Baocheng County is not big, the city is in the third place, but it is such a small city, and the first impression of Pang Jinming is four words - it is heavily guarded.

This is not to say that its city has given Pang Jinming an unconquerable feeling, but after all these years of conquest, compared horizontally, it is rare to encounter a small city of this size with a garrison comparable to that of a prefecture.

Pang Jinming came from the south, and on the way he passed by several abandoned places of the previous dynasties, such as Baozhong City and Wanshi City, although these cities are still inhabited by ordinary people, but like many abandoned cities in other areas, the walls are in disrepair and are no longer a solid regional fortress. However, in Baocheng County, hundreds of officers and soldiers were stationed in these abandoned cities without exception, and such a force density was almost comparable to Hanzhong City, where he had just left.

Years of experience make Pang Jinming have to wonder if there is a force of officers and soldiers who deliberately hide their whereabouts and secretly reinforce here? However, if it is reinforcements, it stands to reason that it should enter Hanzhong to assist in defense, why come to such an insignificant small city? Is it to be a surprise soldier, waiting for the opportunity to achieve a surprise effect? Or is it a horn with Hanzhong City, echoing each other's neighbors? One question after another kept piling up on Pang Jinming's mind, and he felt more and more that his decision to come here to investigate was correct and necessary.

As one of the 100 people that Zhao Dangshi relied on very much, Pang Jinming felt both extremely honored and under heavy pressure. Especially a few months ago, he was exposed in Shizhouwei and captured alive by Qin Jinxiao, who was still a Ming official at the time, which made him determined to do the next great thing to wash away this shame.

This time, he secretly communicated with Liu Shaozong, the head of the army in Hanzhong City, and Zhao Dangshi specially instructed him to pay attention to collecting news about the battle situation along the way.

The southeast gate of Baocheng County was close in front of him, and Pang Jinming subconsciously tightened his neckline. He stripped the unlucky guy of an officer and soldier's clothes, changed into it, and then took the other party's military badges, ultimatums, etc., and drove dozens of miles over, intending to sneak into the county seat and find out.

Bypassing a few sentry posts, Pang Jinming slowly approached the city gate. At the gate stood three or four officers and men with wooden guns, and two with bows looked down at the top of the city.

Several people pushed carts into the city one after another, Pang Jinming lowered his head and held his hands, wanting to mix in with these people. However, the officers and soldiers under the city had sharp eyes, and one of them, who seemed to be a small leader, shouted, and the rest immediately cheered up and came over.

Seeing the officers and soldiers coming up, the people were a little panicked, and their mouths were shy: "Official, small, small, ......"

"I'm not looking for you, go away!" The little leader waved his hand impatiently, and the people walked into the city without stopping as if they had been pardoned, leaving only Pang Jinming to be intercepted outside the city.

"You, what's your name?" The little leader asked, playing with a horn knife in his hand, tilting his head and leaning forward.

"This brother has seen the outside, and the younger brother is also on an errand in this city." Pang Jinming didn't laugh much, but in this case, he had to squeeze out a smile, and at the same time straightened his chest, deliberately showing a soap suit to remind the other party of his identity.

The little leader and a few companions looked at each other for a moment, then turned their faces and said, "But I haven't seen you in Baocheng. I can hear that he has no opinion on Pang Jinming's coat, but is a little suspicious of the people wrapped inside.

"Have you seen him?" The little boss advisers the other officers and soldiers, and not surprisingly, they all shook their heads and said no.

Pang Jinming said with a smile on his face: "The eldest brother said that he was laughing, how can he make fun of the younger brother." ”

"What's your name?" The little leader ignored Pang Jinming and asked again.

"The small surname is Liu, and the big name is Huang Lang. If the brothers don't believe it, here the military card is proof. Pang Jinming had already prepared for this, and took off the military badge on his waist and handed it over.

The little leader took a closer look, and found no flaws in the shape, so he called an idle man who was squatting in the hole of the city gate like a thin monkey and dressed up, and said, "Qilang, come and see." ”

This idle man is a gangster in the city, and he likes to go to the southeast gate to gag with a group of officers and soldiers guarding the city on weekdays, he was touching the fleas on his body with his head, and when he heard the call, he immediately refreshed himself, nodded and rushed up and said: "What did the third master order?" ”

"You can read, look at the words on the military card." The little leader arrogantly spread his hands out in a tone that sounded like a command.

This idler relied on the support of these officers and soldiers behind his back to be able to make a long face in the city, and he had this opportunity to be close to them, how could he let it go, while holding the military card, he said with a smile on his face: "The little one only knows a few words, and it all depends on the third master." After speaking, he respectfully held the military card, squinted his face, frowned, and tried his best to identify it for a while before he said, "It seems to be written on it, Liu Helang, born in the twenty-eighth year of Wanli, has a white face, is thin and tall, and there are moles at the corners of his mouth!" ”

When the little leader heard this, he snatched the military card, pretended to look at it again, and then looked at Pang Jinming, and said while looking: "Well, the boss said that your face is white, but you are so black?" ”

Pang Jinming hurriedly said: "Misunderstanding, the younger brother has three elder brothers in his family, his parents love him, and he is not angry, he didn't do any physical work in his early years, and he rarely goes out of the house, so he is white." In the past few years, I have been working in the yamen, and I have been exposed to more wind and sun, and I have grown rough. ”

The little leader wondered, "It says it's tall and thin." I see that you are tall, but you are quite strong, where do you look thin? ”

Pang Jinming said with a bitter face: "When I was young, I was full of blood and blood, and I was naturally thin. The food in this yamen is good, and it is not the desire of the younger brother to grow stronger. ”

"What about moles? It's gone, or is it blown by the wind? ”

"The eldest brother didn't know that the younger brother had gone out on business before, and he encountered a thief on the way, and he was stabbed in the face during the fight. You see, here is Scar. The blade finally swept to the corner of the mouth, but it happened to cut off the mole. Pang Jinming tried his best to argue, and he was afraid that a few officers and soldiers would not believe it, so he picked up the wet hair that covered his right cheek because of the rain, and there was indeed an inconspicuous scar there.

The little leader was suspicious, turned the general's card to the back, and found that there was a line of small characters, so he handed it to the idle man and said, "Read!" ”

The idle man recognized it with a sad face for a long time, and Fang said uncertainly: "Third master, above, it seems to be engraved on it is the hometown, yes, it is Henan, what, what is the ......"

"Henan Lu's." Pang Jinming hurriedly followed his words and said, "The younger brother is from the Lu family in Henan, and his mother's family is in Shaanxi, so he speaks Shaanxi dialect well. "The Lu family is close to Shaanxi, and the two sides often come and go. And Pang Jinming had a lot of news about that person in a casual chat when he was sheltering from the rain, and that person's origin was only one of them, so he didn't want to use it at this time.

"I see...... the little leader raised his eyebrows, squinted his eyes, thoughtful.

At this time, a companion next to him reminded him in a low voice: "The county magistrate seems to be from the Lu family." ”

The little leader's heart jumped, and then he remembered that He Yongxi, the official of his parents in this county, was indeed a native of the Lu family in Henan, and after he became an official here, many relatives and friends in his hometown dragged him to work in the county and took up his posts. The little boss, as a local snake, hated this phenomenon of "cronyism", and had complained to his colleagues more than once after drinking, feeling that this move had damaged the financial resources of his natives.

Pang Jinming saw that the other party seemed to have some concerns about his identity as a "Lu family", and took the opportunity to say: "The eldest brother doesn't know, the younger brother came to the Yamen two months ago to beg for food, and he has not had time to meet with the brothers, so please take care of the eldest brothers." These words were also heard in a dilapidated house while sheltering from the rain.

When the little leader heard this, he thought to himself: "Yes, Lao Tzu has lived in Baocheng for more than 40 years, and every dog in the city looks very clear, but he can't recognize you." ”

He saw that Pang Jinming shook out the Lu family's origin, and he thought that he had something to do with the county commander He Yongxi, so his attitude eased a lot, and said: "It turns out that this is the reason, no wonder I didn't recognize it, and in the future, my brothers and I can move around a lot and get close." ”

Pang Jinming hurriedly arched his hand and said: "This is natural, the younger brother will need to be raised by the brothers in the city in the future." When I made a business this time, I asked a few brothers to eat and drink. ”

The little leader laughed and said, "Very good, very good." As he spoke, he stretched his head out of the city gate, and shouted twice: "Hey, above, this Liu Huanglang brother said that he wanted to invite us to have a drink, you wait to be a witness, don't let him play tricks when the time comes." ”

Everyone listened and laughed, Pang Jinming accompanied him on his face, but he was very vigilant in his heart, he knew that this little leader was still not at ease with himself. Because they were all defenders of the city, their status was low, and it was difficult for them to make friends with the soap officials in the yamen, so the little leader's words were clearly a joke, but in fact, they let the archers patrolling the city also identify themselves, because in comparison, these archers had a higher status and had a lot more opportunities to move around the yamen than their defenders.

Fortunately, none of these archers in the city knew this "Liu Huanglang" who had just been transferred to the county recently, and they smiled and said: "Third brother, if you want us to be a guarantor, when you eat and drink, you can also have a few glasses!" ”

The little leader couldn't find any clues for a while, and replied: "Naturally, naturally." After speaking, he turned to Pang Jinming, "Brother, where did you come from?" ”

Pang Jinming took out a book hidden deep in his arms, and said: "Big brother, it's not that the little brother is arrogant, this letter was originally sent to Hanzhong Mansion by Lord He to the younger brother. This is an urgent military situation, and it is advisable to get through the county as soon as possible, so that I can't stay here longer. ”

The little leader didn't think much about it, and blurted out: "What kind of book is ......" As soon as the words came out, he knew that he was speechless, thinking that he was in a small position, how could he be qualified to understand such an important situation, and he was still in front of everyone. So all of a sudden, he suddenly had the upper hand and his momentum reversed.

Pang Jinming pretended not to worry about him, and said again: "Official business is important, please forgive the younger brother for not being able to continue to accompany him." When he had finished speaking, he walked out of the city with his legs drawn. He knew that this was the key, and as long as he was not weak-minded, those officers and soldiers might not be able to catch up, but on the contrary, they would be timid, which would make them suspicious again.

After weighing the pros and cons, the defenders decided to let Pang Jinming in. After all, the other party is only one person, even if he looks away, he really puts it into the fine work, and it is difficult to set off any waves alone. On the contrary, if the relationship with this kind of "noble" in the yamen is broken, it is a thankless thing that is related to vital interests.

Pang Jinming strode into the meteor, pretending to be familiar, and his heart, which was beating violently like a thunderstorm, gradually calmed down after getting farther and farther away from the city gate cave.

Now that he had entered the city, it was easy to cause unnecessary disputes in a soap suit, so he found a secluded alley corner, secretly took off the soap suit draped outside, and re-dressed himself to show people. When he finally put the hat on again, he looked like a person from the rivers and lakes, and he couldn't see the appearance of the official soap official.

He walked around the city at will, originally thinking that the guards outside were so strict, so when he got inside, he should be very vigilant. However, to his surprise, there was no martial law in the city, and although it was raining heavily, pedestrians and vendors were still walking around on the streets, and from time to time people ran out of their homes to chase clothes blown out by the wind, and everyone was talking in the streets, and they were as idle as usual, and there was no martial law at all. After a while, Pang Jinming was even more surprised to find that there was no team of soldiers patrolling and maintaining stability in the city, such a comfortable and leisurely scene formed a strong contrast with the fortress outside the city.

This is also too abnormal. As an elite member selected from nearly 10,000 soldiers, Pang Jin clearly believed that there were ghosts in Baocheng County, and there must be demons when things went wrong.

With doubts, Pang Jinming walked around the street again, when the sky was getting dark and the rain was heavy again, so he decided to find someone to stay with. But after looking for more than ten families in a row, the owner thought he was not good, and politely refused the request to stay overnight. When it was completely dark, he wandered tiredly, and subconsciously followed behind a shriveled old man who was carrying dung in the rain.

The two of them walked out of the five alleys in silence, and the old man stopped in front of a shabby hut, put down his burden, and looked back: "Housheng, you come, I have a free place here." ”

What's more enjoyable than being sent in the snow? Pang Jinming was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly. The old man didn't say anything, just sighed a few times, rested his pole on the side of the house, and pushed the door in. Pang Jinming picked up the hat under the eaves, shook the rain on his body, and slowly walked in and closed the door.