Zhu Gui was stunned, then immediately smiled and said: "General Lang, Panshan County has always been peaceful, and bandits are very rare."

"In that case, why are there hundreds of people attacking the team in Yingzui Gorge?" Yu Wen Chengchao said calmly: "They are not bandits?"

Zhu Gui sighed: "The official came here just to report this matter. General Lang, we just received the news that all the vehicles have been found."

Yuwen Chengchao was startled, but Zhu Gui had already said: "Go east out of Yingzui Gorge and walk less than five miles. Then you turn north and there is an almost deserted dirt road. The road is not very easy to walk. After walking for more than ten miles,

There was a deserted forest in the land, and someone went to the government to report it, and dozens of cargo vehicles were found in the deserted forest."

Yu Wencheng said to Sikong Ling: "Sikong, you continue to look for clues here, I will go to the deserted forest to take a look."

Sikong Ling nodded in agreement, but Zhu Gui hurriedly said: "General Lang, please forgive me for being bold. Such a major case has been reported to the county governor's office, and the county governor will definitely be sent to investigate the case in person, so.

....!"

The eighteen states of the Tang Dynasty did not include the four northeastern counties.

Although the Northeast is a vast land, it does not have a state, but four counties. The four counties are controlled by the Andong Protectorate.

Each state has a governor, who is appointed by the imperial court to manage a state and is only subject to the control of the imperial court.

Before Emperor Wu Zong's Eastern Expedition, there were three states in the Northeast. However, after the conquest of the Bohai Kingdom, after ten years of war, the situation in the Northeast, as the front line, has never been stable. On the contrary, because of years of conquests and heavy taxes, bandits and bandits have emerged in the Northeast.

.

In order to eradicate the banditry in the Northeast as soon as possible and to concentrate the power of the Northeast to deal with the surrounding environment, His Majesty the Emperor removed three states and established four counties. All four counties are under the unified control of the Andong Protectorate. In this way, all kinds of supplies in the Northeast

The deployment will be much smoother, and it will be able to concentrate all its efforts to support the Liaodong Army in dealing with internal and external enemies. This strategy has indeed had an immediate effect. The Andong Protectorate has integrated the forces of the four northeastern counties, and it has indeed been possible in a short period of time.

Within a short period of time, many bandits in the Northeast were eliminated and peace was restored to the Northeast.

The surrounding tribes were also afraid of the powerful strength of the Anton Protectorate, and they all worshiped him.

Emperor Wuzong's original intention of removing states and setting up counties was to quell bandits, but it also left hidden dangers in the Northeast.

Each of the four counties has a county guard, and there are two assistant officers under it: the county magistrate and the county lieutenant. The duty of the county lieutenant is to command the local garrison and maintain the stability of the county.

The silver team was attacked, with hundreds of people killed and injured. The local county magistrate was really unable to handle such a major case, so the county lieutenant had to personally investigate it.

Zhu Gui didn't finish what he said, but his meaning was very clear. He was clearly reminding Yuwen Chengchao that this case can only be handled by the local county. Although you are General Long Rui, you are not qualified to intervene in this case.

Yuwen Chengchao's eyes were cold and he said calmly: "Master Zhu, haven't you figured it out yet? The team that was attacked was the team transporting the silver cart. This batch of silver is to be sent to the Armaments Department for military expenses."

Zhu Gui was taken aback, showing a look of panic, and said in horror: "Is it... is it military pay?"

"Lead the way." Yuwen Chengchao ordered: "Take me to the deserted forest."

The Huangshulin is actually a very ordinary forest. Yuwen Chengchao was taken to the Huangshulin. There were already several government officials protecting the scene. When he saw Zhu Gui coming with a group of people, a government official came to greet him and said: "

Sir, there are a total of thirty-seven vehicles in the woods. We have searched the scene and there is nothing else except these vehicles."

"Where is the horse pulling the cart?" Yuwen Chengchao asked.

Zhu Gui sighed: "General Lang, it is impossible for the bandits to keep the horses when they rob the silver. If you sell dozens of horses, it will be a large sum of money. Moreover, many bandits are short of horses. Even if they do not sell them, they will keep them."

use it yourself."

Yuwen Chengchao inspected the scene, and without saying much, he just ordered: "Master Zhu, could you please send someone to collect the bodies in Yingzui Gorge and find a suitable place to place them first."

"Sir, a small county cannot afford so many coffins at once." Zhu Guiwei said, "Besides, there are hundreds of corpses, and... there is no good place to put them."

"It doesn't matter, then you can ask your men to stay at Yingzui Gorge." Yuwen Chengchao said calmly: "When General Zhonglang reports to the court, the Ministry of Punishment will send people to investigate, and then let the people in the Ministry of Punishment restrain themselves."

Zhu Gui immediately smiled awkwardly and said: "I don't dare, I'm the official... I'll do my best, but I have to find a place to put the corpses first."

"These vehicles will stay here, and there is no need to move them for the time being." Yuwen Cheng said: "The robbers will leave the vehicles here, and people from the Criminal Department will investigate the clues then. Send someone to keep an eye on these vehicles, and don't let anyone steal them.

"

When it got dark, Yu Wen Chengchao had already led Sikong Ling and his party on the official road east of Yingzui Gorge.

"Those people did a very clean job indeed. There is no trace left by them in Yingzui Gorge." Sikong Ling rode a horse and walked slowly together with Yu Wen Chengchao, "But they only thought that they did it very cleanly, but it was because it was too clean."

, on the contrary, it exposed flaws.”

"Are you saying that it's impossible for ordinary robbers to clean up the scene so cleanly?"

"Exactly." Sikong Ling said: "There is no clue, but it is the biggest clue. Now we can be completely sure that the people who attacked the Silver Team were not just a mob. They were well-trained and well-planned." After a pause, he continued: "

They knew clearly when the Yin team passed through the Yingzui Gorge, and prepared an ambush in advance. After the attack, they killed people and robbed the Yin. They originally had a plan to massacre everyone, but in the end they failed to complete the task and were killed.

A small number of people broke out and left alive. In addition, they cleaned up the scene, took away the money cart, and prepared a place to store the money in advance. All this was carefully planned from beginning to end, not an accidental attack.

"

"Why would they abandon the vehicle in the wild woods?"

Sikong Ling smiled calmly and said: "General Lang, it is much easier to deal with dozens of cars than more than 200,000 taels of cash. There is no trace of the money, but the cars are together in the deserted woods. This is really interesting."

"Of course they didn't abandon the vehicles midway." Yu Wen Chengchao sneered: "After the money was unloaded, they moved these vehicles to the deserted forest."

"Why would Long think they would do this?"

"The deserted forest is more than ten miles north of the official road." Yu Wencheng said slowly with a cold gaze, "This is to tell us that they are pulling the money north."

Sikong Ling nodded and said with a smile: "This is because they are smart. They deliberately abandoned the vehicle in the wild woods to the north of the official road. They really wanted to draw our attention to the north and mislead us into thinking that they had transported the silver to the north to hide it." He turned around.

Looking southward, his eyes were sharp and he said: "Less than fifty miles south of the official road is Panshan County."

Yuwen Chengchao also looked south.

The earth was completely white, and catkins of snowflakes were still floating in the sky.

When Qin Xiao saw Yu Wen Chengchao, Yu Wen Chengchao rushed back and went directly to Gu Baiyi's tent. He was also happy to see Qin Xiao coming back. Qin Xiao poured a cup of hot water himself and sent it over, and Yu Wen Chengchao took it.

After that, he got straight to the point: "General, Sikong and I have personally investigated the crime scene. Through various signs, we can make several judgments at present. First, the people who attacked the Silver Team are not ordinary bandits. They are well-trained and well-planned.

, the entire plan was carefully deployed. If my judgment is not wrong, even if this group of people is not the Liaodong Army, they must be inextricably related to the Liaodong Army. Second, their purpose of robbing money this time is not for

The real purpose of obtaining the more than 200,000 taels of cash is to cut off our logistical supplies. If this money cannot be sent to the Armament Department in time, our food, grass and military pay will not be supplied, and the consequences will be disastrous."

Qin Xiao nodded and said: "General Gu said that the food and grass in the army can only last for about ten days. Within seven days, the soldiers' military pay must be distributed, otherwise everyone will have complaints."

Yuwen Chengchao frowned and said: "This is also what I am worried about. The brothers followed them all the way from the pass to the Northeast. In addition to doing something with the general, they also wanted to support their families. There are many Qingzhou veterans among them. If they are paid,

They won't complain too much if it is delayed for a few days, but... many of them were ordinary people before, joined the Queen Mother Society, and then joined the imperial court. Their young families really have to count on their salary and financial support.

Life. We have only been out of the customs for a short period of time. If we are in arrears with pay so soon, everyone's morale will definitely be depressed, and we will have no confidence to compete with the Liaodong Army."

"General Yu Wenlang, leave this matter to me and the general. You don't have to worry too much." Gu Baiyi was not too anxious and just asked with a smile: "During the trip to Panshan County, can we find any clues about the money?"

Yu Wen Cheng nodded and said: "Yes. They abandoned the silver car on the north side of the official road. Their intention was obviously to make us mistakenly think that the money was hidden to the north. However, Sikong and I have the same view. If nothing else happens, the money will be hidden."

The silver is probably hidden in Panshan County."

"Panshan County?"

"Exactly." Yuwen Chengchao said: "Panshan County is less than fifty miles away from Yingzui Gorge. On the night of the incident, there was heavy snowfall and the roads were difficult to travel. The men who robbed the bankers could not go very far while pulling the bank carts. The most they could do was

After walking forty or fifty miles, the money must have been properly hidden before dawn. And Panshan County is within their travel range. Although it is not completely certain, if this silver robbery was indeed carried out by the Liaodong Army,

Then Panshan County is the best place to hide the money." After a pause, he slowly said: "Because in their opinion, we would never have imagined that the money would be transported into the city in the middle of the night and then hidden in the city."

Gu Baiyi nodded and said: "General Yu Wenlang's speculation is very reasonable."

"What I'm most worried about now is whether the money has been transferred." Yu Wen Chengchao looked solemn: "It has been five days since the case. If they want to transfer the money, they do have enough time. I asked Sikong to lead people to stay temporarily.

In Panshan County, the purpose is to prevent the silver from being transported away and to keep an eye on them so that they will not transfer the money. But I am not sure whether it is too late. If the silver is still in the city, we can still investigate the place where the silver is hidden. By then
Chapter completed!