the enlightener says

At this moment, even those merchants stopped sarcasm. Someone gave a wry smile and said, "Old Pang, you really belong to me. You have brought out the last foundation. You are planning to make a big gamble. In case If you lose money, you will have to eat chaff and pickles in the future."

Old Pang smiled gently: "I was also forced to the water's edge, there is nothing I can do. It's not that I have to fight with you, you know more or less about my son. I also do my best and obey the fate. If this I really didn't make any money, I pawned my jade pendant, and the family will not be ruined. If my son's marriage is completed, I will inevitably call you to drink."

Although the merchants are intriguing with each other, they are also friends who can advance and retreat together at certain times. Someone sang, "Okay! Just say this to you. I won't argue with you. I'll just wait to drink your son's milk." A glass of wedding wine!"

After finishing speaking, all the merchants stopped surrounding them, dispersed separately, returned to the table, and continued to sit down. Those who should eat eat, those who should drink tea drink tea, after a while, many of them are facing the sky. Let's go.

"Young man, I don't know where you plan to go to the Mo family?" Lao Pang looked at Qin Ke and said with a slight smile, "Although I say that I don't have a big business, I have been to the Mo family a lot these years. The place, Jicheng in the north, the sea of ​​vaults in the east, and even the north-south passage at the junction of Jingwu and Mohism in the south, as long as you give a general idea, I can guide you to find the place."

Standing up, Qin Ke took off the bear skin he was wearing and put it on the table. The size of this monster bear is astonishing.

And Lao Pang thought that this demon bear skin seemed to belong to him, so he couldn't help but feel a little excited. He stroked the soft fur and some resin stained by the demon bear rubbing on the tree, knowing that such a beast skin would be harmless even with a knife or a gun. It may not be able to penetrate through it, and exclaimed: "Beasts do not understand the principles of heaven, and they can practice to such a powerful level."

The eyes of this ferocious monster are still shining, as if it will explode again at any time, Qin Ke smiled and said: "Roll him up in a while, and store it carefully."

"Okay...ok..." Lao Pang hurriedly agreed, but he still didn't forget the previous question: "Young Xia, where are you going to the Mo family?"

"I'm going to Jinzhou." After explaining the matter of the animal skin, Qin Ke asked seriously, "How many days will it take from here to Jinzhou?"

"Jinzhou? From here to Jinzhou, if there are a few fast horses, it will take about seventy or eighty days." Lao Pang frowned slightly, looking a little surprised, "Young Xia is sure you want to go to Jinzhou?"

"Yes." Qin Ke saw that something was wrong with Lao Pang's expression, and asked strangely, "What's wrong?"

Old Pang was slightly surprised and said: "Young Xia, don't you know?"

Of course Qin Ke didn't know, he walked in the mountains for ten days, isolated from the world, and almost became a savage, how could he know what was going on in this world?He scratched his head, and said with some embarrassment: "I haven't talked to anyone for ten days, and I've been hunting in the mountains..."

and avoid hunting.

He omitted the second half of the sentence.

Lao Pang understood, gave a thumbs up and said, "The young hero is really powerful. If I were to walk in the mountains alone for ten days and ten nights, I might not even be able to do it for a day."

"In this way, it's not surprising that the young man doesn't know about it." Lao Pang continued: "Now that the news has spread, Canghai and Tang's coalition forces are constantly harassing the border. It is estimated that they want to conquer the Mohists... how many soldiers are there?" The horses went all the way to Bailuguan and Shahukou, and Jinzhou is only about [-] miles away from these two places. If a large army really invades, Jinzhou will bear the brunt of the war..."

As he said that, he couldn't help showing a little smile on his face. After all, he was still a citizen of the Tang Dynasty. He still felt a little proud when he heard that his court was planning to expand the territory. Jing Wu" people don't think so.

"Then, when will we fight?" Qin Ke looked at him in shock.

Seeing Qin Ke's expression, Lao Pang comforted him: "Young Xia is in a hurry to go to Jinzhou to do business at this time. It's probably okay. After all, it's just a small fight now. Even if there is a fight, as long as we don't get involved by the chaos There will always be no accidents. Moreover, the Mohists have always paid attention to reputation, and the military law in the army is even stricter, and they will not do anything too low."

Qin Ke lowered his head, he was only flustered for a moment, wondering where that old slippery Gao Yishui took Abu and Cai Yan now, maybe... already arrived?

However, how should he, Gao Yishui and the others reunite?

He thought about it carefully, and made up his mind: "Then it's time to work. Let's see where we can buy some fast horses. Let's start as soon as possible."

"It's not difficult. I have a horse in the stable. I ran east along the road for half a day, and there was a post house. I was familiar with it. As long as I am willing to spend money, I don't have to worry about not having a fast horse...Young Xia When are you going to leave?"

"Today..." Qin Ke stroked his hungry stomach, and then thought that he hadn't eaten anything for about a day and a night, and he hadn't had a good enough sleep for ten days, so With a silly smile on his face, he said, "I'll have something to eat first, take a rest, let's go tomorrow."

"Okay." Lao Pang smiled, and said: "The young hero rests first, and I will wait for you for a day, but this demon bear skin must be placed with you first."

Qin Ke looked at Lao Pang in surprise, and said, "You don't want it anymore?"

"I'm a businessman, and a businessman seeks profit. Since I spent money on this demon bear skin, I can't not want it. It's just..." He approached Qin Ke, and whispered: "There are mixed fish and dragons here, and the demon bear skin is making trouble again." As everyone knows, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep this thing, so I still have to ask the young hero to keep it."

Qin Ke understood what he meant, and thought that this was another genius like Gao Yishui, but he could understand it, and besides, it was better to take him to Jinzhou alone than to follow a fool.

He himself is that idiot.

"Okay, I'll put it away for you first." Qin Ke nodded.

Chapter 335 The Prefect's Son

The demon bear skin was rolled into a whole roll. After the bear's head was restrained, it was not so hideous and conspicuous. Qin Ke ordered something to eat, and the proprietress was naturally very attentive. After eating porridge, I went upstairs to take a bath and sleep.

This sleep lasted until dusk, when he slowly opened his eyes, he finally felt that his blood and mind were gradually condensing, and after another quarter of an hour's pause, he got up from the bed.

The clothes belonged to the innkeeper. Although he looked fatter, it didn't affect his movements. The proprietress gave him a rope to make a belt, and he tied it around his waist indiscriminately.

But not long after, there seemed to be some different sounds coming from his ears, from far to near.He approached the window carefully and opened it slightly.

The setting sun outside the window is like a flowing flame, but there are bursts of black clouds, and horseshoes are like thunder, pouring towards the inn from a soil slope!

"Pursuing soldiers?" Qin Ke looked at the cavalry team, which consisted of about fifty armored and saber soldiers, frowned and thought about it, but felt that it was impossible.

Although Lu Ming is indeed a powerful person, if he is really that powerful and can mobilize cavalry in the Tang Kingdom, why use the power of those bandits?And according to his estimate, Lu Ming's injury will not heal in a day or two.

Since it wasn't for him, it was for the inn or someone in the inn.

At this time, he had already activated the Wind Sight Technique and heard someone from the next door bump into the table leg in a panic, and cried out in pain for a while, but as soon as the voice came out, someone covered it with his hand.

"Hush! Do you want us all to die?" a voice whispered.

The person who touched the table leg probably understood the situation, and made a "woo woo" sound, probably to express his agreement, and then there was no sound.

And the low voice continued: "Look first before talking, it's too early to jump out and fight, not to mention that even if you want to fight, you can't confront the cavalry outside the inn. If they can't enter the inn, they have to dismount. It gave us a chance."

Just as he was talking, the cavalry had arrived in front of the inn. The leading man was wearing leather clothes and light armor, but he did not wear a helmet on his head, showing a resolute but young face. He shouted in a low voice: "Wait!"

So the nearly fifty cavalrymen got the order and began to pull the reins.The entire cavalry stopped in front of the inn, and the leader had a mocking smile on his lips, and he was not in a hurry to get off his horse, as if he was waiting for something.

No matter how deaf the proprietress and Chu Gou are, they should know that the situation outside is not trivial, and hurried out, but when they saw the leading man clearly, they smiled: "Oh, I don't know who it is, so it's Yuan Taishou My lord, why are you in the mood to come to us today? Is it hunting? Pigs and dogs! Hurry up and cut the meat and get the wine, and treat Yuan Gongzi and the soldiers well."

Mr. Yuan, who took the lead, was not in a hurry to dismount, but looked down at the proprietress, and said with a sneer, "I'm not busy. I'm here today for business, not for hunting, let alone drinking."

The proprietress saw that the person was not kind, and felt a little uneasy, but she couldn't express it directly, she still forced herself to laugh and said, "Working? Mr. Yuan, I don't know what is wrong with my inn, but I let Mr. Yuan Bring troops to the door? My family and I are both honest civilians, but we never dared to cross the threshold."

Mr. Yuan said playfully: "Be honest? If you open an inn in this kind of place, where can you be honest? In your shop alone, many of the customers who pass by every day are smugglers. If you want to investigate, a cover-up Can you escape the crime?"

These words came lightly, like a gust of wind, but Chu Gou's legs were a little weak, and he almost fell tremblingly.

Of course he knew the tricks hidden in his inn, otherwise, how could an inn made of mud and bricks give him 20 taels of silver every month?Even if it's the job of a big inn in Ding'an City, I'm afraid it's nothing more than that?

At least half of the merchants in the room did not have customs clearance documents. They were all smugglers, but they were eager for money, and relying on their blood, they went all the way to the border to earn some money.

This road does not exist on the map of the Tang Kingdom. From here all the way to the west, you can just avoid the harsh checkpoints and go straight to the Mo family.

He has met this Young Master Yuan a few times, he is a bold and reckless master with a little cultivation, his favorite thing on weekdays is to lead the cavalry from the county to hunt around, but he has also come to the inn to drink a few times, all of which are loose Laughing has never been as aggressive as it is now.

Could it be that Mr. Yuan followed his father's order to arrest them and put them in prison?

Sensing Chu Gou's strange behavior, the proprietress glanced at him, saw that he was so terrified, and cursed in a low voice: "A worthless thing." Then she continued to look at Mr. Yuan, without any fear in her eyes, on the contrary He took a step forward and said with a soft smile, "I don't understand Mr. Yuan's words. What kind of smuggling businessman? What kind of cover-up? My man and I are both honest and responsible people, just doing a small business to maintain Make a living. In addition... Mr. Yuan doesn't know why our husband and wife want to open an inn in such a deserted place? In terms of protection... I'm afraid..."

She didn't continue speaking, but lowered her head but raised her eyes, carefully watching Yuan Gongzi's face.

Mr. Yuan narrowed his eyes for a while and looked at this unafraid proprietress, but found it very interesting.Of course he knew why the inn existed, and why the road hadn't been drawn on the county map for more than ten years.

In the four kingdoms of the world, although businessmen are not prohibited from trading, since the previous dynasty, emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business has been a national policy and has never been changed.

Merchants who want to go out of the border and do business with foreigners or even enemy countries have to pay a lot of customs duties in exchange for the seemingly light and flimsy customs clearance documents that are actually worth a thousand dollars.

In addition to the high tariffs, there is also the city tax that is closely related to the goods sold. Tea, ironware, paper, lacquer, etc. all have different degrees of taxation.The money goes up from county to county level, and finally fills the national treasury, which can be said to be the foundation of a country.

As for the behavior of smuggling, no customs duty is paid, and there is no city tax. A group of rats stealing grain and rice appeared?

However, even if the law is strict, such things as smuggling, whether it is the Jingwu Mo family or the Canghai Tang Kingdom, are repeatedly prohibited.

After all, for businessmen, as long as they have several times the money they can earn, it is enough to make them take risks. Therefore, for a long time, the smugglers tried their best to manage up and down, and they could always find a weak point.

Although this kind of smuggling still has to give some people in the government a lot of property as bribes, it is always much better than going out of customs in a serious way.

As for Mr. Yuan's father, it seems that he is aware of this point. If he hadn't turned a blind eye, or even quietly benefited from it, how could this smuggling route exist?

The world is crying, all for the benefit.

The wages of avarice is death.

Not only businessmen, but also these officials who study hard just to wear official robes.

However, Mr. Yuan's father still had the ministers of the imperial court on top of his head, and Li Qiuhuang and Yang Taizhen on top of his head, he didn't dare to be blatant.

The proprietress thought that her words were powerful enough, but Mr. Yuan still had such a lukewarm gaze, which made her feel a little weird for a while. If the eldest son of the prefect didn't know about this matter, she wouldn't believe it. Yes, but now...

Her heart tightened, could it be that something is going to happen?

Mr. Yuan suddenly laughed, and said: "I don't care why you opened an inn here, that's my father's business."

Hearing this sentence, the proprietress's hanging heart calmed down a little, but she heard Mr. Yuan say again: "But I just became a captain, so I have to do something that needs to be done, answer the notification! You are hiding the court here. If you want to commit a crime, if you are sensible, you should hand it over yourself. Otherwise..."

He smiled coldly and clapped his hands, and the sergeants with nearly fifty horsemen behind him drew out their sabers in unison. The brilliance of the setting sun shone on the blade, but the cold sharp edge seemed to have chopped on the body of the proprietress and Chu Gou.

Chapter 336

With a "plop", Chu Gou fell to the ground, unable to utter a word.

The proprietress needs to calm down a bit, but her hands behind her back are already trembling faintly, but her voice is still clear and clear: "Mr. The imperial court’s criminals mentioned by Lord Captain just now... I don’t know who they are? The small shop has always been full of merchants, so it stands to reason that it would not be..."

She suddenly thought of Qin Ke's clean and handsome face after washing, could it be him?

"Whether you want to commit crimes or not is up to you." Mr. Yuan shook his head, and he didn't bother to argue with the proprietress any more. He just nodded to the two people on the side, and the two dismounted at the same time, holding sabers, and faced the inn. go.

Seeing this matter, the proprietress may have been unable to stop it, so she could only make way for the two of them for a while, and at the same time pulled Chu Gou who was still dazed on the ground, gritted her teeth and said: "Get up for me, it's not for you ! shame!"

Qin Ke could see all of this clearly through the window, and even the conversation fell into his ears because of the wind-viewing technique. Watching the two people walking towards the inn, the voices from the next door became more urgent : "Brother, they are here!"

"Don't be afraid!" The resolute voice roared: "Have you forgotten who we are? Have you forgotten the teacher's teaching? Even if death is inevitable, you must die bravely."

"Anan, take him and shoot arrows upstairs. As long as the two people go up the stairs, shoot them. I will lead the people to kill all the way, rush out of the inn, and attract their attention. When the time comes, you will find a way Escape from the back door, understand!" With the crisp sound of drawing a sword, the man patted one person's body vigorously, and growled: "Stand up straight! If you can go back alive today, you will continue to practice the teacher's instructions for us. Morality!"

While talking, the two had already pressed their backs against the door.

The merchants in the house had already heard the movement, and many people even took a sneak peek. The Fifty Cavalry Army was enough to frighten them, but at this moment, two people came in with knives, which frightened some people even more. His face turned pale.

Striking eyes swept in one direction, only to hear a "ding dong" cracking sound, a merchant overturned the clay bowl full of meat porridge, stained all over his body, but because of fear, he didn't care at all No matter how dirty he was, he quickly got under the table like a frightened hedgehog.

In such a funny situation, the two cavalrymen holding sabers couldn't help showing some smiles, and looked at each other with expressions of disdain in their eyes.

Call these smugglers timid, but they are so bold that they dare to violate the law. You must know that the crime of smuggling is not small, even if the smuggling is not prohibited weapons, it is enough to punish them for ten years of hard labor.

It can be said that they are bold, it is ridiculous that they have already turned their backs after seeing two people with two swords.

It's just that they took a look around, but they didn't find the person they were looking for, so they immediately set their sights on the upward stairs.

Along the stairs, they went up step by step, and each step made a muffled sound on the wooden stairs.

Qin Ke heard the gradually hurried voices of the people next door, and knew that this matter had gradually pushed to an uncontrollable direction, but he could only lie dormant for the time being, without taking any action.

Now that there is a cavalry army waiting outside, he doesn't want to wade into this muddy water.

Gao Yishui also said that it is a very stupid thing to think that he can solve all the disputes in the world.

What's more, it's only natural for the government to arrest important criminals. Could it be that he still has to run out and interfere?

The two sergeants finally reached the stairs on the second floor, and under the twitch of the fingers, the bowstring that had been ready for firing for a long time was also stretched in an instant. Instantly penetrated the crack of the door and shot out!

Although the two sergeants were prepared in their hearts, the sudden arrow still caught them off guard.Before the first person had time to raise his saber, he heard two puffs, one of the two crossbow arrows sank into his chest, and the other pierced his throat.

The sergeant collapsed directly, lying on the body of the sergeant behind him, and even took a few steps back with the man behind him, covered in blood.

And at this moment, the door of Qin Ke's next door opened suddenly, and with a loud shout, two black shadows rushed out like furious leopards. cut down!

Sergeant No. 2 saw his colleagues die under the crossbow arrows so neatly, his liver and gallbladder were already torn, and when the two rushed out, they knew that their life and death were hanging by a thread.

But he is the son of the army after all!

Even though the blade was approaching in front of him, he mustered all the strength in his body, raised the saber suddenly, and shouted at the same time: "Enemy attack!"

The blade finally pierced his chest, and the saber he raised finally slowed down for a moment, failing to block the momentum of the sword. The torn flesh and blood took away all the strength in his body, and the blood splashed on his face It is like a delicate plum blossom in bloom.

He fell down feebly, but still staring angrily.

The man in black was panting heavily, knowing that the people outside the door had already noticed, so he simply became heartbroken and rushed all the way downstairs.

The two rode fifty horses, even though he was not comparable to ordinary people because of his cultivation, but he also knew that under such a situation, he might be in danger.

It's just that he might have no choice.

When they rushed to the gate of the inn yard, what greeted them was not the light of swords, but countless arrows. Although the range of ordinary hand crossbows was not as good as that of hard bows, it was still enough to block the narrow gate.

"Ting Huai!" one person shouted.

The other had already been shot in the thigh by an arrow.

Followed by the second, the third, the fourth.

Although this person has some cultivation, but under such a crossbow arrow, it is hard to escape after all.The crossbow bolts ruthlessly pierced into all parts of his body, and one even pierced into the eye socket, and was firmly stuck in his skull.

By the time the round of arrow salvos was over, the man had become an arrow stack on the ground, with blood dripping all over the ground.

And Mr. Yuan outside the door was sitting on the horse, still squinting his eyes, as if the two dead soldiers had nothing to do with him, and raised his voice with a smile: "The captain of the capital was ordered to track down the Mohist spies. Is the one behind the wall the right one?" Mohist spy Bai Qi?"

The man leaned his back against the courtyard wall, staring fixedly at his tragic death robe. After a while, he gritted his teeth and replied, "Bai Qi is here! But you don't want to pour dirty water on us! We Mohists are upright, You are a knight in the world, not some kind of spy!"