Chapter 573 Operation Falcon (II)

There is a famous wine shop in the east of Youzhou City, called Beiyan wine shop. There are rumors among the people that this was opened by An Lushan’s adviser Gao Shang. There were more than a dozen Khitan Hu people who were drunk and made trouble in the wine shop, but they were soon captured by the army that rushed to the scene. The rumors that it had a tough backstage have been confirmed.

The Beiyan wine shop is extremely large in scale, covering an area of ​​ten acres, with a front and back tents. The restaurant is magnificent and elegant inside. The backyard is a Hu tent, with large pieces of roasted beef and mutton, and authentic horse milk wine. Therefore, both Han and Hu people like this wine shop very much, and it has become the most famous wine shop in Youzhou City, enjoying the reputation of "living in Youzhou and eating in Beiyan".

After a meal at Beiyan Tavern, it became the wish of many Youzhou and even Hebei people. At noon that day, the Beiyan Tavern was crowded with diners. In a elegant room by the window on the second floor, there were two men sitting next to each of them. There was also a beautiful lady who was as beautiful as a flower and beautiful as a girl to serve.

One of them seemed to be a little drunk and was not talking smoothly. He lowered his head and waved his hand and refused, "I appreciate Brother Zhao's kindness. I really can't drink anymore. I will be scolded to death by the master when I go back later."

Although this man who was a little drunk was wearing a glossy silk long gown, a piece of Taoist robe was revealed on the hem. His name was Shuchenzi. He was originally a Taoist priest from Chongyuan Temple in Zhaozhou. Half a month ago, he followed his master to Youzhou to offer gunpowder formula. These Taoist priests made great money because of their contribution to gunpowder. Not only did they wear a lot of clothes, but they also had a common mind. Many people secretly went to brothels and brothels.

This dust collector was originally responsible for ringing the bell in the Taoist temple. He was the most useless among all the brothers. He couldn't even deal with gunpowder preparation. He was only responsible for doing odd jobs for the brothers, mopping the floor to wash clothes, building wooden houses for experiments, etc., and was the least in the eyes of the master. However, after his master Shi Chongming received a heavy reward, he also gave him several hundred stagnants of money. This was simply incredible for the dust collector who had saved less than 500 tins of money in several years. The money quickly made him fall into depravity. He tried everything. He was originally a piece of white paper, but now he was painted in a mess by the destructive life. He liked this Yanzhao restaurant the most and came here for lunch every day.

The man sitting opposite him was the gambling friend he met when he was gambling for the first time. He was named Zhao Jiaju. According to him, he claimed to be a playboy from a wealthy family in Youzhou City. He had been very ill-gotten with them and soon became close friends. He went to gambling together and went to prostitution together. Moreover, Zhao Jiaju was generous and he rushed to pay many big accounts, otherwise the hundreds of stagnants of money in his hand would have been spent long ago.

This dust collector is because he does odd jobs and does not know anything about gunpowder, and never goes to the gunpowder factory, so he is much more free than his brothers. Except for having to go back to work in the afternoon and evening, his master basically ignores him during the rest of the time, and the defenders stationed at the residences of the Taoists also allow him to enter and exit. Of course, it is absolutely not allowed to bring people in, and even women can do it.

In fact, when these Taoists presented the recipes in their hands, their value in An Lushan's eyes was greatly devalued. They were basically no different from other gunpowder craftsmen. They went to the gunpowder workshop every morning and worked until very late at night before coming back to bed. Only their master and a few core disciples were also responsible for the heavy responsibility of researching gunpowder. They were strictly controlled and had tens of thousands of ounces of money, but they could not go out for a step.

"Chaochen, your master and brothers will not be able to have supper until the hour of the year, so will they not be hungry?"

"There is no way. They said they were very busy during this period. Alas! They just stayed in the factory, but An Lushan refused and said that people were not allowed to stay in the factory at night, so they had to run back and forth."

"Then they go to work every morning before dawn? Are they not tired?"

"There is nothing to do about this. An Lushan asked to make 30,000 paper thunders within a month. Everyone was working overtime. I heard from the senior brother that the warehouse was full of various raw materials, and he bought all the sulfur saltpeter in Hebei Road, and sent people to Qingzhou to buy sulfur. I heard that sulfur was not enough."

"Why do you have to buy sulfur? Isn't it good to mine yourself?"

"It's not that easy. I used to hear from my master that there is no sulfur mine at all on Hebei Road. Now they are in a hurry to ask for it, so they have to buy it everywhere."

Zhao Jiaju nodded and remembered his words one by one. He picked up the wine glass and smiled: "Come! Come! Come! Let's drink again."

Qiao Chenzi was already drunk. He was about to rush back to cook for his fellow brothers in the afternoon. He really couldn't drink any more, so he begged: "Brother Zhao, spare me! I really have to go back, otherwise I will anger the master and I won't be able to come out next time."

Zhao Jiaju smiled and said, "Okay! I'll let the carriage take you back."

He asked the clerk to settle the tent, and then he helped the drunk Dust Crusher downstairs. His carriage was parked downstairs. He helped Dust Crusher onto the car and ordered: "Go to Chongyang Temple!"

The carriage started and drove towards Chongyang Temple outside the city.

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Zhao Jiaju looked at the carriage away, and the smile on his face slowly disappeared, and he turned around and quickly left the Beiyan Tavern.

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Half an hour later, Zhao Jiaju came to Miaoshou Huichun Hall. In front of Miaoshou Huichun Hall, there were still people who were seeking medical treatment. A small alley next to him went in, came to a side door, patted the door, and the door opened a crack.

"It's me, Ka Kui!"

The door opened, Zhao Jiaju flashed into the side door, and the side door slammed and closed again.

In the quiet room of the inner hall, Zhao Jiaju was sitting and drinking tea. At this time, footsteps came from outside the door, and the shopkeeper Zhang Yue walked in quickly.

Zhao Jiaju immediately stood up, bowed and said, "See the master!"

"Yeah! Sit down!"

Zhang Yue sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, and smiled and said, "How is it, what have you gained today?"

Zhao Jiaju took out two pages of sorted information and handed it to Zhang Yue and said with a smile: "The harvest is pretty good today. That guy said everything after drinking too much."

Zhang Yue took the information and looked it up, and his eyes suddenly lit up. There was insufficient sulfur. This was an extremely important information!

Zhao Jiaju said again: "I have completely understood the life rules of those Taoist priests. And after Qiao Chenzi said, it was not his master who really mastered the gunpowder technology, but his senior brother Wang Chenzi. He is an expert in alchemy. He has been responsible for preparing and studying gunpowder a few months ago. An Lushan doesn't seem to know about this secret. They thought it was Shi Chongming who mastered the technology."

"Well! This is the key."

At this time, Zhang Yue took out a booklet and recorded today's information in detail on the booklet. He put down his pen and looked at the hourglass in the corner of the house. The time was almost the same, and it was time to set off. He collected the booklet and stood up and said, "You are still as usual. You will continue to approach the Taoist priest tomorrow and get as much information as possible. I am going out now, so you can stay here and reminisce all the information these days, so that there will be no omissions."

Zhao Jiaju quickly stood up and said, "As for the order of humble duty!"

Zhang Yue nodded, then left Miaoshou Huichuntang. He brought a confidant medicine boy, got on a carriage that was specially designed for treatment for people, and drove out of Youzhou City.

The carriage in Miaoshou Huichuntang has a special logo, which is a white lotus. This logo has a lofty prestige in Youzhou. Although the city inspection in Youzhou is very strict, the soldiers guarding the city will be respectful when they see this carriage with white lotus paintings and will never go forward to check. The carriage passed through the city gate and headed east.

An hour later, the carriage arrived at Guangping Town, a small town close to the Sanggan River, with about two or three hundred families. This is the only way to go to Xishan. There are many merchants coming and going. Since it is not a strategic road, An Lushan's army did not have strict control over the place, and only a team of soldiers were stationed in this town.

Zhang Yue's carriage entered the town and stopped in front of an inn. The inn was called Xishan Inn. It was actually a small inn. There could only be 20 or 30 guests at most, run by an old couple. At this time, there was a full sign at the entrance of the inn. This was a rare situation. The inn had been booked by more than a dozen merchants.

As soon as Zhang Yue got out of the carriage, two big men dressed as merchants immediately walked out of the inn. One of them stepped forward and bowed and said, "Sir, is Zhang, the shopkeeper of Huichuntang in the wonderful hand?"

"I'm right here, I'm here to treat Mr. Qin from Chang'an."

Both sides' eyes touched and they understood it. The man waved his hand and said, "Please, Shopkeeper Zhang!

Zhang Yue turned around and ordered the little boy a few words, letting him stay in the carriage and wait. He carried the medicine box and entered the inn. Every five steps in the inn, a big man stood there. He was tall and tall, with a cold look, which made people feel frightened.

Zhang Yue calmly followed the man to the innermost courtyard. At the entrance of the courtyard were two men with a tiger-backed and bear-waisted waists, just like the two generals of Hum and Ha at the entrance of the temple, with a ferocious appearance.

The big man came into the house first and reported, then came out to Zhang Yue and said, "Mr. Zhang, please come in! Mr. Qin is waiting for you in the house."

Zhang Yue pushed open the door and walked in. He saw two people sitting in the room. One was a literati in his green robe, while the other was a tall and thin man, over thirty years old, with sharp eyes, long arms, and large joints on his arms. He was a shrewd and capable man. He was Qin Haiyang, the right general of the Inner Guards, who was once the scout leader of the Anxi Army.

When Zhang Yue returned to Thunder Ye the next year, he met Qin Haiyang once, and he still had a vague impression. Although Zhang Yue's immediate boss was Hu Peiyun, not Qin Haiyang, Qin Haiyang was one level higher than him in the inner guard. Maybe Qin Haiyang would become the general of the inner guard in the future and would be his boss. He hurriedly stepped forward and bowed and said, "Subor Zhang Yue, please see General Qin."

Qin Haiyang knew that Zhang Yue was also from the Yinlong Society, with a special identity, and this mission could only be completed with the assistance of the Hebei Intelligence Hall. He quickly stood up and greeted and said, "Lord Zhang, don't be polite, please sit down!"

Zhang Yue sat down, but his eyes glanced at the middle-aged scholar next to him from time to time. The more he looked, he felt familiar. Suddenly he remembered it and pointed at him in surprise and said, "You... you are Yan Zhuang."

The middle-aged man was Li Qing'an's military advisor Yan Zhuang. He had been to Miaoshou Huichun Hall many times when he was in Youzhou. When he saw Zhang Yue recognize him, he bowed and smiled slightly, "Where hasn't met in life? Zhang Manager Zhang hasn't seen him for many years, so I'm fine!"

Zhang Yue also heard that Yan Zhuang was already Li Qing'an's confidant aide. He did not dare to neglect him, and he bowed and smiled: "Yes, we haven't seen each other for eight years! I remember Mr. Yan's stomach is not very good. What's going on now?"

"Thank you, Shopkeeper Zhang, for your old habit. You usually pay attention to diet and maintenance, and it's basically fine."

After a few greetings, the three of them gradually turned to the main topic. Zhang Yue first asked: "I received news from Chang'an that General Qin was going to lead five hundred elite troops to come. I wonder if everyone has arrived?"

Qin Haiyang was a scout for a long time. He knew that when performing major tasks, he must be honest with his friendly forces so that he could cooperate with each other. He nodded and said without hiding from Zhang Yue: "This time I brought the 500 soldiers of the First Falcon Battalion. We all came separately. Last night, all the soldiers arrived, and a lot of them were there. Now they are hiding in the West Mountain. They can all arrive within half an hour."

Zhang Yue was moved by the terror. He only knew to send 500 elite troops, but he didn't expect that the first Falcon Battalion came. The first Falcon Battalion was originally called the First Scout Battalion of the Anxi Army, which was the scout battalion from which Li Qing'an came. That scout battalion was the most elite army of the Anxi Army. All scouts were carefully selected from hundreds of thousands of Anxi Army. Each of them could use one to serve ten, and five hundred people was equivalent to the combat power of five thousand troops. They never easily fought together. Li Qing'an actually sent this army, which was enough to show his importance to Anlushan firearms.

Zhang Yue's heart was also a little heavy. He felt the heavy responsibility he shouldered. He nodded silently, took out a booklet and handed it to Qin Haiyang, and said, "This is all the information we have collected in half a month. Please check it out by General Qin and Mr. Yan."

Qin Haiyang took the thick book and flipped through it. Before he could read the content, he couldn't help but secretly admire the contents of the book. The contents of the book were very organized and detailed. For example, the situation of the dozen Taoist priests, accommodation, daily routines, including their names, abilities, appearances, and their mastery of gunpowder, as well as the location of the gunpowder factory, the number of warehouses, the number of craftsmen, the number of troops stationed, etc., were recorded in detail. He wrote the information that had always been of high value, which made people see it at a glance.

Qin Haiyang handed the booklet to Yan Zhuang and praised Zhang Yue: "Very good, very good, very meticulous. After this operation was successful, we made half of the credit."

Zhang Yue felt a little proud. It is said that Qin Haiyang rarely praised others and liked to pick things up. Today, he praised him, which means that his efforts were not in vain. He quickly said modestly: "General Qin has been awarded too much. This is the duty of his subordinates. Of course, he must do it well."

At this time, Yan Zhuang next to him suddenly asked, "Is An Lushan insufficient sulfur now?"

"It is true that Hebei does not produce sulfur, and all the sulfur in all prefectures and counties have been scraped away. It is said that it is not enough. They have sent people to purchase it outside Hebei Road."
Chapter completed!