The wine was almost drunk, and everyone came to the shooting range to shoot again. Wu Song and Qian Xiaoan asked people to hang up lanterns, illuminating the shooting range as if it were daylight. Although Wu Song joined a month earlier than Shi Xiu and Tang Long, he had only shot three muskets, and he was not very familiar with flintlock pistols and revolvers, so he also practiced with the two tonight.

Pang Wanchun first took a flintlock pistol to explain the structure and principle of the gun to the three people, and taught them to load ammunition. After he loaded the ammunition first, he fired a shot at the target a hundred paces away. Rumble! The wooden target fell to the ground at the sound, and a soldier ran from the side to bring the wooden target to everyone to see, only to see that there was a fist-sized hole in the middle of the inch-thick plank. If it is a bow and arrow, not to mention a hundred paces away, even ten paces away, it will not shoot through an inch-thick hardwood plank. Shi Xiu and Tang Long finally really saw the power of the musket. This time, the two were even more eager to try. Qian Xiaoan, Nangong Yongjie, and Pang Wanchun happened to teach one by one, first teaching them to shoot flintlock pistols and then revolvers. Among the three, Tang Long had a talent for aiming muskets, and after a few shots, whether it was a flintlock pistol or a revolver, his hit rate far exceeded that of Shi Xiu and Wu Song. Pang Wanchun said that Tang Long also has the potential to be a marksman.

Zhao Chongyang said: "The short gun has a short range. But it is easy to carry and use, and it is a sharp weapon in melee combat. I know that you are all good, in the event of a sneak attack, as long as you are not a first-class master, you can resist a few times, but if you encounter a few people, even if you are all born with divine power like Second Brother Wu and have rich fighting experience, it is inevitable that two fists will be invincible to four hands. So, if you don't object, you can choose a short gun to carry with you. The gun can be loaded with ten rounds of ammunition, and each of you can carry another twenty rounds on your body, as long as you don't encounter a large number of enemies, and his martial arts are still world-renowned, even if it is my master Zhou Daxia, he can't withstand a shot. After hearing this, the three of them gladly accepted it, and each chose a short gun to carry with him.

Due to Tang Long's unexpected addition, the problem of iron ore and coal mines has been resolved, and both Tang Long and Shi Xiu can go to Nanyang with Zhao Chongyang. It's just that Tang Long asked Zhao Chongyang's convoy to postpone it for a day and let the Tang family prepare, and the day after tomorrow, his family also took a few carriages and dozens of people to set off with everyone. In this way, the next day, only Nangong Yongjie took people to Xinyang first.

Anpeng is located almost in the middle of Tangzhou and Tongbai, and it is more than 90 miles to each of the two cities. At nine o'clock in the morning of that day, a convoy of more than 180 carriages set off from the county seat and headed for Tangzhou, with Shi Xiu and Tang Long following with 50 horsemen, and the whole team had more than 400 people.

Zhao Chongyang, four ladies and two luxury carriages of servants drove in the middle of the procession. The carriage they sit in has a spring shock absorbing device, and there are spring cushions and backrests in the carriage and carriage box, which is very comfortable to sit in, and several people play poker and mahjong in the carriage for a while, and exchange experiences in martial arts for a while. After Liu Qiaoling arrived in Tongbai, in addition to taking turns to teach those female disciples about business, she practiced pistols, crossbows, flying stones and martial arts with her three sisters every day, and at the same time, before going to bed every night, she also practiced the inner strength of the Golden Sword Gate passed on to him by Zhao Chongyang, and her physical fitness was greatly improved. Her idea is that the three sisters have been practicing martial arts since childhood, and their martial arts are strong, and they can follow their husbands to kill the enemy in the future, so I can't be too weak myself, and in case of danger, I must also have the ability to protect myself. Therefore, she learned martial arts very hard.

In the evening, the convoy rested in the shelter. After dinner, Shi Bao informed Zhao Chongyang, Wu Song and others of the news that the detectives had heard in the area of Tangzhou: On Cuiping Gang, which was more than 40 miles away from Anpeng, there lived a group of strong men, led by two strong men, one named Guoshan Tiger Guchuan, and the other called Jumping Mountain Tiger Yanda. Two or three hundred minions were gathered to rob passing merchants, or forcibly collect protection money from some nearby villages. It is said that after the autumn harvest last year, he also came to Zhoujiazhai to ask for money and grain. I don't know if they saw us coming this year, and they were afraid that the two sides would unite, but they couldn't resist it, and there has been no movement so far.

In addition, just two months ago, Wang Qing assigned thousands of his men to attack everywhere, subdued many mountains in Huaixi, and was promoted to be the head of Huaixi, and established a general village in Funiu Mountain, which is more than 300 miles away from Nanyang. More than 100 miles from Tangzhou to Nanyang, there are actually two mountains infested with strongmen. One is Xinghua Mountain, which is forty miles away from Tangzhou, with more than 500 people, who claim to be the subordinates of Wang Qing, the head of Huaixi, and are under the control of two strongmen surnamed Gu. Xinghuashan is only more than five miles away from the official road from Tangzhou to Nanyang. In addition, there is a stronger group stationed in Qinggangling, which is more than 40 miles away from Xiangyang City, with a total number of seven or eight hundred people. The big leader headed by is called the iron-armed bear Yuan Lang, who is good at grinding steel with water, weighing more than 60 catties, and is rumored to have the courage of ten thousand people, and is a fierce general valued by Wang Qingdu. Qinggangling is located between the two official roads from Miyang County to Xiangyang and Tangzhou to Xiangyang, and it is about 20 miles away from the two official roads. They arranged for scouts to be mounted near the two official roads, and all merchants who passed through there had to pay tolls, otherwise all goods would be confiscated.

After the briefing, Shi Bao suggested that there is basically no war in the base now, and there is a special person in charge of each specific affairs, and Bao Daoyi should be left alone. He went out with Zhao Chongyang to face Yuan Lang. Because he believed that although Wu Song's force was on par with Yuan Lang, Yuan Lang's heavy weapons were sitting on horses and fighting Wu Song, and Wu Song was not sure of winning the battle on the ground. Pang Wanchun learned small kung fu, not suitable for battlefield fighting, he is famous for his magic arrows. Shi Xiu and Tang Long are not as strong as others, and they can't block a heavy blow from others, only he can defeat Yuan Lang.

Zhao Chongyang agreed with Shi Bao's opinion, and asked Shi Bao to add another fifty carriages, and when he returned, he would have good luck with coal.

At seven o'clock in the morning of the next day, all the staff set off on time after breakfast. Fifty carriages were added, and the entire convoy was even larger. Shi Bao, Wu Song, and Pang Wanchun walked in front with a hundred horses, three or four hundred meters apart, and the convoy was behind. It was still Shi Xiu and Tang Long who postponed.

Three hours later, a soldier came running on horseback to inform him that the bandits who had come down from Cuipinggang had stopped in front. Zhao Chongyang stopped the convoy and went to support with thirty guards and one hundred soldiers.

The mountain road where Shi Bao and the bandits confronted them happened to be a slightly inclined mountain road, and the bandits occupied the mountain beams, condescending, and thought they had the upper hand. I saw the two bandits in the lead, one tall and thin, the other short and fat. The tall bandit shouted: "Listen to the merchants in front, we are the heroes of Cuipinggang, as long as the property does not hurt people." As long as you put down your belongings, we will let you go, otherwise don't blame us for being vicious. ”

Shi Bao replied forward: "Do you have the ability to want our goods?" Do you have more than 200 men and fifty or sixty horses, can you beat us? ”

The dwarf bandit roared: "The cavalry is very useful, Lao Tzu is the cavalry of the Western Army, whether it is a horse battle or a foot battle, you have no chance of winning." ”

At this time, Zhao Chongyang had already arrived on horseback, he walked to the front, and said to the two bandit leaders: "Since you are so confident in your own combat strength, we might as well make a bet, one-on-one horse battle or foot battle, whatever you choose, we lose, the things belong to you, and in the future, our convoy will pass through Cuipinggang, and one car will pay the same amount of tolls." If you lose, take the copycats to our Chamber of Commerce, and I guarantee that you will all eat and drink without worry. ”

"Haha, I'm laughing to death, you are a yellow-mouthed child, what do you guarantee as a guarantee?" Tall bandit said.

"Presumptuous! This is our young master, with a net worth of several million, and every year with our Wantong Chamber of Commerce to create a huge amount of five or six million yuan, will it not be able to support you just a few hundred people? The tall bandit said, "Okay, I'll send this brother of mine to you in foot battle, don't regret losing." The short bandit dismounted, walked between the two splashes with an iron rod, and shouted, "I will teach the Tiger Yanda the tricks of that one." I saw that Wu Song didn't wait for Zhao Chongyang's orders, so he pulled out the double knives on his back and rushed out in stride: "I, Wu Song Wu Erlang, came to teach Leader Yan's stunt." ”

Now that the two have passed their names, they no longer talk nonsense when they meet together, and they fight with knives and sticks. Wu Song was born with divine power, plus he has been in the rivers and lakes since he was a child, although he is only twenty-one years old, he has rich experience in fighting. Yan Da also has a lot of strength, he was mixed in the Western Army at the age of fifteen, and spent more than ten years in fighting and killing. After more than ten rounds of fighting, it was difficult to distinguish the winner for a while. provoked Wu Song to rise, buy a flaw, and let Yan Da come with a stick. Wu Song dodged a stick from Yan Da in a side jump, jumped up, and slashed at Yan Da with a single knife in his right hand. But he didn't know that Wu Song had a knife in his hand that sharpened iron like clay, and if it was a real iron rod in his hand, it would naturally not be easy to cut it, but his iron rod was just riveted with a layer of iron outside the wooden stick, and it was split in half by Wu Song.

Fortunately, he was experienced, and when he saw that the situation was wrong, he rolled over and dodged a knife, Wu Song took the opportunity to follow with an arrow step, and pointed his sword at the other party's throat and said: "Accept it, hurry up and go over and discuss the matter with your big boss." ”

Yan Da stood up with a face full of shame and arched his hand: "Since we lost the competition, we should keep our promises." After speaking, he lowered his head and returned to his own formation.

After Shi Bao saw that the two went back, Yan Da seemed to be arguing with Gu Chuan, and he never saw the two of them send someone to discuss joining the Chamber of Commerce. Then he shouted loudly: "Master Guda, since you lost the competition, you should keep your promise and take people down the mountain to join the Chamber of Commerce, why is there no movement now?" ”

Tiger Guchuan roared angrily: "What mountain to go down? I'm the big boss, and it's not that I lost the competition, so why should I admit it. ”

On the side of the Wantong Chamber of Commerce, Pang Wanchun had already waited for the fire: "Your surname Gu actually betrayed his words, watch me take your dog's life." An arrow was fired, and Tanigawa, who was 120 paces away, was shot in the throat and fell to the ground and died.

Shi Bao took advantage of the situation and shouted: "Whoever dares not to keep his promise, this is the end." The surname is Yan, now it depends on your Taidu. ”

Yan Da shouted loudly: "Don't misunderstand, heroes, I, Yan Da, speak and count, deal with internal affairs immediately, and take you up the mountain to accept the surrender of the cottage." ”

Yan Da is indeed a good man who counts, and immediately asked more than a dozen of Tanigawa's henchmen if they were willing to join the Chamber of Commerce, and if they were unwilling, they buried Tanigawa's body and found a way out. Then he asked, "Which of those who are willing to follow them, and more than thirty of Tanigawa's henchmen have followed them down the mountain......