The heavenly wolf was completely relieved at this time, and his brows also stretched: "Okay, when I finish my affairs in Hangzhou, I must visit this Lord Yang after I return to Beijing." It's not too early, you should rest early, recuperate well, and wait for me to come back. ”

A trace of reluctance flashed in Feng Wu's eyes: "Go early and come back early!" I will pray for you. ”

Three days later, in Yiwu County, central Zhejiang, Tian Wolf dressed in military uniform, pretending to be Qi Jiguang's deputy general, fully armed, stood at the head of Yiwu County, looking at the rolling mountains in the south of the city from a distance.

Although Yiwu County is not big, but there are more than 2,000 years of history from now, the Qin Dynasty belonged to Huiji County, the county was called Wu Wound at that time, according to legend, there was a filial son in the Qin Dynasty, named Yan Wu, very filial piety to his father, after his father's death, because of the place where he lived was full of rocks and rocks, lack of soil, so he built a grave every day from the plain more than ten miles away, even the crows in the sky were moved by his filial piety, helped him to carry the soil, and the beak was injured, and this place was named Wu Wound County from then on, in order to commemorate this filial son and these psychic crows.

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, after Wang Mang usurped the throne, this place was renamed Wuxiao County, a place in the south of the Three Kingdoms period was divided, called Yongkang County, to the Sui and Tang dynasties, this place was renamed Chouzhou, named after the Choushan (Desheng Rock) in its territory, and finally to the Wude period of Tang Gaozu, this place was officially renamed Yiwu, and this name has been used to this day.

Qi Jiguang looked at Babao Mountain in the distance, his brows tightened, and the mountain wind blowing from there also transmitted the shouts of tens of millions of people, sounding as if thousands of troops were running conflict. And the shouts and screams of killing and screaming can even be heard clearly in the county seat ten miles away, which shows the fierceness of the fight in the distance.

Qi Jiguang turned his head to Yiwu County Ling Hua Changmin, who was standing on the side, and asked, "Hua County Order, how long has this weapon fight lasted?" Isn't there a sign of stopping yet? ”

Nahua County Ling Nai is a middle-aged man in his forties, with a white complexion, medium build, a goatee, a pair of small eyes, and a shrewdness that is difficult to conceal on his face, as soon as he heard Qi Jiguang's words. hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "General Huiqi, they have been fighting for more than three months, and they still have no intention of stopping." A few days ago, I heard that Shi Wenliu, a salt merchant in Yongkang, had recruited more than 3,000 people from Yongkang and Longquan to continue to work with the people of this county. ”

Qi Jiguang frowned and asked: "The Huaxian order can know where this Shi Wenliu came from, and the people of Yiwu in this county." And who took the lead in organizing it? ”

Hua Changmin had already prepared. Said: "That Shi Wenliu is a famous businessman in Yongkang and even our entire Zhejiang, who used to make a fortune by selling illicit salt, and I heard that he also ran a few years by sea, went down to the South Seas, and dealt with the Francophile, and then after the imperial court banned the sea, he no longer did maritime business, but returned to Yongkang to become a silk merchant. Now he is responsible for half of the raw silk purchases in Zhejiang, and there are also six or seven workshops in Hangzhou. There are thousands of looms, and every year, one-third of the silk purchased by the imperial court from our Zhejiang Province is produced in this Shi family's workshop. ”

Tian Wolf said coldly: "No wonder this person has so much money, and he constantly hires people from other towns to fight, but since this person is in the silk business, why should he not get along with these villagers in this poor and remote Yiwu County." ”

After Hua Changmin heard it, he replied with a face: "What Vice General Liu said is very true, in fact, Xia Guan didn't know why he came to our Yiwu County to make trouble, and then Xia Guan inquired in many ways, only to know that when Shi Wenliu passed by here a few months ago, a phase master told him that there was a silver mine on Babao Mountain here, and Shi Wenliu sent a few mining experts to come and investigate, and sure enough, he dug up some silver stones, so he asked for the order of the political envoy, Thousands of miners were recruited from Yongkang County to mine in Yiwu. ”

"But the people of Yiwu, generations are mostly by hunting and chopping firewood in the mountains, or mining for a living, Babao Mountain is living in the Chen family, one of the patriarchs Chen Dacheng, who used to be a soldier, people are also brave, in the county as a catcher, and later resigned and returned to his hometown, became the patriarch."

"At the beginning, Chen Dacheng brought more than 20 villagers to negotiate with Shi Wenliu, asking him to open the net and not hinder the locals from cutting firewood and hunting, but Shi Wenliu relied on his relationship in Hangzhou, not only had an arrogant attitude and did not give in, but also arrested Chen Dacheng and beat them, as a result, Chen Dacheng couldn't swallow this breath, so he gathered thousands of villagers from the nearby ten miles and eight townships, and fought with Shi Wenliu's Yongkang miners so far."

When the wolf heard this, he snorted heavily: "I see, Huaxian Order, you are an official of the imperial court, a parent, obviously this Shi Wenliu is a bully and lawless, why don't you send the county officials to take it down?" ”

Hua Changmin smiled bitterly: "General Qi, Deputy General Liu, the lower officials are really powerless, I only have dozens of officials in Yiwu County, how can I stop these thousands of strong men who are like wolves and tigers, and they are powerful, besides, Shi Wenliu's hands and eyes are all over the sky, and he can get orders from the political envoys in Hangzhou to enclose the entire mountain for mining. ”

Qi Jiguang nodded: "General Liu, the governor did give such an order, but now it is too unpleasant to make trouble, so we led the army over." ”

The wolf's heart is bright, presumably Hu Zongxian doesn't want to offend Zheng Bichang and He Maocai, these two must have received a huge amount of benefits from Shi Wenliu, so they will be the backstage, and Shi Wenliu controls half of the province's raw silk purchases, one-third of the silk production, offended him, the imperial court has to pay a big deficit in taxes in the southeast every year, so this person has no fear, and wants to bully others, but I didn't expect the people of Yiwu to be so fierce, and they actually beat the thousands of foreign miners he hired so hard that they couldn't work. I'm afraid this is also a big surprise to him.

Thinking of this, Sky Wolf's eyes lit up and asked, "Huaxian Order, the two sides have fought so far, even if you can't arrest people, have you ever come forward to mediate?" I heard that the fight had been going on for more than three months, and that there were thousands of dead on both sides. Don't you care about such a big thing? ”

Hua Changmin's head began to sweat, and he took out a handkerchief from his arms to wipe the sweat. On the other hand, he said: "General Liu, the lower officials have invited Shi Wenliu and Chen Dacheng to the county government many times to mediate, but the gap between the two sides is too big to negotiate at all, so Shi Wenliu refused to give in, and still insisted on opening a mine in this Babao Mountain, and said that his miners from other towns killed more than 2,000 people. He also has to pay a pension, so in the future, the tax money from this silver mine will not be paid to the county, but directly to the province. ”

"As for that Chen Dacheng. insisted that Shi Wenliu and his outsiders all leave, and compensated the Yiwu people for the death and injury, and both sides brought hundreds of people to my county every time, and twice almost fought here. Recently, this month, I know that I can't talk about it anyway. I simply didn't come, and it looked like I had to fight here to win or lose. ”

Qi Jiguang laughed: "Qi has led troops for more than ten years, and he has also traveled to many places, and it is the first time to see such a warlike and stubborn people, Huaxian Order, now do the two sides know the news that our army has arrived?" ”

Hua Changmin had a smile on his face: "Since yesterday I received the news that the army has been mobilized, Xia Guan sent people to inform both sides overnight. Let them restrain themselves, the imperial court has already sent troops over. I also want Shi Wenliu and Chen Dacheng to come to the county government again to talk about peace, this time with a large army in charge, it will definitely be different from before. ”

Qi Jiguang's eyebrows raised: "In that case, why didn't these two come, but it sounded like they were still fighting, why is this?" ”

The smile on Hua Changmin's face froze suddenly, he swallowed a bubble of saliva, and said: "This, I'm afraid that the mountain people are stupid and stubborn, and I don't know the general's might." ”

Qi Jiguang waved his hand and said: "Huaxian Order's statement, I don't dare to agree, then Shi Wenliu and the political envoy can speak, even Chen Dacheng has also been a soldier and seen the world, it is impossible not to know the strict nature of the army here, in my opinion, they are red-eyed, or they don't take our army in their eyes at all." ”

Hua Changmin wiped the sweat on his head and said yes again and again.

Heavenly Wolf suddenly asked: "Huaxian Order, do you know who the Xiangshi who told Shi Wenliu that there was a silver mine in Babao Mountain, and where is this person now?" And the miners who dug up the silver that Shi Wenliu found later, are they still there? ”

Hua Changmin was slightly stunned and shook his head: "The lower officials don't know." ”

Tian Wolf and Qi Jiguang glanced at each other, their hearts were connected, Qi Jiguang said to Hua Changmin: "Huaxian Order, our army has just arrived, and now it is camped outside the city, please continue to invite Chen Dacheng and Shi Wenliu to come to the county government to negotiate peace, I will first observe the situation of their fighting, and then make a decision." ”

Hua Changmin said with a smile: "But according to the general's orders, the lower officials have prepared a thin table in the county office, which is specially for the two generals to pick up the wind and wash the dust, and also invite the two generals to appreciate their faces and come." ”

Qi Jiguang waved his hand and walked towards the city: "No need, this general is on duty, and when this matter is resolved, he will definitely have a good time with the Huaxian Order." ”

An hour later, in the barracks outside the city, there was a busy scene, the Shaoxing soldiers were cutting the newly cut down trees from the dense mountains outside the city into fences and stakes one by one, and then nailed them around a camp surrounded by a large cart with the army in a radius of four or five miles, and inside the camp, a top of the military tent was erected, and outside the largest camp tent in the middle, there was a big flag with the word "Qi" floating on the high flagpole, which was the tent of the commander of the Chinese army.

Qi Jiguang and Sky Wolf were sitting opposite each other in this handsome tent, and the soldiers were all sent out of the tent, Qi Jiguang said while untying the armor on his body: "Sky Wolf, it seems that this Chen Dacheng is a passive counterattack, the source and root of this incident are still on Shi Wenliu's body." You just asked the Taoist priest who said that there was a silver mine here, did he already have any ideas? ”

The wolf's armor has been taken off, and inside is a black-clothed suit, he is untying his hair bun at this time, holding a piece of black cloth to wrap his head, but he didn't stop, and replied: "Yes, in fact, as soon as the Huaxian Decree said it today, I felt strange, if there is really a silver mine here, why are there no locals to dig it for hundreds of thousands of years, there must be fraud in it!"

Qi Jiguang's heart moved: "You mean there is a problem with this Xiangshi?" Did he deliberately provoke this fight? ”

Heavenly Wolf nodded: "When I exterminated the White Lotus Sect back then, I saw that the White Lotus Sect often used this method, they would find out which poor families had conflicts with the local powerful bullies, and then send people to intensify the conflicts. deliberately provoked trouble, causing these poor families to be ruined, and finally they came forward to teach those powerful bullies a lesson. Not judges, so that those poor families will be grateful to Dade and join the White Lotus Sect, this kind of people are often die-hard, even if they let them eat explosives and refine themselves into poisonous people, they are also willing. ”

It was the first time Qi Jiguang had heard of such a method as the White Lotus Sect. couldn't help but be moved: "They actually have such a means, but why doesn't the White Lotus Sect directly attract those powerful bullies and win over some ordinary people." And what's the use? ”

Heavenly Wolf sighed: "This is the excellence of the White Lotus Sect, those powerful bullies have their own industries and forces, and they want to let them enter the White Lotus Sect as small soldiers." Who would want to? Moreover, the relationship between these people and their connections is complicated, and if they are not careful, they will leak their missionary affairs, if the White Lotus Sect is only greedy for immediate interests, and has a relationship with these powerful bullies, and helps them to oppress the people together, it will also lose the hearts of the people at the bottom, and without people, this cult will not be able to develop. ”

Qi Jiguang sighed: "No wonder this White Lotus Sect can toss such a big momentum in Shanxi. It seems that it is not only because of its evil and cruelty, but because it is unique. Sky Wolf. Do you mean that this Taoist priest is also a member of a certain organization, and he is here to imitate the White Lotus Sect? ”

Tianluo nodded seriously: "I estimate that eight or nine is not far from ten, Shi Wenqing has Zheng Bichang of the strict party, He Maocai as the backing, has always been arrogant and domineering, and people are greedy for profit, as soon as they hear the news that there is a silver mine here, they will definitely collude with the government and circle the mountain to mine, so that it will cut off the livelihood of the Yiwu mountain people who have been relying on the mountains for many years, and it will inevitably provoke the locals to fight to the death with them." ”

"Under normal circumstances, these Yiwu people will suffer a big loss, when the time comes to die or be angry, this organization will take the opportunity to come out and attract Yiwu people to join them, if you can find a way to teach Shi Wenliu and his gang, then these simple Yiwu people will be even more desperate, that is, let them kill people and set fires, pull flags and rebel, and they are also willing."

"General Qi, now on the southeast coast, who else will do such a thing except for the Japanese Kou? Besides, that Shi Wenliu also went to the sea to do business in his early years, maybe he knew Wang Zhi and Xu Weixue these old widows, maybe he was acting with the widows, think about it, since he has such great power, he can buy Zheng Bichang, He Maocai, and even Governor Hu can't help him, he has been fighting with the Yiwu people here for a few months, and the people brought from Yongkang and Longquan and other places next door have killed more than 2,000 people, but he has not been able to buy the government to transfer troops and ammunition, but has made this matter bigger and bigger, and more and more people have died, Isn't it deliberately to stir up hatred between the people of the two places? ”

Qi Jiguang nodded again and again when he heard this: "Your analysis is very reasonable, but what the truth is, we have to wait until we have seen it with our own eyes, it is not appropriate for the army to be dispatched now, otherwise when the two sides are fighting, if they see soldiers coming, I am afraid that they will not scatter in a hurry like ordinary people, but will turn to attack the army, once my soldiers start to kill, this feud will be deep, so you and I should still follow the original plan, change our appearance, and go to see the shape clearly." ”

Heavenly Wolf smiled slightly: "A few days ago, when the army was opened, I left Hangzhou first, and went to the Yongkang area to investigate, that Shi Wenliu is now offering a high reward to people from all walks of life, and the people in the Yongkang Longquan area have also been killed by thousands, some of the timid ones dare not go, only the black-hearted underworld Green Forest is willing to fight with him now, but Shi Wenliu still doesn't dare to go too far, and these people are not allowed to use swords, only let them use sticks to shoulder these farm tools." ”

"But for the high reward of five taels of silver a day, there are still a lot of guys with a bad face added to it, in my opinion, among Shi Wenliu's new recruits this time, ninety percent of them are bandits and bandits everywhere, attracted by his money, mud and sand are mixed, I can find a way to mix in it and find out the details of Shi Wenliu."

Qi Jiguang said with a smile: "No wonder you left the army without saying hello the day before yesterday, and I don't bother to ask, but are you really okay alone, do you want me to go with you?" ”

Tianluo waved his hand: "General Qi, the army still needs you to sit in town, and today's county commander surnamed Hua, although he has been speaking according to our intentions, but I also checked his bottom before I came, his official was also obtained by bribing Yan Dang, and in the past two years, he has not been less filial to Zheng Bichang and He Maocai in office, it is likely that Yan Dang put the eyes and ears here, and today we set up a banquet for us to go over, and I also want to monitor the two of us, so this also requires you to deal with the surname Hua, these two days when I am not there, I lead the troops from time to time to make a show." ”

Qi Jiguang nodded: "But if you are not there, then Hua Changmin will know at a glance, and he will be suspicious when the time comes, what should I do?" ”

Heavenly Wolf said: "I also trouble the general to find a credible personal soldier to come over, I will disguise him like me, you let him talk less, then if Hua Changmin invites the general to the banquet, bring him." ”

Qi Jiguang laughed: "This is easy to do." He shouted outside the tent: "Liu Decai, come in!"

The sky wolf stood up, and after a while, a soldier in his twenties, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, who looked shrewd and capable, walked in and saluted Qi Jiguang and the sky wolf: "Little Liu Decai, I have seen two generals!" (To be continued......)