Chu Huan was stunned for a moment and asked, "You mean, this is Lin ...... Lin Gongzi told you? ”

Xuanyuan Sheng nodded and said: "The adult left Qingtang County for less than two hours, and Lin Gongzi found the last general and told the last general that the adult is very likely to be in danger...... The last general didn't believe it at first, the adults have always been cautious in doing things, and accompanied by Zhou Renkang, they came to look for the miracle doctor in disguise, quietly, and the last general didn't think that the adults would have an accident. ”

Chu Huan smiled bitterly: "I didn't expect that Zhou Renkang would have the courage to betray this governor. He asked, "Then how did you believe it?" ”

"Lin Gongzi said that the root of the problem lies in Zhou Renkang." Xuanyuan Shengcai clenched his fists and said: "I didn't pay attention to it, but Lin Gongzi found out that Zhou Renkang's family members all left Qingtang County just a few days ago. ”

"Are you saying that Zhou Renkang's family members are not in Qingtang County?"

"Exactly." Xuanyuan Shengcai said solemnly: "Lin Gongzi found out that a few days ago, Zhou Renkang sent all his family members away under the pretext of vacating the county government to receive adults, and he was supposed to vacate the county government, and there was no need to send his family back to his hometown, but Zhou Renkang not only did this, but instead shipped several truckloads of family property and left. ”

The white blind man immediately said: "In this way, before the arrival of the adults, Zhou Renkang was ready, and he was ready to make a desperate gamble when he sent his family away. ”

"He's from the Northwest?"

"It's a person from Tianshan Dao." Xuanyuan Shengcai said: "The last general made sure that his family members left, so he found Qingtang County Cheng for interrogation, and his family members are said to have been sent back to their hometown in Tianshan Dao. ”

"Tianshan Road?" Chu Huan frowned and said, "Isn't that the jurisdiction of Zhu Lingyue and the Great Governor of Zhu?" ”

Xuanyuan Sheng nodded and said: "Exactly, the last general also found out that this Zhou Renkang Zhou County Commander was recommended by Zhu Lingyue at the beginning, and this is the first term of the official." ”

The white blind man blurted out: "My lord, is it the ...... surnamed Zhu!" ”

Before he could finish speaking, Chu Huan had already said in a deep voice: "Don't talk nonsense." But he was a little surprised in his heart, and secretly thought that Zhou Renkang was really instructed by Zhu Lingyue to set up an ambush for himself here.

Xuanyuan Shengcai also knew that this matter was very important, Zhu Lingyue was the governor of Tianshan Dao, and he was once the governor of the Northwest War.

"My lord, come and see." The voice of Qiu Ruxue sounded next to him, and Qiu Ruxue was squatting next to the corpse of an archer at this time.

Chu Huan approached, Qiu Ruxue had already ripped off the collar of the corpse, revealing his neck, "My lord, what do you think this is?" I saw that on the neck of the corpse, there was a brand the size of a copper coin, the brand had already been bruised into a scar, the shape of a copper coin, but inside was a clear word "charge", Chu Huan only glanced at it, and knew what it was.

"It's a soldier who is sent to the army." Xuanyuan Shengcai was slightly surprised, and also squatted beside him, "Lord Governor, the criminals who are assigned to the border pass to fill the army all have this brand. ”

Chu Huan nodded and said, "I know, that is, these assassins, as well as soldiers?" ”

Qiu Ruxue and the white blind man went to inspect several other corpses at this time, and quickly said: "My lord, there are six archers' corpses here, and two of them have escaped, and four of these six people have the imprint of being confiscated. ”

"That's a lot!" Chu Huan's eyes were cold, "Could it be that these are all assassins who came out of the army?" ”

Qiu Ruxue Wuzi was still checking, and only after a moment did he say: "My lord, out of the six archers, four of them are in the army, but among the other assassins, there are not many ......!" ”

"These soldiers are good at archery, that's why they were recruited." Chu Huan said: "Those who are assigned to the army will be sent to the Northwest Army and the vanguard battalion, that is, the death battalion...... The discipline of the Northwest Army's death battalion has always been very strict, and their equipment is not the best in the army, but their training is the most cruel in the army. ”

Xuanyuan Shengcai bowed his head and said: "Yes, the last general has heard about the death camp of the border army, and the prisoners who are assigned to fill the army will either be sent to Liaodong or to the northwest, and these people will either be coolies, or they will be assigned to the vanguard camp, and once there is a war, they will be sent to the front." It is said that the training of the pioneer battalion is very harsh, firstly, to temper their combat effectiveness, and secondly, because they are all prisoners, and they are trained to polish their temperament...... These people are all from the Pioneer Battalion, how could they suddenly come here to assassinate the Lord? ”

The white blind man frowned and said, "General Xuanyuan, you mean...... Someone in the Northwest Army wants to harm adults? ”

Xuanyuan Sheng said with a straight face: "It's just a few stragglers, you can't just say that the Northwest Army wants to harm adults." Anyone can fake such a brand, and it may not be that no one deliberately does it, pretending to be a member of the pioneer battalion. ”

"Their archery skills are very good, and their previous cooperation is also very tacit, and they do seem to be well-trained soldiers." Qiu Ruxue said slowly: "If you pretend, I don't think they have to do this, I have also heard that once you are assigned to the border army to fill the army and enter the pioneer camp, you can only wash away your sins with blood, ordinary soldiers can be rewarded for their military exploits, and they will be added to the knighthood, but even if the people in the pioneer battalion make great contributions, they will only get some silver rewards at most, and it is impossible to get an official and a half position, and they will never be able to get rid of the military status, they can only stay in the military camp for the rest of their lives until they die in battle, and the people in the pioneer camp should be discriminated against. So if it weren't for the real people of the pioneer camp, no one would take the initiative to brand this shame on themselves. ”

The white blind man nodded and said: "Qiu Daxia, what you said makes sense, if these people are not from the pioneer battalion at all, there is no need to pretend to be branded, do they still want to deliberately frame the Northwest Army?" And they didn't expect that General Xuanyuan would bring people to arrive in time, if it weren't for the general arriving in time and killing them, it would be impossible for us to find out that there would be people from the Northwest Army among them. ”

Xuanyuan Sheng thought about it for a while, and felt that it made sense, so he could only frown and say: "No matter what, if it really involves the Northwest Army, it can't be publicized at this time, and it can only be secretly investigated......!" He looked at Chu Huan and said, "What do you think?" ”

"That's what General Xuanyuan said." Chu Huan's expression had calmed down, "But this governor doesn't believe that they were sent by the Northwest Army. ”

"Oh?" The white blind man asked, "Your Excellency, are you saying that these people are not the Northwest Army?" ”

"I didn't say they weren't the Northwest Army." Chu Huan said thoughtfully: "It's just that even if they are from the vanguard battalion, it doesn't mean that they are sent by the Northwest Army...... Don't you forget that after the Western Liang people came in, the Northwest Army once retreated, and many formations disappeared like that...... Before the Western Liang people entered the customs, the Northwest Army had 100,000 people, but a few days ago, I learned from Zhou Renkangkou that the Northwest Army stationed in the 36th Dock Fort of Yanmen Pass now has a strength of only more than 30,000 people......! ”

Qiu Ruxue understood, and said: "My lord means that the people in the vanguard camp broke away from the Northwest Army and fled while the chaos was taking advantage of the chaos when the Western Liang people attacked?" ”

Xuanyuan Shengcai raised his eyebrows and said, "Yes, Lord Governor, it may not be impossible to do so." I heard that there were 100,000 troops in the northwest at the beginning, and there were 6,000 or 7,000 people in the pioneer battalion...... Even if half of them were killed, there would still be 3,000 left...... When I was in Beijing a few days ago, I accidentally learned that the pioneer battalion now exists in name only, and there are only a handful of soldiers left......! ”

Chu Huan said: "In other words, many of the officers and soldiers of the pioneer battalion are not in the Northwest Army now?" ”

"Yes." Xuanyuan Shengcai said: "Actually, the last general wanted to find an opportunity to talk to the adults about this matter, but he just thought that after the adults arrived in the northwest, they would report after understanding the situation. ”

Chu Huan was about to ask, but saw the sound of armor rubbing sounded, and a military general came quickly, it was Qi Hong, who was selected by Chu Huan from the guards, and when he got close, Qi Hong had already arched his hand and said: "Lord Governor, General Xuanyuan, these thieves seem to be very familiar with the terrain in the mountains, they all fled to the mountain, the terrain in the mountains is very complicated, our troops are not enough to surround this mountain, these outlaws are also very brave, we have also injured several brothers, do you want to continue to chase to the mountains?" ”

Without waiting for Xuanyuan Sheng to speak, Chu Huan had already shook his head and said, "Let the brothers withdraw first, and the brothers in their hands will deal with their injuries first, so there is no need to chase them anymore!" ”

The white blind man said: "Just like this, it's cheaper?" ”

"Captain Qi Yunwei is right, they know the terrain in the mountains very well, our troops are insufficient, and chasing them down will increase casualties." Chu Huan said solemnly: "And even if you arrest them all, what can you do?" ”

Qi Hong had already said: "Lord Governor, although we have injured a few people, it is not without gain, and we have caught a live ......!" Turning around and waving, "Bring it on!" ”

The captured assassin's hood had been taken off, and Xuanyuan Sheng ordered Qi Hong to take someone to collect all the assassin's corpses, and search for clues from the corpses to find out if there were any clues that could be used to find the origin, although Xuanyuan Shengcai felt that the possibility was extremely small, but Qi Hong still took the order to retreat.

The assassin was also a little frightened when he saw that there were guards all around, and his eyes were staring at him like knives, Chu Huan had already asked lightly: "Who are you ordered to assassinate this official?" Think about it before answering. Xiang Qiu Ruxue said: "Brother Qiu, your knife skills are good, if I notice that he is lying, a look, you will cut it with a knife, give him a good time, don't talk nonsense." ”

Qiu Ruxue immediately held the knife in his hand and stared coldly at the assassin.

The assassin shuddered, hesitated for a moment, heard Qiu Ruxue snort coldly, and said helplessly: "I am from Huluzhai, and I have been preparing to assassinate you a few days ago on the orders of General Qiu!" ”

"Hulu Village?" Chu Huan frowned: "General Qiu? ”

"Yes." The assassin said, "General Qiu is the master of our gourd village, and he likes us to call him General Qiu...... As long as we kill you, each of us will have at least three hundred taels of silver, and if we can take your head with our own hands, we will be rewarded with fifty thousand taels of silver!" ”

Chu Huan frowned and said, "Fifty thousand taels? It doesn't seem like my head is worth much. Where is your gourd village? Why did you assassinate the magistrate? ”

"Hulu Village is in the ...... of Hulu Mountain, Yuezhou!" Seeing Chu Huan's sharp eyes, the assassin seemed to be able to see through his heart, and said, "When you inquire in Yuezhou, you will know...... But I don't know why I want to assassinate you, and most of the good people in the stockade have been transferred...... We're just here for the bounty! ”

Chu Huan looked at Xuanyuan Shengcai, frowned and asked, "General Xuanyuan has heard of Hulu Village?" ”

"Haven't heard of it." Xuanyuan Shengcai shook his head and said: "However, bandits in the northwest are everywhere, and I think it is also the bandits who occupy the mountains all the way ...... be kings!" ”

The assassin immediately said, "We are doing the right thing for heaven and killing corrupt officials, not ...... It's not ...... to be king! ”

Xuanyuan Shengcai sneered: "Acting for the heavens? The things that the bandits do under the banner of doing the right thing for heaven are more hateful than the corrupt officials and corrupt officials, although the corrupt officials are greedy, but they are not enough to take people's lives at every turn, only you bandits, who kill people like grass and harm the people, no one can compare. ”