In the south of Ancheng County, there is the Zhou family residence and Renfeng Hall.
After learning that the government was preparing to conduct a registration inspection, Zhou Wei moved back to his house in the city from Wubao so that he could inquire about the news.
Just after seeing off Fan Qing, the county magistrate, Zhou Wei called Zhou Xi, the official of the government, and asked how many fields, tribes, and tenants the clan had. According to official documents, how many hidden fields should be cleared and how many hidden households should be handed over.
After listening to Zhou Xi's report, Zhou Wei frowned. His family owned 1,234 hectares of land. The ancestor Zhou Wei and the late father Zhou Min lived in the first rank and could occupy fifty hectares of land each. The elder brother Zhou Lin was the governor of Dongyang and could occupy thirty hectares of land in the fifth rank. Together with his nephew Zhou Wen, the fifth rank occupied thirty hectares of land.
After the death of his father Zhou Min, the family fell into decline, and there were fewer and fewer officials in the family. The land occupied by these people combined together was only 380 hectares, and the combined land was only 540 hectares, leaving nearly seven If hundreds of hectares of land were to be taken back by the government, they could only rely on forged land deeds.
There are 118 tenant households and 48 clan members in the clan. After excluding these people, there are still 326 households in the clan who are registered in the clan. In previous years, the registration inspection was just a formality, taking care of the government affairs and handing in the three or five hidden households. This time, I am afraid that the registration inspection will be difficult.
Just now, Fan Qing, the magistrate of Cai County, came to visit and informed the county of the registration policy. He secretly told himself that County Magistrate Chen had obtained the secret letter from Governor Yang and was interested in targeting the Zhou family. This made Zhou Wei feel uncomfortable.
I remembered that I had made a mistake when Governor Yang came to collect food the year before last, and thought that Chief Yang could not do anything to me. Unexpectedly, in less than a year, Master Yang officially became the prefect of Runan.
Zhou Wei deeply regretted it and tried his best to make amends. He asked his nephew Zhou Wen to write a letter to Prefect Yang to ease the relationship. He also visited Xinxicheng in person and sent generous gifts. However, the gift was not available and it seemed to have little effect.
Governor Yang was really not very minded. He first used the weapons made by the Ying family to change the uniforms of the county troops. The new county magistrate Chen Hua was his confidant. He came to give gifts several times but was returned. The Zhou family was afraid that the next inspection would be a serious injury.
The registration officer has arrived at the county government office and will be coming to check in the next few days. Zhou Wei frowns and thinks hard about what to do.
"Master, do you want Fan County Cheng to help you secretly?" Zhou Xi suggested.
Zhou Wei shook his head. He had long heard that County Magistrate Chen and Magistrate Fan were at odds with each other. With the support of Governor Yang, how could Fan County Magistrate be able to defeat Magistrate Chen?
"Let those who live in seclusion take shelter in the mountains for a few days first. This is how the registration check was done in previous years." Zhou Xi continued.
Clan member Zhou Jie sighed: "Today is different from the past. The head of the family has hated Taishou Yang, and he is afraid that Yang Taishou is determined to take revenge. Since the government announcement was posted, those hidden households have applied to the government for naturalization. Thirty people in the clan have left in the past few days. There are many households, how can you hide the matter of hiding tenants from others?"
A fierce light appeared in Zhou Wei's eyes, and he asked in a low voice: "Zhou Xi, are those people from Zhushan still there?"
There is a group of mountain bandits hiding in Zhushan, numbering about 1,500 or 60 people. These people include fugitives from lawsuits, deserters from Qin and Yan, and water thieves from the Ru River.
This group of thieves once attacked Zhoujiawu Fort, but were defeated by the Zhou family tribe, and their leader Zhong Ye was captured. Zhou Wei let Zhong Ye go and secretly gave him some food and grass to prevent Zhong Ye from attacking Ancheng.
Zhong Ye often led people along Ru River to rob areas in Anfeng and Xiangcheng, and the goods they obtained were secretly sold to the Zhou family in exchange for weapons, money and food.
In this way, they had contacts, and occasionally some shady matters of the Zhou family were entrusted to Zhong Ye to handle. Of course, Zhou Wei would not come forward, and the person who dealt with Zhong Ye was Zhou Xi.
"Here", Zhou Xi thought of the secret affairs he had done through himself, and felt a little panicked. Is the head of the family going to take a desperate risk?
Zhou Wei looked at Zhou Xi with fierce eyes and said, "The Zhou family has been in business for several generations and we must not lose to you and me."
Zhou Xi gritted his teeth and said, "I understand."...
On February 16, Qi Yuan came to visit, and Yang Anxuan sent Zhang Feng to lead him into the inner hall to wait.
After finishing the official duties, I went to the inner hall and saw that besides Qi Yuan and his son, there was another person. It should be Qi Hui, the steward who went to Yan State this time.
Qi Sheng looked worried and said impatiently when he saw Yang Anxuan: "Prefect Yang, the horses brought back from Yan State were robbed by Yingchuan County troops in Xuchang."
Yang Anxuan said: "Don't be impatient, sit down and speak slowly."
The maid served tea, Qi Sheng took a sip, calmed down, and said, "This trip to Yan State to buy horses was handled by Qi Hui, my brother from the clan. Qi Hui, please tell Governor Yang what happened. "
Qi Hui is about forty years old and has been traveling around all year round. His complexion is dark and his behavior is relatively calm.
On December 20 last year, Qi Hui entered the Yan Kingdom with his caravan, accompanied by eighty escorts, twenty of whom were carrying iron swords. The trade route was not peaceful, so it was common for the guards to carry swords and bows, and no one suspected it.
The caravan arrived safely at Longcheng, the capital of Yan State. At the time of Changli Yin Liuzhong's rebellion, Shangshu ordered Murong Gen and Shangshu Duan Cheng to be executed. Immediately afterwards, the right general Zhang Zhen, Chengmen Xiaowei and Han were accused of rebellion and executed; Longcheng was in mourning. scene.
Qi Hui led a caravan into the city and was closely interrogated. Fortunately, the Lord of Yan had an order not to embarrass the merchants. Qi Hui had someone notify Zongti, Yan's business partner. Zongti brought people to greet him at the city gate and let him go.
Zongti, Yang Anxuan was stunned when he heard this name. When he went to Zhongshan City under the alias Zhao Cheng, he was riding in Zongti's caravan. It couldn't be such a coincidence.
After asking about Zongti's age, Yang Anxuan was almost certain that Zongti was the same person.
Seeing that Governor Yang was very interested in Zongti, Qi Hui said, "Prefect Yang, Emperor Yan attaches great importance to this transaction of exchanging horses for knives, and ordered Zongti's servants to come over and check it out."
Yang Anxuan smiled and said: "This Zongti is probably an old friend of Yu's. If I can get him, I can meet him."
Indicating Qi Hui to continue, Qi Hui said: "I told Zongti his purpose of coming, and Zongti was greatly surprised after trying the Sutie Dao..."
Because he had met Murong Chui once in Zhongshan City, Zongti spent money to bribe nearby officials and became the palace's external purchaser, purchasing silk, porcelain, stone honey, paper, tea and other valuables from the Jin Dynasty for the palace nobles. Qijia is Zongti’s supplier in Jin.
After trying the Su Iron Sword, Zongti was greatly surprised. Such a sharp weapon would definitely please the emperor. At present, the war between Yan State and Wei State is at a disadvantage. If they get the help of this sharp weapon, they may be able to reverse the decline.
After sending the sword into the palace, he received a reply three days later, asking Zongti to take Qi Hui into the palace for pilgrimage. Qi Hui did not expect that this business would alarm Emperor Yan. This Emperor Yan was a ruthless man who was determined to kill. When he knelt down to worship, Qi Hui could not help but feel panicked and his legs trembled.
A gentle voice came from the high seat, "You are Qi Hui, a businessman from Jin State. Where did you get this sword?"
Qi Hui has been traveling all over the country for more than 20 years, and he has seen a lot. He took a few deep breaths and responded respectfully: "This sword is called Zhantie Dao. It was forged by the master of the swordsmith who was found by the family master. It is extremely powerful." .”
Murong Sheng smiled slightly. He did not believe Qi Hui's words. In May last year, the spy reported that a weapon competition was held in the Runan County school field, and a sharp blade appeared. The Qi family is from Runan, and they probably have the same origin as this kind of sword. When did the Jin Kingdom have such a powerful sword-smithing master?
The Central Plains is really a land of outstanding people, and the number of talents is doubled. Yang Jiali can save half of the manpower and animal power. This kind of sword is extremely sharp. If it can be equipped on a large scale, it will definitely win the battle with the Wei army on the battlefield.
Of course Murong Sheng didn't care how the sword was made, he only cared about how many knives he could buy.
"The knives are good. How many have you brought? How many knives can you provide in a year?" Murong Sheng asked.
Qi Hui raised his head slightly and bravely took a look at Murong Sheng on the throne. He saw Murong Sheng wearing a golden crown, a white face and short beard, and eyes like an eagle. .
"Huan live this time, I brought twenty sample knives." Qi Hui lowered his head and responded, "This knife is not easy to make. We can provide at most three hundred knives a year."
Only three hundred, too few. Murong Sheng's eyes fell on the knife on the table. He tried the knife with his own hands. The iron-cutting knife lived up to its name, cutting iron like clay, and the blade did not damage the blade. It was truly a precious knife.
Murong Sheng has sent sample knives to the craftsmen and asked them to find out the secret of smelting based on the sample knives. Then wouldn't Yang Jiali be cracked by the craftsmen?
If the refining method of this sword can be cracked, thousands of swords can be produced every year, and the glory of the ancestors who dominate the world and be invincible can be restored.
Five days later, Murong Sheng called the craftsmen to ask questions, and the answer he received disappointed him. He could not imitate the iron-cutting knife, so it seemed that he had no choice but to buy a knife from the Qi family.
The people of Jin wanted to exchange a sword for two horses. This
The price was too expensive, but Murong Sheng knew the principle of "asking for a high price and paying it back on the spot", so he let Zong Ti decide the price.
Two days later, Murong Sheng Zhaozong asked questions and learned that the Jin people were willing to exchange one sword for a horse and provide four hundred swords every year.
There is no shortage of horses in the Yan Kingdom. There are more than 60,000 war horses and hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep in the Jianxing Ranch alone. It is not too stressful to replace tens of thousands of knives.
Murong Sheng was too lazy to argue, and said: "Just like the Jin people exchanged one horse for one sword, if the Jin people can provide more than five hundred more swords, it would be no problem to exchange three horses for two swords."
Zongti’s respectful response should be.
Murong Sheng said: "Zong Qing, you are responsible for the transaction of cutting iron knives. You go to Runan with the Jin people to see if you can find a knife-making craftsman. If you can persuade him to come to the Yan Kingdom, you will receive a generous salary." Let him choose."
With the emperor's permission, Zongti quickly took more than 200 horses across the Yellow River and headed south.
Two hundred guards each rode a horse, and dozens of horses were used to pull the cart. The momentum was so great that it attracted many people to covet it.
However, the accompanying guards were all armed with bows and swords, so they looked like they were not easy to mess with. Zongti and Qi Hui were both veterans who often walked this route, so the journey was relatively safe.
However, he was stopped by the county army in Xuchang City, Yingchuan County, saying that they were recruiting these war horses to join the army, and each horse was only given a thousand coins.
Qi Hui asked to see Fangguang, Sima of Yingchuan County, and offered him a generous gift. Fang Guang accepted the gift and ignored his request to release the horses.
In desperation, Qi Hui had no choice but to take Zongti back to Xinxi first and report to Yang Anxuan.
The world is about to be in chaos, there is no law and order, and the county army openly robs merchants, is there any way to deal with it? Since Yingchuan County is unreasonable, don't blame yourself for being unreasonable.
Asking Qi Yuan to go back and wait for news, Yang Anxuan summoned Zhao Tian and told him about the horse robbery in Yingchuan.
Zhao Tian asked: "What are you going to do, my lord?"
"Go to the army and choose two hundred light cavalry, and take Kuai En and Yan Ke to Yingchuan to ask for horses, so as to hurt as few people as possible." Yang Anxuan ordered.
Since becoming a county commander, Zhao Tian has found that he has gained a lot of weight. If he doesn't move around, he may be useless. After hearing that Yang Anxuan asked him to lead the army to Yingchuan, he happily said: "The last general will take the order."
Yingchuan County and Runan County both belong to Yuzhou. If you send troops to Yingchuan, you should report the reason to Sima Shangzhi, the governor of Yuzhou and King Qiao.
Yang Anxuan asked Xu Jing to write an official document to Sima Shangzhi, explaining the cause of the matter and pointing out that he was training troops and buying horses under the order of the King of Kuaiji. This would be reasonable and well-founded.
Finally, Yang Anxuan also sent an official document to Sima Shangzhi to the counties in Yuzhou in the name of the governor's office, so that the counties and counties along the way would not dare to make any further decisions about future business.