Chapter 539 Each has something to think about

"Ye Tao ......" in the southwest of Yuhang, in a town called Luzhuang, he held a small note in his hand, which read: Ye Tao has set off.

Ye Tao is here. This name has an extremely good impression in the minds of many people in Chunnan. The bell tower in Yuhang is also a scene. Although Ye's Workshop has not set up a branch in Chunnan, their products can still flow into Chunnan through various channels, which greatly enriches the lives of Chunnan people. From luxury and refinement to simplicity and practicality, all kinds of things are available, and all kinds of products related to the Ye family always seem to make people feel good quality and practical experience. But for others, the name is a nightmare. If it weren't for Ye Tao's rise, it wasn't for him subverting the traditional approach in various ways, with the connivance of Tan Xiaopei, and coming up with incredible but extremely practical plans and ideas, or he didn't always have an outstanding performance in the few wars he participated in, always becoming a key figure, leading the war in a direction favorable to him...... He and his wife, Tan Weixin, have turned Dongping into a country that can only be looked up to in more than 20 years, and now, Chunnan is facing this country. The heroes of Chunnan, who claim to be people with lofty ideals, are all a little trembling. They don't lack courage and confidence, but the more they understand Dongping and Ye Tao, the more they feel that they are thorns in their backs.

The old man's name is Anping, he used to be Jiang Yan's chief of guard, and he had also met Ye Tao a few times. And now, he is in charge of a group of four hundred and twenty-six who know what they are doing, and thousands of people who do not know who they are serving, but who are providing resources for the organization, and he has the third largest ticket number in Chunnan, the sixth largest silk company, the eleventh shipping trading company, and the fourth construction bank, and the land and houses in his hands are also amazing. Anping himself hasn't had time to sort it out. This organization is called "Fuhutang", and they only have a capable espionage organization in Dongping, and some of them are even directly lurking in the espionage system in Chunnan, but they are serving Fuhutang. Jiang Yan spent many years and painstakingly examining the organization that had been established by exhausting his own life, not for assassination, sabotage, or espionage, but for preparing a huge plan, to do everything possible to obstruct Dongping's march after the war between Dongping and Chunnan, so that Dongping would suffer huge losses. The strength of Dongping's army was built on a strong material foundation, but once it suffered a lot of damage, the financial pressure was also extremely huge. More importantly, veterans are very difficult to cultivate, and a large number of veterans are killed or injured, or large-scale non-combat attrition can reduce the combat effectiveness of Dongping's army by more than one grade, and in that case, the Chunnan army still has a chance. Even if it fails to obstruct Dongping's advance, Fuhutang must complete the minimum mission: to let the Chunnan royal family survive...... If there is a chance, the Chunnan royal family can be revived in the future and the great cause of restoring the kingdom can be achieved, and if it fails, at least the survival and freedom of the royal family can be guaranteed, and the life of affluence can be guaranteed as a matter of course.

And now, Ye Tao came to Chunnan, so that several tiger generals under Anping's command couldn't hold back. But Anping knew very well that once Ye Tao had an accident in the territory of Chunnan, the Dongping army would be killed immediately, and there would be no luck. But if there is any problem in the territory of Dongping Kingdom, if the identity of the actor can be hidden and decorated, there is still a great chance. Anping himself was moved. He picked up another piece of information, which was a list of people who were said to be going to Yuhang with Ye Tao a few days ago. Tan Weiying came with Ye Tao, but Ye Tao didn't bring the child, obviously thinking that the atmosphere would not be too relaxed. The escort force is even more powerful than ever, Liu Yong, who has followed Ye Tao for many years, is naturally the head of the guard this time, and Jin Ze is the head of the guard battalion, with 3,000 people, all of them are outstanding guard battalions, and this time there will be 1,200 people who will come to Yuhang with Ye Tao. In addition, there are about 20 people of different ages, including Liu Yong's wife "Golden Silk Sword" Cao Mo. Looking at such a lineup, you may feel that Ye Tao is a little tense, but thinking about his current status and his performance, you will feel that it is actually okay. This kind of escort force is almost half of the escort lineup that travels at the level of the lord of the country. But Ye Tao's value is far more than half of the country's lords.

Moreover, what makes people feel a little relieved is that in Ye Tao's mission, as in the past, there are still a considerable number of heavyweight businessmen, or representatives of merchants. Kyushu Chamber of Commerce and Nanami Trading Co., Ltd. both have fairly high-level representatives. It seems that there is still hope for some more moderate and mutually beneficial talks.

An Ping's attention was not just on these people, he noticed that there were Chi Yun and Feng Yu in this mission. Feng Hao probably didn't have a chance to become a top strategist like Jiang Yan, not because of his talent and vision, but because of his personality. Jiang Yan's loyalty and gratitude to the lord of the country to Chunnan, his patience in handling complicated affairs, and his determination to carefully construct the big situation and hope to turn the tide are all incomparable to Feng Hao, a lazy guy. Although Feng Hao has always held the position of the Northern Xinjiang Economic Strategy Mansion, he has lived in Danyang for a long time, and he has a lot of fun with his friends. Over the years, he has only made occasional moves, and his style is more inclined to take advantage of the situation. But Feng Yan's ability, no one dares to doubt it, although this guy is good at taking advantage of the situation, and can take advantage of the situation and never use normal and troublesome methods, but he has one thing that is far beyond Jiang Yan, that is, he has mastery of various fields, and his knowledge has almost no dead ends, which allows him to always find the key point from the perspective that others think is very treacherous. Moreover, this guy is a master of diplomatic negotiations, and it is much more difficult to deal with than Ye Tao, who always looks like a humble gentleman.

Anping shook the bell on the desk, and an ugly family walked into the study. The family is almost eight feet tall, very tall, wearing a blue-gray family clothes, which looks a little funny. But looking at that hideous face, I'm afraid not many people can still laugh in front of him.

"Master, what do you command?" Jia Ding asked.

"Let Ruan Xiaowu go. Keep up with Ye Tao's team, keep an eye on it, and don't startle the snake. Anping commanded.

"Yes." The ugly man answered, then turned around and walked out.

In the east palace of the royal palace, the crown prince also looked at Wen Piao astronomy with similar content. The second prince benefited from the honeymoon period of the relationship between Chunnan and Dongping that year, and it was once regarded as the best solution that Tan Weiya inherited the throne of the two countries at the same time, so that Dongping Chunnan became one, so that many "pacifist" ministers gathered around to create momentum together. Although this statement finally disappeared, and the lords of both countries disdained this solution, the second prince's methods came out one after another, and he finally gathered enough strength around him. If it weren't for the huge military threat from Dongping, I am afraid that after the death of the old lord, the two princes would have met each other, but now the supporters of both sides are trying to avoid this kind of behavior that will cause great internal friction. But the position of the lord of the country finally has to have an explanation.

"This Ye Tao is very powerful in the north now, but in the south, what can he do? It's just that his status is high enough and his relationship with the negotiator is good enough, so that he can negotiate the country on behalf of the lord of the country. An old minister with white hair snorted and said.

"Probably not that simple." A shrill voice said, everyone knows, this is the most favored eunuch of His Royal Highness the Prince, and he has followed Gonggong Chen by his side for almost thirty years. "With the aftermath of the attack on Northern Liao, a while ago, ...... It seems that someone from Chunnan has offended him hard enough, and it's strange that he can politely talk about things. ”

"In the current situation, Chunnan has to bow his head...... In the past, our approach was very unauthentic. Many merchants in Dongping have complained, which is indeed excessive. The tax burden can be discussed, and the city guards and other powerful families can no longer have anything unruly. Mr. Xu...... Your son-in-law, it's better to restrain yourself. Keep your head down, make a gesture, and say something soft, hoping to fool the past. Ye Tao, when others give him face, he is still very talkative. The prince said, "It's not us who offend him, so we don't have to worry about this." Suddenly, his tone was a little cold.

The one who made waves in Dongping before was the person from the second prince's side. The second prince was influenced by Chang Ling, and seemed to really believe that Dongping was quite discriminatory and insulting to Chang Ling, and Chang Ling and Tan Weiya were able to live in Yuhang year after year, which was also regarded by him as being ignored rather than favored. The same thing, in the eyes of different people, really has very different results. Chang Ling married Tan Xiaopei, although there is an old lord who hopes that this pampered and arrogant daughter can have a good home, but it is also true that he hopes to be able to marry Dongping and become a good family. And in the matter of marriage, if you don't become a relative, you become an enemy...... The old lord didn't expect that this was the result in the end. Although Tan Xiaopei didn't attach great importance to Chang Ling, he never neglected her. The use of degrees, the rewards of the New Year's festivals, the guard of honor, and so on, are all very generous. According to Chunnan's spy investigation, Queen Zhuoxiu's daily expenses are probably less than one-third of Chang Ling's. And Zhuo Xiu, with the respect of the queen, usually travels, as long as it is not ceremonies and sacrifices, he always follows lightly, and often only has six guards, two maids and one attendant female official...... Shabby to the extreme. Comparing these two compartments, I'm afraid no one will think that Chang Ling is justified. But herself, but ......

"What if Ye Tao asks Chang Ling to return to Dongping?" The old minister asked.

"Let her go back...... Tan Xiaopei is a general in the final analysis, what is a wife and children? What's more, it's still not very pleasing. When the time comes, he will kill dozens of people at random in my Chang family, and say that he will give Tan Weiya his life, who would dare to say anything? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said unequivocally.

"I'm afraid...... Second Highness won't agree so easily, right? I'm afraid Concubine Lian herself won't want to go back. ”

"Hmph, woman...... I didn't do it to get married to Dongping, but I can't really be regarded as an enemy, which makes people angry with my Chunnan Royal Court. I'll go and tell my brother about this, I can't let Chang Ling go on any longer. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said with some annoyance.

As for Concubine Lian Changling, she was very vigilant and even a little angry that Ye Tao came to Chunnan. From the first contact between her to Dongping and Ye Tao to the present, so many years have passed, and Ye Tao has never regarded her as a concubine, and what kind of respect she has. Although there will be no shortage of courtesies in person, Ye Tao has really never saluted her since he arrived at the rank, so he really never saluted her again. And Ye Tao and Tan Weixin fought against her in many things, and later often gave her a look, which she remembered one by one. Sometimes, some people just don't know how to reflect. Even the people around Concubine Lian were quite disgusted by her moodiness and arrogance. Concubine Lian always felt that she was born in a royal family, and she should be satisfied with any request, that is, she was a class higher than others, but she couldn't eat it in Dongping, and the response to her was naturally a piece of idiot eyes. Even though Concubine Lian is beautiful, everyone laughs and laughs in private, just as she is a pampered plaything of the lord of the country. If Tan Weiya can really become the co-ruler of the two countries, her status will indeed change dramatically. But that's not something she can say. And in the end, the temporary glory and glamour have passed, and she is still the unappreciated concubine.

Tan Weiya was a little interested, how could Chunnan's aristocratic education, which attaches great importance to manners, be as happy as when he was in Danyang, where he had to have fun with everything? He is not a child now, he knows what he can and can't say, and the long-term Chunnan-style aristocratic education has made him suppress many emotions in his heart. On the surface, he just said to the guards: "It's really been a long time since I've seen Ye Jingluo, this battle against Liao, there should be many interesting places, and when the time comes, you can ask for advice in person." "That's pretty decent. Tan Weiya didn't care if he wanted to go back to Danyang, in his opinion, Danyang was probably much better than Yu Hang.

After setting off from Danyang, Ye Tao was not in a hurry at all. In his opinion, there is nothing wrong with making those guys in Chunnan worry for a few more days. In addition, his main duty is not only to bring Chang Ling and Tan Weiya back to Danyang, but also to pass through many places along the way, some places are secretly hoarding food, ordnance, ammunition, etc., while others are garrisoned by large armies and undergoing arduous training. Ye Tao could just make a tour along the way to learn about Dongping's preparations for war. Even if he knew that Ye Tao was just passing by, the local gentry and merchants along the way would try their best to get closer, but unless they really met by chance while enjoying the scenery, Ye Tao was insensitive to this kind of social activity.

Although it dragged on and on, it was finally only a day's journey to the border. After crossing the border, it would take at least two hours to settle down, so Ye Tao decided that it would be more leisurely to wait for tomorrow morning to clear the customs. In the past, it was natural to divide the team into the lead team and the home team, but in the territory of Chunnan, this arrangement was slightly inappropriate, easy to give people a casual impression, and it was not conducive to the consistency of the team and sufficient security.

After all, it is located on the main ground trade route between the two countries, and although the post station on this side of the border is certainly not very luxurious, it is also very well equipped. The maintenance and operation of the post station is now one of the criteria for the performance evaluation of some officials. On the opposite side of the post station, a large-scale inn chain inn is very eyeing it. Even if it is an official travel, now you can also choose a place outside the post station, the same can be reimbursed, this trick was to make the person in charge of the post station system anxious to jump feet, and then simply to learn from the home chain inn, and greatly strengthened the function of the post station for official document transmission and other services, so that the operation of the post station system stabilized, after several years of intensive cultivation, the post station has become a lot of "state-owned enterprises" directly under the Ministry of households, a very good profitability. Ye Tao's group was close to 2,000 people, occupying almost the entire post station. Some people also had to be arranged to go to the Home Inn opposite. Looking at the market not far away from the terrace on the top floor, Ye Tao felt a little strange.

"Tell me what's going on at the market?" Ye Tao commanded.

Kanazawa went around and immediately came back and said, "My lord, Xianyue Xing is getting rid of a batch of things. I went to inquire, and the boss said that after paying the fixed customs duty, he went to rest in the town over there, and the next day, local officials and soldiers came to collect the second tax. They also heard that in recent times, the garrisons and magistrates in various parts of Chunnan have been looking for caravans to fight the autumn wind, and even if his goods are transported to the ground, I am afraid that he will not be able to make money. simply pull it back and shoot it on the spot, to those powerful chambers of commerce. ”

"Strength?" Ye Tao frowned.

"There are many people, strong guards, and backers...... Local garrisons may not dare to harass. For example, the strips of the ministers of the Cabinet and the road guides approved by the two princes seem to be very effective. Kanazawa said disapprovingly.

"You buy everything they have." Ye Tao said coldly: "I even bought the team and flags." Divided into two hundred people, disguised as the caravan set off first. Get me the picture out. Where there is extortion, it is to be handled as banditry. You watch it, I'll carry it for you. ”

Jin Ze smiled, Ye Tao was obviously not satisfied with this situation. The first agreement between the two countries included a clause on a caravan tax system, which exempted the two countries from all taxes except customs duties and taxes on transactions made in various places. All additional assignments, the caravan can refuse to pay. These provisions were implemented very thoroughly in Dongping. In particular, Dongping's army would never cross the border to find trouble with the merchants. But in Chunnan, a few years ago, it was okay, but now that Dongping's military advisers have been back to China for a long time, the relationship between the two countries is also a little complicated and ambiguous, and the local garrison and local government in Chunnan have begun to be ready to move. For many Dongping merchants, if they really refuse these blackmails along the way, I am afraid that they will encounter more trouble. Some merchants are looking for an umbrella in Chunnan and pay a sum of money every year, which can save them a lot of trouble. Others simply stopped traveling overland and cooperated with maritime merchants. But for some small and medium-sized businesses that have no channels, these days are becoming more and more painful.

Jin Ze naturally understood Ye Tao's subtext, and he didn't think that he could pretend to be like a caravan by taking someone to pretend to be, so he simply discussed with the boss of Xian Yue Xing and asked him to join with one hundred and fifty elite guards as caravan guards. In order not to make the size of the caravan look strange, Kanazawa purchased a large number of goods from other merchants in the local area. Kanazawa is also a well-known figure in Dongping, and the merchants know that Ye Jingluo is doing these things, and they are even more willing to serve. If you can solve the troubles along the way, even if all the merchants on the post station at that time can take out all the goods in their hands, not to mention that Kanazawa still took the average of the ex-factory price and the sales price to pay.

Hyun Yue Xing is here again? The officials at the Chunnan border pass don't care, looking at the size of the caravan, they probably went back to replenish the goods and came again, if the amount is large enough, the profit is still good. After completing the formalities, Kanazawa led the caravan into Chunnan. That night, it was claimed that he hurried overnight to catch up with the time-wasting caravan and annihilated a "bandit" of more than 300 people.

"What?" Hearing that one of his teams went out in the evening, but one did not come back, Mao Yongming, who had just returned to the camp, was a little stunned. "Didn't come back? How so? ”

"I just heard the brothers talk about this in the morning, and I asked Lin Mazi to find someone." Mao Yongming's lieutenant Liang Peng said nonchalantly. In his opinion, most of the captains who led the troops went to play. Anyway, the chief can spend all day drinking, and the brothers below can eat and drink to their heart's content, and this kind of thing is not worth taking too seriously.

Suddenly, a sergeant stumbled in. "General, something is wrong...... Captain Jiang's team was wiped out...... The corpses were piled up on the road. ”

What the? silently killed himself and a number of people, and none of them ran back to report the news? What is the origin of this? And since he dares to make a move against the regular army of Chunnan, there is no need to think much about it in the background, it must be extremely powerful. But what does it mean to bully yourself? He had more than 7,000 horses with him.

"Go, leave a thousand brothers to watch the camp, and the others, follow me to see."

It took more than 5,000 men and horses half an hour to assemble and march for another hour to the place of the incident. The caravan had naturally left, but after careful questioning, Mao Yongming also asked from the mouths of the locals, at this time yesterday, there was only one Dongping caravan in the past. Can this make Mao Yongming angry? Dongping caravan, are you fake when we are Chunnan army?

However, when they caught up with Xianyuexing's caravan, they couldn't help but wonder a little. Xian Yuexing's caravan was now advancing at a similar speed with Ye Tao's team. Looking at the atmosphere between the guards on both sides, it is clear that the relationship is good. Mao Yongming is dumbfounded now? What to do? Let him embarrass a Dongping caravan in front of Ye Tao? Mao Yongming didn't think he had such courage.

"General, it's okay to ask...... If it really moved our people, it can't be on their side, right? Moreover, this is on my Chunnan land, if you don't pay attention to it, it will ...... in the future," Liang Peng reminded.

Mao Yongming thought about it, he gritted his teeth and ordered: "The brigade stays here, Liang Peng, will you go up with me to visit?" ”