On the third day after Ding Liqiu and Wang Zhubo finished drinking, in an inconspicuous courtyard in the county seat, Ding Liqiu saw the Erwuzai cycad gun in Wang Yuanzai's mouth.

This small courtyard was prepared by Wang Zhubo: when Erwuzai met with the owner, naturally he couldn't make a big fuss, and he knew how many people in the county had friendships with bandits from all walks of life, so it was better to be cautious in everything.

Cycad Gun is an ordinary man of twenty years old, and his face looks very inconspicuous. This man was wearing a strip of cloth with an arm hanging from the meeting, and it is said that the two gangs of robbers had been injured in a fire a few days ago.

It was precisely because his arm was seriously injured that he was useless, so he went down the mountain and went home to live.

In ancient times, as long as the bandits were entrenched in a certain place, most of the members were locals, and there were many cases of uncles and brothers partnering to "do business".

Bandits are not so easy to be, it is a job to eat the rice of youth. Once a member is old and frail, he will definitely quit the team and go down the mountain to farm.

This also includes some injured and disabled people, who have saved enough money to go down the mountain to marry a wife, in short, it is the law of nature to spit out the old and accept the new, and bandits are no exception.

These people who went down the mountain to live became "home bandits". These people were not only responsible for providing information to the brothers on the mountain, but also sometimes providing accommodation and food, and were an important node in supporting the operation of the cottage.

The cycad gun is such a newly baked home bandit: his arm is broken, and he doesn't want to stay in the cottage.

However, what made Su Tiegun angry was that the severance money given to him by the gang this time did not meet his expectations, but it was also for the party and the country, and he shed blood, didn't he?

Then the cycad gun, who was sulking at home, met Wang Zhubo, the life-saving benefactor who came to find him, so that the matter was logical: after the old Wang Xiao was righteous, the cycad immediately agreed to do what he should do.

And Ding Liqiu, after hearing the origin of the cycad gun, immediately made three promises to him.

First: the past is not investigated.

Second: As long as the cycad gun can help the official army to suppress the Lin 100,000 bandits in Tsushimaling, then he will definitely be rewarded with a large sum of silver afterwards.

Third: Cycad can also apply to go to other places to live with his family afterwards, such as Fuzhou, Zhangzhou, Hangzhou, and other big cities, and the government can help him arrange it.

The cycad gun, who got the promise, immediately kowtowed and confessed to the Lord, and then told the truth and truth of Tsushima Ling.

Ding Liqiu then ordered his entourage to record, and after the incident, he rewarded the cycad gun with ten taels of silver on the spot. After that, he gave the first order to this anyway Erwuzai: the government was about to put up a notice to paralyze the bandits, and he asked Su Tiegun to go to Maling to investigate recently to see how the bandits reacted to the notice.

The cycad hurriedly agreed.

In the end, Ding Liqiu appointed a person from his entourage, who was specifically responsible for liaising with the cycads in the county town and conveying instructions at any time.

In the afternoon of the same day, notices were posted in the county office, the city gate, and the Tianhou Temple at the same time: the government urged the major bandits to come to the city to recruit peace.

One hundred and twenty miles northeast of Longyan County, is Shuangyang Town. During the Longqing period, the imperial court couldn't stand the thieves in this place, so it simply took Shuangyang Town as the county governance, included part of the surrounding land, and set up a new county dedicated to maintaining stability: Ningyang County.

China is originally a mountainous country, and the reason why Ningyang County was able to make a name for itself in the bandit world and arouse the wrath of the central government is inseparable from its superior geographical terrain.

The mountainous areas near Longyan and Ningyang are one of the areas with the most intense karst landform development in China. In the mountains here, there are not only peaks, forests, peaks, and caves, but also karst underground rivers that are hundreds of meters long.

The stream cave is deep, the bird road is steep, the stone forest is confused, and the karst caves are everywhere.

Such a terrain, coupled with the forest coverage rate of 95 percent in Ningyang County, turned the official army's anti-bandit operation into a nightmare: the thieves could take advantage of the formation-like terrain to disperse and gather at any time, so that the officers and soldiers with superior forces were exhausted.

During the Jiajing period, it took the government 6 years to suppress the Sua Bo riot, and most of the time during this period, the official army was playing hide and seek with their opponents

This is also the reason why the Red Gun Battalion has been hiding clumsily all along.

Don't say that there are only 200 people in a company, even if the number of people is increased by one, two or three times, it will be difficult to smash the bandits into Huanglong and fight them all at once.

Take the number one target of the crossing crowd, Lin 100,000 bandits, as an example. The terrain around Tsushima Ridge is complex, with not only stone forests, but also karst caves and dark rivers. The troops could not be as easy as encircling the natives in the Tainan Plain: the steep terrain could not allow the large army to move, and even if they touched the opponent's door, once they found that the situation was not good, the bandits could run away from the reserved caves and stone forests on the spot, and they could not encircle and annihilate them at all.

This is the reason why the Red Gun Battalion has always dared not show its true strength: it must give hope to the bandits and find an opportunity to annihilate the enemy on the preset battlefield. Otherwise, this side will be plunged into a protracted law and order war.

On the third day when the Zhao'an notice was posted, 15 miles south of Shuangyang Town, the Lin family tulou.

The Lin family is a local old family in Shuangyang, with many people and strong wealth, and the specialty is nothing else, or bandits. Now the bandit leader Lin 100,000 who is entrenched in Tsushima Ridge is produced by the Lin family.

The scale of the Lin family's tulou group is quite large, and the one in the middle is the ancestral building. Including the ancestral hall and the public hall, as well as the patriarch and the patriarch, are all in this round ancient earthen building.

And at this moment, in the hall of Lin Sanmen, the head of the Lin family, a meeting is underway.

Lin Sanmen is more than 50 people, wide and fat, with a fair face, a bare face, a silk robe, and a villager's appearance.

Lin Sanmen, who was half-lying on a nanmu recliner, was listening intently to what a man in the hall was reading at this time.

"There are 50 Western-made bird guns, more than 40 three-eyed guns, and a number of fine iron knives and spears. There are also earth-shaking mines, and the number of earth-shaking mines is unknown. ”

As time passed, the man finally finished reading the information on the letterhead in his hand. When he looked up, it was the cycad gun with half of the injured arm.

After listening to the information, Lin Sanmen slowly sat up from the chair, and then stretched out his hand. At this time, a beautiful concubine named Jade with a beautiful face and a slender figure behind him handed over the hookah that had been prepared. Lin Sanmen began to smoke as he asked, "Are Haiqu's subordinates really difficult?" ”

"Oh, according to Master Wang, this group of officers and soldiers is Cao Chuan's personal guard, and they were sent to give his own general a long face in front of the imperial court. All of them are elites, they have rules for fighting, and they are not afraid of death. ”

"It's using us as a raft." When Lin Sanmen heard this, he sneered.

After taking a few puffs of cigarette, Lin Sanmen asked again: "What is that earth-shaking thunder, earth-shaking mine?" ”

"Oh, that earth-shattering thunder is rumored to be made by skilled craftsmen in Jiangnan, it is a cannon battle, the sound is like thunder, and it can make the enemy dizzy in the battle array."

"The shake mine is a cotton wrapped bag, which was ignited by the dead soldiers under the gate of the village during the siege." When Su Tiegun said this, the expression on his face became unnatural: "The Chen family village didn't even hold a stick of incense, and it was broken." ”

"It's a fierce rival." Hearing this, Master Lin nodded slowly, then turned his head to the corner of the hall and asked, "What do you think?" ”

"If it's the elite, there are only 200 people, what can it do?" In the dim corner of the hall, a gloomy voice came from this time.

The next moment, a man with a short figure, a full beard, narrow eyes, and a fierce face walked out to Lin Shiwan, the master of Maling.

"The officers and soldiers fighting in an array are naturally powerful. But how could the brothers ever fight head-on with officers and soldiers? ”

Lin 100,000 understands this sentence for everyone here: guerrilla sneak attack is the gangster's specialty.

"But unfortunately the mine is also a real problem, so the stockade cannot be defended." When Lin Shiwan said this, he groaned for a while, then stared at the cycad gun and said, "Thirteen, when that group of people will do it, they must report to me quickly!" ”

"Thirteen knows." Hearing this, the cycad gun nodded: "It should be just before the end of the month." Master Wang has found out the news, and the above is urging urgently, and this group of people is anxious to take the heads of the brothers to show their merits. ”

"Hehe, it's good to be anxious, just don't be in a hurry." After Lin Shiwan laughed, he finally advised: "Since you are an internal response, you must guide the way to the deputy masters." When the group came, don't forget to take the road of Huluyu. ”

After hearing the words "Huluyu", the cycad gun also smiled, and both sides nodded at the same time tacitly.

After the strategic plan was agreed, Lin Shiwan hid in the corner of the house and quietly flashed through the back door.

And Lin Sanmen discussed the details with the cycad gun after Lin 100,000 left. After that, Master Lin called the coachman Guan Gong and instructed him to send the cycad gun with a wounded arm to the county border.

"Guan Gong" is a young man in his 20s. This person was born in a nearby small surname and his family was poor, so he worked in the Lin family all the year round. Because he is tall, his face is ruddy, he has a pair of good-looking Danfeng eyes, and his surname is Guan, so since he played Guan Gong's ticket on the stage of the township association once, this name has become his real name.

After hearing the master's order, Guan Gong, who was quick with his hands and feet, hurriedly took out the donkey cart with a smile, and then spent most of the day sending the cycad gun to the county border with Longyan.

And when he returned to the Lin family's tulou in the dark, it was already late at night. After hastily begging for two bowls of cold rice in the kitchen to eat, Guan Gong returned to his hut.

After squinting at the hut for a moment, and hearing the sound of the noon bangs outside, he jerked over and sat up, and then felt out of the house.

Tulou is a small city, and Guan Gong has long been familiar with every grass and tree here. I saw that he first came out of the bottom hut, and then went to the horse pen to add some night grass to the donkeys and mules, and then on the way back, after seeing that there was no one around, he dodged up the stairs to the wooden building on the second floor.

There is a house on the second floor and a utility room. After walking a little further on the second floor, Guan Gong took out the key and quietly opened the door of one of the utility rooms he was in charge of.

After closing the door, Guan Gong avoided the debris on the ground with familiar steps, and then he walked to the wall, pushed open the wooden window, and nimbly drilled out of the window.

Although the interior is a wooden house, the exterior walls of the tulou are made of smooth masonry to prevent bandits from attacking the city.

However, after Guan Gong climbed out of the window, he was not afraid of the sharp rocks outside the wall, because a rope was above his head.

After climbing up the third floor along the rope, an arm reached out of the window and pulled Guan Gong into the house.

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