty.

"Boss, it can't go on like this."

There are black tigers next door, and they whispered to Le Gui: "They have accepted more than 500 people, and we only have a few ......."

"What's the hurry?"

Le Gui crossed his arms and said lightly: "Those bastards will collect two thousand people at most, and no matter how much they have, they won't be able to manage it, so it's a big deal that we'll collect them when they're full...... It's only the second day, and there are six or seven thousand refugees outside the city, and it will be even worse in a few days. ”

"Then let's just do it?"

Several Black Tigers sighed and looked at the next door boredly.

However, at this time, Ishihara next door encountered a headache for him.

It turned out that a young woman who was fifteen or sixteen years old, holding a girl who was only a few years old, lined up in front of Ishihara's table.

I saw this woman, although her face was yellow and thin, but she was faintly a little beautiful, she looked at Ishihara with a pleading face and said, "Master Headcatcher, you are doing well......

Ishihara hesitated for a moment and said embarrassedly, "This ...... Auntie, today our county government only recruits men......"

Without waiting for Ishihara to finish speaking, the young woman begged: "Master Head Catcher, my father and my mother, as well as my brother and my sister-in-law, were killed by thieves in Shangcai, and my sister-in-law entrusted her daughter to me before she was killed, and my aunt and nephew fled all the way here, and they haven't eaten for several days, Lord Head Catcher, can you let us into the city, I can endure hardships, as long as I can change a bite to eat, I can do anything......"

Ishihara glanced at the girl in the woman's arms, only to see that her lips were dry, her face was yellow, and her slightly dull eyes looked at Ishihara timidly, which made the latter feel quite unbearable.

But after hesitating for a while, he still politely refused: "This girl, my county government is considering soup kitchen, you can wait for ......."

However, the woman was very smart, and she knew that the evil green forest thief was behind her, and it was not safe to stay outside the city, so she continued to plead with Ishihara.

But it's a pity that Ishihara can't let him go, after all, there are so many people outside the city who want to enter the city, how can he, as a county official, take the lead in breaking the rules?

Just when the woman showed a desperate look, a black tiger thief next door to Le Gui suddenly teased: "The little woman with the girl, if you promise to be our mother-in-law, we can give you half of our rations and the little baby, and take you to a safe place." After that, he asked Le Gui beside him: "Boss, do you see it?" ”

"Hahaha." Legui laughed.

The woman looked at the group of giggling black tiger thieves not far away in astonishment, and although she was ashamed in her heart, she still mustered up the courage to ask, "You, can you let my aunt and nephew enter the city?" ”

Hearing this, Ishihara was shocked, he was afraid that the group of black tiger thieves would break the rules and cause chaos, so he immediately got up and shouted: "Legui, unless you are recruited, no one is allowed to enter the city, you don't have to break the rules!" ”

Raising his hand to signal the group of brothers around him not to quarrel with Ishihara, Le Gui said lightly: "Who said that you took them into the city?" Can I take them to the cottage? You are a little head catcher, and you can still manage my Black Tiger Village?! ”

"......" Ishihara was dumbfounded.

Indeed, Black Tiger Village is not under his jurisdiction, it was, and it is.

Just when he was depressed, the woman asked him in a low voice, "Master Headcatcher, these people ......?"

As if seeing through the woman's thoughts, Ishihara sighed slightly, and whispered inexplicably: "Over there in the Black Tiger Village, it is not unsafe, you can also get food there, but I think you also understand, you have to ...... Pay a little 'price'. ”

The woman obviously understood, and her pretty face suddenly turned red.

After a little hesitation, she bit her lip, bowed to Ishihara, and immediately left the team and ran towards Legui and the others next door.

Immediately, dozens of black tiger thieves cheered excitedly next door.

From a distance, watching the group of black tiger thieves not far away surrounding the woman diligently, Ishihara's nose spewed out a hot breath.

“…… These bastards! ”

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