At three o'clock, the city gate of Linhua County slowly closed on time, cutting off the official road that winds into the distance. On the city wall of the West City Gate, a group of officials such as Shi Aiwei, Yuan Decheng, the county commander, Ji Datao, the commander of Longweizhou, and Xiong Yi'an, the military officer of Dushui Supervisor, stood side by side, looking at the noisy victims under the city with heavy expressions. The shacks built next to the city wall are densely packed, some built by the government and some of the shacks built by the victims themselves, and the unpleasant smell emits out, and you can smell it when you stand on the city wall more than three feet high.

Two soup kitchens a day, respectively at the beginning of the afternoon and the beginning of the unitary period, are implemented today as usual, which makes the victims believe that the burning of disaster relief food is a rumor, and there are too many rumors to hear, and if you hear too many rumors, you will also have immunity, even the truth is regarded as a rumor. In the past two days, there have been fewer than 40,000 or 50,000 victims, thanks to the fact that Ai Jianshi wrote to the nearby counties in the name of the state capital, and strictly ordered the counties to bring back the victims belonging to their own counties, which reduced the pressure on Linhua County.

The twilight was heavy, like a lead cloud weighing heavily on everyone's hearts, and the residual red came into view, adding an ominous red to everyone's hearts. Jiang Anyi's letter mentioned that there were nearly 700 bandits, and with the coerced people, I am afraid that there would be thousands of them. There are only about 70 officials in Linhua County, and Ai Jianshi has brought 200 government soldiers, and less than 300 people have to deal with thousands of bandits, which is obviously a drop in the bucket.

A few people on the wall discussed the feasibility of letting the victims into the city, and more than 100,000 people poured into the city, and the pressure brought to the county can be imagined. The argument was fruitless, and Ai Tingshi decided to wait until the situation of the bandits was found out before making a final conclusion.

Ji Datao has sent Long Wei to investigate the situation of the bandits, the previous time he met the assassin he felt that there was a shortage of manpower, and specially transferred ten people from the Longwei Mansion to support, Duanzhou Longwei Mansion was equipped with four worshippers, the strongest two were transferred to Linhua County by him, this time to investigate the situation of the bandits is the surname Ning worship.

"Lord Yuan, the city gate has been closed, you can send someone to the squire's house to explain the situation, and let them help to tide over the difficulties; Xiang County Cheng, Liang Zhushu, and Lin County Lieutenant respectively came to recruit young and strong people, and gathered in front of the county government before the second watch, and the government should personally give a lecture; Wang Zhutou, you take the officials to inspect the inn and inn to guard against thieves and spies; Captain Chen, you brought the government soldiers to patrol the city wall to prevent mutations; Kishu Tong, your responsibility is to respond to emergencies at any time and deal with the masters of bandits. ”

Everyone agreed in unison.

The night is quietly descending on Linhua County, and tonight is destined to be a sleepless night.

After setting a fire in Tuncheng County, Yang Siqi jumped into the river, and this flood could not stop him, so he crossed the Yuanhua River and landed on the north bank. The artist was bold and found Ren Qiang at the meeting point agreed in advance, and Yang Siqi and the two waited for the city gate to open at dawn and swaggered into the city.

The official letter from Tuncheng County had not yet arrived, and the news of the fire of the relief grain had spread among the victims, and the rumors of course originated from them, but the manpower was too small, and before they had time to provoke the riots of the victims, the government had already received the news and sent people to quell the rumors.

Seeing that there were many more vigilant eyes in the crowd, Yang Siqi and Ren Qiang stayed at the Linjiang Inn in the east of the city. Yang Siqi assumed the alias of Li Pingfu, a merchant from Renzhou, and Ren Qiang was his partner. Soon after dinner, Wang Qichen, the head catcher of the Yamen, brought people to search, the road guide was true, Wang Qichen did not see the problem, and casually told Yang Siqi not to walk around if he had nothing to do, and to stay in the inn and wait for news.

Something must have happened during the night search, and the officials will not be humble and polite when they search the store, and many people have been scolded by the officials, and they dare not rush the officials when they are angry, and the shopkeeper and the shopkeeper have become the targets of venting. When Gan was in charge of the shopkeeper, he heard that the disaster relief grain was burned during the day, and at night Wang Zhutou brought people to check whether the store would be related to this, and he didn't know what the government wanted to investigate. Listening to Wang Zhutou's words, the guests staying in the hotel are not allowed to leave, then the loss of their own family will be great, and the guests staying in the hotel will definitely not give the room money.

took five taels of silver from the cash cabinet and secretly stuffed it to Wang Zhutou, and the shopkeeper Gan asked softly with a smile: "Wang Zhutou, why do you check the night, how long will this be troublesome, please tell me the truth, I also know it in my heart." ”

As soon as the silver was in hand, Wang Qichen knew that it was a small flaw of five taels, and put it in his arms casually, and said: "It is rumored that the disaster relief grain has been burned in the city, and the adults suspect that someone is plotting against it, so he ordered me to take someone to check it." Gan shopkeeper, break the wealth and eliminate the disaster, you should be more careful, if there is anything wrong, report to me immediately. ”

Yang Siqi heard the answer outside the house, and felt that it was wrong, so when Wang Zhutou led people away, he said to Ren Qiang: "Qiangzi, you stay in the store, I'll go outside to check." ”

With Yang Siqi's skills, Ren Qiang was not worried at all, watching him flash out of the window, turn over onto the roof, and disappear into the darkness in three verticals and two verticals. As soon as he got out of the inn, Yang Siqi found that the officials of the official mansion on the street were walking from house to house, and countless young people came out of the house and walked towards the county government. Yang Siqi jumped up and down between the roofs, and with little effort, he dived to the roof of the county government restaurant, which was about two stories high, and he was condescending to the corner, just to see the square in front of the county government clearly.

Torches were lit around the county office, and more than 1,000 people had gathered, all young and strong, and everyone was talking about it one after another, and the government summoned them overnight, which is probably not a good thing. People continued to gather from all directions, and after another quarter of an hour, there were nearly 4,000 people in front of the yamen.

There was a lantern leading the way from the direction of the Yin Hotel, and a group of people walked towards the gate of the yamen, Yang Siqi knew that the big man was about to appear, and touched the money dart he carried with him, Yang Siqi wondered if he was secretly putting down a few.

Ai Wei appeared on the high steps in front of the gate of the county government accompanied by Yuan Decheng and the squires in the city, Ji Datao and more than a dozen dragon guards were beside them, the last time Yuan County Ling was assassinated happened here, Ji Datao did not dare to be careless at all, who knows if the assassin would attack Lord Shi tonight.

"Fellow fathers and fellow villagers, everyone be quiet." Yuan Xian Ling opened his mouth and said, he had a very high reputation in Linhua County, and the young man in front of the yamen quieted down and listened to what he wanted to say. The night was very quiet, the wind blew the torches and made a fierce sound, and Yuan Decheng's voice clearly echoed in the night sky.

"Folks, this county has received bad news to tell you. The mountain bandits of Zhongshanzhai captured Xingling County, and the bandits set fire to the county seat, and at this moment they are threatening the people of Xingling County to come and occupy our Linhua County. ”

As soon as the voice fell, it was like boiling water into oil, boiling into the sky. The officials who stood around to maintain order shouted to keep the people quiet, and it took a while for everyone to gradually calm down, and their eyes were once again focused on Yuan County's order.

Yuan Decheng said: "Folks, don't be afraid, there are only about 500 bandits in Zhongshanzhai, and they can't attack Linhua County." The reason why Xingling County fell into the hands of thieves is because there is no defense, Linhua County is nearly a foot higher than Xingling County, there is no shortage of defensive materials, there is a history of moxa thorns, everyone works together, and thieves can't enter the city. ”

Yang Siqi heard it clearly and understood, and was ecstatic in his heart, Zhong Shanzhai broke through Xingling County to Linhua County in the east, undoubtedly poured oil on the fire of the current chaos, as long as the people of Zhong Shanzhai came to Linhua County and coerced the victims outside the city to make trouble, whether they could fight into Linhua County or not, the judgment of more than 100,000 people would make great changes in Jiangnan and cause the world to shake. Jiangnan is the granary of Dazheng, if the affected areas can respond, Dazheng will inevitably be greatly injured, and the chaos of Dazheng is a good thing for Daqi.

On the high level, Ai Wei cleared his throat and said loudly: "This mansion is Duanzhou Assassin Shi Ai Wei, the bandits are coming east, and this mansion will fight the bandits together with you, live and die together, and share hardships." Lord Yuan is right, the bandits of Zhongshanzhai will never be able to attack Linhua County, but if you are not afraid of 10,000 for anything, you are afraid of what happens, the bandits are menacing, we must go all out, and we must not allow the slightest negligence, otherwise the jade will be burned when the city is broken. Xingling County was burned down by bandits, the people were homeless, they were coerced by bandits, life is better than death, as a citizen of Linhua County, would you like to see this situation? ”

"I don't want to."

The cries of 4,000 people shook the heavens and the earth, and the entire Linhua County was shaken. Ai Wei nodded with satisfaction and said, "The city gate has been closed, and it will not be opened again until the bandits retreat, and the heavy responsibility of defending the city wall will fall on you." ”

The world has been peaceful for a long time, and several generations have never experienced war, and suddenly heard that Lord Assassin Shi asked them to go to the city wall to defend the bandits, the crowd was in a commotion, and the swords and arrows had no eyes, what should I do if there was an accident?

"Don't be afraid, folks, this government is a weak scholar, and the age is approaching, at this time of crisis, this government will go to the city wall with you to fight the bandits, the bandits will not retreat for a day, the government will not go down the city wall for a day, and all the officials and servants of the county government will also go to the city wall to fight the bandits with everyone."

The officials and lords of the yamen went up to the city wall with him, and the crowd suddenly calmed down a lot, and Ai Tingshi continued: "If the two families send one person to the city wall, the only son in the family will be spared, and if there are casualties, the court will give preferential compensation......

Yang Siqi quietly retreated and left the county office. Returning to the inn and beckoning Ren Qiang to leave, although the city wall of Linhua County was high, it was difficult for the two of them to go out of the west gate with the help of ropes. Let Ren Qiang contact the others to stand by under the city tomorrow morning, Yang Siqi himself followed the official road in the direction of Xingling County, and he wanted to meet the heroes of Zhongshanzhai at night and guide them to attack the city.

Thirty miles away from Xingling County, a long fire dragon slowly moved on the official road. Long Wei Feng Ning Qingming stood on the top of the hill near the left side of the official road, looking at the procession that was more than three miles long, and according to his estimate, this group of bandits had nearly two thousand people, three times the six or seven hundred people mentioned in the letter.

Twenty miles behind the team of Zhongshanzhai, there is a small fire dragon composed of more than 100 people who is also marching towards Linhua County, and it is Jiang Anyi who leads the team.

After eating something in Xingling County, Jiang Anyi decided to follow the bandits in Zhongshanzhai and go to Linhua County. There are more than 300 people in the dock gang, Jiang Anyi asked Tietoutuo to select one hundred and fifty people, fortunately Jiang Anyi rode charcoal when he went to the dock gang, otherwise Jiang Anyi would regret losing the charcoal in the chaos.

Master Zhou puffed up a few times and wanted to tell Jiang Anyi to go with him, but when he thought of the corpses lying in a pool of blood, he retracted his words and sent Jiang Anyi and the others out of the city gate, Jiang Anyi smiled and said: "Lord Zhou is a literati, it is not suitable to cut and kill, as long as you can appease the people, Jiang will naturally show your merits to the Son of Heaven." ”

Zhou Zhen was overjoyed, bowed to the ground, and waited for Jiang Anyi and the others to go far away, and bent down respectfully.