"Are there any traitors in this Pei County?"

Deng Yan's brows condensed into a knot.

"Yes, in Weishan Lake, there are water bandits, most of them are former fishermen, and they are very powerful when they launch boats."

There were more than a dozen Longlinwei secret agents accompanying him, and the leader was named Yan Chun, who belonged to the disciples of the thief, and most of the rest were developed later.

"How many bandits are there?"

"It's not too many, just more than 2,000 people."

Hearing this, Deng Yan also felt that it was unlikely that he was trapped by these water bandits, firstly, the number of people on both sides was too great, and secondly, Wulingman had lived in Yunmengze all year round, and his water nature was no worse than that of the bandits here.

Therefore, the advantage of local water bandits in the lake does not exist.

"What does the county order of Pei County say?"

"They have sent a large number of people to help find it, and they have also put up a list, and whoever can provide clues will be rewarded.

However, it is of little use, there are no useful clues, and many of those villagers deliberately lie about the situation in order to ask for rewards. ”

Yan Chun shook his head, saying that the Pei County Government could not help.

In the Han Empire, Pei County is a special place, which is the hometown of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, and the origin of the entire Han Dynasty.

So far, there are Gaozu Temple, Zhang Liangzuka, and Mrs. Qi Temple and other historic sites here.

Peixian people basically feel good about themselves, cowhide coaxing, if you go out and meet a foreigner, it is very unfortunate that there is a dispute.

Generally disdainful of arguing, he only looked at the sky with white eyes, and snorted coldly, "I am a villager in the land of the ancestral dragon, and you are just an ignorant people." ”

The Han court also took care of the people of Pei County, and often carried out comforting actions such as tax reductions, and Pei County held a birthday celebration of Gaozu every year.

It stands to reason that such a place should live and work in peace and contentment, how can there be bandits?

"Most of the water bandits in Pei County are not locals, but people from the neighboring Liuxian, Qi and Xue counties, they gather on the Xiaoxiao Lake and wander around to commit crimes, and the government can't do anything about them."

Yan Chun sighed, "It is estimated that many of the people we sent out were robbed by them. ”

Deng Yan thought about it for a while, and always felt that this matter was weird.

"Who is the county magistrate of Pei County?"

This Yan Chun had already done his homework, and immediately presented the information with both hands, and Deng Yan took it over and hurriedly browsed it.

The county order of Pei County is named Huang Liao, a native of Jingzhou, born in an ordinary rich family, born in filial piety, at first he was the commander of Wuyang County, and later promoted to the Taishou of Nanjun.

Later, he was dismissed because he was implicated in the Liang Ji case, but in less than a month, he was reinstated as the county magistrate of Pei County.

Deng Yan intuitively felt that this person's identity was suspicious, but the information was not detailed and he couldn't figure out the inside story.

"Summons Kyoto and thoroughly investigate Huang Liao's identity, especially the inside story of his recovery."

"Whoa."

Yan Chun had already received an order from Yang Jian, telling him to unconditionally obey Deng Yan no matter what he did and be responsible for his safety.

"Tonight, you send someone to visit the county government at night to see if this Huang Liao has any special moves.

Remember, just listen to the news, don't startle the snake. ”

Yan Chun naturally felt incredible that Deng Yan did not go to the water bandits, but instead suspected the behavior of the county order, but he wisely did not have any doubts, but immediately surrendered his orders.

He even immediately decided to go out to carry out this task in person, after all, he was a disciple of the thief, and it was more appropriate to listen to the news than others.

After Yan Chun left, Deng Yan took the various materials collected by Long Linwei and began to read and compare them carefully, trying to find valuable clues from them.

Finally, he took out the topographic map of Yuzhou and began to study it carefully.

Deng Yan naturally didn't believe in any evil things, but on the plain, an army of 20,000 people couldn't hide it no matter what.

Therefore, the only possibility is that there are only hundreds of miles of water in Weishan Lake.

Weishan Lake in the Han Dynasty was actually completely different from later generations, and did not have such a vast water surface, but was composed of dozens of large and small lakes.

Among them, the river network is dense, and more than a dozen rivers and lakes are dotted around, resulting in a very complex terrain.

The age of the swamp is not very far away, since the Yellow River was cut off during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the Si Si entered the Huai, during which it flooded for 23 years.

Later, although the breach was blocked, after the flood, many potholes and swamps were left in the Weishan Lake area.

Many of the areas of the modern Nansi Lake were densely populated plains at this time, and they were very prosperous and rich because they were the land of fish and rice.

However, in the past 100 years, with the intensification of land annexation, those wealthy families have not even let go of mountains, forests and lakes.

There are fewer and fewer places for fishermen to fish, and as time goes by, even the rich Weishan Lake is not a good place for people to survive.

There are only two ways left for them to survive, or they will be attached to a certain powerful man as a house slave, working day and night, barely having something to eat.

Or become a water bandit, hiding in the water network of the river to rob passing merchants and large households along the coast.

Only Pei County is the hometown of Han Gaozu, and the imperial court has always paid more attention, so the situation is much better than several other counties around Weishan Lake.

Let's assume that the 20,000-strong army is trapped in a river network or a swamp, then it is impossible for Huang Liao, as the local county commander, not to find any clues.

Unless he is unwilling to look for it, or deliberately conceals the situation, no matter how he looks at it, he can't get rid of suspicion.

It has been eight or nine days since the accident, and it is impossible for Dong Ban not to send someone out to deliver the news, since he has not seen his subordinates until now.

Then there is only one possibility, these people are all deliberately intercepted.

Deng Yan and the others wore makeup and entered the county seat of Peixian in a scattered manner, and it was not until after the ugly time that Yan Chun came back.

"Junhou, this county government is indeed a little strange, there is a very heavily guarded dungeon, I tried to probe, but I couldn't get close."

Deng Yan nodded, "Is there anything else out of the ordinary?" ”

Yan Chun thought for a while, and then said, "If you want to say that it is unusual, that county magistrate has recently had an extraordinary concubine in the family, with a Kyoto accent, does this count?" ”

Deng Yan's eyes lit up, "Keep an eye on that woman for me, it's best to find out where she comes from." ”

At this time, anyone who can have anything to do with Jingshi is suspicious.

Although Dong Ban and the others were secretly marching, the 20,000-strong team would definitely be alarmed by the counties along the way, and if there were people behind the scenes, their whereabouts would be exposed.

Therefore, Pei County is likely to be the bureau they set up in advance, and this county order is also likely to be their people, or it was bribed.

"Besides, you can inquire around whether the government secretly requisitioned ships ten days ago."

He thought about it, if he wanted to trap 20,000 people in the lake, the number of boats used was very staggering, and even if the government issued a ban, there would still be clues to follow.

"Especially the big families who have a close relationship with Huang Liao, you take the opportunity to ask their servants for information, remember, you must be secret, and you can't reveal your whereabouts."