The post was attacked, and most of the soldiers who were left to take care of the money and property were killed and wounded, but there is a strange phenomenon, the dead and wounded are all Bian Lingcheng's guards, and none of the original post guards died, and there was no one, he found the roof from the courtyard, and there was still no clue.

"Have they all been taken away?"

Maybe the corpses were thrown in the field, or the horse bandits needed to replenish manpower, but before his thoughts could be turned, a few sparse figures appeared hundreds of paces away from the post station, supporting each other, and their steps were timid, slowly moving closer to this side.

"These guys, slip away!"

Li Qing said with a smile, hurriedly called Wu Xingsu, and pointed to a few figures in the distance, "Go and call them here, comfort them well, don't scare them." ”

In a moment, a few post guards were brought, no more, no less, exactly ten, although the body was dirty, but there was no scar, crowded in the corner of the courtyard, you push me, I push you, I can't wait to be able to penetrate the wall, slip away from the ruins, and finally, a thin and small, trivial young soldier was pushed out, he is the head of the group, but also the person in charge of this pavilion, last night the whole gang made a big plan to slip away,

Although wealth will bring people a sense of security, but for this gang on the contrary, last night, wealth piled up in the pavilion, but let him tremble, as a soldier for twelve years, he has been through a hundred battles, has long been immortal, especially for the habits of this gang of horse bandits, he is even more knowledgeable, four corrections, it is the moment when people sleep the deepest, he took his brothers to sneak out of the pavilion. Less than a mile after escaping, the horse bandits rushed in from all directions and entered the pavilion together.

At this moment, he slowly walked in front of the governor, silently reciting military regulations and military discipline in his mind, it seemed that no matter which general he was in, this smuggling from the battlefield was a capital crime, but he forgot it. The pavilion is not a battlefield, it is just a government-run guest house, and it is not enough to talk about running away from the battle, at most it is a crime of leaving one's post without permission.

The captain slowly knelt down, trembling all over, and did not dare to say a word. Li Qing glanced at him and said coldly: "You are also a veteran, don't you know that you have to report your name before returning to the commander's question?" ”

Although the governor's tone was cold, but to the ears of this group leader, it was even more pleasant than the most beautiful voice in the city, since he asked his name, that is to say, he did not mean to kill himself, if he really wanted to ask what name, he waved his hand, "Push it out and cut it!" Isn't it glad?

He was overjoyed. It was as if he had taken a turn from the palace of Hades, and his soul had returned to his place. Kowtowed again and again: "The villain's name is Jiu Yanchang, and he is from Shouchang County." If the villain leaves his post without permission, please punish the Governor. ”

Li Qing nodded secretly, worthy of being a veteran oil, he blocked his words first, although this is a small soldier, and he doesn't deserve to die, but this is his first punishment, if he is free to let it go. If you spread it, where is your prestige? He pondered for a moment, just about to speak. Suddenly, there was a vicious shout from behind him: "Punishment? It's easy for you to say, so much money and silk are gone, but you escaped from the battle, you deserve to be a capital crime! ”

It was Bian Lingcheng who spoke, he rushed out of the house, his eyes stared at the gang leader, as if he was about to breathe fire, there is a kind of person like this, if the gang leader did not remind Bian Lingcheng, it would be fine, it was because he reminded him, but Bian Lingcheng did not listen, and finally caused evil consequences, so he wanted to kill him, just like Yuan Shao of the Three Kingdoms killed Tian Feng.

However, Bian Lingcheng's intervention had the opposite effect on Li Qing, he was still hesitant to kill this person to establish authority, but if he killed at this time, it would leave him in the army with a bad reputation for killing his brothers in order to curry favor with eunuchs.

Li Qing changed his mind in a blink of an eye, he is the most proficient in the way of mediocrity, how can this little thing stop him, he smiled slightly, turned back to Bian Lingcheng and said: "This person escaped from the battle, according to military regulations, but he has been stationed in Yumen Pass for three years, every time the horse bandits attack, he can escape, it can be seen that he understands the law of horse bandits, I want to use him to find out the things of the father-in-law, but I am afraid that the father-in-law will be angry, it is better for the father-in-law to decide his life and death, say kill, I will push him out and cut it, say stay, I will spare his life." ”

Bian Lingcheng got face, and his anger disappeared slightly, he waved his hand and said: "This kind of little soldier, it is humiliating my name to deal with him, forget it, Li Dudu will take care of it himself!" It's important to get things back. ”

After that, he sighed again, "Anxi's borrowing of troops, I will leave in the afternoon, and I hope that the governor will hurry up and suppress the bandits." ”

.

In the room of the post station, the head of the wine guy knelt on the ground with a 'plop', kowtowed to Li Qing a few times, and said with tears in his eyes: "Thank you for the grace of the governor not to kill!" ”

"Stand up! I have something to ask you. ”

Li Qing took two steps with his hands behind his back, frowned and said: "I have always had a question, it stands to reason that Dunhuang County and Shouchang County are separated by nearly fifty miles, almost all the troops are in Dunhuang County, and the city wall of Shouchang County is short, but it has never been broken by horse bandits, at most, do you want to be a sample, since you are from Shouchang County, do you know what the reason is?" ”

The wine guy hesitated, his lips moved, and he said in a low voice: "That's because the two leaders of this horse bandit are from Shouchang County, and the rabbits don't eat the grass by the nest!" They didn't dare. ”

"Two leaders?"

Li Qing smiled lightly, "It seems that you know a lot, let's talk!" Tell me everything you know, don't hide a word, say it well, and I'll elevate you to the next level. ”

"Yes!"

The wine guy secretly looked at the supreme military and political leader of Shazhou, saw him smiling kindly, his heart slowly calmed down, and sighed slightly: "The leader of this horse bandit is two brothers, surnamed Lifei, both are Hu people, moved to Shouchang since childhood, I watched them grow up, and later joined the army with them, and they were divided into a group, the eldest brother is called Lifei Yuanli, who is powerful and strong in martial arts, the second is called Lifei Shouyu, a bow is a hundred shots, and is very good at strategy, in the twenty-eighth year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, when fighting with the Tubo people, the army was scattered, There was no news of his two brothers, and the government also gave them a pension when they were killed, until a year ago, when I found out that the two brothers had become the heads of horse bandits. ”

Speaking of this, the wine guy was full of emotion and sighing, and Li Qing also sighed, he had learned the skills of these two brothers, but he was only born in two small soldiers of the Tang Army, it seems that the Tang Army is hiding the dragon and crouching tiger, but it has not yet been discovered.

Thinking of this, Li Qing's eyes were raised, and his gaze stabbed directly at the gang leader, "This group of bandits is safe and sound every time you come, could it be that those two bandit leaders can't remember the old days?" ”

The implication is that this gang leader is a bandit, of course the wine guy understands, he suddenly panicked, and hurriedly wanted to kneel, but was grabbed by Wu Xingsu behind him, did not kneel down, he hurriedly said: "Lord Dudu, wronged!" The villain has no bandits, and the villain only masters their habits, so he escapes with his life every time. ”

"What kind of law, can you tell me?"

The gang leader trembled, wiped the sweat on his forehead and said: "In fact, usually the looting of businessmen is a small leader, and there is no rule, that is, he is ruthless, kill people first and then take things, no mercy at all, and then leave immediately, but if it is a big ticket, it is generally the second Li Fei Shouyu planning, he is the best at attacking the east and the west, at the moment you least expect, he came, such as the last attack on the governor, the feint attack on Shouchang City is the boss Li Fei Yuanli, and the ambush of the governor must be

Yu, their brothers generally divide labor like this, last year there were two batches of Anxi robbery, they also did the same, the incident happened near our post station, I know these very well. ”

'Anthy's goods? A smile appeared at the corner of Li Qing's mouth, it seemed that Gao Xianzhi also needed money.

After taking two steps, Li Qing suddenly asked, "Then where is their lair, do you know?" ”

"The villain really doesn't know, but the villain guesses that it is very likely to be in the territory of Tibet."

Li Qing nodded, he also thought so, only in the territory of Tubo, the Tang army did not dare to cross the border to suppress bandits, it seems that if you want to destroy them, the only way is to attract them, to Dunhuang County, but how to lead them? If you open the four doors wide and they don't believe it, how can you make them believe it?

Li Qing paced back and forth in the room without stopping, the room was extremely quiet, and all the people didn't even dare to come out, suddenly, Li Qing's eyes lit up, "City wall, right!" Take the opportunity of repairing the city wall to let them attack Dunhuang County. ’

He was so excited that he slammed his fists, raised his head and was just about to speak, but when he thought about it, he felt that there was a loophole, why did they attack Dunhuang, especially after they had just won a windfall, knowing that the officers and soldiers were chasing them, they would not be easily fooled, he frowned, thinking about countermeasures.

At this time, the gang leader said in a low voice: "If the governor is fine, the villain will leave." ”

"Wait!"

Li Qing suddenly thought of something, immediately stopped him, stared at him and asked, "I'll ask you one last question." What other relatives do their brothers have? ”

The wine guy's mouth moved, and he almost blurted out, but he bit his lip desperately and shook his head vigorously, indicating that he didn't know, but his subtle expression changed, but he couldn't hide it from Li Qing's eyes.

He sneered, "I'll give you another chance." If you say that, you can take a step up, and if you don't say it, then you can take a step down. ”

Walking up means being promoted, and going down means hell, and the gang leader's face is red and white. His heart was tormented by his conscience and the desire for power, and with a squint of his eyes, he could already see that the knives of several soldiers behind him had been pulled out, flashing with a cold light.

He was timid for a while, gritted his teeth, and said in a low voice: "I know that the two brothers still have an old lady, who is in Shouchang County.

Ten days later, the weather was so hot that it was as if a match could ignite a fire, and the air was condensed into a transparent cloud. Under the city walls, stonemasons hammered and filed. Hewn pieces of boulders from the Great Snow Mountains into squares, and beside them. Rows of shiny black backs shouted heavily in the scorching sun, and with the help of slings and crowbars, the boulders were transported to the city.

The eastern wall had been opened as if a child was missing a front tooth in the process of changing teeth, and the gap had not yet been filled with earth and stones, so a few long trees were put over the moat to make it a simple bridge. You can rush straight into the city,

The wife of the bandit brother was placed under house arrest 10 days ago. The news has already been released, Dunhuang City and Shouchang City are full of notices, Li Qing believes that the Li Fei brothers must have known, but the truth made him depressed, for ten days, the scouts sent every day all returned empty-handed, and the horse bandits seemed to have evaporated in the world, and there was no trace.

"It's going to be beheaded tomorrow, don't they really care if their old lady lives or dies?"

Suddenly, a soldier pointed into the distance and exclaimed, "Governor, look! ”

Li Qing hurriedly turned his head and looked at the curtain, only to see that the northwest direction was dusty, and in the yellow fog in the sky, a black and oppressive team was exposed, with flags fluttering, cold and bright clothes, filled with a soaring murderous aura, "It's the Tang Army!" As soon as he thought about it, he understood that this must be the Anxi Army brought by Li Siye.

The yellow dust dissipated, and the army stopped a mile away.

A war horse came first, and the man on the horse held the arrow high, he threw off the saddle and dismounted, galloped up the city wall, knelt down and saluted: "Li Dudu, 3,200 people of the Anxi army dismounted, stepped and bowed on the orders of the commander, and came to be driven by the governor. ”

"Good work!" Li Qing bowed slightly, put his helmet upright, flew on his horse, and galloped towards the reinforcements under the escort of three hundred Tang troops. ”

A general rushed out of the battle flag, only to see that he was about the same height as himself, about thirty years old, born with a black face and short beard, awe-inspiring momentum, a pair of eyebrows as if painted with a broom at will, thick and black, it seemed to be a famous Hu general, he bowed down on the horse and saluted: "The tall and handsome commander of the Anxi Army under the tent of Guoyi Du Lieutenant Bai Xiaode see Li Dudu, General Li Siye is behind, come a little late." ”

Bai Xiaode, after the royal family of Anxi Qiuzi, a young man in the army, a famous general of the Tang Dynasty, the Anshi Rebellion bravely killed the enemy, repeatedly made military exploits, and later served as the envoy of Anxi, Beiting Xingying Festival, the Ministry of Shangshu, and the Taishao Fu, was named the king of Changhua County, at this time, he was sent by Gao Xianzhi to be the assistant of Li Siye, and came to Shazhou to quell the bandits.

As soon as Bai Xiaode's words fell, he heard the sound of hurried horses' hooves in the distance, hundreds of light horsemen escorted a carriage galloping, and next to the carriage was Li Siye, he was full of dust, only ten days of not seeing, the whole face was thin, and the beard appeared thicker,

The carriage stopped in front of Li Qing, and a haggard face peeked out of the window, it was the great eunuch Bian Lingcheng, who asked in a hoarse voice when he saw Li Qing: "Li Dudu, is there any news of horse bandits?" ”

Li Qing stepped forward, hugged his fists and saluted, and said with a slight smile: "Don't worry, Father-in-law Bian, I have already put down the bait, I think they will definitely have news, and it will be these two days." ”

As soon as the words fell, he saw that there were dozens of horsemen galloping towards the east gate in the south direction, and when they arrived at the city gate, there were soldiers pointing to this side, and dozens of horsemen turned their horses and ran over, and dozens of steps away, Li Qing saw clearly, the front and back were all scouts sent by himself, but there were more than a dozen people in the room, all dressed in soap clothes, wrapped in black scarves, all exuding a fierce atmosphere, and one person in the middle was dressed in white like snow, his eyes were like lightning, and he was still dozens of steps apart, Li Qing felt that this person's gaze seemed to see through himself.

The war horse stopped in front of the Tang army, but the man in white did not show any fear in the face of the murderous Tang army, he only glanced at it, his eyes stopped on Li Qing, he slightly arched his hand, and said loudly: "In Xia Li Yu, sent by the two owners of my family, he has full authority to negotiate with Li Dudu, as long as they return their mother, they can negotiate how much ransom they want." ”

Li Qing looked him up and down, and saw that he was about thirty years old, the same height as himself, his face was slender, his skin was pale, his eyes had converged, but he showed a trace of cunning, his hands and feet were thick and long, and his arms were like gibbons, and he had to fight with Wu Xingsu's long arms.

Li Qing's eyes narrowed slightly, flashed a hint of admiration, saluted him back, and said with a slight smile: "I've admired it for a long time, General Li Fei Shouyu." ”