Fenghou

"What is the specific situation, tell me in detail."

Wang Hao said to Zhong Huan, "Say it!"

Chong Huan saluted and said: "Today, the internal guard is on duty in a humble position. Just now, a tax official rushed to say that there was a drug dealer who sold a thousand tons of notoginseng privately. It was the drug dealer's nephew who came to report and expose them. It said Tianma on the form, but it was actually Panax notoginseng, his nephew thought it was for tax evasion, the tax officer knew about the ban, and he knew the problem was serious, so he came to the inner guard to report."

Chen Qing frowned, "There will be a thousand loads of notoginseng in the market?"

"A businessman doesn't have one, but if we piece it together, we might be able to figure it out. After all, Jingzhao has the largest market for medicinal materials."

Chen Qing immediately said: "If it is indeed a thousand loads of notoginseng, it will be classified as a Class A case, and the medicinal materials must be recovered, and it must not fall into the hands of Jin Guo people."

"Follow the order!"

The two saluted and hurried away.

The first thousand and 280 chapters and three investigations

Dongzhu Wu never dreamed that his nephew Zhou Mi came to the door with his inner guards. For a moment, his face turned pale and he was on the verge of collapse.

The inner guards did not interrogate him immediately, but took him and his nephew Zhou Mi to the warehouse at the Weihe Wharf. The inner guard soldiers opened the warehouse and lifted the oilcloth, and inside were boxes of white silver.

Dongzhu Wu couldn't bear it any longer, and suddenly sat down on the ground with ashes on his face.

"You bastard!"

Zhou Mi exploded, rushed forward and grabbed his uncle's hair and shouted, "You lied to me, you pay me back, you shameless liar!"

"Idiot!" Wu Dongzhu was heartbroken, he wished he could kill this nephew, and betrayed himself for 15 taels of silver.

The soldiers of the inner guard stepped forward to separate them, and Zhong Huan stepped forward and said coldly: "This case has already alarmed His Royal Highness, and His Royal Highness ordered that no matter what, you must recover the thousand loads of sanqi. You still have a chance Opportunity, tell me everything you know without reservation, who provided Sanqi, who bought it, and where are they now?"

Dongzhu Wu took out a booklet from his pocket and handed it to Zhong Huan, "There are records of the seller on it. Who sold it? How much did it sell? There are detailed records."

Chong Huan flipped through the pages and asked again, "Where's the buyer?"

"The buyer's surname is Bu. He claims to be a merchant of medicinal materials in Taiyuan. He left yesterday. He also bought Banlangen and Cortex Phellodendri. He loaded more than a dozen carts with a thousand loads of Sanqi on camels. He left at noon yesterday."

When Zhong Huan heard that Sanqi had been transported away, he became anxious and escorted Wu Dongzhu and Bai Yin back to the inner guard. He found Wang Hao by himself.

After listening to the report, Wang Hao pondered for a moment and said: "We can't think that they will go to Taiyuan because they came from Taiyuan. They may go to northern Shaanxi, Pujin Pass, or Tongguan. Divide into three groups to pursue."

"Beizhi personally led people to the direction of Pujin Pass. They left at noon yesterday. There were [-] camels and carts. If we are fast, we should be able to catch up before Pujin Pass."

"Okay, send a thousand troops, and divide them into three groups to chase after me!"

……

Three inner guard cavalry units rushed out towards the east of the city, and Zhong Huan led [-] cavalry towards Pujin Pass.

Since Jingzhao City is located on the south bank of the Wei River, this is a question of crossing the Wei River to the north bank. Where will the other party cross the Wei River?

First of all, Jingzhao can cross the Wei River, Lintong County can also cross the river, then Weinan County can cross the river, Zheng County can also cross the river, and Huayin County can cross the Wei River at the latest.

In this way, it is very likely that they will cross the opponent halfway, but this is not important, as long as they arrive at Pujin Pass first, they can intercept them at Pujin Pass.

The other two teams also had the same intention and rushed to the exit of Guanzhong to wait.

Two days later, Zhong Huan led [-] internal guard cavalry to Pujin Pass. Chong Huan was worried that the other party had already passed Pujin Pass, and he would be in big trouble. Taihang Jiuxing, there are many ways to go from Hedong to Hebei.

In particular, the other party did not carry prohibited items. At present, there are only a few items that are officially banned from trade, such as pig iron, gold and silver, grain, salt, weapons, armor, etc. Medicinal materials are not within the scope of the ban.

The reason why the medicinal materials are not in the scope of prohibited products is because the medicinal materials are not easy to identify, especially after the rhizome medicinal materials such as Panax notoginseng are ground into powder, they cannot be distinguished. You can say that it is vetch powder, fern powder, yam Powder, sometimes medicinal materials are also a kind of food.

Although Pujinguan also has a record of a camel caravan passing through the border, it is unlikely in terms of time, as the speed of the other party is not so fast.

Chong Huan waited at Pujin Pass for three days, but still did not find anything suspicious, and the other party was not found at the other control points.

Commander Huang Wei said to Zhong Huan: "Commander, is there such a possibility? The other party has already discovered that we are intercepting them, so they simply squat down in a certain county town and wait for a month or two. After we leave, They pass again."

Chong Huan frowned, and sighed: "It must be the case. I was worried that they left Lantianguan, and after arriving in Dengzhou, they would go north by detour. Then there is really no other way."

"If that's the case, there's nothing we can do. King Yong won't blame us."

Chong Huan shook his head, "I know King Yong won't blame me, but... I feel aggrieved!"

The generals next to him all looked sad, and this was the first time that the dignified inner guard was being tricked, and it was really useless.

At this time, a caravan of mules came across, about 150 mules. Each mule was carrying a heavy load, which looked like a grain bag. Apart from more than [-] mule drivers, four businessmen followed.

This is a very common caravan. Yongwang Mansion implements low business tax and zero checkpoints, which greatly promotes the development of commerce. Every day, several mule and donkey teams pass through Pujin Pass, traveling between Hedong and Guanzhong.

This was obviously not the medicinal material they were looking for, because the quantity was wrong, and more than 150 mules could not carry a thousand loads of Panax notoginseng.

But for some reason, Zhong Huan always felt that there was something wrong with this caravan. At this time, a soldier muttered, selling food can still make money?

This sentence was like a flash of lightning, Zhong Huan immediately realized what was wrong?The price of grain in Hedong is exactly the same as that in Guanzhong. There is basically no price difference. It is not profitable to sell grain, let alone hire mule drivers, which will definitely lose money.

"Look at it!"

The crowd followed Zhe Zhonghuan to the gate of Guancheng.

To cross Pujin Pass, you need to declare contraband, that is, fill out a form to declare that you have not trafficked contraband, and then you can cross the river along the pontoon bridge.

When Zhong Huan arrived at Guancheng, the other party had already filled out the form and was queuing to cross the Yellow River.

Zhong Huan glanced at the form, and it was written clearly that black bean flour, black bean flour is the cheapest of all grains, and it is basically used as feed, costing a few cents a catty.

Zhong Huan immediately knew something was wrong. For black bean flour, the value of all the goods carried by these 200-odd mules is only more than 100 yuan. It costs more than 200 guan, not to mention the round-trip travel expenses, which is too unreasonable.

Zhong Huan waved his hand, and hundreds of internal guard soldiers who had been preparing for a long time surrounded more than 200 mules.

The mule drivers suddenly panicked, and a trace of panic flashed in the eyes of several businessmen. The leading businessman pretended to be calm and asked, "His Royal Highness Yong does not allow you to set up checkpoints to intercept businessmen. What are you doing?"

Zhong Huan ignored him, and used a dagger to pierce a hole in a bag of goods, which was filled with yellow powder. After tasting it, Zhong Huan found a strong medicinal smell.

He sneered and asked, "Is this black bean flour?"

The businessman sighed and said, "This is actually medicinal material, Gastrodia elata powder, which is more expensive. We are afraid of being targeted by thieves, so we deliberately pretend to be black bean powder. It is not easy to do business. Please understand, general."

There is nothing wrong with saying that, many merchants hide real goods and pretend to be cheap goods. It is not tax evasion, but because they are afraid of being targeted by thieves. This is the reason why their wealth is not revealed.

Chong Huan has been waiting for three days, how could he be fooled by a few words from him, besides, isn't the invoice issued by Dongzhu Wu just pretending to be Gastrodia elata?

He immediately ordered his subordinates, "Go get the military doctor!"

They couldn't identify Sanqi, so they brought a military doctor, and the faces of several businessmen suddenly became ugly.

After a while, the military doctor came in a hurry, and Zhonghuan said a few words to him. He twisted some medicinal powder from the sack, smelled it under his nose, tasted it in his mouth, and said to Zhonghuan: "It's notoginseng. !"

Several merchants turned around and ran away, but the internal guard soldiers flew up, threw them to the ground, and quickly tied them up. Twenty or so mule drivers knelt down and kowtowed in fright, "We are mule drivers in Zheng County, hired by them. , has nothing to do with them!"

The first thousand 280 chapter four reactive

Although the spies who trafficked Sanqi were caught, Zhong Huan was not happy because the quantity was wrong. The other party bought a total of [-] tons of Sanqi, a total of [-] catties of Sanqi, but what they seized was only [-]% of it, two hundred There are still [-] dan whose whereabouts are unknown.

After the interrogation spies got the confession, Zhong Huan immediately divided his troops into two groups, leaving 200 people to continue to control Pujin Pass, while he led [-] cavalry to Zheng County.

The other party was lurking in Zheng County, grinding Panax notoginseng into powder, and it took a long time to grind a large amount of Panax notoginseng into powder, maybe I only caught the first batch, and the remaining three thousand were still grinding 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. There was a big tree in the yard, which was a unique feature. .

The soldiers kicked open the gate and rushed in, followed by Zhong Huan. They found no mistake. They found more than a dozen stone mills in the room. There were still medicine powder left in the stone mills, but the house was empty.

"Go and ask the neighbors around, when did the people here leave?" Zhong Huan ordered angrily.

At this time, a soldier came forward to report, "Qi Commander, there is no trace of camels, no feces, footprints, or smell."

Zhong Huan's heart sank. He realized that the spies' statements were false. The statements of the arrested spies were all the same. They rented a mansion outside the city, including [-] camels. Obviously, the four arrested The spies discussed the confession in advance.

Soon, the soldiers brought news of several neighbors. They had never seen hundreds of camels, only a few large carts, unloaded a lot of bags, and then they bought a lot of large millstones, and there were only four or five people in front and behind.

Commander Huang Wei said in a low voice: "Could it be a trick to divert the tiger away from the mountain, transfer us out of Pujin Pass, and they will pass through Pujin Pass?"

Chong Huan shook his head, "This possibility is unlikely. We are not fools. We withdraw all the troops from Pujin Pass. They also know this well. Once they are caught, they will be stricter."

"Maybe they left in several batches, and we only caught the first batch?"

"What about the three hundred camels?" Zhong Huan asked after thinking about it.

"Sell the camels and replace them all with mules." Huang Wei continued.

"But have you ever thought about how long it takes to grind a thousand loads of medicinal materials into powder? Three days is definitely not enough."

"If some of them are ground into powder, and the rest are still raw materials, if the first batch passes the customs smoothly, they will go to the second batch, and then the third batch, the commander, this possibility is very high."

Zhong Huan nodded, "It is indeed possible, but it is too time-consuming and risky. They actually have another low-risk method."

"What way?" Several subordinates asked at the same time.

"Take Lantian Pass, take Shangluo Road to the Central Plains, and then go north from the Central Plains."

Huang Wei was puzzled and said, "Since that's the case, they can go directly to Lantian Pass, so why do they have to grind it into powder before going to Pujin Pass?"

Zhong Huan said indifferently: "You have overlooked an important premise. When they left Jingzhao, they were not found. If they have not been found, why did they go to Shangluo Road? Why didn't they just go to Pujin Pass?"

Huang Wei thought about it, it was really like this, if he hadn't been discovered, of course there was no need to take a long detour, just go directly to Pujin Pass.

Zhong Huan continued: "I think they have a spy at Pujin Pass. When we arrived at Pujin Pass, the spy immediately informed the other party, so they changed their plan and went south to Lantian Pass. Why did they stay here?" A few people milled flour, and then continued to walk through Pujin Pass. I think the other party is confusing us, making us think that they are still hiding in Guanzhong and milling flour, so as to buy time for them to go to Shangluo Road. It takes three days to go, and if we notify Wuguan to intercept them, they really can’t go, so they throw out a small part to confuse us.”

"Then what should we do? Tell Wuguan to intercept now?"

Chong Huan sighed inwardly, and informed Wuguan that only Jingzhao could send pigeon letters, and they still had to send people to ride back to Jingzhao, which would take another two or three days, and all the time was lost on the road.

"Let's go to Lantian Pass to find out."

The crowd rushed to Lantian Pass again, and as expected, the general guarding the pass told Zhong Huan that there was indeed a caravan of camels four days ago, about [-] camels and [-] carts passed through Lantian Pass, and the goods they declared It is dried ginger.

Sanqi is indeed similar to dried ginger after drying, and most people will not pay attention to the difference unless they taste it.

Passed the customs four days ago, so Wuguan should have passed, even if it is useless to block the entire Yellow River, the other party can still sneak across the Yellow River with small fishing boats, not to mention that it is impossible to block the entire Yellow River for a few medicinal materials. They can't do a complete blockade either.

For the first time, Zhong Huan tasted the taste of failure. Zhong Huan left [-] men to continue monitoring at Pujin Pass, and Zhong Huan led the brigade back to Jingzhao.

……

In Yecheng County, Ruzhou, [-] cargo ships were loading goods at the Lishui Wharf. Pi Xiangyang watched the cargo with complicated eyes. Lishui can enter the Yellow River through the shipping water system and go to Hebei. As long as they are not contraband, even if they encounter patrol boats on the Yellow River, they will not embarrass them.

What's more, they just crossed the Yellow River from the mouth of the Bian River to Huaizhou on the other side.

At this time, one of his subordinates came running and said, "Boss, the camel has been sold and the tax has been paid."

Pi Xiangyang took the tax form, which said dried ginger and medicinal materials, [-] catties, worth [-] guan, he laughed, and with this tax form, they can travel to Hebei without any hindrance.

……

In the official room of Prince Yong's mansion, Wang Hao and Zhong Huan pleaded guilty to Chen Qing.

Zhong Huan reported the details to Chen Qing. After listening to the report, Chen Qing nodded and said: "It's impossible to prevent, you have done what you should do, the responsibility is not yours, and I will not punish you, but I hope you can sum up experience and lessons. .”

Wang Hao bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Highness, we have indeed learned our lesson!"

"What lessons have you learned, let me hear it?" Chen Qingxiao asked.

"underestimate the enemy!"

Wang Hao said in a deep voice: "We have always dealt with the enemy's spies very smoothly, 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 ability to adapt, so that we were calmly attacked by the opponent. The fundamental reason for the escape is that we underestimated the enemy, thinking that the enemy would go through Pujin Pass, and if there is another similar situation, we will send an eagle letter to each pass in Jingzhao to intercept."

After a pause, Wang Hao said again: "His Royal Highness, there is actually a glimmer of hope. The other party will go to Hebei, and they will definitely go to the Yellow River. If all river mouths are blocked and the checks and interceptions at the county gates are increased, there is still a chance to block them."

Chen Qing smiled and said: "Just now you said that you should learn from the lesson and not underestimate the enemy. Now that you underestimate the other party, does the other party have to take the route that we seized? Could it be that he can't take the waterway? Can't bypass the pass? Does he have to cross the Yellow River at the mouth of the river? Can't he hide in a small county for two months? Or hide medicines in the goods, like ants moving, and send them to Hebei bit by bit? If it were me , I will go to Xiangyang to rent a big boat and go to the Yangtze River, then go out to sea from the Yangtze River, and take a detour to Hebei.

Wang Hao's face was flushed, and he bowed and said, "I know my mistake!"

Explanation of the first thousand 280 chapters five

Chen Qing said again: "Actually, even if I knew that they were going up the Yellow River by water, I wouldn't set up checkpoints everywhere. This is a system issue. Now that the checkpoints have been cancelled, and the commercial roads have been cleared, they can't be blocked easily. They should be blocked." Solve the problem at the source, for example, they can't purchase Sanqi, or they simply don't know the formula of military medicine. The root cause is that we have a problem at the source, let them know the hemostatic effect of Sanqi, and then purchase it in just three days One thousand loads of thirty-seven, this is the lesson that should be learned."

Chen Qing took a few steps with his hands behind his back and said, "The medicinal material Panax notoginseng is not ginseng, and only Liaodong can grow it. In fact, Hebei can also plant a large number of Panax notoginseng. The key is that our wound medicine formula leaked out, but this year we are likely to have it." Attack Hebei, so the opponent will be in urgent need.

Otherwise, Wanyanchang can be planted in large quantities in Hebei, and there is no need to spend [-] guan to Jingzhao to purchase in large quantities, so this is a special situation, and the other party succeeds. "

"What does His Highness plan to do with those merchants who sell medicinal materials?" Zhong Huan asked again.

Chen Qing said slowly: "I ordered the confiscation of their proceeds from selling Panax notoginseng, and then released them all, including the businessman surnamed Wu."

"Let it go!"

Wang Hao and Zhong Huan looked at each other, Wang Hao said anxiously: "Your Highness, if you let them go, more businessmen will follow suit!"

"If you follow suit, someone must be willing to be taken advantage of!"

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "Panax notoginseng has never been a forbidden product. Last year, I ordered each pharmacy to purchase no more than ten loads of notoginseng at a time. This is not because we are afraid that it will go out, but because our military also needs to use it in large quantities. Now the military The reserves are sufficient, so the pharmacist can gather [-] dan in a short period of time. As for the pharmacist selling [-] tan to the other party, he did not violate the ban. The ban is limited to pharmacies, and the other party is a businessman. Selling medicinal materials to Hebei merchants will kill the whole family."