Heaven's Formula

At this point, the case should have been closed—the Pan family is just a white family, not even a poor family, so there is no possibility of causing any disturbances.Therefore, when Fei Zhuang mentioned this matter seriously, everyone showed obvious surprise on their faces.

"Where did you hear that?" Qian Zhixian couldn't help asking.

"Inside the Bureau." Fei Zhuang said in a deep voice.

"Did you buy the eyeliner?"

"Hmph, after all, they are all white men, who have never seen anything in the world." He tapped on the table lightly and said, "I was a bit reserved in the first few contacts, why Jinxia City has official discipline, and I really regard myself as an official I came to see it. When the golden leaf waved, didn’t your eyes stare and you couldn’t speak clearly?”

"Mr. Fei is good at tricks." Master Zhang pondered for a while, "You said that this bureau...does it mean that they want to use the Pan family to intervene in Baisha City?"

"It's hard to say. The main reason is that they have been here for too short a time, and I can't find out the details of each of them. But this matter... It's better not to get Jinxia involved."

"It makes sense." There was a gloomy tone in Qian Zhixian's tone. It's not that he didn't warn the locals not to contact the secretariat in private, but some people just ignored him, so it's no wonder he was merciless. "I heard that if you want to win a group of people, simply giving benefits may not be effective. Sometimes it is the most appropriate method to give kindness and power."

"The magistrate already has an idea?" Fei Zhuang frowned.

"That's right. I'm an official who pays attention to evidence. Since I have doubts, I'd better take the people from the secretariat and Mrs. Pan's family to the mine. Field research is more reliable than verbal confrontation, right?" County Magistrate Qian sighed. "But places like mines are full of dangers."

The corners of Fei Zhuang's mouth could not help but curl up, "In the end, they all died in the mine accident?"

"Of course not." Qian Zhixian picked up a meatball and put it on the table, "They are sent by the third princess after all. One death is enough at this time."

The other three looked at each other, and it was self-evident who this candidate was.

The magistrate slowly pressed down the chopsticks until the meatballs turned into a puddle of meat paste, "Whoever sees a big living person like this in front of him will feel sincere panic? As long as it is involved in the mine, it is inevitable There will be accidents, this is Wei. After seeing Enwei, they should be more cautious in their next choice."

"In this way, the Pan family can completely shut up." Fei Zhuang said comfortingly, "Jiang is indeed old and hot, I toast my lord!"

"Together, together." Qian Zhixian smiled and raised his glass.

At this moment, a servant came out of the inner hall, "Master Qian, Tang Luming from the Office has a letter to send to you."

He opened the letter and spread it out in front of the table, "Heh... It really is about Mrs. Pan's family. Anyway, since the other party came to the door on its own initiative, I'll trouble Mr. Fei to arrange a reception."

"Where is it, this matter can be settled thanks to the help of adults..." Fei Zhuang was suddenly stunned in the middle of speaking, and he saw Qian Zhixian's face suddenly changed, "What's the matter, is there something wrong with what he wrote later?"

"It's unreasonable—it's unreasonable!" The more Qian Zhixian looked back, the more he felt incredible. He thought it was a "negotiation letter" at the beginning, but later, he found out that it was a "letter of ultimatum"!

I saw the high-sounding words on the letter: "We have obtained all the evidence in the case of the Pan family. We request you to close the government office immediately, take off your official robe, bind your hands, and cooperate with the Bureau of Investigation. This is an ultimatum, and the time limit is The deadline is tomorrow morning. If you don’t follow suit, Jinxia’s arresting troops will launch a strong attack from the north gate. At that time, the sword will have no eyes, and the casualties will be at your own risk.”

"Issued by Jinxia City Affairs Bureau."

What is this stuff?

Qian Zhixian's first reaction was that he was being tricked, let alone the letter's tone was extremely arrogant and its content was nonsense, just the word arrest is nonsense!He is an official appointed by the imperial court, except for the officials, who is qualified to take off his official robe?

Does the other party still want to rebel! ?

Chapter 328 Tit for Tat

Six miles outside Baisha County.

500 troops have set up camp, and the guard posts are spread out for two miles, and there is a patrol team secretly monitoring the situation near the official road.

"It's so clear in my letter, they shouldn't be defenseless, right?"

Ning Wanjun squatted by the fire, rubbing her slightly pale hands.

Even though it was cold, her eyes were shining brightly. These days seemed to bring her back to the time when she was in the frontier army. Compared with reading documents in the villa, leading the army was what she should do.

"If they are not stupid, they will definitely send someone to go out to the north gate to check the situation." Qiuyue is also in military uniform at the moment, with a longbow and an air rifle on her back, "But is it really okay, Your Highness? The main direction of attack is fully revealed to the opponent..."

"Otherwise? Taking advantage of the opponent's defenselessness, rushing into the county in one fell swoop, what effect will it have in training troops." Ning Wanjun said disdainfully, "If it is an encounter in the wild, they are not even considered opponents at all, and they can only rely on the city wall With weapons, there is a possibility of a war."

"Your Highness." A guard outside the camp lifted the curtain, and the cold wind caused the fire to shake immediately. "All the people in the city have withdrawn, only five, and a civilian woman with them. Do you want to see them?"

"Let them wait by the campfire, and I'll go right away."

"Yes."

Ning Wanjun stood up and put on a thick linen cloak, while Qiuyue tied a neckband on it.Then the princess walked out of the main tent and came to the center of the camp facing the fine snow.

Seeing Ning Wanjun himself, the five members of the secretariat were all startled.

They never expected that the leader who is about to launch an operation against Baisha County is Princess Guangping!

"Meet Your Highness the Princess!"

The five of them knelt down on one knee and said.

Hearing their names, the woman was stunned for a while, then fell to the ground helplessly, "Cao, Caomin has seen the princess..."

"Get up." Ning Wanjun waved his hand, indicating that there is no need to be polite, "Has the notice I asked for been sent to the county magistrate?"

"Return to Your Highness, yes!" Tang Luming, the leader, said excitedly, "The content of the letter is completely according to your request!" To be honest, he also felt that the content of the letter was too childish at first, not only intentionally offending the county magistrate in terms of words, There is also the suspicion of scaring the snake.But since it is the meaning of the princess, then it is completely fine.

She is of royal blood, so what if she pointed at the magistrate's nose and scolded her?

"Is Her Royal Highness, are you here to avenge the grassroots?" The woman stammered, with a nervous but expectant expression on her face.

"That's right." Ning Wanjun nodded slightly, "Don't worry, if it is found out that the wrongdoing is true, none of those murderers will be able to escape."

The lady of Pan's family opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say some words of gratitude, but in the end, the thousands of words turned into hot tears, choked up and flowed into the snow.

When she approached Jinxia's group of outsiders, she also had doubts. After all, as the saying goes, a strong dragon does not overwhelm a snake.If she was not desperate, she would not choose to put all her eggs in one basket.

The moment she got the princess's response, the worries that the lady of the Pan family was full of finally disappeared.

The tears at this moment are both sorrow and relief.

However, the princess noticed that not all the five members of the Bureau were full of joy, and at least two showed slightly awkward smiles, as if they were pretending to be excited.

She smiled silently, not taking this discovery to heart.

Subsequent investigations will be handled by special personnel.

She only needs to focus on the actual combat exercise in front of her.

After all, she spent a lot of time persuading Xia Fan to get this opportunity.

Now it's finally that guy's turn to sit in the villa and review the documents.

……

"What? You said they're all gone?" Qian Zhixian asked loudly.

"That's true." The servant quickly lowered his head and said, "The little one went to the place where the Bureau's signboard is listed, and even tore off the window paper to take a sneak peek. There was no one in the room!"

"Do you know when those guys left?"

"This... I have asked the neighbors, but it was windy and snowy, and no one noticed their movements. I only know that the door of this shop has not been opened since the morning."

"Okay, you go out." After Qian Zhixian waved his servants to retreat, he looked at the three of them in blank dismay.The hot pot is still steaming, but no one is stretching out their chopsticks now. "Everyone—what do you think?"

"Sneaking is pretty fast. It is believed that the arrest of the troops... is too sensational." Master Zhang said with a serious expression, "We all know that the princess has private soldiers. When Jinxia City was attacked by pirates, It was relying on private soldiers to support the arrival of the garrison. The problem is... using private soldiers to deal with a county magistrate? Anyone who dares to say this must be a lunatic."

Haikou and magistrate are not the same thing at all.

If anyone dares to do this, stabbing to Gyeonggi is a serious crime of concealing rebellion and implicating the nine clans!

Even if it is impossible for the princess to be punished by the clan, she herself cannot escape this catastrophe.

"Could it be that someone deliberately framed Princess Guangping?" The master could only guess in a bold direction, "Or some gangsters and people from the affairs branch colluded to pretend to be Jinxia's people?"

"Impossible! If this is the case, I will definitely get the news in advance." Fei Zhuang shook his head and said, "Well, let's make two-handed plans. While implementing the contents of the letter, we will make preparations for the people below. If this so-called If the apprehension troops really want to come to Baisha City, they will definitely leave footprints on the road."

"I'll arrange someone to investigate immediately." Qian Zhixian nodded in agreement, "No matter who takes the lead in this matter, justice is on my side. No matter what, I will never let them set foot in the county!"

"What if it's really someone from Jinxia City?" The master secretary asked cautiously.

"Then they are no different from the rebels!" The magistrate slammed the table down, "Master Zhang, how many troops can we gather by tomorrow's time?"

The chief secretary stretched out his fingers and quickly counted, "There is a hundred-man team in the government office, and with the addition of the office staff and temporary labor labor, it can make up almost three hundred."

"Where are you two?" He looked at Fei Zhuang and Tang Yingzhi.

Tang Yingzhi raised two fingers, "You also know the situation of the Tang family. These people were selected by me, and their loyalty is guaranteed, but their weapons are not very good, and armor is even rarer..."

"I'll get it from the warehouse." Zhixian said without hesitation.Anyway, he can get it back after lending it out, and as for the loss caused during the toss, he can completely eliminate it by making accounts.

"I will offer 500 people." Fei Zhuang said in a deep voice.This matter started because of him, if we don't put in more efforts, I'm afraid it will cause a gap.What's more, he is in charge of the Baisha Mine, which usually requires a large number of manpower to supervise the labor, and there are not a few gangster thugs raised in private.It can be said that he alone has the final say on the underground order of Baisha City.

Having said this, Fei Zhuang paused, and then stretched out two more fingers.

"In addition, my family happens to employ two qi sensers. They are all seasoned Jianghu people, and they are suitable for this kind of scene."

"Oh? That's really good." Hearing this, Qian Zhixian couldn't help but feel affirmed. More than 1000 people can be gathered together, and there are also people who can sense the energy to lead the formation. bandits, or tens of thousands of refugees.

Although Jinxia City is big, the arresting team is also a private soldier to put it bluntly, and it cannot be compared with the Shenzhou garrison.

It's impossible for the other party to suddenly move out a few siege equipment against the wind and snow, right?

In the evening, the investigators sent out by Qianzhi County finally brought back reliable news-there were indeed signs of a large number of people moving in the northern suburbs of Baisha County!

Chapter 329 The Shadow in the Snowstorm

"How many people are in the large group?" Qian Zhixian asked nervously.

"This... the little one can't tell, the sky is too dark, I just saw a lot of tents set up in the snow." The subordinate replied, "The little one is worried that if they get too close, they won't be able to bring the news back .”

"Lord Qian, let me ask." Master Zhang took up the conversation, "How far are these people from the official way?"

"About... a mile or two."

"Are there any convoys on the official road? Are they setting up obstacles on the road?"

The subordinate shook his head again and again, "This little guy can see it very clearly. The snow on the road is so thick that he can't even see a person, let alone a convoy. As for the roadblock... the little guy didn't notice that they set up a barricade near the official road .”

"Is there a fence around the tent?"

"Not seen."

"Well," Master Zhang said thoughtfully, "the last question, you should have discovered the other party half an hour ago, there should be cooking smoke rising from those tents. What do you think the smoke looks like? Thick fog or gray water vapor?"

This question made the subordinates think hard for a while, "Back to the adults, I think...it should be the one in front."

"Okay, you go down." The chief secretary waved his hand, turned to the magistrate and said, "Master Qian, the number of the other party must not be too many, it should be between three hundred and one thousand."

"Oh? How can you see it?"

"If the official road is empty, it proves that the team has no luggage. Camping near the official road means that they are ready to retreat at any time." The master said methodically, "In addition, I have studied in the Shenzhou garrison. For those with more than [-] people, the tents must be set up separately, separated by fences. This is not only to prevent the enemy from attacking by fire, but also to reduce the losses caused by the roar of the camp.”

"So that's it," Qian Zhixian nodded repeatedly, "What does the smoke represent?"

"If the cooking smoke is turbid and foggy, it means that they are temporarily collected wood from nearby. Because of the heavy humidity and impurities, the smoke is very heavy when burned; while the gray smoke shows that it is dry wood, which is easy to ignite. , and it won’t choke people, it just needs to be prepared in advance.”

"There are two meanings in this-if there is an army of 2000 people, it is impossible to maintain the bonfire by picking up wood. In case there is no suitable woodland nearby, or there is an accident, these people will starve and suffer. Cold? Then the morale of the army will be dispersed. Therefore, their number must be limited, which is also in line with the previous judgment of lack of supplies.”

"Secondly, they don't plan to besiege for a long time. They probably take one step at a time. Since the wood is picked up temporarily, the rations should be extremely limited. In addition to the round trip, I speculate that this troop can only Three days in the snow!"

Director Zhang became more and more confident as he spoke, and the last sentence almost came out in a trembling voice.

"Good, good!" Qian Zhixian suddenly laughed out loud after a few words of praise.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I laugh at them for being too timid." He patted his thigh and said, "If an army of hundreds of people rushed into Baisha City without saying anything, wouldn't I have fallen into their hands long ago? Neither Dare to do such a rebellious thing, and try to put pressure on me with a letter, it is also despising this official."

Qian Zhixian was both rejoicing and ridiculed in his heart. Sure enough, even the princess's private soldiers had to weigh three points in the face of right and wrong.

"Tomorrow, I will wait for them at the gate of Beicheng—I want to see which thief dares to commit such a crime of treason!"

……

The next day, Xiaoxue still showed no sign of stopping.

The sky was a hazy light gray, with neither clouds nor sunlight, like a cauldron with an invisible edge, upside down on the silvery white land.

The vast countryside outside the city was covered with snow, and the ground was as flat as a blanket. It was obviously inappropriate to go out in this kind of weather.Even the usual birds, which are usually seen, have almost disappeared.

On the contrary, there was a rare commotion in Baisha City.

This county town is not as important as Jinxia, ​​the city wall is less than nine feet, and there is no walkway on the top for people to pass.The wall is divided into two layers, the outer layer is masonry, and the inner layer is wooden frame.Defenders can reach the top of the city wall by climbing the wooden frame, and shoot arrows or throw stone cables at the intruders with half of their body exposed.For important positions like the gate, sentry towers and watchtowers will be set up at the rear, and these facilities are basically used with large crossbows.Ordinary bandits and bandits who want to attack the city will be hit head-on in front of this line of defense.

At this time, the personnel gathered by each family had already occupied the north gate city wall to the brim.

After these private soldiers changed into armor and government standard weapons, they actually looked good, at least few of them showed timidity.

Compared with the private soldiers of Fei and Tang, the yamen servants were much looser.Qian Zhixian simply transferred them all down and asked them to be responsible for logistical matters such as handling arrows and hot oil.At the same time, in order to prevent the enemy from cheating, he also arranged a security team of 50 people at each of the west gate, east gate and south gate.

After arranging the deployment, Qian Zhixian handed over the command to Master Zhang, and he himself went up to the watchtower to monitor the battle situation from a height together with Fei Zhuang and Tang Yingzhi.

"It's about time." Tang Yingzhi glanced at the sky and said, "If the letter wasn't a bluff, the arrest team should have appeared."

"As the saying goes, soldiers never tire of deceit, and this method of intimidation may just be to test your determination." Fei Zhuang stared into the distance expressionlessly, "I'm afraid the prefect Hong was frightened by the princess. "

"Hmph, I'm not so easy to talk about without the imperial decree!" Qian Zhixian said coldly.