The scribe took the letterhead and forwarded it to the official.

The official took out the letter and read it, with a slight smile on his face, and said, "Chen Zhixian knows the general situation, and it is really rare to help him this time." After putting down the letter in his hand, he turned to say, "Since you are the right-hand man of Chen Zhixian's letter, I don't know what talent you have?" Can you talk to the officer? ”

It seems that this middle-aged man who looks like a civil official is really Master Li, and he is not sure who he is just now, so Yang Congyi only dares to call him an adult, but does not dare to bring a surname. At this time, he knew that he was Lord Li, so he replied, "Back to Lord Li, his subordinates have no special talents, but they have assisted the county magistrate to maintain law and order, arrest thieves, and punish lawlessness all year round. ”

After hearing this, Li Zhijun slapped the case with his palm, and laughed, "There have long been rumors that Taihu Chen Zhixian does not like money and women, and specializes in judging cases. ”

Yang Congyi didn't know how to answer, so he kept silent.

Li Zhijun put away the smile on his face, and then said loudly, "Some time ago, a well-known bandit leader on Tianzhu Mountain died in Taihu County, but what did you do? ”

Yang Congyi replied truthfully, "On that day, we were ordered by the county magistrate to go to Lianhua Village to track down the clues of the accomplice in the Xiaosongpo case. ”

Li Zhijun said, "According to the murder weapon you and others, that thief is one of the five tigers of Tianzhu Mountain, Black Iron Bull, this person is born with brute strength, a body of ability, and has been harmed for a long time. If you can get rid of him, you also think there are some means. At the beginning of the year, the bandits of Tianzhu Mountain were extremely arrogant, openly robbing prisons and releasing criminals, challenging the government, although Huaining had a garrison, but it was not appropriate to call it at will, the official knew that the counties were full of talents, so he asked the counties for help. You and others have the means to come and assist our officials in pursuing the fugitives this time, and you will definitely have a lot to do. ”

Yang Congyi said loudly, "We will do our best to arrest the fugitives and bring them to justice, and live up to the trust of Lord Li." ”

Li Zhijun nodded and said, "Okay." Here I am waiting for your good news. Then he said to a person sitting next to him, "County Lieutenant He, you will arrange the dispatch of this batch of people in Taihu County." ”

County Lieutenant He replied, then got up and said to Yang Congyi and the others, "You come with me." After saying that, he walked out of the lobby first.

Yang Congyi and others retired to Li Zhijun and went with Lieutenant He.

When I left the yatang, I only heard the county lieutenant He ask, "Who are you in charge of?" ”

Yang Congyi said, "Lord He, the manpower of Taihu County is led by subordinates. The subordinate is surnamed Yang, and his name is Congyi. I wonder what the adults command? ”

He County Lieutenant said, "Okay, Yang Zhutou, more than 20 of the fugitives are from Taihu County, you should know the specific situation, I won't say much nonsense." In addition to your Taihu County, there are also Susong, Wangjiang, Yuexi, and Tong'an counties, and their manpower will come to assist in a few days. All the people and horses that Huaining can move have been scattered, and now they are all in the mountains, and the time is pressing, since you have arrived, you will immediately enter the mountains and search from east to west. If you find a fugitive, arrest them on the spot, and if you find a den of bandits, you will immediately come back to report the news. ”

Yang Congyi said, "Yes." My lord, I'm afraid I won't be able to come out for half a month after a trip to the mountain, can you give us some time to prepare the necessary supplies? ”

He County Lieutenant said, "You prepare quickly, set off at noon, and I will send someone to guide you when the time comes." ”

Yang Congyi said again, "My lord, my subordinates still have something to ask for, we only have swords, once we encounter the enemy in the mountains and forests, it is inconvenient, can you equip us with some bows and arrows?" ”

He County Lieutenant said, "I'm afraid it's a little difficult, but I'll explain to Master Li that if I can equip it, I'll send it to you before noon." ”

Yang Congyi hugged his fists and said, "Lord Xie." If nothing else, I'll go back and prepare. ”

He County Lieutenant said, "Go ahead." ”

Yang Congyi said, "Yes." ”

Everyone retreated together and hurried back to prepare supplies for going up the mountain.

Back at his residence, Yang Congyi was not in a hurry to assign tasks to each group and buy daily necessities for going up the mountain, he wanted to hear everyone's views on the search for fugitives in the mountains.

"Zhang Zhutou, what do you think about this mission?" Yang Congyi and everyone sat around the bunk.

The man named Zhang Biao scolded angrily, "Damn, how can such a big mountain be searched, why don't they go." The prison can be robbed, and a group of people who can't eat and do anything will make their brothers suffer in the end. ”

Yang Congyi said with a smile, "I can understand Zhang Zhutou's mood, we are all the same, but since we are here under the order of Lord Zhixian, we must complete the task well, and don't cause trouble for Lord Zhixian." We carry out the task of searching the mountains, but how to carry it out, you have to make suggestions, you have more experience than me. ”

Zhang Biao said, "I've been a fast catcher for eight years, and I really haven't searched the mountains, let alone the big mountains like Tianzhu Mountain." ”

Zhang Biao is more experienced in these quick catches, if he hadn't searched the mountains, then no one in this team would have searched the mountains. Since you won't, let's not think about it yet. Yang Congyi had other questions in his heart, so he asked, "What do you think of that Master Li?" ”

It was Zhang Biao who spoke first, "He looks like a civil official, he is verbose, he doesn't look like a majestic military general at all, it's really disappointing." ”

Yang Congyi said, "What about the others, let's talk about it." ”

Humane, "Lord Li is not excited at all when he talks about the robbery of the prison by the bandits in Tianzhu Mountain, and he doesn't seem to be very concerned about chasing the fugitives, and I feel that those fugitives can be chased or not, as if Lord Li doesn't care if we can catch the fugitives at all." ”

Yang Congyi was shocked, this person's opinion coincided with him, he deliberately paid attention to Lord Li's words and deeds only after Chen Zhixian's guidance, this person is not simple, with keen observation and delicate thoughts. Yang Congyi looked at him and asked, "Brother, your surname?" ”

The man said, "My name is Feng Lin. ”

Yang Congyi smiled, "Okay, Brother Feng, your idea is unique, the criminal was robbed, why can he be chased or not?" ”

Feng Lin said, "Brother Yang, I don't know about this, I just see Lord Li's words and demeanor as if he doesn't care about us going to hunt down fugitives, as for what Master Li thinks, how do I know." Maybe you think there are too few of us to find fugitives? ”

Zhang Biao scolded, "Damn, it's not a thing to look down on your brothers and let them go into the mountains to suffer." ”

As soon as everyone heard this, they hurriedly asked him to speak in a low voice, and insulting the court officials would be criminalized, and everyone would not be able to get rid of it.

After everyone quieted down, Yang Congyi said, "What Brother Feng said has some truth, but since we are here, we can't do nothing and go back in disgrace." Don't forget, the task given to us by the magistrate is to assist in handling the case, everyone understands the meaning of the word assist, what they think, we can't care, do what we should do is complete the task. ”

Feng Lin echoed, "Brother Yang is right, we are here to assist others in chasing fugitives, whether we chase them or not, that's someone else's business, why should we bother with that heart." ”

When everyone heard this, they were relieved. The county lieutenant said that he wanted them to arrest the fugitives and find the thieves' nest, and they were terrified when they heard it. Since the fugitives were robbed by the bandits, they must be in the thieves' nest, and the bandits even dare to rob the prison, are they afraid that they will be caught quickly? What's more, it's still on someone's territory.

So someone said, "The county lieutenant told us to go to the thief's den, it really scared me to death, it turned out that he wanted to throw this mess to us, I bah!" ”

Seeing that the arrest was quick and talked about the rights and wrongs of others, Yang Congyi was afraid of the trouble, so he hurriedly stopped, "Don't say that others are not, everyone is handling the case, and we should work together." I haven't been in Taihu County for a long time, and I don't know anything about Master Li, is he a civil official or a military general? ”

Many people said that they were military generals, and some people shook their heads to say they didn't know.

Zhang Biao said, "I heard that this Lord Li used to be a military general, and he fought the Jin people in the north, and after the Song and Jin discussions, many military generals were disarmed and returned to the field, and some of them who had studied for a few years were officials in local states and counties, and this Lord Li should be like this." ”

Yang Congyi nodded and said, "I see, since he is a military general, Lord Li naturally will not take the bandits in his eyes." Well, after some discussion, everyone should know about this assistance mission, don't worry too much, but don't be careless. Everyone should be prepared to live in the mountains for a long time, flint, salt, food, etc., what is lacking should be bought, the weather is not very hot, you can bring more dry food. ”

The crowd quickly asked around to check and see what was missing.

Yang Congyi remembered something again and added, "Also, each team prepares their own bows and arrows first, in case they can't provide them. ”

Time is pressing, after the catchers finished checking the materials they carried, they went to find the missing things in twos and threes, after all, it was related to their survival in the mountains, no one dared to be sloppy, and it was naturally their consensus to get more food.

Yang Congyi hunted in the mountains for a year, as long as there was a flint to make a fire, there was nothing else to survive, but now the living conditions are much better, there is a public bank available for the mission, there is no need to work so hard, so he also went out to buy some food and salt to bring with him.

It was just noon, and before everyone had finished lunch, the guide sent by the county lieutenant arrived at the place, followed by more than a dozen bows and more than a dozen bags of arrows sent by the miscellaneous servants.

Yang Congyi's heart was a little relieved, with these bows and arrows, everyone would have hunting tools, so that they would not starve in the mountains, and they could also prevent the attacks of fierce beasts in the mountains.

After the meal, they divided their bows and arrows, and they carried large and small packages on their backs, and went east to the city.

Yang Congyi wanted to know where the local arrester who went to the mountain first had gone, but what clues were there about the fugitives and bandits, who knew that the guide didn't know anything. When I asked how many bandits there were in the mountains and where they were, I shook my head and didn't know, and in the end I didn't bother to ask anything more.