Chapter 522: Urgent, Dare to Sell Everything
There are many nobles in the capital, and they are most afraid of death. The status of long-range weapons such as bows and arrows at this time is equivalent to sniper rifles in later generations. Therefore, bows and arrows are banned in the capital.
In fact, many powerful families have this "privilege", so on hunting days, you can always see the guards of the powerful families carrying long swords and bows and arrows.
Later on, the ban became meaningless.
But most people don't have the courage to use bows and arrows to hurt others in the capital.
So after Huang Bing shot the arrow, even Li Huan was frightened.
Xu Wei whispered, "Take him down and shut him up."
Silencing here does not mean to silence the other party, but rather to prevent the other party from making a noise.
Jiang Qingzhi's trip was to inspect the tomb of the late crown prince, and the sight of blood was unlucky.
Several guards rushed over. The two grassland people wanted to resist, but when they saw the guards drawing their swords unscrupulously, they finally took their hands out of their arms and knelt down.
"Take him away." Jiang Qingzhi ordered in the middle.
This little episode was soon forgotten in the capital, where many interesting things happened every day.
They were accompanied by a horse-drawn carriage carrying some survey tools, dry food and other items.
It was already afternoon by now and in their rush they would miss the town.
The girl sat in a carriage, her eyes moving around, sometimes panic, sometimes joy.
Xu Wei looked at him coldly for a while, then called Sun Bu Tong over and said, "Go and interrogate him to find out his origins."
"I know." Sun Bu Tong reined in the horse, and when the carriage came over, he leaned down.
The dazed girl couldn't help but exclaim when she suddenly noticed a man's face in front of her.
"Hahahaha!" Sun Bu Tong laughed and got off the horse, raising his eyebrows, "Where is this young lady from?"
The girl lowered her head and said, "Suzhou Prefecture."
No wonder Old Xu asked me to question him… Sun Bu Tong asked, “Why are you a slave?”
The girl whispered, "Last year, my father and brother went to labor service and never returned, leaving me alone at home. At the beginning of this year, my uncle tricked me into thinking he was going to propose marriage, and sold me to a wealthy merchant passing by halfway..."
"It's really sad to hear it, and it makes people cry!" Sun Bu Tong sighed: "What happened next?"
"After arriving in the capital, that wealthy merchant..." The girl choked up, "That wealthy merchant did business with merchants from the grasslands and asked me to serve him. Unexpectedly, the Hu merchant took a liking to me at first sight and asked for me."
"There is such a thing?" Sun Bu Tong was a little surprised.
"Giving concubines to each other was popular a thousand years ago, and there were many in the early Song Dynasty. But it is rare in this dynasty. Why did the wealthy merchant agree to it?"
At some point, Xu Wei came behind Sun Bu Tong.
The girl looked up at him, blinking her eyelashes, looking pitiful.
"I don't know."
"The Ming Dynasty strictly prohibits the buying and selling of innocent people as slaves. Your indenture must have been forged by collusion between wealthy merchants and officials." Xu Wei's voice was gentle, but Sun Bu Tong shuddered... The last time Xu Wei was so gentle, he was cheated afterwards.
"But..." The girl glanced at Xu Wei, seemingly not trusting him very much, "Can you make the decision for me?"
"I can't, but my master can." Xu Wei pointed to Jiang Qingzhi in front of him. The girl looked at the handsome young nobleman. Li Huan happened to be talking to Jiang Qingzhi, who looked very gentle. The girl couldn't help but look at him a few more times, "Can I be a good man?"
"If you can prove that you are of good origin, it won't be a problem to release you from slavery."
The girl lowered her head, as if there was something difficult that she dared not say out loud.
"But even if you become a decent girl, you are so helpless that you dare not return to your hometown. If you stay in the capital, the government can help you..."
Just when the girl was happy, Xu Wei ruthlessly shattered her dream, "There are many widows in the capital, and the government will appoint one to marry you. You can imagine what a man who can't find a wife will feel like. Are you willing?"
The two single guys among the guards glared at Xu Wei with dissatisfaction.
It's not that they couldn't find wives, but after entering the Bo's mansion, the host was kind and treated well, so they became a little picky. When Jiang Qingzhi's identity as a leader of the Mohist School was exposed, the families who had originally taken a fancy to them became afraid and worried about being implicated, so they backed out.
The girl shuddered.
"Tell me! What makes you so afraid?" Xu Wei said with a smile.
The girl glanced at the guards, and Xu Wei said, "These are our own people, so feel free to speak."
But several guards left quietly, leaving only Sun Bu Tong at the scene.
Xu Wei's martial arts were known as the best in the Bo Mansion... and the worst. If the girl attacked him brazenly, Sun Bu Tong felt that Xu Wei would most likely become a laughing stock in the capital.
——Xu Wei, Jiang Qingzhi's adviser, one of the Ten Talents of Yue and a talented man who failed the imperial examinations many times, died at the hands of a young girl.
Is it a shame?
The girl said, "When I was serving them, I overheard what they were saying... Great Khan, some medicine, and they also said to be careful, otherwise we will die without a burial place. I am afraid..."
"Great Khan, this refers to Altan Khan!" Sun Bu Tong said.
Xu Wei's plump face showed some confusion. "What medicine? Think about it again."
To be honest, if it was medicinal herbs or even prescriptions, Xu Wei didn't think it would trigger a massacre.
The girl was thinking hard. Xu Wei winked at Sun Bu Tong. The two stepped back. Xu Wei said, "Keep an eye on this young lady. If she speaks, come and report immediately."
"There are quite a few."
Xu Wei walked over and whispered to Jiang Qingzhi, "She is a young lady from Suzhou Prefecture. Her family fell into poverty and her uncle sold her to a wealthy merchant, who then sold her to a merchant from Altan. Now there are some doubts..."
"Just keep an eye on it." Jiang Qingzhi said.
The sun was setting in the west, illuminating the village ahead with a magnificent view.
Looking at the smoke rising from the kitchen, Li Huan said, "If the whole family can come and stay here for a few days in their spare time, even a god wouldn't change it."
"This is the only place we can stay nearby." The accompanying clerk said, "There is a village a few miles ahead, and it is not as big as this one."
"Then stay."
The group entered the village, causing a commotion.
When Muramasa arrived, he was a little surprised to see these officials, but the capital was the capital after all, and he met many nobles there on a daily basis, so he was quite calm.
"We will arrange accommodation and pay according to the inn's regulations." Xu Wei went over to negotiate, "In addition, we have brought our own food, but we need to borrow the kitchen stove."
"No problem. As for whether it's money or not..." Muramasa was about to refuse, but Xu Wei said, "This is public money. You should take it."
Jiang Qingzhi and Li Huan were arranged to rest at Muramasa's house. After washing their faces, they went out for a walk.
Because there were guests coming, the children in the village were restricted from going out. They hid behind the door and secretly watched Jiang Qingzhi and others.
Jiang Qingzhi smiled and waved at a child. The child hesitated for a moment. Jiang Qingzhi took out a piece of dried meat. The child's eyes lit up and he ran out.
"You bastard! How dare you run outside? Be careful or you might bump into the noble or I'll beat you to death." A woman rushed out cursing, only to see the young noble squatting, reaching out to touch her son's head and smiling gently.
The child ate jerky and sniffed his nose.
The girl stood by the carriage, watching this scene, and suddenly a picture flashed through her mind. She said, "I remember it now."
Sun Bu Tong walked over quickly, "Shut up!"
The girl covered her mouth, and Sun Bu Tong frowned, "What medicine is it?" What he was most worried about at the moment was poison. After all, the former crown prince was poisoned to death. Who could be poisoned by Altan?
They have no chance with Dao Ye, but what about Jiang Qingzhi?
The girl lowered her voice.
"It's fire!"
"What fire?"
"gunpowder!"
Sun Bu Tong was startled, then pretended not to care and said with a smile: "We have bacon for dinner, it tastes good."
The girl felt a little disappointed when she saw that he looked normal.
Xu Wei looked over from another place, Sun Bu Tong nodded slightly, and then walked over.
"What is it?"
"gunpowder!"
Xu Wei's eyes narrowed, and he immediately went to report.
"gunpowder?"
Jiang Qingzhi was stunned, his face turned pale.
"Since those people said it was a beheading deal, it must be that they had discovered the secret of gunpowder." Xu Wei said, "If Altan's tribe knew the power of gunpowder..."
"I'm afraid they stole the recipe!" Jiang Qingzhi walked over quickly. When the girl saw him coming, she squatted down at a loss, "Greetings, sir."
"My uncle Jiang Qingzhi is from Suzhou Prefecture!"
"You are Long Wilbur?" the girl exclaimed, and then said shyly: "You don't know, you are very famous in Suzhou Prefecture now. It is said everywhere that there were auspicious clouds when you were born..."
What the hell!
What is this?
Jiang Qingzhi said in a deep voice: "Do you know the origin of that wealthy businessman and where he lives?"
The girl said, "That person lives in an inn in the city, called... Laifu Inn."
"What about those Hu merchants?"
"They... live outside the city..." The girl was not from the capital, so she couldn't tell the specific location after talking for a long time. Jiang Qingzhi called the guards to analyze the location based on the information provided by the girl.
"Isn't it to the west of the Mo family's land? Less than three hundred steps." A guard remembered.
"Sun Bu Tong." Jiang Qingzhi turned around, "Bring your people back to the city with me."
"Yes."
Jiang Qingzhi found Li Huan and said, "Father-in-law, I have to go back to the city first. Please lead the team here."
"Is the matter serious?" Li Huan asked.
"It's urgent!"
The voice was still there, but the man had already mounted his horse and left.
The girl also went back with them. Seeing that she could not ride a horse, Jiang Qingzhi ordered an unmarried guard to take her with him.
They sped all the way, and when they arrived at the Mohist base outside the capital, it was already dark.
Everyone followed the guard into an alley.
Jiang Qingzhi called the girl over. "Do you have any impression?"
The girl limped as she walked. She looked around carefully, but as night fell, everything around her seemed strange. She shook her head blankly.
"Move forward!"
They walked forward for more than ten steps, and when they saw a house, the girl whispered, "This is it!"
Jiang Qingzhi said: "Look carefully, don't make any mistakes."
The girl identified it again and again, and finally nodded vigorously: "It's here, I still remember the scratch on the door."
Jiang Qingzhi squinted at the door and said, "There's no time to lose, get started!"
A guard stepped forward and kicked.
Bang!
The door was kicked in.
Huang Bing was already standing on the top of the wall, bow and arrow drawn, staring at the rooms with sharp eyes.
Three men rushed out from the main house, apparently having a meal, each holding a long knife...
He still kept his long knife beside him while eating... Huang Bing shouted, "Uncle, sure!"
"Catch him alive!" Jiang Qingzhi said.
"I obey!" Huang Bing's hand loosened, and a man fell down with an arrow in his thigh. Huang Bing quickly drew his bow and arrow again, shooting two arrows in a row, hitting the legs of the other two men.
The guards rushed over and restrained the three men.
"It's a grassland person!" Sun Bu Tong checked.
"torture!"
Jiang Qingzhi ordered.
He walked outside the residence and could hear the barking of dogs in the alley.
He took a deep breath, and the cold air entered his lungs, but he didn't feel any pain in his lungs.
"It's really gotten a lot better."
Not long after, Xu Wei came out.
His face was solemn, "Uncle, they got the formula for gunpowder!"
Jiang Qingzhi shook off the cigarette ash and asked, "Where's the recipe?"
"These people followed the caravan into the Ming Dynasty. They were actually spies from the Altan tribe. Two of them left with the caravan carrying the formula the day before yesterday."
"Mo Zhan!"
"Uncle!"
Jiang Qingzhi looked at him and said, "Take a few guards and set off immediately. Stop the caravan at all costs. Remember, stop at all costs. Get the formula for the gunpowder!"
Mo Zhan set off immediately.
Jiang Qingzhi looked at the night sky and asked, "What else are they afraid to sell?"
There was murderous intent in these words.
"Master, that wealthy merchant..." Xu Wei said, "Wait till dawn to go into the city and deal with him or what?"
"The night is long and dreams are many. Let's go into the city immediately!" Jiang Qingzhi said coldly.
(End of this chapter)
