Two days ago.
The governor of Sibao County hosted a banquet in honor of the two Zhai Huan brothers.
The banquet was in full swing, and he bowed solemnly, shocking Zhai Le so much that he stood up and waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, why does the Lord need such a big gift? We are trusted by the Lord and entrusted with an important task, so we should do our best to escort the tax silver to arrive safely."
Although Zhai Huan did not stand up, he bowed, lowered his posture, declined the county magistrate's gift, and said that he would do his best to cooperate.
The county magistrate felt relieved after receiving the brothers' promise.
At the banquet, he also introduced another person to the two brothers - this person was an official of the county governor and also one of the captains who led thousands of troops stationed near Xiaocheng. This mission would be carried out by him leading a thousand elite troops to cooperate with the two brothers Zhai Huan.
The captain was tall and strong, with a dark complexion.
He has a square face, a beard, thick eyebrows, majestic black eyes with pupils set upwards, and looks a bit arrogant and inhuman.
I don’t know if it’s because of his emotions or if he is born stubborn and fierce, but the first impression he gives is that he is not very friendly.
Even though the county magistrate enthusiastically introduced the three of them to each other, he was lukewarm and responded by just bowing. He was very frugal with his words, just saying "hmm" or "oh" or "I've heard a lot about you". Even a social savvy person like Zhai Le couldn't help but want to stay away from him.
The county magistrate was enthusiastic for a while but then became cold.
until-
The county magistrate hinted to him that Zhai Le should be the leader. His square face instantly turned gloomy and his expression became long, but he couldn't lose his temper on the spot.
This is totally unreasonable!
Zhai Le and the other two are not locals and cannot be trusted.
One is just a young man, the other is still a brat. The two of them combined are not even older than him. Even though they are talented, they lack experience and are not familiar with other soldiers. Once they encounter the enemy, command and dispatch will be a big problem.
How can you compare yourself
Humph, he is actually helping me
Now the county magistrate is simply crazy!
Taxes and silver were indeed a big deal, but they had to make such a big scene for such a thing, using the real and fake teams to deceive people, and the garrison was divided into pieces. If there was a civil riot or other enemy situation, he was afraid that he would not be able to prevent it, and he became more and more dissatisfied.
Of course, he knew it in his heart.
Because he was the confidant of the previous county magistrate and often sang the opposite tune, the current county magistrate disliked him very much. In recent years, he has been making trouble for him for no reason, obviously deliberately torturing him.
This time it was even worse, he just stepped on his face.
Zhai Le also felt his scalp tingling after hearing what the county magistrate said.
He quickly stood up and declined.
I can help, but I can't take away the power to make decisions and command troops.
This is not a good thing at all, it just attracts hatred!
The county magistrate didn't think there was anything wrong.
Those who are capable will be in charge!
This captain has been in office for several years without making a single mistake, but he has also not achieved any merit. To put it bluntly, he is mediocre! He is timid and hesitant. He is good at training soldiers, but he lacks decisiveness in making decisions. After he turned thirty, his cultivation has not improved.
If there is really no one available...
Humph, the county magistrate won’t even think of him.
On the other hand, Zhai Le is a seventh-class official at a young age. He may look immature, but his words and deeds show that he is decisive at heart, and he has his cousin Zhai Huan by his side who cooperates with him tacitly. If he is willing to take over the command and act without restraint, he will obviously be much better than this old guy who sits in the toilet without taking a shit.
Since both parties were unwilling, he couldn't force it.
However, his interference still made the captain dissatisfied with Zhai Le and the other two, and they formed a unilateral grudge against each other.
The county magistrate took notice of the captain's expression and snorted inwardly.
We set off on the second day after the banquet.
It was almost the same as Qi Shan and the others had expected. The county magistrate not only released more than a dozen false news, but also set up five tax and silver teams, four fake and one real. They set out at different times and places. Each team had a different route, but the team configurations were roughly the same.
Zhai Le was shocked when he heard the news.
Out of professional instinct, he frowned and counted the troops.
"Hiss—one group means one thousand, five groups means five thousand. Although Xiaocheng is the capital of Sibao County and the garrison is much larger than that of ordinary areas, it will never exceed 20,000. A conservative estimate is about 10,000. Isn't this..."
Half of the troops were transferred away within a few days
The county magistrate probably took this problem into consideration, so he staggered the departure times of the five teams.
As long as the tax silver can be successfully delivered to the waterway, it will be basically safe, and the troops sent out can return. The round trip takes about ten days, and one thousand troops will return every other day. Xiaocheng's troops will be weaker than usual, but not much weaker.
Most importantly—
Only one team is real, the other four are fake and are just for show so they can come back for support immediately if anything happens.
The county magistrate was also making a lot of calculations.
Zhai Le subconsciously thought of the riots in nearby Lingzhou.
This news…
The county magistrate should know this, right
He was thinking uncertainly, lost in thought, when his cousin patted his shoulder and his scattered thoughts instantly returned to their place.
"Brother..."
Zhai Huan rode his horse side by side with him.
"What's wrong?"
Zhai Le said uncertainly: "I was thinking that Xiaocheng's military strength is weak. If thugs appear at this time, wouldn't it be dangerous?"
Zhai Huan said: "It's not impossible."
In his opinion, sending two or three hundred people as an escort would be enough. After all, the Wudan warrior in the lead could transform his martial energy into a weapon, and ordinary robbers would not have time to take a detour. Those who were capable of robbery would have to see if they could chew this hard bone.
As a result, a thousand soldiers were sent, as if the county magistrate was certain that a powerful force would come to rob the tax silver... It's intriguing.
As they were in a hurry, everyone had to hurry.
These 1,000 soldiers were all well-trained. They marched in a hurry without complaint. They set out before daybreak, found a shady place to rest when the sun was at its highest, replenished their strength with water and food, and continued on their journey when the sun was slightly slanted until nightfall.
But the tax-paying vehicles were heavy and couldn’t move fast.
On the first day, we left East City and the sea was calm.
On the second day, we entered the canyon and the sea was calm.
On the third day, we took the official road...
The tense crowd finally breathed a sigh of relief.
That canyon was the most vulnerable to ambushes, so they walked in fear, as if every tree and grass seemed to be an enemy. But after walking a whole distance, the robbers who were worried about stealing tax silver did not show up, and even the captain, who had a stern face all the time, began to relax his brows.
After today, there are only two days left.
Because of the wars in recent years, the population has dwindled, the political situation is unstable, and even the official road has not been maintained and repaired. Weeds are overgrown, and many large pieces of gravel are blocking the road, greatly hindering their speed. This makes the captain very irritated, and what is even more annoying is that -
The scouts who were exploring the way ahead brought back bad news.
Because of the heavy rain here a few days ago, a landslide occurred and blocked the road. It would take at least half a day to clean it up.
The captain's eyes widened: "Half a day?"
The scout said in embarrassment: "Yes, the mountain is unstable. If we use force to clear the way, it may cause a second landslide."
The best way to save time is to take a detour.
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