knife

Chapter 107 A mess
Compared to previous years, Tai'an City is even more bustling this year.

This applies not only to what is visible on the surface, but also to what lies beneath the water.

As a commercial center outside the pass, the period before the New Year is the busiest time of year. A month of busy work during this time can generate profits equivalent to half a year's worth at other times.

In previous years at this time, there weren't many other transactions taking place in the shadows.
It's easy to understand.

Even beggars have three days of New Year's celebration!

Everyone is busy preparing for the New Year. After a year of hard work, at the end of the year, everyone needs to relax with their wives and children in a warm bed for a few days!

But this year, Xiao Changche and Li Dachui teamed up to deliver a bombshell.

So the people who originally planned to go home for the holiday had to stay.

Some people who planned to come to Tai'an City in the spring tried to find excuses to arrive in Tai'an City earlier.

The area outside the Great Wall is about to undergo a major transformation!
This is the consensus of everyone.

Previously, the power structure outside the Great Wall was very clear.

As the head of the Protectorate General of the Northeast, Commander Linghu was in charge of both military and civil affairs, commanding an army of 100,000 men, making him the undisputed leader.

With a master of martial arts presiding over the city, Tai'an City's commerce flourished, and its reputation, built up over decades, made it an irreplaceable commercial center outside the Great Wall.

The third-ranked family is the Yan clan, a powerful local family that controls Baoping Prefecture.

As for Xiao Changche and Xiao Cheqi

He had a great reputation, was a skilled warrior, and was highly respected by everyone.

However, when it comes to true strength...

That won't work.

After all, Xiao Cheqi was an official, leading soldiers. He was also extremely upright, and his troops were very disciplined and followed rules.

But the more he acted this way, the less afraid people became of him.

This conclusion may sound ridiculous, but it is the truth.

As for external forces, such as the Northern Yuan, their influence outside the Great Wall is ubiquitous, yet they remain a closely guarded secret.

As for dealing with Beiyuan, it's something that can only be done, not talked about.

But now, the sun is shining brightly in the sky, and a thunderbolt has blasted everyone inside and out. When the news first came, everyone's first reaction was: Bullshit, a rumor, this is impossible!
But the news that followed finally confirmed this fact.

Xiao Changche, in alliance with Li Dazhong, wiped out the Yan clan, a powerful local clan outside the Great Wall that had existed for hundreds of years.

This is a serious matter.

It's not just Commander Linghu who's affected!

The lives of everyone outside the Great Wall will be greatly changed because of this event.

For ordinary people, this impact is not significant.

But for forces of all sizes, and for some people who want to develop their careers, the impact is enormous.

If things go wrong, at best one will never recover, at worst one will die.

Just like the Yan family, without any difference.

Even the Yan family was wiped out, so what am I compared to them?

Choosing again is a huge problem.

Should we choose Commander Linghu, Xiao Changche, or perhaps Tai'an City?

Oh, Tai'an City has now teamed up with Xiao Changche.

However, compared to Commander Linghu, his strength is still not quite enough!
Many people were hesitant to approach Commander Linghu, as past experience showed that the rule in Tai'an City was peaceful, Xiao Changche's rule was fair, and Commander Linghu was very harsh!
Everyone gathered in Tai'an City to gather information, since it was the intelligence center outside the pass. Since the choice was difficult, they decided to observe the situation first.

Anyway, many people don't expect to achieve great success; they just hope to get through this difficult time peacefully.

After something like this happened, the one who should be most restless is Commander Linghu!

Sure enough, just yesterday, when the news came, Commander Linghu was furious. He first sent Linghu Zhishu to Baoping Prefecture to question him, and then the entire garrison outside the pass began a large-scale assembly and mobilization. It seems that Commander Linghu is preparing to take action.

Let's see how they respond!

Xiao Changche is known by many as the God of War of the Northeast. Although he is outnumbered, it is hard to say who will win if a fight breaks out!

The needle is very thin, but when it pricks your body, it really hurts!

Is the commander-in-chief really capable of making this decision?

Why hasn't the Northern Yuan reacted at all? Their supreme commander on the border hasn't been contacted for quite some time.

Logically speaking, wouldn't they take advantage of such a great deal?

Or are we going to sit back and watch the fight unfold, let them fight for a while, and then clean up the mess later?

Everyone was like headless flies, frantically searching for information.

With a bang, the door to the Drunken Delight Hall was pushed open from the outside, and a cool breeze rushed in, sweeping away the somewhat foul air in the room.

"The entire city of Tai'an is being mobilized!" The man standing at the gate was out of breath. "The army outside the city is starting to assemble. Aren't you all going to go and take a look?"

With a loud bang, many people stood up and then surged out of the city.

Meanwhile, in several private rooms upstairs at Zui Deyi Lou, some people quickly left, joining the flow of people below and heading out of the city.

This night, many are destined to be sleepless. For many years, Tai'an has been perceived by its people as a city of peace.

What maintains this peace is not their formidable military might, but rather the presence of a master of innate talent.

In the entire area outside the Great Wall, there is only one innate master that everyone knows.

Normally, there are only about a thousand city guards patrolling the city.

What people see most often in charge of managing Tai'an City are people with red armbands on their arms, and most of these people are elderly.

But only today do people understand.

It's not that they don't have it, they just don't want to show it.

I was drunk and feeling great in the first half of the night!
Late at night, at Yingchun Tower!
This is the life that many people living in Tai'an City yearn for, and these two places are also the places that intelligence agents love the most.

Tonight, the businesses at Zui De Yi and Ying Chun Lou are doing exceptionally well.

In the past, when people met, they would hide their identities and pretend not to know what you did, but there's no need for that today.

Now that Tai'an City has revealed its hand, everyone should discuss what to do next.

Although the people here can't make any decisions, they can at least get a general idea out of the situation to pave the way for the key figures to appear and make the deal later.

So, everyone started calling on their friends and family.

If we didn't reach an agreement in the first half of the night because we were drunk and in high spirits, let's go somewhere else and continue the discussion at Yingchun Tower!

Of course, there are also those who disdain forming cliques, such as the Bei Yuan group.

They have a public outpost in Tai'an City.

A warehouse that specializes in selling furs.

"This time, we're probably going to get a reprimand from above!" one man said with a worried expression. "I've been in Tai'an City for three whole years, and I never realized they had such a huge army. You know what? I was stunned today. In just one afternoon, over ten thousand men marched out, ten thousand fully armed men!"

He gulped down a large bowl of wine in one go, threw down the bowl, wiped the remaining wine from his beard, and looked utterly dejected.

As someone involved in intelligence work, what happened today was an unparalleled blow to him, making him seriously doubt his ability to continue in this profession.

All past pride was shattered at this moment.

“This isn’t your fault, I’m the same way! The aura of Lord Zhou, this innate master, has obscured too much of the truth!” Another person sighed. “It’s right that Qing Tong Xia hasn’t reacted yet. The Second Prince is much more astute than us. It seems he had already suspected the strength of Tai’an City. This time, they have indeed revealed the truth. If we had made a move too soon, Linghu Ye would have had to back down.”

"I reckon we'll get some benefits from Linghu Ye! Opportunities to extort money like this are rare; not only will we get something out of him, but we'll also get leverage over him!"

"But why hasn't His Highness the Second Prince shown up yet? It's really a strange thing!"

"That's not something we should be concerned about. Let's focus on winning over those smaller forces. Don't underestimate them because they're small; there are many of these small forces outside the Great Wall. As the saying goes, many ants can kill an elephant. Individually, they may seem insignificant, but if we win over enough of them, they can form an influential force."

"Understood!"

"I'll pay a visit to Li Kaixin tomorrow. The large batch of hides that their city lord's mansion ordered before the New Year should be delivered by now!"

"They're definitely making leather armor from these hides. Are they still delivering them right now?"

"Of course we'll pay! We need to get closer to them, especially now."

Just as the two Northern Yuan people were shocked by what happened during the day and were discussing how to deal with it, in another part of Tai'an City, several other people were also gathered together to discuss what happened during the day.

However, compared to the stinky fur warehouse in Beiyuan, this place seemed high-end and classy.

It is a shop that specializes in selling writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, as well as various books, calligraphy, and paintings.

These days, pens, inkstones, paper, and inkstones aren't cheap, and books are even more high-end, especially in places like the area outside the Great Wall. Here, if one or two out of ten thousand people are literate, that's considered quite good.

When we first arrived, business was terrible, but it's gotten much better in the last two years. At least the most basic items like pens, ink, and paper are starting to sell in larger quantities.

Although it's the lowest grade item, you can still glean a lot from its contents.

The cultural and administrative undertakings of Tai'an City entered a period of rapid development.

As more and more students enrolled in the academies run by the city lords, the number of private schools also increased. With more scholars, this refined business naturally prospered.

However, it's generally not easy to negotiate prices for refined business dealings.

Zhu Chi has been in Tai'an City for five years.

He was initially furious when his superiors sent him to Tai'an City, thousands of miles away, to conduct business. This was a blatant and naked act of revenge and attack against him by his former adversary.

I just want him dead.

But the first sentence, "If you don't plan for the short term, you can't plan for the long term; if you don't plan for the whole, you can't plan for a part," left him speechless.

Having chosen the wrong side in the political struggle, he could only accept the outcome after his initial anger.

If he comes, only he will suffer; if he doesn't come, the whole family will be affected.

But now, he's slowly starting to understand what's going on.

His enemies might really want him to die thousands of miles away, but this area beyond the Great Wall is actually quite promising!

The ambitious Northern Yuan, preparing to march south,
Commander Linghu, who was single-mindedly plotting a rebellion to seize the throne,

The enigmatic and unpredictable Li Dazhong, whose full nature is difficult to discern.

The events beyond the pass will greatly affect the political situation of the Qin Dynasty, and naturally, they will also affect the Chu Dynasty, which is thousands of miles away.

“We should take the initiative to contact Li Dachui.” Zhu Chi finished the painting with the last stroke, adding eyes to the tiger. Instantly, the tiger seemed to come alive, lifelike.

(End of this chapter)