A middle-aged man came in from outside, also a Han from Youzhou, surnamed Liu, after coming to the capital, he changed his name to Liu Suifeng, he is the most powerful right-hand man of Zhou's shopkeeper, Liu Suifeng's eyes are very poisonous, and he can recognize many officials who come to the restaurant to eat in regular clothes, and then he will slowly get close, and then try to get useful information.

A few days ago, Liu Suifeng knew an official of the Ordnance Supervision and Gunpowder Department, and he spent a lot of money to talk to him.

"How is it, have you heard the information of Iron Fire Thunder" As soon as Liu Suifeng entered the door, Shopkeeper Zhou asked eagerly.

The main task of the shopkeeper Zhou in the past two years is to get the formula and manufacturing method of the iron fire thunder, which is a secret that the Liao State heard from the high-level of the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty has developed a powerful firearm, called the iron fire thunder.

The firearms craftsmen of the Liao State understood as soon as they heard it, they also made wooden shell fire mines, porcelain shell fire mines, and also wanted to develop iron shell fire mines, but they developed for more than 20 years, and they never succeeded.

This was a task personally ordered by Yelu Hongji, the emperor of Liao, which put a lot of pressure on the shopkeeper of Zhou.

Liu Suifeng was not polite, came in and sat down and said: "It's not so easy to get this firearm formula, you have to put in some more energy and capital." ”

"Wang Yong is already the deputy manager of the Ordnance Department, and he can't get it yet."

"He knows this iron fire thunder, but this iron fire thunder is not made in the capital at all, but made in Kunzhou overseas, and after it is shipped, it is placed in the special warehouse of the Ordnance Supervisor, and each iron fire thunder has a number, even if it expires and is destroyed invalidly, it must be transported back to Kunzhou to be destroyed, and the craftsmen of the Gunpowder Division have not seen what the iron fire thunder looks like."

Shopkeeper Zhou suddenly showed a disappointed look on his face, "Then what else can be done?"

"I don't know if it's okay or not, Wang Yong took our benefits, but he can't do anything, he feels very guilty, he happens to have a cousin who is in charge of Kunzhou affairs in the overseas Jingluo Mansion, he can introduce this cousin to me."

"The affairs of Kunzhou have long been out of the hands of the Overseas Economic Strategy Government, so this should be done by the Overseas Division under the Third Division!"

"Shopkeeper, you're confused, this year's Overseas Economic Strategy Mansion has been given to the Governor's Hall again, you forgot"

Shopkeeper Zhou suddenly remembered that although Kunzhou was assigned to the Zhizheng Hall several years ago, after Fan Ning left office this year, the Zhizheng Tang took over the Overseas Economic Strategy Mansion again and split it into the North Ya and the South Ya, the North Ya was responsible for Kunzhou, Tanzhou and Ryukyu Prefecture, the South Ya was in charge of the Nanyang and the Southern Continent, the South Ya was in Quanzhou, and the North Ya was in the capital.

"Can the people of Beiya get this kind of top-secret information like the formula?" asked Shopkeeper Zhou suspiciously.

Liu Suifeng said: "It is unlikely to get the formula, I wonder if I can get an invalid iron fire thunder, when the failed iron fire thunder is sent back to Kunzhou, it is not so strict, maybe he can secretly get one." ”

Shopkeeper Zhou slapped his thigh, this is a good way, send a real thing over, let those gunpowder craftsmen study it themselves, and they can complete the task themselves.

"What is the weakness of this officer?" he hurriedly asked.

"I asked Wang Yong, his cousin wants to buy a house in the capital, but he doesn't have enough money, and he is so anxious that we will definitely be able to buy him at this time."

Shopkeeper Zhou suddenly remembered the latest task he had just received not long ago, and the imperial court ordered him to immediately inquire about the information of the Liao State fleet going to Kunzhou, which happened to be inquired through this official from the Northern Ya.

Shopkeeper Zhou immediately clapped, "No problem, I'll give you as much money as he wants!" ”

........

The overseas economic strategy is indeed mixed after Fan Ning's resignation, not only the military power is gone, but also merged with the overseas division under the three divisions, and then split into the overseas economic strategy of the north and south of the government, the north is in the capital, and the following is divided into three divisions, among which the official in charge of the Kunzhou division is called Wang Qinying, Huangyou was born in the fifth year of Jinshi, and he was in his thirties, and he was mixed into a petty official from the eighth grade.

In an elegant room of the Bohol Restaurant, Wang Yong, deputy manager of the Firearms Bureau, introduced Liu Suifeng to his cousin Wang Qinying.

"Liu Yanai thinks too highly of me!"

Wang Qinying hurriedly explained to Liu Suifeng: "I'm just a minor official from the eighth grade, and I'm just responsible for contacting Kunzhou, and the governor of Kunzhou is a sixth-grade official, where can I manage them." ”

"It's just a little misunderstanding, it doesn't hurt, please sit down in the royal capital."

Liu Suifeng asked Wang Qinying to sit down very enthusiastically, and Wang Yong said on the side: "Liu Yanei's family is a wealthy family of the famous mansion, this Baohe Restaurant is his home, there are still several properties in the capital, and there is too much money to spend, the real wide Yanei!" ”

"Lao Wang's words are not kind, what is the amount of money that cannot be spent, there are many rich people in the capital, if you spread this, do I want to mix in the capital."

"I'm just a rough man, I can't speak, don't be angry with Liu Yanei."

"Huh! I'm also a rough person, running errands for my family in the capital, unlike Wang Dushi, but I was born as a Jinshi, and my future is immeasurable! ”

Liu Suifeng toasted Wang Qinying with a glass of wine, and asked with a smile: "I heard that Wang Dushi wants to buy a house in the capital."

Wang Qinying waved her hand, "What is buying a house, I just want to buy a small yard in the outer city, the size of seven or eight points of land is enough, bring my parents from the countryside, and I don't want to rent a house anymore." ”

Liu Suifeng thought for a while and said, "How much money does Wang Dushi plan to buy?"

"I fancy a yard, the size of one acre of land, located in the east of the city, the landlord offered seven hundred yuan, this price is really cheap, although it is close to Caomen, but after all, it is in the outer city, the landlord only gave me five days, I borrowed money everywhere."

"How much is there to do in the royal capital?"

"There are still 300 pieces left, hey! Tomorrow is the deadline, and I'm going to die. ”

The reason why Wang Qinying came to dinner was that his cousin Wang Yong told him that this Liu Suifeng was willing to lend him money, which was his only hope, and after speaking, he looked at Liu Suifeng expectantly.

Liu Suifeng smiled and said, "Aren't all Jinshi quite rich?"

"Hey! That is to climb the high branches, become the son-in-law of the powerful, although I am a jinshi, but I have long been married and have children, and the ranking in the examination is also low, people can't look down on it at all, can only rely on a little money to survive, fortunately last year I went to Kunzhou, people gave me a bead, came back and sold it for 300 yuan, this is a small fortune, with the idea of buying a house. ”

"No problem, you don't need to borrow, it's just 300 yuan! If I give it to Wang Dushi, I should make friends with Wang Dushi. ”

Wang Qinying hurriedly waved his hand, "Then how embarrassing, I can't ask for Liu Yan's money for nothing!" ”

"That's the case, our family also wants to invest in Kunzhou's timber, but I'm afraid it's not safe, can Wang Dushi tell me, how many Kunzhou garrisons have any defenses, I heard that Liao also has a navy, will Kunzhou be captured by the Liao navy, in case it is captured, our family's investment will be over, if Wang Dushi can tell me, this 300 yuan will be my consulting fee."

Wang Qinying was a little hesitant, Wang Yong encouraged on the side: "Big brother, tomorrow is the deadline, if you don't take the money over, the house will be bought by others, you will regret crying!" ”

Wang Qinying's heart was crossed, and he said to Liu Suifeng: "I'll tell you a top-secret news, you must not tell it." ”

"Don't worry! Who do I tell to go?"

Wang Qinying lowered his voice and said: "The Liao State is indeed going to attack Kunzhou, but it encountered the Song Army Naval Division in ambush on the way, and the sixty sea troop carriers of the Liao State have all been wiped out, so your family can rest assured to invest!" ”

"Where did the Song Junshui Division get the information reliable?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know, my scope of authority doesn't have access to this level of intelligence, unless I can be promoted to counselor, I may be able to inquire for Liu Yanei."

"Huh! Since it's top-secret information, I'm just curious, thanks to the information provided by Wang Dushi, I will contact the family immediately. ”

Liu Suifeng took thirty taels of gold to Wang Qinying, then said goodbye and left, and Wang Yong sent Liu Suifeng out.

Wang Qinying played with three ingots of gold in his hand, and the corners of his mouth showed an imperceptible sneer.

.........

In the innkeeper's room, Shopkeeper Zhou listened to Liu Suifeng's report, his face was very ugly, and he sighed and said: "Even sixty troop carriers have been said, his intelligence should be true, and the Liao Army's naval division has been wiped out." ”

Shopkeeper Zhou walked a few steps with his hands in his hands, and then asked: "He said that the Song army was ambushed in the middle of the road."

"Yes! I also specially asked him, how did Song Jun know this information?"

"Did he say it?"

"He said that his rank didn't know this information, and if he could be promoted to a counselor, he would be able to tell me."

"What does he mean by that?"

"I think this Wang Qinying is very greedy, he is hinting to us that he wants to be promoted! In fact, I just want money to do it. ”

Shopkeeper Zhou pondered for a moment and said: "If this Wang Qinying is reliable, it is okay to cultivate him, but we must understand him thoroughly to prevent him from betraying us, so that we can send someone to follow him for three days to understand his every move, and to make sure that he is just an ordinary and unambitious official." ”

"I see! I'll arrange for someone to keep an eye on him. ”

Liu went down with the wind, Shopkeeper Zhou frowned, he couldn't tell Liao Guo the news of the destruction of the sixty ships, then the Privy Council would not be satisfied, he had to tell Liao Guo where the Song army got the information, the time was very urgent, and he really couldn't delay it for too long.

"I hope this Wang Qinying is a reliable person." Shopkeeper Zhou muttered to himself.