The people of Lingzhou are fierce, and some idle young people get together to form many small gangs, especially the brotherhood is famous, and there are more such gangs. The power of the Brotherhood has expanded to the sphere of influence of these small gangs, these young people are also not sober-minded, they think they have some skills, and their own small gangs are no worse than the Brotherhood, either they want to compete according to the rules of the rivers and lakes, or they want to join the gang, and they themselves are also the eldest brother of the Brotherhood, Xiao Tianlei of course looks down on these small gangs, the basic policy is to break up and reorganize, use what can be used, and get out if you can't use it, of course, those gangs will not be obedient, what should I do? One word, type!

In particular, Xiao Tianlei found that smashing the field of these small gangs can also get some gold coins, and the interest is higher, compared to robbing large households, although there are fewer gold coins, but it is simple and fast, after all, there are so many big households. So, Xiao Tianlei led a group of brothers, carried wooden sticks, and went to the east and west every day to beg, of course, these small gangs are not a climate, and they can be solved in a few clicks.

However, there are also gangs composed of adults, these gangs have no name in the rivers and lakes, basically some warriors and some ruffians, and some farmers, craftsmen and the like, and they don't pay attention to the rules of the rivers and lakes, they are more scoundrels, and the nature of the brotherhood is almost the same. At first, these gangs thought that the Brotherhood was just some bear children, and they felt that they could take down these bear children, so they could annex the Brotherhood and swallow the Brotherhood's property, but these gangs were all cleaned up fiercely, for this kind of guy, the Brotherhood will generally be ruthless, cut off hands and feet, and be almost killed by luck.

Now that the Brotherhood is expanding, Xiao Tianlei also has to earn gold coins, and he brought people to smash the fields of these gangs directly, if he wants to surrender directly, he must fight. During this period, there were also some people who secretly supported these gangs in order to profit from them, but the brotherhood's combat power was too strong, and they swept all the way, and when they learned that someone was secretly doing evil, they went directly to the door.

With such nonsense, the reputation of the Brotherhood will naturally not be very good, and it will run rampant in the countryside and oppress the good.

"My lord, the brotherhood is a disaster for the country, you have to be the master for us! You can't leave it alone! Some gentry complained, and the matter finally fell in front of Zhizhou Zhang Shibi.

Because of the robbery of Qiongzhu, Zhang Shibi was just reprimanded and fined by the imperial court, which also spent a lot of effort and money, and asked people to maneuver around, and the strategists gave advice, so that he took the initiative to ask for guilt, but he did not lose his official position, and he was relieved. However, the masked thieves have made trouble again, and they are more rampant than before, and many big families have been victimized, saying that they want to file a lawsuit. As for the matter of the brotherhood, Zhang Shibi just glanced at the documents of the county government below, and felt that it was nothing, wasn't it just a group of gangsters who did business, robbing some of the business of those gentry, this kind of thing, how could he come forward, so he instructed the subordinates to pay attention to the quiet place, and ignored it.

Zhang Shibi's main focus is still on the masked thieves, recently heard that the masked thieves are a group of masters, he is relieved, if it is a group of martial arts masters, it has little to do with him, the governor.

For these warriors, the imperial court has set up a special agency to deal with related affairs, specifically to deal with those strongmen who rely on their martial arts and ignore the king's law.

To this end, three martial guards were set up, namely Long Wuwei, Shenwuwei, and Xuanwuwei, to check and balance each other and manage the affairs of the rivers and lakes.

However, Sanwuwei is not a casual shot, if it is just some thieves, invite Sanwei to come, it is inevitable to make a fuss, so Zhang Shibi plans to find someone, and then touch the details of the masked thief, think about it, write a letter, and ask some friends to introduce capable people.

The letter was sent, and after waiting for a month, a friend finally came-Xie Jin'an.

Xie Jinan is also an official, but he has been idle at home recently, and he has outstanding political achievements in office, and he has also solved many big cases. Xie Jinan is also a well-known celebrity in Shilin, and when he learned that he had come to Lingzhou, the literati of Lingzhou came to visit, and in a few days, there was an endless stream of visitors. Not to mention the arrival of the literati, Xie Jinan and Zhang Shibi sorted out and analyzed the information of the masked thief together, but they didn't get any useful information, thinking that it was better to go to the scene to find some clues, so they planned to pay a private visit to investigate the case in person.

This matter, not only Zhang Shibi, but also Zhou Shizhi, the mountain chief of Yuzhu Academy, heard about it, and he was also interested and went together.

A few people brought some guards, pretending to be literati who traveled the mountains and rivers, and went to some large households that had just been looted, and inquired and reconnoitred one by one to see if they could find clues. It's a pity that every time the masked thief commits a crime, there are always many civilians who also mix in it to pick up the cheap, and the scene has long been destroyed.

"Oh oh, oh, hit!"

"Zhang Laosi, you are a melon baby, you can't even beat a few dolls!"

"Wow, wow, wow!"

"It's called Mao, and if you make a loud voice, you will be fierce!"

…………

The group hurried by boat, and when they arrived at a small wharf, they saw a large group of people gathered on the wharf, two of which were teenagers and the other were men, all of whom were fighting with wooden sticks, shouting and scolding each other, and the laughter of onlookers, and it was a chaos. In addition to the civilians, there were also some government officials who were watching the excitement, and they also followed the others to make a fuss.

"What's going on?" Zhang Shibi asked, as a Zhizhou, he couldn't hold his face when this kind of thing happened on his ground.

"Tell your lordship, this is some local gang fighting, this is a common thing, and the government can't control it, so it can only be resigned." A subordinate reports.

"Let it be! Is there any royal law? Go and dispel me! Zhang Shibi ordered, but before his words fell, the melee was over, and it was the younger side that won and walked away.

"I've long heard that the people of Lingzhou are fierce, and I don't want to come here, what kind of gang are those young people? I see that others seem to be very jealous of it. Xie Jinan observed carefully and saw some problems.

"It's supposed to be a brotherhood."

"Brotherhood...... One of the three evils in Lingzhou? Yuzhu Academy Chief Zhou Shizhi asked.

"The three evils of Lingzhou?" When Xie Jinan heard this, he became interested.

Zhou Shizhi replied: "I just heard about it, I don't know who spread it, the three evils of Lingzhou: masked thieves, brotherhoods, and strange beasts." Masked thieves are the most troublesome, followed by brotherhoods, and as for exotic beasts, they only occasionally haunt, which is nothing. ”

"What is the origin of the Brotherhood?" Xie Jinan asked.

One of Zhang Shibi's subordinates replied: "Legend has it that the Brotherhood was originally just a small gang formed by some children, and the members were all blood brothers, but the Brotherhood was very good at doing business and making a lot of profits, and it didn't take long for it to become a big gang, competing with other gangs for turf. ”

"The masked thief is haunted, we can't find it for a while, and I'm afraid that no one will want to see it, so it's better to meet the people of the Brotherhood." Xie Jinan proposed.

"That's exactly what I mean." Zhang Shibi agreed, he was also a little curious, what was the situation of the brotherhood.

"Since the two of you have this Yaxing, I will sacrifice my life to accompany the gentleman." Zhou Shizhi said with a smile.

"Brother Shi is joking, the brotherhood is not a Longtan tiger's den."

"Even if it's the Longtan Tiger's Den, what's the fear!"

"Haha, Brother Shi is really arrogant!"

……

A few people talked and laughed, and ordered the boatman to change the route and go to Cangshan Mansion, the nest of the brotherhood.

When I arrived at the wharf of Cangshan Mansion, I immediately found some differences, except that it was busy, but compared with the wharves in other places, it seemed much neater, and the goods on the wharf were all packed in some wooden boxes of the same size, stacked neatly. Get off the boat and go out of the dock, see some four-wheeled carriages, pulling a cart of goods, the road is wide and smooth, I thought it was just this section of the dock road, called a few carriages to travel for several miles, are the same road, listen to the handlebar type, only to know that these roads are built by the brotherhood, in order to facilitate the delivery of goods. The four-wheeled carriages were also made by the Brotherhood, in order to transport more goods, those wooden boxes were made to facilitate loading and unloading, and so on.

Hearing what the Brotherhood did, Xie Jin'an, Zhang Shibi, Zhou Shizhi and others became more and more curious about the Brotherhood, and the cars came and went along the way, and when they entered Cangshan Mansion City, they saw a flow of people, the streets were clean, the shops were lined up, and many hawkers were peddling all kinds of goods, bustling, and it was no worse than some big cities.

At this time, it was not early, and the group went to the mansion of Cangshan Mansion first, preparing to stay overnight.

As soon as the prince of Cangshan Mansion saw that it was Lord Zhizhou, he complained vigorously, saying that how the brotherhood was rampant in the township, arrogant and domineering, and that he, the prince of the mansion, had no prestige at all, and was simply an empty shelf. Zhang Shibi asked the reason carefully, and the prince of the government told him that many officials and servants in the government made profits because of the brotherhood, and he, the king, could not summon people at all, and once something happened, those officers went to report to the brotherhood first.

Zhang Shibi and the others couldn't help but be surprised that the power of the Brotherhood had reached such a point, but they couldn't think of a countermeasure for a while, so they just waited for tomorrow to go to the entrance of the Brotherhood Hall to investigate.

On the second day, the group ate some breakfast with the characteristics of Cangshan Mansion and came to the street, the time was still early, and it was already very lively.

When I arrived at the entrance of the church of the brotherhood, many carriages had been parked at the door, and some merchants came in and out, smiling one by one, Wishing you prosperity and other greetings, one after another.

There were several guards at the door, both adults and teenagers, standing straight, just looking around, not asking questions about the people who entered, and a teenager would lead them when they entered.

Zhang Shibi, Xie Jin'an, Zhou Shizhi and others entered the door and were led by a teenager to a living room, at this time, there were already many businessmen sitting in the classroom. A few people sat down, immediately someone served tea, served three white porcelain bowls, there are supports on the bottom, there are lids on the top, and there are some dried fruits and pastries, the three people picked up the porcelain bowls, opened the lid to see, it was not the common tea, but a bowl of green tea, a few green leaves rose and fell.

Zhou Shizhi is a person of good tea, took a sip lightly, and couldn't help but praise: "Good tea!" The tea is green and elegant, bitter in the mouth, but sweet in the mouth, and the tea fragrance is long! ”

When the other two heard this, they also took a sip, and sure enough, they felt that it was completely different from the tea they had drunk before, and it completely reflected the original taste of tea, rather than adding some spices.

A few people were more curious about the brotherhood, so they sat in the living room, through the gaps in the wooden windows on both sides, they could see the scene next door, there were several tables in it, several teenagers sat at the table, the merchants were led to the table one by one, the merchants said how many goods they wanted, what price, those teenagers and the merchants while negotiating, while holding a goose feather in their hands, writing and drawing on a piece of paper, after a while, stamped the seal, the merchant got a list, and left happily.

"You're a new merchant, what business are you going to discuss?"

At this time, a teenager took a small notebook and came to inquire.

"We don't talk about business." Zhang Shibi replied.

The young master was stunned for a moment and asked, "What are you doing when you come in instead of talking about business?" ”

"We want to meet the president of the fraternity."

When the young man heard this, he said disdainfully: "Big brother, who can they see?!" Brother Bao, there are troublemakers again! As he spoke, he yelled at the inner hall.

"Ahh There are troublemakers again, what is the origin? A voice came from the inner hall, and immediately, a young man rushed out, the young man had a round face, and with some childishness, leading a few people behind him, shouting: "What are you doing, dare to go to the brotherhood to make trouble!" ”

"Uh, little brother, we just want to meet the president of the fraternity." Xie Jinan got up and said.

It was Xiao Tianbao who came out, and he actually got the news yesterday about these people, saying that there were some people from the government, and I don't know what they were doing, but the government was very attentive to these people, and they should be big officials. Xiao Tianbao didn't care about the big officials, but he still sent it away a few times, so he said: "I didn't see that we are very busy here, how can we have time to greet you idlers, if you are not here to make trouble, just leave quickly." ”

"Bold, dare to be so rude to adults!" One of Zhang Shibi's guards shouted.

"Hah! You're really right, you only recognize money here, not the number of courtesies. This is where we do business, you come in and don't do business, drive you away, it's polite, you, where to fight, where to go back, don't greet idlers here, and want me to call people to bombard you! Xiao Tianbao had a posture of driving people away.

"You dare, my lord ......," the guard said angrily.

Before the guard finished speaking, Xiao Tianbao grabbed the white: "It's hard to be an official, when you are an official, you will break into the house privately, you can see whoever you want, I think my emperor, see you wearing civilian clothes, even if you are an official, you must do something unseemly!" ”

"Sharp teeth, my lord, let me teach this kid a lesson, let him understand a little etiquette!" The guards asked Zhang Shibi to say.

Xiao Tianbao exploded and shouted: "I'm afraid that you are the grandson of the turtle, fight, our brotherhood has never been afraid of anyone!" Brothers, copy guys! If your baby doesn't dare to fight today, it's shrimp crawling! As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and was about to fight.

"Ignorant children, don't know the height of the sky!" Zhou Shizhi was a little annoyed, but he felt that these boys were too uneducated.

"You seem to be a learned land, tell me, how high is the sky, how thick is the earth?" Xiao Tianbao asked rhetorically.

"Uh......" Zhou Shi was stunned, he really hadn't thought about this problem.

"I can't answer, you don't know the result, I'm embarrassed to say other people, it's shameless! Gua Wa'er over there, whether you can fight or not, if you want to fight, hurry up, the master has a lot of things to do, and he has no time to grind with you. ”

"Uh......" Xiao Tianbao was arrogant, without Zhang Shibi's order, the guards didn't dare to act rashly, they were so angry that their faces turned red, and he also regretted it a little, he had some fame in the rivers and lakes, and he was embarrassed to fight with a stunned boy.

"In that case, let's go!" Xie Jinan spoke, he can be regarded as knowledgeable, the brotherhood is a group of bastard boys, they say that they will fight, it is completely lawless, they are a few literati, it is definitely not good to fight, not to mention that they all have some identities, if they really fight here and spread it, their faces will be lost.

A few people only got out of the brotherhood, and Xiao Tianbao didn't stop him, glanced at it, and asked the others to hurry up and do things.

"Hahaha......"

Out of the hall of the brotherhood, Xie Jinan, Zhang Shibi, and Zhou Shizhi all had a feeling of being deflated, and looked at the door of the brotherhood for a while, but Xie Jinan laughed.

"Why is Brother Jin An laughing?" Zhang Shibi was puzzled.

"I'm laughing at us being squeezed by a hairy boy, and there is nothing we can do, I haven't encountered this kind of thing for many years, and it's really a hero out of a teenager." A celebrity like Xie Jin'an, even if he is a prince and minister, can be seen with a post, but because he thinks about a few boys, he is kicked out by others, and he can't help laughing.

"A naughty boy, but also a hero!" Zhang Shibi disagreed.

"Ahh Zhou Shizhi sighed at this time.

"Brother Shi, why are you sighing?" Zhang Shibi asked.

"Sigh for these teenagers, I think these teenagers of the Brotherhood, at a young age, can make a career, do things in a good way, if they can be taught well, they are all rare talents."

"Brother Shi, he actually moved his heart to love talents." Zhang Shibi was stunned.

"Indeed, the climate of the Brotherhood has been established, and if it is adjusted, it will be a blessing for Brother Shibi to return to the right path." Xie Jinan agreed.

Zhang Shibi thought about it, and suddenly felt that it made sense, if he accepted the Brotherhood, Lingzhou would indeed be able to be a lot more stable under the rule, but he was worried, these boys were lawless at first glance, and they didn't care about any officials at all. Maybe you can start with the president of the brotherhood, but you can't even see anyone, so what else can you talk about?

At this time, one of Zhang Shibi's subordinates reported and said, "My lord, I asked someone to inquire clearly, the president of the brotherhood and others, with a group of brotherhood members, said that they went to find trouble with some gang." ”

Zhang Shibi, Zhou Shizhi, and Xie Jinan were stunned, and then they remembered that they saw the Brotherhood and other gangs fighting each other on the road, presumably the president of the Brotherhood and others were among them, which was really ...... They really didn't understand these boys, but they were very interested.

Zhang Shibi looked at Xie Jinan and asked, "Where should I start with this matter?" ”

Xie Jinan smiled and said, "This matter is simple, since I can't see myself, I will go and meet their relatives and elders." ”