() When Ma Yue said this, the two of them felt that it was a bit alarmist, so they both turned their eyes to him and waited quietly for him to continue talking. Ma Yue did not flinch, and immediately said: "Although this horse thief can see now

They just came to rob and kill passing merchants, and there didn't seem to be much objection. But it was obvious that they were dissatisfied with the imperial court. If they knew that there was a sudden rebellion in Liangzhou, I'm afraid they would have greater ambitions.

.

"At that time, we will not only have to fight against the Qiang rebels outside, but also beware of the horse thieves hidden among the people who take advantage of the chaos. Only then will internal and external troubles arise, and our Longxi County will be really in danger. So I think it's better to

We should first make peace at home, and then fight against the outside world. As for the turmoil it will cause, we can’t worry too much about it!”

Ma Yue's words made Li Xiangru and Ma Teng nod one after another, thinking that what he said was very true. They had not thought that the danger of horse thieves would expand before, so they did not want to cause trouble again. Now it seems that removing the horse thieves is the opposite.

It became a must. After having this understanding, Li Xiangru no longer said empty words, but looked at Ma Teng: "In this case, Shoucheng, you will immediately arrange changes tonight. This time, we must catch them all!"

"

"Yes, I will not disappoint the prefect!" Ma Teng immediately responded solemnly.

After leaving the prefect's residence, Ma Teng saw that his son seemed to have something to say, so he smiled and said, "Xiaokang, do you have anything else to say to your father?"

"Yes. Father, I think this will be a good opportunity for you to gain greater power in Liangzhou." Ma Yue said in a low voice without hiding his thoughts.

"Oh? What did you say?"

"Father, you don't want to be threatened by Shangguan all the time? Geng Bi already has a grudge against you. Even if we can eradicate the horse thief this time, we can only protect him for a while. There is no guarantee that he will not harm others again in the future.

Heart. Moreover, guarding against thieves for a thousand days will only lead to failure." Ma Yue said.

After hearing this, Ma Teng was moved in his heart, and then asked: "Then what do you think we can do to deal with this matter?"

"This... from a child's perspective, it's time for my father to gain some real power of his own, so that he can protect himself." Ma Yue just vaguely put forward his idea, but Ma Teng did not pick up the topic and initiated

Startled.

?????????

The night was deep, and although it was only a quarter of the year, the entire Longxian city was already quiet. In this era, there were not many entertainment activities, and it was in a remote place, so the people lived their lives.

A life of peace and quiet.

But in this quiet night, a red light woke up the sleeping people. When everyone was disturbed by the sound and looked out from the doors and windows, they happened to see the fire rising into the sky. A moment later

After being stunned, everyone finally thought about where it was, and their expressions suddenly changed.

The place where the fire broke out was the Long County warehouse, which was used to store collected money, grain and ordnance. The guard there has always been very tight, so why did such a fire happen today? This question only exists in everyone's mind

After circling around for a while, they were already forgotten. The people put on their clothes, took buckets and wooden basins, and ran towards the place where the fire started.

The people at this time of year are very simple and understand the principle of helping each other. Once a house catches fire, the surrounding neighbors will definitely help. Now that the government warehouse is on fire, naturally the whole city cannot sit idly by.

People rushed there one after another and saw that the fire scene had been brought under certain control. The garrison in the city had been dispatched to isolate the warehouse from the surrounding residential buildings and other buildings. Seeing this, the people breathed a sigh of relief, and then

There was a lot of discussion and speculation as to why the fire started.

While the people were discussing one after another, the prefect Li Xiangru, dressed in official uniform and with a gloomy face, came over accompanied by several followers. After seeing the tragic situation here, he became even more angry: "What is going on? Is this true?"

Whoever is guarding the warehouse, let him come to see me!"

"I've seen the prefect!" The army horse Ma Teng appeared in front of Li Xiangru with a smoky look on his head. After saluting, he said angrily: "Today's fire was set by someone. It not only burned down this warehouse.

He received a large amount of money, food and ordnance, and the person who set the fire brutally killed the two soldiers guarding the warehouse!"

"What?" Hearing this, Li Xiangru became even more furious: "How could there be such lawlessness? Come here, tell me my order to seal off the whole city. I must catch these thieves!"

"Yes!" Ma Teng hurriedly agreed and issued an order to the sergeants below. On this night, the entire county town of Longxian County was completely under martial law, and the sergeants also began to conduct door-to-door inspections to see if there were any

Suspicious people stay in the city.

But no one in the city would have thought that all this was just a plan, and that Ma Teng and the others' real targets were the horse thieves hiding outside the city!

??????????

The west area of ​​Long County is the yamen and residence of many officials such as the prefect and governor. In addition to these officials, there are also some prominent figures in the city living here. They may have served several times in the county.

officials, or those with relatively high popularity, so this can be regarded as a high-end residential area in Long County.

What no one dares to imagine is that among these scattered houses, the people living in one of them are people who cause the entire Xiliang officials and people a headache. Naturally, they are

They have been running rampant in Xiliang for many years, but the government has always taken advantage of the thieves who have no control over them.

As the saying goes, "Hidden in the city", they took this sentence to the extreme. Not only did they devote themselves to the seat of the state and county government, but they also lived within a few miles of the governor and the governor's house. It was really called

It was dark under the lamp. Of course, in order to prevent the government from noticing, it is impossible for all of their more than 300 brothers to live here, so the only people living in this house at this time are Wang Feng and a few leading people.

, and the twenty or thirty brothers who are the most capable of fighting.

Of course, this is not the real lair where they can escape several searches by the government. Their other brothers are still waiting in the real lair. This time venturing into the city, in addition to being unexpected, they can also get money, food and weapons as quickly and conveniently as possible.

In addition, the opportunity mentioned by Guo Sihuai to take advantage of the situation is also an important reason. They have been thieves for many years, and they also hope to be chased and beaten by the government. They also hope to be able to turn defense into offense and have their own world in Xiliang.

When the whole city was awakened by the fire in the warehouse the first night, the horse thieves inside were naturally alerted. However, unlike ordinary people, they did not take it seriously. They did not take it seriously.

For thieves, the more disaster the government suffers, the more profitable it is for them. They look at the fire soaring into the sky and hope it can burn for a while longer.

But after gloating over the misfortune, some people still raised questions: "The government's warehouse has always been tightly guarded, so why did it suddenly catch fire this time? Is there any conspiracy involved?"

"What kind of conspiracy could there be?" Wang Feng said disapprovingly: "Could this fire be set against us?"

Guo Sihuai pondered for a moment and then said: "Maybe this matter really has something to do with us."

"Huh? What do you mean by this?" Wang Feng asked with some confusion.

"Boss, don't forget that tomorrow is the deadline we negotiated with that Ma Teng. If he doesn't want to see the Lin family daughter killed by us, he must hand over the weapons and armor to us. I think he is also afraid

I was responsible for it, and when people discovered that I had misappropriated weapons and armor without authorization, I set this fire myself."

After he mentioned this, everyone thought that it was indeed reasonable to say the matter like this. This also makes it easy to understand why those warehouses suddenly and inexplicably caught fire at this time. This was obviously to cover up. Wang Feng also nodded: "

You are right, things should indeed be like this. It seems that we will be able to get a large amount of ordnance soon."

"Yes. And if things are as we expected, this Ma Teng will have great leverage to fall into my hands. At that time, as long as we use this to blackmail him, let him serve as our internal response in the army.

If so, this uprising will be more likely to succeed." Guo Sihuai then put forward another further point of view.

"That's right, that's right! God is really helping our brothers!" Wang Feng couldn't help laughing, his face full of pride.

But their complacent mood did not last long. The men who went out to explore the wind brought back a piece of news that made them a little worried: "The government suddenly ordered the city to be locked up last night, and then sent people to search the city.

The arsonist is guilty.”

"Huh? The whole city was sealed off? They actually caused such a big fuss. What do they want to do?" Wang Feng was startled and frowned his scattered eyebrows.

"Maybe there really is such a person who set the fire, maybe to make the matter more real. But these actions should have nothing to do with us?" Guo Sihuai speculated: "After all, we are the residence of the rich and noble people in the city, how can they not

Can’t find it here?”

Although that was said, one still had to be prepared, so the gangsters took out all the hidden weapons and put them where they could easily protect themselves if there was any problem. In addition, the two prisoners were

The Lin family's father and daughter who were behind were also brought to the front and guarded in case they shouted or attracted the officers and soldiers outside.

After being prepared in this way, they waited quietly in the house, waiting for the further development of the matter.

??????????

At this time, the officers and soldiers in the county seat had already conducted a rigorous search. The doors of the people's homes were wide open, and anyone who could not explain their identity would be detained first and then sentenced. In just half a day, the entire Longxian county seat was

It's a little confusing.

When the soldiers couldn't find out the truth among the ordinary people, they turned their attention to the gathering place of wealthy households in the west of the city, which was still very peaceful until now. They only waited for Ma Teng's order to take action.

After carefully interrogating those suspicious people, Ma Teng also came to the conclusion that they were not horse thieves. Now it seems that these people are likely to be in the west of the city. But after all, the identities of those in the west of the city are different from ordinary people.

Searching their homes is no longer an easy task.

Ma Yue, who was helping his father with some trivial matters, also noticed his hesitation, so he took advantage of an opportunity and said to Ma Teng: "Father, when things have reached this point, no matter what difficulties we have, we must continue! Otherwise, we must continue."

, so disruptive to the people, this alone is enough for Governor Geng to remove his father from his official position, not to mention the matter of horse thieves. What's more, with the Qiang rebellion, the court will inevitably hand over the power of suppressing the rebellion to Governor Geng. Once he has

If you gain full power, it will definitely be detrimental to you. We must get things done as soon as possible, lest he use this as an excuse to deal with us."

Ma Teng naturally understood the importance of it, but he could not make up his mind for a moment just because he was in an officialdom. Now that his son had spoken to this, he also knew that he really had no way out. After weighing it, he vomited it out heavily.

He said in one breath: "That's it! I am here to eliminate thieves for the country, and more importantly for the stability of Longxi, I can't care about so much."

"In addition, father, I still have a few words to say..." Ma Yue suddenly said hesitantly.

"If you have anything to say, it doesn't matter. My father won't blame you."

"Yes. Father, do you still remember the suggestion made by the child before? The child was thinking whether it would be a pity to wipe out the horse thieves like this. In fact, this group of thieves did not do any serious evil, and they really do not deserve to die.

Moreover, their combat power is not weak, and they are familiar with the terrain of our Liangzhou territory. If they can be used by the imperial court, it may also be a blow to those who rebel."

"This..." Ma Teng was a little stunned. To be honest, he had understood his son's intentions before, but he couldn't turn around for the moment. After all, he had been loyal to the court over the years, and he had not yet passed

Weixin. But when he thinks about his current situation, he has to admit that these horse thieves are indeed a big help if he can use them. If he really has an elite soldier who is willing to follow him, the governor Geng Bi would not dare to bully them too much.

?Li Xiangru alone is obviously not enough. Such contradictory thoughts made Ma Teng suddenly silent and did not answer his son's words. Of course, he also had another concern, which was that he had had a fight with the horse thief in order to save Ma Yue.

The confrontation had injured many of their men, but they didn't know whether the other side would hold grudges.

Ma Yue saw his father's hesitation, so he didn't say much. He just made a plan in his heart. Since his father didn't dare to make this decision, he would do it himself. He didn't want to be a powerless person.

Entering into the coming troubled times as an ordinary person is the best way to protect yourself and your family.

Although Ma Teng over there did not make a decision on this matter, he put aside his original concerns because of his son's encouragement and decided to conduct a detailed search of the area west of the city.

Immediately, the officers and soldiers under his command were led by Ma Teng to the west of the city to search the houses of wealthy people. Knowing the details of these people, he decided to lead the people to do it himself in order to prevent the powerful people from obstructing them.

This behavior was severely tested from the beginning, because the first family was the Ruan family, who had a close relationship with the governor Geng Bi. As soon as the other party saw the battle between the government and the army, they immediately sent someone to invite Geng Bi.

Just before the gate of the Ruan family, Ma Teng had his first confrontation with Geng Bi!

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