When Wu Shigong was about to leave, the shopkeeper of the inn took a person to find Wu Shigong. The man introduced himself and said: His name is Yuan Xingshan, and he is a businessman. This time, it also happened to be trafficking a batch of goods from Jining to Guide. He wanted to go with Wu Shigong.

Wu Shigong felt very strange and hurriedly asked the reason.

Yuan Xingshan said to Wu Shigong: "My lord, although it is still a peaceful year, there are always some small thieves who will hijack a caravan with few people. Seeing that there were many adults, the little ones thought of going to Guide together. I hope your permission will allow it. ”

The shopkeeper of the inn also helped persuade on the side: "This shopkeeper Yuan often comes and goes, and the small ones can guarantee to the adults." Absolutely no problem. ”

Wu Shigong asked, how many people and cars does Yuan Xingshan have? Then Yuan Xingshan told Wu Shigong: There are only a dozen cars, and there are more than 20 people.

Wu Shigong thought about it for a while, and there were not many people and cars in Yuan Xingshan. Besides, he was a military attache in Guide, and it was also his responsibility to ensure the safety of the place, so he agreed.

However, what Yuan Xingshan said attracted Wu Shigong's attention. After discussing with Xue Yongli, all the guards were fully armed and put on cotton armor. Wu Shigong also put on the inner armor, and brought the two handcuffs and Japanese katana.

Actually, Wu Shigong was a little nervous. At that time, although there was some chaos in the world, robbers generally did not rob the convoys of people in the government. Because, robbing ordinary businessmen, maybe the government will hide it for the sake of their own political achievements. However, if you rob the people in the government, the government will definitely pursue it with all its might.

Of course, this is also the main reason why Yuan Xingshan found Wu Shigong to be a companion.

After setting off, Yuan Xingshan told Wu Shigong that it would take three days to travel from Jining to Guide in a hurry. However, if you take it more leisurely, it will take four days.

Out of nervousness, Wu Shigong of course chose to hurry up. But to Wu Shigong's surprise, he couldn't even see the shadow of a little thief along the way.

Along the way, Wu Shigong asked Yuan Xingshan about the situation of returning to Germany. The situation that Yuan Xingshan said is inseparable from what Xue Yongli said is eight or nine. However, he told Wu Shigong that there are two places in Guide that need special attention.

One is that in the countryside of Guide, the big gentry have a lot of big Zhuangzi. The strength of these Zhuangzi is very strong, and even the government does not have the ability to completely control them. Therefore, if Wu Shigong becomes an official in Guide, he must have a good relationship with the gentry who have these big Zhuangzi. At least not to offend them. Otherwise, in many things, Wu Shigong will not be able to move an inch.

The other is that bandits are not common in the vicinity of the capital and county seat of Guide. But in the countryside and in the mountains, the number of bandits is higher. Many villages, including some of the villagers, work as farmers during the busy season, and may become bandits during the slack season.

Yuan Xingshan reminded Wu Shigong: If Wu Shigong has something to do in the countryside and the mountains, he must pay attention to this situation and always maintain his vigilance.

After listening to Yuan Xingshan's words, Wu Shigong thought to himself: "I didn't expect that the current Ming Dynasty is already so chaotic. ”

In fact, Wu Shigong didn't know that in ancient times, the decrees of the central government were at most transmitted to the county level. In the countryside, they basically relied on the prestige gentry of the people to govern them. Therefore, for the local gentry, the government will also try to be as general as possible.

As for the problem of bandits, the attitude of the government is basically that as long as you don't fight the city, then the government will turn a blind eye. As a result, the wealthy families of the people paid protection money to the bandits in order to seek peace. There are even some bold gentry who openly support and even raise a group of bandits to make huge profits for themselves.

And the bandits also need them to transport supplies and sell the stolen goods. They basically formed a community of interests.

Wait until the third day. Early in the morning, Wu Shigong set off, wanting to hurry up and enter Guide City before the gate of Guide City closed at night.

But after walking for a long time, fog became on the road. The fog is getting bigger. Wu Shigong saw that the situation was not right, so he stopped the convoy and let the team get as close as possible.

However, the convoy was too long. Let's think about it, in order to take care of the vehicles walking on the opposite side, Wu Shigong and his convoy can only form a long line. Using the current measurements, even if a car is four meters, Wu Shigong's convoy, a total of more than 80 vehicles, will be more than 300 meters.

Wu Shigong immediately decided to ignore the carts at both ends and let all the people gather. He had the guards form a circle of thirty or forty carts in the middle, and lead all the horses into the carts. In the innermost part of the cart circle, there is a carriage for a lady's dependent. He then asked the guards to watch the situation around the circle of the cart to prevent any accidents.

All the men were very nervous, and in the middle of the whole circle of carts, there was no sound except for the occasional snort or two of the horses.

Suddenly, one of the guards shouted, "There's movement here!" All of them drew their weapons and ran to the screaming guard. Even Wu Shigong drew his katana.

At that time, the fog was already very heavy. Ten steps away, I couldn't see anything clearly. All the people were staring over there. One of the guards with a firearm was dazzled, as if he saw a shadow shaking, and immediately opened fire on that shadow. His actions caused a chain reaction, and all the firecrackers fired.

When the gun was fired, the smoke from the gunpowder combined with the dense fog, making people's vision more blurred.

But after waiting for a long time, it was as if there was no movement over there. But no one dared to check the situation outside the big car circle at this time. So, I just had to wait like this.

Time seemed to stand still, and everyone felt that time was extraordinarily long. Suddenly, as if by magic, a gust of wind blew and a fierce sun shone in. The fog immediately thinned out, and it didn't take much effort for the fog to disappear completely.

Everyone watched the situation, but they didn't see anything wrong. Xue Yongli arranged a few guards and formed a team to go outside to take a look at the situation. They carefully searched the surroundings and found only one vole, which had been half-blown by the firecracker. Seeing such a situation, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

It turned out to be a false alarm. Although Wu Shigong's expression seemed very calm, his back was already soaked. He breathed a sigh of relief and instructed the guards: "Hurry up and organize the convoy and continue on the road." ”

While the guards were tidying up the convoy, Wu Shigong went to the carriage and comforted the ladies one by one.

When comforting Zhao Ruya, Zhao Ruya looked at Wu Shigong with admiration and curiosity, and she asked, "Aren't you afraid?" ”

Wu Shigong smiled bitterly, looked at Xiao Jie on the side, and found that she didn't seem to notice herself. So, Wu Shigong put it in Zhao Ruya's ear and whispered: "Actually, I'm also very scared. ”

Zhao Ruya was surprised, and then asked, "Then why are you so calm?" ”

"I just learned to be patient."

Wu Shigong's answer made Zhao Ruya giggle.

The convoy was quickly put in order. After the inventory, there was no shortage of carts and supplies. However, three horses were frightened and ran away.

Wu Shigong didn't dare to be careless, so he asked the guards to ride horses and go outside in groups of five to look for them. Don't dare to let them run away, now it's the people who are the most important. If you really can't find those three horses, forget it.

But as soon as the guards were about to set off, they saw two horses trotting in the distance. They were arrogant and trotted into the convoy, and they seemed to look at Wu Shigong and these people with that kind of contempt, as if to say: These stupid Bs.