Song of Burying Snow

The next day, a few people went out after breakfast, and what they heard was not as good as what they saw with their own eyes. When they came to the field in the suburbs, the situation was even worse than when they came here. It's a waste of money, and the leak in the house happens to cause horse thieves in the rain at night. It's no wonder that the magistrate Sun is in such a hurry. If anyone came to work here, he would have to jump in a hurry.

Several people looked around again, making sure that the crops in the field were almost all scrapped before starting to walk back.

"Third brother, tell me, where to start with this matter first." Huan Zhan asked Huan Yu beside him as he walked.

"This crop is irretrievable, let's deal with the horse thief first!" Huan Yu said casually.

"Then what do you think is the solution to being a horse thief?"

"Well, I don't know. They are hiding in the Hornet Mountain, so they must first find out the terrain there!" Huan Yu said with some uncertainty.

"That's true, so last night I asked Ming Lie to go to Hornet Mountain to check the situation, presumably when we return to the magistrate's yamen, he should be back!" Huan Zhan smiled confidently.

"It turns out that elder brother has already made arrangements." Huan Yu smiled, but he was thinking in his heart, no wonder the man in black in the government office was not found yesterday, and the gatekeepers of feelings were not there.

"It's about rights and interests, and I don't know what Ming Lie can find out!" Huan Zhan suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky, his expression was a little pale.

"Guard Qiao is very skilled and alert. He is different from those ordinary defenders, so he will be able to find out some differences." Huan Zhan stopped, and Huan Yu had to stop and stood beside him.

"I hope it's not too early. Let's go back first. Let's discuss things here after Ming Lie comes back with the information!" Huan Zhan started walking back while speaking.

"Listen to elder brother!" Huan Yu followed with a smile.

They went back to the magistrate's yamen, just as Qiao Minglie also came back from Hornet Mountain, and bumped into him at the door, so it was no nonsense, they went directly to the government yamen hall to discuss, and after a while, several people sat down in the hall one after another, as usual Huan Zhan and Huan Yu took the main seats on the left and right.

"Ming Lie, can you tell me, what did you find?" Huan Zhan asked directly as soon as he sat down.

"Reporting to Master, I have carefully investigated which Hornet Mountain I went to. As the prefect said, there are countless caves, and I have picked a few caves to walk around. Some are indeed connected to other caves, and some are not. , but there are too many caves, and some caves are connected to more than one other cave, and the subordinates have no way to distinguish which ones are connected and which ones are not. Presumably those horse thieves took advantage of this advantage to hide in them, making it difficult for people to find them. .” After Qiao Minglie answered respectfully, he stood where he was, waiting for Huan Zhan to ask another question.

"Then it is possible to find out how many caves there are in the middle?" Huan Zhan asked again.

"My subordinates have looked carefully and found that the jungle on Hornet Mountain is dense and well concealed, so some caves can be found, while others are hidden behind the bushes, making it difficult for people to notice." Qiao Minglie replied respectfully.

"In this case, this matter is really difficult." Huan Zhan frowned. At first he thought this matter was a good job, but he didn't expect those horse thieves to be so difficult.

"Brother, I have a method, maybe I can try it." Seeing Huan Zhan frowning, Huan Yu knew that he was in distress. He was really going to be at this hurdle, a group of little horse thieves couldn't solve it, how could he compete with Huan Qing for the position.

"Oh? The third brother has a solution? Tell me, big brother!" Huan Zhan immediately regained his energy when he heard that Huan Yu had an idea, as if he had grasped a life-saving straw.

"We came here this time with a lot of people. In addition to the defenders here, there are enough troops, and what the horse thieves are fighting is the special terrain of the Hornet Mountain. Let's listen to what Sun Zhifu and Qiao's guard said. The horse thief must usually hide in one of the caves connected to other caves, so the first thing we have to do is to find out which caves are connected to other caves." Huan Yu paused here.

"But the problem is how do we find out which caves are connected to other caves?" Huan Zhan was a little discouraged after hearing Huan Yu's first half, which still missed the key point.

"Brother, don't worry, listen to me carefully!" Huan Yu raised his hand and continued: "The Hornet mountain range is not long, it is cone-shaped, and those caves are hidden on the surrounding mountainsides, and horse thieves are also hiding in it, so The first thing we have to do is to surround the mountain first, make sure that the horse thieves are on the mountain, and then let the local hunters go to the mountain to catch some living things such as hares and wild boars. Caves can be used to hide, and when the hunters capture the living creatures, they will tie bags containing lime powder on the living creatures on the spot, leave a small hole in the bag, and then put the living creatures, and then let people drive them away. They panicked and dared not go out, so they must wander around to find a hiding place, and then follow the lime powder left by them when they fled, and they will definitely be able to find all the caves."

"What about after finding the cave?" Huan Zhan seemed to have some eyebrows after listening to Huan Yu's words, and couldn't help asking.

"When the branches of green trees are on fire, there will be thick smoke, especially pines and cypresses. When those caves are found, people will use freshly cut pines and cypresses to light the fire at the door, and thick smoke will be produced. They will blow the smoke with fans. Fan in the direction of the cave, if the cave is connected to other caves, the smoke will inevitably go in, and if the cave is not connected to other caves, it will definitely go in and out, so you can determine which caves are connected to other caves .”

"This is a great plan!" Huan Zhan clapped his hands, as if a big stone fell to the ground in his heart, but he seemed to suddenly think of something, and hurriedly continued: "But there is more than one cave connected to other caves. Even if we send someone to Searching one by one, there is no guarantee that those horse thieves will sit still and wait to be captured, there must be many traps inside, how can this be solved?"

"Since it is determined which caves are connected to other caves, the range of the horse thief's hiding place is much smaller. At the entrance of those caves, add more pine and cypress branches and burn them together, causing a lot of smoke, and then let many people use fans together Fan all the thick smoke into the cave, and only need to burn a stick of incense. No matter how long the cave is, it will be filled with thick smoke. At this time, those horse thieves will either come out by themselves, or they can only wait in the cave to be smoked to death. Our people only need to wait outside the cave, and don't need to enter the cave." Huan Yu finished speaking with tea to moisten his throat.

"Third brother's plan is very clever, so I will do as third brother said." Huan Zhan clapped his hands, turned his head and said to Qiao Minglie: "Minglie, you heard what third brother said just now, so you can go with my token now. The local defenders ordered people to surround the mountain and prepare pine and cypress branches. Remember, you must prepare enough, and you will act according to the plan tomorrow morning, and report back immediately when the results come out!"

"Yes, this subordinate obeys!" Qiao Minglie took the order, saluted Huan Zhan, and then turned and left the hall.