Chapter 169: The Bandit Leader’s Handle

Yumen Pass was attacked, and most of the soldiers who were staying behind to protect money were injured. However, Li Qing discovered a strange phenomenon. All the victims were Bian Lingcheng's guards. None of the original postmen died and there was no figure. He found the roof from the yard, but there was no clue.

"Are they all taken away?"

Maybe he threw the body out of the wild, or the bandits needed to replenish their personnel, but before his thoughts could be turned around, a few few figures appeared hundreds of steps away from the post station, supporting each other, timidly walking, slowly moving closer to this side.

"These guys are running away quickly!"

Li Qing laughed and quickly called Wu Xingsu, pointing to a few figures from afar, "Go and call them here, comfort them, don't scare them."

In a moment, several postmen were brought, no more than a few, exactly ten. Although they were dirty, they were all without a scar. They squeezed into the corner of the courtyard, pushing me and I pushing you, hoping to get through the wall and slipping away from the ruins. Finally, a thin middle-aged soldier who described as a trivial figure was pushed out. He was the head of the team and the head of the inn. He was the plan he had made last night.

Although wealth will bring people a sense of security, it is the opposite of this gang leader. Last night, wealth accumulated in Guanshi, which made him frightened. After being a soldier for twelve years, he has been through many battles and has long been immortal. Especially with the habits of this group of horse bandits, he was even more familiar with the four correctives. It was the moment when people slept the most, so he sneaked out of Guanshi with his brothers. Less than a mile, and the horse bandits rushed from all directions and rushed into Guanshi.

At this moment, he slowly walked to the governor, silently reciting military rules and regulations in his mind. It seemed that no matter which general he was under, the private fleeing battlefield was a death sentence, but he forgot that the inn was not a battlefield, but just an official guesthouse. It was impossible to escape at the last minute, and at most it was a crime of leaving the post without permission.

The trooper slowly knelt down, trembling all over, and did not dare to say anything. Li Qing glanced at him and said coldly: "You are considered a veteran. Don't you know that you should first inform me of your name when you reply to the chief's question?"

Although the governor's tone was cold, it sounded a little more pleasant than the most beautiful voice of Cuihua Tower in the city. Since I asked my name, which means I didn't mean to kill me, if I really wanted to ask myself what name I had, I waved my hand and said, "I pushed it out and cut it!" Wouldn't it be pleasant?

He was overjoyed, as if he had turned back from the Hall of Hell, his soul returned to his position, and he kowtowed repeatedly, "The villain is called Jiuyanchang, who is from Shouchang County. The villain left his post without permission, please punish the governor."

Li Qing nodded secretly, as if he was a veteran, so he blocked his words first. Although this was a soldier, he should not be killed. However, this was his first punishment. If he let it go at will, what is his prestige? He pondered for a moment and was about to speak, suddenly a vicious slap came from behind: "Punishment? It's easy for you to say. There's so much money and silk left, but you escaped at the last minute. You deserve to be a death sentence!"

The person who spoke was Bian Lingcheng. He rushed out of the room and stared at the gang leader tightly, as if he was about to spit out fire. There was a kind of person like this. If the gang leader did not remind Bian Lingcheng, it would be fine. It was because he reminded that Bian Lingcheng did not listen and eventually caused bad consequences, so he wanted to kill him, just like Yuan Shao of the Three Kingdoms killed Tian Feng.

However, Bian Lingcheng's insertion had the opposite effect on Li Qing. He was hesitant to kill this person to establish his authority, but if he was killed at this time, it would leave him a bad reputation in the army to please the eunuchs and kill their brothers.

In the second thought, Li Qing changed his mind. He was the best at the doctrine of the mean. How could this little thing be difficult for him? He smiled slightly and turned to Bian Lingcheng and said, "This man escaped at the battle and was killed according to military rules. But he has been stationed in Yumen Pass for three years. He can escape every time the horse bandit attacks. It can be seen that he knows the rules of the horse bandits. I want to use him to find out the things of the father-in-law Bian, but I am afraid that the father-in-law will not be calm. It is better for the father-in-law to decide his life and death. If he says kill, I pushed him out and chop him up. If he says he stayed, I will spare his life."

Bian Lingcheng was embarrassed and his anger was slightly relieved. He waved his hand and said, "This little soldier has insulted me by conspiring with him. Forget it, Governor Li will do it himself! It is important to get the things back."

After saying that, he sighed again, "I will leave in the afternoon when Anxi borrows troops. I hope the governor will hurry up and suppress the bandits."

In the room of the inn, the wine gang leader knelt on the ground with a thud, kowtowed to Li Qing a few times, and said with tears in his eyes: "Thank you for not killing the governor!"

"Stand up! I have something to ask you."

Li Qing walked two steps behind his back, frowned and said, "I have always had a question. Logically, Dunhuang County and Shouchang County are nearly fifty miles apart, and almost all the troops are in Dunhuang County. Moreover, the walls of Shouchang County are small, but they have never been captured by horse bandits. At most, they are pretending. Since you are from Shouchang County, do you know what the reason is?"

The drunkard hesitated, his lips moved, and he whispered: "That's because the two leaders of this horse bandit are from Shouchang County. The rabbits don't eat grass by their nests! They dare not."

"Two leaders?"

Li Qing smiled faintly, "It seems you know a lot, say it! Tell me everything you know, and don't hide a word. If you say it well, I will upgrade you to a higher level."

"yes!"

The wine gangster secretly looked at the highest military and political leader of Shazhou. Seeing his kind smile, his heart slowly calmed down and sighed slightly, "The leader of this horse bandit is two brothers, with his surname Lifei, both of whom were Hu. He moved to Shouchang since he was young. I saw them growing up. Later, I joined the army with them and were divided into a group. The eldest brother was named Lifei Yuanli, who was extremely powerful and had great martial arts skills. The second brother was named Lifei Shouyu, who scored a bow and was very good at strategy. In the 28th year of Kaiyuan, when he fought against the Tubo people, the army was dispersed, and the two brothers had no news. The government also thought they were killed and gave them pensions. It was not until a year ago that I discovered that the two brothers actually became the leaders of the horse bandits."

Speaking of this, the drunkard was deeply moved and sighed. Li Qing also sighed. He had experienced the abilities of these two brothers, but unexpectedly he was only two small soldiers in the Tang army. It seemed that the Tang army had hidden dragons and creeping tigers, but they had not yet discovered it.

Thinking of this, Li Qing raised his eyes and pointed at the gang leader, "You are safe and sound every time you come here, can you be the two bandit leaders be nostalgic?"

The implication is that this group of long-term bandits. Of course, the wine leader understood, and suddenly panicked and hurriedly wanted to kneel down, but was caught by Wu Xingsu behind him and did not kneel down. He hurriedly said, "Governor, it's unfair! The villain has never had any bandits. The villain just grasped their habits and escaped by chance every time."

"What rules, please tell me?"

The leader was trembling and wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Actually, the robbers are usually small leaders, and there is no rule. They just act ruthlessly, kill people first and then take things, and they are not merciless, and then leave immediately. But if it is a big ticket, it is usually planned by the second brother Li Fei Shouyu. He is best at attacking the east and west. At the moment you most unexpectedly, he comes. For example, when the last attack on the governor, the one who feinted the attack on Shouchang City was the eldest brother Li Fei Yuanli, and the one who ambushed the governor must be Li Fei Shouyu. The brothers usually divide the work like this. Last year, the goods from Anxi were robbed, and they did the same. The things happened near our inn. I know very well in my heart."

‘Anxi’s goods?’ Li Qing showed a smile on his lips. It seemed that Gao Xianzhi also needed money.

After walking two steps, Li Qing suddenly asked, "Do you know where their nest is?"

"The villain really doesn't know, but the villain guesses that it is very likely to be in Tubo."

Li Qing nodded. He also thought so. Only in Tubo territory did the Tang army dare not cross the border to suppress the bandits. It seems that the only way to destroy them is to attract them and to Dunhuang County, but how to attract them? They didn't believe it even if they opened the four gates. So how could they believe it?

Li Qing did not stop pace in the room, and the room was very quiet, and everyone didn't even dare to show off their anger. Suddenly, Li Qing's eyes lit up, "City wall, yes! Take the opportunity of building the city wall to let them attack Dunhuang County."

He was so excited that his fists and palms hit him. He looked up and was about to speak, but he felt that there was a loophole in it. Why did they attack Dunhuang? Especially after just getting a fortune, he knew that the officers and soldiers were chasing them and would not be fooled easily. He frowned and thought about countermeasures.

At this time, the troupe whispered: "If the governor has nothing to do, the villain will say goodbye."

"Wait a minute!"

Li Qing suddenly thought of something, immediately called him, stared at him and asked, "I'll ask you one last question, what relatives do their brothers have?"

The drunkard moved his long mouth and almost blurted out, but he bit his lips desperately and shook his head hard, indicating that he was unaware of it, but his subtle expression changes could not be hidden from Li Qing's eyes.

He sneered, "I'll give you another chance. If you say it, you can take a step up. If you don't say it, then you can take a step down."

Walking up means promotion, walking down means hell. The long face of the group was red and white, and his heart was suffering from the double torment of conscience and desire for power. When his eyes slanted, he had already seen the swords of several soldiers behind him had been pulled out, flashing with cold light.

He felt timid in his heart, gritted his teeth, and whispered: "I know that the two brothers have an old lady, they are in Shouchang County."

Ten days later, it was so hot that it seemed like a match could ignite a fire. The air condensed into transparent flowing clouds. Li Qing stood on the head of Dunhuang City to inspect the city wall reinforcement fortifications that started construction today. Under the city wall, the stonemasons filed and flew over and chiseled pieces of huge rocks transported from the snowy mountains into square pieces. Next to them, rows of black and shiny ridges shouted heavily under the scorching sun, and used slings and crowbars to transport the stones to the city.

The east city wall has already opened a large hole, as if a child who is changing teeth is missing a front teeth, and there is no soil and stone in the gap. At this time, as long as a few long trees are built on the moat, it will be a simple bridge that can rush straight into the city.

The mother of the bandit leader brother was under house arrest ten days ago, and the news had already been released. Dunhuang City and Shouchang City were full of notices. Li Qing believed that the Lifei brothers must have known it, but the facts made him depressed. For ten days, the scouts sent every day returned empty-handed, and the bandits seemed to have evaporated from the world, and there was no trace.

"The slash will be started tomorrow. Do they really don't care whether their mother can live or not?"

Suddenly, a personal soldier pointed to the distance and shouted: "Governor, look!"

Li Qing turned around and looked at the curtain of the hand. He saw dust flying in the northwest. In the yellow fog, a black team was exposed. The flags were fluttering, the armor was cold and filled with murderous aura. "It's the Tang army!" After a second thought, he realized that this must be the Anxi army brought by Li Siye.

The dust dissipated and the army stopped a mile away.

A war horse came first, and the horseman held the arrow high, he threw his saddle off the horse, ran up to the city wall, and knelt down and saluted, "Governor Li, Anxi Army dismounted, and stomped, and 3,200 people were ordered by the commander of the general to come for the commander to be driven by the commander."

"Thank you for your hard work!" Li Qing put his helmet upright, flew on his horse, and galloped towards the reinforcements under the escort of the three hundred Tang troops. In just a moment, he arrived in front of the army and glanced at him but could not see Li Siye. He shouted in a low voice: "Where is General Li Siye?"

A general ran out of the flag. He saw that he was about thirty years old and had a black face and short beard, with awesome momentum. His eyebrows seemed to be painted casually with a broom. It was thick and thick, as if he was a Hu general. He bowed and bowed and said, "Bai Xiaode, the commander of Guoyi, under the tent of the Anxi Army, met Governor Li, General Li Siye was behind, and he was a little late."

Bai Xiaode, after the royal family of Anxi Kucha, joined the army as a young general, a famous Tang Dynasty general, fought bravely in the Anshi Rebellion and made many military achievements. Later, he served as the governor of Anxi, Beiting Xingying, the Minister of Personnel, and the young tutor of the crown prince. He was named the prince of Changhua. At this time, he was sent by Gao Xianzhi to assist Li Siye and came to Shazhou to quell the bandits.

As soon as Bai Xiaode finished speaking, he heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance. Hundreds of light cavalry guards rushed towards him. Next to the carriage was Li Siye. His face was covered in dust and he had not seen him for only ten days. His whole face was thinner and his beard seemed even thicker. The two looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

The carriage stopped in front of Li Qing, and a haggard face poked out from the car window. It was the eunuch Bian Lingcheng. When he saw Li Qing, he asked in a hoarse voice: "Governor Li, is there any news about the bandits?"

Li Qing stepped forward, bowed his fists and smiled and said, "Don't worry, Eunuch Bian, I have put down the bait. I think they will definitely have news, and it will be the past two days."

As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of cavalry galloped towards the east gate in the south. When he arrived at the city gate, soldiers pointed to this side, and dozens of cavalry turned their horses and ran. After dozens of steps away, Li Qing saw clearly that there were scouts he sent from the front, back and left and right, but the dozen people in the middle were all wearing soap clothes and wrapped their heads in black scarves, each of them exuded a tough aura. However, the one in the middle was white clothes like snow and his eyes were like lightning. There were still dozens of steps away, and Li Qing felt that the person's eyes seemed to see through him.

The war horse stopped in front of the Tang army, but the man in white showed no fear when facing the murderous Tang army. He just glanced at him and stopped on Li Qing. He bowed slightly and said loudly: "In the future, Li Yu, sent by the two camp leaders of my family, he is fully responsible for negotiating with Governor Li. As long as they are released back, they can negotiate as much ransom as possible."

Li Qing looked him up and down and saw that he was about 30 years old, about the same height as himself, with a thin face, pale skin, and the glare in his eyes had already restrained, but he showed a hint of cunning. His hands and feet were thick and long, his arms were like gibbons, and they were as good as Wu Xingsu's long arms.

Li Qing narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of admiration flashed, he bowed to him, and smiled and said, "I have been looking back for a long time, General Li Fei Shouyu."
Chapter completed!