The sergeants gathered around with their guns. Yuwen Hongtai was stunned for a moment, and then laughed: "It's just right, I'm worried that I can't find the boundary of Xiangyang County!" ”

The leading military academy was stunned for a moment, looked at Qin Mubai and the others carefully, and took a few steps forward and asked in a solemn low voice, "Who are you?" ”

Qin Mubai smiled and said, "Didn't the military master still think that we are the same party as water ghosts, why did you come to ask again?" ”

The face of the military academy twitched, and he grinned: "Look at you, you are calm and calm according to your appearance, and you are not idle people." To tell you the truth, the lieutenant could have considered it carefully. ”

"Captain?" Qin Mubai smiled slightly when he heard this, "I don't know what title the military master will worship?" ”

"The captain of the left battalion of a certain Xiangzhou Mansion, Zhao Chong is also." After the military academy finished speaking, his brows were still furrowed, "Tell me quickly, who are you?" ”

"Captain? I'll also treat you as a lieutenant! Qin Mubai couldn't help laughing, "It's the duty of the yamen to ask about the case and inquire about the criminals, what does it have to do with your military captain?" Gossip and take us away! ”

"You! …… It's really a toast and don't eat, eat and punish wine! Zhao Chong was annoyed, his eyes glared angrily, and a flesh-colored scar on the left side of his face appeared, which was quite hideous.

At this time, Li Ke came out and said with a smile: "Captain Zhao is angry!" We are just ordinary businessmen, who have always been kind and wealthy, and peace is precious. The people don't fight with the officials, since the captain has determined that we are the same party as water ghosts, then we will be sent to the county government or the state government, and we will be asked about the case when the assassination history or the county order is promoted. What kind of system does it become to drink in such a large audience? Isn't it rumored that outsiders will mistakenly think that Zhao Xiaowei has set up a private court? ”

"You...... Hello, a slippery mouth! Zhao Chong became more and more annoyed, shook the horsewhip hatefully, and shouted at the sergeant behind him, "What are you doing in a daze, all tied up, take away!" ”

"You dare!" Yuwen Hongtai roared, and Li Ke hurriedly pulled him down, "That's it, it's the Tang Dynasty Wang Fa who kidnapped us, not him Zhao Xiaowei, let him go!" ”

"Humph! The surname is Zhao! Dumb officials, dog officials, confused officials! Remember it for grandpa today! Dare to tie us up, tomorrow grandpa will drag you to the streets, until you die—come, tie up! Yuwen Hongtai put his hands behind his back and yelled.

This roar made Zhao Chong feel a thrill all over his body, his eyes rolled suspiciously, and he wondered in his heart: It's strange, where is there such a Diao Min who is not afraid of officials? Judging by the bearing and conversation of these people, they must be extraordinary characters; Just listened to the words of this big black man, as if he had no fear, could it be that he really had a great background? Or is it posturing? …… That's it, be careful to make the 10,000-year-old ship, I am only responsible for taking people, how to ask the case is a person from the Yamen, can I offend people again?

"This lieutenant is not as knowledgeable as you!" Zhao Chong sneered at Yuwen Hongtai, "Come on, put them on the horse, and go directly to the Yamen of the Assassin's Mansion." This is a big case, and it must be tried directly by the Assassin's Office. Both horseback riding...... You don't have to tie it up! Be honest, too! If you dare to run away or make a mistake, this pistol and crossbow don't have eyes, hum! ”

Qin Mubai and Li Ke laughed, thinking that this Zhao Chong still had some eyesight and knew some good things.

So several sergeants stepped forward, half-pushed and half-rushed to put Qin Mubai and the others on the horse, held them with knives, and then one of them rode behind, and more than fifty horsemen galloped away.

Leaving a group of officials there in a daze, Zhou Laojiu, the leader of the officials, muttered with puzzled eyes: "Something is wrong...... How do I feel that this group of people is even more anxious to go to the yamen than Zhao Chong? How can there be such a thief in the world? Broken! …… This time, I'm afraid it's a trouble, and I've provoked people who shouldn't be messed with! ”

"Someone! Go to the county office quickly and inform the county government of what has just happened! ”

"Yes—"

Xiangyang County is the capital of Xiangzhou. The county government and the state government are across the street, and it only takes a cup of tea to walk. The more than 2,000 soldiers and horses of Xiangzhou Mansion were stationed in the lush forest plateau in the west of Yangcheng, which was less than 15 miles away from the city. The Eight Ghost Crossing where the incident occurred was even closer to the Xiangzhou Military Mansion, only less than five miles, so Zhao Chong and the others came fast enough today.

One kind of rushing over, Qin Mubai felt a little leisurely. After a closer look at the riding skills of these sergeants, their skills are not weak. So he made a bold guess and asked the knight behind him, "Hey, brother, you are the Yue Qi of Xiangzhou Mansion, right?" ”

"Huh?" The sergeant was about thirty years old, and he was slightly stunned and said, "How do you know?" ”

"Huh! In the land of many rivers in the southern harbor, it should be rare to see such a cavalry with superb horsemanship and good horse configuration like yours. Qin Mubai said, "So let's guess below, you should be one of the few mercenaries and elite Yue cavalry soldiers in Xiangzhou Mansion." ”

The sergeant's eyes widened in surprise, and he whispered in a deep voice: "You don't talk nonsense!" ”

Qin Mubai smiled slightly, knowing that he had guessed correctly.

Zhenguan Datang implemented the government military system, and the main source of troops was peasants. The peasant households worked as soldiers in their spare time and during war, and brought their own grain, grass and ordnance to serve in the military. Nowadays, the Tang Dynasty has a strong martial style, and the people of Guotai and the people have no worries about food and clothing, so the military government of the Tang Dynasty has never worried about the source of soldiers. Rao is like this, Datang still hires a group of elite soldiers, and the state supplies food, salary, ordnance and other materials, which is a fixed source of soldiers. For example, the Imperial Forest Army like the Hundred Cavalry, the Thousand Niu Guards, and the Left and Right Prison Guards are mostly mercenary troops, but most of them are composed of the children of the Shi family, and it is difficult for the common people to be selected.

Among the other twelve guards, there are generally such a few types of troops: Yue cavalry, military cavalry, platoon, infantry, archers, crossbowmen, etc.

Among them, the Yue cavalry is generally a mercenary army, specially selected to be able to ride and shoot bravely and be good at fighting. In every military government, there must be a group of such people as elite backbones. But if you go into battle, Yue Cai is the spearhead of charging into battle to destroy the city and pull out the village, and it is also the most precious type of troops in the Tang Twelve Guards Army.

In the southern realm, the elite Yue cavalry is particularly noble.

In other words, this batch of Yue Qi in front of him will be the trump card with the most actual combat ability in Qin Mubai's hands in the future.

Qin Mubai thought it was funny, he had just stepped on the ground in Xiangzhou, and he was caught by his own subordinates before he took office......

Zhao Chong and others "escorted" Qin Mubai and his entourage, and entered Xiangyang County, that is, Xiangzhou Prefecture. The people in the city saw that the armor soldiers were flocking into the city and were menacing, and they all came to watch, and the city was lively for a while.

More than 50 horsemen drove directly to the Yamen of the Assassin History, and after entering the pass, a Assassin Mansion Fa Cao came out to pick up people. Fa Cao's surname is Wu, who is in his forties and fifties, and was first shocked when he saw such a formation, and after asking the reason, he announced on the spot: "In view of the fact that the new assassin Shi, Sima, Changshi and other officials have not yet taken office, the prisoners will be put in prison first. ”

Li Ke smiled, got off the horse, walked up and down in front of Na Fa Cao, looked him up and down, and said, "You are Fa Cao of Xiangzhou Mansion." ”

"Exactly." Wu Facao was a little annoyed by a prisoner's unscrupulous look, and said angrily, "You, a thief who committed a crime, still dare to be so arrogant in the Assassin's Mansion and talk to Ben Cao like this?" ”

"And how am I going to talk to you?" Li Ke sneered, "If there is a big assassin mansion, why is there only one Facao left for you?" Where are those individual drivers, military officers, doctors, etc.? ”

"What's your business?" Wu Facao scolded and scolded, but still said, "All of you colleagues have gone to the Guandu Wharf to greet the new state capital, His Royal Highness King Wu, is it possible that you are still waiting to welcome you alone?" Stop talking nonsense, you just wait for the new assassin to arrive, and then go to the court to ask questions - take it away! ”

"Haha!" Li Ke laughed and greeted Qin Mubai, "I've been on the road for a few days, and I'm tired." Ladies and gentlemen, it's okay for us to go to this cell in Xiangzhou. ”

Qin Mubai also smiled and said, "I don't know if there is supreme good wine and meat?" ”

"I've never seen such a prisoner who doesn't know whether to live or die!" Wu Facao was furious, "Take it away!" Good student care! ”

A group of officials came forward, picked up water and fire sticks, and rushed Qin Mubai and his party to the prison.

Zhao Chong rolled his eyes for a while, and stepped forward to Wu Facao and said, "Brother Wu, I think something is wrong. ”

"What's wrong?"

"This group of people...... It's very annoying! Zhao Chong said, "Where have you ever seen such a fearless criminal?" When they entered the yamen, they followed up with their own home. I'm going to prison, but they all have smiles on their faces as if they are mocking us. Seem...... They're not small! ”

Wu Facao was stunned for a moment: "These people, how did you get them?" ”

Zhao Chong explained what had happened, Wu Facao was stunned for a long time, blinked his eyes and said, "You are indiscriminately arresting people to take credit?" ”

"!" Zhao Chong was furious, "It's clear that your subordinates have identified them as fellow water ghosts and asked us to help arrest them, so why should it be on our heads?" That being the case, if you encounter trouble in the future, you will not come back to bother our military government! After that, Zhao Chong pulled out his legs and was about to leave.

"Hey, hey, don't be impulsive, don't be angry, you have something to say......"

……

Qin Mubai and the others waited in prison, but they didn't suffer any grievances. Two or three people were locked up in a cell, and there was nothing else to suffer except for the smell that was a little unpleasant. The law of the Tang Dynasty prisoners is unprecedentedly enlightened and humane, except for a few bad people who turn a deaf ear to the law, and there are very few incidents of prisoner abuse. Prisoners who have not been convicted at trial are not shackled.

Qin Mubai and Li Ke were only separated by a cell, and they could speak while sitting with their backs together.

"Childe, I didn't notice anything unusual. I thought they were going to kill us, or they were in collusion with the water spirits, and they were going to kill us halfway. All the way, safely. Qin Mubai said in a low voice, "In this way, at most, they are a little negligent or careless, and it is not very likely that there will be collusion between the officials, the army, the officials, and the water ghosts." ”

Li Ke nodded lightly and said, "Now we can still determine whether there is collusion between the government and the military government and the water ghosts." But one thing is certain, they at least did some inaction, and even indulged in the water ghosts. Maybe they are used to these chronic diseases, and they don't bother to make a big effort to take care of them. If you can catch a few guilty people and hand them over, you can catch them indiscriminately, and you don't ask a clean question. As you have seen just now, these sergeants clearly do not contribute to their work, and they can waste less energy if they can, and even if they catch the wrong person, they don't bother to care so much, because it is the business of the yamen to try the case, and they can push it clean. In this way, the cooperation between the Assassin Mansion and the Military Government in Xiangzhou is very poor, and they shirk each other's bucks. ”

"Childe is really as wise as a torch." Qin Mubai nodded and smiled, "Water ghosts have been rampant in the Xiangzhou area for decades, and there must be many reasons. We also heard from the official that the water ghosts are also secretly 'supported'. This kind of inaction and passivity between the yamen and the military government is not the tacit understanding between them? They didn't dare to openly collude against the Tang Dynasty's court, and it was possible to secretly exchange tunes. Who can guarantee that there will be no exchange of interests between them? ”

"So we're going to hold our breath and wait a little longer." Li Ke lightly picked the corners of his mouth and smiled confidently, "Actually, it's quite good to be a prisoner, at least you can see a lot of situations that we don't usually see." Now we're in this prison, and we'll see what they can do. ”

"It's fine." Qin Mubai nodded and smiled, "Childe, isn't it fun to travel in micro-clothes like this?" I see you're enjoying it. ”

"Exciting!" Li Ke laughed.

"If you laugh so happily, you won't be able to laugh for a while." Suddenly, a cold voice came from the side, still a female voice.

Qin Mubai and Li Ke were stunned at the same time, and said in their hearts: Who has such outstanding ear power? Did we hear such a whispered conversation?

Xue Rengui on the side said in surprise: "I didn't expect that there were still masters in this cell!" ”

Qin Mubai's expression was even more strange: "This voice is so familiar—hey, who's talking to us?" ”

There was silence for a while, and a sound of shackles was heard coming from the left. In one of the innermost cells, a voice came from the shadows: "It's really a place where you don't meet in life, Mu Bai!" Unexpectedly, after half a year, we are here, meeting in such a way. ”

"Huh?" Qin Mubai was taken aback, sat up and looked at the other side, and exclaimed, "Are you-Chen Yan?!" ”

"Not bad." The voice said calmly, "It's me." ”