Thirty miles east of Juzhou City, Diaojia Village at the foot of the Qishan Mountain is a mountain village surrounded by water on both sides and backed by mountains on one side. Wei Laoqi, the big boss of Xiangshui Village on Longshan, is from this village, and since he went up the mountain to become a bandit, this village is the warning point under his mountain.

Ten days ago, he learned that strangers often came and went around Diaojia Village and the cottage, and he became vigilant, after all, Liang Wensheng's prestige spread all over the state within a month after he took office. The deeds of the new governor who is good at suppressing bandits and catching thieves have long been spread to the gods. Their stockade was the closest to the state city, how could he not be careful.

He knew very well that with the fifty or sixty people under his command, there was a cottage that was not in danger to defend, and it was impossible not to be cleared. If you want not to die, there are only two ways to surrender and escape, as for whether he can survive after surrendering, he has no bottom at all, although he has no homicides, but over the years, he has done a lot of robberies and robberies. Even if he is not beheaded, at least he is conscripted into the army. Rather than that, it's better to run away.

So, Wei Laoqi recruited the second and the third master to discuss together, and Zhao Ningchang, the second master, had studied private school for several years and was considered a cultural person among them. He gave Wei Laoqi an idea: "Instead of running away, wandering around, and living a hard life without a fixed place, let's go to the wind chasing whip Jichao in Ma Qi Mountain." The terrain of Ma Qi Mountain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, the Red Turban Army was entrenched in this mountain for several years, and tens of thousands of troops in the court could not break through. ”

Gong Tao, the third master, is a rough man, and when he heard the second master say this, he immediately echoed: "Yes! It's a good idea. I heard that there are about 100 people on Ma Qi Mountain now, and we have to get at least a second leader when we go to the eldest brother. ”

"Third brother, you're making trouble again. Ma Qitong's second boss is Chu Ying, if he really gets there, he is not allowed to talk nonsense. Wei Laoqi said.

Zhao Ningchang couldn't help but rejoice when he heard what the big boss said: "So, the eldest brother agreed?" ”

"Well, you're right, instead of running away, it's better to go to Jichao. The two families are in one place, and with the terrain of Ma Qi Mountain, it is not so easy for those who are soldiers to attack it! ”

Immediately sent a messenger to Ma Qi Mountain to contact the defector.

Ji Chao on Ma Qi Mountain has been recruiting troops recently, trying to strengthen his own power, and he was overjoyed when he heard that Wei Laoqi of Xiangshui Village was going to defect to him. immediately promised that as long as Wei Laoqi went up the mountain, he would let him sit on the chair of the three masters.

After the messenger left, Chu Ying offered a plan: "Big brother, since Wei Laoqi has the idea of defecting to us, Xu Dazhui of Dongguan Tieshanzhai may not have this idea. I heard that Xu Dazhui also has fifty or sixty people under him, if he is persuaded to give up the cottage to vote. Then we have a team of more than 200 people under our command, and we are defending in danger, not to mention the soldiers of the state city, even the army of the guard may not be able to break us. ”

"Okay, you're right. You quickly send someone to contact Xu Dazhui. In addition, a few people were sent to run, and they went to the large and small cottages within 200 miles of the surrounding area to contact them, and try to persuade them to vote. Everyone is in a group. Thinking that the Red Turban Army was less than 10,000 horses, and the 100,000 troops of the Yuan Dynasty could not break through Ma Qi Mountain, as long as we were strong, there were thousands of men and horses standing in danger, not afraid of the attack of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers, and in the end the court could only recruit peace. At that time, you and my brother will also be a general. After speaking, Ji Chao and Chu Ying both laughed proudly.

After many contacts, the three bandits agreed to discuss the relocation of the cottage in Ma Qi Mountain. Ji Chao was extremely happy, and specially set up a banquet to entertain several leaders, and they discussed the specific relocation method while drinking at the banquet.

Xu Dazhui took a sip of wine, and first said: "Ji Da is in charge, the government seems to know our intentions, recently the checkpoints on both sides of the road on both sides of Ma Qi Mountain have been very strict, and the number of people has also increased, and there are at least fifty or sixty people at one checkpoint. When they relocate, they will definitely not be able to pass the checkpoint with more than a dozen carts such as weapons, horses, and grain. ”

"Yes, there are usually only a dozen soldiers in the Zizizi Mountain, but now it has suddenly increased to the strength of a general banner." Wei Laoqi also continued.

Chu Ying said: "The two big bosses, the more the government strengthens its precautions, the more it shows that they are very afraid of us joining forces. In this way, the more we have to merge with each other. In the future, we will prepare more rolling wood and stones on the mountain, and according to the topography of Maqi Mountain, we will ensure that they will not return. ”

"That's natural, and we also took a fancy to the danger of Ma Qi Mountain, and it is precisely because of this that we intend to go to Ji Da Boss." Both said.

Ji Chao saw that the two of them were sincere and wanted to defect to him, so he generously said: "The two big bosses, we are meeting today to discuss a good way to relocate." Isn't it just a soldier with a general flag on the checkpoint? There are more than 200 of us combined, and we are afraid that he will not succeed? Let's find a way to pull out the checkpoint! ”

"With the words of the big master, we are relieved. How do the big bosses plan to remove the checkpoints? Zhao Ningchang of Xiangshui Village hurriedly asked.

This is a key question, and the leaders of the two stockades are all over the years to hear his thoughts.

Ji Chao was just quick to talk for a while, and there was nothing he could do in his heart. He took a sip of the bowl to hide his embarrassment. After putting down the wine bowl, he said, "Aren't we just discussing this today?" If you have any good ideas, say them, and let's discuss them together. ”

In fact, the three of them all have their own ghosts, and they all want to preserve their strength, and they don't want to fight with the soldiers at the sentry post, so no one wants to take the lead.

In this way, after discussing for a while, no one came up with a feasible solution. At this time, Ji Chao really couldn't wait, so he said: "Otherwise, let's go back and load the things you want to take away first, and find a place to settle down when you are halfway there." We will send 60 men, and each of your two families will send 50 men, and we will agree to attack the two outposts of Zizizi Mountain and Queshan Mountain at the same time in the middle of the night. What do you guys think? ”

Wei Laoqi and Xu Dazhui thought at the same time, fifty people are almost all of their own people, and you Ji Chao now has nearly 100 people, but only 60 people, it is obvious that he has left a back hand, once the sneak attack fails, the biggest loss is still himself. But now he has a request for him, and it's hard to say anything, both of them are hesitant and don't speak.

Chu Ying thought in her heart, she hasn't gone up the mountain yet, so she wants to preserve her strength. Passing through the checkpoint is your own business, but you still want us to take the lead, so there are so many cheap things. But now you need to believe in them first, and after everyone has gone up the mountain, discuss with the eldest brother how to get rid of them and incorporate their subordinates. He rolled his eyes, came up with an idea, and then said:

"The two in charge, since the eldest brother said that he attacked in the middle of the night, it was outwitted, and there would definitely be no casualties."

Then, Chu Ying said his plan of action, and everyone was happy after hearing it. Zhao Ningchang also flattered and praised at this time: "It is said that the second master of Ma Qishan is the incarnation of 'Zhiduoxing' Wu Yong, and when I see it today, it is really extraordinary." In the future, we will rely on the two of us! They also praised Chu Ying for his resourcefulness.

The Zizizi Mountain outpost and the Queshan outpost are respectively on the road to the north and south at the foot of Maqi Mountain. The road down the mountain is the only way to get to Maqi Mountain, and the two checkpoints are at the dangerous part of the road.

A few days later, at the end of the night, two soldiers on night duty at the Zizizi Mountain sentry post were snuggling on the edge of the watchtower, pulling their heads as if they were napping.

Wei Laoqi, who had been lying outside the checkpoint for a long time, learned a bird call, and after a while, a bird also came from the opposite side of the checkpoint. This is the code that Wei Laoqi and the bandits of Ma Qishan agreed upon. Hearing the code, Wei Laoqi sent two capable bandits to quietly touch the two soldiers at the outpost. The two gently removed the horses from the checkpoint, and then slowly touched the two sentries. Although the sound of moving the horse was quiet, it alarmed a sentry. When the sentry heard movement, he opened his eyes and saw a figure approaching them, and he shouted in fright: "Who?!" Then he touched the steel knife beside him.

The two men knew that the sneak attack would not work, and before they could react, they pounced on them with short knives at the same time, plunging both short knives into the chests of the two sentries almost simultaneously. The two screamed, struggled a few times, and then fell limply.

At the same time, the bandits inside and outside the checkpoint also rushed out, lit the canisters of fire oil with fire breakers and threw them at the barracks not far away. Dozens of canisters of fire oil were thrown over, and a fire broke out inside and outside the barracks. The soldiers in the barracks were sleeping soundly, when they suddenly heard a sound, and then there was a fire outside, so they hurriedly put on their clothes, picked up their weapons, and ran out in a panic. At this time, several more canisters of fire oil were thrown at them, and they set fire to the clothes of several soldiers, who screamed in pain and rolled on the ground.

Then there was an earth-shattering shout not far away, and at the same time, a dozen arrows shot down several soldiers. At this time, I don't know who shouted: "There are bandits sneaking attack, run!" ”

When these soldiers heard this shout, they were already frightened and panicked, and coupled with the lack of training, they had no intention of fighting at this time, and only thought about how to escape. When the soldiers running in front saw the black crowd in front of them, they turned around and ran back, while the people behind them were running forward, and suddenly the people in front ran backwards again, and they were huddled together. At this time, the robbers fired more than a dozen arrows, and several more fell from the arrows. Frightened, the soldiers all ran back. This outpost was built in a dangerous place, and the barracks were built close to the cliff, and as a result, many soldiers fell off the cliff and died, and some ran to the barracks and were burned alive by the fire and their clothes were burned, and only a dozen people managed to escape.

Ji Chao and Wei Laoqi instructed their subordinates to clean up the battlefield, burn the checkpoints and barracks, and led the team to the mountain with a swagger.

At the same time, the Queshan outpost was also attacked and suffered heavy losses.

For a time, the reputation of the bandits on Ma Qi Mountain was greatly enhanced, and the small bandits in the vicinity fled one after another when they heard about it, and their power suddenly increased greatly.