According to Shi Min's instructions, the 1,568 Hu people who were captured revealed that all of them were cut and inserted into the branches, and they stood outside the forest in rows.

Five thousand men and horses pursued for nearly a day, but Shi Min was not in a hurry, and directly ordered to camp outside the forest, waiting for news of the horses.

At night, the sound of jackals and beasts roaring suddenly came from the forest, and many soldiers in their sleep woke up, and the movement made people a little worried.

"What's going on?" A non-commissioned officer who didn't look very old asked.

"The beasts are eating the corpses of those Hu people in the woods!" A middle-aged man replied.

"How do you know?"

"Guess!" The man smiled and asked, "Boy, are you afraid?" Have you ever seen a beast eat a man? ”

The young man shook his head and said, "I haven't seen it!" ”

"Too little knowledge!" The man pointed to the woods and said to the people around him, "Listen to this movement, there are many wild beasts in this forest now!" Now that the world is in chaos, there are few people, and there are more wild beasts, so there is nothing unusual. ”

"Then you say, this beast is not going to come to us, is it?"

The middle-aged man smacked his lips, frowned slightly, and said, "It's not easy to say, as long as these beasts have eaten human flesh once, they will bite a living person again!" So you'd better stay in camp at night and don't run around! The beasts are afraid of fire, and there are fires everywhere in our camp, and they dare not come! ”

"Really?" The young man asked nervously.

"What am I lying to you for?" The man gave him a blank look, and after speaking, he turned his head to sleep, and said, "Sleep, tomorrow I will go with the general to kill the thief." ”

After a while, the man was snoring like thunder, and he fell asleep completely. In this way, many soldiers fell asleep in trembling, and before they knew it, it was dawn the next day.

After marching all the way south, after nearly a day's walking, the scout horses sent earlier finally came back to report the news.

"General, the tanma sent out is back, this group of Hu people should be from the direction of Liyang!"

"Liyang?" Shi Min instructed his subordinates: "Take out the map!" ”

The subordinates hurriedly took out the map and spread it out, Shi Min looked at it carefully, and said: "Liyang is in this position, pass from here, and the horse will arrive in half a day!" ”

Zhang Mufeng nodded and said, "According to the information inquired, this group of people occupied a prefecture and county near Liyang and killed all the Han people there, and the people of the court there didn't care about it at all. ”

"Do you know how many of them there are?" Shi Min asked.

"Plus their small family, it is estimated that there are three or four thousand people!" Zhang Mufeng said.

"These brutes also have families? I thought they had crawled out of a pit! An adjutant scolded.

Shi Min frowned slightly and did not speak.

"General, except for the more than 200 people who escorted the grain back to Yecheng, we only have 4,000 people, if we go like this, I'm afraid it's not very good!" Zhang Mufeng said worriedly.

"What do you think?" Shi Min asked.

Zhang Mufeng thought for a while and said: "According to the opinion of the last general, if we want to exterminate this group of bandits, we must go back and transfer troops, otherwise even if we can exterminate them, the losses will be relatively heavy." ”

"You're right, but if you go back and send troops and horses, the defenders of Yecheng will be weak, and if there are soldiers and horses attacking, it won't be good!"

"But what the situation in Liyang is, we are not sure now, it is just what Tanma saw, maybe it is just the tip of the iceberg. It's really not good, the last general thinks, put off the action and let these Hu people live a few more days, what do you think? ”

Shi Min waved his hand and said, "One more day of these animals is a waste, and if they live one more day, the souls of Liyang will not rest in peace!" ”

Zhang Mufeng was silent.

Shi Min stood up and instructed his subordinates: "Pass the order, continue to march towards Liyang, and send scouts along the way, I need to know all the news about this gang of Hu people!" ”

"Yes!"

......

Qin Huaishan stood on the city tower, staring at the south without blinking, his expression was serious, and he didn't say a word.

"Sir, do you see anything?" Li Chang walked over and asked.

Qin Huaishan sighed and said, "Not yet!" ”

Li Chang also said with some sorrow: "According to the brother who fled back, the place where they were attacked was only an hour's road away from here, and this night has passed, why haven't they come back yet?" Could something be wrong? ”

Qin Huaishan shook his head and said, "It should be okay for the time being!" ”

"How do you know?"

"It's just a rabble, and the young master personally leads the troops, so there shouldn't be a problem. Even if there is any emergency, the young master will definitely be able to deal with it, otherwise, as early as yesterday before sunset, someone will come back to report for help! Qin Huaishan thought for a while and said slowly: "No one has come back to move the rescuers, which means that the young master is safe at present!" General, don't worry! ”

Li Chang nodded slightly and said, "You're still amazing!" The analysis is in place! ”

"But if the young master doesn't come back for a day, the old man's heart will be restless for a day! Yecheng is not peaceful at the moment, general, we can't take it lightly! Qin Huaishan turned around and said to Li Chang.

"Don't worry, the brothers patrol the city day and night, and now we have more than 70,000 soldiers and horses in Yecheng, no matter what happens, we can deal with it!"

"It's better to be careful, a spark can also start a prairie fire. I have heard that Shihu's people and other nobles of the Qiang tribe have close contact in private, and I am afraid that they have some conspiracy, so for the sake of caution, the general should send more troops and horses around their mansions to prevent them from causing trouble. ”

"Humph! A bunch of curly-haired rats! If they dare to move, Lao Tzu will skin them alive! Li Chang scolded.

"I know that the generals are brave, and the soldiers are also good at fighting, but the current situation is for us, if we can, we will not use force first, and it will not be too late to talk when the time is ripe!"

Li Chang didn't argue anymore, nodded obediently, patted his thigh, and said, "Okay, just do as you say!" ”

Since Shi Min captured Yecheng, Li Chang's attitude towards Qin Huaishan has begun to change a lot, on the one hand, perhaps because Qin Huaishan has made a lot of contributions to this, on the other hand, it should be Li Chang's respect for the beggar army, and Shi Min is precisely Ran Long's grandson.

Suddenly, a soldier standing on duty on the tower shouted, "General! There is a case! ”

As soon as Qin Huaishan and Li Chang heard this, they hurriedly stood at the top of the wall and looked at it from afar, and a team of soldiers came back with more than a dozen carts of grain and grass.

"Why did you come back with such a few people?" Li Chang said.

"Open the gates first, and ask them what is going on!" Qin Huaishan said.

"Good!"

After more than a dozen carts of grain entered the city, Li Chang asked, "What about the general?" Why did you come back? Something happened! ”

"Back to the general, the general has already exterminated the Hu people who robbed us of our grain and grass, but the general continues to march south, it is said that there is a nest of these Hu people in the south, and the general is going to kill them!"

"What? What is he going to compete with these gangsters at this time? Li Chang felt inexplicable.

"Is the general okay?" Qin Huaishan asked with concern.

"The general is fine! Rest assured, sir! ”

"Did the general say where he was going? How long will it take to come back? Qin Huaishan asked again.

The man shook his head and said, "I don't know, we set out this morning, before leaving, the horses have not returned, and we don't know where the old nest of the thieves is, only that the general has marched south." ”

"To the south, it should go to Liyang!" Qin Huaishan thought for a while, turned back to Li Chang and said: "General, you must block the news in the city, just say that the general has returned, and others must not tell the general about going south!" ”

"Why?" Li Chang was puzzled.

"The young master is not here, I'm worried that there will be an accident, and it will be a day to hide it!"

Li Chang nodded and said, "Okay, I know!" ”

"Also, send someone to the direction of Liyang to inquire about the situation, Xiangguo should also keep an eye on it, if there is any change in Shijian, he must also know in time! I'm afraid that he will do it at this time! ”

"Don't worry, sir, I already understand what you mean, so let's arrange it!"