Those things in the officialdom and yamen can only be understood but not explained.

However, it was said that after receiving the letter, Governor Sun immediately wrote several handwritten letters, asking his cronies to send them to several thousands of households under the jurisdiction of the political secretary of Huguangbu.

In addition to the two capitals, Jinyiwei also has thousands of households and hundreds of households in various political departments. Under normal circumstances, there will definitely be a Jinyi Guard Yamen at the location of the Yamen of the Political Secretary, and some important state capitals and water and land points will also be set up.

Jin Yiwei is the pro-army of the Son of Heaven, and it is indescribably expensive, and ordinary magistrates will not take a look at it.

But Governor Sun is a provincial official, and this face still has to be given.

Not to mention a hundred or thousands of households, it is the personable commander of the Beijing Jinyi Health Administration, Liu Shouyou, Lord Liu, who will not take a stand when he sees Governor Sun.

The matter involved the little grandfather of the Wei State Mansion, and Jin Yiwei did not dare to be careless. If it is done a little badly, Chi Wei Guogong will blame it, and it will not be easy for Liu Shou to have Liu Commander there.

Therefore, each thousand and hundreds of households sent the most elite cavalry to cooperate with the state government yamen and patrol officers and soldiers to investigate.

Ning Xiuzhi was very happy about this, Jin Yiwei was a professional after all, and it was perfect for them to do this.

Jin Yiwei did play a great role, and it only took less than two days to find clues.

Although they nominally have to cooperate with the state government, they actually have a lot of autonomy and do not have to worry about being constrained at all.

The first to discover the robbers' traces was a general banner named Ling Yidao.

The gang saw that this was a great opportunity to get promoted and make a fortune, so he tried his best to find that the robbers were haunted by Shuangniu Mountain, a hundred miles away from the place where the ship was abandoned.

Ling Yidao only had seven or eight people around him, so it was naturally impossible to carry out the rescue. In order not to startle the snake, he sent one person to report to the prefect Li Rui, while the rest stayed in Shuangniu Mountain to keep an eye on the gang of robbers.

When the news reached Governor Li's mansion, Li Ruizhi was overjoyed.

The master of Jinyiwei is not ordinary, and he brought good news as soon as he made a move.

He immediately reported the news that the robbers were hiding in Shuangniu Mountain to Xu Huaiyuan, and Xu Xiaogong immediately mobilized people to kill Shuangniu Mountain violently.

According to the prefect Li Rui, this Shuangniu Mountain is the highest mountain under the jurisdiction of Jingzhou, and there are hundreds of bandits entrenched on the mountain, who often go down the mountain to plunder and do business without capital.

Although Governor Li had the intention to suppress the bandits, he had no choice but to have limited servants, and he had no right to transfer troops from the guards, so he had to endure it again and again.

Now it's good, there are brocade guards to come forward, supplemented by government officials, patrol officers and soldiers, but they are not afraid of hundreds of thieves.

A hundred miles was not too far, and everyone rode forward before sunset to the foot of Shuangniu Mountain.

Ning Xiu and Sun Wufan were also among the peers, and everyone gathered around to discuss the strategy of attacking the mountain.

"Fu Zun, I don't know if these robbers are temporarily hiding on Shuangniu Mountain for a few days, or if they are attached to the cottage. If the former is better, if the latter is afraid that it will inevitably be a bloody battle. ”

Ning Xiu sighed while analyzing: "This robber is indeed very cunning, they know that the government will do their best to search and arrest, so they just wait and hide in the mountains." No wonder we can't find these robbers! ”

Li Rui bowed slightly, Ning Xiu's words faintly meant to excuse him. But he still knows what to do.

Robbers hiding in the mountains are difficult to find, but why can Jinyiwei find them?

But now there is no point in saying this, as long as you can rescue the cousin of the little grandfather, it will be successful.

"Yes, Ning Xiansheng is right, now we must first find out whether the robbers are hiding in the cottage."

Li Rui echoed.

Xu Huaiyuan sneered and said, "Regardless of whether the robbers are hiding in the cottage or not, there is no need for these thieves who occupy the mountain to stay, right?" Didn't Governor Li always suffer from not having enough troops to suppress bandits? Why not take this opportunity to pull out this cottage? ”

"This ......"

Li Rui was obviously a little hesitant.

The suppression of bandits is indeed a great achievement, but it is nothing compared to rescuing Xu Huaiyuan's cousin.

What's more, Li Rui was worried that these robbers were not in the cottage, and because they went into the mountains to suppress the thieves, they frightened the snakes, so that these robbers took advantage of the chaos to escape.

If that's the case, it's not beautiful.

"Grandpa Xu, it is important to suppress bandits, but rescuing Sister Ling is the top priority. Xia Guan was worried that the robbers were only temporarily hiding in the mountains. If we attack the cottage with great fanfare, it will be bad if they take advantage of the chaos to escape. ”

Xu Huaiyuan couldn't help frowning.

Governor Li's words are not unreasonable, but how can we be sure that these robbers are not in the cottage?

Xu Huaiyuan set his eyes on the general flag Ling.

He was the first to discover that the robbers were hiding in Shuangniu Mountain, so he must be the best at investigating.

"Ling Zongqi, can you do this?"

Seeing that Grandpa Xu's eyes were full of expectation, Ling Yidao certainly wanted to say yes. But reason told him that he was greedy and chewed too much, and he should not agree to things that he was not sure of.

"Grandpa Xu, Xia Guan is not born with three heads and six arms, this kind of thing is really powerless."

Ling Yidao laughed bitterly.

"That's right."

Xu Huaiyuan was slightly disappointed. What even Jinyiwei can't do, it seems that it is indeed very difficult.

"However, the lower officials have a suggestion that can force the robbers to act."

"Oh? Ling Zongqi, let's hear it? ”

The gloom on Xu Huaiyuan's face dissipated, and a touch of joy appeared.

"Set fire to the mountain!"

Ling Yidao gritted his teeth and said word by word.

Everyone, including Xu Huaiyuan, gasped.

Ning Xiu sighed secretly in his heart, sure enough, those who can be Jinyi guards are ruthless. The sentence of setting fire to the mountain was so simple to say in Ling Yidao's mouth, it was no different from killing a chicken.

However, if you think about it carefully, Ling Yidao also has a certain reason in saying this, after all, setting fire to the mountain will form a lot of smoke, and the smoke will drive all the people on the top of the mountain down the mountain, and then they just need to wait for the rabbit.

But in this way, it will hurt the innocent and burn the mountains and forests, which is by no means acceptable to Ning Xiu's values.

"Never!"

Governor Li Rui hurriedly said: "Although this Shuangniu Mountain is a place where thieves open a village, it is difficult to guarantee that there are no medicine farmers and hunters living in the mountains. If you set fire to the mountain, what if you hurt the innocent? The most important thing is that Grandpa Xu's cousin is in the hands of the robbers, and if there is a mistake, the official can't afford it. ”

Ling Yidao sneered: "Then Governor Li has a better way?" ”

Xu Huaiyuan only felt very bored: "This is not good, that is not good." So what do you think you can do to get my cousin out? In my opinion, Ling Zongqi's plan is feasible. My cousin is their hope for survival, and they will not hurt my cousin unless they have to. ”

After a pause, Xu Huaiyuan said in a deep voice: "In my opinion, let's set fire to the mountain." ”

......

......

Set fire to the mountain!

Grandpa Xu's temperament belongs to the self-respecting type, and the thing he believes is that ten cows can't be pulled back.

Ning Xiu knew that no matter how much he said, it would be futile, so he cleared his throat and said, "It's okay to set fire to the mountain, but where is Young Master Xu going to start burning?" ”

"This ......"

Xu Huaiyuan was a little stunned.

Where to burn from? He really hadn't thought about it yet.

Xu Huaiyuan cast an inquiring glance at the prefect Li Rui, but the prefect Li shook his head and said: "The lower officials are in charge of the civil affairs of a government, and they are not proficient in arson. ”

Saying that, Chong Ling glanced at it: "Let's ask this Ling Zongqi who came up with the idea to talk about it." ”

Xu Huaiyuan nodded. Governor Li said it well, the idea was Ling Yidao, so naturally it should be analyzed by him.

"Ling Zongqi, you can give a word."

"According to the opinion of the lower officials, it will be burned from the foot of the mountain."

Ling Yidao said angrily.

"Never."

Ning Xiu said in a deep voice.

Ling Yidao frowned displeasedly: "Why not?" ”

"Starting from the foot of the mountain, didn't Ling Zongqi deliberately set up the enemy!"

"You, what do you mean!"

Ling Yidao was furious, and his right hand had already pressed the handle of the embroidered spring knife, ready to draw the knife at any time.

Xu Huaiyuan hurriedly stepped forward, stopped between the two and said, "Mr. Ling, don't be angry, Friend Ning is also thinking about the big picture." Listen to him first. ”

The corners of Ning Xiu's mouth raised slightly, and he paced a few steps with his hands behind his back and said: "This Shuangniu Mountain is not short, Ling Zongqi put a fire from the foot of the mountain, how long does it take to burn to the top of the mountain?" ”

"This ......"

Ling Yidao's face was a little ugly, but he still argued to himself: "It should be okay for a while, right?" ”

Ning Xiu smiled slyly and said, "An hour? Presumably this was something that Ling Zongqi came up with with patting his head, right? ”

He paused for a moment and continued: "Fang Cai Ling Zongqi also said that this Shuangniu Mountain is the grass landing point of a group of bandits. So dare to ask Ling Zongqi, where is the cottage built? ”

"Nature is at the top of the mountain."

"So, how do the bandits react when they see the fire?"

Ning Xiu's eyes became sharp, and he said coldly: "Ning said that Ling Zongqi started burning from the foot of the mountain, is it wrong to deliberately set on the enemy?" ”

"You!"

Ling Yidao was about to explode, but Ning Xiu still pinched his seven inches, and what he said was reasonable, and he couldn't justify it at all.

After a moment of silence, Ling Yidao's eyebrows suddenly became happy.

"The surname is Ning, and a certain family almost let you go in. This cottage is indeed on the top of the mountain, but the robbers who hijacked the little grandfather's cousin may not have been hiding in the cottage. If we start burning halfway up the mountain or just up there, in case we happen to miss the hiding place of the robbers, will you be able to take the responsibility? ”

Ning Xiu sneered, his heart was good, this Ling Yidao still knew how to take advantage of the situation to suppress people.

This guy knows that now Xu Huaiyuan and Xu Xiaogong are eager to save his sister, so he will talk about it at this level.

But in fact, since the robbers are hiding in Shuangniu Mountain, it is very likely that they are hiding in the cottage. If you insist that they are hiding in a col or cave somewhere, this possibility is naturally possible, but it is very small.

Since he had to set fire to the mountain, Ning Xiu naturally hoped that the higher the place where he started burning, the better. In this way, even after a wildfire, the impact on Shuangniu Mountain will be as small as possible, after all, some hunters and medicine farmers who live in the mountains are unlikely to live on the top of the mountain, which is the territory of the bandits.

"So, if Ling Zongqi burns down, if you hurt the old and the young and innocent, can you afford this responsibility?"

Ning Xiu was not frightened, and when he saw that Ling was aggressive, he immediately fought back.

Originally, Ling Yidao hoped that this sentence could provoke Xu Huaiyuan, who was eager to save his sister, patted his head and made a decision, as long as Grandpa Xu made a decision, could a mere Ning Xiu turn the sky upside down?

Ke Ning Xiu's counterattack made Xu Huaiyuan, who was about to pat his head, sober up a lot.

Of course, he wanted to rescue his cousin as soon as possible, so he did not hesitate to use Governor Sun's relationship to secondment Jinyiwei.

But the problem is that he can't put his personal feelings above the interests of the family. Otherwise, wouldn't he just write a letter to his father and ask his father to mobilize the officers and soldiers of the Nanzhili Guard Station to come to Huguang to search and intercept it?

He set fire to the mountain, and if it was a bandit, then it was a credit. But if it was an innocent medicine farmer who burned to death, it would be a great sin.

After all, mountain fires are ruthless, and once a fire goes down, not an inch of grass grows, how can mountain fires distinguish between good and evil?

How can there be more than 100 medicine farmers, hunters, and croppers on this Shuangniu Mountain, right? If it really burns down, it will definitely not be able to suppress more than a dozen things that will be burned to death.

Those imperial historians who had nothing to do every day wished that something would happen to the Duke of Wei, and Xu Huaiyuan could imagine what they would do.

What's more, Xu Huaiyuan himself is quite kind-hearted, and he is by no means a traitor. Even if the Imperial Historians would not impeach him and his father on this matter, his conscience would not be reconciled.

After thinking about it for a while, Xu Huaiyuan sighed and said: "What the two of you said makes sense, in my opinion, if you want to set fire to the mountain, it is better to be safe, at least you have to notify the medicine farmers, hunters, and croppers who live here, and you can't hurt the innocent." ”

Ling Yidao's lungs were about to explode. He said to himself, aren't you taking off your pants and farting?

By the time you have notified these people, the bandits will have already gotten the news, and there will be no use in burning the mountain!

"Little Grandpa Xu thinks twice. The advantage of burning the mountain is that it is to force out the bandits and robbers together. If you go door-to-door to tell the information, the effect will be greatly reduced. ”

"Hey......"

Xu Huaiyuan shook his head and said, "Then what should I do?" ”

Ning Xiu said with a smile: "Little grandfather don't worry, the mountain people have their own tricks." ”

"Friend Ning has a way?"

"Yes."

Ning Xiu nodded lightly, turned to Ling Yidao and said, "Dare to ask how many ways down this Shuangniu Mountain are?" ”

Ling Yidao snorted coldly and said, "There are three places in total." ”

"That's not the end of it. It is very likely that the robbers who kidnapped the little grandfather's cousin are hiding in the cottage, and we only need to put a fire on the top of the mountain to force the people in the cottage out. Ling Zongqi led people to guard outside the cottage, how could those thieves pass the level of Ling Zongqi? ”

"Of course, but what if the robbers aren't in the cottage?"

"It was only Ning who asked Ling Zongqi how many ways down the mountain there were in Shuangniu Mountain. If the robbers are not in the cottage, they will choose to go down the mountain when they see the cottage on fire and panic, we only need to allocate some people to guard the three roads down the mountain and wait for them to deliver them to the door. ”

Ling Yidao was completely devastated when he found that he had lifted a stone and smashed his own foot. But he was unwilling to admit defeat, and argued to himself: "What I said just now is only three big roads, what if they take the small road down the mountain?" ”

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