It is not an exaggeration to describe the late Ming Dynasty with "leaky house coincides with overnight rain", there are worries about the gold outside, and there are famine years inside, especially in the famine years, the main income of the Ming Empire based on agriculture is the land endowment, once it encounters a famine year, it is a heavy blow to the court and the people, especially the land annexation is strict, the exile of the people who have no food in the mouth and no clothes on their bodies, the rebellion of the rebellion, the empire is crumbling, not to mention the prestige, all countries come to the dynasty, even if you go out to prevent robbers, you have to come in groups to strengthen your courage, How can there be half a minute of the weather of the heavenly kingdom.

No, Jiangyou County escorted a tax silver, not only used more than half of the servants, but also Cao Hu, the head catcher, also personally dispatched to escort this batch of newly minted tax silver on the road, more than 38 people including the head catcher, the fast catcher plus the coachman, etc., including Chen Gui's family members 15 people, a total of 53 people, went straight to Xi'an Mansion on the official road.

In the past, it was enough to have seven or eight people escorted, but this is a special period, no one can ensure that there are no bandits on the road, the county government attaches great importance to it, and sends most of the force to escort, and it can rest assured in the past, and now there are traces of the White Lotus Sect, so I have to act carefully, Cao Hu travels day and night, and walks on the official road, and every time I travel, I also send the arrest to explore the road in front of it, and you can be very careful.

"My lord, if you are thirsty, come, drink saliva." Halfway through, Niu Er saw Cao Hu swallow his throat and immediately sent the water bag diligently.

Cao Hu was also not polite, took the water bag and poured a few sips, and then asked: "Niu Er, how many days have we been away from Jiangyou?" ”

"If you turn around, you'll be gone for eight days."

For the sake of safety, sometimes we stop moving forward before it gets dark, for example, if we are not sure to arrive at another post station before dark, then we will spend the night at the nearest post station and go out again the next day, seeking stability rather than speed.

Besides, it is a famine year, the common people have no spare money in their hands, their purchasing power is low, and all industries are depressed, there are few peddlers and pawns on the road, and the government has no money to repair roads and bridges, and the road conditions are very poor, so the progress of the line has not been fast, and it is still very depressing to walk.

Looking at the dilapidated official road and sparse pedestrians, Cao Hu commanded loudly: "Now out of Jiangyou County, that is, out of my own territory, give me a little care, don't let Xiaoxiao have a chance, if something happens to this tax money, we all have to move our heads, understand?" ”

"Yes, head." A group of officials hurriedly replied loudly.

Cao Hu has served as the head catcher for many years, and he has accumulated prestige for a long time, and he has long governed the three classes of officials into an iron bucket, and this time he brought out all his henchmen, so he is naturally obedient and obedient.

At this time, Fei Xi came over, saluted Cao Hu and said, "Head, then Chen Ji's family has something to look for you." ”

"The slut has seen Cao Zhutou." A woman in her early thirties followed behind Fei Xi, and as soon as Fei Xi finished speaking, she appeared and saluted Cao Hu.

Cao Hu looked at the young woman in front of him, her face was like a peach blossom, her skin was better than snow, her body was plump and round, she was a rich family, she was really well maintained, she was born with a pair of peach blossom eyes, as if she wanted to hook people's hearts, this Chen Ji's is Chen Gui's second room, Cao Hu saw her in the past, and she had to be called a second lady, but now it is not what it used to be, Chen Gui has fallen, and the Chen family has become a fish on the board. It is also a good choice to let her be tactful under her crotch.

Anyway, I didn't plan to let them go, I had a good time before I died, it was considered a waste utilization, and Cao Hu designed the place and time early on.

Although he was thinking about dirty things in his heart, he didn't show anything on his face, and he still said lightly: "The second lady is exempt." ”

"Xie Cao catches his head." Chen Jishi hurriedly thanked.

Seeing that Cao Hu just coped with a sentence, he stopped talking, Chen Ji's heart was sad, sure enough, it was thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi, the previous surnamed Cao saw himself, he was both flattering and flattering, and he spoke in a low voice like a grandson, but this white-eyed wolf who was not familiar with it not only betrayed his boss, but also turned his face and did not recognize people, after the fall of his master, he did not instruct people to blackmail, and the saddest thing is that he still has to beg him now.

"My lord and all the officials have worked hard all the way, this is a little bit of our Chen family's heart, please Cao Zhutou smile." After Chen Jishi finished speaking, he presented a small wooden box with both hands.

"The second lady is really generous, she really deserves to be from everyone's background, and she will be sympathetic to us rough people, how embarrassing is this." Cao Hu was polite, the hand had not hesitated to take the wooden box, opened it casually, the small wooden box opened and suddenly brightened, there was a stack of gold leaves in the wooden box, about thirty sheets, Cao Hu picked up one casually, and immediately concluded that the weight of each gold leaf was about one tael, and this box of gold leaves was equivalent to about three hundred taels of silver.

Yes, it's quite on the road, I guess I smelled some danger and endured the pain to destroy the disaster.

Chen Jishi saw that Cao Hu accepted it, so he put his heart at ease, and after a few more words of flattery, he retreated.

Yang Jiu, who was on the side of the "head", approached Cao Hu and asked in a low voice, "When will you start this fat sheep?" ”

is called an escort, but in fact, it is cut to the roots, killing people and seizing goods on the way to escort, a big windfall, Cao Hu has known his henchmen early on, Yang Jiu, as Cao Hu's henchman, has known the inside story early on, looking at the Chen family's big bags and small packages of fine and soft, he has long been red-eyed, especially there are a few concubines and maids with good looks in the team, and Yang Jiu has long been heartbroken, and he can't wait to do it immediately.

6 Haoshan said to let go of the Chen family, he has done it, but Cao Hu doesn't let go, he doesn't care, not only doesn't care, but also hints to Cao Hu, the so-called wealth is moving, no one will be disgusted with a lot of money, a vote will have a large amount of money, and he can be free for a long time, who doesn't want to do it?

If it is a peaceful and prosperous world, there is no need to think about this kind of thing, now the political situation is turbulent and riots are everywhere, to put it mildly, even if there is a case, it may not be able to be sent to the capital, that is, it will be sent to the capital, and these can be important to have military intelligence? A cruel smile appeared on Cao Hu's lips, and three words spit out from between his teeth: "Centipede Ridge." ”

Centipede Ridge, located in Zitong County, may be an environmental factor, there are many centipedes on the mountain, it is said that it is more than a foot long, centipedes are poisonous, hurt a lot of lives, people dare not approach, plus the location is remote, so people are inaccessible, even passing by, but also left in a hurry.

Cao Hu and his henchmen planned to attack on Centipede Ridge, kill people and goods, and secretly dispose of all the Chen family here, and then they used the excuse that they had been robbed, and they and his subordinates were desperately protecting the tax and silver and could not protect the Chen family.

In the evening of this day, Centipede Ridge ushered in a large convoy, most of the convoy was dressed as a servant, followed by a team of family members, it was Cao Hu and his party.

"Hurry up, what are you doing?" On the tenth day of the trip, he finally passed the Qinglin Pass and entered the Centipede Ridge range, and the smiles on the lips of those officials became more and more weird, not only did they look at those beautiful women unscrupulously, but their words were not polite.

At this time, the sun has set, it is almost dark, the official road is quiet, there is no figure, in this wilderness, it is a good time to kill people and sell goods.

"Feixi, Niu Er" saw that the time was almost up, Cao Hu whispered: "You each take one person to both sides to guard, after seeing us signal, if someone wants to pass through Guò Centipede Ridge, you will say that you have gone to the criminal, it is the murderer who has left, and the official is handling the case, let them go back." ”

This is still an official road, if someone sees it, it will not be good, with the identity of the official errand, to prevent passing business travelers, one is convenient to act, and the other is that there are also people who look at the wind.

"Yes, sir." The two hurriedly received the order and hurriedly went to carry out the order.

After the two left, Cao Hu waved his hand to stop the team and said loudly: "It's getting late, it's not suitable to hurry, just camp in the woods in front of you, and come out early tomorrow morning." ”

All the officials agreed in unison, and the people of the Chen family had no choice but to follow the team to camp in a forest on the side of the road.

Many officials have the experience of camping in the wild, usually send documents, escort prisoners, send silver and food, etc., do not rush to sleep in the open, experienced, so everyone worked under Cao Hu's assignment: some people clean up the site, some people look for firewood, some people set up pots, some people take oilcloth to tie on the trees, to prevent rain, there are many people, and soon a small camp will appear, I don't know where to get a piece of meat, chop it and put it in the pot to cook the soup, not long after, the broth in the pot began to spread a burst of attractive fragrance, many people in the Chen family smelled it and swallowed saliva.

First of all, I missed lunch in a hurry, and there was a problem with a carriage on the way, which was delayed until the evening before the centipede ridge was reached, so that everyone did not eat a mouthful of hot food for a day, and had to sleep in this place where there was no village in front of the village and no store behind, and now I smelled the tempting aroma of the broth, and my appetite was hooked at once.

If Chen Gui was still there, this pot of soup would naturally be enjoyed by the Chen family, but now not only people are taking tea to cool down, but they are also taking advantage of the fire to rob, and it is okay not to bully themselves, where do they dare to make requests, the Chen family has no choice but to look at this broth and swallow their saliva.

But to everyone's surprise, Cao Hu suddenly walked over with a smile, followed by two officials, one with the pot of soup, one with the dishes and chopsticks, and the three walked to the Chen family, Cao Hu motioned for the two to put things down, and then said with a smile: "You are also tired, the conditions here are limited, let's drink hot soup first and take a sip of hot soup." ”

"Cao Zhutou, this, how embarrassing is this." It was Chen Xian who spoke, his younger brother Chen Gui, a nerd who studied behind closed doors all the year round and was bent on gaining fame, after Chen Gui's death, he became the head of the Chen family, and it was also his cowardly and submissive character, and the Chen family was bullied after Chen Gui fell.

Cao Hu said with a "sincere" face: "Along the way, Mr. Chen was generous and gave a lot of money, I am very grateful, this pot of broth, just take it as a return gift, come, don't be polite, drink it." ”

Since it is to protect the Chen family from Jiangyou, the Chen family is responsible for the expenses of the officials on the road, and they also gave a lot of money a few days ago, in order to seek peace.

"Mother, I'm hungry."

"Mother, I want to drink broth."

The two little stomachs were hungry, and when they saw the broth in their eyes, they pulled the adult's clothes to eat and drink, and then Cao Hu spoke again: "Drink, you're welcome, fill your stomach first." ”

The Chen family was also hungry, and as soon as they heard this, they picked up the dishes and chopsticks to serve the soup, and when everyone was about to serve the soup, Chen Jishi suddenly said loudly: "Slow." ”

Cao Hu frowned, but quickly smiled and said, "What else is the matter with the second lady?" ”

Chen Jishi took a bowl of broth, handed it to Cao Hu, and said with a smile: "The Chen family is fortunate to have Cao Zhutou to take care of them all the way, Cao Zhutou can be described as a hard worker, this bowl also wants to ask Cao Zhutou to drink first, otherwise I won't want to wait." ”

"Second lady, don't be polite, Cao is not hungry yet." Cao Hu paused for a moment, but still refused with a smile.

"Cao Zhutou doesn't dare to drink it, is there still a problem with this soup?" Chen Li stared at Chong Cao Gui and suddenly said in a shocking voice.

On weekdays, he spoke coldly, asked for property from time to time, stared at his family like a prisoner along the way, some officials also said **, along the way the Chen family were dumb and forbearing, and did not want to make extraneous branches, Chen Ji's family wanted to part ways halfway, but Cao Hu did everything possible to refuse, but he was not allowed, Cao Hu arranged very well on weekdays, no difference cuò, but today is very unusual, first missed lunch, and then the carriage broke, it has not been repaired for half a day, the most suspicious choice is to sleep in the barren mountains and mountains, that Cao Hu seems to have prepared meat to stew soup with an unknown prophet, What's even more strange is that those commanding officials are so generous, they would rather give up the broth when they are hungry, this qiē is too suspicious.

If it is said that the three hundred taels make them turn **, it is naïve, they have been blackmailed so much in Jiangyou, how can they be soft-hearted? It's just a group of guys who eat people and don't spit out bones, and these servants sometimes have a chilling fierce light in their eyes.

Give Cao Hu a bowl and test it.

"You" Cao Hu froze for a while, there is really something wrong with this soup, he has taken the sweat medicine, and he plans to turn the human medicine over and can do whatever he wants, and it is much easier to deal with the scene, so as not to let people see the flaws in too much blood, but he didn't expect this Chen Ji to see that there was something strange in it, looking at the broth handed to him, Cao Hu's face changed, and his eyes became sharp.

"Not good, there are robbers, robbers are coming, robbers are coming." Just when Cao Hu wanted to coax the Chen family to drink the medicated broth, a servant suddenly screamed.

Turtle son, what are you doing so loudly, Cao Hu's face sank: Doing this kind of thing, naturally the movement is as small as possible, although it is said that the barren mountains and mountains, but not far away is the official road, so loud that I am afraid that others will not know, right? Who can guarantee that no one walks at night, shouting out the excuse of explaining to others afterwards, and the brain is in water?

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