Sometimes, not only the mouths of matchmakers and charlatans can deceive people to death, but sometimes the pen of literati can also deceive people to death.
In some third-rate novels or travel notes, bandits live in the wilderness, next to green waters and green mountains.
But in real life, the so-called real bandits will not live in a sparsely populated place.
Banditry is essentially a profession that does not involve production and focuses on plunder.
If a bandit's den is built in a place where no one passes by, or very few people pass by, the bandits who do not farm will eat and drink whatever they want.
"..."
In the feudal era, except for official roads where officers and soldiers were stationed, other transportation thoroughfares in remote areas were definitely not safe places.
"..."
Because many people who originally relied on the sky and farming will gradually discover that it is more effective to rely on the road and the sword to eat, and they can still eat well and eat well.
So, on land, there was Roadhog.
Later on, they evolved into murderous robbers and bandits.
Later, their opening words and slogans were the same: "If you want to live from now on, leave money to buy you."
"..."
Yuanguang year, February 8th.
It has been four days since Wei Qing arrived at the Gannan military camp.
During these four days, Wei Qing and the officers at all levels in the military camp handed over the work and arranged the daily work.
After completing these tasks, Wei Qing, who had his hands free, began to deal with this group of daring bandits on Niutoushan.
"..."
On Niutou Mountain, the leader of this daring group of bandits is named Living Hell King, and he has five hundred brothers.
With the elite level of the Crossbow Corps, there would be absolutely no problem in taking away the next small bandit den by force.
However, a forceful attack on a bandit's den will, after all, cause casualties.
"..."
Wei Qing was not willing to waste the seeds of the remaining 100 or so crossbowmen on a place like this.
A strong attack is impossible, so outsmarting is needed.
"..."
I don’t know if it’s because Gannan Military Village is too poor, or for some other reason…
The main hall where people are entertained in the Gannan military camp is not very big, and is even slightly smaller than the main hall of an ordinary landlord or squire's house.
In the small and low main hall, only an oil lamp was lit on a wooden pillar.
Under the dim light, four or five people were seen sitting in this hall.
"..."
Zhongzhou Sima Weiqing, who is in the fifth rank, is currently sitting on the main seat, looking at the two squires in front of him without saying a word.
Under the swaying lights, Wei Qing's face was also uncertain, making it unclear what he was thinking at this moment.
The two local squires had probably never seen an official of Wei Qing's level...
Or maybe he was suffocated by the serious atmosphere in the main hall, so he remained silent for a long time.
"..."
Ma Xiaoli, on his side, just wanted to introduce to Wei Qing...
The two of them immediately felt their legs go weak and their bones went numb. They didn't know when they had already knelt down, trembling.
"..."
I saw these two people kowtowing repeatedly and still talking in their mouths. The king of Xiaomin is in chaos, Zhao Yun, pays homage to Lord Sima of Zhongzhou and so on.
“…”
Wang Luan and Zhao Yun are the principals and pavilion chiefs.
Both of them are prominent local figures who influence everything.
But in front of Wei Qing, he behaved like two sick cats.
"..."
Wei Qing, on the other hand, did not make any detours and went straight to the point and asked: "Do you two know the true identity of the bandits on Niutou Mountain?"
Looking at the "big man" in front of them, Wang Luan and Zhao Yun naturally had thoughts of fawning and clinging to him.
In order to create a good impression in front of Wei Qing, the two of them coincidentally introduced the specific situation of the Niutoushan bandits first.
Their local accents were urgent and fast, and Wei Qing, as a foreigner, could not understand them well.
In addition, with the bandits on his mind, Wei Qing didn't want to listen to nonsense.
"..."
After getting the general information about this group of bandits, Wei Qing waved his hand and dismissed the two of them.
Next, Wei Qing took out a batch of mountain goods from the Gannan military camp, got some coarse cloth and black cotton-padded jackets that were only worn by rural people, found a few broken ox carts, and pretended to be a caravan.
The clothes and goods were all camouflaged, and everything else, after some preparation, was no problem.
"..."
During the Han Dynasty, the life of soldiers in the army was not much better than that of ordinary people.
It was exposed to wind and sun, and most of the soldiers had to work in the fields during the spring plowing and autumn harvest periods. It was completely impossible to get tender skin and tender meat.
Especially these crossbowmen who had been rigorously trained by Wei Qing, the skin all over their bodies was dark and rough, and there were many new wounds and knife marks on their arms and calves.
To be honest, from the appearance, these soldiers under Wei Qing are even older farmers than old farmers.
"..."
Now, it is the time when the mountains are closed by heavy snow. At this time, not only carnivores find it difficult to find prey.
Even the bandits are short of supplies, food, and objects to plunder.
With the appearance and attire of Wei Qing and others, they conveyed the message twice near Niutoushan. With the boldness of the bandits, they would probably be unable to bear it any longer and rush down the mountain.
With the greedy temperament of the bandits, there is no business that comes to their doorstep that they won't snatch.
At that time, it was the opportunity for Wei Qing and others.
"..."
Wei Qing, with a group of people, only brought three days of dry food with him when he set out from Dazhai, Gannan, but he also walked for three full days.
Sitting on the stand of the bullock cart, looking at the vast white land, Wei Qing couldn't help but feel agitated.
Three days have passed. I don’t know what happened to the bandits, but they haven’t appeared yet...
Just when Wei Qing and others were waiting impatiently...
On the mountainside of a high snow-capped mountain, a middle-aged man with a strong back but a stern face was locking Wei Qing's caravan tightly with eyes like a poisonous snake.
This person is none other than Zhong Wei, the second head of Niutoushan. Although he looks to be only in his thirties, he is in his prime.
However, his real age is already over forty.
"..."
The head of Niutoushan is Zhongwei's father, Zhongxia.
Zhongxia is a bandit leader who is over sixty years old and a notorious villain in the surrounding area.
Because Zhongxia was old, he handed over most of the tasks to his eldest son Zhong Wei.
This is also the reason why Zhong Wei, the second master of Niutoushan, led a group of bandits out to rob.
As for Zhong Wei, he actually discovered the caravan of Wei Qing and others a long time ago.
The reason why he hasn't done anything is because he vaguely felt something fishy and wanted to observe it for a while before talking.
