Li Qing took the lantern and said to Chen Ming, who was settling accounts at the counter: "Director, put the one in your hand in advance, and we will talk." ”

Chen Mingtong put down the pen in his hand, turned out from behind the counter, and bowed his hand to Li Qing: "I don't know what happened to the owner?" ”

Li Qing sat down on the bench and said to Chen Ming: "In the past few days, there have been a lot of people from the west living in the store, and they have lived for several days, and I don't see them doing any business, just eating, drinking and gambling for money. When did the people in the West become so rich? Don't you think it's weird? ”

Chen Mingtong thought for a moment, nodded and said, "As soon as the owner said it, I also remembered it." These people seem to know each other, and they look fierce, and they mostly carry knives and guns, and they are not good people. - What do the proprietors mean, they are not good? ”

Li Qing sighed: "We obeyed the order of the Taiwei and came here to watch this shop and earn some money to supplement the family." But don't forget, in addition to this, we also have the responsibility to defend the land and appease the place. Today I asked several other inns, including those opened by the party members, and they all said that in recent days, many Westerners have lived in, which is similar to the situation here. I wondered if these people didn't happen to come together. ”

Chen Mingtong nodded, his eyes narrowed, and he said in a deep voice: "The two casinos are opened here, and there is a mountain of goods in them, so it is inevitable that they will attract thieves to peep." Wealth is moving, and there are always outlaws, looking at this money. ”

Li Qingdao: "Yes." The surrounding area of Tanglong Town is sparsely populated, and the Khitan and this dynasty are strictly controlled, and there is no big group of thieves who dare to fight the idea here, so they can't afford to gather so many people. Only in the West, they are naturally plundering, and some have swords, so it is not surprising to do such a thing. ”

After the establishment of Tanglong Town, the surrounding Dafan tribes were absorbed by the Volcano Army, and most of them went to the south bank of the Yellow River. Now within a hundred miles of the surrounding area, there are less than 100 scattered nomads, and they do not belong to each other, so it is impossible for them to fight the idea here. The merchants from the north and south who came here, the Khitan in Shengzhou, and the Song Dynasty in the fire army were all controlled, and thieves would not mix in. Only the party in the west, with the population looted from Tanglong Town, is familiar with the roads and can organize the manpower to rob here.

The shops around the casino, including inns and restaurants, were built together with the casino. The people who run this place are the soldiers and horses sent by the two countries to guard here. Li Qing is from the Ministry of Fuzhou, and Chen Mingtong is the official in charge of the accounts, and the two run this inn together. Li Qing contributed his own capital, and he has dividends in this inn, and his official position is also the highest, so he is in charge of this place.

In recent days, a group of party members have come to several inns, and they don't do any business and linger in the casino every day. Li Qing asked the people in the casino, and there was nothing unusual about these people's gambling skills, and they lost more and won less. In addition, they get together every day to drink wine and eat meat, which attracts Li Qing's attention. In that place of the party, how many people can come out of a tribe like this? These dozens of people, roughly calculated, all the rich people in the land of several states came? It's impossible to think about it, then there is only one answer left, they are most likely robbers.

After discussing with Chen Mingtong for a while, Li Qingdao: "This matter should not be careless, we were sent here to take care of the safety of the place." If the robbers really robbed the casino, how to explain it to the captain? You look at the store, I'll go over there and discuss it with the Khitans. ”

When this place was built, Du Zhongxiao made it clear to Yelu Buhua that unless it was attacked by a large-scale army, the soldiers and horses in Tanglong Town were not responsible for the safety here. Those who protect this place are the people sent by the Khitan and the people who pass through the division of the Hedong Road. Therefore, what the Song Dynasty is here is not the forbidden army of Zhang Qi's department, but the soldiers from Zhe Jimin. Of course, the price is that Ji Min can benefit from this.

This place, Du Zhongxiao regarded it as the sewer of Tanglong Town, and moved it over in a mess to maintain the good order of Tanglong Town. In terms of government management, various methods are used to do cutting, and the Volcano Army and the Forbidden Army system try not to interfere. So here in the casino outside the city, several big people in the Khitan are more concerned than the people of the Song Dynasty, and they have a lot of interests here.

Carrying the lantern out of the store, Li Qing walked west along the street, and not far to a carriage and horse shop. This is where the Khitan generals stationed soldiers and horses here, taking advantage of their large number of pack animals, specially transported goods to merchants from the north.

Slapped the door open, and the little servant saw that it was Li Qing, and hurriedly saluted: "Outside, it's late at night, I don't know what to do with my master?" ”

Li Qingdao: "If you have something important to discuss, please ask the little brother to give me a talk." ”

The little servant hurriedly led the way: "Why bother, the master repeatedly ordered, and the staff came out to meet him." ”

Li Qing walked over, followed behind the little maid, entered the door, and walked towards the carriage and horse shop.

Inside the gate was a flat field, with goods piled up in the middle, pack animals tethered on either side, and several large carts lying there. After the open space, there is a tall hall, where the carriage and horse shop are located.

At this time, the hall was brightly lit, and a few tables were set up, and a group of Khitans gathered there, shouting and drinking.

The chief official stepped on the stool with one foot, looked at a few pai gow cards in his hand with both hands, and said in a throat: "Is there anything else?" Place your bets faster! Grandpa has a good hand tonight, don't delay me to make money! ”

Some of the petty officers had bitter faces, some looked at the cards and thought deeply, some sighed, and some were eager to try, which was very lively.

learned Pai Gow from the casino of the Song people, and quickly spread among the Khitan garrison here, gambling in the carriage and horse shop almost every day, Li Qing was not surprised. Some armies in the Song Dynasty with lax military discipline are the same as this scene, and they are not much stronger than these Khitans.

The little guy waited on the side, and waited until he finished gambling on this handful, and then stepped forward and whispered: "Lang Jun, see you outside the inn over there." ”

He won money tonight, and he was in a good mood, so he looked up at Li Qing standing there and pushed Pai Gow: "Little guys, you guys play a few games by yourself first, and I'll go talk to Li Yuanwai." - My money is here, and no one is allowed to touch it! ”

A few petty officers grinned and agreed, and some shook the dice.

After leaving the gambling table, Liben came to Li Qing, saluted each other, and said, "What kind of wind is blowing over the staff tonight!" ”

Saying that, looking around, there were soldiers rolling dice and playing pai gow at several tables, and there was no place to put their feet, so they had to say to Li Qing: "Take care of the outside, let's talk to the empty table over there." ”

Bypassed a few gambling tables, came to an empty table in the corner with Li Qing, and invited Li Qing to sit down. As soon as he turned around, he took the wine jar from the table next to him, took an empty bowl, poured wine for Li Qing and said, "Outside, drink a bowl of wine!" ”

Li Qing gently pushed the bowl and said in a low voice: "Thank you, I have important matters to discuss with Lang Jun tonight, and I don't drink alcohol." ”

He was stunned for a moment, took a big sip of his bowl, and asked, "If you come here in the middle of the night, there must be something important, but you can talk about it." ”

Li Qing looked around, leaned forward, lowered his voice, introduced the anomalies in his store in the past few days, and said in a deep voice: "Lang Jun, I have discussed with the director of the store, and nine out of ten of these people are thieves from the west. In case of accidents, come over and inform Lang Jun. ”

He was silent, took another sip of wine, pondered for a while, and smiled on his face: "What do you think we should do?" ”

Li Qingdao: "Take the thief and take the stolen goods, catch the traitor in bed, these days we cheered up and stared at these people." Nine times out of 10 in my estimation, they're going to go to two casinos. At that time, we caught them all! ”

Zhen Liben shook his head: "Outside, have you ever heard another sentence, there are a thousand days to be a thief, how can there be a thousand days to prevent thieves?" After the staff went back, they found out how many of these people were and which store they lived in, and told me one by one. The rest of the work doesn't need to be done outside. ”

Li Qing was stunned: "What does Lang Jun mean, is it the first to strike?" ”

He nodded heavily: "Of course! When they come here to be thieves, they will die, so why not fulfill them! ”

Li Qing was speechless for a while. If you are in Fuzhou, you can't do that. But here in Tanglong Town, especially outside the town, the laws of the Great Song Dynasty do not apply, and there seems to be nothing wrong with doing this well.