Unfortunately, Xiang Kang's crow said that in mid-April, the newly expanded Shiling Pavilion blacksmith shop had just entered the right track, and Xianyang issued an edict again, recruiting the third round of soldiers to serve in the frontier, and all adult males whose parents and grandfathers had been sons-in-law or merchants had to bring their own dry food and travel expenses, and follow the officials of the county where they were located to the bitter cold land in the north, or to the miasma of Nanyue in the south, to guard the Great Wall and expand the territory for Daqin.

In addition, because Qin II, the famous emperor of the ages, decided to continue to build the Afang Palace, the Great Qin court also unceremoniously recruited a large number of craftsmen to Xianyang to serve in the conscription. At the same time, in view of the shortage of feed for famous dogs, horses and various rare birds and beasts copied by the royal family, Hu Hai, the great Qin Mingjun who was on the way, also adopted the suggestion of his teacher Zhao Gao and ordered the counties and counties across the country to send all kinds of beans, miscellaneous grains and forage to Xianyang. (Published in the "Information Governance Guide")

The news spread, of course, there was a big uproar among the people, and the same was true for the lower minister's side, even if the lower prime minister's county commander Zhou Zeng was barely a good official, and the other officials of the lower minister were relatively honest and self-disciplined, the lower minister's people were still inevitably in turmoil, and the soldiers who belonged to the third round fled one after another, and the craftsmen and craftsmen who were to be forcibly requisitioned to work as coolies in Afang Palace and Lishan also rushed to run away, and the production and life of the people who had not been able to recover were seriously affected again, and Feng Zhong and other grassroots officials in Daqin were anxious, But there was nothing to be done.

Even Xiang Kang's neighbors have fugitives, a neighbor named Jiang Fan because his grandfather was a businessman, was included in the list of soldiers to serve in the frontier, unwilling to suffer that crime, even more afraid that he would go and come back, this Jiang Fan, who was in the same army as Xiang Kang, gritted his teeth and took advantage of the unpreparedness of his neighbors, and simply escaped from the Shiling Pavilion overnight and disappeared into the depths of the night, even Xiang Kang and the other three families were unlucky, each family was fined a shield, and the commander of the same army as Xiang Kang was fined twice.

Fortunately, Xiang Kang's current economic situation is completely different from before, and three hundred and eighty-four dollars for a shield is already a trivial matter for Xiang Kang, and he is not very distressed when he is fined. At the same time, what surprised Xiang Kang was that under the condition that the production and life of the common people were affected by heavy forced labor, the business of the Shiling Pavilion blacksmith shop was not only not affected in any way, but on the contrary, it became more and more prosperous, especially the swords and other self-defense weapons, which were simply in short supply, and were usually ordered and purchased before they were cooled and formed in the mold.

Xiang Kang soon knew why the swords and weapons in the blacksmith shop in Shiling Pavilion were selling so well, and Feng Zhong kept bringing news, saying that the escaped folk soldiers had gathered crowds to steal in order to survive, and because they could grab money and food to make ends meet, they kept trying their best to steal and buy all kinds of weapons. The vicious circle caused by this is that the officials, wealthy families and large caravans selling goods in various places are also desperately purchasing weapons in order to protect themselves or catch thieves, so the iron weapons of Shiling Pavilion of good quality are so sought-after.

"The troubled times are really slowly kicking off." In addition to sighing, Xiang Kang, who had long been uneasy and kind, also took the opportunity to say to Feng Zhong: "Big brother, if it goes on like this, it seems that there is no need for us to build any farm tools, a little iron is still all used for swords and swords, even if it can't be sold for the time being, it doesn't matter, maybe it can be sold at a higher price after hoarding." ”

"I don't interfere in business matters, brother, you just need to watch it." Feng Zhong was also generous, and he didn't bother to care about the reason why Xiang Kang hoarded swords and weapons, but said again: "Be careful, I heard that there are bandit activities on the side of Malingshan now, and I have robbed the merchants and people who have passed by there several times, brother, don't run over there if you have nothing to do, there are people who came from Xiapi to buy weapons and farm tools, and also tell them to be careful, don't let the hard-fought swords cheapen the bandits in Malingshan." ”

Maling Mountain is the place where the famous battle of Maling took place in history, located in the northwest of Shiling Pavilion, only more than 30 miles away from Shiling Pavilion, after crossing over, Xiang Kang also once accompanied the children of the Xiang family to play there several times, knowing that although the mountain is not high, the terrain is very complicated, the trees are dense and the water network is dense, it is the ideal paradise for bandits and robbers to fall into the grass for Kou. So Xiang Kang nodded immediately, thanked Feng Zhong for his kind reminder, and asked curiously: "Big brother, how many bandits are there in Maling Mountain?" Why didn't the government think about exterminating this bandit? ”

"God knows how many bandits there are, but I heard that their leader is called Wei Qiu, and I don't know if it's his real name." Feng Zhong replied casually, and said lazily: "Maling Mountain is in the territory of Xiapi, and it doesn't even belong to our subordinate minister, it doesn't belong to our subordinate minister, nor does it belong to our Surabaya County, whether to suppress it or not is a matter of Donghai County and Xiapi County, and it has nothing to do with our subordinate officials, as long as that gang of bandits doesn't come to our subordinate minister to make trouble." ”

Xiang Kang was a little disappointed when he heard this-Originally, Xiang Kang Ke also planned to pry Feng Zhong, who was in charge of arresting the thieves, to take action and practice with this group of bandits in Maling Mountain, but Feng Zhong was not interested in this, and at the same time there was no reason to make a move, Xiang Kang had to dispel this idea and change his mouth to talk to Feng Zhong about other things.

It was also a coincidence that after inadvertently learning the news of the bandits in the Malingshan area from Feng Zhong, it was only in the afternoon of the same day that Xiang Bo, who was hiding in Xiapi, sent a servant of Han Liang's family to bring a letter to Xiang Kang for the remaining thirty steel knives that he had promised. Xiang Kang, who just owed Han Li, a big favor to Han Li, a confidant of Han's conscience, had no choice but to obediently pay out of his own pocket to make up for the shortfall, took out thirty knives from the blacksmith shop that had expanded the scale of production, and handed them to the servants of the Han family and asked him to take them north to give to Xiang Bo. At the same time, he also told the servants of the Han family not to take the road of Maling Mountain to the north, so as not to have any accidents.

After handing over the knife to the servants of the Han family, Xiang Kang never cared about this matter again, but to Xiang Kang's great surprise, it was just the evening of the next day, and his nephew Xiang Qi rushed into the blacksmith shop with a rolling belt, and said in a panic as soon as they met: "Uncle Ji, it's not good, the thirty knives yesterday were robbed in Maling Mountain, Xiang You was also injured, and the person who bought the knife also died." ”

"What?" Xiang Kang's surprise was not trivial, and he hurriedly asked, "Why did Xiang You send the knife again?" Why didn't he tell me? Also, didn't I tell them to bypass Malingshan? Why don't they listen? ”

"I don't know, Uncle Ji, you'd better go back and take a look." Xiang He shook his head and urged.

There is no choice, Xiang Kang can only temporarily hand over the matter in the blacksmith shop to his old apprentices, with Xiang It hurried to the third uncle's house to check the situation, but just arrived at the door, Xiang Kang heard the third uncle and aunt crying heartbreakingly inside, Xiang Kang hurriedly entered the hospital again, and saw that the children of the Xiang family had arrived, Xiang You was lying on the ground in the front hall covered with blood, the medical workers next to him were bandaging and rescuing, and the third uncle and mother were crying loudly on the other side.

There were outsiders present, of course Xiang Kang would not be stupid enough to immediately ask why he asked Xiang You to send a knife to Xiang Bo, but he deceived the medical worker and asked him about Xiang You's situation, and the medical worker replied truthfully: "It's okay, it didn't hurt the fatal part, the bleeding has stopped, as long as he can survive tonight, it will definitely be no problem to save his life." ”

"It's a pity." Xiang Kang muttered regretfully in his heart, and asked the medical worker a few words in a pretended way, and then got up and pulled Xiang Zhuang aside and whispered to him for the specific reason.

"I didn't know until noon that Xiang You personally went to deliver a knife to the third uncle." Xiang Zhuang lowered his voice and said, "I heard the third uncle say that Xiang You misses the third uncle and wants to see the current situation of the third uncle's injury last time, so he insisted on going." Later, when Xiang You came back, he didn't faint, and told us that he and Han Shi, the servant of the Han family, met bandits next to Maling Mountain, killed Han Shi, slashed him, and snatched all the thirty knives. ”

"Idiot, I obviously said that there are bandits on the side of Maling Mountain, but I just don't listen." Xiang Kang complained in his heart, and at the same time, he had an idea, and said secretly: "This is an opportunity to send troops to suppress bandits, persuade Feng Zhong to send troops, and then pull the children of the Xiang family and those apprentices in my blacksmith shop to the battlefield, won't you brush up your experience and train your level?" ”

After making up his mind, Xiang Kang did not rush to act according to the plan, and chose to wait by Xiang You's side with the children of the Xiang family, waiting for him to learn the details when he woke up, and colluding to confess so as not to expose the flaws. Not to mention, in the middle of the night, Xiang You, who had lost too much blood, really started a high fever, but it was a pity that the two uncles kept watch all night, constantly feeding Xiang You water and wiping his forehead, and he rushed to lower Xiang You's body temperature before dawn, and also helped Xiang You pick up a small life, and let Xiang You regain some consciousness when the sky was twilight, and spoke for a few minutes.

Seizing this loophole, Xiang Kang, who couldn't close his eyes all night, first hurriedly asked about Xiang You's robbery, and after learning that Xiang You was robbed by about 20 bandits, Xiang Kang breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that with the current manpower and material resources in his and Feng Zhong's hands, there was absolutely no problem in dealing with this small group of bandits. Then Xiang Kang asked Xiang You again under what banner he was using to send the knife to the north, and after making a good confession, he finally sent Xiang He to come forward and go to Feng Zhong to inform the news and officially report to the official.

After receiving the news, Feng Zhong rushed to Xiang's house to check the situation as soon as possible, but Xiang You had already passed out again, so Xiang Kang had to come forward and introduce the specific situation to Feng Zhong on his behalf. As a result, Feng Zhong was immediately full of resentment when he heard this, and complained to Xiang Kang: "Brother, the day before yesterday, the eldest brother told you that there was a bandit on the side of Maling Mountain, and they had robbed people several times, why didn't you tell your brother?" ”

"I said it." Xiang Kang said with a sad face: "I told him more than once, and the Xiapi man who came to buy a knife, I also told him that there were bandits in Maling Mountain, and told them to take more detours than to approach Maling Mountain, but they just didn't listen, and they wanted to take that road, what can I do?" ”

"Ugh." Feng Zhong sighed and said with great regret: "There are thirty more knives, and only a fixed fee of ten gold is collected, and the rest are floating in the water." ”

"Big brother, you can't float." Xiang Kang hurriedly said: "Ma Lingshan's gang of bandits, although it was committed in Xiapi County, but it was our people who served Lingting who were injured, and you are the one responsible for the anti-theft, so you can send troops to suppress the bandits, and our Xiang brothers can help you and avenge our brothers." ”

"That's right, Brother Feng, take the pavilion guards to arrest people." Xiang Zhuang and others, who had already done ideological work in advance by Xiang Kang, shouted one after another, instigating Feng Zhong, who happened to be in charge of this aspect, to send troops to suppress the bandits, capture the bandits from Maling Mountain to avenge Xiang You, and also snatch back the steel knife that they had snatched.

The children of the Xiang family were excited, but Feng Zhong smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Xiang, and Brother Xiang Kang, do you think it's easy to suppress bandits?" Do you think that the officials in Xiapi County are really all waste, and they can't even clean up the twenty or so little thieves? There is a reason why Xiapi doesn't pay attention to these bandits. ”

"What is the reason?" Xiang Guan asked.

"Over there in Malingshan, you should have been there." Feng Zhong replied helplessly: "The mountain is indeed not high, but the place is too big, it is known as the Eight Hundred Miles of Horse Tomb, the five mountains of Fengshan, Doushan, Tiger Mountain, Grandma Mountain and Daylily Ridge, the woods are dense everywhere, and people can be hidden everywhere, not to mention the twenty or so little thieves, even if thousands of troops and horses hide in it, they can disappear without a trace, how can you ask the officials of Xiapi County to exterminate this bandit?" And how do you tell me to exterminate this bandit? This little bit of pavilion under my hand, plus your Xiang brothers, entering Maling Mountain is like sprinkling a handful of sand into the sea, what effect can it do? ”

The children of the Xiang family, who had no experience in suppressing bandits, closed their mouths, and only the younger Xiang Yang was more naïve, and proposed: "Can you set a fire and burn out all those bandits?" ”

Feng Zhong laughed when he heard this, and said with a wry smile: "Brother Xiang Yang, let's not say that we have more fire oil and light such a big fire, and don't say that Maling Mountain is the land of Xiapi County, that side will definitely not let us do this, even if we can set fire to the mountain, we can burn those bandits out, and those bandits run away to other roads, what do we chase?" How can we, the people, surround the Eight Hundred Miles of Horse Tomb? ”

Xiang Yang closed his mouth in shame, while Feng Zhong sighed and said, "Brothers, I understand your desire to avenge Brother Xiang You, but it's too difficult, we can only catch them when we have a chance in the future, snatch back the knife we lost, and avenge your brothers." ”

When the children of the Xiang family were completely desperate, Xiang Kang, who had been trying to calculate, suddenly raised his head and said, "Brother Feng, can you use the method of luring the snake out of the hole to lure out the gang of bandits surnamed Wei?" Lure them out of Maling Mountain, or even to Shiling Pavilion, and fall into our trap, and then we suddenly launch an ambush and wipe them out? ”

"It's a solution, but how do you lead it?" Feng Zhong asked.

"Big brother, do you have any people under your command who are familiar with the situation of bandits and are more able to speak?" Xiang Kang asked: "Give him a little reward, and promise a little reward, let him go to Malingshan and pretend to join the gang, and tell Weiqiu that gang of thieves, just say that he knows that there is a rich family here in Shiling Pavilion, it is a big fat sheep that is easy to slaughter, and he is willing to lead the way to rob this family, as long as he can say that Weiqiu's gang of thieves is moved, he can trick that gang of thieves to Shiling Pavilion and send them to death." ”

Feng Zhong pondered and didn't speak, while Xiang Kang instigated again: "Big brother, if this thing can be successful, not only can we snatch back the thirty good knives that we lost, but you can also make a big show, so that the two counties of Xiapi and Xiaxiang know that you are powerful, which will also be very beneficial to your career in the future." ”

"And it doesn't matter if it doesn't work out." Xiang Kang said again: "We are just one of your subordinates running for nothing, and there is no loss for us at all." ”

Considering the small investment and the rich return, Feng Zhong finally nodded, and quickly said: "I have a diner named Wei Shan under my command, who can say that he has done a lot of things about chickens and dogs, and he is more familiar with the situation of bandits, so he can let him run." However, should he be asked to trick Wei Qiu's gang of bandits into coming to Shiling Pavilion to rob which family? ”

Xiang Kang smiled and didn't speak, Feng Zhong was a little stunned at first, then suddenly came to his senses, pointed at Xiang Kang with his finger, and said with a laugh: "Gong Yu picked your son-in-law, brother, you really have a vision." Yes, it's him, the entire Shiling Pavilion, and his family is the most worthy fat sheep to slaughter. ”

After all, he is a veteran of handling cases who specializes in catching thieves for dinner, and after laughing, Feng Zhong suddenly found an important problem, and hurriedly asked Xiang Kang: "Brother, we can send someone to lure the snake out of the hole and lure Weiqiu's gang of bandits to Shiling Pavilion to die, but there are only a thousand days to be thieves, and there is no thousand days to prevent thieves, I don't know when they will come to Shiling Pavilion to be thieves, how can we arrange an ambush to kill them?" ”

"Big brother, don't worry." Xiang Kang smiled and said, "I have already considered this problem just now, and I have already thought of a way to solve it." ”