On the third day of the twelfth lunar month, Lingzhou City.
In a somewhat dilapidated tavern in Xicheng, a few men were eating simple side dishes and drinking wine while muttering in a low voice:
"Brother Han, we brothers have had no income for two months. Our family is almost at a loss. If we can't find a good deal, I'm afraid we won't be able to survive this year."
"What do you guys know? I asked you to stay calm recently for everyone's good. Recently, a lot of soldiers and horses in the city have been deployed, so the prefect's Yamen is watching closely. If there is really some trouble, everyone will not be able to bear it. Let's go around! You all know that our Lingzhou government can't deal with those big thieves who kill people and set fires, but they are particularly vicious when it comes to small people like us. Are you planning to spend a fat year in a dark prison? "
"Second Brother Han, having said that, we brothers can't stay hungry like this, right? If this continues, everyone will lose their temper. How will our Tsing Yi Gang gain a foothold in Lingzhou in the future?"
Brother Han's eyes swept over the four or five brothers in front of him one by one. It could be seen that these people were indeed determined, so he could only sigh and said: "You guys are too impatient. To be honest with you. , I had already found a target, and I just planned to wait until they arrived outside the city before asking everyone to take action. Now, if that's the case, let's give it a try!"
Hearing what he said, the other people suddenly became energetic: "I know that you, second brother, have been prepared for a long time. Come and listen."
"Look over there." Brother Han pointed his mouth at the foot shop opposite the hotel: "That shop is the fat sheep I have picked out. They are a group of diners from other places. Although they I don’t have any background, but I sold dozens of high-quality ginseng in our Lingzhou before, so I’m afraid I have hundreds of dollars in money.”
"So much?" The other people's eyes suddenly shone, and they stared at the somewhat shabby foot shop with great greed: "With so much money, they actually only live in a small shop like this?"
"You think these business people are just like you. When they have money, they want to spend it all at once. They keep a low profile. Except for selling ginseng in a few pharmacies in the city, you almost never see them out. If I wasn't well-informed and sent people to keep an eye on them for a few days, I really didn't know that these guys had a lot of money." Brother Han laughed and cursed, and then got to the point: "As long as I kill these few Fat sheep, we can live a good life for a year or two. Originally, I planned to wait until they left Lingzhou before taking action, but I didn't expect that they have stayed until today. I don't know if they plan to stay like this until the end of the year."
"They can wait, but we brothers can't wait any longer. Since they refuse to leave, let us send them away, send them away completely!" This person said, and the others sneered a few times, appearing to Quite excited.
Brother Han nodded: "But this time we must do things neatly and neatly, and it's best not to leave any trouble. Also, do it at night. I've seen that foot shop before. The walls are very low, and there's no one keeping watch at night." If you go through it, you will be able to do it.”
"Okay, let's all listen to you, second brother. We will definitely do things beautifully and cleanly. Even if the head of the government office comes, we won't be able to find any clues. What's more,
, I understand that the foot shop owner will not dare to report to the official when the time comes. "These are all veterans in committing crimes. At this time, they immediately started gearing up and started planning tonight's action.
Brother Han didn't say much to them. After a few more instructions, he left first. When I was leaving, I deliberately passed by the door of the small foot shop again. I saw two of the diners striding out with a leather bag on their backs. I looked at these two slightly thin sheep, which only reached my shoulders. , a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes, and then he strode away.
The two diners didn't realize that they were being watched. After quickly walking out of the store, they each lowered their voices and said in a language that was very different from Chinese: "How are things prepared? I'm worried about that. Someone will notice something strange next to me."
"It's almost there. The batch of food yesterday has arrived in the city. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow is the time to take action. What we have to do today is to buy enough food to fill everyone's stomach and keep everyone energetic. We can do something big!"
"That's good. To be honest, we eat and drink well in the city these days, but those tribesmen have to suffer from the cold and starve outside. I'm really ashamed."
"There is nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone is doing it for our Jurchen clan. As long as we do this, we can survive this winter. When next spring comes, the Liao Kingdom will no longer be a problem, and the world will rise because of us Jurchens And they are crawling in shock!" This person said, with a ferocious light flashing in his eyes. He was so frightened that a commoner who happened to be walking by them changed his face and hurriedly stepped aside.
"Kui Deli, restrain yourself, don't show off your flaws." His companion quickly reminded him when he saw this, and this man quickly put away his anger and turned back into an ordinary man who looked somewhat honest and honest. However, their change could not escape the eyes of another lean man with an ordinary appearance not far away, which made his heart move: "These guys seem to have made some decision, but they have to report it to the commander immediately." .”
This is the elite of the Qingzhou Army Scout Battalion who is responsible for tracking these suspicious people who appear in Lingzhou under the guise of visitors. What he is best at is tracking and reading people's faces. With his ability, and the fact that these Jurchens didn't have much experience in the world, or they didn't expect that they would reveal their flaws, they never realized that their actions were completely under the control of others.
The two Jurchens had adjusted their mentality at this time, and soon arrived in front of the largest grain store in Lingzhou. Then one of them bought two thousand kilograms of rice and flour from there using poor Mandarin. The waiters and shopkeepers at the shop were shocked: "Why did you two buy so much food? Are you two clerks from some hotel?"
"No, we are from Bianjia Village outside the city. There was a fire in the village and burned everyone's food, so our village put all the money together and asked us to come to the village to buy food for the winter." The man's name was Wei Deli. The guy opened his mouth and gave a reason, then put the leather bag on the counter, revealing the golden copper coins inside.
Seeing that the other party could come up with a reason and the delivery was in cash, the shopkeeper finally stopped talking and immediately asked the clerk to go to the warehouse behind to prepare the corresponding food for them.
Two thousand kilograms of grain is not a small amount
They had to load seven or eight large carts to count. Then these two people led the way, and more than a dozen guys pushed the cart out of the city to Bianjia Village, located in the southern suburbs.
No one noticed that during this process, a pair of eyes had been paying attention to them. After they followed them out of the city, the stalkers did not follow them as closely as before, but stayed far behind them.
After traveling straight for more than an hour, in the evening, these grain trucks arrived at their destination, an inconspicuous small village. The guys who were transporting food entered the village just as they were told, but the scouts who followed him had a change of expression when they came near the village: "No, there are some problems in this village. Why didn't you hear a barking dog?" , there are not many people inside..." There are some details that ordinary people cannot notice at all. Only careful and experienced scouts can see problems from ordinary things.
After looking at it like this, his heart suddenly jumped violently, and a bold guess flashed into his mind: "Could this be where the thieves were hiding? They are so brave, hiding in Li Ling In a small village only a few miles away from the capital city! In this case, I'm afraid the people in this village are already... bad!" Thinking of this, he suddenly had an idea. Once the clerks from the grain shop entered, they might send sheep in. The tiger's mouth will never come out again!
And just as he turned away from this idea, several short screams suddenly sounded in the village, as if someone was stabbed with a knife and his throat was pinched just as he screamed. It sounded really scary. Scalp numbness.
This made his expression change again, and he quickly gave up the idea of going in to find out.
As a scout, he knew very well that his duty was to pass the news back alive, rather than taking risks to find out further truth. At that moment, he no longer lingered, turned around and left quickly.
Thanks to him walking fast enough, within a short meal, Wei Deli and the two left the village again, and then hurried on, returning to Lingzhou City before the city gate closed.
At this time, it was already dark, and the people in the city had all returned home. This originally not very lively state city fell into silence after the night fell.
For many years, the nights in Lingzhou City have always been so peaceful. Ordinary people would go to bed early after dinner. Only a few brothels like selling gold caves would still hear the sound of silk and bamboo at this time, but this obviously had nothing to do with the common people. It doesn't matter at all.
But tonight, everything is very different.
After the second watch, under the cover of darkness, more than a dozen men dressed in black and holding weapons quietly appeared near this inconspicuous foot shop in Xicheng. Everyone had greed and murderous intent in their eyes.
"Are you all ready? As long as today's deal is completed, we won't have to worry about money for at least two or three years." The leading man asked in a low voice.
"Of course!" Everyone nodded excitedly, and then they all took out their face towels and covered their faces.
"Then let's fight quickly. Remember to be agile with your hands and feet, and don't give those guests any chance to cry out for help!" After the final warning, the leading man only waved his hand, and more than a dozen men quickly rushed toward him. Run to the foot shop ahead!