Chapter 879 Returning home with goods

Chapter 879 Returning home with goods

The Wei River originates from Songshan Mountain, flows southeast along the eastern foot of Songshan Mountain, flows through Yingchuan, Chenjun and other places to join the Yingshui River, and continues southward into the Huai River.

Mi County of Xingyang County is conveniently located along the Wei River. The land is the remnants of the Songshan Mountains. The territory is intertwined with hills and valleys. It is different from the flat terrain of Yingchuan and other places. Although it is not suitable for land reclamation and farming, it provides opportunities for some other activities. a certain amount of space.

For example, some personnel in Nanyang went north through the Sanya Road and then followed the mountains to the north. They could avoid the inspection of the plains and went all the way north through Suoshui to the south bank of the Yellow River, and then moved to other places.

In short, this is a smuggling channel that connects the Nanyang Basin, the Henan Plain and other further areas via the Yellow River.

Although the Western Wei Dynasty, which controls the Nanyang Basin, and the Northern Qi Dynasty, which controls Henan and other places, have always been in a state of hostility, the confrontation between the regimes cannot completely prohibit the exchange of people and goods among the people, not to mention the huge profit margins and related smuggling. The behavior also becomes more frequent.

Since it was smuggling, it was of course illegal, and he would be raided and arrested by the Northern Qi garrison from time to time. If you encounter such a situation, you can only admit that you are unlucky. If you are lucky, you can avoid losing money and avoid disaster. If you are not lucky, you may lose both your life and money.

Li Licheng and his party obviously fell into the unlucky category. It was the first time they set foot on this smuggling road, and even after making considerable personnel preparations and summarizing experience, they were directly caught in the act. Compared with the probability that practitioners will be caught two or three times out of ten, it can be said that they are very unlucky.

They were captured by a cavalry team from the Northern Qi Dynasty. This team searched all over the mountains and fields and drove all the smuggling teams found into a nearby abandoned dock wall, where the personnel and property were detained separately.

"It turns out that there are so many people traveling to and from Mianbei to sell goods and make profits!"

It was the first time he was ordered to perform such a task and he was caught red-handed. Li Licheng was naturally depressed and panicked. But when he saw more and more smugglers being searched out by the Qi soldiers, he still felt a vague feeling in his heart. Give birth to some pride.

There were nearly a hundred people in the group. Except for the two leaders, Li Licheng and Li Tang, who had little experience, the rest of the entourage also had experience in traveling between the two places. Hearing Li Licheng's emotion, one of them replied in a low voice: "Since Mianbei was under control and started construction, there have been more and more kinds of things, many of which the northerners are in urgent need of. From Rangcheng to Yecheng, the journey involves crossing mountains and wading rivers. Although it is thousands of miles away, if it is used successfully in less than two months, the profit can be more than ten times greater, so there are many people who are greedy for profit and rush on the road all year round. "

Li Licheng couldn't help but secretly sighed when he heard that this trade route was so profitable. However, no matter how much money you make, you have to live to enjoy it. When he saw more and more smugglers being escorted here, he couldn't help but ask: "These thieves have detained us here for several days. No punishment, no killing. Seeing that the number of people gathered on the dock wall is already numbering in the thousands, what will they do? "

"Although the East Thief is ferocious, he only wants wealth. If he really wants to kill people and steal goods, who would dare to continue walking in this way?"

Another follower said: "The soldiers who are hunting us this time are mostly Han soldiers, and they should be soldiers stationed in Henan. These soldiers are always there to protect their wealth, and they will not do too much harm. After a search, the person will most likely be released. If the military leader has any long-term plans, he will even return some of the supplies to the merchants, so that they can directly ask for protection when they come back here in the future... …”

In this world, snakes have their own paths, and rats have their own paths. The movements of princes, generals, and ministers are indeed magnificent, and soldiers, soldiers, and merchants all have their own wisdom for survival. After hearing the explanations from the tribesmen, Li Licheng was no longer as nervous as he was when he was arrested.

But sometimes misfortune never comes singly, and after bad luck there may be even greater misfortune.

Two days later, the Qi army's search nearby came to an end. As the tribesmen said before, the smuggling traders were released one after another after being imprisoned for a few days, and they were not punished with any killings.

But when things progressed to Li Licheng and his party, things were different. Previously, the merchant team was only led out by a few soldiers after being interrogated for a few words. However, on this day, hundreds of fully armed soldiers suddenly poured in to lead Li Licheng and his party. Surrounded.

"Who are you waiting for, the leader? Get out quickly! If you dare to disobey orders, you will be killed without mercy!"

A captain who led the team looked at the group of people and shouted loudly. A subordinate in the team who had been exploring the road before took a step forward, bowed his hands and said: "This is the leader of the team and the owner of the goods. What do you have, General?" instruction?"

The soldier commander looked at the man suspiciously, and then shouted loudly: "When the weather goes against the times, disaster will come!"

The man was stunned when he heard these inexplicable words. Seeing the soldier's face suddenly darken, he was already making a gesture to draw out his saber. Li Tang in the team quickly grabbed Li Licheng, who was about to speak, and took the lead to take a step forward, looking at the soldier. The commander shouted in response: "The earth turns against things and turns into monsters, and the people turn against virtue and turn into chaos! The slave of the house is panicked to protect the master. The unknown general is knowledgeable and discerning. Please forgive me, general!"

"You and other thieves are indeed no ordinary merchants! My lord asked me to use words to find out the secret."

What the soldier commander shouted was clearly stated in the "Spring and Autumn Annals", which was naturally not knowledge that ordinary merchants could understand. When he found out that these people were dishonest, he shouted loudly: "Take them down, take them all down! Take them away for free." The lord will interrogate him personally!"

All the Qi soldiers rushed forward, tied up Li Licheng and his party, and then roughly drove them out of the dock wall and escorted them to the nearby military camp.

In the military camp, a tall and strong uniformed general was inspecting the assets and goods seized during the recent raids on the smuggling caravans. Because the harvest was so rich, his face was also full of smiles.

"This Li Boshan is really a famous wizard. The Qiang raiders captured Nanyang not just for a short time. Before, it was always a poor and desolate land. But after his arrival, his momentum became stronger year by year. In previous years, there were also thieves from Henan Province who lost their goods. Thanks to the help, the prosperity of things is now catching up with Yexia. We, the idle people in Henan, have also benefited greatly from this!"

When it comes to the comparison of national power and private property, the east has always crushed and looked down upon the west. However, with the sudden rise of Jingzhou Military Palace in the Western Wei Dynasty and today's Daxingtai of Shannan Road, the average score in the west has been raised several levels.

The Northern Qi army also has a potential chain of contempt depending on the area where it is stationed. The top ones are naturally the imperial guards such as Baibao Xianbei and the direct descendants of Jinyang Xungui. Later, there are different levels and treatments according to different combat areas. For example, the troops stationed in Beishan and Heluo must be valued more than the troops in Huainan.

Among them, the ones with the lowest treatment are undoubtedly the troops stationed in Henan. Since the end of the Battle of Yingchuan, there have been few wars in Henan, and because of Hou Jing's rebellion, a certain number of troops must be stationed here to intimidate the local area. This has resulted in an embarrassing situation for the troops stationed in Henan, and their treatment is also very poor. There was little steady supply of food.

But these garrison troops are also human beings, and they also need food and drink, as well as financial income to support their wives, children, and children at home. With the rise of various smuggling routes centered on Mianbei, this has become their source of income.

From this perspective, it was not the Northern Qi court that supported the Henan garrison, but the Daxingtai of Shannan Road in the Western Wei Dynasty. To be more precise, it was the smuggling traders who traveled to and from Shannan Road. Without the contributions of these smugglers, Northern Qi's garrison in Henan would have lived in poverty and hardship even if it had not been disbanded.

"My lord, the group of merchants who were transporting goods abnormally has been detained outside the account. Will they be interrogated immediately?"

After the general inspected the harvest, the soldiers outside the tent hurriedly came forward to report. After hearing the words, the general nodded and said: "Bring the people here! Others are doing business in gold, silver, brocade, or the treasures of the Southern Continent, but they are How can he be an ordinary businessman who sells thousands of volumes of books?”

After hearing the general's instructions, the soldiers quickly escorted Li Tang into the tent. The general looked down, with a sudden look on his face, pointed at Li Tang and exclaimed: "You thief, thief! Why are you so kind? Look up! Are you Li Changqing?"

Li Tang, who had been hanging his head nervously thinking about the plan, immediately raised his head when he heard this. He was also stunned when he saw the general's face. He couldn't help but exclaimed: "The one under my feet is actually Dongfang Ande! I , I am Chang Qing, Li Tang! "

This general, named Dongfang Lao, was originally a general under Situ Gao Aocao, and Li Tang was also a member of the Gao family and defected to the Western Wei Dynasty along with Gao Zhongmi. Neither party expected that it would be a reunion of old friends, and each was stunned for a while before they realized what was happening.

Dongfang Lao strode forward to untie Li Tang and looked him up and down. His eyes were filled with joy but also a bit of confusion: "Li Changqing, why are you here when you are not pursuing Duke Gao in Guanxi? Could it be that you are pretending to be a businessman?" Stealth and evil?"

Although both parties were acquaintances, Li Tang could not tell the whole story. After hearing this, he hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands: "How dare you, how dare you! Your Majesty is in power, please show mercy and don't fall into trap! Does your Majesty know the reputation of King Taiyuan of Wei State? Gao Ergong I was ordered to follow the king of Taiyuan, but I didn't expect that this famous king was too proud of his achievements and was at odds with the court. I was afraid that his power would not last long and that he would not be tolerated by the court, so I looked for an opportunity to escape and took a group of assets accumulated in recent years. I want to return to Hebei countryside to live in seclusion and make a living..."

When they and their group wanted to sneak into Hebei, the process would inevitably be accompanied by various accidents. This was also expected, and they had already thought of a way to deal with it. Therefore, when Li Tang heard Dongfang Lao ask this question, he told him half truth and half lie.

After hearing this, Mr. Dongfang just curled his lips, and did not say whether he believed it or not. He put his arms around Li Tang's shoulders and said with a smile: "Let's put aside the past affairs for the time being. Reunion after a long separation is also a good match. I should treat old acquaintances."