The news of Chang'an's city expansion has spread to every corner of the streets and alleys. It is related to everyone's vital interests. Of course, everyone is paying attention. Even the coachman is very happy. He can go further and earn more, and the businessmen are also
Happy, because there will be more people and more guests.
Senior officials and powerful people are also happy because the land in their hands will greatly appreciate in value, which is a huge wealth.
This is actually making the cake bigger and benefiting everyone.
Will the actual wealth of society increase?
Of course it will increase. For example, kapok, which rots in the mountains every year, has become a thermal insulation material for ordinary people. Another example is the promotion of Jiaozhou rice, which will greatly increase food production. Ancient currency is actually anchored in food, and food
If output rises sharply, more people will be born, more supplies will be produced, and social wealth will rise accordingly.
Li Ye decided to expand the city at this time in order to prepare in advance to cope with the surge in grain production in the south.
Just when the whole city was hotly discussing the expansion of the city, a group of Zoroastrian believers who came from afar came to the Aozu Temple in Buzhengfang, Chang'an. There were about thirty people, all wearing ordinary robes, and their heads and faces were wrapped in pointed hats.
The leader is an old man who is nearly sixty years old. He is tall, has a majestic appearance, his eyes are as sharp as an eagle, and he has a big gray beard under his chin.
The old man spoke fluent Sogdian and claimed to be from Samarkand. His official name on the document was Sintila. This was his first time in Chang'an. In fact, he was very familiar with Chang'an. No one in Chang'an knew him now.
He did.
He was one of An Lushan's right-hand men, Ashina Chengqing, who was once the deputy bishop of the Eastern Branch of Zoroastrianism. He had been to Samarkand once in the past few years and held an important position in the Great Guangming Temple of Samarkand.
Later, because he was a Turkic noble, he was sent to the grassland by Daguangming Temple to preach. His preaching in Jinshan Geluolu aroused dissatisfaction among the Geluolu nobles, who killed hundreds of his followers and burned down the coat temple he founded.
Ashina Chengqing was furious and instigated a conflict between the two Geluolu tribes, causing heavy losses to Jinshan Geluolu. Jinshan Geluolu hated Ashina Chengqing deeply and sent an elite army to pursue him.
Kill him.
In order to avoid pursuit, Ashina Chengqing and his men hid in Youzhou.
This time Ashina Chengqing came to Chang'an because he had reached an agreement with his old friend Tian Chengsi. If Ashina Chengqing could successfully assassinate Li Ye, all four major vassal towns would convert to Zoroastrianism.
Ashina Chengqing had dealt with Li Ye many times and knew very well how powerful Li Ye was, but the promise of preaching in Hebei made him unable to refuse.
Ashina Chengqing agreed immediately, and then pretended to come from the west with his disciples and sneaked into Chang'an under the pseudonym Xintila.
In the room on the third floor, Ashina Chengqing was drinking hot tea and squinting at the snow on the roof in the distance. At this time, his eldest disciple Anan whispered: "Master, why don't I contact them first?"
Take a look and understand the situation!”
The people Anan is talking about refer to Tian Chengsi's intelligence point in Chang'an. It is located in the West City. It is a cloth shop that has existed in Chang'an for two years. It is very low-key and secretive.
Ashina Chengqing actually doesn't really want to contact these intelligence agencies. They can easily be targeted by internal guards and expose themselves. But he also knows that it is difficult to trace Li Ye's whereabouts with his own strength. Not to mention
Assassination, you can't even get close.
Ashina Chengqing nodded, "Don't tell them any information about us. If they are willing to cooperate, just cooperate. If they don't want to, just forget it."
"Disciple understands!"
Anan bowed and hurried away.
Anan is a Turkic orphan. He is about thirty years old. He followed Ashina Chengqing when he was a teenager and learned a strong martial arts. He is smart and capable, and he is loyal to Ashina Chengqing and regards him as his father.
.
The other disciples of Ashina Chengqing are almost the same as Anan. They are all Turkic orphans. They were adopted by Ashina Chengqing from childhood and taught martial arts and other skills.
Anan brought his two junior brothers to the West City, and soon found Cangzhou Cloth Store, Cunning Rabbit Three Cave, and Tian Chengsi set up three intelligence points in Chang'an, which were unrelated to each other. The other two were unplugged, leaving only
This cloth shop.
The other two intelligence points will collect and send intelligence regularly, so they are easily targeted by internal guards.
But this is not the case for this Cangzhou cloth shop. It has always been operating normally and only performs some designated tasks. It is not responsible for collecting intelligence at ordinary times, and it does not raise any homing pigeons. It only obeys the command of Tian Chengsi's eldest son Tian Hua, so it can guard the interior.
Survive the dragnet set.
Anan walked into the shop, cupped his fists and saluted, and said in fluent Chinese: "I came from Suiye to see your shopkeeper Liu!"
Anan grew up in Youzhou. Except for his thick eyebrows and deep eyes, he looked like a foreigner at first glance, but his speech and behavior were no different from those of the Han people.
Of course, this is normal in Chang'an. Many Hu people have lived in Chang'an for more than ten years. Under the influence of the powerful national power of the Han and Tang Dynasties, they are proud to learn Han culture.
It can be said that except for their appearance and some religious customs, the language and etiquette of these Hu people are no different from those of the Chang'an people.
"Wait a moment!"
The waiter hurriedly ran into the back room, and soon a middle-aged man came out, clasped his fists and returned the greeting: "I am the shopkeeper, what do you need?"
"I want to buy 500 pieces of cotton cloth produced in the grassland. Is it available?"
If it were any other store, they would definitely laugh out loud. It's so ridiculous. Where can cotton come from the grassland?
But this is the secret code for the agreement between Ashina Chengqing and Tian Chengsi.
Shopkeeper Liu nodded, "Please follow me to the back to see the goods, and your companions outside are also invited to come in for tea!"
Anan winked to his junior brother and asked him to come in, and he followed shopkeeper Liu to the backyard.
Like other shops in the West Market, although the facade is not big, it is very long and hides many large and small rooms, making it complicated to walk around.
After walking several twists and turns, the two of them entered a room and sat down. Shopkeeper Liu smiled and said, "You can speak directly if you have anything to say here. There are no ears behind the walls!"
"Does the shopkeeper know our mission?" Anan asked.
Shopkeeper Liu nodded, "I know!"
"Can you give me some advice?"
Shopkeeper Liu pondered for a moment and said: "Since Zhu Si failed to send people to assassinate the regent last year, Xingqing Palace has been defended like an iron barrel. You must not think about sneaking into the palace to assassinate him. It is impossible to succeed."
"Shopkeeper Liu has investigated?"
Shopkeeper Liu shook his head, "It's the news from Weizhou. Another intelligence point of ours investigated it, but was quickly targeted and killed. We haven't carried out any missions for a year. This time we are assisting you in assassinating the regent."
king."
"Any other suggestions?" Anan asked again.
"The second suggestion is that it is best to take action when the regent goes to inspect other places. You should keep a low profile and silence in Chang'an. Chang'an is full of internal spy spies."
"The third suggestion is that you'd better not do anything in Chang'an. I will inform you when there is news."
Anan pondered for a moment and said: "Didn't the shopkeeper say that there are spy spies everywhere in Chang'an? So when you inquire about information, are you not afraid of being watched by the spy? Or do you have special intelligence channels?"
Shopkeeper Liu was silent for a moment and said, "This is our secret. I'm sorry I can't tell you."
Anan became suspicious. Could it be that shopkeeper Liu had surrendered to the inner guards and was arranged to be turned into a fishing rod by the inner guards?
He laughed dryly, nodded and said, "I will come see Shopkeeper Liu again in three days!"