Wang Yiming continued: "Sir, there is indeed a problem with that horse and carriage dealership.
Generally speaking, horse and carriage companies either build their own transfer station along the road, or rent another transfer station to replace horses and supplies. At the same time, they can grasp the road conditions in advance so that the team will not be stranded halfway due to accidents.
Those who build their own transfer stations are all medium and large horse and carriage companies, while those who rent transfer stations from other companies are all small ones. This carriage and horse shop, which is related by marriage to the third son of the Qin family, is a medium-sized carriage and horse shop, but it does not have its own systematic supply depots. It only has self-built supply depots in a few big cities in Jingbei, and the rest are Use rented.
It is obviously a medium-sized carriage and horse shop in terms of fleet size, but the business it can handle is not much, and it is still inferior to some small carriage and horse racing shops.
We cleaned up their tax records, worked backwards, and added in the part of the carriage and horse racing shop's income that could be concealed. The result is that this carriage and horse racing shop is losing money every year, and it has been losing money for more than eight years. . And even though they are losing money, the manpower of their carriage shop has been increasing instead of decreasing.
In addition, Zhou Wang, the owner of the carriage and horse shop, is not a simple businessman. According to the information found so far, Zhou Wang is an exquisite person who is extremely good at managing people up and down. He can have connections with local yamen and local garrisons.
Not to mention anything else, just talking about this "management", the cost is definitely a big one, and considering the business losses of his horse racing shop, it is strange that Zhou Wang can still live happily this year. One has to believe that he secretly has other money-making businesses. "
Shen Hao agreed with Wang Yiming's speculation, nodded, and said, "What do you think Zhou Wang does to make money secretly?"
"Either smuggling directly makes a profit. Or the Qin family behind the scenes finds supplies for him. In fact, it is possible to describe the two as one, and there must be connections between the Qin family behind it."
Shen Hao was not surprised. These were within his expectations. However, what Wang Yiming gave was the actual situation after the investigation, which could be used as evidence, but it was not enough.
"Where is the smuggling route? How to get out? Where to get out?"
"Returning to your lord, my subordinates have now found out that there are two routes used by Zhou Wang's horse and carriage company to secretly transport goods. Although both routes have twists and turns, they will eventually converge at a place called "Tridacna"."
Having said this, Shen Hao stood up and walked to the wall with the map and motioned to Wang Yiming to point it out.
Not all places were marked on the huge map, so Wang Yiming carefully determined the direction before pointing out a place on the map.
"Sir, the Tridacna is almost here."
"Weak water?" Shen Hao was a little surprised. Strictly speaking, the location Wang Yiming pointed out on the map is near the intersection of Ruoshui and Xiahe. It should be a small village, but it is located on a waterway, so it should also be a dock for unloading goods.
"Yes, sir, this wharf is not big and is usually used by small ship merchants. And Zhou Wang's horse and carriage company also has a permanent supply station here. He will have people transport the goods secretly in two ways. Baijiang Basin, and then find a boat to transfer to the weak water, and finally unload the goods at Tridacna. Because they are all within the territory, the materials are not strictly controlled, and Zhou Wang can get most of the procedures, so he has never been investigated.
After the goods arrived at Tridacna, they would change ships and load the goods. Their subsequent destination was not clear. They only knew that they were going southeast along the weak water. "
This is all Wang Yiming can find for the time being. If he is given a little more time or allowed to bring people back for interrogation, he will be confident that he can dig out more information.
But what Wang Yiming didn't know was that what he said could actually form a clear thread in Shen Hao's heart.
Shen Hao's eyes were fixed on the map on the wall, following the approximate location of the clam, then entering the weak water, heading southeast, and finally merged into the huge sea of treasures.
The water flowing down the river was not simple. Shen Hao's eyes soon fell on an unmarked red dot on the edge of the water.
This body of water will pass through the city of Fusi.
It can even be said that there are only two types of boats traveling through this water area. One is the merchant ship that specializes in delivering goods to Fusei City, and the other is the merchant ship that goes down the river and eventually goes to sea.
Zhou Wang is naturally not qualified to establish a connection with maritime merchants, and the Qin family is far behind. So there is only one destination left, and that is the City of Wasted Death.
"interesting!"
Although it was a bit unexpected, it was not completely unprepared. Before, Shen Hao felt that if the Qin family wanted to smuggle into the barbarian tribe, they would either have to forcefully break into the bamboo sea and have a chance at survival; or someone would help them figure out the shipping method and route without them having to worry about it.
Now it seems that the Qin family uses the latter method, which is more convenient for them, to ship goods.
So who exactly goes to Tridacna to pick up the goods? This is not difficult to guess. It was probably a waste of time to kill a certain caravan in the city. If you want to verify it, ask the Blackwater spies in Wusi City to pay more attention and you can find clues.
"Then Zhou Wang, please continue to dig deeper. Start investigating from before the Zhou family and the Qin family got involved, covertly, and continue to investigate until now. I want all his connections, especially those two fortunes. The approval and release of procedures along the route of goods, the supply points of carriages and horses, the people who transport them, the shipping dealers who change ships, etc., are as detailed as possible.
Of course, it's still the same, keep confidentiality first and don't act too smart. Understand? "
"My subordinate understands!"
Then he waved Wang Yiming to leave. Shen Hao continued to look at the map on the wall in trance, and a smile gradually appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Well, you, the Qin family, are really hiding deep enough!"
I thought it was because of corruption and wanted to take the opportunity to deal with the other party, but it turned out that the other party was still secretly smuggling into the barbarian territory. Continuing to dig further, I discovered that the other party was not working on this line alone. It was just a link in the entire smuggling network, and there were also forces from the City of Wasted Death involved in it.
This gave Shen Hao a rare "curiosity" that he had not seen for a long time. It stands to reason that the Qin family is not even a powerful family, nor is it a cultivator, nor does it have any great business network to its name. How can they actually be connected to the city of Fusi? To say "unbelievable" is an understatement.
If we think about the initial doubt, it seems that the appearance of the City of Death will give us a reasonable answer at once.
That is the elixir that is regularly sold in the Qin family's black market.
This originally bothered Shen Hao because he couldn't figure out where the Qin family could get so many popular elixirs for sale instead of using them for themselves. Now there is an answer to the question of City of Wasted Death.
A certain force in Waishi City gave the pills to the Qin family. The Qin family collected the grain and iron and transported them back to Waishi City, and then the force in Waishi City found a way to send them to the barbarian territory.
Of course, there is still one link left to close the entire speculation, and that is: What can the forces in the city of Fuidui get from the barbarian territory?
