There was an abnormality in the security area, and Zhang Mengcheng only discovered it after meeting Huo Bingxiang.

Of the thirty-five robbers who robbed Huo Bingxiang's caravan that day, thirteen died in the end, and the rest were captured alive by Zhang Mengcheng's subordinates. After some interrogation, he found out that they were all spies sent by the thieves from the south.

Originally, they only planned to follow the caravan into the territory of Baoan County. Then contact the nail planted in the local area, and after finding out the information, prepare to lurk.

They had already built a relatively primitive network in the local area, collecting some things that were lacking in the mountains and then shipping them out in the guise of caravans. I have tasted some sweetness before, and now I plan to continue to expand my penetration.

But something happened this time, and a few greedy guys planned to swallow Huo Bingxiang's goods directly. But I didn't expect Huo Bingxiang and his gang to be so united, and they would not be able to win it for a while. In the end, he unexpectedly ran into the cavalry led by Zhang Mengcheng, so there was such a result.

These people are spies sent by Malan Mountain, and now the most famous thief nest in Malan Mountain is Lu Baoding. Its status is similar to that of Iron Horn Castle and Dongchuan.

At present, the most famous thief who nests here is the lone wolf, and he also has thousands of people in his hands. There are also many other gangs of thieves in Malanshan, among which the more famous ones are Bai Liuxi and Shi Yaoyu, the Ganquan thieves who killed Zhang Yundeng before and robbed the silver.

This time the spies were jointly sent by them, and it was precisely because of this that they failed to maintain the discipline they should have and snatched Huo Bingxiang's goods without authorization. And after Zhang Mengcheng appeared, the lack of organization immediately collapsed.

"In the past, when the two of us were still thieves, although we didn't take the initiative to take the county seat. But who doesn't know on the road, the entire Baoan County has to listen to our orders. Now that we have become officials and soldiers, some things cannot be done as before, which has a lot of loopholes for people outside to take advantage of. I don't think it's time for us to take this opportunity to shovel all the nails set up by the thieves in one go. After Zhang Mengcheng knew that there were so many nails, he felt quite unhappy, and naturally wanted to clean them all.

Although Zhang Mengcheng was angry at the appearance of rats in his own territory, what he didn't know was how much history had changed because of his appearance.

In the original history, Zhang Mengcheng's eldest brother Zhang Mengjin should have been a big thief who occupied the top of Lubao and controlled tens of thousands of people, and the lone wolf could only be under the monkey.

And Bai Liuxi and Shi Yaoyu and their gang will find a piece of land in Baoan County to settle down. In the south of Ningsai and Jingbian, places such as Jintangshan, Wuqiying, Yangjiayao, Zaolinpo and other places will be the dens of various thieves. As for the status of Jinding Mountain, it was naturally ceded to Jintang Mountain. As for the Cai family at the top of Artemisia, he doesn't even have the qualifications to record.

However, under the influence of Zhang Mengcheng, Jindingshan and Artemisia Peak rose strongly. Under their coercion, the thieves in the Dongchuan area not only had to guard against the officers and troops from other directions, but also had to protect against the pressure from the Ningsai officials and the Jindingshan side. And Bai Liuxi and Shi Yaoyu, who were supposed to nest in Baoan Yangjiayao, simply got out of Baoan County.

Even the tens of thousands of civilians who should have been coerced into becoming thieves are now not only living a stable life, but many of them have instead become village warriors under the influence of Jindingshan and Artemisia Peak.

Hong Chengchou in history should have faced a more fierce thief rebellion at this time, but because of this series of changes, the difficulty of suppressing thieves in the imperial court was significantly reduced.

Regarding Zhang Mengcheng's opinion, Cai Zhongde was also a little moved. However, he doubted whether they had this strength, so he replied to Zhang Mengcheng: "Most of the soldiers and horses in our two villages are in Ningsai, and we can make up five hundred soldiers with the existing ones on hand." If we count all the villagers in our camps, we can pull out more than 2,000 horses. But this is too public, and it will not be easy to attract the attention of the government at that time. ”

Although now the imperial court encourages the people to train the villagers and build cottages in various places for self-defense. However, the two former descenders can pull out more than 2,000 horses in one go, which will inevitably attract the vigilance of the imperial court. (Note 1)

And this will also greatly affect the normal production and operation activities of the two villages. It's just that there are hundreds of miles within a radius of Baoan County, and the hundreds of soldiers barely scraped together by relying on two stockades can only drive out the thieves at most, but cannot eliminate them.

"I also know we're understaffed, so I mean get rid of the nails first. In the future, with the help of the official army, the thieves in the south will be leveled. If we clean up the territory this time, we will lure out the thieves from the south. We can take advantage of this opportunity to gather the men and horses in the northern military fort, beat them hard, and let them be honest for a while. "Zhang Mengcheng naturally knows the difficulty of things, but leaving these nails here is definitely not safe for them.

Zhang Mengcheng's meaning is to scare the snake and blast the other party out cleanly. Cai Zhongde felt a little pity, and finally found out the nails in the turf, and it was also good to control it secretly. As soon as the thieves made any moves, they knew at once why they had to put so much effort into it.

After thinking about it again, Cai Zhongde planned to discuss it with his eldest brother again. So he didn't make a decision immediately, but said to Zhang Mengcheng: "This matter is too big, we have to discuss it with the eldest brother, and then we will give you an answer." ”

Cai Zhongyuan, the sixth elder, also felt that this matter was not something they could decide, so he said on the side: "Xiucai is not as good as you go back and think about it, after all, we are not as good as before, and we have a lot of scruples about everything." But don't worry, if the eldest brother agrees to this, we will not be ambiguous. ”

"But this time the thief's spies have caused trouble, and if it drags on for too long, the other party will definitely notice it. At that time, the nails we found were long gone. And Master Cai doesn't know when he will be able to come back, how can he continue to wait. You must know that if you are interrupted, you will suffer from it! "Zhang Mengcheng knows the urine nature of the imperial court, and his eldest brother has been repeatedly transferred before, so how can Cai Xiaozi have any promise to come back.

"Our mugwort peak is not as good as your Jinding Mountain, this matter is still too big, Xiucai, you better wait for a reply."

Cai Zhongde also heard that Zhang Da, who was in charge of Jindingshan before, only went to Qingyang Mansion to assist in defense at first, but then he kept delaying his return, but he was transferred farther and farther away. However, Cai Zhongde still couldn't make up his mind, their mugwort peak inheritance was accumulated over several generations, and he didn't have the power to make decisions himself.

"But..."

"Xiucai, you better calm down and go back, it's useless to continue." Seeing that Zhang Mengcheng was still planning to persuade again, Zhang Mengcheng's father-in-law, Cai Liyuan, who had been silent, stopped Zhang Mengcheng's action.

"Zhang Da's family is now in the north, and there is something that can quickly take care of your village. But our big boss at the top of Artemisia is still outside, and if something happens because of this, causing damage to the relationship between the two families, it will be difficult to clean up. ”

Seeing that his father-in-law said so, Zhang Mengcheng couldn't hold on any longer, and Xiucai also heard the vague meaning of his father-in-law. Artemisia suffered a loss because of the rebellion of Xiucai's henchmen before, and the leaders of the Cai family were a little unhappy at that time, that is, because Cai Xiaozi took the initiative to wipe the matter away as long as he had money and food.

If it was because of Xiucai's idea this time, Artemisia Peak suffered a big loss again. Because Cai Xiaozi is not there, no one can take the initiative to adjust the relationship between the two families, and when the time comes, it will not be Jin Dingshan who will take the initiative to compensate some money and food, and he will be able to eliminate the estrangement between the two families.

Thinking of his stain, Zhang Mengcheng was suddenly a little embarrassed, so he fell silent. Not all of the other leaders of Artemisia Peak had thought of this, so they wondered why Xiucai suddenly stopped talking after a reminder from his father-in-law.

Fortunately, someone still saw this embarrassment, and Cai Zhongyuan, the sixth brother of Cai Xiaozi, changed the topic at this time, and the originally somewhat stiff atmosphere was finally alleviated.

After that, Zhang Mengcheng talked to them about the transaction of the two products, and this time Cai Zhongde could finally take full responsibility for the matter. After a round of bargaining, Zhang Mengcheng's trip to the top of mugwort was finally not fruitless.

PS: Note 1: Wu Fu's "Chai An Shu Ji" volume ten miles, first behind "Yanbei rebel thieves give the first sparse", there is a saying "make up armor and train village soldiers". In the "Ten Strategies for Pre-Chen's Aftermath", in addition to how Shangchen restores production, it also proposes a plan for the people to train their hometowns and rely on cottages for self-defense. The scale of the cottage is "a thousand people for the big ones, and hundreds of people for the small ones." ”