After the third year of Tang Changxing, February.

Later Tang Dynasty because the party often plundered the line from Lingzhou to Pizhou, and plundered the foreign envoys and tributes in Fangqu Town several times, so the emperor Li Siyuan made Yao Yanchou with Jing and difficult to make Kang Fu lead 7,000 troops to ask for it, broke the party's 19 clans, and captured 2,700 people.

Li Congyan had no roots in Luoyang, so he delayed getting the news, and only in early March did he learn vague information about the war in the northwest through the imperial court's briefing.

In the Dengzhou Mansion, Li Congyan was sitting in the room with his eyes closed, and there was a pile of documents on the table next to him, which looked very messy.

"Lord! Lord! ”

Li Wei shouted loudly as he strode into the room, bringing in gusts of cold wind.

Li Congyan scolded with a smile: "If you don't close the door yet, you want to freeze me to death!" ”

"Whoa!"

Li Wei closed the door, handed a notice from the imperial court to Li Congyan, and said, "Lord, please see, this is the final result of the crusade against the Northwest Party members!" ”

Li Congyan didn't open it, but put it directly on the table next to him, and said: "Don't look at it, it must be the imperial court that won, and the party will be repulsed if it loses its troops." ”

Li Wei had obviously read this report, and immediately said: "The Lord is really a god, it is indeed so!" ”

Li Wei looked at Li Congyan's brows, and asked, "What's wrong with the lord, why are you depressed?" ”

Li Congyan raised the announcement of the imperial court and said: "The major events in the world that we know now are either lagging information that has happened for a long time, or the report of the imperial court, which is the news that the imperial court wants us to know, what does this mean?" ”

Li Wei's face also became a little ugly, and said: "This means that the world will really be turbulent in the future, and we will be controlled by others everywhere!" ”

"And that's not all!"

Li Congyan said: "In the future, you will understand that on the battlefield, intelligence is very important, if the intelligence is not in place, no matter how strong the officers and men of the new army are, they will inevitably suffer big losses and lose the battle!" ”

Li Wei was also born in an old tooth soldier, so he could naturally understand the power of it, and said: "Lord, my subordinates suggested that the shogunate immediately prepare for the establishment of an intelligence department to investigate the world's major affairs. ”

Li Congyan said: "I have also thought about this matter, but there is no suitable candidate, and the matter of intelligence is extraordinary, and it is not something that ordinary people can do." ”

Speaking of this, Li Congyan thought of the Beizhen Fusi of the Ming Dynasty in the later generations, and said secretly: "There is a lack of talents!" If there are suitable intelligence talents, I really want to set up a department like Jinyiwei in the future, whether it is internal or external, I will definitely be able to get twice the result with half the effort! ”

Li Wei looked at the pensive Li Congyan and said, "What is the Lord thinking?" ”

"I'm wondering, is it possible to use the power of merchants to gather information and intelligence?"

Li Wei was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "The lord can't, the businessmen put their interests first, the intelligence and information they provide are never credible, the lord thinks twice!" ”

Li Congyan nodded, his current strength was not enough to prevent the two ends of the Shang Jia, so after thinking about it, he gave up this idea. Maybe in the future, when you are strong, you can ask Shang Jia to help you find out the information.

"This matter depends on blowing!"

Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief, but Li Congyan smiled self-deprecatingly and said, "I can't eat hot tofu in a hurry!" ”

"Huh? Want to eat tofu? ”

At the same time, Wei Congrong appeared in Qingzhou City, walked through the crowded streets, observed left and right, and then turned around and walked into a small alley.

"Knock, knock, knock."

After a knock on the door, a small courtyard slowly opened, and a sturdy man poked his head out and said, "Is there a tail?" ”

"Nope!"

"Come in!"

Wei Congrong flashed into the courtyard, and the sturdy man looked around and closed the door after making sure that no one was following.

Wei Congrong walked into the room and saw a man in his forties sitting in the middle, and immediately crossed his hands and said: "In the next Wei Congrong, I have seen Bai Dangjia!" ”

"Hmmm! I don't know what advice Wei Xiancheng has? My Hetu is originally a reckless gang, can I help Wei County Cheng with anything? ”

Wei Congrong smiled all over his face, and said with his crossed hands: "Bai is too modest. Hetu is the largest gang in Shandong, and there are endless rangers and heroes, who doesn't know in the world, who doesn't know? Now I can see that the demeanor of the white master is still the same, I really envy others! ”

"Wei Xiancheng doesn't need to be polite, if you have something, say it directly, if it's okay, please eat and drink in the side room!"

"Huh!"

Wei Congrong hurriedly smiled and said, "There is indeed something to ask for in the next place, is it like this......"

Wei Congrong said again about himself and Li Sichu's suppression by Li Congyan, the assassin of Dengzhou, and the white master couldn't help but raise his eyebrows after hearing it, and said in a deep voice: "So, Wei Xiancheng hopes that my Hetu will stand out for you?" ”

"Exactly!"

"Haha!"

Bai Dangjia laughed, tears came out of his eyes, and he laughed so much that Wei Congrong felt worried in his heart.

"Wei Xiancheng, you are also an official, why are you so naïve?"

Bai Dangjia said with a smile: "Do you know why my Hetu has been able to endure for decades? It's because I only care about the affairs of the rivers and lakes, and I don't care about the affairs of the officialdom! Now you're asking me to be the enemy of Dengzhou's assassins? Don't you know that the righteous son of the current saint of Li Congyan, the assassin of Dengzhou! ”

Bai Dangjia snorted coldly when he said this, stared at Wei Congrong and said: "I heard that Li Tingshi made a decision to kill, and all the wealthy families in Dengzhou were killed by him, and Li Tingshi still has thousands of elite soldiers in his hands, with such a background, how can you let me be an enemy with it, just rely on the 10,000 yuan given by you Wei County?" ”

Wei Congrong was already in a mess at this time, but he still pretended to be calm, and said with his forked hands: "Bai Dangjia Mingjian, this 10,000 yuan is just money!" As long as the Bai family can assassinate Li Congyan, Dengzhou will inevitably fall into civil strife, and when the time comes, the eldest son of the Li family and I will take the opportunity to kill the Li family in Penglai, and the glass workshop that day will be at your fingertips. At that time, will the benefits of being a white master be less? ”

"Haha!"

Bai Dangjia smiled from ear to ear as if he had heard some big joke, looked at Wei Congrong as if he was looking at a fool, and said after a while: "I really don't know how you became a county magistrate, you are so naïve!" ”

Wei Congrong frowned and said, "What does Bai Dangjia mean by this!" ”

"Now my Hetu is no longer the grand occasion of the past, although I am in charge, but I can only command the brothers near Qingzhou, and Qingzhou is the territory of the Pinglu Jiedu envoy, then Shen Tan has attacked me several times, depending on the situation, he is going to kill all my Hetu! In such a situation, may I ask Wei Xiancheng, how can I provoke the Dengzhou assassin again? ”

Wei Congrong was immediately stunned, he never expected that Shen Tan would attack Hetu Du from Pinglu Jiedu, but he bet his hope on Hetu Du, after all, this is a famous ranger organization in the world, who would have thought that it would be weakened in just a few years!

"Bai Dangjia, how can Hetu be so decayed?"

"Why? Boom and bust! What government would tolerate people like us growing stronger? As the saying goes, chivalry violates the ban with martial arts, and it is people like us. ”

After Bai Dangjia finished talking about himself, he said to Wei Congrong: "Wei Xiancheng is also white now, I advise you: the people don't fight with the officials, let alone the history of a state assassin with the identity of the prince?" Let him go over in the past, and tell you that Master Li when he goes back, it is better to live well than anything else, don't be like me, the day is precarious! ”

As soon as the words fell, I heard the sudden killing sound outside, and several rangers from Hetudu slammed open the door and shouted: "Big boss! It's full of officers and soldiers outside, go through the tunnel! ”

But when he saw Bai Dangjia laughing, he said, "What's the use of me getting away alone?" Without Hetudu, my life is better than death! ”

After speaking, Bai Dangjia pulled out a long knife, roared and rushed out, and before leaving, he didn't forget to tell Wei Congrong where the entrance to the tunnel was.

"Run for your life, it's better to be alive than anything else!"

At this time, Wei Congrong stood stupidly in place, only to see Bai Dangjia rushing out of the courtyard with a group of men, and then he was shot back by a rain of arrows, taking many lives in vain.

Wei Congrong was awakened by the miserable screams and blinding blood, and hurriedly rushed to the entrance of the tunnel in the house, and climbed in with his hands and feet.

When Wei Congrong crawled out of the tunnel, he was already in a small alley in Qingzhou City. Wei Congrong cautiously looked around, only to see a group of soldiers from Pinglu Town passing by, rushing towards the courtyard in front.

"Hetu is finished!"

Wei Congrong had palpitations at this time, and slammed his fist on the wall next to him, and said secretly in his heart: "Is there really no way for me to take revenge?" ”

Just when Wei Congrong was hesitant, he saw a team of soldiers escorting a group of prisoners past the front, and the white master was impressively in the ranks!

Wei Congrong looked ahead in surprise, then came back to his senses, hurriedly blended into the crowd, and just as he was about to escape, he heard that the team of soldiers suddenly became chaotic, Bai Dangjia roared loudly, and the rest of the rangers from Hetudu also began to resist, covering Bai Dang's withdrawal.

At this time, one of the captains leading the army shouted loudly: "Kill! Kill me, don't leave a single one! ”

Although Hetudu is a world-famous ranger organization, and every ranger is a fighting master, he directly fell into disadvantage against the regular officers and soldiers.

Although Bai Dangjia and others suddenly attacked, they had no ability to resist in the face of the siege of the Pinglu Jiedu envoy, and most of them were killed and injured in a blink of an eye, and Bai Dangjia could not escape.

Wei Congrong really saw the strength of the official army at this time, and when he thought of the new army soldiers and horses under Li Congyan, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart.

"Ahh

A miserable scream pulled Wei Congrong back to reality, and when he looked closely, he saw that Bai Dangjia had fallen in a pool of blood, and the rest of the rangers in Hetudu had all been killed, and only three or five of the officers and soldiers had fallen, and there was a huge difference between the two sides!

Wei Congrong's face turned pale and he stepped back, and when he came to another alley, sweat was already soaking through his clothes.

"It turns out that the eldest prince and I have been playing with fire, I'm really afraid!"

At this time, Wei Congrong no longer had the courage to carry Li Congyan to the end, although he was still unwilling, he was already afraid.

"Gotta hurry up and find the eldest prince!"

Wei Congrong was afraid that Li Sichu would come up with some idea at this time, which would anger Li Congyan, so he hurried out of the city to join Li Sichu.

Just when Shen Tan was busy clearing the Hetu capital from the Pinglu Jiedu, Li Congyan received an edict from Emperor Li Siyuan, and immediately smiled: "I really want to come to something, I am worried about the shortage of talents, and our good sage has sent a god-sent opportunity!" ”