A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 648 The incident came to light
In April, plums ripen, flowers are sparse, and leaves provide thin shade.

The plum wine from Li Ji Wine Shop in Dongshi has also recently been launched. Green plums can detoxify, and plum wine has a mellow fruity aroma and can also stimulate the appetite, making it particularly intoxicating.

"Manager Luo, has the premium plum wine ordered the day before yesterday been prepared?"

Hong Yi, deputy commander of the Imperial Guard, entered the wine shop, where the aroma of wine filled the air.

The shopkeeper in the long gown behind the counter looked up, saw him, and came out to greet him with a smile, "Captain Hong, everything is ready. Please come with me to the back to sample it. It's all top-quality."

The tall Hong Yi followed Manager Luo to the front.
Li Ji Wine Shop is laid out with the front shop and the back workshop. Several shops in the front are connected, and the wine cabinet is full of wine. Their wine is most famous for its spirits, such as persimmon spirits, sweet potato spirits, and corn spirits. They also sell some fruit wines.

Behind it are brewing workshops, wine storage warehouses, and underground wine cellars.

I lifted the curtain and went into the backyard.
Manager Luo led him directly to the underground wine cellar.

The wine cellar contains many wine jars and is relatively cool.

Manager Luo led Hong Yi inside, left a lamp on, and then left.

A moment later, Manager Luo brought in another man with a scarred face, and then left again.

"Brother Hong."

"Brother Su."

There were only two people in the wine cellar, but they were clearly acquainted.

"Brother Hong, how is the situation?"

"Good news! The Crown Prince did indeed summon General Chang Zhonglang for a meeting, and they discussed the matter of the three hundred suits of armor."

Three days later, the Crown Prince's Attendant Erzhu Huan and the Garrison Commander Qiao Gongshan secretly escorted the armor to Qingzhou and handed it over to Yang Wengan, the Governor of Qingzhou.

Su Yi's face lit up with joy upon hearing this.

"Haha, they really can't escape the Prince of Dai's grasp."

"Come on, let's open a jar of plum wine to celebrate."

Su Yi broke the seal and poured a bowl of wine for each person.

Hong Yi took two sips and said, "This wine is really good."

"Of course, this is tribute wine, we're in for a treat today," Su Yi said with a smile.

Hong Yi, who doesn't like alcohol, also thought this wine was very delicious, combining the sweetness of fruit with the strong spiciness of spirits.

"There's also good news,"
The escorting officer this time, Qiao Gongshan, is one of General Chang's men; I will also be going.

"Then we have it even more under control."

Shortly after,
Hong Yi left the wine shop carrying two jars of top-quality plum wine, while Su Yi also left carrying a jar of sorghum liquor.

After leaving the house, Scarface went directly to Pingkangfang and to a small but quiet courtyard in Zhongqu.

"The wine is here!"

The quiet courtyard has been booked out today.

Su Yi took the wine upstairs directly.

upstairs,

Zhang Liang and Yun Hongyi were chatting.
There were no girls to drink with, nor were there any singers or musicians.

“Li’s plum wine, a tribute item.” Su Yi put down the wine. “I’ve tasted it; it’s absolutely excellent, with an unforgettable aftertaste.”

Zhang Liang asked, "Is it connected?"

"Yes, it's good news. Everything is proceeding as planned by the Prince of Dai."

Upon hearing the results, Zhang Liangyun and Hongyi were overjoyed. "Quickly pour some wine! Such good news deserves a few drinks!"

On the same day,

Zhang Liang disguised himself and secretly went to Fang Xuanling's house, where he met with Fang Xuanling in secret.

"Fang Gong, the plan is going smoothly."

Fang Xuanling, the chief strategist of the Prince of Qin's mansion, breathed a sigh of relief.

Time was running out for the King of Qin.

If the current situation continues, next year the King of Qi will go to his fiefdom in Rinan, Jiaozhi, and the King of Qin will also most likely leave the capital to take up his fiefdom.

Even if this incident affects their ability to travel to Jiaozhi and Nanzhong, they might still go to Mashu, Longyou, or Hexi, or even Qianzhong or Hanzhong.

In short, no matter where the fiefdoms were held, it was neither a good outcome nor the final result. Ultimately, the goal was to completely disintegrate the Qin King's faction, rendering it no longer a threat to imperial power.

The crown prince is part of the imperial power.

It's no longer possible to get the emperor to depose the crown prince and establish a new one, but by using this batch of armor, we can still buy the King of Qin some more time.

If it could make the emperor dissatisfied with the crown prince, and thus abolish the two thousand Changlin soldiers in the Eastern Palace, that would be even better.

Zhang Liang said excitedly, "Master Fang, do you think we can use the matter of these three hundred sets of armor to force Yang Wengan, the governor of Qingzhou, to rebel?"

If Yang Wengan rebels, the Crown Prince will also find it difficult to escape unscathed. If the Crown Prince loses his temper and rebels, wouldn't the Emperor have no choice but to appoint the Prince of Qin as Crown Prince?

Fang Xuanling stroked his beard.

"It's possible to force Yang Wengan to rebel. With three hundred sets of armor, he'll surely die if things go wrong. But it's almost impossible to get the Crown Prince to rebel as well."

"Didn't Emperor Wu of Han's crown prince rebel?" Zhang Liang said.

“It’s different.” Fang Xuanling didn’t have any illusions about it. Nowadays, everything has to be meticulously planned and carefully calculated. There’s no point in having any illusions.

After discussing for a long time, Zhang Liang quietly left.

The next morning, Fang Xuanling went to Hongyi Palace in high spirits. The Prince of Qin was still recuperating and naturally did not assume any official duties.

Fang Xuanling, as the secretary of the Prince of Qin's mansion and also a scholar of the mansion, came to the mansion every day.

Li Shimin's illness was no longer serious, but he still looked like he hadn't fully recovered from the poisoning.

He never left his residence, except for a few advisors and scholars who took turns lecturing on Confucian classics. He also did not see any outsiders.

Is this Qiao Gongshan reliable?

"This man comes from a poor family in Beishuo Prefecture. He is a close follower of the emperor and is very brave in battle. He is currently a seventh-rank captain. However, he is addicted to drinking and gambling and has accumulated a lot of gambling debts. Chang He has helped him a lot..."

Li Shimin frowned, feeling a deep dislike for this kind of gambler.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, everything has been arranged."

Li Shimin nodded. Recently, he seemed to be recuperating in the palace and had not even seen his old subordinates, but in reality, he had accelerated his plans.

Through scholars of the Prince of Qin's mansion such as Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Wei Zheng, they used their positions to enter and exit Hongyi Palace and communicate with the outside world.

Zhang Liang, Yun Hongyi, and others secretly worked on it.

Beneath the calm surface, undercurrents were already surging.

Walking on thin ice, every step fraught with danger.

After Fang Xuanling left, Li Shimin stood alone in the study, looking at the map on the screen in front of him.

The Tang Dynasty had almost unified the world.
However, Liang Shidu in Shuozhou has not yet been pacified.

Jieli Khan had been defeated and captured, and brought to Chang'an. He remained in Chang'an as the Right Guard General. Tuli Xiao Khan was to be enfeoffed as the Turkic Khan, a Turkic Khan who submitted to the Tang Dynasty. He was to divorce his original Khatun, Princess Yang of Huainan from the Sui Dynasty, and marry Princess Changping of the Tang Dynasty as the new Khatun. The Tang Dynasty finally extended its power to all corners of the world.

But this founding hero could no longer move an inch.

Reaching this point, having to confront his father and brothers, was not his wish. Yet, his repeated hopes and concessions only resulted in repeated disappointments.

He didn't want things to come to this.
But he had nowhere to retreat.

They forced themselves into it.

···
The sky was overcast.

"It's going to rain again,"

"We have to set off even if it rains; we can't delay our schedule."

South of Chang'an City

Erzhu Huan, the Left Guard Commander of the Eastern Palace and Left General of the Imperial Guard, couldn't help but complain about the awful weather. It was hot, raining constantly, the roads were muddy and difficult to walk on, and it was unbearably humid.

Traveling far from home on such a day, especially while escorting goods, is undoubtedly a tough job.

Time is still tight.

The journey is 500 li, and the prince requested that it be delivered within five days.

Traveling a hundred miles a day, that's really deadly.

As a dignified fifth-rank Left General, he really didn't want to take on this kind of job, but he couldn't refuse the Crown Prince's arrangement.

Erzhu Huan was not particularly prominent among the generals of the Eastern Palace, and was far inferior to Xue Wanche, Feng Li, Li Anyan and others.

What he didn't know was that this task was assigned to him precisely because he was not well-known in the Eastern Palace. He also didn't know that what he was escorting to Qingzhou was not ordinary grain, but three hundred sets of deadly armor.

"Captain Qiao, is everything packed? Remember to lay out tarpaulins so it doesn't get wet in the rain."

Qiao Gongshan stood there, his expression unchanged.

The goods were all loaded. Most of the wagons in the convoy were loaded with provisions, but some were loaded with armor.

He personally oversaw the packing of everything.

He was also well aware of the danger of this mission; if the mission were to be exposed, it would mean certain death.

Even possessing one set of armor would result in exile for two thousand miles; possessing three sets would mean hanging. His secret transport of three hundred sets of armor meant he had no chance of survival if discovered.

"General Erzhu, everything is arranged. Let's set off."

The obese Erzhu Huan nodded, mounted his horse, and shouted as he set off.

Qiao Gongshan looked at this guy with disdain. He had already found out about this guy's background. He only got the position of Left General of the Crown Prince's Left Guard because he had a sister in the Eastern Palace and was favored by the Crown Prince.

Look at how fat he is, he can't even get up after falling off the horse.

The ancestors of the Erzhu family were chieftains of the Qihu tribe of the Xiongnu people. They lived in Erzhuchuan and took their surname from their place of residence. Of course, some people say that the Erzhu family were Jiehu, and the taboo name Jie was Qi.

At the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Erzhu Rong of the Erzhu clan held military power and led his army south to control the court. Unfortunately, he was too arrogant and cruel and was eventually killed by Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei, Yuan Ziyou. It can be said that Erzhu Rong was one of the more hasty deaths among powerful ministers. Later, Yuwen Hu of Northern Zhou was similar to him.

Later, Ao Bai also died at the hands of Kang Mazi in the same way.

In this respect, they were all far less cautious and careful than Cao Cao.

Although the Erzhu clan later captured and executed the prisoners, their brutality ultimately led to their downfall.

Many members of the Erzhu clan changed their surnames to conceal their identities.

Nowadays, people with the surname Erzhu are rare, but this Erzhu Huan is far inferior to the arrogant and domineering Erzhu Rong brothers of yesteryear.

Team deputy Hong Yi came over with a straw raincoat and bamboo hat and handed him a set.

"I didn't expect to have you on this assignment."

"Chang Tou helped me get this. I did a good job on this trip and received a generous reward. I can buy some ginseng, donkey-hide gelatin, and other things to nourish my mother's body."

The team set off in the wind and rain, heading north.

After a few days,
The team entered the territory of Binzhou.

Spending the night at the inn
Hong Yi bought a roast chicken and brought a pot of wine to find Qiao Gongshan and Erzhu Huan.

"It's been raining every day along the way, and we've been walking on muddy roads, but we're finally almost at Qingzhou," Qiao Gongshan said.

Hong Yi patted the seal and poured the wine.

He even proactively tore off a chicken leg for Erzhu Huan.

Hong Yi said, "General Erzhu, what we're transporting to Qingzhou this time is grain and fodder, right?"

Erzhu Huan ate the roasted chicken leg with gusto, looking very satisfied. "Yes, that's right."

Hong Yi and Qiao Gongshan exchanged a glance.

Qiao Gongshan poured Erzhu Huan a full glass of wine. "General Erzhu," he said, "today on the road, a cart got stuck in a mud pit and couldn't be pushed out. Deputy Captain Hong had some people unload the grain from the cart first."
But the result was an unexpected discovery.

"Oh, what unexpected discovery?" Erzhu Huan ate a bite of roast chicken and a sip of wine, his mouth greasy.

"That vehicle wasn't carrying grain, it was carrying armor."

Erzhu Huan was enjoying his meal.

Suddenly, I froze.

"What? What did you say?"

"Ten sets of armor. We've checked them. They're not ordinary armor, but the armor of heavy cavalry, including the horse armor."

Zhu Erhuan held half a roasted chicken leg in his hand, standing there stunned for a moment before laughing and saying, "Your joke isn't funny at all."

"We've only just started drinking, how can you be talking nonsense like that?"

“General Erzhu, we haven’t had any drinks yet, so this isn’t drunken talk or nonsense. We can take you to see those armors now.”

Erzhu noticed the serious expressions on their faces.

My mind went blank for a moment.
I was immediately terrified and broke out in a cold sweat.

"Ten sets of heavy cavalry armor were hidden on the vehicle?"

"To be precise, it should be the armor of the Youzhou cavalry," Qiao Gongshan said.

Hong Yi continued, "It wasn't just ten sets. There were ten sets on that vehicle, but afterward, we checked the entire convoy, and the grain convoy had a total of three hundred sets of armor."

Erzhu Huan was so shocked that he turned pale.

Smuggling three hundred sets of armor is a serious crime.

For a moment, I was completely at a loss.

But what Hong Yi said next almost made him faint.

"Du Fengju, the postmaster of Binzhou Post Station, has already discovered the batch of armor we are transporting, and he has ridden a fast horse out of the post station and headed south."

"I suspect he went to Chang'an to report us."

Erzhu Huan exclaimed in panic, "Why didn't you stop him? What are we going to do now!"

(End of this chapter)