Zhao Qinghu has been active in the wild all year round. His skin looks a bit dark and rough. He is not tall, only less than 1.7 meters, but he is considered tall among southerners.
But this person has thick eyebrows, big eyes, plump eyes, a pair of bright eyes, and a heroic brow. Although he is only in his twenties, he has the heroic demeanor of a reckless hero. Standing among a group of strong men in black, you can tell at a glance that this man is extraordinary.
At this time, Zhao Qinghu, like his subordinates, wore a black open-breasted cloth coat, and the white jacket underneath was tied up by a wide training belt. There was a shell gun pinned to the tiger head buckle of the belt. Zhou Wen recognized it at a glance as a red nine-box cannon imported from Germany.
He then looked at the Hanyang-made rifles in the hands of Zhao Qinghu's men in black, and he knew that the support provided by Datong Company to the Yihu Gang was really not that great. Not to mention the ordinary bandit weapons made in Hanyang, even the old sleeves cannot be used by one person. And there is actually an imported shell gun, which makes Zhou Wen a little surprised.
Zhao Qinghu and a group of brothers had been waiting at the entrance of the valley for a long time. When they saw Zhou Wen and the others coming, they came up to meet them from a distance. They clasped their fists at Zhou Jinbao and Zhou Wen, bowed deeply and said, "Commanders, welcome to the Yihu Gang as guests, Qinghu has We are disappointed, but we still hope that the officers will atone for their sins."
Zhou Wen and Zhang Xiaoping were now in casual clothes, and they both returned the gift without making a sound, leaving it to Zhou Jinbao to deal with it.
Zhou Jinbao seemed to have dealt with Zhao Qinghu more than once or twice. He also raised his hands and said with a smile: "Brother Hutou, I came in a hurry this time. Didn't I cause you any trouble?"
"Chief Zhou's words are untrue. If you can come in person, our Yihu Gang will be happy before it's too late. There will be no trouble."
While Zhao Qinghu was chatting with Zhou Jinbao, his eyes couldn't help but look at Zhou Wen and Zhang Xiaoping.
Zhou Wen and Zhang Xiaoping didn't take it seriously and were also observing the behavior of these Yihu gang members. After all, we are here to recruit these bandits, and we must know whether these people are worth recruiting.
Not to mention, the dozens of gangsters who followed Zhao Qinghu were pretty good, full of energy, and they didn't talk nonsense, but they kept looking at the two of them with some vigilance in their eyes. Some people saw Zhou Wen's eyes sweeping over him, and they unconsciously averted their eyes and did not look at Zhou Wen, appearing a little reserved.
At this time, Zhou Jinbao pulled Zhao Qinghu over and introduced him: "Hutou, this is the chief secretary. I'm here just for your business this time. Don't neglect me."
Zhao Qinghu didn't know how someone could be called a scholar, and this young man was actually a higher-ranking officer than Chief Zhou. He was probably the son of some high-ranking official in Nanjing, but he didn't dare to neglect him, because there was something about this young officer. He has an indescribable temperament that makes people feel approachable and easy-going, but they don't dare to get too close.
At that moment, he saluted Zhou Wen again and said: "Sir, the chief scholar can come here..." He was interrupted by Zhou Wen with a smile and waved his hand in the middle of the sentence: "This tiger-headed brother seems to be a martial arts practitioner, between us. Don't use these literati's pretentious courtesy. If it's convenient, take me to your village for a walk, and then introduce me to the situation in the Jianghu area of Hukou, okay?"
Although Zhou Wen said it politely, he already had the intention not to allow Zhao Qinghu to refuse.
In fact, it's not that he wants to show off in front of Zhao Qinghu, but with his current strength and status, he is no longer impatient with the tricks of recruiting talents, but is straightforward about whether love will come or not.
No matter how heroic Zhao Qinghu is, he is just a good man. If he is a person who knows the trade-offs between pros and cons, he will naturally be able to see his intentions. Agreeing or not is just a matter of words. Could it be that he wants Zhou Wen to promise something high-ranking official? Not successful?
Moreover, Zhou Wen has been out for quite some time now, and he doesn't have time to spend too much thought on this kind of thing.
Zhao Qinghu is also a smart person. There is a kind of trust and obedience in Zhou Wen's gestures, and he immediately nodded and agreed without thinking.
"He is a sensible person." Zhou Wen concluded in his heart, and he also had a bit more solicitude.
In fact, Zhao Qinghu knew in his heart that just because he could make Chief Zhou, who had previously felt unfathomable, treat him like a subordinate, he knew that his power and strength were even more unfathomable. Your own mountain stronghold may be dangerous and difficult to attack to others, but to the officers and soldiers, it is no different than paper. They are just about to do something bad to you, so they come up with their troops. How can they get you these roundabout things?
So he agreed without hesitation, and took Zhou Wen and others directly into the valley, regardless of the winks Li Fu and Pan Loach gave him.
Of course, the Yihu Gang's village is not in a valley, but on a mountain peak along a hidden mountain path after passing through the valley.
Zhou Wen looked along the road and found that the Yihu Gang really looked like a regular army, with no shortage of secret and overt sentries. It is also very difficult for ordinary people to sneak into the cottage and conduct a sneak attack without anyone noticing.
Seeing this, he smiled and said to Zhou Jinbao: "Brother Zhou, you taught these security arrangements, right?"
Zhou Jinbao blushed and said with a dry smile: "Hey, I was afraid that Brother Hutou would be attacked by Pingbotang, so I gave some pointers. But Brother Hutou drew inferences from one example and made a deployment that was much better than what I originally suggested. Well, it makes you laugh, scholar."
Zhou Wen smiled and nodded. He glanced around as he walked and said, "The deployment of checkpoints is somewhat interesting, but there are still some omissions in the details."
As soon as Zhao Qinghu heard this, he hurried forward and said, "Please ask the chief secretary for advice."
Zhou Wen casually pointed in a direction to the east and said: "You have deployed the third secret sentry a little further away, about 100 meters away, plus the shade of the trees. If there is any noise here, it will be fine. If it is The first two checkpoints were touched silently by the masters, and I'm afraid they won't be able to find out."
Zhao Qinghu was immediately stunned when he heard this. It's not that he thinks what Zhou Wen said is unreasonable, but...how do you know there is a sentry hidden in the tree to the east? Are you clairvoyant?
"Also, although the positions of the checkpoints in the west and south are good, the distance between your hidden sentry and the open sentinel is too close. Anyone with a little bit of eyesight can spot the hidden sentinel hidden behind the trees."
Hearing this, Zhao Qinghu was so shocked by Zhou Wen's super perception that he broke into cold sweat on his head. It was not because of the exposure of the checkpoint that he was frightened, but because Zhou Wen's ability to see things as if he had a pair of clairvoyance was far beyond his knowledge.
