Chapter 1367 Four Billion Dollars

"It's just a small felt towel, to wash away the dust for you."

But the palace guards took the basket and found it very heavy. Obviously, the gift inside was more than just a "felt towel".

In fact, in addition to a soft felt worth ten gold coins, there was also a scented bead that could absorb sweat odor, a white jade ring, and five small goldfish, each worth ten gold coins.

As soon as they met, Island Master He gave each of them hundreds of thousands of coins, which made Commander Zhao's serious face relax a little: "Island Master He is thoughtful."

He Lingchuan said a few polite words and asked Fan Shuang: "Brother Fan, have you checked the gifts?"

The carriage was ready to go, with a total of sixteen boxes of gifts.

"I have checked it." Fan Shuang smiled, "Commander Zhao and I checked it together, it's great, no problem!"

"Seal the boxes."

At He Lingchuan's command, everyone from the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce climbed onto the carriage and sealed the boxes with strips.

Everyone got on the carriage, and the carriage started eastward.

The journey to Yao State finally started.

…

It was raining heavily at noon.

The Weng brothers were still huddled in the valley.

This natural rocky hollow was too narrow to accommodate two grown men; the leaves on the top were a little sparse and could not stop such heavy rain.

Water drops flowed down the cracks in the rocks, making a series of ding-dong sounds at the feet of the two men.

They were already soaked, but fortunately they were strong.

Weng Su was still staring at the entrance of the valley. The rain curtain reduced visibility and he could hardly see the situation on the ground.

Weng Xing wiped the water off his face: "Brother, is Xue Zongwu coming?"

It seemed that it was not a solution to keep pouring like this. But if they changed their position to lookout, they would not be able to see the valley entrance.

The brothers waited anxiously for several hours, and the noon hour was almost over, but they still hadn't seen the shadow of Xue Zongwu's team.

"The weather is bad, he may have changed his schedule temporarily." The weather in the mountains changes from time to time, and no one can predict it.

"What should we do then?" Weng Xing touched his belly. He was hungry again after finishing the breakfast pancakes.

Although he still had some dry food, he particularly longed for a bowl of steaming oil-splashed noodles, preferably with a little fragrant meat sauce on top.

Three mouthfuls, he could finish a bowl of noodles in just three mouthfuls.

"Here." Weng Su handed him a wine bag, "Drink some wine to warm your body."

Weng Xing took it and gulped down a few mouthfuls.

"Xue Zongwu will definitely come after the rain stops at the earliest, tomorrow morning at the latest!" Weng Su was full of confidence, "If he doesn't come here, where else can he go!"

￥￥￥￥￥

He Lingchuan finally stepped into Yao Country.

This is the core area of ​​the entire Shanjin Plain, an absolute blessed land, with good weather and abundant products for many years. 70% of Yao Country's territory is plains, and it is a well-deserved plain country. Its area is second only to Luodian, but its water, soil and climate are much better than Luodian.

There is a big river, Bailang River, which runs through the north and south of Yao Country, and countless branches extend from it, like capillaries throughout Yao Country, transporting river water to various parts of the plain.

After entering Yao Country, Fan Shuang, as the guide designated by King Yao, actively introduced the local customs and customs of various places to He Lingchuan.

From the border all the way to the east, the towns and villages that He Lingchuan passed by became more and more prosperous, and the popularity became more and more prosperous.

Although they are all in the countryside, the road conditions and maintenance are more than one level higher than other places in Shanjin, and there are cars coming and going, and merchants and travelers are also in an endless stream.

He Lingchuan also visited two or three markets and found that the goods sold here were exquisitely handmade and rich in variety. He even saw hundreds of candies and cakes in the small market in the countryside. They were all arranged in the same color, colorful and very eye-catching, and children surrounded them and refused to leave.

From the perspective of a businessman, He Lingchuan believes that the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the people of Yao Country are far better than other places, and trade is also quite developed. It is indeed more dynamic and more worthy of investment than other countries on the Shanjin Plain.

Fan Shuang smiled and said to He Lingchuan: "Our country is the richest place on the Shanjin Plain. The dignitaries and promising people from all countries hope to settle in Yaoguo."

"Prosperity and stability are what everyone yearns for." He Lingchuan smiled, "Who doesn't want to come to a good place?"

The Shanjin Plain is poor and miserable, only Yaoguo is stable and prosperous, and others are of course trying their best to squeeze here.

People go to higher places, and money flows to more places. For so many years, Yaoguo has gained both people and money, and has lived an unusually comfortable life in the so-called "heaven-abandoned land".

Two days later, they arrived at Dou County.

As described in He Lingchuan's intelligence, although both are county towns, Dou County's area and population are less than 30% of Taoshui. There have been no high officials or prominent families here, just a small county with no reputation. The richest local family only built a ten-foot-high gatehouse.

The birthday celebration of King Yao is coming, and it stands to reason that officials, merchants and transport teams rushing to the capital usually do not go here.

Dou County was not their first choice.

However, He Lingchuan and his party wanted to stay in Dou County, and they found two or three inns, but they were all full!

Fan Shuang was surprised: "Oh, there are so many people in Dou County recently?"

He Lingchuan's heart moved: "Isn't it like this usually?"

"Well, it's usually very quiet here." They happened to pass by a restaurant, which was bustling with people.

Fan Shuang repeatedly expressed his apologies for the poor arrangement, and then he was going to use his connections to get a room for He Lingchuan in the best local inn.

As for the other people in the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce, they had to stay in another inn.

"No need, no need." He Lingchuan refused very neatly, and it was obvious that he was not false. "I don't care so much when I go out. Just find me a clean inn. I want to live with my brothers. It doesn't matter if the location is a little off."

We don’t live together and have difficulty moving around.

He insisted again and again, and Fan Shuang had no choice but to comply, and sure enough, he found a quiet place to live near the county town.

The inn is clean and spacious, but the location is a bit out of the way.

This played right into He Lingchuan's and others' plans.

Only when there are few idle people can we move easily. With so many people coming and going in Dou County today, it is no longer a suitable cover location.

In this operation, He Lingchuan took Wang Fubao and a dozen Yangshan soldiers with him, as well as Fan Shuang and his entourage, as well as six palace guards specially assigned to He Lingchuan by King Yao!

As long as there were no complications on He Lingchuan's journey to Yao Capital, there would be almost no danger, so King Yao sent a few people to him as a token. Both parties knew that the real trouble would come after he saw Qingyang.

Wan Qifeng led his men to wander around, secretly spying on information and tracking Xue Zongwu for him.

Therefore, He Lingchuan actually brought out two teams this time, one bright and one dark.

After having dinner with Fan Shuang and returning to his own courtyard, He Lingchuan's face became solemn.

He had an ominous premonition.

Before it got dark, Wang Fubao came in and quietly handed He Lingchuan a note: "Information from Wanqi."

He Lingchuan finished reading it in two or three eyes, his face as dark as water.

Dong Rui's heart skipped a beat: "What happened?"

"Xue Zongwu did not enter the Taoshui River, but went around it." He Lingchuan pressed his knuckles, "Not only Xue Zongwu, many dignitaries also bypassed the Taoshui River. The current Taoshui River is not as lively as Dou County. ”

"Why is this?" Dong Ruiqi asked, "Didn't you say that these powerful people are going to Taoshui to pay homage to the Feng family and build relationships?"

"The Feng family also closed its doors to thank guests." Wan Qi Feng took a special trip around the Feng family and found that there were few cars and horses there, the Feng family's gate was closed, and almost no one came to visit. "It seems that something happened in Taoshui."

This disrupted He Lingchuan's arrangement.

Xue Zongwu had never entered Taoshui, so the original sniper plan naturally failed.

Plan No. 1 failed before it even started.

He Lingchuan would not give up easily: "We have to rush starting tomorrow. With Fan Shuang, our speed is a bit slow."

But they couldn't just leave Fan Shuang and King Yao's palace guards behind.

Dong Rui suggested: "Where will Xue Zongwu's next stop be? If they miss Taoshui, they have to find a place to stay."

"It's troublesome." He Lingchuan stroked his chin, "They gave up Taoshui and headed northeast. I'm afraid they are going to the ferry to take a boat!"

"Shall we go too?"

"We were going to go." Taking a boat is the easiest way.

That night, news also came about the eyeball spider that He Lingchuan secretly placed on Fan Shuang.

Changes in the Feng family in Taoshui——

The Grand Supervisor Guo, who was a member of the imperial court, accused the left prime minister, Feng Zhirao, of accepting huge sums of money and forming cliques for personal gain!

It is rare for officials to be clean-minded, especially since Yao country is a wealthy place, and bribes are not even small enough to be put on the table. However, the amount Zuo Zaifu received during his imprisonment was a bit large, more than four million taels of silver.

Four billion yuan, when this figure was announced, the people in the capital of Yao Kingdom became excited.

Common people can't earn so much money in ten lifetimes.

And the word "more" than four million taels is still under further verification, and no one is qualified to erase the zero.

Of course, people's attention is focused on the amount of huge bribes, but He Lingchuan and Qingyang's focus is on the words "forming parties for personal gain."

Bribery is certainly hateful, but these four words are what really offend the king's taboo.

It had only been less than seven days since this incident broke out, and the people in the remote town had not yet heard about it, but the upper-class nobles should have known about it. Fan Shuang has been abroad for a long time. When he asked someone tonight, he was shocked.

No wonder everyone dared not go to Taoshui, just to avoid suspicion in this highly sensitive period, so as not to be regarded as a "party friend" of the Feng family.

Of course Xue Zongwu would not go. There was Qingyang in the royal court who was eyeing him, and he did not want to get dirty at this time.

…

Baitiao River, Longkou Ferry.

Viewed from a high place, this ferry looks like a wide-open dragon's mouth, with teeth like whiskers, hence its name.

The Weng brothers stood on the mountainside, looking at the thousands of sail boats racing below, feeling a little dumbfounded for a moment.

"Th-so many ships?"

The Longkou Ferry was covered with canvas like a flag, and boats came and went. There were dozens of big boats and no less than 200 small boats.

"We just passed this ferry three months ago. There were at most five or six boats at that time, right?" Weng Xing murmured, "What's the matter, if Xue Zongwu wants to go here, other officials and nobles will come to join in the fun?"

"I don't know what happened to Taoshui. They didn't go. They all crowded here to catch the boat." Weng Su's brows were about to knot. "It's troublesome, there are so many people!"

The nobles who rushed to the capital did not go to Taoshui, so they all turned to Longkou Ferry.