The follow-up business with Tai'an Company will have to wait until Dianyi returns.
Just now, Fangjue wrote a letter and asked Dianyi to take it to the pigeon house.
Moreover, the banknotes that Dianyi carried with him were not enough for such a large total, and the rest had to be raised.
However, Fang Jue estimated that the people sent by the capital to Suzhou to take charge of disaster relief should be arriving soon.
"Young Master, there is a messenger from the capital."
The large army was about to set off, but Fang Jue was stopped by Zhou Desheng, who led a soldier with a tired face.
The soldier's legs were twitching. It looked like he had been riding a horse for a long time, and there were some blood stains on his inner crotch, which were attached to his pants.
"oh?"
Fang Jue asked: "What news?"
The messenger did not come up with any decree or secret message, but simply dictated:
"Returning to the Young Master, the capital has learned about the disaster in Suzhou. It sent a minister from the Household Department and two chief officers to Suzhou."
"Your Majesty also dispatched Lord Ye Hongyi and Lord Bai Qing to supervise disaster relief matters in Suzhou."
"The decree will be carried out of the capital by several adults from the Ministry of Household Affairs."
Fang Jue nodded: "Where are the people from the Ministry of Finance?"
"We should be halfway back to the Young Master."
After all, they are just civil servants. Even if they exercise on a daily basis, they cannot compare with soldiers.
They couldn't insist on marching in a hurry. It was extremely rare to be able to travel hundreds of miles in a day. This messenger had to rush at a speed of 500 miles, if not 800 miles.
It's no wonder that the people in the household department are still far behind.
"Thank you for your hard work. Go down and rest. I understand." Fang Jue said to the messenger.
After the people from the Ganzhou camp took the messenger down and resettled him, Fang Jue gave the order and set off with the large troops.
…
The people of Ganzhou Xuanjian Division are divided into two groups.
One team followed Ye Hongyi and went to try to arrest people; the other team was led by Bai Qing and also brought some civilians to clear possible obstacles along the way.
Half a day has passed since everyone arrived and left the city in batches.
"Master Ye, I will take people to the front." Bai Qing said goodbye.
"good."
Ye Hongyi led people to hide in the direction of Suzhou, looking for "mailboxes" where tolls were dropped along the way.
Bai Qing, who was one step ahead of her, discovered something unexpected on the road less than thirty miles away after leaving the city.
Ahead is a river, not wide, but the water is somewhat deep, and there is a stone bridge.
When they came from Suzhou, the group passed this bridge. It was still in good condition at that time.
But now, the bridge has been stripped of the movable stone slabs and wooden planks on the bridge deck.
Because the stone bridge is old, the government and local governments will be responsible for subsequent repairs. Sometimes they will bring in stones to fill the damaged areas, and sometimes if they don't have money, they will put in a few hard wooden boards.
But these movable parts have all disappeared.
The gaps in many places are still very obvious and very new.
"Sir..." Bai Qing's subordinate, an inspector from the Ganzhou branch, suddenly said, "Has someone ventilated these people?"
Bai Qing was also very surprised: "This has just begun, and something like this happened. Those things in Ganzhou City want to watch our show."
How could it be such a coincidence? Bai Qing was sure that someone had tipped him off.
As for who it is, do we need to say?
"Sir, what should I do?"
Bai Qing rolled his eyes: "What can I do? Fix it."
"But as soon as we leave, someone might come out to sabotage it again."
Bai Qing said coldly: "Go and ask Mr. Ye to arrest people. When we leave, those people will naturally jump out and let them hit the head of the gun."
"My lord's clever idea."
…
Baishui Village.
It is the largest bandit den outside Ganzhou and the only bandit organization with a den within a hundred miles.
At this moment, boxes of silver were opened and displayed in front of several heads of Baishui Village.
"Hey, this noble man is so happy. I wonder if I need to use my brothers for anything?" Lu Guan, the head of Baishui Village, touched his scalp that was beginning to go bald, and his eyes glowed green.
Judging from his experience in robbing houses, these boxes of silver add up to at least two to three thousand taels!
I'm afraid it's not something that's easy to handle with such a generous offer.
According to Wanzi's rules, the person who comes wears a mask, so no one can see his appearance clearly. This is a rule. People who go up the mountain only show sincerity, and the other bandits don't care. This way, if something happens, it will not affect the host's family.
But for subsequent payment, a middleman knows the identity of the employer, but the middleman will not tell the bandits unless the employer defaults on the payment.
"Master Lu, I am also quick to speak. What I am asking for is not difficult. I just hope that the brothers in Baishui Village can help me."
"After the work is done, the remaining half should also be given as a gift." The employer wearing a mask said with his hands.
Lu Guanxiao asked: "What do you want us to do?"
The employer said: "It's very simple. There is only one bridge on the Baishui River under Baishui Village. I hope Baishui Village destroys this bridge."
"Burn the bridge?"
The second master immediately narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "This is a serious crime of decapitation!"
In this era, destroying roads and bridges, as long as it is official, must be a capital crime.
"I'm afraid Baishui Village won't be able to handle this errand of distinguished guest." Lu Guan also shook his head.
The reason why Baishui Village has been able to survive to this day is to be aware of interests and not do business that would cause embarrassment to the imperial court. This is the key to survival.
Otherwise, if the imperial court is angered and officers and soldiers are sent to encircle and suppress him, Baishui Village will be destroyed.
The employer chuckled: "You two masters, don't worry, the Baishui Bridge has been in disrepair for a long time and should have broken down long ago."
"And it doesn't have to be too much, as long as it doesn't let the caravan pass by and delay their journey for a few days."
"oh?"
The heads of Baishui Village breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's not difficult to just stop him." Lu Guan nodded.
The second master said: "As long as some stones are removed to make the bridge unable to pass vehicles and horses, there is no need to destroy the bridge."
"After the work is done, we can lay it back down. Isn't this how we collect tolls?" someone said.
The employer smiled and said: "Exactly, some of you don't know. This time the caravan is passing by Baishui Bridge and they don't intend to pay tolls. Shouldn't Baishui Village be in trouble?"
"What?"
Lu Guan looked sternly: "Who dares to be so bold and break the rules?"
"A young boy who is just starting out doesn't know how big the world is." The employer smiled.
"..."
After the negotiation was settled, the employer came down, and several heads of Baishui Village changed their attitude and gathered together to murmur.
"What happened today? Two groups of people in succession made things difficult for us for this passing caravan?"
It turned out that before the employer went up the mountain, someone had already come up the mountain.
It was also the same request, asking Baishui Village to remove the Baishui Bridge to prevent the caravan from passing by.
"Why do I feel so strange? This is really a caravan that is passing by? If the imperial troops go out to fight, it will be a capital crime for us to wipe out the whole family!"
"You have to be careful, but we have collected the money from both groups of people. If we don't do this, there will be no door-to-door business like this in the future."
The gains and losses involved made everyone hesitate.
"Wait a minute..."
Lu Guan said seriously: "Send someone to inquire in the direction of Ganzhou to find out whether it is just a caravan or people from the imperial court. We cannot capsize in the gutter."
"Brother is right. I have collected several thousand taels in just half a day. I feel very panicked. Nothing good will happen for sure!"
"That's right, if it's so easy to do, why let us in Baishui Village do it? It's not difficult to just break a bridge."
Everyone is also very cautious.
Lu Guandao: "If people from the imperial court want to pass by, the whole village will immediately withdraw to the village and pretend to be farming. Don't stay here."
"Brother is afraid that the imperial court will get his way, so he will wipe us out, right?"
…
The second employer who went up the mountain changed his clothes as soon as he came down the mountain, threw away his things, and rode back to the official road.
Just after entering Ganzhou, he dismounted from his horse, tied the reins, and ordered a bowl of tea at a roadside tea stall.
"What's going on? Is it done?" Chu Huairen looked at his guard and asked.
He asked this guard to go to Baishui Village and persuade the bandits to do this. If successful, it would be of great benefit to him.
"Master, it's settled. The people in Baishui Village agreed after receiving the money." The guard smiled.
Chu Huairen said coldly: "That's good, buy a few more bandits along the way, keep causing trouble for this young master, and delay the arrival of Andalun's food in Suzhou for a few days."
"Master is really smart. Suzhou is worried about food shortages at this time of year. Although we have few granaries in the surrounding areas, the sales are surprisingly high..."
"If An Daolun doesn't sell the grain to me, he won't be able to take advantage of Suzhou's market. This time I bet all my wealth and I can save a day's worth in one go!"
"But sir, our food is limited after all. Do we need to buy some from the surrounding area and transport it to Suzhou?"
"That's natural," Chu Huairen said lightly, "So I have to go to Suzhou first, grab the wealth of Suzhou before the court provides disaster relief... I will leave the subsequent mess to this young master.