Chapter 778 A good show!
Liaoyang, Posuo Prefecture.

Denong County is a small county town in the northernmost part of Posuo Prefecture. The city covers an area of ​​only one thousand acres, and the registered population of the entire county is just over 10,000 people·························
In fact, a remote place like Denong County was just a small town three years ago, with a population of only a few thousand people.

Although the place is very remote, the land in Denong County is very fertile. The black soil seems to be flowing with oil. It seems that as long as you plant the seeds, you can wait for the harvest with peace of mind.

In the past, poor people came to such places to reclaim wasteland and cultivate land, but they ultimately failed due to various unfavorable conditions.

The first is the weather factor. As the northernmost part of the Great Zhou territory, Denong County is in a freezing cold environment for nearly half a year. Surviving in such a natural environment is extremely difficult.

Secondly, there are many barren mountains and wildernesses around Denong County, which are filled with tigers, blind bears and other ferocious beasts that often attack humans. In addition to the ferocious beasts, there are also barbaric Shiwei tribes in these mountains and wildernesses. They are even more brutal than wild beasts.

The last and most crucial point is that according to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there are no preferential policies for reclaimed wasteland, and high land taxes must still be paid. In addition, there is the risk of being annexed by gentry and landlords.

Therefore, for this kind of high-risk, low-return work where they work hard to make wedding clothes for others, people are naturally unwilling to do it· ...

This situation was greatly improved after the Fengwu Army took power. Ye Mingsheng went against all odds to protect the legitimate rights and interests of ordinary people from infringement, eliminating the worries of the people in opening up wasteland.
On this basis, Ye Mingsheng also introduced a series of policies, such as automatically granting 70-year use period to reclaimed wasteland, exempting all land taxes within three years, and halving land taxes within ten years. Encouraged by such preferential policies, people's enthusiasm for reclaiming wasteland was greatly increased, and a large number of people came to Denong County with a longing for wealth and land.

As more and more people came to Denong, a small town naturally appeared in the northern border of the Great Zhou!

Today, October 3, the arrival of hundreds of Fengwu Army soldiers and agents from the General Coordination Office broke the tranquility of this small border town.

Wang Yan, the magistrate of Denong County, bowed respectfully to the adults in front of him and asked carefully:
"My Lords, I am Wang Yan, the Magistrate of Denong County. How can I be of service to you?"

After hearing Wang Yan's words, Liaoyang Deputy Censor Ye Zhenbang and Huo San looked at each other. Then Ye Zhenbang waved his hand, and one of his men came over with a stack of portraits.

“There is news that these two men are about to commit a crime and have come to your Denon. Post these portraits in prominent places in your city and tell the people in the city that if anyone knows the whereabouts of these two men, come report immediately and you will be rewarded with 100 taels of silver. Anyone who dares to harbor these two men will be charged with the crime of being an accomplice and executed without mercy…”

Wang Yan was a little surprised when he heard this. He glanced at the portraits of the two women in front of him, then nodded and said:

"Sir, I understand! I will mobilize all the people in the city to fully cooperate with your work!"

Hearing this, Ye Zhenbang nodded with satisfaction and said:

"You have to find me a few more guides who are familiar with the terrain. We will also have to look for their traces in the surrounding towns!"

"Yes, yes, I will go find the best guide in Denong County in a moment!" Wang Yan said respectfully:

Ye Zhenbang waved his hand when he heard this, and Wang Yan immediately bowed and retreated. At this time, Huo San spoke:
"Master Zhu, are you sure that Wang and his men are hiding in Denong County?"

Facing Huo San's question, Ye Zhenbang smiled and said:

"Director Huo, don't worry. If I couldn't confirm the news, how could I dare to bring you hundreds of miles to come here?"

"There is a coal mine near Denong County. Our Liaoyang Censorate sends some serious criminals to the mine to mine coal every once in a while. This time, our Censorate's officers who were escorting them to the coal mine saw Wang and his group on the way. Moreover, several people saw them together. The news is absolutely correct!"

Hearing this, Huo San nodded slightly. Ever since he knew that Wang and his men appeared in Denong County, he had rushed over with his men without any hesitation...
Because this case happened in Liaoyang, the Liaoyang Censorate also sent Deputy Censor Ye Zhenbang to assist him in handling the case. Due to the tight time and heavy task, they had to sleep in the open and rush here as quickly as possible. Now they hope to live up to expectations and successfully find Wang and recover the stolen money from Ye Zhanpeng.

Although he declined Wang Yan's welcoming banquet, Huo San was still a little exhausted from sleeping in the wilderness for the past few nights. So now that they had arrived at Denong and his men had begun the search, Huo San relaxed a little and decided to take a rest before continuing to work.

While Huo San was resting, Ye Zhenbang and Wang Yan met secretly again in the county government office.

"What's the situation?" Ye Zhenbang asked Wang Yan in a deep voice:

Facing Ye Zhenbang's question, Wang Yan whispered:
"Don't worry, sir. I have arranged people to watch them! The messengers have also been arranged. As long as you give the order, he will come to report the clues of those thieves to the coordination office!"

After getting this answer, Ye Zhenbang smiled and nodded and said:

"Very good! But don't rush to report the news. Wait for two days before sending someone to report the news. Otherwise, it will seem too fake. By the way, do many people know about this?"

Wang Yan said very seriously:
"Only a few of my men know about this. I just told them to keep an eye on us. They are very tight-lipped and won't talk nonsense..."

After saying this, Wang Yan seemed to have thought of something and spoke to Ye Zhenbang:
"Sir, I have discovered a new situation, but I don't know whether I should tell you about it or not!"

Ye Zhenbang asked with some doubt:

"What did you find?"

Wang Yan said in a low voice;
"Sir, those thieves seem to be looking for a gold mine, which should be around our Denong County!"

Hearing the word "gold mine", Ye Zhenbang's eyes suddenly flashed with light, and after hesitating for a moment, he asked very seriously:

"How did you know the news?"

Wang Yan said without hesitation:
"My lord, this is the case. These people inquired about the gold mine in the city, bought tools to dig for gold, and also went to the coal mine and dug around in the mountains. So I inferred that they were looking for gold mines!" After saying this, Ye Zhenbang thought for a while and asked:
"Can you really dig up gold here?"

Wang Yan thought for a moment and said:
"Seven or eight years ago, someone did find a piece of gold on the Laoye Mountain in the east. After hearing the news, many people went to Laoye Mountain to dig, but in the end, none of them found any gold!"

Hearing this news, Ye Zhenbang seemed a little disappointed and shook his head and said:

“Let’s not strictly control the gold mine for the time being. The most important task now is to keep an eye on those thieves. This is the most important thing. If anything goes wrong, you and I will never be able to forgive ourselves. Just wait a few days and tell the Coordination Office the clues. This matter will be considered a success, and the higher-ups will reward you and me heavily…”

As soon as the words "substantial reward" came out, Wang Yan greedily swallowed his saliva and nodded:

"I understand the humble position!"

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Dagu County, Jinzhong
"Brothers, it's time to serve the Marshal! Follow me and rush in to kill all these bandits!"

"Long live Marshal Ye! The first person to rush into the city will be rewarded with three hundred taels of silver!"

"The enemy army is already weak, brothers, work harder!"

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Under the cover of dozens of red cannons and thousands of various types of muskets, tens of thousands of Fengwu Army soldiers are launching a desperate attack on Dagu County.

At this time, on the watchtower in front of the battle line, Lin Huaiwu, who was observing the siege situation with a telescope, had a confident smile on his face.

A few days ago, they realized that Wang Muzhi was very likely playing tricks, trying to use Dagu County to attract their attention and then send troops to attack their rear.

However, after Lin Huaiwu and Xun Ke discussed it, they felt that if they were too afraid of Wang Muzhi's move and did not dare to attack the city with all their strength, they might fall into Wang Muzhi's trap. So after discussion, the two decided to cooperate with the Coordination Office to send more scouts to detect the movements of Wang Muzhi's main force.

On the other hand, they are also trying their best to capture Dagu County as soon as possible. As long as Dagu County is captured, even if Wang Muzhi has any tricks, he can only stare and accept failure!
With this decision, the Fengwu Army outside Dagu City launched an attack regardless of the cost. The soldiers and horses rested but the artillery did not, and they bombarded day and night without stopping, firing at least 500 shells. With such a high-intensity bombardment, three of the red cannons exploded...

Under the cover of such powerful firepower, the siege effect was still very significant. The old man Yu Chao could still pretend at the beginning, but soon he had to go all out to defend the city.

Although Yu Chao had tried his best in the past few days, and even personally led his guards to put out fires on the city walls, facing the absolute firepower and troop advantages of the Fengwu Army, he could only watch the countdown to the fall of Dagu County quickly.

After taking a look at the sky, Lin Huaiwu confidently spoke to Xun Ke beside him:
"General Xun, if nothing unexpected happens, you and I can drink together in the city before the sun sets today!"

Xun Ke smiled and said:
"Your Excellency is so elegant! When I was guarding Pingyun at the beginning of the year, I heard that the dish Fu Lu Shou Xi at Zhu's Restaurant in Dagu County tasted very good. I hope that when the city is captured tonight, I can enjoy this delicacy with Your Excellency!"

"Okay! Then General Xun, you and I must not leave until we are drunk!" Lin Huaiwu said with a smile:

After the dinner was arranged, Lin Huaiwu gradually became more interested. Looking at the soldiers who were fiercely attacking the city, he seemed to have thought of something and immediately said:
"General Xun, if that's the case, how about you and I make a bet..."

Xun Ke asked curiously:
"My Lord, what do you want to bet on?"

Lin Huaiwu smiled and said:

"How about we bet on which of the Second Army and the Third Division will break through the city gate first? I know that you, General Xun, have a jar of the finest Jiangnan Huadiao wine given by the Marshal. If the Second Army breaks into the city first, how about you let me drink it when we return to Yijing? I, Lin Huaiwu, have drunk a lot of good wine in my life, but I have never drunk this Jiangnan Huadiao!"

Xun Ke smiled and shook his head:
"Sir, I knew you were thinking about my jar of Huadiao!"

"Well, if the Second Army is the first to break through the city gate, I will treat you to this jar of Huadiao wine. But what if the Third Division under my command breaks through the city gate first?"

Lin Huaiwu answered without hesitation:
"No problem! I have a jade pendant at home that I bought from the Dadongsheng Company. If the brothers of the Third Division are the first to break through the city gate, I will give this jade pendant to you, General Xun. How about that, isn't it fair?"

Xun Ke nodded and said:
"My Lord, please speak quickly, then it's a deal!"

“Haha, it’s a deal…”

Just when Xun Ke and Lin Huaiwu agreed on the bet, the heavens did not go as they wished. After an incense stick of time, a messenger hurriedly walked up to the watchtower and reported to Lin Huaiwu:

"Commander-in-chief, something bad has happened. News has been sent from Jinyang that Wang Muzhi has personally led more than 10,000 soldiers to attack Lingyuan County!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Xun Ke and Lin Huaiwu's faces immediately turned very serious. Although they realized that Wang Muzhi was going to play tricks, they both believed that Wang Muzhi would target Pingyun County, so they added some troops to Pingyun County to ensure that Pingyun County could be defended even if it was attacked by Wang Muzhi.

However, in Lingyuan County, not far from Pingyun County, the Fengwu Army only had more than a thousand soldiers. If Wang Muzhi really went there to attack, the situation would undoubtedly be very bad. Even if Wang Muzhi acted fast enough, he could completely capture Lingyuan County before the Fengwu Army arrived.

Realizing the danger, Lin Huaiwu immediately asked:

"Where is Wang Muzhi now?"

“Report to the Lord, Wang Muzhi has now led his men across Xiaonan Town…”

(End of this chapter)