Seeing that although Zhang Weixin came in a hurry, the expression on his face was a little joyful, and Wang Kunjun knew that what the other party wanted to say should be a good thing rather than a bad thing.

Facts have proved that Wang Kunjun's guess was not wrong. When Zhang Weixin came into the house, he first apologized to Wang Kunjun for disturbing the other party's breakfast, and then raised an envelope in his hand and said: "Brother originally planned to wait until the fifth brother went to the yamen to work before reporting this matter, but considering that the fifth brother drank a lot last night, he may not be able to go to the front government this morning, so he rushed over to report the news he just received to the fifth brother." I don't want to disturb the fifth brother and the eldest sister-in-law for breakfast, I'm really sorry, I'm sorry. ”

Wang Kunjun waved his hand when he heard this, and said: "Since you are in a hurry to send the news, it means that the news you want to say is a public matter rather than a private matter. For the sake of business, it has nothing to do with your fifth sister-in-law and I even if we skip breakfast, and you have to apologize. Why don't you sit down, take two sips of tea, and then tell me what the news is that makes you care so much? After speaking, Wang Kunjun ordered the maid to serve tea to Zhang Weixin.

At this time, Zhang Weixin's mood was completely calm, so he was no longer as anxious as when he first entered the house, found a chair and sat down, took the tea sent by the maid and drank two sips. After the maid left the room, Zhang Weixin handed the envelope in his hand to Wang Kunjun and explained: "I just received this letter from the Qingzhou branch of the 'Datong Commercial Bank' of the Ministry of Commerce and Trade. According to the person who delivered the letter, the letter was handed over to the shopkeeper of our Qingzhou branch by the caravan shopkeeper sent by Cui Yongnian Cui Yuan from Shandong Province to purchase and sell goods here, and asked him to transfer it to the Jiedu Mansion in Beiping. And this big shopkeeper claims to be surnamed Jia, called Jia Run'an. ”

"Is it a letter from Jia Run'an's brother Jia?" Wang Kunjun took the letter out of the envelope and looked at it, and asked with some surprise, "Is it really him?" ”

"It was indeed a letter written by Brother Jia Run'an." Zhang Weixin, who had already read the contents of the letter, replied affirmatively, "According to what the Run'an brothers wrote in the letter, he led the caravan to Beiping this time, firstly, to purchase goods for the Cui family, and secondly, to fulfill his original promise to us - as long as his five-year contract with Cui Yongnian and Cui Yuanwai expires, he will leave the Cui family and go to Youzhou, which is now Beiping City, to join our crossing team." ”

"That's great." Wang Kunjun looked at the letter and said happily, "The fact that the Run'an brothers can join us can not only strengthen our team, but also provide fresh blood for the Ministry of Commerce and Trade, which has just undergone a large-scale personnel adjustment, is really a good thing to kill two birds with one stone." It's worth it even if you don't eat breakfast. ”

"Fifth brother is right." Zhang Weixin agreed, "Previously, in order to control the Beiping Army, we transferred a large number of brothers from the Ministry of Commerce and Trade to become prefects, which caused the scale of the Ministry of Commerce and Trade, which was originally full of talents, to shrink sharply. Because of this, Lao Fourteen complained a lot, and his mood became very depressed, so much so that he didn't even come to participate in the military parade in Beiping City. After an expert like Run'an Brothers, who can stand alone in business, he will inevitably join the Ministry of Commerce and Trade. When the time comes, Lao Shishitian will have a powerful arm by his side, and he will not have as much opinion on the personnel transfer of the committee as he did before. ”

Wang Kunjun nodded when he heard this, and said, "That's true. Although only one of the four people came, it was a little disproportionate in terms of quantity. However, the affairs of the Ministry of Commerce and Trade have long been on the right track, and there are only a handful of things that really need to be personally stepped in by brothers from the Ministry of Commerce and Trade such as the Old Fourteen. ”

Speaking of this, Wang Kunjun paused slightly and asked, "Since the letter of the Run'an brothers was sent by the Qingzhou branch of the 'Datong Commercial Bank', it also means that the caravan of the Run'an brothers has been on the road for a while. Although the war in Youyun is peaceful now, the army of the Later Zhou court is still on the way to retreat, and whether the road from Shandong to us is smooth is still between the two, and I don't know where the Run'an brothers have gone at this time? Should we send someone to pick it up? ”…,

Zhang Weixin replied: "What the fifth brother said is that just after the war, there will indeed be some unevenness on the road. Although the Cui family's caravan is large and has many guards, we can't take it lightly. In my opinion, it is better for the eldest fifth sister-in-law to give an order, so that the 'Dark Feather' branches on the line from Qingzhou to Liangxiang can inquire about the news of the Cui family's caravan, and report to Beiping as soon as possible. Then we will send a capable brother to take someone to answer it to ensure safety, I don't know what the fifth brother thinks? ”

"I think so." Wang Kunjun has no objection to Zhang Weixin's proposal.

Immediately, Wang Kunjun ordered someone to invite Zhang Xiaofei to the main hall and told his wife the news about Jia Run'an, and then put forward Zhang Weixin's suggestion and said, "Now that our team is employing people, a useful talent like the Run'an brothers must not let him have any accidents." Therefore, I have to trouble my wife to give an order to the branches of 'Dark Feather', so that they can inquire carefully, be sure to find out the news of the Run'an brothers and the caravan he led, and report back to Beiping in time. ”

"Okay, I'll go and ask Brother Zhiwei to give orders to the following branches. It is estimated that it will take three to five days for the exact news to come back. Zhang Xiaofei said with a smile, her face full of confidence.

The efficiency of the "Dark Feather" did have the basis for Zhang Xiaofei's self-confidence, and Zheng Zhiwei's investigation order was only three days after it was issued, and the news came from the Yingzhou branch of the "Dark Feather" that the caravan of the Cui family in Shandong had arrived in Benzhou, and it was expected that it would be about five days before it entered the Beiping Army, a prefecture and county controlled by the Later Zhou Imperial Court.

After receiving the news from the "Dark Feather", the crossing team immediately began to arrange. After discussion by the committee, it was finally decided to send Liang Ziyue, who was most familiar with Jia Run'an and was personally responsible for testing him, to go south to meet Jia Run'an and his caravan, accompanied by a company of soldiers from the "Ranger Battalion" led by Muttle. Liang Ziyue and Muttel also handled things neatly, and the decision made by the committee in the morning, they had already taken people out of Beiping City that afternoon and went in the direction of Gu'an along the road.

One hundred and twenty miles from Beiping City to Gu'an, Liang Ziyue and Muttel led people to the vicinity of Gu'an County in the afternoon of the next day. However, considering that Gu'an had already left the jurisdiction of the Beiping Army, it would be very inappropriate for him to bring more than 100 heavily armed soldiers into the city. Therefore, after discussion, Liang Ziyue and Muttel decided that Liang Ziyue would lead a few guards in civilian clothes into the city, get in touch with the local "Dark Feather" branch, and wait in the city to meet Jia Run'an's caravan. Muttel led the rest of his soldiers to camp in a hidden place outside the city, and waited for Liang Ziyue and Jia Run'an's caravan to leave the city before heading north together.

After waiting boredly for five days in Gu'an City, just when Liang Ziyue began to wonder if the "Dark Feather" branch in Yingzhou had sent the wrong news, or that Jia Run'an's caravan had encountered something on the way, and was about to send someone to notify the branches of "Dark Feather" along the way to assist in investigating the whereabouts of this caravan again, before the afternoon of the tenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar in the sixth year of Xiande, the guards who had been in charge of finding out the news near the city gate finally came to report to him that the caravan from the Cui clan in Shandong had entered the city from the south gate of Gu'an City and stayed in an inn near the south gate.

Liang Ziyue, who got the news, did not delay for a moment, he ordered someone to deliver a letter to Mutel outside the city, and on the other hand, he took a few guards to leave the Gu'an branch of the "Tianfulou" where he lived, and went to the inn where the Cui family's caravan lived to meet Jia Run'an.

Although Jia Runan has led a caravan to Youzhou to buy goods in the past few years, I don't know what the reason is, the Cui family, who originally bought goods twice in Youzhou a year, did not send anyone to buy goods until the end of last year after buying goods once at the beginning of last year. Since the beginning of this year, the situation has become increasingly tense because of the Northern Expedition that the Later Zhou court is about to start, and Cui Yongnian has even suspended the caravan that went north to buy goods, and has not even entered the goods once. In other words, Liang Ziyue and Jia Run'an have not seen each other for more than a year and a half, so when they met in the inn where Jia Run'an lived, both of them had some feelings of reunion after a long absence. …,

However, after all, Gu'an City is not a place controlled by the crossing team, and the place where they meet is an inn with mixed personnel, so after the two brothers exchanged pleasantries for a while, Liang Ziyue changed his words and whispered to Jia Run'an The arrangement that the committee ordered him and Mutel to come to respond, and suggested that everyone meet the next morning by the official road five miles outside the north gate of Gu'an City, and after meeting with the "rangers" led by Mutel, they went to Beiping City together. Regarding Liang Ziyue's arrangement, Jia Runan did not have any objections.

Early in the morning of the eleventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, Liang Ziyue led the guards to leave the Gu'an branch of the "Tianfulou", and left Gu'an City as soon as the city gate was opened, and went to the meeting place agreed with Haode yesterday. About half an hour after Liang Ziyue and others left the city, Jia Runan also led the caravan out of the north gate and headed north along the official road. Jia Run'an and his caravan first met Liang Ziyue, who had been waiting for a while, five miles north of Gu'an City, and then met with the "rangers" led by Muttel at the edge of a dense forest fifteen miles away from Gu'an City. The two sides converged into a team of nearly 300 people and slowly walked towards Beiping City, which was more than 100 miles away.

Due to the drag of the Cui family's caravan, the return speed of Liang Ziyue and the others was much slower than when they went south, and it took a full three days for the cadres to complete the previous journey of Liang Ziyue, Muttel and others in only one day. On the 14th day of the seventh lunar month of the sixth year of Xiande, Liang Ziyue and Muttel accompanied Jia Run'an to slowly enter the Kaiyang Gate in the south of Beiping City.