Qin Xiao was in a good mood after solving the matter of the Dragon Cavalry armor and weapons.

Although everything was just the beginning and a battle armor had not yet been built, Qin Xiao knew that his path was right.

According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, Long Ruijun was certainly not qualified to build armor weapons privately. Such behavior could even be directly charged with treason if caught by the court with irrefutable evidence.

But after Qin Xiao came back from Kyoto last time, his mentality has changed greatly.

He was able to rise rapidly in Kyoto, and was even able to lead troops out of the country in the end. To be honest, it was indeed because of the sage's respect.

Without the support and protection of the saint, Qin Xiao might not have been able to survive safely in Kyoto.

So from deep in his heart, Qin Xiao is still somewhat grateful to the saint.

Qin Xiao is sometimes very simple.

Maybe the saint has various shortcomings, and even has selfish motives for respecting Qin Xiao, but in Qin Xiao's view, he should always remember the good things others do to him.

If the saint was not controlled by Tantai Xuanye, even if Qin Xiao would not be sincerely loyal to the saint, he would never be an enemy of the saint easily.

However, the changes in Kyoto made Qin Xiao know that he and Tantai Xuanye must have become inseparable, so it would be foolish to continue to be loyal to the saint controlled by Tantai Xuanye.

Moreover, after Tantai Xuanye really stabilizes his power and solves the affairs within the pass, sooner or later he will point his blade to the northeast.

Therefore, Qin Xiao certainly cannot sit still and wait for death.

After returning to Northeast China from Kyoto, he knew that if he and Long Ruijun wanted to survive, they could only make themselves stronger.

He also knew very well that even if he controlled the business channels, he would only

With this corner of western Liaoning, it is simply a fool's errand to think about protecting oneself.

If you want to find a way out for Long Rui's army, you must first solve the problem of the Liaodong Army.

Otherwise, no matter how well they operate in western Liaoning, when Tantai Xuanye sends troops outside the Pass, the Liaodong Army will definitely attack from the east and west, and Long Rui's Army will have no way out at that time.

Therefore, whether it is for the people of the four northeastern counties to live a good life, or for the survival of the Long Rui Army, the existence of the Liaodong Army must be eliminated both publicly and privately.

Tantai Xuanye controlled Kyoto, so it was naturally impossible for him to continue to provide money, food and equipment needed for logistics to Long Ruijun.

In fact, the Jiangnan side has not continued to provide military expenditures to Long Ruijun for a long time. At present, the logistics of maintaining Long Ruijun mainly depends on Liaoxi. Fortunately, the trade field is successfully established and trade is prosperous. Otherwise, there would be no Liaoxi and trade fields.

With the supply of tens of thousands of horses and horses, it is really difficult to maintain.

The princess is now in Xuzhou, and the families in the three states in the south of the Yangtze River are definitely leaning towards the princess. If the princess wants to compete with Kyoto, she will naturally need a lot of money, food and equipment. As a result, the Jiangnan family will definitely not be able to continue to provide Long Ruijun in the northeast.

military spending.

Qin Xiao also knows very well that although the three states of Jiangnan are not currently under the control of the princess, the princess's roots in Jiangnan are too deep, and the strength of the Jiangnan family has not changed due to the last turmoil, so there is no accident.

If so, sooner or later the three states will surrender to the princess?

There hasn't been much action yet, simply because there are officials appointed by Kyoto from the three states who are restricting their efforts. However, the foundation of these Kyoto officials is too shallow. As long as the three states raise their flags to respond to the princess, these Kyoto officials will not only be unable to stop them, but they will probably all

as a sacrificial flag

purpose.

Although Lin Hong has been liaising in Jiangnan to raise military expenses for Long Ruijun, but when the three states in Jiangnan completely turn to the princess, the Jiangnan family will only hand over money and food to the princess. Of course, the Lin family cannot abandon the princess and continue.

Serve Qin Xiao.

Qin Xiao clearly realized that no matter how the situation inside the pass changed, it was definitely impossible for the pass to supply money and food to Long Rui's army. Therefore, Long Rui's army's money, food, equipment and other logistical problems could only be solved by himself.

The implementation of the trade field and land equalization policy allowed Long Ruijun to temporarily solve the problem of money and food, and the existence of He Gukou Nanjiang also allowed him to finally solve Long Ruijun's ordnance and equipment problem.

He couldn't care less now whether the court would charge him with treason.

If you stop all this, it will be like cutting off your own arm. The hungry wolf of the Liaodong Army is right next to you. If you stick to your duty according to the laws of the imperial court, you will be destroying yourself.

When Qin Xiao considered these issues, he was very realistic and knew that only when he became stronger could he truly have the ability to protect himself, and he could never just sit back and wait for death.

Now that I think about it, my luck is pretty good.

If he hadn't taken the initiative to establish a good relationship with the Modong tribes, then he would definitely not have been able to obtain resources such as war horses, cowhide, and mouth-hard craftsmen. If he hadn't stepped forward to turn the tide and save Tianzhai, he wouldn't have been able to get Suzaku's gift of Brother Island.

Without these resources, Long Ruijun would not be able to have a military logistics base like Brother Island.

In addition, fortunately, the King of Taihu came to help, which not only helped him control the maritime trade routes, but also gave Long Ruijun a naval army with the Taihu Army as his team.

This naval force can not only control the commercial road, but will also become an important means of transportation on Penglai Island and Liaoxi from now on, ensuring smooth communication on this waterborne military artery.

By the time the troublesome matters were dealt with, the sky had darkened.

Thinking that she had not been home for more than a month, Qiuniang must have been waiting day and night, so she wanted to rush home immediately, but she also thought that she had not seen Sister Rong for a long time, and Sister Rong was still pregnant. Before returning home,

Then I always have to go see Sister Rong first.

He did not delay, dressed in casual clothes, and arrived at the street where the pawn shop was. When he was about to reach the pawn shop, he suddenly realized that something was wrong. The two houses near the pawn shop seemed to have been burned. When he looked up, he saw only

The location where Sister Rong's pawn shop was located was in a mess.

He was horrified, urged his horse forward, turned over and dismounted. At this time, he could see clearly that the pawn shop no longer existed. The entire pawn shop had obviously suffered a fire, and it was now in ruins and a mess.

His heart was shaken. Thinking of Sister Rong's safety, he immediately rushed to the ruins. In the night, all he could see were the broken bricks and tiles, which were completely black.

"No need to look for it!" Qin Xiao stood there for a moment, and suddenly heard a voice: "It's almost burned, and some good things have been picked up by others, so it's not your turn."

Qin Xiao turned around and saw a man passing by the roadside carrying an oil paper bag. Apparently he saw himself standing among the ruins, so he laughed out loud.

Qin Xiao went over immediately, but the man did not stop and walked forward slowly.

"Uncle, wait a minute!" Qin Xiao stopped the man and asked, "What time is this?"

Waiting for fire?"

The man turned around and saw that although Qin Xiao was dressed in common clothes and did not look like a rich and powerful person, there was a tall horse beside him. Most people would definitely not be able to afford such a horse. He stopped and said in a polite tone:

"It's been about ten days."

"Ten days?"

"Yes." The man thought for a moment and said, "It has been thirteen days. There was a fire suddenly that night. The neighbors were woken up in the middle of the night and came to put out the fire. I also came to help. However, the wind was strong that night and the fire was strong.

It was so big that it couldn't be extinguished in a short while, and even several houses nearby were burned. Fortunately, the officials from the government were very fast, and a group of people came to put out the fire, and the fire was finally put out."

Qin Xiao asked anxiously: "Are there any casualties?"

"How can such a big fire not kill people?" The man sighed: "But the surrounding neighbors are fine. I heard that when the house next to it was not burned down, there was a woman's scream in the pawn shop, so

The surrounding neighbors were awakened." He pointed to a room on the left side of the pawn shop, which was also almost burned, and said: "Their house was burned like this. If it hadn't been for the screams of a woman in the pawn shop, I would have been alone.

They were afraid they would all be burned to death. Fortunately, the sound saved their whole family's lives."

Qin Xiao looked grim and said, "Someone was burned to death in the pawn shop?"

"Five or six people died." The man said, "It must have been a fire in the middle of the night. Everyone in the pawn shop was fast asleep and didn't have time to run out."

Qin Xiao was horrified, but he thought that Tang Rong's residence in the pawnshop was in a secret room. If the pawnshop suddenly caught fire, it would be easier for others to escape.

Since no one else can escape,

Then Tang Rong is even more unlikely to be spared.

"Who are the dead people?" Qin Xiao was shocked and anxious, but he grabbed the man's shoulder.

In his anxiety, the force on his hand inevitably became a little heavier. How could the man withstand this force? He cried out "Ouch" and kept saying: "Let go, let go!"

Only then did Qin Xiao react, let go and said, "Tell me, who died?"

The man rubbed his shoulders and said very dissatisfied: "Nonsense, of course he is from the pawn shop, who else could he be?"

"I mean, are there any women?"

"I don't know." The man said, "Anyway, after the fire was put out, the pawn shop looked like this. The officers searched inside, but almost everything in the pawn shop was burned. By the way, they did find some gold.

Silver treasures, but they were all taken away by the official. They carried several corpses from inside and left. The corpses were all burned to a disgraceful appearance. They were all covered with white cloth when they were carried away. We don’t know if there were any women." He then said.

: "But we are all familiar with this pawn shop. Except for the shopkeeper, there are usually four clerks, totaling five people. I have never heard of any women in the pawn shop."

Qin Xiao knew in his heart that Wujian Pawnshop was just a pawnshop as a cover, and the people inside were hiding their secrets.

Although Tang Rong is the general manager of this pawn shop, it is definitely not possible for Tang Rong to come out in person to receive ordinary customers. Even if she usually does not appear in front of others, she always hides in the pawn shop. Ordinary people do not know about the secret room.

It's even more impossible to enter, so it's natural that people around don't know Tang Rong's existence.

And of course this is not the only pawn shop in Guangning City.

Several people, including many night owls and wandering owls, also use this pawn shop as their base. However, these people dress very ordinary on weekdays, so it is naturally invisible to ordinary people.

The Fire Crow and Black Bat who followed him to Penglai Island were the two Night Owls from the pawn shop, under Tang Rong's command.

But every time Qin Xiao came to the pawn shop, he had never seen these two people, so these two people either kept hiding in the pawn shop and did not have contact with outsiders, or they were in other places, and the pawn shop would call them when needed.

After returning from Penglai Island, the two night owls immediately returned to the pawn shop to resume their duties, and since then, Qin Xiao has not seen them again.

"But you are right when you say that a woman was burned to death." The man thought for a moment and said, "I just said that there was a fire that night and a woman screamed in the pawn shop. From this point of view, she must have been too.
Chapter completed!