stubborn thief

Chapter 170
The next day Ma Maoguan led the team on the road.

Having not slept all night, he had dark circles under his eyes, and he didn't talk to anyone on the road.

Even when his brother-in-law asked him where Bing Xianhe had gone, he ignored him, and only said that he was asked to do errands, and when he was done, he would not only be reinstated as an official, but also move upwards.

Last night, he thought about many things.

First of all, I thought that after the governor's lord stepped on the saddle, maybe I could find a wife and son in this life.

If he wants to find a family background under the command of Lord Bingxian, he may be responsible for the honor of the old Ma family. .

Not only about getting promoted and getting rich, but even about... ideals.

In the middle of the night, Ma Maoguan lay on the soft bed in the official room in Yicheng, thinking a lot about what he had and what he didn't.

I hope that one day, I can earn a fifth-rank Wude general by myself, and give my wife and the blind old mother a fifth-rank imperial wife.

Thinking of how young I was, I knew Guan Yunchang, Yue Pengju, and Wen Tianxiang before I knew how to use farm tools, and I wanted to be that kind of person the most, loyal and courageous, and heroic.

He definitely doesn't want to be a thief in the gutter when he grows up.

Ma Maoguan walked in the front of the team and said to his brother-in-law, "I don't want to be a thief anymore."

Qi Shuangquan didn't respond, and only said with a heavy heart: "I listen to my brother-in-law."

This made Ma Maoguan very relieved, for a while he didn't bother to ask Qi Shuangquan why he was depressed, and only thought about his next step.

He had to think about how to avoid being hacked to death by Liu Chengzong.

It's hard.

Just when Ma Maoguan was still worried, Qi Shuangquan with a worried face finally made up his mind and said to him: "Brother-in-law, I don't know whether I should tell you, it seems that someone moved the seal of the cash box last night."

"Someone moved the seal?"

Ma Maoguan stopped, his expression changed drastically, and he asked, "Did you see clearly?"

Qi Shuangquan shook his head and said, "I'm not sure either. I've been thinking about it for a long time. I'm afraid that something will happen, so I'll tell you."

"Yesterday, I was joking with Lao Qi to see if we could move a box of silver. I remember that the word 'An' on the seal of that box had ink stains like two dots."

"But I can't find the box today. It's all a dot. Lao Qi also saw it, but he can't read."

Ma Maoguan was trembling all over: "Tell the team to stop, and search again, if there is no one, open the box."

Unauthorized opening of the seal is a capital offense, so opening the box is also a capital offense.

Qi Shuangquan hurriedly said: "Brother-in-law, what if I misremembered?"

He just told Ma Maoguan about it because he was worried and had nothing to do, but he didn't expect such a big reaction from Ma Maoguan.

Qi Shuangquan didn't know, Ma Maoguan thought of another possibility.

Maybe there is no good thing in this world, what if the money has already been taken away, but he should be blamed?

The thought made him feel like falling into an ice cave.

"Are you sure the seal has been tampered with?"

It was a matter of family and life, Ma Maoguan couldn't hold his breath, and circled around the twenty carriages, causing tension among the officials and soldiers who came from Guanzhong for a while.

When word spread that the seal might have been tampered with in the team, everyone panicked.

People gathered around the cash box from whispering to complaining.

In the steep and deep valley, in the crevice of the rolling mountains, five hundred men panicked because of a paper seal.

"Open it."

Ma Maoguan's voice was unusually firm, his whole body was trembling uncontrollably, and his eyes were fixed on the silver box.

"Brother-in-law, I don't know, just open the seal..."

"If you don't open it, you will die." Ma Maoguan turned his head and glared at his brother-in-law, and said very quickly: "There is no silver in it, Liu Shizi will let us go, and he can still bear the responsibility of losing the silver box!"

During this period of time, his mind was spinning rapidly. This matter looked good everywhere, but it turned out to be a pitfall everywhere.

Qi Shuangquan gritted his teeth and reached out to touch the seal. Just as he was about to lift the seal, Ma Maoguan jumped onto the carriage first, and shouted to the surroundings: "Brothers, listen to me."

The surroundings gradually became quiet.

He wiped his chin viciously, and said to everyone: "This is the end of the matter. If there is silver in the box and the seal is broken, I will not be able to pay for it, so I will divide the silver and return to Jinsuoguan. If you don't want to leave home, just say that the silver was stolen." Liu Chengzong snatched it away."

"If you want to leave home, take your family and trick you into opening Jinsuo Pass and flee into northern Shaanxi; if there is no money in it, and the chief blamed us, then follow me to vote for Liu Shizi, and you will not make him feel better if you blame me!"

Everyone was silent, and no one dared to raise the issue, and then the seal was torn off.

Ma Maoguan sighed heavily, and overturned the wooden box full of gravel to the ground with all his strength, causing the cart and horse to stand up in shock.

The crowd boiled like hot oil splashed on water.

Then one seal after another was lifted, and boxes after boxes of rubble were dumped on the ground.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Ma Maoguan clutched his forehead and paced among the rubble, suddenly raised his hand: "Guan Yin, Guan Yin is in Yichuan."

"You are all waiting for me here, don't go anywhere!"

After all, Ma Maoguan only asked his brother-in-law to restrain the soldiers, untied the four horses from the carriage, rode them on and galloped northward.

The Lion Camp is waiting at the junction of Yan'an Mansion and Fuzhou.

Nearly [-] miles away, Ma Maoguan forcibly changed horses at three post stations along the way, Zhaidao, Sanchuan, and Fucheng, and met Liu Chengzong at noon.

When we met, it was like seeing a lifesaver.

"General Liu, Guan Yin is not here!"

Ma Maoguan's ideal of going the right way was once again shattered, so he could only go to Liu Chengzong for help.

Liu Chengzong was not as angry as he imagined, but asked him to explain the matter in detail with a blank face, and asked after a little thought: "If you think too much, maybe Bing Beidao just wants to bypass me. I don't believe you guys Guan Zhongbing, what should we do?"

Liu Chengzong felt that this possibility was high.

If Zhang Yundeng wanted to use this to frame Ma Maoguan, it didn't make sense.

If it wasn't for seeing him yesterday, Zhang Yundeng wouldn't even know who Ma Maoguan was, and why would he frame him?
If it's to blame, just throw it to the lion camp. Liu Chengzong is such a big gold-lettered signboard that even two of the generals have been beaten. Is it too much to grab some money?

There is no need to come up with such a set of things to frame a small person like Ma Maoguan.

Liu Chengzong felt that the biggest problem with this matter was that Zhang Yundeng didn't expect that a tool would grow his own thoughts, and he dared to break the seal without authorization.

Compared with the matter itself, Liu Chengzong cared more about why Zhang Yundeng did this.

Normally, Zhang Yundeng should be worried about Yanchuan, after all, he defeated Ai Mu in Yanchuan last time.

But Zhang Yundeng deliberately gave up Yan'an Fucheng, and went to Yichuan and Yanchuan.

Liu Chengzong didn't understand why?
Someone leaked the information?

But it shouldn't.

Liu Chengzong thought about it, he only had Ma Maoguan as an internal response in the Yunyin team, and Ma Maoguan would never expose himself.

What's more, even if Zhang Yundeng knew that Ma Maoguan was an internal response, he should not continue to let him lead the team forward, and he had to specifically check to see if he was the one who robbed the food, and if so, let Ma Maoguan and others give up resistance.

This is strange.

Liu Chengzong wondered whether the situation of Zhang Nian being evacuated by the father and brother of Yan'an Mansion and Mr. Yang had been grasped by the government?

Then Yan'an Mansion would not be safe.

Just as he was thinking about this, Tang Qi came to report that Li Laochai led his troops westward in Zhiluo Town in the southwest, saying that he didn't have any part of the money anyway, and he was going to Qingyang Mansion Attack Heshui County.

Liu Chengzong also wanted to go, because he was running out of food.

But at present, it is more important to pass this village without the money of this shop.

After thinking about it carefully, I don't think this is a bad thing for him. At least this situation shows that the government has no intention of ambush him for the time being.

At most, this is just making him a scapegoat.

Otherwise, Zhang Yundeng didn't have to look forward and backward on the route.

On the contrary, it is still a good opportunity.

Now there are two Yunyin teams.

A person can only rob one in a short period of time. If Liu Chengzong robbed the Yinzhou team, then Ai Mu's family members could go and rob Yichuan's team.

Thinking of this, he was quite happy, and asked Cao Yao to take Feng Rushao to go east first, and then sent Yang Yao to take Wang Wenxiu to Fuzhou to confirm the silver box that Ma Maoguan said contained gravel.

As for himself, he stayed in the middle to see if there would be problems on both sides, and he rushed to help as soon as possible.

The next day, the Lion Camp first confirmed that Ma Maoguan was not lying, and then seriously comforted Ma Maoguan, promising to reward him with 13 taels for the whole team if things come true later and if there are 1 taels.

But he needs to find a way to deal with the Jinsuo Pass by himself. When his family members come back, the Lion Camp will still provide him with some land.

Liu Chengzong didn't know Ma Maoguan's psychological struggle, but felt that this person was okay, even if he was like this, he still knew to come to him.

Immediately, the lion leader moved northward outside the city, and then went eastward.

If the south side is fake, he can also rush to the east side as quickly as possible;

He vaguely felt that the huge sum of 13 taels would be quite a lot for the imperial court to send thousands of people to take care of it, but if the group of people like Ma Maoguan were removed, there would be less than 500 people left. up.

The imperial court should not be rich to this extent.

On the way, he was still very puzzled, where did the officers and soldiers get the courage to divide the troops? He had only been active in Yanchuan a while ago.

On the evening of the second day of Ma Maoguan's departure, Liu Chengzong arrived in Yanchang County, and arrived in Yanchuan County on the third day, watching the road leading to Yanchang County from afar.

On the fourth day, He Yong from the north came.

At this time, Hong Chengchou, the governor of Yansui, who was far away in Yulin Town, also received a message from Zhang Yundeng asking for help.

Hong Chengchou is the governor of Yansui who just took office in June, but he has served in Shaanxi for many years before, and he is familiar with the frontier generals, but he just doesn't care about it for the time being.

Both he and Du Wenhuan couldn't take care of it, they were busy inviting Wang Zuohang to dinner.

The news was brought by He Yong. He Yong came to persuade him and said, "Lion, you must not be recruited. Now that Wang Zuogua is staying in Suide, he is still looting endlessly. The governor of Yansui, Hong Chengchou, doesn't think so." A person who can knead sand."

"It's not someone who can rub sand in their eyes, what does that mean?"

He Yong carefully looked left and right, and then said in a low voice: "The north is sending Du Wenhuan to the south. I heard from the general that if Wang Zuohang continues to plunder like this, his life may not be guaranteed."

What He Yong meant was that Yansui Town is sending troops to Suide, Yuhe Fort is in the north of Suide, Lion Camp should be careful.

In case Du Wenhuan finished Wang Zuogua or even did not do Wang Zuogua, and directly led the army south, He Yong would not have time to report.

Liu Shizi had already seen the weird situation in Shaanxi in the Tang Baodi newspaper. The governors of the three sides are people who intend to appease, while Hong Chengchou is a person who mainly destroys.

The two of them are no longer fighting secretly, they are fighting openly, one wants to appease the other.

When Liu Chengzong led his army to Yanchuan, the Tangqi sent by Cao Yao to the south still didn't reply, and Liu Shizi even thought that he had gone astray.

But fortunately on the sixth day, the forward Tang Qi finally collided with the official scouts from Yanzhou. In a place called Yunyan Town, the two sides fought.

There were more than [-] officers and soldiers, and only Wei Qian'er's more than [-] Tangqi were the first to arrive at the battlefield in the Lion Camp.

But people like Wei Qian'er have also experienced several battles, and they are no worse than the actual combat experience of the Yanzhou government army.

Then Liu Chengzong led a hundred riders, Ding Zema, to the battlefield, climbed to the top of the mountain and looked through the binoculars.

The terrain here is that the river valley flows from northwest to southeast. The west bank is slightly wider, with more than a hundred steps; the east bank is narrower, with only more than sixty steps.

The officers and soldiers of the silver transportation team seemed to be on the east bank of the river in the morning, using the mountain wall for shade.

This group is using dozens of riders to cover the river bank, protecting the carriage in the middle, and the infantry is wearing armor on the outside, trying to cross the Yunyan River, which is shallow to the calf, first.

On the other hand, Wei Qian'er's Tangqi drove the official army Tangqi down the mountain ridges on several mountain ridges in the east and west of the river.

Liu Chengzong was delighted to see this situation. Some time ago, he was thinking in his mind that summer temperature determines the form of war, which is to expand the controllable area and activity space of the army.

Give armored soldiers the opportunity to rotate in units, rehydrate and get rest.

The actions of the officers and soldiers at this moment reminded Liu Chengzong that he had overlooked a very important point during the day, the sun.

The temperature and harsh sunlight in midsummer will make the armored infantry quickly dehydrated and heatstroke, and it will also make it difficult for the archers to aim.

It was past noon, and the sun was setting to the west, so whoever seized the west bank of the river would win the battle in the afternoon.

Seeing that the troops behind were still marching and it would take some time to reach the battlefield, Liu Chengzong ordered to his servants: "Tell, the servants put on armor, harass them, and don't allow them to cross the river!"

After issuing this order, Liu Chengzong added another sentence to Zhong Bao: "Fan Sanlang stay here."

The captains of the two teams gladly accepted the order. The sergeants put on their armors and rode their horses into formation. Under the envious eyes of Fan Sanlang, who was wearing his armor, he waded across the river from the northeast of the battlefield, and galloped from the west bank to the battlefield in the south. .

"Why won't the general let me go? Why, I've been practicing for two months!"

Sleeping on the back of a mule after practicing for two months?
The entire servant team regards Kowtow Saburo as a treasure. If this little thing is killed on the battlefield, his servant team can directly charge towards the enemy.

Liu Chengzong glanced at her, turned his head and continued to observe the battlefield expressionlessly, and said seriously, "You can protect me."

Fan Sanlang's face turned red from holding back, and he was speechless because of these words.

She was not the kind of idiot Wei Qian'er had just joined the Lion Camp, and wanted to single out Liu Chengzong on the first day.

She had already asked about it.

It's hard to say where Liu Shizi's martial arts ranks in the battalion, there are too many people, and there is no comparison.

But it is generally accepted that in the battle of Jingjiagou in the early days of Shiziying, Liu Shizi turned the defeat into a big victory by himself with his bow and horse skills.

Fan Sanlang especially wanted to ask: Do you still employ human protection?
In the end, she laughed angrily, snorted, and stood obediently by the side, listening to Liu Chengzong explain to her why she wanted to seize the West Bank.

The officers and soldiers also spotted the galloping cavalry, and hurriedly ordered dozens of horsemen in the team to cross the river in order to seize the position on the river bank and let the troops move over.

The left team led by the Han brothers pulled apart the horizontal team at fifty or sixty paces, and shot the feathered arrows towards the river bank.

The right team waited around them, cavalry in groups of three or five, waiting for an opportunity to engage with the enemy cavalry rushing to block them, with an interval of six or seven steps, raising their guns and emitting bursts of gunpowder smoke.

　good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)