Judge of the Lamp

Xu Zhiqiong walked through six camps one after another with firewood on his back, but none of the camps looked serious.

A bundle of firewood was almost finished, Xu Zhiqiong chatted with more than a dozen soldiers, and finally met a real soldier.

"Brother, I just saw the difference in the way you hold a knife. It looks like you can use a knife!" Xu Zhiqiong took out some firewood and stepped forward to talk.

The sergeant smiled and said, "Can I be like them? I have eaten the emperor's rations seriously! When the time comes to fight, follow me, and I promise to save your life!"

"Why save your life? I want to kill the enemy?"

The sergeant sneered: "What do you use to kill the enemy? Do you think the imperial army is made of mud?"

Xu Zhiqiong said: "We have so many people, are we still afraid of those few people in the court?"

The sergeant shook his head and said: "You don't know, the imperial army is really good at fighting, ten people can beat us one to two hundred, one hundred people can beat us two to three thousand,

Look at those of us who haven't even held a knife, and the team can't stand firm. What do you let them fight with?
I see that there are quite a few cavalry in the imperial army. The cavalry rushes over and beats them all. Once they are dispersed, they will be stabbed with their necks stretched out. "

He was right, as far as the six camps that Xu Zhiqiong had seen so far, these people were given away for nothing when they went to the battlefield.

Xu Zhiqiong asked again: "Don't we say that Yunzhou has an army of [-]? Why haven't we seen a few as powerful as you?"

"Who did you hear said that there were [-] troops? Don't listen to the nonsense of those outsiders! We are not at war with Yu Xianguo, so why do we need so many soldiers? When I was guarding the border, there were almost [-] soldiers. Not good, Lord Zhifu told us to go back to farming, I am afraid that there will not be even [-] people left in the end."

There are less than [-] regular troops left in Yunzhou!

When Emperor Changle wanted to transfer troops from Yunzhou, it was no wonder that Yunzhou refused to obey the order, he had no soldiers to transfer!
But Yunzhou's military supplies and rations over the years have been distributed according to [-] garrisons!
How far has Yunzhou lost control?
Didn't Emperor Zhaoxing take care of it?

Where are the three thousand regular troops?
Xu Zhiqiong continued to pretend to be naive: "When I was fetching water just now, I saw a lot of people over there, all dressed neatly, and holding their knives and guns securely!"

"Over there?" The sergeant was startled, "You mean the east, right? Those people are all serious soldiers. You can't mess around with that big camp. I heard that our magistrate is in the camp."

After chatting for a while, Xu Zhiqiong left all the firewood to the sergeant, and then went to the camp to the east.

Is the prefect Peng Xiunian really in this camp?
Xu Zhiqiong has many things to ask him, and no one can give the answer except himself.

Chu Xin did the right thing. To deal with the so-called [-] Yunzhou army, [-] people are more than enough.

Xu Zhiqiong really wanted to ask this Prefect Peng, what exactly was he going to do?
What was the use of him raising this helpless army?
Let’s just say that he has been corrupt and broke the law all these years, and he is afraid of being liquidated by the court, so he can take gold and silver and run away quickly. The south of Yunzhou is Yu Xianguo, and the east is the sea, so there are more opportunities to run away. …

What is he going to do with this?
After thinking about it, Xu Zhiqiong arrived at the big camp in the east. This camp was really decent. There were guard posts at the entrance and patrols around.

Xu Zhiqiong sneaked into the barracks with the invisibility technique, walked around the large tent of the Chinese army a few times, then appeared in shape, and walked straight to the door of the big tent.

The guard at the door shouted: "Where are the miscellaneous soldiers? What are you doing here?"

Xu Zhiqiong said: "I have inquired about the enemy army, and I am here to deliver a letter to the magistrate!"

The guard frowned and said, "If you have any news, just send it to the post chief, hurry up and go away!"

Xu Zhiqiong shook his head and said, "You can't give this news to the post chief, you must tell the magistrate."

The guard raised his sword eyebrows, stepped forward and pushed Xu Zhiqiong: "Get away!"

Xu Zhiqiong punched the guard in the stomach, and the guard twitched and vomited continuously.

The surrounding guards quickly drew out their sabers, and a middle-aged man came out from the tent.

"Why are you making such a fuss?"

The guards saluted one after another, and the guard who was beaten cried out: "Master Zhifu, I don't know where there is a miscellaneous soldier who wants to break into the camp. This man is so arrogant!"

Peng Xiunian looked at Xu Zhiqiong and said, "Who are you?"

Xu Zhiqiong bowed and saluted: "I am a sentry of the Pioneer Battalion. I found some news in the enemy camp tonight. It is a confidential matter. I have to report it to the prefect face to face."

Peng Xiunian stared at the soldiers for a moment, nodded and said, "Come in and talk."

Xu Zhiqiong entered the tent and looked at Peng Xiunian who was sitting in the center of the tent.

This person has five grades of cultivation.

He Fang brought Peng Xiunian's dossier, and Xu Zhiqiong also read it when he came.

Peng Xiunian did have a cultivation base, but in the court files, it was not the fifth rank, but the seventh rank, a Confucian seventh rank cultivator.

This is not an unusual thing, Peng Xiunian has already escaped the control of the court, so it is not worth mentioning that he lied about his cultivation.

The point is that his criminal karma is spectacular, it must have passed three feet by visual inspection, which is longer than Liang Yuming's criminal karma.

Liang Yuming killed tens of thousands of lives.

How many outrageous things did this bird boy do to create such a long crime?

Peng Xiunian asked: "Tell me, what secret did you find out?"

"Please take a look at this thing first." Xu Zhiqiong took out a cloth bag from his arms and handed it to the guard, who then asked the guard to pass it on to Peng Xiunian.

Peng Xiunian opened the cloth bag and was startled.

There is an iron plate in the cloth bag with five characters written on it.

Situ, Xiao Songting.

This is the identity certificate of the Nufu Sect, which has the same function as Daxuan's dental plaque.

This iron plate was searched by Xu Zhiqiong from Xiao Songting, and he thought it was useless, so today he simply used it to test Prefect Peng.

If Prefect Peng had an affair with Nufu Sect, he should know Situ's identity and status.

If Prefect Peng had nothing to do with the Nufu Sect, he would definitely not buy it for this iron card.

In that case, Xu Zhiqiong would kill him directly.

No matter whether Peng Xiunian was the main messenger of the rebellion or not, there would definitely be no harm in killing him.

But if he is a member of Nufu Sect, he cannot be killed easily.

Nufu Cult people probably have Gu skills, after death, it is difficult to interrogate the soul. …

Xu Zhiqiong quietly watched Peng Xiunian's reaction.

Peng Xiunian looked calm, and said to the guards: "This matter is indeed confidential, you all go out, and no one should approach within a hundred steps of the camp."

The guards hurriedly exited the camp, and when everyone was gone, Peng Xiunian stepped forward to salute, "Peng Xiunian, the altar master of Yunzhou, has seen Lord Situ."

The magistrate of Yunzhou turned out to be the altar master of Yunzhou taught by Nufu Sect!

According to the information Xu Zhiqiong had obtained in the past, in the Nufu Cult, the status of the altar master was comparable to that of Shao Situ, slightly lower than Situ, and Peng Xiunian could be regarded as Xiao Songting's subordinate.

Xu Zhiqiong bowed back and bowed: "Master Peng, it's hard work."

The two sat down, each keeping their voices extremely low.

Peng Xiunian said: "I heard that Situ Xiao fought in Yu Xian, why did he suddenly come to Yunzhou?"

This person is fairly well informed, but luckily he didn't know that Xiao Songting was dead.

Xu Zhiqiong smiled wryly and said: "Peng Tanzhu must have heard that Xiao was defeated in Yu Xian, and the defeat was very embarrassing."

Peng Xiunian said comfortingly: "Victory or defeat is a common matter in military affairs, Master Situ does not need to blame himself."

Xu Zhiqiong said: "I came to Yunzhou this time because I was ordered to check the deployment of your side."

He didn't say who sent him here, nor did he say what the investigation plan was, which made Peng Xiunian confused.

"Master Situ, did Da Situ order you to come?"

Xu Zhiqiong's heart trembled.

Xiao Songting said that there has always been a vacancy for the Grand Situ of the Nufu Sect, and Yu Xian's predecessor, Ju Liang, also said the same thing.

Now why is there another big Situ?

Is it newly appointed?
Impossible, such an important position must not be appointed at will.

Did the bastard Xiao Songting lie?
But did Ju Liang also lie?
Xu Zhiqiong responded, "It's exactly what Da Situ wanted."

Peng Xiunian's face sank, he frowned and said: "Yesterday Da Sikong came to ask, asked Peng for nearly a night, and said that he was worried about Peng,
Now Da Situ asked Xiao Situ to ask, why can't the adults trust Peng? "

Xu Zhiqiong laughed and said, "It's important, so it's better to be more cautious."

Da Sikong came here yesterday?
Isn't Da Sikong Gongsun Wen?
Didn't Gongsun Wen grab arms in the northern border last night?

When did you come to Yunzhou again?
Is Da Sikong Gongsun Wen?
Did that bastard Xiao Songting lie again?
No!Wan Qiusheng also said that Da Sikong is Gongsun Wen!
Xu Zhiqiong couldn't ask Peng Xiunian directly, because if he asked, he would reveal his secrets, so he could only smile awkwardly at Peng Xiunian.

Peng Xiunian calmed down and said, "Forget it, Xiao Situ is not to blame for this matter."

Xu Zhiqiong sighed, imitating Xiao Songting's smooth tone and said: "Master Peng, we are all on errands, and you should understand my difficulties."

Peng Xiunian nodded and said, "Please trouble Xiao Situ to tell Da Situ that everything is well prepared in this room, and nothing will go wrong for the sacrificial ceremony!"

What ritual?
Isn't it a war?
How did it become a ritual?
Xu Zhiqiong said: "Peng Tanzhu, I can trust you, but if I take the original words back, I'm afraid Da Situ won't believe me."

Peng Xiunian said: "If Xiao Situ has any request, you might as well just say it!"

"Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. Xiao Mou came all the way, and altar master Peng at least let me see how far we have come in preparing for this ceremony."

Peng Xiunian smiled wryly, nodded and said, "Forget it, Xiao Situ, come with me!"

Xu Zhiqiong followed Peng Xiunian out of the tent, followed by several guards.

Peng Xiunian waved his hand and said: "You stay here, I will follow this sergeant to look around."

The guards didn't dare to say anything, and they all stayed in the big tent of the Chinese army.

Peng Xiunian took Xu Zhiqiong up to the watchtower.

This watchtower is very tall, even higher than the watchtower in the capital. Compared with the scattered camps, this watchtower is solid and exquisite, which seems out of place.

The two climbed to the top of the building, and the entire camp was unobstructed.

Peng Xiunian looked around and said to Xu Zhiqiong, "Xiao Situ, how about this altar?"

altar?

This camp is an altar?