Before the house is confiscated, the enemy's warehouse is emptied and exiled

When Shen Qingge heard this, his eyes involuntarily looked at the boundary marker, and he was a little dazed for a moment.

It turned out that during her free time these few days, she often used her mind to enter the space and carefully read books, wanting to learn about the situation of the other two counties in the Lingnan region.

According to the books she had read, Guilin County bordered neighboring countries such as Jiaozhi. Riots often occurred in the border areas, resulting in a constant flow of refugees. In addition, some bandits who occupied the mountains and became kings roamed around, making the situation here quite complicated and chaotic.

Just when Shen Qingge was about to speak up to remind Xiao Heng to be more careful, he heard him speak first in a deep voice:

"Everyone, after entering Guilin County, everyone must be vigilant and always pay attention to the surrounding environment and changes in the situation!"

Shen Qingge smiled. It seemed that she had forgotten that Xiao Heng held the county annals in his hands every day, so he must have known something about the situation!

So, as Cangyu kicked his horse's belly, he was the first to cross the boundary marker, and the people behind him followed closely, raising a cloud of dust.

When the group stepped into the territory of Guilin County, the scene they saw made everyone feel depressed.

Compared with the dilapidated state I witnessed in Nanhai County before, this place is even worse.

The mountains stretch endlessly, yet there is no sign of life. The vast land is sparsely populated, and everywhere you look, there is a vast emptiness and desolation.

We occasionally passed some villages along the way, but most of the houses there were dilapidated, as if they would collapse in an instant with a gust of wind.

What is even more heartbreaking is that from time to time one can encounter starving corpses on both sides of the road, which are horrible to look at, and there are also white bones lying all over the road.

A good village has become a "ghost village", which really interprets the saying "no rooster crows for a thousand miles" to the extreme.

Everyone looked at the devastated land, their hearts filled with sorrow and helplessness, shaking their heads and sighing.

Just then, the team was passing through a mountain range.

Shen Qingge, who was sitting in the carriage, suddenly heard a loud noise not far away. She immediately reached out and opened the curtain, looking sharply in the direction of the sound, and shouted loudly:

"Stop! Everyone, be alert and strengthen your defenses. There seems to be a voice ahead!"

Upon hearing this, everyone did not dare to delay at all and pulled the reins and stopped.

Then they acted quickly, hiding their carriages and horses at a corner, ready for battle.

Sure enough, not long after, about half an incense stick of time, a group of bandits holding sticks suddenly rushed out from the intersection ahead. A rough count showed that there were about fifty of them.

They must have occupied the highest point on the mountain and saw Xiao Heng and his men from afar. Seeing that they had carriages and servants, they thought they could make a lot of money from this group of people, so they couldn't wait to come down the mountain to rob them.

Cang Yu glanced sharply at the bandits who were coming at him aggressively, then said to Xiao Heng with a calm expression:

"My Lord, please look, these bandits are armed with inferior weapons, and their ranks are disorganized. They are nothing more than a mob, not to be feared!"

Then, he waved his hand, and the guards who were originally dressed as followers quickly pulled out sabers and long swords from the bags on their backs with a few "whoosh" sounds. With uniform movements, they pointed their swords at the bandits who were rushing towards them.

When the bandits saw this scene, they were all stunned.

They knew very well that they had encountered a tough opponent today and it would definitely not be as easy and smooth as kidnapping businessmen or ordinary people in the past.

However, no one knew what was wrong with these bandits, or if they were determined to fight to the death. Although they were already afraid, they still did not retreat and continued to rush towards this side.

Seeing this, Cangyu sneered with disdain.

He nimbly led several guards around him into the enemy camp.

There was a burst of punching and kicking sounds, and in the blink of an eye, a group of bandits were knocked to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, Cangyu skillfully tied up the captured bandits one by one with ropes, preparing to escort them to the government to report the case.

This sudden change immediately terrified the remaining bandits who had not yet been subdued. They were so scared that they turned around and fled in all directions, no longer caring about anything else.

They were like frightened birds, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The dozen or so bandits who were captured saw that the situation was extremely unfavorable. Their faces turned pale, their legs went weak, and they all knelt down on the ground at the same time.

They cried bitterly and pleaded:

"Please, adults, please have mercy on us and spare us..."

Then, those bandits who were so scared that they were pissing and shitting, as if their spines had been pulled out, trembling and laughing, they blurted out all their secrets.

It turned out that this place was recruiting soldiers all year round. As long as there were men in the family, they would be recruited without exception, and most of them would never return.

In order to avoid military service, those who did not want to die in vain had no choice but to join gangs.

Moreover, there are more than one bandit den like this one. There are countless more along this road.

The reason they became bandits was simply to get a meal and have enough food to eat.

Cangyu frowned and questioned these bandits seriously, why couldn't they find some proper work to do, instead of relying on robbing and intimidating ordinary people to make a living?

Hearing this, the bandits were filled with bitterness and helplessness, and they all shook their heads and sighed:

"You don't know, sir! We are so poor here that there is no decent job.

Even if you work hard and farm honestly, you'll be inexplicably captured and taken into exile. Rather than sit and wait for death, it's better to find a place to hide. If you get caught, you can eat a few days' worth of food. Just live one day at a time!"

However, although this group of bandits committed many evil deeds, they still had some conscience.

One of the leaders kindly reminded:

"My Lords, I advise you not to continue heading towards Shi'an County in the center of the county.

There's a neighboring country's soldiers invading there right now, and it's a complete mess!"

After hearing what the bandits said, Shen Qingge pulled Xiao Heng aside with a serious expression and said in a low voice:

"Your Highness, judging by the current situation, we should not go to the county center!

Why don’t we change our route in advance and go to Xiangjun?

After all, the purpose of our trip is to get to know the people and understand their sentiments. We cannot allow you to put yourself in danger!"