Chen Ao frowned when he heard Xu Xiancheng's words, and asked, "How do you say this? Does this robber still dare to go against the government?"

Xu Minghua smiled bitterly and said, "My lord, you must have been an official in the Central Plains before, right?"

Chen Ao nodded and said, "So what?"

"That's right, my lord, you are an official in the Central Plains, so you will naturally think so. Xu Minghua said, "Now the hinterland of the Central Plains is peaceful in the world, and the imperial court has its own authority." Even if there are some thieves, they will never dare to go against the government. But in our case, the situation is very different. Go northwest, the Li family in Xiazhou, you know. The Li family is a Qiang family, although they have not yet been called kings and emperors in name, but in fact, they are no different from a country. There were a few more battles with us in the past two years, and knowing that His Majesty ceded several state capitals, it stopped a little. It is because of the turmoil here that the power of the government is relatively weak. How dare these horse bandits be so rampant!"

Chen Ao listened quietly and remained silent. Xu Minghua said: "Seven or eight years ago, the horse bandits here were all petty fights, and the most were only a dozen people. At that time, the capture of our county town and the strong class could barely deter it. Four or five years ago, a nest of tough horse bandits suddenly appeared in this neighborhood, and several other groups of small horse bandits were eaten, and their strength grew. Since then, these people in our county have been a little stretched. And this group of people comes and goes like the wind, ruthless, and never leaves a living mouth. Our people can't catch them, and we don't dare to catch them. ”

Xu Minghua sighed and said, "A few years ago, the county lord also wrote many times, asking the state government to send forces to exterminate the horse bandits. But at that time, our Great Song Dynasty was fighting with the Western Xia side, where would anyone pay attention to this little Hulu County?"

Chen Ao asked, "What about now, why didn't the state government send the defenders?"

Xu Minghua shook his hand again and again, and said, "I can't help it! I just stopped with Xixia for a while in the past two years." If we have an army on our side, we may not be nervous over there. When the time comes, if the gun goes off and starts a war, we won't be able to cut off a few heads!"

Chen Ao sighed: "So you just let this gang of bandits go and let it develop?"

Xu Minghua shrugged and said, "That's no way." Those caravans were numerous, and they were usually several families gathered together and set out on their way together. Such caravans are usually escorted by bodyguards. This kind of defense force is even stronger than the power of our county government. But even then, it can't beat that gust of wind!"

Chen Ao was a little gloomy, no wonder those who were not very interested in catching fast, the root cause was actually here. Their power is limited, and even if they know that it is a case committed by a gust of wind, they have no ability to bring them to justice. Therefore, they all felt that this trip was in vain. If it's a trip for nothing, why bother?

Xu Minghua saw that Chen Ao was silent, only when he was secretly sad. Xu Minghua didn't know that Chen Ao also had the title of Guogong, and only thought that Chen Ao was a novice who had just entered the career. Such an official, with a lot of enthusiasm in his arms, is planning to make some achievements. But to face such a reality all at once, you will inevitably be devastated.

Xu Minghua couldn't help but comfort: "My lord, you don't have to be too sad. This horse bandit is infested, and we can't be blamed for it. Besides, twenty or thirty miles out of the city, it is no longer within the scope of our Hulu County. In fact, it doesn't matter if we go to investigate or not. ”

Zhao Ling suddenly interjected: "No, no, no! If the master can seize this opportunity to exterminate this gang of horse bandits, it must be a great feat!"

Chen Ao glanced back at her, and immediately thought of the conversation between their family on the night they first came to Hulu County. Unexpectedly, after so many days, Zhao Ling has been remembering.

Xu Minghua hadn't noticed the entourage following behind Chen Ao, but when he heard Zhao Ling say this, he couldn't help but sneer, feeling that this person was really a big mouth. When he looked back, he vaguely felt that his face was a little familiar, and then he remembered that this was Chen Ao's second wife. Xu Minghua suddenly didn't dare to speak, and at the same time he was a little puzzled, secretly thinking, what should we adults do with our family members in the case, do you think you are going to enjoy the mountains and rivers?

Chen Ao secretly thought that the Ghost Hidden Society led by Zhao Ling was much more powerful than any horse bandits, and they were all people who killed people without blinking. Maybe she's worth a try!

Thinking of this, Chen Ao immediately ordered to speed up. When he arrived at the place where the body was found, he smelled a trace of blood in the distance. It's early winter, and it's cold, and the smell can be dissipated so far that if it's summer, wouldn't it be smelled miles away?

Chen Ao saw that in the open space on the side of the road in front of him, there were indeed many corpses dumped, and some empty boxes were thrown aside. Chen Ao and the others slowed down and stepped forward cautiously. Before he got closer, he was stunned by what he saw. Feng Hu, Qin Lang and the others couldn't help but pause and gasp.

Although they have also experienced fighting in the rivers and lakes, and sometimes even the number of dead and injured is higher than here, they have not experienced such a tragic massacre. I saw more than 40 people lying on the ground, covered in blood, and the wounds were blurred with flesh and blood. Each of them was slashed five or six times, and even if they didn't hit the point, they would have bled dry. The ground beneath the corpse was stained dark red with blood. The grass branches, which were originally withered and yellow, also have a thrilling color.

The crowd had obviously seen such a scene before, and their horror was better than that of Chen Ao and the others. They also did not need to be instructed, so they divided up to examine the bodies and collect evidence. Chen Ao glanced at Feng Hu, and they immediately followed to check.

Xu Minghua sighed and said, "Looking at this scene at the scene, you know that it is the handiwork of that gust ......of wind!"

Chen Ao said in a deep voice: "This gust of wind is really outrageous. If we can't exterminate this gang of bandits, let them run amok. When the time comes, the merchants and guests will be in danger, and this east-west trade road will gradually wither!"

Xu Minghua sighed: "How easy is it to deal with a gust of wind? Until now, no one has seen what kind of people they are. However, what the adults just said would affect the business road, but the lower officials didn't think it was so exaggerated. ”

"Oh?" Chen Ao was stunned, "This group of people is so ruthless, not only robbing property, but also killing people." Won't this kind of harm have an impact on business?"

Xu Minghua said: "This trade route is the only trade route between the east and the west. Not only our merchants in the Central Plains will traffic tea, porcelain, silk and other goods to the west. Even the caravans of Xiazhou and even further away from Persia, Khotan, and the Karakhanate would go to the Central Plains via this road. This time and again, how much more than tens of thousands of silver were earned? There were actually not many bandits who traveled such a long way. And this gust of wind here only comes and goes. Often, it will only be looted once a month or two, which is already considered to be less harmful. Therefore, although these caravans were afraid of a gust of wind, they would not give up the large amount of income because of choking. ”

Chen Ao sighed and thought to himself, yes, everyone has a fluke mentality, not to mention that there are huge profits in front of him. The world is bustling, all for profit, the world is bustling, all for profit......