In the Qin and Han dynasties, Di Dao, as the county of Longxi, was adjacent to Lintao County, and was not called Lintao as in later generations. As the starting point of the western end of the Great Wall of Qin, Didao has long been an important town in the northwest border of Guanzhong. Even when the world was in turmoil at the end of the Qin Dynasty, when the Xiongnu led hundreds of thousands of people to attack the Central Plains, they failed to forcibly seize Didao, a strategic place in Guanzhong.

Lintao County, which is adjacent to Didao, is the most prosperous and wealthy county in Longxi County. Because the strategic location of Lintao is not as good as Di Dao, it did not hoard heavy troops, but became a gathering place for many merchants and people in border counties, especially after the opening of the border market, it became more and more prosperous. On the contrary, the road in and out of Guancheng is much wider and smoother than that of Didao.

Most of the ancestors of the Longxi family live here, and the local powerful and powerful gather, and many family inheritances can even go back hundreds of years, which can be described as deep-rooted. Due to the hereditary system of talent selection in the early Han Dynasty, many of the border army generals in Lintao came from local families.

Even if Captain Dou Ying received the rank of general, stationed in Lintao, recruited and trained 150,000 border troops, and gave three points to the major families, this can be done as quickly as possible. And Wu Kuo, who is in the county of Di Dao, is even more helpless against Lintao Haoqiang, and the previous Taishou is the same, he can only fulfill the responsibility of the border, but he cannot achieve the smooth implementation of the government order in Lintao.

However, recently, it is said that the strange actions of Wu Kuo in Longxi have made the heroes in Lintao County feel faintly uneasy.

First of all, a few days ago, in the name of preventing the Qiang people from raiding Di Dao, Wu Kuo ordered all the border soldiers of Lintao and the surrounding counties to move to the county to govern Di Dao. The defense of this Lintao county town was handed over to hundreds of county soldiers. The generals in the local army who were born in Lintao, since they arrived in Di Daodang, have cut off the news, and have not sent a word back to their respective mansions.

Then yesterday, Wu Kuai announced to all counties that he would personally go to Lintao and the surrounding counties to inspect border affairs. It must be known that since Wu Kuo took office, except for a routine inspection at the beginning of his tenure, he has never set foot on the boundary of Lintao again for several years. Many local heroes who have ghosts in their hearts are naturally frightened and abnormal, and they faintly smell some kind of dangerous smell.

Today, many heroes and powerful people gathered in the Hou Yaosang Mansion in Lintao County, and their faces were full of anxiety.

"Yao Hou, I'm afraid that a catastrophe is coming this time!" An old man with a sad face had a hoarse voice and red eyes, and it was evident that he had not been able to sleep for a long time.

Yao Sang's face was slightly gloomy, and he scolded: "What are you panicking about?!" We all have ancestors living here, and we can be regarded as friends for a hundred years. As long as they watch over each other, how dare Wu Kui act rashly? Even when the Han Dynasty was founded, didn't Gaozu have to appease our family more? ”

Haoqiang's faces were a little pale, only the old man smiled bitterly and said: "At the beginning, the Han Dynasty was newly established, and a hundred ruins were waiting to be lifted, and Gaozu was afraid that the border defense would be unstable, so he naturally would not attack us." However, today is not the same as in the past, seeing that the Han army is mighty and has defeated the Huns several times, once we free our hands, it will be our annihilation! ”

Bang! Yao Sangmeng slapped the case, gritted his teeth and shouted: "Lan Mi! Don't be alarmist, if it weren't for the love you have had with my father for many years, I would have been thrown out! ”

When Lan Mi heard this, his face was flushed, and his hands were trembling with anger, but he didn't dare to speak out, so he just lowered his body and muttered: "Vertical son is dare, vertical son is ...... dare to"

Even if the rest of the heroes couldn't bear it, they didn't dare to step forward to explain, for fear of touching Yao Sang's moldy head and provoking anger. Although this Lintao County is small, it is a hereditary title, from the pre-Qin, Yao sat firmly in Lintao, after more than 100 years, even if it was a change of dynasty, but it was never taken away. Many officials and generals of Longxi County are from the Yao family, and there are countless in-laws, which can be described as well-deserved leaders in the Longxi family.

Just when the atmosphere in the hall was extremely tense, the chief butler of the Yao Mansion hurriedly walked into the hall door, gasped and bowed: "Master Hou, Taishou has arrived at the outskirts of Lintao County. The county magistrate has now led the county officials to greet him, and specially sent someone to pass the word, hoping that the marquis will prepare early! ”

The originally silent heroes were in an uproar when they heard this, and the hall was noisy. Yao Sang's face was pale, seeing that Wu Kui had not arrived, but everyone was in a mess, and he did not go to the township at all, bullying men and women with a fierce appearance, which really made him angry.

"Enough! Shut it all up! Look at your cowardly appearance, it's worse than a girl! He was furious, and said again: "When the imperial lieutenant had to come to the door to ask for a few bottles of water and wine, now he is just a mere guard, what are you afraid of him doing?" ”

However, this time, the heroes were not as obedient as usual, and they still talked about it. There was even a reckless man who took a few steps forward and retorted with a complaining face: "If you say that you don't have to be afraid before, but you have committed the great crime of collaborating with the enemy by smuggling grain and grass to the Xiqiang tribes with you, I am afraid that this time the emperor of the Han Dynasty will really want to kill us!" ”

The heroes were like ducks choked by the neck, and they were instantly speechless, and the entire hall fell into a deathly silence. They never thought that someone would announce such a secret matter in public, and they couldn't help but be shocked in their hearts, and they all stared at the reckless man with a cold light in their eyes.

The reckless man also knew that he had lost his words at this time, full of remorse, and was about to open his mouth to ease his cheeks, but he only felt a chill in his heart, and a sharp pain came. Poof, he slowly lowered his head, only to see the tip of the blood-stained sword coming out of his chest, and there were two roars in his mouth, and a large cloud of blood foam came out, and his eyes were black, and he fell to the ground with a pop.

The heroes silently watched Yao Sang's personal death soldier slowly draw out the long sword on the reckless man's back, and the seeping sound of the blade cutting through the flesh and blood was particularly clear in the dead hall.

"Keep your mouth shut tightly, figure out what not to say, and I'll make sure you're okay!" Yao Sang's cold voice broke the dead silence in the hall, and then he instructed again: "After each of them returns to the mansion, gather all the private soldiers in the mansion." If Wu Kuai is really not interested, he must not be in the hands of horse thieves! ”

When the heroes heard this, they reluctantly agreed to the promise and left one after another.

Over the years, the imperial court has tried several times to send elite officials to rectify the rule of officials in Longxi, but many officials have died strangely at the hands of horse thieves and robbers. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, there were many rangers, and Longxi not only gathered strong and powerful, but also moved a large number of naturalized Qiang people, since they were horse thieves rampant, coming and going like the wind, and repeatedly prohibited.

Even though the Taishou of Longxi in the past dynasties had many doubts about the cause of death of many officials, they were never able to catch the evidence of Longxi Haoqiang's collusion with horse thieves. For a long time, the counties of Longxi, especially Lintao, have become forbidden places for Han and upright officials.

On the outskirts of Lintao City, Wu Kuai, the Taishou of Longxi, looked at the many Lintao officials who were slowly walking in the distance, turned his head and asked the young man in Xuanyi behind him, "Is there any news in the city now?" ”

The young man in Xuanyi nodded slightly, and said in a low voice: "Yu Linwei in the city has asked Harrier Eagle to bring news, and today it is said that the local heroes and powerful people have gathered in Lintao to wait for Yao Sang's mansion and talk secretly for more than half an hour before they return to their homes." Many heroes even joined the private soldiers, thinking that they were going to fight hard. ”

Wu Kui was not angry but happy, and said with a joke on his face: "I am worried that I can't find a reason to clean them up, but it is difficult for them to kill themselves." It's just that I don't know if General Pindi is ready, and this old life of this official can be counted on him. ”

The young man in Xuanyi bowed down and said: "You can rest assured, General Zhuang must have been ready to stop for a long time, and he only needs to receive a summons from us to wipe them out!" ”

Wu Kuai asked with a funny smile: "I heard General Zhuang Feng mention that you were the righteous son he raised since childhood, and you are even more called your father in Pingyu, why do you call him General Zhuang in Pingyu?" ”

The young man in Xuanyi said solemnly: "Now Li Song, as Yu Linwei, and with His Majesty's secret decree, he and General Zhuang are not subordinate to each other, and they cannot enter the military because of personal feelings. After this incident, it is not too late to talk about the relationship between father and son! ”

Wu Kuo laughed and didn't comment, just patted Li Song on the shoulder. He ** held the iron clay knife on his waist, and recalled that the first time he saw Yu Linwei was the Qi Mountain who had gone west out of Di Dao. The smart young man who drank all night with the generals is rumored to have made a lot of military achievements and has been promoted to the left servant of Yulin, which can be described as a young hero.

Now I see Li Song, who is said to have only entered the Yulin for less than a year, is faintly still a little immature, but he already has a little bit of the style of Qishan back then. This made Wu Kuai sigh, how Yu Linwei cultivated so many demons really made us old guys who have been leading the army for many years embarrassed.

The Lintao county commander led the county officials, saw Wu Kuai's car from a distance, and immediately abandoned the car and walked to show respect and humility. After a long time, he walked to Wu Kuai's car, and saw that Wu Kuai had gotten out of the car and waited, so he hurriedly stepped forward to pay respects. Everyone saluted as if they were ceremonial, Wu Kuai said a few perfunctory words to them as usual, patted them on the shoulder, and encouraged them, immediately abandoned the car, walked slowly with everyone, and went to Lintao County.

The officials of Lintao complained bitterly in their hearts, seeing that this place was still more than ten miles away from the county seat, and they had to walk all the way for no reason, but it was really embarrassing for these pampered and pot-bellied civil officials.

And many of the accompanying Lintao officials also secretly glanced at the guards who were patrolling with Wu Kuai. I saw only a few hundred riders, plus a few skinned carriages. Although the carriage could not see what it was carrying, it could hold dozens of soldiers at most. These officials breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts, and secretly whispered a few words to the accompanying servants behind them, and asked Wu Kuai for instructions to let them return to the county government first, so as to instruct the rest of the subordinates to prepare for the relevant matters.

Wu Kuai didn't care at all, and waved his hand to signal them to dispose of it themselves. After a while, Wu Kuo looked at the few servants who were rushing towards the county seat, and sneered in his heart, but his steps became slower and slower. Under his deliberate delay, coupled with the stop-and-go along the way, the flat road of more than ten miles was stunned, and everyone walked for several hours.

By the time everyone entered the city, it was already Bo Xishan, and the twilight drum happened to be beating slowly. After everyone walked into Lintao County, the heavy Mengtong City Gate slowly closed. There was a creaking sound, as if a huge coffin had been closed, but I didn't know whose body would be buried. (To be continued.) )