In a three-in, three-out mansion on Ping'an Street in the west of Gucheng City, more than a dozen middle-aged people in green shirts stood in the courtyard with sad faces, and they looked into the house from time to time, their eyes full of expectation. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"It's been an hour since Su Lao went in, why hasn't he come out yet, I'm really in a hurry." A fat man with a fat head and big ears wiped the sweat on his forehead with a white silk handkerchief, and said to himself anxiously.

"What, this deacon can't wait?" Hearing this, a middle-aged man with a clear face raised his eyebrows, and said with a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Who?" The fat man turned his head to look and found that there was another person beside him, dressed in a black power suit, holding a golden sheath sword, staring at him with burning eyes.

"Who should I be, it turned out to be Commander Jiang, what, isn't Commander Jiang in a hurry, you must know that Commander Jiang has not returned for a day, and I will not complete this transaction task." recognized the identity of the person who came, but the fat man was not afraid, and squinted slightly.

"Hehe, Chief Jiang is a master with great martial artist cultivation, in the territory of the Great Song Dynasty, which is only a third-level force, how many people can keep him?" Commander Jiang's eyes were arrogant, and he sneered confidently.

"That's a good word, but if that's the case, why haven't you returned for a long time, isn't it unreasonable?" The fat man's face shook and asked rhetorically.

"Wait a minute, didn't Su Lao come out of the Qing Cultivation Office just for this matter, I think there will be a result in it soon." A man next to him chimed in, his eyes turning to the empty hall with a look of anticipation.

"Only this time, alas, is it."

Hearing the other party's words, the fat man couldn't help but sigh, stomped his feet fiercely, his lips squirmed and wanted to say something, but when he saw the sturdy guards patrolling back and forth around, he finally swallowed back the words in his heart with a pursed of his lips. However, in his heart, he made up his mind that he would never cooperate with the Jiang clan in the next transaction.

"Humph!" Seeing that the fat man fell silent, the middle-aged man dressed in black couldn't help but let out a cold snort in his nose, and his face was full of disdain.

Just as everyone was talking, Shi Shiran, an old man dressed in a dark robe and full of silver hair, walked out of the hall, and the audience immediately became silent.

"Old Su, how is it, have you been contacted?" As soon as he saw the person coming, Deacon Fang immediately twisted his body and took a few steps forward like a gallop, with a smile on his face, and asked cautiously.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, it would have been really hard for the middle-aged man in black to imagine that such a fat body could burst out with a speed comparable to that of a ghost. And when he thought that the fat man in front of him who was just complaining turned out to be a hidden practitioner, he felt that even with the power of the Jiang family, this time the matter was a little tricky.

As a guard commander of the Jiang family stationed in Gucheng, the middle-aged man in black knew a lot of unknown secrets, and even the Jiang family was fortunate to participate in some of the secret transactions between the Jiang family and the Liao people this time, so he knew very well what the group of people in front of him had gathered in the courtyard before dawn.

Since the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, the Great Liao has always been the mortal enemy of the Great Song Dynasty, and the two sides have fought countless battles for hundreds of years, so the relationship between them has long been endless. Although the two sides have not gone to war in recent decades, this does not mean that the two sides have reconciled as before, but that neither side has found a suitable opportunity for war. Therefore, if you want to maintain your current status, you must continue to be strong, so on the surface, it seems that there is nothing to do between the Great Liao and the Great Song Dynasty, but in fact, the two countries are sharpening their knives in private, and there is no moment when they don't want to annex each other's territories.

However, in this world of the jungle, it is understandable that the big fish eat the small fish and the small fish eat the shrimp.

What's more, there are many minerals in the territory of Liao, and there are many ores needed by forgers to forge weapons in these minerals, and the Great Song Dynasty has planted many herbs necessary for alchemists to refine pills because of the many mountains, rivers and lakes, if the two countries communicate with each other or merge into one, the number and strength of the warriors will increase greatly, but it is a pity that the strength of the Song and Liao countries is not much different, and no one can destroy each other, plus the two have been hostile for a long time, so there is no so-called mutual market between them.

And for a martial artist, weapons and elixirs are necessities, one provides him with combat power, and the other helps him improve his cultivation, both of which are indispensable in the process of cultivating martial arts. But now because of the tension between the two countries, as a Song or Liao person, he can only get one of them, who would be willing?

It's a pity that there is no way to be unwilling, the strength of the individual is too small, and it is really impossible to compete with the power of a country, so you can only go with the flow, fortunately, the people around you are like this, and there is no imbalance in the heart.

However, the avenue is fifty, the sky is forty-nine, and people are one of them, and the will of heaven is still like this, not to mention that this matter is just man-made? Not to mention that in this world, there is no shortage of speculators, Song and Liao are reluctant to trade with each other because of their blood feud, but for merchants, as long as it is profitable, what can not be done?

Businessmen pursue profit, but in this world, who is not living for the word "profit"?

Therefore, in this special environment, a group of secretly smuggling and reselling appeared, and these people took risks and exchanged materials back and forth between Song and Liao, earning huge profits in trade, and the Jiang family was one of the most profitable families.

It's just that this kind of transaction is not visible, let alone known, because the criminal law set by the dynasty is quite harsh, as long as the transaction is discovered and exposed, it is a collaborator, and you will be punished for treason, and you will be punished with the most cruel punishment, no matter who you are.

What is Ling Chi?

Ling Chi, that is, a thousand knives, so it is also called chopping, this kind of criminal law is to cut people into pieces, and must be 3,600 knives, and the last knife to kill the sinner can be regarded as Ling Chi, one less knife, the prisoner is dead, all are considered failures. Therefore, this kind of punishment is also a great test of the executioner's knife skills, because the proportion of the next knife must be mastered, a little heavier, not a little lighter, must be 3,600 knives down, the force of each knife is as heavy as the strength of the first knife, but the first 3,599 knives are all tortured, only the last knife will end people's lives, but at that time, I am afraid that any person who is tortured will not feel that the last knife will come too quickly.

In the past hundreds of years, a total of 978 people have challenged this most cruel punishment again and again with their fearless courage, and their fate is to be tied to the stone pillar of the Gucheng military camp training ground, and under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of people, they were crushed by the executioner, tortured to death, and even committed suicide.

Although the punishment was severe, it did not deter those who were already hungry for profit, and smuggling was still rampant, going forward and going one after another, but the transaction was more secretive.

And in this transaction with the Liao people, the Jiang family is the one who takes the lead, and these people in the courtyard are representatives of various small families. They sent their goods to the Jiang clan, and then the Jiang clan was responsible for trading with the Liao people, and when the transaction was completed, they could get their share of the profits.

The goods they brought had already been sent out by the Jiang family, and generally after three days, the transaction was over, and these people could take the proceeds back. But this time, the person who made the deal has not returned, which makes things complicated all of a sudden.

"Deacons rest assured, Chief Jiang has just sent a message that this transaction has been successfully completed, and he has only been delayed on the road for two days because he encountered a group of sand thieves, and he is on his way back at this moment. As soon as he comes back, after my Jiang clan counts, you can come here to receive your share of the income. Facing everyone, the old man said with full anger.

"I see, I'll just say, as a great martial artist, how could Manager Jiang disappear for no reason, it turns out that he went to do chivalrous righteousness."

"The sand thieves are so hateful, they don't come early, they don't come late, but at this time, they almost scared me to death."

"No matter what, it's okay, it's okay."

As Jiang Lao's words fell, the deacons present immediately discussed, and their faces showed a look of joy. Especially the fat man who was restless just now, let out a long breath with an excited face.

"Now that the matter has been clarified, please go back first, and within three days, my Jiang clan will distribute your share of the proceeds." Seeing that everyone's mood had calmed down, the old man smiled at the corner of his mouth and said loudly.

"Let's go."

"Go back, you will have results in three days, okay."

"Brother Li, I haven't eaten well these days, now that the matter is decided, let's go to Zuiyue Tower and take a look."

When the crowd dispersed, the old man returned to the hall unhurriedly, and there was a middle-aged man in a gorgeous robe sitting on the main seat of the hall at this time.

"Old Su, what's wrong?" The middle-aged man's narrow eyes opened slightly, and he said lightly.

"It's pacified for the time being, but if Manager Jiang doesn't come back, I'm afraid that this time the loss will only need to be reported to the family, after all, the amount is too large." The old man said worriedly.

"Hmph, this Jiang Fengyan, it's okay to be greedy for small profits on weekdays, this transaction is so important, it even gave me a mistake." The middle-aged man said angrily.

"Wait a few more days, if we don't come back by then, we will have to notify the family and let them solve it." The old man said.

"Ugh." Hearing this, the middle-aged man looked helpless and sighed.