The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 796 A Thousand-Mile Tracking
Shi Xiaozhen looked at the map and said to his subordinates, "Muatu stayed in Taiyuan for ten years. He always traveled back and forth on Mayi Road and never went through Xiaoguan Road. In seven days, he should be almost in Taiyuan now."

One of his men hesitated for a moment and said, "Could it be that this time the situation is special, and he has changed his habits, taking the Xiaoguan route instead of the Mayi route?"

"The special circumstances are only for us. When he left seven days ago, nothing happened, and he was carrying something important. He would not risk taking an unfamiliar route. He must have gone to Taiyuan."

After a pause, Shi Xiaozhen continued, "We can't let our guard down at Xiaoguan either. The Emperor has already issued an edict ordering officials along the route to detain all Turkic merchants. Now it's our turn to move in."

Under Shi Xiaozhen's orders, the 30,000 Imperial Guards were divided into 300 teams and dispatched to various counties along the two routes northward.

In Taiyuan, Muatu paced anxiously back and forth in his small house. He had been hiding in his house ever since he arrived in Taiyuan.

He watched helplessly as his caravan was detained upon entering the city. On their way to Taiyuan, they had heard a rumor that the Sui Dynasty was detaining Turkic merchants. He couldn't verify the truth of this, so he devised a plan. He entered the city first as a Sogdian, and the caravan followed closely behind. Sure enough, his caravan was detained by the soldiers.

Mu'atu was about forty years old and had been doing business in the Sui Dynasty for twenty years. He was originally a pure merchant, but five years ago, Shibi Khan appointed his trusted minister Shi Shuhu to manage trade with the Sui Dynasty.

Shi Shu Hu Xi then began to implement a strategy of "all merchants are soldiers", transforming all Turkic merchants into part-time intelligence spies.

Like all Turkic merchants, Muatu has also been transformed. His current identity is that of a Turkic spy planted within the Sui Dynasty, responsible for obtaining salt and iron for the Turks, as well as gathering intelligence.

More than a month ago, Wei Runan tried to sell him the secrets of gunpowder, but he didn't believe it at all and flatly refused Wei Runan. How could a poor and down-on-his-luck craftsman have the most top secrets of the Sui Dynasty?

Although he refused Wei Runan, Muatu still reported the matter to Shi Shuhuxi, who was in Taiyuan, and gave him some samples that Wei Runan had given him.

Soon after, he received instructions from Shi Shuhu, who said that the gunpowder manual was likely genuine and that he should buy it at any cost.

Mu'atu then approached Wei Runan again and bought two copies of the secret manual and all the gunpowder in Wei Runan's possession, totaling more than forty catties, for three thousand taels of silver.

Now Mu'atu is anxious because he needs to contact Shi Shuhu as soon as possible and hand over the secret manual and gunpowder to him.

Muatu lived in Taiyuan for ten years and bought two houses. He registered one of the houses with the government in accordance with regulations, but he did not transfer the ownership of the other small house. Although it belonged to him, the government still registered it under the name of the original owner.

Muatu hid in a small, unregistered house. It was a secluded place, unknown to anyone except himself, including Shi Shuhu.

There are advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that he is temporarily safe, but the disadvantage is that he has no way to send out the secret manual and gunpowder.

But Muatu needed to eat and also wanted to get some information, so after thinking about it, he went to one of his old flames.

Muatu's old flame was a widow who lived on the same street as him. She had a son and a daughter and made a living by washing clothes. But five years ago, after she became involved with Muatu, he gave her a lot of money and helped her open a small noodle shop.

Muatu found his old flame after five years. The woman was both surprised and delighted. She cuddled with him and cooked him a big bowl of noodles.

After Muatu finished eating, he took out a few taels of silver and said to the woman, "The imperial court has issued an order to arrest all Turkic merchants. My caravan has also been detained. I dare not go out. Please help me find out some information."

The woman happily accepted the silver and went out to inquire about the news.

An hour later, the woman returned with two chilling pieces of news: his other house had been sealed off by the authorities, and the Eagle Restaurant had long since closed down.

The Eagle Restaurant is Shi Shuhu's contact point, and also his only contact point. Once the restaurant is closed, he will have no way to contact Shi Shuhu.

Although Mu'atu knew that Shi Shuhuxi might be in Jiaohe County, he dared not go to find him. If Shi Shuhuxi had already been captured, Jiaohe County would be a trap. Mu'atu was troubled but helpless, and could only patiently wait for the situation to change.

Xiao Xia's order to arrest the Turkic merchants indeed struck at the heart of the Sui Dynasty's Turkic people. These Turkic merchants were all registered with the government, and local governments were well aware of their movements.

Once the emperor issued an order, local governments would implement it swiftly and decisively. Taiyuan was no exception. Taiyuan had always been the place where the Turks were most concentrated, with a population even larger than that of the capital.

Taiyuan Prefecture arrested more than 300 Turkic merchants in one go and shut down more than 40 shops, including the Turkic Eagle Restaurant.

However, Shi Shuhu escaped. Although he was a high-ranking Turkic official, he was a Sogdian, which gave him a slightly better chance of escaping than other Turks.

Shi Shuhu fled to Jiaocheng County, changed his name to Shi Antai, and registered with the Jiaocheng County government using a set of pre-prepared merchant documents. He then operated entirely as a Sogdian in Taiyuan.

Shi Shuhu was also extremely anxious. He learned that Mu'atu's caravan had been arrested, which meant that Mu'atu was already in Taiyuan, but Mu'atu's house had been seized and he himself had disappeared.

Now, Taiyuan is in a state of panic. Turkic merchants have either been arrested or gone into hiding, and Shi Shuhu has lost contact with Mu'atu.

"Your Majesty, could it be that Mu'atu has gone directly back to the Turks?" a subordinate whispered.

"impossible!"

Shi Shuhu immediately denied it, saying, "He can't get past Chitang Pass or Loufan Pass. He's not that stupid. He must still be hiding in Taiyuan City. He's been doing business in Taiyuan for ten years. He must still have a secret hiding place!"

"so what should I do now?"

"What can we do if we don't have anything? We'll just hide! Even if they give it to us, we can't take it back to the grasslands. As long as the goods are in our hands, the Sui Dynasty will eventually loosen its blockade."

The subordinate sighed helplessly and said, "It's really strange. Why has the Sui Dynasty suddenly started targeting Turkic merchants? This has never happened before."

Shi Shuhu sneered and said, "This means that the Sui Dynasty already knew about Wei Runan's sale of gunpowder technology."

That morning, Shi Xiaozhen led three thousand imperial guards to Taiyuan.

The governor of Taiyuan Prefecture was Cui Fengxian. Whether he was the governor of Jiangdu Prefecture or Xuancheng Prefecture, he was able to carry out the orders of the Prince of Jin with great efficiency, and Xiao Xia was very satisfied with him.

After ascending the throne, he appointed him as the governor of Taiyuan Prefecture. After completing this term, he would either become the governor of Jingzhao Prefecture or directly enter the court as a high-ranking official of the third rank.

Cui Fengxian said to Shi Xiaozhen, "We have intercepted Mu'atu's caravan and sealed off his house, but he has escaped and is probably hiding somewhere in Taiyuan City."

Shi Xiaozhen nodded and asked, "How many Turkic merchants were captured?"

"More than a thousand people have not been interrogated yet; we're waiting for the general to come and interrogate them!"

"Thank you, Magistrate Cui, for handing the person over to us. We will interrogate and verify him carefully!"

Cui Fengxian then handed over more than a thousand Turkic merchants to the Inner Guard. The Inner Guard began interrogating these merchants that very day. The professional interrogation was completely different. That very night, the Inner Guard discovered a vast Turkic intelligence network.

(End of this chapter)