"What do you think?" Master Ban touched his chin and asked for everyone's opinions.
Dealing with Zhang Han is not a trivial matter.
This is not only because Zhang Han, as the leader of the Shadow Guards, is not an easy person to deal with, but also because behind him stands the Imperial Master Gu Xun.
Moreover, Gu Xun is still in Songhai.
The Mo family can't spare many useful manpower right now, and the success rate against Zhang Han is not high. Even if it succeeds, it is likely to anger Gu Xun and cause even greater trouble.
You have to calculate it, and it turns out that the gain outweighs the loss.
Master Ben could not make up his mind and decided to hold a referendum.
"You can't touch him." Xue Nu was the first to speak, directly denying the plan, "The Shadow Guard is now the eldest son Fusu's servant, and attacking Zhang Han will probably alarm Gu Xun."
"Before the Qinglong Plan is implemented, we must not attract his attention."
In order to avoid Gu Xun, they even carefully selected the location where they would execute the plan. Now they only alerted him to eliminate some possible risks. It was purely a waste of time.
"I think so too." Thieves Zhi nodded and agreed, "What we want is to reduce risks, and we can't add any more chaos."
Even Gao Jianli, who has a more radical attitude, has to admit this, "For us at this time, after all, it is better to be still than to move."
"As for Zhang Han's question, let's do some testing first to see if we can determine what he plans to do." Gao Jianli then proposed another arrangement.
This operation is much safer.
Master Ben and others nodded in agreement, and no one raised any questions.
"Let me take care of this matter and see if I can find out some clues as soon as possible." Determined to do this, Thief Zhi took the initiative to take over the task.
They only had three to five days left. If they were any slower, it would be too late, and Tao Zhi would have to come in person.
Master Ban nodded, and then turned over the problem of Zhang Han and moved on to the next topic:
"Now, we have to decide where to finally start."
"It's currently set at Xixiang'ao. Do you have any other opinions?"
As Master Ban said this, he walked to the map and pointed at a location.
This place is located dozens of miles west of Songhai City, next to a valley road.
Xixiang Ao is not the only road that the Dongxu team must pass... to be precise, it is the only road that the team must pass, because it is a dead end.
But the Xixiang Valley Road next to it is a route that the convoy will most likely pass.
The valley road itself is suitable for ambushes, while the Xixiang Pass is suitable for Tibetans.
According to Master Ben's plan, they cannot ambush too many people.
Because I can't hide it.
The East Patrol convoy has special scouts who constantly check the situation on the convoy's route to ensure that it does not encounter an ambush.
Of course, as long as people do things, it is impossible to do everything perfectly.
Although the scouts of the Eastern Patrol Team are the most elite personnel in the empire, they cannot be completely leak-proof.
The environment of the Xixiang Valley Road selected by the Mohists is complex enough to hide a certain amount of manpower, but not too many.
If there are not enough manpower, the assassination will definitely be impossible, so they still need Xixiang Pass to place other manpower.
The vanguard will launch an ambush to intercept the convoy and delay it, and then follow-up reinforcements will tear apart the convoy's defense line and create opportunities.
So they gave up the ambush location they originally selected and changed it to this place.
Of course, the most important thing in an assassination operation is to kill the target.
If the convoy does not pass through the place they have chosen, no matter how carefully arranged it is, there is no point.
Although this Xixiang Valley Road is not the only way for the East Patrol Team to go to Songhai, it is also the most important and convenient way.
If we don't take this route, the convoy will have to take a detour.
Of course, the Eastern Tour Team does not have to rush for time, and it does not matter whether it takes a detour or not, but the team does not need to and will not increase the distance casually.
Therefore, Master Ban and others judged that the probability of the convoy passing through this route was very high.
But of course they can't gamble on probabilities when making decisions.
What really made them decide to choose this place was that it didn't matter even if the team took other routes.
The speed of the convoy was very slow, and the detour gave the Mo family enough time to react and make temporary adjustments to the manpower.
To this end, they also made a backup plan and selected ambush locations for the convoy to take other routes.
Of course, there are certain problems and flaws in this, but perfection can only be encountered by chance and cannot be forced.
It would be good if they could take care of every situation as much as possible, and they couldn't expect more.
Gao Jianli and others naturally had no objections to this decision.
Master Ban looked at everyone who was nodding in silence and said in a deep voice, "In this case, the Qinglong Project will be officially launched in the next few days!"
"Everyone!" Master Ban's tone was rare and serious, and he looked around at everyone in the Mo family, "This battle must be completed in one battle!"
Gao Jianli and others remained silent, but nodded in response with equally serious expressions.
………………
One day later, Zhang Han received instructions from the emperor's motorcade again.
He still did not take any action on his own and reported to Gu Xun as soon as possible.
"Sir, the convoy is still more than 170 miles away from Songhai. It is expected to arrive at noon in three days."
"What's the news from the motorcade?" Gu Xun asked calmly.
Zhang Han nodded, "That's right."
Then he asked, "Should we notify local officials to prepare for the pick-up?"
"Just follow the normal procedures and handle these as you wish." Gu Xun waved his hand and replied nonchalantly.
"Then will the general..." Zhang Han then asked tentatively.
Gu Xun's answer remained the same, "The same goes for you, do whatever you have to do."
"In short, don't make any mistakes within the scope of your responsibility."
"Yes, I understand." Zhang Han nodded and asked, "Many local officials in Songhai have colluded with anti-Qin forces. Should we clean them out first?"
"Otherwise, we won't have to worry about any accidents during the pick-up."
Gu Xun asked back, "Did the emperor give you instructions to clean up Songhai's officialdom?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Zhang Han immediately understood and skipped this topic and never mentioned it again.
Whether it is the Shadow Guard or the Snare, they are all very special existences within the empire, with very special powers and authority.
But compared with later generations of factory sanitary agencies such as Jinyiwei, Shadow Secret Guards can only be regarded as small shrimps.
Not to mention beheading first and then beheading, strictly speaking, the Shadow Guards don't even have the power to behead first and behead later.
The inspection officials are not Shadow Secret Guards at all, nor are they within the scope of authority of Luo Wang, but are matters that should be managed by the Yushi system.
He can only take charge if the emperor orders him to take charge of it.
Of course, in actual operation, it is not so restrictive.
For example, now, Zhang Han can launch a top-to-bottom purge of Songhai officials on the pretext of preventing rebels from plotting to harm His Majesty the Emperor.
However, it must be limited to a certain range so as not to give others too much to talk about.
Gu Xun's reply was to directly tell Zhang Han to strictly follow the rules, that is, to ignore anything without an order.
Gu Xun's instructions still strictly followed the advice he gave Zhang Han before - that is, to abide by his duties, so Zhang Han did not raise any questions.
Again, if you do things according to the rules, the most you will receive is a rebuke of incompetence, which is considered to be a futile effort, and it will not lead to too serious consequences anyway.
"We will step up efforts to strengthen Songhai's martial law defense and clean up the unstable factors around the city." Zhang Han changed the subject and said, "When the emperor arrives, how far out of the city do you think we should go to greet him?"
"How much is normal?" Gu Xun asked rhetorically.
Zhang Han lowered his head and replied, "Generally speaking, you will be greeted twenty miles outside the city, but this is not a rule and you do not have to abide by it."
It was not a normal thing for the emperor to go on tour in person, and the court naturally had no corresponding rules and etiquette.
Traveling twenty miles out of the city to greet him is a simple expression of the highest respect for His Majesty the Emperor's presence in person.
If you really want to be serious, you can actually greet them at the city gate... Of course, the premise is that the emperor has not given an order.
If Yingzheng Zhengzheng had issued a formal decree on how Songhai officials should greet the convoy, then they would have to follow the decree.
Gu Xun casually waved his hand, "Just follow the general rules. We will go out of the city twenty miles to meet you. You just need to inform us."
"Remember, everything must be done in the most ordinary way, and be the same as the light... you understand?"
Zhang Han nodded repeatedly, "General, I will understand."
"Okay, you can go about your business." Gu Xun raised his hand and started to chase away the guests.
Zhang Han was about to resign and leave when Gu Xun suddenly said again, "By the way, there is also the snare."
"It's up to them to do whatever they want. You don't have to worry about it. Even if something goes wrong, just report it to them."
"Yes." Zhang Han nodded and accepted the order.
Gu Xun then said, "Also, has the east patrol team's route been sent to you?"
Zhang Han shook his head decisively, "No, I just told Songhai to prepare to pick him up."
Under normal circumstances, the route of the Eastern Patrol Team would definitely be reported to Zhang Han, after all, he was responsible for the emperor's defense.
However, Zhang Han is now stationed in Songhai and has not gone to the east patrol convoy to command the defense, and the emperor has no intention of deliberately sending secret guards to protect him. Naturally, these important information related to the emperor's safety will not be shared with him again.
To avoid creating defensive loopholes.
"Hmm... It seems that the emperor is also happy to see you as a marginal figure." Gu Xun once again threw away the guest, "Okay, let's go."
Zhang Han saluted and said goodbye again and left Gu Xun's yard directly.
After sending Zhang Han away, Gu Xun walked to the stone table in the yard and picked up a scroll of letters placed on it.
This volume is still the volume "Cang Long" that Ayan held in his hand when he came to see him last time.
Gu Xun looked at the twisted and complicated seal characters on the bamboo slips and murmured softly:
"Qinglong...the four spirits of heaven, rectifying the four directions."
"This star is becoming more and more conspicuous."
………………
That night, Master Ban and Gao Jianli had a private meeting in the Mo family's stronghold.
"Do you think there is any risk?" Master Ban asked Gao Jianli in a deep voice, looking at the sporadic lights that were lighting up everywhere in the stronghold.
Gao Jianli's eyebrows were lowered, his eyes were serious and complicated, and he replied in a low voice, "Risks will always exist, we can only try to avoid them."
"Avoid...I'm afraid many people have guessed what the Qinglong Project is about, right?" Master Ban replied with a wry smile.
"Knowing what we are going to do and knowing how we are going to do it are two different things." Gao Jianli replied calmly, "As long as you and I keep the most critical part strictly confidential, there shouldn't be any problems."
"Well..." Master Ban let out a meaningful breath, his eyes became more complex, and his tone became even more lamentable, "If we can't find anyone, we can only guard against thieves for a thousand days."
They had confirmed one thing a long time ago - there was an insider in the top management of the Mo family.
But they still couldn't figure out who the mole was... even though they made several exploratory actions.
The result of every test cannot rule out everyone's suspicion, nor can it completely identify a certain person as the mole.
If you can't find out the inner ghost, you can only keep thinking of ways to guard against it.
In fact, they were not on guard all the time. In order to avoid alerting the enemy and letting the mole know that the two of them already knew about the mole, Master Ban and Gao Jianli basically let go of unimportant matters.
But the key core of the Blue Dragon Plan must not be revealed to the insider.
Therefore, from the beginning of the preparations for the Qinglong Project, until now, the most critical point is known only to the two of them - the ordinary disciples responsible for the execution only work and do not know what kind of work they are doing.
This sounds simple to say, but it is very troublesome to put into practice, which is very frustrating for both of them.
But there is really no way.
Except for the two of them, all the senior officials of the Mo family, including Xue Nu, have not been cleared of suspicion. They cannot believe it rashly.
As for why they have no problem...it's not that there is strong evidence to prove that they have no problem, but if they have a problem, the Mo family will have nothing to do.
Regardless of whether it is Master Ban or Gao Jianli, if either one has a problem and seizes the opportunity to kill the other, the Mo family will be completely paralyzed in a short period of time, even if they declare disbandment on the spot.
Since neither of them has attacked the other, naturally there will be no problem.
Oh, by the way, there is another person who is absolutely reliable - Tianming, who is a powerful man.
Tianming's probability of having problems is lower than the two of them, so he is the most available candidate... Unfortunately, he is too young, so they can't use him. At least Tianming and the two of them would not be at ease with the job of looking for moles.
Hearing Master Ban's rather sad emotion, Gao Jianli couldn't help but fall into silence.
Both of them were a bit emo, but the reason for emo was not that they couldn't catch the mole, but the fact that there was a mole in the Mo family.
As an anti-imperial, but even more anti-war organization, many people within the Mohist family joined it because of their own ideals and have persisted to this day.
This is especially true for the higher-ups of the Mohist family.
They are already the best in a certain field, either martial arts masters, sword-smithing masters, or mechanism masters. They do not need to use the excuse of resisting the empire to achieve certain interests.
They can all live a peaceful and prosperous life.
However, the partners who were supposed to be gathered purely by ideals - perhaps with some hatred - now have someone who has become a traitor. How can they not make Master Ban and Gao Jianli sad?
Especially the old man, Master Ban, is very sensitive and sensitive.
After the silence lasted for a while, Gao Jianli broke the silence, "This action may be another opportunity to test the inner ghost."
"It is indeed an opportunity." Master Ban nodded, not denying Gao Jianli's statement, "I just don't know how to best use it."
"If you want to take action, kill him at once. If you are not sure, it is better to do less than to do more, so as not to affect the Qinglong plan."
