Chapter 160: Horse Bandits

The civil departments of the Patrol Guard Division are all working themselves to the bone, and the workload in the Three Great Halls' clerical offices increases every day.

It is not that they are looking for trouble; there are real tasks being issued from above! And ninety-nine percent of these tasks come from the East Office!

Consequently, the looks they give the East Office have become even more resentful.

Wen Gu does not intend to torment them on purpose; he has been consolidating information during this period, and the workload is indeed a bit heavy.

There is also good news; amidst the tense atmosphere, he discovered a bright spot.

After Clerk Fang entered "struggle mode," he displayed an excellent talent—shorthand writing.

Clerk Fang's other abilities are quite average, but he truly has a unique advantage in shorthand.

In the eyes of many, the characters he writes in shorthand are very ugly.

Ugly in every sense of the word.

Illegible, completely incomprehensible ugly!

Clerk Fang does not mind; as long as he can understand it himself, that is fine, and he can transcribe it neatly when needed.

Wen Gu has looked over the case files he transcribed from his shorthand twice, and there were no errors or omissions!

What a precious ability!

Wen Gu told Lao Zhao about this merit of Clerk Fang.

Lao Zhao was very happy.

His own relative does have merits after all!

As long as one is not slacking off, as long as one starts struggling, their merits will shine!

Thinking about it further, whether it is Clerk Fang or those people from the Zhao family, their merits were all discovered by Wen Gu.

The more he thinks about it, the more fortunate he feels; it is a good thing Wen Gu is his relative! It is a good thing Wen Gu came to Xinzhou!

In his leisure time, Lao Zhao praises Wen Gu to the scholars around him.

That scholar also followed Lao Zhao's lead and praised, "The cousin knows people and assigns them well; it is truly Xinzhou's good fortune!"

Lao Zhao became even happier.

Wen Gu is not only good at knowing people and assigning them, but he can also change the atmosphere of the Patrol Guard Division.

Lao Zhao is very satisfied with the recent changes in the Patrol Guard Division. The civil officials have become serious, and as for the martial officials, just look at the performance of the Mu Family members.

The matter of him going to the Patrol Guard Division that day, though some time has passed, the news still spread.

Thus, rumors in the streets say that after Lao Zhao went to the Patrol Guard Division that day, the atmosphere in the Three Great Halls' clerical offices changed completely. It was all due to Lao Zhao's constant whipping!

That is not wrong to say.

On the surface, it seems so, but this process—

It is actually somewhat twisted!

Is it unfair for him to take the blame?

Lao Zhao pondered for a moment, then smiled and shook his head.

Forget it, forget it; let us continue to carry this blame.

After finishing today's tasks early, Lao Zhao prepared to go to the backyard to relax again.

Then, Wen Gu arrived.

Lao Zhao: "————"

Before even seeing the person, Lao Zhao had a conditioned reflex and felt a headache coming on.

He also knows that Wen Gu must be here for official business. However, encountering this scene, he inexplicably feels a little tired.

If it were someone else, Lao Zhao would definitely tell them to be diligent, diligent, and more diligent, but with Wen Gu, there is really no need; instead, he has to urge him to rest more.

When Wen Gu works hard, a whole bunch of people, whether active or passive, have to work hard along with him!

Lao Zhao is actually a person who prioritizes his career, but compared to Wen Gu, he pales in comparison.

Sigh!

He still has to offer some advice; one must balance work and rest. Young people can have more diverse entertainment activities and do not need to always focus on official business.

As Lao Zhao thought this, he saw the serious look on Wen Gu's face as he entered, and the words he was about to speak were swallowed back down.

Subsequently, within three sentences, Lao Zhao's expression had completely changed.

"You are saying that a group of horse bandits might be hiding in Xinzhou City, waiting for an opportunity to act?!"

Lao Zhao sat up, leaned forward slightly, and stared fixedly at the documents placed on the desk, as well as the unfolded paper with a map drawn and symbols marked on it.

Wen Gu spoke of the process of his discovery—recently, while organizing documents for the Three Great Halls, he discovered this matter from the massive amount of information.

Only with the abnormal memory of someone like Cheng Zhi, who can go through all the documents of the Three Great Halls, could he assist Wen Gu in filtering out the required information.

A group of horse bandits has disappeared. Before the chaotic times, they mainly roamed and committed crimes in Caishan County Town and its surrounding areas, basically centering on Caishan County Town, so Wen Gu temporarily calls them the Caishan Horse Bandits.

Although Xinzhou was a remote and poor place in the past, merchant caravans would occasionally head to the border Quechang, and several trade routes actually had some traffic.

Naturally, there was no shortage of horse bandits.

When Lao Zhao first took Xinzhou, he cut down a batch of horse bandits.

Most of the horse bandits in Xinzhou did not escape the Evil Plague, some stubborn ones did not escape the blades of the Xinzhou Army, and others surrendered directly.

During this period, Wen Gu specifically asked those who had turned over a new leaf.

Before the chaotic times, horse bandits with some reputation also paid attention to each other.

They probably wanted to compare who was the strongest "Flying Car Bandit" in Xinzhou.

Wen Gu wanted to inquire about news of the horse bandits, so he sent messages via flying slaves to other guard stations.

This is the benefit of being a Patrol Guard Division Vice Commissioner; he can write letters immediately whenever he wants to know something, using the aerial express channel to contact other towns in Xinzhou.

"The people in the Xinzhou Army who were responsible for suppressing bandits back then, as well as those who often go out on patrol now, and the horse bandits who turned over a new leaf—they have indeed not heard any news of the Caishan Horse Bandits since the chaotic times began," Wen Gu said.

Inquiring about the news was relatively subtle, or done in a roundabout way, so the outside world does not yet know that Wen Gu is looking for the Caishan Horse Bandits.

Lao Zhao looked at the map: "In other words, up until now, the Caishan Horse Bandits have not been seen in Xinzhou, not a single one?!"

Lao Zhao had a bit of an impression of them; they did indeed exist in his memory.

Having stayed in Xinzhou for so many years, he knew those horse bandits all too well!

Those horse bandits—it wasn't that the larger the group, the stronger they were. They were the elite, lean type!

Furthermore, they did not engage in production; they only knew how to plunder!

They robbed passersby, robbed merchant caravans, and even robbed government soldiers!

There was nothing they dared not do!

They would rob and run, and they were very good at hiding. Xinzhou was vast and sparsely populated; once they got away, it was very difficult to find them again.

Even with a systematic search, they might still be able to run beyond the borders, where the sky was high and the land was wide, making them hard to track.

It was very headache-inducing.

Lao Zhao recalled the Caishan Horse Bandits, vaguely remembering a little: "It is said they never missed?"

"That is indeed what the rumors say."

Wen Gu continued to speak.

"I collected the old case files of Xinzhou; the Caishan Horse Bandits are greedy, bold, and very patient. Every time they strike, they are sure to reap a rich profit."

If the profit was too small, the Caishan Horse Bandits wouldn't look at it; they liked to kidnap wealthy families and rob large merchant caravans. They were people who did big things!

"They have a stable organizational structure. Who leads, who organizes, who executes—the division of labor is clear!"

Such a group, to say they died out without a sound?

There was such a possibility, but it was not high.

Since the information screening had filtered them out, they had to be dealt with quickly.

"We must take action to prevent trouble before it happens!"

Wen Gu's expression was solemn as he looked at Lao Zhao.

Take action! Lao Zhao!

Lao Zhao did indeed take these matters seriously, but he still had doubts he needed to clear up: "If they are still alive, either they have already quietly blended into the refugees, or they are hiding somewhere."

Wen Gu said: "I am more inclined toward the former."

Lao Zhao asked again: "What if it is the latter? If they are really just hiding somewhere outside the city?

For example, a hiding spot like Jinchan Hu."

The people involved in the Gao Family case had hidden in such spots, hiding for a year or two without being noticed at all.

Wen Gu took out the information he had extracted from the case files: "The horse bandits are different."

The Caishan Horse Bandits were even more so; the heart for plunder could never be restrained!

Even if they stayed in a town where survivors gathered, had stable jobs, and had decent incomes, their greedy desires and wild hearts could not disappear; they would only become increasingly intense!

Look at the crimes they committed in the past; those desperate outlaws were completely immersed in their aesthetic of extreme violence, unable to extricate themselves once they went wild!

However, Wen Gu added: "If they are really hiding somewhere outside the city, we must still be on guard—"

If the horse bandits had robbed a few wealthy families ahead of time before the chaotic times and hoarded grain.

If they had been quiet for these two years and hadn't continued to commit crimes, if they could really sit still and hide somewhere.

Not engaging in production and having a monotonous diet would lead to malnutrition, metabolic disorders, weakened immunity, and susceptibility to illness.

"Do they have a Doctor? Have they hoarded medicinal herbs?"

Lao Zhao recalled the temperament and habits of that gang of horse bandits.

Indeed, making horse bandits farm was like making those martial men who only loved to wield blades and guns recite books; what they couldn't do, they couldn't do, and what they didn't like, they didn't like—there was no why!

Lao Zhao's finger pressed on the map, his gaze already sinking.

"You mean, they are most likely hiding in Xinzhou City?"

"Xinzhou City is the largest, the influx of refugees is the greatest, the identities are the most complex, and the hoarded precious medicinal herbs are also the most," Wen Gu said.

The Caishan Horse Bandits were a group willing to take risks for huge profits. If one were to ask which of the current towns in Xinzhou was most likely to attract attention?

It must be Xinzhou City!

Shuo City, near the south, had too great a crisis; every year when the weather got hot, it was hit by the Ghost Tide several times.

And the other towns to the north had relatively fixed personnel compositions with little mobility. Moreover, many horse bandits who had abandoned darkness for light were also assigned to those northern towns.

If the Caishan Horse Bandits wanted to conceal their identities, they would definitely choose Xinzhou City.

Here in the provincial city, it seemed like there were the most government soldiers, but there were also many other things; the wealthy and powerful who were used to being arrogant were the easiest to engage in shady operations.

There were also many commoner wards, making it easier to cover eyes and ears and fish in troubled waters.

"They could blend in among Idlers, merchant caravans, armed escorts, woodcutters, and even the servants of wealthy families, as well as the City Defense Army. They would appear completely normal in daily life, but at critical moments, they could coordinate their efforts to plunder and escape in a very short time."

Wen Gu could have the Patrol Guard Division conduct an internal investigation or investigate others, but there were too many eyes on the Patrol Guard Division right now; the slightest move would cause people to start associating things and over-interpreting.

To avoid alerting the enemy, Lao Zhao had to exert his influence to get other functional departments to cooperate more.

Additionally, certain actions of the Patrol Guard Division still required Lao Zhao's approval to proceed.

Wen Gu looked at Lao Zhao, his sincerity tinged with urgency, and his urgency tinged with a push.

Hurry up, Lao Zhao!

Lao Zhao had already accepted Wen Gu's conjecture.

People accustomed to plundering would only focus all their energy on "how to plunder more."

If they wanted grain or other various kinds of food, they could go find it in the mountains. Many of the mountainous areas in Xinzhou were barren; they could also plunder villages and rob merchant caravans.

If there was still no movement now, either these people didn't exist, or they were planning to do something big!

It looked quiet, but they were definitely brewing a big move!

Lao Zhao felt that his own warehouse was also under threat.

As the pressure mounted—

What backyard?

Where would there be any spare time to go to the backyard?!

No state of mind for it!!

For the next hour or so, Wen Gu spent his time discussing with Lao Zhao how to lure the snake out of its hole.

He would also need Qingyi Daozhang to cooperate.

A matter of mutual benefit, that dog of a Daoist Priest would certainly be willing.

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