I'm watching the gate in the jail

In the cold forest, the eagle strikes the sky, and amidst the white snow, a fiery red shadow gallops from a vast white snowfield.

The white horse has lovely dark spots on its body, and it looks like a gray shadow when it shuttles quickly across the snow field.

The person on the horse is Duoer, the Jurchen girl who came to the inn with Ajiga yesterday.

Duo'er was wearing a red dress and a red dress, and she was wearing a pair of red boots. There was a string of silver bells tied around her waist. When she was running, "jingling, dingling" kept ringing.One person can outrun a boisterous team of cavalry.

"Alan!"

When the little girl saw them, she waved her arms excitedly, and warmly greeted Wan Lan who was also riding on the horse.

Wanda and his group were invited to visit Ajiga's camp today.

After eating a meal made by Wanda himself at the Dengyun Inn yesterday, Ajiga sent them a sincere invitation, no matter what, he asked Wanda and the others to go to his camp and let him treat them well.

These foreign merchants are stationed outside the Great Wall, and they are about an hour away from Liaodong Town on horseback.

It just so happened that Wanda and the others were eager to break into Jurchen's interior to find out the news. This invitation was like someone handing a pillow when they were sleepy.

So early in the morning, they took their gifts and rode their horses to the agreed place.

The red whirlwind rushed in front of everyone, and Duo'er stopped the horse in front of Wan Lan, looking at him with joy, "A Lan, can you also ride a horse?"

"of course."

Wan Lan raised her head, "I'm riding well."

The Wan family came from military households, and all of them, including Wan Zhen'er, were proficient in riding and archery.

Wan Lan has been in and out of the guard with Wanda and others since she was a child.The Imperial Horse Supervisor in the palace, as well as several pastures in Beijing and outside Beijing, are places where he has been used to playing since he was a child.

Every year the royal family's Spring and Autumn Field Hunting, Wanlan Club will participate, and they will reap a lot of rewards, earning a lot of rewards from His Majesty and Empress.

The little girl controlled the horse and circled around Wan Lan, and asked provocatively, "Then do you dare to compete with me?"

"Just compare, there is nothing you dare not."

Wan Lan took the reins back, lightly touched the horse's belly with her legs, and walked to Duo'er, "Tell me, what's the match? I don't want to play if there's a lottery or no lottery."

He was wearing a blue cotton robe today, with a white fox fur scarf around his neck.

The boy's snow-white face was almost mixed with the color of the fur, his lips were more vivid, and the corners of his eyes were full of affection, looking bright.

The smirk on the corner of the mouth made Miss Duo'er's ears turn red.

Wanda and Yang Xiuxian glanced at each other, both of them had a playful look in their eyes - my family has a child who is just growing up!

The two children rushed straight out like two arrow clusters, aiming at a pole with a red lantern hanging in the distance.

Mei Qianzhang subconsciously rode her horse to follow, but was stopped by Wanda.

"Hey, it's okay. The kids are having fun, why are you joining in the fun?"

"But……"

Mei Qianzhang nodded helplessly as he watched the two running faster and faster, almost shrinking into two smaller dots.

"Treasurer Wan, my friend, here I come!"

Not long after, Ajiga led a horse team and rushed over from the direction where Duo'er came just now.

Fortunately, they brought Uncle Liu with them today, so they don't have to worry about not being able to understand each other's words.

After the two parties met, they got off their horses one after another and saluted each other.

Standing behind Ajiga were five or six tall men with wheat-colored skin after years of exposure to the sun.

They are all dressed in typical Jurchens, with thick fur wrapped around their bodies, and under the caps with otter fur, their hair should be either shaved or braided.

Facing Wanda and his group of Ming people, even though they have been approved by the leader Ajiga, these people still have a bit of vigilance and suspicion on their expressions.

Both sides are carefully looking at each other.

"Are you really a businessman?"

A man at the end of the line asked in curt Chinese.

"Takuzu..."

Ajiga frowned displeased.

"You, and you, you..."

The man named Tuojin was much thinner and fairer than his partner, with a long face and a mustache under his nose.

He pointed at Wanda, Qiu Zijin and Wang Zhi all over, then shook his head, "You are so beautiful."

The implication is that the people who run the business are all living and sleeping in the open, and they all have a sense of vicissitudes of life.But these few people are too fair and do not meet the characteristics of a businessman.

Wanda chuckled, and looked at Ajiga out of the corner of his eye.

It was found that although the latter had raised his voice to click on Takujin's name just now, he did not stop him further, and seemed to want to see how Wanda would answer this question.

Don't look at him saying "Shopkeeper Wan, my friend" over and over again, he looks honest and festive.As the saying goes, "There is no business without evil", not to mention that this person is the leader of a tribe, how could he be a simple person.

"This is my nephew, and this is my accountant. They are both going out for the first time."

Wanda pointed to Wang Zhi and Qiu Zijin, and finally pointed to herself.

"As for me... I am a 'relationship household'."

Yang Xiuxian smiled when he heard this.

This is true.

"'Relationship household'?"

Tuojin didn't understand this strange vocabulary at first, but after listening to Lao Liu's translation, he was still at a loss.

"Simply put, I have 'someone on top.'"

Wanda raised her index finger, "I'm the kind of person who can achieve success without working very hard... a winner in life."

Wanda brazenly made a "Versailles" statement.

At this moment, another man behind Ajiga approached him and muttered in a low voice.

After hearing the news that his subordinates had inquired from the shopkeeper Zhuang earlier in the morning, Ajiga's eyes on Wanda changed.

Originally thought that he was just a big businessman from Beijing with a source of goods, but who knew that he and the Chief Assistant of the Ming Dynasty also...

If they can get on this line, doesn't it mean that their Haixi Jurchen will also have room to speak in the capital?

Ajiga took a deep breath and opened his arms towards Wanda.

"Treasurer Wan, friend, don't be angry. Tuojin doesn't doubt you, it's just out of concern and protection for me."

Wanda also opened her arms, and the two ulterior motives patted each other on the shoulder affectionately.

"Jingle ding bell..."

Hearing her daughter's bell, Ajiga hurriedly let go of Wanda and turned around.

What he saw was Wanda's son Wan Lan.

"Father, I won."

Alan raised the chain full of silver bells in his hand at Wanda and the others, showing a dazzling smile brighter than sunlight, "I won Duo'er's entire body. Are you good?"

It was only then that Ajiga discovered that his daughter Duo'er, whom he sent in advance to pick him up, was not here at this time.

Looking in the direction where Alan ran, he saw Duo'er riding a horse, walking slowly towards here.

Although the little girl lost the game, there was no look of anger on her face.

"You boy, why did you snatch all the belts of other girls?"

Wanda reprimanded.

"Father, this is my 'lottery'. We have an appointment, and if she loses, give me this string of silver chains. If I lose, I will give her my purse."

Wan Lan said, shaking the chain proudly.

"Ama..."

Duo'er got off the horse and walked to Ajiga's side.

The little girl who had just run around was blushing.She shyly glanced at the triumphant Wan Lan, walked quickly to Ajiga's side, and delicately picked up a corner of Ajiga's leather robe.

Ajiga was confused and looked down at his daughter.

The latter waved to him, stood on tiptoe and whispered in his ear.

While talking, he still looked towards Alan.

With a shy and timid expression, she has the indescribable attitude of a little girl.

"congratulations."

Taking all this into his eyes, Qiu Zijin took a step forward and patted Wanda on the shoulder, "You are going to be a father-in-law."

"What are you talking about?"

Wanda felt that since Qiu Zijin got together with Mei Qianzhang, his whole body became more and more out of shape, and his recklessness became more and more serious.

He was no longer the shy, white and clean little scholar before.

But after hearing Qiu Zijin's words, Wanda looked at Ajiga warily.

I found that the other party not only looked at him with more intense eyes, but also kept staring at the belated Alan non-stop...

No way!

Alarm bells rang in Wanda's heart.

If this kid finds a Jurchen wife to go back, won't the Forbidden City be bombed? !

Brother-in-law still hacked me?

The group first went to the racecourse to see the horses they had ordered. These horses were indeed taller and more beautiful than the ones Ajiga and the others brought to the horse market yesterday.

Looking at the shiny horses, each one is more handsome than the other, they are like Wu Yanzu, Kaneshiro Takeshi and Peng Yuyan among horses, even Wanda is delighted to see them.

"How about it, friend, run two laps!"

Seeing Yang Xiuxian, Wang Zhi, and Alan's eyes lit up, Ajiga proposed to them.

"it is good!"

Yang Xiuxian was not polite either, and supported himself with one hand, he stepped onto the horse's back gracefully, greeted with applause from all around.

Wang Zhi couldn't hold back anymore, he picked a black horse and rode on it.

A-lan was about to get on the horse when she saw Duoer walking towards him coyly with her braids in her hands.

Wanda's eyelids twitched as he watched from the side.

"Alan, let's...have another match?"

Duo'er turned her face sideways, looking at Wan Lan from the corner of her eyes.

"You want to win this back?"

Wan Lan pointed to the silver chain tied around his wrist.

"No, we bet on something else."

Duo'er bit her lip and lowered her head.

"What are you gambling?"

"Let's talk after the comparison."

"Okay. Anyway, I'm sure I won't lose."

Although Wan Lan was smart, she had a simple mind, and after foolishly responding, she got on her horse.

Wanda saw it clearly now. Although this girl is only 13 years old, she is already in love.

And this silly kid in my family, who grew up among men since he was a child, doesn't understand women's thoughts at all, and really wants to compare himself with others.

No no no, they must be stopped.

Just as Wanda was about to step forward to stop Alan's mount, Ajiga came over and put his arm around his shoulder.

"Shopkeeper Wan, let the children play by themselves. Little wolf cubs on the grassland should not be kept in a stable. Let's go into the tent and talk about business."

Wanda had no choice but to take the rest of Qiu Zijin, Mei Qianzhang, and a few buddies to the tent.

There was a stove burning in the tent, and the smoke escaped through a chimney.There were blankets on the floor and a long low table.

People on both sides sat down at the low table, one on the left and one on the right. Ajiga clapped his hands, and immediately a woman came in and poured tea for everyone.

"Treasurer Wan, the tea we drink is coarse tea, don't hold it against you."

Wanda smiled, holding the tea bowl with both hands.

It's such a big bowl...the batter is mushy.

Unlike the Ming people who like to put all kinds of candied fruits and other small ingredients in their tea, the bowl of "tea" in front of them even has fermented yellow rice noodles added, which has a sweet and sour taste.

Wanda took a sip boldly and found that the taste was not bad.

He glanced at Qiu Zijin, and found that this guy had already dried up the whole bowl of rice paste in a "hula-la" manner, and licked his lips eagerly.

"Okay, drinking tea makes us even more friends."

Seeing Wanda put down the empty bowl, Ajiga said happily.

After drinking the tea, the two sides began to discuss the distribution of "Chili".

After Ajiga returned to the tent yesterday, he publicized the benefits of this newest spice to his people.

Hearing that this thing is more exciting than burning a knife, and it can also resist the cold makes them very excited.

Wanda specially brought a small packet of spicy noodles today, and everyone circulated it in their hands.

Some people don't know how powerful this thing is, they touch their eyes and nose with their hands that have touched the chili powder, and some even squeeze a handful of powder directly to the tip of their nose to smell it.

Suddenly, there were coughing and sneezing sounds in the tent.

The man named Tuojin couldn't open his eyes from the heat, stumbled out of the tent, and plunged into the snowdrift.

"Brother Ajiga, isn't this really poison? I feel like I can't even breathe."

The two tribesmen beside Ajiga asked with their reddened eyes pinching their noses.

"Ahaha, shopkeeper Wan, it seems that you still need to play in person."

Ajiga looked at these people suffering from the same experience as he had yesterday, and laughed happily.

Wanda walked out of the tent, led by a maid, to the grill where the whole lamb was being roasted.In front of everyone, split half of this packet of miraculous powder and sprinkle it on the half-roasted mutton.

"Ah...it smells so good."

The people who were still taking pictures of the power of this pack of "red poison" couldn't help but twitch their noses after smelling the spicy fragrance mixed with the smell of oil.

Ajiga couldn't wait a long time ago. He picked up a knife and cut off a piece of mutton that was about to be roasted, dipped it in the spicy powder that was finally poured into the plate, put it in his mouth, and ate it with big mouthfuls.

"Well!"

His greasy mouth was so burned that he couldn't speak, he simply gave Wanda a thumbs up.

"Brother, you are really my good brother!"

After a bargaining confrontation, Wanda and Ajiga finally reached an agreement, and decided that Ajiga's caravan would be the only merchant of Wan's firm in Liaodong, and market this mysterious spice for him throughout the Northeast.

Wanda offered an extremely shameless price for this—one tael of chili noodles for one tael of old wild ginseng.

And based on this price, it can be exchanged for other mountain products, medicinal materials, furs and high-quality horses.

In this way, chili ushered in the pinnacle of its spice career in Daming.

But they didn’t feel that they were at a disadvantage at all. On the contrary, they felt that the shopkeeper Wan’s work was sincere and the price was unambiguous.

After the business talks were over, good wine and good food were served, and female dancers in gorgeous costumes entered the tent to dance.

Wanda held the wine bowl and started drinking with Ajiga.

Ajiga learned the lesson from yesterday, instead of burning a knife, he drank ordinary rice wine.The alcohol content of this wine is not very high, even Wanda can drink several bowls.

However, in order to "share the firepower" for Wanda, Yang Xiuxian, Qiu Zijin and Wang Zhi took turns to toast Ajiga at the beginning, until he was half drunk, and then it was Wanda's turn to play in person.

"Treasurer Wan, my brother. Hey, if my other brother Sanchiha is still alive, I will definitely introduce him to you. It's a pity..."

Ajiga patted Wanda on the shoulder and said.

"Sanchiha?"

Isn't that the Haixi Jurchen avant-garde that Chen Yue mentioned in the memorial before?

Chen Yue said that he joined forces with the Jianzhou Jurchens to raid Fengji Fort and the surrounding areas during the New Year, and then the Ming Frontier Army was forced to fight back.

That's why they made this trip.

Although he heard the key point, Wanda didn't dare to make it too obvious. He exchanged a look with Uncle Liu, and began to divert the topic to other places.

First I talked about the weather in Liaodong, and then I talked about the customs of the New Year. Sure enough, I made a detour in the end, and I still couldn't escape the battle during the New Year's Eve.

Although it happened in the Tielingwei area further northeast than Liaoyang City.However, for Ajiga, who is also a Haixi Jurchen, the slaughter of compatriots in eighteen villages still made him feel deeply sad.

"Eighteen villages?"

Wanda whispered.

Isn't it written in Chen Yue's booklet that more than 50 villages were destroyed? This blowing water is too powerful, it has more than tripled...

This person really has a big problem!

"Sanchiha is my sworn brother. We Jurchens also admire the heroes among your Han people. Guan Yu and Guan Yunchang are the most heroic and loyal heroes among your Han people."

As Ajiga said, he grabbed Wanda's arm, "Master Wan, why don't you and I marry Jinlan? From then on, we will also be called brothers!"

Hey, Wanda was shocked when he heard that.

But before he could think of an excuse to refuse, Ajiga waved his hands and said with a smile, "No, we can't be sworn brothers."

Wanda breathed a sigh of relief.

"We are going to be 'sons and daughters'."

His next sentence almost caused Wanda to throw the wine glass in his hand and fly out.

"Uncle Liu, are you drinking too much? You're just blindly translating."

Wang Zhi, who was sitting by the side, was even more frightened than Wanda when he heard these words.

"That's what he said!"

Uncle Liu made an oath.

Wang Zhi turned his head abruptly, looking at Wan Lan who was sitting at the entrance of the tent, talking with Duo'er with a smile.

This will not work, this will never work!

"My daughter is the most beautiful flower on the prairie. She is worthy of being the son of Master Wan."

Ajiga patted his chest and smiled.

Wanda thought to herself that even if your daughter is "Fiery Red Sarilang", she won't succeed.

The key point is that this is not "my" son, it is "Dragon Son"!

Only the emperor of Ming Dynasty can decide about Ah Lan's marriage.

"Eighteen tribes. According to Ajiga, each of these eighteen tribes has someone as a tribute envoy who once followed Sanchiha's nephew Chancha to Beijing to pay tribute."

After returning from Ajiga's big tent, everyone gathered in Wanda's room to discuss what they had seen and heard today.

"The imperial court had received a letter from Sanchiha before, but it was sent back by the cabinet because of doubts about the matter. Now that I think about it, I'm afraid there is a lot of inside information."

Wang Zhi frowned, thinking hard.

"At that time, he reported to a commander named Guan in Kaiyuan who was blackmailing the traders in Mashi. He used the imperial edict of the following year as a threat to extort pearls, ginseng, fur and other things from them."

Wang Zhi paused, "Actually, this is not a big deal in Liaodong, no, even in Nine Sides. After all, the horse market is so profitable, and there are so many people who want to get a share of it. It is completely impossible to settle the door."

The crowd was silent.

"But this time, the Commander really wants more and is more anxious. You also know that since two years ago, the winter has come earlier every year than before, and it is colder than before. The person surnamed Guan forced them to ask for things regardless of the cold winter at that time. At that time, heavy snow had closed the mountain long ago. Blindly going into the mountain to collect ginseng was tantamount to seeking a dead end. Sanchiha was forced to have no choice but to sue this person Be in charge of the commander."

"Isn't the imperial court investigating this matter?"

Qiu Zijin asked.

"Of course there is an investigation. The paper was sent from the cabinet to the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of War will conduct an investigation."

Wang Zhi said.

"Guess everyone, who did the Ministry of War ask to investigate this matter?"

Wang Zhi sneered.

"Chen Yue?"

Wanda asked.

"That's right. The Ministry of War sent the cabinet's request for a thorough investigation of the matter to Chen Yue, the right deputy governor of Liaodong."

A shrill eagle cry came from outside the door, and it was from Alan's "Wandev".

Mei Qianzhang went to the window, opened it vigilantly, and found a group of people hurried past under the inn, dressed as soldiers.

"There are officers and soldiers coming. It seems that they are here to check their identity."

Mei Qianzhang turned around and said.

After a while, Wang Qianhu hurried up and knocked on Wanda's door.

"My lord, I would like to trouble you to prepare. The officials of the Thousand Households Office are here temporarily to check the directions and vouchers of all merchants."

"Who else knows about our departure from Beijing, except Jin Yiwei and the senior management of Xichang?"

Wanda got up and gathered her clothes, and asked Wang Zhi to go to the inner bedroom to get a guide.

"Mr. Wynn."

Yang Xiuxian thought for a while and replied.

It is said that Wynn wanted to investigate the case himself to make up for the gap between him and His Majesty, but Zhu Jianshen directly denied it.

"Is it Eunuch Wynn, or Dongchang?"

Qiu Zijin asked sharply.

If it's Dongchang... Xichang and Jinyiwei are working, but they are hiding in the back. Will the prosperous Mr. Shang Mingshang, who has been working since he took office, feel unwilling and take action instead?

"Don't speculate too much, let's talk about it after sending these soldiers away."

Wanda took the guide from Wang Zhi and led the group downstairs.