After Cao Liang finished arranging tomorrow's affairs, everyone dispersed, and Cao Liang was also preparing to take a rest.

The place where Cao Liang lives now is naturally not the prefect's mansion. After all, the former prefect Han Jian is still holding his body there. Ding Juncheng arranged a very nice house for Cao Liang, which is quiet and elegant.

At this moment, the sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded outside the mansion. When the soldiers came to look, Yang Hu had already walked in quickly.

It stands to reason that there is a long distance from Anyi to Pubanjin, and you have to cross the Yellow River twice to go back and forth. Yang Hu only walked for a day and night, and actually turned back from Pubanjin. The speed was as fast as a stagecoach.

However, Cao Liang knew something had happened by looking at Yang Hu's expression. Sure enough, as soon as Yang Hu came in, he said hurriedly: "Brother-in-law, something happened. I got there a step too late. Han Zhang has been silenced."

Yang Hu followed Cao Liang's order yesterday and rushed to Pubanjin immediately, without daring to delay for a moment, because Cao Liang had already sensitively noticed that something was wrong through Han Jian's suicide, so he sent Yang Hu to Pubanjin.

Banjin brought Han Zhang over and wanted to keep the last witness in the case in his hands.

But even if Yang Hu rushed to Linjin Pass, he was still a step late. Han Zhang was assassinated in a secret room, and the one hundred Wei troops guarding around him were unaware of it.

If Yang Hu hadn't arrived in the middle of the night and opened the door of the secret room, these guards wouldn't have known that Han Zhang had expired.

It was obvious that this killer was very skilled in martial arts. He could easily avoid the guards' posts and did so without anyone noticing.

Yang Hu touched Han Zhang's body. It was still a little warm. It was obvious that he was about to die soon. Yang Hu secretly screamed out bad luck. If he could come faster, he might be able to get ahead of the killer.

It's a pity that I hurriedly and slowly ended up being a step too late. Now that Han Zhang is dead, the last evidence has been lost, and this private salt case has finally become an open case.

Yang Hu had no choice but to return to Anyi to retaliate to Cao Liang. As for Han Zhang's body, since the man was dead, there was no point in taking it back, so Yang Hu left his body at Linjin Pass.

It is better to let the one hundred Wei soldiers guard the corpse and the dozens of boats of private salt, wait until the court sends people to complete the delivery, and then transfer the people in this group back to the east of the river.

In order to report the news to Cao Liang as soon as possible, Yang Hu worked so hard that his horse was almost exhausted, and finally returned to Anyi after dark.

When Cao Liang heard this news, he couldn't help frowning. Although this incident was expected by him, the other party was obviously faster and took action earlier. He sent Yang Hu to go there, but in the end he was still one step behind.

Since Cao Liang knew that Pinju was involved in the illegal salt case, the deaths of Han Jian's uncle and nephew must be closely related to the Sima family. It seems that the Sima family wanted to cover up their secrets and killed people one after another in order to clear away the suspicion of the Sima family.

.

It is obvious that people from the Sima family are much better at dealing with this kind of matter. Even now that Cao Liang has seized dozens of ships of illegal salt, and also knows that the participants behind the matter are the Sima family, but now Han Jian commits suicide in fear of crime, Han Jian commits suicide in fear of crime.

Zhang also died in an unknown manner. Without the minimum witness, it would be much more difficult to prove that the Sima family was involved in the illegal salt case.

Sima Yi was very scheming, and the people who worked for the Sima family were not considered good people. Maybe they had already planned it. If the sale of illegal salt was leaked, they would have already made plans to kill people and silence them. So in terms of handling this matter,

They act ruthlessly and decisively and can always be one step ahead.

It seems that this time the plan to attack the Sima family with the illegal salt case will come to nothing, but Cao Liang is not discouraged. After all, the gain this time is still huge, at least it has cut off an important financial source of the Sima family.

, causing the Sima family's economy to temporarily fall into difficulty.

After this private salt case, the Sima family will inevitably give up continuing to operate private salt. Wu Shi San has already dealt a heavy blow to the Sima family, and this private salt case will undoubtedly make the Sima family's economy worse.

And it is by no means an easy task for the Sima family to find a fast and stable source of money.

The underground forces cultivated by the Sima family are certainly the foundation for the Sima family to usurp power and rebel, but they are also a heavy burden. The three thousand dead men alone are already a huge expense. Add in other expenses, and think about it.

To maintain the operation of this huge family system, it is definitely impossible without sufficient funds.

Therefore, Cao Liang believes that this time the illegal salt attack is quite heavy for the Sima family. It will be difficult for the Sima family to recover in a short period of time unless they can find new sources of funds, but this will be quite difficult.

What's more, under Cao Shuang's strong exclusion in recent years, Sima Yi was forced to keep a low profile and keep a low profile. It is probably impossible for the Sima family's economy to return to its peak level a few years ago.

The interception of illegal salt in Pubanjin this time was really an unexpected surprise for Cao Liang. Although there were some twists and turns, it was generally good. After all, you can never expect to deal with such a behemoth like the Sima family.

To end the fight within one round, you must make long-term and long-term plans. If straight punches are not enough, then use more combination punches. Only in a long-term patient battle can you defeat your opponent.

And finally won.

The top priority now is still the matter of recruiting soldiers. For Cao Liang, this is the top priority, and the illegal salt case can only be regarded as a small episode.

Now that Yang Hu has returned, he will definitely add new manpower to Cao Liang. Tomorrow, Cao Liang plans to expand the scope of recruiting troops to surrounding counties and villages.

A bigger stall means more difficulties. Cao Liang can only recruit troops near Anyi. Cao Liang can understand and grasp the recruitment situation at any time. Once the scope is expanded, Cao Liang will be unable to cope with it. So at this time, Cao Liang

Liang needs a capable assistant, and strict control is required to avoid recruiting unqualified soldiers into the army.

Although there are people whom Cao Liang can trust, such as Shi Bao Pei Xiu and Du Yu Fu Xuan, the scale of recruiting troops continues to expand, and Cao Liang's manpower is really stretched. After Yang Hu comes back, he can stand alone for Cao Liang and let Cao Liang

Liang felt relieved.

Cao Liang's long-term plan is to cultivate an army that is good at fighting and very loyal. Therefore, when it comes to recruiting troops, Cao Liang has always adhered to principles and was meticulous, because Cao Liang knew that if he wanted to truly run an army, he must
Chapter completed!