Yang Congyi was alone, there was nothing to arrange, after packing his luggage, he went to find Guo Qing, and by the way, he sent fifty taels of gold over, by the way, I don't know when I will be able to come back this time, he doesn't have many acquaintances, Guo Qing is one.

Yang Congyi came to the yamen early in the morning, and saw that the crowd had gathered and was waiting to leave.

When everyone saw Yang Congyi arrive, they all gathered up, "Brother Yang, I'm waiting for you." ”

Yang Congyi is not familiar with them, and people he knows can count them with a slap. In the face of such an enthusiastic brother, he barely squeezed out a smile on his face, "Everyone has arrived." ”

Everyone said, "It's here." ”

Yang Congyi took out the roster from his arms and began to roll call, "Gao Hu, Qiu Ping, Li Erniu, Li Husheng, Zhang Biao......"

After clicking on the names, twenty-five people were not a lot, Yang Congyi didn't say anything more and announced his departure.

A group of 26 people, many of whom have not been out of Taihu County, is the first time to go to Huaining, they are in high spirits, talking and laughing all the way, and do not take the task to heart, as if they think they are just going out to play.

Yang Congyi was silent, immersed in his own world alone.

Yang Congyi didn't know the way to Huaining in the east, but someone who had been there led the way. In fact, there is no need for a special person to lead the way, Taihu County to Huaining has an official road since ancient times, and it has been used to this day, only this one, east out of the county seat.

Everyone walked all the way, and was not in a hurry to rush to Huaining, and the magistrate only told them the departure time, but did not tell them the date of arrival, so they walked very casually, just like going out for a spring outing together.

Yang Congyi already roughly knew what was going on with this mission and where his responsibilities were, and he was not in a hurry.

They didn't have horses to travel, and it was reasonable for them to be late, and if they were to be punished, there would be a reasonable explanation.

Since Jingkang's difficulty, the Song Dynasty's horse farms in the north all fell into the hands of the Jin State, almost cut off the source of military horses, and then more than ten years of Song-Jin wars, the lack of military horses had to buy civilian horses to fill the number, so that later the folk horses became less and less, even if ordinary people could afford to raise horses, they did not dare to ride out, once they were seen by the government, they would be forcibly bought as military horses.

Horses are not easy to raise, and the imperial court has also tried to rebuild the horse farm after moving south, but the south is mountainous, rainy, full of rivers and lakes, and water everywhere, which is not suitable for raising horses at all, and the horses raised cannot be compared with the northern horses, but they have to be raised. Before the Shaoxing Peace Conference, it was strictly forbidden to sell horses to the Song Dynasty in the north, although some people sold them privately, but the quantity was scarce, and it could only be regarded as a drop in the bucket. After the peace negotiations between the Song and Jin, the north no longer forbade the sale of horses to the Song Dynasty, but what they sold at a high price was always the second horse, even so, the Song Dynasty still had a shortage of horses, and the people were even more scarce.

Taihu County belongs to the Anqing Army, where there is a garrison, there will be no people's horses, except for the gentry and wealthy families, no matter whose horses can be kept. Naturally, the government yamen will not raise more horses, especially in a remote place like Taihu County, there are only a few horses in the yamen, which are only used at special times, and the officials who usually go out to do business can only rely on two legs.

Taihu County is the closest to Huaining, and even on foot, they will arrive before people from other counties. The pursuit of fugitives must be pursued until the end, and if they arrive first, they will be affected first, and they will not be able to retreat in advance because they come early. These bastards, who are often cheating and lazy, naturally don't ask for hardship. Along the way, they swallowed slowly, like snails, either tired and wanted to rest, or thirsty to drink water, with many excuses, but only one purpose, one day late, one day less suffering.

Yang Congyi is not dissatisfied with this, how can people not be lazy when they are in danger, so they push the boat down the river, they want to rest and rest, it doesn't matter if they only walk twenty miles in half a day, as long as they arrive, anyway, they are just bait and play, and the result is the same when they arrive early and late.

Except for Yang Congyi, everyone didn't feel the hidden danger of this trip at all. In their opinion, the arrest of more than a dozen fugitives this time will be two hundred, and two hundred will not be able to catch dozens? What's more, there is still a garrison in Huaining, saying that it is impossible to send troops, but quietly dispatching 100 people to hunt down fugitives, who knows, what can it be? They may just be there to gather people, fill the scene, help guard the intersection, and interrogate passers-by, which is no different from the usual task.

They walked easily and slowly all the way, and the journey of more than 300 miles lasted for five whole days, and it was not until the evening of the fifth day that they rushed to the Huaining Yamen to report.

Although the journey was fortunate, there were no officials or officials in the yamen who came out to receive them from afar, and after learning that they were from Taihu County, a government official directly took them to the accommodation that had been arranged.

The official didn't know what to ask, and everyone was so angry that they scolded their mother, but to no avail, so they had to wait with peace of mind.

Yang Congyi didn't want them to run around and cause trouble, so he gathered everyone after dinner and asked them to make a few requests.

Everyone crowded into a large shop room, Yang Congyi glanced around, and said loudly, "Brothers, be quiet." I have something to say about calling you all. Hearing him speak, the crowd gradually fell silent.

Yang Congyi continued, "I know, everyone has been working hard for five days, and I want to go out and relax, but we are new to Huaining, and it is very inconvenient to live in both people and land, so everyone stays honest tonight, has a good night's rest, and will talk about what you want to do tomorrow." ”

Everyone was talking for a while, Huai Ning was much more lively than Taihu County, they were planning to go out for a walk while they hadn't arranged a task yet, and by the way, it was obviously impossible for Yang Congyi to let them give up with a word.

Yang Congyi saw that everyone reacted strongly, so he said, "Don't get excited, listen to me." We came to Huaining as guests, and the 26 people are a whole, representing the entire Taihu County, and our every move is closely related to Taihu County. Don't try to do what you shouldn't do for a while, otherwise it will be transmitted back to Taihu County, and no one will be able to save face. ”

Everyone was speechless for a while, good things don't go out, bad things spread thousands of miles, few of them are people who keep to themselves, it is difficult to guarantee that no one will go out to cause trouble, if they are in Taihu County, they are naturally not afraid of their own territory, but now they are in a foreign country, after all, they are alone, if something really happens, no one can get out of it, and they will definitely be punished when they go back.

Yang Congyi saw that everyone was quiet and could understand this simple truth, so he continued, "This is the first thing I say to everyone, no matter what I do, you must keep a little awe in your heart, and you will act in a measured manner." The second thing is to find a team of four people to form a team of five, and tell me the name when you decide on the captain. ”

Everyone was puzzled and asked, "Brother Yang, what is this for, do we have to carry out the task separately?" ”

Yang Congyi said, "The task has to wait for Lord Li's arrangement, and I don't know how to carry it out." But we can't be a nest without a clue, the twenty-five people are divided into five squads first, and the team of five people moves quickly and is convenient to deploy at any time. Choose your own companions, and tell me when you've chosen. After saying that, he went to the corner and sat down, and hurried to practice the exercises.

There are disturbances in the house, but Yang Congyi can't be disturbed to practice, this is the benefit of Taoist exercises, you can practice anytime and anywhere, no matter what the surrounding environment is, as long as the heart can calm down, you can urge the internal breath to circulate in the meridians around the body, strengthen the muscles and bones.

The next morning, everyone originally wanted to take advantage of the fact that the other counties had not yet arrived and walked around the city. But Master Li did not give them a chance to hang out, and sent someone early in the morning to inform them to go to the yamen at three o'clock in the morning.

Although everyone was full of complaints, they were also dressed neatly and entered the yamen on time under the leadership of Yang Congyi.

After waiting for a long time, a middle-aged man in a scarlet official uniform came to the hall and sat down. I saw him glance at everyone in the hall, and asked loudly, "Where are you from?" How many centaurs are there? ”

As soon as this official spoke, Yang Congyi was secretly surprised in his heart, why didn't Lord Li of Anqingjun wear a military uniform? Isn't it a military attaché? He was full of questions, but he couldn't ask, so he quickly stepped forward and replied, "Lord Hui, my subordinates are from Taihu County, and under the order of Chen Zhi County, I led twenty-five people to help chase the fugitives. Chen Zhixian wrote a letter in his own hand, ordering his subordinates to hand it over to Master Li. With that, he took out a letter from his bosom and presented it.