Guo Yang Anu and the others drank mare's milk wine, and estimated that it had been half an hour before they lifted the empty wine jar, and it was broken with a "bang".

The clanging of ceramic shards could be heard far away in the dead silence of the night, even in the lobby of the inn.

The hunchbacked old man raised his head suddenly, listened attentively for a moment, and with a fierce look on his face, he wanted to get up. Suddenly, he turned his face and saw Amu napping on a bench, and suddenly changed his mind.

"Amu, go and see, why the two distinguished guests seem to have broken the dishes, you go and clean it up." The hunchbacked old man said.

Amu curled up on the bench, sleeping sweetly, hearing the boss's words, he just shook his unkempt head, and his mouth was still talking in his sleep.

"Amu!"

Amu suddenly rolled over from the bench and sat up, unsteadily, fell to the ground, and kicked his hands and feet wildly.

He got up in a panic, wiped his sleepy eyes with his sleeve, scratched his unkempt scalp, and said loudly: "Shopkeeper, what's the matter?" ”

The hunchbacked old man frowned and shook his head, and said helplessly: "You go and see, the guest seems to have broken the dishes, go and clean up." Remember, don't make the guests angry, the most important thing for us to open an inn is to make money with harmony. ”

Reluctantly, Amu got up from the ground and mumbled into the backyard.

The hunchbacked old man groaned slightly, flashed out of the door of the inn, ran to the tethered horse stake in front of the door, untied a black mule, turned over, and the whip of the "horn" went away, but he didn't even look back, where is the trembling hunchback image, it is simply a martial arts master who is quite athletic.

said that Amu entered the backyard, and as soon as he walked to the door of Guo Yang and Anu's room, he heard a kick in front of him and left.

He turned back to the door of the inn, but saw that the black mule was missing, and the hunchbacked old man was gone.

Amu shook his head and sighed, muttered to the door of Guo Yang's room, stretched out a finger and knocked on the door, three soft bangs, and two more slightly heavier bangs.

The door creaked open, revealing Anu's dark face, but with an imperceptible smile.

Amu came in, closed the door with his backhand, knelt on one knee, and whispered, "Amu to meet the two masters!" ”

Guo Yangzheng took a jue of mare's milk wine, looked at Amu's face gnawed by a wild dog, nodded gently, and handed the mare's milk wine that Banjue himself drank directly to Amu.

Amu was overjoyed, hurriedly got up and stepped forward, took the half-jue wine, and drank it dry as soon as he raised his neck.

"Anything else?" Amu wiped his mouth with his dirty sleeve and asked shyly.

"Hehe, look at your gluttony!" Anu walked over with a smile, lifted the wine bag, and threw it directly to Amu.

Amu made a face, pulled the stopper, raised his face, opened his mouth wide, poured it with a bang, drank half a bag of mare's milk wine directly, and let out a long breath.

"Ah Jiu, they said that you soak in mare's milk wine every day on the grassland, this taste is simply superb." Amu said with a smile, with an excited face, holding a cowhide wine bag in his hand, but he didn't want to return it to Anu.

Anu stretched out his finger and nodded at Amu's unkempt dirty head, shaking his head and smiling bitterly.

"When we have taken revenge, we will withdraw all our brethren into the prairie and no longer associate with these rotten people. If we want to get food, we can find another way. Guo Yang said gently.

"Master, the man with the king's beard has just ridden away your black mule." Amu said suddenly.

"It's okay, it was originally tethered to the door to make it easier for him to go. I was thinking that if that guy came in and checked the effects of the poisoned wine himself, it would be a bit tricky. Guo Yang said with a smile.

"Is it really the king's beard who ambushed our caravan?" Amu asked.

"It's not certain whether he did it yet, but the crime of leaking the caravan's whereabouts has been carried out." Guo Yang said with a deep groan.

"Dog offal!" Amu gritted his teeth, and the scars on his face glowed slightly red.

"Master, I've been here for the past two years, and the brethren on the grassland are all right." Amu then asked.

"It's all good, we might meet soon." Guo Yang said with a smile.

"Amu, what clues do you have here?" Anu asked.

"I'm a dark sentinel, and I don't have a lot of freedom of movement. However, I also have a general understanding of the situation, Wang Huzi has done a lot of business in the past two years, and has traded privately with some vassal states, and has continuously sold horses and cashmere and other goods from the land of Liaodong, and at the same time transported a large number of bronze vessels, salt and grain there, which should have made quite a lot of profits. ”

"The most closely related to him should be the Yan State and the Jin Kingdom, these two places border with nomadic tribes, and I think that Wang Huzi may not want to develop in the places directly controlled by the Zhou people, so he thought of the plan to go north. When we evacuated, all the commerce and trade in the land of Liaodong were left to Wang Huzi, and only the trade routes of the desert grassland in the northern part of the mouth were under our control. He may have been in a hurry to expand his business, so he had a black hand on our caravan. ”

Amu frowned and analyzed.

Guo Yang listened carefully for a long time before slowly shaking his head and saying, "It's not that simple. ”

"Oh?" Amu was slightly stunned and looked at Guo Yang.

"The battle between the caravans is indeed very cruel and bloody, but with the king's beard, he will never dare to provoke us easily. I think that those hypocrites in Yan and Jin may be the real ones behind it. Moreover, it is not excluded that those Zhou dogs in Hojing and Luoyi may want to use the topic to play. I suspect that a large-scale conquest may soon take place. ”

Guo Yang said with a deep groan.

"Campaign?" This time, even Anu was slightly moved.

"There is endless infighting on the grassland, and now is the time when it is the weakest, and it is also the best time for the Zhou people to expand outward. The cavalry of the nomadic tribe has always been a big problem for the farming tribe, even in the heyday of the Great Shang, they did not dare to launch an expedition easily, and they also invited those grassland overlords to the palace to drink. This time, eighty percent of the Zhou people wanted to do it. I don't know which way their spearhead will be directed. ”

Guo Yang was a little tired as he spoke, feeling that talking about these things was a waste of time, but he had to say it.

"Whatever, they can fight whoever they want, as long as they don't move our people, let them be." Amu was young after all, and poured a few large sips of mare's milk wine.

"People have already done it." Guo Yang said indifferently, "With the friction between the caravans, it's just a temptation, it depends on our reaction." We've been hiding for two years, and they should think we've given up, and this is a good opportunity to lure the snake out of the hole. ”

"Perhaps, those vassal states controlled by the Zhou people didn't take us seriously at all." Amu said.

"No, on the contrary, the kings of those vassal states are all sober, they are not only fighting with the surrounding nomadic tribes, but also fighting with their own people, claiming to be the king and hegemon, this is their heart." Guo Yang said.

"Then what does it have to do with our caravan when they fight back and forth?" Amu was still a little confused, and reached out and scratched the back of his head.

"This kid!" Guo Yang smiled and said, "What is the most important thing for those people to compete for hegemony? ”

"The army." Amu muttered.

"What does the army rely on to fight?" Guo Yang looked at Amu with interest and asked.

"Chariots, soldiers, weapons and horses, of course...... Oh, I see, they want to get themselves war horses through caravans! Amu said with some sudden realization.

"War horses are indeed one of their goals, but in the long run, it's not just war horses. Through intelligence, I analyzed that the Central Plains, which was directly controlled by the Zhou people, has always been a high-pressure government decree on commerce and trade, but remote princes such as Yan and Jin seem to have been seeking a way to enrich the country through commerce and trade, and it seems that their ambitions are really not small. ”

Guo Yang sighed, and then said: "Actually, I am also very conflicted, it is said that it should be a good thing for us for these vassal states to seek business opportunities, and we can make a lot of money if we seize the opportunity." But as we make money, these jackals grow up slowly, and maybe one day they will swallow us in one bite, and there will not be even a single bone residue left. ”

These words are a little experience that Guo Yang has gained after repeated weighing in the past few years, and he has always kept it in his heart, and at this moment, he simply spit it out.

If it weren't for the caravan being ambushed and losing the lives of more than 20 brothers, Guo Yang didn't bother to think about these issues. He has always hated the kind of days of fighting, killing, and intrigue, and really wants to be a free lamb.

However, in troubled times, he really can't be a lamb, unless, he wants to die.

The only option, then, is to become an old fox.

"Master, is there a way for us to make money and stop those jackals?" Amu said suddenly.

"There's only one way, and that's if we're better than them, and their dog's paws stick out, and we can chop them off with one slash." Anu, who had been silent for a long time, said suddenly.

Guo Yang nodded slightly, and said with a wry smile: "What your Master Anu said is right, only when we are good enough can we dare to do business with these jackals." ”

Amu nodded as if he didn't understand, shook his unkempt head a little confusedly, and opened his mouth to speak, but he didn't know what to say.

This kind of problem is too complicated, and Amu, a half-grown child who plays with knives, really doesn't understand it.

"Amu, practice well, use your brains more, and learn from Ah Jiu and Ah Tuna's elder brothers. If a person is really powerful, kung fu is naturally essential, but more importantly, you must learn to use your brain. Anu wasted no time in admonishing a few words, and Amu nodded again and again.

"Master, how do we move next?" Amu asked.

"Wait." Guo Yang said with a smile.

"Wait?" Amu was stunned.

"This place is good, I have already surveyed it with your Master Anu, and it is a good place for fishing." Guo Yang turned over his hand and took out a wine bag, opened the stopper with a "pop", poured it full of two mare's milk wine, and threw the remaining half of the bag to Amu.

Amu was overjoyed, and hurriedly put it away, his face was full of joy, and he saw Anu and Guo Yang shaking their heads and smiling bitterly.

"Young Master, did you really decide to fish here?" Anu asked with a frown.

"Well, we have surveyed the terrain in the past few days, this place can be attacked, retreated can be defended, and the worst can be retracted outside the plug, which is an excellent place for fishing." Guo Yang said with a smile.

"But, you're bait, it's too dangerous, I don't agree." Anu said, very resolute.

"When did I say I was going to be bait? Anu, Anu, you can figure it out! Guo Yang said with a smile.

"That'...... Who's the bait? Anu scratched her head and asked.

"Wangbeard, such a good piece of fat, why don't you let him be the bait." Guo Yang smiled and picked up the wine jue and took a shallow sip, which seemed to have endless taste.

Anu and Amu were dazed, staring at Guo Yang like monsters, unable to speak for a long time.