Zheng Laozhang talked for more than half an hour, basically explaining the situation here. Li Hui didn't know how he felt when he heard these experiences.
I bid farewell to Mr. Zheng and came out. Although I felt a little heavy, I did gain a lot today. Not only did I know some of the current situation in Juchao County, but I also learned some unknown situations about Feng Heizi and his group.
First of all, although Feng Heizi and others are not large in number, about a hundred or so, they are all fishermen who are proficient in water skills, and they are all ruthless. With too many lives in their hands, there is no possibility of compromise.
Good water quality means that Feng Heizi and the others will have an advantage when fighting in the lake. The terrain is familiar and the water quality is good. If you want to destroy them, you must not think of taking the initiative to attack.
Moreover, Feng Heizi and others must have a large number of eyes and ears in the city. There should be people reporting every move in the county to Feng Heizi and others.
Although Mr. Zheng did not say this, when talking about the troops and horses from the imperial court coming to encircle and suppress him, Li Hui specifically asked about the specific situation. Mr. Zheng's answer was that the troops and horses sent by the imperial court were repeatedly attacked by Feng Heizi and others.
An ambush attack was set up in the branch of the Reedbank Lake. It was also inevitable to operate at night. This is enough to show that someone had tipped off the information.
Two nights ago, Feng Heizi and others invaded from Nancheng, which was surprising. It was impossible for Wang Guangzu and others not to send people to guard the city gate, so it was puzzling how they could easily invade. Li Hui was
I was thinking that this might be the action of the city’s informants or internal agents.
In other words, the difficulty of annihilating Feng Heizi's gang will be further increased. Li Hui already found the matter difficult to handle. If there are insiders, it will be even more difficult.
However, it is not all bad news. Mr. Zheng said that Feng Heizi and others have forced the people to pay for food, fish and other supplies in the past few years. But they are a gang of only more than a hundred people, and they eat what they want.
Not much. Li Hui deduced from this that there must be a large amount of food and supplies stored in the bandits' nest on Laoshan Island.
This made Li Hui very excited. Besides exterminating the gangsters, the most important thing now was to settle the people and let them have food to eat. If there is food to eat, the people's hearts will be stable and the situation will be stable.
This was originally a headache, because Li Hui couldn't think of a way to get food. But now, if Feng Heizi and his gang of gangsters can be eliminated, it is possible to kill two birds with one stone. The gangsters will be eliminated, and a large amount of food and materials can be seized. It will get twice the result with half the effort.
Effect.
In addition, according to what Mr. Zheng said, Juchao County actually has a large population. There are still more than a thousand people in the city. Although most of them are old and weak, women and children, that is because the young adults and young women in the family have hid outside the county.
Went to the village market far away from the lake.
For example, Mr. Zheng's son and daughter-in-law sneaked away to Lugao Town, which is sixty or seventy miles northwest of Juchao County a few years ago. It is dozens of miles away from Jiaohu Lake, and Feng Heizi and others rarely go to Zigao Town.
disturb.
Although Feng Heizi's group was ferocious, they were small in number and had no horses. They could only rely on boats to go to Lugao Town via the Lugao River. However, the people in hiding would take turns watching by the river. Feng Heizi and the others followed the river.
When I go there, the town is often empty of people by the time I arrive.
Feng Heizi and his gang simply burned down the houses in the town to vent their anger, and rarely bothered them anymore.
This shows that the manpower in Juchao County is still there. As long as the people are still there, local production will recover quickly in the future. This is also due to the stupid blockade policy of the Jin Dynasty. In order to ensure the stability of public security, it blocked the escape of the people.
path.
Of course, the premise of everything is to solve the Feng Heizi gang, otherwise everything will be impossible.
After leaving Zhang Laozhang's home, Li Hui decided to go to Dongcheng to take a look at the situation of the refugees.
Walking east along the street, we soon arrived at the East Gate Square. It was still a mess, with shacks spread out in a mess. When the lake bandits came in that day, they set fire to several huts, so you can still see piles of ashes.
In the square, when the wind blows, black dust dances wildly, covering the sky and blocking out the sun.
Li Hui walked through the square with squinted eyes and frowned. Some people recognized him. Several women and children pointed at Li Hui and spoke in muttering.
"Lord County Magistrate! Isn't this County Magistrate Li who saved us that night?"
"It was him, it was indeed him. He saved us that night and gave us bread to eat."
"Woodles? Have you eaten noodles?"
"yes."
This was a big deal. When they heard that the county magistrate had noodles, many people rushed out and rushed towards Li Hui.
When Li Hui and the other three saw the refugees rushing towards them, they were wondering when they were already surrounded. Countless hands stretched out to Li Hui, shouting: "Give us something to eat, give us something to eat, noodles..."
"Protect Xiaolang!" Zhao Dachun shouted.
Da strong loudly agreed and stood in front of Li Hui. Zhao Dachun stood behind. The two of them protected Li Hui one after another. With one move of their thick arms, a bunch of people fell down. But Li Hui didn't.
Pulled by those skinny hands.
"Don't hurt them, don't hurt them." Although Li Hui was a little flustered, he also knew that the refugees were not malicious and ordered loudly.
Zhao Dachun and Guo Dazhuang did not dare to push the people hard. They only protected Li Hui with all their strength and used their bodies to block the refugees from approaching.
Li Hui said loudly: "Fellow folks, don't be impulsive. I don't have food, so don't do this."
The refugees didn't care about this. They surrounded Li Hui noisily and refused to leave. Some even started to curse and shout, saying that the officials were not helping the people, and they were watching the people starve to death without caring. The scene was inflamed.
It gradually became a little out of control. Some people from the outside began to smash balls of mud in, and others began to follow suit.
At this moment, scoldings rang out, and someone came from the north shouting and scolding loudly, and the whips crackled. The refugees were crying and running away. Only then did Li Hui see Zhou Che and his men beating the generals all the way with whips in their hands.
come over.
Zhou Che came closer, cupped his hands and said, "Li County Cheng, why are you here? I don't know why you are here. Why are you surrounded by them? It's too dangerous."
Li Hui smiled bitterly and said: "I don't know. He suddenly rushed up to me and asked for food. Hey. Thank you, Deputy Commander Zhou, for the timely rescue. Please don't fight those brothers. They just want to stutter. That's all.
How can women and children be beaten like this?"
Seven or eight refugee soldiers were still beating the people with bamboo whips to drive them away. Some women and children were beaten so hard that they held their heads and cried, making the scene a bit chaotic.
Zhou Che said: "You are a good person, but it is our fault."
Li Hui said hurriedly: "That's not what I meant. What I meant was...Hey, I won't say anything anymore."
Zhou Che smiled, turned around and shouted loudly: "Stop fighting. Stop it."
The beating stopped and the situation quickly calmed down.
"Why are you here, Prime Minister Li? Are you aware of the sentiments of the people? How? Have you noticed this time?" Zhou Che said with a slightly teasing smile.
Li Hui shook his head and said, "I'm here to find you."
Zhou Che said: "What? You have a clever plan to attack?"
Li Huidao: "That's not true."
Zhou Che smiled and said: "Then why did Li Xiancheng come to us? Didn't he say in three days?"
Li Hui said in a deep voice: "I have learned some new information and would like to discuss it with you."
Zhou Che nodded and said: "Go and talk in the camp. However, the commander is not here today."
Li Huidao: "Where did Marshal Wang go?"
Zhou Che smiled and said: "It seems that I am not qualified to listen to you."
Li Hui hurriedly smiled and said: "That's not what I meant. It was just a casual question. It doesn't matter whether Marshal Wang is here or not, and the same goes for discussing with Vice Marshal Zhou."
Zhou Che thought for a while and said, "How about waiting for the commander, he should get up and return to the camp soon. Look, the people serving the commander have already gotten up, and the commander should also get up and return to the camp soon.
."
Li Hui was stunned and looked in the direction pointed by Zhou Che. At the window on the second floor of a small wooden building next to the East Street he passed when he came, a woman wearing colorful clothes was standing at the window combing her hair. It seemed.
Still looking towards the square.
I didn't see this woman appear when I arrived. I thought she had just opened the window and appeared.
Li Hui looked at Zhou Che and saw the meaningful expression on Zhou Che's face, and he immediately understood. Wang Guangzu was having a good time with the woman he was dating, so it was already noon and he didn't get up to go back.
camp.
Li Hui actually didn't feel strange about this, but he was keenly aware that Zhou Che's attitude was a bit subtle. His tone sounded flat, but in fact it contained a hint of dissatisfaction. He pointed it out to himself specifically and pointed it out to him.
It was obviously strange for him to know about the matter. It felt as if he deliberately let himself know about it. In fact, he did not ask about Wang Zuguang's whereabouts.
"I see. I don't think there's any need to wait for him. It's the same as discussing this matter with Deputy Commander Zhou. There's no need to go into the camp to talk. We can just go to the shelter under the city wall and talk. It's very brief." Li Hui said.
Zhou Che nodded, and the two of them quickly came to the city wall. Li Hui quickly told Zhou Che the information he had learned. Finally, he said: "Deputy Commander Zhou, based on these circumstances, I have two judgments. The other one is
First, I estimate that there must be a large amount of food supplies in the bandits' nest on Laoshan Island in the center of the lake. If the Feng Heizi gang can be wiped out, these food supplies can help the people and refugees in Juchao County overcome difficulties and solve this urgent problem."
Zhou Che laughed and said: "You don't have to say that? We have already inquired clearly and know that there is a large amount of food and supplies in their bandits' lair. The commander-in-chief and I are salivating, but there is nothing we can do. We have to capture it."
."
Li Hui smiled and said: "So you already knew it. That's it. No matter what, at least this is good news for us. My second judgment is that there must be Feng Heizi and others in Juchao County.
Eyes and ears or internal intelligence. Our every move may be under the control of Feng Heizi and others."
"Oh? Why did you see it? What did you find?" Zhou Che said in shock.
Li Hui shook his head and said: "I just made a judgment based on common sense. Feng Heizi and others have been here for so many years. How can they control the situation on the island in the middle of the lake? If it were me, I would also put in spies to control the situation. The imperial troops and horses
You need to know the trends in the city and the situation in the city to feel at ease."
Zhou Che nodded slowly, frowned and pondered.
Li Huidao: "Also, I would like to ask Deputy Commander Zhou to tell me how he breached the South City Gate that night. I have some doubts about this."