Chapter 693: Complete investigation

The strange atmosphere of Longxing Mansion made the border of Song Xia suddenly feel as sensitive as a frightened lynx. Scouts were released to inquire, and most of them returned empty-handed. The originally relaxed atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Tong Guan was also having a headache at this time. The decree had been sent. The border troops were all subject to the dispatch of King Pingxi, but his burden was not light. King Pingxi was most likely to risk entering Xixia. It would be fine if there was no accident, but once there was a small mistake, he, the military supervisor, could not refuse to blame.

How to protect King Pingxi Zhou Quan is another problem. On the one hand, the army must not pass through the border. Once it passes, there will be troubles. However, if there are fewer entourages who follow King Pingxi out of the pass, they are afraid that they cannot prevent accidents and too many, and they will not be able to say anything. They are all in a dilemma, so Tong Guan is really unable to sleep.

If he did this kind of thing well and had no credit, he would never dare to take credit with the King of Pingxi. However, if he failed, he would be a death sentence. Tong Guan knew more than anyone else.

Moreover, the Xixia side seemed to be beginning to restless, and many clues could prove that there was a vague atmosphere of preparation.

Could someone want to block Chen Ao from going to Longxing Mansion?

This guess is not impossible. When Da Song knew about Li Ganshun's condition, Xixia could not hide it. Once someone had a bad intention, it would be expected that he would kill Chen Ao halfway.

Tong Guan was even more uneasy and released more scouts, but the news they received was vague. Some said that many messengers had been sent to the five tribes of Hengshan recently, and some even secretly contacted Longxing Mansion, which seemed to have made a big move. Some said that Longxing Mansion had issued an edict and ordered all tribes not to change their garrisons at will, otherwise they would be punished as a rebellion.

Tong Guan realized that this was a confrontation within the Western Xia, and the royal party and the state had already intrigue around the King Pingxi, and what they lacked the most now was an introduction.

A few days later, Chen Ao's letter was sent over. Tong Guan read the letter, and the letter only told the border troops to prepare food and grass for local supply, and on the other hand, he told Tong Guan not to act rashly. After pinching the days, Chen Ao left Beijing five days ago. If the horse was faster, I was afraid that it would arrive in a few days.

Tong Guan held the letter and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "He said it lightly, but it was really a dilemma for the miscellaneous people."

At this moment, the captain who delivered the letter took out another secret letter and said, "The prince said, "The prince will burn this letter immediately after reading it."

Tong Guan felt a moment of amazement. Just looking at this tone, this letter must be not simple. He took the letter, tore the seal, opened it and saw that it read: "A thorough investigation of the merchants in Huaizhou, prohibited things are not allowed to leave the customs."

Tong Guan took a breath, immediately asked someone to come over with an oil lamp, burned the letter, and then said to the person who came: "Go back and tell the prince, the family knows."

When the person who delivered the letter left, Tong Guan's face became shady and he sat blankly for a while. What was this Huaizhou merchant? Of course, he knew that several border towns and passes in the northern part of the Song Dynasty were important business roads for Huaizhou merchants. They had always had connections with border generals. The side generals turned a blind eye to the goods of these people, and some people looked at the ban, but at this time, there were always people who spoke to each other. At the beginning, they were just some officials from the Road Administration. If they were turned away, they would never say anything serious. But then there were some officials of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue. These people had some contact with the border, so they had to sell some face, and the final ban was left in nothing.

However, these Huaizhou merchants are tactful. As long as they are willing to let go, they are willing to pay to open up the joints. There is a huge power behind them, but they never take it. Therefore, any goods from Huaizhou have always been convenient for border town passes.

Most people just think it is an ordinary collusion between officials and businessmen, but who is Tong Guan? Although he turned a blind eye to this matter, he also accepted the gifts given by merchants from Huaizhou every year. But he felt that behind the merchants in Huaizhou were definitely not simple. There may even be their people among the three provinces, and even in the palace.

Although Tong Guan was a eunuch, he was away all year round, first in Suzhou and Hangzhou, and then here. Therefore, he was not familiar with the palace and did not know who was giving these merchants a glimpse. However, he was always sleek and would never care about things he shouldn't care about.

Moreover, the frequency of entrances and exits of merchants in Huaizhou has become more and more frequent, and it has even become a little blatant. It has attracted Tong Guan's attention. The scouts sent out even heard that the Xixia side is not bad, and the Khitan side is even more unreasonable. Many Khitans' weapons are supervised by the Ministry of Works of the Song Dynasty, and there are even rumors that even the Jin people are doing business with a group of people.

The power of these people is that they can open up the borders of the Song Dynasty, but even the borders of the Khitan can enter and exit the realm of no one. This is not to be underestimated.

Now that Shen Ao suddenly sent this letter, it was another matter of a businessman in Huaizhou. Tong Guan hesitated for a moment, but he didn't know whether to investigate or not. If he didn't investigate, he would offend the King of Pingxi. If he investigated, who would know what would be involved?

Tong Guan smiled bitterly, drank four cups of tea before calling him, saying, "Go, call Yang Yi."

Yang Yi was Tong Guan’s godson, so she didn’t have much to avoid it. She walked in and said, “Godfather.”

Tong Guan asked with a gloomy face: "The family asked you, what are your connections with Huaizhou?"

Seeing that Tong Guan’s face was not good, Yang Yi immediately said, “How did the godfather know?”

Tong Guan sneered: "If you control the trade, will Huaizhou not give you any benefits? Say, just say it clearly, and only by explaining it clearly can you protect you."

Yang Yi respected Tong Guan like a god. He was raised and promoted by Tong Guan. Seeing that Tong Guan said so seriously, he shook it all: "There are not many connections. In fact, the entire border town knows that those Huaizhou people do business. They send a batch of goods every day and recommend individuals to seal some money. Godfather and son dare not hide their own money. Each account of this money is clear, and these people in the border town are delivered on time."

Tong Guan said coldly, "You, you..." He didn't know what to say for a moment. In fact, he had already acquiesced to this matter. Only now he realized that he was a slut, but he had no blame. He had to say, "From now on, don't have any connection with them. Go, from now on, all goods entering and leaving the pass must be strictly investigated. If anything is found..." Tong Guan smiled coldly: "Take all the people and kill a group to serve as a warning to others."

Yang Yi said carefully: "Will it be inappropriate to kill it... My son heard that these people are not simple either. Besides, these people have given so many benefits in the past, and now they suddenly turn against each other. Will it be too unkind?"

Tong Guan cursed: "The things that don't know how to die are not simple. If they are not simple, will there be King Pingxi not simple? King Pingxi wants to thoroughly investigate them. If we don't kill a group, how can we express our position of sharing the same hatred of the enemy with King Pingxi? Then Shen Lang..." Tong Guan was stunned for a moment and immediately changed his words: "If King Pingxi really wants to pursue them, their dogs in Huaizhou will die, and we will also take them in."

When Yang Yi heard the three words "Pingxi King" and said nothing again, he said in horror: "Son is going to do it now. These people are getting less and less lawless. If you don't kill them, you will really think that our brothers in the border town can be unscrupulous if they receive some small money from them."

Tong Guan stopped him and said, "Come back."

Yang Yi said: "What else do godfather have to give?"

Tong Guan said slowly: "No one is allowed to tell what the King of Pingxi wants to thoroughly investigate. First, let's see what they are from."

Yang Yihe nodded and went quickly.

Tong Guan sighed and took a sip of tea to calm down. Killing these Huaizhou merchants was also considered as his acceptance of the letter of the vote. However, in fact, the letter of the vote had already been accepted, and Tong Hu was in Shen Ao's hands. If he had a snake or a rat, would there be any good results to eat?

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There are many passes in the border town, such as Xihe, which is one of the fastest passages to enter and exit Xixia. If you walk from here to Longzhou Prefecture in Xixia, it will take only one or two days to go. Moreover, this business road is an important place for both countries and there are cyclists everywhere, so this business road is the safest, so you never have to be afraid of rioters.

In the past six months, Song and Xia's relationship suddenly became warm, so there were many caravans leaving the customs, but compared with a caravan that came out of a large warehouse not far away, it was really sad.

The caravan has hundreds of livestock, mules, camels, old horses, and dozens of burly men in strong clothes to head. There are more than a hundred coachmen and porters behind them. The goods carried on the car are tightly covered with black linoleum felt. The leader is a man who looks like a headman, but he is extremely proud when riding on the horse. He shouts a few times and his voice is very calm.

When they arrived at the gateway, the border troops on the doorway had already begun to investigate. The head of the lord was left and waited for the people in front to go out first. Immediately, a man who looked like a servant said curiously: "Fifth head, the people who came out of the lord are getting more and more out of the lord. It is said that many merchants have also come to the other side of Jingji North Road."

The Fifth Lord sneered and said, "What do you know? Since the closing here is opened, our master's business has become more and more unsatisfactory. If a pound of fine salt was sent to Longxing Mansion in the past years, it would be sold for seven or eight stagnant of silver. There was fine salt there more than the introduction. But this year, if it weren't for the peace talks made by King Pingxi, how could all of this benefit be given to these dogs?"

The servant smiled and said, "Anyway, the master doesn't rely on this thing to grow hair. Others can only transport some silk and salt, but we..."

The fifth chief shouted: "Don't talk nonsense, be careful to break your dog's legs."

The servant immediately fell silent and dared not say anything anymore.

The caravans in front of him were out of the gate, and the fifth commander came to the gate with his people. As soon as he saw a Yu Hou guarding the gate, he smiled and said with a smile: "Marquis Deng Yu, take care of him." Then he waved to the servant behind him, signaling them to go first and talk to the Yu Hou first.

Unexpectedly, Deng Yuhou's face looked ugly than anyone else, and he said coldly: "Let's wait!"

The fifth chief still had a smile on his face. The guards of the pass were all rough men, and they were hard to handle their tempers. However, he didn't want to cause any trouble. He took a piece of money from his sleeve according to the old rules and said to Deng Yuhou: "Brothers, thank you for your hard work, drink tea, drink tea..."

However, the Yu Hou opened the money of the Five Head Office with his thick hands and said angrily: "Who cares about your money? The rules of the border town. Anyone who enters and leaves the pass must search to prevent a sting from leaving the customs. Do you understand this rule?" He shouted loudly and said: "Come, search!"

The fifth chief's face changed suddenly. He used to be fine, but why did he turn against each other suddenly and say that he suddenly turned against each other? He couldn't help but sneer in his heart and cursed something that was ignorant.

Dozens of border soldiers immediately stopped the door hole without saying a word and refused to let the convoy go out. Then someone unceremoniously lifted the black linoleum cloth and let out a clamor. In broad daylight, a border soldier shouted: "Sir, look."

The corner of Deng Yuhou stepped over and was lifted out was dark iron tools.

"horseshoe!"

Whether it is the Western Xia, Khitan, or Jurchen, they all produce good horses, but horseshoes are the lightest made by the Song Dynasty. The Khitan and Xixia countries did not have workshops to make this, but they were much worse than those of the Song Dynasty in terms of accuracy and craftsmanship. Therefore, a good horseshoes may not be worth much in the Song Dynasty, but when transported to the Western Xia, it would be several times the profit. If it is to be transported to the Jurchens, the value would be increased to more than ten times.

As we all know, horseshoes have a great protective effect on the horse's hooves. A good pair of horseshoes can add a lot of combat power to the war horses. This thing has not been allowed to flow out of the Song Dynasty, and it is strictly forbidden for merchants to sell out for profit. However, hundreds of cars were lifted one by one, but they found that they were all wrapped in straw paper, thousands of them.
Chapter completed!