Qin Official

When Heifu and others arrived at Xiangshangyuan, they found that the place was already in flames and turned into a scorching fire place.

Mang Dian, who was wearing soap clothes and didn't even have time to put on his hat, with his hair disheveled, led everyone to put out the fire and subdue the cows and horses that were on fire and neighing and running around...

Wei Shi Anpu and Ling Lile looked at the scene in front of them and were stunned for a moment. Heifu saw a familiar figure carrying a bucket and went over to help.

"Koma Zhang! Are you okay?"

Ju was a clerk working in the stable, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to raise such a good horse and give it to Hei Fu.

Heifu took the bucket and poured it into the stable that was surrounded by flames. He found that it was just a drop in the bucket and would not help at all.

At this time, a gust of wind blew and the fire became more intense. Heifu quickly pulled Ju back to the side and asked him what was going on?

Ju's face was full of fire ashes: "Before the morning meal, several people came to the stable garden. They claimed to be serving soldiers and were ordered by the local officials to repair the fence of the stable garden. The stable official wanted to check their inheritance. Who However, the thin man in the lead pulled out a short knife and restrained him, and the other seven people also swarmed up and knocked the shepherd who was feeding the cattle and horses to the ground!"

"They tied us up by the well, led a dozen horses out of the stables, and then lit the stables on fire... Fortunately, there were a few shepherd boys hiding in the house silently, waiting for the thieves to leave. Then he ran out and helped us untie the rope."

The more Heifu listened, the heavier his face became.

After all, the ancestors of the Qin State started out in animal husbandry, so they attached great importance to cattle and horses, and specially set up "stable stewards" in each county to manage them, which was equivalent to the county transportation bureau. Each township also has a stable, which is equivalent to a state-owned ranch and is managed by the stable. Almost all the horses used by the township government are tamed here. If you need to call them, you have to write an application.

There is no doubt that those eight people are the disappeared mediocre farmers. They are not satisfied with their days in Qin State. They have been planning to escape back to Chu State for a long time, and today they finally launched an attack!

However, Ao led those people to attack and burn down the stables, just to rob the horses to facilitate their escape?

Also, can all of those Chu people really know how to ride a horse? Heifu, who had spent months learning to ride a horse from scratch, didn't believe that the quality of the Chu people's escapees would be so high.

Heifu immediately asked: "Master Ju, how was the damage to the stables? How many cows and horses were rescued?"

Ju said: "Our stable is not big. We only have more than thirty riding horses and more than twenty cattle. The leading robber opened the cattle pen and tied up all the horses. When a fire broke out, the cattle fell on themselves. They ran out, but almost all the horses that were not taken away were burned to death. The ones that survived were also frightened and burned, and I'm afraid they will never be used again..."

"As expected!"

Heifu couldn't help but cursed in his heart: "Ao, you are so thoughtful. You deliberately burned the horses used for riding, so that there would not be enough horses in the countryside to chase!"

But why did he deliberately let the cattle go? Are you afraid that farmers in Qin will not be able to farm in the coming year? Moreover, no one present was killed.

He was ruthless when he killed the prison gatekeeper and his mistress, but he suddenly showed kindness at critical moments; he was well-planned and easy to use, but he left unnecessary loopholes in many places.

Contradiction, so contradictory. The more Heifu thought about it, the more confused he became. This Ao was really not simple.

Ju Ze looked with lingering fear at the stables where the fire was getting bigger and bigger, and the corpses of the livestock that were burned to a stink in the fire. He said with emotion: "Mang Dian loves horses the most. He often gives us orders and orders." There is a saying that if you drive the horse improperly and hurt the riding horse, you will be fined one shield if the horse's skin is damaged by one inch; if it is two inches, it will be fined two shields; if it is more than two inches, it will be fined one armor. Therefore, the people in the whole stable will beat the horses. I was reluctant to beat him, but now more than ten horses have died in one go. It’s really..."

In other words, because of this fire, Anlu County lost the equivalent of 100,000 yuan.

According to the principles of Qin law, if the riding horses and cattle tamed in the stables are lost or die for some reason, the responsibility of the expropriators and herders must first be investigated, and the stables must also be punished jointly and severally.

Such a large number of casualties was enough for Mang Dian to lose his official position, lose his title, and go bankrupt with money and money. No wonder he was so desperate and depressed.

At this time, the village clerk and Youyou Shuwu also arrived. Mangdian, who was already slumped on the ground and dumbfounded, immediately jumped up, grabbed Shuwu's lapels and cursed: "Shwu, we are usually stationed here." Where are the five soldiers of the township pavilion beside the stable! Why is there only one old pavilion father left? After we got out of trouble, we beat drums to ask for help, but why did the villagers not send troops for a long time! Are you deaf or blind! Ah!"

Anlu County has not seen such a rampant thief for many years. Uncle Wu did not dare to accept this. He quickly pushed Mang Dian away and defended:

"In the past few days, the county has sent officials, officials, and Heifu, the pavilion chief, to come to the countryside to handle cases and arrest the murderers. They have recruited all the pavilion chiefs and soldiers to search for them in various places. How can there be any left? ? Early this morning, Wei Shi asked me for the last ten people and sent them to a certain place in the east of the countryside. He said that he was going to hunt down a few mediocre farmers suspected of murder. I was just following orders. If you want to be held accountable, go find them! "

Wei Shi Anpu didn't expect that Shu Wu would dare to put the blame on himself, and was shocked. He said quickly: "Youyou, assist us in handling the case and protect the countryside and stables. This is your responsibility. You have made improper arrangements. Don’t blame us!”

"Of course! This matter has nothing to do with us!"

The responsibilities and interests of the crime-solving team are the same, and Ling Lile quickly agreed. However, since it is the criminal they are chasing who commits crimes one after another, the three of them may not be able to escape the blame.

Seeing that the Qin officials present fell into Ao's plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain, they started to shirk each other and quarreled. Hei Fu stepped forward to stop them.

"Gentlemen, please listen to me!"

Xiang Zhifu, You You, Mang Dian, Wei Shi, and Ling Shi all turned around and looked at the pavilion chief, who had the lowest official position and the lowest title.

"The stables have been destroyed and all the horses are dead. This is irreversible. This matter will definitely shock the county. According to the accountability system of Qin Law, even if the kings get away with it, they will inevitably be punished..."

Hei Fu's words made sense, and everyone understood that no matter how they tried to shirk the situation, none of them could escape.

"If you do nothing, you can only sit and wait for punishment. For now, if you want to keep your official position and title, you have to find a way to arrest those gangs of thieves who kill people and steal horses!"

"good!"

Shi Le's eyes lit up: "What Chief Heifuting said makes sense. More than five people are a group of thieves. Those thieves are undoubtedly a group of thieves! Capture or kill a group of thieves and the reward will be doubled. If we can catch those thieves Eight people, not only can they redeem their faults, but they may also be rewarded!"

The Qin officials, who were shaken by the incident in front of them, found a glimmer of hope. They put aside their personal grudges and started actively discussing.

If you want to catch up with people on horseback, you still have to ride a horse, but now all the public riding horses for the government have been burned to death, and the bad horses that pull heavy loads cannot be ridden, so they can only use private horses.

The red horse named "Red Dan" by Hei Fu was ridden by him, and it counted as one. The Qin officials present, Wei Shi Anpu and You Gong Shuwu, also came on horseback, and the countryman even donated his two horses to pull the cart.

Everyone hurriedly gathered five horses. Heifu, Anpu, and Shuwu were military officials, so they naturally wanted to go. Plus the head of the township pavilion and a pavilion soldier, there were exactly five people.

However, the Mang Dian, who was in his forties and had disheveled hair, forcibly pulled the pavilion soldier down, climbed onto his horse, and said through gritted teeth:

"I thought I had been a knight in the county back then, and I was familiar with horses, so I got this position. Who would have thought that after several years of hard work, it would be ruined in one day! Now, although there is raw meat between the thighs, I can still ride a horse. I will definitely work with him. Go, capture the leader of the thief, and wash away the shame!"

Hei Fu didn't say anything. He nodded and said, "It's not too late. The later we chase, the slimmer the hope of catching the thief. I dare to ask the village stingy man to continue to requisition private horses in the countryside and let the pavilion soldiers who can ride horses support me." Wait, how about ordering Shi Ke to go to the county to report this matter?"

Although Heifu's official title was the smallest, it seemed vaguely that he was giving orders. Everyone nodded in agreement. Even Shuwu, who disliked him, remained silent. It seemed that this guy had finally learned his lesson.

Only Le said with a bitter face that Heifu had left the task of being scolded to him, but he still handed over to everyone, wishing them to capture the thief and return soon.

"Our official positions and titles depend entirely on our second and third sons! Please!"

The fire in the stable yard had almost burned out. Heifu and the five of them started running under the bright sun, heading east along the Tu Road...

…

Among the five riders, Mangdian, who claimed to have been a martial knight in the county, was the fastest. Of course, it may be that he was eager for revenge, and he was galloping like lightning.

Then Youyou Shuwu and the head of the Xiangting Pavilion also rode steadily at the front, while Heifu and Wei Shi Anpu fell at the end.

An Pu accelerated while holding the horse's belly between his legs, and turned around and shouted to Hei Fu, who was the best at riding: "Since the thief has snatched the horse to travel, he can only walk on the road and cannot go into the woods. From the township to the east, there are three more Pavilion..."

Heifu opened his mouth to answer, but the strong wind and dust immediately came in. He could only close his mouth and thought in his heart: "I estimate that among those Chu people, at most only half can ride a horse. Maybe they both ride the same horse." , the speed is definitely not fast, if they are lucky, they will be stopped by the soldiers holding weapons at the pavilion!"

But it’s really hard to say. It just depends on whether those pavilions are as dedicated as Huyang Pavilion. People are watching the movement of the road every moment, and the sentry can’t doze off...

Heifu's guess soon came to light. After galloping for half an hour, they arrived at the first pavilion.

Sure enough, the guard here just said that half an hour ago, he heard the sound of horses galloping past, and when he ran out, he only saw smoke and dust disappearing...

An Pu and Mang Dian cursed the people in this pavilion, while Hei Fu squatted on the ground, looking thoughtfully at the dense horse hoof prints.

To the east of Anlu County is the remnant of Dabie Mountain and Tongbai Mountain. The terrain is getting higher and higher, the crowds are getting smaller and smaller, and the woods on both sides of the road are getting denser and denser. The thief could not leave the road unless he was on horseback.

As long as they are still on the road, there is a chance to catch up!

"Keep chasing!"

The five people continued to mount their horses and gallop. The second pavilion was farther away. They rode for more than half an hour before they arrived at the pavilion barrier between two mounds.

This is a large pavilion with a strong military nature. Five or six pavilion soldiers were holding weapons and were surrounding several horse corpses and a human corpse. They looked anxiously towards the road and saw Hei Fu and the others galloping towards them, with two bows and arrows. A crossbow plane immediately aimed at them!

"Wei Shi, You You are chasing the thief here!"

Mang Dian shouted loudly, reined in the horses, and immediately went to check the horse corpses. He saw that two horses that had been fed fat and healthy had been hit by several arrows and were lying in the middle of the road. The other one was dead. He was shot in the leg by an arrow and lay on his side in pain.

Mang Dian caressed the only surviving horse and cursed: "You are so brave, how dare you kill my horse!"

The pavilion was silent, and the local pavilion chief recognized Youyou Shuwu, and quickly said: "I dare to speak to the superiors, two moments ago, there were two thieves riding horses, waving bamboo whips in their hands, driving seven or eight horses. The horse came over, and we couldn't stop it, so we could only catch up with the random arrows..."

Wei Shi Anpu also dismounted. He was shocked when he heard this. He pulled the chief of the pavilion and asked: "Tell me again, how many people are there?"

"Two people, this was one of them, was shot down by random arrows. There was another person who was an expert in riding and hid on the side of the horse's belly."

The corpse was about the same height as Hei Fu, not quite like "Ao" who was only seven feet tall as Shikou said.

"There are obviously eight people, but only two of them rode here. What's going on? Where have the others gone?" Youyou Shuwu and the head of the Xiangting Pavilion looked at each other in confusion.

Only Heifu reacted immediately and cursed: "We have fallen into the trap again!"