According to the information Lu Han inquired about, the bandit leader in Makouling was named Zhang Dali. He was once the guardian of the businessman Wu Qun's family, but later he became a bandit for some unknown reason.
This guy usually collects monthly money from several villages around Makou Ling, saying he is protecting the villagers from being bullied by bandits, but in fact, they are the only bandits within a hundred miles.
The magistrate of Guangzhou Prefecture also sent government officials to arrest this group of bandits, but the bandits were so numerous and powerful that the government officials were simply not enough to watch them.
Although a few bandits were caught, they had no impact on them at all. On the contrary, in order to vent their anger, the bandits went to the village and killed several villagers. They also promised that if the government arrested their brothers, they would kill as many of them as possible.
Villagers take revenge.
Later, when the government officials came to the village to investigate, the villagers instead provided cover for the bandits.
Dong Tianbao looked at the mountain road in front of him and frowned slightly. This mountain road could almost be said to be a forest trail. Although it was quite wide, the trees beside it were also very lush. There was no problem hiding hundreds or even thousands of bandits in it.
But this was no longer a problem for Dong Tianbao. He made several gestures one after another, and immediately two teams entered the woods.
With the scouts exploring the road, the convoy carrying goods continued to move forward.
However, after traveling less than five miles, there was a sound of killing in the woods ahead. Dong Tianbao immediately waved his hand and made a gesture, and his men immediately stopped advancing and dispersed around the convoy to be on guard.
There wasn't much movement in the forest, but after a while, soldiers came over escorting two gray-faced guys.
"These two guys were poking around in the forest. They are probably spies for bandits."
The two men immediately cried out.
"We are good people."
"That's right, we are villagers from Hetian Village next door. We come into the mountains to hunt. Why do you beat us without asking?"
The soldier sighed and said: "You two are like this, and you still pretend to be hunters? You think we have never hunted before. I have been hunting in the mountains since I was seven years old. You two don't look like hunters. Who can hunt for money?"
This thing?"
As the soldier spoke, he threw out a pile of broken pieces with a clanging sound. Dong Tianbao stepped forward and pulled it twice with his feet, and coldly snorted: "Hang it up."
Soon, the two bandits were hung naked on the tree, one on this side of the mountain road and one on that side.
Seeing that they could no longer deny it, the two bandits became angry and began to threaten them, saying that the master would definitely cut them into pieces.
After taking off their clothes, the two of them became more honest.
Dong Tianbao interrogated the two men separately. If there was any discrepancy in their confessions, he would cut off one person's fingers. After the two bandits had three fingers cut off, they collapsed completely and explained everything in detail.
.
After repeated interrogations, it was finally found that there was no discrepancy between the two men's statements, and then they were released, tied up tightly, and stuffed into the carriage.
According to the confessions of the two bandits, Zhang Dali indeed led someone to ambush him, which was about ten miles away from here.
When Dong Tianbao asked them how they learned about the convoy, the two bandits' statements were surprisingly consistent. It was a man named Mr. Zhao who came to inform the leader.
Dong Tianbao was stunned at that time. There was still a Mr. Zhao imprisoned in the dungeon of Qiongzhou Mansion. Why was there another Mr. Zhao?
It's a pity that the two bandits only knew that the man was Mr. Zhao, but they had no idea where he came from or what his identity was.
In addition, there is another news, that is, the bandits only knew that the convoy carrying goods had set off, but they did not know that Dong Tianbao was an extra variable in the convoy.
Dong Tianbao didn't have time to think so much, so he just let people continue to explore the way forward, and the convoy continued to set off.
These two bandits came out to inquire about the situation. If they don't go back for a long time, the other party will be alert, so they need to leave as soon as possible to prevent the other party from reacting and having another accident.
Since the other party did not know the existence of people like him, Dong Tianbao divided more than a hundred people into hiding and moved forward in the woods.
Soon, after the convoy had traveled more than ten miles, they heard a cry from the woods on the roadside, and a large number of bandits came out of the woods. There were three to four hundred people, and they quickly surrounded the convoy.
The leader looked ferocious and pointed at the bodyguards and said: "Not bad, not bad. This time I can make a fortune again. Don't worry, Grandpa, I'm in a good mood today. I'll give you a way to survive. Keep your weapons and goods obediently."
Get off, and then you can get out."
Dong Tianbao stood out from the crowd, pointed at the bandit and said: "You bandit, you dare to rob the goods escorted by Shengfa Logistics. You are so audacious. Aren't you afraid of being surrounded by officers and soldiers?"
The bandit's expression suddenly changed: "You ungrateful guy, if you don't leave Grandpa's intention to give you a way to survive, you have to seek death, right? You think you have the guts to challenge Grandpa and me because you brought these hundreds of people with you. Today
Let me show you what it means to kill without batting an eye, little ones, come on."
The bandits shouted and rushed forward waving their weapons, but they were knocked down by a burst of crossbow arrows.
However, the deaths and injuries of these dozen people not only did not scare off the bandits, but instead aroused their ferocity, and they started to kill faster with strange screams.
These soldiers from Qiongzhou Guard usually train in three-stage shooting. After the front row shoots the crossbow, they immediately squat down, the middle row fires, and after the middle row shoots, the back row shoots, and so on.
But after all, the manpower was too small to cause enough damage. After two rounds of shooting, the bandits had already rushed in front of them, and the two sides immediately engaged in close combat.
Four hundred bandits, facing this convoy of more than one hundred people, thought they could easily capture them. However, after a burst of fighting, they were unable to move the enemy at all. Zhang Dali, who was supervising the battle from behind, became red-eyed.
The bandits who were fighting didn't know it, but he could see it clearly. Dozens of his men were dead, but none of his opponents were dead.
Coupled with the fact that the crossbow was banned by the imperial court, Zhang Dali knew that he was in trouble.
But this is reasonable. We were robbed last time, so we are naturally on guard this time. It is well known that Shengfa Logistics has a background in the imperial court, so these people are most likely sent by the imperial court.
So Zhang Dali was a little panicked now. If he angered the people at Shengfa Logistics, they might be able to mobilize manpower to kill him.
He can get news about the mobilization of Guangzhou Guard officers and soldiers, but there is no channel for news from Shengfa Logistics.
He hesitated for a while, but decided to finish this job first, and at worst, find a place to avoid the limelight afterwards.
However, when he was about to rush forward with the boy number 100 beside him, there was a cry of killing behind him.
Zhang Dali turned around in shock, but what greeted him was a shower of arrows.
Puff, puff, more than a dozen younger brothers fell into a pool of blood. Only then did Zhang Dali see more than a hundred people coming behind him. He was immediately frightened out of his wits. He hurriedly yelled, turned around and faced the other side.