Chengji County, Qinzhou, which belongs to Longyou Road, is the only way to go west to Lanzhou and Hexi Corridor, where merchants from the south to the north meet, and the business is very developed.

However, since the emergence of horse bandits in Longyou Road last year, the business of Chengji County has rapidly declined, which has seriously affected the catering and accommodation industry in the county.

In the afternoon of this day, more than a dozen guests came to the Gaosheng Inn in Chengji County, and it was rare to have so many guests arrive at the same time, and the shopkeeper and the guy were very enthusiastic, waiting for the dozen or so guests staying in the hotel.

These dozen or so people are the vanguard scouts sent by Guo Song, the leader is called Zhang Yun, who is the scout captain under Yao Jin, shrewd and capable, and is deeply respected by Yao Jin.

Zhang Yun's first task this time was to find the whereabouts of the horse bandits, and to learn as much as possible about this horse bandit, before he left, Guo Song met with him, Guo Song told him that this horse bandit may be related to the party, which made Zhang Yun see a glimmer of light.

The reason why Zhang Yun came to Chengji County was because Chengji County was a place where commerce and trade were concentrated, and there were many caravans, so he should be able to inquire about the situation of horse bandits.

Zhang Yun arranged for his subordinates to stay, he found the inn Liang shopkeeper, and frankly introduced his situation, "We are the guards of the Wang caravan in Chang'an, not long ago the Wang caravan suffered heavy losses, the goods worth tens of thousands of guan were robbed, and nine of the thirteen men died, the owner was deeply worried and sent us to investigate the situation of the horse bandits." ”

Shopkeeper Liang sighed and said: "Not only you have suffered losses, but we have also been deeply affected, we originally had five guys, and it was difficult to find a room, but now, there are only two guys left, most of the inns are empty, and you are the only guests in these two days." ”

"This raging horse bandit, the shopkeeper should have a little bit of information, right?" Zhang Yun asked tentatively.

"I don't have personal experience, it's mostly hearsay, if Zhang Huwei wants to hear it, I can talk about it."

Zhang Yun leaned forward slightly, his eyes were full of interest, "Shopkeeper Liang, please speak, I am willing to listen!" ”

Liang shopkeeper groaned and said: "The first time this horse bandit appeared, it should be around March last year, I remember very clearly, those days should be the Cold Food Festival, a caravan disappeared, the government sent people to look for them, as a result of the corpse of this caravan was found in a ravine at the junction of Qinzhou and Weizhou, a total of thirty-two people, all were killed, the goods and camels were gone, and several female dependents were also robbed, and then the state government found a witness, it was a sheep herding sheepherd, he said that there were hundreds of black-clothed cavalry, Rushing like a black wind, the reputation of the Black Wind Horse Bandit came out like this. ”

"And then?"

"Later, news continued to come from the Black Wind Horse Bandits, saying that they specially attacked caravans, leaving no one alive, and all the women were ruined and died, and they were extremely brutal, and more and more caravans were killed, and there were fewer and fewer caravans taking this road."

"What do you mean by taking this road, is there any other way for the caravan to go?" Zhang Yun asked puzzled.

Shopkeeper Liang nodded, "I heard that you can go north to Lingzhou, and then go around Xiaoguan and take the Jing Waterway to Chang'an, so you won't run into trouble, and many caravans will take a long detour." ”

"Without the caravan fat, are the wolves still there?"

"And so on! I heard a few days ago that they had started to loot the village, and it was just as brutal as it was, maybe one day they would loot the county seat. ”

"How many people are there in this black wind horse bandit, does the shopkeeper know?" Zhang Yun asked again.

"There are a lot of specific theories, some people say hundreds, some people say hundreds, some people say only a few dozens, there are all kinds of theories, but they are all rumors, and the real situation is not very clear."

Zhang Yun pondered and asked, "The real situation, the government should have a detailed record!" ”

"There are detailed records, in the state government, the state government also specially sent people to investigate."

"Is there any way to get government records?"

The shopkeeper thought for a while and smiled: "This kind of thing shouldn't be considered confidential, just spend some money and let the clerks in the state government copy a copy." ”

"Can you ask the shopkeeper for help with this?"

"It's okay to help, so be it! I'll help you make an appointment, you talk to him specifically, this person is a scribe in the state government, and he is my relative, he should have a way. ”

"Will he trade with me?"

The shopkeeper laughed, "I just said that this kind of thing is not a secret, there is money to be made, why not?" ”

Zhang Yun nodded, "Then it's troublesome for the shopkeeper!" ”

........

At dusk, the shopkeeper Liang brought a person, who was about 30 years old, wearing a blue muslin jacket, wearing a gauze hat, with a small nose and small eyes, and his eyes were full of desire to get rich.

"This is my cousin, named Luo Jiang, who works as a clerk in the state government."

"It turned out to be Luo Yuanjun!" Zhang Yun smiled and saluted.

"If you don't dare to be a gentleman, just call me Lao Luo."

Zhang Yun nodded, "Let's sit inside!" ”

The two walked into Zhang Yun's room, Zhang Yun invited him to sit down, and said with a smile: "My identity and intention must be known to Brother Luo." ”

"My cousin has already told me, I can get what you want, I will just give you a copy of the case record, I want to know, how much can you give me?" This Luo Wenguan is very frank.

Zhang Yun smiled and said, "We also have cost control, I can only give you ten taels of silver at most." ”

The corners of Luo Jiang's mouth twitched violently, he thought that he could get at most one or two pieces of money, but he didn't expect the other party to be willing to give him ten taels of silver, he nodded again and again, "I'll take it tonight!" He was afraid that the night would be long and dreamy, and he couldn't wait to run back to the state government immediately.

Zhang Yun also realized that his price was too high, and said: "Ten taels of silver is to ask for all the information about the Black Wind Horse Bandit, and you can't just give me a part." ”

"I understand, the guarantee is the whole case, I will go back to the official office now, and I will draw a copy of the information to you."

"You won't find out?"

Luo Jiang looked out, lowered his voice and said: "Li Tingshi said it himself, this horse bandit has something to do with Longyou Jiedu Mansion, and Tingshi will never ask about it. ”

"Could it be the Tang Army cavalry pretending?"

Luo Jiang shook his head, "It's not the cavalry of the Tang Army, it should be a party member, last autumn, there was a captive Qiang woman who escaped back alive, according to her confession, this horse bandit spoke the party dialect, from the Xiazhou area, she can understand a little bit." ”

"Alright! I look forward to Brother Luo's information. ”

This scribe did not disappoint Zhang Yun, an hour later, he sent a thick stack of archival documents, Zhang Yun took a few literate subordinates to read the records overnight, and transcribed all kinds of valuable information, and by dawn, they sorted out a piece of information as many as a few thousand words, covering the scope of activities of this horse bandit, the number of people, equipment, the characteristics of the operation and other important information.

At dawn, Zhang Yun sent two of his subordinates to send the information back to the team, and he himself led the rest of the soldiers to leave Chengji County and continue westward to find traces of horse bandits.

.........

The big earthquake pass is the west gate of the pass, the terrain is very dangerous, a long valley passes through Longshan, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack since ancient times, it can be said that a husband is a pass, ten thousand people do not open.

In the morning, the baggage procession began to march through the gates of the Great Earthquake Pass and towards the valley to the west, with thousands of cavalry walking ahead to open the way.

Guo Song felt something, and kept looking back at the eastern sky.

"What is the husband looking at?" Xue Tao asked with a smile in the ox cart.

"I saw a small black dot in the sky just now, I thought it was a fierce man!" Guo Song explained with a smile.

"Mengzi shouldn't come, its child is still so young, it should be taking care of his wife and children!"

Guo Song smiled and shook his head, "Its family has always been known for being irresponsible, when it was a small broiler, I never saw its father, its mother was responsible for catching fish to feed it, and now someone sends a bucket of fresh fish to them every day, I think that guy will say goodbye to it like his father." ”

"Husband doesn't have an eagle flute, just try it and find out." Xue Tao reminded.

Guo Song patted his forehead, he actually forgot the eagle flute, it took out a small leather bag from the horse bag, and took out the eagle flute from it, he used to hang it around his neck, but now it is useless for almost a year, so he put the eagle flute away.

Guo Song took out the eagle flute and blew it, the eagle flute made a very sharp sound, which was a harsh low-frequency sound, which had little impact on people, but the eagle could hear it from a very distant place.

Not long after, a small black dot appeared in the sky, getting closer and closer, Guo Song was overjoyed, the old guy was really here.

He gave a long whistle, and the fierce son circled above his head, and as soon as his wings were retracted, he landed firmly on his shoulder, and the soldiers around him could not help but cheer together.

At this time, Yao Jin galloped over on horseback and presented a thick piece of information to Guo Song, "This is Zhang Yun who got the information about the horse bandits, it is very detailed, please take a look at it!" ”