Han Zhan took Dian Wei and Guo Jia, and already twenty sword and shield men, followed behind the woman, bypassed the horseshoe-shaped building, and walked towards the cave where the treasure was hidden from the path behind the house.

On the way, Han Zhan asked Dian Wei: "Dian Junhou, how is the battle damage?" ”

"Replying to the envoy's words," Dian Wei hurriedly replied, "Twenty-five thieves were killed, and one was captured alive." Eleven of our men were killed, eight were seriously wounded, and thirty-two were wounded. After reporting the casualty figures, he added, "Five of the dead were old brothers." ”

Han Zhan understood in his heart that the old brother Dian Wei was referring to was the two hundred soldiers who came from Jizhou with him. After the last time they repelled the Yellow Turbans that attacked Sheguo County, there were less than 100 sword and shield soldiers left, and they were supplemented by their own county soldiers. I didn't expect that this time, with the advantage in numbers and a fierce general like Dian Wei, there were still such heavy casualties.

Seeing Han Zhan's pale face, Dian Wei guessed that he might be dissatisfied with the heavy casualties of the troops, and hurriedly explained: "Envoy, if there is no black bear, the number of our army losses in battle will not exceed ten. Eleven brothers who died in battle died at his hands. ”

"This damn black bear." Han Zhan gritted his teeth and said, "Later, we will disembowel him and dig out his heart, pay tribute to our fallen brothers, and then bring his head back and hang it on the city gate to show the public." ”

Led by a woman, the group came to the cave where the treasure was hidden. Taking advantage of the fact that his subordinates were lighting torches, Han Zhan looked curiously into the dark hole. A yin wind blew out of the cave, making Han Zhan, who was originally sweating profusely, shiver. After the sword and shield soldiers lit the torches, Dian Wei held the torches in his left hand and the iron halberd in his right hand, and carefully entered the cave first.

The cave where the treasure is hidden is very deep, and it is very dark inside, and although a dozen torches are lit, the illuminated area is still very limited, giving people an eerie feeling. After walking dozens of steps towards the court, the woman who led the way suddenly said to Han Zhan: "Envoy, here, here." The looted goods of the blacks are here. ”

With that, the woman stepped forward and lit the torch stuck in the stone wall. As one torch after another was lit, the cave suddenly became brighter. With the help of the lighting of the torches, Han Zhan could clearly see that there was a huge cave in front of him, leaning against the stone wall, which was messily filled with wooden boxes of various sizes, and on the ground was a mountain of money piled up with copper coins, more than a zhang high.

Guo Jia took a torch from the sword and shield soldier next to him, walked to the wooden box, lifted the lid of the box and looked at it, did not speak, and opened the second wooden box, after seeing the contents clearly, he turned his head and said to Han Zhan: "Envoy, there are some gold and silver utensils and jewelry inside, it is estimated that they were snatched back from the outside by the black clothes." As he spoke, he reached out and took out a string of pearl necklaces from the box, looked closer to his eyes, and handed it to Han Zhan who had just walked over, "Envoy, look, the blood stains on this haven't been wiped off yet." ”

Han Zhan took it and saw that there were indeed dried blood stains on the pearl necklace, and it seemed that the thieves had snatched it directly from his body after killing the owner of the necklace.

Guo Jia held the torch and circled around the Qian Mountain, then returned to Han Zhan's side and said to him: "Envoy, according to Jia's estimate, there are at least 100,000 Qian Mountain in this Qian Mountain, I don't know what you plan to do with it?" ”

100,000?! When he heard Guo Jia say this number, Han Zhan felt a little dizzy, he felt that he was simply dreaming, not counting those gold and silver utensils and jewelry, there were 100,000 copper coins alone, so that he would have the money to recruit troops and horses.

Seeing Han Zhan staring at Qian Shan in a daze, Guo Jia thought that he hadn't heard his question, and hurriedly repeated the question just now: "Envoy, what are you going to do with all this money?" After a moment's pause, he tentatively asked, "Should we take some of it out and reward those meritorious soldiers?" ”

Han Zhan naturally knew that there must be a brave man under the heavy reward, and when he heard Guo Jia say this, he immediately said: "The officers and soldiers who go on this expedition will each be rewarded with ten cents; The wounded were rewarded with an additional five taels each; The people are five taels each. As for the brothers who died in battle, they were given fifty taels each. But he considered that the reason why the money in this era was called "five baht coins" was because each copper coin weighed five baht coins, which was about 6.5 grams, and a thousand copper coins were 6.5 kilograms. ”

Hearing that the envoy said that he would reward each of them with ten tassels, the sword and shield soldiers who followed him into the cave immediately cheered. I don't know who shouted first: "Make the king mighty!" Then everyone shouted in unison: "Make the king mighty!" ”

The officers and soldiers outside the cave all looked at each other when they heard the cheers coming from inside the cave, not knowing what was happening inside. Until a sword and shield soldier who entered the cave came out and told everyone the good news, the whole cottage suddenly became a sea of joy, whether it was the officers and soldiers or the people who came to pull things, they were all shouting hoarsely: "Make the king mighty!" ”

When everyone cheered, Dian Wei commanded his men and people to move the copper coins from the cave to the wheelbarrow outside the cave. Han Zhan and Guo Jia came to the living room of the house to discuss how to use the treasures.

Guo Jia said to Han Zhan emotionally: "Envoy, with this batch of property, you can at least recruit tens of thousands of recruits, so that you have enough strength to protect yourself." ”

"Brother Fengxiao." Han Zhan waited for Guo Jia to finish speaking, and immediately shook his head and said, "It's not enough to have tens of thousands of recruits, we also need enough weapons and armor to arm them." In addition, it is very unrealistic to rely on the income of money and grain in one county to feed tens of thousands of soldiers, so we still need to find a way to buy grain elsewhere. ”

"What the envoy said is very true." After seeing the wealth of the cave, Guo Jia unconsciously put himself in the position of Han Zhan's military advisor: "After recruiting new soldiers, you also need to provide them with weapons, armor and food, although the cost is huge, but the wealth in this cave is enough to solve this problem." I plan to take people to nearby counties to buy grain after returning to Shiguo County, and it may be difficult to buy ready-made weapons and armor, so we can only buy some pig iron and ask craftsmen to process it. ”

While the two were discussing, Dian Wei walked in from outside and asked Han Zhan for instructions: "Envoy, the soldiers and the people are carrying copper coins, I don't know if we are resting in the cottage for one night, or are we rushing overnight?" ”

"The brethren have been gone for a day, and they are already sleepy, so let them rest here for the night, and then hurry again tomorrow morning!" Han Zhan looked outside, and when he saw that it was getting late, he instructed Dian Wei: "Dian Junhou, although this cottage is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is still necessary to strengthen the defense, and you can't let the gangsters get in." ”

After Guo Jia and Dian Wei left, he said to Han Zhan thoughtfully: "Envoy, the terrain here is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there are many treasures in the cave, so it can't be moved in one or two trips. It is better to leave a team of people to guard here and keep this cottage for yourself. I don't know what to do with your will? ”

After Han Zhan entered the cottage, he saw that the terrain here was dangerous, and the buildings in the cottage were not bad, if it was burned down, it would be a pity, so he moved the idea of leaving soldiers to guard here. At this moment, hearing Guo Jia's persuasion, he laughed and said, "Since Brother Feng Xiao thinks that he should stay here in the cottage, then I will arrange for people to guard it." ”