Zhang Tianci took his 280 cavalry and rushed to Quyang County day and night, and finally came to the gate of the county seat at two o'clock in the afternoon of the fifth day.

Zhang Tianci saw from a distance that the gate of the county seat was closed, and only a small gate was opened, and there were seven or eight soldiers guarding outside the city gate. Under the walls on both sides of the city stood a number of people, old and young, who seemed to be some northern refugees who had been blocked outside the city. A few shacks were built a little further away from the city gate, and many people lived.

Zhang Tianci turned around and said to Liu Jiujin: "I will first take two entourages to the city gate to inquire about the situation, you take the brothers to settle down outside the city, and touch the situation of these people outside the city, I think there should be a lot of soldiers who have fled from the north, and now is the time to employ people, you can recruit some soldiers outside the city by the way, and it is best to be good at riding and shooting." ”

Jiujin nodded yes. Tianci then called two soldiers to ride with him to the gate of the county seat.

A few soldiers guarding the city gate were lazily leaning against the hole in the city gate or napping, or chatting in pairs, when they saw Tianci and the three of them riding over, a soldier stepped forward to stop them, and asked Tianci and a few others to get off their horses and talk. The soldier raised the spear in his hand and said, "Don't you see that this place is on guard, and the idlers can't wait to come forward." ”

Chen Jinwu, the cavalryman who followed Tianci, immediately stepped forward and replied loudly: "What kind of idle people, wait, you see, we are the military master, this is the cavalry battalion supervisor Deputy General Zhang, today I was ordered to come to Quyang County to take over the defense, you wait to report quickly, let us enter the city." ”

The soldier saw that a few of them were indeed soldiers, and did not dare to make another attempt, and looked back at the other soldiers, a little overwhelmed, at this time, a non-commissioned officer walked out of the small door of the city gate, and looked over here, and the soldier seemed to be the savior he saw, and hurriedly stepped forward to report.

The non-commissioned officer dragged Fang Bu, shook it in front of Tianci and a few people, looked up and down, he saw that Tianci was still stunned, a little disapproving, waved his hand and said: "Go, go, don't make trouble here, you defeated soldiers and deserters in the Northern Regions want to enter the customs from here, and now it is in combat preparations, and everyone is not allowed to enter the city, unless there is an edict from above." ”

Chen Jinwu stepped forward and responded: "In order to be in a hurry, I rushed here without getting the letter of appointment and the edict, and the court appointment document will be served later." ”

After hearing this, the non-commissioned officer shook his head and thought to himself, these stupid people, don't want to enter the city without knowing that they don't have money. At this time, another group of men and horses, a dozen or so people on horseback, and a carriage, drove towards the city gate, and it seemed that they were also preparing to enter the city.

The non-commissioned officer was no longer interested in Tianci and the others at this time, and the group of people in front of him seemed to be quite rich in oil and water, so he left Tianci and the others and walked towards the horse team, waving his hand to let the soldiers come to block them.

Tianci also turned around to look at the group of people and horses, and saw a team of more than a dozen horses in front and behind, with a carriage in the middle. The dozen or so people riding large horses were all uniformly dressed, wearing a black robe, green clothes and trousers, leggings, wristbands, and a long sword at their waists. Judging from the actions and demeanor of these people, the people who are given by heaven are all strong in martial arts.

After the horse team was stopped, a middle-aged man, about fifty years old, was of medium stature, but with a vigorous and powerful appearance, from the middle carriage. He took a few steps to the soldiers guarding the city, arched his hand to a commander, and said: "Zheng Chengsheng, the head of the Longsheng Dart Bureau in Xiayoujing, will go to the capital today. ”

"Darts? Now that the two countries are at war, someone else asks you to take a dart?" The non-commissioned officer of the city guard was a little disapproving, he looked around the team with his eyes, and then said: "If it is a dart, then why is there no dart flag, and where is the dart?"

The middle-aged man responded: "This escort is at the request of the employer, it is a secret escort, and it is not a flag." As for the goods in the car, the goods have official seals, and they are not allowed to be inspected. After that, he handed over the Chinese book in his hand and gave it to the non-commissioned officer to read.

The non-commissioned officer glanced at the paperwork handed over, but did not take it, but turned sideways around the middle-aged man and walked towards the carriage.

When he came to the front of the car, the non-commissioned officer lifted the curtain and looked inside, and sure enough, he saw a two-foot-long, one-foot-wide, and half-foot-thick Nanmu box, which was placed under the seat and covered with various seals.

The non-commissioned officer was about to lift his feet and board the carriage to take a look, but the middle-aged man followed, leaned lightly against the carriage with his body, and the carriage immediately slid backwards, and took the two horses in front of him a few steps backwards.

The non-commissioned officer stepped on the air and almost fell, and the middle-aged man immediately reached out to support him, "Be careful, if you want to inspect it, take it out of the small one." As he spoke, he stretched out a hand and pressed the front end of the carriage downward, and the two horses pulling the carriage could not bear it any longer, so they both knelt down, and the carriage tilted forward entirely, and the box in the carriage also slipped out of the carriage.

The middle-aged man caught the box with his hand and said to the non-commissioned officer, "Please take a look." The non-commissioned officer looked at the box, and sure enough, there was a seal on it that was the seal of the household department. After the non-commissioned officer saw it clearly, the man raised his hand and waved the box back into the car, and then reached out again, lifted the front of the car and the two horses, and restored it to its original state.

After seeing the middle-aged man's methods just now, the non-commissioned officer was already jealous in his heart, and did not dare to make another mistake, he nodded with a smile, retreated, and stood still in front of the city gate before he said: "Now is the time when the two countries are at war, and any trade and personnel exchanges must be subject to the management of the defense army. The bureau is for the court, but according to the weight and quantity of the goods, two people are allowed to enter the city, and the rest are not allowed to enter the city, please choose another road. ”

Hearing him say this, Zheng Dart Tou couldn't help but be a little anxious, and stepped forward and said: "We are arranging dart escort personnel at the request of the employer, and the other party requires that the dart escort personnel should not be less than sixteen first-class dart masters, and the chief dart head is required to personally lead the team, and we have also carried out the minimum configuration according to this requirement." If the dart staff can't all walk with the dart, I'm afraid that there will be any mistakes in the future, and I can't escape the blame for the dart game. Please let them all go!"

Here, Chen Jinwu has already inquired with the soldiers guarding the city, and if he wants to enter the city, he can donate two taels of silver according to each person's head, saying that he is paying the city defense tax, but in fact, he is just taking the opportunity to exploit it.

Tianci came to the non-commissioned officer and asked, "Didn't you say that Tufan had already withdrawn from the army, and the two countries had signed an armistice agreement, don't you know what to do?"

"Well, that. The non-commissioned officer hesitated and said, "Although the Central Plains region has ceased fighting, Tufan is about to attack the west to take the Western Regions recently, so we are still a combat readiness area here, and we must not relax." ”

After hearing this, Tianci laughed and said, "You are a little well-informed, but you don't know that the imperial court has sent the Pingxi Overseer to take over the defense?" It's really funny, but as long as you pay the silver, you can enter the city, right?" ”

The non-commissioned officer turned his head to the side noncommittally and looked at Zheng Dart's head, which means that you heard me.

Tianci took out a silver ticket from his bosom and handed it to the non-commissioned officer, saying, "This is easy to say, I have a lot of silver, do you think this is feasible?"

The non-commissioned officer took the silver ticket and saw that it was actually a silver ticket with a hundred taels of silver, and was shocked, but he didn't expect that this kid in front of him was still a broad master, he smiled at Tianci very embarrassed, and said: "This official, this head fee for entering the city only needs two taels of silver for one person, you give such a big ticket, don't you embarrass us?"

"Don't worry, the three of me here and the dozen or so people of the dart master are all counted together, and the rest, you help keep it for me first, I still have hundreds of people to enter the city." Tianci said with a smile as he walked up to Zheng Dart.

"Mr. Zheng, in the next Zhang Tianci, I am fortunate to invite your dart team to enter the city together, please Mr. Zheng Dart to appreciate his face. Tianci said to Master Zheng with a fist.

"Polite, polite, it's not that the little one doesn't want to give this passing money, but he just doesn't want to be too cheap for these soldiers who make a fortune, Zhang Daguan is so arrogant, and the small one admires it very much, but he was invited in vain, and he is a little deserved. The dart master surnamed Zheng also immediately returned the salute with his fists.

Tianci smiled heartily: "Brother Zheng, you don't have to be polite, don't delay your important matter because of this trivial matter, let's go into the city with my junior brother." ”

Seeing that the dart master surnamed Zheng couldn't refuse, he immediately beckoned his group and others to follow Tianci and others into the city together. The non-commissioned officer did not expect to make such an unexpected fortune today, and he was so happy that he hurriedly ordered his subordinates to open the gate of the county town and let the group enter the city.