Hanhou

After receiving Wei Shang's order, Wei Yue immediately mobilized more than a thousand cavalry, led them personally, and hurried to the county town.

When the Qiang people saw the cavalry coming out of the camp, they thought they were going to plunder the grassland, so they all excitedly took up their weapons and flew on their horses.As soon as the team was assembled, the scouts came on horseback and told the Qiang cavalry that the captain of the department did not need auxiliary soldiers for this trip.

"Captain Bu is going to the city?" Leader Yeli pulled the reins and looked in the direction Yun Zhongqi was leaving with a puzzled expression on his face.

"The captain of the Ministry ordered you to strictly investigate Hushi, and report the child traffickers to the city officials. If you dare to conceal or even report the news, you will be severely punished!"

The leaders of several Qiang tribes looked at each other, and their hearts were shocked.

Accustomed to the current life, they don't want to go back to the grassland.Since the captain of the department wants to investigate the caravan selling children, let's investigate!

"Just to check? To catch or not?" Leader Mo Zhe licked his lips, his eyes glaring fiercely.They did not dare to attack the Han caravans, but the Hu people who brought slaves did not have many scruples.

The scouts took out Wei Yue's warrant and handed it to the leader of Yeli, saying: "The captain of the department has an order not to arrest them if they leave Hushi. If there is a caravan fleeing north, send people to intercept it immediately. Don't make publicity, be careful, and don't go there. As a last resort, avoid doing it in the city."

"Promise!" Chief Yeli held the wooden tablet, his face full of pride.

Since the surrender, five warriors from the Yeli tribe have been conscripted as soldiers, only one from the Mozhe tribe, and none from the Hanpeng tribe so far.

The scout handed over Wei Yue's warrant to Chief Yeli, virtually affirming his status.

It's just that the strengths of the several tribes are not vastly different. The Mozhe tribe and the Hanpeng tribe are not willing to be inferior at all, and they always want to replace them.

Especially Mo Zhebu, who also came out of Zhengzu.

Although the number of Mo Zhe warriors is not as good as that of Noribe, the combat effectiveness is not weak at all.Coupled with the support of the Hanpeng Ministry, they had been sharpening their swords in the dark, determined to overthrow the Ye Lishi.

The seeds of discord among the Qiang tribes were planted as early as the beginning of the surrender.After brewing and fermenting, the rifts and contradictions are getting bigger and bigger, and it is destined that they cannot be twisted together.

As a result, in order to protect the interests of the tribe, it is necessary to firmly suppress the other party.

Whoever dares to swell, suddenly rises up to pick stabs, without Wei Shang's action, the other surrendered Qiang tribes will rush up first, kill all tribal warriors, and divide everything in the tribe.

This is the law of the grassland, and it is also Wei Shang's tacit approval.

Having been on the frontier for many years, Wei Shang is well versed in the nature of Hu Bing.Knowing that special care is definitely not a good strategy, only by being ruthless can we ensure that these surrendered tribes will be honest and will not act like moths at will.

The rift between the various ministries has widened, and it doesn't take much to make them wish they could pick up knives and slash each other.

Only when the Hu tribe is unstable can the border people be stable.

After the scouts left, the leaders of the Qiang tribe gathered together and acted quickly.

They are basically familiar with the caravans in Hushi, especially the Hu merchants from the north, one counts as one, and if they want to trade in the city for a long time, they will give them heavy gifts.

Since the city flag was hoisted again and Hu City resumed trading, several leaders received gifts and received soft hands.But they kept their position firmly in mind, and turned around and reported the gift-giving businessman and his request to Wei Yue.

It is not at all difficult for them to track down the caravans of child traffickers.In fact, if Wei Yue ordered the arrest, they would be able to gather their team immediately and arrest more than 20 people from the city.It's a pity that the order is "leave out of the city and not arrest people for the time being", so it is inevitable that they are somewhat restrained.

Yeli held up Wei Yue's warrant and assigned tasks to everyone.

Leaders Mozhe and Hanpeng were displeased, but the order was important, so they could only temporarily suppress their dissatisfaction. After Wei Yue's explanation was completed, they would find a way to separate from Leader Yeli.

The Qiang tribe acted quickly, and the caravans selling children, whether Han or Hu, were secretly watched.

Those in charge of tracking are experienced rangers and unremarkable children. They are very cleverly hidden by being familiar with the layout of the city.Except for two or three leaders with keen intuition, the rest didn't notice it at all.

Once detected, the stalker will be replaced immediately.

The leader was suspicious, and his intuition about danger prevailed. He put down his optimistic salt, tried every means to shake off his tail, found all the caravan members scattered in the city, and was about to leave.

The ranger reported the situation, and the leader of Ye Li was so excited that he slapped his thighs and decided to take people out of the city to ambush himself.Thinking that there were as many as three caravans leaving, and they might choose different paths, they reluctantly informed the Mozhe and Hanpeng tribes.

At the same time, Wei Yue led his troops back to the county town, and just as he dismounted in front of the prefect's mansion, he saw the old servant rushing over.

"Third Young Master, please go to the study."

Wei Yue threw the whip to the riding boy and quickly walked across the front yard.On the way, I met several book assistants, all holding a large bundle of bamboo slips in their arms. Judging from the ropes tied to the slips, they must be quite old.

Walking to the front of the study, Wei Yue took off his leather boots, took off his helmet and put it on his arm, paused for a moment before stepping in.

The room was full of people.

The short table in front of the screen was removed, and Wei Shang sat upright, with three stacks of bamboo slips in front of him.Wang Zhubu, Zhou Juecao and other subordinate officials stood on both sides of the prefect, holding bamboo slips and looking at them attentively.

Zhao Jiatong was in the room, and did not take his seat according to his rank, but was called to his side by Wei Taishou to answer everyone's questions about the contents of the bamboo slips.

Wei Yue stepped forward to salute, and was called to the front by Wei Shang.

As for what Zhao Jiaxin mentioned, he had already learned about it from Feiqi, and that's why he ordered the Qiang tribe to keep a close eye on Hushi.When he dispatched troops to return to the city, Zhao Jia rushed from Shaling County to the prefect's mansion with his confession and villains, and presented it to Wei Shang face to face.

After roughly reading the content of the confession, Wei Shang turned serious and ordered someone to invite Master Wang and others.Yan said that no matter what he was doing, he would put it down immediately, and he must come as soon as possible.

When Wei Yue arrived, everyone had just arrived, and they were taking bamboo slips and slips to read carefully according to Wei Taishou's words.

After reading only one book, Master Wang became furious. Zhou Jue Cao turned to ask Zhao Jia if he had brought all the villains, and he was going to dig deeper.

In northern Xinjiang, when it comes to torture, apart from Zhidu, the prefect of Yanmen, Zhou Jue Cao has few opponents.It was Zhao Jia's intention to bring the villains here.After all, he is a novice, and the county magistrate will inevitably have details that he did not notice. Zhou Juecao will interrogate him again, and he may be able to ask for more useful information.

It's just that the situation of some villains is a bit embarrassing, so it must be explained in advance.

"How?" Zhou Jue raised his eyebrows.

"Half of them are crazy." Zhao Jia said truthfully.

Who would have expected that the psychological endurance of these spies was so weak, and they hadn't actually cut them with the knife, but they were just frightened, and more than half of them went crazy with fright when they passed out and woke up again.

In order to prevent them from pretending to be crazy, Zhao Jia and the county magistrate tried each, and finally confirmed that they were really insane, and there was nothing fake about it.

After listening to Zhao Jia's narration, Zhou Jue Cao narrowed his eyes slightly.Then he smiled and looked at Zhao Jia, as if looking at a promising junior.And said on the spot, after this incident, Zhao Jia might as well come to the county town more, so that the two can have a good communication.

Zhao Jia said yes, but his heart was beating drums.To be regarded as a confidant by a cruel official and a talent to be made, should he feel honored or sweat?

Wei Yue's arrival could be regarded as an indirect "relief" for Zhao Jia. With gratitude in his heart, Zhao Jia's expression inevitably showed a bit.

The third son of Wei sat down to Wei Shang's head, and suddenly saw Zhao Jia's smile, he habitually twitched the corners of his mouth, but his eyes showed some confusion.

All the personnel arrived, except Zhao Jia's confession, and the secretary sent more bamboo slips.

The records on the slips are actually the household registration of Yunzhong County in the early years.In order to find out the hidden nail, Wei Shang specially ordered that the materials recorded during his dismissal be taken and handed over to Master Wang and others for verification on the spot.

No matter how careful you are, you will inevitably leave traces.

Before that, the big boss in the county was covered with a layer of tulle, and he didn't think about it at all.Now that the gauze curtain is lifted, if you concentrate on searching, you can always find the missing clues.

Sure enough, after checking the household registration, there were two suspicious things in Shaling County, and something wrong in Yangshou County.

"Order the counties under the county to strictly investigate, if you catch the wrong one, don't let it go!"

Wei Shang became ruthless, and the big bosses in the county took action at the same time.

Zhao Jia was ordered to stay in the county temporarily, waiting for the opportunity, and together with Wei Yue, he took action.

To prevent the villain from getting away, the action must be fast.

Fortunately, when the criminals in Shaling County fled, they did not notify other hidden accomplices.The reason is that their identities are exposed, and they may survive if they run back to the grassland as soon as possible, but once they tell others, there is no guarantee that they will not be silenced more ruthlessly.

The villain's village is hung outside to better hide his identity, and also to occasionally meet the caravans of child traffickers, secretly transfer the slaves, and send them to Chang'an by all means.

Now, the caravans coming from the north are being watched in Hushi, unable to move, the four gates of the county are strictly guarded, the county is under martial law one after another, the village is located in a remote place, the news is not smooth, and the hidden advantage has become a disadvantage.

By the time the villain realized something was wrong and found that the eyeliner in the city had lost contact and his eyes were blackened, the village had already been surrounded by county soldiers.

The cavalry moved quickly, and all the nails in the county were locked.

As a county lieutenant, Zhao Jia had 500 people under his command, which was more than enough to surround a village with less than 200 people.

In order to obtain more information, Zhao Jia originally intended to catch more and kill less.He didn't want the opponent to resist stubbornly, and even used the old and the weak and the looted woman as a shield.Zhao Jia was enraged and ordered the county soldiers to raise their bows.

"kill!"

The gate of the village was broken open, and the old man, who had been a hostage just now and looked weak, suddenly became lively, grabbed a short knife, bow and arrow, joined the gangsters, and slayed Han Qi fiercely.

A small number of women swung their knives at the soldiers, but most of them stood there with numb expressions, not caring about the arrows flying past, as if they were unconscious of everything.

Seeing two old women rushing out of the wooden house, pretending to be afraid one moment, and holding a wooden stick in the next moment, they slammed into the back of the Han army's head. Order everyone, no matter men, women, old or young, all those who attack the county soldiers will be killed!

Zhao Jia would rather bear the name of cruelty than let the county soldiers suffer meaningless casualties.As for how he was criticized by the world, and he has experienced a sea of ​​corpses and blood, he no longer cares.

The cavalry had no scruples anymore, let go of their hands and feet, and rode their horses to gallop through the village.Anyone who holds a weapon, no matter men, women, old or young, will slash with a knife.

After killing for half a day, the roads in the village were all stained red with blood.

The rest of the villains were driven to the earthen wall, and the Yujun soldiers opened their bows and grabbed the woman next to him to block the flying arrows.

"Lasso."

The smell of blood filled the surroundings, Zhao Jia ordered to stop the bow, his eyes were cold, and there was no expression on his face.

Seeing the lasso flying towards him, the villain was cornered and was about to commit suicide with his backhand.It's a pity that he was not decisive enough, he hesitated when he cut the knife, he was caught by the rope one after another, and he fell to the ground on the spot.

After all the villains were captured, Zhao Jiace immediately stepped forward, looking down at the twenty or so people on the ground.

"If you really want to die, you should have been with them." The horsewhip pointed at the corpse lying not far away, and Zhao Jia sneered, "In the final analysis, they are just a bunch of rats. Tell me honestly, and I will give you a good time. If not , you will know what it is like to live but not die."

"Marquis Jun, something has been found in the village!"

A team leader came to report, Zhao Jia ordered people to guard the villains, all silenced, and led the team to the house in the middle of the village.

The house was surrounded by county soldiers, and a deep pit appeared on the west side of the courtyard, and the dark tunnel led to nowhere.

"Did you go down and read?"

The tunnels were discovered during the search of the villages. Wherever the villains and bandits gather, there will be similar underground buildings.Some were for escape, while others were for hiding looted property and women and children.

"Returning to the Marquis, a team has already gone down to investigate."

While talking, the five county soldiers went back and forth, the torches in their hands were all extinguished, and they climbed up to the ground, coughing and retching all the time.

"It's not deep below, it's full of bones." A soldier barely stopped and said, "The head was chopped off, I don't know how long it took."

"Dig it!" Zhao Jia's expression turned ugly, and he ordered the county soldiers to take turns digging and dig up all the tunnels.As the soil layer was excavated, layers of corpses appeared in front of everyone.

The army was wrong about one thing, the tunnel was not not deep, but was filled with corpses.

I don't know how long these bones have been buried in the ground, most of them have decayed and broken.The top floor was still very new, Zhao Jia looked carefully and found several skulls the size of fists inside!

"Leader Wang." Zhao Jia stood up straight and said, "Let the five thieves come here."

"promise!"

The Wang team turned around and left, and soon brought five villains, kneeling on the ground side by side.

Zhao Jia drew out a long knife, put the tip of the knife against a villain's throat, and said coldly, "Tell me, what's going on?"

The villain roared viciously, and spat out a mouthful of blood at Zhao Jia.

Zhao Jia dodged sideways, but without getting angry, he ordered Jun Wu to remove some of the bones and put the villain in vertically.

At first the villain was still struggling and kept yelling, but after Zhao Jia ordered people to rebury the bones, the villain finally couldn't hold on and wanted to speak, but Zhao Jia wouldn't give him any chance at all.

There was a gap between the bones, and the figure of the villain disappeared, but he did not die on the spot.It's just that the cursing quickly turned into begging for mercy, and then screamed in horror, the voice was full of fear, and he struggled desperately, but he couldn't climb out of the bone pile.

Zhao Jia looked at the remaining four people.

"A confession, or do you want to be with him?"

The faces of the four were pale, Zhao Jia raised his right hand, and immediately an army stepped forward, trying to throw them into the pit as well.

Getting closer and closer to the edge of the pit, one of them collapsed and shouted: "I say, I say!"

Zhao Jia ordered the army to stop, and the villain kicked his legs back and told the truth tremblingly.

Among the bones were border residents, merchants, looted women, driven scoundrels, and even their own clansmen.

Most of the border residents died in the early years. At that time, they were newcomers. In order to ensure that they could take root and not be discovered by others, they took advantage of the turmoil of the war and fought hard;

Among the merchants, there are those who were unlucky and were black-handed, and some cooperated before, but repented halfway, and were silenced in the end;

The women were all plundered, some Han women who refused to submit, and some Hu women who were transported from the grasslands to be sent to Chang'an for intercourse, but were found not to be "loyal" enough;

Among the children, apart from the slaves who died of illness, many of them were their own children!

As for why they hid in the village, the main reason is that too many animals were killed and there were many wild animals around. It took too much effort to find a hidden place to bury them deeply, and if they were buried shallowly, they would be dug out soon.He didn't want to cause trouble, so he simply hid under the village.

There are two similar pits in the village.

After listening to the gangster's confession, Zhao Jia's mind was buzzing, and he suddenly understood that the last batch of gangsters who were arrested were not all telling the truth. The reason why they burned the village was most likely to hide evidence.And the corpses piled up in front of the village are probably also a cover-up to divert attention.

"Okay, really good."

Zhao Jia gripped the long knife tightly, walked up to the villain, and suddenly swung the knife down.

The head rolled to the ground, scarlet spouted from the broken neck.

Under the horrified eyes of the villains, Zhao Jia wiped the blood on his face with his backhand, put away the knife and sheathed it, left a team of people to guard the village, and a team of people to escort the villains back to the city. The stronghold flew away.

The setting sun is sinking to the west, blooming the last afterglow.

The sky in the distance and the ground under his feet were all stained with a layer of blood red.