Even if they understand that Deng Gui has evil intentions, after losing the support of their clan, Xu Wujiang and the others have no room to struggle; even if they want to struggle, they cannot struggle under Deng Gui's nose.
At dawn the next day, Xu Wujiang pulled out his soldiers, including 24 people including Xu Xin'an, and ten horses. Deng Gui also rarely put on armor, and was accompanied by the chief and deputy chiefs, Jin Longquan and Tang Tiande.
, personally sent this group of soldiers out to inspect Sijun Village and go to Qingxi Village to garrison.
Ordinary soldiers were still kept in the dark. Whenever they encountered bandits, they would not be rewarded for their merits afterwards. Before the departure, all the major clans would donate a sum of money for the departure. This time it was more hasty, so Deng Gui first paid it from his private account.
Fifty guan of gold was allocated per head as a reward, so everyone's morale was pretty good.
Some of my grievances were healed in the face of the reward.
Most people would not believe that the bandits from Hutou Village would attack Qingxi Village. They thought they only needed to hold on until the clan soldiers gathered in large numbers.
"Why doesn't Xu Huai go?" Deng Gui asked Xu Wujiang with a sideways look when he saw Xu Huai and Xu Wujiang's Xu Xian Diniang standing in the farewell team.
"Xu Huai has not yet been included in the military roll of the Inspection Department, so of course he won't go - until the bandits in Hutou Ridge are wiped out this time, I would like to ask Deng Langjun to tolerate him so that he can join the Inspection Department and receive military pay." Xu Huai said.
Wu Jiang's face was solemn and his voice was a little cold as he said.
Seeing that Xu Wujiang was still in a mood, Deng Gui would not push too hard, so he laughed and said: "Easy to say, easy to say! After you arrive at Qingxi Village, discuss with the elder Haosheng to guard the village and don't allow thieves to use the way.
Just come out and don’t fight in vain!”
Xu Wujiang could hold himself back, but Xu Huai was still a little worried that Xu Xin'an, young and energetic, would impulsively question Deng Gui on the spot; he saw Xu Xin'an standing next to Xu Wujiang clenching her teeth, and the veins on her cheeks and temples were pulsing faintly.
He was also cruel enough to suppress his inner impulse.
Xu Huai didn't see Wang Zhen or Lu Xiong - Deng Gui could restrict irrelevant people from approaching Wang Zhen, but it was unlikely that he would put Wang Zhen under house arrest. He didn't know what Wang Zhen's attitude towards the current situation was after Lu Xiong returned last night.
What do you think of the dangerous situation?
Of course, Xu Huai's main attention at this time was still on Deng Gui and his chief and deputy chiefs, Jin Longquan and Tang Tiande.
Deng Gui, the inspection envoy, was a military official appointed by the imperial court. Under normal circumstances, he would be transferred to other places within three years.
After the Inspection and Inspection Department recruited local soldiers from the local area, the governors and section-level officers were also recommended by the local area to be appointed by the county captain.
Jinlongquan and Tang Tiande represent the Jin family and the Tang family. They have been serving as chief and deputy captains in the Inspection Department for some years. They can be said to be fast-moving inspectors with a strong leadership. However, at this moment, Jinlongquan and Tang Tiande both looked a little a little confused.
gloomy.
Xu Huaicong, Jin Longquan and Tang Tiande couldn't see anything unusual on their faces, so it was judged that they were unaware.
Xu Huai felt that they might still have some resentment in their hearts. He suspected that Deng Gui gave this task to Xu Wujiang, which was not actually very dangerous, thinking that he would have reason to recommend Xu Wujiang to replace one of them in the future. That's also true, if they hadn't seen through everything.
, how is it possible to see the danger lurking under the water?
After the reward money was distributed, Deng Gui pretended to give him a lecture, and Xu Wujiang asked Xu Xin'an to take two people on horseback to explore the road first to prevent Hutou Village from getting the news and setting up an ambush halfway. After that, he and other soldiers gathered around
Seven military horses left the stronghold.
This is how the simple departure ceremony ended.
After three o'clock in the day, Deng Gui went to Hedong Market for business, Xu Huai turned around and ran to the inspection department's office.
Deng Gui's family members were all in Biyang City and did not follow him to Huaiyuan Town to take up his post. Deng Gui usually lived in the house behind the government office while working in the Inspection Department.
There were very few people inside the military stronghold, and the patrol office was even more deserted.
Two officials were doing business in the side hall in the front yard of the government office. When they saw Xu Huai approaching, they drove them away in disgust: "What are you doing here, you idiot? This is not a place for you to play around. Hurry up."
Leave far away."
Xu Huai ignored them and walked straight inside.
The two officials stopped trying to stop him, thinking that someone had ordered Xu Huai to come over and do something.
Xu Huai walked through the front hall of the government office and saw that there was no one in the back house. He walked carelessly towards Deng Gui's bedroom and stood at the door to look at the layout inside.
The current martial arts competitions are slightly different from those of the previous dynasties. In addition to strict requirements for life experience, there will be competitions such as swords, spears, riding and shooting, as well as policy theory.
Many people who came from the military examination can be promoted as civil servants without joining the army, but they are not as good as those who have passed the imperial examination. It would be too underestimated to treat Deng Gui simply as a martial artist.
Two days ago, Deng Gui sent Xu Wujiang and Xu Xin'an to sneak into the vicinity of Hutou Village to spy on the bandits. There was nothing unusual, but his decision after meeting with Xu Wufu yesterday revealed evil intentions.
Xu Huai suspected that what happened during this incident was the opportunity that prompted Deng Gui to make his final decision.
There are several books scattered on the desk by the window, as well as papers, inkstones, pens and ink, paperweights and other items, as well as a stack of cut letters.
Xu Huai walked over and picked up these letters quickly. They were all ordinary letters. There was nothing suspicious about them. Looking at the dates of signature, they were not letters that Deng Gui had communicated with people within this month.
The room was tidied by the mother-in-law, the bedding was tidied, there was no dust on the tiled floor, and there were two large and small suitcases stacked on top of each other in the corner; the big suitcase below also had a copper lock hung on it.
Xu Huai frowned slightly. He didn't have the ability to open the copper lock with a branch!
At this time, a woman walked into the yard from the outside. Xu Huai peeked out from the gap in the door. When she walked to the wing diagonally opposite, she tiptoed to the corner and opened the small suitcase above.
It contains daily changes of clothes, as well as a few broken silver coins and loose copper coins.
Thinking that after Xu Wujiang and the others arrived at Qingxi Village, they would be surrounded and killed by Hutou Village thieves ten times their size at any time. Xu Huai could not worry too much. He grabbed the copper lock with his hand and used all his strength to tighten the iron wedge connected to the copper lock.
He was pulled out of the suitcase board with force.
The suitcase was thought to be mainly clothes, and there was a kit, but when he opened it, he found several large silver ingots and a large gold ingot the size of a baby's fist - Xu Huai thought that Deng Gui didn't do much when he was in the inspection department, and he usually didn't do much.
He was involved in wine and sex, and his money must be very tight. He didn't want to hide it secretly, but there was a lot of it. This gold and silver is worth roughly a thousand qian.
Xu Huai opened the clothes and found three letters lying quietly in the corner of the suitcase. He picked them up and read that they were all written by a man named Chen Tong.
Xu Huai didn't know who Chen Tong was or what his position was as an official in Tangzhou or Biyang County. The three letters were not long and he read them through after a while.
In the first letter, Chen Tong directly asked about Wang Zhen's encounter with bandits in Tongbai Mountain. The letter said that when news of this incident reached Biyang County, the state and county officials discussed it a lot and were very alarmed. He asked Deng Gui to inquire about it out of curiosity.
Are the rumors true or false? Are there any hidden secrets that are not trivial to outsiders?
Xu Huai could not see Deng Gui's reply to Chen Tong, but from Chen Tong's second letter, it is not difficult to see that Deng Gui led Xu Wujiang's team to scare away the horse bandits and reported to Wang after receiving orders from the prefect Chen Shi.
All matters such as staying in the military camp and guarding them were reported to each other one by one.
It can also be seen from the second letter sent by Chen Tong that Deng Gui was not in a hurry to reply to Chen Tong at first.
But it was the first time that he wrote to Chen Tong in reply to Chen Tong after a vendor was robbed and killed by the bandits of Hutou Village on the horse trail - this shows that Hutou Village's ability to scare off the enemy still played its role.
At that time, Deng Gui realized that the bandits from Hutou Village came out to rob and kill business travelers, which was unusual.
From the second letter sent by Chen Tong, it can also be seen that in the first reply, Deng Gui said that he had been doing nothing in Tongbai Mountain for more than two years and was often bored. He thought about abandoning his official position and returning to the countryside. Chen Tong
This will comfort him that he is in his prime years and should not have those depressing ambitions.
Chen Tong's third letter not only stated that he trusted Xu Wufu to send him back, but also further advised Deng Gui to be loyal to the imperial court. He said that there were several vacancies in the commander-in-chief and there was an urgent need for someone as talented as Deng Gui.
Those who are capable of military strategy, talent and learning, and who are young and powerful should take the lead.
Chen Tong also said in the letter that the banditry in Tongbai Mountain was very serious and had not been completely quelled by Wang Xiaocheng. Even if there were any obstacles, it should not be blamed on Deng Gui.
Xu Huai guessed that Deng Gui must have contacted someone before finally deciding to arrange for Xu Wujiang and others to die. However, he never expected that Chen Tong was also the key to motivating Xu Wufu to sacrifice Xu Wujiang. He must have a high status in the state and county.
If he had not understood everything earlier, he would not have been able to see what was hidden in these three letters, and they could not even be taken away as evidence in court.
Xu Huai immediately put the three letters back to their original places, and stuffed the bag of gold and silver into his arms. After confirming that the woman who took care of Deng Gui's daily life was not in the yard, he quickly walked to the yard and broke off a small piece first.
The eaves are used to fake the signs of someone climbing over the wall to enter or exit.
After doing all this, Xu Huaicai walked to the front hall of the department, almost bumped into an official, and muttered: "The capital of Tang Dynasty has come to see Mr. Deng, but he still sent me here for an empty trip...
"
The official glanced at the yard behind him, but there was no one there, and scolded Xu Huai: "You idiot, what the hell, where is the head of the Tang Dynasty?"
"See you, sir!" Xu Huai glared at the official angrily, then walked out in a swaggering manner.