After the Mid-Autumn Festival, officials in Chang'an were busy again.
At noon, the affairs of Prince Qin's Mansion were just resting, and Li Xia had already led a group of guards to drive to the Weihe Pier.
Afterwards, a river boat sailed down the Wei River and arrived at Tongguan at night.
Liu Yuanzhen held a lantern and welcomed Li Xia into Guancheng. While talking, he went straight to the garrison in the east city.
"The king actually came here in person. If the officials in Chang'an cannot find someone who can take on the task, I am willing to shoulder more of the burden."
"There are too many things to take on, and there is always not enough talent. I have just started a business and I can't rest."
"It's strange to say that the Song Dynasty has many officials, but the king has few talents." Liu Yuanzhen said with emotion, "This is because the scholar-officials in Jiangnan like to take up a false position, resign, return home, and raise their hopes. All their glory and wealth are in their hometown.
The king wants to start a business, but he wants talents who can do practical things, which is not enough."
He has always been easy to chat with, and if Li Xia talked to him, he could keep talking for a long time.
"Let's get down to business."
"Yes. I have left all military and defense matters to Mao Yi'er. In the past six months, I have mainly dealt with Henan."
"how?"
"Kublai Khan is very careful about us. Because the king is good at using spies and even affected the Battle of the Yellow River, he can't help but be vigilant. Henan is the place where the transfer method is most powerful. Now Shi Tianze has been transferred
After returning to Yanjing to serve as the prime minister, Dong Wenbing was appointed as the economic envoy to Henan Province. However, many places were occupied by Semu people. The Mongols monitored thousands of households of the Han army. Although there were some Mongolians who were directly in charge of local areas, they were not many. Compared with the generals of the Han army,
, Kublai Khan still has few Mongolian generals..."
Li Xia asked: "Do you have any information on the grassland?"
Liu Yuanzhen shook his head and said: "No, either the war situation has not reached the Central Plains, or Kublai Khan's precautions against our spies have taken effect and we have not been able to find out. In addition, although it is unlikely, I still want to say, maybe
It was Kublai Khan who was defeated, so he blocked the news."
Li Xia finally smiled a little because of his humor.
"If you still have this kind of hope for Brother Ali, I'm afraid you will be disappointed."
Liu Yuanzhen said: "It's really disappointing. Brother Ali has never been weak in terms of strength, but in terms of people."
"Let's see who we compare with..."
While the two were chatting, they climbed to the highest point of the garrison, and a soldier handed them a lookout tube.
Li Xia took it and looked to the east, where he could faintly see the light of the fire.
After a long time, someone rushed to Tongguan Pass and was hoisted up to the top of the city in a hanging basket.
Li Xia did not reveal his identity and only watched Liu Yuanzhen contact the other party.
"Where is the forest?"
"The envoy is still arranging the goods with Mr. Dong later. Here is the cargo list. Please take a look at it, General."
"..."
Liu Yuanzhen and Wang Zhen are similar in that they both like to talk eloquently, but they are also different. Wang Zhen likes to impress people with words, and language is his weapon to stir up trouble; Liu Yuanzhen likes to talk just because he is enthusiastic and likes to chat, but he can actually do practical things.
In the past six months in Tongguan, he still did something practical without making any noise.
Tonight was when he tested the first result for Li Xia.
Soon, Liu Yuanzhen handed the bill of goods to Li Xia.
"Tonight is the first batch of goods, 10,000 kilograms of ironware and 10,000 kilograms of coal each shipped from Junzhou Iron Works."
"Be careful when trading, don't let a trickster sneak into Tongguan."
"Your Majesty, don't worry..."
Junzhou Iron Works has become the largest iron smelting area in Henan today because of Ahema. Ahema once tracked down 3,000 households with hidden household registrations and drove them to smelt iron.
Li Xia once also captured Junzhou.
That was last April, when he made a surprise attack on Nanyang.
"It doesn't matter how much goods there are, what's important is that the smuggling business is open."
"Yes. This is like seducing a young lady." Liu Yuanzhen understood what Li Xia meant very well. "Although a young lady from a wealthy family does not intend to remarry, she has to break into the house several times. When her husband's family finds out, it will be difficult for her not to remarry.
.”
"It's an inappropriate metaphor, but that's probably it. The most important thing now is not to let Kublai Khan find out."
"Yes, we did it very secretly."
Following Liu Yuanzhen's words, a few lights outside Tongguan dimmed.
It was as if the small smuggling business between Guanzhong and Henan was hidden in darkness again.
~~
Taiyuan General Manager's Office.
"Brother has sent a total of more than ten servants out from last night to today. I asked, and the places they went to are listed here."
"Thank you, third brother."
Hao Tianting took the piece of paper and read it, and saw that there were more than thirty places densely packed, most of which were homes where Hao Tianyi sent his servants to deliver Mid-Autumn Festival gifts.
He asked several times, and Hao Tianju had already sent someone to inquire quietly.
"I remember that this Jinyang restaurant was opened by one of my eldest brother's concubine brothers, right?"
"Indeed, Pan Liu, who went to the Jinyang Restaurant, is also my eldest brother's most trusted confidant. After he arrived at the restaurant, he arranged for the restaurant clerk to make mooncakes and sent mooncakes to several subordinates of the Mongolian Orlu official."
"Have Third Brother ever asked if any of the boys in the restaurant have seen Wang Xun?"
"We are checking, I think we will have the results soon..."
Although Hao Tianting is the youngest, he speaks with the most weight in front of his brothers.
Because he is the eldest son of the emperor, Su Wei, and one of the people closest to the Crown Prince of the Yuan Dynasty, he is destined to have great power in the future.
On the contrary, in the Taiyuan family, the head of the family was captured, and his military strength was almost completely destroyed. There were still five brothers fighting for a share of the remaining power.
Hao Tianju and others knew very well that Hao Tianting would be their backer in the future.
After a while, a servant came over to report, and sure enough they found Wang Xun's whereabouts.
"The villain took the portrait and asked the boy in Jinyang Tower. He has indeed seen this man. He went to the store the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival and bought wine and food to take away."
"Where does he live?"
"It should be west of Yanshou Temple."
"Yanshou Temple..."
Hao Tianting pondered for a moment, checked the addresses of several households where Pan Liu sent people to deliver mooncakes, and clicked on one of them, speaking with determination.
"Wang Xun is hiding in Xinghua Lane."
In his opinion, Wang Xun is just a stupid roe deer who is always good at talking and boasting.
I found it as soon as I took action.
Hao Tianju said: "I'll send someone to capture it!"
"No need." Hao Tianting said, "Brother Zhongchou, please come over."
"Go and ask Zhang Shuai to come over."
Hao Tianting was able to call Zhang Hongfan "Brother Zhongchou", but Hao Tianju and others did not dare. They also thought that their eldest brother Hao Tianyi was not qualified either.
Life depends on strength, success or failure. Their eldest brother lost all his military power, was captured in fear of death, and even lost all his reputation. He really has no right to put on airs. He should put down his dignity and beg for protection.
"How about inviting the eldest brother here?" Hao Tianting added: "The eldest brother promised to help us find Wang Xun, but he secretly communicated with Wang Xun behind our back. Isn't that unreasonable?"
"I'll go." Hao Liulang and Hao Tianlin stood up.
Hao Tianju looked at this scene, pondered for a moment, and said: "No matter what, I am the eldest brother after all, so can I cover it up for him?"
"Third brother, are you afraid that your eldest brother will implicate you, the general manager of Dadu Road?"
This time, it was Hao Wulang and Hao Tianze who looked angry and said: "What are you still covering up? You can't deceive the emperor? I'm afraid I don't even want the Taiyuan Road Civil Affairs Bureau."
After hearing this, Hao Tianting couldn't help but shake his head secretly, thinking that Zhang Jiulang was right. People should go to higher places and look at the general trend of the world from the central court, instead of just focusing on petty profits in one household.
Thinking like this, and looking at the faces of his brothers in the family, Hao Tianting felt a little helpless.
Amid the debate, Zhang Hongfan had already arrived.
Hao Tianze quickly stopped complaining and said: "Zhang Shuai is here, Wang Xun is just a guy who should accompany his father to behead, but he bothers Zhang Shuai to accompany Qi Lang."
"Wang Muqiao has no other abilities besides moving people with his words. But he defected to Li Xia and is not easy to deal with..."
As soon as Zhang Hongfan finished speaking, he saw Hao Liulang, who had gone to invite Hao Tianyi, hurried over with an ugly look on his face.
"Zhang Shuai is here too."
"Brother Six, just tell me if you have anything to do. Brother Zhongchou is one of our own."
"Yes." Hao Tianlin hesitated for a moment, then said: "Brother is gone."
"Where are you going?"
"He's gone. He took his three nephews with him... and disappeared."
Everyone was stunned.
Hao Tianting was stunned for a while, and then shook his head.
He was so disappointed in Hao Tianyi.
He lost his way during the war, was defeated and was captured. After returning, he did not feel ashamed but wanted to support his troops and respect himself. Now he even rebelled against the enemy and absconded, and even abandoned his wife and concubines.
You can really be cruel.
A sixteen-year-old young man cannot understand his elder brother's incompetent, cowardly, failed, and irresponsible life.
If it were him, he would have died violently on the battlefield.
Hao Tianting had either studied in Xinzhou or held hostage in Yanjing since he was a child, and his relationship with Hao Tianyi was not deep.
But at this time, he still said to Zhang Hongfan immediately: "Brother Zhongchou, please spare my eldest brother's life... so as not to make others think that His Majesty cannot tolerate him, but that he wants to be dealt with and taken back to Dadu for trial in public.
"
"I see."
…
Zhang Hongfan acted quickly. On the one hand, he asked the Hao brothers to control Taiyuan City and block all roads. On the other hand, he personally organized men to surround Wang Xin's stronghold in Xinghua Lane.
"Report to the Commander-in-Chief, they are surrounded and no one has come out."
"Search and try to keep them alive."
The timid Xue army and the Taiyuan Han army quickly rushed into the courtyard.
There were sounds of footsteps, the sound of bows and arrows being cocked was loud, and the soldiers kicked open the doors of each house with their swords.
"Report, no detailed work by Song people was found!"
Zhang Hongfan squinted his eyes and sighed inwardly.
"Too alert."
With Wang Xun's arrogant temperament, it is obvious that he cannot be so vigilant.
The problem is that when Li Xia's spy system cooperates with him, allowing him to deceive people when necessary, and being able to quickly evacuate when in danger, things become a lot more troublesome...
But Zhang Hongfan is not worried.
The journey from Taiyuan to Guanzhong is more than a thousand miles, and there are all Shanxi princes, large and small, in between. When Wang Xun left, he was not as hidden as when he came, and it was unlikely that he could escape from Shanxi.
He walked around each room, reached out and touched the teapot and stove, and quickly made a judgment.
"People are still in the city, blockade Taiyuan City."
~~
At the same time, it was more than thirty miles outside Taiyuan City.
Wang Xun woke up from his coma and looked around. He saw that this was a carriage, and there were Hao Tianyi and his three sons in the carriage. He couldn't help but be furious.
"What are you doing? Taking this trash away?"
Wang Chengye, who was sitting on the side, replied: "Sir, you are awake, please keep your voice down."
"Turn around and go back! Hao Tianyi, we haven't finished talking yet. I want you to adjust your confidants..."
"Sir, he can't do it." Wang Chengye interrupted.
"Huh? Is your Military Intelligence Department rebelling?"
Wang Xun was so angry that he put his hand on his forehead, pointed at Hao Tianyi, and shook his head.
"Do you know what this loser wants to say to me? He can't even control Taiyuan, and he can't even kill two of Kublai Khan's dogs. Why are we taking him away? Kick him off!"
"Stop shouting!" Wang Chengye finally shouted in a low voice: "This is the Military Intelligence Department!"
"You dare to yell at me?" Wang Xun became more and more angry.
This time, Wang Chengye changed from his normal behavior and took out a token and flashed it in front of Wang Xin's eyes.
"Sir's mission has been completed. The next thing will be handled by the Military Intelligence Department."
"I'm the……"
With a "pop" sound, Wang Chengye slapped his hand on the compartment wall behind Wang Xun, stared into Wang Xun's eyes, and gave another solemn reminder.
"Sir, it seems that he has forgotten who he is working for? Your Majesty is not a person with great ambitions and talents like Li Fen. Also, some of your tempers should be changed. You can't accomplish anything if you have a high heart..."