It was already evening, and Jia Heng led five hundred soldiers in stealth, advancing along the rugged and steep mountain road into the depths of Cuihua Mountain. The mountains and forests were reflected in the slanting light of the autumn sunset.
"Sir, this is the valley a hundred steps ahead." Zhao Yi, who was leading two scouts to explore the road, turned around and pointed in the direction of the valley behind him, and said in a low voice.
Jia Heng nodded and followed Zhao Yi forward for about a hundred steps.
Standing under the hazel tree, looking out at the valley, I could see that within the valley, there were well-proportioned green brick and tile houses built on the flat land, with thieves and bandits coming and going, and even women washing clothes by the river.
The vigilant thieves in Cuihua Mountain, wearing cloth towels on their heads and holding knives, stood on the bamboo towers and patrolled back and forth. From a distance, they looked like a small village.
"You just went over, did you find any hidden whistles?" Jia Heng asked in a low voice.
Zhao Yi said: "I found two and killed them. I just went over and took a look. The fortress was empty. There were only about two hundred thieves with knives. The rest were robbed, old, young, women and children, washing clothes for the thief Kou Huan." , chop wood and boil water."
Zhang Wu, the first boss of Cuihua Mountain, also took his second boss Luo Xiong and third boss Qian Qing with more than 600 people early in the morning. They were divided into two teams, and they left Cuihua Mountain and headed towards the Yangji Road entrance. And go.
Only the fourth master Zhou Gen and Fan Yi were left in the village, leading more than 200 people to stay behind.
Jia Heng nodded, followed Zhao Yi and walked fifty steps to the left. Standing on a high hill covered by dense and lush hazel pine trees, he looked at the valley and had a panoramic view of the layout of the village. He looked gloomy and whispered. : "Zhao Baihu, when it gets dark later, you can lead a hundred men to attack from the southwest corner, and I will lead a sneak attack from the front."
Zhao Yi frowned and said: "Sir, the front is too dangerous, why don't I attack from the front."
Although the walls and arrow stacks built by the bandits were all made of stone, soil and bamboo, they looked quite crude.
But if used well, it can still cause damage to the attacking side. If Mr. Jia makes a mistake, how will he deal with Mr. Dai?
"It doesn't matter, these old and weak people who are busy outside will return to the village later. It is when the bandits are most relaxed. The gate of the village is wide open. We take the opportunity to kill them. As long as you respond from the side, we can minimize the casualties. ." Jia Heng said in a low voice.
Hearing this, Zhao Yi looked at the young man with admiration in his eyes.
He is willing to take risks and strive to be the first. No wonder he said when he resigned from the title, he will take his own fame and fame without being grateful to his ancestors.
…
…
At the same time, at the Yangji intersection five or six miles away from Chang'an County, six to seven hundred bandits led by Zhang Wu also went into hiding in the forest next to the intersection one after another.
In the afternoon, Luo Xiong saw the motorcade approaching in the distance and shouted "do it".
Just hearing the sound of cannons, hundreds of thieves jumped out from the grass and tree branches and killed the officers and soldiers who were pretending to be traveling merchants.
"Don't mess around! Copycat!" Cai Quan looked at the soldiers who were about to abandon the car and leave. He shouted angrily, pulled out the Yanfei Dao from the carriage full of goods, readied the crossbow, and fired at the bandits from the car.
"Whoosh"...
As the officers and soldiers fired a round of crossbows, more than a dozen thieves immediately fell to the ground with a "snort of pain".
Luo Xiong snorted coldly and raised his knife to kill Cai Quan, but was stopped by Qu Lang holding his knife.
Then, the officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp came out in ambush and surrounded and killed the bandits.
There were originally only 300 officers and soldiers in the Beijing camp, but because Jia Heng had greeted Huang Tai in advance, Huang Tai gritted his teeth and mobilized 600 elite soldiers. When the two sides reached a stalemate, they rushed out from the side.
Although Zhang Wu was not frightened, he thought it was an ambush army from the Beijing camp. He blocked Huang Tai's troops and the troops from the Beijing camp, covered Luo Xiong, who had plundered some property, to break out, and retreated into the mountains and forests.
Huang Tai's and Cai Quan's troops were holding Zhang Wu's group tightly, so the whole Yangji intersection was filled with loud killings, and the fight gradually tended to turn into a mess.
Because the Yangji Crossing was, after all, close to Chang'an County, the thieves were timid. When facing the Shangguan Army's brigade, they were met with a hail of bows and crossbows, and their casualties gradually increased.
Of the 600 people who were originally brought out, a hundred of them were killed by the crossbows fired by the officers and soldiers, and there were still three or four hundred people trapped in the formation.
Zhang Wu was angry and angry for a while. He turned around and took more than a hundred bandits who had escaped, and turned back to rescue them.
Due to the huge disparity in the strength of the two sides and the sophisticated military equipment, the battle did not end in a bad battle. It was not until night fell and the field of vision was limited that the Cuihua Mountain bandits left behind more than 200 corpses and more than 200 wounded prisoners. After capturing his accomplices, they broke away from contact.
In the mountain forest, Zhang Wu looked gloomy with only about 200 of his subordinates left behind him, and felt extremely regretful in his heart.
But on Jia Heng's side, as soon as it got dark, he took his 500 recharged soldiers, divided into two teams, and rushed towards the gate of the valley under the cover of twilight.
At this time, the old, young, women and children in the village were returning from washing their clothes and chopping firewood. They were walking slowly toward the gate of the village. They were rushed by the officers and soldiers and immediately fled in all directions.
"Enemy attack..."
On the crenellation of the village gate, which was as tall as one person, a bandit was eating with steamed buns. When he saw this, he suddenly panicked, drew out his sword, and hurriedly went towards the officers and soldiers who climbed up the wall of the village along the slope.
However, at this moment, he saw a flash of sword light, and the bandit narrowed his eyes slightly, and felt his consciousness darken, and a ball of blood mist spurted out from his neck.
Jia Heng swung the Yanling knife in his hand, killed a bandit, and then went towards the inner room.
On this trip to the mountains to suppress bandits, he did not bring a sword, but looked for a knife to facilitate killing the enemy.
"Control the village gate!"
Jia Heng shouted loudly as he rushed towards the inside of the stronghold. When he saw the knife-wielding thieves, he chopped them off.
At the same time, one hundred soldiers led by Zhao Yi also rushed out from the other side. The two groups of men and horses were like two arrows, strangling the bandits.
The bandits were caught off guard and were in chaos. After sixty or seventy people died, they finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed completely. They knelt down and asked to surrender.
When night fell over the mountains and forests and the bright moonlight shone in the valley, the sound of killing stopped in the Cuihua Mountain village.
Jia Heng frowned when he smelled the bloody smell of hunting around him, and walked to the Juyi Hall with five halls. Just as he was about to enter the hall, a man named Hu Ji, who was under Cai Quan, escorted a man with a clear face. The scholar at Zhongzhong came out of Juyi Hall.
Hu Ji smiled and said, "Sir, we captured a thief alive."
When Jia Heng heard this, he looked at the scholar with a square scarf who had his hands cut behind his back and tied with a rope. He saw that his face was fair and his temperament was elegant, especially his eyes were calm. There seemed to be no fear on his face. He frowned and said, "Push him in first." , I will interrogate you personally.”
Hu Ji winked, and the two soldiers held the scholar down and headed toward the inner room.
"Is this lord a royal guard of the imperial court?" Before Jia Heng could say anything, Fan Yi stared at the flying fish suit Jia Heng was wearing and asked.
"Be honest and kneel down!" Two soldiers kicked Fan Yi's legs. Fan Yi showed pain on his face, but he just grunted.
"Seeing as you are also a scholar, why did you become a thief?" Jia Heng looked calm, waved his hand to Hu Ji, and signaled the two soldiers to retreat. Then, without waiting for the scholar's answer, he looked at the scholar's lame leg and frowned: "This is Were they beaten by thieves from Cuihua Mountain?"
Fan Yi said calmly: "This was interrupted by a man from Beijing."
Jia Heng frowned and was about to speak. Suddenly, a man named Hu Ji, holding a blue cloth bag, said with a flattering smile: "Sir, this was found from this scholar's house."
Jia Heng reached out to take it and opened the cloth bag, but his eyes were attracted by a document with the official seal of Hubei Academic Affairs Bureau, and he frowned, "Fan Yi? The imperial examination of Xiangyang Prefecture in Hubei Province, the thirteenth year of Chongping..."
Jia Heng's eyes flickered as he read the words on it.
Since he was a civil servant, he had the privilege of being exempted from taxes and corvee in the local area. Even if he was lame, he should not be a thief.
Yes, Fan Yi was said to have been beaten by an official in the capital just now. The details here are quite worth pondering.
Jia Heng's face was frosty, his eyes fixed on Fan Yi, and he said: "Your legs were broken because you were rushing to take the exam. Why didn't you report it to the official?"
How arrogant to actually break the legs of a person who was rushing to take the exam!
Later generations heard a professor surnamed Zhai say that when a system prevents the reserve members of the ruling elite from feeling the upward path and despairs of the system, it is a precursor to a change of dynasty.
If you want to rebel based on your mud-legged skills, generally speaking, you will be the vanguard for the king.
It will take three years for scholars to rebel, but if scholars unite with farmers and workers...
As if feeling the "shock and anger" in the young man's gaze, Fan Yi sighed inwardly and said with a wry smile: "The student came to Beijing to take the exam in the twelfth year of Chongping. Because of the conflict with others, he offended the commander of the Wucheng Army and Horses Division. A minor official was hired by a green-skinned man from the east of the city to have his lower legs broken. The student also reported it to the official. At that time, the Jingzhao Yamen's messengers visited for a while, but there was no news again. Then, the student asked the Ministry of Etiquette for help. , were all told by the petty officials there that they needed to report the case to Yousi. The students lingered in Shenjing, spent all their money, and wanted to return home, but were captured by the bandits here. It has been two years since I was a junior here."
Jia Heng's face was gloomy and he said coldly: "Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division? How dare someone be so bold?"
Fan Yi sighed and said: "The student knows that he is a traitor and will inevitably die. I just ask you, Sir, can you help clarify the student's doubts?"
Jia Heng frowned and said, "Clear the confusion?"
Fan Yi looked up at the young man and said, "How did you find this stronghold?"
Jia Heng said: "Are you talking about this bandit's nest?"
Fan Yi nodded, sighed and said: "To be honest, sir, the strategy the students gave Zhang Wu was not to build a city in the mountains, but to temporarily live in the valleys. If they encounter the army, they can hide in the mountains and forests at any time."
When Jia Heng heard this, his heart moved slightly and he said: "The bandits colluded with the Ningguo Mansion to harm me. I learned from the bandits' confession that you would return to the bandit's nest within a day, so I based on the three facts that you and others often commit crimes. Find the location of the bandit's nest at the place where the forked roads converge!"
When Fan Yi heard the words, she stood froze on the spot, her face slightly shaken, and her mind was rapidly calculating the words of the young man in front of her.
Many things are like this. There is often a layer of window paper, and once it is pierced, wise people can instantly see the key to it.
Fan Yi looked at the young man with a complex expression and asked, "I don't know what your lord's name is."
Jia Heng said calmly: "Jia Heng."
"A member of the Shenjing Jia family?" Fan Yi pondered for a moment and asked in shock.
"Ning Guo's lineage." Jia Heng said lightly, his stern eyes fell on Fan Yi's face, and asked: "Mr. Fan has finished questioning me, now it's time for me to interrogate Mr. Fan. Does the Cuihua Mountain bandit leader seem to be named Zhang Wu? How many bandits are there in the mountains? How did they collude with Jia Zhen and the Chang'an Jiedu envoy? Is there any correspondence between them?"
Fan Yi was silent for a moment and said: "If the student tells the truth, can you agree to the student's unkind request?"
Jia Heng said: "Invitation without invitation?"
"If a student dies for the imperial court, please hire a carriage to take the student's body back to his hometown of Xiangyang for burial," Fan Yi said.
Jia Heng said: "When old people return to their hometowns and leaves fall to their roots, this is also human nature. I can agree to this for you."
Even though I have some love for Fan Yi in my heart, I can't make a promise easily at the moment.
Fan Yi thanked him, and then started to talk about the details of the bandits in Cuihua Mountain.
Jia Heng's face was gloomy, and the more he listened, the more frightened he became.
But it was the bandits from Cuihua Mountain who bribed Yun Guang, the military governor of Chang'an, and sent him 50,000 taels of silver every six months. He sent them three times, which totaled 150,000 taels. Plus various gifts, the wealth was indescribable. Winning strategy.
"These gold and silver transactions are all recorded in the account books." Fan Yi said.
Hearing this, Jia Heng quickly winked at Hu Ji, who was standing next to him, and asked him to search for letters and account books in Chen Wu's room.
After a while, Hu Ji held a wooden box and respectfully handed it to Jia Heng's desk.
Jia Heng picked up a letter and started reading it. The person who wrote the letter was Yun Guang, the military governor of Chang'an!
Jia Heng's eyes were deep and he breathed a sigh of relief.
With this letter, we can capture Yun Guang, but do we need to go to Shen Jing to request an order?
Will the news leak out?
Jia Heng was thinking about it, and suddenly Zhao Yi entered the Juyi Hall, his cheeks flushed, and he clasped his fists and said, "Sir, everyone has been taken into custody, and the belongings have been counted, including 260,000 taels of silver, 8,000 pieces of silk, and jade jewelry. There are fifteen boxes..."
Jia Heng's face moved slightly, he looked at Zhao Yi, and said in a deep voice: "Let people close the gate of the village, take the body away, cover the blood stains with loess, and tell the brothers that the bandits will return to their nest in two hours at most, let them Once the crossbow is installed, let’s close the door and beat the dog!”
Just now I learned from Fan Yi the true identity of the Cuihua Mountain bandits. Zhang Wu brought out six to seven hundred bandits. Even though some were damaged, the bandits who came back were still capable of fighting. As the so-called eradication of evil is done, we must not let any of these bandits go!
