Zhang Yue took the military report and read it, and the content of Zong Jingcheng's report was: From mid-April to early May, five incidents of private caravans and official salt goods being killed and robbed occurred in the vicinity of Maidaocheon and Qinggangling in Gyeongju, and the Gyeongju government is making every effort to investigate this matter.

In addition: on the fifth day of the fifth month of May, the suspected robbers marched eastward from the Luoshui River Valley on the side of the Maidao River, attacked the tax card under Huamaliang Mountain at night, killed and injured more than 100 soldiers of our army, and set fire to the houses of the military village and left. Because the other side is full of horses, our army can't catch up, and has asked for help from the Ministry of Propaganda and Culture. Now after investigation, it is suspected that it was done by Bai Yushan's giant "Hun Tian Wolf", please make a decision as soon as possible!

"It's arrogant!" Zhang Yue's face instantly turned black as the bottom of a pot, and he angrily crumpled the general's newspaper into a ball. Soon he came to his senses again, it was not that Zong Jingcheng was ineffective, but that the thieves outside Luzi Pass had finally made a move. Of course, it is difficult to say whether there are local merchants and gentry colluding with them, but the traces of the robbers must be found out first.

"Our tax card was attacked by a sneak attack, it was already five days ago, and now it is the time for the winter wheat harvest, and the officials of all counties are busy with this matter, except for the four commanders we brought, most of the Yanzhou state soldiers go home to farm, if it is just the giant Kou Hun Tian wolf in Guanbei, the troops are still enough, I am afraid that the people of Gyeongju will have another accident, then it will be troublesome!" Feng Qianhou said.

"During the time when I was busy brewing wine, did you pay attention to Zhang Kuangtu?" Zhang Yue thought of this old guy for the first time.

That is, when the official document of the division of fields began to be issued, Gao and Liu often went to his house, but then there was nothing to do. If you want to look at it this way, there is indeed something wrong with this Zhang Kuangtu, but after all, he has a high status, and he is the deputy envoy of the school inspection and the deputy envoy of the festival, and you can't do anything to him without a real witness. Feng Qianhou reminded.

"I know, Zhang Quanxu and Liu Xiansheng went to Gyeongju, and their caravan didn't have an accident?"

"It is said that nothing happened, and the people are still ...... in Gyeongju"

"Let Zong Jingcheng come back first, and ask clearly!" Zhang Yue thought about it, and immediately ordered his own soldiers to send an order to Zong Jingcheng, and at the same time, packed up his luggage and returned to the Marshal's Mansion in Zhoucheng, and the winery was first left to Wang Qiao and Wu Jingcai to manage, so that Cheng Yachan and her second brother could have time to take a look, and continue to maintain the affairs of collecting grain and brewing.

The next day, Zong Jingcheng hurried back, and Zhang Yue first summoned him in the Shuaifu and asked about the general situation of the Guanbei giant "Hun Tian Wolf". This person originally lived in the Hengshan area after the western Xianbei moved eastward, that is, a branch of the Hengshan Qiang people, and the Fuzhou Qiang clan was separated from the Hengshan Qiang Clan.

Fuzhou Zhe clan head Zhe Zongben, at the end of the Tang Dynasty as the Zhenwu army soldier and horse envoy, since then the clan began to fully accept the sinicization, his son Linzhou Thorn Shi Zhe Lun, Sun Zhe Congruan is now the commander of Jing Nanjie, but his family is still in Fuzhou at all, by his son Zhe De Yan in charge of state affairs, hereditary generations, in fact, in a semi-independent state. and the clan Hengshan Qiang people, and they don't have much contact.

And the Xiazhou Tuoba clan, that is, Li Yiyin, whose ancestors were originally from the Xianbei royal family, migrated from Daibei, and the Hengshan Qiang people are the same ancestor and different ancestry. However, Li Yi Yin was powerful, and the Hengshan Qiang people distributed in Xia, Sui, and Yinzhou could only be attached.

"Hun Tian Wolf" is named Zheducheng Tong, about forty years old, although he is from Hengshan Qiang, and also has his father's surname, but his mother is a woman from Gyeongju, so he grew up in Gyeongju when he was a child, and followed his father to do a military academy in the state government. Later, his father died in battle, and his mother remarried to another Tibetan tribe, but she was repeatedly abused and finally died of illness.

In a fit of rage, he led his troops to ambush his stepfather, and killed his entire family, fled back to Suizhou and then joined the army, but he was considered to be a person who killed his father and was unfilial.

"I don't want this person to have such a bizarre background, how many people are under his command? Where is the nest located? Zhang Yue patiently listened to Zong Jingcheng's detailed explanation, and couldn't help asking.

"There are only more than 200 men and horses in its headquarters, but there are also five or six bandits of all sizes, and the number of troops is much smaller, the total number is about 1,000 people. It is also because of the discord between these parties that the thieves have given them an opportunity to take advantage of, and they are roaring back and forth, and the time and time are met, but the location of the nest has not been discovered. Zong Jingcheng said viciously, a little apprehensive in his heart.

"More than 1,000 riders are really difficult to deal with, but the area around Baiyu Mountain is a mountainous ......" Zhang Yue came to his senses when he said this, and hurriedly found a map and spread it out on the table, looking at it carefully little by little. Baiyu Mountain is located in the northern part of Yan and Qing, and the ancient Great Wall in the south of Yan, Xia and Sui Prefectures.

Zhang Yue asked some more questions about the details of the attack on the tax card, so he asked Zong Jingcheng to go down to rest, and then found Feng Qianhou and Li Chuyun to discuss. If it is a simple suppression of bandits, it may also involve the big families in Yanzhou, and even the big salt merchants in Yanzhou, Qing and the northern states, and the three of them have a feeling that they can't figure it out for a while.

"In the busy farming season, the robbers took the opportunity to go out in the past, but there must have been someone who provided the route of the convoy to cross the border. As soon as something happens on the border between the two states, you have to send troops. When you settle the northern border of the two states, as soon as the summer harvest season passes, the big wealthy families in Yanzhou will reclaim the fields for autumn sowing, and the affairs of dictating the fields can only be carried out until the end of the year, and it is difficult to say whether you are still in office at that time. After pondering for a while, Feng Qianhou finally sorted out the relationship between this matter.

"According to what you say, I can only do one of the two things, camping and suppressing bandits?" Zhang Yue muttered, this is mainly because Zong Jingcheng's ability is not enough, and his prestige is not enough, and Xuan Chongwen's qualifications are too shallow, and he has not really fought a big fight, so he can't preside over the suppression of bandits.

"If you can complete the suppression of bandits within a month, and immediately preside over the dictation of the field when you return to the teacher, then there is no problem, but I am afraid that it will be fruitless for a long time." Feng Qianhou said.

Li Chuyun also said: "If this is the case, then we must send troops as soon as possible, Luziguan has a Xuan commander in charge to ensure that there is nothing to do, and you only need to send troops to buy Daochuan." or lure the enemy to attack, set up ambushes to encircle and annihilate; Or probe its tracks and attack its lair. It's just that the terrain in the north is complicated, and you have to find a mountain man who is familiar with the path as a guide when you march the army. ”

In order to exterminate the robbers as soon as possible, Zhang Yue decided to attack with all his might, led by Xue Wenqian and Zhang Zhixing, and five commanders of Yanzhou soldiers, a total of 3,000 soldiers remained, because most of these were new soldiers, and it was a question whether they could be fought if they were pulled out. And staying in the state city is also a test for Xue Wenqian and Zhang Zhixing.

After a little preparation, Zhang Yue led his own soldiers and the four elite commanders of the 1st, 6th, 7th, and 8th to the northern part of Gyeongju, but he could only go to Huai'an County to stay temporarily to find out the situation before attacking. In addition, Zong Jingcheng led two commanders of the Yanzhou veterans to the north to strike Jiao County, replacing the three commanders of Xuan Chongwen and Han Zhongming, and let them come to Huai'an in Gyeongju to rendezvous. In this way, the total strength reached 2,800 people, and there were also Xuan Chongwen, Li Chuyun, Ming Jinrong, Quan Daojin, Yan Chengwang and other fierce generals accompanying him.

After Zong Jingcheng changed his defense, he would lead two commanders of Yanzhou veterans to garrison the area of Bajiao County, Luziguan and Saimen Town, and asked him to send more scouts to spy on Baiyu Mountain in the west and north to pay attention to the traces of the robbers.

Of course, Zhang Yue was a little careful here, Zong Jingcheng had enough qualifications, and he had military merits, and he was already the deputy envoy of the inspection, so he was transferred to Luziguan to garrison the side Ji, lest he be transferred away from the emperor's sight for meritorious service.