The group was still jolting on the rugged official road, and they also lit torches. Everyone had been walking on the hill for nearly two hours, and the people were very tired, but they were still hurrying forward without saying a word, and Xiao Sangong Ming had also gone to find the way back, and everyone learned that there was still less than ten miles ahead to walk out of this ominous place and reach a small village of about thirty families. The crowd ate something casually and continued on their way.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of horses' hooves and shouts from behind. Xiao San hurriedly flew off his horse and listened carefully, got up and said, "Hui Ye, there are three military horses coming behind!"

The two eagles circled their horses at the same time, raised their legs, took off their swords and shields, and went up to meet the comer. Ren Tianqi turned around and waved his hand at everyone, the convoy stopped, and everyone dispersed to surround the two cars. Ren Tianqi also turned his horse's head and stepped forward, coming to the back of the team and quietly waiting for someone to come.

The county lord who was drowsy in the treasure car suddenly felt that the vehicle stopped, puzzled, and hurriedly knocked on the trunk lightly, and said softly: "Sister Xue, why didn't you leave, what's wrong?"

Dongxue leaned forward and said softly: "Miss, don't worry, it's not clear what happened at the moment, Xiao San said that there were three military horses coming from behind, menacing!"

The county lord sat back with a "sigh", and closed his eyes and supported the incense mantis with his hands. The master's courage is not to worry about himself, not to mention that the masters around the master are like clouds, and there are only three people who come, so there is nothing to be afraid of.

There were three servants of the Dajin Kingdom. The three of them saw that everyone was on guard here, and they were also cautious, so they were busy reining in their horses and looking at this side from a distance, and soon the three of them were busy turning over and dismounting, running forward and kneeling down, and said loudly: "Can a few of them be the generals and county lords of Nangui Province? The villain is the herald in the palace of the right governor of Pizhou, and he was ordered to come to chase after the general, and he has something important to tell him!"

Ren Tianqi hesitated for a moment, thinking to himself how could the news of his return to Yangzhou be known to the magistrate, could it be that the old prince Feishu could not pass the order, and the two transmissions in one day must be very important, but I don't know what important things have happened. Ren Tianqi hurriedly stepped forward and put his hands together, and said with a smile: "It's Ren Tianqi below, and the county lord is in the car behind him." It's hard work, but I don't know what to tell you, so please make it clear. ”

The person who came hurriedly took out a letter from his bosom and handed it to the bronze card. Xiao San stepped forward with a torch. The card shows that the person who came is the first-class herald of the right capital of the Nanshuai Mansion in Dajin Guozhen.

Ren Tianqi hurriedly opened the letter and took a look, it turned out that Jin Bing was ordered to encircle and suppress the bandits in a nearby cottage, and it had taken a month, but due to the large number of bandits, they were trapped there in a dilemma that they couldn't fight and couldn't leave. The old prince replied to order Jin Bing to continue to besiege the bandits, saying that if necessary, he could ask Ren Tianqi, who was passing by to go home, to help. The front-line commander-in-chief then sent several messengers to wait for the arrival of Ren Tianqi and others in the state capitals along the road. These three messengers learned about Ren Tianqi's whereabouts from the mouth of the Xuzhou general soldier Long Kemu, and traced them all the way.

Ren Tianqi put away the letter, pondered for a while, and said, "I'm sorry to ask how far you have to go to that cottage here, and what are the current forces of the two sides?"

Human: "This is a distance of 90 miles, and there are 1,000 horsemen, 3,000 foot soldiers, 500 crossbowmen, and more than 2,000 bandits under the account of Lord Lieutenant Youdu, and the specific number is unknown. ”

Ren Tianqi said again: "Are you familiar enough with this place? We have been walking for a long time and can't rest, and we really want to find a place to eat a hot meal and rest!"

The person who came said with a smile: "The general doesn't have to be too anxious, the army encircles and suppresses the bandits and doesn't care about the early or late days, the old prince has already ordered Jun: the security of the people and the protection of the territory is the foundation, the preservation of strength is the key, and the bandits must be cut down and eradicated without leaving future troubles." The small one knows that there is a village called Suoxiu Village in the front of the eight miles, and there are not many households, but it is a complete wine shop inn, which specializes in the business of traveling to and from customers, and the small one is leading the way in front. ”

Ren Tianqi was overjoyed, so he ordered someone to lead the way in front, and the group went on the road again. The second housekeeper and the little third master immediately stepped forward and said with a smile: "Second master, the younger two will come forward to make arrangements, but I don't know whether the master is thinking about whether to stay temporarily or stay for a night or two before making plans!"

Ren Tianqi immediately looked back at the treasure car behind him, turned around and said: "The two of you went to arrange hot water and hot meals before, and if you don't stay at that time, you will decide at that time, remember the tricks to be clear, and don't make trouble!"

Ren Mingquan nodded and smiled: "Don't worry, the old slave knows how to do things, so let's go." "The little three and the two Pegasus left.

Ren Tianqi also circled the horse and came to the treasure car, coughed, and said in a low voice: "Is the county lord good?"

The county lord of Cheli laughed softly: "The little sister is very good, does the master have any orders?"

Ren Tianqi said with a smile: "There is such an important matter that needs to be discussed with the county lord, and the master does not dare to make up his mind without authorization." ”

The county lord said with a smile: "Where is the prestige of the general in the past, what kind of incident has to be discussed with the little sister, just make up your mind!"

Ren Tianqi said with a smile: "It is difficult for the local officials and soldiers to clear out the bandits in a place ninety miles away from here, and the old prince ordered me to go and help out, I am afraid that it will be delayed for a lot of hours, not to mention that the life in the army is quite simple!"

The county lord was silent for a while and smiled: "Ye is worried that the little sister has nowhere to go, and it must be inconvenient to come and go, the lord has forgotten that the little sister is the county lord on horseback, although it is not as brave as yours, but this rush is nothing! According to the little sister's opinion, you can turn around and go to help the battle now, and the quick battle is a quick decision!

Ren Tianqi nodded and said with a smile: "What the county lord said is that there is an inn a few miles away, and I have asked Uncle Ming Quan and Xiao San to prepare, I will wait for a short rest in front, eat a hot meal, and then go to serve in the army." ”

The county lord smiled: "The big things of the country are powerless, and the lord can do it himself!"

Ren Tianqi nodded and smiled: "I know, I'll go now." Ren Tianqi urged the horse forward, glanced at Dongxue on the side, and said with a smile: "Sister Xue, you must take care of your young lady when you wait for the four, you have no time to doppelganger, and you will be grateful for the picture!"

The four maids laughed in unison: "How dare you worry about the affairs of the servants, so the servants are flattered." Take care of your own business!"

Ren Tianqi said in a loud voice: "The convoy accelerates, and after a slight pause in the small shop in front, it will rush to the army overnight to stand by!" The shouting and whipping suddenly sounded, and the convoy galloped away.

Although the wine shop in the small village was not grandiose, the food was exceptionally delicious, and everyone had a full meal, and bought some cooked beef and liquor in a hurry, and everyone was waiting in the store for the horses to finish cooking. Ren Tianqi sat there with his eyebrows down, and was secretly stunned. Ren Tianqi longed for a simple life in the barracks, and when he learned that he was going to the front of the battle to kill, his heart was aroused with great excitement, but in a moment he sank into uneasiness. Ren Tianqi knew very well that the attitude of the Dajin Kingdom towards the bandits and the Han people gathering to make trouble was to counter violence with violence and mercilessly conquer by force, perhaps this can be seen from the Dajin Kingdom's strategy of reducing the number of people on the grassland. As a soldier and a subordinate, Ren Tianqi knew that he had no choice, but Ren Tianqi's reason and conscience told him that he could not bear to slaughter these thousands of so-called mobs. His own experience tells him that today's world is in turmoil, and the people are not happy, it is not that the people want to rebel and make trouble, but that the officials force the people to rebel against the people and have to rebel, and if they don't rebel, I am afraid that even their lives will not be guaranteed. Ren Tianqi thought that he would definitely not kill the unarmed people, but in the face of this mob and bandit who was forced to take up swords and guns to occupy the mountains and become the king, and the grass was the coward, could he calmly slash and kill? Not to mention the large number of bandits, there would inevitably be a river of blood at that time! This was a hurdle in Ren Tianqi's heart, especially now that he had escaped from the matter and was no longer in the army, was it still necessary for him to go on a killing spree?

Everyone could see Ren Tianqi's hesitation, and they didn't know what he was thinking, so no one answered.

After a long time, the great monk coughed and said with a smile: "Brother Ren Xian, is it that Brother Yu and the four girls will stay behind to serve in the army this time?"

Ren Tianqi was taken aback, retracted his thoughts and hurriedly raised his head and smiled: "Exactly, it is extremely inconvenient for the younger brother to come to the eldest brother and the second brother to fight in front of the army, so as not to go against the wishes of the two elder brothers." ”

The great monk nodded, pinched the Buddha beads in his hand and said with a smile: "The monks should be compassionate, and it is also the purpose of Buddhism to punish evil and promote goodness, but it has always been difficult to distinguish right from wrong in front of this army, and how can it be that my Buddhism can touch it! Since the brothers are not allowed to serve in front of the army, they must still be merciful and benevolent and righteous, and they must not be indifferent to the morality of heaven and the existence of justice in the world!"

A little red nodded, put away his hand and said: "Big brother's words are not unreasonable! Although the suffering of the people is not something that we can solve, but the suffering of the common people is also the purpose of our life, and the heart of compassion always exists; if you don't ask for help, why bother to seek their lives again!" Although we and other chivalrous people often look down on a person's surname and life, and raise their hands only in a single thought, everything is measured by the morality of the rivers and lakes and the justice of the world; but this errand of not punishing the people before going to the army this time is very difficult to do, and there is no reward to speak of, and there is no benefit from entering the knighthood, and it is also the same Han people, this way of fratricidal punishment is not a despicable thing after all! Virtuous brothers should think twice. ”

Black Eagle shouted disapprovingly: "What nonsense and sour truth of morality and benevolence! Do you want to listen to the old prince's orders? This county lord has not yet arrived at Renjiabao and has not yet become the daughter-in-law of the Ren family, so he wants to forget the grace of the old prince, how can this be the way of man? The common people cannot live, this is a fact, since we can't deny it, we can't control it, why do we sit here one by one and worry about the sky and fight injustice. Besides, this common people gathered to rob their homes and houses, and they talked about killing the rich and helping the poor, and doing the right thing for heaven, and how many corrupt officials and corrupt officials could be killed? It is not the common people themselves who suffer, it is just an excuse, and in my opinion, these bandits of the birdmen should be killed!"

The county lord glanced at Ren Tianqi with a red face, and said with a smile: "The major affairs of the military state are of great importance, when you give up your small family for everyone, how can you live a stable life if the society is unstable! Not to mention that the ancients often said: In troubled times, use heavy canons, govern the world to attract benevolence and righteousness, and choose according to the situation!"

The county lord was so embarrassed that several people present couldn't wait to find a crack in the ground and get in. The great monk and a little red are people who are full of poetry and books, and they quote ancient classics that are easy to come by, but the little selfish distractions in the hearts of the two or the way of life they follow do not know how to change and benefit, compared to the age of the county lord ten **, it is ashamed to have such an opinion and the concept of right and wrong to achieve great things.

The men were embarrassed and didn't know what to do for a while. Mr. Anwar was once a staff member in the palace of the prince of Zhengnan, and he was familiar with the circumstance of such an inappropriate occasion. I saw Mr. Hua snort, got up and turned around in front of everyone, sighed, and said to himself: "If the old prince hadn't encountered something tricky, he would not have passed the book for thousands of miles to ask the second master for help, and the old prince can also feel the second master's plight. I think this old prince has the responsibility of protecting the territory and the people, such a little thief The old prince once he came out of the horse is to be captured, how can he be thousands of miles away, and his body is defective, who will he use without the second master at this time, as the saying goes, the father and son soldiers go into battle; It's hard, it's hard......."

Everyone was silent. Mr. Hua tilted his neck and looked at everyone, and when he ran in front of Dong Xue, he didn't forget to make a strange face, Dong Xue pursed his lips and smiled.

Mr. Hua took a sip of tea and sat down, and said with a smile: "Everyone, actually, this is not a difficult matter! I have an idea, but I don't know if it fits everyone's mind!"

Everyone looked up at Mr. Hua with great joy.

Bai Ying shouted loudly: "Oh, your Mr. Hua still has the interest of joking and playing tricks at this time, it's not that our family dislikes your mother-in-law, if you have a good idea, say it quickly, let's leave as soon as possible!"

Mr. Hua said with a smile: "The thieves here must be removed, and the second master must go this time, and these two facts are not negotiable." Since we can't kill people, why do we have to worry about everything, it's better to take a step back and open the sky, we just need to make a little article on the word "stay and kill," if we can't keep it, we will burn down the cottage and force it to leave, and if we can't kill it, we will secretly leave it a way to live, turn around flexibly, and turn things around for our use! In this way, we have not only won the merit of suppressing bandits, but also won the name of benevolence and righteousness, and neither the north nor the south can be offended, so why not do it!"

Everyone praised the words, and the atmosphere in the store suddenly became lively. Ren Tianqi was also very happy, and hurriedly ordered people to go out to check the carriage and horses and prepare to leave.

The arrival of the Qixiang treasure car caused a sensation in the army and greatly boosted morale, and the strange masks on the faces of Ren Tianqi and others also made the soldiers excited. Ren Tianqi didn't want to show his true face, so he used the general's order to get into the big tent, and invited the generals to discuss the countermeasures against the bandits. Originally, the name of the mountain here is Langxu Mountain, although the mountain peak is not high, but the mountain is extremely steep, the ravines in the mountain are vertical and horizontal, rugged and uneven, the caves are dense, the trapping everywhere is easy to defend and difficult to attack; In the past two years, the more and more powerful people have gathered, more than 2,000 people have gathered, and there are more than 500 horses. It happened that the weather was exceptionally cold this year, and the water surface was frozen up to several feet thick and cut off the back road on the mountain. The officers and soldiers besieged with a large army, and attacked with foot soldiers for a month, and many of them broke through the mountains to prevent them from entering the cottages, but there were many traps on the mountains, and the organs were ingenious, and the mountain bandits were good at fighting, and the officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties and were powerless, so they had to send additional officers and troops to surround the mountain to death. Ren Tianqi inspected Langxu Mountain again, and after returning from the army, he issued a military order, ordering 1,000 foot soldiers to carry firearms, plants and trees and other necessary items to set up a one-zhang wide isolation zone on one side of the water, melt the ice with fire, use water as a trench to reject the bandits, and only defend the enemy and not engage in close combat, and those who disobey the order will be killed; order 2,000 foot soldiers and 300 crossbowmen to set fire to the mountain from the place near the mountain, use fire as soldiers, and drag-net search, and be sure not to let go of a bandit and a thief; order 1,000 horse troops and 200 crossbowmen to prepare to meet the enemy on the flat and open ground.

The right lieutenant was puzzled, and said: "The prince's general order is not to let go of a bandit and a thief, the general's use of troops this time is trapped on three sides, and one side must be to defeat the bandits and cannot be annihilated, and his subordinates are afraid that they will have the king's order!"

Ren Tianqi waved his hand and said with a smile: "Have you ever read the art of war?" In ancient books, it is known that 'ten rules are to surround it, five to attack it, and to divide it if it is doubled, and if the enemy can fight it, if it is few, it can escape, and if it is not, it can be avoided'. Now the bandits are two and I am five bandits, and it is easy for me to attack the bandits, and I am trapped in the army, and the face is only half of a thousand people and the bandits, and the bandits are condescending and should be one as five, and there is no reason for me to be invincible in dividing the troops! The bandits dare to openly confront the officers and soldiers for several years, and there is no stranger behind the guidance, and it is inevitable that he will be the leader, and he will be a capable person who is good at military warfare, and he should not be underestimated! Now I have been trapped in the mountain for a month, and the grain and grass on the mountain are bound to run out, and the two armies are bound to fight a vicious battle against each other, and I have no chance of winning. The present general is trapped on three sides and leaves one side empty, one does not seek to fight with the poor bandits, the second does not seek to win much, and the third does not seek to compete for speed, but to lure the snake out of the hole, divert the tiger from the mountain, lure the bandits to leave the lair of Wolf Xu Mountain and confront me on the flat ground, and defeat them on the way to their rout and transfer. ”

The right lieutenant bowed and said with a smile: "The general is good at using troops, and the last general is ashamed of himself." What should we do with the thieves who slip through the net where the net is opened?"

Ren Tianqi said with a smile: "The Qixiang treasure car is here, and it is expected that no one will be able to get out! Moreover, the battle between the two armies is already false and real and difficult to distinguish, and the bandits may not dare to take this empty side!"

The army acted in accordance with the order, and after a day and one night to conquer Langxu Mountain, the officers and soldiers suffered no more than 100 casualties, killed 400 thieves, and captured 1,000 thieves; Ren Tianqi wounded 10 thieves in a row, released 300 thieves, and never caught a single thief or bandit. The officers and soldiers seized a lot, and Ren Tianqi got 2,000 taels of gold and three boxes of jewelry. The treasure car was launched, and the cries of the officials and soldiers shook the sky. Ren Tianqi looked up to the sky and laughed, whipped his horse away, and the treasure car rumbled up a puff of dust to follow.