In the next few days, Gongsun Jian handed over all the affairs of Huang Wenyuan and Zhang Han to Liu Dayuan, the county commander. If he can't handle such a small matter that has been planned, then his county order will be of little value in the future.

Fortunately, Liu Dayuan still lives up to his trust, after all, he is an old oilman who has been in the officialdom for 20 years, although his personality is a little weak, but he still has a set of ways to deal with rookies like Zhang Han who have only been in the officialdom for a long time, and Huang Wenyuan secretly cooperates.

Feast, take care of, talk, and then go to the countryside to collect taxes!

Even the shrewd Zhang Han has nothing to say in the face of Liu Dayuan's arrangement, he is a county official, and he is Liu Dayuan's deputy, when he encounters such a 'big event' as the autumn harvest, do you want Liu Dayuan to go in person if he doesn't go? However, it seems that the young Zhang Han can be selected to be sent to this remote Linshui County to carry out the monitoring task personally assigned by the Yue Emperor, which shows that he is by no means an ordinary person.

After dark, in the temporary residence of the pavilion, Zhang Han and Huang Wenyuan, as well as the captain Jin Longwei, who was responsible for escorting them and taking on the task of spying agents, sat opposite each other.

"It seems that Liu Dayuan wants to take us away. And Brother Huang and I may encounter a lot of obstacles when we go to the countryside. Sure enough, as Lord Chen said, this Linshui County has really become the world of Liu Dayuan and Gongsun Jian. Zhang Han sighed with emotion, then turned his head to look at Hu Tianyi who was in the Golden Dragon Guard and asked, "Lord Hu, what useful news have you heard in the city these days?" ”

Hu Tianyi, who looked to be in his early thirties, replied after a little thought: "In the past few days, I have walked around the city with my brothers, and the general course of the incident is basically consistent with the previous report of Liu Dayuan and Gongsun Jian to the imperial court. Those families are indeed invincible in the local area, and there are many evil deeds. But there are two suspicious things about this. ”

"Oh? Master Hu, tell me, what two points are suspicious? Zhang Han suddenly became interested.

"First, after the Chu family escaped from the city from the dark passage that day, the two divisions led six or seven hundred people to besiege the city, but they were defeated by more than 1,000 people organized by Gongsun Jian, and the men and horses of the two divisions were almost killed." As he spoke, Hu Tianyi glanced at Zhang Han and Huang Wenyuan, who were sitting opposite, and then continued: "The two adults are civilian officials, and they may not know much about military affairs. Do you think how a group of people with no formal training can defeat the officers and soldiers of the imperial court, even if they have swords and guns in their hands? Even if the number of people is superior, it does not reach the absolute advantage. What's more, it's not just defeating, but killing all the men and horses of the two divisions. Even the regular army of my Great Zhou may not be able to do this. ”

"Hiss......" Zhang and Huang couldn't help but gasp when they heard this, Huang Wenyuan looked at Hu Tianyi and asked, "Lord Hu means that there are other armed forces hidden in this Linshui County?" ”

"Definitely." Hu Tianyi waved his hand and said: "I have inquired carefully, it is true that the people in the city are strong that day, but the only difference is that when attacking the men and horses of the two divisions, the leaders were several of Gongsun Jian's subordinates and more than a hundred retired veterans of the Northern Army. And some people say that there was a thunderbolt exploding in the two divisions at that time, which led to the final rout of the soldiers of the two divisions. And those people are strong because of the reward of ten taels of silver per head promised by Gongsun Jian in advance, so they will chase after the two soldiers and horses. In the end, even the two officials who led the team could not escape. ”

"Thunder? Could it be that Gongsun Jian or his subordinates will not be able to do the magic magic? Zhang Han asked in surprise.

Hu Tianyi shook his head and said a little dejectedly: "The details are not clear, but according to the files of Gongsun Jian and several people around him, they all retired from serving in the Northern Army for many years. And they all survived a hundred battles, but I haven't heard of anyone with special abilities. Otherwise, it was discovered when it was in the Northern Army. And about the thunder, most people just heard the sound, and didn't see how it happened. Almost all of the veterans and strong men who rushed to the front of the ranks have now joined the militia. I sent men to try to get close to the militias, but they were more heavily guarded than the usual barracks, and no one was allowed to enter or leave at all. ”

Listening to Hu Tianyi's words, Zhang and Huang couldn't help but fall into silence, and after a while, Huang Wenyuan asked: "Master Hu, this is one of them, so what about another thing?" ”

"Another thing is that this Linshui County claims to have four major families, and the three families of Chen, Chu and Shen have been wiped out, but only the Cao family not only has no loss, but also seems to be more proud than before. It is said that the Cao family, who did not participate in the dock trade, now has two docks and three large warehouses. Just the day before yesterday, Cao De, the eldest son of the Cao family, also went to visit Gongsun Jian in person. ”

"The Cao family?" Zhang Huang and the others frowned again.

"The Cao family is said to have a lot of power in Linshui County. The second son Cao Hong worked as a foreigner in the Shangjing Household Department, the third son Cao Liang worked as a long history in the state capital, and several sons and nephews were all soldiers at the border pass, among which Cao Gang did the position of a partial general. It seems that the Cao family may have colluded with Gongsun Jian! Zhang Han analyzed. Obviously, he had a very full understanding of the local forces in Linshui before coming to Linshui, and he told the situation of the Cao family in one mouth.

"One more thing." Hu Tianyi frowned slightly and said, "We have been here for a few days, but only Wei Meng and Qi Shi are in the county seat, and the other two have not seen them. I don't know if I was sent out to run errands, or if I hid it. ”

Hu Tianyi's news is not bad, but he doesn't know that there is still a Xie Wu. After all, Shangjing City and Linshui County are so far apart, it is impossible to grasp all the news.

"This ......" heard another unexpected news, and Zhang Han's brows tightened. It seems that my trip is really tricky. However, the greater the difficulty, the greater the credit for turning back.

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Han, who was the leader of the three, gritted his teeth and made up his mind and said: "Brother Huang, you don't have to go to the countryside to supervise the autumn harvest and collect taxes the day after tomorrow, I can go alone." You only need to pretend to be sick and stay in the county, and someone needs to continue to monitor and investigate the movements and news of Liu Dayuan and Gongsun Jian. Second, one of the two of us must be in the city, and beware of any accident at any time. And Lord Hu can send a few subordinates to follow me, and then you and Jin Longwei's brothers can move freely and find out as much news as possible. ”

"Master Zhang, don't worry. You are now the most important of the three of us, so I will definitely arrange your escort, and I will definitely not let you have an accident. In addition, Jin Longwei is not only the one you see now, there will be brothers arriving here one after another in the next few days. I heard that the shadow guards in His Majesty's palace will also be coming. ”

As soon as Hu Tianyi's words came out, Huang Wenyuan's heart chuckled, he didn't expect Emperor Yue to look up to that father-in-law too much! Even the shadow guards were sent. But Zhang Han secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard it.

The three of them discussed for a while and assigned their respective division of labor, although these were all discussed on the road before coming, but when they arrived in Linshui County, something happened to them, so the previous plan had to be modified.

After all the discussions were over, it was already midnight, and the three of them went back to their rooms to rest. But Huang Wenyuan didn't feel sleepy at all. He was pondering how much of the conversation between him and Zhang Han and Hu Tianyi was true today.

Huang Wenyuan is Chinese New Year's Eve six years old today, and he was a jinshi three years ago. He is considered young among the people on the same list, but he is the oldest of the three, but he is also the one with the lowest position.

Among the three, Zhang Han is the leader, and Hu Tianyi doesn't look at it as cooperating and protecting them on the surface, but he is the captain of Jin Longwei, so he naturally has his own independent system. At the critical moment, he didn't care about the life or death of him and Zhang Han at all. And having said so much tonight, some of the news may be true, but some of the news may also be false. As a person who had joined the meritorious noble family and was trained as a secret son before he was admitted to the Jinshi, he always had a vigilance.

After carefully recalling the conversation just now, Huang Wenyuan suddenly felt that there was something wrong here. Shadow Guard: That is the deadliest and most critical weapon in the hands of the Yue Emperor. The status is above the Golden Dragon Guard, and it is even more mysterious. Almost no one knows the true identity of any of these shadow guards. But how did Hu Tianyi know that the shadow guard was transferred?

There's fraud in this!

Huang Wenyuan suddenly woke up. This is testing him and Zhang Han. Or it was directly aimed at him Huang Wenyuan. But I don't seem to have any flaws? Could it be that he went to see Gongsun Jian that day and was followed and discovered?

Huang Wenyuan pondered and meditated, wanting to discover the clues. But until the drum outside played the fourth watch, I couldn't figure it out. But it doesn't matter if you turn your head and think about it, just go back and tell your father-in-law about it and remind him to pay more attention. According to Lord Luo's confession before leaving Beijing, Emperor Yue and Chen Cheng were just trying to find trouble, not to really target Gongsun Jian, and the main target was those meritorious relatives.

After thinking about it, Huang Wenyuan's sleepiness gradually came. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep. What he didn't know was that while he was asleep, Zhang Han and Hu Tianyi were still discussing things in a hut not far away.

Another day later, Zhang Han led the order of the county commander Liu Dayuan to the countryside to supervise the autumn harvest and collect grain taxes. And Huang Wenyuan also stayed in the county seat according to the previous discussion. As for Hu Tianyi, he has not seen anyone since they broke up that night.

For such a situation, Gongsun Jian knew it well. Because Huang Wenyuan had already passed the news to him before. And he himself has a plan in his heart.

In the following days, Gongsun Jian didn't pay any attention to the Golden Dragon Guard and the Shadow Guard at all. Every day, except for going around the wharf and discussing the planning and construction of the wharf with Feng Huaidao, they basically stay in the militia group outside the southern city. Only after every evening will he return to the small courtyard of Shiao Lane to rest, and even Liu Dayuan's county office rarely goes.

Time flickered and another month passed. Linshui County has also gradually recovered its former prosperity, and there are even a lot more merchants coming and going from the south to the north than before. The warehouses near the wharf outside the West Gate have been almost completed, and the construction of several small wharves is gradually coming to an end. As for the two large wharves requested by Gongsun Jian, they will not be constructed until the dry season in winter. At present, the most important construction project is the three-story exchange that Gongsun Jian demanded.

Ma Teng has returned, and he has come back with the second master of the Li family in Jeju Prefecture who is in charge of business, and the shopkeeper Li Hun, who was once rescued by them. Not long after Ma Teng returned, the iron ingots and salt exchanged for those antiques, calligraphy and paintings according to Gongsun Jian's request also arrived through the Fen River.

Gongsun Jian warmly received the second master of the Li family named Li Chengfeng. He even cooked a few of his own dishes. It made the other party feel honored and surprised. After tasting it, he was full of praise for Gongsun Jian's craftsmanship. Praise is praise, and the purpose of this visit is still to be discussed.

After some conversation, Gongsun Jian leased two wharves that could dock thirty ships of 500 materials at the same time and two newly built warehouses with a cargo capacity of 500,000 stone at an absolutely favorable price. What the Li family needs to pay is that they must abide by the law when doing business in Linshui County, and at the same time pay taxes and fees at the rate required by Gongsun Jian. Of course, salt and iron are still forbidden to be traded. After all, this is Gongsun Jian's own land, and he needs to keep the iron tools for future use, and salt is his biggest profit at present.