Seeing that Chen Zikun was so stubborn, Liu Youjin couldn't say anything, so he had to sigh and leave, and when he left, the courtyard burst into laughter, Yao Yilei said: "That Taoist priest just now was really funny, and he acted so realistically." ”

Jian Bing said: "This kind of Taoist priest is used to swaggering and pretending to be a ghost, and it is not uncommon to act like anything." ”

Yan Su said: "I'm afraid this play was arranged by County Magistrate Liu, I just don't understand, why he did everything possible not to let us live in the back house, I have checked everywhere, and there is no secret treasure secret book hidden by the secret passage agency or anything, even if there is, County Magistrate Liu has been in Nantai for so long, has he not found it." ”

Chen Zikun said: "No matter what, Lao Tzu will stay here and not leave, and when I turn around, I will transfer a shift to come in and stand guard at night, and then there will be a strange sound and shoot directly." ”

Yan Su said worriedly: "What if you beat County Magistrate Liu to death?" ”

Everyone laughed, and Chen Zikun said: "Kill me and count it." ”

Laughed for a while, everyone went back to the room, Chen Zikun and Yan Su returned to the second hall to discuss things, Yan Su said: "The archives of the six rooms of the county government are very complete, from the Shunzhi year to the present Tian Mu land deed archives, there are archives in the workshop during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Nantai once set up a mine supervisor to supervise the production of coal and iron ore, until the Guangxu period, the coal mine is still producing white coal, and once the machine ships on the Huaijiang River are proud of using Nantai white coal. ”

"Later, why didn't anyone use it?"

Yan Su sighed and said: "Jiangbei bandits are seriously affected, the coal dug out can't be transported, even if it can be transported, there are still water bandits on the Huaijiang River, besides, even if it is shipped out, it can't be sold at a price, and the foreigners' machines and ships use their own coal, so calculated, the coal mine not only does not make money, but also loses money, who wants to do it." ”

Chen Zikun stomped back and forth a few steps and said, "Who is in the hands of the coal mine?" ”

"That piece of land was forcibly seized by Xia Dalong in the third year of the Republic of China, but it did not come in handy in his hands and has been abandoned so far."

"Where's the iron ore?"

"Nantai is also rich in iron ore resources, and it is a high-grade iron-rich ore, it is said that Zhang Zhidong once wanted to set up an iron factory here, but in the end he chose Hanyang, Hubei."

"What is the state of the iron ore now?"

"Small-scale mining and smelting, playing a dozen farm tools or something, belong to the primitive family workshop production, and several large iron factories in the county are controlled by Xia Dalong."

"It's Xia Dalong again, this old boy is simply a soil emperor." Chen Zikun deliberately accentuated the word "soil", holding the rich coal and iron resources but doing nothing, what is not soil.

Yan Su said with a smile: "The countryman's vision is not broad, a little money to buy land, Nantai County's watered land, half of the Xia family, in order to occupy people's fertile land, Xia Dalong has not made a lot of evil, just in the past two years, his wife has been separated, and there are more than 50 families who have died, and the county government's land deed transfer file is recorded." ”

Chen Zikun slapped the table: "Xia Dalong, this local tyrant!" Not killing him is not enough to make the people angry, there are so many bandits in Nantai, he made trouble. ”

Yan Su said: "Killing is definitely going to be killed, but don't be in a hurry, although Xia Dalong is a local tyrant, but he is entrenched in the county, his power is huge, and he also has strong reinforcements in the provincial capital, I have done some research in the past few days, and I learned that he has a cousin who is the head of the regiment under Sun Kaiqin, and an adopted son is Sun Kaiqin's adjutant." ”

Chen Zikun suddenly realized: "No wonder Sun Kaiqin has not sent troops to the north, it turns out that Nantai County is already under his actual control." ”

Yan Su said: "Exactly, Sun Kaiqin is very shrewd, on the surface he retains a buffer zone with his direct family, but in fact, he uses Xia Dalong to control Jiangbei, if there is a slight disturbance here, he can immediately know, I am afraid how many soldiers and horses and how many guns we have brought, and Sun Overseer's desk is already clear." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Then you have to kill him even more, but killing alone can't solve the problem, after all, we are outsiders, will I let you find the person you are looking for?" ”

Yan Su said: "I found it, Gong Jiaxuan, a well-known good man in the county, has been lifted, his family has opened a money village, and every winter he opens a porridge shed to give alms to the poor, and he has a good reputation among the people, and he also has a son named Gong Zijun, who is studying in a university in the provincial capital, and is a relatively enlightened person. ”

Chen Zikun said: "Okay, without further ado, let's go and visit Gong Dashan." ”

Yan Su said: "I'm afraid it's not good, I haven't torn my face yet, so I should go to visit Xia Dalong first, if the news leaks and causes Xia Dalong's suspicion, it will not be good." ”

Chen Zikun laughed and said: "My chief of staff, you think too much, what kind of thing is Xia Dalong, calling him a local tyrant, that is to promote him, but he is just a ruffian in the countryside, and he bothered to use it, besides, I just want to deliberately visit the Gong family first, so that Xia Dalong can taste it, so as to force the Gong family to our side." ”

Yan Su praised: "High, really high. ”

Chen Zikun said: "Chief of Staff, let's go to the county seat, and visit Gong's house by the way, I've been here for a few days, and I'll have a good look at the county." ”

At that moment, he took the adjutant Ma Ben, ordered another squad of twelve big-headed soldiers, and went out with rifles on his back.

Nantai County is boxy, the county government compound is in the middle, a street in the east, a street in the west, all paved with bluestone slabs, although the sparrows are small, the restaurant, pawnshop, money village, silk village, coffin shop are all complete, originally lived in the county are big families, and later because of the bandits, the people who live outside the city have also moved in, the narrow street because of the large number of people, it seems to be a little prosperous.

Chen Zikun first went to inspect the city defense affairs, he is the envoy of the army, the soldiers in Jiangbei are under his control, the security regiment is no exception, there are more than 100 people in the Nantai County Security Regiment, 60 Hanyang made fast guns, the rest are fire guns and earth cannons, there are three bronze breech cannons on the head of the city, which was purchased by Master Xia at the beginning, and it is still exerting residual heat.

The foundation of the security regiment is still the patrol battalion of the year, and now there have been several changes, but it is still Xia Dalong's private soldier, the regiment commander Qiu Fuzhao, is the nephew of Master Xia, and he is very loyal.

Chen Zikun walked around, what kind of quality the security group is, he already has a number in his heart, this gang of rabble, it's okay to scare the bandits, and when he encounters elite soldiers, he can only surrender his guns.

He casually took an old sleeve rifle from Tuanding, pulled the bolt with a bang, and looked inside, it was rusty, obviously he hadn't wiped it for a long time, and there were only two or three bullets in the bullet belt that Tuan Ding was carrying cross-body.

"Good job!" Chen Zikun handed the gun back and patted Tuanding's shoulder encouragingly, which excited the kid for a long time.

After getting off the city tower and continuing to the east, in front of it is Xia Dalong's house, Chen Zikun's house in Beijing's East Wenchang Hutong is the former Beile Ye's mansion, and compared with Xia Dalong's house, there is no advantage of victory.

This big mansion is really magnificent, it is simply a small city, the wall is old and high, the lower half is made of stone, the upper half is made of green bricks, it is extremely solid, there are corner towers built on the four corners, there are regimental members standing guard with guns, there are two hideous stone lions squatting at the gate, the gate is painted with black paint and extremely heavy, and there are four regiments standing at the door.

What is amazing is that the regiment members standing guard in the Xia family, from the mental outlook to the weapons and equipment are completely different from the old, weak, sick and disabled on the city wall, they are generally equipped with two guns, one long and one short, no need to take it to see, just look at the shining bolt to know, the maintenance must not be bad, and then look at the bullet belt, it is really heavy, loaded with bullets.

The elites of the security team are all lying here, and it seems that it is really not easy to kill Xia Dalong.

Chen Zikun and Yan Su looked at each other and smiled, each knowing what the other was thinking.

"The city is high and the walls are thick, and Master Xia is very expensive." Yan Su said.

Chen Zikun smiled disdainfully: "Old Man Xia is too outdated, I don't know that there is another thing in the world called mortars." ”

Yan Su said, "Do you want to go in and see the terrain?" ”

Chen Zikun waved his hand: "Don't go." ”

The group swaggered at the door of Xia's house, and it passed like this.

Tuan Ding flew to report to Xia Dalong, and Master Xia immediately said in surprise: "When you come to my door, you don't come in, which one is this singing, come on, go and see where they went?" ”

Chen Zikun and others went around and came to the Gong family in the west of the city, this mansion is not small, with white walls and black tiles, carved beams and painted buildings, compared with the Xia family's mansion, it is less hideous, more elegant, Zhao Yufeng stepped forward and knocked on the door directly, and a kind-looking housekeeper came out to take a look, and was immediately frightened, and asked cautiously: "Who are you?" ”

"Our escort envoy has come to visit Master Gong, please let me know." Zhao Yufeng spoke very politely, he also saw people serving dishes, and the first squire Chen Zikun visited must have a place to use others.

The housekeeper hurriedly opened the door, while sending the servant to fly the newspaper, he bowed down to welcome the distinguished guests in, and invited him directly to the living room to watch the tea, Chen Zikun sat in the hall, Zhao Yufeng and Yan Su stood on both sides, twelve big-headed soldiers poked two at the door, a few more in the courtyard, and four stood at the door of the living room, majestic, so frightened that Master Gong, who rushed to hear the news, almost didn't dare to go in.

"The envoy of the protector came to the cold house, and he missed the welcome, a capital crime, a capital crime." Gong Jiaxuan was busy making amends, he wore a set of fish-belly white silk shirts and pants, obviously he came before he had time to change his clothes.

Behind him was a young man, dressed in shirts and trousers, and Chan remembered that when he entered the city, he was the one who applauded in the crowd.

Chen Zikun said with a smile: "Gong Dashan, you are too polite, I was going to walk around casually, I wanted to understand the people's feelings, and I came in unconsciously, it seems that we have a fate." ”

Gong Jiaxuan said: "Lord Chen appreciates the light, the humble house is shining, this is the dog Zijun, don't come to see the ceremony." ”

The young man took two steps forward and actually stretched out his hand to Chen Zikun: "Hello, I am a student of Jiangdong University, I know you." ”

Gong Jiaxuan was so frightened that his liver trembled, how could his son not understand the rules at all, he was so good that he was close to other people's military guards, and the people who led the troops were not easy to mess with these years, if he turned his face, the Gong family would be over.

Chen Zikun didn't get mad, but stood up and shook hands with Gong Zijun, and said strangely: "It's the first time I've come to Jiangbei, how can you know me?" ”

Gong Zijun said: "When I was in the eighth year of the Republic of China, I was in middle school in the provincial capital, and I saw your name in the newspaper at that time.

Chen Zikun said with a smile: "It's all old things, don't mention it." ”

Gong Zijun's eyes flashed with sparks of excitement: "Ah, it's really you, I can't think of the revolutionary predecessors of the May Fourth Movement here." ”