PS: It still hurts so badly that I feel like my spine is going to break in reverse from time to time, especially when I bend over.

———— the following text————

On the same day, Ma Gai immediately returned to the county government and reported the matter to Liu Bi, the county commander.

After listening to Ma Gai's story, Liu Bi was also shocked in his heart, although he now has a handle in the hands of the black tiger thief, it does not mean that he can accept the black tiger thief in the county under his rule.

I saw him gritting his teeth and cursing, "What do these thieves want? ”

Ma Gai stood at the window and watched out the window, heard Liu Bi's inquiry, turned around and said: "I don't know for the time being, but according to lowly estimates, I'm afraid they bought people's hearts to recruit people......

Hearing this, Liu Bi sat behind his desk and was silent.

The so-called raising tigers is a problem, and he also knows that he can't watch the black tiger thieves secretly recruit people in his county, but it is undeniable that he really has nothing to do, after all, he and Ma Gai have vital handles in each other's hands.

After thinking for a while, Liu Bi asked in a deep voice, "Can you find a way to contact that Zhou Hu?" ”

"Liu Gong means ......"

"Ask Zhou Hu in person and see what he wants to do!" Liu Bi said with a calm face: "The county seat, this group of thieves will never be allowed to come nonsense!" ”

"......" Ma Gai looked at Liu Bi with some surprise.

After a while, Ma Gai walked out of Liu Bi's study, and after not going far, he stopped, looked back at Liu Bi's study, and spat out.

…… said so righteously, I thought he was going to come forward to see Zhou Hu in person, but it turned out that he left this matter to me......

With a light snort, Ma Gai left with a calm face.

Black Tiger Thief Leader, Zhou Hu ......

Although Ma Gai knew that the bandit leader was only about fifteen years old, it did not prevent him from being jealous of the other party.

It's not that Zhou Hu is so fierce, on the contrary, Zhou Hu is the most generous and open-minded bandit he has ever seen, for example, when he wanted to force Liu Bi to surrender a while ago, Liu Bi laughed at Zhou Hu in person, but Zhou Hu had no intention of being angry.

Of course, what Ma Gai feared the most was Zhou Hu's methods, such a shady method as 'finding ten prostitutes to order ****', he had never seen or heard of it, and it was no wonder that even Liu Bi had to give in at that time.

Fortunately, Zhou Hu was quite tolerant of his own people that time, even if he was to Ma Gai, he secretly maintained it several times - this point, Ma Gai still believed it, after all, once upon a time, he also felt puzzled, wondering that what he had done did not attract the revenge of Yang Tongna and other vicious bandits, until a few days ago he knew that Zhou Hu was secretly defending him.

Regarded as his own by the leader of a bandit, he secretly defends ...... Well, it's a bit weird.

Around dusk, Ma Gai rode away from the county office.

But he didn't go home immediately, but slowly rode to the street in front of the Black Tiger Righteous House.

Holding the reins on that street, he peeked at the Black Tiger Lodge from afar, looking at the still long queue in front of the Lodge.

The official level crushed people to death......

Recalling Liu Bi's request to him in his mind, Ma Gai exhaled slightly, slowly drove his horse towards the Black Tiger Righteous House, and immediately turned over and dismounted in front of the door of the righteous house.

"Captain ...... Maxian County"

"The ...... of the county lieutenant of Shima"

"Didn't the county lieutenant Ma also come here to eat?"

"How is it possible, that's the county lieutenant......"

The crowd in line saw Ma Gai and immediately whispered, and some people even speculated whether Ma Gai had come here to eat.

This misunderstanding made Ma Gai very embarrassed - he was a county lieutenant, how could he not be reduced to come to Yishe to eat, right?

At this time, a black tiger thief who was maintaining order at the gate of the righteous house saw Ma Gai and immediately ran to the house to tell Chen Cai.

When the latter learned about it, he immediately walked out of the righteous house and greeted Ma Gai with his fists in his fists: "Lord County Lieutenant." ”

Ignoring Chen Cai's ridicule when greeting, Ma Gai nodded, and after glancing at the team that was still whispering, he coughed and said, "I'll come over by the way to take a look, are there any troublemakers in the afternoon?" ”

Hearing this, the crowd in line suddenly realized: It turns out that this county lieutenant is here to inspect the public security, so I said, how could the dignified county lieutenant come to Yishe to eat?

Feeling that the crowd's gaze towards him gradually became normal, Ma Gai secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then said to Chen Cai: "Besides...... I don't know if the owner of your house is there, and Ma wants to see it. ”

"I don't know what's going on?" Chen Cai arched his hand and said, "If it's a little thing, I think I can also call the shots." ”

After listening, Ma Gai pointed to the horizontal plaque of 'Black Tiger Righteous House', and said in a strange tone: "The master of your family is kind and charitable, and he opens a righteous house in the city to help the poor in the city, Ma is naturally respectful, but the brand of your house, I'm afraid it is not so good." Black...... This word is not a good meaning in my Kunyang. ”

Hearing Ma Gai's words, the crowd couldn't help but whisper.

In view of Zhao Yu's instructions, today Chen Cai and his bandits deliberately called themselves in front of the crowd from time to time, 'How is my Black Tiger Righteous House', so the crowd that is queuing at this moment, even if they are illiterate, gradually understand that this righteous house is called the Black Tiger Righteous House.

Just like what Zhao Yu and Ma Gai said, the word 'black tiger' is indeed not a good meaning in Kunyang, because in the past two years, there has been a very powerful group of bandits in the county lieutenant, and several times the officers and soldiers who went to the expedition suffered heavy casualties.

And this bandit is named after the Black Tiger.

Therefore, the crowd also wondered, wondering why this righteous house was named after the 'Black Tiger'.

"It turned out to be this ......"

Chen Cai nodded slightly.

He didn't feel strange, after all, when Zhao Yu named this righteous house Black Tiger Yishe, Chen Zu and he had persuaded him - they both felt that it was a bit arrogant to directly name it with the word Black Tiger, and even they felt that it was a bit excessive, but it was undeniable that their big leader was more thoughtful.

Thinking of this, Chen Cai chuckled lightly and simply debunked: "Lord County Lieutenant is worried that someone will link my Yishe with the black tiger thief who once caused trouble in your county, right?" ”

“……”

Ma Gai was stunned, he never expected that Chen Cai would directly say this matter.

While he was dumbfounded, Chen Cai said with a smile: "The Qing is self-purifying, and as time goes by, everyone will naturally know whether there is a relationship between my Black Tiger Yishe and that group of Black Tiger thieves." ”

……

Seeing that a black tiger thief shamelessly said the words 'those who are clear will clear themselves', Ma Gai was almost angry.

And what made Ma Gai even more angry was that those people who were queuing up actually echoed Chen Cai's words one by one.

Exhaled, Ma Gai Zhengse said: "Having said that, Ma still hopes to meet your master. ”

Seeing that Ma Gai insisted on this, Chen Cai did not stop him, and raised his hand to ask: "Since this is the case...... Please. ”

Not? Is Zhou Hu in this righteous house at the moment?

Ma Gai was surprised in his heart, and followed Chen Cai to the righteous house.

At this time, there were about 100 people of all kinds who were eating, including honest peasants, ruffians sitting indecently, and couples with their children.

Suddenly, Ma Gai saw several men surrounding the wall on one side, and he couldn't help but look twice.

Immediately, he realized that there was a row of several wooden barrels on one side of the wall, some of which were for vegetables and some of which were for rice, and they were free to be taken by others.

The men were waiting in line to add food.

Looking at this scene, I believe that most of the people who don't know think that this righteous house is doing a good deed, who would have thought that this righteous house was opened by a group of vicious bandits?

"Huh?"

Probably noticing Ma Gai, the people in the house turned their heads to look at Ma Gai with different expressions.

Those strange glances, Rao is Ma Gai felt a little embarrassed on his face, coughed and said: "The owner of this righteous house, with good intentions, this righteous house is not allowed to cause trouble here, understand?" ”

"Uh......"

"Yes......"

The people in the hall echoed a few times, and their faces were still a little confused.

Seeing this, Chen Cai explained with a smile: "Lieutenant Ma came to inspect my Yishe today, but it has nothing to do with you, you can just take care of yourself." …… By the way, if you finish eating, let the trouble go, there are still waiting for a table outside. ”

Hearing this, a few people who had eaten and drunk enough got up and left, and Chen Cai also led Ma Gai to the second floor.

As soon as he went up to the second floor, Ma Gai saw a man in a fancy costume standing near the window, judging by his size, it was not Zhou Hu, the leader of the Black Tiger Thieves.

He turned his head to look at Chen Cai, but saw Chen Cai and said with a smile: "The county lieutenant is a coincidence, this is the master of my family, the two of you will talk slowly, I will go down first." ”

Frowning and watching Chen Cai go downstairs, Ma Gai turned his head to look at the man, and at this time, the man had also turned around, looked at Ma Gai and said with a smile: "Lord County Lieutenant really made Chen wait for a while." …… Since he saw the county lieutenant this morning, Chen has been waiting here. ”

"You ......"

Ma Gai frowned and looked at the man in a gorgeous costume in front of him, he felt that the other party was a little familiar, but he couldn't remember that there was such a person in Black Tiger Village.

Suddenly, Ma Gai's face changed slightly, and he lowered his voice and said, "It's you?" …… Chen Zu?! ”

The man in fancy clothes, no, it was Chen Zu, he laughed when he heard it.

Seeing this, Ma Gai asked in surprise, "Weren't you killed by Yang Tong?" ”

As far as he knew, Chen Zu had a fire fight with Yang Tong, and in the end Chen Zu was unfortunately defeated, and his men were annexed by Yang Tong, and the governor of Kunyang County thought that Chen Zu was dead, so he revoked Chen Zu's want.

Unexpectedly, Chen Zu was still alive.

Surprised, Ma Gai slowly approached Chen Zu and said in a low voice, "You actually went to Black Tiger Village?" It is rumored that the Black Tiger Village will swallow up your cottage ......"

Chen Zu smiled when he heard this, and said, "What I hate is only Yang Tong, not Black Tiger Village. ”

As he spoke, he raised his hand and said, "This is not the place to talk, let's find another place to talk in detail." ”

Ma Gai nodded slightly.

Following Chen Zu, the two walked from the stairs outside the house to the back of the house, and then Chen Zu led Ma Gai to an empty house next door.

Seeing Ma Gai look around after entering the house, Chen Zu smiled and said, "What are you looking for?" Looking for the owner of this room? Buried in the backyard too. ”

Hearing this, Ma Gai's face suddenly changed.

Just as he was about to speak, he saw Chen Zu smile again and said, "Just kidding." The original owner of this house is still alive, not only is he alive and well, but he has also received a large sum of money from us...... Hmph, it's such a dilapidated house, and he dares to offer 10,000 yuan, he can live, which can be regarded as an ancestral virtue. ”

Ma Gai had a strange expression when he heard this, not only surprised that the black tiger thieves such as Chen Zu and Chen Cai would tolerate the original owner of this house, but also admired the one who didn't know whether to live or die.

"You may be seated."

Chen Zu beckoned Ma Gai to sit down at the table.

Ma Gai nodded slightly, and after sitting down at the table, he asked while looking around, "What about Zhou Hu?" I want to see him. ”

"So what?" Chen Zu asked slowly: "The big leader is not here, if there is anything, the county lieutenant just needs to talk to Chen." ”

"You?" Ma Gai looked Chen Zu up and down a few times.

Perhaps sensing contempt in Ma Gai's eyes, Chen Zu said with some unhappiness: "Chen is not talented, and he is ordered by the great leader to be responsible for all the affairs of the county, including ......consulting with Liu and Ma."

Ma Gai glanced at Chen Zu deeply, and after a little thought, he nodded and said, "Okay, since you can call the shots, then you can also find it." …… What do you want to get into the county and win the hearts of the people? ”

Hearing this, Chen Zu smiled slightly, spread his hands and said, "What do you want...... In this way, we are doing good deeds, why is Captain Ma so prejudiced? ”

"Hmph." Ma Gai sneered: "Don't come to this set, do you think I can't guess what you want to do?" It's nothing more than a good name to lure ignorant people into becoming the villagers of your Black Tiger Village......"

"That's one of those purposes." Chen Zu admitted it very frankly.

"Actually, I confessed......" Magai sneered and mocked.

In the face of Ma Gai's ridicule, Chen Zu didn't care, and said: "Captain Ma is not an outsider, in terms of the level in the village, Captain Ma and Chen are still at the same level. ”

"What?"

Hearing this, Ma Gai was angry and amused.

He is the county lieutenant of Kunyang County, and Chen Zu in front of him actually dares to brazenly say that he is on an equal footing with him?

But instead of getting angry, he asked angrily, "What?" Is Ma also his own person? ”

"Of course."

Chen Zu nodded and said: "In the past, the big chief was very optimistic about the county lieutenant, and now it is still the case, the county lieutenant does not have to worry about his identity being exposed or anything, the county lieutenant is his own person, if the consequences are really exposed, the cottage will take care of the county lieutenant and the county lieutenant's family." …… We will not give up on any of the villagers. ”

“……”

Ma Gai was very surprised that Chen Zu would say such a thing.

After a moment of silence, he said, "What the hell do you want to do?" If you go too far, neither I nor Liu Bi will be able to cover up ......"

Chen Zu smiled and said with relief: "At this point, Lieutenant Ma can rest assured...... I also asked the county lieutenant Ma to tell Liu County Ling to reassure him. My Black Tiger Village is no longer what it used to be, and I will not come to Kunyang Hulai, making it difficult for Ma County Lieutenant and Liu County to do. There is no need to hide the two of you, just to gradually improve the notoriety of my Black Tiger Village, and recruit some villagers by the way. The big leader said, since we are waiting to settle down in Kunyang, then Kunyang is our home, how can we come to our homeland? ”

“……”

Ma Gai glanced at Chen Zu and did not comment on what the latter said.

After thinking for a moment, he said in a deep voice: "What about recruiting the villagers? ”

As soon as he heard this, Chen Zu guessed that Ma Gai didn't believe his words, but he didn't care, and said with a smile: "County Lieutenant Ma doesn't believe it now, it doesn't matter, after some time, County Lieutenant Ma will understand that what he said is true." As he spoke, he smiled again: "Does the county lieutenant stay for dinner?" If so, I will command them to prepare some food and drink. ”

"No need."

Seeing that the other party had the intention of sending off the guest, Ma Gai did not continue the conversation.

The next day, Ma Gai informed Liu Bi, the county magistrate, of his conversation with Chen Zu.

When he learned that the purpose of the black tiger thief Jianyi House to buy people's hearts was indeed to take the opportunity to recruit the villagers, Liu Bi was not very panicked.

What he feared most was that the black tiger thief had other purposes, such as...... Rebel.

"This should ...... No way? ”

After listening to Liu Bi's speculation, Ma Gai thought about it and said: "A group of bandits, it won't be a rebellion, right?" Liu Gong looked up to them too much. ”

"No, it's better."

Liu Bi nodded slightly.

Seeing this, Ma Gai asked again: "Then what is this matter......

Liu Bi pondered for a moment and said, "Let's wait and see what happens." If their purpose is only to recruit some men, there is no need to turn against them for this matter, but you must also remember to keep an eye on them, and don't let them go too far, otherwise you and I will not be able to explain to the county. ”

Speaking of this, he thought for a while, and added: "I still have to find a way to meet that Zhou Hu, I look at this person's conversation, he is by no means from an ordinary family, and the rest of the thieves don't know the stakes, but I think this person, he still understands the stakes." Since you know the stakes, you can talk about the conditions...... I don't think he wants your or my positions to be affected. ”

"Hmm."

Ma Gai nodded, and suddenly, paying attention to the window, he caught a glimpse of someone approaching outside, and immediately showed his gesture to Liu Bi.

Sure enough, a moment later, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Liu Bi said in a deep voice.

As soon as the words fell, a county guard walked into the house, clasped his fists and said, "Liu Gong...... Huh? The county lieutenant is also there? Uh, did the villain bother the two adults? ”

Liu Bi waved his hand and said, "It's okay." …… Say, what's the matter. ”

Seeing this, the county soldier clenched his fists and said: "Qiqi Liu Gong, a merchant from the Luye Freemasonry sent someone to the county government to report to the official, saying that the black tiger thief had resurrected and placed obstacles in the mountain pass on the north side of the county again, looting the passing caravan. ”

“……”

Liu Bi and Ma Gai glanced at each other, feeling a little depressed.

"Liu Gong?" The county magistrate raised his head, very surprised that the county magistrate did not say anything.

Realizing his gaffe, Liu Bi immediately tried to remedy it, only to see him pretend to be confused and ask, "Black Tiger Thief?" Wasn't the Black Tiger Thief exterminated? ”

The county guard was relieved and continued: "The little one also thinks it is strange, but the person sent by the Luye Freemasonry merchant insists that it was indeed the black tiger thief who robbed them...... The other party demanded that they pay about 20% of the value of the goods carried in the caravan according to the original agreement, and in my Kunyang, only the black tiger thief would do this. ”

As he spoke, he raised his head and asked, "Does Liu Gong want to see him?" ”

"Hmm."

Liu Bi nodded slightly.

Subsequently, Liu Bi saw the businessman sent by the Luye Freemasons to report to the official, pretended to ask for something, and immediately sent the man away.

After sending the man away, Liu Bi and Ma Gai discussed privately.

Originally, there was nothing to discuss about this matter, and the attitude of the counties in the world towards the bandits was only one word: suppression!

But Liu Bi and Ma Gai both have handles in the hands of the black tiger thief, how dare they act rashly?

I saw Liu Bi say with a slight anger: "What else do you say will not come to my Kunyang Hu...... Haven't you been robbing passing caravans as usual? Now that people have come to report to the official, what should you and me do? ”

Ma Gai also felt a headache, thought for a while and said, "I'll go see that Chen Zu again." ”

"What's the use of seeing Chen Zu?"

Liu Bi frowned and said, "Find a way to see that Zhou Hu and tell him about the benefits!" ”

Helpless, Ma Gai could only go to the Black Tiger Yishe again to meet Chen Zu.

On the same day, Chen Zu still met Ma Gai in the empty house next to the righteous house.

When Ma Gai told the story of the Black Tiger Village looting the passing caravans, Chen Zu spread his hands innocently: "Lieutenant Ma, it's useless for you to look for me about this." As I said yesterday, I am only responsible for the county seat, and make sure that my subordinates will not come around in the county seat, and the affairs of the cottage are in charge of Guo Da and a few people, and they are not under my jurisdiction. ”

In these years, even the bandits have a division of labor?

Ma Gai sneered mockingly, and didn't bother to talk nonsense with Chen Zu, and said directly: "In this case, I want to see Zhou Hu." ”

Chen Zu thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Okay, I'll arrange it." ”

Immediately, Chen Zu sent someone to contact Zhao Yu.

It happened that Zhao Yu was still in the county seat, and after receiving the message sent by Chen Zu, he took Jingnu and Niu Heng to the next door of the Black Tiger Righteous House, and met Chen Zu and Ma Gai who were waiting there.

After learning of Ma Gai's intention, Zhao Yu was not surprised, and said with a relieved hand: "Don't worry, Lieutenant Ma, I know about this." …… This is also a helpless thing, after all, the cottage has to be rebuilt, and it costs money to do so, if you don't ask for some passing caravans, you can't wait for the money to fall from the sky, right? ”

It may be that he has been with these thieves for a long time, or it may be because of Liu Bi's instructions, Ma Gai didn't talk about anything else, and said in a deep voice: "Ma Mou won't say much else, now that someone has reported to the official, the county government must react, otherwise it will inevitably be suspected......

A few chuckles came from behind the tiger mask on Zhao Yu's face, and he nodded and said, "This Zhou can understand." …… In this way, Ma County Lieutenant and Liu Gongneng can drag it out, they really can't hold it off, and it might as well organize people to go to the crusade, anyway, Zhou will take care of it, so there will be no accidents. ”

"......" Ma Gai's face changed slightly.

I have to say that in the face of a guy who defeated him several times and couldn't even win against Zhang Jing's and other figures, Ma Gai really didn't have any confidence.

As if guessing his thoughts, Zhao Yu said with a smile: "Don't worry, there are no characters such as Zhang Jing now, the so-called crusade is just that you and I join forces to play a few scenes, and there is no need to even fight head-on, so the county lieutenant doesn't need to worry about the safety of your county guards......"

Ma Gai glanced at Zhao Yu with some surprise, and said in a low voice: "I'm afraid that it will be unfavorable to suppress the thieves, so the people of the Luye Freemasons went to the county to report to the officials, attracting people from the county to ......."

Zhao Yu said with a smile: "It shouldn't be for the time being, as for the future...... Let's talk about it later, no matter how bad it is, we can make friends with the people in the county and find a way to resolve the conflict. ”

“……”

As if hearing something off-string, Ma Gai had a strange look on his face.