In addition to Qi people's affairs, the Four Seas Merchant Gang also has the function of an intelligence station.

Qi Min refers to the common people.

On a day-to-day basis, the Shang Gang set up institutions to help the people, protect their wealth, cultivate their reputation, and establish a grassroots intelligence network.

And this intelligence network, in addition to mainly collecting business information, makes righteous friends. It also gives full play to the role of Dengyong talents and probing important military information in distant areas.

This time, the information obtained from the caravan was about Sanfu and Liangzhou.

This year, the fighting in Sanfu and Liangzhou temporarily stopped, but the people did not live and work in peace and contentment.

Li Dao, Guo Yan, and Fan Chou divided Chang'an City and Sanfu, and they supported their own troops and did not produce. After the autumn harvest this time, they forcibly purchased grain from the peasants of Sanfu at a low price, and if they did not sell it, they were punished for crimes, and took the opportunity to seize the land to reward their soldiers.

The information received from the caravan shows that in the spring and summer of next year, Sanfu will inevitably be in a great famine. This is a crisis, but also an important business opportunity, so Hedong merchants have extensive knowledge of this information.

Tong Yuan was thinking that this information was not only a business opportunity, but also that he would definitely take the initiative to accept some people, after all, Li Guo and the others would have chaos in the near future, and Sanfu would be ten rooms and nine empty.

He would not be foolish enough to think that he could prevent this from happening, but instead should take the initiative to accept the people to Xiayang and other places, and even recover Shangjun and settle them.

However, there was a less noticeable piece of information that attracted Tong Yuan's attention.

Some businessmen who have been to Anding and Tianshui for a long time need to buy a batch of salt, and come to the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce to inquire about trade routes and storage channels.

After charging a meager fee, the officer of the merchant gang got together with the merchant for a while, and got a lot of information about the Liangzhou area.

The main content is that the original decline of stability, and Tianshui County, although officially called Hanyang County at this time, is generally still called Tianshui, and now even that side is not having a good time.

It turned out that Han Sui of Liangzhou occupied a large area of land and sat on an important trade route between Guanzhong and Liangzhou. Ma Teng, who temporarily lived in Yiwu and settled in the vicinity, did not have enough grain and grass, so he could only ask Li Wei in Chang'an for military funds.

What kind of character is Li Dao, there is no bargaining chip for him, can he give charity to others?

I don't know what deal was not negotiated between the two sides, in short, Ma Teng's side was not having a good time, so he had to collect a round of taxes on local farmers and collect tolls for past business travelers.

It was precisely this trade route in the Tianshui area that was in the hands of the local Zhao, Jiang, Liang, and Yin clans. These four have always been in competition with Han Sui's Hanmen merchant brigades and horse bandit "caravans".

Ma Teng and Han Sui are righteous brothers, who is not embarrassed by the Tianshui clan and business travelers? There are even rumors that Ma Tengna is going to plunder Tianshui, that is, Hanyang County at that time, with a strong military posture.

Tong Yuan is well aware of the significance of this piece of intelligence, but he lacks the ability to directly intervene, so he can only make some strategic arrangements in advance.

Moreover, the Four Seas Merchant Gang has just been established, and there is no more reliable assistant except for Zhang Lu. If branches are also opened in Liangzhou and other places, and then unite the local forces that are very convenient for unity, there will definitely be a way to intervene at that time.

Fortunately, Zhang Lu quickly completed his visit to Henan, Yingchuan, Runan and other places, and gained a lot.

Tong Yuan temporarily put aside the situation in Liangzhou and focused on intelligence and talents this time.

Zhang Lu said: "The area around Luoyang is full of white bones. The original fertile land was full of wild grass, but not to mention wild vegetables in this wild grass, even dogtail grass could not be seen. There are really no good men in that area who can be contacted, and it is estimated that it is not good to rely on external forces to build a branch of the merchant gang. ”

It turns out that this dogtail grass and millet, that is, the crop of millet, are close relatives, and Sili is starving all over the south of the Yellow River, so the dogtail grass will naturally not be missed by hungry refugees.

However, Luoyang must establish a business branch to do a good job of intelligence and preparation for the follow-up stationing.

However, in the current situation that the strength is not very sufficient, it is only necessary to promote this work in the future. At present, it is best to hand over the affairs there to the allies of Hongnong County, Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu, and then incorporate them as their power expands in the future.

Zhang Lu continued to introduce his achievements this time, "Although there are no achievements in Luoyang, there are a lot of gains in Runan County, and many people are willing to establish trade routes with Hedong, and there are individual people who may be trusted. ”

Runan, named after most of its territory on the south bank of the Ru River, belonged to Yuzhou, and was under the jurisdiction of Yuan Shu since Sun Jian was killed by Liu Biao.

Tong Yuan's later generations also have a slight impression of this area, if the memory is not wrong, I am afraid that there will be Liu Bi and Gong Du.

"Let's talk about the Haoqiang who was contacted. There are two people, the first surname is Chen Mingdao, the word Uncle Zhi, and Runan Haoqiang was born. He was plain and steady, quite righteous and courageous, and had great prestige in the county. ”

"This family is quite rich, there are thousands of acres of fertile land, in addition to the family tribe, but also gathered the young people in the township, in recent years they have built a dock fort, drive away thieves, trade roads, quite prestigious. I don't know what this person's attitude is towards the imperial court and the Dong family, but it is estimated that he is somewhat sure of doing business in the name of the Four Seas Merchant Gang and the Hedong Shinong Industrial and Commercial Army. ”

"The second one, surnamed Li Mingtong, the word Wenda. He is a native of Pingchun County, Jiangxia County, and when he was young, he was a famous ranger in Jiangxia and Runan. Later, he and the people of the same county raised troops, and after several twists and turns, they now dominate Langling County, Runan County. ”

"His people are very heroic and righteous, and many of them have sacrificed their wealth for the sake of heaven and righteousness. Not long ago, in the great wilderness of Runan, he went bankrupt to provide disaster relief and save the people, and shared the dregs with the Confucian scholars, and the surrounding rangers all rushed to follow him. Since then, nearby thieves have not dared to invade. ”

"This is beyond expectations."

Tong Yuan was very satisfied with the information that the Four Seas Merchant Gang had reached out everywhere. Chen Zhi and Li Tong are both good quasi-first-class talents. Especially Chen Dao, his person is quite mysterious, I remember that he is the commander of Liu Bei's Bai Yu army, I don't know what kind of person it will be?

"Very good, if you can get along with this kind of character, it will be beneficial to us and harmless."

Zhang Lu also thinks that these two people are quite in line with the positioning of the Four Seas Merchant Gang, and it is not too difficult to trade with them and communicate with each other, if they can establish close contacts, implement interest bundling, and let them hold important positions in the merchant gang branch, it would be the best.

Zhang Lu continued: "In terms of the Shi clan, not to mention Yingchuan, there are also many big clans in Runan. However, they pay more attention to fame and study the scriptures, and I have heard about some families here, but I guess there is no hope. ”

"However, I know some Jianghu brothers, who are now mostly attached to Yuan Shu, and some of them gather in the mountains and forests. I've run some of them around this time. ”

Tong Yuan was overjoyed, these characters were his target range, and Zhang Lu had such an effect after running in person, he was really shrewd and capable.

Zhang Lu introduced: "At present, He Yi, Huang Shao, Liu Pi, Gong Du, He Man and others have gathered tens of thousands of horses and horses, entrenched in Yingchuan and Runan. They were mostly Yellow Turbans before...... The thief was once supported by Yuan Shu and Sun Jian. Now he is also an ally with Yuan Shu, dealing with Cao Cao together. ”

Tong Yuan was puzzled: "It stands to reason that at the beginning of this year, Yuan Shu was defeated by Cao Cao and retreated to Huainan, and the Yellow Turban Army entrenched in Yingchuan and Runan should not have a good time, right?" ”

Tong Yuan's words called the Yellow Turban Army instead of the Yellow Turban Thief, on the one hand, to resolve the embarrassment of Zhang Lu's background and beliefs, on the other hand, he came from later generations and was not particularly hostile to the Yellow Turban Army.

Zhang Lu replied: "That's right, at present, He Yi, Huang Shao and others have been expelled by the Yingchuan Shi Clan, and there is news that the Yingchuan Shi Clan intends to let Cao Cao take over, and this wave of people is indeed not easy to mix. ”

"However, even if this is the case, their two main leaders, He Yi and Huang Shao, not only do they have no vigilance, but they also have no intention of participating in the Four Seas Merchant Gang."

Tong Yuan didn't care about this team either.

Zhang Lu continued: "It's good news over there in Runan. Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Liu Bi and Gong Du have led their troops to entrench here. Nominally, they were once Sun Jian's subordinates, and now they also belong to the Yuan Shu faction. ”

However, Yuan Shu suffered a great defeat, and although he nominally controlled Yuzhou, he had to give Liu Pi, Gong Du, who occupied the mountain as the king, and the powerful people in various places to have great autonomy.

"These two people are also very influential in the rivers and lakes, and they intend to establish ties with Hedong and Guanzhong. My meeting is going well, and they will arrange for a business trip to Hedong to buy salt in the near future, and at the same time provide us with information about Cao Cao and Yuan Shu. ”

Tong Yuan said: "Very good, this is the initial operation mode I envisioned, we can also introduce them to some more ways, and even use intelligence to give feedback." In addition, can there be a candidate for the Runan Business Gang Branch? ”

Zhang Lu replied: "The forces over there are complicated, and the relationship between the heroes of the mountains and forests and the heroes of the countryside is very delicate, so there is no person at the level of the branch president for the time being." However, there is one person who is suitable to be the person in charge of the mountains and forests. ”

"This person's surname is Zhou Mingcang, and he is also from Dayang, Hedong. I heard that he has been chivalrous and righteous by the river since he was a child, and later because of the forcible seizure of large households, the officials levied and extorted violently, and a large number of people became homeless. Zhou Cang has become the deployment of Zhang Bao, the general of the local government, and is now a good man in the rivers and lakes of Runan. ”

"It's Zhou Cang?"

Tong Yuan was surprised for a while, four years after he entered Chuping, he was busy with farming and warfare, and he was slightly satisfied with the status quo in terms of talents, and he even forgot that there were still many "oppositional" heroes in Runan and other places.

Although direct recruitment is more than delusional, it is not too late to prepare for future recruitment through the advance layout of the Four Seas Merchant Gang.

Zhang Lu said: "Does the lord know about this person? ”

"Well, I don't know. Just listening to the name and introduction, I feel that he is a good man, plus he is from Hedong, he can indeed be asked to specialize in business affairs, and he can serve as the liaison officer in charge of Runan in the future. ”

The two discussed some details later, and Zhang Lu himself was also very good at contacting heroes from all over the world and building trade routes and intelligence. It would be a waste to let a talent like him engage in the military.