Hanhou

Finding the place of origin of the rogue, Zhao Jia ordered someone to set off immediately.

Xiangyou was promoted not long ago, and the head of the pavilion is not yet full.Zhao Jia accepted the suggestion of the county magistrate and recruited an army with nobles, together with petty officials and healthy servants, to improvise a team of 50 people.

This operation is not only to arrest villains, but also to inspect the army and select the pavilion leader from them.

In the year when Xiangyou was established, his grandfather and father were both pavilion chiefs, and they both fought to the death with the Xiongnu and succeeded in beheading them.He himself has courage. Last year when the Xiongnu invaded, he led the villagers to reinforce the fortress and beheaded two levels.Injured in the war, he was awarded the title and land after the war.

Zhao Jia had read the books recording the military exploits, and sent people to inquire about his reputation in the village. He knew that he was ruthless and selfless, even if his relatives violated the law, they would be punished according to the law.During his tenure as the head of the pavilion, the bandits in the villages under his jurisdiction disappeared.

Being so ruthless will naturally attract some gossip.But over time, the name of justice has spread widely.

In the days when there were no village tours, people in villages ten miles and eight times had disputes, and they would all turn to him to decide right from wrong.Few of his judgments were considered unfair.

This kind of behavior style is exactly what Zhao Jia needs urgently.

After carefully understanding the situation, Zhao Jia specially summoned him to see him.After some narration, I personally tested his ability, and on the same day, I issued an order to make him a village tour officer to fill the vacancy of his predecessor.

At this point, the three township tourist gates are all in place, and the next step is to arrange the pavilion chief.

There were pavilions in the Warring States Period, mainly for the defense of other countries and timely delivery of news.Until the unification of Qin Shihuang and the reunification of the world, the function of the pavilion changed, from external defense to administering public security, arresting bandits, and handling civil affairs.Posters, merchants and people from other places pass by, and they can all stay in the pavilion.

The so-called county officials are not as good as the current ones.

In the Han Dynasty, there was one pavilion every ten miles, and within ten miles, all villages and villages were under the jurisdiction of the pavilion.If the head of the pavilion is corrupt and perverts the law, if the official temple fails to find out in time, it will definitely attract public resentment.

Most of the pavilion chiefs in the border counties were from the army, and one of them counted as one. They all fought with the Xiongnu, and they knew the hardships of the border people.Logically, such an identity and background should not do things to oppress the people, but people's hearts are the most unpredictable, and there are no precedents in previous years.

Zhao Jia didn't want to take any risks, and the test for the head of the pavilion was no less severe than that of You Yan.As a result, the speed of construction will naturally slow down.As the soldiers arrived one after another, he was about to turn his attention to the barracks. The matter could not be delayed any longer, so he simply took the arrest of the thief as the last round of tests.

The conduct of the more than 40 recruited troops has been thoroughly checked. As long as they do not make mistakes this time and demonstrate certain abilities, they will be selected for dispatch.The rest will also serve as supplements.In the future, if there is a shortage of people in the township, you can choose from them, and you don't need to work as hard as today.

After the team assembled, Zhao Jiayue got on his horse, sent Ji Bao and a small official to set off first, and joined the people sent by the county magistrate to closely monitor the movement of the village.The rest of the people checked their bows, arrows and knives to confirm that there were no omissions, and then set off from the city and galloped to their destination.

With the scorching sun and the hot wind blowing, there is no shelter on the horse's back, and the weaker the body will be exhausted.

Zhao Jiazheng's troops were dressed in short brown, with leather armor on their chests, their faces were tanned red, and their backs were drenched with sweat, but no one was left behind from the beginning to the end.It was unbearably hot, so I clamped the horse's belly with my legs, unscrewed the water bag with both hands free, poured clean water from the top of the head, and went on the road again after a short refreshment.

The horseshoes stepped on the dirt road in the country, and dust flew up from the road surface. The weeds beside the road were curled and turned yellow.Passing through an elm forest, Zhao Jia raised his right arm when he saw the mark left by the official, and ordered everyone to dismount and rest for a while.

This place is not far from the target village, and you can reach it in a blink of an eye.The reason why they stop to rest is to ensure that the army has sufficient physical strength, in case the weather is too hot, the villains are waiting for work, and their own strength is not enough, which makes the arrest plan go awry.

Not long after dismounting, one of the soldiers suddenly exclaimed, pointing in front of him, and shouted loudly: "County captain, look!"

Looking in the direction he pointed, Zhao Jia's complexion changed abruptly.

Under the clear sky, billowing thick smoke rose, and vultures and crows gathered from all directions. They didn't get close to the smoke, but they didn't retreat. Instead, they hovered in midair, making piercing calls.

Zhao Jia, who had experienced the battlefield, could not understand what such a situation meant.

Zhao Jia immediately ordered everyone to mount their horses and rush towards the place where the smoke rose.Before he could go far, he saw Ji Bao rushing towards him with anger on his face and a blood-stained bow in his hand.

"Mr. Lang, the person sent earlier was killed, the village caught fire, and the villagers disappeared!" The bow in Ji Bao's hand was used by the dead official.

"go!"

The incident was too sudden and there was no time to think about it. Zhao Jia shook the reins suddenly, and the bay red horse galloped out, and soon came to the burning village.

The raging fire soared into the sky, and there was a strong burning sensation a few meters away.

Thick smoke billowed, obscuring the sky.

The village was engulfed in flames.

In front of the fire scene, an open space was deliberately cleared, and more than 30 corpses were piled up.The top two were pierced through the chest by a wooden pole, and their faces were covered with knife marks. They were the officials sent by the county magistrate.The rest are women, and there are even two girls aged eight or nine.

The little official who was traveling with Ji Bao stood beside the corpse, with his horns and bows outstretched, vigilant about his surroundings.Seeing Zhao Jia and his party coming, he put his bow on his back, not caring about the flames flying around, bent down to pick up his dead colleague, and put his strength on the horse's back.

"Ten people spread out their vigilance, and the rest traced the villain's trail. When they found the thief, they immediately shot arrows."

The plan has been completely disrupted, and the most important thing at present is to find the trace of the villain and arrest him as soon as possible.As for how the news got leaked, we can discuss it after returning to the official temple.

There are no absolutes in the world, and if you do something, you will leave traces.

Zhao Jia didn't have much experience, so the county magistrate should have a solution.

The army dispersed, bypassed the fire, and divided into three or four teams, each chasing after the horseshoes, ruts and human footprints.Two of them had served as scouts, and even though the other party had covered up their escape, they still couldn't hide it from their eyes.

After the army left, Zhao Jia got off his horse and carefully inspected the corpses in front of the fire.

These people should all be villagers, why didn't they escape with them, instead they died here?

Turning over the corpses of the two women, it was found that their eyes were protruding, their expressions were distorted, and their wrists exposed from their sleeves were black and blue, obviously they had been tied up with ropes before.

Continue to move the corpses away, and confirm that all the women have traces of being tied up with ropes, and their bodies are emaciated. They were stabbed through the heart from behind. For the previous question, Zhao Jia vaguely guessed the answer.

At this moment, there was a loud bang in my ears. The fire was so intense that the walls and buildings on the west side of the fire site were burnt down, revealing five corpses inside.

Three of them were charred, and their shapes and appearances were unrecognizable.The two were pressed below, and they were still relatively intact.

Regardless of the danger, Xiao Li and Ji Bao dragged out the identifiable corpses and put them on the ground side by side.

Judging from the surviving corpses, both of them are men, and they are not young.One had his arm severed and another had an arrow wound in his leg.

Even though they were old, the two of them were still thick-backed and their arms were thick.Opening the palm, there are thick calluses on the palm, tiger's mouth and finger pulp, and there are a lot of burning marks on the shoulders and upper arms, but they are not caused by the fire in front of them. They seem to be old wounds, and the positions are very close, as if deliberately covering up What.

Zhao Jia bent down, traced the area of ​​the burn with the scabbard, frowned, suddenly a thought flashed, and his movements stopped abruptly.

The appearance of the Han people, but the totem of the barbarians... Thinking of a certain possibility, Zhao Jia couldn't help but clenched his long knife, called the little official, asked him to lead others to continue cleaning up the corpses, jumped on his horse, and led Ji Bao and others forward chase after.

Anyway, these guys must be caught!

Halfway through the ride, Zhao Jia realized that he had overlooked an important issue, so he quickly pulled the reins, pointed out two soldiers, ordered them to return to the official temple quickly, and told the county magistrate face to face that the scoundrel and his accomplices must be strictly guarded.

It's a pity he was still a step too late.

Junwu flew back to Guansi and reported Zhao Jiazhi's words. The county magistrate realized the seriousness of the situation and took people to the prison in person, only to find that the jailer guarding the cell was lying in front of the door, and the prisoners in the prison were exhausted.

"Short blade pierces the heart, and one knife kills." A young official stepped forward to check and confirm the cause of death of the jailer and the prisoner.

The jailer led people to search, counted the roster, and found that there were only two jailers dead, and the other one was missing.

"Check his home." The county magistrate's face sank like water.

"promise!"

The jailer took orders on the spot and rushed there as fast as he could, but he was still in vain.Everyone rushed into the jailer's house and found that the house was empty, all valuables had been taken away, and when the wooden box was opened, there was not a single piece of clothing or shoes left.

Now, the answer is obvious. It must be that the prison guard colluded with the criminals, not only sent the news, but also cooperated internally and externally to silence the two prisoners.

The county magistrate returned to the duty room and issued several orders in a row to collect the dead jailer's body and provide comfort to his family; arrest the escaped jailer, and find out that anyone who had close contacts with him will be arrested in the official temple.

If, as Zhao Jia imagined, there are villages in the county where Hu people are hiding, and they have been hiding for several years, the matter is not trivial and must be investigated to the end.

All the young officials from the official temple were released, and six people were arrested and imprisoned that day.The county magistrate personally went to the prison for interrogation. He would rather bear the notoriety of brutality and hurt the people than lightly indulge anyone!

Zhao Jia led his men to chase for several miles and joined the army that had set out earlier.According to the latter, the footprints left behind showed that there were probably dozens of riders heading east.

"East?" Zhao Jia twisted the word Chuan between his brows, and immediately came to a conclusion, "They must have gone to the racecourse, call back the scattered people, and continue to chase!"

"promise!"

You Yao put his fingers to his lips and let out a long and loud whistle.

Amidst the whistle, the sound of horseshoes approached one after another, and the scattered army regrouped.Zhao Jia briefly explained the situation, and immediately took the lead, leading the crowd to gallop towards the racecourse.

The situation was critical, but his mind became clearer.

There is more than [-]% possibility that this village is the nail that the Xiongnu stuck in the border county. They borrowed plunder to buy people, connected with the spies hidden in the caravan, and kept sending out news.

The woman who died in front of the fire must have been robbed by it.Because the village is lonely and hanging outside, once a woman is robbed, she has nowhere to call for help.Now that things have been revealed, these spies must escape.

These villains were cruel and killed all the women before leaving.The reason why the corpses were not left on the scene of the fire, but were put together with the dead officials, was most likely a demonstration against the official temple.

Judging from the death of the small official, he must have fought with villains during his lifetime.The body turned up in the fire scene should have been injured by him. Because the injury was too serious to ride a horse, he simply stayed and murdered to silence him, and then died.

They probably thought that the fire would burn all the evidence, but unfortunately, the walls and houses were destroyed by the flames, and Zhao Jia finally found the clues.

"Three miles away is the racecourse." A soldier said.

"Zhang Gong, bring out the saber!" Zhao Jia ordered directly on horseback.

The army automatically forms a charge formation, with strong bows in hand and sharp knives out of their sheaths.

In the horse farm, Uncle Niu and the garrison army fell in a pool of blood.The new Chief Ma followed behind a burly villain with a beard and a beard, with a flattering smile on his face.

Several villains also rushed into the wooden house and dragged the family members of General Wu to the fence.

Unwilling to be humiliated, the woman struggled to dislocate one shoulder, broke free from the villain's grip, pulled out the wooden hairpin with her still moving hand, pierced one of the villain's eyes, screamed while it covered the wound, and bit it fiercely. each other's throat.Even if her chest and abdomen were pierced by a short knife, the woman refused to let go until she died with the villain.

There were five women in the wooden house, and none of them begged for mercy in the face of the villains.They are all like ferocious she-wolves, even if they die, they will drag a robber with them.

A woman whose arm had been cut off glared at the horse chief with bloodshot eyes, blood gushed out of her mouth, and cursed angrily: "Rat, you are not worthy of being a human!"

Ma Chang's face was livid, he took a step ahead of the villain, and slashed at him with his knife.

The woman didn't know where the strength came from, but she bit off the horse's long nose and swallowed it into her stomach with a sneer.With a long knife attached to his body, blood was spurted out of his mouth, and the sneer on his face still did not disappear.

Before dying, she said word by word; "You will be hacked into pieces, and none of you will be able to escape!"

Behind the wooden house, Ah Zao tightly covered his companion's mouth to prevent him from crying.

The children in the racecourse, now there are only six of them left.The rest were all killed after the villains rushed in.They hid under several mares and were caught between the foals, so they were not discovered.

Seeing the villains killing people, there was nothing they could do.The most hateful thing is Chang Ma. Originally, Uncle Niu would not die, but he cooperated with the villains inside and outside and stabbed everyone behind the back.

The children covered their mouths hard, their eyes were bloodshot.

When the villains have killed people, they choose good horses from the stables, and each person has three horses.At the same time, let the horse chief open the fence and let all the horses out.At this point, the children finally understood that the chief mare ignored Uncle Niu and allowed the mare and foal to escape, it must have been premeditated.

"Back to the north, King Zuoguli is still waiting for us!"

The villains are about to return to the grassland, thinking that there is no one around them, and they have no scruples about speaking.

The horse chief let go of the fence, got on his horse and wanted to follow, not wanting to be cut on the shoulder with a knife.The opponent's knife was aimed at his neck, but because he dodged in time, he was not killed on the spot.

"Why?" The horse chief fell off his horse, clutching his shoulder injury, his face pale.

"You traitor, if you stay here, who knows when you will rebel again?" The villain spoke very straightforwardly with contempt on his face.

When the words fell, the knife in his hand was about to be raised again.

At this moment, the sound of horseshoes suddenly sounded, and the villain looked up, his pupils constricted suddenly.

In the roiling hot wind, fifty Han riders turned into sharp blades and rushed towards the racecourse.