"It seems that Deputy Envoy Zhang has a clever plan!" Li Zhen looked at Zhang Han, and his smile became stronger.

Zhang Han nodded slightly, and said softly: "There is a clever plan, but the general needs to go to Jizhou and Cangzhou in person!" ”

......

Hebei Province, Weibo Town, Beizhou.

Gucheng County, located in the northeast of Beizhou, the south of Jizhou, the west of Dezhou, is the road that must pass from the south to the north, it has always been the place where the merchants settled in the past, and because of this, it is close to the two states of Hebei and Germany, and belongs to the junction of the German army, the horizontal navy and the Wei Bo army.

It is not only the intersection of the three places, but also for the gathering of merchants, naturally there are few bandits and bandits rampant in the meantime, and the three towns are therefore always prevaricating and making profits, although it is a piece of fertile land, but after all, it is difficult to be effectively governed, and then the bandit problem becomes more and more serious.

So that some merchants had to go in groups, relying on the strength of the crowd in the hope that the bandits would know the difficulties and retreat, but this method was not a long-term plan after all, after a long time, the bandits also learned the way of the merchants to loot together, after all, the merchants gathered at the same time, but also their goods and money gathered together, but for the bandits to avoid the pain of running around.

Even the rangers and young men hired by some big merchants are still mantis arms in front of these bandits who are committed to killing and looting, and it is difficult to play a real role in protecting the goods of the merchants, and even some bold bandits actually go to the old city and county town in broad daylight to openly ask the merchants for their property.

And the old city and county Wei are also helpless about this, every time they send troops, the bandits are scattered, and there is no trace of people and money.

Today's Gucheng County is as noisy and bustling as usual, and most of the merchants with different accents will do some small business here, each taking what they need, or buying and selling, or replacement, and making not much money.

Outside the Ancient City, a caravan of about twenty or thirty people was slowly advancing in the direction of the Ancient City.

"Shaolangjun, I heard that this old city and county are not peaceful, I think it's better to go around Daodaozhou!"

A middle-aged man in the procession said to a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy beside him, the man was not tall, lean, and dark-skinned, but he looked like a fisherman who lived by the sea all year round, and with his Jiangling accent, it was easy to guess where this caravan came from.

The young man next to him is of medium stature, although he is not fat, but he is also full of red light, and his body is quite rich, wearing a light cyan robe with a lack of crotch, but the material is extremely exquisite, just by looking at it, he knows that it is from the splendid area of Suzhou and Hangzhou, the children of typical rich and noble families.

When the young man heard this, he smiled indifferently and said, "So what? My brother is Lu Long's big official, how dare the little bandit take me? ”

The middle-aged man looked a little anxious after hearing this, and hurriedly said: "What Shao Langjun said is very true, but you have said it, your brother is Lu Long's big official, this is the junction of Wei Bo, Chengde, and Henghai, no matter how long Lu Long's arm is, he can't reach here!" You say it casually, but these bandits have to believe it! ”

When the young man saw the middle-aged man's appearance, he immediately smiled and said: "Hahaha, Uncle Yang, don't worry, I'll be joking with you just now, let's go all the way here, it's getting late now, if we go around Daozhou at this time, I'm afraid we can only spend the night outside the city, it's better to go to the old city first and then think about it in the long run!" ”

After saying that, the young man turned around and glanced behind him, and said: "Besides, we still have some good hands, and if we really want to meet one or two robbers, we are not afraid of him, and this is Hebei after all, I believe that there are bandits, but to say that bandits are really as rampant as Uncle Yang said, hehe, I don't believe it!" ”

After all, young people are stubborn.

The persuasion was fruitless, and the middle-aged man stopped talking after hearing this, but shook his head helplessly, and continued to move forward with the young man.

There were five ox carts in the caravan, and judging by the trajectory of the ruts, it was clear that these things were not light.

From time to time, the young man looked back at the convoy, and the expression on his face was both excited and expectant.

Three of these goods were silk and silk silk from Suzhou and Hangzhou, and although the land of Heshuo was accustomed to seeing the fur horses of the Guanwai clans, these things were rare, and the price was naturally higher than that of other places, sometimes as high as three or five times.

It is a huge profit, it is indispensable for these merchants to be sent and shipped, and it is also thanks to these merchants that the dignitaries and nobles in the land of Heshuo have a bright and fashionable outfit.

And the other two cars, one is the citrus abundant in Gangneung, and the other is ......

When the young man thought of this, he couldn't help but think of the little bully who dominated Gangneung Mansion, the little bully who was cheated out of money by someone.

Speaking of someone, the boy laughed unconsciously, the guy who has always adhered to the principle of "carrying the black pot and sending you to death", after half a year, I don't know what he has become?

"Hahaha, brothers, I'm Liu Hong!"

The young man couldn't help but laugh, causing everyone around him to look sideways in confusion.

Half a pillar of incense, the caravan can already see the gate of the ancient city county, compared to Jiangling Mansion, the ancient city of this place called it "the land of projectiles" is also a bit of an exaggeration, Liu Hong was reluctant to settle in this small place, not afraid of bandits, but afraid of losing his identity.

After all, he used to be the son of an official eunuch, when he followed someone to do evil in Jiangling Mansion, he was a county magistrate who had to retreat a little bit when he saw him, and now although he has no official identity, after all, he used to be a person in Jiangling Mansion who covered the sky with one hand, and he naturally had a feeling of falling into Pingyang when he came to the old city.

Therefore, the gates of the city are not large, the walls are not high, and the rammed earth layer that has fallen into disrepair has long been weathered and incomplete, which is why the bandits can come and go freely in this city.

The two sides of the city gate were not as heavily guarded as Gangneung Mansion, only two veterans, dragging half of their sick bodies that were about to sink into the ground, leaning against the city wall and squinting in the sun, allowing people or dogs, merchants or bandits to come and go.

When the group entered the city, it was a beautiful scenery, there was no market in Gangneung Province, there were only unruly private houses and commercial houses, and the peddlers and pawns placed on the side of the road were either horizontal in the middle of the road or obliquely occupying the aisles, making the originally not spacious roads even more crowded.

The only thing that surprised Liu Hong was the goods here, such as the furs and felt hats of the Huangjia in the north, the celadon and tea of Fujian in the south, the wild ginseng and mountain delicacies of Korea in the east, and even the spices of the Western Regions that are strange goods even in Chang'an.

This alone is that Jiangling Mansion is a little inferior, and Liu Hong is naturally eye-opening when he sees it this time.

"Tsk, although this place is small, it is a good place for transit trading, no wonder these bandits want to fight here!" Liu Hong couldn't help but sigh.

The middle-aged man next to him was about to answer, but suddenly heard a noisy shouting and killing sound in front of him, Liu Hong couldn't help but look forward when he heard the sound, and he was suddenly taken aback after this look.