Considering Weber's advanced age, Xiao Ju originally wanted to find a sedan chair to avoid Weber's bumpy journey.

Webber did shake his head: "Has the prince ever considered the feelings of the soldiers?" ”

Xiao Ju's face was slightly red, and Webber then asked people to pull a war horse, only to see Weber turn over and get on the horse in one go, and even Hengxuan couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

After two days of marching, Wei Ran and the others finally arrived in Wu County, Wei Bo whispered a few words to Wei Ran, and then Wei Ran called two generals and said: "The two led dozens of cavalry, lightly armed, without going through the Wu County Office, they went directly from the official road to the direction of Huiji, and took a good look at the specific situation ahead." ”

Xiao Ju was puzzled, and Wei Ran explained: "The situation in Huiji County has been a few days ago, since the Sun Tai thieves have captured the prefectures and counties near Huiji, then Huiji County may have also fallen. At present, there seems to be no turmoil in Wu County, but after all, it is far from the north of the Zhizhi Office and adjacent to Jingkou. However, it was not clear what was going on in the south of Wu County, so he sent people to investigate first. ”

When Xiao Ju heard this, he didn't ask any more questions, but just asked everyone to speed up the march.

But halfway through, Wei Ran suddenly noticed that something was wrong, so he said to Xiao Ju: "Has the prince ever found that there is no one on this official road." ”

Heng Xuan also said: "The counties in the south of the Yangtze River are prosperous, and there should be an endless stream of merchants coming and going. It is very strange that there are no people on this official road. ”

Wei Ran listened to it and said, "Send someone to the surrounding villages, and find someone to come and ask." ”

Then men and horses were sent out to search, and the troops moved forward slowly.

After a short time, a soldier came to the front of the army with a few old men.

Seeing Xiao Ju and Wei Ran, the old man directly knelt on the ground and begged for mercy: "Master Jun spares his life, I don't know what crime I have committed?" The military master brought us here. ”

Xiao Ju hurriedly said: "Old gentlemen, please get up, I am the prince of the court, and this is the prince of Guangling County." He was ordered to go to Huiji County to suppress bandits. ”

Xiao Ju then turned over and dismounted, and immediately wanted to support a few old men, but several old men didn't dare. Wei Ran also turned over and dismounted, walked to the side of Xiao Ju, and then asked: "Old gentleman, don't panic, it's just that I have some doubts when I see that there are few people on this official road." ”

The old man bowed his head and said, "The grass people don't know much about the situation, they only know that a few days ago, Wu County Taishou blocked the official road from Wu County to Jiankang, and sent troops to intercept it everywhere in the official road. You can enter the territory of Wu County, but you can't go out. Wu County is the seat of Wu County and has a large population. The south of Wu County cannot go north, so it is sparsely populated. ’

When Xiao Ju heard this, he and Wei Ran glanced at each other, and there was doubt in their eyes.

At this time, Weber came to the old man and asked, "How about Wu Jun's Taishou as an official?" ”

The old man didn't dare to speak, but Weber knew it in his heart. , so he said: "The rich land of Wu County is about to enter winter, and you have enough surplus food for the New Year." ”

"Save some food, or you can solve the problem of food and clothing." The old man replied honestly.

When Weber found out, he thought he knew, and then said to Xiao Ju: "His Royal Highness the Prince, let these old men go." Give them something to eat. ”

Xiao Ju immediately ordered someone to distribute a part of the dry food to these old men, then turned on his horse and said to Weber, "What can you see, sir?" ”

"Prince, what is the scenery of Wu County?" Weber didn't answer directly, but asked about Xiao Ju.

Xiao Ju looked around, and both sides of the official road were cultivated fields, as far as the eye could see. The mountains stand in the distance, and it is the end of autumn now, and there is really a bit of artistic conception.

"The fields are vast, the mountains and rivers are beautiful, and it is a rare and pure place."

"The official road is surrounded by farmland, and according to the imperial tax law, the people should not lack food for the winter. There are no big families here, and the people in the village should not be tenants of some big families. This year, the weather is acceptable, and there are no natural disasters in the land of Sanwu, so it should be a bumper harvest year. ”

Webber talked eloquently, Wei Ran already had a certain plan in his heart, but Xiao Ju and Heng Xuan, a prince of the dynasty and a wealthy prince, didn't know about the people's suffering, and they didn't know much about it.

Heng Xuan hurriedly said: "Sir, don't sell Guanzi, please say it if you have something to say." ”

"The people here are still not self-sufficient for the winter, which means that either the Wu County Taishou is tyrannical and expropriating, or the Wu County gentry illegally enclose the land. As a result, although the people have a good harvest, there is no surplus food. The common people are afraid of the officials and the army, which shows that the officers and soldiers of Wu County are rampant and domineering on weekdays. To sum up, Wu Juntai is by no means a good official. ”

Xiao Ju's face was also blue after hearing this, and Heng Xuan's face was also cloudy. I didn't expect Wu Jun to be at the feet of the Son of Heaven, and he could be like this, and what about the rest of the places. Thinking of this, Xiao Ju couldn't hold back any longer: "When this is the case, this palace will definitely go to inspect the remaining Shizhou counties." ’

After marching for half a day, suddenly a soldier in the vanguard came to report, and the vanguard team under General Chen's command encountered a team of more than 100 people. Under the careful questioning is the local family, and the family plans to move to Piling County.

After hearing this, Xiao Ju said: "Quickly let the elders of their clan come over to see the palace." ”

Not long after, the soldiers came to the Chinese army with an old man.

The old man was neither humble nor arrogant, but said, "Where are you waiting for the soldiers and horses, why are you blocking our way?" ”

"I am the prince of Guangling County, this is the prince of the dynasty, and I was ordered to go to Huiji County to suppress bandits. Why did you move your family to Piling? ”

After hearing this, the old man kowtowed directly and said: "The old man doesn't know that it is His Royal Highness the Prince, a capital crime." ”

"It's okay, this palace is just going to Huiji County to suppress bandits. But this Wu County official road is sparsely populated, which is already puzzling to the palace, and the old gentleman wants to move his family again, dare to ask how? ”

"Huiji County bandits? Dare to ask how many men and horses did the prince bring? ”

"More than 10,000"

"Then the prince should go back to Jiankang, don't hide it, now the thief Sun Tai has captured Huiji County, and the Linhai County Guard has also surrendered, and yesterday he has led the army to attack Wu County, and the thieves are no less than 100,000, and the old man just received the news and moved his family."

"This Sun Tai thief is so powerful, why doesn't the court know anything about it?" Prince Xiao Ju exclaimed.

"The old man knows a thing or two about it, but it's inconvenient to say more, and I hope Your Highness will forgive me." The old man said, his words full of helplessness.

"Why is that?" Xiao Ju was very puzzled after hearing this, clenched the reins in his hand and asked sharply: "Could it be that even the palace can't move the stakes here?" ”

"Dare to ask the old gentleman, does the matter involve the clan in power?" At this time, Wei Ran suddenly asked.

The old man looked up at Wei Ran, and after a long time, he nodded and said, "What the county lord said is very true, so I advise His Royal Highness and the county prince not to advance, and go back to Jiankang to transfer a large army to come to encircle and suppress." ”

Xiao Ju was dazed when he heard this, and looked at the army around him, with a tangled look on his face. If, as the old man said, there are already 100,000 thieves, then it is impossible to resist relying on his own prince's guard and Wu Jun's troops, not to mention that the situation in Wu County is not clear now.

Just when Xiao Ju was in a dilemma, Weber rode his horse and debuted: "Although the number of thieves is large, it is nothing more than a combination of tenants and county soldiers. How many good fighters are there? It is only necessary to defeat Sun Tai's elite troops, and the others do not need to worry. The county soldiers themselves have low combat effectiveness, and they don't even have the courage to resist Sun Tai head-on, so how can they face Tianwei head-on? The tenants are just coerced people, and they have no desire to fight,"

The words rekindled Xiao Ju's confidence, looking at the elite troops around him, and the murderous aura on the faces of the sergeants. Xiao Ju looked down at the old man: "Now this palace orders you, tell me everything you know, tell this palace everything, and don't hide it!" ”

Seeing Xiao Ju like this, the old man sighed, and then said: "Sun Tai is not an ordinary thief, this matter has to start with the Five Dou Rice Sect. ”