Water Margin official

Chapter 166 Wild Boar Forest

Early the next morning, Zhang Zhengdao tidied up neatly, equipped with a white horse and a silver gun as standard, brought some money, changed into casual clothes, said goodbye to his wife and children, and left the Zhang family.

Before leaving, Mrs. Yu held his hand and said: "My son, come back early and don't show off. If things cannot be done, forget it. My Zhang family can still bear this loss."

"Mom, you can take good care of yourself in peace and don't have to worry about your son." Zhang Zhengdao saw that Yu's face was not very good and comforted her.

"With so many wives here, my son doesn't need to worry." Mrs. Yu said.

Zhang Zhengdao then told the girls: "You must take good care of my mother."

Mrs. Wei said: "Officials, don't worry."

Pan Jinlian said reluctantly: "Dalang, you must come back safely."

Mrs. Lin took the child over, gave Zhang Zhengdao a kiss, and said, "Da Lang, think of our mother and son in everything."

Zhang Zhengdao nodded and said: "Don't worry, we just caught a few thieves."

Under the reluctant eyes of the girls, Zhang Zheng walked out of the house, got on his horse, and went straight away.

Straight out of the west gate of Qinghe County, I saw Luan Tingfang and ten burly men guarding the road, making people entering and leaving the city afraid to approach.

Seeing Zhang Zhengdao leaving the city, Luan Tingfang came up to him and said respectfully: "I've seen Zhizhai before."

Zhang Zhengdao smiled and said: "Teacher Luan, let's talk as we walk."

Luan Tingfang mounted his horse and said to the ten carefully selected soldiers: "Let's go."

The group of people all rode horses and walked along the official road towards the city view of Kaide Prefecture.

Zhang Zhengdao took the lead, Luan Tingfang followed closely behind, and the ten soldiers followed at the end.

"What happened in the village during my absence?" Zhang Zhengdao slowed down his horse and asked, tilting his head.

Luan Tingfang replied: "Except for training the soldiers every day, things are going well in Zhizhai Village. Brother Zhao caught two thieves when he was out patrolling, and they have been sent to the county government."

Zhang Zhengdao was now unable to do anything else, so he handed over the responsibility of inspecting the countryside in the three counties to his subordinates. He was only responsible for preparing money and food to ensure the normal expenses of the inspection village.

In Qinghe County, Luan Tingfang and Zhao Boyan will each bring some manpower to inspect the surrounding villages and towns alternately.

"How about the money and food allocated by the county government?" Zhang Zhengdao asked again.

Luan Tingfang smiled and said: "It was distributed in time. Now the brothers in the village are very grateful to know the village."

Zhang Zhengdao nodded and suddenly asked: "How is Zhao Boyan?"

Luan Tingfang didn't know what the meaning of this question was. Thinking of every detail of getting along with Zhao Boyan during this period, Luan Tingfang replied: "Brother Zhao is brave and has a very well-organized training method. I can't do it as well."

Hearing that Luan Tingfang had such a high opinion of Zhao Boyan, Zhang Zhengdao smiled and said: "Teacher, you are being humble. I heard that a few days ago, you two led two teams of soldiers to perform martial arts and defeated Zhao Boyan."

At that time, Zhang Zhengdao once said that each of them would lead 60 native soldiers to train and then perform a martial arts performance.

Just because Zhang Zhengdao was in Liangshan, this matter was forgotten by him.

Although Zhizhai was not there, Zhao Boyan and Luan Tingfang were competing with each other, and the martial arts performance was held as usual.

These hundreds of soldiers were divided into two teams and used wooden sticks, guns and sticks to fight each other in the patrol village.

Because Luan Tingfang had a rather brave Zhongli Quanzai under his command, he was slightly better and defeated Zhao Boyan.

After this, Luan and Zhao became much closer and got along harmoniously.

"It's just a fluke!" Luan Tingfang told the truth.

Zhang Zhengdao smiled and stopped asking questions.

The cavalry accelerated and headed straight towards the city view of Kaide Prefecture.

This wild boar forest is not far from Guancheng. It is a dangerous place on Hebei East Road and is also the main road from Bianliang City in Tokyo to Cangzhou.

Later, when Lin Chong was sent to Cangzhou, he passed by this place. Dong Chao and Xue Ba wanted to kill Lin Chong in this forest, but they were saved by Lu Zhishen.

According to the few guys who escaped with their lives, the Zhang family's several carts of medicinal materials were robbed by more than a dozen thieves when they walked near this forest.

Zhang Zhengdao's main purpose of going out this time was to leave home for a few days and hide from his demanding wives and concubines.

If the little scalper continues to be exploited like this, I'm afraid he will die young.

The second step is to go out and look for the thief. But after such a long time, how could that group of stupid thieves still be looting near this forest?

It's the best if you come across it. If you can't come across it, forget it.

Zhang Zhengdao made an excuse to go to Daming Mansion to pay a visit to Lu Junyi, the unparalleled gunman, and also to see what Lu's wife, Jia, looked like.

It's a journey of seventy or eighty miles, with fast horses galloping, and we'll arrive in half a day.

When we arrived at the boundary of Guancheng, we made some inquiries and found out the specific location of the wild boar forest.

Seeing that it was getting late, Zhang Zhengdao wanted to find an inn to rest, but Luan Tingfang suggested: "If you know the village, it's better to go to the surrounding woods and have a look. At this hour, strong men are most likely to come and go."

Zhang Zhengdao thought for a while and felt that what Luan Tingfang said was reasonable, so he rushed to the edge of the fierce forest without stopping.

But seeing the smoke and fog, the tangled branches, and the cries of lone birds from time to time, it was very scary. Even the bravest men would not dare to rush in easily.

Zhang Zhengdao looked at the shadows in front of him and frowned, "This forest is so dangerous."

Luan Tingfang also said: "If you bump into it headfirst, I'm afraid you will get lost in it."

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Zhengdao said in a deep voice: "First find a nearby village and town, rest for a night, and then make plans."

Turning the horse's head, Zhang Zhengdao headed towards the north to view the city.

Luan Tingfang and others followed behind him, riding closely behind.

After walking for three or four miles, I saw a small hotel standing at the entrance of the village.

This hotel is adjacent to Yi Road in the front and Xicun Village in the back. Several locust trees grow around it, with dense greenery, reed curtains to block the sun, and a wine shop to welcome guests.

Everyone came outside the village shop, tied up their horses, and all went into the shop. They called the bartender and asked for twenty or thirty kilograms of meat, plus some pasta, and a few cents of wine to eat.

After the bartender had sorted out the meals, he brought them out one by one.

Zhang Zhengdao stopped him and asked: "Shopkeeper, you have lived here for a long time, have you ever heard of any strongmen entrenched near the wild boar forest?"

The bartender saw this and replied: "Some time ago, many customers who entered the store said that a group of strong thieves appeared in the wild boar forest. There were twenty or thirty people. They robbed the money of the merchants. If you are slow to run, , all lost their lives."

Zhang Zhengdao asked again: "Do you know the whereabouts of that group of thieves?"

The bartender shook his head and said: "Although we reported it to the nearby county government, the people from the inspection department did not dare to go into the woods to arrest them, and they have never heard of where these thieves are hiding."

Luan Tingfang asked: "Has anyone passed through the woods safely recently?"

The bartender smiled and said: "There was a customer who came out of the wild boar forest the first day of the afternoon. I actually asked about it. The customer said that it was very quiet in the forest. There wasn't even a rabbit in sight, and he didn't see any bad people."< /p>

Luan Tingfang guessed: "Maybe he has left this place after hearing that there was an arrest from the government."

Zhang Zhengdao asked again: "Shopkeeper, let me ask you, has anyone said anything about the appearance of the leader of the gang of thieves?"

"I heard someone say it." The bartender recalled briefly and said, "Some people say that the leader has a ferocious face, is dark and strong, and wields a broad sword. He will cut down everyone he meets. If he runs away, If you wait too long, you will become a headless ghost."

When the bartender said this, he couldn't help but shudder. The wild boar forest is three or four miles away from here. If that group of murderous thieves came out to rob villages and towns, I'm afraid this hotel would bear the brunt.

"My lord, are you here to look for that group of thieves?" The bartender cried in despair, and even knelt down on his knees, shouting: "Please make a decision for us, the common people, and get rid of that group of thieves."