Chu Huan and Xiao Liuzi were mysteriously in the back garden for a night, and until the next morning, they didn't come out, but when it was just dawn, the owner of Liang Fang came over.

Linlang was already extremely disgusted with the owner of Liang Fang, but remembering Chu Huan's words, he still let him enter the mansion, and only asked people to take him to the side hall to wait, and they didn't see each other.

From late night to dawn, the light in the room in the back garden was always on, until breakfast was ready, and Chu Huan still didn't come out, Linlang was worried that Chu Huan and Xiao Liuzi hadn't eaten all night, so they personally carried a basket full of food over, just when Xiao Liuzi came out of the house, Xiao Liuzi's eyes were bloodshot at this time, and he looked very tired.

Linlang was anxious in her heart, beckoning Xiao Liuzi to come over, Xiao Liuzi thought about it, went into the room first, and came out after a while, Linlang had already asked: "Little Liuzi, what are you doing, so mysterious?" ”

Xiao Liuzi touched his head and said, "Miss, Brother Chu is busy doing things, and I don't know what he does." By the way, he asked the little one to ask you, is the owner of Liang Fang coming? If he comes, don't let him go, and if he wants to go, tie him up and keep him, and don't let anything go wrong......! He glanced back and said, "Miss, Brother Chu is still busy, but there is no one next to him, and the small one has passed." ”

Linlang handed over the basket in his hand and said, "You brought it in, you haven't eaten all night!" ”

Xiao Liuzi took the basket and went back a little tiredly.

……

……

When Chu Huan was busy in Su Mansion, Xu Congyang, who had been patrolling all over Xishan Road, returned to Caotang Xingyuan in the morning of this day, and Qiao Mingtang, the governor of Xishan Road, learned that Xu Congyang had returned, and rushed to Caotang Xingyuan as soon as possible.

Qiao Mingtang came to Xingyuan, and before he saw Xu Congyang, he first saw Luo Shiheng, the commander of the guards, Luo Shiheng looked tired and dusty, Xu Congyang inspected various guards this time, and Luo Shiheng was close to him.

Seeing Luo Shiheng's tired look, Qiao Mingtang smiled and said, "Lord Luo has worked hard, I don't know if this trip is smooth?" ”

Luo Shiheng bowed his hand and saluted: "Thank you for your care, Lord Governor, everything is going well." ”

Qiao Mingtang nodded with a smile, but there was a strange color in his eyes, this strange color was seen by Luo Shiheng, and he only felt a little uncomfortable all over his body, and a feeling of uneasiness rose on his body.

When Qiao Mingtang arrived, someone went to talk to Xu Congyang, Xu Congyang quickly asked Qiao Mingtang to go in, and when he arrived at the house, Xu Congyang had already changed into civilian clothes and was washing his face.

Qiao Mingtang bowed down and said, "Xiaguan Qiao Mingtang greets the scholars!" Just about to kneel, Xu Congyang had already wiped his face with a dry towel, waved his hand and said, "No formality." Master Joe, sit down and talk. ”

After taking his seat, Qiao Mingtang said cautiously: "University scholar, this trip to inspect the various health centers, I wonder if everything is going well?" ”

The subordinate had already brought tea at this time, Xu Congyang took a sip of the teacup, and then looked at Qiao Mingtang and said: "The few guards inspected are full of personnel, but the equipment of the guards is very old. The old man personally went to the armory of the guardhouse, and some of the weapons stored in it turned out to be rusty ......! ”

Qiao Mingtang hurriedly said yes, but didn't say much.

Xu Congyang said lightly: "The old man also knows that on the side of the Weisuo Army, you are not good at interfering, but you are a governor after all, and there are some things that you still need to look at." If it weren't for this inspection, the old man would not have imagined that the weapons of the guards would be so old, this winter, most of the clothes of the soldiers of the guards were very shabby, if it was really a sudden war, how could such an army be able to resist the enemy of tigers and wolves? ”

Qiao Mingtang thought about it for a while, and then said cautiously: "There has been no war for many years, I think it was the negligence of the Weisuo Army." ”

Xu Congyang shook his head and said, "You don't have to say these scenes. Although the country is strong, the belligerent will perish, the world will live in peace, and forgetting the war will be dangerous. The garrison is the foundation of my Great Qin's martial arts, and we must not slack off for a day. After a pause, he sighed: "The old man also understands that in recent years, the military budget of the imperial court has been repeatedly reduced, resulting in a shortage of military spending in various provinces, and weapons and equipment have not been replaced for a long time, but ...... You can't do anything but stretch out your hand to the court. The Holy God appointed you governors to take care of one side, that is, to let you help the court share its worries! ”

Qiao Mingtang hurriedly said: "What the scholar teaches is that the lower officials will definitely remember it. ”

"The weapons in the armory, although they are old, you can completely prevent the people from refining and polishing them again." Xu Congyang frowned: "The warehouse is full of old weapons, what does it look like?" After a pause, he lowered his voice and said: "The old man is inspecting the guards openly this time, and the guards may not have been covered up, but the old man's ugly words are ahead, if someone eats empty salaries, withholds military salaries, and steals military food, the court will definitely not spare them!" ”

Qiao Mingtang said respectfully: "Commander Luo is in charge of a guard army, he is diligent in his work, and he will definitely not do foolish things." ”

Xu Congyang picked up the teacup and took another sip, and finally asked, "Is there any news from Sun Yinhu's side?" ”

Sun Yinhu is one of the hundred households of Shenyiwei, and after the incident in Tongzhou Heishui Mountain, Sun Yinhu has secretly gone to Tongzhou to investigate.

Qiao Mingtang listened to Xu Congyang's question, his brows tightened slightly, and he shook his head and said, "Returning to the university, Sun Baihu has not had the slightest news back so far, and ...... It is no longer possible to contact Sun Baihu's whereabouts here! ”

"You mean to say that Sun Yinhu suddenly disappeared?" Xu Congyang's brows furrowed: "Sun Yinhu is a god and a hundred households, and he is cautious and thorough, even if he doesn't find any clues, he should give a reply...... It's been almost a month now, why hasn't there been any news? He just thought there was something strange about it.

Qiao Mingtang said with a solemn expression: "Xiaguan is also suspicious. ”

Xu Congyang pondered for a moment, and finally sneered: "Could it be that Tongzhou is still a tiger's lair and a wolf's den?" Xiang Qiao Mingtang said: "Governor Qiao, tomorrow the old man will set off to Tongzhou in person, and the old man wants to see how deep the water is in Tongzhou." A large number of weapons and equipment were suddenly transferred, and they couldn't even show a trace of their shape, so could those gangsters really get through the sky? ”

Qiao Mingtang hurriedly said: "Scholar, everything is still waiting for Sun Baihu to send back the news, Tongzhou is a big case this time, it is Sun Baihu, I'm afraid it will take some time!" ”

Xu Congyang frowned and said, "Could it be that Sun Yinhu has never heard from him, so let's just wait?" By the way, there is also that Zhao Guangqing, I heard that this person has some ability, and now Tongzhou is full of nets, how can he not even find a clue? After a deep groan, he said: "Of course, those weapons are shocking, but the origin of those bandits must be ......found out!" ”

Qiao Mingtang wanted to speak and stopped, as if he had something to say, but he didn't say it immediately, Xu Congyang glanced at it, and said lightly: "What do you want to say, just say it!" ”

Qiao Mingtang got up at this time, walked to Xu Congyang's side, and said in a low voice: "University scholar, the lower official has something to report to the university scholar." ”

"You say!"

"More than two months ago, the people in the lower officials went back to their parents' homes to save their relatives, but when they returned, they were kidnapped by a group of water bandits. Qiao Mingtang said with a solemn expression: "And the last time I surrounded and suppressed Heishui Mountain, I found out afterwards that the bandits in Heishui Mountain seem to be the same party as the water bandits who kidnapped the cheap!" ”

Xu Congyang showed surprise and said, "Is there anything else?" ”

Qiao Mingtang said solemnly: "The lower officials don't dare to hide it, there is indeed such a thing." ”

Xu Congyang stroked his beard lightly, frowned, and said, "Then can you find out why those water bandits kidnapped Mrs. Zun?" ”

Qiao Mingtang said: "Xia Guan thought about it carefully afterwards, and after thinking about it, there can only be one explanation...... They are preparing to kidnap the subordinate and use the life of the subordinate to blackmail the subordinate official, if they are not mistaken, the subordinate must have something in their hands that they care about very much. ”

Xu Congyang Qi said: "Do you have something they care about?" What is it? ”

Qiao Mingtang was worried that Xu Congyang would misunderstand, so he hurriedly said: "It's not anything else, Xia Guan thinks that that group of bandits may have the same party in the hands of Xia Guan." Before the hijacking of the lowly, the heavy prisoner dungeon of Yunshan Mansion was robbed several times in a row, but all of them ended in failure, and then the robbery did not happen again, but the cheap was almost robbed, these two things were linked together, and the lower officials guessed that they had a party in the heavy prison. ”

Xu Congyang groaned slightly, thought about it, and then said, "Your guess is quite reasonable." He asked softly, "Then did you interrogate you?" Know who their comrades are? ”

Qiao Mingtang shook his head and said embarrassedly: "The lower official is ashamed, and he still can't find out. There are fifty or sixty people in the heavy prison cell, and half of them know the details under the heavy interrogation, but there are still more than 20 people who can't determine where they come from. ”

Xu Congyang said slowly: "What do you mean, the comrades of those bandits are among the twenty people?" ”

Qiao Mingtang said solemnly: "The lower officials are not sure, but nine times out of ten, this is the case." When they robbed the prison, they came three times, and they were all not bad, knowing that the heavy prisoners were well guarded, but they came regardless of life or death, which shows that the heavy prisoners in the prison are very important to them......! ”

Xu Congyang was silent, as if he was thinking about something, and only after a long time did he say, "Do you think you can take advantage of this?" ”

Qiao Mingtang nodded slightly: "The fragrant bait is hooked, don't worry about the fish not taking the bait." Sun Baihu and Zhao Guangqing have not found out the whereabouts of the chaotic party, which shows that those chaotic parties are very hidden, and if they want to catch them, they can only lead them out of the hole first...... As long as there is a hole, Xia Guan believes that he will be able to catch them all! ”

Xu Congyang naturally understood what Qiao Mingtang meant, nodded slightly, and said in a low voice: "It's an idea." But there are more than 20 people, and there are too many goals...... Go back and transfer Li Maotu over, and then transfer two Shenyi Guard captains over, with them out, no matter how hard these people are, they can dig out the details of a few more people to ......! ”

Qiao Mingtang looked overjoyed, and arched his hand: "Thank you, scholar!" ”

"How are you going to set the trap?" Xu Congyang said softly: "Luring the snake out of the hole and luring the fish to the bait, of course, are all good ideas, but if there is a slight mistake in the pool, the poisonous snake and the fish are frightened, then it will be difficult to find a chance." ”

Qiao Mingtang leaned into Xu Congyang's ear and lowered his voice, Xu Congyang stroked his beard and bowed slightly.