Lian Dan turned his head and said: "Find a painter and ask him to make a portrait! Even if I have to dig three feet into the ground, I have to dig her out!" As he spoke, he turned his eyes and looked at the governor of the county. , said: "Zhou Zong!"
"The official is here!" Hu Cao Zhou Zong hurriedly came out of the queue and bowed to Lian Dan.
"During the investigation throughout the city, did you find any suspicious woman?"
Zhou Zong thought for a while, shook his head, and said: "Report to the general, my official... I didn't find any suspicious woman in the city!"
"Trash!" Lian Dan said harshly with a gloomy face: "I'll give you another ten hours. If you can't find the assassin on the run within ten hours, I want your head!"
Hearing this, Zhou Zong was so frightened that his legs weakened and he almost collapsed to the ground. He lowered his head and responded repeatedly, his body trembling non-stop.
Lian Dan glared at him fiercely again and walked out of the dungeon of the Prefect's Mansion.
He returned to the lobby of the Prefect's Mansion, sat in the middle, and said to the entourage on his left and right: "Go, bring Liu Yan and Feng Yi to see me!"
"Yes! General!" A captain stepped in to take the order and strode out.
Not long after, Liu Yan and Feng Yi were brought in by the school captain.
Entering the lobby, the two of them bowed their hands and saluted, saying: "I see General Lian, little man!"
Lian Dan's eyes swept over Liu Yan and Feng Yi, and said slowly: "I heard that you both made great contributions in the battle to defend the city?"
Liu Yan cupped his hands and said, "General Lian has been praised. A villain dare not take credit."
Lian Dan smiled indifferently, picked up the teacup in front of him, took a slow sip of tea, and asked casually: "As far as I know, during the defense of the city, many big families in the city were unwilling to send their young men to participate in the city's defense, but can Is there any such thing?"
Liu Yan and Feng Yi looked at each other, not quite understanding what Lian Dan meant by asking. He cleared his throat and said: "In the early days, there were not many strong men participating in the defense of the city, but later, there were more strong men defending the city. There are more than 20,000 people."
Lian Dan laughed out loud and said, "Liu Yan, what you said later was that the barbarian army had all retreated, right?"
"Yes." This is a fact, and Liu Yan cannot hide it.
Lian Dan asked unhurriedly: "When the fight with the barbarians was the fiercest, these strong men were greedy for life and feared death and did not dare to participate in the defense of the city. When the barbarian army retreated, they all became more capable and rushed to grab the goods. Defending the city, and so on, they are all shameless people, Liu Yan, Feng Yi, do you think this is how these people should be dealt with?"
Liu Yan secretly frowned. Those people who later fought to defend the city were indeed not very kind, but there was no one who was not afraid of death. This was human nature, and he could fully understand what people did.
Now that Lian Dan wants to punish these people, Liu Yan feels that something is being made out of a molehill.
He pondered for a moment and then said: "General Lian, during the siege of the city by the barbarians, they caused considerable damage to the defense of the county and city. Many places need to be cleaned and repaired. The villain thought that these strong men could be recruited for labor."
Lian Dan blinked, stared at Liu Yan for a moment, then turned to look at Feng Yi and asked, "Feng Yi, what's your opinion?"
Feng Yi said seriously: "The villain thinks that what Bo Sheng said is true."
"Oh." Lian Dan responded lightly and said quietly: "They are just doing labor. Isn't this punishment too light? In my opinion, such shameless people should be sentenced to death. As a warning to others, Liu Yan and Feng Yi, what do you two think?"
Liu Yan and Feng Yi were shaken and looked shocked. Just because more than 20,000 people did not participate in the defense of the city in time, they were all going to be killed?
Feng Yi said anxiously: "General Lian, although they have committed a crime, it is not worthy of death, right?"
"Yes, General Lian, I hope General Lian will think twice!" Liu Yan followed.
Hearing that both of them opposed his opinions, Lian Dan straightened his waist, and a cold light shot out of his eyes. For a moment, both Liu Yan and Feng Yi felt a chill coming from the soles of their feet, spreading to whole body.
Soon, Lian Dan chuckled and said slowly: "Okay, I already know your opinions."
Hearing this, Liu Yan and Feng Yi both breathed a sigh of relief. Before they could speak, Lian Dan changed the topic and said, "This time I went to Hanzhong City and was attacked by assassins. Do you two know these assassins?" The origin of?”
"The villain doesn't know."
"These assassins are all from the Green Forest Army in the Zhushan area. There are more than a hundred of them. They openly resisted the imperial court, conspired to cause rebellion, and harmed the people. They are unforgivable crimes. I have ordered you two to lead the city's rebels to Zhushan to exterminate the rebels. There must be no mistakes!”
"Yes, General Lian, I obey!"
"Zhang Ting!"
"My subordinates are here!" A captain took a step forward, stepped in and saluted Lian Dan.
"You lead your troops to cooperate with the rebels in fighting, and you must annihilate the rebels in one fell swoop!"
"I obey my orders!"
Lian Dan looked at Liu Yan and Feng Yi with a smile, and said softly: "Okay, you two go back and prepare, and we will leave early tomorrow morning!"
"I'll take my leave, villain!" Liu Yan and Feng Yi bowed their hands and bowed, then exited the lobby.
When they left, Lian Dan sneered and said, "Those who don't know good from evil."
The Green Forest Army in Zhushan is small in number, but their fighting ability is very strong, especially the leader Ma Wu, who is brave and good at fighting and has high martial arts skills.
Even though there were over a thousand rebels under the command of Liu Yan and Feng Yi, most of them were wounded soldiers. There were hundreds of seriously wounded soldiers who could not even move, let alone fight.
As far as the current combat effectiveness of the rebel army is concerned, they may not be able to defeat the Zhushan Green Forest Army.
Lian Dan asked the two of them to go and annihilate the Zhushan Green Forest Army, which was equivalent to giving them an impossible task.
But if Zhang Ting and a thousand cavalry under his command cooperated in fighting, then it would not be difficult to destroy the Zhushan Green Forest Army.
It's just that when Lian Dan sent Zhang Ting's troops, he didn't really intend for him to cooperate with the rebels in fighting. On the contrary, he wanted Zhang Ting to lead his troops to wipe out the Green Forest Army and the rebels together.
In fact, Lian Dan had already given Liu Yan and Feng Yi a chance.
At present, Wang Xun, the prefect of Hanzhong County, and Tang Heng, the captain, are both dead. It is the time to recruit people. If Liu Yan and Feng Yineng are worthy of important roles, Lian Dan would not mind promoting them.
However, the performance of the two of them made Lian Dan very disappointed.
He proposed to severely punish the 20,000 strong men in the county who were greedy for life and afraid of death, but both Liu Yan and Feng Yi strongly opposed it. This only shows that they are not the same people as him. Since they are not the same people, for him, Liu Yan Naturally, Yan and Feng Yi cannot be said to be 'worthy of reuse'.
If they cannot be used for their own purposes, but they have made great achievements and cannot but be rewarded, then let them both die together, and that will be the end of it.
In fact, neither Liu Yan nor Feng Yi could understand Lian Dan's true intentions.
Lian Dan said at the beginning that the big families in the city were unwilling to donate their young men to defend the city. His real purpose was to use this matter to beat the noble families of Hanzhong City and swindle money out of them, so that he could make a fortune.
If he were an old man like Wang Xun, he would definitely follow Lian Dan's words and follow Lian Dan's words. Unfortunately, neither Liu Yan nor Feng Yi are people who would put their minds into this aspect.
To put it bluntly, Lian Dan's perception was correct. Liu Yan and Feng Yi were indeed not from the same group as him.
Liu Yan and Feng Yi had just left, and Lian Dan was about to call Zhang Ting to him to talk. At this time, Hucao Zhou Zong hurried into the lobby and reported a very important news to Lian Dan. There was an extra member of the Ye family. Daughter, cousin Xia Ruoyan.
Zhou Zong, who reported to Lian Dan, was very excited and his voice was a little higher than usual. Even Liu Yan and Feng Yi who were walking in the courtyard could hear clearly.
The two looked at each other and shook their heads secretly. It seemed that even the Ye family was involved in the assassination. As long as Lian Dan was still in Hanzhong City, there would never be peace in Hanzhong City.
Lian Dan in the lobby raised his eyebrows when he heard Zhou Zong's report and asked: "Ye family?"
Zhou Zong bowed and said, "It's the Ye family of Ye Tian!"
"Oh!" Lian Dan had served in Yizhou, so he naturally knew Ye Tian.
Here in Hanzhong County, the Ye family can be regarded as the number one noble family. Even in the entire Yizhou, the Ye family is also very famous.
Lian Dan rubbed his chin and asked suspiciously: "The Ye family's cousin?"
"Exactly, her name is Xia Ruoyan!"
"When did she come to the Ye family?"
"According to the Ye family servant who tipped off the news, Xia Ruoyan arrived at the Ye family yesterday."
"Yesterday?" Lian Dan narrowed his eyes. He was assassinated yesterday, and Xia Ruoyan arrived at the Ye family yesterday. The one on the run was a female assassin, and Xia Ruoyan happened to be a woman. This is too much. What a coincidence, right?
He asked: "Is this news from Mr. Zhou reliable?"
"Reliable! Absolutely reliable!" Zhou Zong said urgently: "The person who reported to me is a servant who has been in the Ye family for more than ten years. He is trusted by Ye Tian. Some things about the Ye family may not be clear to others. , but he understands everything clearly."
"It's best like this." The Ye family not only has deep roots in Hanzhong, but also has a network of connections in the court. For example, the Ye family and Kong Yong have a close personal relationship.
Kong Yong is the fourteenth generation grandson of Confucius. He made great contributions to Wang Mang's usurpation of the throne and gained Wang Mang's trust. He once served as prime minister and chief minister, but because of his old age, he took the initiative to resign and is currently idle at home.
Even so, Wang Mang also authorized Kong Yong to enter the palace at any time to meet the emperor and participate in court discussions.
Therefore, the Ye family is not that restless. If it really caused trouble, Lian Dan would not be able to explain it to Wang Mang.
But having said that, if he can really catch the Ye family's handle, and it is a fatal handle, then Lian Dan can make a lot of money in one go, including gold, silver, and jewelry, which are inexhaustible and inexhaustible.
Lian Dan's eyes shone, he turned his head and shouted, "Lin Yu, Ming Yue!"
Following his words, the two captains stepped out of the queue, saluted Wang Mang, and responded in unison: "My subordinates are here!"
"Gather your two troops immediately and follow me to Ye Mansion!"
In the Han Dynasty, the lieutenant was a military attache second only to the general, but the general was not a permanent official, while the lieutenant was a permanent official position, and his status in the army was very prominent.
If Lin Yu and Ming Yue wanted to raise troops, of course they had to go to the barracks first.
Standing at the door of the prefect's mansion, Liu Xiu, who was talking to Liu Yan and Feng Yi, saw Lin Yu and Ming Yue leaving the prefect's mansion with murderous intent. They both got on their horses and drove away with their whips. Liu Xiu looked puzzled and subconsciously He asked: "What's going on? What happened?"
Looking at the backs of Lin Yu and Ming Yue, Liu Yan said with a helpless smile: "It seems that the Ye family is going to be in trouble!"