There is a small yamen in Hekou Town, which is a branch office of the Xunshang branch under the Gansu Xunshang Road. The predecessor of the Xunshang yamen was the Salt Catching Yamen, which was responsible for the investigation and seizure of smuggled salt. Later, it gradually added the investigation of iron goods, tea, horses and other strategic materials.
For this task, it was a little inappropriate to call it Yanzu Yamen. The big boss in the court thought that if a sheep is herded, a group of sheep should be herded. He might as well take care of the business of porcelain, silk and cloth, so the name was changed to Yanzu Yamen.
There was one patrol yamen in each province, and there were several prefectures and sub-prefectures below it. In addition to managing trade, they also managed various disputes, fights, and the like among merchants.
The chief inspector of the sub-prefecture is just an eighth-grade official with little power and a lot of money. He can intervene in all the transactions in Hekou Town. How much tax he collects depends on his mouth. He has dozens of people under his command.
No. Servant, I can deal with whoever I want to deal with. It's really a comfortable job for this small official.
But in the past two days, the inspection king was always upset. First, Li Bao was killed, and then Li Long. The other party actually sent out hundreds of cavalry (what the officials said), as well as spears and armor. God knows what the Li family had offended.
Lu Shenxian, the Xunshang Branch Mansion does not care about this kind of old enemy coming to seek revenge. Although the Li family sends a large amount of filial piety money every year, most of it is given to Xunshang Dao. This little inspection officer of his has got it.
There are not many benefits, so the friendship between the two families is not particularly deep.
But it's hard to explain when more than a dozen people died in the street in broad daylight. If the Li family spent money on it to punish themselves for their inaction, that would be a big deal. I'm thinking about how to write this document.
, Team Leader Li trotted in: "Sir, here we come, here we come!"
"Who's here? Look how panicked you are."
"Sir, the gang of gangsters who killed Li Long are coming to our Yamen."
Inspector Wang panicked now and hurriedly hid under the table. Suddenly he came to his senses and asked, "How many people are here? Have they got any weapons?"
"Two people came, but they didn't seem to have any knives."
"That's it. Master, I'm not causing trouble outside. I'm afraid of what he will do."
A moment later, the so-called gangster was already kneeling in front of the prosecutor Wang's case. Like Xianglin's sister-in-law, Chu Mu-leg cried to the inspector about the fact that the Li brothers had tortured and suppressed him for fifteen years, and the wooden leg swung
On the side, Chu Mu's legs were picked up from time to time as props and waved around. Several dark red marks on the wooden legs looked like they had been soaked with blood. Inspection Wang was frightened when he saw it, and he just didn't listen to a word.
"Okay, okay, the Li brothers deserved their punishment, but it is also wrong for you and your son to abuse lynching. It makes it difficult for me to explain to my superiors. What do you think should be done?" Inspector Wang spread his hands and said,
Expressing his understanding of the Chu family’s tragic experience and his own difficulties in this regard.
"The villain is eager for revenge, and it is inevitable that he has gone too far. Please forgive me. By the way, the villain and his son picked up some things outside the town. They just took them to the dock and sold them, making some money. The villain is thinking about this sale.
Things should be taxed, so I brought some money to show you to your lord. It is my first time doing business and I don’t understand the rules. I will ask your lord to give me some guidance in the future." He said and brought up a baggage.
Team leader Li quickly took it and presented it to Inspector Wang's desk. Inspector Wang just visually inspected it and saw that the bag of silver was at least three hundred taels. He immediately said with a smile: "Old man Chu, you are really a law-abiding and good citizen.
"Leng, stop kneeling. Your legs and feet are not convenient, so it's better to sit. Someone, please bring a chair."
Chu Muzui had an honest face and said with sincerity and fear, "I don't dare to do anything in front of adults. In the future, if I want to do business in Hekou Town, I hope you will give me your support."
Inspector Wang thought to himself that this person is sensible, and it is good to deal with people who understand the rules. He said: "It's easy to talk, but the Li family..."
"You don't have to worry about it, the common people will naturally understand the principle of eradicating the roots..." Chu Jian raised his head and said, the fierce light in his eyes disappeared briefly, and he was slapped on the head by Chu Muzu: "What nonsense are you talking about in front of your Majesty!" Again
He smiled apologetically at Inspector Wang and said, "This child has no tutor, which makes adults laugh."
Inspector Wang didn't dare to laugh, so he had to laugh and say: "Where, where."
"Your Majesty is busy with official duties, so I won't disturb you." Chu Muzu put on his wooden leg in the hall, stood up with the help of his son, and came out with a huge thank you to Inspector Wang. Inspector Wang also
He politely asked Team Leader Li to see him off. Before leaving the yamen, Chu Muzu stuffed another twelve-tael nail into Team Leader Li's hand and said, "Excuse me, brothers, please wash the floor. Use these small coins to drink tea."
"Why are you so embarrassed?" Bantou Li refused, but he held the money tightly in his hand. He pretended to give it a few times before stuffing it into his arms with a smile.
After taking care of things in the yamen, news came from the direction of Gaolan that the second son of the Li family was dead and was killed by people from Ningxia. This news made everyone very happy. After Li Hu died, there was no need to worry about the Li family's revenge.
You can enter this industry with confidence. As for the remaining industries, personnel, and channels of the Li family, they will be slowly merged and absorbed.
With a capital of more than one thousand taels, I can go to Xining to purchase goods openly, but another problem emerges. I heard from those businessmen that Xining is not the territory of the dynasty. When going out to do business, there is no customs clearance document issued by the Yamen of the Patrol Road.
Spies are not good. I heard that it is quite troublesome to run a spy. Even if the money is in place, it will take half a year. Yuan Feng said: "Originally, what we are doing is illegal salt trading. What do we want a government spy to do?"
When the money opens the way, nothing will be possible."
So the cavalry team set out again. The mules and horses for transporting salt were all ready. They just went all the way to the west. Doing business is not a war, so there was no need for so many people to follow. Yuan Feng defeated Zhao Ding'an and took most of the people back, leaving only ten people behind.
Two brothers, each armed with long knives, bows and arrows, headed westward under the guidance of Chu Mu Legs.
The farther west you go, the more desolate it becomes, because this road is not the Silk Road. Except for caravans selling smuggled salt, ordinary merchants rarely walk here. After walking for several days, they finally saw a walled city and a fortress built of loess standing on the wasteland.
, a red flag drooped at the top of the city, looking extremely lonely.
"This is a beacon tower for guarding the border. Going further forward is the territory of the Turks." Chu Muzu said with emotion.
"The imperial court actually has a team of men and horses stationed here. I really didn't expect it." Yuan Feng put up a pergola with his hands and looked over. He saw more than ten horses running out of the beacon tower, heading straight for the caravan.
"Xu is checking the documents. Please prepare the silver." Yuan Feng didn't know how much bribe he should give. Anyway, it was better to give more than less, so he simply asked Ye Kai to prepare a hundred taels of silver.
After a while, the soldiers came closer. They were more like exiled prisoners than border guards. Their clothes were ragged and their weapons were dull. The smiles on their faces were not like those of law enforcement officers inspecting documents.
of.
"Isn't this the Li family's caravan? Last time, didn't your uncle say that the business should be stopped for a few months? Why did you send people here again?" Obviously these soldiers knew the Li family's mules, horses and pack equipment.
"This... there is no way, we are short of money, so the uncle asked us to run again." Chu Muzu said, he put his horse's belly under it and held it up with two ingots of fifty taels of silver. "Thank you for your hard work, Master."
, a little trivial."
"That's a lot, so we won't be polite." The leading young officer was not polite either. He stretched out his hand to take the silver and put it into his arms. He probably felt a little embarrassed about taking other people's money, and then said: "I heard that
The fight in the west is not over yet, so be careful on the road."
"May I ask Master Jun, what happened?"
"It's true that your uncle didn't even tell you about the war in Xining, so he sent you to the fire pit... I won't mention it anymore. Anyway, be smart and see you later." The officer clasped his fists on his horse and led his men away.
The rest of the group stayed here.
"There's a war, should we go?" someone asked.
"Go, of course. It's easy to fish in troubled waters. Maybe we can find other business opportunities." Yuan Feng said.
Everyone was speechless and confused, but at this time Yuan Feng's authority had been established, and no one dared to disobey it, so they had no choice but to move on.
"If there is a war in the west, which two families can start the war?" Yuan Feng muttered.
"Either the Tubo and the Turks are at war, or the Qiang people are rebelling. In short, the more lively they fight, the more peaceful we will be. It doesn't seem like those soldiers are happy." Chu Muzu continued.
Yuan Feng nodded thoughtfully and continued to move forward. After walking a few steps, he suddenly raised his hand and said: "Stop."
The cavalry stopped, and Yuan Feng rode forward. He saw a man and a horse lying on the ground in front of him. The horse was frothing at the mouth and motionless. It was obviously exhausted. The man was lying face down with wounds on his arms.
An arrow stuck in it.
Yuan Feng walked over cautiously, dismounted and held the handle of the knife for a while, then stretched out his hand to lift the man's head, tested the pulse on his neck, and then shouted to everyone: "Bring water."
After half a bottle of water was poured down, the injured finally regained some energy. He opened his eyes that were covered with blood and looked at the clothes of the people around him. He seemed to be relieved and said, "Thank you for helping me."
Grace."
"Brother, who are you and how could you be shot?" Zhang Tietou asked.
"My name is He Min, and I am a businessman from the Central Plains. The rebels killed all our men and robbed all the goods, mules and horses. I escaped by luck. You are also businessmen, so I advise you not to go west. The chaos is too great.
Safe." The man said.
Yuan Feng pondered for a moment, nodded and said: "It seems I was wrong. I almost led everyone into the fire pit. Let's set up camp. Let's rest for one night and go back tomorrow."
The caravan set up camp on the spot. Yuan Feng wanted to help He Min take out the arrow and treat the wound, but he politely declined. He only wanted a pot of liquor, scissors and needlework, and then he entered the tent alone. After a while, he came out and the arrow had been taken out.
, the person also looked much paler and looked like he had lost a lot of blood.
In the evening, the caravan lit a bonfire and ate barbecue, but He Min sat far away from eating with everyone. Yuan Feng asked Ye Kai to send a piece of mutton and two noodles over. He hesitated for a while before chewing, while eating
While crying, Ye Kai said: "Brother He, what's wrong with you?"
"It's nothing, I think of my brothers who died tragically in a foreign land." He Min said.
Ye Kai sighed and expressed sympathy, returned to Yuan Feng and said: "Why do I think this person is weird?"
"What's weird?"
"There was water, but he didn't wash his face or sit with us to eat. He seemed to have something on his mind."
Yuan Feng said: "Be smart at night and keep an eye on our things."
…
At night, a man suddenly entered Yuan Feng's tent. It was Ye Kai who was responsible for monitoring He Min. He lowered his voice and said: "The man ran away, stole two horses, and took away Chu Jian's bow, arrow, and sword."