When Wu Shigong was preparing to leave, the innkeeper brought a man to find Wu Shigong. The man introduced himself and said: His name is Yuan Xingshan, and he is a businessman. This time, he also happened to be trafficking a batch of goods from Jining to Guide. He wanted to talk to Wu Shigong.
Travel together.
Wu Shigong felt very strange and quickly asked the reason.
Yuan Xingshan said to Wu Shigong: "Sir, although it is still a peaceful time, there are always some petty thieves who will hijack a caravan with a small number of people. Seeing that there are many people, the young ones want to go to Guide together. I hope your permission.
"
The shopkeeper of the inn also helped to persuade: "This shopkeeper Yuan comes and goes often. I can vouch for you. There is absolutely no problem."
Wu Shigong asked, how many people and cars did Yuan Xingshan have? Then Yuan Xingshan told Wu Shigong: There were only a dozen cars and about twenty people.
Wu Shigong thought for a while and realized that there were not many people and vehicles in Yuan Xingshan. Besides, he was working as a military attaché in Guide, and it was his responsibility to ensure the safety of the place, so he agreed.
However, what Yuan Xingshan said attracted Wu Shigong's attention. After discussing with Xue Yongli, all the guards were fully armed and put on cotton armor. Wu Shigong also put on the inner armor and brought the two guns.
and Japanese katana.
In fact, Wu Shigong was a little nervous. At that time, although the world was already in some chaos, robbers generally would not rob the fleet of government officials. Because if they rob ordinary businessmen, the government may conceal it for the sake of their own political achievements. But
, and robbed someone from the government, the government would definitely pursue them with all their strength.
Of course, this is also the main reason why Yuan Xingshan found Wu Shigong as a companion.
After setting off, Yuan Xingshan told Wu Shigong: If you hurry to travel from Jining to Guide, it will take three days. However, if you travel more leisurely, it will take four days.
Of course, Wu Shigong, who was in a nervous state, chose to rush on his way. But to Wu Shigong's surprise, he couldn't even see the shadow of a little thief along the way.
Along the way, Wu Shigong asked Yuan Xingshan about the situation in Guide. What Yuan Xingshan said was very close to what Xue Yongli said. However, he told Wu Shigong that there were two places in Guide that needed special attention.
One is that in the countryside of Guide, the big gentry owned many big Zhuangzi. These Zhuangzi were very strong, and even the government was unable to completely control them. Therefore, if Wu Shigong came to Guide as an official, he must work with them.
Build a good relationship with the gentry who own these big houses. At least you can't offend them. Otherwise, Wu Shigong will find it difficult to move forward in many things.
Another thing is that bandits are not common around the prefectural and county towns of Guide. But in the countryside and mountains, the number of bandits is relatively large. Many villages, including some villagers in Zhuangzi, are engaged in farming during the busy farming season.
During the off-season, he might turn into a bandit.
Yuan Xingshan reminded Wu Shigong: If Wu Shigong goes to the countryside or mountains for something, he must pay attention to this situation and keep himself alert at all times.
After hearing what Yuan Xingshan said, Wu Shigong thought to himself: "I didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty is already in such chaos."
In fact, Wu Shigong didn't know that in ancient times, the central government's decrees were only conveyed to the county level at most. In the countryside, management basically relied on the prestigious gentry among the people. Therefore, for the local gentry, the government
We will try our best to win over them.
As for the problem of bandits, the attitude of the government is basically that as long as you don't attack the city, the government will turn a blind eye. This has resulted in wealthy private households paying protection fees to the bandits in order to seek peace. Some are even bolder.
The gentry openly supported and even raised a group of bandits to make huge profits for themselves.
The bandits also need them to transport supplies and sell stolen goods. They basically form a community of interests.
On the third day, Wu Shigong set out early in the morning, hoping to hurry up and enter Guide City before the city gates closed in the evening.
But not long after walking, fog began to appear on the road. The fog was getting bigger and bigger. Wu Shigong saw that something was wrong, so he stopped the motorcade and asked the team to get as close as possible.
However, the convoy is too long. Let’s think about it. In order to take care of the vehicles walking on the opposite side, Wu Shigong’s convoy can only form a long queue. Using current measurements, one car is four meters long. Wu Shigong’s convoy,
There are more than 80 cars in total and the distance is more than 300 meters.
Wu Shigong immediately decided to ignore the carts at both ends and let everyone gather together. He asked the guards to form a circle around the thirty or forty carts in the middle, and led the horses into the circle of carts.
In the innermost part of the cart circle, there was a carriage with women's family members parked. He then asked his guards to observe the situation around the cart circle to prevent any accidents from happening.
Everyone was very nervous. In the entire circle of carts, except for the occasional snort or two from the horses, there was no other sound.
Suddenly, a guard shouted: "There is something moving here!" Everyone took out their weapons and ran towards the guard who shouted. Even Wu Shigong drew his samurai sword.
The fog was already very thick at that time. You couldn't actually see anything even ten steps away. Everyone was staring over there. One of the guards holding a firecracker was dazzled and seemed to see a shadow.
Shaking, he immediately fired at the shadow. His action caused a chain reaction, and all the firecrackers were fired.
After the gunpowder is fired, the smoke produced by the gunpowder and the dense fog combine to make people's vision blurry.
But after waiting for a long time, it seemed that there was no movement over there. But no one dared to go outside the big car circle to check the situation at this time. So, we could only keep waiting like this.
Time seemed to have stopped, and everyone felt that time was extremely long. Suddenly, as if God had cast a magic, a gust of wind blew by, and fierce sunlight shone in. The thick fog immediately became thinner, and without much effort,
The fog has completely disappeared.
Everyone observed the situation around them, but did not find any problems. Xue Yongli arranged for a few guards to form a team to go outside to check the situation. They carefully searched the surroundings and only found one that had been blown into half by a fire gun.
The field mouse. Seeing this situation, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
It turned out to be a false alarm. Although Wu Shigong looked calm, his back was already soaked. He breathed a sigh of relief and ordered the guards: "Hurry up and organize the convoy and continue on your way."
While the guards were organizing the motorcade, Wu Shigong went to the carriage and comforted the female relatives one by one.
When the comfort came to Zhao Ruya, Zhao Ruya looked at Wu Shigong with admiration and curiosity, and asked: "Aren't you afraid?"
Wu Shigong smiled bitterly, looked at Xiaojie aside, and found that she didn't seem to notice him. So Wu Shigong leaned into Zhao Ruya's ear and whispered: "Actually, I am also very scared."
Zhao Ruya was surprised and then asked: "Then why are you so calm?"
"I just learned to be patient."
Wu Shigong's answer made Zhao Ruya giggle.
The convoy was quickly organized. After counting, there was no shortage of carts and supplies. However, three horses ran away after being frightened.
Wu Shigong did not dare to be careless and asked the guards to go outside in groups of five to look for them on horses. He did not dare to let them run away. People were the most important thing now. If they really couldn't find the three horses, then forget it.
Already.
But just as the guards were about to set off, they saw two horses trotting towards them in the distance. They trotted into the convoy with high spirits. They seemed to look at Wu Shigong and others with contemptuous eyes.