Although the spies who trafficked Panax notoginseng were caught, Zhong Huan was not happy because the quantity was wrong. The other party bought a thousand tons of Panax notoginseng, a total of 100,000 catties of Panax notoginseng, but what they seized was only 20% or 200 jins of Panax notoginseng.
There are still 800 loads whose whereabouts are unknown.
After the interrogation spies obtained the confession, Zhong Huan immediately divided his troops into two groups, leaving 200 men to continue to control Pujing Pass, while he led 200 cavalry to Zheng County.
The other party is lurking in Zheng County, grinding Panax notoginseng into powder. It takes a long time to grind a large amount of Panax notoginseng into powder. Maybe he only caught the first batch, and the remaining three thousand are still being ground into powder.
With this glimmer of hope, two hundred cavalry rushed to Zheng County and surrounded a house outside the North City close to the city gate. They confessed in their confession that they rented this house and that there was a big tree in the yard, which was a unique feature.
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The soldiers kicked open the door and rushed in. Zhong Huan also rushed in. They found no mistake and found more than a dozen stone mills in the room. There were still medicinal powders left in the stone mills, but the house was empty.
"Ask the neighbors when did the people here leave?" Zhong Huan ordered angrily.
At this time, a soldier stepped forward to report, "I have reported to the commander that there are no traces of camels having been there. There are no excrements, footprints, or smells."
Zhong Huan's heart sank. He realized that the spies' confessions were false. The confessions of several captured spies were all the same. They rented a mansion outside the city, including 300 camels. Apparently four of them were arrested.
The spies had discussed the confession in advance.
Soon, the soldiers brought news from several neighbors. They had never seen hundreds of camels, only a few large carts, and unloaded many bags. Then they bought many large millstones, and there were only four or five people in front and behind them.
Commander Huang Wei whispered: "Is this a plan to divert the tiger away from the mountain? We will be transferred from Pujin Pass, and they will pass through Pujin Pass again?"
Zhong Huan shook his head, "This possibility is unlikely. We are not fools and have withdrawn all the troops from Pujin Pass. They also know this very well. As long as they are caught once, they will be stricter."
"Maybe they left in several batches, and we only caught the first batch?"
"What should we do with the three hundred camels?" Zhong Huan asked after thinking about it.
"Sell the camels and exchange them all for mules." Huang Wei continued.
"But have you ever thought about how long it would take to grind a thousand tons of medicinal materials into powder? Three days is definitely not enough."
"If they only grind part of it into powder, and the rest is still raw material, and if the first batch passes the customs smoothly, they will take the second batch, and then the third batch, the leader, this possibility is very high."
Zhong Huan nodded, "This possibility is indeed possible, but it is too time-consuming and risky. They actually have another low-risk method."
"What can we do?" Several subordinates asked at the same time.
"Take Lantian Pass, take Shangluo Road to the Central Plains, and then go northward from the Central Plains."
Huang Wei puzzled: "If that's the case, they can just go through Lantian Pass, then why do they have to grind it into powder and then go through Pujin Pass?"
Zhong Huan said lightly: "You have ignored an important premise. They were not discovered when they left Jingzhao. If they were never discovered, why did they still take Shangluo Road? Why didn't they just take Pujin Pass?"
Huang Wei thought about it, it was really like this. If he was not discovered, there was no need to take a long way, he could just go directly to Pujin Pass.
Zhong Huan continued: "I think they planted a spy at Pujin Pass. When we arrived at Pujin Pass, the spy immediately went to inform the other party, so they changed their plan and went south through Lantian Pass. As for why they still stayed
A few people grinded flour and then continued to walk through Pujin Pass. I think the other party was confusing us, making us think that they were still hiding in the pass to grind flour, thereby buying time for them to take Shangluo Road. We must know that there is still a long way from Lantian Pass to Wuguan.
It takes three days to leave, and if we notify Wuguan to intercept, they really won’t be able to leave, so they throw out a small part to confuse us."
"Then what should we do? Should we inform Wuguan to intercept now?"
Zhong Huan sighed inwardly and informed Wuguan that only Jingzhao could send pigeon messages. They had to send people on horseback to rush back to Jingzhao, which would take another two or three days, and all the time was wasted on the road.
"Let's go to Lantian Pass to find out."
Everyone rushed to Lantian Pass again, and as expected by Zhong Huan, the general guarding the gate told Zhong Huan that there was indeed a camel team, about 300 camels and 20 carts passing through Lantian Pass four days ago. The goods they declared
It's dried ginger.
After drying, Panax notoginseng is indeed very similar to dried ginger. Most people will not notice the difference unless they taste it.
If you passed the customs four days ago, then the Wuguan Pass should also be passed. Even if you block the entire Yellow River, it will be useless. The other party can still sneak across the Yellow River through small fishing boats. What's more, it is impossible to block the entire Yellow River and thousands of miles of river for a few medicinal materials.
They can't completely block it either.
Zhong Huan tasted defeat for the first time. Zhong Huan left twenty of his men to continue monitoring at Pujin Pass, and Zhong Huan led the brigade back to Jingzhao.
In Yecheng County, Ruzhou, twenty cargo ships were loading cargo at the Lishui pier. Pi Xiangyang watched the cargo being transported with complicated eyes. From Lishui, you can enter the Yellow River through the shipping water system and go to Hebei. The Yongwang Mansion does not prohibit normal connections between the Central Plains and Hebei.
In their trade transactions, as long as they are not contraband, they will not be in trouble even if they encounter a patrol ship on the Yellow River.
What's more, they just crossed the Yellow River from the mouth of Bianhe River to Huaizhou on the other side.
At this time, one of his subordinates came and said, "Chief, the camels have been sold and the tax has been paid."
Pi Xiangyang took the tax bill. It said that dried ginger and medicinal materials were worth 80,000 kilograms and worth 4,000 guan. He laughed. With this tax bill, they could go to Hebei without any hindrance.
In the official room of Prince Yong's Mansion, Wang Hao and Zhong Huan apologized to Chen Qing.
Zhong Huan reported the detailed process to Chen Qing. After listening to the report, Chen Qing nodded and said: "It is impossible to prevent it. You have done everything you should do. The responsibility is not yours, and I will not punish you, but I hope you can sum up the experience and lessons."
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Wang Hao bowed and said: "Reporting to Your Highness, we have indeed learned a lesson!"
"What lessons have you learned? Tell me about it?" Chen Qingxiao asked.
"underestimate the enemy!"
Wang Hao said in a deep voice: "We have always been very successful in dealing with enemy spies, and basically we have not encountered any opponents, so this time we also took it for granted to block the road to Hebei, but underestimated the opponent's adaptability, so that the opponent took it easy.
The fundamental reason for escaping is that we underestimated the enemy and thought that the enemy would definitely go through Pujin Pass. If a similar situation happens again, we will send eagle letters from Jingzhao to various passes to intercept them."
After a pause, Wang Hao continued: "Your Highness, there is actually a glimmer of hope. When the other party goes to Hebei, they will inevitably take the Yellow River. If they block each river mouth and increase the number of checkpoints at each county seat, there is still a chance to block them."
Chen Qing smiled and said: "You just said that you should learn a lesson and not underestimate the enemy. Now you underestimate the opponent. Does the opponent have to take the route that was seized by us? Could it be that he can't take the waterway? He will
Can't bypass the pass? He has to take the river mouth to cross the Yellow River? Can't he hide in a small county for two months? Or hide the medicine in the cargo, like ants moving, and send it to Hebei bit by bit? What if it were me?
, I will go to Xiangyang to rent a big boat and sail along the Yangtze River, then go out to sea from the Yangtze River and take a detour to Hebei. I can think of everything, but the other party can’t think of it?"
Wang Hao's face turned red, and he bowed and said, "I know my faults because of my humble position!"