Before dark, more than 200 Huaili soldiers successfully arrived at a hidden small village northwest of Huaili City.

The village was abandoned, not even a single person, only wild cats and birds, the houses were dilapidated and there was no property. It was obvious that the village was running away.

After settling down, Nie Wentao and Du Yong looked around and felt deeply moved.

The farmland is deserted and covered with weeds. There are fish ponds next to the fields, but the pond bank has long been dug up and turned into a muddy land. There are fruit forests in some places, but the fruit trees are destroyed in a mess, either cut down or burned, which is heartbreaking.

Nie Wentao smiled bitterly and said, "Boy Du, the environment in this village is actually pretty good, but it has become so desolate. The situation in other villages is similar. Even if you take it back to Huaili City in the future, it will be difficult to develop."

Du Yong comforted, "That would better reflect the ability of your county magistrate. The most important thing is people. After you are stable, you can introduce more preferential policies to attract the people to return and resume production as soon as possible. In addition, you also have to develop military strength and apply for more talents. At least you must show certain defense capabilities to the people."

Nie Wentao sighed: "It all requires money. Do you think you can get more spoils this time?"

Du Yong smiled and said, "It's good to have trophy. If not, apply to General Nie in the future. The key position in Huaili City is, General Nie will definitely support you. If you don't have a faction in the capital, you can live with me. In addition, your surname is Nie. If you communicate with General Nie more in the future, maybe he will treat you as a direct line, and then it will be much easier to do things in the future."

Nie Wentao nodded, feeling it made sense, and suddenly said with interest: "Which faction are you?"

Du Yong rolled his eyes and said lightly: "I am a sect in the imperial court."

When Nie Wentao heard such a slippery answer, he couldn't help laughing.

Du Yong shrugged without explaining much.

No matter which dynasty, there are many factions, and the factions in Dayan are particularly diverse.

The Dayan royal family alone has many factions.

Your Majesty Sect, Empress Sect, Pei Ming Sect, Pei Huo Sect, Iron Hat Prince Sect, Ordinary Prince Sect, Zongzheng Sect, and Shaofu Temple Sect, are intricate and complicated.

Other factions are mostly families, and various officials and talents are attached to the family.

State managers like Nie Qingyun are all their own factions and silently develop their own direct lineages within the rules, and will give extra care in normal times.

As for the Du family, their power is not top, but they are not low. They did not form the so-called Du faction, mainly because Du Zongcheng, the leading figure in the Du family, is relatively low-key, rarely actively recommends talents, and rarely establishes relationships in private.

Du Zongcheng often taught juniors to always remember to be loyal to the court and His Majesty.

Therefore, Du Yong called himself a court faction, which was not a slippery word, but a family motto.

Of course, younger generations should be obedient, but peers may not be able to listen. For example, Du Yong's second wife, Du Zongye, was very close to the second prince Pei Huo, but Du Zongcheng did not deliberately teach him a lesson or make adjustments. After the Huyun Temple incident in Beijing, Pei Huo was involved, and Du Zongye's promotion path was also affected.

Besides, Du Yong's fourth uncle Du Zonglong is usually careless, but that is just the surface. Du Yong has not yet understood the move he gave to Du Yong. He only figured out one thing. Lingling is definitely not a foolish person. When it comes to Lingling, he has to mention Qingyao. Qingyao was rewarded by His Majesty himself, and there is also the shadow of Concubine Qin, which should be a confusing account.

Although Lingling and Qingyao have not made any special moves so far, Du Yong always feels vaguely uneasy.

Du Yong was too lazy to think about those two little girls. With that time, it would be better to silently enhance his own strength. He created the so-called Yong family army, although it was a joke, but it also meant to protect himself.

If Du Zongcheng's concubine gave birth to a son in the future, the Du family should calm down. If it were a daughter, the secret dispute would continue and would not be transferred according to Du Yong's wishes.

Thinking of this, Du Yong sighed softly.

Nie Wentao smiled and said, "What's wrong? This is?"

Du Yong came to his senses and said casually: "I'm thinking, what opportunity should I find to get back to Huaili City?"

Nie Wentao knew that Du Yong was not thinking about this, but was still distracted from the topic and said happily: "Do you have a chance?"

Du Yongsurong said: "Of course I have the chance. Jiang Hanming and Tong Guozhi took out 4,000 people, and only 2,000 people left in the city, and maybe most of them are stinky fish and rotten shrimps. The best thing is that our army has not been exposed yet. Without further ado, I will sneak into the city to check the situation tonight and find any loopholes to get into. When you come back the evening of the day after tomorrow, you will continue to stay hidden with the army."

Nie Wentao expressed his support: "Then be careful."

Du Yong nodded.

Nie Wentao said again: "Since it's not appropriate to go, then you can process some laxatives first, because they can be used at any time."

Du Yong came down and processed a lot of laxatives before supper.

It doesn't take so many people to sneak into the city. Du Yong only brought Yang Jin and Pin Yuren. After nightfall, he took the Goulu and Huaili City structural diagram.

The sky is covered with clouds and there is almost no light at night. You have to use the luminous stone to see the road. Fortunately, the distance is not far. Not long after, I arrived outside Huaili City, stayed dozens of feet away, and observed from a distance.

The walls of Huaili City are not high and the city is not long. There are still two thousand bandits in the city, so there are definitely no shortage of guards.

The city gate was closed, and several bandits were on the city wall, holding torches back and forth.

"The alert is very strong!"

Du Yong observed for a long time and found that there were eight guard teams, each with about twenty people, equipped with big swords and bows and arrows, and their movement frequency was quite frequent.

The city wall is so long, and there are an average of forty people on each wall, so it is quite difficult to sneak up on the wall.

Pinyuren suggested: "Why do you want to find a sewer?"

"I've seen the structural diagram. The sewer is bifurcated and can only drill mice."

Du Yong shook his head. Even if the sewer is very large, it is not easy to drill, because the torch is very bright and is easily discovered when approaching the city wall. Then it will definitely be baptized by the rain of arrows, and the defense in the city will become stronger.

Du Yong wished to alert the snake.

Yang Jin looked up at the clouds in the sky and laughed: "It is very likely to rain for a while. When the torches are exposed, it is our chance."

Du Yong also looked up at the sky, as if it was really raining, and murmured: "Will God give face like this?"

God really gave me face. After waiting for about half an hour, a flash of light came from the sky, and the earth turned white, followed by a deafening series of thunder. The raindrops as big as beans slowly fell, and the more they fell, it became more and more urgent, and soon turned into a downpour.

Most of the torches on the city wall were quickly wiped out, and the walls fell into darkness. The bandits who were vigilant cursed loudly and ran to the pavilions in the four corners to hide from the rain.

This is autumn rain, very cold, but Du Yong and the other three were extremely hot inside.

Du Yong wiped the rain from his face and said excitedly: "Now is the best opportunity, follow me."

The three of them increased their horsepower and rushed under the city wall almost in the blink of an eye.

After finding a good location, three quilts shot out at the same time, hooking steadily on the wall, and the sound was covered by the heavy rain.

There was no nonsense at this time. The three of them straightened the rope at the same time and quickly climbed up the city wall like a monkey.

There were only scattered fires in the city, and people were faintly seen moving.

Without thinking too much, the three of them quickly took back the quilt, then jumped down and gently landed on the street.

The whole process was smooth and flowing, and it seemed like it had been rehearsed many times.

At this time, the bandits on the city wall lit new torches, and some light was restored to the city wall, but it could no longer be seen, because they rushed into a house in a flash.

Yang Jin and Pin Yuren immediately investigated separately and soon found that this was an empty house. This was not surprising, because there are only 2,000 bandits in the city now, and they can't live in so many houses.

Du Yong removed the door panel in the living room and lit a fire.

"It's so thrilling!"

The three of them gathered around the fire and their faces were full of excitement. This was different from fighting, but it was a bit exciting.

Yang Jin rubbed his hands and sighed: "I didn't expect these bandits to be quite responsible."

Pinyuren nodded and agreed: "Mr. Nie County wants to lead a large army into the city, but it is unrealistic to climb over the wall, so he has to think of another way."

Du Yong took out the structure map of Huaili City, which had been wet from his arms, put it on the fire, and chuckled, "Look at the picture first, just remember it probably, and it will be easier to inquire at that time."

Pinyuman grabbed a corner of the structural diagram, glanced at her eyes, and asked casually: "What are we going to explore specifically?"

Yang Jin leaned over his fingers: "Where do the bandits live, where are the kitchens, which wells to use, which warehouse to store the grain, the bandits' work and rest time, and so on, can always be used."

Pinyu nodded, and then his eyes lit up: "Young Master, if there is a tung oil silo, I don't think I have to think about taking the city's plan anymore. Let's set their granary tonight and finish it. It's Mu Feixiong's turn to cry."

Du Yong couldn't help rolling his eyes.

Yang Jin smiled and said, "The granary must focus on defense. Even if there is a tung oil silo, we only have three of us. We have to transport oil and pour oil into the granary. It's all big moves. Can you avoid bandits? Should you take a walk in your own living room?"

Pinyuren smiled embarrassedly and spread her hands and said, "I haven't done this before, so I have no experience."

The clothes and structure diagrams were dried, and the rain outside continued, but it was much smaller.

Du Yong said lightly: "Mr. Nie and I have made an appointment to go back the night after tomorrow, so we have two days to do it. I think it's better to get three sets of bandits' uniforms first. The weapons don't matter. I see that the weapons of the bandits on the city wall are not consistent."

Yang Jin sighed: "Details like this could have been prepared in advance, but unfortunately things happened too suddenly."

Du Yong smiled and said, "Perform to the situation. The clothes should be easy to get, just steal them. They always have to wash clothes and dry them."

Pinyuren said excitedly: "Tonight is cold and it is very comfortable in the bed. It is a good time to steal."

Du Yong pointed to the structural diagram and said in a deep voice: "Huaili City was destroyed once before. At that time, the county government was quite complete. I think most of the bandits should live in the county government. Let's go first."

The three of them carefully studied the structure of the county government and the nearby terrain, and then made simple rain ponchos with thatch from the woodshed, and walked out toward the county government.

I walked in the alley, and there were no bandits who were patrolling. I arrived at the house diagonally opposite the county government.

Hiding under the eaves, I looked at the county government office. There were lights and noisy voices inside. I could also hear the sound of drinking and rock-scissors. It can be seen that there were indeed many bandits living in the county government office.

"I'll go!"

Du Yong threw away the rain poncho, flashed his figure, and came to the county government office, put his ear against the wall and listened for a while, then took a few steps back and jumped in easily.

Yang Jin and Pin Yuren were on standby, pricking up their ears and listening, ready to rush in to answer at any time.

There was no need to respond, Du Yong's action went smoothly, and he quickly returned the same route and brought back three sets of bandits' clothes.

Pinyuren was overjoyed: "Why is it so smooth?"

Du Yong explained: "They are drinking and gambling, and there is no one standing guard. I easily went through three sets of clothes to hang in the corridor, but I chose them, and the size should be appropriate."

The three of them each took one set and replaced it on the spot, which was really good.

Yang Jin asked, "How many people are there?"
To be continued...