Wagangzhai sat on a tiger skin chair, his face was sinking like water, his right hand supported his right forehead, his left leg stepped on the chair, and he looked at a Taoist on the left hand.

The Taoist has a white face and a long beard, is in his thirties, he is pinching his fingers and calculating, his eyes are slightly closed, and there are words in his mouth, and a fat man next to him rubs his hands impatiently, his eyes are staring at the Taoist, and his brows are furrowed.

Opposite the Taoist is a young general, dressed as a scholar inside, but wearing cloth armor outside, his face is calm, his eyes are closed, as if nothing has happened, his subordinate is a strong man, eight feet tall, with a tiger's back and a bear's waist, a ruddy face, a short beard and hair, and he is not angry and looks at the Taoist priest.

"How's that, have you figured it out?" Zhai Rang asked the Taoist priest a little anxiously.

The Taoist priest's eyes opened, and he looked at everyone first, and then said to Zhai Rang: "Zhai master, if we act without authorization this time, there will be a big disaster." ”

"Fart!" The fat man pushed the Taoist priest to a stumbling ground with a slap, and shouted and scolded: "The last time I beat the Flying Leopard Guard sent by Yang Guang, you said that a big disaster was coming, didn't you listen to Mao Gong's strategy and beat those officials and soldiers to the ground, this time you said this, are you a spy of the official army?" ”

"You talk nonsense!" The Taoist priest is not a weak person, he stood still and said to the fat man: "Bing Yuanzhen (Note 1), you don't point fingers here, the owner of the village asked me, you can tell the hexagram, you also calculate, last time it was lucky, when the official army was halfway through the fight, the army was withdrawn, otherwise I don't know if there is today's Wagang!" ”

"You're grandma's, aren't you looking for a fight?" Bing Yuan is really anxious, but he can't beat it? Raise your fist and hit it. The Taoist priest didn't expect him to really do it, and he couldn't dodge it, Zhai Rang shouted that it was too late, and a big hand reached over silently, grabbed Bing Yuanzhen's fist, and actually made him unable to fight.

When Bing Yuanzhen saw it, it turned out that it was a strong man who came over to stop him, so he said: "Second Brother Shan, this dead Taoist priest is bewitching and demagoguery, let me clean him up." ”

"Don't be impulsive, let's listen to the owner of the village!" The strong man pulled Bing Yuanzhen aside before letting go of his hand. Zhai Rang said: "If you have something to say, you are all your own brothers, why bother to do it." Then he turned to the Taoist priest and said, "Jia Xiong (Note 2), what exactly have you calculated, tell me in detail." ”

Taoist priest Jia Xiong clenched his fists and said: "The owner of the village, brothers, I have calculated that the person escorted by the emperor this time is a powerful man, and the place where the emperor should be robbed this time is not with us." Saying that, he looked at Bing Yuanzhen and said: "It should be in the Tiger Prison!" ”

Zhai Rang frowned again, this time the imperial bar is a total of 480,000 taels of silver, and it has been explored from the Yellow River in front of Wagangzhai, this is not a door-to-door transaction! When I told the brothers, everyone was happy, but Jia Xiong said that there would be no robbery and that something would happen.

In order to make the brothers die, and also for himself, Zhai Rang asked Jia Xiong to calculate again, but he didn't expect this time to be more accurate, and even calculated where the emperor bar was robbed, which made Zhai Rang uncomfortable. That's white money, and the thief still has a saying that it is not empty, let alone sent to the bottom of his nose.

After thinking about it for a long time, Zhai Rang thought that there was still one person's opinion that he hadn't asked, so he said directly: "Mao Gong, why don't you speak, tell me what you think." ”

The young young general opened his eyes and smiled: "We can prepare first, wait until the ship comes, and see if we can know, if the person who escorted the ship is really a hero, then it means that Jia Daochang's words are right, we will let it go and let it fend for itself, if not, we can take the opportunity to rob it, why bother like this now." ”

"What Mao Gong said is extremely true, and what he said is extremely true!" Zhai Rang finally smiled, and everyone nodded that this was the best. So the whole hall returned to its previous atmosphere and began to laugh and laugh. Only the strong man didn't speak, and after thinking for a long time, he stood up and said to Zhai Rang: "Village master, Xiongxin has something to say." ”

Everyone laughed, Leng Buding was taken aback by him, Zhai Rang smiled and said: "Second Brother Shan has something to say, don't swallow it, it's not happy!" ”

Shan Xiongxin nodded and said: "Okay, I'll just say it, as soon as the news of the emperor bar came out this year, the entire green forest in Shandong and Henan got the news, and there were not a few people who made up their minds, but not long ago, I heard a friend of the green forest say that someone has already informed the small cottage along the road, saying that the emperor bar is set, and some will be distributed to those people after they get it." ”

Saying that, he looked at Xu Mao fairly: "So along the way, it is estimated that we can attack the emperor, but I am worried that if we rob it, we will have a bad relationship with another group of people!" ”

Xu Maogong opened his eyes slightly and said, "The second brother is talking about the two brothers of the You family in Youjiazhuang?" ”

"Yes, that's them." Shan Xiongxin nodded and said: "And I also know that not only them, but also Wang Junkuo, the chief scoop of Shandong North Road, and Xie Yingdeng, the 'Saixin Tomb' of Jibei County, are involved in this matter, and there are several other slightly larger cottages, if we rob them, it will not only be one or two people who will be offended!" ”

"It seems that this You Zhuang owner still has some skills, and he can bring these people together, but he can't be underestimated." Xu Maogong thought for a moment and said, "Let's wait and see what happens, anyway, there are still a few days before we come here." ”

Zhai Rang said: "Mao Gong, what if we rob it when the time comes, what if they come to rob it?" ”

Xu Maogong smiled and said: "If we can snatch it from the hands of the officials and soldiers, then they will rob it, we naturally can't agree, it's a big deal, we will fight a battle, I don't think they will come to rob it." ”

"That's good, that's good! It's better not to get into conflict with those people! Zhai Rang relieved his heart and began to giggle with everyone again.

Xu Maogong looked at Zhai Rang's appearance, shook his head secretly, didn't say anything, and went straight back to the living room in the back.

Shan Xiongxin followed in front and back, sat down and said, "Mao Gong, why are you in favor of robbing the imperial bar, don't you know who is escorting the imperial bar?" ”

Xu Maogong said with a smile: "Second brother, don't worry, listen to me first." Then he poured a cup of tea for Shan Xiongxin and said: "Now we know who escorted only the two of us, this is still notified by our original brothers, they naturally don't know, if you rashly tell them who escorted it, you and I will be suspected first." ”

He looked outside the door and whispered: "The owner of the village has nothing to do, I'm afraid that Zhai Hong (Note 3) has other ideas, and we won't be able to say it clearly at that time." ”

"Hmph, he's worthy of it!" Shan Xiongxin stood up and said angrily: "Look at what he has done on the mountain, which thing on the mountain he got back, what else can he do except stir up trouble and talk about it?" ”

"Second brother!" Xu Maogong pressed Shan Xiongxin to the stool with a smile and said, "Everyone knows this, but you see a few people who will say it, it's not because he is the brother of the owner of the village, I'm sorry!" In addition, you don't know who he is, the owner of our village, his ears are too soft, and his heart is too soft, so it's better to keep a low profile. ”

Shan Xiongxin had to admit that what Xu Maogong said was right, but with his temper, he couldn't help it, and then thought of the problem again, so he said: "Then if Brother Qin really arrives here with the imperial bar, what should we do?" ”

"Don't worry, second brother, Brother Qin must have a way, I think he will come to see us first." Xu Maogong said confidently.

Shan Xiongxin was still a little worried: "I'm really worried that I will hurt the harmony of my brothers when the time comes!" ”

"Don't be afraid, when the time comes, we can secretly help Brother Qin, don't worry, do what you have to do, don't look preoccupied all day long, let's drink!" Xu Maogong didn't care whether Shan Xiongxin agreed or not, and directly dragged him to a city gate tower in the cottage to drink.

"Brother, how can you listen to Bing Yuanzhen's old nonsense, let's not take so much silver, wouldn't it be a joke to spread it to the green forest, and think that you Zhai Rang is a cowardly and fearful person!"

In Zhai Rang's house in the back room of the cottage, the eldest brother Zhai Hong vigorously pouted Zhai Rang and robbed the emperor.

Zhai Rang couldn't make up his mind, swaying from side to side, for a while he felt that the imperial bar was not so easy to rob, maybe he was really a hero escort, and for a while he felt that he was too cowardly, and he didn't dare to eat the meat sent to his mouth.

Seeing that Zhai Rang was still like this, Zhai Hong said: "I get angry when I look at you, like a girl, I won't tell you anymore, and when the time comes, I will find someone to rob myself." After saying that, he won't leave in a huff.

Zhai Rang didn't stop him after calling twice, sat down and pounded the table, and said to himself: "Damn, it's really hard to decide!" ”

On the Yellow River, which is still 100 miles away from Wagangzhai, a huge fleet of ships has been coming from north to south. At the head were two hundred-stone boats, puffing out their sails, hurrying forward to explore the way, followed by two small building boats, and guarding the main ship in the middle on the left and right.

The main ship is ten meters high, five or six meters wide, and more than forty meters long, with two floors, and the speed is not slow.

On both sides of the bow of the ship, two big flags are waving in the wind, with black characters on a red background and yellow edges, embroidered with brocade cloud patterns, the left side is written "Ordered to escort official goods", the right side is written "the ships seen to avoid traveling", and there is a big flag next to the sail of the main ship, and the word "Luo" is bright red on it. There were also seven or eight mid-ship ships in the back.

Qin Qiong walked out of the cabin, looked at the rolling river, put her hands behind her back, and thought of Luo Yi's advice when she was leaving.

"Qin Qiong, this escort, the journey must not be peaceful, you must be careful, in addition, go outside to inquire about the whereabouts of my unfilial son, it's really uneasy!"

Thinking of Luo Yi's entrustment, Qin Qiong was a little puzzled, he was cautious all the way, he didn't start shipping until noon every day, and he stayed in the hotel to rest before the unitary, and even got up several times at night to check, but a group of thieves didn't encounter it, not even a small thief.

He always felt that something was wrong, it was said that going south from Zhuo County, first to pass through Dou Jiande's sphere of influence, and then to enter this section of the border between Shandong and Henan, this is a bandit-ridden area, and they are such a big target, how can no one care?

Looking at the vast river, Qin Qiong asked the boatman beside him, "What is the place ahead?" ”

"Go back to the general, come to the ferry port in front, and you're about to arrive at the White Horse Ferry!" The boatman replied.

Qin Qiong thought for a while and said, "Is it the White Horse Ferry in front of Wagang Mountain?" ”

"Yes, it's just across the Wagang Mountain, across the river." After the boatman finished speaking, he whispered: "That is the biggest opposition to the army. ”

Qin Qiong thought of what Luo Cheng said, and after thinking about it, he said to the boatman: "When you get to Baimadu, stop the boat." ”

"Huh?" The boatman was startled, thinking that he had heard something wrong, and hurriedly asked, "General, are you talking about stopping the ship?" ”

"Yes, stop the ship." Qin Qiong said it again.

"No, general, that's a bandit's den, it's too late for us to hide, how can we send it to the door!" The boatman was scared.

"I have my own plans, you just have to do what you are told." Qin Qiong ignored him after speaking, and went straight back to the cabin. The boatman shook his head and went about his business.

Bing [bing] Yuan Zhen (Note 1): A native of Weicheng County, Dongjun County (now Huaxian County, Henan) at the end of the Sui Dynasty. In his early years, he served as a small official in the old county. During the great cause of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, he followed Zhai Rang, Shan Xiongxin and others to revolt in Wagang.

Jia Xiong (Note 2): A native of Weicheng County, Dongjun County (now Huaxian County, Henan) at the end of the Sui Dynasty. During the great cause of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, he followed Zhai Rang, Shan Xiongxin and others to revolt in Wagang. Good at divination.

Zhai Hong (Note 3): Zhai Rang's brother, during the great cause of Emperor Yang of Sui, followed Zhai Rang, Shan Xiongxin and others to revolt in Wagang